"Wormtail, Wormtail!" The voice calling him seemed very, very close, yet very, very far away, an echo of distant memories and a crash of thunder right beside him.
Peter Pettigrew shuddered in panic, his body tensing as his eyes flew open!
Out of habit, he immediately rolled over in his rat's body and looked warily around-ah, so he was here, in the Gryffindor Common Room he knew so well. It looked almost unchanged from when he had been a student here.
Peter could not help breathing a sigh of relief. Luckily, it had only been a nightmare-one in which he had returned to that cold night filled with the smell of blood.
The Wizarding World had been turned completely upside down after that day, and he had been forced to conceal his identity to preserve his life,
becoming a rat and clinging to life.
"You're finally awake? Good, we should get going-oh, you really are a lazy rat. Just look at you. I've looked after you for so long, but you've never wished me a happy birthday."
Ron's muttering kept drifting into his ears.
Only then did Peter realize that the voice calling beside his ear had also belonged to Ron-and what he had actually called was "Scabbers," the name the Weasley brothers had agreed on for him when he had found the Weasley family ten years ago-not "Wormtail."
Ron, you kind, innocent, foolish boy. If I really wished you a happy birthday, you'd probably scream in fright on the spot, wouldn't you?
Imagining that comical scene, Peter gave two delighted squeaks and relaxed completely.
He let his well-fed, plump body settle into Ron's pocket, happily cocking his tail as he continued thinking smugly:
*Hey, yes, Peter, what exactly are you worried about? At this point, who would still call