Who: Peter Pettigrew & Severus Snape Where: The Leaky Cauldron When: Saturday; Early Evening What: Severus fulfills the Dark Lord's orders; Peter is clueless. Rating: PG-13 [just in case] Status: COMPLETE
Peter wasn't really sure why he was doing this. The first time it had mostly been an agreement that was built out of mutual frustration and a very unusual and surprising conversation. This time, it just seemed to be out of the blue and unprovoked. Was unprovoked even the right word to be using in this situation considering that the person that he was meeting could have very well been dubbed a former (current?) enemy? Peter really didn't want to think about it too much because if he thought about it, he would probably end up turning and leaving. Lily had told him to be careful, and he wasn't about to ignore her warning just because he was afraid of offending someone whose opinion he had never really cared for to begin with. This situation was all so ridiculous. Peter hated having to tip-toe around anyone that he didn't know well because of what they might be. Caution was the key to staying alive, yes, but when did it pass the point of being caution and turn into downright paranoia?
Sighing, slightly relieved that he had the first one to arrive this time, Peter ordered a firewhiskey in order to help calm any nerves that might be lingering on the surface before following it up with a butterbeer. The firewhiskey was more than enough alcohol for him. It was about ten times stronger than what he was used to on any constant occasion, and he remembered far too well exactly what happened when he over indulged in the alcohol. Or at least, he thought he remembered. Each of their seventh birthdays were a little foggy, and James's bachelor party was pretty much a blur of bright lights and the occasional flash of memory. Oh, well. He knew enough to know that this wasn't a situation that he wanted to end up like that in. Popping the cap on the bottle, Peter took a brief swig before turning his attention to the door from the table near the far wall. Back to the wall, keep a view on the entrance. Those lessons with Moody were having a bit of an effect on the way that he behaved.
Severus was the one arriving a bit later this time. He'd been thinking to himself most of the morning about what he could ask that might provide useful information to the Dark Lord. Frankly, Severus hated the position he'd found himself in. It wasn't that he had any love for any of the vigilantes, particularly. But Pettigrew was too close to Lily, and what if Severus found out something that put Lily in danger? And then there was the situation with Agnes, which frustrated him further, because he had been coming to like her, even consider her a friend - if a slightly insane one - but then if he hadn't had to keep her distracted would he have been bold enough to accept her sexual overtures? Probably not, and Severus wasn't sorry that had happened. And so his thoughts continued to swirl around his head so that when he arrived, he had his own set of nerves brought on by the fact that he really didn't feel prepared for information gathering.
Just let things happen, Sev, he told himself. There was no sense in pushing something, that would be suspicious, and Severus didn't want to be suspicious. The last thing he needed was Pettigrew figuring out he was a Death Eater and running and telling Lily. Severus wanted to believe that Lily would never know that piece of information, and part of him truly believed that, even though there was no rational reason to believe such a secret could be kept forever.
He entered the Leaky and his eyes flitted across the room searching for Peter. Seeing the other man at the table, he waved and headed first to the bar to get a butterbeer before joining him. Severus couldn't have chosen a better table if he'd chosen himself, so when he greeted Peter he was already in a slightly better mood. "Evening," he said with the briefest of smiles. "I think I'm running a bit late, sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Peter said, waving the apology off. It really wasn't a big deal, and it wasn't as though a few minutes was going to kill either of them or even get them arrested at this time of day. Not that Peter ever really needed to worry about getting arrested. Ducking into a back alley and going rat would be sure to get him back to his own flat without drawing the attention of anyone that happened to be patrolling the area. Really, who would glance down at a random rat in the alleys of a street and go 'Hm. I wonder if that's a rogue animagus wizard out after curfew.' Peter highly doubted anyone would have any thought other than 'Ew. Rat.' even if he happened to crawl right over the top of their foot. Peter shook those stray thoughts out of his mind before attempting to focus back on the matter at hand, offering Severus an amused smile in return.
"I have to say, I'm a bit surprised," Peter said before taking a sip out of his drink as he leaned back in his chair. "I really never expected to hear anything from you voluntarily."
