The First Week
"Let's see… Care of Magical Creatures, Double Potions, Divination and Double Transfiguration," James read his timetable to Sirius, Remus and Peter, who was listening with rapt interest. The four boys were sitting at the Gryffindor table at breakfast. Sirius helped himself to another piece of toast.
"Well, it can't be too bad. I know Potions is probably the worst subject ever, but the rest isn't so bad," he pointed out to his friends.
"Yes, but we've got Care of Magical Creatures with Snivelly and the Slytherins. Ugh, and Divination in the afternoon. All a load of rubbish in my humble opinion," Remus grinned. James laughed heartily then lowered his voice.
"Remus, is the Animagus potion almost ready?" he whispered. Remus nodded.
"Tonight you'll be able to drink it," he replied excitedly.
"Excellent!" said Sirius, clapping his hands together with delight.
"Hey, do any of you know when Dumbledore's putting out the casket?" asked Peter, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Er, this afternoon I think. I just hope Snape won't enter!" said James.
"Well, we'd better get going," said Sirius, standing up.
"Right," said James, and together the three boys began walking to their Care of Magical Creatures lesson, with Peter tagging at their heels.
"Lily! Over here," Severus blushed as he waved at Lily, while she walked out of the Great Hall, into the grounds. Star and Lily's other best friend, Bellatrix Black, giggled while Lily stiffened.
"Go on!" Bellatrix gave her friend a push, and Lily stumbled over to Severus. Together, they set off for Care of Magical Creatures.
"Er, hi Lily," said Severus, feeling very stupid.
"Hi. So, um, it's a lovely day, isn't it?" said Lily, gazing up at the sky. The rain from the previous night had cleared, to reveal a beautiful blue. Fluffy white clouds lazily floated across the sky.
"Yes, it is," said Severus, wondering what on earth he could say to Lily.
"Ooh, look! That cloud is shaped like a flower!" said Lily, pointing. Severus looked up, trying to find the flower-shaped cloud.
"I think it looks more like a star," said Severus, tilting his head. Lily tore her eyes away from the clouds and looked Severus in the eye.
"So, do you support a Quidditch team?" she asked, as they strolled over to a meadow near the Forbidden Forest.
"Yes actually. Puddlemere United," he answered shyly.
"They're brilliant players. The chasers are superb," agreed Lily. "But my favourite team is the Appleby Arrows," she smiled.
"Oh, right. They're good too," said Severus, as they reached the meadow.
"Oh, Professor Lamina's here," said Lily, walking away from Severus to stand with Star and Bellatrix.
"Right, well, er, I'll talk to you later, Lily," said Severus, with a small wave. Remus and Sirius sniggered, but James was furious.
"Who does that git think he is?" he fumed.
In James' opinion, the day certainly didn't get much better. In Double Potions, Professor Hunter forced him and Severus to work together. In the end, they both gave up on making a Cheeriness Potion, and as homework, had to write an essay on the correct way to make one. Divination, as usual, almost made James fall asleep. He was quickly woken, however, when Professor Trelawney said in a thoroughly depressing tone, "Don't worry dear, I'm sure your death won't be painful."
Double Transfiguration was the best lesson of the day, but James simply couldn't concentrate on turning his cactus into a porcupine. He was far too busy thinking of becoming an Animagus later that night... At last, his cactus sprouted a porcupine head and tail. Compared to most of the class, this was a highly commendable effort. In fact, the only people who could complete the spell were Sirius and Star.
Finally, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter dumped their books in their dormitory and ran to the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore took out the magnificent, bejewelled casket, where students from each house would submit their names, each hoping to win the competition. James gasped – the casket was stunning – if only he could have entered the competition!
Severus looked at the casket, and then at the tiny piece of paper he was clutching in his fist. There was Lily, smiling at him from the Gryffindor table. Her smile gave him confidence. It seemed to say, "Come on Severus! Go for it!"
