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Caged.	By : Arioc Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2349 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Author�s
Note: I only have three chapters left that I haven�t postet yet. I don�t know
how fast I�m going to write the rest, as I�m currently ill and besides need to
put most of my time into a short movie (short meaning about 45 minutes) I�m
directing. So don�t expect me to update too regularly. I�ll try one chapter a
week, but I can�t promise anything. And I�m going to wait with chapter seven
until I�ve either found a beta or got five reviews!

Love to
those who left their comments already � I�m glad you liked it so far, even
though the pairing is a bit off-putting.

~~~

He would
have liked to see the twin�s face if they�d been able to see him in the
dungeons, Scabbers floating beside him, when he knocked on the door to the
potions classroom. But then no-one answered, and he had to reconsider his great
idea of going down here, especially with Scabbers in plain view, who was
running in circles now. It occurred to him Snape might have a room besides the
classroom, and that he might even sleep in a different part of the castle.

He knocked
again, louder this time, but had to admit it had been foolish coming down here,
and even more so to wait here � there were no classes today, Snape might not
even show up for breakfast � he still hadn�t been in the great hall for meals.
Just when Ron was about to go, there was a shuffling sound and a muttered curse
(of the non-magical sort), and a second later the door opened to reveal a Snape
that loomed menacingly over Ron and tried to revenge his lost sleep by glaring
threateningly. His hair was dishevelled and more greasy than ever, Ron noted
flabbergasted, he could even spot the hint of an imprint of his pillow on
Snape�s cheek. He felt very much an intruder to the man�s privacy for being
stared at and staring back in this fashion, and he hastily made an attempt to
explain himself as he overcame his first shock.

�Good
morning, Professor Snape. I, er, thought this was a good time to have a quick
talk with ��

He gestured
helplessly at the still floating cage.

�I find it
astounding you thought at all, Mr. Weasley.�

Ron�s ears
went red. That Snape said it tiredly and without much venom made him feel even
worse.

�Oh, do
come in,� Snape barked after another uncomfortable moment.

The empty
classroom looked particularly threateningly today, and Ron had problems to
decide where to put his hands.

�So,� Snape
stated. They stood facing each other in the front of the classroom, Ron
fidgeting with his robes, Snape with his arms crossed.

�Let me see
if I understood correctly. You have decided to have a talk with your rat in the
middle of the night, therefore ignoring curfew and waking me up.�

�Er. Yes.
Well, it�s not that early, it�s six a.m. �� Ron looked at his watch
again and groaned. It was half past three, clearly and without mistaking it. He
stared at the watch hands he must have mixed up earlier in horror. No wonder
Fred and George had been so surprised to see him in the common room at this
hour, taking his rat for a walk. Merlin, this must be the worst mistake I
ever made.

�S-Sir, I�m
really very sorry, I � misread my watch.�

Ron�s face
burned with the shame of knowing how stupid that must have sounded.

�I�ll just
return to bed and try to go to sleep, okay? I swear I didn�t mean to come here
at this time, and I won�t bother you again.�

Snape
looked at him coldly.

�Oh, I
think you will. First because Dumbledore wants you to bother me to have
this conversation you came down here for, if I�m not very much mistaken, so
there�s no way of getting rid of you permanently for me that doesn�t get me
fired. Second, we�re both up now anyway, so the damage is already done. I would
appreciate it if you refrained from suggesting I�ve got up in vain and stopped
wasting my time. At this hour, I daresay it�s useless to go to bed again, and
let�s not forget our guest would be disappointed, too.�

Ron
swallowed against the lump that was his conscience. This is Snape! Snape�s
whole existence is based on unhappy students. I have no reason not to
annoy him as much as I can. Pettigrew, too. Why the hell am I such a nice
person when I�m face to face with the people I detest? Must be their innate
authority or something.

�So you
think I should talk to him, now?�

�It�s not
so much the question whether you should or not, but whether you want to. Do
you?�

�I, er,
yeah. I want to get it over with.� Ron was confused. That�s the way it was
supposed to work, wasn�t it?

�I don�t
think you�ll get very far that way. So you�re doing this as a favor to
Dumbledore?�

Snape�s
voice seemed to have gotten even colder, if possible.

�Well,
yes.� Ron felt insecure of all sudden. Why had he agreed to this?

