I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are the copyright property of their owner(s).

Hey everyone, thanks for reading another chapter. Don't forget to review! I really enjoy hearing what people have to say.

Also, I meant to leave this disclaimer in front of the last chapter, but I forgot. The day Lily spent in Hogsmeade was backtracked, seeing as that was their first Hogsmeade trip and the boys already had theirs in a previous chapter. Sorry if I caused any confusion.

Anyways, hope you like it!


Chapter Nine-Drinking the Potion

The coming months passed with what seemed like an eternity.

James, Sirius and Remus still flew through school like it was a colouring book, though it was tough to admit that it was getting harder and they could no longer just ace everything without the slightest bit of study. This realization had hit James the hardest of all of them, when, in the course of one week in January, McGonagall, Slughorn and Irving had all nearly failed him on Transfiguration, Potions and Ancient Runes tests. Sirius, Remus and Peter had to reason with him that studying some of the material before hand wasn't actually a waste of time, when Sirius and Remus pulled out their perfect scores on these same tests.

After a few similar results in the coming weeks, in Defence, Charms, Herbology and Arithmancy, James had finally caved into their pressure and cracked open a book, which led back to his normal results of perfect and near perfect scores by the time February rolled around.

Their second Quidditch game produced more excellent results for the Gryffindor side, when Gryffindor easily defeated Slytherin by a score of two hundred and ninety to fifty, something that James and Sirius held over Severus Snape whenever they could.

The first few stages of the Iumilia Elixir were grueling and annoying, because they could only work on it under the light of the full moon, and there were seven of the stages that required the full moon. This was doubly frustrating for Remus, who had been very excited to work on the potion with his friends, but couldn't until April.

The first two steps were quite easy, as they only required adding ingredients, as they were, and stirring patterns, and then keeping the potion frozen for a month. The third, fourth and fifth steps required them to strain all the precipitate out of the liquid, which was green the third month, white as snow the fourth, and completely clear the fifth, burn them in a separate cauldron, free of liquid (which they could use their standard pewter school cauldrons for), and inhale the fumes. Their potion, as far as they could tell, was made flawlessly so far.

These brought along a lot of excitement, because the fumes they had to inhale from them felt like the real first step to becoming animagi. Their instructions said that if all went well, the first two times they inhaled these fumes, they should neither taste nor smell anything. However, they were most excited for the third inhaling, because the smell of those fumes were supposed to give the smeller some hint of what their animagus form could be.

Peter, to his dismay, had almost vomited when he smelt his. He crumpled the features of his face in disgust but forced himself to inhale them all.

"It smelt like mud and dung!" He yelled, which made Sirius and James roar with laughter.

James and Sirius described a similar smell, of moss and trees and the forest, which, being home to a huge amount of varying creatures, gave them practically no help in discovering what they could possibly be. They were equally at a loss to figure out what Peter's form could be.

The sixth step involved adding the last of the ingredients, except for the moonstones and the fluxweed, which was quite easy.

The seventh step was the most complicated one. It was lucky that the full moon in May landed on a weekend, because they didn't get a wink of sleep until about five in the morning, on the day they performed it.

"We'll have to sneak out of the castle, the moon's gotta be shining on it the entire time." Said Sirius over dinner. As he pulled A Guide to Nastily Tricky Potioneering out of his bag, he said, "Look here, Sitapom adds a disclaimer under the step. 'It is most imperative to not do this step by having the potion under an open window indoors. If, for some reason, the moonlight is blocked for even a second, there is a chance it could spoil the entire potion.' " Sirius recited.

Remus chuckled as he read. "I've never seen you so into a book Sirius."

"But where will we go?" Said Peter. "The forest?"

"No, the trees will block the moonlight." Said Remus.

"I've got an idea." Said James. "What about those cliffs by Hagrid's place? They're pretty small, only about ten feet, and they hang right over the beach."

"Yeah." Said Sirius. "Yeah, that'll work. We can set up right on the beach there."

