FIRST MEETINGS
When his Hogwarts letter arrived shortly after his eleventh birthday, Peter Pettigrew had been beyond ecstatic.
The Half-Blood hadn't been entirely sure if he had enough magical ability to be accepted into the prestigious Wizarding school - but he had been proven wrong that fateful Tuesday morning when a beautiful tawney owl landed at the kitchen window, proudly holding a letter of acceptance on its leg for him to take.
His mother had been so incredibly proud of him that morning - instantly gathering up their coats and hurrying them both out the door, taking him to Diagon Ally for his school supplies.
Peter spent the next few weeks badgering his mother with questions about Hogwarts - listening to her childhood tales of mischief and adventure.
She was a proud Hufflepuff, and still wore sweaters and scarves to prove this, and when Peter began worrying about his House placement - she confidently told him that no matter what House he was placed in, he would do wonderfully.
When Peter and his mother got to Kings Cross Station at exactly 10:35 AM, Peter was struggling to breathe over his anxiety and excitement.
The two rushed through the barrier together, entering Platform Nine and Three Quarters, and Peter gasped in awe at the sight of the bright crimson train, billowing thick clouds of steam as it whistled loudly.
Around them was a cacophony of sound - screeching owls, frantic parents, excited first years and loud seventh years-
Peter's face began to hurt with how brightly he was smiling, taking in the buzzing atmosphere of this new world he was being let into.
His mother hugged him tight, making him promise to write often, before finally allowing him to force his way through the sea of students and onto the packed train.
Peter rushed to a compartment window with a gaggle of other students, waving frenziedly out of the window at his mother, who tearfully waved back, dabbing her eyes with her old Hufflepuff scarf.
Soon, the train began to pull away with a loud squeal, and the students began to disperse to find places to sit.
Peter took a breath, looking around the full compartment he was standing in, and following the crowd out.
He stood in the isle for a moment - unsure of what to do.
The excitement was beginning to wear off, leaving him with a familiar sense of crawling dread.
So many people- and so many of them had been raised in this world their whole lives- Peter had only been told about the Wizarding World by his mother a few years ago, when strange and unusual things began occurring around him!
Peter realised with a jolt that he had no idea what he was supposed to do now.
Swallowing, Peter closed his eyes and forced himself to take another deep breath.
Then, he took a step and forced himself to make his way down the train to find a compartment.
He hadn't even gotten halfway down the isle when a compartment door slid open with a loud bang, and someone barreled directly into him.
Peter yelped, flailing his arms helplessly as he toppled painfully to the ground.
"Oh Merlin! I'm so sorry!"
Peter, rubbing his head where he'd hit it against another compartment door, looked up at the sound of the voice, trembling with a nervous laugh.
In front of him, stood a tall, lanky boy, with ink black hair that stuck up in every direction, and thick framed, round glasses perched on his nose - he was dawned in his school robes already, and wore a crooked, boyish grin.
He reached out a hand to Peter, still laughing slightly.
"I didn't see you- I should have checked before I left the compartment!" he chirped as he helped Peter stand - there was a noticeable difference in their height, and Peter found himself looking up slightly at the blue eyed boy.
"It- I-It's okay!" Peter managed to squeak, a shaky smile working its way onto his face, "I- I wasn't really looking where I w-was going either!"
The boy laughed brightly.
"Well- I'm glad I didn't hurt you too bad! I'm James, by the way, James Potter!" he held out his hand again, this time for Peter to shake.
Peter hesitated only briefly, before taking the hand.
"P-Pe-Peter! Peter Pettigrew!"
"Nice t'meet you, Pete! Wanna try and find a compartment with me?"
"Yeah!"
It took them a while - but eventually, the two found a mostly empty compartment, only one person was inside.
Another first year, by the looks of it.
He was taller and lankier than James was - if only by a small margin - with sandy coloured hair, and scars covering his hands, neck, and going up his face.
His arms were wrapped in bandages, as was his left leg, only just visible beneath his slightly ragged clothes.
He was gazing out of the window at the rushing scenery, seemingly lost in thought.
Peter almost asked James if they should look for a different compartment, not wanting to disturb the other boy, but James was already opening the compartment door and peaking his head around it.
The sandy haired boy jolted, visibly startled as he swivelled around to see who was at the door, his brown eyes wide.
"Hey!" James greeted, with the same bright smile he'd been wearing since Peter had bumped into him- and Peter was genuinely beginning to wonder if James even had any other expressions- "Is it alright if me and Pete join you? Everywhere else is packed!"
The boy hesitated, gaze flickering between the two standing outside the compartment door, before giving a weak nod.
"Yeah, that's fine" he managed, his voice soft and slightly scratchy.
"Awesome! C'mon, Pete!"
Peter didn't have time to say anything as James bounded into the compartment, throwing himself onto the empty seat by the window, grinning brightly at sandy haired boy.
"I'm James Potter, this is Peter Pettigrew!"
"Uh- I'm- Remus- Remus Lupin"
Remus watched Peter nervously as he took a seat beside James.
He seemed just as scared as Peter was about everything.
He wondered how long Remus had known about magic.
The three sat together for almost ten minuets before anything else happened - in that time, Peter learned that James came from a Pure Blood family who were pretty successful for their hair potions, meaning that when the Trolly Witch came along, James bought practically everything she had.
He learned Remus, like him, was a Half-Blood - raised by his wizard father, though he wouldn't go into much more detail about his family life after that. It also turned out Remus really liked chocolate, and had eaten a good portion of an extremely large chocolate bar by the time it was Peter's turn to answer questions about himself.
James seemed to find the Muggle world fascinating, constantly asking questions about a hundred different things that to Peter were incredibly normal, but to James were as odd and unusual as magic would be to an everyday Muggle.
Peter was in the middle of attempting to describe how Muggle's went about their daily lives without the use of magic, when the compartment door slid open once again.
Another boy, with shoulder length black hair, peaked his angular, pale face around the door, grey eyes flickering between the three apprehensively.
"None of you are my cousins, are you?"
"Uh... not that I'm aware of!" James grinned, "James Potter"
The boy sighed heavily in relief, slipping into the room - Peter noted how he, like James, was already dawned in his uniform - before slumping heavily against the door as it closed.
"Thank Merlin! I thought I'd never find somewhere away from those maniacs!"
The boy managed a small smile as he looked back at them.
"They're gonna be pissed I'm talking to a Potter- you guys aren't well liked by my family"
"Pure Blood?" James sighed, and for the first time his expression changed from that boyish grin to an exasperated, knowing look that took Peter by surprise.
The new boy hummed, nodding.
"Black" he said, the word spat from him like it was a bitter tasting food, and James looked at him with pity. "Sirius Black" he continued.
"Well - like I said before, I'm James Potter, this is Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin"
Sirius seemed to think very carefully about their names for a moment, before grinning brightly.
"Yep! None of you are related to me! Which means, I'm hiding here until we get to school"
Sirius dropped down beside Remus, grinning at the taller boy, who managed a small smile in return.
Peter laughed slightly, and soon enough - they began asking Sirius questions about himself.
He had a brother, he hated all his family except that brother and one or two cousins, and he was fairly certain he'd be a Slytherin, despite hating the idea of it.
Peter wondered why Slytherin was so bad - his mother had described all the Houses so wonderfully- he would have asked, but Sirius always seemed to be upset at the mention of pretty much anything relating to his family, so he dropped it, and instead offered the pale boy some sweets, much to his delight.
"Oh, I love these!"