"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat shouted, and the Slytherin table clapped and cheered as Regulus Black made his way to the table.
"I'm sorry," Moony whispered in Sirius's ear, but the elder Black boy shook his head.
"Not like I was expecting anything different," he murmured, watching his brother sit beside Evan Rosier and his friends.
James patted his best friend's arm consolingly. "You're still his brother," he said. "You could still try talking to–"
"–I have," Sirius interrupted bitterly, staring down at the golden plate in front of him. "All summer I tried to spend more time with him, be his friend like when we were little, but anytime I brought up blood..." Sirius made a face and shook his head, "...all he did was try to convince me how important it is. And now..." he looked anxiously toward the Slytherin table, where some of the older students were introducing themselves to Regulus and shaking his hand. "...surrounded by that lot, I think it's just going to get worse," he admitted.
"You don't know that for sure," James said.
Sirius just shrugged miserably.
"Forget about him," Peter suggested. "It's the first day back, and all you've written us about all summer was how much you're looking forward to being back here. Now you are. The Sorting's almost finished and the feast is about to start. Enjoy it."
Sirius tried. It was great to see his friends again, and to eat with Moony instead of having to sneak him stuff, but he was still worried about his brother.
—
"Today we are going to begin to learn about Animagi," Professor McGonagall announced.
The class murmured with interest, and Sirius saw Moony carefully write 'Animagi' at the top of the parchment along with the date and smiled to himself. He still found it endearing that Moony read so much and paid such close attention in class when he could never legally use magic. Illegally, of course, he still practiced spells secretly in the Room of Requirement with Sirius, but other than the fact that it made the werewolf happy, there wasn't really a purpose to it.
Both Moony and Sirius listened as McGonagall explained the basics of what an Animagus was and how being an Animagus worked. Most of the class gasped and some applauded as their professor spontaneously transformed into a cat and then back into a human.
Though Sirius felt his attention waning as the lesson drew on, midway through he was struck with an idea: a brilliant, perfect, ingenious idea that would prevent his pet from ever suffering through a werewolf transformation again.
A grin slowly spread across his face as the idea formed itself in his head, as he planned it out, as he thought of the potential. Sirius soon became extremely impatient for the class to finish because all he wanted to do was drag Moony somewhere quiet and tell him about his brilliant idea.
At long last the lesson ended (with McGonagall assigning the Animagi chapter and corresponding questions as homework, much to the dismay of the class), and Sirius dragged Moony by the leash into the nearest unoccupied classroom.
"Moony, you will never believe what I just thought of!"
The werewolf looked at his master hesitantly. "What's that?"
"You know how, even though you're not supposed to use magic you're just as good at it as the rest of us, right?"
"Yes?" Moony continued to stare uncertainly at Sirius.
"So you could become an Animagus!" Sirius nearly shouted. "Think of it, Moony. When the full moon nears, all you have to do is transform into an animal and you won't be able to transform into a wolf! Since Animagi keep their minds when they transform, you won't hurt anybody and you won't hurt yourself! It's perfect! You'll have plenty of time to work on it since you don't have homework like the rest of us, and the Room of Requirement will give you all the literature you need and...oh, isn't it the greatest idea ever, Moony?" Sirius beamed at his pet, nearly out of breath from speaking for so long without stopping for a breath.
The werewolf, however, was still frowning at his owner.
Seeing that his pet wasn't sharing his enthusiasm, Sirius frowned too. "Moony, what's wrong?"
"Sirius, don't you think someone else will have thought of this before now?" Moony asked. "According to what I've read, wizards have been searching for a cure for lycanthropy for years. They don't want us to be animals." He sighed. "I mean, look at me. I'm good at magic, like you said, I have so much potential but it all goes to waste because I'm an animal. But if there was any way I didn't have to be, I'm sure they would have figured it out by now."
"Not necessarily," Sirius argued. "Maybe it hasn't occurred to anyone before. I mean, we didn't even know you could do magic until you tried. Maybe no one thought that a werewolf could become an Animagus."
"And we don't know whether I can," Moony pointed out. "And even if I did...Sirius...I might still transform into a werewolf on the full moon." He sighed. "It's got to be such hard work, it will probably take years to master, and just think if I spent all that time only to become a werewolf during full moon anyway." Moony shook his head. "Sirius...it was a good idea, really it was...but I don't think it will work out."
Sirius felt like a balloon that was slowly deflating, but he didn't want to give up hope just yet. He and Moony went to their next lesson, but Sirius did not forget about his idea.
—
Sirius took a deep breath and knocked on the tall oak doors.
"Come in," a woman's stern voice replied from within.
The young wizard stepped inside the office and Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk, where she was grading papers.
"Can I help you, Mr. Black?"
"Yes, Professor, I...I had a question about Animagi."
The witch looked him over carefully and Sirius knew exactly why she was suspicious. Though he got top marks in class, he had never before actually ventured to a teacher's office in the evening to ask a question about a subject.
"You've read the chapter in Intermediate Transfiguration?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes, Professor," Sirius said. "I also got a book on Animagi from the library but it didn't have the answer either. But I figured you would know." Had McGonagall been anyone else, he probably would have drawn the last sentence out a bit more, but he knew she was not one for flattery.
