Author's Note: So, finally, we get to the actual trial. In my opinion, Peter is a difficult character because in the books, we don't really get a chance to see why he did the things that he did. In this story, I've tried to explain what his motives might have been. Thanks for reading!

Standard disclaimer applies.

Peter Pettigrew had never been much of a planner. At school, he had let his friends plan their pranks or adventures. Sirius and James would come up with rough ideas, and Remus would hammer out all the finer details. But Peter had thought that his plan was foolproof.

Nobody seemed to suspect that he was the traitor. Little Peter was too dumb, too dim, too spineless to ever think of betraying his friends. But the others knew there was a traitor. Sirius, especially, had become suspicious. So Peter sought a diversion.

Moony has been distant lately, hasn't he? He's acting weird. He's missed a lot of meetings too, did you notice? I wonder where he's been. Has he talked to you about what he's been doing?

It was the little things, Peter knew. These little comments whispered into Sirius' ear that built up over time until they had amassed to something much larger. Because Peter was not as dumb as everybody thought.

He made Sirius as suspicious of Remus as he possibly could. He felt guilt, momentarily, about doing that to Remus. Of the Marauders, the werewolf had been the first to befriend Peter, the one to defend his place in the group. Really, he had been the nicest of the three. But Peter had needed a scapegoat. And what better scapegoat was there than a werewolf who had been distancing himself from the group.

Peter knew that his plan was going brilliantly when Sirius had urged him to agree to be the Potters' Secret Keeper.

Nobody would suspect you, Wormy, and everybody's going to suspect me. You'll do it, won't you? We trust you.

So the Fidelius Charm was cast. Peter shared the secret with Sirius, and he wrote down the secret for Remus and Dumbledore, imitating Sirius' writing perfectly. And then he retreated to his apartment. He agonized for a few days about his decision.

Guilt threatened to overwhelm him, because he knew what the fate of the Potters' would be after he shared the secret with Voldemort. They would die.

But Peter had started down this path, and it was too late to turn back now. Withholding the secret from Voldemort would result in his own death. And the reason he had joined Voldemort's side in the first place had been self-preservation.

At one time, he had had so much faith in the Marauders' ability to protect him. When James and Sirius and Remus had stood up for him against the bullies at Hogwarts, Peter had been willing to promise his undying loyalty to his friends. And when the others had joined the Order of the Phoenix, Peter followed willingly. But then the war progressed and he saw people die. His friends couldn't protect him. We're going to lose this, he thought. He was a Gryffindor, but he was scared to die. He wasn't the sort to rush headlong into battle. And he did not want to be on the losing side.

The idealized image that he had had of his "friends" fell away. He hadn't minded when they had made fun of him in school because they had included him. Without them, he would not have had friends. But looking back, Peter's affection towards the other three had slowly fallen away. They didn't value him; they never had. He meant so little to them, so they came to mean so little to him. And when Death Eaters had come to recruit him, he hadn't even tried to resist.

With the goal of saving himself firmly planted in his mind, he went to Voldemort with his secret.

Excellent, Wormtail.

Peter flinched every time Voldemort used his despised nickname. Before, it had been a way for him to fit in, to be one of the cool kids with a cool name. But really, there was nothing cool about being associated with a worm.

Come Halloween, the Potters will not be a problem anymore. Voldemort's words chilled Peter.

So it had been Halloween that was supposed to be his former friends' downfall. How ironic. The last day in October used to symbolize a time of great celebration and fun for the boys. Now, it would symbolize their ruination.

But Peter's plan was not finished. Dumbledore and Remus would think that Sirius had betrayed the Potters, but Sirius himself would know better. And after seven years of sharing a room with him, Peter was well aware of Sirius' temper. Peter doubted that Sirius would go to Dumbledore with the truth.

No, he'll be too mad. He'll see red and come after me with a vengeance.

But Sirius would be no match for Voldemort, surely. Peter had been counting on the fact that his loyalty to the Dark Lord would ensure his safety against his former friend. And once the Dark Lord had taken control of England, it would not matter that Peter had betrayed the Potters. Because he had chosen the right side in the end.

Peter thought that his plan was perfect. Flawless. No room for error. He never imagined that Remus and Sirius would be at the Potters' house on Halloween. Never imagined that Voldemort would be defeated. But in the blink of an eye, it happened, and Peter's brilliant, flawless plan fell apart.

