As the life was drained out of him, Peter Pettigrew could see flashes of moments of his life. They weren't all happy. For many years, he could scarcely remember a spark of happiness. Most were sad. A few were humiliating. Then…then it all went to the times where he was truly happy.
Peter Pettigrew wasn't a good man. He was hated and despised. He had betrayed those that he had cared most for. But Peter Pettigrew had been a good boy. Yes, he had at one point been a good person. There was a time where he wasn't hated. Where he had been loved. Where he had been a friend. It was those moments that he chose to focus on in his last dying breath.
—
"Get out of the way," A bigger boy pushed him as he rushed to catch up with his friends.
The ever so small eleven year old Peter Pettigrew fell to the ground. People kept pushing all around him. Curling up in a small ball, he waited for the crowd to vanish. A tear slipped down his chubby cheeks. He was afraid. Not just of being trampled, but also of what was to come. He was off to his first year of Hogwarts and it would be much of the same as it was when he was home. He would be alone, as he always seemed to be. Nobody wanted to be friends with a runt like him.
"Are you all right?" Someone asked, causing him to look up. A boy around his age was looking at him through round glasses. His dark hair was sticking up in every direction. He offered a hand out to Peter.
Peter took it, standing up next to this boy. "I think so."
"You need to be careful once we get to Hogwarts. Don't want you getting pushed all the way out the window." he said. "I'll look out for you though. I'm James Potter."
"Peter Pettigrew." he said in a small voice.
James threw an arm around his shoulder. "Well, Peter Pettigrew, we're just going to have to look after each other, won't we?"
—
"Gryffindor" The Sorting Hat shouted out.
Everyone in the Great Hall began to whisper as the pale boy with black hair made his way towards the Gryffindor table. Sirius Black- a boy who comes from a long line of pureblood Slytherins- nervously looked around at where to sit.
"You can join us." Peter called out. He didn't know why he called out to him. Perhaps so that he wouldn't be lonely. He glanced at James to see if it was all right, the other boy nodded with a grin.
Sirius took a seat next to James. "Are you sure you want to sit next to a blood traitor?"
"I prefer to sit with blood traitors," James grinned. "Keeps things interesting. Don't you think, Peter?"
—
Sirius, James, and Peter shared a dorm room with a quiet boy who always kept to himself. It was only the first week, but they lived together and they had hardly heard him say more than one word. He always seemed to be reading or pretending to be asleep whenever the others were around. They couldn't help but wonder why he was so closed off.
"Remus, why don't you join us?" Peter asked as the other boys were getting ready to play a game of exploding snaps.
"No thank you." he said.
Peter went over and sat on his bed, forcing Remus to look at him. "Being all by yourself all the time isn't healthy. I know this is all….scary and different being here, but you might as well make the most of it. Friends make that better, believe me when I say this."
Remus closed his book, listening to what the small boy had just told him. "All right, I'll join."
The four of them began to play exploding snaps through the night. They chatted away well into the night. By the end of it, the four went to bed with large grins on their face. Come morning the four of them would be inseparable during their time at Hogwarts. This was the very first night that they became what was known as the Marauders. From this moment on it was hard to find one of them by themselves.
—
"That was brilliant." James grinned as they snuck back into the castle early in the morning.
It was the first time that they had transformed with Remus to help him through his change. They'd spent the night running around with a werewolf. What a bizarre thought that was. You'd have to be completely mad to do so. Then again, perhaps they were. They just hadn't wanted Remus to feel alone. He'd been on his own for so long, and they were his friends. They couldn't sit back and watch it any more.
"I can't believe it actually worked." Peter said.
"It did and it was absolutely fantastic." Sirius said. "I thought it was hilarious when you tickled Remus with that little wormtail of yours."
"All right, padfoot." he threw back.
"Hold on a moment." James stopped. The other two turned towards him. "Nicknames. Wormtail and Padfoot. Remus could be Moony or something like that."
"Oh and what will you be?" Sirius asked. "Big headed git?"
"Or Prongs?" Peter suggested.
James smiled as if a light went off in his head. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. The four Marauders. Troublemakers of Hogwarts."
—
These were the moments that Peter clung to as he died. Times were he was loved, not hated. If he'd have the chance he'd go back and do it all again. Change the mistakes that he had made.
A tear slipped down his fat cheeks, quickly followed by another. They kept pouring out as darkness filled his eye sight. The last thing that he could see was a young man with glasses holding out his hand for him to take. Weakly he lifted his hand, reaching for the one that was held out. Then everything went dark.