Welcome to Central! (closed)

[rattus_rattus]

WHO Peter Pettigrew and Lucius Malfoy (Closed)
WHAT Peter is settling into his new position and making friends
WHEN October 2, 1980
WHERE Central Department, Ministry of Magic
WARNING None, except Peter taking steps towards the dark side
STATUS In Progress



The Central Department isn't the most glamorous of the departments in the Ministry of Magic. The department seems to only exist as a middleman, shunting interoffice memos from one area of the Ministry to the next. All decisions that need to be communicated throughout the Ministry come through Central to be sorted, triplicated, cataloged, and filed away before the originals are sent on to their destination. Most others would be bored with the position but Peter isn't like most people. Central is a welcome change from his position in Transport. He can focus on a single, rudimentary job without having to deal with people from the public. Most days he's left completely on his own and he loves the feeling of being trusted to work without constant supervision. Plus, the bump in pay has been enough to have him searching for his own flat. He never thought he'd be able to say he was moving up the ladder at the Ministry, but here he was, an assistant to the Department Head. It's more than Peter had ever hoped to achieve.

Peter is carrying a stack of interdepartmental memos that need approval from the Head, Lucius Malfoy. He purposefully talked his way into being the one to deliver the paperwork. Not because he was interested in brown-nosing, but he had a rapport with Lucius. Lucius was the only reason Peter had this job, not to mention they've had lunch a few times since he arrived in Central. Peter was beginning to think that perhaps he could consider themselves on friendly terms - which was a novel idea considering Peter didn't have any other friends besides James, Sirius, and Remus. All of these new experiences made Peter feel special and wanted, more so than he had over the past two years.

He knocks on Lucius' door before he slowly enters, peeking his head into the office. "I've those papers that need your signature," he says. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Comments

[malificence]

It is quite possibly, Lucius often thinks, the least glamorous of departments. In several ways he missed both DMLE and DMAC, the first being where he'd been for the last few years and second being where he'd started in the Ministry. Both were departments where more interesting things happened - and Central was mostly a vehicle for keeping the Ministry running at a steady clip.

Well, that and the occasional (read: frequent) displeased Howler from the public about general ministry policies. That fell on them, too, and specifically on Lucius. He had something of a gift for it, and he suspected the part of his appointment that was not punishment for working half and three-quarter days was based on his ability to string words together in such a way that most don't realize they're being told to fuck right off. There's an odd and persistent rumor that the Malfoys are descended from veelas for just that reason, and it also happens to be what Lucius is working on when Peter pokes his head in.

Ah, his favorite pet project. Peter Pettigrew is, he thinks, coming along nicely. "Nothing not terribly tedious," he says as he pushes aside the parchment to take Peter's stack. His quill has been magicked to produce his signature with just the right tap against paper, so he waves Peter into the chair opposite as he skims-and-signs.

"How's the flat hunting going?" He asks. "I imagine you're about ready to be done with that." They've talked enough that Lucius has a rather firm idea about the relationship between Peter and his mother, and even so - even Lucius had often thought about just flat out moving up to Orkney to live at the admittedly drafty castle instead of the Manor. Instead, of course, he'd just moved in to Lestrange.

[rattus_rattus]

Peter takes a seat in front of Lucius' desk and groans. "It's not going fast enough," he says. "Plus, my Mum has started hinting that I'm discarding her to die the moment I move out. She can't ever make up her mind. I'm a worthless layabout if I stay, and a terrible son if I move out."

He sighs, shaking his head. It was an old discussion between himself and his mother. The sooner he escaped sharing a flat with her, the better. "I've found a few flats that are within my budget. One more pay and I think I'll be able to make the move."

Peter pauses for a moment, considering his next few words before he speaks. "You should come round when I settle in," he says.

[malificence]

Lucius learned how to manipulate practically in the cradle, so he can recognize Peter's mother and he are playing similar games. Enid's methods are cruder, though, he thinks. She's kept her son under her thumb this way this long, but he's on the verge of escape and Lucius doesn't expect his mother's going to be able to keep her claws in him much longer.

