Monday 14th September 1981

Marauder Flat, 08:30

Pain seared through Peter. More specifically, it seared through his arm. Automatically, his arm clamped down on top of it but that didn't help anything at all. What was he supposed to do? What was going on? Was this normally? Had something gone wrong?

He dragged himself into his bathroom, moaning loudly. Marlene and Sirius were gone, probably sorting out things for the funerals and the like. And Peter was glad because he didn't know how he would explain this to them. He couldn't explain this to them.

This went on for an absolute age. And it was so pain filled that he couldn't even tell how much time had passed. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? He really didn't know.

Okay, maybe not hours but definitely not seconds either. He had never felt such pain before in his life.

Air. He needed air. Stumbling across the flat, he flung open the door. The feeling of fresh air somehow made everything worse but now that he was walking, he couldn't stop. Well, it was more like staggering and he barely heard the scoffs and comments of "drunk? At this time of the day?" and "Young people these days have no shame". What did they know? And then he was in the street and a sharper wave of pain hit him. He couldn't stop the gasp leave him as he leaned against a wall. What a spectacle he was making of himself. But more pain came and he suddenly didn't care anymore.

What was going on? He didn't understand? Was something going wrong with this... this mark? Had it been done incorrectly? The pain was beyond his arm now and spreading across his shoulders. He felt this if He to do something but he didn't know what. Panicking. He was panicking. Was he going to die? What was going on with him?

Falling to his knees, Peter clutched at his arms. It didn't help any but what was he supposed to do? His vision was wavering and he was starting to feel dizzy. Would it be better if he threw up? He was pretty sure that Chryssie had said at some point that sometimes it was better if you threw up when you were sick. Was he sick?

He was so distracted from the pain that he didn't even hear the two cracks of apparition in the alley next to him.

"Pathetic, isn't he?" Came a sneering voice.

"Don't know what's so special about him."

"That's not for is to question and You know it."

"I'm not questioning."

"You tell the Dark Lord that."

The next thing Peter knew was that he was being hauled to his feet and that horrible squeeze of side-along apparition.

Tuesday 15th September 1981

Godric's Hollow, 10:30

"How many people are going to go without parents?" James asked heavily as he sat down next to her and pulled her close.

Lily rested her head on his shoulder, she desperately needed to be close as well, biting her lip and shaking her head, not knowing how to respond. How do you even respond to a question like that? You shouldn't even have to ask a question like that. Except they did. And she hated it. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it.

Horrible. The last few days had been horrible. And that was just them getting all the news second hand. Which was a whole different type of horrible and not what should be focused on right now.

She didn't even know what she should be focusing on right now. Marlene? Sirius? She couldn't get to either of them right now. She had never wanted to break out of hiding so much before. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. What was she supposed to do? What could she do? Send them meaningless letters? Definitely not. Maybe she could get Dumbledore to get them a secure room so they could all be together. Just this one time. Or maybe he would let Sirius and Marlene come over here. That would be even better even if they weren't supposed to have guests over anymore, even if they already knew the Secret.

What was she supposed to do? She didn't like this feeling, being able to do nothing at all. How bad was that? They were friends, they were family. They should be doing something. Everything.

James was rubbing her back, she just realised. Trying to sooth her. It wasn't working, nothing was going to be able to calm her today. But it did ground her. Remind her where she was and who she was with. She had James. And Marlene had Sirius. Marlene wasn't alone. Which was something, at least.

"It was good of Peter to give them some space," Lily said, breaking the silence.

Peter had decided that it would do no good to have him hanging around while Marlene and Sirius were grieving and trying to sort things out. Which was a fair point. He'd gone to his parents' house - the only people who could technically have taken in a guest being in hiding. Which tended to prevent you having guests full stop.

Of course, they'd done the whole check for his magical signature on the note and checked in with his parents. As recent events had proved, you really couldn't be too careful. They, they being Remus as he was the only person who the Pettigrew's knew and could actually use a floo at the moment, had missed Peter the first call. His parents alias reassured then he was okay though, just at work. Of course, they had to check again later just to be sure. They caught him the second time and although it had been a short call it had reassured them that he was fine. Peter was just jumpy and nervous according to Remus. A bit more than usual but that was to be expected when your friend's family was murdered.

