Disclaimers:
I own none of this, but that goes without saying
I do my research, so my stories are based in as much "fact" as I can get a hold of. I'm all about creativity, but this is someone else's idea…if I wanted to make a bunch of stuff up, I'd write on my own original ideas.
Having said that, this is easier and more fun
Instructions for Reading:
Enjoy and REVIEW!! I like feedback
Chapter 1: The Animal Kingdom
If someone had looked one second earlier, they would have sworn it was a motley group of animals roaming the halls. But before anyone would have even had a chance to wonder what a dog, a stag and a rat were doing together inside a school, even a magic school, before anyone could even blink, there were three boys, instead of animals.
Two of the boys looked alike enough to be brothers. Dark hair, dark eyes, both tall, both with the typical bodies of 15 year-old boys; skinny now, but with a promise of broad shoulders and strong muscles to come. But they weren't identical. Especially when you looked at their eyes. One, the slightly shorter of the two, had very serious brown eyes and wore wire frame glasses. The other had brown eyes as well, but his had the look of eyes that were most often sparking with mischief.
The third boy was, well, there's no other way to put this; he was squat. Not exactly fat, more what you might call pudgy. But it was the way he moved, the way he walked, that gave any onlooker the unfortunate impression he was, well, squat. He had limp brown hair that made his round face look even more bulbous and the sweat pouring down his pale skin at the moment was really not at all attractive.
All three boys were panting.
"This is getting ridiculous!!" said the more serious of the taller boys, "That's the third month in a row Pringle has come close to catching us! If anyone finds out what we've been doing, we'll be expelled for sure. And then where will Moony be?"
The smaller boy spoke up, "Maybe we should just leave him be! I mean, we can't keep him from changing, so what good are we…really?"
"Wormtail! I'm surprised at you! We've worked almost 5 years, FIVE YEARS, to get where we are so that we could help our friend. And now, simply because of a little risk, you want to give up! We've finally succeeded in doing something most wizards don't even dream of doing! We can't let it all go to waste," the boy without glasses looked like he was ready to explode as he spoke.
"Padfoot," the serious boy spoke again, "How can you seriously be surprised?? Wormtail has always been concerned about us getting caught. And I have to admit that I agree with him. We need to find some way to insure that we will not get caught. I wish there was some way to know where everyone in this castle was when it's important to know!"
While the boys had been talking, they had been moving swiftly through the maze of hallways that made up the interior of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As if to prove the serious boy's point, when they turned the last corner before they reached their destination, and safety, a very pretty girl with her arms full of thick old books was nearing the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the three boys.
"A little light reading, Miss Evans?" said Padfoot, the typical teasing light in his eyes.
"Yes," she replied. "As I had nothing to do this weekend, I thought I'd get a little ahead in my school work." She was responding to Padfoot's question, but she was clearly sending a message to the more serious boy beside him.
"Lily, I'm really sorry. You know I would have taken you to Hogsmeade this weekend if I could have, but I already had plans…" the serious boy began.
"Hogwash!" Lily said suddenly.
"Oh, Lily, please don't be that way." But as he spoke, he had to back out of the way of the rapidly opening portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress that guarded entrance to the common room.
"You're lucky I was here, James," Lily smiled as she stepped through the portrait hole, "Otherwise you and your friends would have been stuck out here without the new password. And that might have been very embarrassing come morning. Sirius," she nodded to Padfoot, "Peter," this was to the small Wormtail, "Good night, James," she said to the serious boy and then she disappeared into the common room.
Sirius could hardly keep the smile off his face. "Trouble in paradise, Prongs?"
James glowered at him, and then turned to cast the same look at a snickering Peter.
"I don't know what you two find so funny. At least I have a girlfriend. She's just upset because she thinks I prefer spending time with you two and Moony to spending time with her. I can hardly tell her why I have to spend time with you three every month."
Sirius looked offended, "She only thinks you prefer spending time with us. She doesn't know it?? We're your mates, Prongs! We were your mates long before that pretty little Lily Evans was even willing to look in your direction. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like her and all, but you've got to get your priorities straight!" James could tell Sirius was only half-joking. They all moved through the portrait and up to their room that they shared with Moony, and a new student.
"Well, if nothing else, we need to work out a way to get around this school without being noticed. The Invisibility Cloak is great, but it doesn't keep us from knocking things over." With this comment James looked directly at Peter. Peter always complained about getting caught, but he was usually the one that caused Apollyon Pringle, the schools caretaker, to come running when he heard the loud crashes and bangs Peter's awkward movements often created.
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment as they entered the room, keeping quiet so as not to wake Benjamin Bruce, their fifth roommate, "We'll discuss it with Moony when Dumbledore brings him back in a few hours. Maybe we can work something up. Right now, what we need is some sleep." He looked at the clock on his dresser. "Well, not much sleep. Breakfast is in only 3 hours."
They got ready for bed quietly, with all the energy of three boys who hadn't gotten any sleep all weekend. When they were finally settling in for the night, Wormtail looked at James sleepily.
"What do you think Lily was studying this late at night? She would have had to sneak into the library to find all those books at this hour. That's an odd girl you've got there, Pro…I mean, James," Wormtail had stopped himself from using James' nickname just in time. Even though Ben was asleep, they couldn't take any risks.
"Yeah, she's odd. But, she's also wonderful. Goodnight you two," James said over their quiet snickering.
