AN: I've always pictured James' father (whether you call him Fleamont or Charlus) as being similar to Arthur Weasley at times. Maybe a little more serious though, because he's an auror.
With third year and on, I plan to do more with the chapters so prepare yourselves, we're getting much more detailed. I knew I wanted to include the first few years and several key moments in them (instead of plopping everybody down in their fourth or fifth year), but I never planned on fleshing them out too much. That might change in the future if I go back and add things, but we'll see.
Once again, I am but a simple fanfiction writer. Anything you recognize probably belongs to JK, and the other stuff is mine.
Less than three, Loves
"James Charlus Potter, you will not cause your sister to miss the train!" Dorea Potter yelled up the stairs. "If you are not down here in five minutes, we are leaving and I will take you to school myself in the morning. Tomorrow morning!"
"Dorea," Charlus moaned, "you wouldn't make the boy miss the welcome feast. It's the best meal of the year!"
"Maybe your son should have thought about that when he was putting off packing for the last month!" Bellamy giggled at her parents. She had also told James that he needed to be packing but every time she did, he told her that Hogwarts was ages away and that he would be fine.
"I'm coming!" James called, galloping down the stairs two at a time. His parents and sister watched as he seemed to lose control, then regain his balance before skidding to a stop at the bottom. Missy appeared next to him with his trunk.
Looking her brother up and down, Bellamy raised her eyebrow.
"Jamie?"
"Yes, sister dear?"
"You haven't got your wand." James' eyes went wide and his hands searched his pants before sprinting back up to his room. He returned minutes later, out of breath, but holding his mahogany wand tightly in his left hand.
"You should always have your wand close by, James." Their father said sternly. "You never want to be caught off guard and unable to defend yourself."
"Dad, I swear I thought it was in my pocket."
"Jamie, it shouldn't go in your pocket either. Dad bought you that holster for a reason." The small family made their way out onto the front walk as Mr. Potter began telling the same story he always told his family when the topic of wands in pockets came up.
"You know, when I was in my second year in the auror department, I was partnered with a fellow named Chopper. This, of course, wasn't his real name, but a nickname given to him after a rather nasty incident. You see, the wand he had in his pocket went off accidentally and he chopped off his…"
"Yes, Charlus, it is a wonderful story to tell the children, but I would really rather we not be late."
"Right, too right you are Dorea. Off we go!"
The four Potters made their way through the crowds at King's Cross and onto platform nine and three-quarters with fifteen minutes to spare.
"See mum, we aren't late at all!" James cried as he spotted the clock on the wall. His mother gave an exasperated sigh before leaning down to Bellamy and speaking in a stage whisper.
"I am fairly confident that your brother will be late to his own wedding if we are not careful." Bellamy laughed.
"Oi! When Evans and I get married I'll be there on time. I might even be early." James cried. His father made a face and Bellamy laughed even harder while his mother gave him a disapproving look.
"That is never going to happen. Ever. So stop thinking about it Potter." James turned on the spot to see Lily standing with her arms crossed and hip cocked to the side.
"We're only thirteen, Evans. How could you possibly know who you get married to?" She scoffed.
"All I need to know is that it most definitely will not be you." She turned to the other Potters and gave them a brilliant smile. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Hi Bellamy."
"Hello Ms. Evans. Lovely to see you again. Are these your parents? Three years of coming to Hogwarts and I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting them." Lily nodded.
"This is my mum, Ivy Evans and my dad, Richard Evans." Dorea shook Mr. and Mrs. Evans' hands.
"Dorea Potter, and this is my husband, Charlus. You of course met him over the summer. We enjoyed having Lily in our home, you have raised a beautiful young lady." Lily blushed and Bellamy heard a small huff coming from behind Mr. and Mrs. Evans. The small group turned their attention to the tall, thin, brown haired young girl standing slightly off to the side.
"You must be Petunia." Dorea extended her hand politely and Petunia looked at it as though she were about to be slapped.
"Don't be rude, Tuney." Lily hissed, and Petunia reluctantly shook Dorea's hand.
