This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Word Count: 1697

Title: Peter's Punishment

Note: AU! Despite Peter's betrayal, he warns the Potter's to run, but Voldemort finds out.

Warnings: Torture, death, gore

Beta: Butterflies765

Golden Snitch

[Name] Crissie

[School] Uagadou

[House] Ogyinae

Quidditch League:

[Team]:

[Position]

[Theme]: Quidditch Supplies

[Prompts]:

[Theme]: Book Club

[Prompts]:

[Theme]: Pokemon

[Prompts]:

International Wizarding School Competition:

[School]: Durmstrang

[Prompts]:

[Theme]:

[Position] Exchange

Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

[House]:

[Assignment]:

[Task]:

The House Cup:

[House]: Gryffindor

[Class] Head Of House

[Prompts]: [Animals] Boa Constrictor, [Character] Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew

[Category]: Standard

Peter was shivering. He knew Voldemort was planning on going to the cottage tonight; he didn't have much time, but he needed to make things right, he needed to save his friends.

'They would do the same for me,' he thought as he vanished, reappearing in Goddric's Hollow. He looked around nervously. What if someone had followed him? What if he got caught? Was it too late?

As he walked up the driveway of the little cottage, his hearing narrowed in on the faint voices of his friends, the soft laughter of Harry, and his heart broke. He had to stop this; he was the only one that knew the threat that was coming. Of course, that was because he had led it straight to them.

He knocked on the door. One, two, three times his knuckles tapped the wood, trying to fix his worried smile. The door swung open to James Potter, half-dressed, probably ready for bed.

"Peter, mate? It's late, what's wrong?" James asked.

"I sold you out, you three need to leave, now." The words rushed out of Peter's mouth. Dread and guilt filled him, but he reminded himself that at least he'd manage to string a full sentence

"Peter?" Lily's voice was like ice through his veins. "You... But you're our friend, how could you?" Her voice was filled with disbelief. Peter finally realised that the Potter's never had any idea he was a Death Eater, no idea he had drifted away from them, no idea why he had drifted away.

"I have no excuse, I am a coward and I did what cowards do, just grab Harry please and leave, I don't even expect you to forgive me, I won't…"

"Forgive you? Ha!" James exclaimed. "I will never forget how you gave us up, tricked us into telling you, giving you power over the life of our child…" James was furious, and Lily was fighting back tears.

"Please, I don't know when he will be here, you need to leave now, and don't tell me where you go," Peter begged, going down on one knee. "Then I can't hurt you again."

James seemed frozen between wanting to beat up Peter and grab his son, so Lily rushed upstairs to the crib. The noise had disturbed the baby's sleep, and when they reached the bottom of the stairs and Harry saw Peter, he was poking out chubby fingers and grinning at the man. This snapped James out of his stupor, and he sighed.

"You are going to die, Peter, come with us," James said.

"I never want to hurt anyone else again, I'm sorry, I know He will find me again," Peter said with a shudder. "I, um, I'm one of them." He pulled up his sleeve, and Lily shrieked, causing Harry to cry in surprise at his mother's reaction.

Then he turned his back on them until he heard the wards go down and the pop of Disapparation. He let a single tear down his cheeks before he left, he had one chance; he had to run.

Running wasn't as easy as Peter thought it might be as Voldemort found him less than three days later. He used Imperio to make Peter's weak will bend and follow him back to the Malfoy Manor.

Once he had Peter begging on his knees, Voldemort took one long white finger, tilting his former followers' chin up to meet his eyes. He used Legilemancy on him, seeing the cowardly betrayal, going to the house only hours before Voldemort planned to show up and take care of the child that threatened his future of taking over the world.

"I should have known you were not worthy," Voldemort said in a hiss. "You were never good enough, your fear makes you weak."

Peter had never been above begging, but this time, he took his punishment, silent tears streaming down his face in between screams of agony.

Lucius entered the room, and asked: "My Lord," his face was paler than usual. His heart was racing as he made the choice. His wife was with child, and nothing mattered more than Narcissa carrying their heir. "Narcissa is battling to sleep, perhaps, um, we can stop torturing him for the night?"

He saw Peter twitching on the floor. Voldemort had told them all that Peter had gone behind their backs and had undone all the work they had done on the boy in the prophecy. Despite Lucius' lack of caring towards Peter, watching him cry out and not beg for mercy made him understand for the first time why the Sorting Hat had chosen Gryffindor for the man snivelling on the floor. He saved the people he loved, despite personal risk.