Severus shrugged, aiming for nonchalant as he sat down across from Peter. "I'm tired of people judging people by their houses," he said, opening the cap on the butterbeer that he'd purchased. "I know I was probably as bad as anyone in school, but I've decided that I'm trying not to do that as much. After all, in the end, does it really matter? If you connect with a person, you connect, and with the exception of people I actually was in Hogwarts with, I often don't know what house they were in. It's not the first thing I ask them," he said wryly. "So, I've decided that if I'm being fair, I need to attempt to be pleasant to people I did know in Hogwarts that were in other houses if they're even remotely pleasant in return." It was an interesting mixture of partially true, and partially designed to hopefully flatter Peter that Severus wanted to talk to him again. "I don't suppose it's ever too late to learn something new."
There was a brief silence between the two of them as Peter took another drink before setting the bottle down on the table in front of him and quirking his lips in a slight grin, "Smart," He said as he nodded a brief approval for the line of thinking, his own line of thinking toward Severus not being a Death Eater being bolstered a bit by those words. Peter wasn't positive, but he had a feeling that a Death Eater wouldn't have bothered to attempt being that open minded. "Especially since none of us are the people that we were back in school," Peter said as he took a long sip of his butterbeer, wrinkling his nose briefly. "Well, except for maybe Sirius, but I think he's a special case."
And talking about Sirius was probably not a good idea. Though, maybe that statement would be overlooked since it wasn't exactly positive even if Peter would be more than willing to make excuses for Sirius's behavior if the occasion called for it.
Severus raised an eyebrow. This was the problem with talking to Pettigrew. He was friends with them, the two people Severus liked least of anyone in the world. On the other hand, the statement wasn't exactly one of praise, was it then? "You might be right there," Severus said, trying to keep his tone mostly light. He wasn't here to get into an argument on the virtues (or extreme lack of virtues) of Sirius Black. That was a fairly calm statement wasn't it? "But regardless, I'm interested only in people who can be a bit different than what they were in school. I'm interested in growing and learning, and I'm not interested in people who aren't." That was a bit more harsh, better to just step away while he was still ahead, or at least even.
"How was the rest of your week?" Severus changed the subject, deciding it was better to slide away from Black as a topic of conversation.
"As frustrating and infuriating as a week dealing with the people that I know can be," Peter said, a hint of amusement in voice despite the words. It was really very hard to stay mad at his friends, and it was exceedingly harder for Peter who seemed incapable of maintaining a good seething rage for longer than 5 minutes. Of course, having James accuse him of being against all of them had left a sour taste in his mouth and a wound that, while it would probably fade, it would never really completely heal. But that wasn't really of any consequence right now even if now that the thought had crossed his mind, it would probably be lingering there to poke at him for the rest of the discussion. Bugger all. Shaking out his thoughts, Peter tried to refocus his mind once more as he turned his attention back to Severus. "I hope yours with a little less maddening."
Severus couldn't help the smallest of smirks. He had his own issues to be certain, but constantly dealing with Sirius Black and James Potter in a personal, actually around each other, way was thankfully no longer one of them. There were small blessings for being out of Hogwarts, and it was one of the reasons he'd been uncertain he wanted to return to those days when Lily had wished it. What had his week been like? "This week was a bit of a see-saw," Severus said thoughtfully. "It swung from infuriating to absolutely enjoyable very quickly. Thankfully it seems to have settled into normal, whatever that means." This week had brought frustration at the Dark Lord's command, but at the same time, he'd also had sex with Agnes. This still rather startled him when he thought about it, but it was a good memory, even if the events leading up to it hadn't been what he would have preferred. "I suppose you appreciate the good more when you've also got the bad."
How to get the topic into something that actually would be useful. If he brought up the war, or some desire to do something, would that work or would it make Peter more suspicious? Beyond that, he had to be very careful because he was now talking to Peter, Agnes, and Lily behind closed wards. And what he might say to one of them in private might stay private, or it might not. How was he to know that they didn't share the information with each other? They were Gryffindors and not bloody likely to be able to keep their mouths shut. If one of them contradicted the other - it was a thought Severus hadn't considered. Whatever story he told Peter needed to be able to match closely enough with what he was saying to Agnes, so that if the two were to somehow discuss that they were talking to him, it wouldn't fall apart into a dozen pieces.
