The Dream Trilogy Book One: To Dwell On Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Harry didn't even know what he was doing. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, and then in a flash his feet were scrabbling against the carpet, not moving fast enough for him to close the gap and lunge for the man who had betrayed his entire family. 

He let out an animalistic snarl as the two collided and his fist landed square on Wormtail's face, crashing them to the floor as everyone around them screamed and bellowed. 

"Harry Potter!" shouted his dad, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and hauling him off. "Have you lost your mind?" 

Harry stumbled backwards, his breathing fast and shallow as his eyes found Hermione. "It's him," he breathed. "It's Wormtail." 

Hermione's face dropped in horror, and she darted to Harry's side. Seamus and Parvati were looking at them stunned as James and Sirius helped Wormtail to his feet, blood and tears running down his face. 

"Harry," he bemoaned. "I think you broke my nose!" His voice was thick with congestion and blood was running into his mouth. 

Lily was still pointing her wand at Malfoy, but her expression was bewildered. "Harry what were you thinking?" she asked.  

Harry looked at Hermione, who understood the implications of Pettigrew's being there just as well as he did it seemed, but Harry doubted her heart was racing quite like his. She hadn't had a lifetime of bereavement, years of knowing the wrong man had been punished for his family's death, that someone they had considered a friend had betrayed them to save his own skin. 

But was it the same? So much else was different in this world; if Pettigrew was still here, and his family still alive, could he still be a Death Eater, spying his unsuspecting friends for Voldemort? 

The direction of Lily's wand lead Harry to turn and look at Malfoy, the other potential Death Eater in the room. He hoped maybe he would have a reaction to Wormtail that might give him a clue as to both of their loyalties, but to his surprise Malfoy was staring right at Harry. "You know," he breathed in disbelief, glancing at Wormtail. "Don't you?" He studied Harry and then Hermione meaningfully. "How do you know?" 

"Know what?" asked Lily. 

"Don't believe a single word that boy tells you!" shrieked Wormtail at Harry as Remus fixed his nose. "He's a Malfoy, you know they only lie!" 

"He hasn't told me anything yet," growled Harry. What did Malfoy think he knew? Was he telling him what he suspected, that Wormtail was with Voldemort? 

"He just keeps saying he wants Harry to come with him," piped up Parvati in a bossy tone, apparently pleased to have some information amidst all the commotion. "That Harry can stop You-Know-Who or something ludicrous." 

The expression of shock, no matter how fleeting, was undeniable on Wormtail's face as his head snapped towards Malfoy. "Well, that's absurd," he stuttered. "What would Harry have to do with anything?" 

Malfoy was shaking his head. "Don't," he spat through clenched teeth. "Don't you dare just stand there, don't you talk like that-" 

"Hey!" shouted James, raising his hands. "Everybody stop, right now. We are going to answer some questions, starting with why Lucius Malfoy's son is in my living room of all places." 

"No we're not," breathed Harry. Everybody became quite still. His vision was boring into Wormtail's fixed but still bloody face, but he could tell all eyes were on him. He was shaking he was so full of adrenalin, his fury bubbling under his skin.  

"I'm sorry, what?" said James, not angry, just confused.  

"We are going to ask Malfoy," said Harry, choosing every word with great care. "Just how well he knows our friend Wormtail here."