This is the second story in the Beloved Enemies series, not to be confused with the SHIP of the same name. It is about a "good guy" and a "bad guy" and the likenesses between them. The first was The Man-Who-Killed, with the likeness between Harry and Tom Riddle. This one is going to be Ron Weasley and Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail. I think there will be one more, with Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort. They do not take place in the same universe. This story will also be an answer to my Evil!Ron challenge, which can be found on my bio page.

Warnings: Squicky pairing (Ron/Pettigrew); slight hints of chan-slash. Chan-slash=underage slash. Slash =male/male sex. Don't flame for this, 'cause I warned you. This is not a happy story. None in this series are going to be. Really, this is a very unhappy story.

A Boy and His Rat

*****

"You wouldn't… you won't…," gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron.

"Ron… haven't I been a good friend… a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you… you're on my side, aren't you?"  Please, say yes, my friend, my master…

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.  I'm sorry, my friend, my pet, but I must live. Don't worry, I know that Potter will save you, he's too good to let his father's friends kill you…

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. Yes, I did, didn't I? Don't worry, you'll be there again soon…

"Kind boy… kind master…" Pettigrew crawled toward Ron, "you won't let them do it. …I was your rat…. I was a good pet…." Please, master, why are you doing this? Don't you need me? I love you! I will serve you always!

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain anguish-loss-worry wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach.

… "Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands  off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because—I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers—just for you."  See, my pet? I knew he would save you. And Lupin didn't take the Wolfs-bane potion tonight, so when he transforms, that will be your chance to escape. I will miss you, my loyal pet. Come back to me soon. [1]

*****

Come to me, my loyal Death-Eaters a voice whispered through Ron Weasley's mind. He shook his head. The blasted man could never wait until it would be convenient for the Death-eaters he had at the school to dis-Apparate, no, he had to summon them right in the middle of class. Well, it was Divination, so it wasn't like he was missing much. Plus, they were "meditating" (read: sleeping) so he could sneak out with no-one the wiser. He crept out of the North Tower and cast an invisibility charm on himself, then walked to the humpbacked witch, and waited. Sure enough, here came Malfoy. "Dissendium!" Draco hisses, and disappeared into the statue. Ron followed him, to find himself with a wand at his throat.

"Hey, watch it! It's just me!" he said, injured. Draco sneered.

"Oh yes, the Weasel. I forgot. Well, come on then, the Lord hates to be kept waiting." Ron rolled his eyes. As if he didn't know that! He had been a Death Eater since the end of Fourth year, and he was in Seventh now. They made their way to the space underneath Honeyduke's storeroom, and without even bothering to come out, Apparated to Lord Voldemort.

Once there, Ron looked around for his pet and lover. He was no-where to be found. Ron frowned, and went to join the other Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort stood up to start his little speech. He looked much better. With time, he started looking less snaky and more human, though he still had his red eyes. Personally, Ron thought that they were cool. "My death Eaters, I have come up with a plan to infiltrate one of my trusted into Hogwarts, along with the children." Ron and Draco, along with the several other students there, silently bristled, but didn't say anything. That was a good way to get Crucio'd. "Wormtail?" A slightly over-weight. Balding man stepped up to join him. He was missing a finger. Ron straightened up. So that was where he was! And he was going to be at Hogwarts too! Good thing he had his own room. All the Seventh years did, it was believed to be better, since most would be… experimenting, and this way wouldn't disturb others. Ron thought back to when he had first met Pet.

*****

It was when he was about four, and Fred had turned Ron's teddy into a spider. Percy, in an attempt to cheer Ron up (so he could study, and get rid of the rat he didn't really care about anyway) gave Scabbers to Ron. Ron cheered up some, and snuggled close to him when he went to bed. He had had a horrible nightmare and started to scream, and Pet had changed to try and comfort him. "Shhh… Shhh… kind boy… kind master… Don't worry, nothing's happening… shhh."

Ron had slowly quieted, and looked up curiously at the strange man who had appeared. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" he asked, showing the first hints of his Gryffindor nature. A Ravenclaw would have asked about four or five more questions, or perhaps already have noticed that the rat was gone and figured it out. An Hufflepuff would still be crying, either from the dream or from the strange man being in his room, and a Slytherin wouldn't have had the dream in the first place, or they would have summoned a parent or House Elf to get this stranger away from him.

