The Rat's Gift |Peter Pettigrew| (Completed) #harrypotterawards2019

5

Peter recounted to James how he had felt on the last day of Hogwarts. The feeling that some part of him had been left behind on that day.

After Hogwarts, life had been very miserable for Peter Pettigrew. Apart from James, Sirius and Remus, he did not have any close friends. He had tried getting a job but without any success. He and his mother got along by living on a small fortune left to them by his father. Peter did not have a very great relationship with his mother in the first place which only deteriorated when his father had passed away. His mother had withdrawn in to a shell making Peter lonely and even more miserable.

However, when Sirius and James had come knocking on his door asking him to join the Order of Phoenix, he had leapt at the opportunity. After all, everything he had ever wanted was to be around people who cared for him.

And then came that fateful day.

"Peter! Get back," yelled James as he clutched Peter by the back of his jumper and pulled him back.

A green streak of light passed through the spot where Peter had been standing seconds ago before James had pulled him back.

"J-James! I am scared!" whimpered Peter.

"Here! Look at me buddy!" said James.

Peter looked in to the hazel eyes of his friend and somehow, he seemed to feel a little better.

"Do you think we'll be able to save them?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Pete! We'll save them," said James in a soft soothing voice.

Another streak of light shot above their heads and the both of them ducked.

"Listen! I am going in to the house. Do you think you can cover me? "asked James.

Peter looked up at the huge mansion that was now a battle zone. A few members of the Order were dueling with Death Eaters a few yards in front of them. He was sure another fierce battle was raging on inside the mansion too.

A few days ago several members of the Order of Phoenix had been kidnapped by Death Eaters. They had issued a threat for the Order to stand aside otherwise, they would murder all the hostages. The Order wasn't one to tolerate such threats and they had tried to launch a rescue mission. The mission had been partly successful. They had managed to rescue some of the hostages save for five. The Death Eaters had managed to escape with them and the next day, the mutilated parts of what had been Benjy Fenwick's body had been found scattered across Diagon Alley.

It was a huge blow to the Order from which they had recovered rather quickly and with some clever investigative work, they had managed to track down the remaining hostages who were being held captive at Lestrange Manor.

And they had to absolutely save them. Or to Peter, at least one of them.

Peter held his wand more firmly and nodded at James.

"Go," he said.

James smiled at him and raced in towards the house with Peter firing Shield Charms to protect him from oncoming curses. Once James had entered the mansion, Peter heaved a sigh of relief. James was in there. So were Sirius, Frank Longbottom, Edgar Bones, Gideon and Fabian Prewett. They were some of the best wizards he knew and if they couldn't save the hostages, no one else could.

He transformed in to his rat form and made his way steadily towards Lestrange Manor. Just as he reached the doorstep, there was a huge explosion and the top right part of the building was blown away. Peter scurried quickly in to the house and snuck in to a corner, still as a rat, and shivered.

'What could have happened?' he thought.

He could hear loud voices and the scampering of feet.

"Let's go! There's no use staying here. Let's go!" came a voice which Peter identified to be Antonin Dolohov's. He had been a Slytherin, two years ahead of them at Hogwarts.

He could sense a group of people running past them and there were loud cracks as they Disapparated.

Peter shivered once again. He wondered whether it was safe for him to go in to the open. After several minutes of thought, he mustered the courage and transformed back.

He figured that since the Death Eaters had left, the Order must've won. His heart flickered with excitement. That meant they must've rescued them.

He hurried further in to the house towards where he thought he could hear voices. As he ran in to the room from where the voices were coming, he tripped and fell headfirst on to the floor. He quickly got on to his feet in panic and looked down. The lifeless bodies of Gideon and Fabian Prewett were lying on the floor. One would be forgiven for thinking that they were asleep save for the fact that their faces were extremely bloodied and Fabian was missing an ear.

Peter fell to his knees and vomited. This was the first time he was seeing a person who had been murdered. It was very different from reading it in the newspapers. The Stunned bodies of several Death Eaters were strewn across the room.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at the grim face of Frank Longbottom.

"Are you okay, Pete?" he asked.

Peter wiped his mouth, stood up and nodded. "W-where's James?" he asked.

Frank pointed towards the corner of the room where the other members of the Order where huddled.

He could see that Alice Fawley, Dedalus Diggle and Dorcas Meadowes were safe although they looked pale and weary. He shifted his gaze and his eyes caught the two men at the far end of the room.

One of them was on his knees, holding a woman in his arms. Though his long black hair hid his face, Peter was sure that the man was crying as he hugged the lifeless body, holding her close to his chest. The other man had his hands on the former's shoulders, comforting him as he too wept. Peter noticed that the glass in his spectacles had been shattered.

However, all those details were irrelevant to him as his small watery eyes locked on the woman Sirius held in his hands. Her silver hair glistened in the moonlight which was shining through the broken roof. Her eyes were closed and there seemed to be no other signs of damage on her face. She looked just as graceful in death as she had in life.

A horrendous scream escaped from Peter Pettigrew's throat as he looked at the lifeless form of Rene Moreau, the only woman he had ever loved.