'Twas the Night Before Halloween

'Twas the Night Before Halloween

A One-Shot by Drano Malformed

Peter Pettigrew was shivering underneath his numerous cloaks, despite the fact that he was...well, wearing numerous cloaks. It was the night before Halloween, the night before the Dark Lord would go to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry Potter and all of his family, and Peter was the reason it was all happening. He had betrayed his friends to his master when Sirius Black had entrusted the title of Secret Keeper to him, foolishly believing the Dark Lord would never suspect Peter of harboring such an important secret. What Sirius didn't know, however, was that Peter was secretly working for the other side, passing what little information he had to the Dark Lord.

Peter had never gotten the recognition he felt he deserved. All of his life he had tagged along behind James and Sirius, all of his life being the odd one out, the dumb one, the silly one, the one most likely to fail in life. Ha! Look at him now! The Dark Lord's most recently prized Death Eater, the one who would be responsible for His defeat of the Potter's and that troublesome little Potter boy. Peter didn't know all of the details, but apparently a Prophecy was involved, which made it very serious indeed. Peter was rather pleased with his latest accomplishment, and apparently so were the other Death Eaters, who were throwing a party in his honor.

The only problem was, they weren't here yet.

He had been standing outside Malfoy Manor, where the party was supposed to be held, for hours, waiting to be let in, waiting for people to arrive so the party could officially start.

But Lucius was refusing to let him in, and nobody else had come, as far as Peter knew. He had thought that he was, perhaps, early, but still no one had come.

When it finally dawned on Peter that he had been set up, he let out a curse and Disapparated back to the home he still shared with his mother.

He couldn't figure it out. He paced in his room, back and forth, back and forth, trying to figure out why they would play such a trick on him. He should have been rewarded! He should have been applauded! He deserved that party!

Perhaps they are jealous of my achievements, thought Peter. Yes, that had to be it. They were furious that they hadn't been able to do what "that little duffer Wormtail" had been able to do, and decided to trick him into standing outside in the cold for hours upon hours, freezing his arse off.

He couldn't believe it. He had thought his comeuppance had finally arrived. He had thought that all those years of following around James, Sirius, and Remus had finally paid off, that finally people would start to recognize what a stellar fellow he was, once you got past the whole clumsy-and-not-too-bright thing. This was the thanks he got? This was the big pay-off for betraying his friends and then having two of them and their son killed?

Of course, thought Peter, the Dark Lord ought to be grateful.

Yes, of course! That was the whole reason for doing this, wasn't it? To please Him? Who cared about the other Death Eaters, anyway, the only one who mattered was the Dark Lord!

"The fools," muttered Peter. Soon he would get his comeuppance from the Dark Lord himself, surely....

* * *

Meanwhile, at Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy was yukking it up with his wife, Narcissa.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, can you believe he actually fell for it?" Lucius laughed. "He was just standing out there for hours...I knew he wasn't the best wand in the shop, if you get my meaning, but I didn't know he was quite that dunderheaded!"

"Hmm, yes," said Narcissa, gazing upstairs. "I hope Draco's asleep by now..."

"Oh, nonsense, Narcissa," said Lucius impatiently. "He's a Malfoy, and Malfoy children hardly ever cry."

"Well, he seemed awfully upset this afternoon when I left to go shopping and you left for a Death Eater meeting," said Narcissa. "He was bawling like a...well, baby."

"Of course he was, that nanny that tends to him while we're gone is awful," sniffed Lucius, taking a sip of wine. "I shall have her sacked immediately. Are you happy now?"

"I suppose so."

Lucius sniffed disdainfully, and looking out the window with an amused expression on his face.

"I still can't believe he fell for it..."

FIN