“Peter!” A plump lady with blond hair called after a boy as she followed her son to the train station.
“Look, Mum, there it is!” Peter exclaimed as he pointed towards the shiny red Hogwarts Express.
“Peter, how many times must I ask you not to run? It’s not good for your asthma.” Mrs. Pettigrew looked reproachfully at her son. He was a lot like his father, ready to jump into anything without thinking of the repercussions that would follow.
Peter sighed. “I know, Mum. But look! Can’t you see it? I can’t believe I’m finally going!”
Mrs. Pettigrew smiled at her son. “Well, we best get you onto that train then. We don’t want you to miss it.” She hurried him off towards the train where students were boarding and saying good-bye to their families.
Mrs. Pettigrew and Peter were having a bit of trouble loading the trunk onto the carriage when a tall man with black hair came over to them. He was dressed in the finest silk robes, and was wearing many silver rings, that looked as if they were made for royalty. Peter could make out the small crests that were engraved on each one of them.
“May I help you, ma’am?”
Mrs. Pettigrew nodded with appreciation.
“Oh, I’m Orion Black. This is my son, Sirius.” He gestured towards a boy about Peter’s age who had just come up to him. “He’s starting his first year.”
The boy nodded towards Peter but didn’t say anything. He had black hair that swept across his face in a careless way. His eyes were gray, and he was very well dressed. It was obvious that he came from one of the oldest and wealthiest wizarding families.
“I’m Lucille Pett”” Peter’s mum started, but Mr. Black cut her off.
“I know who you are. You husband works in the Ministry with me. Charles Pettigrew, isn’t he?”
Mrs. Pettigrew smiled.
“At any rate, it’s good to see that some of the old families are still around,” said Mr. Black, as he looked towards a couple with their two daughters. One had long, red hair and was very excited.
“Petunia, look! There it is. Oh, I wish you could come with me,” the red headed girl said. The taller of the two, with blonde hair didn’t reply, but sneered.
Mr. Black frowned. “I don’t know why the Board of Governors allows those Muggles in…” he trailed off.
Peter noticed that his mother looked uncomfortable. “Yes, well, we best get you on the train, Peter. Thank you for your help, Mr. Black.”
The man nodded. “My pleasure. It’s always a pleasure to assist my fellow wizards.” He headed off with his son, Sirius, following behind him.
“Come, Peter, we best get you on the train,” said Mrs. Pettigrew, as she began to push through the students who were now boarding the train.
With one minute until eleven, Peter found a window seat, and glanced out towards his mother.
“Now you behave yourself, Peter, and make sure you don’t overwork yourself””
“Mum””
“”Make sure that you listen to your professors, oh! And don’t forget to wear your glasses. Your eyes puff up if you don’t””
The train began to lurch.
“Mum””
“Don’t forget to write now. I’ve made sure you that you have plenty of parchment, but all the same, you may want to owl Hogsmeade if you start to run out, and””
“Mum””
The train was now beginning to pick up speed, and as Peter looked out the window, he saw his mother still calling out directions to him.
“Bye, Mum!” Peter called out the window, and then she was gone. He grinned to himself as he looked out and saw trees and rivers rushing past him. He was finally going to Hogwarts.
~*~
“Firs’-years, over here! C’mon, firs’-years. Yeh’ll want to get in the boats here. Oy! You! Yer don’ want te go steppin’ in the lake now. There’s a big ol’ Giant Squid yer gotta watch out fer ”
A large man with a long black beard was waving the first-years over towards the lake. Peter followed the young redheaded girl he had seen in the train station and a black haired boy.
“Look, Sev! Isn’t this so exciting?” said the girl, her hair flowing behind her. She had eyes of deepest green, and seemed unable to contain her excitement.
“Just wait until you see the Great Hall. You’re going to love it, Lily!” the boy said. He had long black hair that hung down to his shoulders, and he looked as if he couldn’t afford the socks he was wearing. Still, his black eyes were vibrant and alive.
The three of them entered into one of the boats. The boy named ‘Sev’ turned and faced Peter.
“Who are you?” he asked, not impolitely, but not warmly either.
“Peter Pettigrew.”
“Lily Evans,” said the girl.
The black haired boy paused for a moment before saying, “Severus Snape.”
“Nice to meet you. Do you know what houses you will be in yet?” asked Peter. He had been anxious about the Sorting for the past month, worried about which house he would be put in.
“Severus, here, wants to be in Slytherin. I suppose that would be the house I would want to be put in too,” said Lily.
