And So It Begins

Chapter Seventeen

And So It Begins

Snape found her sitting by the lake, staring out across the surface to something unseen on the other side. He quietly approached her, hoping this wasn’t one of those rare times she desperately needed her solitude. He didn’t wish to intrude, but he sat down on the rock next to her, content to share her silence.

She turned to him, smiling. Leaning over, she came into his arms and raised her lips for a kiss. He was still at a loss to comprehend her. Why she always seemed so glad for his company, when she could choose any of the men (and boys) who looked longingly her way. He often wondered if he could withstand the pain he’d feel when she decided she needed someone more cheerful and outgoing in her young life; someone who could walk her through her ages without being so far down the road already.

But, being human, and having recently forced himself to admit that, he was too selfish to chase her away toward someone who could make her happier. Someone like Potter.

He felt a grudging respect for the boy (hardly a boy, anymore, he reminded himself) because he’d proven to be as worried for her safety as Snape was. Potter had stayed by her side until Dumbledore literally dragged him out, muttering something about sustenance. Snape had been relieved; he had been getting closer and closer to some sort of emotional breakdown in Tanya’s absence, and he would open his veins in hot water before he’d allow Potter to see this unprecedented behavior from him.

At length, Tanya stood up, pulling Severus with her, and arm in arm, they began wending their way through the forest, Severus knowing that the otherwise harmful creatures lurking thereabouts would not bother them; they loved her, sought out her attention. Even the normally shy unicorns, having no reason in this world to be within a mile of Snape, came forward to nudge them both, asking mutely for an affectionate pat on the nose.

Tanya stopped nearer to the road suddenly. Following her gaze, he saw a rat, feebly wriggling, apparently at death’s door. She frowned, crouching closer, and carefully lifting its paw for a closer look. She looked up at Severus.

“It’s Wormtail,” she said in surprise. “What do you suppose he’s doing here?” She stood up, moving her hand in the air over the rat. As they watched, the rat transfigured back into the wretched Peter Pettigrew that she’d met in her London travels.

He lay there, gasping, obviously in pain. She narrowed her eyes, waiting to see if he’d speak; if he could speak. Snape knelt down, forcing himself to put a hand against the pulse of Pettigrew’s neck. It was reedy, slightly fast, but steady nonetheless. “Speak up, Pettigrew,” he growled.

Pettigrew opened his eyes, clearly not comfortable. Snape stood up, one hand moving toward where his wand was concealed in his cloak. Pettigrew saw the move and whimpered. “Please, don’t,” he said, “I can’t take any more of it.”

Tanya glanced quickly at Severus, her eyes questioning. He looked down on Pettigrew again. “Do you require medical assistance?” He had no intention of examining this man personally. Poppy Pomfrey chose the life of a mediwitch; let her deal with him.

He levitated the unfortunate creature to the hospital wing, after checking to see he hadn’t a wand secreted about his person. They waited until Poppy finished her examination and ministrations. They took seats on each side of his bed, and Snape conveyed silently to Tanya that she should take the lead.

Tanya acknowledged his unspoken message and turned to Pettigrew. “Do you know where you are, Pettigrew?”

“I was headed for Hogwarts,” he said shakily. “I don’t know how close I made it.”

“You’re there,” she said, “in the hospital wing. Can you tell us how you’ve come to be injured?”

“I’m there?” he said, wonderingly. “What are you doing here, then?”

Tanya glanced at Snape, then back at Pettigrew. “I was a student here.”

Pettigrew looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “You’ve been spying on me, then, haven’t you?” She tried a few more questions, but he clammed right up. Snape gestured to her, and she followed him out of the ward.

“We have Veritaserum,” he said, “but I have to clear it with Professor Dumbledore before I can administer it to him.”

“Quickly, Severus,” she said, “he’s wearing out. I don’t know for sure whether or not he has enough survival instinct in him to tough it out much longer. It was a Cruciatus, wasn’t it?”

“I fear so,” he confirmed. “He must have fallen out of Voldemort’s good graces.”

He left to find the headmaster while Tanya returned to Pettigrew’s bedside.

With Dumbledore’s blessing and attendance, their continued probing into Pettigrew’s secrets gave them a pretty good picture of what was going through Voldemort’s mind lately.

Voldemort, according to Pettigrew’s forced report, had planned to send an owl to Potter at school, delivering a package anonymously that would contain a Portkey, disguised as a Remembral. It would have been delivered as if from the Weasleys' Burrow, so the chances of Potter’s being suspicious of it would be lessened.

But Pettigrew, probably for the first time in his worthless life, felt guilty at the thought of Potter actually being killed. He knew it would happen as soon as Harry touched the Remembral and was transported to where Voldemort would be waiting for him.

He watched for the owl, and as soon as he spotted it, he used magic to kill it, catching the package as it fell. He opened it, making sure it was the package he sought, but as he opened it, it fell against his hand, transporting Pettigrew to Voldemort instead. Voldemort at once realized what had happened, and dispatched Pettigrew with extreme Crucio, leaving him to die. Pettigrew had drawn upon the last of his strength to Apparate to Hogwarts, his intention to warn Potter of what had almost transpired.

By virtue of the Veritaserum, they were forced to believe him, and Dumbledore sent for Potter at once. They apprised him of the situation, knowing the time had come at last. Voldemort’s attempt on Potter’s life signaled the official start of the war the entire wizarding world had been fearing for the last several years. It was time to prepare to meet the enemy.