That phrase kept repeating through Bellatrix’s mind. It was risky, breaking into Hogwarts twice in the same month. The first mission had been successful enough, perhaps because they had been caught off guard. Now people would be anticipating it. Bellatrix had seen people throughout the castle, not large amounts, just enough to be concerned about. Her skill with magic was quite something, but even she couldn’t fight off twenty Order members alone. Picking them off one by one was going to be much easier, much cleaner. She’d already had to cast a silencing charm on her shoes lest she alert one too quickly.
It was almost painful - the idea of killing so many without causing them real pain, but it was simple. It was unfortunate, she supposed, that the The Grey Lady had chosen to glide through the wall and exclaim in surprise at seeing her masked figure creeping through the halls. A whispered depulso sent him reeling away, but his yell echoed through the corridors. Bellatrix fell silent for a moment, standing still as she waited to see which Order cockroach might crawl out of the gutter to see what was occurring. The unmistakable sound of cautious footsteps followed, and Bellatrix extended her wand in front of her, a wicked smirk beneath her mask.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Bellatrix sung, her tone cruel. She was yet to come across someone after creeping in through a tunnel, and she was aching to leave a trail of bodies behind her. Wordlessly, Bellatrix sent cast lumos to illuminate the dark corridor and a cruel laugh fell from her lips as she saw who was cowering in the shadows. “Little Pettigrew….cowardly as ever. Face me like a man,” Bellatrix hissed, before sending an impediment jinx his direction.
Crazy was the word that people like to say about her most, but Peter knew it was the cruelty that made her stick out in their memories. Whether it was the slicing words she knew stung or how to exploit your personal weakness. It was a futile quest to deny what she was. The echoed taunted flitted around the room and made his blood run cold. It was something he would have heard as a child, who was playing a game. However, there was no game insight and very real consequences to his actions. Peter struggled to find something to think of how to get him out of this, the panic already surging through him. His wand was in hand, but he was unprepared to make a move just yet. The idea of actually harming someone by his own hand was something he had not done yet.
Ever the bully Pettigrew had always made someone else do his dirty work for him. Enjoying the torment on their expressions without having to lift a finger to do it. That’s what had happened with Snape at least. It had been easy to watch as James turned him upside down or Sirius called him horrid names. While poor, cowardly, Pettigrew got to sit on the sidelines and enjoy the spoils of war. It was only the light from her wand that pulled him from such thoughts. The ways the harsh light hit his features and he realized that he had nowhere left to hide. He certainly could turn into a rat, but he feared that would do him more harm than good at the moment.
“B-B-B,” Was all that he was able to form before she shot a jinx his way. Peter staggered toward, narrowly avoiding it. He wasn’t quick enough to keep doing that though. Peter flicked his wrist and sent an expelliarmus toward her, brow furrowed in concentration. He knew he wasn’t out of practice, but his nerves still made him feel that way. Peter went to duck behind the corner of a nearby hallway, trying to move away from the supply closet if possible. “ I - I’m not w-w-worth your time.” He reasoned, lips quirking downward. Peter needed a plan. An appealing one at that. “Not worth your time.”