"It's nice to have at least a few things that go well," he said and he lifted the butterbeer to his lips again. "Particularly when the world seems determined to fall apart."
"Seems like those types of rollercoaster weeks is the norm anymore," Peter said with a slight smile. It was reassuring, at least, that he wasn't that only one that felt like things were under no type of constant control. Though, Peter would have given quite a bit for his week to reach 'absolutely enjoyable' at any point. Squashing the brief jealousy that had risen in his gut, Peter turned his attention down to the bottle that was resting on the table in front of him, giving it a bit of a twist, watching the condensation create rings on the surface of the wooden table. All right. God, this felt like it was going to get awkward quick. "Feels more like it's turning on its head rather than falling apart. It's still here, but everything is just wrong."
Or maybe this was right, and he just didn't know any better. His Dad always said that this was how the wizarding world had been for decades upon decades and that nothing was going to change as long as they had incompetents in charge of everything. Peter was starting to think that his dad might actually have a point.
Sev shrugged. He'd spent the first eleven years of his life on the outskirts of the wizarding world, which meant he didn't have a lot to go on, but so far as he could tell from all the histories that he'd read, it wasn't completely unusual for their to be skirmishes between pureblood wizards and others - wasn't that what the entire mess with Grindelwald been about? And there was that witch in the eighteenth century...
"Maybe, or maybe we're just more aware of it," he suggested. "I mean, think about it, when you're at Hogwarts everything is just Hogwarts. It's your friends and house rivalvies and Quidditch, and tests and learning, and when you get out all of a sudden you don't have any of those things, but you've got all this other stuff - only it's larger than Hogwarts." He waved a hand. "I mean, all of this? It's probably not actually as new as it feels to us. Although," he shrugged. "I suppose some of it is. You didn't hear about people getting murdered in their beds or moving into safe zones when we were kids."
Safe zones. Were any of the vigilantes in the Safe zones? It didn't seem much likely, but it was as good a question to start with as any. "My Mum's alone so much," he frowned. "I was thinking about them maybe - but I'm just not certain. Is anyone you know moving to the safe zones?"
Peter shook his head slowly with a slightly amused snort. The safe zones. One of the Ministry's ideas of protection. "Let's round up everyone in one place and stick a couple of people who are already overworked on the gates to make sure nothing vile or dangerous gets in? Sometimes I have to wonder if the Ministry isn't actually looking to get rid of a few dozen people. Might as well just stick a sign out on the front gates that says 'All You Can Eat Buffet' and invite Greyback and his lovely friends right on in. If anyone I know even thinks about moving into one of them, they're going to being getting a sound thwap over the head to knock some sense into them."
Sev grinned slowly. That was the response he'd been expecting, but it was interesting to have it affirmed. "That's kind of what I think a lot of people are saying - except maybe people who were in Hufflepuff," he shook his head. "Except that was a bit stereotypical of me wasn't it? Well, you know what I mean, without bringing houses into it further. People who don't have any spine." Which possibly, could include Pettigrew, Sev thought, but that wasn't likely to lead to being friends and confidants, so he wasn't about to say it.
"If I even trusted the Ministry to be competent enough, you bring up a good thought on them being overworked. Honestly, why would anyone think it's a good idea, really? I think I'm just going to try to find someone who can come and stay with Mum during the day. I can't imagine her having too many enemies really - and why would anyone want to harm her? That makes more sense, particularly as I have no desire to move into the Safe Houses. But doesn't your dad work at the Ministry? Or is that a different department?"
"He's a hitwizard," Peter said. "Has been since he left Hogwarts, and he's not really impressed with any of the developments that have been going on lately, himself. Of course, he insists on blaming it on the fact that they've got a woman heading up the Hitwizard Department, a Hufflepuff heading up the Auror Department, and a Slytherin in charge of the whole DMLE Department as a whole," He said, his tone edging towards annoyance as he finished up that statement. Shaking out his head, Peter took another sip of his butterbeer before leaning back in his chair. "Sometimes I really wonder if the problem isn't actually because so many of the other people in the Departments think like he does."
