Day 0
"Are you sure about this?" Peter scurried behind the two boys, shuffling worriedly.
"Yes, Peter," Sirius said, slinging his arm around the boy's shoulders.
"We've gotta do this," stated James matter-of-factly. "It's for Moony. We just have to."
"Yeah," agreed Sirius. "He won't let us help him while we're human, so the only way we can help him is in a different form. Old Minnie McGee did say that someone in their Animagus form wouldn't be infected by a werewolf if bitten or scratched."
"So, what are we doing exactly?" Peter squeaked.
"We're going to steal mandrake leaves from the Herbology classroom," James explained patiently. "That's how you transform – keeping a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month."
Sirius flapped his hand in front of them. "Shh – someone's coming!"
All three boys kept walking, grinning stupidly, as another student walked by.
As soon as they arrived at the Herbology classroom, Peter stationed himself by the door, and James and Sirius went to work finding the Mandrake plants.
"Sirius!" James hissed. "I think I found it."
Sirius hurried over to James. "Yep, that's it," he said. "Start grabbing."
"Should I take just three, or some extra?" James had several leaves in one hand, the other prepared to take more.
"Take three, because they'll wilt if we take extra now."
"Okay, Paddy," said James. "Let's go."
As they hurried back to the common room, they laughed manically. It wasn't one of their usual pranks, but they still got the rush of breaking the rules.
That night, they sat in their dorm room. They were the only three awake, and they sat in the window waiting for midnight. Each of them held the mandrake leaves, and they sat in a rare silence, contemplating what they were about to do.
As the clock chimed midnight, each of them met eyes, and with a single nod, they placed the mandrake leaves on their tongues.
For Remus, their eyes said.