The Dark Lord's Pet Princess

33. The Rat

Voldemort gave Larissa several new wounds on her face, to make her story seem real, but since she was so used to having him hurt her, she wasn't bothered by it.
He then dropped her off in the same town as Peter, and left her to make her own way through the streets.
It didn't take Larissa long to find Peter, and she kept on his tail for a while, waiting for Voldemort to send a Dementor their way.
She felt the creature's presence before she saw it, as it made her feel cold, and filled her head with dark thoughts.

When the Dementor entered the alley, Peter immediately began to whimper as he tried and failed to produce a Patronus.
Larissa didn't exactly have many happy memories, so she had been planning what she wanted to think about, on her walk over.
In the end she had picked a memory from her childhood when her and Sirius had stolen their fathers wand and started playing with it, excited to be performing magic with a wand for the first time.
Once she had her memory in her head, Larissa jumped into the alleyway and stood in front of Peter.
"Expecto Patronum!" Shouted Larissa as a giant silver snake erupted from her wand, chasing off the Dementor.

"Thank you, I-" Peter faltered when he realised that he knew who Larissa was.
"You- You're Larissa Black, Sirius's sister" trembled Peter.
"I am. And you're Peter Pettigrew, my brothers friend" replied Larissa.
"You're a death eater" whispered Peter.
"Yes"
"Are you here to hurt me?"
"No. Why would you think that? Just because I'm a death eater, it doesn't mean that I go around hurting people for no reason. I've never even killed anyone".

"What are you doing here then?" Questioned Peter.
"I'm meeting the dark lord in this area" answered Larissa.
"Was that Dementor one of his?" Asked Peter.
"Um, no, the dark lord doesn't travel around with Dementors either side of him. That's a Minister for Magic, kind of thing. I just sensed the creatures presence and came to investigate"
"What's it doing here?"
"How should I know. Ever since the Minister decided to double the amount of Dementors around Azkaban, for no reason, there have been Dementor attacks all over the place".

"Well, thank you for saving me" said Peter, awkwardly.
"You're welcome" replied Larissa.
"Are you alright though? You look a little bruised and bloody" admitted Peter.
"I was ambushed by some Muggles on the way here. I couldn't use magic on them, without breaking the law, so I had to allow them to hurt me. They were only after money, so they left when they realised I didn't have any on me"
"Merlin's beard, are you going to be O.K?"
"I'll be fine, the dark lord will patch me up in seconds. He looks after those who serve him, so he will make me look as good as new".

"I'm surprised that you didn't just use magic on the Muggles" admitted Peter.
"I told you earlier that I've never killed anyone. And I certainly don't go around hurting random people. I'm not saying that death eaters don't kill Muggles, but they only do it to get the Ministry's attention. There are very few people out there, who enjoy causing others harm. We only do what we have to do, in order to change the world, and make it a better place" informed Larissa.
"I happen to think that the world is a pretty good place already" replied Peter.

"Maybe for you, but not for everyone. Because of the lack of pure-bloods in the country, girls like me get sold off to wealthy families. We have no say in who we marry. If there were no Muggle-borns or half-bloods, and everyone was pure, then girls would be allowed to marry who ever we wanted. We would be allowed to marry for love. My parents were going to force me to marry Amycus Carrow. I ran away to avoid my fate, and the dark lord protected me and gave me a home" revealed Larissa.

"I can see why someone like you would want to join him" sighed Peter.
"You should consider it to" admitted Larissa.
"Me? Why would I want to join him?" Asked Peter.
"The dark lord can protect you in ways that the Order can't. You do realise that the Order of the Phoenix is losing this war. They will not win, and if you are with them, you will die. But if you worked for the dark lord and the Order, then you would be completely safe, and no one could touch you".

"My friends will protect me, I do not need you-know-who's help" announced Peter.
"Your friends are not here now, and they won't always be around to keep so safe. You would have got your soul sucked out just now, if I hadn't been here. Joining the dark lord is the only way you can truely keep yourself safe... But then again, I can't force you to do anything that you don't want to do. The choice is up to you" replied Larissa.
"I will never betray my friends"
"You could join the death eaters and still not directly hurt them. I've been with the dark lord for years, and I've never hurt Sirius. I just want you to consider doing what is best for you, for once. Sometimes in war, you have to put your own life first".

Peter frowned, and Larissa could tell that he was mulling over what she had said.
"I'd better go now, as the dark lord is expecting me... I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Sirius that you saw me, as he already worries about me, and I don't want to cause him any more grief" admitted Larissa.
"You really care about him" replied Peter.
"Of course I do, he's my brother and I love him. We may be on different sides of this war, but I still don't want any harm to come to him. You can be a death eater and love people. We aren't all heartless monsters".

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that" sighed Peter.
"If you ever want to talk about what it's like, being a death eater, I could meet up with you on Friday, right here, at the same time. I could explain to you what options you have. And maybe we could go for a drink somewhere. It would have to be a Muggle place, because I can't go into somewhere like the Leaky Cauldron, for obvious reasons" smiled Larissa.
"How do I know that there won't be a team of death eaters here waiting for me if I return?" Asked Peter.

Larissa took a step towards Peter, "You don't. So I guess you will just have to trust me, if you want to see me again".
"I'll think about it" replied Peter.
Larissa grinned and batted her eyelids, like Voldemort had told her to do.
"I guess I will have to wait and see what you decide to do. I will be here waiting, if you do come back" admitted Larissa.
"Well, until then, um, goodnight Larissa" mumbled Peter, looking flustered.
"Goodnight, Peter Pettigrew" whispered Larissa, before heading off into the night, leaving Peter to think about everything she had told him.