Severus nodded. He wondered how much Mr Pettigrew talked to Peter about business things... probably not actually that much, so there probably wouldn't be getting any DMLE information from him - not to mention that there were people inside the Ministry for that. "We're all pretty quick to judge each other on looks or sex or house," Severus said. "And I don't think your father's the only one who does, which certainly leads to more ineffectiveness overall." It was one of the reasons Severus disliked the ministry, although it was far from being the only one.
He took another sip of his drink and considered for a moment. "How are your friends?" he asked casually. "Last time I talked to you it seemed like you were pretty frustrated with the lot of them."
His friends? Severus was asking about... All right, there was something slightly odd about that. Lifting his eyebrow slowly, Peter peered across the table at Severus, his expression a mix of mute curiosity and quiet confusion. But he supposed that he had been rather annoyed the last time they had spoken, not that he was much less annoyed at the moment, but at least things seemed to be slowly resolving themselves. Or at least, probably would be resolving themselves now. "James accused me of being against all of them," Peter said with a shrug, taking another sip of his drink. "Because I've been trying to keep them from arguing with people that they really shouldn't be arguing with and doing things that they really shouldn't be doing. It's not like it's the first fight that we've ever had, but it's certainly never been over something like this before," He said, setting his drink away from himself a bit before sighing. It wasn't like it was a big deal. They'd work it out. It always worked out.
But that didn't make it hurt any less.
"He accused you of being against them, because you were trying to keep them from doing things they shouldn't be doing and not arguing with people they shouldn't be arguing with?" Severus raised an eyebrow, but then he'd never understood James Potter - not ever - and it didn't seem likely that he would suddenly be struck with a flash of insight. The question had, perhaps, been almost too bold of him, so he backed down slightly. "I'm sure they'll realise you meant the right thing," he said thoughtfully. The sigh at the end of Peter's statement told Severus that the accusation bothered Pettigrew and he wondered momentarily if it might not be easy to get Peter separated from the others. After all, he was certain Black and Potter were infuriating enough on their own accord - with a little encouragement...?
"And Lily's..." he hesitated artfully. It wasn't an idle question, Severus wanted to know, but it also had the potential to look like the real reason he'd asked about Peter's friends. "Lily's all right, isn't she?"
Well, at least it didn't make much sense to someone else. Peter knew he had a duty to his friends, to support them, to help them, but he was trying to help them as much as he could, how he could, even while disagreeing with...well, so many things. And the fact that he was starting to feel like he needed to put some distance between himself and them, no matter how much he didn't want to, because of the way that people were starting to assume that he was because of the way that they assumed that his friends behaved was starting to grate on his nerves. "I can only hope that it'll work itself out," Peter said, picking up his butterbeer and swirling the last of the liquid in it around a bit before finishing off the bottle. "I hate feeling like I need to just move on."
His question about Lily pulled Peter's mind in a different direction, Peter smiling a bit as he nodded, "She's doing just fine," He said, figuring that Severus really didn't want any details about how and why she was doing well. "Better than she was for awhile there, at least. But she's Lily. Hard to keep her down for long."
Severus made note of the wording 'just move on'. That could be potentially interesting, and if the wedge were there already, it might be simple enough - well not necessarily simple, but at least doable - to make the separation more complete. "I'm sure it'll work itself out," he said, taking another sip of his beer as he listened to Peter answer about Lily. Severus wasn't certain but what it would have made him more happy if Lily hadn't been doing so well. It was something he was consistently torn about. He didn't want her to be unhappy or miserable, he loved her after all, but he hated the idea that she was happy with James Potter, or that she was doing all right with Potter. There was a sense of relief however, at Peter's words. After all, Severus had been at least partially responsible for the deaths of her parents, even if he had not done the deed himself. And it was a bit of a relief that she was at least getting a bit better.
"I hardly ever am able to see her or talk to her much," he turned the glass around in his hand. "I suppose it's just as well, really." It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if she ever mentioned him, but he supposed he might not actually want to know. "I rather feel a bit helpless sometimes," he admitted to Peter. "I wish I could have done something for the Evans... When I think about it. I was right there. I wasn't very far away at all. It feels the world is all out of control, and there's nothing I can do about it. If I'd known..." He shook his head, stopping. He could have gone on, but in theory a seed planted would do better if you gave it time to germinate.
