AN~ Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! You are all stars!!!
Remus was right. The spell was unbelievably complicated. By the time the summer term had begun, they were no nearer becoming animagi. Sirius was convinced his arms were slightly hairier, but the others couldn't see any difference.
"We are never going to do this," Peter moaned one night as he flopped down next to Sirius underneath a large tree.
"Stop being so negative," James watched Lily Evans as she dipped her feet into the lake. "It's not going to happen over night."
"He's right," Remus said, his eyes not looking up from the History of Magic book he was reading. "Anyway, there's no time to practise for a while- you should all start thinking about revision."
"Pah!" Sirius laughed. "Revision's for geeks. We can just wing it!" Remus frowned at Sirius. "Ok. I'm sorry." Sirius rolled his eyes and picked up a transfiguration book from Remus's bag.
James let out a quiet moan and Sirius followed his gaze to the lake's edge where Lily Evans was hugging a second year he recognised.
"Evans and Longbottom?" he sounded disgusted. "How longs that been going on for?"
James turned around and sighed. "About a week." Sirius nodded, not knowing what to say.
"Erm...want to go throw water bombs at the Hufflepuffs?"
Two hours later, the marauders returned to the common room feeling much happier having soaked the whole Hufflepuff Quidditch team, plus about ten first years who had been watching.
"Feel better?" Sirius grinned at James.
"Yeah," James grinned back. And he did.
"Ok, back to work!" Remus said brightly, passing round books.
Sirius winked at James and the pair of them dived onto Remus, throwing him to the floor where they tickled him into submission.
"OK! Ok! One night off! Get off me!" he gasped between his hysterical laughter.
A few days later, at breakfast, Sirius was not his usual self. He hardly touched his breakfast, when usually he ate enough for three people. He scowled at James and Remus's owls when they dropped off letters from home.
"What's up Sirius?" Remus asked cautiously as they walked towards Divination.
"Nothing," Sirius said moodily, climbing up the ladder.
He was like this for the rest of the day. Before dinner, he said he wanted some air so went out for a walk by himself. By the time he returned to the dormitory he presumed everyone else would be asleep. He slowly and quietly opened the door, expecting silence.
"SURPRISE!" three voices bellowed as he shut the door behind him.
"I thought you'd forgotten," he said incredulously as he took in the piles of sweets, cakes and balloons everywhere.
"James Potter forget his best friend's birthday?" James grinned and handed him a Butterbeer. "I don't think so!" Sirius beamed at his fiends. They were the best friends a boy could ask for. He no longer cared that he hadn't had so much as a card from his parents, well not as much.
The boys partied well into the night. They ate, drank and laughed together until the sun came up, which, according to Remus was a bad idea. He was worried they'd be too tired to revise. James and Sirius punished him for this comment with a jelly-legs hex.
The exams came and went. They all passed, even Peter. It amused Sirius and James to see the annoyance on Remus's face when he saw they had both got higher grades than him for History of Magic. Little did he know that they had stolen his notes to revise from.
One Saturday near the end of term, they were lazing about by the lake. James was leafing through Which Broomstick magazine, remembering the promise his grandparents had made on his birthday. He had decided that he wanted to get onto the team next year and so needed a good broom. Remus was sketching Sirius and Peter as they played Gobstones in the sun.
"I can't believe our first year is nearly over," Sirius sighed and rolled onto his back.
"I know. I can't wait for the holidays though!" Peter flopped down next to him.
"That's easy for you to say," Sirius moaned. "You don't have to go home to the Noble House of Black." He said the name of his parents' house with extreme sarcasm and pure hatred.
"It'll be alright mate," James crawled over and lay next to Sirius. "You can come and stay at mine for a bit."
"Yeah it's only a few weeks then we'll be back here," Remus had given up on his drawing as Sirius kept moving.
"Just think of all the first years we can play tricks on when we get back!"
"Yeah, you're right," Sirius sat up and smiled weakly. He scanned the familiar grounds fondly. Even though he knew he was in for it when he got home, somehow knowing he had all this to come back to made it seem more bearable. And he always had his friends.
