𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 58 ✧

1977

That night, Aurora managed to corner Peter in the common room as everyone else was heading down for dinner.

"Peter, can I talk to you for a minute please?" Aurora asked cautiously, sliding into a seat next to him.

Peter looked up from where he was absentmindedly staring out a window, slightly startled. When he saw it was Aurora who had requested an audience with him, he grew slightly more confused. Of course, they were friends, but she had never really singled him out in the past.

"How are you?" Aurora began, internally cringing at herself when she saw Peter's expression morph into one of suspicion, his brow knitting together.

"I'm okay?" He replied with an upward inflection as if he were asking a question, not responding to one.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a short while, neither of them knowing exactly what to say.

"If this is about earlier, I've already told the guys and now I'm telling you; I'm fine. I don't need to see Pomfrey, it'll only raise suspicion and make Moony feel awful." Peter finally filled the silence, concluding that Sirius must have put Aurora up to this.

"Well, it's sort of about that, but sort of not," Aurora tip toed around the matter she actually wished to discuss, afraid that if she came on too strong too soon Peter would shut down completely.

"Rory, you clearly have something you wish to say, so just say it and we can both head down to dinner." Peter rubbed his eyes wearily, clearly still exhausted from the previous night's antics.

"I'm worried about you, Peter." Aurora blurted, deciding that the matter was best handled like removing a band aid; quick and painless. Similarly to the situation Aurora wished to apply the metaphor too however, removing a band aid never was painless, and the two sat in yet another uncomfortable silence.

Peter's eyes widened slightly and he raised a brow, clearly not expecting that response.

"If it's about my ribs, I'll go see Pomfrey, but only after Remus is out of the hospital wing. I'll not be responsible for the pained glint that appears in his eyes every time he thinks he's hurt someone." Peter's voice was firm, his intentions clear. Aurora considered his words for a moment, knowing the pained glint in Remus's eyes all too well.

"Well I'm glad you've finally agreed to do something about your injuries, but I meant worried on a broader spectrum. There's something I should probably tell you..." Aurora trailed off, fishing a journal out of her bag which rested between the two on the ground.

After Peter didn't speak, but rather just stared expectantly, Aurora took this as her cue to continue.

"Do you remember last year when I helped you and Mary with some divination homework? We were studying Tarot readings," Aurora paused and Peter nodded, indicating that he did in fact remember.

"Well my predictions for you and Mary were rather, disturbing, and Mary's actually came true," Aurora winced when she heard Peter inhale sharply.

"Go on," his eyes were narrowed, almost accusing, and Aurora shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Mary's reading could have been interpreted in a number of ways, which is why I didn't pursue it further, and then she was murdered and it felt like too much of a coincidence," Aurora was speaking faster now, her explanation becoming more and more frantic as she relived the moment everything had sunk in; that she could have stopped Mary's death.

"Aurora, what was mine?" Peter's steady voice pulled the hysterical girl from her chaotic thoughts. His reaction was far too calm and the knot forming in Aurora's stomach twisted. She felt sick.

Aurora opened the journal resting in her lap to a dogeared page and began reading both Tarot readings and her thoughts and potential interpretations of them. By the time she was done Peter looked as if he had seen a ghost. His eyes glistened with unshed tears and his hands shook visibly as he pulled at a loose thread on his robes.

"You think I'm going to betray someone I care about?" His voice was feeble as he spoke. Nervousness mixed with an odd sense of guilt churned around in his stomach, threatening to reacquaint him with the snack he had eaten between his afternoon classes.

"I don't want you to think that this is how I view you, Peter. I know you would never intentionally hurt anyone, which is what worries me. I fear that Mary may act as the stressor which leads you down a path of self-destruction." Aurora felt as if a weight had been lifted as she finally voiced the thoughts which had plagued her since the funeral in Scotland.

Peter's face contorted at her words. He didn't know how to feel. He had never thought he would be the type to betray his friends either. The Marauders were the first real friends he had ever had who accepted him for who he was and valued him as a human being. Before he had met them, he had always been more of tagalong to the muggle boys in his city. The Marauders had looked past his unassuming outward appearance and gotten to know the real him; the boy who loved to make others laugh, even if it was at his own expense, and just wanted everyone to be happy. The Marauders weren't just his best friends, they were his brothers. All the years he had known them, they had only ever tried to build his self-esteem and help him blossom into the man he wanted to be, the man they knew he was deep down. Underneath all the harmless pranks and relentless but light-hearted teasing the other three truly cared for Peter, as he did for them, so the idea that he might betray one of them terrified the poor boy.

A single tear escaped and rolled down Peter's cheek as his mouth hung slightly agape in horror.

"Peter, are you okay?" Aurora broke the silence, reaching out and taking one of his hands in her own. She clasped his palm between both of her own as a feeble attempt at soothing him and stopping his hands from shaking.

"Honestly, no, I don't think I am." Peter replied after a while, finally wiping the single glistening teardrop from his cheek. His mouth was dry and he couldn't meet her gaze.

"I want you to know that no matter how isolated you feel, you're never alone. Promise me you'll remember that?" Aurora soothed, rubbing slow, even circles on the back of his hand with the pad of her thumb.

Peter simply nodded in response, turning to his head to stare at his lap.

"We can't change the past, what's done is done, but there is a chance we can change the future. Just because it was written that you will betray a friend doesn't mean you have to. You are in charge of your life after all. You have the ability to forge new pathways and change the prediction. We can't rewrite history, but we can edit the future." Peter lifted his head at Aurora's words, finally able to look her in the eye once more. The sense of impending doom and bone crushing dread that consumed him moments earlier seemed to release its hold ever so slightly and, despite the broken ribs, he found it easier to breathe again.

a/n i know a lot of people truly despise peter pettigrew for what he did to lily and james but i honestly believe there was a time when the idea of betraying his friends would have horrified him so i will not apologise for how i choose to portray him lol bye