Disclaimer: I don't own JKR's original characters, settings, ideas, and other such whimsical nonesense. Nor do I make any profit from writing this.
-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-
It was late November when I managed to completely transform into an animal. I had expected to be a normal orange cat; it was what I guessed from the ears, tail, and eyes. And a cat I was. Albeit, I was a bit larger than a normal cat. I was a sleek, short haired orange tabby. McGonagall was quite pleased.
I'd had a lot on my mind for the past month, Sirius' wrist grabs, most certainly not the least of my worries. Tom had definitely become a problem as well, Madame Pine had banished me from the library until I could brake him off riding in my bag. The old bat has something against cats. Or it could be related to the fact that Tom used a bookcase as a scratching post... and a book on Salazar Slytherin as a litter box. We were all so proud. But she was kind of pissed... I can't really see why... The guy was a git.
But anyway, I was excited about fully transforming, but decided not to tell anyone. There was one main reason for this: The Marauders. They'd been plotting. Staying to themselves, and always whispering, not to mention wandering the halls at night more often than usual. And Remus had been looking a bit droopy. You know, paler than usual, and the shadows under his eyes more prominent. Was it wrong to be concerned for a friend? No, I answered myself, it wasn't. So, I was planning to follow them, as a cat of course. Maybe if I was a feline I would be a bit more graceful.
I had been paying frequent visits to the kitchens, having little talks with Willy. She always told me the same thing, that she couldn't help with my investigation. That house elves are forbidden to tell students about other students. I had a feeling that 'other students' only really pertained to Remus. I'm not sure what exactly he's hiding, but there's something. There has to be. He's always going off to 'take care of his sick mother', and he always comes back a little worse for the wear. I won't lie and say I wasn't a bit mad at him for not trusting me enough to share the secret. I had always considered us friends, and we had certainly become closer this year.
So, as I left McGonagall's office, arranging to come back the next afternoon to sign more papers and fully registering as an official animagus, I was already planning to follow the Marauders. It was a full moon tonight, so even if I needed to change out of cat form, I would be able to see. I had a strong feeling that tonight their little shenanigans wouldn't be restricted to the castle and I'd be following them out onto the grounds. I was a little apprehensive. Remus hadn't attended classes today, as he always did when 'his mother was ill'. What would I do when I did discover the secret? I decided not to think about it at the moment. I'd tackle that hurtle when it came.
When I reached the Common Room, the Marauders, minus Remus, were still there, whispering. Lily looked annoyed at being left out of the little gathering. I muttered some quick 'hellos' and promptly told them I was exhausted from my lesson. Which was partly true, then departed to the Dormitory.
Once I was there I pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, before tossing my black cloak over it. Then I jerked shut the hangings of my bed, so when Lily came in she'd think I was already asleep, and transformed. Tom, who was curled up on my pillow, looked at me curiously, before going back to sleep.
I leapt through the hangings of my bed and onto the floor, landing with a small and barely-audible thud. Merlin, for once I was being quiet! I exited the dormitory, for I had left the door slightly ajar for myself, and nudged it closed behind me. I crouched on the stairs, just in time to see the boys disappear up the stair case to the boy's dormitories. Lily walked huffily, right past me, apparently to annoyed to notice the large cat crouching in the shadows.
I followed her to the Dormitory, and listened at the door. I could hear her voice, complaining to me angrily. Then she stopped, and my breath caught, was she going to check my bed? I heard her grunt and the sound of her landing on her bed, before the jerk of bed-hangings followed soon by her light snores, joining in with Rose and Alice's.
My ears pricked forward when I heard the shuffling of feet and someone knocking a chair off its feet. Then came a muttered curse, followed by a grunt of pain. I padded softly down to the bottom stair, peering into the Common Room. There was no one there, but I still heard the grunts and the chair seemed to right itself.
I heard James' voice, 'Dolt! Be careful!" It hissed form the empty air near the chair.
Sirius' voice replied, from the same empty space of air. "Don't worry so much! Everyone's in bed. We checked the map before Peter left, and saw Lily go up just after us. We're safe." It was a strange feeling to hear their voices, and their shuffling footsteps, but not see them. I carefully skipped down the last couple of steps and The portrait hole was opening now, and before it could swing all the way closed I stuck my paw in the way. The footsteps continued. I hopped through the hole, after waiting for a minute, and let it swing closed behind me. I still kept to the shadows, keeping myself unseen. I heard James and Sirius muttering a little ahead of me. Then suddenly they appeared, in a little nook. James began to say something, but then all three of us hear a little scurrying sound. A large grey rat rounded the corner, carrying a crumpled piece of parchment held in its mouth. James and Sirius exchanged slightly alarmed looks and both crouched to the ground to take the parchment from the frantically squeaking creature. A messenger rat? How weird. Then again, this is James we're talking about. Both of them searched the parchment before their eyes got very large. They exchanged looks, than James nodded and muttered something to the rat, which scurried off. Sirius tucked the parchment into the pocket of his robes.
