In the guise of a rat, Peter Pettigrew made his way through the woodlands. He wouldn't dare go through sewers; they stank to high heavens. He wasn't exactly sure where he could go right now. His master Voldemort was gone, heaven alone knows where, but he somehow knew in his gut, that someday he might return. He had just framed Sirius for a mass murder and for betraying Lily and James Potter. He couldn't understand how a mere infant boy managed to survive the Killing Curse.

Everyone in the Wizarding community would now believe he, Pettigrew was dead. Therefore he couldn't seek shelter with Remus Lupin, or anyone else in the Order, or even his own parents. He certainly couldn't beg for mercy from any former Death Eaters, even when Voldemort was alive, they were not what most individuals would consider good friends. The Dark Lord didn't want friends existing within the Death Eaters.

That's when he got an idea, if Voldemort were to return, he would need to be in a place where news would travel quickly. He had to be close to other wizards and witches. He found his way into a city, and it didn't take long for him to find an entrance to the Underground. He sneaked amongst some Muggles and boarded a train, being very careful not to be seen as he hid under a seat. If any one of these Muggles were to notice him, he would very likely be stepped on and killed.

"London station!" a voice announced. Once again, being careful to dodge between legs, Pettigrew left the train and headed in the direction of The Leaky Cauldron. Tragically, when he got there, he noticed a big problem that he hadn't considered beforehand. Rats aren't tall enough to open the door. Moreover, he couldn't turn into his human form in front of so many Muggles, and if a wizard caught him, it would be very suspicious for someone who was supposed to be dead to be heading into the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

His problem was solved when another wizard opened the door to the pub and Pettigrew just ran in. He hid under the first table he could get to, and devoured fallen bread crumbs on account that he was starving. He didn't fall asleep, but waited patiently for the bar to close. Listening very carefully to the wizards and witches speak to each other about recent events.

He learned that Harry Potter had been taken to live with some Muggle family. Sirius was now in Azkaban for betraying the Potters, and for murdering himself and various Muggles. He also heard from someone who was likely a Ministry official that he, Peter Pettigrew had been posthumously rewarded the Order of Merlin First Class. There was talk about 'You-Know-Who,' debates if he was dead or still out there somewhere. Pettigrew scoffed at the people afraid to say his old master's name.

When the Leaky Cauldron closed for the night, he finally got out and raided the trashcan, hoping to find some kind of tasty morsel he could sink his rodent teeth into. For nearly a week, that was how he lived. Scurrying through the walls of the old tavern, traveling into Diagon Alley, just trying to get a bite to eat. Speaking to other alley rats. It was not a pleasant life, knowing any moment you could get discovered and possibly killed.

One day around teatime, he was sitting under a table, hoping to catch a few fallen chips when two wizards who he quickly surmised worked for the Ministry of Magic sat down at the table.

"Well Arthur, how're things going with the Muggles?" the first wizard asked.

"Not too bad Mitch thanks. Yesterday we found out about a man who bought this radio that had been enchanted to dance along with the music playing. He thought he could make a living by using it as some kind of tourist trap. When we got him, we had to use the Memory Charm on him, and figure out a way to write off his radio as some kind of hoax. Actually with the Muggle tabloids, that's not too difficult," Arthur replied.

"Yeah, and how about the family? Little Billy's going to be off to Hogwarts soon won't he?" asked Mitch.

"Yes, in about two years, hard to believe. Come to think of it, my wife's now expecting a girl pretty soon," Arthur replied.

"Oh great! How do the boy's feel about that?" asked Mitch enthusiastically.

"They're all pretty excited, but little Ronnie's only a year old, so he probably doesn't understand what's going on," Arthur replied.

"Well, you just enjoy the years you have with your kids. Think about poor Lily and James, and dear little Harry. I mean, those years were just taken away from them before they could really begin," said Mitch.

"Oh yes, well, when you put it that way, it is horrible. But Harry is living with his mother's relatives now, so he should be okay. It's a little strange to think the Boy Who Lived is the same age as my youngest son," said Arthur.

Pettigrew's ears perked up. This was the perfect cover! He could pose as a family pet while waiting to hear the news of Voldemort! More importantly, this was a wizarding family and the father was a Ministry official so they would be among the first to hear any news of the Dark Lord's return! More importantly (for his sake) he would be well fed and cared for! Maybe one of the children could take him to Hogwarts where he could once again roam its secret passageways (and get into the kitchens).

While the two men were eating their lunch, Pettigrew carefully crawled up one of the legs of the chair Arthur was sitting in and slipped into one of his robe pockets. He almost felt like taking a nap in there, he was so comfortable. He felt Arthur get up, walk up, thank Mitch for joining him for lunch and then Pettigrew felt himself being squeezed as if through some kind of tube. He knew what was going on, Arthur was Apparating. Once the sensation was over, Pettigrew peeked his head out of the robe pocket. He saw a crooked house standing by itself, and surrounded by a big lawn, and a weedy garden nearby. He jumped out of Arthur's pocket and hid amongst the flowers.

Later…

Five-year-old Percy Weasley was a curious young boy. He didn't mind playing by alone occasionally despite the fact that he had plenty of brothers. Because his mother had to constantly look after one-year-old Ron, keep an eye on the three-year-old twins and another baby on the way he became relatively independent.

Looking through the family gardens to see if there was anything worth grabbing in the family garden, perhaps a shiny rock or a snail shell he suddenly noticed some movement amongst some of the flowers. He stood at high alert, gnomes tended to come into the garden, and if he wasn't careful, he could very easily get bitten.

But it wasn't a gnome; it was a rat! A rather skinny looking rat to be certain. The little fellow looked at Percy as if pleading.

"Well hey there little fellow, where'd you come from?" Percy asked the rat. Now, Percy wasn't the biggest fan of animals, that honor would probably have gone to his brother Charlie who liked nothing more than chasing the chickens. Charlie was the one who would be the first to volunteer to degnome the garden. That wasn't to say that the five-year-old didn't like fluffy things.

Percy reached his hand out to the rat, palm facing up. As if the rat already trusted him, it crawled right onto his hand. Maybe trying to show off, the rat crawled right up Percy's arm, to his shoulder, then across to the other one, down to Percy's opposite hand.

"Well aren't you an energetic one?" Percy asked, gently petting the rat, bringing his new friend close to his face. That's when he noticed that this rat was missing a toe.

"Ouch, that must've hurt!" Percy stated. He noticed that the rat he now held in his hand had various scratches, was probably hungry and had wounds that still needed to heal.

"Well, you're going to need a name, how about Scabbers? Would that be an alright name for you?" Percy asked the little rat who just gently rubbed its head against his hand.

"I'll take that as a yes. Come on inside, my brother Charlie might want to meet you. Maybe we can get you something to eat and you can sleep in my bed," said Percy as he walked over to the house. He did introduce Scabbers to Charlie, who helped confirm that Scabbers was a boy. They gave him some bread and cheese, which Scabbers practically devoured. After showing off the trick Scabbers could do crawling up and down Percy's arms without any training, their parents agreed to allow Percy to keep him. As long as he understood Scabbers was his responsibility.