"It is so wonderful that you come to see your little sister off to Hogwarts. It must be hard being away from her for so long. I know James and Bellamy would struggle so much, were they not able to go to school together. You must be a wonderful big sister." Petunia's sharp cheekbones turned bright red and she blinked at the strange woman in front of her. She was saved by the shrill whistle of the train as the adults hurried their children onto the train.
Dragging their trunks behind them, Bellamy, James, and Lily made their way down the center of the train. It didn't take long for them to reach the Marauders' compartment, pulling the door open to find Peter pulling out a chess board from his trunk, Sirius attempting to do a headstand on the seat, and Remus reading one of this year's textbooks in the corner.
"James!" Sirius cried, toppling forward off the seat, launching himself at James and Bellamy the moment he was upright. "Thank Merlin you're here. I didn't want to start without you!" The pair hoisted James and Bellamy's trunk up into the overhead compartment and James sat down.
"I'll be back in a minute, I just wanted to drop off my trunk before walking Lily to her compartment." Bellamy said and Sirius pouted dramatically, his silver gray eyes wide.
"Are you sure you don't want to sit with us this year, Lily-bug?" Lily smiled politely back at him.
"I would rather jump in a pit of flobberworms, Black."
Sirius stroked an imaginary beard, "I might be able to arrange that with Hagrid.".
"I'll be back." Bellamy said, ignoring Sirius and closing the compartment door."
"I'm starting without you then!" Sirius' voice called through the door.
"Starting what?" Lily asked as the girls made their way down the train. Bellamy sighed.
"Last year, before I came to sit with you, he gave us a full, in-depth explanation of how he got on his parents' nerves and the stupid things he did to 'rebel against the system' or whatever." Lily frowned.
"Isn't that kind of…" She trailed off.
"Dangerous? Idiotic? Certifiably insane? Absolutely, but he thinks it's a wonderful way to pass the time over the summer, seeing how far he can push them." Bellamy trailed off as they passed a group of Slytherins. The pair found the compartment occupied by the rest of the third year gryffindors and they stopped in the door.
"Are you sure you don't want to sit with us this year, Belly-bug?" Lily asked in a fairly accurate representation of Sirius' pout and puppy dog eyes and Bellamy laughed.
"While I wouldn't go as far as bathing in Hagrid's flobberworms, I did promise the boys I'd sit with them." Marlene's voice carried from the compartment.
"Let Bellamy run off to her boys. Then maybe she can help us avoid whatever hell they bring down at the feast."
"I'll find you lot after and ride up with you in a carriage." Lily smiled.
"Then we can discuss the…" Marlene came flying out of the compartment and grabbed Lily from behind, clasping a hand over her mouth.
"See you later Bells, love you, don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
"That doesn't really restrict me too much, Marley." The blonde flipped Bellamy the bird as she laughed and pulled Lily into the compartment.
On her way back to the boys' compartment, Bellamy found her way blocked by Mulciber and Avery.
"Well well well, if it isn't a little pussycat all on her own." Mulciber taunted. Bellamy rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Mulciber. I'm all alone. Except for the several dozen compartments filled with other students."
"Well they can't help you if they can't hear you, silencio!" Avery cried and Bellamy laughed, albeit silently, at the stupidity of the Slytherins. She was about to raise her wand when a compartment to her right slid open, revealing newly appointed Ravenclaw prefect, Mark McKinnon, also known as Marlene's cool older brother.
"Is there a problem here?"
"Nothing that concerns you, McKinnon." Avery sneered and Mark smiled politely.
"Wonderful, then I'll just borrow Bellamy for a quick chat." He draped his arm across Bellamy's shoulder and walked past the two Slytherins towards the front of the train.
As soon as they were several cars away, the pair found an empty compartment. Bellamy motioned to her mouth and Mark canceled the charm with a quick 'finite'.
"Thanks Mark. You're a life-saver." He smiled.
"You know me, always fighting for the people." He pretended to shine his prefect badge. "Plus, I was on my way to the prefects' compartment anyway. Though that being said, I'm not sure if I've done Hogwarts a favor or not. Maybe keeping you silent would benefit us a tad. Maybe we wouldn't wake up with our clothes dyed bright purple?" Bellamy laughed.
