Chapter Eight
The Kiss of Risk
James walked into the Common Room that night in a huff. He strode across the room and plopped down in the sofa, arms crossed and silent. Lupin and Peter exchanged glances.
"James?" asked Lupin curiously.
"I'm thinking," he snapped, eyes focused on the fire in front of him.
"You and Evans have a brawl?" James nodded.
"Yeah. I snuck into the Broom Room today and she got all peeved and said she's report me to McGonagall if I did it again. Stupid Prefect."
"Why were you in the Broom room?"
James ruffled his hair, "flying with Sirius," he said simply. He looked around. "Where is Sirius?"
"We don't know," replied Peter.
"I thought he was with you," said James, tearing his gaze off the fire and into the eyes of Moony.
"How did you figure?"
"He told me that he was going to go do homework with you two." They shook their heads.
"Nope, haven't seen him since Potions."
James stood to his feet, and bounded into the boy's dormitories. He came back minutes later, clasping a black piece of parchment. He had a worried smile plastered on his face. He sat back down, looked both ways to see if everyone was out of ear and sight shot, and muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Tapping his long, dark wand on the paper. Ink jumped to live, curing like vines around the names of the Marauders.
"Good idea," offered Peter, leaning in to get a better look.
"He's in… Lord, where is that?" asked Lupin.
"The Room of Requirement."
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Harry, indeed, was in the Room of Requirement. He was sprawled out on a warm, wool rug, reading the book of Animagus. He had been there for an hour, and had the basic framework on how to become Sirius' black dog.
"Okay…" he said, standing up, "I hope this works." He closed his eyes.
Change, change, please, please change. He begged himself. He tightened his eyelids. Okay, a black dog. With… big paws. Yeah, huge paws. Shaggy fur and erm… eyes. Yes, eyes. And ears, all the necessities. His eyes snapped open as he surveyed himself. No change.
"Damnit," he exclaimed, checking his watch. It was 6:12; dinner was already started! James and the Marauders must be looking for me, I'd better leave. He jammed the books into his bag, and opened the door.
SMACK. The door was suddenly stopped by an unknown force. Harry peaked his head around the corner to see a disgruntled Peter rubbing his knee. James was laughing, and couldn't get a word out.
"Where have you been?" asked Lupin.
"What are you, my mother?" snapped Harry, closing the door, only making James laugh harder.
"Hahaha… Moony… Padfoot, haahahaha! You… have one… ugly mother, hahahaha," James laughed, now crying. Harry and Lupin ignored him.
"Sirius, I'm serious. We had to get out the map to find you. You've been acting really weird," Lupin looked him right in the eye. Harry blinked and looked down at Peter, who was watching James laugh in fury.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled to him. Peter got up and nodded. By then, James was only giggling.
"Oi, Padfoot you're hilarious," James slapped Harry on the back, wiping a tear from his eye. "Wormtail didn't see it coming, the door was just like WHOOSH and then…" James continued to recount the story as they walked down to the Great Hall.
Harry had noticed something in Sirius' body. He wasn't stared at like a freak, or a liar. People would stop at stare at a grinning James in the hall not in disgust, but in jealousy. People want to be me, Harry realized. He was so used to being looked at that he hadn't even noticed it before. But as he entered the Great Hall, the chatter hushed a few notches. People glanced in their direction. Girls giggled. They giggled at him.
James kept talking and ruffling his hair. Lupin added in single words and Peter nodded and agreed, not having an opinion of his own.
"So, Padfoot, what do you reckon?" asked James, giving a lopsided grin.
"Um, fine. It's good," Harry said, not knowing what he was being asked.
"See? I told you, Padfoot agrees."
"Yeah, well once a month is enough for me, I don't want to become an Animagus anyway," he shrugged. "Never had a desire to turn into an animal, but seeing I have no choice…" he faded off as people looked their direction. "Oh, go back to your pudding," Lupin snapped.
"I have a ton of homework from Potions, I didn't get any of the notes because you guys kept changing the color of Snape's hair. It was distracting. Plus we have detention," said Harry.
"Padfoot, you're really becoming a bit of a worry wart. You always love taking risks," James punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Live on the edge, mate!"
