Chapter Text
“Man, the look on his face. Am I right?” James laughed, sitting down with his newly poured drink.
“I know right? What a fucking wimp. It’s not like we actually did anything to him yet,” Sirius answered. Snapes’ face had been impassive with watering eyes as he sat there completely still. Remus grimaced at the memory of it, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“Oh come on, Moony. Don’t make that face, we were just kidding,” Peter said, rolling his eyes. Remus inhaled and shook his head in exasperation.
“I didn't say anything,” He answered with pursed lips.
“You didn’t have to. I can see it in your face.” Peter said drily, James and Sirius laughed awkwardly to ease the tension.
~~~
James ran a hand down his face, schooling his emotions. Putting the paper face down on the table, he stood. He began to pace, Remus exhaled deeply to Sirius's consternation. James couldn’t think, the world around him seemed to still and despite his poor eyesight, he could see every particle of dust as it fell around him.
“Is this what you were talking about last night?" Remus asked Sirius.
“Yeah, it is.” He explained with a weary sigh.
“You tried to warn us…” James couldn’t make out the words they were saying, fogged like water in his ears. Harry, god his little boy. Would Peter come after them? Would James’ family fall apart? Neville and his family, were they in danger?
“When? Why? How?” James' frantic words cut off the conversation between Remus and Sirius.
“How did he get out? I thought there were wards to prevent it?” James' questions hung in the air for what seemed like hours.
“Apparently the wards deteriorated. Supposedly, they were updated bi-yearly but it seems as though while the hours were logged, no one was actually showing up. That’s one presumption.” Sirius answered solemnly.
“And the other?” Remus asked
“The other presumption is that he had help.” Sirius' expression was bitter as he answered. Remus shook his head at the words.
“So, the wards specifically put in place to keep an animagus locked up,” James scoffed, vibrating with rage as his face curled into a sneer,
“Were neglected due to a dereliction of duty?” The sheer ferocity of his anger was palpable. Sirius stood and made his way to James' side.
“For the most part James, It won’t affect you or Remus.” Confusion took over the rage as he looked at Sirius.
“What? How could this not affect us?” James asked
“It won’t be a problem because I saw his cell. And when I tell you that Peter has thought of nothing but Snape all this time, I mean it.” The gravity in his voice belied the significance.
“What did you see?” Remus asked,
“Every flat surface had ‘Severus’ etched into it. Like a curse or a mantra encompassing the space,” Sirius voice was dead and yet full of fear.
~~~
“Where the hell do you keep sneaking off to Wormy?” Remus' voice was light as he spied Peter grabbing James invisibility cloak yet again. Peter jolted where he stood as he turned to the werewolf.
“It’s just a late night walk, need to clear my head a bit.” Peter sheepishly ran his hands through his hair, looking up through his eyelashes with a smile.
“What’s on your mind? Can I help?” Remus, ever kind and present asked.
“I guess I just feel a little bad about yesterday, maybe I was a little harsh with Snape” Peter’s eyes darted between Remus' face and the dorm wall behind him as his face flushed. Remus exhaled and patted Peter’s back with a nod.
“Maybe, he seemed kind of sad already,” Remus said
“Yeah, but he always does though, so….” Peter responded. Remus didn’t respond, only staring at him.
“Well, I’m off then. Bye.” Peter said and left the dorm.
Walking through the halls of Hogwarts seemed to be the only time Peter felt at ease. From the large, opulent carved walls to the stone floor and every stained glass window, every part of her beauty fed into that romance of magic.
When Peter first entered her halls, in 1971, he’d felt like the chosen one. A son of god on a path to glory. But then he’d seen Severus. They hadn’t known each other, but Peter remembered him from Cokeworth. They rode the same bus to school for about two months before Peter’s father had been promoted. Then the Pettigrews moved to Weyland Rd, Oxford.
Severus was quiet, but then he always had been. Claiming James, Sirius and Remus only heightened Peter’s elevation in life. Peter always had a knack for picking out the biggest and best, Hogwarts wasn’t anything new and nor were the people.
It wasn’t his fault Snape caught James and Sirius’ eyes, but Peter would benefit from it. Until yesterday. Sitting alone, tearfully at the Three Broomsticks, Severus was very reminiscent of those bus rides. The guilt was encompassing.
The sound of shuffling caught Peter’s attention and looking up, he saw Evan Rosier. Which seemed strange. You’d think a guy who had suffered broken bones wouldn’t be out and about, especially when the culprit hadn’t been found.
It was all anyone could talk about. Poor, precious Evan. Attacked while his back was turned, he fell 13 feet. With nothing better to do, Peter followed him.
~~~
Friday morning had gone incredibly well for Severus. A quiet and peaceful breakfast with Narcissa and Lucius as Lucius read the paper. The headline was quite alarming, to think Peter Pettigrew, notorious Death Eater had escaped Azkaban was alarming.
It didn’t have anything to do with him, though. So all in all, his morning was great. The same could not be said for the rest of the day. Bent over a desk signing paper after paper, form after form was exhausting Severus. If he had known it hurt this much to get his house knocked down he would have sold the bloody thing.
Much less stress, and less effort to deal with. It also stole optimal brewing time from him which was another annoyance. And Severus still had to rent a space to open his own potions shop. Each hour ticked by, feeling the wasted sun come and go sent a sense of regret into his skin. As the sun dipped lower, painting beautiful hues of purple and pink across the sky, Severus had no idea that Peter was out there somewhere.
Looking for him.