May 23, 1987
It was another quiet day in the Lupin household, or as quiet as it was going to get with Harry running around with his nerf gun shooting nerf balls at the older wizard who was also returning fire with his own gun. It was Mari's idea to get the toy guns for the three wizards for Christmas as a welcome gift for Sirius while also a way to torment Remus and his need to have everything clean. She had two nephews around Harry's age and she knew just how messy a house could get after a nerf war. As it was Saturday and Harry had finished all of his studies the day before, and Remus was out food shopping, Sirius thought it would be a good idea to play with the toy guns and proceeded to chase Harry around, shooting the little foam pellets at the six-year-old.
Harry was no slouch with the game, however, and quickly ran to his room to grab another gun yelling, "This is war, Padfoot!" As he silently made his way through the house looking for his godfather, he picked up the loose pellets that Sirius used on him and put them in his pockets. If he ran out of ammo, he'd have some backup.
The stairs creaked slightly as the little boy inched his way down to the living room. He heard movement coming toward him and with a quick glance around the room, he quickly hid under the little end table near the couch that had a cloth over it. A small crack between the cloth and the table enabled Harry to see Sirius walk through the living room like a stealthy ninja. The sight nearly caused the child to laugh out loud and reveal his hiding spot but he quickly swallowed the sound as Sirius crept up the staircase. Once the man was out of sight, Harry ran out from under the end table, but couldn't be as quiet as he was when he hid under there in the first place. His feet ended up tangled in the cloth and he pulled the lamp off the table as he tripped, letting out a small yelp as he tumbled.
"Harry, are you alright?" came from upstairs and Harry could hear footsteps quickly approaching the top of the staircase.
Quickly yelling out a "yeah", the six-year-old ran into the kitchen. There was a door leading to the basement that he knew he couldn't hide in. His godfathers weren't potion masters by any means, but that was still the room where the potions were brewed by Sirius and he wasn't allowed down there alone, so he quickly chose to hide in the pots and pans cabinet. Somehow, he managed to fit in there without making a sound and waited to hear footsteps.
"Harry, are you in here?" Sirius called as he came into the kitchen. He knew he heard Harry fall and the child said he was alright, but he just wanted to make sure the kid was truly unharmed.
He listened carefully for any sounds of giggling, but even with his enhanced hearing from being an animagus, he couldn't hear a sound. 'Remus would be able to sense the kid without any problem if he were here.' he smirked at the thought.
Calling out his godson's name again and receiving no answer, Sirius turned to the back door to see if maybe the kid was crazy enough to go outside in the snow without a coat on. Seeing the snow undisturbed, he turned to go into the living room again when he was assaulted by a war cry and an onslaught of foam pellets to his face. Sirius, caught off guard, dived to the floor and rolled onto his side to hide behind the table, shooting wildly above him hoping to hit his godson. What he didn't realize was that the pellets, even though they were foam, were knocking everything on the counters off the solid surfaces which created a mess of dry food. Harry, finally running out of pellets himself even with the ones he picked up, decided that he needed grenades and went into the fridge, picking up the pack of eggs that were resting on the middle shelf.
"Fire in the hole!" he cried as he launched one of his eggs.
A loud 'crack' was heard behind Sirius and he turned to see what it was. "Remus is going to be mad when he finds out you're wasting food, pup!"
"I'll just say it was you!" came the cheeky reply as Harry launched another one.
Sirius, still hiding behind the table and trying to use the chairs for protection, chuckled at the reply and he continued to shoot his pellets at Harry's legs while the young wizard threw two more eggs at him, one catching him on his shoulder. However, his decision to shoot from under the table gave Harry the idea to start launching his eggs under the table as well and he managed to catch Sirius on his chest before the man could move.
"You should have run out of eggs by now. How are you still throwing them?" he asked turning a chair onto its side to block the next egg.
"I don't know. They just keep showing up in the box," the six-year-old reply as he launched one egg above the table and the other under the table.
Realizing that Harry could still reach him no matter what he did, the older wizard knocked the table onto its side to use as a barricade. Of course, in the process of getting into the role of playing, he knocked over the glass bowl with the fruit in it, shattering the bowl and bruising some of the fruit.