"You should be thanking me for the fact that you had clothing at all that morning." Bellamy smiled brightly, thanking Mark again before making her way back to the boys' compartment.
The four boys all looked up as Bellamy slid the compartment door open and plopped into the seat next to her brother.
"We were just debating whether we ought to come find you. What kept you?" James asked, and Bellamy groaned, knocking her head against the back of the seat.
"Mulciber and Avery were being stupid. Thought they could catch me alone in the middle of the train." Sirius and James laughed, Peter gave a half-hearted chuckle before returning to the chess board in front of him and Remus frowned.
"Did they hurt you?"
"As if they could pull one over on Bellamy!" Sirius said before she could answer.
"Has anyone ever caught Bellamy off guard?" James asked.
"I'm not infallible Jamie. None of us are. It just happens to be easier to fight stupid Slytherins when they start it in front of a prefect's compartment." James laughed.
"Please tell me it was Vance." Sirius said, hands clasped together. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to see the looks on their faces when Emmaline tells them to go stuff it."
"It was Mark actually, Marlene's brother." Bellamy said, also smiling at the image of Emmaline yelling at Mulciber and Avery.
"Did Mark take points from them already? It would be sweet if we were already ahead of the snakes." James asked and Bellamy shook her head.
"No, he just steered me away from them."
"Probably better for their health that way." Peter muttered before commanding his pawn to E3 and capturing Remus' bishop.
"It would be better for their health if they stopped trying to attack people at all. They never come out of it unscathed and very rarely do they actually win." Remus said, pondering the chess board.
"If they fancy themselves masochists, then so be it. More fun for me." Sirius smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Bellamy and Remus rolled their eyes.
"So are you going to tell us about this summer or not?" James asked, bouncing slightly on the bench seat. Sirius grinned, leaving his seat to squeeze between James and Peter.
"Tell me lads and Bellamy. Have you ever heard of a motorbike?"
Sirius spent the next hour explaining each poster in extreme detail, from the color of the girl's bikini to the type of motorcycle they were leaning against.
"Did you do anything besides permanently stick mostly nude women to your bedroom walls?" Remus asked.
"Oh Moony. Dear, sweet, innocent Moony." Sirius shook his head. "I must have forgotten the best part. I linked a new portrait to our house. You know, so she can wander throughout the other portraits? Oh Candy is a treasure. Pretty sure Grandfather Pollux also enjoyed the prank. At least at first he did. Uncle Alphard definitely loved it. Unfortunately, the rest of the family and all of our guests this summer seemed to find it rather distasteful."
"Is she wearing anything at all, Sirius?" Bellamy asked as the other boys gaped at their friend.
"Of course, Bellamy. What do you take me for, some depraved lunatic?"
"Yes." Bellamy and Remus said together and Sirius pretended to be shocked.
"She's covered. Covered in a red and gold scarf. Pretty sure that from certain angles you can see her…"
"And that's all I needed to hear. Are we going to talk about something else or should I go sit with Lily and Marlene again." Bellamy's voice seemed to wake the boys from the trance Sirius had spelled over them and they all blushed, looking as though they'd been caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
They spent the next few hours taking turns losing to Peter at chess and discussing the long list of pranks they had planned for the year.
Bellamy let out a sigh of relief when Remus stood up from the bench, announcing he was going to change into his robes and use the loo.
"Don't think too much about Candy while you're in there Remus. There's not a lot of room in those toilets." Sirius called after him. Remus didn't even turn his back, lifting the two finger salute over his head as a sign of acknowledgment instead.
Bellamy closed and locked the door, silencing the compartment before pulling her notebook out from her shoulder bag and flipping to the pages of notes she took over the summer.
"What are you doing, Mimi?" James asked, peering over her shoulder.
"Do we not want Moony to come back?" Peter added.
"I just needed to make sure he didn't interrupt us. I might have found a way to help Remus." Sirius laughed.
"I'm pretty sure Remus is going to be a prude for the rest of his life. There's not much we can do, Bell."
"Shut up, Sirius. I meant a way to help him on the full moon." The boys stared at her blankly.
"Are you telling us you've found a cure for lycanthropy?" James asked, dumbfounded. Bellamy rolled her eyes.