Act natural, he told himself. Act like you are celebrating too. He couldn't leave England, not just yet. It would look suspicious, like he was running away. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. If he could just lie low for a few days, then he could leave. But he hadn't counted on the Aurors finding him so quickly.

He was walking down Diagon Alley when suddenly he found himself surrounded. He panicked, a million thoughts flitting through his mind.

No. It's not supposed to happen like this. I'm supposed to get away. And so his mind searched for an escape route, a way for self-preservation.

It wasn't ideal. Peter had always been hesitant to kill anyone, but in that moment, the will to survive surpassed his hesitancy.

With a well-placed spell, Peter hit a part of the street with an exploding spell. As people screamed and dust filled the air, he turned to run, but before he could transform into a rat, he felt a spell hit him square in the back, and he fell. The Aurors rushed in.

Peter now sat in a holding cell in the Ministry, awaiting his trial. If only he could transform, he could escape. But the cell blocked him from doing any sort of magic. And despair filled him.

Peter kept reliving the last two weeks in his mind. Sharing the secret with Voldemort. Seeing the ruined house in Godric's Hollow. Planning how to evade Sirius. Being surrounded by the Aurors. Killing all those people.

He forced his mind to move away from those troubling thoughts. His trial was today, ten o'clock to be exact. He had to prepare himself. He forced himself to repeat the argument that he had been planning.

He used the Imperius Curse on me. I had no idea what I was doing. I would never betray my friends. I'm loyal. Surely, you wouldn't hold this against me when I didn't know what I was doing.

To Peter, it seemed like a good argument. He had seen some of Voldemort's followers who had actually been Imperiused. They had absolutely no control over their actions. This was his only shot.

As Peter was led into the courtroom, a wave of nervous nausea hit him. He had never been skilled at speaking in front of people, had never been the center of attention. Yet, here he was, with the entirety of the Wizengamot staring at him.

Peter shifted uneasily, trying not to search the crowd for familiar faces. For they wouldn't help him today. The Minister pounded his gavel and made an opening statement, but Peter wasn't listening. He focused on taking deep breaths and calming his pounding heart.

"Pettigrew, what have you to say for yourself?" The Minister finally asked.

Peter took another deep breath and made his argument. There was no point in denying what he had done. But perhaps if he could shift the blame off of himself…

The Wizengamot murmured amongst themselves. It seemed as though some were considering this to be a valid argument.

"So you do not deny your involvement with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Do you deny that you have the Dark Mark?" The Minister asked.

Peter noticed that he was starting to sweat, but he could not reach up to wipe it off his forehead. His hands were chained to the chair. "I do have the Dark Mark, but it was forced on me. Because of the Imperius Curse."

Once again, the Wizengamot talked amongst themselves. What Peter had said was completely untrue. The Dark Mark could not be given to an unwilling recipient, but he was counting on the fact that the Wizengamot did not know that.

"It would be impossible for us to tell now whether Pettigrew was under the Imperius Curse, but I do have one question before bringing up a witness." The Minister stared him down. "If your actions as a Death Eater were because of said curse, how do you explain your actions in Diagon Alley? When you killed five people?"

Silence fell over the room. Peter searched his mind desperately for an explanation. He didn't have one, not a good one at least. He couldn't say that he had been trying to save his own skin, because that would be admitting too much. "It- it was an accident." Peter hated how his voice shook. "The curse had me so confused that I didn't even realize where I was, let alone what I was doing."

It was a weak argument, but he hoped that it was enough to cause the Wizengamot to doubt.

The Minister didn't look completely convinced but nodded anyway. "Anything else you would like to say, Pettigrew?" When Peter shook his head, he continued. "Very well. Our first witness is James Potter. Mr. Potter, will you please step forward?"

No. This can't be happening. Fear sliced its way through Peter. James couldn't be testifying. He couldn't. Suddenly, he saw his chances of walking away from this trial a free man diminishing.

My only hope is to act like a sniveling idiot. To beg him to understand that it wasn't me.

But as James stepped down to stand before the Wizengamot, Peter saw the hard expression on his face and realized that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Mr. Potter, could you please describe why you are testifying in this case?"

James nodded, not sparing a glance at Peter. "I've known Peter since I was eleven. I shared a dorm with him for seven years at Hogwarts. He was one of my best friends."

"Was?"

"Yes. 'Was.'"

"What changed that?"

"Well, the fact that Peter betrayed my wife and me to Voldemort changed that."