So, everything was good. Well, as good as it could be. Which wasn't much at all. But Peter was fine. It was just Peter being Peter and all his awkwardness around people. It was kind of endearing if also a little bit annoying. But that was probably more due to the fact that she couldn't be there for her friends right now so she felt like everyone else should be. Because that's what they did, wasn't it? And anyway, they weren't friends, they were family. And you were always there for family.

"It was a good thing they found that note," James said, shaking his head. "I mean, honestly, a note? What if they hadn't seen it? We'd all be thinking he'd been kidnapped when he'd just be with his parents."

Granted, it really wasn't the smartest thing to do but this was Peter. When it came to things like this - dealing with people's emotions - well, he just wasn't too smart. It was just who Peter was, he couldn't help it. He did try, though. And this was him trying to do something good.

"He doesn't even get on with his parents," Lily said with a sigh.

James's face darkened at that. Lily knew that he was always annoyed at the callous way Peter treated his parents. Like they were an inconvenience. They were nice people, that one time she met them. And James said they were like that all the time. Mild-mannered and polite. Lily wasn't sure how Peter managed to not get on with them, they looked like the type of people who couldn't summon up the anger to argue with anyone, but it really wasn't any of her business. It still annoyed James though. It couldn't be that bad if Peter was staying with them while Sirius and Marlene tried to process things, right?

"It's probably for the best," she tried to distract James.

He snorted. "Yeah. I don't think he's too good at the whole comforting thing."

"James!" She scolded, smacking him on the arm.

"You know it's true," he protested. "Look, I love the man but even I know that Wormtail is not someone you want comforting you."

Lily thought for a moment and then reluctantly nodded.

"I suppose..."

Wednesday 16th September 1981

Unknown Location, unknown time

Two days. That's how long he had been here. Two days. He thought so, anyway. He was just using the shadows on the wall to tell the time but those were probably not right. If the shadows moved right across the wall was that one day or half a day? He didn't know. And it never really got dark in here. Actually, it wasn't bright in the first place. It was just a dark room with boarded up windows with the faint glow of small candles along the wall. Candles which had to be enchanted because, as far as he could tell, no one had touched him since he was in here. Though, he did sleep so maybe it happened then? He was always a deep sleeper; the other Marauders always teased him so.

The Marauders. His friends.

Was anyone even looking for him? Did anyone realise he was gone? They had to be looking for him, right? He wasn't the type to just get up and disappear, they knew that.

Yeah, they were looking for him. They had to be. Yeah. Or maybe they weren't and he was going to sit here forever until someone did something to him. And he doubted that that something was going to be pleasant.

Was he that easy to forget about? Peter frowned. He wasn't forgettable, was he? No. He shook his head. He couldn't think like that. He had to think about something else. To keep his mind off this current situation. He would go crazy if he constantly thought about it. Mainly because he didn't understand.

Death Eaters had got him, right? And he was a Death Eater now. Yeah, he was one of them. So, there was no way he was in danger, right? Right?

But if he was one of them, why was he separated like this? Was this some sort of test? Was something wrong with him?

And he was starting to hyperventilate. That wasn't good. What were those breathing exercises that Chryssie taught him? In. Out. In. Out. No, that was wrong. Not that face. In. Deep breath. Hold it, two, three, four, five. And release, two, three, four, five.

That worked a little but not enough. At least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. He needed a distraction. Anything.

The Marauders. James. Sirius. Marlene. The McKinnons. Marlene was now the last McKinnon. How awful was that? Imagine being the only one? He couldn't and he came from a small family, not a great, big one like Marlene's.

Peter tried to rationalise the McKinnons deaths. He had never met them but James and Sirius had and they always sung their praises. So, they had to be good people. Right? James and Sirius were always good judges of character. He could trust them. Which meant they were good. They were Light. And that's what mattered to them, right?

Oh, Peter was so confused. Maybe trying to think to keep his mind off things wasn't a good idea after all.

But you couldn't have people like that get in the way of what was needed. What was necessary. You just couldn't. Right?

See? He was confused. Really confused. And just as he buried his face in his hands, the door was going open. Very frantically, two silhouettes loomed in the now open doorway.

