James was still feeling down in the dumps about Lily, but Sirius was coming later on so that cheered him up. He sat in his family's large kitchen and waited for his dad to be back with Sirius. In the meantime, he started playing with one of the golf balls his dad had enchanted. His mother walked in.

"James!" she said impatiently. "Don't play with that in the house, you'll break something!"

He mumbled a small 'Sorry' and went outside to practice with his broomstick. He had just taken off and caught one of the golf balls when he heard a crash inside. He landed and ran inside, where he saw his best friend and his dad, who had just arrived by way of Floo Powder. James and Sirius took Sirius' stuff up to James' room, where he would be staying for the rest of the summer. Then they went downstairs to wait for dinner.

The rest of James' summer flew by quickly, now that he had his best friend to distract him. Sooner than James expected, he was at King's Cross station, waiting for his things to be loaded on the train. His mom was giving him the usual speech, which James tuned out but caught a few words of.

"Now James.... behave yourself....schoolwork..." he heard her say.

"Yes mum," he gave his usual empty reply.

"Now go ahead and find yourself a seat. And STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!" she shouted after him.

James turned to Sirius when they had found a compartment. "Got your permission slip?" he reminded him.

"Yep." Sirius smiled.

This year was their third year at Hogwarts, meaning that they could now visit Hogsmeade on specified weekends. However, James and Sirius had visited Hogsmeade multiple times before, with their other friends. They called themselves the marauders, and they knew every passageway in the school, one of which led into the basement of Honeyduke's, a shop in Hogsmeade.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, the four friends ran off together towards the Great Hall. James noticed that Remus was looking pale, and extremely ill. This was not the first time this had happened, and any time they brought it up, Remus would change the subject. He wouldn't go to see Madam Pomfrey, either. James and Sirius had become suspicious about this last year, and had been noting that this happened about once a month. They still couldn't quite figure out the connection, but they were sure they were getting close.

James and Sirius were talking about it that night after everyone had gone to bed, about all the coincidences that followed Remus' ill looks.

"And, did you notice, Remus is always awfully tired the next morning?" said Sirius suspiciously.

"And did you notice, he always seems to be ill around the full moon?" said James, grinning.

"Well mate, I think we've figured it out!" said Sirius.

"Remus is a werewolf!" they said in unison.

"Let's wait up for him and see where he goes," suggested James.

"Yeah, I want to see him transform!" said Sirius eagerly.

Just then they heard a creak. The boys dormitory door opened and shut and the two boys turned around in their chairs. Remus was heading down the staircase in a rush.

"Oy, Remus!" said Sirius loudly. "Where are you going?"

Remus jumped, startled at the sound of a voice.

"What are you two doing up?" he hissed softly.

"Well, we should ask you the same question," said James coolly, "except, we already know."

Remus stared at them for a moment, and then smiled and said, "When did you figure it out? I was hoping you would. I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

"Well," Sirius began. "We found it quite odd that you got really pale and ill-looking once a month."

"And then," James chipped in. "we figured out that it was near the full moon."

"Well," Remus said quickly. "Congratulations, but I must be going... don't want to transform right here..."

"Can we come?" Sirius jumped up.

"Are you thick? I could kill you!" Remus said.

"Oh, guess we hadn't thought of that one. Werewolves bite humans." Sirius said gloomily.

"Well, there is a way. Mind you, it would take a while, maybe a couple of years, and we could get in serious trouble." James said.

At James' last few words, Sirius' face brightened. "What is it?" he said excitedly.

"Well, I remember Professor McGonagall saying something about animagus, you know, people who can turn into one animal at will?" James started.

"You're not thinking..." said Remus, apparently seeing the proverbial gears turning in James' head.

"Yes, I am," said James. "We can pull it off, right Sirius?"

"Yeah, I think we could... but we can't register now, so we can't register ever. No one but us three could ever know."

"F-four," stuttered a small voice behind them, the voice of Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh, right." James said. "Are you sure you will be able to manage it? We'll be too busy figuring it out ourselves to bother helping you," he added icily.

"And don't forget, we have to find the book that talks about how to become an animagus." Sirius added knowingly. "No doubt it's in the restricted section."

"Well, that won't stop us, will it?" James replied slyly, reaching into his bag and pulling out a slippery, silvery cloak- an invisibility cloak.

Sirius grinned and his face lit up.

"Tomorrow night, then?" James said casually.

Sirius nodded eagerly.

The next night, Sirius and James crept quietly out of their dormitory, and crept down the stairs. They walked on their tiptoes, careful to keep the cloak completely surrounding them. They walked the familiar path to the library, engulfed in complete darkness and silence. The quickly yet tediously opened and shut the entrance doors to the library, and snuck towards the restricted section. They reached the fence-like door with a large lock linking it to the wall. James pulled out his wand and quietly hissed 'Alohomora.' The lock clicked and the door opened a crack. They carefully pushed the door open, slow enough that it barely creaked for a door its age. James quickly skimmed the top shelves, while Sirius, who was a bit shorter, searched the lower shelves.

"What exactly are we looking for?" whispered Sirius.

"I think it's a book called Human Transfiguration." James said.

"You'd think with all the fuss Madame Pince makes over this library, these books would at least be in alphabetical order!" Sirius hissed.

"Aha!" said James triumphantly, grabbing a tattered old book with faded silver writing.

"Well, let's check it over before we leave, make sure it's the right one!" Sirius said.

James flipped through the book.

"This is the one," he said softly. "Becoming an animagus is a difficult and trying task. Many great wizards have tried and failed to completely transform...." he read aloud.

"Alright, let's go." Sirius said impatiently.

The next few days were spent reading and rereading the animagus section of the book; the boys wanted everything to go smoothly.

