Chapter Two: Solutions
Peter Pettigrew stumbled over a root in the passageway, but James caught his arm before he fell... Good old, big hearted James... To his friends, at least. "You've got to be more careful, Wormtail." James admonished gently, righting the boy. Peter just smiled gratefully at him.
Remus walked a little behind the other three, staring at the ground as he went. "C'mon, Moony!" he heard Sirius call. "Don't make us leave you!" Remus looked up to see Sirius pushing forward. "Bloody hell, Remus... You said it wasn't far."
"It's not far...," Remus protested, speeding up a little. "Only a mile... or two."
"Well, it feels like we've already walked at least half of that." James smiled, ever the optimistic Gryffindor.
"My legs are going to fall off...," groaned Peter.
"It's really not much farther..," Remus encouraged. He knew that his friends were sacrificing a lot, but he didn't want them to give up and leave him now... "See? If you squint a bit, you can almost make out the door..."
That door... Every full moon of his first year, at least, until the very last month when his friends snuck along with them underneath James' invisibility cloak, Dumbledore would escort the silent Remus to the entrance, let him in, and then bolt it behind him. Even though Remus knew that Dumbledore had to look out for the safety of his students, he couldn't help but feel a little bitter towards the newest Headmaster of Hogwarts.
On that clear, cool night, Remus gave in silently to the transformation, completely unaware that his three friends were listening outside. Of course, they came to the only possible conclusion... Their roommate was a werewolf. He couldn't help but think back to the halfhearted smiles and sideways glances in the Great Hall the next morning. He sensed the change of atmosphere surrounding his friends, and knew immediately... Somehow, they had discovered his secret. 'I suppose I was lucky...' he thought as he made his way down the dim passage. 'Most people would have shunned me once they knew...' Even his own parents had seemed a little frightened of him when he was finally allowed to leave St. Mungos.
But Remus was lucky -- his friends were more than understanding, and when he returned to their room that night, he was greeted by three excited grins. A wave of relief washed over him... they weren't going to abandon him, after all. He should have known, of course, that those three would stick by him no matter what came his way, just as he would do for them. He returned their grins and laughed a little, albeit nervously, "What are you three grinning about?"
"We've got a surprise for you...," Sirirus' grin widened as he spoke, "'Moony.'"
Remus' eyebrow quirked, "Moony?"
"Well, we've got to have nicknames now, you see...," James smiled, "I mean, if we're going to be the Marauders of Hogwarts."
"What on earth are you talking about, James?" Remus looked from boy to boy, confusion etched into his features.
"See, Peter here," Sirius clapped Peter on the back, who winced a bit. "...sorry, Peter... Peter here did some research in the forbidden section of the library last night, after we followed you and Dumbledore."
"You followed me?!" Remus looked taken aback.
James shrugged. "We were curious, and you wouldn't tell us why you kept going off every full moon... Naturally, we already had our suspicions, bright as we are."
"And being such good friends, " Peter chimed in, "We thought there must be a way to help you out."
Remus shook his head in disbelief. "You're all insane, you know that?"
Sirius smirked. "It's a requirement to join the Marauders. Of course, we can't tell you anything unless you decide to be one of us."
The three crossed their arms in mock sternness. "Are you in, or are you out, Remus?" James asked, trying very hard and failing miserably to look serious.
Remus hesitated for a moment, but curiosity got the better of them... Perhaps they had found a cure for him. It seemed impossible, but he had seen Sirius and James do the impossible countless times already. "Well...," he smiled, finally, "I suppose I don't have much choice. Consider me in."
"Excellent!"
As they soon explained, Peter had snuck into the forbidden section of the library using James' invisibility cloak and done some research... First, he researched all he could about werewolves, looking for a cure, or at least some sort of control... Finding nothing, an idea struck him. He fled quickly back to the room, where Sirius and James were locked in a vicious match of wizard's chess.
"We'll become animaguses!" he squealed excitedly, causing Sirius to knock over a few pieces. James blinked at him.
"What?" he asked incredulously.
"We'll have to be unregistered, of course...," Peter whispered now, slamming the door shut. "...but it's worth it, isn't it? We'll all become animaguses and go with him! We can keep him under control that way, and he won't have to be locked up! There are risks, but..."
"Risks be damned, if it's the only way, we'll do it!" James grinned. Sirius nodded his agreement.
Peter tossed the invisibility cloak on the bed after removing a large book for him that seemed almost too heavy as he struggled it onto his bed. "I found a recipe for a potion about it..."
Sirius grimaced. "Peter..."
"I know!" Peter smiled. "I'm not good at potions, but you are, Sirius, and James is good enough at Charms to put on the final touches."
"...what about the ingrediants?" James' smile faded a little. "You can't make a potion just by wanting to, you know."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "That little worm Snape should have what we'll need!"
"Oh, yes, brilliant, Sirius..., "James rolled his eyes. "And I suppose we'll get in through the windows."
Sirius grinned and pulled out a worn, crumbled paper from beneath his bed. "No, we'll use this and the list of passwords I bought off of Longbottom."
The three stood there, grinning like maniacs as they told Remus the story, each taking turns, interrupting each other to put in what they had contributed, occasionally bickering over details. "At any rate...," Remus finally interrupted as another dispute broke out between Sirius and Peter. "Did you make the potion?"
"Sirius, would you care to do the honors?" James smirked.
"Naturally...," Sirius bowed low. He then went to his closet on the far end of the room and pulled out a small cauldron, from which came the most hideous smell Remus had ever had the displeasure to be downwind of.