Gasps rang throughout the Wizengamot at the audacity of James to say the Dark Lord's name. Peter flinched as he heard it.

"How do you know it was him?" The Minister asked.

"Because we chose Peter to be our Secret Keeper when we went into hiding using the Fidelius Charm."

"Could you please explain to the Wizengamot what the Fidelius Charm does?"

"It allows a location to be hidden. Only the Secret Keeper and those he shares the secret with can find that location. Peter was our Secret Keeper and he shared that information with Voldemort."

"I was under the Imperius Curse," Peter dared to say. This was his only hope of freedom. He prayed that it would be enough.

"No, you weren't," James said, finally turning to him with fire in his eyes. "That's the thing about the Fidelius Charm. The location can only be revealed by the Secret Keeper willingly. The Secret Keeper can't be tricked or forced. You willingly told Voldemort where we were and willingly betrayed us!"

"Mr. Potter-" The Minister tried to cut in, but Peter interrupted.

"I didn't know what I was doing, James. It wasn't my fault!" Peter was growing frantic. He couldn't fail; he couldn't. He couldn't go to prison.

"Don't give me that crap!"

"But it's true! I would never-"

"I'm not interested in more of your lies, Peter! What I want to know is why. Why did you betray our friendship?"

Anger rushed through Peter at the word "friendship," but he battled to keep it under control. "I didn't-"

"Why, Peter?!"

"Why do you think?!" Peter shouted before he knew what he was doing. "I didn't betray our friendship because our 'friendship' never meant anything to you! I wasn't your friend; I was your lackey! I was the poor little boy who followed you around like a sad, lost puppy. You used me for entertainment. For a punching bag. But I was never anything special to you."

"You were my friend. I would have died for you!" James' face was a mix of anger and sadness. It almost touched Peter, almost caused him to think before he said anything else. But then the anger rose within him again, and he couldn't stop the words that were flowing out of his mouth.

"No. You would have died for Sirius definitely. Probably for Remus too. But not for me. Because you never thought me worthy of that."

"And you think Voldemort thought you were worthy? That Voldemort though more highly of you than we did?"

"No. But he offered me protection that you didn't!"

The second the words left Peter's mouth, he realized his mistake. For a few minutes, the scene around him had fallen away; it had been as if he and James were the only ones in the room. But they weren't. Because they were still in front of the Wizengamot. And the group of people who would be deciding his fate had just heard his confession.

A frenzied buzz echoed throughout the room as the Wizengamot talked. The Minister pounded the gavel three times before order was restored. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. I believe we've heard enough."

Peter looked at James, whose face was a hard mask.

"Please, James. Don't let them do this," Peter whispered pleadingly.

"You betrayed us, Peter. All of us." James shook his head. "And for the record, we would have protected you. No matter what. But not now. Not anymore." With that, James turned and climbed the stairs back to his seat.

Peter saw them now. Lily was crying into her hands. Remus looked disappointed. And Sirius looked furious, like he was going to charge down the stairs and strangle Peter at any second. But he had Harry in his arms, and Peter knew that the child's presence would keep Sirius in his seat.

"Peter Pettigrew," the Minister's voice drew Peter's gaze back to the front. "You have just admitted before this council that you went to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for protection willingly."

"No, I-" Peter began but the Minister cut him off.

"Your story changed when Mr. Potter came down, and you revealed your motive. This has caused me to question what you have said. If you had truly been under the Imperius Curse, we could not in good conscience punish you. However, your last statement to Mr. Potter contradicts your Imperius claims, causing me to believe that you were under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's command of your own volition. Furthermore, there is still the matter of the incident in Diagon Alley. Five lives were lost that day, Pettigrew. Five innocent lives. And with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's defeat occurring the day before, it would be impossible for you to still be controlled by him. Even if you were simply disoriented, that is still no excuse for the damage that you have caused. However, it is my opinion that disorientation was not a factor. If you willingly betrayed your former friends, it is not too far of a jump to think that you would go to any length to avoid capture and save yourself. Now, before the Wizengamot votes, is there anything that you would like to add, Pettigrew?"

By this time, Peter was shaking and sweating uncontrollably. If he had just stuck with his plan, everything would have been fine. But instead, he had allowed himself to get riled up, to react to James. And he had made a fatal mistake. His argument was lost. All he could do was shake his head.

"Very well," the Minister's voice rang out, "all in favor of a guilty sentence for Peter Pettigrew, raise your hand."