Disclaimer:
Yo, yo, yo . . . not mine.
Fifteen
"I can't believe it! She's alive!" Sirius cried as Lina emerged from the portrait hole around two o'clock in the morning.
"Lina, we thought you'd never be coming back!" Lily said, flinging her arms around her. "You had us scared to death!"
"I'm sorry, guys . . . Remus didn't want me to leave."
"What was it like, anyways?" James asked.
Peter, sitting alone in the corner, piped up, "It must have been terrifying."
"Actually, it wasn't. I mean, the whole changing into a wolf thing was quite scary, because I remembered the last time I saw him do that and my heart started racing because I realized that if I was in trouble, no matter how loud I was, no one would hear me scream. But then once I saw him, I realized that he really was Remus, and not a monster that was about to attack me," Lina said.
"Still, I think you're brave," Peter said.
"Me, too . . ." Lily said. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"So am I, but right now, all I want is to go to bed and sleep until I can't sleep anymore," I sighed.
"Alright, Leen, but not to late – remember, we've got class tomorrow," Sirius reminded her. Lina groaned and walked back up to her Dormitory.
There was something different about him when he came back into classes. Usually, just after he had changed, he would have still been extremely weak – almost like you could knock him over with a feather and kill him with a pinprick in his finger. But this time, he looked different. Sure, he was still frail. His face was sunken and he looked very pale. But at the same time, the smile that he wore was real when he saw her. She knew he remembered what had happened. She knew he was still the same person, and he had never been gladder in his life.
"Oh, Lina, I'm so glad you're safe," he said the second he saw her alone.
"So am I . . . I mean, I would use my life to help my friends and everything, but I kind of like it. At least, I do at the moment," Lina said, smiling.
"What was it like, watching me change like that?" Remus asked, a slight quiver in his voice.
"Well, to tell you the truth . . . I don't know. I didn't actually watch. I was too afraid. I didn't want to see you change. I didn't want to see you in pain like that."
Remus smiled and said, "It's not actually all that painful. Well, it usually is, but this time, it wasn't. It must have been the potion. I mean, there was a slight headache – I suppose that came from my mind changing views and everything – but the potion kind of acted as a painkiller in more than one way. For one thing, it stopped the physical pain of changing. For another thing, it stopped the pain of me tearing myself apart when I was alone. And it saved me the pain I would have gone through if I'd hurt you again."
Lina put her hand to her chest. Her scar burned a little bit. She bit her lower lip.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Nothing, it's just my scar."
He looked a little closer and noticed the paw print that had been left on her chest. "I gave that to you, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did," Lina laughed. "That has more than one use – it covers up that horrible-looking mark, and it serves as a sexy tattoo!"
Remus laughed, too. Lina beamed. "What?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"That's the first time I've heard you laugh in a long time," Lina said quietly. "I've missed it."
He kissed her softly. She realized that she had missed that, too. Suddenly, she got an idea.
"Hey, Remus, how did the Marauders become Animagi?" she asked him.
"Oh, they snuck into the Ministry of Magic one night. Why?" he pursued.
"Because. I have a plan."
A month or two had passed, and now it was February break. The Marauders and Lina had been planning very carefully over the past few weeks, and they were finally ready.
"We're in," Lina whispered as she reached the small elevator that would take them up to the floor on which they needed to be. The grilles slid shut. The Marauders had expertly Apparated within the walls of the Ministry and had gotten through all the turnstiles by having Peter change into his rat form, sneak under it, and then change back. After that, he would let them through by using the controls.
"Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."
Lina sighed as the elevator reached each floor – "Level Six, Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation Test Center . . . Level Five, Department of International Magic Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magic Office of Law, and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."
Finally, after stopping on every floor, Lina heard a welcoming sound: "Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau."
"And the I'm-about-to-become-an-Animagus Office!" Lina whispered excitedly.
"Keep it down! You never know when someone is listening," Sirius said eerily.
"Oh, shut up," Lina joked. The five friends snuck along the thin aisles of offices. Along them were pictures of wild beasts that had been reported to be roaming the country. One of these was an Opal-Eye Dragon – not the wildest of creatures, but could potentially be dangerous. Another was a Lethifold, a creature that resembled a slithering black cloak. It would wrap itself around the victim and suffocate him, preferably when he was sleeping. Others included wild hippogriffs, particularly menacing groups of trolls, and a few Centaurs.
