August 1993
"I'm sure you're wondering why we've gathered you here today," Sirius announced at the breakfast table one morning.
"Not really, if we're being honest," Harry mouthed.
"Harry! Don't be rude. We're very interested in anything you have to say, Mr. Sirius," Hermione said, ducking her head and blushing.
"NO!" Harry shouted, noticing his friend's embarrassment. "We've talked about this! You don't blush in front of Padfoot! It gives him a big head!"
"A big head!" Rigel echoed.
"Pup! You're on my side, remember!" Sirius said, mock offended. Rigel just laughed at his father.
"So, why are we here?" Fred asked, curious.
"Hestia, Minerva, The Weasleys, The Longbottoms, Narcissa, and I have come to an agreement. Severus thinks it's a horrible idea, but that's the difference between potions and transfiguration. One takes imagination, the other is strict adherence to the rules. Now, Fred and George, this might be a stressful undertaking in your O.W.L. year, but I have faith that you can do it."
"What is it, exactly, that you're asking us to do?" Hermione asked.
"We're talking about letting you lot study to be animagi," Sirius said, smirking.
Harry, wide-eyed, got out of his chair and walked around the table, grabbing Sirius as quickly as he could. The youngest of the Weasley family high fived each other and whooped their cheer. Neville preened, as if he already knew what Sirius was going to say and was happy to be considered. Hermione was the only one who looked confused and upset.
"Isn't it highly illegal for underaged witches and wizards to attempt magic outside of school, let alone the complex magic that becoming an animagi would require?" Hermione finally asked, breaking everyone out of their stupor.
"Hermione, why are you trying to kill the fun," Draco said, entering the room with Snape behind him.
"Where have you been, wanker?" Harry shouted, jumping away from his hug with Sirius.
"What does it matter to you? I didn't go and save some girl's life without you. I'm actually loyal to my friends," Draco scoffed.
"Thanks, Draco," Ginny groused, crossing her arms.
"Why are we ignoring the illegality of the situation at hand!?" Hermione screamed.
"Because none of us care!" Ron shouted.
"Because it's a family tradition, Hermione," Remus explained.
"What?" Hermione asked intelligently.
"Everyone one sit down and eat your breakfast. Apparently, there needs to be a backstory," Remus said, scrubbing his face. "Now, I'm sure all of you are aware that I'm a werewolf-"
"WHAT!" Hermione screamed again.
"Did someone not mention that fact?" Remus asked, looking at the others pre-teens in the room.
"It… It… Never came up," Harry said, ducking his head.
"Yeah, Moony. I mean, we've always sort of known. Remus: tall, grouchy, loves chocolate, werewolf. It's always just been that way, so now it's sort of background information. We never thought to tell her. Everyone we know already knows," Neville explained as best he could.
"Ah, I see," Remus nodded.
"But... But… How?" Hermione blurted out. Then, realizing her impoliteness, she added, "If you don't mind, Sir."
"No, no. It's something we need to deal with now. I was attacked when I was four because my father made some comments that he shouldn't have. Now, I get to live with the same condition he deemed dark, dirty, disgusting, and worthy of death by fire. Sometimes, sins of the father are visited on by the son," Remus informed them.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Hermione said quietly.
"It's okay, Hermione. Now, because of the age that I was bitten, there was a question of whether or not it would be safe for me to go to Hogwarts. I will always be a bit grateful that Dumbledore fought so hard to get me in. There I met James and Sirius. They were bound determined to be my friend, no matter what. In our second year, they confronted me about being a werewolf. I thought they were done with me, but no. Stupid, brave Gryffindors that they are, they stuck around. Now, Sirius, you need to tell the next part of the story," Remus explained.
"What's to explain? The few books we could find on werewolf-ism said that being near other animals helped. Then, being the wonderful pureblood boys we were, we looked up animagi transformations and spent the next two years getting the situation down. After we were able to control our transformations, we ran every full moon with Moony," Sirius said with a shrug.