"In order to become an animagus, one needs a certain amount of skill and experience in the area of transfiguration. That sure cleared a lot up!" Sirius said, frustrated. "This is just information! When do we get to the actual transforming?" he added impatiently.

"After we understand as much as we can about actual animagus and complications..." James trailed off. "I don't want to be horribly disfigured for life or anything like that; I don't know about you," he finished, and began to rumple his hair.

Sirius shook his head and went buried his face into the book. A few minutes later, his face became visible again.

"This book says the first thing you have to do is choose the animal that you want to become." Sirius said excitedly. "They've provided a list of the ten simplest animals to transform into, from easiest to hardest."

"Well," James said enthusiastically, "let's have a look."

They looked down at the book and in neat, loopy handwriting was a list of animals.

Ladybug Beetle Bees and Wasps Toad Rat Birds Snake Cat Dog Deer

A note at the bottom of the page read:

All animal transformations may be male or female, depending upon gender of the person transforming.

James and Sirius exchanged excited glances, and frantically tried to decide which animal would be best for them.

"Well, I always wanted to fly," said James excitedly.

Sirius just stared blankly at James. "Broomstick?" he said, as if it should have been obvious.

"Oh...yeah." said James, blushing slightly. "Well, I want to be strong and fast then."

"I always wanted to know what it would be like to be a dog," said Sirius, seeming as if he had made his decision.

"Hmmm...." James said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll be a stag,"

"A what?" said Peter.

"A male deer you idiot!" James said impatiently. "I expect you'll be going with something easy, like a toad or a rat!"

"Well, rats can fit into small places..." Peter said optimistically.

"So it's settled then," whispered Lupin, as if afraid they would be overheard in the empty common room. "Sirius- dog, James- stag, Peter- rat."

They all nodded in agreement.

"The book says that next," Sirius went on; "When we cast the spell on ourselves, we will need to picture the most specific type of animal we want to be, especially if it varies. This is where most wizards mess up; you need to clear your mind of everything except for the animal you want to be."

He looked up at James with a skeptical glance. "What is this, yoga?" he exclaimed.

James chuckled. Then, looking serious, he said, "What's the incantation we need to use?"

Sirius showed him the spell; it was about half a page long.

"How are we supposed to practice using it?" James inquired.

"Well the book says we need to find a useless object, and instead of pointing our wands at ourselves, we point at the object, and if we do it right it will turn into a miniscule model of the animal we are thinking of." Sirius said. "It could take a long time, even for wizards with 'a high amount of expertise in the field of transfiguration.'"

"Well then," said James with a grin. "We'd better get started."

"I won't be able to help you practice tomorrow night," Remus informed them. "Full moon."

The next night, the boys stayed at the Great Hall quite late, discussed their transformations and why they were having problems with it.

Remus stood up and said 'Got to be going,' and left. James yawned, and decided to go up to Gryffindor Tower and turn in for the night. After he left, Severus Snape walked over to Sirius and Peter.

"Where's Remus off too?" he said nosily.

"Maybe you should keep your greasy nose out of other people's business." Sirius shot at him.

Snape scowled. "Well I was just interested, seeing as how he's frequently no where to be found."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he just doesn't want you around so he--" a sudden thought struck Sirius. "If you go to the Whomping Willow tonight and touch the big knot at the base and crawl into that hole at the bottom, maybe you'll find out," he said, smirking on the inside.

"Why would he be there?" Snape said curiously.

"I'm saying nothing more." Sirius said shortly. "You'll just have to see for yourself."

Snape walked out the door of the Great Hall, and Sirius leapt to the window, where Snape was now crouching in the bushes, apparently waiting for Remus.

Sirius strutted back up to Gryffindor Tower, where James was already in bed. Sirius decided James had to see this, so he woke him.

"Wha ya wan?" James said groggily.

Sirius proceeded to tell James all about his wonderful scheme, and James leapt out of bed.

"Are you thick? If Remus kills him or does anything to him, we'll be expelled!" he shouted at Sirius, who was now blushing, feeling quite stupid.

James ran out of the Tower and out of the entrance. He ran towards the Whomping Willow, where he could see the top of Severus' head disappearing into the passageway beneath. James leapt towards the tree and waved his arms frantically in the passageway, finally clambering in and grabbed hold of Snape's cloak. He pulled him upward and out of the tree; Snape's eyes were wide, he was staring right at a werewolf. James shoved him out of the tunnel and onto the grounds. He could hear growling from beneath him; Remus was coming after him. "Run!" he yelled to Snape, who quickly stood up and ran to the entrance presumably going to tell Professor Dumbledore. James frantically climbed out of the tunnel and ran as fast as he could back into the castle. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, gasping for air.

Dumbledore and Severus appeared at the foot of the staircase a few minutes later, Severus' face pale and terrified.

"Severus, you will not repeat what you saw to anyone," Dumbledore said sternly.

Snape nodded, then said, "Professor, James and Sirius- they tricked me, I could have been-"

"I am well aware of what happened, Severus, as Mr. Black came immediately to me after Mr. Potter ran after you." Dumbledore cut him off. "And I am to understand that Mr. Potter is not to blame in the slightest, more to be thanked for saving your life," he added. "Fifty points will be added to Gryffindor, however twenty will be taken away for Mr. Black's trick that could have resulted in severe injuries to Mr. Snape."

Dumbledore dismissed them and James trudged back up to Gryffindor Tower to get some sleep.

The rest of the boys' third year at the school was in attempts to transform books and leaves and everything they could get their hands on into their animals, but they had only been able to get the object to sprout a tail. And before they knew it, they were on the train back home.

~End of Third Year~