His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
A/N: This chapter marks a little over a year since I set out on this writing journey of epic proportions. It's hard to believe the following this has gathered over the course of a year; even more so the fact that I've never written anything as long or as detailed or as complicated as this piece…and I don't even own the characters. The response to this story is overwhelming and humbling, and if I could, I would personally thank each and every single one of my readers, regardless if you have left a review or not. So, as Always, this is for you, the reader, and for Jo, our Queen.
Animagi and Owls
Petunia saw Cordon Diggory three more times before Lily and Severus were taken to King's Cross by Rose on September first. Sev heard nothing from Arthur about the plan he'd suggested the Order follow to capture Lord Voldemort, and somehow he knew he wouldn't hear anything until they were back at Hogwarts where Dumbledore would request to speak with him. When they entered Platform 9¾ twenty minutes before the train was due to leave, Lily immediately spotted Alice and Frank in the crowd and after giving Sev a quick squeeze of the fingers she rushed off and hugged her friends, all the while using a will of iron to keep her tears in check. Sirius appeared out of nowhere next to Sev.
"We've already got a compartment," he said to his friend. "Let's get your and Lily's stuff on the train."
"Have a nice summer?" Sev replied as he lifted his trunk and heaved it onto the train. Siri did the same with Lily's.
Siri shrugged and nodded. "I spent it with Remus. Even though he had the potion he wouldn't let me see him with his furry little problem."
They dragged the trunks down to the compartment where Sirius said they were sitting. "That doesn't surprise me. The transformation itself can be frightening to watch, even though he's in control of all his faculties." When they got the trunks onto the overhead rack Sev remembered something. "Oh, I got made Prefect. I'll have to ride in the Prefect's compartment for part of the way and patrol a bit."
Siri looked round at him. "Alice got made Prefect too. I thought it would've been Lily."
Sev smiled. "She was made Quidditch Captain."
Sirius's eyes widened and he grinned. "I don't suppose she'll make me try out for Seeker again, will she?"
He responded with a shrug. "No guarantees."
At this moment the compartment door slid open and Remus walked in with Regulus. The two said hello and sat down, and Sev returned to the platform to say goodbye to Rose. When he reached his best friend's mother, Lily was ensconced in her arms and Sev saw a tear slide down her cheek. His face went a little red and he looked away, but Rose saw him and opened her arms for him to join the hug. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around the two women.
"Have a wonderful year, you both," Rose whispered to them. "Don't you worry about me. I'll have Eileen get us an owl from Diagon Alley and that way I can send things to you without waiting for Ares or Artemis."
Lily mumbled against her mother: "And Petunia can write to Cordon without having to go to an owl post." At this, Rose chuckled.
"No, I suppose she won't. Do well on your exams, and above all, have fun," she said. With that she kissed Lily on the forehead and did the same to Sev. "I'll see you two at Christmas," she said before rushing them into the train. Attendants were walking down the scarlet snake slamming doors, and Sev and Lily jumped inside.
"I've got to go to the Prefect compartment with Alice for a bit, but I'll see you later," Sev said after telling Lily which compartment he and Sirius had put their things. Lily gave him a fleeting kiss before pushing through the crowded corridor to find the Circle. Alice appeared out of nowhere and seized Sev's arm to drag him through the mass of students to the Prefect carriage.
Sev and Alice returned to the Circle's compartment nearly an hour into the train ride, by which time the trolley had already gone by. When they slid back the door they found their friends all chatting about their summers, but Lily sat next to the window watching the landscape roll past. Sev carefully sat beside her, having to squeeze a little in between her and Peter. He rested a hand lightly on her knee. "Lil?" he asked softly, tuning out the noise of their friends talking around them.
She turned to look at him, and though he didn't see tears, he saw her eyes. "It's the first time he hasn't seen us off at the station," she muttered before resting her head against his shoulder. His arm went around her.
"Lily," Alice said, "Tell us if you need anything, anything at all."
Lily mouthed her thank you and closed her eyes, eventually falling asleep against Sev's shoulder.
They jolted awake when the train was fifteen minutes out of Hogsmeade. The Circle was making a lot of commotion as they rummaged through their trunks for their robes. Alice was loathe to take Sev away from Lily, but as Prefects they had a responsibility to make sure the first years got to Hagrid at the boats. When her two friends finished pulling on their robes she touched Sev's upper arm.