Sirius glanced around the hall before calling in a soft voice, "Rissa?" I felt my ears fly back, flat against my head. I slunk deeper into the shadows, pressing myself to the way. How did they know? Had McGonagall spread the word that I was now a full-fledged animagus? And had someone seen my following them? No... There had been no one around to see me. Who had sent the rat carrying the message? Peter, maybe? Or Remus, himself?
"Riss, we know you're here. Might as well come out. It was a nice attempt. Almost had us there."James was walking out of the nook, towards me, carrying a silvery cloak.
I decided that I wasn't just going to let them find me, or run away. So, I let out a low little growl, as menacing as I could make it. Both James and Sirius looked taken aback when I stepped out of the shadows, crouching low to the ground. "Merlin, is that you, Rissa?" Sirius asked, keeping his voice low.
"Of course it's her, Padfoot!" James said looking at his watch. "She must have finally managed to completely transform." He then added under his breath, "Let's do this quick, she should have taken him down by now."
Sirius nodded, hair flopping into his eyes, he crouched down in front of me, "Right, come on, Rissa. Go on back to the Common Room like a good little kitty."
I growled again, and reverted to myself, human that is. Standing up and crossing my arms over my chest, "This good little kitty won't seem so little when sheathed a good chunk out of you." I said, as menacingly as I could manage.
He grinned, "I had no idea you felt that way, shall we go find a cozy broom closet, then?" Sirius asked, straightening up himself, on eyebrow raised, and a crooked smirk on his face.
"Sick pervert. You know what I meant." I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks at the way he had twisted my words. "And I'm not going back to the common Room. I've a right to know where you lot go creeping off to every month or so."
They exchanged looks again, and then James spoke, "Riss, we can't tell you anything. I'm sorry. Just go back. Please?" He looked different. And it seemed less like a command, and more like a plea. "This isn't your business."
I was still resolute, but I felt bad too. Obviously, whatever they needed to do was important to them. "If I go back, I won't be settling with just this. You're going to explain. Soon. Remus is my friend too."
"We can't" Sirius said bluntly, "Go back to the Common Room. Better yet, go to your Dormitory, get some sleep. You look tired." With that they turned and left. I cast them one last glare and did the same. But I could swear I heard Sirius' voice call softly back to me, "G'night, Riss."
-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-SiriusPOV-
Jame sand I walked in silence, every once in a while I glanced at the Map to make sure that Rissa was in fact on her way to the Common Room. She was. And when she got there she stayed there. This kind of ticked me off. I'd told her to go to bed. Why couldn't she just listen, for once? She was probably going to wait for up to get back. Well, good luck to her on that one. By the looks of her, she'd be asleep long before we snuck back into our beds. James kept casting me funny looks, but I ignored him. "Pomfrey is coming back," I told him, after a glance at the Map, "And Pete is waiting for us down there."
James grinned and nodded, before throwing the Invisibility Cloak over the both of us. When Madame Pomfrey came in through the heavy oak doors of the Great Hall, we slipped out.
"Oi! Wormtail! We're here!" James hissed to Peter, who had been thoroughly enjoying himself, chasing his tail. He gave a squeak and darted through the branches of the Whomping Willow, pressing one of the many knots. The branches stopped swaying and the tree completely froze.
James and I grinned at each other. "Showtime."
-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-RissaPOV-
I was pacing the Common Room, hands interlocked behind me. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. The Marauders? Willy? Or was I just waiting because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep? II wandered over to the window, looking out at the grounds. The clouds were drifting lazily through the dark sky, allowing me to catch glances of the stars and the bright full moon.
Wait. Pause.
Rewind.
I chewed on my lip. Full moon. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Merlin, have I solved this whole screwed up puzzle just by glancing through a window? Of course! And his nickname is Moony! It makes such perfect sense! No jumping to conclusions, though. I'll have to check the library tomorrow.
Poor Tom.
The next morning Remus still wasn't at school, of course I expected nothing less. James, Sirius, and Peter kept casting me wary glances, but I ignored them. Lily was doing the same, though I assumed for different reasons. In Transfiguration, I was asked to demonstrate my transformation form human to cat and back again for the class. Lily was so excited that I had managed it, she stopped being mad at all three of the boys and talked to them animatedly, while hugging me around the neck.
I received a rather vicious glare from a Slytherin boy across the room. At once I recognized him as Severous Snape; Hooked nose, greasy hair and all. And I glared right on back. Slimey git. He hated me, simply because I was Lily's best friend. In a way, I had taken his place. And I hated him because not only did he call my mum a Looney in fifth year, and me a 'blood traitor', but he called Lily a 'mudblood'. Prat.
