*The sky was clear and blue, and the sun shone brightly. Turquoise waves washed over warm sand. Palm trees dotted the shore. Wormtail stepped forward, and smiled for the first time in weeks as sunshine washed over his pasty, ratlike face. A pretty woman stepped forward, offering him a cool drink with a little umbrella sticking out of it. Everything was perfect. Except for one thing. His arm was hurting like hell*.

Womtails eyes flew open. The pristine beach was gone, he was lying in a puddle of bleach on the basement floor. He was sore all over. Bellatrix was also gone. The only part that was real was his arm. His mark was burning insistently. He hurriedly sat up, hoping he wouldn't be late for the meeting again. He stood and disapparated. No such luck.

He stood outside the doors to the Malfoy's drawing room. He slowly eased them open.

"Wormtail", the Dark Lords high, cold voice rang out across the room. Wormtail cringed as all the heads turned his way. There was an almost collective gasp at the sight of him. Then all chaos broke loose. Bellatrix began to laugh, cackling and beating her fists on the table. Several others smirked or giggled, and Lucius looked slightly ill. Even the Dark Lord seemed amused, Wormtail could have sworn he saw a brief nasty smirk cross his master's thin lips.

"Quiet", he called, and the noise instantly fell to a funeral-appropriate level. Then Wormtail caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror across the room.

Even he couldn't believe what he was looking at at first. His face was covered in scrapes and bruises, his suit was ripped, and because of the bleach, had colorless, white spots splashed across it.

As he was looking down at himself in horror, the Dark Lord spoke again.

"Why were you late?". Wormtail froze. "Ummm, well", he glanced at Bellatrix. If he confessed, Wormtail knew he'd blow his only chances at her ever liking him, and on top of that, she'd make his life miserable. Not that she wouldn't do that anyways, but it was NOT a good idea to cross Bellatrix Lestrange. And every Death eater knew it.

"Well?". Lord Voldemort asked again calmly. His eyes probed Wormtail, and he knew that the Dark Lord was employing his talents at Legilimency again. Womtail bowed as the Dark Lord searched his mind. Suddenly he laughed.

"Well well", he sounded amused. Wormtail squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could disappear. The Dark Lord turned to Bellatrix. "While I admire your loyalty, Bella, and while your actions were certainly not uncalled for, and rather amusing, please do not make Wormtail late again". Bellatrix smirked, then bowed her head. "Of course, Master", she said, her voice filled with pleasure at the slight praise.

He turned back to Wormtail. "But you were still late", his voice had lost its amusement. "And you will pay. Do not displease Lord Voldemort, Wormtail. CRUCIO!". As Womtail lost consciousness for the second time that day, he knew he had to go ahead with his idea.

When Wormtail woke up, the meeting was over; the other Death Eaters were standing up and beginning to disperse. Clearly no one had bothered to wake him up for it. He sighed and began to stand up. No one noticed his as he brushed himself off. Suddenly, he heard a cackle right next to him. He cringed.

"Awww, is widdle Wormykins awake? Wondering what you missed? Next time, try not to sleep through the meeting!", Bellatrix smirked and laughed nastily. As Wormtail was not at that point suicidal, he decided not to point out to her that being asleep and being unconscious were two completely different things.

A few nearby people laughed, and Womtail felt himself begin to turn red. Rodolphus laughed sycophantically and too loudly. Bellatrix turned and kicked him in the shins. He shut up, and quickly excused himself. Wormtail knew she couldn't stand him, and couldn't fathom why she hadn't divorced him yet, but at the moment he was too preoccupied with not dying of embarrassment to care.

As he tried to scurry away from the danger zone, Bellatrix turned back to him.

"Is widdle Wormykins EMBARRASED? Is he upset that big bad Bellatrix is teasing him? Awwww", she laughed again. Wormtail looked towards the Dark Lord. He did not appear to be paying attention to the scene, and was talking in hushed tones with Yaxley. This action did not go unnoticed by Bellatrix, who laughed even louder.

"Awww, is our little rat looking for protection?", she smirked, and the few onlookers grinned nastily. Then Bellatrix's tone grew unusually serious. "But then again, you aren't a REAL Death Eater, are you?". She laughed again, then flicked her wand. Wormtail tripped and fell flat on his face. Laughing evilly, she turned to go.

"Bellatrix", called a familiar, high, cold voice. Everyone in the room froze. "I trust you will be responsible for filling Wormtail in on everything he missed during this meeting?", Lord Voldemort smirked.

Bellatrix opened her mouth, for a second looking as though she were about to protest. Thinking better of it, she composed herself and closed it. Lord Voldemort's smile grew. "Certainly, Master", she hissed, bowing her head. Shooting Wormtail a glare, she swept out of the room. "If looks could kill…", thought Wormtail, shivering slightly as he waited for the room to clear out.

Finally, the room was empty. "What is it, Wormtail?", asked the Dark Lord, turning to Wormtail, his tone unreadable.

"I-I-I w-wanted to ask you s-something", Wormtail stammered nervously, suddenly regretting staying.

"Ask then", snapped Lord Voldemort. "I am a busy man, you know. I have better things to do than stand around talking to cowering servants".

"", Wormtail blurted quickly.

The Dark Lord frowned. "Speak up!", he glared again.

"I-I was wondering if we c-could have a Christmas party", Wormtail repeated, squeezing his eyes shut.

Opening them nervously, he regarded the Dark Lord.

Instead of looking angry, he merely looked confused. "Why?", he asked, regarding Wormtail as though he'd just sprouted an extra arm.

"I j-just thought, maybe we n-needed some sort of….m-morale booster…or something…it could be fun…...", he trailed off.

Voldemort looked mad. "You're saying that I can't keep my Death Eaters happy?", he said calmly, in a tone that Wormtail recognized as the one he used when he was about to kill someone.

Wormtail gulped. "N-no, not at all, Master. I j-just thought it could be fun…."

The Dark Lord stroked his chin as he thought.

"All right, I suppose so", he agreed, still staring intently at Wormtail.

"You'll be putting it all together, I presume?"

"Of course, Master", said Wormtail, not only happy that the party was on, but also relieved that he was still alive.

"But, if ANYTHING goes wrong…..If anything should happen at this, this PARTY….", Voldemort fingered his wand threateningly.

"O-of course, Master", Wormtail gulped, wondering what he'd just gotten himself into.

With a bow, he scurried out of the room.

"Note to self; find out what in the name of Merlin a Christmas party is ", Lord Voldemort muttered after Wormtail left the room.