He hadn't been going to come, but there was no food in the flat and the Ministry wasn't due to give him another stipend until the end of the following week. He had some of the first allowance left, but not enough to get him through the rest of this week, a weekend and the whole of the following week. There was only so many nights he could spend as a rat, after all, and nibbling on scraps other people had thrown out always left a nasty aftertaste the morning after. And with no place willing to give him a job, he was going to have to make everything stretch.
Which was why a party with an abundance of free food, some that he might possibly be able to ferret away, was a big temptation. It was the people that were the draw back, but he was sure he could easily blend into the shadows and avoid most people. It wasn't likely that anyone would want to talk to him, which suited him perfectly.
Dress robes had proved a problem, but in the end he'd transfigured a set out of his dark blue sheets. They weren't perfect, but were good enough to get him in. There weren't any holes, and the spells should last as long as he needed them to. He may not have been in the same league with Transfiguration as James and Sirius were, but he wasn't hopeless. No matter the fact that everyone seemed to assume he was the weakest of the four Marauders, he knew better than that.
So, with his stomach growling, he Apparated to the front of Malfoy manor's gates. The wand the Ministry stipend had helped him get wasn't powerful, and didn't really suit him, but it did the job well enough. At least, he hadn't Splinched himself. The carriages were overly opulent, and he felt a little bit sickened by the display of wealth. Such waste, he thought, sneering a bit. He could live for a year with the worth of one of these carriages.
The rest of the party wasn't any better, and he felt out of place in his plain brown robes. He squared his shoulders, because feeling out of place wasn't anything new, and headed toward the food. He would do his best to secret some away, fill his stomach, and maybe get some free alcohol, and then he'd go home, and away from all this disgusting wealth.