"We have to go to the Prefect's carriage," she said.
Sev nodded, and giving a quick kiss to Lily, followed Alice from the compartment.
Almost three quarters of an hour later, he and Alice hurried into the Great Hall and took their seats at Gryffindor table a few minutes before McGonagall would enter with the first years. Sev gave Lily a brief, one armed hug. They exchanged a few words and then the doors opened, revealing the cluster of first-years headed by the Transfiguration professor. Sev watched the new students with interest, and found that he recognized none of them. He listened through the Sorting and devoured his dinner with a suddenly-realized ravenous hunger, causing Lily and Alice to glance at one another in bewilderment. The Circle enjoyed their ever-changing conversation as the dinner feast was eaten through; Regulus chose to sit at the Slytherin table only because it was the Sorting Feast; for the rest of the year he would be at the Gryffindor table in order to avoid the rest of his year.
After the plates cleared themselves and Lily leaned against Sev's shoulder in sleepy stupor, Dumbledore gave his annual speech reminding students to keep away from the Forbidden Forest and heed the caretaker's list of banned objects. And then suddenly Dumbledore was announcing that whoever would like to try out for Quidditch would have to contact the captains, and Lily's eyes snapped up to sweep the Gryffindor table. It seemed like only the Circle knew of her appointment, for they were the only ones returning her gaze.
The student body surged to its feet and Lily felt Sev squeeze her hand before he and Alice went to lead the first years up to the Gryffindor common room. Already she was missing him because of his duties, but hers would be just as strenuous and probably filled with more drama if James decided to try out again. It's not that he was a horrible player, he was anything but—however Lily knew it might be counterproductive in everything she and Sev had accomplished if James were back on the Quidditch team. Besides, they only had one spot to fill, the Keeper, and if James was the best, he was the best. She knew the rest of the House would accuse her of favoritism since more than half the team were her fellow fifth years in the Circle. Gideon and Fabian, however, would only be on the team for another two years (they were sixth years) and if the season went well Lily would be Captain until she finished school. If anything they needed a younger player, someone they could train up for when they were all done in three years.
She found herself walking up the marble staircase in between Remus and Peter. Frank and Sirius were behind them, discussing Transfiguration (despite the fact that lessons hadn't yet begun). Siri had to raise his voice when two Gryffindor third-year boys ran whooping past them, and Lily heard him say, "…are really useful, especially in the Auror Department."
Lily looked over her shoulder. "What are useful?" she asked curiously.
"Animagi," Frank supplied, briefly meeting her eyes.
With a jolt she remembered that Sev was an Animagus, though he had yet to show her his animal form. She'd completely forgotten to ask him in the aftermath of him showing her his memories the year before.
"Watch yourself, Lily!" Peter exclaimed, catching Lily's elbow as her toe caught the edge of a stair and she pitched forward. Peter managed to keep her upright and when she straightened Remus bent over a little to look her in the eye (having to bend because he'd grown five inches over the summer).
"You okay?" Rem asked sincerely.
"Yeah," Lily replied, waving her hand dismissively. She offered a smile and turned to Peter. "Thanks for catching me, Pete. I don't think the Quidditch Captain needs a concussion before the trials even start," she joked.
"I could've told you what they're talking about," Remus said. "My hearing is quite acute and I've been listening to their conversation since it started back in the Great Hall."
"Oh?"
Remus nodded. "Sirius wants to learn how to be an Animagus."
"Isn't that a bit advanced for fifth years?"
"Well, yes. But difficulty hasn't ever stopped Sirius, now has it?"
"Except in Potions."
Remus chuckled as they climbed the last staircase to the seventh floor. "You know what I mean. He's rarely kept from anything he wants. He even got out of being Sorted into Slytherin despite the fact his entire family has been in that House, including his brother."
"But Regulus has turned out just fine," Lily protested.
"With Sev's help," Remus pointed out.
Lily lowered her voice. "You don't thing Reg would've figured it out on his own?" She thought back to her best friend's memories of a different life.
Remus shrugged. "It's hard to say."
They reached the portrait, and Lily realized she was the only one who knew the new password since Sev had whispered it to her at the feast. "Hippogriff," she said, and the Fat Lady's portrait swung open. They filed in, followed by several other Gryffindors. Sev was in his chair next to the fireplace with Alice, waiting for the rest of the Circle to arrive.
