Chapter Six

At the Quidditch Pitch

"The full moon took a day off then, did it?" James asked. "Did Dumbledore tell you why it didn't appear last night?"

What is he talking about? Harry asked himself. Last night? Before I came? I wonder if I have anything to do with this.

"Well, he had an idea, but for the most part, he wasn't sure."

"What was it?" not James, but Harry asked.

"That there was some very powerful magic going on last night." Lupin looked thorough narrow eyes in Harry's direction.

"Magic that can stop the moon from coming out? I bet you wish you had that, eh Moony?" James smirked.

"The point is," Lupin continued, ignoring Prongs, "that maybe I should go alone tonight."

"How is that the point?" retorted James.

"Well, Dumbledore instructed me not to tell you guys. That there is something strange going on."

"I agree," said Harry abruptly. He didn't know how to turn into an Animagus, and he was certain that he couldn't accomplish it in a single day. He didn't care how out of character it sounded, nothing would give himself away more than to forget how to turn into a big, black dog.

"What! How can you agree?" James gawked at him, as well as Peter and Lupin. Before he could open his mouth to answer, a group of giggling Hufflepuffs walked over to them.

"Hello Sirius, hi James," said the blond, giving them a little wave. James grinned at them, but Harry blushed.

"Hello," Harry said shyly, wringing his ear lope between his fingers. The girls just giggled more.

"I just wanted to ask you if you would mind joining us after classes today," the blond said smoothly.

"Sure," James replied shortly. The girls departed.

"Wow, Padfoot, since when have you been shy of a few girls?" asked Peter.

"Since never. I wasn't being shy," Harry spat at him.

"You were blushing," noted James. Lupin nodded fervently.

"I-I… I'm not…" Harry couldn't think of an excuse, so he bit into his toast. Lord, Sirius was hungry. Having a lack of food in his stomach seemed to emaciate him much more than average. "I just like her a lot." He shrugged. Lord, I hope they don't ask me what her name is.

"Well, duh."

"We better get going, five minutes until class," Lupin remarked, standing up. They were the last people in the Great Hall. And with that, they followed Snape's molted feathers to Professor McGonagall's classroom.

Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail took the seats in the very back of the classroom. Harry spotted a brilliant red head in the front row, and was almost certain who it was. She was chatting with a group of two friends. James scowled at them.

"Stupid girls," he murmured.

"Yeah…" Wormtail agreed. James gave him a sideways look and addressed his best friend.

"So, exactly why don't you want to go tonight? It's not like we're going to be caught. The teachers know to stay out of the Shrieking Shack area around the full moon. Dumbledore enforced it."

"I just don't feel like it. I have a ton of homework, and, well…" Harry's excuses failed him.

"Homework?" asked James.

"Homework."

"But this isn't for me, Padfoot. This is to help Moony."

"Fine," Harry gave in; he knew he was never going to win. James smiled.

"Excellent." Lupin was looking past Prongs and on to the face of his handsome-faced friend. Something was defiantly wrong. First there was no moon, and then Sirius acts like an entirely different person. He had first suspected Polyjuice Potion, but Sirius had not drunk anything within the hour Lupin had watched him. The Professor interrupted his thoughts.

"Now today, we are going to practice the opposite of Vanishing Spells, that is to say—Conjuroring Spells. First, you are going to vanish your toad, than bring him back." She made a complicated gesture with her wand, and a frog appeared right in front of her. "Now pair up, I'll be around for questions."

"Oi, Padfoot, looks like another O for the day in Transfig," James remarked egotistically, turning to his friend. Harry wasn't sure. He had never been O material in Transfiguration, but he knew it had been Sirius's favorite subject, so he smiled back.

"I don't need this rubbish," he said, quoting from the Pensive, "I already know it all." He tipped his chair back on it's back legs, and put his hands behind his head, lounging. He gazed at the frog in front of him. It croaked.

"Better just do it, earn some House points," said James, eyeing his toad. He put his wand above it, and murmured. The toad vanished. Wormtail gasped and applauded, even though they had been doing this for years. Suckup. Harry thought. He tilted his chair back on all fours, but lost his balance.

"Ahh…" Crash. His chair had uprooted from under him, leaving him sprawled on the ground. The class laughed, all but Lupin, who helped him up along with a snickering James. Smooth. Harry thought, cheeks burning.

"Smooth," laughed James. Harry laughed along with his father, happy for the first time today.

The first class could have gone better, but it could have been worse too. Harry had successfully Vanished and Conjured his toad on the fifth try, which only he could be proud of. James had done it on his second try, Lupin around the same time, and Wormtail still couldn't vanish it. This made Harry laugh. The git.

Later, James has gone to meet the girls with the other two, and Harry had snuck away and gone to the library. He was determined to become an Animagus tonight, hopefully.

"Erm…" Harry started, getting the attention of a librarian he didn't recognize. She looked up as he cleared his throat. "I was wonder if you had any books on Animagus and Transfiguration," she eyed him suspiciously. "For a project," he added quickly.

"Yes I do. You're a sixth year now; right Mr. Black?" Harry nodded.

"This way," she got up and made her way to the restricted section. "Honestly, I'll be surprised if I find any at all. Most of them disappeared for some time a few years ago." Harry almost laughed out loud, for he knew the Marauders were behind THAT one.

"Oh, yes, here we go," she handed him a few very heavy books. "These can't be taken out of the library, so you can just read them in here," she pointed to an empty table and some chairs, and made her way back to her desk.

Harry strode over and sat down. He opened the top book, How to Become an Animagus, that's pretty self-explanatory. I wonder why it's in Hogwarts anyway. Inside, Harry found many complicated spells and wand motions, and finally the section that told you step by step. Harry couldn't understand a thing.

"Oi, Padfoot, what are you doing down here?" Harry whipped around to find James. He tried to hide the book behind his back.

"Oh, just homework so I can go tonight."

"That sucks," James sat down across from him, Harry hid the book beneath his chair. "What class is it in anyway… oh… Transfiguration,"he said when he spotted the second book. "Still haven't finished that Vanishing paper?"

"Nope."

"Need help?"

"No, I'm done anyway." James hadn't questioned why there had been no parchment of quills around, he just looked happy to go.

"Nice, I have something to show you, follow me," James stood up and lead the way out of the library. Harry hoped that he was pretty well caught up on the Animagus thing, for he did catch on to Patronuses fairly quickly.

James lead him out to the Quidditch pitch, and into the locker rooms to briefly grab two brooms.

"Nice day," he noted, throwing a school broom to Harry and mounting his own. Harry followed suit, and kicked off the ground.

Wind whistled in his ears and through his tamed hair, and he couldn't help but to laugh. He flew up pretty high, and fell stationary, watching his dad. He is a good flier, Harry thought as Prongs took a dive, and pulled up feet from the ground. Harry dove also, closer to his father, and wove around the hoops.

"Hey Padfoot, when did you get so good?" James yelled over to him.

"Practice," he shouted back as he took another dive. And genes.