Hearing the crash, Harry stopped what he was doing and stared at the mess. With his mouth in the shape of an "oh", Harry looked at the glass and his godfather.
"Ooooh…you're in trooouble!" Harry said in a sing-song voice.
"Nothing a little magic can't-"
"WHAT IN THE BLAZES IS GOING ON IN HERE?" came the booming voice of one highly annoyed Remus Lupin who had just returned from the store.
Sirius and Harry looked at one another before looking at the angry wizard before them and pointed at one another.
"He did it!"
*~~RL~~*SB~~*HP~~*
10 mins before Remus entered the kitchen
"Annie, honestly you didn't have to help me with the groceries," Remus said as he walked up the walkway with his neighbor.
"And you didn't have to stop and pick me up from the bus stop as you were driving by, but you did. So, I'm repaying your kindness with some of my own," the young woman replied with a smile as she took the house keys out of the wizard's hands and opened the front door.
*CRASH*
Remus hurried into the house, dropping his bag of groceries on the floor by the door. He was more concerned about whether that sound was a result of Harry being hurt or just an accident but he had to make sure his kid was in one piece. Annie was right behind him but she stopped short of running into Remus' back when he stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.
When she saw what was in front of her she could barely get an "oh my" out of her mouth before Remus started yelling at the two occupants in what used to be a clean kitchen. When the two wizards pointed at one another and tried to throw the guilt on each other, Annie started a slow retreat to the front door.
"Well, thanks again for the ride, Remus. I'll just leave this situation in your capable hands," she said before quickly turning and walking out the door, closing it shut behind her before jogging to her house across the street.
Meanwhile, Remus continued to look around his kitchen with a look of disbelief, which soon turned to anger as he laid eyes on his best friend and son.
Sirius, sensing the danger, held up his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "Now, Moony, there is a good reason for all of this and it's honestly not as bad as it looks."
Remus closed his eyes as he breathed in and out, counting to ten twice in his head. When he opened his eyes, they landed on Sirius who looked just as young as Harry was. "Explain," was all he said as calmly as he could manage. As furious as he was about the kitchen, he didn't want to scare Harry by blowing up.
Sirius stepped around the table. "I started it. I found one of those toy guns Mari got Harry for Christmas and started to shoot him. Then he got a second one and hid so when I went to find him I couldn't. I heard something fall in the living room and went to check to see if Harry had hurt himself-"
"Did he?" Remus interrupted.
"No, thankfully," Sirius continued, "just the lamp was knocked over. I went into the kitchen but couldn't find him so I looked outside, thinking he would have been out in the snow without a coat or shoes on. I didn't see the snow disturbed and was going to turn around to continue looking when I was assaulted by the little fireball here."
Harry looked up at Remus at this but quickly put his head down when those blue eyes turned to him. Remus inhaled and quickly glanced at the kitchen walls near the turned over table. "Foam pellets couldn't have created this kind of mess. It surely doesn't explain the egg stains all over the walls and floor," he turned his gaze to his son, "so, who threw the eggs?"
Harry fidgeted from one foot to the other. He looked up at Remus again, "I did," he said quietly.
Remus rubbed a hand over his face as he groaned. Harry put his chin back to his chest and Sirius stepped forward again.
"Moony, we'll clean it up."
"Oh you're damn right you two will be cleaning up this mess," he looked at Sirius pointedly, "without magic." Sirius winced at that. Cleaning things the muggle way…
"I don't understand how you could be so…irresponsible, Sirius. That glass could have fallen on Harry or he could have stepped on a shard-" he turned to his son just as the little boy started to walk toward Sirius, "don't move, Harry," returning his ire back to his friend he waved his wand at the glass on the floor repairing it and sending it into the sink, "worse yet, Sirius, that table could have hurt Harry if it landed on him, ever think of that?"
Sirius winced again and he soon took on the same pose as Harry, his chin resting on his chest in shame. He was supposed to keep Harry from harm and protect him, but in his moment of having fun, he almost put Harry in danger.
