Cursed

By HazelMist

Author's Note: I know, I know, long time no see. I've been cleaning out my files this past week though and I found this. I was planning on making this chapter longer, dragging the story out even more but I don't remember why I stopped in the middle of it or what I was planning on doing with it. I was tempted just to abandon this story, I mean it's been over a year hasn't it since I last updated and I stopped writing this story at least 2 years ago. But one or two people have reviewed in the past couple of months telling me that despite how much this story sucked they fell in love with it and think it would be wrong for me to leave it unfinished. Why not finish it then? I should be able to wrap this up by my spring break? Summer? Hopefully, who knows. But whatever here's chapter 37.

Summary: You probably forget the whole thing so here's a summary for those few that desperately want to continue reading this fanfic. It's pre-Ootp. Lily and James have hated each other for six years, but now in their seventh year something changes after Lily and James receive a detention together and Lily finally loses her cool. Lily gets so angry that she casts a memory charm of some sort on James, causing him to "forget" that he hates Lily and fall madly in love with her. Lily tries to resist, but she can't help but fall for this new James Potter who's sweet and kind to her. Gradually James's memory starts to come back to him. Meanwhile their friends Diane and Sirius struggle with their feelings for each other and eventually get together, and Remus and Mary after setting Sirius and Diane up fall for each other as well. James's slightly psycho ex-girlfriend Jenn, attacks Lily under the Imperious Curse prompting them to discover that there is a traitor amongst them, but who it is they don't know. James finally recovers his memory, is enraged with Lily, but eventually learns that he loves her. Lily and James get back together, for real this time after a second detention and a water fight, and then suddenly Jenn comes back from the hospital wing trying to tell them who the traitor is but is unable to because of a curse she's under. The gang tries to steal her a truth potion to help her with her confession, but Mary finds the Potions Professor dead (Professor Tomorrow it's PRE OOTP OK? Ok.) and is framed for the murder that she did not commit. The gang decides that Mary is not a murderer after all, steal another truth potion for Jenn. Mary realizes its poisoned but did she stop them in time? The Marauders sneak out and get the antidote for Jenn in hopes of saving her life but who knows if she'll live. And Peter is demonstrating some extremely suspicious behavior… What could he be up too?

The Flashback in this scene is a companion to the one found in Chapter 29: You Cant Hide where there's a train attack in their 5th or 6th year, Diane and Sirius have an intimate moment and Lily and James forget their difference for about a millisecond.

Chapter 37: The Traitor

The Hogwarts halls were dark and empty, lit only by the flickering light of the torches. He navigated his way easily through the stone corridors, expertly avoided the trick steps and the suits of armor that liked to trip people, all without the help of a wand light. He only slipped up once on the stairs and he had been fortunate enough to catch himself before he nearly collided with a row of suits of armor that waited at the bottom.

He smiled, as he slowly eased down the stairs and walked right past the suits of armor silently. It had only taken him the full seven years to finally get it right. But smiling broadly, he thought to himself, that it was worth the wait.

What would the other three Marauders have thought if they could see him now, no longer stumbling, no longer kissing the ground they walked on, finally using the little courage, brains and ambition that he had? They would have been proud and they probably wouldn't have recognized him. Pride swelled up in his chest only to be deflated like a balloon in the next instant. His grin faltered as he remembered what he had sacrificed to stand alone as his own person. For that was exactly what he was now, no more bumbling, worshipping, little Peter Pettigrew. That was a thing of the past. But he had lost something as well.

Peter kept going, pushing these thoughts out of his mind. He concentrated on the task at hand. The Master was waiting for him, depending on him. It hadn't succeeded the first time but how on earth was Peter supposed to have predicted Mary, of all people, realizing that it was poisoned? Perhaps he would ask one of the Marauders later how she had found out. He was rather curious, considering her situation at the moment. No doubt the Master would have another task for him after he completed this one. Peter could almost guess what it would be.

He was surprised at how easy it came to him. Before he would shudder and sometimes he would even hole himself up in his bed for hours and shiver and whimper at the thought of what he was doing. But as each order arrived, Peter felt less and less of the remorse and the guilt that had once pulsed through his veins. The voice in his head was silent, replaced with that of the feared Master who had chosen him to be a humble servant. He could still remember the glorious moment when he had asked him. What a fool he had been for not thinking of joining him earlier.

Peter paused at the door of the infirmary. He pressed an ear to the door and took several minutes of trying to remember and then emptying his pockets to find a slip of paper with the proper spell written on it. Some things would never change for the rat faced boy. Peter got the spell right on his fourth try, and the door opened. He locked the door to the hallway which led to Madam Pomfrey's sleeping quarters, though he was almost sure she was sound asleep judging by the snores.

