Author's Note: The majority of this AU fic takes place during Harry's Hogwarts years, but the first chapter is set the year of the first fall of Voldemort. I intend to make this a series out of this and I've already written the a good few chapters so you can be assured that I won't abandon this after the first couple of chapters. With that said, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Harry Potter'.

October 24 1981, Godric's Hollow

"Sit down, Peter," Lily Potter said invitingly as Peter Pettigrew walked into the living room of the Potter home in the simple village of Godric's Hollow.

Peter looked at the faces of his friends, the Potters. James and Lily both had serious looks on their faces and Peter began to worry. What if they were beginning to suspect that Peter was in fact spying on them for Lord Voldemort? What if they called him here to confront him about it? Peter subconsciously held his left forearm in his right hand, knowing that if James and Lily saw that Dark Mark that was burned onto his skin, his secret would be out forever. They would see Peter as he truly was, a filthy traitor with no honour.

"We've been friends for a long time, Wormtail," James began, "and friends can always trust each other, right?"

They know. Peter's hands trembled as he nodded. He hoped against hope that he had misinterpreted the situation and the Potters were still ignorant of Peter's allegiance to the Dark Lord. If they knew the truth, he would lose everything.

"We've been talking with Sirius and we have decided... that we want you to be our Secret Keeper." The words came out of James' mouth and Peter's simply stared at his best friend in surprise.

"Me?" Peter couldn't believe his ears. Surely Sirius would have been the obvious choice. Sirius Black was like a brother to James and Peter couldn't imagine James ever doubting Sirius' loyalty. Not even for a second. "I thought you were going to make Sirius your Secret Keeper."

"We were," explained Lily, "but Sirius told us that he was too obvious and he had a point. We need someone whom we can trust entirely, but we also need someone who Voldemort would never suspect. You tick both boxes. That's why we decided that it would be better to switch to you at the last minute."

Peter flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. He was the only Marauder who couldn't say that name. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't allow those three syllables to escape his lips.

"What about Remus?" asked Peter, referring to Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin was a werewolf who was a good friend to both James and Lily.

"Sirius has some absurd theory that he's spying on us," Lily told Peter, "We told him that we would trust Remus with our lives, but he didn't listen. We decided to give the baby his bottle and choose you instead."

Peter was still reluctant to accept the position. He never wanted to be directly responsible for his friends' deaths. When he joined the Dark Lord, all he wanted to do was have somebody powerful protecting him. That was who Peter was. He was the coward who clinged to the most powerful ally he could find.

"But... are you sure?" Peter asked. He actually hoped that James and Lily would say no, because Peter knew that he would give away his friends' location to Lord Voldemort. He wasn't brave enough to keep the secret. He preyed for their own sake that James and Lily would change their minds again and make Sirius their Secret Keeper as they had originally planned.

"Yes Peter, we're sure" confirmed James. "You're one of us and we know you would never sell us out to Voldemort. Marauders' honour, right?"

Peter hesitantly nodded his head, accepting the fact that he would have to choose between the lives of his best friends or his position as one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. He already knew which option he would choose and he hated himself for that.

"So will you do it?" Lily asked, her beautiful emerald eyes looking hopefully into Peter's dull blue ones. "Will you be our secret keeper, Peter?"

Peter held back a sigh. There was no turning back now.

"Yes," he replied, "Of course I will."

James smiled at his friend, proud that his friends was willing to take such a risk for him. If only he knew the truth. Peter intended to take the information on the Potters' whereabouts straight to the Dark Lord. By trusting Peter, James and Lily Potter had just signed their own death warrants.

October 30 1981, Riddle House

Lord Voldemort looked down at Peter Pettigrew with disgust, his deep red eyes staring at the traitor as if he were vermin. He took a few steps towards Peter and asked him the question.

"I grow impatient, Wormtail. Tell me... Have you discovered who the Potters, your former freinds, have chosen to be their Secret-Keeper?"

Peter reluctantly answered, "Yes, Your Lordship."

A silence followed.

"Well! Tell me, Wormtail!" Voldemort snarled.

