The Christmas Rat

Written for the Death Eater of the Month challenge.
Prompt: Peter Pettigrew

Christmas was Peter Pettigrew's favorite holiday. He liked watching the falling snow and hiding in the ornately decorated Christmas trees. But most of all he loved the gingerbread houses.

These houses were the perfect size for a rat to live in. Once he found a suitable home, he would sleep in a gingerbread bed, bathe in a gingerbread bathtub, and nibble on the gingerbread walls. After a time he started smelling like gingerbread, the warm fragrance wafting from his clothes as he joined the others in the drawing room.

Amycus, who was sitting at the far end of the table, unrolled his tongue and sent the drippy appendage slithering across the table. He wanted to see if Pettigrew tasted as good as he smelled, his tongue halfway across the table before the Dark Loud smacked it with a flyswatter.

"Now Amycus," hissed Voldemort, brandishing the flyswatter at him. "You mustn't lick the rodent. Not unless you want to know what the plague tastes like."

Pettigrew wilted at this comment, sinking low in his seat and staring at the floor.

"Apologies, my Lord," Amycus muttered, curling his tongue and retracting it into his mouth with a loud slurp.

The conversation continued, with Pettigrew tuning out their voices as Voldemort discussed their plans for this evenings massacre. He wasn't even listening when Voldemort decided the Carrows should lead the hunt, the older of the two siblings throwing a handful of rice in celebration.

"And as for you, Wormtail," Voldemort drawled, casually vanishing the excess rice with a wave of his wand. "You are to accompany them on this mission. Perhaps it'll motivate you to try harder."

Pettigrew sank even further into his seat, his tangled mass of white, wispy hair just visible above the table.

.oOo.

Before leaving for their evening slaughter, Pettigrew snuck off and decided to visit the Malfoy's kitchen. Maybe he could lose himself in all the wonderful treats, drinks and dishes the house elves were preparing. Maybe, if he tried really hard and buried himself in those treats, they wouldn't find him, and maybe Lord Voldemort could forgive him for his absence.

No, that would never work. But if he had to go, and probably get himself killed and/or licked in the process, he was going to enjoy himself before heading out the door with the Carrows.

The furry little rodent took one last look at all the food piled high on shining silver platters, then moved towards the edge of the shelf and jumped into a bowl of eggnog.

Slowly he sank to the bottom of the crystal bowl, only to rise a minute later, spraying an eggnog fountain into the air. He then began doing the backstroke, filling his belly with as much eggnog as he could hold.

He was thoroughly sloshed by the time he was discovered by Dibbles the house elf, who grabbed him by the ear and hauled him out of the bowl.

"No, no, no," said Dibbles. "This is not sitting well with the masters. I is having to start from scratch all over again, and it is because of you, you nasty vermin." He shook the drunken rat and tossed him out the window, pouring the eggnog out on top of him a moment later.

The rat hiccupped and flopped over onto his belly, gulping down large amounts of eggnog that had settled on the muddy ground. This was how Amycus found him, wallowing in filth, his eyes crossed from intoxication.

Amycus' tongue shot out and curled around the rodent, licking the sludge from his fur as Pettigrew squealed in delight. "Good gracious, you couldn't wait until after the mission to get sauced, Wormtail?"

Alecto popped up suddenly, peering over her brother's shoulder. "Hmm, needs more rice," she suggested, sprinkling a handful of rice over the rat.

Pettigrew squeaked, blinking and staring up at her. His wet fur was sticking up at odd angles, with bits of rice and mud matting his coat. However, this didn't stop Amycus from licking him and stating that he had a nice earthy flavor.

The two siblings then carried him away to the Muggle neighborhood where they began slaughtering innocent people.

Flashes of green lit the night sky, blood spattering the floor as Alecto dipped her fingers in the crimson fluid and used it to draw on the walls. And all the while Pettigrew clung to Amycus' shoulder, swaying back and forth as he struggled to maintain his hold on the caterpillar tongue man.

He rode the Death Eater through the living room and up the stairs, around the corner and out onto the balcony, where he was struck by a rebounding hex and sent soaring through the air.

He landed on Amycus' tongue and slid down it like a water slide, the rough texture causing him to suffer tongue burn in his backside. When he reached the end he went tumbling down the stairs, hitting each one on his way down, until he came to a stop in the hall.

His whiskers twitched, his butt burned, and when he looked towards the ceiling he saw a swirl of dancing candy canes floating above his head. One paw reached for the nonexistent treats, closing around thin air before getting to his feet and skittering across the floor.

Forgotten by the others, Pettigrew stumbled sideways and started gnawing on the wall, his mouth full of floral wallpaper. In his mind it was a delicious gingerbread house, topped with gumdrops and vanilla frosting.

Then, Alecto turned, looked over her shoulder and finally noticed the drunken rat. "The rat is biting the wall!" she screeched. She immediately leaned over and took an enormous chomp out of the plaster. "Yuck! It tastes like toilet peas!" she said, spitting wall chunks onto the floor.

Amycus rolled his eyes and flicked his tongue at the rat, the oversized organ gliding down three flights of stairs and coiling around Pettigrew's waist. "And what exactly are we going to tell the Dark Lord?" he queried, lifting the rat off the floor. "Do we tell him that Wormtail was trying to eat the house again?"

Alecto shrugged. "Might as well. He's used to me biting everything anyway, so we'll just say he learned from the master." She then tucked her wand in her pocket and proceeded to bite the table.