"We didn't get any homework in Potions, though," remarked Lupin. "Is there something you're not telling us? A girl perhaps?"
"That's it!" exclaimed Harry, why didn't I think of that? "I have a date."
"Which who?" asked James, eager. "And why did you have to schedule it tonight?
"With that… erm… blond girl," Harry said stupidly.
"Veronica?" suggested James. "The Ravenclaw?"
"No, she's a Hufflepuff." James stroked his chin thoughtfully
"Wait, you don't know the name of the girl you're…"
"ANNA!" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs. Half the Gryffindor table whipped around to look at them.
"Erm, right, that's her." I think.
Just then, the blond Hufflepuff whom Harry had seen last time in the Great Hall approached them, alone.
"Hi," she greeted, still giggling, "I couldn't help but hear you calling my name." Oh geez, oh geez, Harry thought, sinking down in him chair. She didn't even know they had a date! He didn't even know until three minutes prior.
"Yeah, we were trying to figure out wh—" Lupin elbowed James in the ribs, "Ouff! I mean… we wanted to know if Sirius could go on a date with you another time. The girl blushed and giggled.
"Oh, okay, I'll go on another date with you," said the girl, turning to Harry. Harry mumbled thanks to her, sinking lower in his chair. He expected her to leave, but she sat down right next to him, long, pale legs rubbing up against his.
"I've always liked you, Sirius. A lot," Harry looked into her pale, blue eyes. She smiled, moving in closer to him. "You're so brave and smart and funny…" with each word she grew closer.
Closer… closer… time itself seemed to slow down. Harry followed her lips with his eyes until they were out of sight. He closed his eyes and felt warmth on his lips. And then… it was over.
"See you around, Sirius," said the blond with a wink and a wave.
"What was her name again?" asked Harry breathlessly.
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Harry hadn't gotten out of the expedition, but his heart did a few flip-flops. The only girl he had ever kissed was Cho. She was good looking, but that kiss was teary and well… strange. This kiss, or peck as James called it, was sensual. Harry sighed. I think I like being Sirius. He grinned.
"Okay, time to go," said James at around ten O'clock. The Common room was completely empty except for the Marauders. James had a familiar silvery cloth under his arm, and a piece of parchment and wand in his hands. Harry stood up. Dear God I hope I'm ready for this.
"Padfoot, you look pale," remarked Lupin, relieving James of the cloak.
"I do? Oh, I feel fine," he lied, putting up a smile. He got under the cloak in between James and Peter. They stepped through the hole. Harry steered left, while the other went right. He crashed into Peter.
"Padfoot, stop screwing around," Harry mumbled sorry, and veered right.
They walked down a few dark and gray corridors and down some stairs. Lupin kept mumbling directions to James. Harry guessed that they were trying to steer clear of teachers, because they had gone the long way to Boris the Brave.
Finally, they stopped in front of a marble statue. James pulled his finger, revealing a dark passageway. Harry had never been there before, seeing that the tunnel was collapsed in his time. The tunnel seemed to take ages, but they could take the cloak off.
"I'm excited," said James, jumping up and down.
"Couldn't tell," remarked Harry sarcastically. James smirked at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" James teased, "Are you calling me fat?" Harry laughed and nodded.
"Fine, consider us no longer friends," whined James in mock anger. He crossed his arms and gave Harry the cold shoulder, barely keeping a straight face. Harry poked him in the back, playfully.
"RAWR!" exclaimed James, tackling Harry to the ground, putting him in a headlock. "I AM THE GREAT JAMES POTTER, YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME!" Harry squirmed out of his grasp, laughing, tackling back. Peter was looking slightly scared, but eager.
"Shhh!" Lupin urged. "We're nearing the Shack." James stopped almost instantly, ruffling his hair up. Harry got up, grinning. This father-son bonding that Harry had never had was especially important to him. There was a familiar pang in his heart of longing and loneliness.
The tunnel widened into a cavern, with a ladder leading up into blackness. James threw the cloak and map on the ground, along with his wand. The other Marauders and Harry followed suit. James climbed up the ladder, babbling something about full moons. Harry was too nervous to listen.