"It didn't land on me though, Uncle Remus," Harry said.
"That doesn't make the situation better, Harry. The both of you know better and I'm very disappointed in you both."
Harry's eyes watered and he started to sniffle. Sirius moved and placed a hand on the boy's head comfortingly. Remus sighed. He hated being hard on his cub, but the boy had to learn not to do foolish things. It was one thing to have fun, and if it was just the knocked over table and lamp, maybe even a few dry ingredients knocked over he wouldn't have been so hard on them, but the glass on the floor and the wasted food really bothered him.
"The two of you will clean the kitchen, without magic, and after it's cleaned I want you both to find a corner to stick your noses in," Remus said.
"Moony, you can't be serious?" Sirius asked.
"I would go along with the joke, Padfoot, but I'm very serious here. Harry wasn't alone in making this mess so he will not be punished alone. You will join your godson in a corner in the living room after this kitchen is spotless. Understand?"
Sirius opened his mouth to retort that he wasn't a child, but thinking about it, he did behave like a child today and the punishment did fit the crime. So, with a sigh and a nod he mumbled his consent with Harry following. Remus waved his wand and a bucket, mop, and washcloths appeared in the kitchen. Harry watched his father leave the kitchen and felt the need to let the man know how sorry he was. He followed Remus into the living room.
"Uncle Remus?" he called.
Remus turned and found himself with a chest full of little boy. Harry started sniffling again when he felt the man's strong arms wrap around his small body and pick him up.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Remus."
"I know, cub. You and Sirius are forgiven, but you still have to clean up that kitchen," the older wizard replied, kissing Harry's head as he put the boy down.
Harry looked up with watery eyes at his godfather. Remus carded a hand through the boy's hair before sending him back off into the kitchen to clean. He looked at the clock on the wall and sighed heavily.
'What a day, and it's not even five o'clock yet.' he thought to himself as he picked up the bags of groceries that were left by the door and made his way back into the kitchen to put them away.
*~~SB~~*RL*~~HP~~*
Harry hated the corner. It was boring, there was nothing to look at except the walls, and he couldn't move or say anything while in the corner. He tried to talk his way out of corner time but his dad wasn't trying to hear any reasons and just guided him into the corner. He tried to leave twice, once with the excuse that he had to go to the bathroom but he was promptly put back in the corner with an accompanying swat to his backside. The second time Padfoot sternly told him to stand still. It wasn't fair. Padfoot wasn't supposed to be grumpy like Moony, but apparently, if Harry continued to move from his spot the time in the corner was reset and they would stay there longer. So, he was stuck in the corner until his dad told him he could leave.
Even though only five minutes had passed, it felt like an hour to the six-year-old and he was growing impatient. Sirius could see from the corner of his eye how fidgety his godson was and though he knew he shouldn't do it, he couldn't help but try to get the kid to smile a bit.
"Harry," he whispered. When he got the boy's attention, he quickly transformed into Padfoot and stood on two legs, hopping from one foot to the other with his tongue hanging out.
Harry giggled and quickly covered his mouth to smother the sound. He looked toward the kitchen and when he didn't see Remus appear he smiled at his godfather. Sirius decided to up the ante by walking into the middle of the room and chased his tail, causing the little boy to giggle again. However, the animagus made himself dizzy in the process of making Harry laugh and bumped into the end table hard, knocking over the lamp again and creating a loud *bang* in the room.
Quickly, Sirius changed back into a human and went to jump into his corner when he saw Remus leaning against the kitchen door frame with a quirked eyebrow.
Sirius gave his friend a chuckle. "Uh…it fell on its own?"
"I wouldn't believe that even if this place was haunted, Sirius. Why don't you come into the kitchen with me so you can start your time over, hmm?" Sirius hung his head and heaved a sigh as he walked into the kitchen grumbling about strict, unfair, friends. Remus shook his head at his friend before turning to Harry. "You're free to go, cub. Let's not have a repeat of this afternoon, alright?"