James Potter brushed past Lily and Remus. "Hi," he muttered, briefly locking his gaze with Lily. No one outside of the Circle and the professors knew about Mark Evans' death at the beginning of the summer. Lily had forgotten that Petunia was now corresponding with Cordon Diggory (who told Amos, who told the Prewetts), so when James continued to say, "I'm sorry about what happened to your dad. No one should have to go through that," Lily realized that Amos must have told James, which meant that if someone told Bertha Jorkins (who was in her seventh year), the whole school would know about it the next morning.
"Yeah," she replied quietly, before turning to go to her boyfriend. It was late, she was tired, and classes started at nine the next morning. Lily gave him a kiss and then sleepily bid her friends good night.
Every single professor emphasized the importance of the O.W.L exams the next morning, and the day after that, and the day after that. The whole first week was filled with grumbling fifth years and pale seventh years, who were fast approaching the N.E.W.T.s and half of whom would need to visit Madam Pomfrey for calming draughts come the end of May. McGonagall started their second lesson and was barely five minutes into the lecture when Sirius raised his hand to ask about human transfiguration.
Minerva did a double take and was silent for a nanosecond before deserting the assigned topic for a few minutes to talk to the class about Animagi, and the difficult process of becoming one. At the end of her tangent she turned into a cat and back again, earning light applause (for the second time in five years, since she'd also shown them in first year) and a smile from Sirius.
"Now, Mr. Black, I will assume that you mean to pursue becoming an Animagus, so let me warn you: many witches and wizards have tried and failed, and failure is dangerous when it comes to human transfiguration. The most practical, and only legal way, to become one is by attending classes at the Ministry and obtaining a license. Only wizards who are of age, however, may enter into such a program."
Sirius continued to grin, but acknowledged her words. Out of the corner of her eye Alice saw him start to doodle on his parchment, and the doodle eventually turned into a black dog.
The lesson continued.
It was the second weekend of September before Lily was able to hold tryouts for the Keeper. After about four hours of running through different trials with each potential player, she finally decided on a third year named Taylor Finnigan, an Irish girl who blocked every single shot. At the end, she collected the six other players' schedules so she could form a practice schedule that would work for everyone.
Lily barely found time to breathe with the mountains of homework the professors were piling up in preparation for the O.W.L.s and the responsibilities of being Quidditch Captain. Sev helped her where he could, becoming a sort of co-captain for the team when the mountains became seemingly insurmountable. The Circle all envied Sev for his ability to relax and go through the assignments with ease, even though Lily was the only who knew the truth of the matter: he'd done all this before.
"Seriously," Siri complained one afternoon by the fire, "it's like you don't even have to study! I've barely seen you even glance at our books, let alone read any of them. And in Potions! When have you ever looked at the instructions before starting?"
Sev exchanged a glance with Frank, and they both knew that Sirius was about to launch into another speech about how unfair it was that Sev barely had to try. It would be useless to argue with him, since the last time he'd tried that Sirius began giving all sorts of examples as to how much of a genius Sev was, and it became tiresome very quickly.
"I suppose if you wanted to be an Animagus you would hardly have to try."
Sev frowned. "Don't trivialize becoming an Animagus, Sirius. It's tricky business, and even the best wizards have failed at it. That's why there's a register, and there are only about forty registered Animagi in Britain." Professor McGonagall had not mentioned how many wizards were on the register during her short speech in Transfiguration.
Sirius stared at Sev. "You don't mean to say you've researched this? Do you want to be one too?"
"Well I could hardly say no to the opportunity to try," Sev drawled, leaning back in the chair and stretching like a cat. "I like a good challenge."
Lily snorted and covered her face with her Transfiguration text. Peter watched Sev's face go red.
"What are you turning into a beet for?" Peter asked curiously.
At this, Lily snorted again, and dissolved into a fit of silent giggles, gasping for breath.
"All right, you two," Alice demanded, standing up and striding over to smack Lily's arm and kick Sev's leg. "Give it up. You have some sort of inside joke and leaving us all in the dark is hardly fair."
Sev instantly sobered. They couldn't know! They couldn't know he'd gone back through time! It would be too dangerous; if that information somehow got to Voldemort before he was destroyed…everything precious to Sev could be lost again. He couldn't let that happen. He instantly started to think of a lie, but Lily caught his eye. Almost imperceptibly she shook her head, practically reading his thoughts. She could handle this.
