I'm sure you are all going to hate me. I'll be honest: I Love Peter Pettigrew. His character fascinates me more than any other character in the HP universe.

Call me a Pettigrew sympathizer if you want. I could really care less.

Questions some people might have for me:

How could you possibly write an entire story about Peter Pettigrew? Why??

So one day, almost five years ago, I was looking for some good Marauder-era fics. I couldn't help but notice all of the anti-Peter stances everyone took (for obvious reasons). Seeing as I was in the middle of Origin, I had a very different take on Peter than a lot of fics use.

So, Ashii, what is this about????

Why that's a great question! This fic will introduce you to Peter when he first meets Voldemort (with a brief prologue before this). It will continue in as great detail as I possibly can muster, until Peter's discovery of Sirius' death. I will re-work this fic to be HBP/DH compliant, as I began it a few months after OotP came out.

You prefer slash and/or humor though!

This is true, but I want to write a realistic depiction of how Peter might have turned to Voldemort's side as well as explore his emotions during the HP series. Seeing as this is my first non-slash HP fic I've ever written, please make sure to compliment me on my self control. :P

Are you going to use dialogue from the books?

As little as possible to prevent that whole copyright infringement issue. Unless I get warned, I probably won't be too worried. If all else fails, I post it somewhere else.

Enjoy!


Prologue: Looking Back

"Pettigrew, Peter." Professor McGonagall's voice announced.

James Potter and Sirius Black pushed me up. I turned around, grinning at them, and then started walking.

They didn't think I could do it. My parents constantly told me that I had to pay rent when I was either expelled or flunked one too many exams. They constantly made references to themselves, how they had gone to Hogwarts and graduated with full marks. I may have not gotten full marks, but with every class in my seven years here at Hogwarts, I passed with at least an A. But that didn't matter now. I could only smile as I walked closer to the podium. My parents waved at me as I passed. My smile grew wider and I kept walking.

Professor McGonagall handed me my diploma. I shook hands with the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, and walked back to my seat.

James, a lanky boy with black hair (and one of my best friends) grinned at me. "I have to admit it, Wormtail, I didn't think you could do it."

"It's what everyone thought, wasn't it?" I answered proudly.

"I believed in you." Remus Lupin chimed in. He, like James, was one of my best friends. He had shaggy sandy brown hair, was pale, and had blue eyes. He looked rather tired today, as last night was a full moon. Remus was a werewolf.

"You did, Moony?" Sirius asked in surprise. He had a long face, very long, black hair, dark eyes, and a face that made the girls swoon over him.

"Of course I did, Padfoot." Remus answered, studying the expression on my face.

I wonder what he saw. When I look in the mirror, I see a short, slightly overweight (I'm getting better! I've lost 20 pounds!), blonde boy with baby blue eyes. Out of the four of us, I looked the youngest. I also have never been on a date.

But I try not to let that get me down. I saw what happened to James for six years, but he eventually got Lily. So, if I'm patient, I guess I'll eventually find what I'm looking for.

I sat back and studied my three best friends. Through tears, through fights, through frustrations, through the good times, through all nighters doing Transfiguration homework, through it all. We experienced everything together, we created the Marauder's Map and James, Sirius, and I even became Animagi to roam Hogwarts grounds when Remus was a werewolf.

That was what truly bound us so closely together. We confronted Remus about his secret in our third year and we promised him that we'd back him up, no matter what.

We worked hard, and finally, by our fifth year, we were able to turn into an animal at will. James was a stag, Sirius was a large dog, and I was a rat. That's where we got our nicknames: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.

We've kept our friendship for seven years, and now, we all plan on buying a house together. We'll all get married and get our wives to stay in that house. We'd have children and they'd become best of friends. We had so m any plans for the future and all of it included each other.

The graduation was over, everyone was clapping, and the parents were running to their kids. I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Potter ran up and embraced both James and Sirius. Sirius' parents hadn't even come to the graduation, and as far as I knew, he didn't care.

Remus' parents ran to him and continually praised him for graduating at the top of their year. I watched as my parents walked up to me and congratulated me. "Peter, we are so proud of you! We didn't even think you'd make it past your second year!" Mother gushed.

"Gee, Mother, thanks for the support." I answered smiling.

"Yes, very good Son. Now, as for your job, there's an opening at the Leaky Cauldron as a dishwasher." Father started.

"Oh, I already know what I'm going to do. I'm entering the Ministry of Magic." I said proudly.

"Are you really?" Father asked in amazement. "They do have fairly decent benefits for janitors there."

I sighed, then replied confidently, "I got a job as an assistant in the Improper Use of Magic office!"

Before my parents could say anything else, James walked up to me. "Wormtail, are we going to Lily's party?" James asked.

I nodded. "Mother, Father, I'm going out and I'll be out all night." I paused. "If that's okay with you, of course."

"Of course Peter. Just be sure to see us in the morning!" Mother smiled and they walked away.

The four of us gathered together and requested that our picture be taken. Lily took it for us, and there the four of us stood, completely unaware that in 20 years, 2 of us would be dead, and one of us would prove to be a traitor.

The traitor was me.

I look back on that day constantly. That was definitely one of the best days of my life. What was behind the aftermath, I did not know. I don't understand what exactly happened and I can't even figure out why I did the things that I did. But all of it was true. Every last syllable.