"If you'd tried to do anything, you likely would have just ended up added to the body count," Peter said quietly. "And that would have upset her even more..." It wasn't that Peter thought that the Death Eaters were impossible to beat. Quite the opposite, in fact, but trying to fight someone as well as protect two people who couldn't protect themselves at the same time was just a recipe for disaster. "As it was, you were there for Lily when she needed someone, and that was probably more than most of us could have managed in that situation." Peter knew he was horrible with comforting people, even worse in situations where he didn't know what to say. James probably would have been able to comfort her. It was what part of his job as her husband, after all, but well, that didn't really matter at the moment.
"I suppose," Severus sighed. In truth he felt that he could have taken Barty, probably. Although adding in two people he didn't want to see injured during the battle would make it a bit more difficult, he supposed. It was moot point, anyway. The point was to convince Peter that perhaps he wanted to do something more. Or at least to plant the seed of that, and that had been done. "I'm just grateful I was able to be there for her and I wasn't away..." his voice trailed off. He so often was away. "I have a hard time imagining how difficult it must have been for her." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm glad she's doing some better then."
He took another drink trying not to feel that he needed more from Peter. After all, this wasn't going to work overnight. He wasn't someone Peter was likely to trust, if anything, he was precisely the opposite. And Severus had to be very careful to take the time to build that up, to not ask for too much at first, and to try to give Peter a reason to believe that Severus Snape was not a Death Eater, and was in fact, a trustworthy individual. It was possible merely from this small conversation that enough had been done. He knew it was possible to split Peter off from his mates, and he'd planted the seed of an idea that he might want to do more - which, while small, could be fertilized over the next few weeks.
Peter really didn't want to think about how Lily was managing. He knew that if he lost his mother, he would have been absolutely devastated, so much to the point that he wouldn't have wanted to continue himself. He wouldn't have been nearly upset over losing his father. Mitchell Pettigrew was a hitwizard, after all. It was expected each time that he went out to do some work that he might not come back. But still, this was his father. As much as Peter might not get along with him, he still loved him despite all of this. But she was managing, and that was really what mattered.
"She still defends you."
Severus glanced up quickly, and nearly as quickly recovered himself so that he didn't look so startled. He didn't know what to say about that. It seemed to be odd to say thank you for that piece of information, but Severus was grateful for it all the same. It was nice to know that at least, whatever else Lily might think about him, maybe she didn't completely believe he was a Death Eater. Which, he was, but somehow Severus didn't want her to think it. He tried to tell himself that was only because of how she felt about the Death Eaters, and no other reason.
"I suppose that's nice," he said quietly. "Not that we ever talk that much, whatever she thinks," Severus made an impatient motion with his hand. "It's all a moot point," he said with a sigh. She was married to Potter. He glanced up at the clock and took another sip of his drink. "I suppose we shouldn't stick around much longer," he motioned towards it. "If we do, we'll be out longer than curfew and I know I have no desire to spend the night in a Ministry holding cell."
"Neither do I, to be honest," Peter said as he glanced at the clock as well. His father would give him a right smack over the head if he ended up getting dragged in for curfew violations. And he didn't even want to think about what the rest of the Order might do to him for getting caught for something so ridiculously simple. "Luckily I don't really have far to go," Peter said as he glanced back across the table at Severus. It was odd, really, that as awkward as these conversation could start out, he actually did enjoy talking to him. "Perhaps we could talk some other time when we don't have to rush?"
The smile Severus gave Peter was genuine, although its motivations were certainly less than pure. "That might be nice," he nodded as he emptied the beer and stood up. "Perhaps another weekend. I suppose it'll just depend on how busy things get for both of us." Peter had suggested this meeting, which meant that the next time Severus suggested it, surely it would be even easier to get together. After all, Peter had requested another conversation. And although Severus didn't feel as if he'd gotten anything particularly brilliant from the conversation, there were a few tidbits that might be helpful for the Dark Lord, and more importantly, the seeds of a 'friendship' had been planted. This was not the sort of thing one could easily get without work, patience, and a bit of time. "I'll talk to you again sometime then?" He said with a quick nod. "Have a good evening, Peter."