"Wh-who am I?" Pettigrew had finally seemed to realize what he had done. He had revealed himself! He calmed down slightly when the boy giggled and reached up a hand and touched his cheek. "Well… I… I used to be your rat. But don't tell, okay? Nobody knows! Not even Percy. I can change back and forth from a rat to human." His confidence grew as he spoke. After all, this was just a child!

"I like you. You can stay with me! You'll be my secret," the boy announced. Pettigrew calmed down even more, but stiffened slightly when the boy asked his name. He couldn't give his real one! "Pet-Pet—" he was interrupted.

"I like it! You're my Pet." Ron snuggled up to Pet and fell asleep. Pet sighed and looked at the boy. How did he manage to get into this?

*****

It continued like this, whenever Ron was sad or upset or scared, Pet would come and help him. He took 'Scabbers' with him everywhere. Gradually, Ron learned more and more from Pet, and about Voldemort, and decided to become a Death Eater should the Dark Lord ever rise again. So that he would be of use to his master, he cultivated a friendship with Potter, but sometimes he couldn't control his real feelings. That's where incidents like in his second and third and fourth and… well, pretty much every year, come to think of it. Maybe he should try and control his temper more. Nah. They grew closer, and became more secretive when Ron made it to Hogwarts. Pet taught him a shielding and silencing charm that Ron could put on his curtains so that no-one would know Pet was there. They became lovers. When Pet wound up being hunted by Sirius Black in Ron's third year, Ron had to give Pet up. But that summer, he came and visited him as often as he could. He kept doing this and visiting Ron, and Ron became one of the Dark Lord's most valuable Death Eaters because of his 'friendship' with Potter. Voldemort began to speak again, and Ron drew back to himself with a start.

"As you know, Wormtail and Ronald Weasley are close. Weasley also is close to Potter, which is an added bonus. Wormtail used to be there, as Scabbers, but Black"—he spat the name—"foiled that. However, I have had Severus working on a potion that will allow Wormtail to take another Animagus form, and he has succeeded. He will go back to Hogwarts as a cat, a present for Weasley for his becoming Head Boy. There will be spells on Wormtail—or Mars, as he will be known in his cat form as—so that abysmal cat of that Mudblood won't be able to tell it's him, like it did last time. Weasley, you will give that owl of yours to your sister. I want you to bring me Potter this year. Pretend to be kidnapped by Wormtail, and be dragged into the Forbidden Forest, and that idiotic Gryffindor will come to rescue you. We will take him then. And, I don't care now who kills him or how."

Goyle foolishly spoke up. "Why not just poison him in the school or something?"

"Crucio! Don't ever question my authority. Malfoy, tell him why." Draco looked at the father of his massive side-kicks disdainfully.

"Because Dumbledork has put up wards to alert him when Potter is injured or harmed on the school grounds. That's why we have to lure him out into the Forest."

Voldemort looked approvingly at the young Malfoy. Really, this younger generation was turning out much better than their parents. "Excellent. Now, as I AM aware that you need to return to your classes, you're dismissed, young ones. Weasley, come here." Ron approached his master, and knelt at his feet.

"Milord, what do you need of me?" he asked respectfully. Voldemort chucked.

"Go ahead and greet your lover. You heard what I want you to do. Take Wormtail—or rather, Mars—with you. Take your time about getting Potter. I want him this year, though. Now, go. Your next class will be starting soon, and you can't be missed." Voldemort looked at the boy as he stood, bowed respectfully, took a hold of Worm—Mars, and dis-Apparated. That boy was going to grow to be just like his mentor, betraying his best friend! Voldemort was so proud. Gryffindors made the worst enemies and the best minions.