But Severus was beginning to have second thoughts about entering the competition. He had only just turned sixteen… and he wouldn't know half the spells that the students from the other schools would know. Was it really worth entering?
"Well, are you going to enter?" said a voice beside him. Severus whizzed around.
"Oh, it's just you, Lily," he said. He had been so busy thinking of the competition, that he hadn't noticed Lily make her way across the Hall. Then he noticed James Potter, looking at Lily with interest.
"I've made up my mind," said Severus, determinedly. He strode over to the casket, took a quick glance around the Hall and dropped his piece of paper into the casket.
James lay in bed, quivering with nervousness and excitement. In just a few minutes, the clock would strike midnight… Five to twelve, four to twelve, three to twelve, two to twelve, one to twelve…
"James? Peter? Are you ready?" Sirius whispered. James crept out of his bed and saw Sirius, Remus and Peter standing in the doorway.
"Got the invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked. James nodded and pulled it over himself, Sirius and Remus. There was almost no room left for Peter, but he somehow managed to squeeze himself under.
With great difficulty, the
group moved awkwardly down the stairs leading from their dormitory to the Gryffindor
common room. All of a sudden, James
stopped. The others quickly came to a
halt.
"What's wrong?" hissed Peter. James
pressed a finger to his lip and with the other hand, pointed to a figure
stretched in front of the fire, reading by her wandlight.
"Star!" mouthed James, with a look of terror on his face.
"Shh! As long as we're quiet, she won't notice us," breathed Sirius, and together they tiptoed down the stairs. When they reached the portrait hole, Remus opened it for them and they slunk into the shadows. Star turned to watch Remus, wondering what he had been doing so late at night.
"It's ready! Just like Remus said it would be!" exclaimed Sirius. James, Sirius and Peter were standing in the old boys' bathroom that no one ever used. All the toilets were out of order and it was the perfect place to brew an illegal potion.
"Are we all ready?" asked James, filling up a glass with the strange purple liquid that bubbled and steamed in the cauldron.
"You bet we are!" Sirius cried, filling his own glass to the brim. Peter looked utterly terrified.
"C-c-can you explain w-w-what I h-have t-to do?" he stuttered, wishing he was anywhere but in the old bathroom. Sirius almost screamed in frustration.
"Look, Peter, it's simple. How many times have we told you? All you have to do is drink the potion in five gulps, all the time thinking of the animal you want to become. Whatever you do – DON'T think of anything else!" he explained to Peter. With shaking hands, Peter filled his glass.
"Ready? OK, on the count of three," said James.
"One…" Was this really such a good idea?
"Two…" He could back out if he wanted to…
"Three…" Think of becoming a stag!
On "Three!" James raised his glass and let it touch his lips. In five gulps, he had drained the foul potion, which tasted like sour grapes. He felt a peculiar sensation in his body. His whole body became silver and his arms and legs grew longer and longer. His head elongated and his unruly black hair disappeared, only to be replaced by more silver. Finally, he felt something curious happen to the top of his head. Of course! Antlers were sprouting from his head, which now felt very heavy. The antlers seemed to weigh a lot.
James shook his head and pawed the floor with his new silver hooves, before turning around rather awkwardly. He found himself face to face with a huge black dog, with a lolling pink tongue. The dog began capering around the bathroom with a silly grin on its face. James couldn't help laughing – but it wasn't a laugh – it sounded like a series of snorts. Cowering in a corner, James noticed a tiny grey rat, twitching its pink nose. He trotted over to the rat and sniffed it. This made Sirius bark with glee. James screwed up his face and thought of turning back into a human…
A moment later, he fell onto the bathroom floor. His arms, legs and head all ached and he smoothed his scruffy hair. The next thing he knew, Sirius and Peter were beside him too.
"Well, James. After five long years, we've finally done it. I do believe that James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew have become… Animagi!" roared Sirius, almost dancing around the toilet block with delight. James quietened him, but couldn't contain his excitement.
"Yes Sirius. I don't believe it, but we've done it!" he grinned.