"No, stupid. I'm telling you there might be a way for us to help him cope better during the full moon. Right, so what's the main reason we can't go into the shack to help him right now?"
"I-is that a serious question?" Peter stuttered but James answered.
"We don't want to get ripped to shreds and die a painful death, Bellamy. Don't tell me your plan is to go into the shack on the full moon."
"And I'm pretty sure Moony would off himself if he bit one of us and we turned into a werewolf." Sirius added.
"But what if I found a way for his bite to not turn us?" She asked, gauging the boys' reactions.
"You've found a way to what, make him impotent or something?" Sirius asked, eyes narrow.
"Sirius, you're a moron. Werewolf bites will always turn a human into a werewolf if bitten on the full moon." Bellamy said.
"Then what is the point of this conversation?" Sirius cried, venting his frustration.
"What if we weren't human?" The boys blinked at her. "What if we were animagi?"
"What does that mean?" Peter asked and Bellamy groaned in frustration.
"Just meet me in the common room tonight at midnight." Bellamy canceled all of the charms on the compartment door and settled back into her seat with her astronomy textbook.
Remus returned to the compartment several minutes later to find his friends still staring at Bellamy who sat, reading her book and ignoring them.
"You four should change now, we're almost there."
As the boys were pulling their robes from their trunks, Peter gasped.
"Like McGonagall!" James and Sirius laughed and Sirius clapped him on the back.
"Well done, mate." Remus looked from the boys to Bellamy in confusion, noting the poorly concealed half-grimace, half-smile on Bellamy's face.
Once on the platform, Bellamy quickly found Lily and Marlene and hopped into a carriage with them.
"So, are we doing this?" Marlene asked, bouncing in her seat.
"Yes, Marlene. We just need to place the extra silverware in this bag so people won't be able to summon it." Bellamy motioned to her shoulder bag.
"Where did you get a bag like that?" Lily eyed the bag curiously and Bellamy shrugged.
"Dad got it for me in Diagon over the summer."
"So who's going to grab the silverware?" Marlene asked.
"I'll go grab them, I have the bag and the elves love me. You two can stand watch. It should only take a second, but I don't know what Jamie has planned."
The trio carefully planned their deviation from the crowd funneling into the Great Hall and made their way down the corridor to the portrait of the fruit bowl. Bellamy tickled the pear and climbed through the opening.
"Miss Bellamy!" Immediately, she was met with three eager elves.
"Miss Bellamy be visiting early this year. Is Miss Bellamy planning mischief?" The elf bounced on the balls of her feet, eyes gleaming.
"I might be. Do you think I could have all of the forks and spoons, Tippy?"
"Miss be only wanting the forks and spoons?"
"Yes please. I promise I'll return them after the feast." The elf nodded.
"As Miss requests!" The elf led Bellamy over to the counter with bins full of silverware and helped her load the contents into her bag. "Miss is okay with the heavy bag?" Bellamy shifted the bag onto her shoulder.
"It's not too bad, Tippy. I'll be back after the feast." She waved at the other elves and climbed back out of the portrait.
"Are we all set?" Lily looked at the bag hanging off Bellamy's shoulder. "That doesn't look too heavy."
"We're all good Lily, I promise. Let's go before we're missed." The girls rushed to the Great Hall and took their seats next to Alice and Mary, across from the Marauders.
Sirius leaned over the table.
"Where were you three then?"
"McGonagall wanted me to tell her what you four had planned." Bellamy said, not missing a beat.
"You didn't break, did you?" James asked, worried.
"Potter, are you telling me that there is something planned for dinner?" Lily snapped.
"Absolutely not. But we do have plans." Sirius chimed in.
"And now they know we have plans." Remus muttered, shaking his head as McGonagall led the first years in through the double doors.
The sorting was unremarkable and then Dumbledore stood from his seat.
"Welcome those new and those returning. Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I know we are eager to tuck in to our feast and I shall not hold us up any longer." He waved his hands in a grand gesture and the tables filled with delicious smelling food.
It took several moments before whispers started breaking out across the hall.