"On your feet, Pettigrew," one sneered.

He didn't know who, a lot of people sounded awfully similar when they sneered like that. It was weird.

"Now!" The other barked.

That got Peter scrambling to his feet so fast that he nearly fell over again. It was definitely better to do as he was told.

Suddenly, the shorter of the two moved so he (it was a he - Peter saw the short hair briefly as the man walked past) was behind Peter. A wand was then poked in his back making him breath in sharply.

"Keep moving, the Dark Lord wants an audience with you."

And with that, Peter walked back into the light.

Friday 18th September 1981

Longbottom Manor, 14:00

Alice didn't know the McKinnons. Hadn't known them. Last tense now. Not really. Why would she when she and Marlene weren't even on speaking terms never mind friends. There was no way she would have ever been invited to their home. Not that she would have been allowed to go. The McKinnons were commoners. Lower class. Farmers. Which, in a way, was even worse than the Weasleys who had least had the decency to get jobs in the Ministry as poor and useless those jobs may be.

No, the McKinnons were worse than that, according to her mother who had always turned her nose at even the mention of them. Which is why Alice had reacted to Marlene the way she had in Hogwarts. Because she had be taught that she was superior. The better of the two, obviously. And she'd looked down on her.

She hadn't expected Marlene to have a sharp tongue and witty remarks. Well, more insulting that witty but still. She was quick-witted and always come off on top of their little moments. And yes, the nickname Miss High and Mighty still stung after all these years. Was that stupid? It was definitely silly feeling annoyed about a childish nickname after all these years. Even if it was a mean one.

Not that that meant anything anymore when the person who gave you the nickname's parents had died! And not even died. Murdered. In cold blood. She could still feel bad about that. No one deserved that.

She sniffled and stubbornly wiped her hand across her face. It wasn't fair! How could something like this happen? The McKinnons had never hurt anyone. Like her mother said, they were simple people with simple lives. There was no way they hurt anyone!

Then anger flashed through her. It wasn't fair and things like this shouldn't happen. But just as quickly the anger left her and despair set in. But what was she supposed to do?

Monday 21st September 1981

Tonks' Home, 08:30

"Be careful, please you two?" Dora asked anxiously as her parents left for work.

Something she didn't have until her exam results came through from the Academy. Which should have been the other day but all those attacks had brought that process to a halt. She didn't even know when the results were going to be posted anymore.

Not that that mattered right now. Not when there was so much death and destruction going on and that tended to make her a little anxious. Especially when she couldn't do anything about it.

Hence why she asked her parents that question right now. She was scared, terrified really, and she couldn't control it. Not even a little bit.

Andromeda and Ted l9oked at each other before looking back to their daughter.

"We always are, Dora," Ted said gently.

"Promise?"

"We promise," they said in unison and she even got another hug from each of them.

That was slightly reassuring. Slightly. But that was as good as it was going to get these days.

"Anyway, neither of us are incompetent," Andromeda said in a slightly haughty tone.

And there went that nice, reassuring feeling. Up in a puff of smoke. Just like that.

"Mum!"

She didn't need any of that Black pride stopping her from keeping herself safe! No, just, please no. Arrogance and price had no place here. It really didn't.

"Annie," Ted said reproachfully.

"Well, we're not!"

"Don't think like that, please," Tonks said plea

She wasn't stupid. She had done the maths. James' parents? Dead. Lily's parents? Dead. Remus' parents? Not dead but not even in the country anymore. Sirius' parents? Best not to talk about them. Not present. Marlene's parents? Dead. All the McKinnons? Dead. Dead. Dead. How many sets of parents dead in total? Three. That was out of six possible sets of parents. Fifty percent. Which went up to sixty per cent if you discounted the Blacks which that all did. That was far too high a number!

"We will be safe, Dora, don't worry," Andromeda said soothingly. "You know that we, of all people, take precautions."

Dora took a deep breath and nodded. It was true. Her parents were always mindful of security because of the whole thing about her mother being a Black Outcast and all that. You just never knew what a powerful family like the Blacks was going to do to you. They weren't exactly open and obvious about things. They would do all the cloak and dagger stuff. Literally with a cloak and dagger.

"I can't help but worry."

"And neither can we."