December 1980

Please join us for our first holiday party!

Where: The Potter's

When: Christmas eve-December 24th

Why: To break in our new home, and show Harry how a party is done.

R.S.V.P.

-Lily, Harry and James Potter

P.S. The views expressed or represented by the above are not necessarily those held by all members of the household. At the very least, I def wouldn't have phrased it like that card. See if you can convince Remus to dance with Savannah at the party, I had to give up on him…every time I brought it up he dragged me into a pet store as punishment. See you on Christmas Eve.

-Prongs

Dear Lily, Harry and James,

Of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss Lily's cookies for the world-which means I'll have to arrive three hours early, since Remus is sure to arrive two hours early and eat them all first. Then he'll give some excuse about canine appetites…I swear, the man's worse than Lily when she was pregnant.

-Peter

Wormtail,

I'm sorry to bother you about this; it's really just my own burden to bear, but I wanted to tell someone. Though I've been triggered to write you by an event which has just occurred, the real beginning of this story is a while back-actually, last June.

I'm pretty sure you know of what I speak.

I thought I'd made it quite plain to the Death Eaters who insisted on complicating our little road-trip last summer that I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in joining them or anyone associated with them-not even for lunch. It appears our be-cowl-ed (ok, I made that word up, so sue me) adversaries have extreme difficulty taking a hint.

I wonder if its not hereditary-I don't think I've met anyone this stubborn save Sirius.

But I've been digressing.

Late September the letters started again.

They were solicitous, sickeningly sympathetic to the poor wretch of a lycanthrope-so unctuous the ink practically reeked of Lucius Malfoy. The preliminary was just a greeting-an apology, they said, for any alarm they might have caused me over the summer, when last they wrote. I ignored the first letter, I might add.

The day after I got fired they sent me another one.

It was all full of condolence and sugary words, saying in no uncertain terms that they had gotten me fired and were fully prepared to do it again if I failed to respond, and would I like to have tea on Saturday-they keep signing 'your friends'.

'Well,' I told them, 'if you know me, you'll know I'm an anti-social lunatic.'

I need hardly tell you how very poor my choice of words there was. They picked up on the lunatic thing like Padfoot on trouble. I've just sent their owl back to them with a response, which, with any luck, will get the message across. I wrote:

'Go away.'

Just in case this didn't work, I copied it into several languages-Yiddish, French, Dutch and Swahili.

Still, I have to admit I can see why they're so persistent. Voldemort wants a society based on secrecy, mistrust, miscommunication and deception.

Who better than a werewolf?

My entire life is deception. I wouldn't have one if it weren't.

And then there're the old myths of aggression-predatory bloodlust even in human form and all that. I expect they see me as something of a fluffy Dementor-hold out a slab of meat and I'll do a trick.

I haven't told Prongs, surprising though it may seem, or Padfoot, yet. In all honesty I don't want to dampen Prongs' spirits, what with Harry keeping him in mental health like a professional trainer, and Padfoot, well, I'll have to tell him sooner or later-I'll have to tell the both of them, I know that. None of you have been recruited, I'm sure. In fact, I pity the Death Eater who's fool enough to approach Padfoot with the idea.

Thanks for reading this, Worm, you don't know the relief it grants me to put all of it in writing.

If you ever need to rant to someone, or go on an emotional tirade of your own, remember Moony owes you one.

See you at Lily's party (looks like Prongs hasn't had much of a hand in the planning-'break in the new house'…yeah right, with Padfoot around you can leave out the 'in')

-Moony, who may eat more than twice the daily-recommended amount of just about everything, but never death.

It's hard for all of us, Remus, but hang in there-if there's a guy who can resist peer-pressure out there, it's you. I can see why you wouldn't tell Sirius-he didn't exactly do so well with the last secret you told him, telling Severus just to play a stupid joke on him.

Still, from what I've heard those recruitment requests are pretty forceful…they're supposed to make it a hard offer to refuse.

See you at Lily's party

-Peter

Peter.

Your presence is urged at the residence of the McKinnons. Please be there as soon as you possibly can.

-Albus