*****( a few months later, close to the end of school, because this was supposed to be a short story, and it's trying to become a long one. If y'all decide that it needs to have what happened at school, then I will go back and add more. Just remember that I don't have a good track record on updates. In fact, I don't think I've ever updated a HP fanfiction. Of course, one was one that I didn't have any reviews on, but I could add more, because I have more written, and another was a one-shot, and the second was supposed to be, until some people decided I should write a sequel…)

"Ron! Ron! Don't worry, I'm coming for you!" Harry yelled as his best friend was pulled deep into the Forbidden Forest by Peter Pettigrew, who, as it had turned out, had been masquerading as Ron's pet cat, Mars. Mars had been given to Ron as a gift. He sure hadn't had much luck with pets.

Ron tried not to sneer, since he was, supposedly, Stunned. Yeah, right! If I was really your friend I would be SO reassured! Just a little bit further, Pet, then we can turn and kill Potter. Here! They rounded a huge Yew tree—how ironic—and stopped. Ron stood up, and pulled out his wand. Here we go, Pet. Are you ready?"

Pet looked at his lover and nodded. They had spelled each other so that they could see through Invisibility Cloaks and spells, should Potter be clever enough to use one. Finally, Potter rounded the tree. "Ron! Are you okay?" Then he noticed Pet. "Wormtail! You bastard! What did you do to Ron?"

Ron smirked. "Pet didn't do anything to me, Potter. I have always know exactly who, and what, he is. I have not ever liked you. It is now your turn to die. Stupefy!" Ron cast Stupefy with Pet's wand, so he could say that he was Stunned should anyone capture Pet and then use Priori Incantum on his wand. He pointed his wand at Potter and smirked. "Goodbye, Potter, Heir to Gryffindor. That's why Voldemort wanted to kill you, you know. It's also why he couldn't. But there are no such restrictions on me. Avada Kedavra!" and Potter was finally dead. He heard a strange gurgle from Pet, and turned to se what was the matter. "Pet! What's wrong?"

Pet had bright red blood pouring from his mouth, and he was falling to the ground. He gasped through the blood, "We have a… wizard's bond… I forgot. If he dies… and I could… have done some…thing about it…and I… didn't…, then I die…."

Ron screamed in anguish. "No Pet! I won't let you die!" He desperately got out his wand and cast Healing charms, to no avail.

Pet smiled at him weakly. "I… always loved you… Ron." He gave one last deep, rattling gasp of air, and fell silent, his chest rising and falling with breath stilled.

Ron's heart was broken. He knew that Pet would never be back. That was the only time Pet had ever called him Ron. "Pet! I will be with you soon." He picked up Potter's body, and Apparated to Voldemort. "Here is your prize. Pet… Peter is dead. I am joining him. Goodbye, Milord," and he Apparated back to the small clearing before anyone could stop him. He would not be able to help his Master without his Pet. He reached into his pocket for the small vial Snape had given all the Death Eaters in case something went wrong. The most deadly poison known, he had brewed it from venom he had retrieved from the Basilisk's fang. He checked it to make sure the traitor had actually given him poison, and drank, laying himself on Pet… Peter's body. His Beloved 'Enemy', Enemy no longer, in truth or jest. "I'm coming to you, my friend. We will be together forever now."

That is where the searchers found them the next day. As much as they tried, they could not separate the bodies, so they were buried in a joint grave. The tombstone read: The two greatest helpers to our cause. The one who first returned to our Master, and the one who killed our Master's greatest enemies. They will be remembered with honour. Ronald Weasley-Pettigrew and Peter 'Pet' Pettigrew-Weasley. Many years later, after the war was finally over, the small, private graveyard, containing the graves of only the most highly respected Death Eaters, was found. Albus Dumbledore stood over it and sighed. "My two students, where did I go wrong?" he asked sadly, not expecting an answer. A shimmering in the air appeared, and two ghosts answered him.

"You did not ever care about us, nor did our families. Our friends and older brothers and sister were always much more important. Together, we found peace. Goodbye, Headmaster. Do not make this mistake with others, or history will once again repeat itself." The two ghosts disappeared, never to be seen again.

[1] Stuff not in italics came directly from HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Stuff in italics was what I wrote to show Ron's and Peter's reactions.

Okay, that wasn't how I was going to end it, but I remembered Pet… er, Peter, owed a wizarding debt to Potter, so tried to see what would happen. Obviously, this was not a happy ending. Be happy the 'Light' side won in the end.