InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Save the snails."

Peter Pettigrew (rat_patootie) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-05-21 01:32:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2023 10, astoria malfoy, peter pettigrew

RP: Once a Rat...
Characters: Peter, Astoria
Time/Date: Early morning, October 21 2023
Location: Malfoy Manner
Warnings/Rating: PG
Summary: Peter returns
Status: Complete

He was curled up in a little ball in the corner of a dark, and musty room that looked to be some kind of storage area, or something. Peter couldn't quite make out from the shadows where he was, and truly had no idea what he was doing there. The last he remembered, he'd been drifting off on the grounds with James, Sirius and Remus. The term was almost over, exams were done, and they'd been enjoying the last few days of their sixth year...

But when he opened his eyes, it hadn't been his mates that he'd been looking at. It was this place, which was who knew where, and he had no idea how he was going to go about getting himself out of this one when he didn't know how he'd gotten into it.

Did this have something to do with the Slytherins? Was he in the dungeons? Was this some kind of retaliation for all the pranks they'd pulled on them over the years? Where were Sirius, James and Remus? He whimpered slightly, curling further in on himself.

He heard noises on the stairs, and froze. If he'd had the frame of mind to figure out what he was doing, he might have transformed. As it was, he simply sat there, paralyzed and hoping that he was perfectly still as a house elf slipped carefully down the stairs, whistling cheerfully to itself. It saw him, obviously, it's big eyes growing wider as it shrieked and dropped whatever it was holding, fleeing up the stairs quickly - presumably to get it's master, since it wasn't an elf he recognized, and he didn't see the Hogwarts crest anywhere on the... well, rags that it was wearing.

So he was in a house then. Houses had exits, didn't they? Scrambling for the stairs, he had a mind to get out of the house as fast as he could, assuming he could even find a door.

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astral_flower
2010-05-21 01:20 pm UTC (link)

What now? she thought as she heard the elf babbling. Of course they'd start having ... issues while Draco was out of town and Narcissa was no help with these matters.

Setting aside the parchment she'd been studying, Astoria moved to go see what the elf was talking about. She got the idea there was a person in the basement or near the basement, and that was curious. A person? The kids were at school, Draco was gone, and it knew Narcissa.

She realized then it must have been someone who'd died in their house. She'd heard stories from Draco, and from Lucius before he'd passed, about the numerous deaths that had taken place in the house.

Astoria did not, however, recall mention of a child dying here. "You, boy," she called to him to catch his attention and stop his mad dash for freedom. "Who are you?"

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rat_patootie
2010-05-22 02:47 am UTC (link)

He froze when he heard a voice, his shoulders creeping up as he ducked his head, wincing slightly. So he'd been found then. His body started to shake involuntarily. It took him a moment of heavy swallowing before he did manage to turn around to face the pretty woman, shivering slightly.

"P-P-Peter," he stammered out. "Peter Pettigrew. Look, I'm v-very sorry Miss, I r-really don't know how I got here. I think my mates are playing some sort of prank on me. I'm- I'm supposed to be at school. It's almost summer hols, and I really don't... I'm really very sorry to have disturbed you I promise I didn't touch anything."

He forced himself to cut down on the chatter, bowing his head and trying to calm himself and stop shaking so much. He really hoped that she wasn't going to punish him, or that if she was it wouldn't hurt too much. And he really hoped that she wasn't going to tell the professors on him.

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astral_flower
2010-05-22 05:40 am UTC (link)

Astoria's lips pulled into a thin, tired line. Pettigrew. That was a name she knew well enough, and knew as one of the casualties of the war in their home.

"It's October," she said with an uncharacteristic gentleness. "It's nearly the end of October." It wasn't her business, or her place, to be explaining the 'return from death' aspect of the situation with any tact, so she gestured for him to follow her.

"You'll have to go in to the Ministry. They'll explain everything to you there, but the current year is 2023. You died in 1998, a victim of the second wizarding war."

Assuming he had followed her to the study, she gestured for him to have a seat while she summoned the elf to prepare tea for them.

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rat_patootie
2010-05-22 06:33 am UTC (link)

"It's... what?" he stared at her, eyes wide, completely forgetting to be polite and sheepish and awkward and frightened in that reveal. It was... October? Had his mates drugged him, and he'd slept in someone's basement for three months? Or had they finally learned how to travel through time without a Time-Turner and tested it out on their own personal labrat, namely him. Those were the only ways he could think of that would make it October - it didn't cross his mind to think this woman - whom he didn't know - was lying to him about the month.

