[HPforGrownups] Unfortunate!Peter

[annegirl11 at juno.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 118235

Barry said:
> Most of both groups are of the opinion that he 
> should be veiled, ringing a hand-bell and crying "Unclean, 
> unclean..." 

<snerk> 

Funny, my friend and I were just arguing about this last night.

> To James he's an appreciative audience, <snip> To  Sirius he's 
> a  nothing, a hanger-on to be belittled

Yup, agree.

> to Lupin - what? 

I think Peter was a little afraid of Remus, similar to Ron's reaction
when he found out Remus is a werewolf. Thing is, I think Peter is merely
increadibly *normal*. He only reacted to Remus the way the rest of the
wizarding world does.

Here's my theory on Peter and the Marauders (and it assums a R/S ship,
but it's a small part.):

The Marauders started hanging around when they were 11. Little boys don't
have the deepest of conversations, so it wasn't a big thing that (as it
would later come out), Peter has slightly more traditional opinions than
the rest of them. 

As kids, it was always James and Sirius, brothers and ringleaders, and
Peter a close second because J and S were young and egotistical enough to
appreciate Peter's fawning adoration. Remus was their friend, but he was
quiet and aloof, and sometimes distant (because of his lycanthropy). I
imagine Remus has friends separate from the Marauders at that time; it
wasn't until they were older that the group solidified.

The catylist for change was when James and Sirius found out that Moony
was a werewolf. It affected them greatly; that this boy who was really
cool and nice and smart couldn't be some horrible monster the way people
said. As usual, adults were stupid and wrong (as all kids think);
werewolves were just regular people who wolfed out once a month. J and S
just assumed Peter accepted Remus as much as they did, because Peter sure
as hell wouldn't offer a dissenting opinion. 

J or S was distraught that Remus' change was so painful ([this is where I
assume a ship began]), so they started working on the animagus spell. It
would be *brilliant*, and it would help their friend. There wasn't a
question that Pete was in on the project; he was part of the group.

As the Marauders got older and matured, the friendship dynamics changed,
as friendships do. James started hanging around Lily and eventually
dating her; [Sirius and Remus paired off.] [Nonship alternate: With James
spending less time with his guy friends, Sirius and Remus became closer
friends.] (Peter certainly wasn't going to become Sirius' new best
friend.) 

By 7th year, Peter began to really feel his tagalongness; he wasn't as
smart as his friends, and didn't have the same after school ambitions. 

Plus, for years, Peter had been the scapegoat of the friends. Not in a
cruel way (much), but when James and Sirius tended to turn their harsh
"playful" joking in Peter's direction. Kids can be cruel, even to their
friends. Adding to it, Peter didn't understand why he was the odd man
out. Why did James and Sirius like Remus so much better, when he was so
scary every full moon? (Remember, Peter was a little rat during the
transformations, not a larger, more capable animal.) [Shippy: Peter, like
virtually everyone else in the 70s, was a little squicked that R and S
were suddenly gay and messing around together.]

After school, they drifted even more. James and Lily married; Sirius and
Remus were living together [(platonically or not)]. It left a lot of time
for Peter to go off on his own, meet different friends. He just met the
wrong people. 

Sirius and James were extrodinary boys. They were *popular*, handsome,
charming, and too confident by half. Their friendship and loyalty was
spectacular, that they not only accepted Remus despite his lycanthropy
but risked their own life and freedom to do something dangerous (and fun)
to help him. S and J were also brave and smart enough to want to become
Aurors, and admirable enough to want to fight with Dumbledore in the war.


Peter? Was adverage. Ordinary. Maybe if he'd been sorted into Hufflepuff,
he'd have found other adverage friends and been a bigger fish in a
smaller pond. But it just didn't work out that way. In a lot of ways,
Peter is a tragic figure, too.

Aura

~*~
"What he didn't like about heroes was that they were usually suicidally
gloomy when sober and homicidally insane when drunk."
- Discword
http://archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=606