"Okay," the young wizard replied and he watched Remus enter the kitchen again. Harry left the living room- he had enough of the space for the moment- and decided to go upstairs to his room. His original plan was to play with his quidditch men or make something with his legos, but his mind continued to return to Sirius transforming into Padfoot and it was incredibly amazing to Harry.
"I wanna be an animagus too," he said as he stared at the Quidditch chaser in his hand. Dropping the toy, Harry went to his bookshelf and pulled out a book on large canines that he had gotten as a Christmas present from Grandma Acacia. He really liked the book as some of the dogs reminded him of Padfoot. Sometimes Harry would imagine what Mari and Moony would look like when they transformed into werewolves; he was sure they would be big and furry, just like the wolves in his book. Turning to a page on gray wolves, Harry stared at the picture of the wolf snarling back at him in the book. The little boy put the book down on the carpet and got on his hands and knees, turning his lips up into a snarl and imitated a growl right back at the picture.
When he finished asserting his dominance to the picture, he sat back on his legs with a sigh.
"I wanna be an animagus like Padfoot." Harry sat and thought about how Sirius just shifted easily into the form of a large dog- a grim was what he heard the adults call it- and just imagined how Sirius had looked when he transformed. He looked at the picture of the snarling wolf again before closing his eyes and imagining himself as a snarling wolf like the one in the picture. He breathed slowly and stayed quiet. If he made a sound he wouldn't be able to continue being a wolf anymore. He continued breathing slowly as he blindly crawled around his bedroom like a wolf would, moving slow and purposefully. He stopped and sat still after tiring himself out from crawling around.
"Harry, dinner's ready!" he heard from down the stairs.
With a sigh, Harry stood up. He wanted to keep pretending he was a wolf. He like the idea of being a large wolf, growling and snarling at people and hunting prey. He opened his eyes and walked out of his room, only taking a slight notice that he was shorter than what he normally was. Reaching the top of the stairs, Harry went to grab the rail, only to realize that he couldn't reach it. In fact, he couldn't even see his hand reaching for the rail.
'What the…' he thought to himself. He raised his hand again to look at it and let out a yelp of surprise when he saw a paw instead of a little boy's hand.
'My hand! It's gone!' he thought frantically and he quickly lifted up the other paw to see that it was, in fact, a paw and not a hand.
"Harry, come down for dinner," Remus called again.
Harry looked at the stairs and quickly ran into his room. He went straight to the mirror that was hanging on the door of his closet and stared at himself. Staring back at him was a puppy, a little bigger than both his father and godfather's hands. His coat was light gray, with a thick black streak running down the center of his back. His paws were gray like the rest of him, but his eyes were still green, the fur surrounding his eyes a darker shade of gray than the rest of his body. On his head, there was a small white streak in the shape of his lightning bolt scar. Tilting his head, Harry observed himself closely, moving a paw in one direction or another, spinning in a circle, and then he wagged his tail. He tried to smile but only succeeded in panting with his tiny tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
'This is so cool!' he said to himself as he spun in a circle again.
"Harry James! I will not call you again to come down for dinner, young man." Harry looked at the door as he heard the voice of his father from the bottom of the staircase. He looked at himself in the mirror again. What if Remus was going to be angry with him for turning into a wolf? And he didn't know how to turn back either!
Panicking now, Harry quickly closed his eyes and thought about being a little boy again. He opened them and looked in the mirror but nothing changed! He was still a wolf cub! He closed his eyes and tried again, but was quickly disappointed when he opened them and saw the same cub looking back at him. If he were a little boy, he was sure there would be tears streaming down his face as his mounting fear and panic about not being able to change back to his original form continued to grow. Instead, a sharp yip and whine came out of his mouth.
"Was that a dog just now?" the young cub could hear Sirius ask, and the sound of his voice was close by.
"That's what it sounded like," Remus replied, "Harry, what's going on up there?"
'Oh man, they're coming up here!' Harry whimpered again as he heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs.
Thinking quickly Harry ran under his bed. His small frame allowed him to squeeze himself into the far corner under the bed, hiding in the dark. He prayed that the older wizards wouldn't be able to see him back there.
"Harry?" Remus called as he entered his child's room. It was empty, apart from a few toys and the book he got for Christmas sitting on the floor, the room was devoid of life.
