the list
PETERS POV
There are a few things Peter Pettigrew knows for a fact.
He is quite witty, but never the funniest bloke in any room. Which is completely fine.
He is quite kind, but would probably betray the purest of hearts if he had the right motive. This is really not a speculation, for he fooled James one time in the board-game “one of us is lying” and has since then been called a variety of rat-related nicknames.
“ratty” “ratter” “rat-boy” “rat-tail “pest-spread” “wormtail” “backstabbing-little-nasty-rat” (which was the first one given, right after his little betrayal that led to him winning)
He isn’t outstanding in anything and finds himself content in and with the ordinary.
Peter Pettigrew is not one to catch the masse’ eye which he’s more than fine with.
Because there are a few things Peter Pettigrew knows for a fact. That he has a pretty good life is one of them.
He’s got a list, a short list that many would find depressing. A list of people who has at least once made him feel like the funniest and most witty in the room. A list of people who've made him feel really good about himself.
First on said list is Uncle Benjamin, who always read Peter stories during Christmas eve and Easter when he was nothing but a lad. Stories like Peter Pan and Jack and the beanstalk. Or Uncle Bens versions of those stories, at least. “Peter Pan” and “Peter and the beanstalk”. Because uncle Ben had always made it a priority to make Peter feel like the hero. The hero in every story that ever was. He had made Peter feel like the main character and though, these days, Peter has come to terms with his lack of importance, he still feels happy that someone once saw him as pure and full of potential.
Second on the list comes his childhood friend James Potter. The boy who, those stories uncle Ben told, actually was about. The bravest, kindest and most alive person on earth.
The boy down the road who knocked at the Pettigrews door one Saturday morning in need of company.
Third on the list is the boy who came to be James Potter's best friend, the boy who Peter as a kid, was jealous of. The boy who stole James until he didn’t. Sirius Black was not some selfish thief, he was just a better fit. Peter isn’t one for dwelling, so, of course, he came to terms with the arrangement and accepted his role as second best. And hey, Sirius Black turned out to be very good at making Peter laugh and vice versa, so no harm was ever done, really.
Fourth on the list is a person they aren't supposed to talk about anymore. Somebody who once was the reason why Peter became content with the arrangement of being James Potter's second choice. Somebody who had made Peter feel like a first choice. Somebody who had been Peter's best friend. The smartest boy in school (would have probably been the smartest boy in England, too. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had been a bloody idiot). A person who stopped calling.
Fifth is Alice Fortescue, the most beautiful person on this side of Europe. Honest and straight up, there’s no fuss with that one. She’s everything right with humankind and has somehow made Peter feel like he might be a person worth knowing.
Do not read into that sentence too much, he’s neither dramatic nor a self-loather, he’s only aware of his own lack of spark.
Sixth, is mister Frank Longbottom himself. Alice's boyfriend (and second half) and Peter's best friend, “new best friend”, replacing the first, the original.. The boy is grounded and thank god for that, for Alice seems to be crazy enough for both of them. Frank gets Peter, he really does. Not like a person they’re not supposed to talk about anymore, once did, but close enough.
This is the list of people who do, or at least has made Peter forget about his mortality and un-importance.
Now what is about to happen tonight is strange indeed. Strange and a little suspicious.
Peter isn’t the brightest, this he knows. But in what world is it against the rules to talk about somebody, yet okay to bring that somebody over to game night with the gang?
In what world can’t they talk about Remus fucking Lupin for years because it’s too touchy of a subject and then randomly, one day, decide that he should be the nights made of honor.
Funny how the world works, eh?
Funny, oh so funny.
Fitting really, cuz there is not one fella in this country, Peter has laughed with like Remus Lupin, and if he’s about to experience a wabby night, he’s not too upset that it’s going to be beside his past ‘darling best friend’.
Is he to be grumpy? Should he be?
Well, Peter isn’t one for holding grudges.
Nobody would bother to ask if he were to try and show his displeasure anyway.
He’s not that special, he knows this.
Tonight will go well, smooth and without tribulations, right?
Peter is a realist, he doesn't sugar-coat his life.
Still, the idea that this will work itself out without any trouble…well -
-It feels like a lie.