Disclaimer: I own next to nothing. I own the stuff you don't recognize.
Author's Note: I wasn't going to post another chapter, seeing that, as of some point yesterday, I had 18 hits and no reviews. Then, however, a lone reviewer put this story on their faves list, so I decided that, if it was worth that much effort for them, I could put out more chapters. So, this chapter, and more than likely the entire story, is dedicated to starchild9867. Anyway, without furthur delay, I present to you...
Heart's Desire
Chapter 2
James's point of view
We had been in the forest for about two hours when they appeared. They waltzed into the clearing from the north at the same time we came in from the south. They didn't notice us at first. I really think the only thing that held Moony off for so long was the shock of seeing them suddenly appear. He let out a howl. The six teens looked up, looking shocked. I, for one, was amazed. Shocked is not most people's first reaction upon being howled at by a werewolf. It's usually something more along the lines of terror. Maybe fright. But usually terror.
"Well what do you know," the boy in front, who had light brown hair and green eyes, said. He was probably about the second tallest in the group.
Suddenly, before any of us had time to even realize what was happening, Moony had charged, and the boy had transformed into a large, black wolf. Most of the others had transformed as well. Only a girl who had slightly lighter hair than the first boy, as well as the same green eyes, stood frozen. The look in her eye was much more like what I was used to seeing when people looked at werewolves. I was broken out of my thoughts by what appeared to be a silent argument. It was taking place between a sleek, white tiger and the girl. After wracking my brain for a moment, I realized that was where the auburn haired girl with pale blue eyes had been standing. After a moment, the girl seemed to snap out of her trance, and transformed. Moony stopped the fight he had been having with the black wolf, which was protecting the girl, and looked at them in shock. The brown eagle, which was standing where the girl had been, had an expression on her face that probably would have been an apologetic smile if she had been in human form.
Snapping to my senses, I walked over to the one who had been fighting with Moony. "Just what are you doing?" I asked. All animagi can talk to each other in their forms, no matter what kind of animal you become. You can also talk to real animals while transformed, although it helps if the species are related. For example, Padfoot can get through to Moony much faster than me or Wormtail.
"Well, we were walking to Hogwarts," the wolf responded. "What?" he asked, noticing the odd look on my face.
"Do you attend Hogwarts?" I asked. I really think I would have recognized them if they had.
"Actually, we're just hoping to transfer," the wolf said. He seemed distracted. Of course, that could be because he and his friends had just encountered an almost fully-grown werewolf, even if that hadn't seemed to faze them too much before.
"Where are you transferring from?" I asked curiously. We were watching the others introduce themselves. It was really pretty funny.
"You won't have heard of it. It's a really small school," the wolf shrugged.
"I've heard of a lot of schools, so I'll probably know it," I argued.
"Nah, because only the people who live in our village know about it. The family members of people who live there don't even know, unless they lived there at one time." The wolf was still watching the events in front of us, but seemed to be gazing around the clearing, as if looking for any signs of an attack. "By the way, what's today's date?" Seeing my questioning glance, he continued. "We've been walking for a really long time. It took forever to leave the port-key wards at our village, and we port-keyed to pretty far away from Hogwarts, because no one was sure how far the wards went."
"Really?" I asked doubtfully. "Well, if it's still before 12, it's November 10. If it's after, it's November 11, 1976."
"Thanks. That means we've been walking for about three days," the wolf said. "By the way, do you have a name?"
"Just call me Prongs," I answered. The wolf nodded. "Are you going to tell me yours now?"
"Well, since we're going by nicknames, it's Midnight. Although it wouldn't hurt to tell you my real name, you've definitely got more of a reason for hiding it than I do," the wolf, Midnight, said.
"How do you figure?" I was puzzled by that one.
"If I knew your name, which probably won't take long if Prongs is your nickname, then I would be able to figure out just which one of your friends is a werewolf." I was slightly alarmed by that fact, and it must have shown on my face. "Don't worry, it's not like any of us are going to tell. That would be really stupid, now wouldn't it?"
"I must say, that's a pretty unique view," I said thoughtfully. These people sure were strange.
"Well, what would the point be? We've just made four new friends. Why would we want to run them off?" Midnight was looking around again. "Who are your friends?"
"Wormtail, Padfoot, and Moony," I answered. "Who are yours?"
"Hoofer, Snow, Sapphire, Flame, and Swift," Midnight replied. He appeared to be grinning, although it's hard to tell with dogs, and it's slightly disturbing if you can. "We'd better be heading up to the castle. If you don't mind, I'm sure at least some of us would be more than happy to join you on the next full moon. Of course, we'll completely understand if you would rather it be just the four of you."