None of this shows on his face, of course, or in his clear eyes as he flips a memo over and moves to the next. He considers for a moment offering to help - but no, Peter has intriguing streaks of pride, and even if it would be less than nothing to Lucius, it likely would be too much for Peter. "Freedom's close," he says instead as he signs several more in the stack. "Then you can joy me in the joyful world of reproachful owls." Abraxas Malfoy has never sent a reproachful owl in his life, but Peter wouldn't know that.

"I'd like that," he says with a smile as he finishes the stack and restores it to perfect neatness. "Of course, I know for a fact that some of your other friends don't...much care for me."

[rattus_rattus]

Peter laughs, trying to picture his mother ever sending a reproachful owl. He knows what to expect when he leaves. Various degrees of pleading messages, nasty "Better off with you gone" notes, and months of the silent treatment. But anything was better than being twenty and still living with his mum. It was time - more than time.

As for his mates, Peter hasn't mentioned Lucius. Not that he's afraid of what they might say. It's more the topic has yet to come up. Besides, he sees his mates so infrequently that he doubts they care. "I don't need their approval to have other friends," Peter says. "They've never bothered to share their interesting life outside of our little circle. Doubtful they'd start now."

He doesn't mean to sound sour but it's difficult to keep the hint of bitterness from his voice. He loves his mates as brothers, he does, but sometimes he wonders if they even remember that he exists. True, he's done nothing to reach out to them, so perhaps they aren't all to blame.

[malificence]

Lucius leans back in his chair and pushes his hand through his hair as he tilts his head. One brow is raised, and he looks both sympathetic and a little judgmental towards Peter's friends. Of course, after Hogwarts some friendships were bound to trickle off. You were bound to develop other interests. Of course, he was still close to most of his school friends - and with Bellatrix or Augustus coming by his office on the regular, Peter would know that. He could see the difference between, say, hie and Bella and Peter and...James Potter. Remus Lupin. Bella's darling cousin Sirius.

"Of course you don't need their approval," he says with a bit of a grin. "I, personally, rarely ask my friends for theirs. Besides, Peter darling, the key there is to have a more interesting life than them. Let them envy you a bit."

Doubtful that they would, especially Sirius - who associated Lucius too much with Bella to have a good opinion about him - but the more he could encourage this bitterness towards those self-righteous types, the easier it would be to ensure that Peter was more interested in keeping Lucius interested in him.

[rattus_rattus]

Peter stops himself from rolling his eyes. Envy him? He doubted that James, Sirius, or Remus ever thought that Peter's life was enviable. Not even for a single moment.

"It's a nice thought but that's just not me," Peter says, sitting back in the chair. "I'm not the one with the interesting life. There's nothing to envy. Not even..."

Peter trails off as he thinks about the one thing that makes him special: his animagus form. It was a dangerous spell for even the most talented wizards and he'd managed it in fifth year. But so had James and Sirius, whose animagus forms were far more impressive than his own. A rat was nothing to envy.

Peter looks down at his hands before balling them up into fists. "I'm just me. Wouldn't want their envy, anyhow."

[malificence]

"Not even your animagus form?" Lucius leans his elbow on the table. Peter's registered, so of course he knows. It was in the paperwork he'd gotten when he'd moved to this department. "I don't know, I'd think that a rat would be useful, as forms go. You can go anywhere, hide, masquerade as a pet. I'd expect that you hear things no one expects to ever be heard.

"I never managed an animagi form, myself," he adds casually but with perhaps a slight note of false envy. He hadn't particularly been interested, frankly; Lucius' interests, even in school, had been the branches of magic not taught at Hogwarts. Not just the dark arts, though that had been an interest early, but rituals and ceremony, magic tied to the moon and stars. "It's a difficult bit of transfiguration, no matter what form you end up being."

He watches Peter for a moment, and it's an incisive sort of look that many people might shrink from. "What do you want from them?" He asks. "I know I might be...overstepping," he adds. "But they don't seem be around for you much."