I own none of this, but that goes without saying
I do my research, so my stories are based in as much "fact" as I can get a hold of. I'm all about creativity, but this is someone else's idea…if I wanted to make a bunch of stuff up, I'd write on my own original ideas.
Having said that, this is easier and more fun
Instructions for Reading:
Enjoy and REVIEW!! I like feedback
Chapter 1: The Animal Kingdom
If someone had looked one second earlier, they would have sworn it was a motley group of animals roaming the halls. But before anyone would have even had a chance to wonder what a dog, a stag and a rat were doing together inside a school, even a magic school, before anyone could even blink, there were three boys, instead of animals.
Two of the boys looked alike enough to be brothers. Dark hair, dark eyes, both tall, both with the typical bodies of 15 year-old boys; skinny now, but with a promise of broad shoulders and strong muscles to come. But they weren't identical. Especially when you looked at their eyes. One, the slightly shorter of the two, had very serious brown eyes and wore wire frame glasses. The other had brown eyes as well, but his had the look of eyes that were most often sparking with mischief.
The third boy was, well, there's no other way to put this; he was squat. Not exactly fat, more what you might call pudgy. But it was the way he moved, the way he walked, that gave any onlooker the unfortunate impression he was, well, squat. He had limp brown hair that made his round face look even more bulbous and the sweat pouring down his pale skin at the moment was really not at all attractive.
All three boys were panting.
"This is getting ridiculous!!" said the more serious of the taller boys, "That's the third month in a row Pringle has come close to catching us! If anyone finds out what we've been doing, we'll be expelled for sure. And then where will Moony be?"
The smaller boy spoke up, "Maybe we should just leave him be! I mean, we can't keep him from changing, so what good are we…really?"
"Wormtail! I'm surprised at you! We've worked almost 5 years, FIVE YEARS, to get where we are so that we could help our friend. And now, simply because of a little risk, you want to give up! We've finally succeeded in doing something most wizards don't even dream of doing! We can't let it all go to waste," the boy without glasses looked like he was ready to explode as he spoke.
"Padfoot," the serious boy spoke again, "How can you seriously be surprised?? Wormtail has always been concerned about us getting caught. And I have to admit that I agree with him. We need to find some way to insure that we will not get caught. I wish there was some way to know where everyone in this castle was when it's important to know!"
While the boys had been talking, they had been moving swiftly through the maze of hallways that made up the interior of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As if to prove the serious boy's point, when they turned the last corner before they reached their destination, and safety, a very pretty girl with her arms full of thick old books was nearing the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the three boys.
"A little light reading, Miss Evans?" said Padfoot, the typical teasing light in his eyes.
"Yes," she replied. "As I had nothing to do this weekend, I thought I'd get a little ahead in my school work." She was responding to Padfoot's question, but she was clearly sending a message to the more serious boy beside him.
"Lily, I'm really sorry. You know I would have taken you to Hogsmeade this weekend if I could have, but I already had plans…" the serious boy began.
"Hogwash!" Lily said suddenly.
"Oh, Lily, please don't be that way." But as he spoke, he had to back out of the way of the rapidly opening portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress that guarded entrance to the common room.
"You're lucky I was here, James," Lily smiled as she stepped through the portrait hole, "Otherwise you and your friends would have been stuck out here without the new password. And that might have been very embarrassing come morning. Sirius," she nodded to Padfoot, "Peter," this was to the small Wormtail, "Good night, James," she said to the serious boy and then she disappeared into the common room.
Sirius could hardly keep the smile off his face. "Trouble in paradise, Prongs?"
James glowered at him, and then turned to cast the same look at a snickering Peter.
"I don't know what you two find so funny. At least I have a girlfriend. She's just upset because she thinks I prefer spending time with you two and Moony to spending time with her. I can hardly tell her why I have to spend time with you three every month."
Sirius looked offended, "She only thinks you prefer spending time with us. She doesn't know it?? We're your mates, Prongs! We were your mates long before that pretty little Lily Evans was even willing to look in your direction. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like her and all, but you've got to get your priorities straight!" James could tell Sirius was only half-joking. They all moved through the portrait and up to their room that they shared with Moony, and a new student.
"Well, if nothing else, we need to work out a way to get around this school without being noticed. The Invisibility Cloak is great, but it doesn't keep us from knocking things over." With this comment James looked directly at Peter. Peter always complained about getting caught, but he was usually the one that caused Apollyon Pringle, the schools caretaker, to come running when he heard the loud crashes and bangs Peter's awkward movements often created.
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment as they entered the room, keeping quiet so as not to wake Benjamin Bruce, their fifth roommate, "We'll discuss it with Moony when Dumbledore brings him back in a few hours. Maybe we can work something up. Right now, what we need is some sleep." He looked at the clock on his dresser. "Well, not much sleep. Breakfast is in only 3 hours."
They got ready for bed quietly, with all the energy of three boys who hadn't gotten any sleep all weekend. When they were finally settling in for the night, Wormtail looked at James sleepily.
"What do you think Lily was studying this late at night? She would have had to sneak into the library to find all those books at this hour. That's an odd girl you've got there, Pro…I mean, James," Wormtail had stopped himself from using James' nickname just in time. Even though Ben was asleep, they couldn't take any risks.
"Yeah, she's odd. But, she's also wonderful. Goodnight you two," James said over their quiet snickering.