Plus, he really needed to wash his hair more often.
We continued glaring at each other until the bell rang, and Snape shuffled off for Herbolagy while the Marauders and I strode across the grounds to Care of Magical Creatures, and Lily hurried to Ancient Runes.
I probably should have dropped Care of Magical Creatures last year, to give myself more time for homework and that kind of stuff. The class was really only me, the Marauders, and a plump Hufflepuff girl with a happy face named Klara Abbott. Professor Kettleburn was a willowy wizard, with several missing fingers, and dark brown hair, slowly turning grey.
"Ah... I see Mr. Lupin is absent again today. Very well, Mr. Potter, make sure to fill him in on the lesson." Kettleburn nodded his head at James. "We'll be doing unicorns today, now follow me, girls first, they aren't quite fond of males..." Klara and I followed Kettlerburn obediently while Sirius James, and Pete looked a bit hesitant. They exchanged looks and followed, a few feet behind us.
The lesson was enjoyable, we learned the many uses of Unicorn hair, and other such things and both us girls touched the beautiful things, petting them and feeding them carrots. By the time is was time to go to lunch, the boys were still casting me nervous glances and muttering to themselves, as we all walked together across the grounds.
Finally, I was sick of it, "Will you lot quit it? I'm not going to bombard you just yet! I'm trying to figure things out for myself first. So don't get your wands in a knot!" I snapped at them.
I ate lunch away from them, sitting with Rose and Alice. I shoveled food into my mouth, fast as I could, and set off again with a wave and a, "See y'all in Potions!" Before setting off to the Common Room. Tom was sleeping in my schoolbag as usual. I tugged him out and set him on the floor in my dormitory. He looked up at me with curiosity. I grabbed my bag up again and ran out of the room, closing the door quickly behind me. I was rushing down the stairs when I hear this distressed meows and pawing at the door. I winced, but climbed out of the portrait hole none-the-less, feeling like I had betrayed his trust.
When I reached the library, I was subjected to a bag check from Pince, but seeing as I had left Tom in my room, she had no reason to deny me entrance. "Hm... 'W'... Werewolves, werewolves..." I mumbled to myself, tapping the spine of each book in the 'W' section. "Aha! Werewolves!" I grinned and pulled out several books and sat at a table. I spent my entire lunch break and half of my free period flipping through the books. The thing was, most of them were on transformed werewolves, how to sort them out form regular wolves, and the others described them as horrid beasts, even without the full moon. I couldn't help but think that the writers of the books were a bit... Raciest? Is that what it would be called? Biased? Either way, I was sure Remus was a werewolf, and he was definitely more civilized than half the boys at Hogwarts. Probably more than half come to think of it...
I abandoned my quest (For the present), and returned to the Common Room. James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily looked up questioningly when I got there. I looked pointedly at the boys. "Oh... Just looking up some stuff in the library."
Tom was waiting right in front of the door when I went to the dorm to get him. He looked at me in a way that wasn't quite angry... but more... Disappointed, maybe? Or betrayed? Either way, it caused me a considerable amount of guilt, and I scooped up my cat, showering him with kisses and telling him how sorry I was to have left him. I guess he forgave me, because when I set him back down, he climbed into my school bag expectantly. I squealed with delight and joined everyone down stairs.
Lily looked at me suspiciously, "You've been awfully quiet today..."
"I've been thinking a lot, is all." I shrugged. "Just was having a thinky kind of day. And I've got to sign a bunch of paper work with McGonagall this afternoon." I pretended to gag, "Really boring stuff."
Lily seemed satisfied with this answer, "But it's worth it, isn't it? Changing into an animal and all?" She hugged me around the shoulders, proudly, "I still can't believe you did it! And so quick! I always knew you were brilliant, you just never apply yourself..."
I shook my head, "I'm good as Transfiguration is all. You're starting to sound like old Sluggy, Lils." I laughed, before my face started sink. "Oh, no. We have potions next?"
Lily nodded, like I was thick. "Yes... That would be correct."
"Aw, bugger... He's never going to leave me alone." I gave her a pleading look, "Try to be extra-amazing today, kay? So he won't hover over my shoulder the whole time?" Slughorn already gave me special attention simply because my mother had discovered several popular charms and jinxes, and my father a well known auror. I didn't even want to imagine what he'd be like now.
-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-Maps,Marauders,andMarauder'sMaps-
AN:
Updated! Yay! Thanks again, and a million times more to Shabbysheikh, who Beta-read! I'm eternally grateful!
You are the best!
Seriously.
Hm... So I'm going to Midnight Bite tonight, the grand opening of Breaking Dawn! I'm pumped! Me and some friends are all going together. We is pumped.
Please review!