�I want
this whole mess out of my system.�

�What do
you mean, out of your system?�

What the
hell does Snape care?, Ron thought, furiously trying to figure out what his motivation to come
down here actually was beyond duty. Snape could sense lies, he knew, and it
would not do to anger him now. Let sleeping dogs lie, they say. I�m such an
idiot.

�Well, all
that stuff � betrayed trust, failed friendship, Harry�s dead parents, the
muggles that died at Pettigrew�s hand and the twelve years Sirius was in prison
� it�s scary, and I want it to be over. I want there to be grass growing over
it; I want things to heal. But nothing is over as long as murderers are running
free and innocents have to hide. Talking to him � it�s not as bad as I thought
it would be, but it�s still scary, in a whole different way.�

Ron held
his breath, not daring to say more. He had already said far too much. Snape
swept him with a calculating stare, and seemed to decide he didn�t require
further information.

He had
relaxed a bit, and Ron hoped that was a good sign. Unsure about what was
expected from him now, he just stood there, waiting for Snape to let him go or
spit fire or else do as he saw fit. Snape seemed to have decided.

�[insert
spell here]. You may go inside.�

Ron nodded,
then asked �How do I get him to transform?�

�Oh. Yes, I
forgot. I�ll have to come with you, then.�

This was
not calming Ron in the least, and now that he knew he hadn�t slept nearly
enough, he felt a lot more tired than before.

Snape led
him inside the chamber behind the store room, which was devoid of iron bars
now. Ron levitated the cage to the opposite corner of the room.

Snape� spread his arms and muttered a series of
spells to set up the bars with some wide swerving motions that reminded Ron
very much of the sort of thing he had had in mind in their first Potions class.
There will be no foolish wand-waving, indeed. That looked pretty bumptious
to me.

�Alohomora.�

Scabber�s
cage opened and the rat scurried out.

Ron had
seen Pettigrew transform before, once, but it had been a slow and forced
change. This time, the whole scene played�
in fast motion. The rat stretched and grew into Pettigrew in mere
seconds, who gave a short cough and sat up. Then he looked at his captors.

Snape gave
him a sharp nod, then one to Ron. �I�ll leave you to it, then. Have fun.�

Ron found
that last comment highly sarcastic, but didn�t reply.

The door
closed, and they were alone. Ron focused on Pettigrew again, who was sitting up
now.

�Why are
you sitting there?� Ron asked tensely, remembering their first talk.

�Because I
like it here,� quoted Pettigrew.

Allright,
two can play this game.

�Why?�

�Because it�s so cosy.�

Ron found that short exchange was more of a peace offering than he could
have expected, and settled down as well, a bit more at ease. None of them
seemed to have an idea what to say next, but Ron decided to wait Pettigrew out.
Soon enough, he shifted uncomfortably and opened his mouth, then closed it
again. Ron looked over, trying to give a politely interested impression.
Pettigrew wet his lips, then looked down.

�I want it to be over, too, you know.�

Ron remained waiting for an explanation, and Pettigrew, upon reading his
blank face, elaborated.

�What you said, before. That you want it to be over, to allow things to
heal. I want that, too.�

�I see,� Ron said slowly. �I�m sorry I said that.� � in your presence,
Ron finished to himself. Pettigrew appeared to be surprised.

�Why? I mean, you don�t need to be. You said nothing rude, and really, I
� I feel the same way. Just that I�m more heavily involved, I guess. But I
don�t want to live in the past. I want to move on.�

�Without you, none of it would have happened.�

Ron bit himself on the tongue. Note to self: remove foot from mouth.
It won�t do to insult him.

Pettigrew sighed and was silent again.

�How about a change of subject?� Ron suggested.

�You were telling me about your former friends, yesterday.�

�Oh. Yes, where did I stop?�

Pettogrew seemed thankful for the prompt, and Ron considered their last
conversation. He decided against reminding him of their last exchanged words so
as not to bring up Pettigrews sexual orientation again. It unnerved him for
some reason, even though he had heard some about �those people� before and had
no reasons to think bad of them. Still, he felt uncomfortable hearing about
someone�s preferences like that.

�I want to know how that friendship broke apart.� And I want to know
it to make sure nothing like that ever happens to Harry, Hermione and me.

�That will be three stories, maybe four. Where should I start?�

Ron, thinking about the task Dumbledore had set him, knew how to answer
to that.

�How did you get into You-know-who�s ranks? You were no believer in his
purpose before, were you?�

�No, no. I never was, and I�m still not. But I guess that�s the forth
story, I�d rather not begin with it.�

Ron decided not to pressure him more and shrugged.