[rattus_rattus]

Peter resists the urge to flinch the moment Lucius begins speaking about Peter's animagus form. He's heard all of the supposed benefits of being a rat before. James, Sirius, and Remus had all gone out of their way to show him just how brilliant it was being Wormtail. He was useful and the simplicity of being a rat was comforting at times. Still, he didn't indulge in that sort of magic lately. What was the point? Besides, his mother kept glue traps and poison around the house. He didn't have a death wish.

He appreciates that Lucius is trying to make him feel better. He shrugs his shoulders when asked about his friends. "I don't want anything from them," he answers reflexively. "They've been my mates for near ten years. It's just... it's not the same, y'know? Everything is different and I'm sort of the odd man out."

[malificence]

There was that, and the trace, of course. Someone would know every time Peter changed - the whole reason he ever even registered, Lucius expects. Still, he keeps those thoughts filed away, and he continues to look sympathetic. This is leading exactly where he wants it to, after all.

"Some people want to start fresh after school, I suppose. There are a few friends I rarely see myself, these days." Well, Elektra Burke had definitively taken the other side when he and Petia had broken up - and that was expected. Most of his other school friends had either been a little older or a little younger. "If you don't mind me offering some advice, Peter - it might be time to make some new friends. I found doing that is what kept me from feeling like an extra wheel with my old ones." He looks down at the quill he's still holding and dips it back in the inkpot.

"A few friends and I are are going to Ireland for a few days after Halloween. Maybe you'd like to come along?"

[rattus_rattus]

Peter didn't mind the advice at all. Making new friends was a difficult task for Peter. He didn't have the patience to get involved with new people. Still, Lucius had a point. The Marauders might be his brothers, but he felt more alone now than he ever had at Hogwarts. New people might chase some of the dark thoughts that crept up on him when he was alone.

He didn't expect Lucius to invite him to Ireland, however. Peter stares at Lucius, feeling shocked. "M-me?" he says. "You'd like... are you sure? I mean, sure, that sounds brilliant but do your friends know you're inviting..."

He gestured to himself, letting his own appearance fill in the blank.

[malificence]

A look of genuine amusement slips onto Lucius' face, warming his gray eyes, and he lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "There's no reason they wouldn't like the opportunity to meet you, Peter," he says. Which is very much the case, he thinks. Recruitment was a task they were all to focus on, and it did them little good to only recruit people just like themselves. Peter was friends with the type of wizards most likely to protest Tom Riddle's regime.

"I like you, why wouldn't they?" He asked. "You really must come. We all need a few days before the Minister starts us in on some new project, and he always gets itchy with some new idea in the last quarter of the year."

[rattus_rattus]

It was strange to hear the words "I like you" coming out of Lucius Malfoy's mouth. For the majority of his life Peter only had three people he assumed well and truly 'liked' him, and even that was up for debate. He never envisioned finding another person who professed to enjoy his company that wasn't lying to his face. There was still a chance that Lucius was doing just that, but, Peter doubted that was true. The more time Peter worked with Lucius, the more he realized just how little patience the man had for others. If Lucius said he liked him, then some part of that statement must have been true. Which meant the invitation was genuine.

Peter considered his options. He wanted to go, he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't interested. It was new, different, and a touch dangerous. He hadn't felt like that since the last time he, James, Sirius, and Remus used the Marauders Map. But his friends wouldn't be thrilled that Peter was choosing to spend time with Malfoy, not to mention his associates. In some way, irritating his friends had its own excitement.

In the end, it was an easy decision to make. "Yeah, all right," Peter nodded. "Sounds like it could be fun."

[malificence]

Peter wasn't wrong; Lucius could be immensely patient, but he didn't tend to waste it on people who weren't worth. In some circumstances, he wouldn't bother with Peter, either, but as projects went - he was far more amusing than keeping an eye of his recent roommates, that was for certain.

His lips curve into a smile. "Good," he says. "It'll be fun." And he doesn't often describe things as fun, not outside of a very small group of people. Of which Peter may just become a member.