Boldly he strode across the room and ripped the curtains aside. Moonlight streamed in through the open window and a cool night breeze stirred the curtains. She lay there bathed in the eerie moonlight, on her back with her arms spread across the pillow at random angles. Her head was turned away from him, half buried in the pillow. Her long chestnut colored hair was strewn across the pillow almost hiding her face from view. Cautiously he reached out and touched a strand of her brown hair gently. She had always been pretty, especially her perfectly straight brown hair. When Prongs, Padfoot and Moony had decided that he had a crush on Jenn they had been half right. Even now still fighting the effects of the poison he had slipped into the Truth Potion she was beautiful in his eyes.

What he hadn't counted on was her being so smart and brave. It had always been a mystery for him as to how such a brainless beauty like her had gotten into Gryffindor. He supposed it was because of her parents, but still he had wondered. When Master had given him the order and pointed out the three he had been stunned, surely there had to be some mistake. She had outsmarted him from the beginning. He had been given the order at the start of the year and she had eluded him cleverly for nearly six months. She knew she had had the advantage, knew right from the start what he wanted, who he was working for and what he wasn't going to get. So they had to call a Slytherin.

It had been humiliating for Peter. After that he had no sympathy for her, he had worked tirelessly and put the Imperio and Crucio on her from time to time, forced her to date James Potter though she played the brainless girl well and if she had found any information from James they would never know because she refused to tell them. Then she had fought off the Imperio when it had come to killing the other two. Then there was the silencing spell, she had fought that as well. She knew that Lily would pick it up right away, dropped the right hints and had the perfect plan ready to strike back at him. But he had noticed what she was up too, or at least the master had. He had skipped classes with that Slytherin Wilkes, stolen James' invisibility cloak and together the two of them had gone in and murdered the Professor and destroyed all of the Truth Potion. It had been rather fortunate that Mary had walked in, they almost killed two birds with one stone, but timing was everything and they decided to frame her instead. But that hadn't worked either, since Dumbledore was the Head Master. He saw the good in everyone and it was one of his strengths and weaknesses. Several junior Death Eaters like Peter himself, were running around Hogwarts because Dumbledore didn't have the heart to kick them out.

He had never counted on her being smart or brave beneath her brainless, boy crazy exterior, but that's exactly what she was, a brilliant Gryffindor. It had all been an act, and it had worked beautifully. That's why he would have even more pleasure killing her.

A grin crossed his face and his hand closed into a fist over another strand of hair. He marveled at the power. Right now he was about to kill the helpless, unconscious girl before him. Peter smiled smugly, drawing his wand from his pocket. Even if she did wake, which she wouldn't because he'd be too quick and Madam Pomfrey had probably given her a dreamless sleep draught, she didn't have a wand and was defenseless. At least that's what Peter thought.

That was until the girl suddenly rolled over with eyes wide open and threw herself at him, her hand going straight for his throat, her foot going for his groin. The wand fell from his hand clattering to the floor, and Peter moaned in pain, his hands next going for his throat which she was squeezing so tightly that the air was already starting to leave.

Quick as a flash she had let go of him and grabbed his discarded wand. Now she stood facing him with the wand pointed directly at the center of his chest. Her eyes blazed with an anger and a determination that Peter had never seen before.

"One move, if you so much as move a hair of an inch, I'll kill you." She breathed.

Peter started trembling as fear pulsed through his body. By the look in her eyes he knew she was ready to kill him. He didn't stand a chance, he thought panicking.

"Y-y-y-you w-w-wouldn't b-be s-so m-m-mean." He stuttered in a voice quivering with real fear.

The girl laughed bitterly, scowling as she surveyed the shivering mess of a servant that the Dark Lord had chosen to be a double agent. A part of her was still surprised by it, but now that she knew the new Wormtail, she knew that they should've seen the warning signs long ago.

"Just give me one reason why I shouldn't."

"A-A-A-z-k-k-k-"

"Azkaban?!" She smirked. "Obviously you don't know me too well. Or you would know that I've lost everything I ever wanted to live for. Your Master killed my parents, my younger sister, my two cousins, my aunt and my grandfather. He even went through the trouble to kill my boyfriend. Or have you forgotten, Wormtail?" She hissed her eyes burning brightly with new found hatred and anger.

Even in his trembling, quivering state, the words echoed in his mind.

"He even went through the trouble to kill my boyfriend. Or have you forgotten Wormtail?"

Peter remembered now. The boy on the train, the one who's Dad was an Auror and Mom was a prominent employee of the Department of Mysteries…

Peter stood in an abandoned compartment with a group of his fellow Death Eaters. He was trembling from head to toe both in anticipation and fear. It was the first raid he had been included in. After he finished his O.W.L.S he had been surprised to receive a letter from the Master himself asking him to join the others in an attack on the Hogwarts Express in the coming week. Peter had reluctantly joined, both curious and afraid of what might happen.

And now here he was waiting with the others who were trying unsuccessfully to unlock a door to a compartment.

