Well, here goes nothing. I've had this little plot bunny in my head for a month or so now, and my new FF friend Alice encouraged me to write it. I'm glad she did. For a heads up, it's looking like it will be around twelve chapters, and I'd like to have it done before I go back for next semester, but I can't promise that. Disclaimer is an obvious one (Harry Potter = Not Mine), and reviews will make my day, basically. Let me know what you think, I beg you. And being the shameless solicitor I am, if you like NON-AU stuff, check out my other fics. They're very much canon, mainly Lily and James based with a couple exceptions. Thanks, and Enjoy. :D
"Come on, let's go," Sirius griped, his body already invisible underneath the cloak as he waited for his fellow animagus to join them. "We're going to be late. And getting him out of the Shack when he's already changed is almost impossible."
James grunted his reply, and Sirius sensed a bit of irritation lurking in his tone. "Oh, sod off. We'll have plenty of time. The sun's not even really setting yet." Regardless, his pace quickened, and within seconds Sirius felt his body pressed against Peter's and his own under the increasingly too small cloak. "Let's go."
The trio's booted feet thudded loudly against the icy brick, and the occasional first year glanced around at the sound, but overall, the common room's noise shielded their presence as they followed one of their classmates- a certain red-headed prefect- through the portrait hole.
"Just let me talk to her," James whispered urgently, staring at his love through the mesh-like screen. "It won't take long."
Sirius unleashed a sharp, bark-like laugh, only to receive an urgent elbow to the side from James. "It never does, mate. 'Hey, Evans, go out with me.' 'No.' The end. Why don't you just let it go? A random snog would be good for you. As it is, I know these two twins in Ravenclaw-"
"Padfoot," James muttered threateningly in his ear as he slipped from underneath the cloak, "I love her. Hey, Evans!"
Lily Evans whirled around, anger and a small hint of confusion already splayed across her face. "No, I will not go out with you, Potter. Is there anything else?"
As Sirius snickered at his friends instant failure, James fell into step with her. "I just wanted to let you know how ravishingyou look today," he answered smoothly, guiding her subconsciously toward a library-bound staircase. "Where are you going this fine evening?"
"To visit Hagrid, not that it's your business," she answered briskly, pulling away from his implied direction. "And to get away from you, incidentally."
James snorted loudly, his eyes scanning her body in a manner Sirius hoped she didn't catch in fear for his best mate's life. "Well, you won't get away from us going that way. He's invited us over to go into the forest tonight. Shan't return 'til sometime tomorrow morning, I suspect. Still want to come along?"
Rolling her eyes, Lily turned back towards the library-bound staircase. "No thanks. I'll just study then. See you later, Potter." And before he could follow, she took off down the steps.
"Crisis averted and you still didn't get a date," Sirius murmured laughingly, again pacing the group quickly down the stairs toward the entrance hall, a delighted bounce in his step. Though he hated to see Remus in pain, he and the other Marauders lived for their monthly adventures. "I told you it wouldn't work, mate. It's been six years already. I don't think she'll change her mind between now and the end of next year. Now about those twins."
"She was almost out there," James fretted, seemingly stuck on the fact that hisLily had almost been in danger. "She could have seen us, seen him." Then, snapping out of it, he grinned. "Good thing you and I can take him, huh?"
"I'd ruddy well think so," Sirius muttered, grinning. As a dog, he was nearly as big as the wolf, and Prongs was a bloody stag. If the two of them couldn't take on a rabid wolf, he would have to seriously question their power as Marauders.
Finally, the group reached the grounds, and Sirius paused, taking just a moment to let the surroundings sink in. Snow crunched beneath his feet, and the still falling flakes glistened in the light of the sinking sun. Everything felt fresh and new, even the late November air in its cool crispness. Tonight was going to be a great night.
Footprints appeared out of seemingly nowhere as the group crept through the twilight, and suddenly, a rat joined the footsteps, scuttling to the base of a familiar flailing tree and landing on a large, swirly knot halfway up the base.
"I'll go get him," Sirius half-whispered, a hint of anxiety creeping up his spine. As much as he tried to hide it, he hated this part; Sirius would have to spend the next few minutes reassuring his best mate, attempting to remind him of his humanity before the Wolf took over. The only relief he found in doing so hid within the comfort of knowing that Remus didn't have to go through these moments alone and wouldn't have to again as long as he had a say.
Since their second year, the Marauders had developed a distinct hatred for the Wolf. He wasn't Remus; he wasn't human. And Remus wasn't the Wolf. As much as he claimed to be at times, the Marauders knew the truth. Moony was bright, loyal, and overall, probably the best person amongst them. Sometimes Sirius just had to tell him that.
"Moony!" Sirius shouted down the tunnel, beckoning his friend as he reached the door. The young werewolf staggered through the door, and Sirius' arm almost instantly snaked its way around his pseudo-brother; he looked ready to collapse. "Are you ready for this?"
Remus offered him a tired smile, and Sirius felt a good portion of his friend's weight shift onto his shoulders. This month was going to be a rough recovery, it seemed. "Oh yeah. Nothing like spending a night dealing with badly behaved rabbits."
"Right," Sirius chuckled. Step by step, the pair stumbled through the tunnel. Then Sirius felt the shake. "Faster," he whispered, all but picking his friend up they reached the surface. "You know who you are, Remus. You're a human, a man. This doesn't change that. You will always be a man." And then, they changed.
For Sirius, it was painless. A flick of his wand, and suddenly, he was on four legs, watching as Remus quaked and howled and... Took off? That never happened. Usually, before anything else could happen, the wolf went for them; they played or raced. The Wolf never just bolted.
Sirius turned, and his heart caught in his throat, blocking the bark that attempted to escape. James wasn't a stag. He was on the ground, his eyes frantic as he patted the snow that surrounded him. "I can't find my wand," he shouted urgently, his voice filled with a terror Sirius could imagine. "It fell out of my pocket when we hid the-"
The boy never finished his statement. Sirius bolted, trying to stop the attack, but the Wolf was too fast, its resolve too sound. Before he could make it, before a wand could be found, its teeth found James' shoulder, and it was too late. But the wolf was not appeased.
The snow flecked with red, and Sirius dove between the pair deflecting, the Wolf with none of his usual mercy. It hurt his friend, the one person in his life who would take him in when his entire family rejected him. It deserved no mercy.
Sirius' own teeth sank into its flesh, tearing it away from the human at its paws. Snarling, yelping, the pair bolted for the forest, and Sirius spared one last thought for his wounded brother, hoping and praying that Peter would have the sense to fetch Madam Pomfrey before it was too late.