** Fic: The Snake and the Skull ** for ani_bester
Title: The Snake and the Skull
Author: fugacious_love
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1200
Character(s): Peter Pettigrew, Regulus Black, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin
Warnings: None
They hid in the passage of the one-eyed witch statue. Peter could see Regulus glaring at him, his eyes lit from the dim light of their wands. The Invisibility Cloak-lent by James after Peter offered to procure the usual post-Quidditch match party goods from the kitchens-was stuffed under Peter's robes.
"You said you wanted to see it."
"Not now. I need to get back to the common room-"
"Listen," Regulus grabbed Peter's arm before he could turn away. "I can't have you going back to my brother and mouthing off to him-"
"Sirius can't do anything about it."
Regulus snorted. "He's already cut ties with us. Lives with the Potters during breaks, you know that. He wouldn't have a problem fighting his brother. Look."
As Regulus pushed up the sleeves of his robes, Peter raised his wand cautiously. On Regulus's left forearm was a tattooed skull with a dark snake emerging from its mouth. The tattoo glistened in the light.
"Who-who did it? Was it…you know..?"
Regulus shook his head, and Peter sighed in relief.
"My cousin Bella, on the last trip to Hogsmeade. We met up in the Hog's Head-bit shady, really. But he told her how."
Peter nodded, squirming slightly in the tiny hall. The passageway was already too small for the two of them, but the sight of that mark made him feel as though the air around him had suddenly disappeared.
--
A Snitch flitted throughout the crowd in the Gryffindor common room.
Occasionally James would snatch it out of the air and glance around to see who'd been watching. A few fourth year girls, still decked out in gold and red scarves from the match, tried to catch his eye; he grinned but looked away quickly, scanning the room for red hair. Gryffindor tower was crowded: Christmas was quickly approaching, and they had just won their match against Hufflepuff, which put them in first place for the House Cup. The usual party was delayed by the absence of Peter and his promise of cakes from the kitchen.
James clenched the Snitch in his fist and muttered to Sirius, "Where's Wormtail? Never known him to be so slow with the house elves."
"Bloke's probably eating half the cakes himself. Dunno why he had to go by himself anyway…"
Remus closed his copy of Advanced Defensive Spells and tossed it onto the table. "This might be him."
The portrait hole swung open, and James slid off the back of the couch, freeing the Snitch at last. But it was Lily Evans who appeared from the corridor. She marched through the crowd, glaring at him as his hand reached to his hair, stopped directly in front of him, and jabbed a finger into his chest.
"I just did my Head Girl rounds alone. They're your responsibility too, you know-you don't see me still wearing Quidditch robes and fooling around with a Snitch-"
"Maybe you'd want my mate to fool around with-"
Lily rounded on Sirius. "Don't even think of saying it."
Ignoring Sirius, James slowly pulled the still-threatening finger away from his chest, holding it half-cautiously, half-affectionately. "Say, Evans…" Lily's eyes, still glaring, shifted over to James. "Want to meet up in London over Christmas break?"
For the barest moment, Lily mouth opened in surprise. Then she pulled her finger away from James, turned, and stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
"Well, that wasn't a 'no', exactly…"
"Might've been the closest thing to 'yes' she's given so far, mate," Sirius said.
The portrait hole opened again, and this time the crowd's roar of approval let them know that Peter had arrived. He fought his way through the crowd, arms full of cakes, pies and-at the insistence of the house-elves-and entire roasted ham. The Invisibility Cloak bulged under his robe.
"What took you so long?" Sirius asked as he snatched one of the cakes from the teetering pile.
Peter glanced into the crackling fire as he placed what was left of the food on the table next to Remus's Defense against the Dark Arts textbook. He wouldn't tell them what Regulus had shown him-the image of the snake flickered through his mind for a brief moment-but a part of him wanted to grab Sirius and drag him to the Slytherin common room, push up Regulus's left sleeve, and shout himself hoarse that Sirius and James and Remus must do something before it was too late.
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Peter turned to see a frowning Remus.
