Life is full of chances. Which ones you make are completely up to you, however, they could affect the people around you. What sandwich you eat for lunch could have no effect, but if it causes you to have extremely smelly farts, well, that affects the people around you.

Peter Pettigrew had been seriously regretting the choices he had been making. He never meant for his cowardly tendencies to drag him into both sides of the war. He was fighting a losing battle.

At first, he could justify siding with the Death Eaters with the fear of dying. He was only 21! Voldemort promised protection in the future, which is something Peter most desperately craved. If that meant working with people like Bellatrix and Snape, so be it.

Now that Lily and James's names were written with a red underline on the top of Voldemort's list, Peter couldn't find a way to justify this. How was he supposed to continue to serve him when his friends were in immediate danger?

Peter had avoided the Death Eaters for far too long, but, he had made up his mind. When the Dark Mark had burned deeply, he knew it was time to return to Lestrange Manor.

He apparated there without a hitch, having no prior commitments made this easier. Nobody asked him any questions either, not a single suspicion that Peter had joined the hate group that they were trying to fight.

After knocking on the manor door, Narcissa Malfoy opened it with sad, tired eyes. She welcomed him in with a look of pity, and they both sat at the table full of Death Eaters.

Before he was ready, the meeting had started and Voldemort's eyes flashed dangerously while looking at Peter.

"Peter Pettigrew," Voldemort began, his red eyes slits, "Someone has informed me that you are James and Lily Potter's Secret Keeper."

He spat their names as if they were nothing. Yet, the names didn't really hold any value to the Dark Lord, they were just two more people standing in front of what he wanted, what he needed. The only person who sat at the table who knew the value of the person behind the names was Peter.

"Who has told you this?" Peter managed to say.

Bellatrix Lestrange cackled at his stupidity. Lord Voldemort had never taken kindly to those who questioned him. Peter swallowed nervously.

"I shall be the one to ask questions," Voldemort answered, his snake slithering around his ankles. "Now, tell me, Wormtail, why didn't you tell me about this yourself?"

Every head turned towards Peter, awaiting his response. The only one Peter could think of would not get him anywhere surrounded by people such as these, so he decided to not answer. He sat very still, almost as if he could trick everyone around him that he was a statue.

"He's a coward, that's why," a voice spoke from next to Voldemort, Peter couldn't find the courage to pick up his head to see who it was after the other Death Eaters shouted their support for this answer, but he had the knacking feeling that it was the same person who told the Dark Lord he was a Secret Keeper.

"Although I do agree with you, I'm going to ask you to remain quiet for the time being, you've done enough for me at the moment," Voldemort smirked. "As for you, Pettigrew, you have not done enough."

Peter lifted his eyes to look directly into Voldemort's. At this moment, he was extremely thankful that Voldemort had Severus Snape teach them all occlumency. Voldemort would stop at nothing to keep his secrets concealed. It took quite the strain to close his mind to Voldemort, but he reminded himself who he was doing this for, and that was all he needed.

"If this is how you wish it to be, then you shall suffer the consequences, Peter Pettigrew," Voldemort spoke directly to him. "The consequences, you shall find, are fatal."

A horrible hissing noise released itself from the Dark Lord's mouth and with it, an order that Nagini was more than happy to fulfill. Any order that his owner gave him wasn't asking too much of him, which was why he was able to hang around Voldemort for so long. His master found him useful.

Peter trembled as the snake slid past his feet and climbed the table. The last thing he saw was the snake's eyes before he met his bloody end.

Peter Pettigrew died a coward's death, bitten by a snake sent on him by his very own master. He died after living in fear, not strong enough to rebel against the evil that lurks in the shadows of the world. That was, until his very end. Peter helped the evil grow like weeds in the beautiful garden that is the world, making life more difficult for everyone, including himself.

If he had just taken a look around him, then he would've seen how much he really mattered to his friends. They never thought he was some annoying tagalong who annoyed them all the time. His presence had been appreciated for quite some time, contrary to Peter's beliefs.

The news of Peter's death will rock the lives of many. For one, his only friends had been on the light side of things, and, for another, his friends hadn't known he went dark.

Well, they were about to find out.

...

Lily Potter made the best muffins that morning. For one reason or another, she was put into the best mood—she only baked when in her best mood—and not even Regulus complaining about how burnt the bacon would change that. Everything had been feeling so bleak, but that September day was different, the feeling was in her bones.

Around noon, the doorbell startled her, but she grabbed her wand, dusted her hands off, and looked out the peephole. Sure enough, she only found Sirius and Remus standing there, so Lily quickly returned to her joyful mood, leaving her anxiety behind.

"Who's Harry's godmother?" Lily asked once she opened the door.

Their bleak moods shone through their tone as they both answered monotonously. Lily chalked it up to not getting enough sleep, or just simply the war in general, not seeing the newspaper Sirius clutched in his hand.

"Well, what a cheery lot you two are!" Lily paused as she saw their eyes were bloodshot. "Come inside I've made tea and muffins!"

"You're shaping up to be just like Euphemia," Sirius remarked, walking into the living area where James sat.

"Well, good. She was a very nice woman," Lily spoke, watching them sit stiffly across from her husband. "The tea is on the table in front of you, I'll go grab the muffins."

Lily left at the same time Sirius handed James the newspaper and Remus rested his head in his hands. James took one look at the front page and spit his tea everywhere.

"Death Eater? Dead?" James said, clearly appalled by what he was seeing. "No, he couldn't be!"

"That's what I said too," Remus sighed and Sirius sat seething.

"Who?" Lily asked, holding the tray of muffins with a curious expression.

"Peter," Sirius spat.

Lily screamed and dropped the tray of muffins, startling herself and everyone else in the room. She then continued by mumbling incoherent words and picking up the muffins from the floor.

Startled by all the noise, Regulus came rushing in with a wild look in his eyes. Upon seeing his brother and Remus, he sighed in relief as he was ready to kill a Death Eater, but his eyes widened when he saw the Sirius's jaw dropped. Regulus completely thought he was supposed to be dead.

"I thought you were dead, you bastard!" Sirius yelled before tackling him to the floor in a hug.

Remus watched the two brothers reunite with some slapping and harsh words before looking over to James again.

"Dumbledore is coming over to reset the charm pronto," Remus whispered as Lily stood laughing at Sirius and Regulus.

"Sounds good, mate," James replied, clapping him on the back.

...

Author's Note:

All aboard the Peter Pettigrew Hate Train! Next stop, Severus Snape Sucks Train Station!

The next update will be the last chapter, epilogue, and an a/n! I have yet to wrap my head around the fact that I'm finishing this series.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy🪦

^^peter doesn't get one of those because no one likes him

sorry that was a bad joke ahsjabab but i thought it was funny