"Did you register?" Hermione asked.
"At 16? We surely did not," Sirius sniffed.
"Are you registered now?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. You lot, however, will not be registering," Sirius answered.
"Why not?" Hermione asked, concerned.
"Because, luv, we can't trust our government like you can trust yours," Fred explained, causing Hermione to blush.
"Yeah, Mione, the Ministry of Magic is sketchy on the best of days. The last couple of decades, though? They've been bad. I mean, Ginny was possessed by a book last year and no one noticed and Dumbledore wasn't fired. They're not an ethical lot," Ron explained, taking a bite of breakfast.
"All of this is well and good, but we have to get started. You don't want that mandrake leaf under your tongue for too long at school. Trust me, I know," Sirius laughed.
"Is that what you were doing during Halloween third year?" Remus asked, laughing softly at a half remembered memory.
"It really was. Now, here are your leaves. I suggest a nice sticking charm, these have to stay under your tongue for a month. You'll cover the first three weeks before school, so you'll only have to keep it there during the first week," Sirius smirked.
"I hate mandrake leaves," Hermione said under her breath. "They taste like moldy feet."
"Um, all of this is good and well," Ron started, thinking of an obvious problem he would have. "But I've got no decent wand? What do I do?"
"Ah, yes. I believe you polished trophies for detentions following the car into the Whomping Willow incident, yes? Well, we've some lovely silver here at Potter Manor that needs a bit of cleaning up. You manage that, the muggle way of course, then we'll see about getting you that new wand. How does that sound?" Sirius said, eyes twinkling.
"Yeah, I guess," Ron moped. And that was the story of how Ron got his second wand.
Ron and Draco were running around Potter Manor with mops attempting to hit one another with the dirty end. What else were they to do when they couldn't use magic and it was pouring rain outside. Hermione and Ginny were assessing their new clothes for the school year with Marly pouting.
Fred and George were up in a room, refusing to let anyone else in. The faint smell coming from the room was defused by the scent from downstairs.
Harry and Neville were in fooling around in the kitchen with Aida, the House Elf. The smell of cookies was deceiving. Everyone knew not to touch the cookies that were being baked unless they were dared. So when Remus Lupin walked into the kitchen and saw the two boys he sighed.
"Gather everyone up," He told the two boys.
Within the two minutes of Harry and Neville's yelling around Potter Manor, they had assembled the group.
"Before you all leave for school, there is something I must tell you." Remus started as Hermione picked up a cookie. Ginny snatch it out of her hands and threw it against the wall, leaving small dent.
Laughter exploded.
"Focus," He told the laughing group. "Peter Pettigrew escaped from Azkaban last night." That killed the mood. "We want all of you to have a fantastic year, but you need to be cautious of this."
Harry shifted in his seat as Lupin stared directly at him, "You are not to go looking for Pettigrew."
"I know," Harry whispered looking over to Ginny. "I think I've learned not to play hero."
"That includes all of you," Remus said. "Promise?"
They did.
September 1993
"Moony, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be at Hogwarts early," Harry asked at Platform 9 ¾.
"I'm going to ride up with you," Remus informed him.
"Why?" Harry asked bluntly.
"Harry, how did you get to school last year?" Remus asked, crossing his arms.
"That doesn't count! We couldn't get through!" Harry immediately threw his hands in the air.
"That's exactly why I'm coming with you," Remus said.
"A chaperone! You're sending a chaperone!" Harry said, turning to Sirius and Hestia.
"You're damn skippy. You can't even get to school without alerting at least seven muggles to the existence of magic. That cost me several hundred galleons to cover up. You'll ride with Remus and you'll like it," Sirius demanded.
Remus ushered Harry onto the train and picked a compartment for them to ride in. They stowed Harry's trunk and waited for the others to arrive. Slowly, but surely, they did.
"Are you riding with us?" Hermione asked politely.
