A World Without Peter

WARNING: This story contains excessive promotion of Canon and may be offensive to some viewers. Not suitable for immature audiences.

1971, September:

It was September 1st, 1971. A small boy of eleven bounced towards the station, his eyes alight with excitement.

"Just think, I'm going to learn to be as great a wizard as you, Mum!" He exclaimed with glee, hopping up and down impatiently.

His mother rolled her eyes, smiling. "I'm a Witch darling, but yes, you will soon be as good as your father and I." She agreed, fixing his collar as they walked down the busy street.

"Muuuum!" He protested, wriggling out of her grasp and running on ahead.

"Peter, darling, come back!" His mother laughed, quickening her pace to catch up.

"Come on Mum, we'll be late!" Peter urged, grabbing his mother's arm and pulling her along.

"There's plenty of time darling, don't panic. Peter, stop fiddling with your wand, someone might notice, dear." She scolded quietly, taking his hand as they came to a busy street. Peter rolled his eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Yes, mother."

His mother clipped his head as the crossing indicated they could walk. "Don't you use that tone with me, young man-"

A car sped around the corner, the driver ignoring the red light as he flew towards the mother and her son. Peter's mother looked up just in time to see the young man's eyes widen as he frantically tried to avoid them, his car screeching as she screamed.

"PETER!"

Later...

"Before we begin the feast tonight, I have a terrible announcement to make. One of our first years, a young man named Peter Pettigrew, was killed on his way to the station today." Dumbledore said sadly, his shoulders stooped. A collective gasp rose from the students, some of them breaking into tears.

"I knew Peter." Sirius muttered to his new friends, pale-faced. "He was lots of fun, a good mate. I'll miss him."

1975, November:

"Well? Well?"

"It was neat. Did you see, Remus?"

"I… I can't believe this."

"Me neither!"

"What time is it?"

"I have to go now. I suppose I'll see you later?"

"Will do! Don't worry, Remus me pal. You'll have us with you tonight."

The next morning…

"Where were you? What happened? Why are you all cut and grazed?"

"Sorry Remus, but we couldn't get past the Whomping Willow."

"What?"

"My Antlers got caught in its boughs, and one swipe knocked Sirius out completely."

"Is that why you're all bruised?"

"Yeah."

Silence.

"There's something you're not telling me. James? Sirius?"

"We… well, Dumbledore caught us. He found out when he went for a walk this morning. The Whomping Willow was still attacking us."

"Oh."

"Yeah. He was so angry, reckoned we'd betrayed his trust and that we could have been severely hurt or endangered other. We can't come with you on the full moon. I'm so sorry Remus."

"It's not your fault. These things happen. I mean, I've survived this long without you, I think I can keep going."

1977, November:

"I can't believe he didn't tell us." James said quietly to Sirius as they watched Remus' coffin being lowered.

Sirius nodded glumly. "I don't think he wanted us to feel guilty. He knew we couldn't transform to help him, and you know what Remus is… was like. He never told anyone when he was in trouble."

"Trouble? He was bloody well killing himself once a month!" James gritted his teeth. "We could have helped him, damn it!" He swore, causing a few mourners to turn and look at him. "We could have helped."

"It wasn't our fault-"

"No? No, it's not our fault." James said darkly, glaring at Dumbledore. "It's not our fault at all."

1981, September:

"James, I can't do this. They'll know it's me. I can't be your Secret Keeper." Sirius begged, running his hands through his hair.

"Who else do we have, Sirius? Remus is gone, and I can't… I just can't trust Dumbledore anymore." James took Harry from Lily and held him close.

"Sirius, we trust you." Lily began, reaching out a hand but Sirius turned away.

"But I don't trust me, Lily! I… you know I'm not great when it comes to keeping secrets, look at the Snape and Remus incident." Sirius collapsed into a chair, and put his face in his hands. James knelt before his friend, still holding Harry.

"Sirius, please. We have no one else." James begged quietly. Sirius looked up, his eyesfilling with tearsas he stared at his best friend.

"All right James. All right."

1981, October:

"Tell us where he is!"

"Nngh! Nooooo!"

"Tell us!"

"Aaarrggg! N… nooo… I can't!"

"Tell us!"

Sirius gave a piercing scream, throwing his head back and arching his back in agony. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Two weeks later...

"Dead?" James gasped, sitting down trembling.

"I am sorry James. Voldemort found him." Dumbledore said, holding Harry, who was playing with the old man's beard. James buried his face in his hands.

"What have I done? What have I done?" He moaned over and over, rocking backwards and forwards as he began to weep.

"How?" Lily asked quietly, standing still beside James.

"Cruciatus curse. It seems that Sirius refused to tell them." Dumbledore gave a sad smile, but James' sobs grew louder.

"What have I done?"

January, 1982:

"He's gone!" Lily threw herself into Dumbledore's office, her hair flying wildly about her.

"What?" McGonagall cried, leaping up from her chair beside Dumbledore.

"James has gone, and he has Harry! I don't know where he has gone and I can't find them!" Lily's voice raised in panic, and she stood shaking in fear. "We have to find him! He's gone insane, he'll hurt my Harry! Dumbledore, we have to find Harry!" She panicked, bursting into tears.

Dumbledore rose from his seat. "We'll start immediately."

July 31st, 1993:

A small boy stood in front of a door and knocked quietly, looking around apprehensively for any danger.

"Password?" A voice asked quietly from behind the door.

"Gobstoppers." The boy replied, nervously smoothing his hair over the fine scar across his forehead.

The door opened and a man ushered the boy in. "Ah, our hero. We've been expecting you." Kingsley smiled, taking him down the dark corridor to a hidden room.

"He's here." The man told the handful of people in the room, who all turned and looked at the boy.

"We don't have much time, so let's be brief. Today we're going to tell you about the prophesy..."

Later

"And I'm the one they're talking about?" The boys asked, scared. He never knew he was so important.

"Well, there was only one other who fit the description." Dumbledore said, rubbing his eyes. "But Voldemort killed him and destroyed his parents."

"Who was it?" Neville asked quietly, pulling his jumper close.

"His name was Harry Potter."

1995, October 31st:

Voldemort laughed as he kicked aside the body of a small boy. "That was far too easy." He chuckled, looking around at the remains of the Order with amusement. "I was hoping for a little more of a challenge, but at least that annoying prophecy has been dealt with. Now," Voldemort turned and swept out of the room, Malfoy at his side. "How has my European conquest been going since I was… distracted?"

"Paris has fallen, my Lord…"

Fin.


A/N: Obviously there is a lot of guess work, but see what happens when you remove Peter? See? Huh? HUH? He is vital to the HP world, you can't just get rid of him because you don't like him! He is a tragic figure, explore his character. You may find that, like myself, you really feel sorry for him.

All right, so I have a new Live Journal, the link is in my profile. Read, review and eat cake.