"You alright?"
Peter nodded and shoved a pie into his mouth, forcing himself to chew although he'd lost his appetite. Remus seemed satisfied with this response; he picked up his textbook, chose a chocolate cake, and heading towards the boys' dormitory, murmuring something about feeling tired from his furry problem.
Peter attempted to follow but was stopped but Sirius wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "What's wrong, Wormtail? Looks like the Bloody Baron took a stroll right through you…"
He was grinning as he spoke, and he took a swig of smuggled firewhiskey from a flask. His hair had grown quite shaggy over the past few months, and his dark eyes were barely visible. For a moment, Peter considered spilling Regulus's secret, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew Sirius would get angry and curse about his family, about how disgusted he was to come from them, how he couldn't believe the things they would stand for- purification and hatred and bigotry. He didn't want to see Sirius's mood swing completely from celebratory to moody and sullen. But maybe a smaller, quieter voice in the back of his head knew that there was another reason why he didn't want Sirius to know that Regulus had committed himself to fight on the other side. James and Sirius, Remus and Alice and Frank and all of them-they were all ready to fight. They itched to leave Hogwarts and fight the righteous fight as a Gryffindor should. And he wanted more than anything to feel that, but all he felt was a debilitating sense of uselessness.
"Peter? C'mon, mate, have another pie…you look like you became a ghost…"
Sirius dragged him to the center of the common room, where a group of fifth years were playing a raucous game of Exploding Snap. They shared the flask of firewhiskey and turned to bottles of butterbeer (remnants from the team's last win) when the flask ran dry. James performed his usual dramatic reinterpretation of the match, play-by-play, which ended with him catching the now-weary Snitch from above the Exploding Snap cards (and sending the deck up into smoke when he slammed into the table). Peter and Sirius doubled over with laughter as one of the fifth years, shouting about the ruined game, tried to jinx James with jelly-legs. By the time they finally made their way up to the dormitories (with Remus long since asleep), Peter had almost forgotten and Regulus and the dark image of the snake and the skull burned into his forearm.
Author: fugacious_love
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1200
Character(s): Peter Pettigrew, Regulus Black, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin
Warnings: None
They hid in the passage of the one-eyed witch statue. Peter could see Regulus glaring at him, his eyes lit from the dim light of their wands. The Invisibility Cloak-lent by James after Peter offered to procure the usual post-Quidditch match party goods from the kitchens-was stuffed under Peter's robes.
"You said you wanted to see it."
"Not now. I need to get back to the common room-"
"Listen," Regulus grabbed Peter's arm before he could turn away. "I can't have you going back to my brother and mouthing off to him-"
"Sirius can't do anything about it."
Regulus snorted. "He's already cut ties with us. Lives with the Potters during breaks, you know that. He wouldn't have a problem fighting his brother. Look."
As Regulus pushed up the sleeves of his robes, Peter raised his wand cautiously. On Regulus's left forearm was a tattooed skull with a dark snake emerging from its mouth. The tattoo glistened in the light.
"Who-who did it? Was it…you know..?"
Regulus shook his head, and Peter sighed in relief.
"My cousin Bella, on the last trip to Hogsmeade. We met up in the Hog's Head-bit shady, really. But he told her how."
Peter nodded, squirming slightly in the tiny hall. The passageway was already too small for the two of them, but the sight of that mark made him feel as though the air around him had suddenly disappeared.
--
A Snitch flitted throughout the crowd in the Gryffindor common room.
Occasionally James would snatch it out of the air and glance around to see who'd been watching. A few fourth year girls, still decked out in gold and red scarves from the match, tried to catch his eye; he grinned but looked away quickly, scanning the room for red hair. Gryffindor tower was crowded: Christmas was quickly approaching, and they had just won their match against Hufflepuff, which put them in first place for the House Cup. The usual party was delayed by the absence of Peter and his promise of cakes from the kitchen.
James clenched the Snitch in his fist and muttered to Sirius, "Where's Wormtail? Never known him to be so slow with the house elves."