In the early hours of the morning, when sunlight began to creep under the bathroom door, James, Sirius and Peter bounded back to the Gryffindor common room under the Invisibility cloak. They collapsed into the soft, comfortable armchairs around the fire, and chattered animatedly to each other about what it felt like to be an animal. At around 7:00, Remus almost tumbled down the staircase from the boys' dormitory, bursting with questions.
"Did it work? Did you all turn into the right animals? Did anything go wrong…?" he began.
"Take it easy, Remus! Everything turned out fine!" Sirius beamed. Remus relaxed and began pestering his friends with more questions. At 7:20, the common room became crowded with people, all heading down to breakfast. Finally, Remus, Sirius, Star and Peter left, leaving James to get his books ready. He was just about to leave for the Great Hall, when he noticed Lily, also ready to go. For a moment, they stared at each other in silence, before James hastily told Lily to go through the portrait hole first. They both went through the hole, and began walking to the Great Hall.
"I guess you're looking forward to playing Quidditch this year," said Lily, trying to make conversation.
"Of course I am. I can't wait to start training for the first match. It'll be great, Gryffindor versus Slytherin," James smiled at Lily.
"I'm looking forward to the first match too, not that I'd play of course," Lily said quickly. James was about to ask why, but stopped himself. That was her business, not his.
"So, er, what did you think of the first day back?" he asked her.
"It was okay… I've still got to write a five page essay for Arithmancy," she said, as they walked into the Hall.
"Well, er, good luck with it!" said James, walking off to sit with his friends. Lily smiled.
"Thanks, James," she said. Maybe James wasn't all that bad after all… thought Lily, as she sat down between Bellatrix and Star. Maybe he was more than just a show-off…
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter finished their homework at last. Sirius stretched his arms and yawned.
"What time is it?" he asked James.
"Almost eleven," James replied, stifling a yawn.
"Hey you three, look," said Remus quietly, nudging his friends. Severus was leaning against a bookshelf, holding a massive red book that looked at least a hundred years old. James craned his neck and tried to read the title. When he read it, he gasped. The title read Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Animagi.
"James? Earth to James!" said Remus, waving his hands in front of James' face.
"You go on without me," he urged his friends. "I'm going to follow Snivellus,"
"I bet you anything he'll transform into an Animagus. I'm coming with you, James" said Sirius. James smiled at his best friend and nodded.
"How about you, Remus? You coming?" asked James. Remus shook his head.
"I'd love to, but I'm feeling tired tonight. Tomorrow's a full moon and I already have this irresistible urge to bite myself. Sorry James, but I'm going to bed," he said.
"I'll go with him," squeaked Peter, grabbing Remus' cloak. Remus pushed him off disgustedly.
"See you in a bit," said James, and he and Sirius hurried after Severus, who had left the Library and was heading down a corridor.
Severus turned around. He was sure that he had heard something… Could someone be following him? He shook the thought off his mind and concentrated on finding the old, abandoned Dark Arts classroom in the dark. He hurried on through the gloom, pausing every so often, to check whether he was going in the right direction.
Finally, he opened a door and saw Lily standing in the moonlight. She shivered in the cold, but then noticed Severus coming towards her.
"Severus… why did you make me come here now? It's so cold…" she said, her teeth chattering.
"I-er, wanted to ask you something. In a few weeks' time, there'll be a Hogsmeade weekend. Do you, er, want to come with me?" he asked nervously. Lily looked thoroughly surprised.
"Oh, um, okay," she said quickly. As if drawn to her by a magnet, Severus walked forwards. He and Lily watched each other for a moment, and then Severus leaned forwards. Lily shut her eyes tightly and felt Severus coming closer… She felt his lips touch hers and everything around her melted. She felt so dizzy… but so warm and happy at the same time. It was wonderful yet so strange…
James Potter and Sirius Black watched from the doorway. James couldn't believe his eyes. This can't be happening, this can't be happening… Sirius looked at his friend. No, it couldn't be true…