Bonds of Affection

Unseen, under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, the three of them approached the castle.



“Okay,” Hermione whispered nervously. “So here\'s the plan, as I see it. Harry: on the count of three, I Transfigure you into Lucius. Then, you enter the Castle. We are right next to you. As soon as we enter... Ron, you\'ll have to scramble the audio surveillance spells, like I showed you. I won\'t be able to do any magic after this – I\'ll be not much better than a squib for quite a while.”



Harry winced, feeling an instant pang of guilt, but Ron just squeezed his shoulder and shook his head slightly. “It\'s fine,” Ron said.



Hermione continued quietly, “Okay, now, if there\'s nobody inside, Harry - duck under the Cloak... if there\'s someone inside, find the nearest empty room and make a mad dash for it. Hopefully, if you are seen as Lucius, nobody will question you. Okay?”



“Okay,” Harry agreed. “Let\'s do this. On the count of three.”



“One,” Ron said.



“Two,” Harry added.



“Three,” said Hermione, pointing her wand at Harry. It was an odd, unsettling sensation, almost painful, as he felt his body transform, change, his height increase, long blond hair fall down his shoulders. He stepped out of the Invisibility Cloak and walked towards the entrance. The massive doors unlocked before him of their own accord, and he stepped through. Only a faint brushing against his right arm let him know that Hermione and Ron were walking right next to him. Unfortunately, just as they were about to enter, Peter Pettigrew had stepped right into their path.



Harry was about to cast a stunning spell, when Ron lifted the cloak and pointed his wand at Pettigrew.



“I accept your offer,” Ron said. Harry stared at him in absolute confusion.



Pettigrew\'s eyes widened, and he shook his head mutely. “No,” he whispered. “You can\'t...It can\'t be...”



Ron\'s face was frozen into a stern mask. “Where\'s the nearest empty room?” he demanded. “Take us there. Now.”



Harry was already beginning to feel a new wave of transformation beginning to well within his body – as if it were an ice sculpture beginning to melt from within, or a house of cards, ready to collapse at any moment. Pettigrew, however, moved fast, and pointed to an inconspicuous door a few feet ahead.



“There!” he said, and led the way. Harry ran after him, feeling his height beginning decrease and his body fall back into its usual form, even as he ran. He ducked into the room, not a moment too soon, but still wondering why Pettigrew was helping them, all of a sudden; and whether he could be trusted. Under the cover of the Cloak, Hermione and Ron flew into the room as well, and locked the door behind them.



Scramble surveillance! Hermione mouthed without sound to Ron, and Ron nodded, casting a soundless spell.



“Bloody hell,” Harry whispered. “Seventeen seconds, Hermione!”



She shot him an indignant look. “I\'ll have you know, it\'s a nearly impossible feat as it is. Now – Ron! What have you done! Imperius?”



Ron shook his head. Before him, Pettigrew was kneeling on the floor, with his head bowed. His expression was crushed, defeated beyond words.



“I – I didn\'t think it was still possible,” Pettigrew said bitterly, resignedly. “It\'s been three years.”



“Yes,” Ron agreed. “But back then, I didn\'t understand your offer. I do now. ”



Hermione\'s eyes shot wide open. “That was the offer of a slave-bond!” she nearly cried out, and covered her mouth.



Harry was still shell-shocked. “What? When?”



“At the Shrieking Shack,” Ron said, in a quiet voice, still regarding Pettigrew thoughtfully. “When Sirius and Remus were going to murder him. Remember him pleading with me? Asking me to take him back, promising to be a good pet, and all?”



Harry snorted. “He was pleading with everyone,” he said. “He was crawling before Remus and Sirius too.”



“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “But I\'m the only one he called Master.”



Harry shrugged. “So? It doesn\'t mean anything.”



Hermione smiled with just a bit of sadness. “Harry... coming from you or me it wouldn\'t have meant anything if we called Ron Master. But... someone like Pettigrew... who was already marked by slavery ... for him, in the face of death, to proclaim someone as Master, begging them to accept him, to own him, really does offer a slave-bond to that person...”



Pettigrew, pale and distraught, was still shaking his head. “But.. it\'s too late. My bond to The Dark Lord was disrupted then... but now... he is back... I belong to him now.”



“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “But the bond to me is now present as well.”



Hermione looked at them both with dread. “You know what this means don\'t you?”



Pettigrew\'s face paled even further. “A paradox... The conflict between two slave-bonds... within one body... it\'s lethal, is it not? No matter what happens...” He glanced to Ron, whose face betrayed no expression, and then, to Hermione.



She nodded slightly, and almost apologetically.



“You\'ve killed me,” Pettigrew said to Ron incredulously, still kneeling. “My owner... My Master...You\'ve killed me.”



Ron was returned his gaze, and then, as if on an impulse, reached out to touch him. Ron\'s hand ran across Pettigrew\'s thinning, matted hair, that almost looked like rat fur. Pettigrew glanced at that hand in terror and wonder.



“I\'ve set you free,” Ron told him in a quiet voice. “No matter what you do, you will die, very soon. But now, you can choose freely, without being controlled by your fear of death. You can choose what you really want to do... serve Voldemort... or fulfill your life-debt, and be forgiven... received by the two who are waiting for you.”



Peter glared at him. “They abandoned me,” he hissed. “They betrayed me. They were meant to be Dark - they were meant to be with me. But they chose another...”



For a moment, Ron was at a loss for words, but Harry interjected, speaking with confidence. “No, Peter. Remus and Sirius were not intended for Darkness. You were intended for Light.”



Pettigrew\'s eyes shot up in disbelief. “How do you figure?” he demanded.



“Because everyone is intended for Light,” Ron whispered very quietly. “It just that... some wander off too far.”



Pettigrew bowed his head low. “Master,” he said softly. “What would you have me do?” His greying face was already beginning to contort with suffering.



“Take us to Nagini,” Harry demanded. Pettigrew looked to Ron for direction.



“Yeah,” Ron said. “Do it. Harry – do you have a plan?”



Harry shrugged apologetically. The cryptic message about “Voldemort\'s Boggart” had something to do with Voldemort\'s fear of his own death... that perhaps Harry could use against him. But he had no actual plan – just hope that at the right moment, inspiration would strike.



“God help us all,” Hermione murmured. “This has got to be be the most poorly-planned assassination attempt in wizarding history.”



“Let\'s go,” Harry cut her off, ducking under the invisibility cloak.



Pettigrew looked at Ron with a plaintive expression. “So afraid,” he said pitifully. “All my life, I have been so afraid of death...”



Ron gave him a strained smile. “It won\'t be so bad,” he said, attempting to sound reassuring. “Remember all those nights you spent as Scabbers, sleeping on my pillow?”



Pettigrew nodded silently.



“It\'s just like that,” Ron said, squeezing his shoulder briefly. “Just like falling asleep, with someone\'s hand on you. And when you wake up, you\'ll be someplace else.”



“Yes, Master,” Pettigrew whispered, lowering his eyes.



He rose to his feet, and slowly, unsteadily, walked out of the door, and down the dark hallway. The three followed him closely, stepping soundlessly under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak.



Together, they were walking towards Voldemort.



To Be Continued...