I haven't published anything in AGES so I figured I'd finished one of my old abandoned one shots and publish it…just some Remus and the marauders goodness…How you enjoy!
"Happy birthday, Honey!" Mom said as she walked into my room at St. Mungo's Hospital caring a brown paper bag, "How are you feeling today?"
"Better," I tried to smile as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
"Well good," Mom smiled, sitting at the end of my bed. "The healers said you could come home tomorrow, and after the next full moon you'll have to come back again, but after that you can stay home after the transformation. But as for today, we have to celebrate your birthday here."
"That's okay," I said as I watched pull out two small cupcakes from the paper bag. I took the one that Mom was holding out for me to take, it had a small wax candle on top. "Is Dad coming?" I watched he light the candle with the tip of her wand.
"No," she said slowly. "He's still coping with the idea that…" she trailed off as she fidgeted with her wand.
"That I'm a monster," I finished for her.
"Remus, honey, you are not a monster," Mom tried to reassure me as she ran her hand through my stringy brown hair. I flinched away as her cold skin grazed along my jaw bone.
I sighed and stared down at the chocolate cupcake in my hands as Mom took away her hand with a sorrowed look in her eyes.
"But we're not talking about this now," Mom force herself to smiled at me. "It's you're eighth birthday, three more years and you'll be a big boy, going off to school and all!" I forced out a laugh for her sake as she looked down at me with her sweet smile.
"Well go on!" she encouraged me, "Blow out the candle and make a wish."
I looked down at the candle. I usually wished for something like a new book but this year I wanted something different. I wanted someone loyal to help me through this werewolf business. A canine companion, so to speak.
I shut my eyes and as I blew out the candle, saying in my head, 'I wish for a dog'.
Seven years later and I still hadn't gotten my wish; no matter how persistent I had been, wishing for the same thing every birthday I had. I was officially fifteen years old and not a hint of a dog anywhere in sight. Not that it brought me down, I accepted the fact I was never going to get my wish around my tenth birthday but for some reason I could never think of anything else to wish for.
I laughed along with James and Peter, dashing after the two boys as they scurried up the grand staircase, racing to get to our dorm room. They told me they had a surprise for me; probably something like chocolate and a book, the usual birthday present.
"Hey! No fair!" Peter yelled as I ran past him, pulling up next to James, neck and neck, just as we slid to a stop in front of the fat lady. "Guys!" he called again as he caught up with us and bent over, wheezing as he took his head in his hands.
"Password?" the fat lady asked giving James a disapproving look as he laughed and slapped Peter on the back.
"Fountain of Fair Fortune," Remus said as he smiled over at his two friends, who were now attempting to push each other over, onto the ground.
The fat lady clicked her tongue in condemnation as Peter succeeded in knocking over his large competitor but quickly followed James to the ground as he tripped himself during his victory dance. The portrait swung open, unveiling the large, circular hole in the wall that led the common room.
"Am I going to have to go up all by myself?" Remus called to his friends as he climbed through the passageway into the cozy room that lay on the other side.
"We're coming! We're coming!" James said as he scrambled up, getting his own feet firmly on the ground before pulling Peter to his feet and following Remus into the common room. "You'll love your surprise!" he smiled as he grabbed my hand and dragged me up the boys' dormitories'' stairs.
"Let me guess," I rolled my eyes, "chocolate and a new book?"
"Nope!" James said as he stopped suddenly in front of the dorm door, causing Peter to run into me from behind as I stopped, too.
I raised my eye brow, "Really?" I asked, "No chocolate and book? That's a first."
"Well, we do have chocolate and a book for you but that's not the surprise," James said as he leaned against the door. "Hey, Pete," he called over my shoulder to the shorter boy who was standing on his toes to get a better look at James, "come over here and help my reveal the present. It's from you, too."
"So what is this big surprise?" I crossed my arms as Peter rushed to stand next to James.
"You know how we said we didn't want to work on the Animagus thing this week because of all the tests we had and detentions every-night?" James started. I nodded, signaling James to carry on, "Well, we lied. We faked those detentions and didn't study, and probably failed, all those tests."
"James…" I got ready to once again scold my friends on slacking off when it came to school work.
"No, shut up. I haven't finished," he told me. I sighed but stayed quiet, waiting for an explanation from James. "So, we worked on the Animagus thing instead," James continued, "and we were planning on all having our animal forms ready for you to see as a birthday present but me and Pete are still having some problems with the whole changing back thing, so…yeah. But anyway, we present you with the first Animagus marauder, Sirius Black!"
James threw open the door and I looked in to see a large black dog, with loving grey eyes and a wagging tail, sitting at the foot of my bed. He stood up and started barking at me as I dashed into the room and fell to my knees before throwing my arms around his neck.
"This is the best birthday present ever," I said after kissing the top of his furry head.
"No worries Moony, we'll always be here to help you. Ever if it means turning into flea ridden animal every once and a while," James said, putting a reassuring hand on his friends shoulder.
"Oh yeah, thanks for that two," I said, laughing at Sirius as he happily cased after his own tail.
"What do you mean, 'thanks for that two'? That was the present," Peter said from his seat over on my bed.
"Well yeah," I smiled up at them. "But honestly, I've always wanted a dog."
Well there you have it folks! I would love if you reviewed…it would make me one happy fangirl =)