"Are we embracing our caveman background?" Sirius said, eyeing the place his fork ought to have been.
"Not like it takes much for you, Black." Marlene smirked, assembling her plate with finger foods.
Several of the older students pulled out their wands and attempted to summon silverware for themselves. The girls held their breath, but Bellamy's bag didn't so much as quiver.
Some of the students gave up on any decorum they had and used their hands to eat their turkey and potatoes while others stuck to the more accessible foods. Desert was more of a challenge and most of the food remained untouched, save the plates of cookies and some of the fruit.
Dumbledore stood from his seat once more, wiping his hands off on a napkin.
"Hogwarts seems to have been the victim of a cutlery thief. I hope you all enjoyed that little challenge. Maybe this experience will encourage you to try understanding how others navigate life when provided with different or less resources." Dumbledore was met with an awkward silence that he breezed over.
"Moving on to several bits of housekeeping. A small reminder to all students that dueling in the corridors is strictly forbidden. Mr. Filch has asked me to also mention that destruction of school property will result in detention, as will being out of bounds after curfew. The Highly Discouraged Forest remains highly discouraged and I implore all students with an interest in examining the Whomping Willow to rethink their interest, lest their exploration result in an untimely demise." Dumbledore gave the students a not-so reassuring smile. "Moving on to staffing adjustments, I am pleased to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Ronan Carmichael." A tall man with a short, dark beard stood and smiled, nodding to Dumbledore before sitting back down. "I leave you now with these words of wisdom. Taradiddle, gardyloo, bloviate, nincompoop, thank you."
"Absolutely mental, he is." Marlene muttered as the scraping of benches filled the hall.
"He's a genius." Sirius said, looking back at the bearded man who was now engaged in a spirited discussion with McGonagall.
"I'll give you that, Sirius, but I agree with Marlene too." Bellamy said as the students were jostled towards the doors. "And I'm still not convinced that he shouldn't have been a Slytherin.."
"Maybe you're the one off your rocker." Sirius scoffed. "Dumbledore is one of the bravest wizards in the world. He defeated Grindelwald." James added.
"Being a Gryffindor is not a requirement for defeating a dark wizard, Jamie." Bellamy retorted.
"As much as I agree with your logic Bellamy, I really don't have the energy to referee another debate right now." Remus said as the group made their way up the staircase.
"I'm with Remus." Lily agreed as the Gryffindor continued climbing.
"I don't know what they're talking about. I always love a good Bellamy/Sirius argument. Even better if James is involved because Bellamy goes easier on him than she does on Sirius and that escalates everything. Usually rather disappointing because Bellamy wins all the time, but it's good fun anyways." Marlene chattered, bouncing along the corridor.
"You're not the one that has to prevent bodily harm though, are you Marlene?" Lily asked in a huff.
"Again, what are you talking about? The potential for bodily harm is one of the best parts!"
"Until Sirius is in the hospital wing for two days while Madam Pomfrey tries to remove his tail." Remus complained. "You know he fought Madam Pomfrey about it? Wanted to keep the damn thing, said it gave him an air of mystery. He kept that tail for far longer than necessary."
"Moony, I promise that the next time you're ill, Sirius will wait on you, hand and foot." Bellamy offered.
"Oi! You can't make promises like that!" Sirius cried from the back of the group.
"Thank you for that offer, Sirius. I will be taking you up on that." Remus smiled and Sirius let out a dramatic moan.
The mass of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws split on the fifth floor and the Gryffindors finished the last two flights of stairs before coming to the portrait hole. The third years joined the other older years in passing by the small group of first years and clambering through the hole.
"See you in an hour or two, Bellamy!" Sirius called over his shoulder as the boys split off and went up their staircase.
As the girls made their way up their own stairs, Marlene spoke up.
"Why do you even come up with us anymore, Bells? Wouldn't it be easier to just go up with them?" Bellamy sighed.
"I'm not going up there to hang out with the boys. I'm going up there to be with Jamie."
"But you're with him all summer! I swear, you're way more tolerant of your brother than I am of mine." Marlene said as she pushed open the door to their dorm.
"Yes, well I feel that I am more tolerant of most things when compared to you Marley." Bellamy bit back, a small smirk pulling at her lips.