Peter was terrified of the Dark Lord. He was visibly shaking as his mouth betrayed him, blurting out the words, "They chose me. I am the Potters' Secret Keeper."

Voldemort laughed loudly, "The fools! They have made things so much easier for me. Reveal to me the secret, Wormtail. Where are James and Lily Potter hiding?"

Peter didn't answer at first. He simply stood on the spot, frozen with fear as he looked up at the most dangerous dark lord the world has ever known.

"I tire of your hesitation, Wormtail. Crucio!" Voldemort spat.

Peter counted his blessings that Voldemort released the curse after only a few seconds. That was just a warning curse. The next one would be much worse. Peter then made the mistake of asking the Dark Lord a question, rather than heeding the warning and telling him the Potters' location immediately.

"You won't hurt James or Lily, right?" he stuttered. "It's only Harry you want!"

Voldemort rolled his eyes in a way that Peter had never imagined he would see from the Dark Lord. It reminded him of James, which made the following Cruciatus Curse all the more painful.

"CRUCIO!"

Peter dropped to his knees and shrieked in pain as he was hit by Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse. Voldemort mercilessly watched as his most pathetic follower screamed. He eventually stopped the curse and, without giving Peter any time to regain his composure, asked him the same question again.

"Let's try that again. Where are the Potters?" he asked calmly.

Wormtail groggily stood up, gasping for breath. "The residence... of the Potter family... can be found at number three... Godric's Hollow... West Country."

Voldemort let out a satisfied laugh as Peter's eyes filled with tears. He knew that he had just doomed his friends, the only people to ever accept him.

Voldemort exited the room to prepare for the attack. Peter knew that it was over for the Potters. Whenever he pleased, Voldemort could simply stroll out of the range of the Anti-Apparition wards and Apparate straight to Godric's Hollow, where he would kill the child from the prophecy as well as his parents.

October 31 1981, Godric's Hollow

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off –" The sounds of someone stumbling from a room – a door bursting open – a cackly of high pitched laughter – Lord Voldemort was here.

Lily Potter ran after her husband and took hold of his arm. "James... This means that Peter-"

"Was the spy all along," James finished regretfully, "I know."

The Potters heard a loud noise as Voldemort blasted his way through another door. He was almost there.

"Please go, Lily." James begged his wife.

"No! I can't leave you!" she protested.

"Think about Harry. Someone needs to get our son out of here safely. Please!"

Lily submitted, giving James a quick kiss, before turning around and running as fast as she could towards Harry's room.

James turned to face Lord Voldemort, who simply smirked. James extended his arm, pointing his mahogany wand at the Dark Lord. Voldemort similarly pointed his phoenix tail wand at James. James prepared to fight to the death.

Voldemort cast a non-verbal Blasting Curse, which James just barely managed to dodge. The curse caused a vase behind Jame to explode into flames.

James tried to fight back, trying to stun Voldemort. "Stupefy!"

Voldemort effortlessly set up a shield and blocked the stunning spell. He then raised his wand and screamed out the two words, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

James Potter used his last thoughts to prey that Lily and Harry would escape from the cottage with their lives intact. He then fell down to the floor with his eyes open, yet still. Voldemort looked down at James' body and smirked. He moved on in search of Harry, the child who was prophecised to defeat him.

"Bombarda Maxima!" Voldemort cast a spell, forming a hole in the wall large enough for him to walk through, right into Harry's bedroom. The one-year-old child sat in his crib, with Lily Potter standing between him and Voldemort, with tear in her eyes.

Voldemort raised his wand. Lily screamed.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside now!"

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!"

Voldemort sighed. "I gave you a chance, you pathetic Mudblood."

"Not Harry! Please! Have mercy! Have mercy!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Neither Lily nor Voldemort noticed that Peter Pettigrew was in fact hidden in the corner of that very room. He was good at not being noticed. While it may sound useless at first, having a rat as an Animagus form can have its uses. Peter was the only one who witnessed what happened next. Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded. Soon, Lily Potter was dead and Lord Voldemort's soul was ripped from his body, seemingly dead.