"Here we are . . ." James whispered. "Ah, it seems like yesterday we were here becoming Animagi ourselves."
"I know, mate," Sirius replied. "Now, it's time to initiate Lina as an official Marauder."
Slowly, the opened the door so as not to make a sound. Inside, there were shelves and shelves filled with large bowls that glistened in different colors, some magenta, others brown or silver or blue or green or other colors. Also, there was a list with a few names on it – only five. None of which were James Potter, Sirius Black, or Peter Pettigrew.
"So these are the people that are registered, huh?" Lina asked, amazed.
"Yep. Notice how none of our names are on there," James said.
Lina smiled. "I know. You guys sure seem to like breaking the rules."
"Part of the initiation process is to break a few rules. And therefore, Miss Peterson, you are more than eligible," Remus said quietly.
"How so?"
"Well, to be precise, you've snuck out on numerous occasions with Remus for dates, followed him to the Shrieking Shack where he changed into a werewolf, used the Invisibility Cloak to sneak around the school and back into the Shack, broken into the Ministry of Magic, and are now about to become an unregistered Animagus. I think you've broken a fair few rules," Peter stated.
"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose you're right," she murmured.
"Now, what animal are you planning on becoming?" Sirius asked, his eyes scanning every bowl on the shelf. One nearby let out a popping noise and a cloud of dust appeared next to his ear, making him jump in surprise.
"I have an idea – I just want to see if they have it," Lina said. She, too, began scanning the shelves for a certain name. She thought she saw it, but she couldn't quite make it out.
"Remus, could you lift me up for a second?" she asked him. He willingly wove his fingers into a step for her, and she stepped on it, making him almost topple over. He had just recently recovered from his monthly change, so was still fairly weak.
"You alright?" Lina asked as the Marauders ran to help their friend.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just keep looking," Remus said, despite his purpling face.
Celina searched the shelves anxiously, looking for the bowl she had spotted before. She had been right. She picked up the bowl labeled Phoenix with both hands as Remus brought her down.
"You sure you're alright?" she said as Remus collapsed on to a nearby chair.
"Of course, Leen, I'm good. Which one did you pick?"
"See for yourself."
Remus looked up at the shelves, only to look back down at her, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"The phoenix. Good choice, Leen," he said.
Lina looked into the bowl. There was a large pile of what looked like a fine dust within it. The dust was bright red in color with flecks of gold. She ran it through her fingers like it was sand.
"Hey, Sirius, how are we supposed to make this work?" she asked, still playing with the dust.
"You have to eat some of it," he said.
"What? I am not eating a pile of dust!"
"Actually, it tastes more like sugar," James said.
"Really?" she asked skeptically.
"Sure. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just eat it."
Lina looked disgustedly at the dust in the bowl. She searched the room and found a small silver spoon. She picked up the spoon, scooped up some of the dust, and poured it down her throat.
James had been right – the dust did taste like sugar. It gave her an odd tingling sensation, as though someone were tickling her legs.
"This feel funny," she murmured. She looked around at the Marauders, only to find that their faces were completely horror-stricken.
"Guys, what's going on?" she said, but all that came out was a small bird-like sound. She looked at her feet and saw that she was being tickled – by flames.
"Hey, what's going on?" she asked, directing her thoughts towards Remus.
"I don't know, Lina! Are you okay?"
"I feel fine, except for the whole burning thing. I mean, it doesn't hurt or anything –"
"Now you're only a pile of ashes."
"Really?"
"And now . . . hey, look, there's a bird popping out of there! That must be you!"
Sure enough, Lina looked down and saw that her arms had become wings with feathers of a brilliant red, like the color of the dust. The tips of her wings had gold feathers.
"She's . . . she really is a phoenix," Peter whispered. He put his wand to her head, and she felt herself growing larger. This time, when she looked back at herself, she had skin and hair and was back to being Lina again.
"You just burned and then were reborn from the ashes. That was weird," James said, staring at her as though she had just grown an extra head.
"Are you alright?" Remus asked, running to her.
She brushed some of the ash off her robes and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm back to being Lina."
Sirius, however, was just smiling at her. "You're not just Lina anymore," he said. "You are now going to be known as Ashes. Welcome to the Marauders."
Author's Note: Yeah um I just kind of made up the entire thing
about becoming an Animagus and how it works. I hope everyone's okay
with that . . . .