"Bloke's probably eating half the cakes himself. Dunno why he had to go by himself anyway…"
Remus closed his copy of Advanced Defensive Spells and tossed it onto the table. "This might be him."
The portrait hole swung open, and James slid off the back of the couch, freeing the Snitch at last. But it was Lily Evans who appeared from the corridor. She marched through the crowd, glaring at him as his hand reached to his hair, stopped directly in front of him, and jabbed a finger into his chest.
"I just did my Head Girl rounds alone. They're your responsibility too, you know-you don't see me still wearing Quidditch robes and fooling around with a Snitch-"
"Maybe you'd want my mate to fool around with-"
Lily rounded on Sirius. "Don't even think of saying it."
Ignoring Sirius, James slowly pulled the still-threatening finger away from his chest, holding it half-cautiously, half-affectionately. "Say, Evans…" Lily's eyes, still glaring, shifted over to James. "Want to meet up in London over Christmas break?"
For the barest moment, Lily mouth opened in surprise. Then she pulled her finger away from James, turned, and stomped up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
"Well, that wasn't a 'no', exactly…"
"Might've been the closest thing to 'yes' she's given so far, mate," Sirius said.
The portrait hole opened again, and this time the crowd's roar of approval let them know that Peter had arrived. He fought his way through the crowd, arms full of cakes, pies and-at the insistence of the house-elves-and entire roasted ham. The Invisibility Cloak bulged under his robe.
"What took you so long?" Sirius asked as he snatched one of the cakes from the teetering pile.
Peter glanced into the crackling fire as he placed what was left of the food on the table next to Remus's Defense against the Dark Arts textbook. He wouldn't tell them what Regulus had shown him-the image of the snake flickered through his mind for a brief moment-but a part of him wanted to grab Sirius and drag him to the Slytherin common room, push up Regulus's left sleeve, and shout himself hoarse that Sirius and James and Remus must do something before it was too late.
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Peter turned to see a frowning Remus.
"You alright?"
Peter nodded and shoved a pie into his mouth, forcing himself to chew although he'd lost his appetite. Remus seemed satisfied with this response; he picked up his textbook, chose a chocolate cake, and heading towards the boys' dormitory, murmuring something about feeling tired from his furry problem.
Peter attempted to follow but was stopped but Sirius wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "What's wrong, Wormtail? Looks like the Bloody Baron took a stroll right through you…"
He was grinning as he spoke, and he took a swig of smuggled firewhiskey from a flask. His hair had grown quite shaggy over the past few months, and his dark eyes were barely visible. For a moment, Peter considered spilling Regulus's secret, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew Sirius would get angry and curse about his family, about how disgusted he was to come from them, how he couldn't believe the things they would stand for- purification and hatred and bigotry. He didn't want to see Sirius's mood swing completely from celebratory to moody and sullen. But maybe a smaller, quieter voice in the back of his head knew that there was another reason why he didn't want Sirius to know that Regulus had committed himself to fight on the other side. James and Sirius, Remus and Alice and Frank and all of them-they were all ready to fight. They itched to leave Hogwarts and fight the righteous fight as a Gryffindor should. And he wanted more than anything to feel that, but all he felt was a debilitating sense of uselessness.
"Peter? C'mon, mate, have another pie…you look like you became a ghost…"
Sirius dragged him to the center of the common room, where a group of fifth years were playing a raucous game of Exploding Snap. They shared the flask of firewhiskey and turned to bottles of butterbeer (remnants from the team's last win) when the flask ran dry. James performed his usual dramatic reinterpretation of the match, play-by-play, which ended with him catching the now-weary Snitch from above the Exploding Snap cards (and sending the deck up into smoke when he slammed into the table). Peter and Sirius doubled over with laughter as one of the fifth years, shouting about the ruined game, tried to jinx James with jelly-legs. By the time they finally made their way up to the dormitories (with Remus long since asleep), Peter had almost forgotten and Regulus and the dark image of the snake and the skull burned into his forearm.