Chapter 1: Friends
James Potter was walking down the open hallway with his two best buds, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, when he saw something that set a smug smirk on his face. It was Snape, Severus Snape, taunting a fellow first year in the courtyard...and it was a Gryffindor no less. James simply looked over his shoulder at Sirius and the two were off. Remus trailed behind like a lost puppy half out of fright of being left alone and half out of exasperation. The three first year Gryffindors were going to show that lone Slytherin that the lions were not to be messed with. They wanted to help that student as much as they wanted a shot at Snape.
These valiant Gryffindors did not know the full story, though. They thought Snape was antagonizing the other student out of malice. Snape was actually the one being teased, but managed to turn the tables on his attacker now victim. After Pettigrew had tried, and failed, at a bat-bogie hex spell, Snape had thrown the contents of his cauldron on Peter. Peter Pettigrew was now mercilessly plastered against the courtyard wall with some glue-like substance. The cauldron was in the grass next to Severus spilling the left-over potion onto the courtyard ground. Peter had been teasing Severus about his greasy black locks of hair and a desperate lack of friends, which is ironic considering Peter's dirty appearance and his total amount of friends being zero. "Well, Worm? What do you have to say now? I don't see any of your friends coming to your rescue," Severus sneered at Peter. He had used the nickname Peter hated. It was directed not only at his dirty looks, but also at the embarrassing moment when he tripped and ate dirt. The effect of the name was the one Severus wanted, but the reason for it was not caused by him. Peter started to cry. He had seen a group of Gryffindors coming his way and thought they might help him if he appeared to be severely distraught. They were going to help him get revenge on this snake by beating Severus up. And it worked quite well.
"Put him down, Snivellus," James commanded Severus. He used the slighting nickname he had given Snape on their first day of potions. The lone Slytherin only glared in return. "I said, Put. Him. Down," James repeated forcefully. He reached for his wand tucked away in his robe. If Snivellus wanted a duel, he was going to give him a duel.
"I can't, Potter," Severus finally responded in a dull tone. "If you had payed any kind of attention in potions class you would know that this is Polly Potion, a mixture like cement. Only someone with the right spell can remove it and I, unfortunately, do not know it," he said the last few words of his response with a tone of mockery. Severus knew the spell, but there was no way he'd tell them what it was. Peter began to whimper as he saw James pause, thinking he wasn't going to help anymore. "Be quiet, Worm!" Severus shouted as he whipped around. Three wands were pointed at him in an instant. Severus had had just about enough from these fools when Remus spoke up.
"I know the spell to get him off. Why don't we all put away our wands, so none of us lose house points," Remus suggested. It was then that Peter noticed only Sirius and James were targeting Severus. Remus had his wand trained on his fellow Gryffindors. The two hot-headed boys lowered their wands slowly. "Severus," Remus said, "I suggest you start on that Charms essay soon, it's a long assignment." Severus took this as his cue, gathered up his stuff, and hurried off to the dungeons cloak flapping behind him.
Peter stared at the back of the fading silhouette. He wished he could be so calm and calculating under pressure. Sparks flashed and he was falling off the wall to the ground. He screamed in fear. He thudded on the ground in the grass and covered his head. It was too good to be true, these guys were just going to hurt him too. Who was he to think that someone would stick up for him and then not be tempted to bully him? He was the round, scruffy, dirty boy that no one ever talked to. He always worked off pity to get what he wanted or scrounged around to get what he needed. Protecting himself had always been his number one priority.
"Hey, buddy. Get up off the ground. We're all in the same house and year," Sirius said gently. He felt sorry for this lump of a Gryffindor cowering in the grass. James took Peter's arm and helped lift him off the ground. Sirius began twiddling his wand as he thought. He wanted to show Severus and his family that he was not anything like a Slytherin nor what a standard Slytherin acted like. "James, Remus," Sirius began, "can I talk to you guys over there for a second?" The trio left Peter alone to stand on the other side of the courtyard and Sirius began to talk, "I want to let Peter into the group. We shouldn't let someone like Snivellus bully a Gryffindor." James was nodding in agreement. He also wanted to include Peter so he could impress a girl he liked. James Potter: Protector of the Bullied. It had a nice ring to it. Remus shrugged, he didn't feel one way or the other. "Alright then," Sirius said putting his hands in his pockets, "let's go welcome him to the group."
Peter Pettigrew's life had changed forever. He had friends and didn't care why they were there. He was now with people who could protect him. They had chased off Severus Snape after all. James Potter and Sirius Black were two of the most popular people at Hogwarts. Remus Lupin was one of the smartest Gryffindors out there. Peter Pettigrew, him, the weird one, the worm, was now friends with three brave and popular Gryffindors. As long as he went along with them, he would be protected and never alone.