The Mauraders tended not to trust adults when it came to their pranks, after all.

"... What?" he repeated when she mentioned he'd died. This was just... getting stranger. He dutifully followed her - though his mind still hadn't caught up - taking a seat when she gestured and doing a lot of blinking. "I don't... understand. I... there hasn't even been a war yet. Not really. There's... how did I... what?"

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astral_flower
2010-05-22 01:50 pm UTC (link)

Astroia exhaled quietly. "Other people are trained to answer these questions," she said, more to herself than to him. "But I will try." Summoning a copy of the Prophet, she offered it over to him. It happened to be the one about Tom's return, with the article about the Dark Marks, but maybe that would help drive it all home to him.

"There probably hasn't, at your age. But it turns into one. There's another one .... fifteen or so years later that ends in 1998. That's when you die, here in our basement, or so I've been told."

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rat_patootie
2010-05-22 09:02 pm UTC (link)

He stared at the paper when she handed it to him, but it didn't do much to answer his question, just essentially confirm what she'd been telling him, which he had... pretty much already believed.

"But... how?" he said, shaking his head slightly. "I mean... Okay, I died but... the dead don't come back to life, and... why... I really... it's summer hols in like two weeks, I don't even remember... either of the wars that I apparently fought in, and..." his eyes widened, and he started to pat himself down, wondering if he looked old, and this was just a memory loss thing, but his hands looked... pretty much the same as he remembered, not old and wrinkly.

"Where is... here?" he asked finally, figuring that it would probably be an easier question to answer.

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astral_flower
2010-05-22 10:26 pm UTC (link)

"Malfoy Manor," she said. "I'm Astoria Malfoy, wife to Draco Malfoy. His parents are Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy ... surely their names are familiar to you?" Though perhaps not. Lucius and Cissy were a few years ahead of them at school.

"No one knows exactly why this is happening. Why people are returning to life. There have been several; I'd say over a dozen who have returned." That they knew about, at any rate. Given the Dark Marks that had gone up the other night, Astoria reasoned there were more out there that they just ... didn't know about. That had slipped through the cracks.

"You're welcome to use our Floo to go to the Ministry, whenever you're ready."

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rat_patootie
2010-05-23 04:15 am UTC (link)

While the name Malfoy struck a chord - how could it not, really - Peter was having difficulty placing faces to the names Lucius and Narcissa. Of course, he was still a step behind and he was thinking about a Narcissa Malfoy - he would have known her as Narcissa Black in his time - and it really wasn't like they had traveled in the same circles. Peter hadn't been inducted into the Death Eaters until after they were all outside of school, and he wasn't under the constant watch (and protection) of his mates.

Of course, he didn't really know any of that yet. His lower lip trembled slightly as Astoria tried to explain, but he was quick enough to realize that she wasn't going to have enough of the answers for him, or any answers for him really. And maybe none of them would.

"I... thank you," he said hesitantly, pulling up to his feet and trying not to tremble so much that he lost his balance. He knew she's said when he was ready, but that had sounded a lot to him like a dismissal, and she'd made it clear enough there were others who'd be able to answer his question better. Walking over towards the fireplace, he searched for the jar that would be most likely to contain the Floo, pointing to it before reaching for it to gather some for himself. He hesitated briefly before throwing it in.

"So I just... I just show up?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly. "And tell the first person I meet who I am and they'll... that'll be enough?"

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astral_flower
2010-05-23 04:23 am UTC (link)

Astoria nodded, but made no motion to move. Surely by his age he knew how to use a Floo. "Just tell them who you are, and that you were formerly deceased. They'll take care of it. Whatever ... registrations you have to go through," she said dismissively.

She wondered if any others would be showing up, and she thought perhaps she'd ask Narcissa for a comprehensive list of people who had died here so she might be prepared. "Good luck," she said quietly because it was polite; not because she actually cared.

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rat_patootie
2010-05-23 05:14 am UTC (link)

He nodded, and steeled himself, trusting that he could do this. He'd done scarier things in the past. He'd become an animagus without killing himself for godssake. He could handle a little trip to the Ministry to inform them that he was Peter Pettrigrew, and he was returned from the dead.

Closing his eyes and tossing the Floo into the fire before he could change his mind, he turned and said, "Erm. Than you, for... for your help. I... I apologize for any inconvenience I caused," before he turned back to the fireplace and calling out Ministry of Magic, slipped inside the fire and let the feeling of racing through the Floo network overcome him.

He'd get to the Ministry, he'd find someone who could help him out, and he'd... make his way from there.

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