"Think he's hiding?" Sirius asked as he opened the closet door and picked up the fallen clothes off the floor.
"I hope not," Remus replied as he eyed the closet, "Harry, come out."
"I'll check my room. You should check yours out too." Sirius suggested.
"Yeah…"
Harry watched the two pairs of feet leave his room and heard when the doors to other rooms opened and closed. The faint calls of his name reached his ears as clear as day as if they were right next to him, and the cub wanted to come out of his hiding spot, but he was too scared that he would be in trouble. He whimpered again. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that both of the wizards had a keen sense of hearing due to one being an animagus and the other a werewolf. The sound traveled out of the boy's room to their ears as they re-entered Harry's room.
"He's not in my room or the bathroom," Remus stated.
"Not in mine either and I didn't hear the attic door open or shut," Sirius responded. He looked at his friend who seemed to be in an emotional struggle of either being worried sick or angry that their kid was hiding and not answering them.
"Come on out, pup. It's time for dinner," Sirius called again.
Remus got on his knees and looked under the bed. He saw a few scattered toys and mismatched socks that he had been looking for when doing laundry, but other than that, nothing else stood out to him…
"Hold on," Remus muttered as he stared at the corner that was the darkest under the bed. Staring back at him was a pair of glowing green eyes that were wide and looked terrified.
Standing back up, Remus motioned to the bed with a finger over his lips. Sirius looked at the bed in confusion. Remus pointed to his wand, making a gesture of lifting the bed, then pointed to the corner of the bed where he saw the eyes and made a gesture for Sirius to catch whatever was under the bed if it ran. Now that Sirius understood, he got himself ready for the task. Remus raised his wand and silently levitated the bed off the floor.
Harry saw the bed leave the floor and in his frightened state took off as fast as his little paws would let him out from his hiding spot. He didn't consider Sirius being quick with his hands though and was promptly picked up from the floor and held to the older man's chest. He fidgeted wildly, almost causing Sirius to drop him from his arms as he squirmed. Remus caught the part of him that was falling to the ground and held the cub up by his arms in front of him. Harry whined as he watched Remus look him over.
'I'm sorry, daddy. I didn't mean to turn into a wolf.'
Remus quirked an eyebrow as the cub in his hands started to yip and whine. He looked at Sirius. "I think I found our missing child, Padfoot."
Sirius moved next to Remus and looked at the cub in his hand carefully. Upon noticing the white lighting shaped patch of fur on the cub's head, he smiled broadly. "You don't think,"
"Oh, I know for a fact," Remus said with a smile of his own, "No other person would have that shape on their forehead. And look, around his eyes. The gray is much darker there where his glasses normally are."
Harry looked at the two smiling wizards. 'They're not angry?' he wondered as his tail wagged slightly.
"The cutest kid I know became the cutest wolf cub," Remus commented and his smile grew as the cub's tail wagged harder, though since Harry was still a cub his tail was more of a tiny whip with fur on it than anything.
"Think he knows how to change back?" Sirius asked as he placed a hand on the cub's head and gently rubbed behind his ear.
"Only one way to find out," Remus put Harry on the floor. The cub looked up at him with a lopsided smile that had his tongue hanging out.
Remus chuckled at the sight, "Alright Harry, change back into a little boy."
Harry tilted his head and started yipping again. Remus returned the tilted head gesture and looked at Sirius. "You think he's stuck?"
"Possibly," the animagus shrugged, "I mean we could do the spell to turn him back, but that's a painful process for even for an adult wizard."
"Well, what do we do?"
Sirius thought for a minute before an idea came to him. He transformed into Padfoot and moved toward the cub. Harry, sensing another presence in the room, looked at the large black dog approaching him. Any human instinct he had about this dog went out the window as he began to whimper and back away from the approaching creature. Padfoot, sensing the cub's fear, stopped his advance and sat down near Remus.
'It's okay, pup. I won't hurt you.'
'How do I know that? You're bigger than me. Big things eat little things.'
The grim let out a sound that could be considered a laugh. 'If I wanted to eat you, you'd be dinner already, pup.'
