A RAT'S TAIL BY MARINA

A/N: This fanfic is about the most hated character in the HP series.Wormtail, a.k.a Peter Pettigrew. I hate him as much as everyone else, and you have got to admit, truthfully, we don't know much about him. I mean, he's been described as "Talentless" and "Stupid"- but how could he fool so many people? And, if he was so "Talentless" at magic, then how could he do that spell which brings Voldie back? And the cruciatus? Or Aveda Kedavra? And why did he join Voldemort in the first place?

Disclaimer: I don't think I own anyone in this chapter. They all belong to J Ro. Oh no! I've made her sound like J. Lo! Don't sue me; I'm broke! (Apart from the odd coppers I got from change going downtown with my mates! ( )

Prologue:

The Dark Lord Falls! He-who-must-not-be-named, has been gaining more and more power and spreading more and more fear, writes Rita Skeeter, and last night his power broke, and with it the fear.

He fell to a little boy.

Harry Potter, aged one, was just a normal baby, son to the late Lily and James Potter (both aged twenty), defeated the Dark Lord. He is not aware of what has happened, of course; he has no idea that his parents, Lily and James, were murdered by the most powerful Dark Wizard ever, and that he is responsible for defeating him, the one who killed his parents and many more besides.

No one knows how, or why, but all we can be sure of is that the Dark Lord has gone. Probably for forever. Here, at the Daily Prophet, we hope it is so. So does the rejoicing magical community, who have celebrated all through Britain.

I scrunched up the newspaper in anger, and tossed it into the bin. I was full of triumph, fear, anger, and remorse. Triumph because I had told my Lord how to get to Lily and James, who had once been my friends, and they had now gotten what they deserved.Death. Fear, because I knew that at least Sirius knew I was a traitor, and if he raised the alarm, every meddler in the Ministry would be after me.if my former friends didn't get me first. If the Dark Lord's other followers didn't get me first, either. For I had given my Master the information.which had led to his demise. Anger, because a one-year-old child had robbed me of total glory, and now, because the Dark Lord was gone, I had no one to protect me, when the whole world, the magical community, both the Death Eaters, and those who weren't Death Eaters would turn against me. And remorse.my Master was no longer there to protect me, and I had technically killed two of my former best friends, and had practically signed my own death sentence, and had practically locked myself into Azkaban. I grieved for my master, his two latest victims, and my past and present self.

I had no idea what to do. When Sirius went to follow me, kill me, wreak revenge, and I knew I had to run, hide; anything but let him kill me. I knew he'd find me, but I would never let him kill me. So, when he cornered me in the middle of London, where Mudblood's walked by, some looking curiously at us, I wept. I mourned for Lily and James, and my master, but mainly myself.

"Lily and James! Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?" I wept, sobbing as I saw Ministry Authorities Apparate to the scene. Sirius growled like his dog form, not like a human, and I knew what I had to do. Officially, Sirius was Lily and James' Secret Keeper. No one knew that Sirius and I had swapped, besides the Potters, who were dead, the Dark Lord, who had fallen from power, and Sirius, who I could easily frame. He had put himself into the situation easily, it was almost as if it were a gift to me. Then I would find my Lord, and bring the last Potter to him. I quickly cut off my finger, before anyone could see, and I raised my wand, when he had already raised his. "Oh Padfoot!" I thought happily. "You're making this, too, too easy!" I put my wand behind my back discreetly so no one could see and then the whole street was a flash of green, and I transformed into my Rat self.

As I scrabbled to the gutter, I saw Sirius glare at my rat's body, and I saw twelve dead Mudbloods. I gave an excited squeak, and paused to see Ministry officials rush forward, some scooping up the finger I had cut off, and the bloody robes that had slipped off since I had transformed and I saw some obliterating Mudblood's memories, after asking them a few questions. I rushed off to the gutter and made my way, to find the Dark Lord.









A/N: Well, how did you like THAT one? Oh, and by the way, if you want to find out why Peter Pettigrew joined Voldemort and everything, just review, because I won't continue this fanfic otherwise.