"That's probably accurate." Marlene nodded, smiling brightly at her friend.
"Either way, I still only spend a few nights up there. You can't complain when you get me for the rest of the year." Bellamy flopped forward onto her four poster. "You know, I think these beds are nicer than they were last year." Her voice was muffled by the fluffy bedspread.
"I think you're just tired, Bellamy." Alice said. Without moving her body, Bellamy lifted her arm, pointed towards the sound of Alice's voice and said,
"And that is why I love your advice, Ally." Her voice still muffled. "Always the voice of reason." Bellamy rolled over to face the small, curly blonde. "You, Alice Fortescue, are a treasure. And don't let anyone tell you different." Alice blushed.
"Somebody's feeling sentimental. Are you dying or something?" Mary asked bluntly and the other girls all giggled.
"Bellamy isn't dying. She's just over tired and over fed." Lily said, smiling down at her best friend.
The girls changed into their pajamas and spent the next hour talking about their summers. Mary's family took her to southern France and they spent several minutes giggling at the photos she had brought, most involving shirtless boys on the beach. Alice spent the summer helping out at her father's shop. Marlene's parents had ministry work to do in America, so the whole family took a vacation.
"You wouldn't believe the insanity that is MACUSA. You know they call muggles 'no-maj'? As in no-magic? And holy Merlin, their accents? They sound nothing like those muggle pictures you showed us Lily."
"Yes, Marlene. They have different accents depending on where you're from, just like we do here." Lily rolled her eyes.
Lily's family didn't go on vacation anywhere and Lily spent most of her summer with Severus.
"Come on Lily, why do you hang out with Snape? Those Slytherins are awful!" Both Bellamy and Lily gave an exasperated sigh at Mary's comment.
"Did you not pay attention to the argument on the way up here?" Alice asked, shoving Mary's shoulder lightly.
"No, I did. I just figured Lily would get sick of him not standing up for her if they're meant to be friends." Mary was met with an uncomfortable silence.
After several, very long moments, Bellamy clapped her hands and stood.
"Well, I'm off to find the boys! I'll see you girls tomorrow."
"It shouldn't be that hard to find them, being in their dorm and all." Alice called after her and Bellamy smiled to herself, shaking her head as she chuckled.
The walk to the boys' dorm had become increasingly less covert over the past few years. Most of the tower knew that Bellamy spent several nights a year in the boys dormitory though none of them fancied incurring the wrath of the marauders so nothing was said.
"There's my favorite stowaway!" Sirius said as she opened the door.
"I'm not a stowaway, Sirius. I walked here." Bellamy said, sitting on the floor and leaning against James' bed.
"So are we going to talk about what you said on the train, Bellamy?" Peter asked, eyes bright.
"What did you say on the train, Bellamy?" Remus looked from Bellamy to each of the boys.
The pause was minuscule, but Bellamy was sure Remus picked up on the hesitation before James answered.
"Bellamy was saying that she thinks that fourth year Hufflepuff fancies Sirius. What's her name?"
"If we're truly being honest, you could just pick any girl and say the same thing." Sirius said with a cocky smile.
"Yes yes, Sirius, girls can't get enough of your inbred characteristics and hardly subtle innuendos. That's exactly what girls see in their dream guy."
"Well it does seem like it is." Said Peter.
"Trust me, Peter. The girls that date Sirius don't have a brain in their head."
"I'm not looking for a girl with a brain, Bellamy. That's what I have you and Lily for."
"Oi, what's that mean?" James asked hotly.
"Get that twist out of your knickers, James. I'm not moving in on your territory."
"I'm not anyone's territory. Can we please stop talking about this now? I'd like to get some actual sleep tonight." Bellamy said before the conversation turned any worse.
"Might I remind you, Bluebell. You're in our dormitory. Maybe we don't want to go to sleep yet." Sirius said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Or maybe you're very tired and want to go to sleep. Bellamy said pointedly, and crawled into James' bed.
"You're getting too big for this." James said as the pair curled up under the covers.
"I'm not the only one who grew over the summer, Jamie. Besides, we'll only be here for a little bit before we go down to the common room."