Harry thought about that and agreed that the bigger creature was faster than he was and could have taken him out if he wanted, but he still didn't trust it. 'I want my dad,' the cub whined as he looked at Remus.
'Then you have to do as I say.'
'Why?'
'Because I know how to help you turn back into a little boy,' the animagus replied calmly.
Harry looked between the large grim and Remus. He scooted a little to the right before darting under the bed and through the other end to jump into Remus' lap. The grim wouldn't be able to hurt him if he was on his dad's lap. His dad would protect him. He looked back at the large dog.
'You can't hurt me now. My dad will beat you up if you try.'
Again, the grim let out that sound. 'I'm quite sure he would. Are you ready to turn back into a little boy?'
Harry's tail wagged. 'Yes.'
'Very well. I want you to close your eyes and think about your left hand. Remember what it looked like when you were human, how many fingers and the color.'
Harry did as he was told, then followed the rest of the instructions the grim was giving him about turning back into his human shape. He was waiting for his next set of instructions when he heard Sirius gently say, "Open your eyes."
Harry slowly opened his eyes and immediately saw Sirius's face looking back at him. He looked up and saw Remus doing the same. With a smile, the little boy reached up to touch his godfather's face and paused as he noticed that he was reaching with his own hands, not paws.
Looking at his hands in amazement, he smiled broadly. "I have my hands back!" he cheered which caused the older wizards to laugh. Harry scrambled off of Remus' lap and went to his mirror. "My face isn't all furry no more! And I can talk regular now!"
Remus stood up and scooped the giddy child into his arms, giving him a kiss on his soft cheek as he spun him around in a circle. "And you're also the youngest animagus in the history of magic, cub."
"Really?" Harry asked his eyes wide.
"Really," Sirius agreed as he walked over and ruffled Harry's hair, "but how about you let me know the next time you want to turn into a wolf cub. That way you can be guided in the transformation."
"'kay. I didn't do it on purpose though. I wanted to be like you, and then I saw the wolf in the book and was pretending to be a wolf like that one. I only saw I was a wolf after I tried to walk down the stairs." Harry explained.
"Why did you hide from us?"
Harry put his head on Remus' shoulder. "I was scared you would be angry with me for changing," he said softly.
Sirius chuckled. "Under different circumstances, maybe," he said as he remembered the many rules broken and the dangers he and his friends put themselves in during their youth when learning to become animagi. Thinking about it now, if Harry had done what he and James had done, he wouldn't be too happy with the kid.
"This was a little bit of accidental magic, Harry. Nothing for you to be in trouble for," Remus said as he nuzzled the boy's head.
Harry lifted his head from his godfather's shoulder and looked at him. "Then I can still get the cake you bought for dessert?"
"Of course."
Harry cheered and Remus put him down as he squirmed to be released. Sirius cheered along with him. "That means I get to have cake as well, right Moony?"
"You didn't do anything special today to deserve a treat, Padfoot. In fact, I remember a certain dog who decided to wreck the kitchen this afternoon," Remus commented teasingly.
"Oi! I wasn't the only one!"
Harry just laughed at the bickering and raced down the stairs to the kitchen, happy that not only did he get to change like Padfoot, but he also was going to get some chocolate cake that night after dinner.
*~~SB~~*RL*~~HP~~*
A/N: Aww. Isn't little Harry adorable? And being able to turn into an animagus at such an early age, too. I just want to cuddle him. Let me know what you guys think of little Harry and the nerf gun war.
So sadly this little one-shot will conclude the prequel series of Being Raised by a Werewolf. I do have a second one-shot, and I do plan on creating more one/three chapter stories as I continue to write the main story. However, due to people not having an open mind and people objecting to certain forms of discipline when it comes to children, I will not post the last one-shot I have of Harry wandering outside at night during a full moon here on FFN. Should anyone wish to read that, I can send you the link to the story, but you will have to PM me to get the information.
Leave some reviews because I'll know for sure if I should post my story once I get a few chapters written or just let it sit in my notebook watching the pencil lead fade. Thanks for taking the starting journey with me!