Peter smiled. From all that he had heard, Slytherin did not have the best reputation. But still, his Grandfather Pettigrew had been Slytherin, and these two seemed pretty nice. Perhaps they weren’t as bad as everyone said. “I’m hoping to be in Ravenclaw, like my Dad.”
Snape smiled slightly. “Well, it’s better than Gryffindor. I don’t think that you could pay me to be in that house.”
Talk of houses carried the three young students to the doors of Hogwarts where they joined the queue of students waiting to be sorted.
~*~
“Pettigrew, Peter,” called out the stern-looking woman who was Professor McGonagall.
Peter practically ran up to the chair, ready to be sorted.
He looked out and saw a sea of students in front of him, all watching to see what house he would be in, and then the hat fell down over his face and all he saw was black.
“Ahh, and who have we here?” asked a voice inside his head, which Peter knew, from his readings of Hogwarts, was the famous Sorting Hat which had belonged to the great Godric Gryffindor himself.
“Oh, you’ve got a brain, that is certain. Could Ravenclaw be for you?” Peter shook slightly. Ravenclaw had been his father’s house, and the one he hoped to be put in it for years.
“But I see you have Hufflepuff qualities as well.” Peter shrugged. Hufflepuff was his mother’s house. There wouldn’t be any shame in that one either.
“Then again, you have a certain air about you. You want to prove yourself. There is courage deep down. And daring, oh definitely. Yes, now I see. The best place for you would be, GRYFFINDOR!”
The words were still ringing in his head when Peter clambered off the seat happily, feeling dazed as he walked towards his new house. Sure, he had wanted to be sorted into Ravenclaw, but just wait until news got out that he had been made a Gryffindor! He must have been the first one in the Pettigrew family for years!
He watched as another boy, Potter, walked up to be sorted.
“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat called, and Peter joined in the clapping as the Potter boy made his way down to the table. Peter moved over to let him sit beside him, but Potter took a seat down the table farther, beside another black-haired boy.
This one, Peter recognized as Sirius Black. He was the first-year he had met at Kings Cross, and the hall had suddenly become quite quiet when he had been announced as a Gryffindor. He must have been the first one ever to break with the well-known Black tradition. Peter could just imagine the look on Mr. Black’s face when he would find out the news.
Peter turned his head back to the front and joined in clapping as Severus Snape became a Slytherin, and then Tams, Isabelle was made a Ravenclaw.
As Peter finished his pudding, he happened to catch a few words of a conversation down the table.
“Of course I knew I would be Gryffindor; every Potter has been. But you, Sirius, when you got in, I couldn’t believe it!”
“Neither could anyone else,” said Sirius. “Did you see that Slytherin girl faint? She’s a second-cousin, twice removed.”
“Yeah, and what about McGonagall? I swear, her jaw dropped down to her knees!”
“Yeah, well that’s nothing compared to what my parents’ reaction will be when they find out! I’m sure there will be a Howler here by morning!”
Peter laughed out loud, and Sirius and James turned towards him.
“Who are you?” asked James.
“Pet”” started Peter, but he was cut off by Sirius.
“I know you. You’re that Pettigrew bloke. My dad helped him with his trunk. Said his Dad’s an old friend.” He sneered slightly. “How’d you end up in Gryffindor?”
Peter was slightly annoyed at this remark. “What do you mean? Why shouldn’t I be in Gryffindor?”
“Well, look at you. I thought you’d be a Hufflepuff for sure.”
Peter huffed. “There’s nothing wrong with Hufflepuff. I’m sure there are good people in every house. Besides, I thought you would be a Slytherin for sure.”
Sirius looked at him scornfully. “Slytherin, yeah right. Look Pettigrew, I don’t care how friendly your father is with my father. Just mind your own business okay?”
Peter started to say that it was James and Sirius who had started the conversation in the first place, asking how he managed to get into Gryffindor, but noticed that the two boys were no longer paying attention to him.
He sighed. It was only his first day at Hogwarts and he had already managed to get on someone’s bad side.
~*~
The Fourth Marauder by ginnygirl16
Story Notes:
This story is the result of a heated 'Peter' discussion over on the forums. Thank you to my lovely classmates who inspired me to write this!My great appreciation goes out to OliveOil_Med, Afifa, and Azhure for all their help beta-ing.
--ginnygirl16
Chapter Endnotes: I hope you enjoyed this. I had a bit of trouble, but after a great deal of re-writing, and stretching my imagination to the limits--this was the result. Please leave a review and tell me how you liked it. Chapter two will hopefully be up soon.
--ginnygirl16