"Good to see you, Professor," Neville greeted, unsurprised.
"What the bloody hell?" Ron asked, intelligently.
"Shut up, Ron," Ginny followed instantly.
"We have a babysitter? This is all your fault, Potter!" Draco shouted, barely making the train at all.
Remus rolled his eyes, then rolled up his coat and promptly fell asleep. The ride went on for hours before darkness enveloped the train and the temperature dropped considerably.
"It's only the middle of the afternoon? Why is it already dark?" Hermione asked, checking the vents as a source of sudden cooling.
The dementor entered their compartment about then, looking for a source of happiness far greater than the worthless souls in Azkaban. The feeling of dread, hopelessness, and apathy spread over the group. Harry, they noticed, was having a harder time fighting the despair then them. Remus was jolted from his sleep when the thing passed over him.
"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, sending the dementor away. Harry, unfortunately, was already passed out on the floor. "Okay. Chocolate for everyone one. Back up so I can have a look at Harry, if you will, please."
Remus looked Harry over, then set about reviving him. Harry blushed as he realized he was the only one to have passed out.
"Well, that's embarrassing," Harry blushed.
"Here, Prongslet, eat some chocolate. It always helps with dementor attacks. Remember that, all of you. Chocolate for dementors," Remus said, his voice bordering professorial.
"Chocolate for dementors," Hermione repeated, her hand unconsciously twitching for a pen.
"Geez, Mione, we're not even at school yet! Calm down!" Ron said, grabbing her hand.
"I heard screaming," Harry said suddenly. He looked to Remus. "I saw a flash of green light and heard screaming. It was Mum, wasn't it? I was remembering Mum dying, wasn't I?"
"Yes, Harry, you were. I won't sugar coat it. I will, however, inform Sirius of the situation, including the fact that there were dementors on the train, and let the Ancient and Noble House of Black handle the situation," Remus said, patting Harry on the back.
"Gah!" Neville commented, finally finishing his piece of chocolate. "Mandrake makes even chocolate foul!"
"Hey, roomie." Ginny said, walking into the third year girls' room and tossing her stuff on the bed next to Hermione.
"Ginny! What are you doing in here?" Hermione asked, sorting clothes as she went.
"Traded Romilda Vain for her bed. All it took was three pairs of Harry's boxers. Easy, really," Ginny said with a shrug.
"Really? One pair of Draco's boxers got me a whole term of not hearing her voice. Interesting that Draco's are worth less than Harry's. Should we tell them?" Hermione asked.
"And give them that power? Or worse, take away our bargaining chip?" Ginny asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"So true. So, you live here now?" Hermione asked. "Is that even allowed?"
"Guess we'll find out," Ginny replied and started unpacking her trunk, ending the conversation.
September 13, 1993
Peeves was now Ginny's favorite poltergeist. He was currently chasing the second year girls around the second floor corridor with dungbombs.
"Funny how things changed over the summer," an airy voice said next to Ginny. She smiled over to the blond girl sitting next to her. Luna Lovegood.
"I guess having Fred and George as brothers has perks." Ginny said walking down the stairs with Luna.
"You know you could have talked to me last year, It wouldn't have been odd."
Ginny stopped in her tracks. "I-I didn't think to ask."
"Maybe it was the Nargles." Luna told her as they entered the Great Hall.
"Yeah," Ginny said taking a seat next to her group of third year boys. "Must have been."
"Gin," Draco asked, looking at his step-father and back to her. "Why is Severus glaring at you?"
"She hasn't been to potions class yet," Luna said dazed. "I've been giving her the assignments. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws have the class together this year."
"Why have you been skipping classes?" Ron asked. "Mum will kill you if she finds out."
"Then she won't find out, will she," Ginny hissed, staring daggers at her brother.
"Why haven't you been to classes?" Hermione asked, taking a seat next to Neville and Draco across the table. "You know that your education is the best thing you will get out of Hogwarts. It is the foundation of your life."