"You're serious, then?" Remus murmered, wide eyed. "You're really going to... I mean, you know the risks!"
"Of course we know the risks...," James scoffed. "But since when have any of us ever really been concerned with risks?"
Peter handed cups to the three marauders and they all dipped in.
"Here goes nothing...," muttered Sirius, grimacing at the foul smelling concuction.
"Cheers to you, cheers to me, "began James, smirking. "And if we ever disagree, fuck you, and cheers to me!"
The three downed the potions as quickly as they could, trying to ignore the taste.
"Well, here we are...," muttered Remus, throwing himself down into his corner. Sirius pushed down on the mattress of the bed in the corner a bit.
"...I guess it could be worse..." he smirked.
"Oh, it was really a nice bed, before I got to it." Remus grinned. His grin faltered a bit, "Er... do you s'pose the potions worked? It might be a good idea to try them out before I start changing... if you're still human, I might hurt you, so now would be a good time to find out so you can lock me in here if you have to."
"You spend every single full moon locked in this awful place?" Peter grimaced.
Remus shrugged. "Dumbledore couldn't really leave me near hogwarts, could he? The howling alone would make most students leave."
"...I suppose...," Peter nodded.
James laughed, "Besides, certain curious students might go trying to find out what it was."
"I'm kind of curious to see what we all change into...," Sirius smiled. "I'm sure I'll be something really brilliant, like a tiger or... or an eagle."
"...as long as I'm not something easily stepped on." Peter muttered.
"Who cares?" James shrugged. "I just don't want to be anything particularly girly... You know, like a pony or a unicorn."
The other three laughed appreciatively.
"The book said we just have to concentrate on changing... It said it might be difficult at first because we won't know what we're changing into."
"What was the name of that book, anyway, Peter?" asked Remus.
"...er...," Peter shuffled his feet. "Deadly Potions: recipes that will either work or kill you in the process."
"Well, that's encouraging!" James laughed nervously.
Sirius shrugged deftly. "...it hasn't killed us yet, has it? Well, then, let's give it the old college try."
The young men fell silent, concentrating very carefully on what they hoped would be their animals. Peter was the first to change. He let out a small gasp as the floor came rushing up at him, and it took him a moment to realized that he hadn't fainted... he had simply shrunk. "Look, I've changed! What am I?!" he tried to say. It came out as a high-pitched squeak.
James was trying very hard not to laugh, but Sirius failed all together. Peter sat up on his hind legs, sniffing, his whiskers quivering, as if to say 'What's so funny?'
"Well...," Sirius chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye... "I guess we'll call you wormtail then."
Peter whirled around and grabbed his tail in a surprisingly human gesture, then squealed. 'A rat?! I'm a rat?!'
James kneeled down by Peter and gently scooped him up. "...you'll make a great look out, Wormtail. We can send you ahead of us a bit to make sure no one's around... It's not like we can hold the map if we're like this."
Remus smiled a little, the familiar pain creeping into his joints as daylight faded.
"Your turn, Sirius!" James declared, sitting Peter on his shoulder. Peter sulked as best as a rat can.
Sirius nodded a little and returned to concentrating while his friends eagerly looked on. Slowly, he began to change... When it was over, he opened his eyes and tried to say "I didn't feel anything.." but it came out as a few yips and a growl.
James grinned widely at him. "Well, hello, Snuffles!" He ruffled the fur on the top of the big dogs head. Peter squeaked appreciately, amusement evident in his little, beady eyes. Remus chuckled softly. Sirius stared up at James with a look of absolute shock and disgust on his face.
"I'm only kidding, Sirius... Padfoot, then." But the four already knew that Snuffles was going to be a name that would haunt Sirius for years.
"I guess that leaves me." James smiled encouragingly at Remus, who attempted a weak smile in return.
"...you'd better hurry, James...," Remus rasped, a wolfish quality already taking over his voice. "I don't know how much longer I have."
James nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating... The image of a great stag flashed before his eyes, and next thing he knew, he was wobbling about the room on his legs... wait, whose legs were those? He didn't remember having four. He craned his long, graceful neck around to view his hind quarters. Well... a stag wasn't so bad.
"Prongs...," Remus chuckled before the transformation took hold of him.
The dream faded slowly away and Remus stretched his back. The old Riddle House... His movements told him he was quite naked, as he often ended up after transforming back. It was rather hard to keep from ripping of the clothes as he gallavanted around. Fortunately, experience taught him to bring a spare set of robes, and he kept it hidden in a little compartment in the floor that no wolf could ever manage to pry open. He started to sit up, but suddenly became aware of a hand pressing into the small of his back.
He raised his head as other foreign sensations flooded his body. There he lay, pressed against Sirius Black's side, one arm thrown carelessly over his friend's blanketed stomach. Remus looked slowly up to the sleeping man's face, very glad that Sirius hadn't yet awoken. What would Sirius' reaction have been..? Would he be disgusted with Remus? Remus felt his worries slide away as he gaved upon Sirius' peaceful countenance. The rich, black hair, now streaked slightly with gray, spread out beneath him in a silken pool... The black eyes closed against the world as he dreamed... The pink lips curled into a smile, parting now and then as he spoke to someone in his dreams.... "...so handsome...," Remus breathed softly. "...no, beautiful..."
He allowed himself a moment's indulgence curled against the greek god's side before pulling away and going to retrieve his clothes.
(Author's note: Yes, I know I'm being a tease... Soon, my fangirls. Soon.)
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