A magnificent stag stood in front of them, pawing the mud. He then galloped around the three stunned boys as if doing a victory lap and then disappeared into the forest. After a few moments, the stag came galloping towards them at full speed, slowed down as he came into the clearing and bowed, like a performer at the end of his act.
'Prongs,' whispered Sirius.
Remus felt sure their friendship had reached its end. Instead, they had stood by his side resolutely. James had even told him off for keeping it a secret from them for so long. They knew the truth about him! And they were still his friends.
At the next full moon, they had offered to come with him to the Shrieking Shack. Remus had turned down the offer point-blank. It was too dangerous for any human to be near him.
So, they had decided to find another way. After recovering from his transformation, Remus had joined the Marauders, only to find the three constantly discussing and whispering. He also noticed that they stopped talking whenever he entered the room, and hastily changed the subject.
One night, he woke up to find them gone from their beds. They had never gone out for night excursions before without him.
'Well, looks like they are freaked out after all,' thought Remus miserably. 'Who could blame them! I am a werewolf. I am not supposed to have friends. I should be lucky to have had them as my friends for so long.' He heard the others come in a few hours later and pretended to be asleep.
The next morning, Remus woke up feeling as if he had hardly slept at all. He looked around to find the other beds empty again. So they didn't even think of waking him up for breakfast! He looked at his watch and found that he was already late. He didn't feel hungry anyway. He headed straight for the Transfiguration class. James, Sirius and Peter were nowhere to be seen as the class filled up slowly.
They came in a few minutes after class had started, panting. Professor McGonagall gave them an angry look but allowed them inside.
Sirius came and sat beside Remus, and gave him an unexpected smile. Remus was surprised. Why the sudden friendliness?
'There's something we need to tell you, ' Sirius whispered. Remus looked at him questioningly. 'We - '
'Black! Lupin! Silence!' McGonagall cut in. Not wanting to enrage her further, Sirius muttered, 'Later'.
Remus kept shooting questioning glance towards Sirius and the others. But McGonagall was in no mood to be tolerant. So they said nothing.
After Transfiguration, Sirius dragged Remus to an empty classroom. James and Peter followed. They made sure no one could come in or overhear them, and they all started speaking at once.
'Remus! We can do it -'
'We can come with you during full moon -'
'You wont believe it -'
'Stop! I don't understand a word,' Remus interrupted.
They looked at each other. James started speaking, 'Remus! We have been pouring over the books for the last few days -'
'And nights!' Sirius interjected.
'And nights,' James continued. 'We believe we have come up with a way to accompany you on full moon nights!'
'Wait a minute! There is no way that I am going to allow it! It's too dangerous for humans to be anywhere near me -'.
'Exactly! For humans,' James grinned. 'Not for animals.'
'What?' Remus was confused.
'We can accompany you every full moon - as animals!'
'As animals?' Remus still could not make out where they were going with this conversation.
'Yes! We are going to try to become Animagi!' Sirius told him triumphantly.
Remus stared at them in disbelief.
'You are joking!' He said after a full minute silence.
'Of course not!' Peter said. 'We have read all about it. We know what we are doing.'
'Yeah mate,' James assured him. 'We can do it. It may take some time. But we can do it. We will need your help of course.'
'It's the only way we can be with you,' Sirius added.
'But- but- ' Remus struggled. 'The spell can go wrong! It's too dangerous! It can go horribly wrong. And it's Advanced Magic. You will never be able to do it. We are in second year! McGonagall told us it took her two years to master the spell! And she was much older. And more experienced. Besides, the Ministry will never agree to register three underage wizards as Animagi. And - '
He paused to think of something else. 'You – you just can't. I won't let you!'
They waited for him to stop speaking. They had already expected all his arguments. James started explaining calmly, 'It is not really dangerous if we do it properly. We need to understand the spell. We need to understand the theory. But once we know, it is just as dangerous as Expelliarmus!'
'And yeah, it took McGonagall two years to master it. But you and James and Sirius are brilliant enough to work it out,' Peter said. 'You are the best students in our year. Other than Lily of course.'
'And as for the Ministry, who is telling them?' Sirius finished with a twinkle in his eye.
Remus opened his mouth to say something. Nothing came out. He closed it again. The other three waited. He opened his mouth again.
'But it is illegal!' he said finally.
'Stop being such a prude!' Sirius teased.
Remus was fighting inwardly. It was certainly very dangerous. Not to mention illegal. They would have to do it in secret. He couldn't imagine the amount of effort it would need. He frowned. He looked at Sirius' beaming smile, at James' excited grin, at Peter's apprehensive but happy face.
They wanted to do it for him. They didn't think he was someone who ought to be shunned. They wanted to be with him during his darkest times!
But no, he was being selfish. He couldn't ask them to risk their lives for him. Although, now that they had decided it, would he be able to convince them otherwise? Especially since he really wanted them to do it! Once James and Sirius had decided to do something, no one could make them change their minds. They would do it anyway.
He couldn't believe that he was about to nod. He couldn't believe that he was going to be so incredibly selfish. He couldn't believe that he was about to betray Dumbledore's trust. But he knew he was going to nod anyway.
A moment later, with a flash James Potter stood before them. Remus broke out of his reverie. His hair was untidy as ever, his glasses, lopsided on his nose and a wide grin on his face.
'You did it mate!' Sirius jumped on him and pulled him into a hug. Remus and Peter, grinning, thumped him on his back.
'Yeah!' James was exhilarated. 'It feels amazing. Unbelievable. Magical. Bloody brilliant!'
'This calls for a celebration!' exclaimed Sirius. 'I am bloody well too tired to give it another go anyway. Lets go.'
James was the first one to do it. After three years of hard work, pouring over the books, frustration and one or two nasty incidents when it had almost gone very wrong, James had done it!
Back in their dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower, Sirius pulled out a large bottle of Firewhisky they had managed to smuggle in on their last Hogsmeade visit.
Remus, looking around at their happy faces, couldn't believe his luck at having such an amazing bunch of friends.