"Very well, then," McGonagall said, putting her quill down and looking her student in the eye. "What would you like to know, Mr. Black?"
Sirius took a deep breath. "Can a werewolf become an Animagus? And if it could, would it still transform during the full moon?"
The young wizard and the middle-aged witch looked at each other a moment. Sirius swore he saw a flicker of a sad smile on McGonagall's face for a moment before her expression returned to the normal, no-nonsense look she usually wore.
"No werewolf in reported history has ever become an Animagus," McGonagall informed him. "Although there has been at least one case of a wizard who was already an Animagus becoming a werewolf."
Sirius perked up with interest, and McGonagall continued. "Walter Tweetworthy could transform into a raven. However, he foolishly did not think to do so when he was attacked by a werewolf in 1816. After his attack, he attempted to become a raven again on the night of the full moon, but when it rose he simply went from raven to werewolf rather than human to werewolf." McGonagall bowed her head. "Quite a shame, really. If only he'd thought to transform during his werewolf attack, he could have been spared. Werewolf bites only spread lycanthropy to humans, not fellow animals. Rather unfortunate."
Professor McGonagall then looked back up at Sirius. "Is there anything else, Mr. Black?"
"No, ma'am," Sirius said. He was disappointed, to say the least, but her story had sent another set of gears turning in his head.
"Very well then," McGonagall said, nodding at him. "You may go."
—
Sirius, James, Peter, and Moony sat in the common room in front of the fire. James had the "brilliant" idea to slip a hair-thickening potion into the Slytherins' pumpkin juice, but they needed to figure out how to execute it without getting caught.
"James, keep it down," Peter muttered, looking across the room.
"What? We're being quiet."
"There's a little girl over there," Peter explained. "She keeps staring at us."
James and Sirius turned their heads in unison to the other side of the room where a young blonde girl, most certainly a first-year, was staring over at them.
"She's looking at me," Sirius whispered.
"Think she fancies you?" Peter whispered back, but James shook his head.
"It looks more like...she's angry or something," James said.
The girl had noticed by now that the boys had sensed her presence, and apparently it inspired her courage because she made her way over to them.
"Can I help you?" Sirius asked, bemused, when she stood right in front of the chair he was sitting in and looked him in the eye.
"You're disgusting," she said, and Sirius was taken aback.
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" he asked, and the girl immediately gestured at Moony.
"Keeping that poor boy tied up all the time! I've seen you, in the Great Hall, in the hallways—he always has that leash around his wrist keeping him tied up and it's revolting. How would you feel if someone put a leash around your wrist and kept you tied up all the time?"
Her cheeks had turned pink with her passion and she didn't seem to care at all that she was facing three wizards who were both bigger than her and knew a lot more magic than she did. Of course, the fact that the room was full of witnesses who were beginning to notice the exchange probably contributed.
"Look," Sirius said, trying not to sound threatening. "You're obviously new here and maybe no one's told you—Moony's not a boy, he's a werewolf. He's my pet."
"Oh, I know exactly what he is," the girl said, not losing any of her momentum. "And I think it's sick the way people these days treat werewolves: like they're animals!"
"They are animals," Peter pointed out, and Sirius and James nodded with him.
"That's the kind of thinking that just perpetuates this cruelty!" the girl yelled, getting the attention of most of the common room by now. "Werewolves are not animals! They are humans that have been infected with a condition! Lycanthropy is a disease, not a species! This poor boy should be untied and set free!"
"It was a werewolf being free that made me like this," Moony interjected, speaking for the first time since the first-year approached them. "Most of us are kept in a containment center where we stay caged up, and rightfully so. There have been fewer werewolf attacks since the containment center's inception than at any other time in history, and with luck our species will die out completely. I should be tied up. I'm an animal and need to be treated as such."
"Brainwashing!" the girl shouted. "You believe you're an animal because all your life you've been told so."
"He's been told so because it's the truth!" a fifth-year boy shouted, and the crowd gave sounds of assent.
"It is not!" The girl was in tears now, turning around and looking through the crowd for one face that would support her. None did. "Look at him!" she screeched, pointing at Moony. "Look at that boy and tell me he's not human!"
For a moment everyone was silent, and then Moony spoke up again. "I'm not," he said calmly. "I was born a human, but at the age of about five or six I was bitten by a werewolf and irreversibly turned into an animal. This is my life and I have accepted it. I suggest you do the same."
The room was silent again after that, and then the little girl burst into tears and ran off to the dormitories while the students looked after her. Two other first year girls whispered to each other for a moment before slowly and, apparently reluctantly, following her.
Sirius and Moony sat back down and slowly everyone returned to their activities. Sirius ran a hand through Moony's hair, something he'd found helped calm the both of them when they were upset or agitated, and James turned back to his friends.
"So, as I was saying, the hair-thickening potion..."