Peter returned to human form and walked up to Harry's crib. The young child was crying loudly. He was unharmed, aside from a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. Somehow, this child had defeated the most dangerous dark lord in history, just as the prophecy had predicted.

Peter picked Harry up and soon started to cry himself. He looked at the innocent baby who would be forced to grow up without parents... and it was all Peter's fault. Thanks to the cowardice of Peter Pettigrew, Harry James Potter would have to grow up as an orphan. Peter began to walk out of the cottage with Harry still in his arms.

On the way, he passed James' body. He lowered his head in shame.

"James," he uttered, as if James could actually hear him. "It's all my fault. I'm so, so sorry."

Peter then looked directly into Harry's eyes, green like his mother's. "I'll make up for it. I'll make sure that Harry Potter does grow up with a father."

Peter completed his journey out of the house before Apparating away, taking a still crying Harry with him.

Sirius Orion Black arrived at Godric's Hollow to see the Potters' house in ruins. He instantly knew that something was wrong. He entered the house and to his surprise, he saw Rubeus Hagrid standing inside, wiping tears off his cheeks. Hagrid was a half-giant and the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Hagrid?" he said in confusion, "Where are... James... Lily... Are they safe?"

"Sirius... I didn' see yeh coming in..." Hagrid stated.

"Why are you here? Are they okay?" Sirius had gone so pale that his face was almost completely white.

"Dumbledore sen' me. I don' see the point. James an' Lily are dead and there's notin' left o' poor Harry. That monster!"

Sirius rudely turned around and left. He knew that there was only one thing to do. He had to track that traitor, Peter Pettigrew, and kill him. Sirius lost a brother that night and he was out for revenge.

November 1 1981, A Muggle Street

Peter Pettigrew was running across a Muggle street in rat form. He had already dropped Harry off at an Unplottable hiding place. He needed to get some groceries and he couldn't risk going back into the Wizarding world. He found an empty corner where nobody could see him and discretely transformed back into his human self. He walked around the corner and immediately came face to face with a livid Sirius Black.

"Found you!" Black announced, "You traitor! You filthy rat!"

Peter came up with a plan at the spur of the moment, something that didn't happen to him too often. "Black! How could you do it! How could you kill Lily and James?"

This question made Sirius even more furious. "WHAT! HOW COULD I KILL THEM! HOW COULD YOU K-"

Peter interrupted him, "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?"

Sirius began to respond, "You filthy r-"

Suddenly, Peter cast a powerful Blasting Curse, killing twelve Muggles who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sirius barely managed to dive out of harm's way.

Taking advantage of the chaos around him, Peter reached into his pocket and took out a pocket knife. He held up his right hand and used his left hand to cut off his right index finger. He screamed in pain as the finger detached itself from his hand. He then transformed into a rat and escaped. Sirius recovered from the chaos and sent a non-verbal curse in Peter's direction, but the rat easily evaded it and escaped.

Later, Aurors began to arrive one by one in the area. The Muggle witnesses were Obliviated and Sirius Black was taken to Azkaban prison without a trial, believed to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper.

November 2 1981, Murray Manor

Peter Pettigrew Apparated into Murray Manor, the manor of his mother's family. Mrs Pettigrew's maiden name was Murray, but she never set foot in Murray Manor after she came of age. She disapproved of her family, most of whom were dark wizard followers, who bowed down to Lord Voldemort when he first rose to power, as well as to Gellert Grindelwald back in the old days.

Mrs Pettigrew always made sure that Peter had nothing to do with his family on the Murray side. When Peter Apparated to Murray Manor to drop Harry off there, he was pleased to learn that the wards accepted him, being a blood relative of the Murrays. Apart from Mrs Pettigrew, who would have been informed of Peter's so-called death by now, the Murray family was completely dead. The last of them was killed by the Auror, Alastor Moody, two years ago. Now Peter was sure that nobody would find him there, especially now that the world thinks he is dead.

He explored the house in depth for the first time and he concluded that this would be a fine place to raise a child.

A Death Eater was going to raise the one who vanquished the Dark Lord.