�However. You talked about James the last time. What about the others?
Sirius, Remus?�

�Well, with Sirius, it�s easy. As I said before, he was trouble from the
start, a reckless fool who enjoyed playing up his macho behaviour. I admired
and envied him, at first, after he came around and broke with his family, what
I considered cool, too. He was the motor behind most of our pranks, he
loved trouble and enjoyed it so much he got his friends into it, too. And he
never listened to the voice of reason.�

Ron couldn�t contain himself.

�Which is you, of course, because it�s so reasonable to run to the next
madman for branding.�

�Which was Remus, mostly. But he didn�t listen to anybody, he was always
right and we always did what he said. That�s okay when your twelve, but not at
sixteen. And look where it got us, he nearly killed someone, and still,
after fourteen years, acts as if it was just another prank. �It was just
Snape,� he used to say, �I don�t know why you�re so upset.� � it was attempted
murder, and it nearly got all of us expelled. I hated Snape as much as the next
man, but ��

�Hold your breath, okay? If I have to listen to you babbling, at least
don�t get all morally on me. You killed James, Lily and twelve muggles.� Ron
was genuinely angry now.

�And nobody ever said people should be like me. They said it about
Sirius all the time.�

�Which makes it better? Just because Sirius was an irresponsible bully
who was presented as a model student you think you can run off killing people?�

� � it made me think I was fighting for the wrong side.�

Ron paused in his rage to think about that, then snorted.

�Honestly. Are you really na�ve enough to believe the enemy of your
enemy is your friend?�

�I was back then.�

Ron shook his head, and his anger returned.

�And here I was starting to think you were clever. Tell you what, I
don�t have to listen to this. I�m out.�

And out he was before Pettigrew had a chance to intervene. Only when he
stood in the gloomy store room, hate pulsing through his veins and heart
pounding like mad did he remember Snape would perhaps be angry at him, now.

Nothing
I can do, now. I�m sure as hell not going back. That rat�s barking mad.

Snape stood
waiting for him in the classroom. Ron wondered if he had stood there all the
time or if the monitor spell had told him Ron had left.

�I gather
you don�t wish for his ratty presence in the near future?�

Ron had
hoped his demeanor was composed and felt caught.

�How do you
know?�

�Easy. Finite
Incantatem.�

�Oh.�

They looked
at each other shortly, then Snape wiped his face with his hand in a sleepy way,
turning around.

�Get some
sleep, Weasley. I suggest Pettigrew stays here for a while. You can return
later, of course, or just ask me or the headmaster to retrieve him, should you
wish to get him back without further conversation.�

�Okay.
Though I�m not sure I want to come back again for him at all. And, uh, I haven�t
fed him yet.�

Snape
pivoted on the spot.

�You�ve let
him starve this whole week?�

�No! No,
his last meal was yesterday morning. I didn�t give him anything for dinner,
though. Just � he would need something if he stays here.�

Snape
obviously found that unexpectedly considerate, as he nodded in surprised
agreement.

�I see.
I�ll see to that.�

Ron found
the lack of insults still unnerving and left with a murmor that was agreement
and goodbye in one. He�s a lot creepier when he acts human � Pettigrew, too,
in some ways, coming to think about it.

Ron managed
to get another hour of sleep before he was woken by the busy sound of his
dormmates getting up. His excursion seemed like a dream to him, now, and only a
glance at where Scabbers should be verified it had indeed been real, as the
space below his bed was empty. He quickly got up and changed into his school
robes. It occurred to him that it might not have been the wisest move to lie
down again, as he was now more tired than before. Breakfast was therefore a
quiet affair, as Ron was in no mood to indulge in small talk. His friends were
full of anticipation of/about the exam results, but he found he didn�t care
much. He expected to pass everything, with the possible exception of
divination, and was content with that.

When they
finally got to receive their exams, however, he felt he dreaded the results. He
would be nowhere near his oldest brothers, he knew that for sure, and he
somehow felt insulted by the fact he, himself, could be considered something of
a tag-along of the hero and the genius. It made him uneasy, thinking about
Pettigrew again. The Potters had trusted him, so they must have been
close friends. He would have liked it far better had Pettigrew been a stupid
fan of a cool group � someone like Colin, perhaps more unhappy and bitter, he
imagined. Getting to know someone he�d considered below human proved more
disturbing than he�d thought.
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Caged.