—
Even though Sirius knew there was no truth in that first-year girl's words, he couldn't help but continue to reflect on them. Yes, Moony was an animal, of course Moony was an animal, but still...there was no denying the fact that he was very much like a human. He looked like one, for one thing, and was certainly as intelligent as one (and much more intelligent than some) and could even do magic. Though he didn't express them much, probably because he didn't feel it was his place, the werewolf was certainly capable of human emotions, and Sirius was clearly capable of feeling sympathy for him. Though he'd made the decision not to try and learn any more healing spells any time soon, Sirius had been secretly reading Eight Simple Steps to Becoming an Animagus and even though he felt the title was one of the biggest lies in magical history, he was learning a lot and felt confident he could, in time, become an Animagus.
Sirius did not tell Moony or even James about his plan because he wasn't entirely sure it would work and did not want to get his pet's hopes up only to have them crushed. If James knew, Sirius thought his best friend might want in on the action and though it might be nice to have some company for this exhausting endeavor, he felt it was something private that he needed to do himself. Neither James nor Peter had ever been in the Room of Requirement while Sirius and Moony were in there and as the werewolf was his pet and not theirs, Sirius wanted to keep this act of compassion to himself.
Sirius often read his book with Moony, as the werewolf was the only one who didn't tease him about reading, though he charmed the cover to look like one of his schoolbooks. They still went out for walks often, as Moony adored the fresh air, and sometimes even read beneath the trees by the lake in the bright sunlight. I don't treat Moony badly, Sirius thought, that ignorant first-year girl's accusations reverberating in his head. He knew he didn't—he was literally doing everything in his power to make his pet as happy as he could be. But he still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it wasn't enough, that he could do better.
"Moony?" Sirius asked one day, leaning against a tree with his pet's leash held tight in his hand.
"Hmm?" the werewolf turned to him, his cheeks flushed from the winter chill.
"If I..." Sirius hesitated. "...if I unfastened the manacle around your wrist, would you run away?"
Moony stared at him for a moment, looking confused. "Of course not. Why would you ask that?"
Sirius shrugged and sat down on the ground, ignoring the cold that seeped through his pants. "I don't know, it just...I keep thinking about what that girl said about keeping you tied up and I just...I look at you always with your leash pinning you to the wall and sometimes I think it's not fair."
"Sirius," Moony said, joining his master sitting down. "That girl had no idea what she was talking about. I'm an animal and I need to be tied up."
"Sometimes I don't think you do," Sirius whispered, looking into his pet's light brown eyes. "I know...during the full moon, of course you need to be kept secure, but the rest of the month..." he shrugged. "I mean, look at the rest of the animals around this place. Lily Evans's cat walks around without a leash or anything, and the owls are allowed to fly wherever they like. I know you're not a human, Moony, but sometimes I feel like we don't treat you like a real animal either."
Moony chuckled. "I know you don't. You let me eat at the table and come to your classes and..." he glanced around for a moment to make sure they were alone, "...do magic. I use a human bathroom and sometimes a human bed, but all that...it's only because you let me," Moony said. "I don't need any of it."
"And I don't think you need to be tied up all the time," Sirius whispered. "You...you promise you won't run away?"
"Sirius," Moony sighed, looking at him. "My life here at Hogwarts with you has been better than it's ever been. When I lived at the containment center I was...resigned to my life, but I never thought I could be happy." He smiled at his owner. "But now...I am happy. If I run away I'll have no promise of a warm meal or a warm place to sleep or security on full moon nights. Chances are it won't be long before the Ministry captures me, and if they do they're more likely to execute me than put me back in the center."
Sirius's hand flew to his mouth in shock, and Moony looked at him mildly.
"You didn't know?" Moony shrugged. "Well, I guess you wouldn't have. The containment center is only for obedient werewolves who register themselves as animals as soon as they're bitten. Any werewolf that has ever bitten a human...or even just attempted a life of freedom...gets put down. That won't happen to me as long as I stay with you because you own me, I'm your property. But if I were to attempt an escape or even if you were to set me free...unless I willingly reported myself to the Ministry right away, I'd be executed. And I'd deserve it," he added as an afterthought.
"Moony," Sirius whispered after a moment, and his pet turned to look at him. "I trust that you're not going anywhere. I...I don't think you need this."
With a slashing of his wand, the cuff around Moony's wrist broke and fell to the ground. Sirius let go of the leash and dropped it down beside the manacle. "There," he whispered, looking Moony in the eye again.
Moony just stared at Sirius a moment. "You know this doesn't change anything," he said eventually.
"I know."
"I'm still an animal, I'm still your pet, I still need to follow you around and be kept in the Room of Requirement, especially on full moon nights–"
"–I know!" Sirius said. They were both quiet for a second before Sirius continued. "I know," he repeated, quieter this time. "I know it doesn't change anything, it doesn't make a difference. That's exactly the point. If things are the same whether you're free to walk on your own or tied up, then why should you be?"
And at long last, Moony smiled at him, and Sirius smiled back.
Of course, Moony still had to wear his leash for show, when they went to the Great Hall and to lessons and home for Christmas. It was just in the privacy of the Room of Requirement, or boys' dormitories, or Sirius's bedroom that the werewolf was allowed to walk around as he pleased.