Just after dinner, James managed to cast a reasonably good disillusionment charm on their great vat of liquid. As they walked out of the entrance hall with Remus, who broke off from them and headed towards the willow, Sirius held the invisible cauldron on top of the book to avoid being seen supporting something that wasn't there.

Thankful Hagrid wasn't there when they walked by his hut at dusk, Sirius set the cauldron down on the sand, next to the rock face. "Who's doing the spells?" Asked Peter.

"I will, I know them pretty well." James said.

"Alright." Sirius said. "How will we know when it's time? The book says we have to do the first one precisely when night falls and the full moon is alone in the sky."

"Simple." Said James, already looking rather smug about his idea. "Remember Remus telling us about the transformation? He says the wolf bursts right as the moon is alone. So we'll use the howling as a cue that it's time."

"Brilliant." Said Sirius. "So Remus can help us."

"Get ready, James, looks like the light is fading." Peter said. James sat cross-legged, facing the vat of potion, with the book open on his lap.

A few minutes later, they heard it. It was faint, but definitely a howl, and it pierced the sky like a dagger. James pointed his wand over the edge of the cauldron and into its onyx-black, liquidy depths, and said "Communicaret Corpori."

The effects were instantaneous. The potion started bubbling wildly. "Excellent." Said Sirius, taking the book back from James. "So now we wait until it stops bubbling. If we've done it right, it should go back to being completely white by the time the bubbling stops."

The change was gradual, but noticeable. The liquid went through all the colours of the rainbow as the bubbling gradually slowed. It took about twenty minutes to finally stop bubbling entirely, and it was so white you couldn't tell if there was parchment floating on it's surface.

James pointed his wand into again, this time saying, "Simul Quis Iste Spiritus!" He had been very careful to learn to pronounce all the words correctly. The potion, this time, turned into a substance that very closely resembled blood, so much so that a bystander would think that's what it actually was.

Sirius nodded in approval again. "Perfect. Only two more. Next, we wait until it gets to an extremely high temperature. It won't boil, but the bottom of the cauldron will start to turn reddish. It even says working in sand is a good idea, to avoid causing fires. But just in case," Sirius said, pulled out his wand, pointed it to the sand under the cauldron and said "Salvio Flagrante!"

"Good thinking. A fire would definitely attract a little attention." Said James.

All three boys held their hands over the cauldron, waiting gradually for it to get hot. "It says here," Said Sirius, once again with his nose in that book, "that a good way to test if it's hot enough is to cast a light spurt of water into it. If the water gets vaporized before even touching the surface, then it's ready. And the water won't ruin the potion either, if it doesn't manage to vaporize."

They continued to hold their hands over it, and the heat didn't start to become too painful for their bare flesh for at least an hour. It was midnight by the time the liquid was hot enough to vaporize an Aguamenti charm.

For a third time, James pointed his wand into the liquid again, and said, "Ego Sum Bestia."

The potion began twirling on its own accord, slowly changing from blood red to purple. "Pete, pass me the jar." Said Sirius.

Peter reached into his bag and pulled out the jar of Fluxweed. "We've got to add the Fluxweed the instant the potion becomes the same colour as it." He said, pulling on a pair of dragon hide gloves. He took out one of the dark violet weeds, and held it over the liquid, which was still stirring itself, and rapidly turning darker and more purple. About a minute later, Sirius dropped the Fluxweed he was holding as well as turned the jar over and poured its contents into the liquid below, which floated on the surface.

"Once the liquid turns completely clear so that it looks like a pot of water, we speak the next incantation." Said Sirius, once again paraphrasing the instructions. "Then the Fluxweed will begin losing it's colour. It'll turn light brown in a couple days and be indistinguishable from wheat. Then it won't be toxic anymore, and we can take it out safely."

It was nearly three in the morning by the time the liquid turned clear, and James pointed his wand one more time into the cauldron. "Una Nobiscum In Sanguinem." This time, a black spark flew from the tip of his wand, and hit the Fluxweed floating there, which fluttered, but did nothing.

"Alright." Said Sirius, finally snapping the book shut. "Let's get back to the castle."


