He did not want to take that step.

His years of friendship and camaraderie were at risk but when faced with the option of betrayal and death with only one option to choose, he couldn't help but choose his survival.

Peter had been made the secret keeper for the Potter family's location by his best friend James who was unaware that the person he trusted to keep them safe would betray them. He had joined the Dark Forces because he thought they couldn't have a chance against Lord Voldemort.

Therefore, in his opinion, it was better to survive and choose the winning side rather than get defeated and eliminated cruelly.

But making that choice came with the price of sacrificing his friends whom he once considered his family. 

Living in the shadow of James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin for years had cultivated a sense of insecurity in his heart that he could never be like them. James and Sirius were popular to the extent that they even had fan clubs at the school. Remus, although not as popular with the ladies due to his habit of staying reserved and his rough appearance, was still very good in academics thus a favorite of almost every teacher.

That left him, the boy who seemed to have become a member of their group accidentally. The boy who people often ignored because there was nothing about him that could be as interesting as the others. 

Being the odd one in their group had always made Peter insecure. He wasn't as handsome and charming as James and Sirius, he wasn't as intelligent and well-spoken as Remus. He was just Peter, the insecure little friend of the Marauders who the rest of the population often forgot about.

And that insecurity was exactly what Voldemort used to turn him against his friends and bring him to the dark side.

Evil has a way of wrapping itself around weak minds and quivering hearts, bearing a seed so deadly that it ends up corrupting the possessor.

Such was the case with Peter Pettigrew. Scared of the consequences of war and left to think that he truly had no one to count on, he ended up choosing the side he thought would win.

The Dark Lord's side.

But after making that decision, he was beginning to realize that he had to pay a huge price for his own survival.

Sirius was already dead, James and Lily's lives were at stake too, and if Remus found out that Peter was the betrayer, then he would kill him too. Every person in their friend circle had gotten trapped in the deadly clutches of war and there was no escape, no way out of the destruction that was closing in on them.

Even Peter's decision to stand with the winning side was proving to be rather hollow.

With Regulus Black joining the Order, there were even more chances of his betrayal being sniffed out as he had often caught the former Death Eater gazing at him warily.

He was not as brash and foolhardy as his elder brother who was so easy to convince after a few silvery words. Unlike Sirius, he was much more shrewd and observant, making him someone Peter always had to watch his back from.

Thus, the night he revealed the Potter family's location to Voldemort, an uneasy feeling settled in his heart. It was clear that he had signed the death warrant of his closest friends because it was in no way possible that they would stand by idly and let Voldemort kill young Harry.

He knew very well that each one of them would meet their deaths and yet he revealed the secret, afraid of being killed himself if he didn't.

And that was one distinct trait that would always set him apart from his friends. Instead of dying for honor, for freedom, or for his loved ones, he chose to live even though the life he would get in return would be that of a lowly servant.

A life of slavery but at least he would not be buried six feet under, in the dreadful darkness of the grave.

But deep down, he knew all those thoughts were futile. His fate had been marked and he had sealed it himself.

Even if he didn't die, he would have to face consequences.

***

James thrust Harry into his wife's arms, urging her to leave. The Dark Lord had found out their location as a traitor had been hiding in their midst.

He couldn't hold the fort against him any longer. All he wanted right then was for Lily and their son to be safe, even if it was ensured at the cost of his life.

"Lily, just go!"

She took Harry and rushed up the stairs, her heart sinking as she knew James couldn't survive battling with Voldemort on his own. But their only child's safety was a priority, after all, if the prophecy about him being the Chosen One was true, then he was the whole wizarding world's hope.

Green light burst through the house and Lily stilled, knowing it was the indicator of the killing curse being used. A thud sounded shortly after and her heart sank, realizing that James must have gotten struck.

But she couldn't get time to react as the door to the nursery was thrown open and the dark cloaked figure with a menacing yew wand stood right in front of her.

Her protective maternal instinct took over as she placed her crying boy down in the crib and stood in front of him as a shield. She couldn't escape but she would do all in her power to protect Harry.

"Step aside, I do not wish to kill you," Voldemort's raspy voice sent a chill down her spine but she didn't move.

"No, not my boy. I won't let you kill him."

Lily fought but the spells she used to defend herself and her boy were no match for the Dark Lord. With one single flick of his wand, he uttered the killing curse, and green light filled up the room again, the curse striking Lily Potter.

He had given her a chance to escape but she was adamant to protect her son. So the only way he could get to the boy was by killing her first.

Cold grey eyes stared down at the apparently harmless boy who hadn't even learned to speak properly yet. His green eyes were full of tears and looking up at the terrifying chalky white wizard in confusion.

He couldn't understand where his Ma and Da went and why they were not coming to take him away from the odd-looking man who was pointing a white stick at him. Baby Harry's mind couldn't possibly understand the situation nor did he know that the man in front of him had murdered his parents.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The jet of green light left the yew wand, striking the boy's head. He should have been killed immediately, just like James and Lily who were lying lifeless on the ground. Instead, the green light bounced back, much to Voldemort's disbelief.

The curse had backfired and hit him in the chest, piercing through his heart. Instead of Harry, he fell back as the killing curse took effect, his body beginning to lose function.

That feeling of helplessness wasn't unfamiliar though. It felt as if he had been killed over and over again and then realized that he had been killed over and over in that paradox created by Eleanor Troy. In those final moments, he could see each time Eleanor had tried to kill him but the loop kept bringing him back.

But right then the curse that struck him had left from his own wand that for some reason couldn't kill the young boy in the crib in front of him. No time loop could save him as the curse extinguished him despite being the most powerful Dark wizard since Grindelwald.

He fell lifeless on the floor, unable to utter a single word. The shock and disbelief at being cursed himself was etched upon his face and with his Horcruxes that had also been destroyed, his second chance at life was futile.

The only living being left in the nursery was the one-year-old boy crying in the crib, the only soul that had survived the killing curse in the history of wizardfolk.

Harry Potter had been chosen as the savior, a lightning bolt mark bleeding upon his forehead. 

***