LANDSLIDE, james potter [2]

Chapter Ten

Quickly, from each of their wands, blue lights flashed throughout the room, hitting the rat in Remus's hand. The rat squeaked as the spells approached him. Once they hit, he suddenly froze in mid-air as he twisted madly. He quickly fell to the floor.

Ron kept calling out for them to stop, that they were hurting his rat. He seemed to have forgotten that it wouldn't affect any normal rat. Lyra glared, knowing that it had to be true. The man responsible for James and Lily's deaths was going to be right in front of her. 

The transformation back to a human looked painful, especially when it was forced. It took a few too many moments, but it didn't take long for there to be a familiar man on the floor where Scabbers once had been.

He looked quite different from when they were teenagers. Just as short and nervous looking, if not even more. He had lost quite a bit of weight, which didn't look very natural to Lyra who had grown up seeing him as a bit porky. He'd been quite obviously balding and his skin was dirty and quite wrinkly for only being thirty-four years old. 

He looked quite terrified at seeing them again. Sirius and Lyra's harsh glares probably didn't help. He glanced around the room, taking in his surroundings and very obviously focusing on the close-by door. 

"Well, hello, Peter," said Remus almost pleasantly (though passive-aggressively), thinking he was the best to speak. The others seemed too ready to immediately commit a murder. "Long time, no see."

"S-Sirius... R-Remus... L-Lyra..." Peter stuttered, his voice hoarse as if he hadn't spoken properly in years. He tried to hide his glancing at the door, but he was sure the blonde had caught him. "My friends... My old friends..."

As both Sirius and Lyra raised their wand arms, Remus had to use a hand each to grab each of their wrists. He gave them both warning looks, telling them not to do anything rash that they would regret. 

Lyra wasn't usually the type to do things rashly. But this was the man that lead to James's death. He as good as killed the love of her life. If there was any time to be rash, she thought it would be then. Remus didn't seem to agree. 

Remus took the lead once again. "We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed-"

"It was quite pathetic, actually. Suppose that's a fitting description for you, though, Peter," Lyra spat. While she couldn't hex or kill him because Remus wouldn't let her, she couldn't keep herself from showing her anger in other ways. 

"Lyra!" Peter gasped, looking quite desperate, sweating as he looked between the woman and the werewolf with extremely pleading looks. "You don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard." Remus's voice sounded strangely cold. It was like the tone he had used with her once they had gotten reunited again, only worse. It didn't quite suit him. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so-"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Peter yelled, his voice shrill and squeaky. Lyra could feel her hatred for him grow more with every passing second. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me, too! Lyra, you've got to help me. Remus..."

"Oh, I'm going to help you, you little git," Lyra hissed. Remus had to hold his arm out in front of her to stop her from raging at him. "After I'm done helping you, nobody's ever going to hurt you again. There won't be anything left to help!"

"No one's going to try to kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said the werewolf, looking quite sternly at the blonde woman, who glared at him in return. She didn't understand how he could be so calm, standing in front of the man that had basically killed James.