The Losing One || Sirius Black

20. The Machine

Peter Pettigrew

Thursday, 22nd December 1971.

The Pettigrew Estate

It depended on what you personally liked, some people loved being born near the holidays. It meant that all your family could be there for your birthday, that there will be more things to celebrate, more food to enjoy, no classes, no homework..., truthfully for someone being born a day before Christmas eve could be perfect.

Peter wasn't one of those people. He hated being born on the 23rd December with all of his being. To him it was like he came second compared to Christmas, like he had to share a spotlight with Jesus, which can prove quite difficult even for a wizard.

The only reason wizards were even celebrating stuff like this was mainly because of muggles. They would make such a big deal about these celebrations, so much that it was simpler to join than ignore them. Of course, some of the old prejudice families would never admit that. Their excuse was that these celebrations came from them and muggles just stole them like they steal magic.

In conclusion, Peter didn't like that his birthdays would always convert to Christmas celebrations. Yes, he would get gifts and good wishes, but he would still feel like he was in second place.

Peter was thankful for his big brother who would always show him incredible attention and care. It was the same when it came to James Potter. Somehow those two were the only people in his life that would actually celebrate his birthday with him and not just wait for Christmas to join the two celebrations together. However, after this year, Peter would add a couple more people to his short list.

Tucked in bed, he was waiting. The clock on the bedside table struck midnight, marking the start of his birthday. Like every year, with not a second early nor too late, the bedroom door flew open revealing William. The older boy ran towards him and embraced him into a tight hug, while crushing some of his bones from the impact.

"Happy birthday, Pete.", he could hear the muffled voice, "You'll see, I have something amazing for you tomorrow."

When William untangled himself from Peter, the little boy could finally breathe again. Still, even while gasping for air, there was a bright smile on his face.

He turned to his older brother faking a pout, "Tomorrow? But I wanted to do something fun now.", he joked.

William saw straight through him, mirroring the pout in a mocking way while impersonating a baby voice, "But little Petey needs to sleep now."

Peter threw one of the pillows Williams' way, but the boy caught it with ease and returned it straight into Peter's face. He then sat on the bed and looked at his little brother, "And I know that you are a bit impatient, so I brought something now."

His hand went into his pocket and withdrew a square box. Peter took it with a frown on his face. Figuring out that it was something muggle he waited for William to explain.

"I'm not saying anything. You'll figure it out tomorrow.", the boy gave him a sly smile before he just exited the bedroom with another yell of happy birthdays.

Needless to say, Peter was confused by the box in his hands. When he opened it, none of the questions he had were answered. There was a pile of something like white parchment with black squares in the middle of every single one, and there was a lot of them. He turned and twisted them, but the squares stayed black.

Peter got frustrated with trying to figure out his present. He'll just have to wait until tomorrow for William to explain it to him. It was like he wanted to taunt Peter and keep him even more curious and impatient, but Peter decided that he will be smart and just go to sleep because everything will be explained when he wakes up.