That following Wednesday was the day that the Fluxweed finally turned brown. They rushed back to the dormitory after last-period potions, which they all had together. Just in case, James removed the weeds with the dragon-hide gloves, and then burned them to a crisp.

"Alright," said Sirius, pulling out the book from his bedside-table drawer. "Let's split the potion up evenly."

He, James and Peter pulled out their own Pewter cauldrons, which were now safe to use. James tipped their huge bronze one and filled them each up a few inches. "That's all we'll need, and this way we'll have extra just in case the first attempt goes wrong."

"So what does it say to do now?" Peter asked.

Remus took the book from Sirius. "Now, you'll all have to use the spell on your potion, and it will turn a certain colour. Then you'll have to add a moonstone of that colour. The incantation is 'Ostende Mihi'. "

They all pointed their wands at the liquid, and, as if to add dramatic effect, spoke in unison "Ostende Mihi".

Peter's turned deep blue, James's turned bright red, and Sirius's turned teal. They all took the moonstone that most closely resembled their potion, dropped it in, and waited. The moonstones floated there for a brief instant, before shriveling up and melting.

Again they all pointed their wands into the potion, and again, said, "Ostende Mihi".

This time, Peter's turned muddy brown, James's shone gold, and Sirius's turned to a dark, slate grey.

"Gryffindor to the core!" Bragged James, "Maybe I'll be a lion!" He suggested hopefully, grabbing the gold moonstone from the pile, and throwing it in. Upon adding the second moonstones, all three potions turned off-white and looked and felt a lot like milk.

"Finally time to drink it, but this part has a pretty big warning attached." Said Remus. " 'It is extremely important to have a watcher when taking the potion. Most practitioners recommend having two or three, as the immediate after-effects of drinking the potion can be very rough. There will often be a great deal of pain, and most people will turn aggressive. Do not allow the person drinking the potion to have his or her wand after drinking the potion, as it is possible that they will turn violent and become dangerous. Even if one thinks that the drinkers' symptoms have worn off, it is vital to not allow them their wand for a minimum of three hours.

" 'Deep emotional responses are equally common. In these cases, it is possible that the drinker may try to reason with the watcher, insist the symptoms have faded, and beg for the return of their wand. Once again, do not give it to them.

" 'Other side effects could include randomly falling asleep, randomly falling unconscious, growling, snarling or other animal-like noises, yelling, brief discolouring of the skin or eyes, hallucinations (which typically involve reliving old memories) and/or panic.

" 'Do not attempt to ease their pain using magic or a tonic, as it may interfere with the potion's working.' " He finished reciting.

"Sounds lovely." Said James. "Well, we should definitely go one at a time. Who wants to go first?"

"I'll do it." Said Sirius. He handed Remus his wand, who tucked it into his robes pocket, and took a grey, metal cup from his bag, and dipped it into the potion.

"Remember, Sirius, one cupful should do, but you've got to drink it all at once." Remus advised.

"Right." He said, taking a seat on the floor in the middle of the room. The other three boys moved all five of the beds against the walls, and stowed all the leftover potion into their trunks, so that nothing could happen to them. "Bottoms up." Said Sirius, and with a smile, he looked to his friends, before tilting his head back and pouring the entire cup of milky fluid into his mouth.

The effects weren't instantaneous. He sat for a minute or two, and the other boys all stared in silence at him. "How's it taste?" Asked James.

"Bitter." Said Sirius, quite simply. "A little like spoiled milk." After about five minutes, his expression changed. His intrigued smile that was waiting for something to happen quickly turned to a frown, as he buckled down onto his knees, then fell flat on his back. He looked as though he was holding in a scream. "Make... it... stop..." He said harshly through gritted teeth.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Asked Peter.

"No, we just have to let it run its course." Said Remus.

Sirius struggled back into a sitting position, and firmly gripped the post that held the curtains up on his four-poster bed. "Burns..." he groaned.

James was clearly bothered by his friend's pain, and walked over to him. Just as he bent to touch him, Sirius growled, "NO! Stay back..." and pushed James off him with more force than he should be capable of.