The pause made Lucius dread the response. He felt like his stomach was turning to lead.

"Well, I am a guest here, I suppose," Voldemort sneered.

"I mean no disrespect, my lord."

Pointing his wand at Peter, he added "Formus Riggermortus," transforming him into his rat form.

"My lord, what does that spell do?" Lucius asked, looking down at the pathetic rat.

"It freezes him in his animagus form," Voldemort said, a cruel smile blooming on his lips. "He doesn't know where the Potter's went, so he is of no use to me."

Lucius tried his best to suppress his shudder.

"Would your boa like a treat? We could feed her the rat," Voldemort suggested, and Lucius' blood ran cold. It was the first time Voldemort had asked this of him, but he instinctively knew why.

Lucius had a fondness for boa constrictors, and Jasmine, his very own snake, was a great pride of his. It made him feel sick, but he knew there was no way he could deny his lord. Although the meaning behind the request was crystal clear; his snake would be the one to dispose of the traitor.

"Perhaps in the morning, my lord," he said instead, trying to delay. "She is asleep right now."

"Such wonderful creatures," Voldemort murmured with something akin to fondness. It made Lucius wonder if Voldemort's heart was as cold and slimy as a snake.

The next morning, after checking on Narcissa, he went downstairs, not looking forward to watching a traitor get fed to his favourite pet. Voldemort was sitting at the dining room table, and looked up from his book as Lucius entered the room.

"Morning, Lucius," Voldemort said. Lucius' eyes flickered over to the cage that held Peter, and nodded in reply.

"Where is that precious snake of yours?" Voldemort asked.

"I'll go fetch her, my lord," Lucius said. As he entered the room where her large tank stood, his heart started racing. This was just disgusting, really.

"Morning, my pretty," Lucius said, lifting the lid of the tank, and the boa constrictor stretched out her large form so that he could lift her out of the tank. "Would you like to meet someone?"

He knew she didn't understand him, but something about her hissing made him feel like she was responding positively after all.

He had a love for snakes even before Voldemort had commandeered his house for the basis of Death Eater activity. Knowing his master spoke to them both thrilled and scared him.

She wrapped herself loosely around his neck, and he had never felt more comfortable being face to face with the monster he called 'my lord'.

As soon as he entered he knew Voldemort was speaking right to the snake, and despite shivering feeling their hissed conversation provoked in him, he made no other signs that he wasn't comfortable with what was happening.

"Good morning," Voldemort hissed. "I can't say I have had the pleasure, I am Voldemort."

Jasmine stretched out her long neck and eyed him curiously. "You speak?"

"Indeed, good lady," Voldemort continued, ignoring the man holding the snake.

"My name is Jasmine, welcome to our home," she said. Her beady eyes flickered and spotted the large brown rat in the cage.

"Is that a gift for me?" she asked, her tongue flickering in the direction of Peter, hiding as far back in the cage as he could go.

Voldemort nodded in agreement. "Shall I take you over, Jasmine?" The snake uncurled from Lucius and slithered up Voldemort's pale arm, wrapping herself loosely around the man's neck. It wasn't often a Wizard could speak to them, and he was such a charming man. If she could smile, she would, and she knew this man could see it in her manor.

"You are quite the expert on snakes," Jasmine complimented. "My Master knows a lot, but he doesn't speak our language."

"That's quite the compliment," Voldemort said.

Jasmine nodded her head slowly. "He treats me well."

"I know this fat rat is a bit dirty, my apologies," Voldemort said as he opened the hatch of the cage.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," she said, her flecked tongue flickering out in amusement as she moved towards the rat, pressed against the back of the cage.

"Goodbye, Peter," Voldemort said to the rat, just as Jasmine lunged, her fangs instantly paralyzing the rat, and then she got onto the cage, squeezing it and crushing its bones before lifting her head once more, then swallowing him down in one large gulp.

Jasmine had never seen quite as much terror in her master, and she fleetingly wondered what was different about this rat then any other treat she had.

"He tasted weird," she muttered to Voldemort. "But thank you."

"He was a wizard in an alternative form, he betrayed me, so you did the honor of taking care of him."

Jasmine had no response to this, this man killed his own kind, he didn't seem like a good man, but she wasn't planning on letting him know how furious she was that he had tricked her into doing his dirty work for him. Instead she went back to Lucius, and he picked up on her cues right away, and the two of them left the man named Voldemort alone in the dining room.

"Perhaps I shall get one of my own," Voldemort mused. It wasn't long after this that Nagini came into Voldemort's possession.