The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

Claustra

The table in the library at Fallengunder exploded into a thousand bits as Voldemort's rage surged from his body with an almighty roar of frustration. He had no way of knowing that his killing curse had found the target, and he would have found little comfort in it even if he had. Power surged from him, stronger even than usual, and he whipped his wand in a slashing motion and in a great burst of energy, all of the bits of table and broken glass and book pages were caught as though in a colossal gust of wind, rushing away across the length of the room, slamming into the far wall so hard that much of it lodged itself into the wall  itself.

The Death Eaters were so taken aback by the action - by the sheer strength of power displayed in it - that they fell silent. Even Bellatrix Lestrange had frozen still in her place, her wide eyes even wider than usual as she stared on at the Dark Lord, his shoulders heaving as his blood seemed to boil in his veins, his hatred building...

Regulus glanced nervously at Peter, and the floo... This rage that was filling Voldemort was not the sort of rage that the Order needed to be messing with. He had to stop the plan, had to find some way to keep Peter from giving the Dark Lord the locket, so that he was not transported to the cave over Hogsmeade... the way Voldemort was panting breathlessly, his entire frame shaking with the hateful energy... there was no way in hell that anyone was going to face him and win right now. No way. And not only did he have to stop Peter from giving up the locket, but he had to keep Voldemort from seeing it when, at any moment now, Lily and James were likely to come spilling through the fireplace. They were supposed to come to Fallengunder right after Peter was taken to the Dark Lord, according to the plan. The run from the Room of Requirement to the Defense wing wasn't that far, and given that Elphinstone Urquart had been here, there was no way that he was keeping them from getting into his office back at Hogwarts...

Regulus wondered where Urquart and Veigler had gone, hoping against all hope that they were alright...

But no time to dwell upon it now, he thought, no time. He had to keep his mind strong and steady, impenetrable, and focused...

The Dark Lord rounded about suddenly, and without any warning at all, or any pretense, he waved his wand, sending Peter Pettigrew to the floor before him, his nose touching the stones. "Bow like a proper servant, Wormtail," Voldemort hissed.

Peter was trembling against the stones, and he nodded nervously, stammering apologies.

Voldemort regarded him a long moment, coldly, sternly. "Wormtail," he said, his voice hard. "Wormtail, I believe that you have once again failed me."

"I - I - I have?" Peter whimpered. 

"I commanded you, Wormtail, to bring me the watch that contained the lifetime of James Potter, did I not?"

"You - you commanded ... commanded me t-to bring you the Mickey Mouse watch and --"

"DO NOT DEFY ME, WORMTAIL," Voldemort suddenly bellowed, his anger so great that his wand burst with an unintentional spell - accidental magic wiping out another of the bookcases in the library, sending more books falling, tearing, spewing their pages... 

Peter was sobbing. "I - I'm - I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry, you pathetic excuse of a wizard... You would've done anything to avoid fulfilling my command. Anything!" Then Voldemort's voice turned low, "It doesn't matter, does it, Wormtail, as I've gotten the watch anyway."

Regulus started to inch along the wall behind the watching, snickering Death Eaters...

"You - you - you have?"

"Yes. Ned Veigler got it for me, from the trickster, Frek Tyr." He reached into his robes and Peter recognized the Black family watch, the heirloom that Dora and Charlus Potter had given to Sirius for his seventeenth birthday, the pocketwatch that he'd taken up wearing vests, just to have a tiny pocket to carry his watch in... But Sirius had been carrying the watch, just now, at the Order meeting... Peter stared at it in confusion.