Title: No, We Mean Literally!

Characters: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Word Count: 1, 175

AN: Birthday Fic number three :D

This takes place in the second year at Hogwarts as Remus said that it took the boys three years to become animagi and they are said to have succeeded in their fifth year.

Remus knew that they had been planning something for weeks before they finally cracked and told him. Or maybe they had planned on telling him. Remus wasn't sure about that part but he wasn't dumb or oblivious. And his best friends, on top of that, weren't used to hiding things from him. They were doing a pretty rubbish job if he could say so himself. He knew that Sirius wouldn't agree with him because technically Remus didn't know what they were working on. On a more positive note, at least Remus knew how their future discussions would sound like and he liked to think that spoke on his advantage.

"Hey there Moony," James spoke as he entered the room. "How are you?"

He ran his fingers through his raven-coloured hair before jumping up on his bed which was on the opposite side of the room. He crossed his legs underneath his body and leaned forward with his head resting against his palms. He was at the age of twelve still very much a child. Even if he sometimes said things and did things which made Remus question that. Those who claimed that James Potter were only immature really didn't know him. He wished sometimes that people wouldn't judge James based on what they saw or that they would understand that what they saw were only one part of him.

Sirius sat next to James and directed his permanently charming smile at Remus. "Are you bored yet?"

His brown hair fell naturally around his shoulders and somehow never got in the way of his eyes or in his mouth. He was more graceful than James, no doubt because of his parents and their firm belief that manners was everything and even the blood traitor needed to know how to behave himself. With Sirius it was the other way around. Remus wished that he acted the age that he was in. Sometimes he did but most of the time he kept his guard up by acting just chilly enough for people not to get too close to him.

"I haven't had time to get bored," Remus sighed deeply and moved around until his sore body felt more comfortable against the mountain of pillows that it had turned into because of his friends offering a few of theirs. "I've been too busy sleeping. Turning into a wild and hairy animal is hard work you know."

They all laughed at the joke but it took just a few seconds too long for it too sound natural. Peter, whose brown hair had been shaved off for the first time in his life, sat on his own bed next to Remus with his legs dangling back and forth. But it was the fidgeting, the way he kept his hands moving, that told Remus how uncomfortable he was in the situation. Sirius and James probably thought that they were good at hiding whatever it was that they were hiding but Remus saw straight through their acts.

"What?"

They glanced at each other. Silent communication truly was the worst when you were being left out.

"Well," James began and ran his fingers through his hair as he frowned and for a moment glanced down at the floor as if he was asking it a particularly hard question rather than telling Remus what they had been hiding for him for the past few weeks. "It's funny that you mention the changing into a wild and hairy animal. Because we have been thinking about making it possible for us to do that?"

Remus looked at his friend as if he had grown two heads. "Turn into hairy, wild animals?"

All three nodded.

"You mean figuratively, right?" Remus saw the way James and Sirius looked at each other. "Right?"

"No," Sirius said hesitantly with wrinkles appearing on his forehead. "We mean literally. We literally want to turn ourselves into wild and hairy animals."

One seconds. Two seconds. Remus wanted to ask them if they were joking even if he already knew the answer. He could tell by the determination in James eyes which meant that he could save his breath and not try to convince them not to go through with it because it was too dangerous. James, not all the time but some of the time, laughed in the face of danger and merely said that it would just be all the more impressive once they managed it. Sirius appeared to be challenging him to say something about it. He probably had a long speech in the back of his mind in case Remus were to object and there was probably an internal battle going on right now as he couldn't make up his mind; did he want to say what he had come up with or did he want Remus to accept that they were going to do this for him? Peter, the boy with the fidgeting and the constant movement as a tell-tell sign had stopped moving. He was unsure about telling Remus but he wasn't unsure about this.

"Well technically, we don't know if we're going to be hairy animals also we probably won't be that wild," Peter said while scratching the back of his head. "We could end up being turtles. Personally, I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that I turn into anything but that."

He just about managed to duck for the pillow that had been thrown across the room from James bed. It was Sirius who had thrown it but both he and James looked guilty with those almost matching smiles.

"Why would you do that?" Their smiles vanished at the sound of Remus vulnerable voice. "What you're talking about – becoming animagi – is really dangerous."

Sirius scratched the back of his head. Peter muttered something along the lines of that's for sure. James was the only one who didn't look away from him.

"Yeah, but if we do it we'll be able to help you during transformations. Also, nothing worth doing is ever easy," he said and shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we're doing this for some complete strangers. We're doing this for you, Remus, because you're our best friend and if this means that we can help you then we don't care about how dangerous it is. Right guys?"

Sirius shook his head. "Of course not."

"Exactly what he said," Peter took a deep breath. "We're not just friends Remus. We're much more than that. And if this is what we need to do to help you then we'll do it."

Remus smiled when the first teardrop ran down his cheek. He could have claimed that he was exhausted and that was the reason that he was crying. But he didn't need to. Neither of his friends would look down on him for crying. "I don't know what to say."

Sirius shrugged. "You don't have to say anything."

"No," Peter nodded. "Just promise that you won't judge us in case we end up transforming into some odd animal."

Remus laughed. "Okay Peter, I can do that."

The end