He was forcing with eyes shut with incredible force, sitting in the corner made by the bed frame and the wall. The post was being crushed by the incredible grip Sirius had on it, it was making a mark.

James attempted to approach him a couple more times and was thrown off again, and Sirius was growing stronger each time. He staggered into a more upright position, and his grip on the bed post had now become so strong that the post snapped.

"Reparo!" Said Remus, fixing it quickly as he could. As Sirius gripped it again, Remus kept his wand pointed at it and said, "Duro!"

This time, nothing Sirius could do made a mark. "Stop..." He muttered, still with his teeth being clenched so hard it was almost surprising they could stand the pressure. "No... Stop it..."

"Stop what?" Said James. "Sirius, what?"

And just then, he let out a yell of bitter agony. Remus, wand still raised, pointed it at the door and said, "Muffliato!"

Sirius was still yelling. His irises turned from their normal bright green to blood red, and veins were being pressed against the skin of his flexed neck and arms. James, Remus and Peter could do nothing but wait, and when it finally did stop, he stood up, and started panting.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled, as if there was someone else in the room. "Get your filthy hands off me, death eater."

"Sirius, who are you talking to?" Asked James. this time not getting too close.

Sirius's still red eyes were staring intently at a random spot on the wall. "You don't even deny it, you've probably got the mark already, you and that filthy boyfriend of yours-ARRRRGGHHH!"

Another blood-curdling groan of pain, and he collapsed. He was writhing in pain on the ground.

"It's you who needs to learn your manners, bitch..." he said, now pulling himself up to his knees. "Expelliarmus!" He yelled, pointing his empty wand hand at the equally empty spot on the wall.

And then, as he stood up, he stumbled briefly, and fell down onto the bed that nobody occupied. The rest of the boys used it to store dirty laundry when waiting for house-elves to come get it, and all of their clothes now acted as a cushion for him.

"Merlin's beard, what do you think all that was about?" Asked Peter.

"No idea." Said Remus, but James looked act his unconscious friend suspiciously.

"Do you think we should try to rennervate him?" He asked.

"It says not to until the three hours are up." Said Remus.

"Alright." James said, checking his watch. Only forty-five minutes had passed. He decided to let it go, and instead turned to Remus. "What was that spell you used on the door?"

"Oh." Remus said. "Muffliato. Lily showed it to me when Professor Thaddeus told us off for talking in Defence the other day. You point it at a person or a door or a passageway or something, and whenever the person walks by you, or else someone passes the door, it'll fill their ears with a buzzing noise instead of the sound from inside. Cool, eh?"

"Wicked." Said James. "I'll have to remember to thank her for that one."

Remus and Peter went down to the great hall to get some dinner and James decided to stay with Sirius, in case he woke up and was still in the trance. After about half an hour, Sirius finally woke up.

"James?" He stammered, seeing his friend with his nose in the instructions. "What happened?"

"Thanks for stopping by." Said James sarcastically. "Do you not remember anything?"

"Well I remember a lot of pain at the start. It kind of felt like my insides were burning. But after about ten minutes after taking the potion, everything is blank. Until now."

"You er... yelled for a bit. And passed out." James decided it wasn't the time to ask him about the hallucination just yet. "Well how do you feel now? You're officially an animagus!"

"Still gotta manage to transform though, which could apparently take a few years. Where are Remus and Pete?"

"Went to eat. I'm gonna go when they get back, and Pete's going next."

"Oh. I'll go with you, I guess, I feel like I haven't eaten in days. I don't suppose I can have my wand back?"

James smiled. "Wouldn't give it to ya if I could. It's barely been two hours, and besides, Remus has it."

"Damn."

Remus and Peter got back about ten minutes later. "Oh, hey Sirius!" Said Peter, as they walked back in. "My turn, I suppose." He said, surrendering his own wand to Remus as well.

"We won't be too long." said Sirius, as he and James walked out the door.