"They have it shut pretty good." A Seventh year Slytherin growled half in admiration and half in annoyance of the group that was ruining their big day. They had every damn defense on that door that could possibly exist. And of course this just happened to be the compartment that they needed to open.

It was taking them a lot longer then they had expected to break down the door. An aging Death Eater, and a brilliant Ex-Ravenclaw were working tirelessly to remove each one individually. Finally after what seemed like years for quivering Peter Pettigrew, the door was flung open.

Curses, Hexes, Charms and sparks of every color flew directly into their faces. The Death Eaters didn't have much time to react. Peter stood at the back, watching as one by one they apparated or fell before him. Little by little the black wall moved and shifted, revealing what was inside the compartment. What he saw stunned him.

A group of students had gathered together in the compartment, as if anticipating their move. They couldn't have chose a better group Peter thought. There was The Head Girl, Dorcas Meadows, along with the Head Boy, nearly all of the graduating Gryffindors, as well as several of the prefects from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and a few random students. It had been rather stupid of them not to strike the Prefect's carriage first, they should have known they would have pulled something like this. After all they were the brilliant ones, and the brave resisters. Peter watched in awe. There were Lily and James, standing side by side, working together to take down the Death Eaters on their side. It was a remarkable sight to see them acting like a team when they were normally attempting to kill each other. And then there were two sixth year Gryffindors Frank Longbottom and Benjy Fenwick's oldest son Matthew, working to take down the other side with a Hufflepuff prefect, Alice Arrow.

Peter was amazed, he had never thought that anyone would dare resist the Dark Lord. Weren't they scared of him? Didn't they know what they were up against? Peter had the opportunity to look around him and realized that all of the Death Eaters were gone. Only the ones lying on the ground remained. Shocked he started running, but someone was following. Peter ran into a compartment realizing too late that he was cornered. Matt Fenwick grabbed him.

"You're not getting away." Matt hissed. Peter panicked and squirmed like the rat he was bringing them both to the ground.

Matt pulled out his wand ready to stun him, but then he saw Peter's face.

His mouth dropped.

"A Marauder?" He gasped.

"It's a mistake!" Peter managed to squeak. "They made me!"

Matt just got madder, raising his wand and ready to strike. Peter then did something entirely unexpected, he transformed. Once again Peter had the element of surprise working in his favor. He made a bee line for the compartment across the hall, dodging Matt's large feet and the sparks that he kept throwing at him from his wand.

"Get back here you rat!" He yelled following Peter into the compartment.

Just then the compartment door flung open. Lily, James and a prefect he didn't know rushed in.

"Matt it's a trap!" James shouted.

But Matt never heard, for looking up he found himself face to face with two Death Eaters, just as they sent a killing curse directly at his chest. Lily and James each took one out and the other girl sent another two their way just to make sure. The three of them raced to the fallen Gryfindor's side, trying hopelessly to revive him. They had gotten there too late.

Shaking the older girl ran to get help, or at least to alert the others of the Death and the two stunned Death Eaters in that compartment. James had his head down, in a state of shock and sadness beneath his long messy bangs. Lily just sat there staring at the body with eyes wide, still hanging onto the boy's lifeless hand. Slowly she began to tremble as if some unseen demon had taken possession of her body.

James looked up as if seeing her for the first time.

"Evans." He called, but his voice was soft and thick with grief for his former quidditch team mate. Lily didn't see or hear him, she just trembled even more, as if shivering.

"Lily?" It was the first time since their first year that Peter had ever heard James speak her first name. It seemed as if the word was rough on his tongue. Slowly James tested it again on his tongue, this time in a more gentle and comforting tone, one that Peter had never heard coming from James before. He moved toward the shaking girl, slowly, finally touching her on the shoulder and causing her to look up at him.

"He's not, he can't be..." She croaked. Her green eyes looked into his.

"He's dead Lily." James said solemnly. The words were harsh but she had to hear them. James watched as tears formed in Lily's eyes even as she tried so hard to fight them off. A strange feeling stirred inside of him as he watched her. He couldn't explain it but suddenly they weren't enemies anymore, just two people having just gone through a terrible ordeal and now dealing with a dead fellow Gryffindor and friend of both.

"He's d-d-dead-d-d." Her quivering voice finally broke, and the sobs began to come freely.

It was as if someone else had taken over his body. Slowly, stiffly, cautiously James reached for her. One arm found its way around her shoulders, and the other was creeping up to his grieving enemy's shoulders as well. If Lily thought that this was odd, being her mortal enemy she must have ignored those facts. As James pulled her closer, Lily did nothing. She just allowed him to take her limp body and hold her up as she cried. Ten minutes later James had his arms fully around her and Lily was sobbing into the front of his robes. He was grieving as well, though it only showed in his eyes if you looked closely. Peter realized that James needed this as much as Lily did.