Remus was right. The spell was unbelievably complicated. By the time the summer term had begun, they were no nearer becoming animagi. Sirius was convinced his arms were slightly hairier, but the others couldn't see any difference.
"We are never going to do this," Peter moaned one night as he flopped down next to Sirius underneath a large tree.
"Stop being so negative," James watched Lily Evans as she dipped her feet into the lake. "It's not going to happen over night."
"He's right," Remus said, his eyes not looking up from the History of Magic book he was reading. "Anyway, there's no time to practise for a while- you should all start thinking about revision."
"Pah!" Sirius laughed. "Revision's for geeks. We can just wing it!" Remus frowned at Sirius. "Ok. I'm sorry." Sirius rolled his eyes and picked up a transfiguration book from Remus's bag.
James let out a quiet moan and Sirius followed his gaze to the lake's edge where Lily Evans was hugging a second year he recognised.
"Evans and Longbottom?" he sounded disgusted. "How longs that been going on for?"
James turned around and sighed. "About a week." Sirius nodded, not knowing what to say.
"Erm...want to go throw water bombs at the Hufflepuffs?"
Two hours later, the marauders returned to the common room feeling much happier having soaked the whole Hufflepuff Quidditch team, plus about ten first years who had been watching.
"Feel better?" Sirius grinned at James.
"Yeah," James grinned back. And he did.
"Ok, back to work!" Remus said brightly, passing round books.
Sirius winked at James and the pair of them dived onto Remus, throwing him to the floor where they tickled him into submission.
"OK! Ok! One night off! Get off me!" he gasped between his hysterical laughter.
A few days later, at breakfast, Sirius was not his usual self. He hardly touched his breakfast, when usually he ate enough for three people. He scowled at James and Remus's owls when they dropped off letters from home.
"What's up Sirius?" Remus asked cautiously as they walked towards Divination.
"Nothing," Sirius said moodily, climbing up the ladder.
He was like this for the rest of the day. Before dinner, he said he wanted some air so went out for a walk by himself. By the time he returned to the dormitory he presumed everyone else would be asleep. He slowly and quietly opened the door, expecting silence.
"SURPRISE!" three voices bellowed as he shut the door behind him.
"I thought you'd forgotten," he said incredulously as he took in the piles of sweets, cakes and balloons everywhere.
"James Potter forget his best friend's birthday?" James grinned and handed him a Butterbeer. "I don't think so!" Sirius beamed at his fiends. They were the best friends a boy could ask for. He no longer cared that he hadn't had so much as a card from his parents, well not as much.
The boys partied well into the night. They ate, drank and laughed together until the sun came up, which, according to Remus was a bad idea. He was worried they'd be too tired to revise. James and Sirius punished him for this comment with a jelly-legs hex.
The exams came and went. They all passed, even Peter. It amused Sirius and James to see the annoyance on Remus's face when he saw they had both got higher grades than him for History of Magic. Little did he know that they had stolen his notes to revise from.
One Saturday near the end of term, they were lazing about by the lake. James was leafing through Which Broomstick magazine, remembering the promise his grandparents had made on his birthday. He had decided that he wanted to get onto the team next year and so needed a good broom. Remus was sketching Sirius and Peter as they played Gobstones in the sun.
"I can't believe our first year is nearly over," Sirius sighed and rolled onto his back.
"I know. I can't wait for the holidays though!" Peter flopped down next to him.
"That's easy for you to say," Sirius moaned. "You don't have to go home to the Noble House of Black." He said the name of his parents' house with extreme sarcasm and pure hatred.
"It'll be alright mate," James crawled over and lay next to Sirius. "You can come and stay at mine for a bit."
"Yeah it's only a few weeks then we'll be back here," Remus had given up on his drawing as Sirius kept moving.
"Just think of all the first years we can play tricks on when we get back!"
"Yeah, you're right," Sirius sat up and smiled weakly. He scanned the familiar grounds fondly. Even though he knew he was in for it when he got home, somehow knowing he had all this to come back to made it seem more bearable. And he always had his friends.