Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter characters, nor most of the original characters. They belong to the people on Magic's Finest, a Marauder-era role playing game. Miranda is mine, and the people who own the OC's on MF have given me permission to use them. Scarlet Cruento belongs to, well, Scarlet, one of the admins.

Summary: Ever wonder what brought Peter to betray the Potters? Was it one defining moment? Or were there certain, unknown events that led up to it? Well, here's a theory of mine. Peter's POV

There Are Always Circumstances

Loving a Slytherin is probably the hardest thing a Gryffindor could ever do. Sirius would believe me, if he ever got around to admitting to dating Scarlet Cruento in our sixth year. After all, we're trained to see them as mortal enemies, and they are told the same. But there was one Slytherin that got to me, one that shaped me into the pitiful creature you see today. She was the one that made me go over to the Death Eaters, the one that made me betray my friends. At least, that's what I keep telling myself, even though it's a total, poorly veiled lie.

And I'm getting ahead of myself, I apologize.

Her name was Miranda, a Slytherin one year below me. As I would later learn, she was named after a character in a Muggle play. I never knew how a pure blooded family would know about the Muggle playwright Shakespeare, but I didn't ask, either. If I had, I would have known that Miranda's mother was a half blood, not a pureblood. I didn't find out until later.

And again, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm extremely sorry.

My relationship with Miranda was infinitely more complex compared to my friendship with James, Sirius and Remus. Of course, that was to be expected. After all, there was the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry going on. We had to hide our relationship from everyone; our friends would have disowned us if they found out. Well, my friends would have disowned me; Miranda didn't have many friends when we were in school, though I did see her talking to a couple of Ravenclaws she was on friendly terms with from time to time. In any case, we had to be discreet until we went public with our relationship at James and Lily's wedding; she had been my date for the evening, and by that time she didn't care about what her housemates thought, because I was already a Death Eater, and she was bound to be initiated upon her graduation.

Conversely, my friendship with James, Sirius, Remus and, later, Lily, was pretty simple. When I was younger, I worshipped the three boys with every fiber of my being, but when I got older, it was Miranda that I worshipped. I followed her everywhere, even becoming a denizen of the Dark Side with her. Merlin's beard, I sound like someone from Star Wars or something. Curse Lily for showing us those Muggle movies!

Anyway, whenever I was with James, Sirius and Remus, I hadn't any cares in the world. We laughed and joked, avoided homework, pulled pranks and then got into detention because of it. I loved every minute of it; I was carefree and young.

However, that fancy free attitude wasn't going to get me anywhere; Miranda showed me that. During my sixth year, I began to change into the man you see before you. Miranda changed me; for the better or for the worst can be debated. In any case, I don't regret any of my actions. I just wish I could have been around to be with Miranda and grow old, and to see you grow up.

I am writing this not to justify my actions, but to let you know the circumstances around them. After all, there are always circumstances.

Always.

aaa

First off, before I do anything else, I'd like to thank the admins on Magic's Finest for running such an awesome board. Scarlet, Sam, Sophie and Rogue—I look up to you four and you do a great job of keeping things running smoothly.

Secondly, I'd like to thank the very kind and generous people who volunteered their characters for this project. There are far too many to thank at the moment, but if someone's character pops up, I'll be sure to mention them in the disclaimer.

Third (and finally) I'd appreciate some honest feedback, especially from the MF readers. I am, after all, using your characters, and if you think I'm abusing them in any way, please let me know. I don't want people to be mad at me!