While they were leaving the portrait hole, James turned to Sirius. "There's something else that happened while you were... er... in your trance, I suppose."

"What?" Asked Sirius.

"Well, your eyes went all red, not bloodshot but actually red. And, er... you started talking. To someone who wasn't there."

Sirius was silent, waiting for James to elaborate.

"You told someone to get their hands off you, it sounded like it was a woman, cause you called them a bitch... and you accused them of being a death eater, her and her boyfriend... and then you screamed in pain, tried to disarm someone without a wand, and then you passed out."

He looked nervous. "Wow."

"What was that all about?"

"That happened last summer. That woman was my cousin."

"Which cousin?"

"Bellatrix Black. She's the family favourite, went right off after her seventh year to join The Dark Lord."

"You should really say the name, my Dad always says that being afraid to use the name makes Voldemort stronger."

"Ya, you're right, I know, I just haven't heard him being called anything other than The Dark Lord in ages, being in my family, but I have no problem saying Voldemort. Anyways, last summer, the day I went to meet you in Diagon Alley, I mentioned to Andromeda, her younger sister, that I was staying at the Potter's, and I suppose Bellatrix knows your mum, seeing as she's friends with the Rosier's... I didn't know your mum was a Rosier then, but first thing she says is that if there were ever a bunch of blood traitors, it's the Potters...I guess you heard our argument, or parts of it anyway, and then she used the cruciatus curse on me."

"What?!" Said James a bit too loudly, as a lot of heads turned towards them as they walked into the great hall. "But that's illegal!" He said a bit more quietly.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't exactly matter much to her does it?"

"But, did you tell anyone?"

"No. And I'm not going to, either."

James had sensed he'd react like this, and didn't press the subject. just as they were finishing up their meal, he had been cornered by Samantha Grigsby. "Potter! Black!" She said. "We play Ravenclaw this weekend, and we're both undefeated, so the winner gets the Quidditch cup. And we've got a problem."

"What is it?"

"Audrey was caught hexing that cousin of yours, Black, for calling her a mudblood."

"Narcissa?" Sirius asked. "I hardly see how hexing her is a problem, I try to get her whenever I can, she's a-"

"Yeah, well, Irving's given her detentions every day till Sunday, and won't let her off for the game. So we're a seeker short."

"What a git!" Said James. "He's head of Ravenclaw, he's doing this on purpose, he's-"

Samantha interrupted him again. "Already went to Dumbledore and he agrees with the punishment, so it doesn't matter."

"Who's playing seeker then?" James asked her.

"You are, Potter. We're bringing Ferris Pond in to chase for you, he's a year ahead of you, and he's okay. He was at trials, remember?"

They nodded.

"Well, there's no good seeker replacements, and at first I was going to do it, but Audrey said you'd be better. Anyways, I gotta go, don't forget practice tomorrow and Friday."

"Yeah, we'll be there." Said Sirius. "C'mon, James, let's get back to the common room and check on Pete."

"Sure." He said, getting up to go with him. "Blimey, seeker. I wonder how hard it is? Maybe I should write to my mum, ask for some tips?"

"Yeah, good idea. But how hard could it possibly be? I mean, locating the snitch is hard, but once your eye is on it, it's just a matter of chasing it down 'til you catch it, right?"

"I suppose so. I wonder how Pete's doing?" James said.

"Who knows, hopefully better than me." Said Sirius.

When they got back to the room, Remus was buried in a book, and Peter was sitting on his bed, clutching his knees, with three thick wool sweaters on, shivering ferociously. "What's up with him?' James asked Remus, pointing to Peter.

"Not exactly sure." Remus replied, snapping the book shut. "He was quiet for a while, but after you guys left, he started complaining about how cold he was, so I put on his sweater, then I gave him one of mine and one of yours, James, but it hasn't helped. So I don't think there's much we can do until he gets out of it. Oh Sirius, your three hours is up, which one of these is yours?" He asked, pulling out two wands.

"The Blackthorn one." Said Sirius, and Remus tossed it to him.