"Sorry," Lily said, smiling sweetly up at her only female friend. "I was just thinking about what Sev said, that he likes a good challenge."
"Why was that funny?"
"Because hardly anything is a challenge for him." She looked over at her boyfriend and winked.
Alice smiled, not sure if Lily was telling the whole truth or not. "Right…"
"I must find it a lot funnier than you guys do," Lily amended. She laughed again and disappeared behind her book, thinking about how Sev had yet to show her his Animagus form. She decided she wanted to see it soon. It wasn't fair to keep her waiting.
Sev saw Alice's uncertainty, but didn't say anything.
Remus, who had barely glanced up from his book during this entire exchange, set down the text and folded his hands, staring into the fire. Alice and Lily stopped their silent staring contest, Severus studied his friend, and Frank and Peter looked at each other briefly. Sirius sat down next to his best friend.
"You okay, mate?"
Remus sighed. "It's just…I hate this."
No one needed to ask to know what he was talking about. Sirius rested a hand on Rem's shoulder. "I know. We all do. Why do you think I asked McGonagall about Animagi?"
Remus continued to stare into the fireplace for a beat and then looked up at Siri. "What?" he yelped, shrugging Siri's hand off his shoulder and leaning back so he could see everyone gathered around the fireplace. It was a late Saturday night in mid October, so they were the only students in the common room. "You think I would let you risk your lives just so I can have more company? I've got the Wolfsbane, I don't need you lot risking your necks, least of all you, Siri, just so you can be with me during the full moon!"
Sev sat forward in his chair. No one but himself, Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey had been with Remus during the transformations. It was frightening to watch, painful for Remus to endure, and nerve-wracking to be in the same room as a Werewolf even if the Werewolf was seemingly harmless.
"Why is Severus the only one allowed to stay with you during the full moon, then?" Sirius asked, a little hurt. "You're my best friend, mate. I should be in that room with you."
"Severus is the one who created the potion, Sirius! He has every right to witness its effects, to improve upon it, perhaps even turn it into a cure!"
"Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you, Sirius. It's myself that I don't."
Severus cut in. "Rem, have you ever felt the impulse to bite me when transformed?"
Slowly, Remus shook his head.
"That's the design of the potion. To restore your human mind inside the wolf's body. It works. Next full moon, I'll ask Dumbledore if he would mind Siri coming along as well."
Sirius stared at Severus with gratitude.
Remus glared up at Sirius. "You're not going to try to become an unregistered Animagus, Siri. Not as long as I'm alive."
Feeling particularly childish, Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus.
When Peter yawned a moment later, suddenly everyone realized how tired they were, and motions were made to start heading up to the dormitories. Sirius and Remus climbed the staircase arguing about why it was a bad idea to become an unregistered Animagus, Peter and Frank followed them (after Frank kissed Alice good night), and Sev stayed back with Lily for a few moments.
Once they could hear only silence from the boys dormitories, Sev let out a breath.
"That was a close one," Lily blurted out. "I'm sorry, it was me, I started laughing because I know you're already an Ani—"
Sev put his hand over her mouth and shook his head. "Don't say it out loud! What if Sirius is listening?"
"I want you to show me."
Sev stared at her. "What?"
"You showed me everything else. Why not that?"
"I—oh." She was right. "Tomorrow sometime, then."
"Sev, it's already tomorrow." She pointed at her watch. "See?"
A little worried that someone could come down the staircase at any moment, Sev didn't want to transform in the common room.
"It won't take that long, will it? Just turn into it and then pop back, just a few seconds, right? That's all it takes McGonagall, is a few seconds."
"Oh, all right," Sev acquiesced. "Stand back and watch."
He barely blinked and was suddenly a mid-sized black owl flapping midair. He held the position for a few seconds, and turned back into himself.
Lily was beside herself with excitement. "An owl! You're an owl! It's wonderful!"
"What were you expecting, a stag?" He thought sourly of the old James.
"No, an owl is perfect. Wise, intelligent, inconspicuous. And black! Perfect for hiding at night!" She rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly on the lips. "You're so talented, Sev, and I couldn't be more proud of you."
Sev smiled and held her against his chest. "I love you, Lily Evans."
"I love you too, Severus Prince. Always."
A/N2; This is late because I was in the midst of finals and my stress level was through the roof. My apologies for keeping you waiting past the first of this month. :/ I will try to have the next chapter up around or just after Christmas. It will be a Christmas chapter. :)