Peter Pettigrew was staring out the grimy window of a run down house, watching the rain streaming down the windows. Once this house had been a family home, warm and inviting, however nearly sixteen years of neglect had taken its toll, and Godric's Hollow had become dirty and dilapidated.
He had been waiting there for a week unsuccessfully, growing ever more tired of the damp. At the moment, he was waiting for Snape, who was supposed to be checking up on him, and bringing back news to Voldemort. So far, his futile attempts at surveillance had been greeted with more and more contempt, and Peter was sure that today, after seven days of nothing, he would surely receive some punishment worse than Snape's scornful remarks at his failings.
He tensed when he heard a door open somewhere on the floor below. But his fear turned to disbelieving relief when he heard a girl's voice and realised that all his waiting was finally paying off. He began to hear snippets of conversation between the three teenagers downstairs.
"Harry, I would have thought your parents would have lived in a slightly… cleaner house."
"Don't be silly Ron; of course his parents lived in a cleaner house, but no ones exactly going to drop in to do the house work when the owners have been dead for sixteen years, are they?"
"Oh yeah…"
Peter turned quickly into his rat form and ran down to find them. Staying in the shadows, he began to follow the small party, listening to the conversation. He still couldn't make out much of the conversation; most of it was in whispers. The house had an oppressive feel, almost like a graveyard, which seemed to demand silence. Of course, however bad it was for them, it was a thousand times worse for him, with the memories of what happened last time he was in this house still clear in his mind. Peter was shaken out of his memories when he heard the words he had been waiting to hear.
"…horcruxes. After all, we've already destroyed the diary and ring, there's only Nagini, the locket and something of the other two Hogwarts founders to find"
"Only!"
"You know what I mean. I want to find them by the end of the year; I reckon we can't keep this secret from Voldemort long."
"How do you destroy a horcrux anyway…"
Peter was amazed at what he was hearing. Apparently, it was a summary of how much Harry Potter knew and what he planned to do. The only thing that could have please the Dark Lord more would have been hearing the prophecy itself. He was about to turn round to meet Snape with his news, but something stopped him. He had betrayed James once, could he betray his son? Then he remembered the look of anger on his friends face… "You're pathetic, you know that? Pathetic!" He had made his decision years ago. The three teenagers in the hallway didn't notice a rat quietly making its way out the door and down the path until it seemingly disappeared into the rain.
Please r&r!