Peter stayed exactly as he was for the next hour or so, before he finally changed his demeanor. He quickly pulled off the sweaters, in a very uncoordinated manner, and now he was sweating furiously. "Burns... James... Remus... Sirius... help me, it's so hot..."

Remus grabbed the cup he drank the potion out of, and said "Aguamenti." He handed Peter the cup of water, who drank it down as fast as he could, and, in much the same way Sirius had, crumpled back down onto his bed, unconscious.

"Well that was strange." Said James. "Can I take it now? It's nearly eight already, I don't wanna be up all night."

"I suppose you'd better." Said Remus, tossing him the cup.

James filled the cup from the cauldron in his trunk, and took a seat in the middle of the room. He raised the cup to his friends, said "Your good health, lads!" and downed the cup in one go.

The instant the cup left his lips, he fell backwards.

"Merlin's beard!" Said Remus, and Sirius rushed over to him. Before he even got there, James let out a snore so loud it could have woken half the dormitory. The other two boys laughed.

"Thank goodness, I thought..." Sirius began, but then he trailed off.

James was passed out on the ground, looking as though he was in the deepest sleep of his life. Peter was still unconscious on the bed.

"Well, do you feel any different?" Remus asked Sirius.

"What, since drinking the potion?" He asked. "No, not really."

"You'll have to meditate every day." Said Remus, looking at the book. "Every single day, clear your mind for half an hour, and focus only on your basest instincts."

"What do you think that means?" Said Sirius, but before he got an answer, they heard a tapping at the window. "Hey, that's James's dad's owl! I recognize it from the summer."

Remus stepped over James's body, which was still sprawled spread-eagle in the middle of the room, and took the letter from the owl. "Sirius, take at look at this."

On the front of the small, square envelope, the curvy writing said, James, Sirius, Remus & Peter.

"It's addressed to all of us." Said Sirius. "Do you think we should open it?"

"I don't know it might be better to wait for all of us to be here." Said Remus, looking at the two passed out boys. "Well, here and conscious, at any rate."

Peter woke up feeling pretty normal about ten minutes after they got the letter, still dying to open it. The owl had already left, so they couldn't send a reply yet either way.

James, however, didn't wake up from his powerful sleep until around ten.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Said Sirius, with a mock smile on his face.

Remus and Peter laughed, but James looked stern. "How long was I out?" He said, in a deep, strict voice that clearly didn't belong to him.

" 'Bout two hours." Said Remus. "How do you feel?"

"Like a million Galleons." James said, still in the same tone. "Haven't had a nap that good in ages."

"Good to hear." Said Sirius. "Your dad's owl came with this letter, it's addressed to all of us."

James ignored him, instead focusing on the two wooden tips sticking out of Remus's pocket. "Hey, Remus, do you mind giving me my wand?" He said. "I don't feel anything, really, I'm good as new."

"Can't, James." He said, slightly apologetically. "You heard what the book says."

He looked near the point of anger, but kept his cool. "Don't you think that's for the more extreme case, though? I mean, I don't have any of the symptoms or anything."

"We can't take any risks." Said Sirius. "Just sit down, I wanna read this letter from your dad."

But that sent James over the tipping point. He lunged at Remus, fury in his face, and Sirius reacted just quick enough. "Protego!" He yelled, casting a shield between James and Remus.

James smashed on the invisible glass that separated them."Give it to me!" He yelled. "I want my wand! GIVE ME MY WAND!"

"James, it's only another hour." Said Peter.

"There's no point in reasoning, he has no idea what's going on." Said Sirius. "I guess he's not as over it as he thought."

Remus, Sirius and Peter spent the next hour discussing what James's dad could possibly be writing to all of them for, while James paced around, looking absolutely irate, in the make shift prison they had made for him between the dorm room wall and the shield charm. Every so often, he'd change his strategy.

"Please, guys." He said, falling to his knees on the other side of the charm. "I don't even want my wand anymore, I just wanna be let out."

They decided the best course of action was to just ignore him.

"When your charm wears off, I'm gonna throw you all out the window, you mark my words."