At the top of the ladder was a trapdoor. James opened in, and starlight danced through. Harry saw the outline of James' face. He was grinning quite largely.
The trapdoor was somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, but not very far in because he could still see the moon. Oh no. He looked around. James and Wormtail were changing rapidly. Peter's nose grew longer, as his body shrunk. James grew a tail, and his arms lengthened to match his legs.
"Sirffus, whaf arr you doiff'!" James exclaimed through his protracted tongue. "Changef, Mooffy fill be up anfi minuufff," his tongue had become incapable of speech, as he let out only sounds of a stag. He pawed the ground. Harry closed his eyes.
Please change. My godfather, Sirius in his dog form. His soul is mine; I have the soul of a dog. Black. Shaggy. Big paws. Harry visualized every part of the dog's body. The teeth, the claws, and the fur hanging off the tail. Harry opened his eyes.
He could see in black and white, which really didn't make a difference in the waning light. He was still on two feet, half changed, stationary between dog and man. He could see a large, nearly hairless dog, with slobber-drippen, yellowing teeth. He was staring straight at Harry. Harry closed his eyes quite fast, thinking hard. Claws, fur, teeth, four legs, spine curling, waging tail. He felt him drop to all fours, but it didn't feel unnatural at all. He opened one eye, and then the other. He had done it! That was too friggin' close. Waaaay too frigging close.
The smells hit him like a load of bricks. He smelt the faint scent of blood, and dead leaves, as well as unfamiliar scents. He pranced around briefly before Lupin came out of nowhere, knocking him to the ground. Harry expected it to hurt, but it didn't. He squirmed free and jumped on the exposed back. James made a sound between and snort and a grunt, tossing his head toward the Shrieking Shack, and they followed his lead. All but Lupin, who was snarling and leaping to them with any chance he could get. It got a bit annoying after a while, and, even though it didn't affect Harry, the bites scared him. And they hurt a lot.
Still, he had done it. He had become an Animagus! That was too close, and Lupin would defiantly suspect something was up. Even Sirius, if it had been him, wouldn't have stalled that long just to take a risk. Harry decided not to worry about it tonight.
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The sun rose over the eastern hills, casting a pink light on the castle. As this was going on, Harry, James, Remus, and Peter ran down the tunnel and out of the statue of Boris the Brave, magic on their backs. Only when they were safe back in their dormitory did they make a sound.
"Well, better catch a few winks before Charms," said James happily.
"I thought you hated Charms," noted Lupin.
"I do. I'm just happy that Padfoot came along. That was great, huh?" he flopped on his bed, putting his arms behind his head.
"I'm gunna go take a shower," announced Peter, whom had ran through something nasty. The three nodded in agreement. Peter left the room, taking a towel and a bottle with him.
"What was that, Sirius?" Lupin asked seriously. "Not a very funny stunt you pulled."
"Oh, sorry," apologized Harry quickly, "I thought it would be funny." James howled in laughter.
"Padfoot, you may be my best mate, but sometimes you're such a git!"
"Yeah… sorry."
"If I had bit you, I might have been kicked out of Hogwarts along with you," Lupin said angily.
"I said sorry!"
"You have to promise."
"Promise what?" snapped Harry, gripping his wand tightly.
"That you'll never pull that shit again."
"Fine."
"Promise!"
"I promise!" gold sparked flew out of Harry's wand, knuckles white from anger. James looked dizzy from looking back and forth. "It was stupid, I won't do it again! I know how important Hogwarts is to you, and I would never jeopardize you. You're my friend."
Lupin didn't bring up again. Well, excluding twenty years later.
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Was this chapter okay? Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and sorry this is so late. My Internet was all wacky, and I couldn't post it. I also apologize that I didn't make the Dursley part a bit longer. I wanted to get to the point, because my fingers hurt from typing the previous chapter ;o.
As for future chapters: The time aspect will be pretty weird, so you might get confused. Embrace your confusion. :) Time is a very weird thing. Lupin knows what is going to happen, but his memory is a bit rusty, seeing it's a minor thing in a life of huge events. Sirius won't remember a thing because it wasn't him! Meanwhile, Dumbledore and Lupin will get others to help get Sirius back to his own time, but what happens when they do it will be completely unexpected.