The pair lay awake for the next half hour before Bellamy prodded James' side.
"Come on, I'll get Sirius." James nodded and moved to Peter's bed.
Pulling back the curtains on Sirius' bed, Bellamy groaned and closed it again.
"Tell me you're fucking joking." Bellamy hissed. Seconds later, Sirius pulled the curtain back, adjusting his pants.
"The curtains were pulled, that was all your fault, Bluebell."
"I thought you were sleeping, Merlin you couldn't have waited another hour?" The pair followed James and Peter down the stairs.
Once seated in front of the fireplace, the boys all looked at Bellamy who performed some quick silencing spells before starting to speak.
"Right, so I did quite a bit of research over the summer,"
"Big surprise." Sirius muttered and Bellamy glared at him.
"And I've determined that we should be able to become animagi and safely be with Remus on the full moon."
"We're third years though. Would we really be able to do magic that advanced?" Peter's voice trembled slightly.
"Who cares about that? We might be able to help Remus!" James cried, bouncing on the sofa.
"Maybe I could actually get my tail back!" Sirius said, excited at the prospect of regaining his lost appendage.
"It won't be easy and we might not even manage a complete transformation this year, but we can start it."
"Sweet! And maybe Moony can help us out. He's ace at the research bits." Bellamy winced at the suggestion.
"Actually, I really don't think we should mention it to Remus." The boys all looked at her, varying bits of confusion on their faces before Peter asked the question.
"Why aren't we trusting Moony with this? Couldn't he help?" Bellamy sighed.
"You think Remus would allow us to undergo the extremely illegal and dangerous process of becoming animagi without a license or supervision so we might be able to help him once a month?" Peter frowned while James and Sirius still both looked very excited.
"We don't need Remus or his swot-ness. We've got you, Bluebell." Sirius smiled.
"I agree." James said, "Plus, once we can manage a complete transformation he can't stop us."
"So we are all agreed? We're going to start working on this?" James and Sirius both said yes, nodding enthusiastically. Then they turned to look at Peter, who sat looking worried.
"Don't make me obliviate you, Peter." Bellamy threatened, pulling her wand from her waistband. Peter's eyes went wide and he started shaking, looking at the wand cautiously.
"You have your wand on you?" James asked in shock.
"Yes, Jamie. I've always got my wand."
"Moving on from Bellamy's odd wand habits," Sirius said, holding up his hands, "We aren't going to obliviate Peter. Can you even do that, Bellamy? That's like a seventh year spell."
"I need to know if Peter is with us or if he needs to forget about this conversation. It is very illegal, after all." Bellamy insisted.
"Peter, just tell my crazy sister you're in and won't tell anybody." James said, nudging the boy with his shoulder.
"Right, I solemnly swear that I won't tell anyone." Peter said, raising his right hand.
"That's good, Peter. We should solemnly swear on everything from now on." Sirius clapped his friend on the back and Peter's worried expression faded into a proud smile.
"I have an idea on where we should do all of this too."
"More research of yours?" James asked and Bellamy smiled.
"Something like that." Her mind flashed to an image of the dancing troll portrait on the seventh floor. "I'm thinking that we can do most of the preparation throughout the year when we have time, but the potion and transformation attempts should probably be in a more secure location. We'll go there during the full moon this month." Bellamy stood up from her chair. "This concludes my meeting, you are all dismissed." The boys chuckled and James led the group back up the stairs.
Once back in bed, James cast a silencing charm on his hangings and turned to his sister.
"Do you really think we can do this?" He asked, his expression cautiously optimistic.
"I think we can." Bellamy answered, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"Bigger question then. Do you really think we can convince Remus to let us be with him during the moon?" Bellamy's smile turned into a devious smirk.
"We just won't give him the chance then. Now go to sleep, I was serious about being tired." The third year boys' dorm grew silent as all five occupants drifted to sleep.
Each of them had different dreams that night. Bellamy dreamt of a large, black dog being swarmed by dementors. James dreamt of his friends all together and happy. Sirius dreamt of having his tail back. Peter dreamt of making his friends proud of him. And Remus had a nightmare of all his friends shutting him out.