They could have been friends or something more the way they looked. Though their motions were somewhat stiff and hesitant, they could have been something. He watched as Lily moved away and looked up at him, perhaps silently thanking him. James looked down at her, a mutual feeling of grief reflecting in his normally laughing or burning brown eyes.

That was the one of the last times Peter ever thought of returning. Someone had just died, and yet two enemies had put aside their differences not only to fight together as a team but then to comfort one another. He was reminded of the strong bond the Marauders had and perhaps still shared. Then there were the girls, though Taylor and Jenn were still somewhat on the outside, they had a friendship of their own that could rival that of the Marauders. Then there was Diane and Sirius, and perhaps Remus and Mary. And here were Lily and James, enemies during the school year but here on the Hogwarts Express in the midst of a crisis their masks had come undone, revealing who they really were. Perhaps, just maybe, they didn't hate each other after all. These were the Gryffindors, the ones he was betraying the ones he was turning his back on. And for a brief moment as he watched the two draw closer to one another, he had the shadow of doubt and seriously considered going to Dumbledore and offering to turn around. But slowly the Master's constant presence in his mind reminded him of the glory he had felt, the way he would always be treated, and the reason why no one seemed to notice the small changes in Peter Pettigrew. He had, never could, be a part of them. This was the only way he could go.

Still he took part in the moment of tranquility, and grief the Gryffindor enemies were having. He relived a few of his happier memories with the Marauders, quietly tucking them away in his mind to be forgotten. None of them wanted that moment to end.

But as soon as that door was flung open, the moment was shattered. Lily and James separated even before the compartment door finished sliding open. They wouldn't look at each other, instead they stared at the body as the others came in.

And then just as Lily and James were leaving, finally finished with the interrogations and off to see how their friends had fared, she came running in. Her brown hair was askew and her eyes were wide with anxiety and fear. Lily and James were gone, the others were stepping back, allowing her to see the figure lying in the center of the room.

"NO!" She screamed flinging herself down onto the ground beside him. "No not Matt, you can't leave me!" The others left the room giving her time to grieve. She ran her hands lovingly over the body of her boyfriend for the last time, kissing his lips gently and bathing him with her tears of grief.

"I'm alone now." She whispered stroking his hair for the final time and lifting her head. Her eyes focused on Peter Pettigrew, the rat that no one had noticed before. For a brief instant their eyes locked and it was as if she knew who he really was.

"How could you do this to me?" She spoke to the rat, though she was talking to the Master himself who was far away in his lair, probably congratulating or punishing the others that had escaped.

"You won't win." She continued, her face twisting into a look of determination, her eyes flashing with a mixture of grief, anger and promise.

"We won't let you."

The fire in her eyes seemed only to grow stronger. Perhaps she too had been remembering the day when she had lost her boyfriend to the Death Eaters, or perhaps she was remembering the day her parents and family were torn from her in the same manner her boyfriend was. Whatever it was it only seemed to fuel her hatred and anger.

"I'll take my chances in Azkaban." She hissed and then she opened her mouth, prepared to kill Peter Pettigrew once and for all.

What happened next neither of them expected. Something, or rather someone, leapt out of the shadows and grabbed the brunette from behind. The girl tried to scream but a large cold hand covered her mouth. She squirmed helplessly shooting off random sparks. Desperately she tried to free herself or take aim with the Rat's stolen wand. Her efforts were fruitless, the enemy was too strong. The wand was wrenched from her grasp even as she fought against him. It was tossed to Peter who failed to catch it and went down on all fours, scrambling for it.

"Don't move bitch, unless you want a painful drawn out death." A cruel voice hissed in her ear. She felt the wand pressing against her throat. It was over and she was too tired to fight. She froze and prepared herself for a quick death.

I'm sorry Lily and Mary, I never got to tell you-

"NO! STUPEFY!"

The door to the infirmary was flung open just as a blazing red light shot toward her, Jenn felt her limbs stiffen and lock, and suddenly she drifted out of consciousness. The last thing she remembered was catching a glimpse of a familiar face in the doorway, closing her eyes and crumpling to the stone floor.

Death at last.

A/N: See above. Again the flashback is a companion to the one in Ch29. This chapter should have been posted when it was completed 2 years ago, I don't know why I held onto it. I know this is pre-Ootp, I know my grammar sucks, I know the plotline is a bit ridiculous and there are WAY too many clichés, but looking back I kind of miss this story. It's a silly, easy read with a bit of an original streak. As I said before I wrote the first 3 chapters to this story in about 15 minutes and I had so much fun writing this story because I didn't know where I was going with it and I didn't care. It was a blast to write and it's a pity that only now, when its too late I've come back to see if I can end it. So thanks to everyone who reviewed that last chapter so long ago. I read every single one of them and I adore all of you. Thank you.