Chapter One The Dark Lord Ascending

The loud crack reverberated through the gardens of the old country house and could have been heard for miles around, if there was anyone around to hear the sharp clear clap as though a car was backfiring. No one saw the cloaked man appear out of thin air, no one saw him walk towards the wrought iron gates that opened before him as though by man in question, was a plump young wizard of about twenty years old or so, he had a round face and watery blue eyes, these along with his elongated nose and bucked teeth gave the man a rodent like appearance. Underneath the folds of his vast black cloak the wizard had thin sandy blonde hair that stuck to his face as he perspired. He ran up the steps of the Manor House, nearly falling over himself, he was so nervous, his heart was beating what felt like a million beats per minute and he knew that if he disappointed his master that it would not be beating for much longer. He knocked on the large serpentine brass knocker three times, it opened instantly revealing the sharp angular face and dark black eyes of fellow Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange.

"About time Pettigrew, the Dark Lord was getting impatient"

Peter stumbled in the door apologising profusely, as he was led down a long dark hallway and into a large dining room with a high ceiling, it reminded him of the great hall in Hogwarts, however this room was dark and daunting and full of tall dark men in robes and masks, they looked at Peter as he passed, he could feel their gaze judging him, sizing him up, they looked away, some laughed. But he was no competition, he was no threat, he was nothing. Peter would show them, he would show them all that he was just as powerful as they were,, he had what the dark lord wanted, he had the Potters.

Bellatrix led Peter out of the sombre chamber down a long dark hallway, the hall was decorated with portraits in gold glinted frames, of notable witches and wizards in the Malfoy and Black families. Peter felt as though the entirety of those ancient and noble houses were watching him as he made his way towards the dark lord. The likeliness of Brutus Malfoy gave him a particularly disdainful look as he approached. Peter vaguely remembered the man from his history of magic classes, he advocated the notion that witches and wizards who associated with muggles lacked magical talent. Peter let out a sort of manic laugh at the thought. All of his friends associated with muggles, and they were far more magically talented than he, in fact the most magically gifted person he had ever met was a muggleborn, yet here he was a wizard of meager magical talent associating himself with pureblood supremacists, the idea was they reached the end of the passageway Bellatrix knocked on the large wooden door thrice.

"Enter" said a deathly quiet voice on the other side of the door.

The door opened by itself to reveal a small sitting room lit only by the cackling fire, a man was seated on a high backed armchair facing the flames, beside him a matching armchair sat empty.

"Leave us Bella"

"But my lor-"

"Leave" and the door slammed itself shut in the hopeful face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Peter was alone. Not once in his twenty years had he ever been so scared, he was quaking beneath his robes and his face was soaked in a layer of thick he made his way towards the second armchair he began to twitch like a rat, a habit he had developed shortly after his successful transfiguration into an animagus, Peter was no longer human he began to adopt certain rodent characteristics in his human life and had adapted some human characteristics whilst in rat form, his nervous twitch was one of these.

"Welcome Wormtail, what news do you bring me"

This was it, the moment he had been dreading since Lily and James decided that he was to be their secret keeper, that he was the most trustworthy of their friends, the friend in which they have the up most trust in, when they made him their secret keeper they put the life of their only child in his hands, this was the moment were Peter could show that they had made the right choice, that he was a Gryffindor, that he was brave, that he would not bow to evil, but rather stand up for what is right and in doing so save the life of an innocent child, and the lives of his best friends.

But Peter Pettigrew was a coward, he always had been, he spent his Hogwarts days cowering behind bigger men. He sought out his friendship with James Potter on the first day on the Hogwarts express, the other boy was tall and confident, a pureblood wizard who commanded respect. When Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier, two Slytherin students stole Peters school bag and flushed it down the toilet on his first day James Potter stood up for him by sending a particularly nasty bat bogey hex right at an unsuspecting Lestrange, seeing that a fight was breaking out and eager to show the Slytherins a good jinx or two Sirius Black joined in by performing a jelly legs jinx on Rosier, and the rest is history. Funny to think that Peter now associated himself more so with the two boys who stole his bag than the two who stood up for him. But times have changed, there was a war and Peter was only doing what was necessary to survive. That's what he told himself as he spoke the words;

"They're in Godrics Hollow my lord, in James' parents house"

"Thank you Wormtail, you're betrayal is most valuable to me. Go to them, enjoy these last few hours with your friends, I'm afraid they shall be dead within a week" Voldemort stressed the word 'friend's as though goading Peter, to make him feel small like those Slytherin boys had done all those years ago, it was a reminder that Peter was a coward, and no amount of information or loyalty could change it.

"Yes my lord, thank you my lord"

"Leave me"

Peter remembering how the door had swung shut in the face of Bellatrix, practically ran from the room, falling over his feet as he tried to get out as quickly as possible, as he fell into the long dark hallway he felt as though the walls were closing in around him, his stomach was in knots and sweat was sticking to his face. He made his way quickly down the corridor and back into the dimly lit dining room, as the Death Eaters watched him leave he swore he could feel one pair of eyes staring at him more intensely than any other, one pair of eyes was following his every move as he made his way to the door. Peter longed to know the identity of the Death eater who was so curious about his role in the dark lords plans but their face was hidden behind the pale white skull mask the Death Eaters wore.

The front door opened in front of him and Peter stumbled down the stone steps of Malfoy Manor, inhaling the cold night air into his lungs, Peter thanked Merlin that he made it out of there, he gasped and spluttered, praying that he wouldn't be sick from the vile feeling of betrayal in his stomach. He began to walk briskly towards the apperation point, unable to think about the heinous crime he had just committed, images of Lily and James and little baby Harry danced before his proud look on James' face when he announced to his fellow marauders that he was going to be a father. The look on Lily's face when the midwife pulled the screaming child from her, her face which had seconds before been contorted in pain changed instantly to sheer elation when the mediwitch declared her child to be a boy. The look of awe and wonder on little Harry's face when his mother produced a birthday cake with a single candle in front of him, such innocence. Such love.

Peter shook the memories from his head, refusing to think about what he had done, this was survival. He ran through the gate and into the night his face streaked with tears for the friends he didn't deserve. He wiped his tear stained cheeks with his sleeve as he turned on his heel and disappeared.