Title: Right or Left?

Characters: Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter and Severus Snape.

Prompts: Write about someone looking for direction in their life. Minimum 300 words, no maximum.

AN: Written for Assignment #4 History of Muggles, Task #3B on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments).

Warning: Very AU because Peter is not described the way JK described him. A little Snape bashing.

Word Count: 911

Peter Pettigrew struggled with separating his right hand from his left. It was a fact that he had never told anyone before. Purely, because it didn't matter. So, what if he didn't know what was right or left? He still knew which way he was supposed to run when he was trying to get away from Snape and his goonies. Or which way he was supposed to take to get his friends away from the most recent place of whatever prank they had executed that time.

"You are going to die Peter Pettigrew. Unless you pick the right side."

Those words echoed through his mind as he mindlessly walked through the castle. His brown hair had gotten long again since his mother's last horrible attempt at cutting it. The few months of living at the castle had made him gain the few kilos that he had lost during the summer of trying to fend for himself. He had a brand-new scar that went through his right eyebrow. It still earned him attention in the form of worried glances from his best friends. Peter always pretended that he didn't see. Not that he fooled them. It was an odd situation that they had never experienced before. They knew that he was hiding something. He knew that they knew that he was hiding something. Peter never approached them and they never confronted him about what was going on. They were at a completely standstill.

"Hey Wormy," Peter directed his eyes from the floor and glanced to the side. He hadn't even realised that he had reached the end of the corridor. Now he had to pick and go either left or right. Not that Peter knew which way was which. Sirius had called his name and were standing at the end of one side of the corridor with James and Remus.

Peter's hands were pushed down his pockets so he merely nodded towards them. He was about to take a step in their direction when he heard someone else call his name.

"Come here Peter." It was a voice that sent shivers down his spine.

The voice belonged to a person who had been whispering terrifying truths into his ear for months. Peter glanced in the other direction and saw Snape. The black hair hung around his head like a wet curtain, the sharp nose as always made Peter think that it could poke someone's eye out and he stood out amongst the graceful purebloods he surrounded himself with. Peter really hated Snape's voice.

"Those people that you call your friends won't be able to protect you once school is over and reality hits. You will probably die alone and before you have experienced anything. You will die a nobody," Snape looked down on him as he continued his little speech. Peter felt cold in that moment even if he was inside and protected from the howling wind that accompanied the autumn which had come to Scotland with a bam. Snape put his hand on Peter's shoulder but Peter quickly shrugged it away and took a step back. "Make the right decision. You can either die alone and young because you weren't smart, because you thought that those people could protect you. Or you can join the winning team. It's your decision Peter and you're going to have to make it quick."

Peter felt a shiver go down his spine. Although the words came from a teenage boy that didn't mean that the they completely lacked truthfulness. The threats could and would be carried out at some point. The idea made the hair stand on his arms. Peter was terrified of dying. That was another fact that he had never told anyone. He was terrified of unconsciousness and avoided sleeping because of it. But there was one sleep that he couldn't avoid ever and telling himself that it was unnecessary to be afraid didn't help. The big, dark unknown that was death scared him more than anything in the entire world. Almost.

"Mate," James said and earned Peter's full attention. "We need you."

Peter smiled and nodded. The only thing he feared more than death was being forced to fend for himself. Maybe he would die alone and young, maybe he wouldn't. Peter didn't know. But he did know that he had friends who would lay down their lives for him. He had friends who would stand up for him if he ever needed them. Peter looked at his friends. He saw James with his black, messy hair and the glasses that always looked like they were going to slide down, Sirius with his brown, graceful hair and the determined aura that he almost never lost and then there was Remus. While James had a jumpy kind of energy about him and Sirius had an empowering strong one, Remus had a calmer energy. It was the kind of energy that made you feel comfortable and calm. It never failed to make Peter feel as if he belonged.

Snape had been right. He would have to make a choice. At first glance, it had appeared difficult to him. A hard decision with two choices but he could only go down one path. Peter had allowed himself to be fooled to think that it was going to be difficult when in fact it wasn't.

"Yes, I'm coming." Peter said and slowly walked towards his friends. The choice was in fact rather easy.

Right or left?

The end