The Girl Who Lived

Wormtail's Truth

June 18th, 1996
Department of Mysteries,
Ministry of Magic,
London.
______________________

The world was spinning.

She couldn't remember a single thing about how she had gotten into a pitch black room when just moments ago, she was holding onto Draco with Harry and Ginny somewhere behind her.

Draco.

Her head was pounding but she- she didn't care. Where the hell was Draco?

When she opened her eyes, her senses were heightened. The air smelled stale and like static, like a blown fuse. Her vision was so sharp that she could see the individual grains of sand in the Time Turners in the corner, piled onto each other like destructive dominoes.

Elena sat up quickly- too quickly.

Her fingers felt all too long and strong. Her hearing was better than it had been in years- hell, maybe ever.

In her sight was a dark silhouette in the burning blue light from the Time Turners she was thrown next to. The figure was blocking the door, with their arms shaking in anxiousness.

Elena's breathing quickened as she reached for her wand on top of the Time Turners and a dagger on her felt. The hilt of the knife was too delicate and suddenly, she was afraid to grab her wand and placed even a finger of pressure on it in case she snapped the wood in half.

"Who are you?" Her voice was familiar, yet not her own.

The figure squeaked and hunched over as Elena stood on her own feet, stumbling and steadying herself on the wall. She had been shorter this morning, just two minutes ago, hadn't she?

Through the blue tinted light, she could perfectly see each wrinkle, each scar, each emotion scattered on the figure's face.

Peter Pettigrew stepped closer into the light, his wand in his luminous silver hand. The wand that had been used to kill Cedric. The hand he had gained as a reward for murdering her Cedric.

Elena's wand was driven into the base of his throat with such an overfilling, icy hot wrath that she was going to slice him open from abdomen to sternum and rip his insides out with her bare hands.

"Give me a reason." Her teeth were clenched together to their breaking point. Her canines were sharper than she remembered. "Give me a single fucking reason I shouldn't kill you right here and now, Wormtail."

He had stopped being Peter the moment he pledged his allegiance to the Dark Lord. He was nothing but a coward, a fearful and idiotic coward to think he would be able to escape the fate that Elena had already decided for him. "I had to warn you, Elena! Just listen to me!"

He held his hands up and waited for Elena to react. Her eye twitched slightly as she decided what she should do. What could he possibly have to "warn" her about? "What are you talking about?"

Wormtail lowered his hands, his silver hand catching the light. "I was not the one who killed Lily and James or your parents."

"Then who did?" Elena's voice was like gravel.

"It was Dumbledore."

Elena scoffed, unable to process everything he just said. How could Dumbledore possibly have killed her parents? "That's not true. You wanted me to spare your life and I will not."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Wormtail begged. "He will be the reason you and Harry Potter meet your demise."

Behind the door, she could hear Hermione screaming as something crashed onto the floor and rattled the room. Elena blindly lurched forward and Peter blocked the door immediately.

"The first time the Dark Lord rose to power," Wormtail began to explain. "I was in the Order with your parents and our friends when Dumbledore asked for me to do a favor for the Order. He asked me to become a spy for the Order and join the Death Eater army to gather information and bring it back to the Order. He claimed it would solve everything for them, that it would be the solution and the holy grail."

"That's impossible. You were a coward who joined the Dark Side out of fear." Elena spat out.

Another crash from behind the door followed by Elena's name being screamed. Draco's voice was searching for her and the soul bond was burning through her skin, trying to touch his own skin.

"I was a spy for the Order before..."

Elena's patience was growing thin. "Before what?"

"The dark magic is consuming." Wormtail's eyes grew wide and hazy. "You know the power of dark magic is like a drug, don't you, Elena?"

The blood spilled on her hands from last year up until now were coating her hands.

"Yes, yes, you do." He muttered. "I saw it in your eyes the night you killed Kyias with dark magic. I see the blood coating your hands and I feel the darkness curling around your spirit. You are addicted to the feeling of dark magic, just like I am."

Elena's mind felt like he had poured it out onto the floor and examined it. "I am nothing like you!"

Wormtail flinched as a small splitter of wood from Elena's wand dug into his throat. "I was a spy at first until I gained the Dark Lord's trust. I was trained by the Dark Lord himself in the ways of dark magic. My power grew and grew and I was addicted to the spells. To the magic that devoured every inch of light in my body. I pledged my allegiance to him because Albus Dumbledore forced me to go to the Dark Lord. Precious Dumbledore knew I was weak, easily convertible. He knew that I would turn against him, against my friends and family and yet, he still sent me there."

Elena didn't know what to say. She knew it was the truth. She always knew when someone was lying and right now, Wormtail wasn't lying. He was telling her the truth, warning her about Dumbledore, just like he said he needed to.

"Trust no one, Elena." Wormtail said. "Remember who the real enemy is."

Elena lowered her wand and everything in her head seemed to make sense, as if all of those years of questions and feelings were finally seen and answered.

Remember who the real enemy is.

_____________

I told you guys the next chapter was going to be up soon ;)

-K <3