"Save it, Hermione," Ginny groaned. "I just-I just don't want to go down there is all."
Harry and Draco paled.
"Come again?" Draco said.
"You don't get to judge me," she glared at him before picking up her stuff from the table.
"Ginny, I thought you-you said you were-" Hermione started.
"None of you do. Especially you," She hissed, looking at Draco.
Everyone in earshot was staring at the quarrel, mouths wide in shock.
"Fix her,+" Harry demanded shutting Draco's books. "I saved her. You fix her, it's the least you can do!"
"I thought we were fine," Draco stammered, looking at Hermione, who was blushing.
"Clearly not. Now go fix your mistake."
October 2, 1993
Since early October fell on a weekend, and since most of the students were caught up on their homework, Professor McGonagall decided to have a 'family meeting' in her office. The mandrake leaves had been successful enough that the entire group was ready to move onto the next step: a 'vision quest' to find their inner spirit animal. None of them could produce a corporeal patronus, so they were doing this the hard way. Remus had allowed that this was poetic, as James and Sirius, and the Rat Bastard, would have had to go through this themselves.
"How did they manage to do this without alerting anyone?" Remus queried, helping Minerva set everything they needed up.
"First of all, there were many, many theoretical questions posed by both Mr. Potter and Mr. Black during those two years. Second of all, didn't young Miss Granger just brew polyjuice in a toilet without raising any red flags? The only adult aware was Sirius and he thought it was a joke," Minerva informed him, eyebrow raised.
"Aunt Minnie, why are we having tea and biscuits today? Don't you usually wait until there is some bad news?" Harry asked.
"You are here for the next step of your animagus journey. We have to do this the long way, as none of you have corporeal patronus forms. So, drink up and in about an hour, you'll know what your animagi form will be. From there, you will begin a complex study of anatomy and physiology of said creature, advanced transfiguration, wandless magic, and various other areas that will aid your transformation," Minerva explained as Remus handed out teacups full of the necessary potion.
The group drank the foul potion, gagging a bit, before they went into a trance state. Remus and Minerva notesd several movements and half-mutters that helped them identify the different forms the kids would be taking. Finally, they began to shake off their potion induced stupor and come to.
The reactions varied from person to person. Harry didn't look phased at all, as if he expected the form he saw. Ginny looked confused, as if she didn't understand what had just happened. Draco also looked confused and a bit put out, as if he'd been expecting something much larger than what he'd seen. Fred and George immediately began whispering frantically to each other, confirming matching animals. Ron looked pleased, but not shocked. Neville stared at his cup, as if he had taken the wrong potion and hadn't seen his spirit animal, but a crazy hallucination.
Hermione's reaction was the most surprising of all. After taking a moment to realize that the potion had, in fact, worked properly, she did the most un-Hermione thing she could. She stood up, threw the offending teacup at a wall, causing it to shatter, and stormed out, tears in her eye. As she left, she was heard to say, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Wonder what she saw," Harry commented, worried.
"We won't know until she tells us. For now, do the rest of you have your forms in mind so that you can begin your formal training?" Remus asked, eye each student individually.
The teens groaned and agreed, not fully prepared for the amount of effort this project was going to take.
Gabs: So, Pettigrew escaped. Lovely. That won't be a disaster at all. Also, glossing will take a one chapter hiatus next chapter. The whole thing will end up being Halloween weekend.
Kat: We own nothing. Just saying. Also, if you want a one-shot about how Draco gets Ginny over her fear of the dungeons, you better comment and tell us. Or else, I won't etch out some time to write it this week.
Gabs: Which leads to the next big announcement! Thanks to real life we'll not be doing the Tuesday updates anymore. Only Saturday updates for right now.
Kat: Yeah, sorry. I started Grad School. Blame me.
Gabs: Or me, I'm just very useless.
Kat: I thought you were the prideful one...
XOXO
Gabs & Kat