"Well, I'll have to check," I said slowly.
"Understandable," Midnight said, grinning again. He must have given a silent signal then, because all of the newcomers looked up at him. I was surprised when he didn't say anything, but maybe they had a special way of communicating. There might be a lot of animagi where they came from. They had probably developed their own secret language of sorts. Of course, maybe they were just so close they could practically read each other's thoughts.
Suddenly, they all left in the direction of Hogwarts. "I think we should follow them," Padfoot said, coming over. "Doesn't it strike you a little odd that they just showed up like that?" I nodded.
"I agree. Lets see if we can get Moony to follow them. You have the best luck with that." Padfoot nodded, and walked over to Moony. Eventually, they both nodded, and joined Wormtail and I. Wormtail had climbed up on my back while the other two were talking. We followed the six strangers as quietly as we could. We were doing pretty good, too, seeing as it is very hard to follow six creatures who, for the most part, blend in to the night, and who all have excellent hearing. We followed them the entire way, although, by the time the strangers had reached the school, it was time for us to go back into the Shrieking Shack.
By the time Remus had transformed back and we had taken him to the hospital wing, we had about an hour until breakfast. We gladly fell into bed, and stayed there for the next 50 minutes, knowing perfectly well that Remus wouldn't let us come next time if we missed anything school related.
We slipped into breakfast just as Dumbledore rose to speak.
"We have the pleasure of having six new students join us," Dumbledore said to the silent hall. The six people from the night before stood in front of the head table. "They will be sorted now."
McGonagall came forward, Sorting Hat in hand. "Anderson, Laura," she called. The auburn haired girl who had transformed into the white tiger came forward. She put on the Sorting Hat, which screamed "Ravenclaw!"
"Granger, Felicia!" It was the girl that hadn't transformed immediately. "Ravenclaw!" the hat said, barely sitting on her head. The girl looked shocked.
"Granger, Harry!" The boy who I talked to last night came forward. McGonagall put the hat on his head. The hat just sat there, and the boy seemed to be arguing with it. Suddenly, the hat screamed "Slytherin!" The three that were left looked shocked, while Harry just looked angry. He tore the hat off his head and stormed over to the cheering table, sitting by himself at the far end. He appeared to be trying to stop himself from hexing someone.
"Typical Slytherin," Sirius whispered to me as Neville Jones, who had become a horse the night before, was sorted into Gryffindor.
"He seemed nice enough last night," I answered, eyeing him cautiously. Just then, Ginny Welker was sorted into Gryffindor, as well as her brother Ron.
Rising again, Dumbledore spoke. "Miss and Mr. Granger, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Welker will be joining the sixth year classes, while Miss Welker and Miss Anderson will be joining the fifth years. Now, enjoy your breakfast." With that, food appeared, and everyone began eating.
I motioned to the three new students to move down to where we were sitting. They did so, although they seemed reluctant.
"So, how do you like Hogwarts so far?" Sirius asked brightly. "I'm Sirius by the way."
"Good to know," Ron said. "And your name is?"
"No, that is my name," Sirius grinned. He liked this kid's sense of humour.
"I know, it was just too good to pass up," Ron smirked. Sirius pretended to pout.
"Hogwarts is fine so far," Ginny said, glaring at Ron.
"What's with your friend?" I asked, motioning towards Harry.
"He would have rather been with one of us," Ron said quickly. He started shovelling food in his mouth.
"What classes are you taking?" Sirius asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"I'm taking the core classes, plus Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures," Ginny answered.
"I'm taking Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dart Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies," Neville answered.
"Ron swallowed, then answered. "I'm taking the same as Neville, except take out Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures, and add in Transfiguration and Potions. Still not quite sure how I got an O in that last one. Harry and Hermione passed just about everything with flying colours. As such, Harry is taking Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, in which I think he was the only one who got an O, and Herbology. Her-Felicia, ever the over achiever, is taking Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes."
"How are the classes here set up?" Ginny asked, gazing around the Great Hall.
"Well, fifth year and below have classes with their house, and occasionally partnered with another. Sixth and seventh years take theirs all together. For example, all of us will be in Herbology," Peter explained.
"We can show you sixth years around if you want. At least one of us has those classes," I offered. "It's a good thing Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are after lunch, however, because he's the only one of us four who takes it. He wasn't feeling well this morning, so he went to the hospital wing," I explained, seeing their questioning looks. It didn't look like they believed me, but they didn't press matters.
"If your sure, we'd love to take you up on that," Ron said. "Neville, why don't you tell Hermione we'll meet her by the doors. I'll go tell Harry." They each ran off.
"You'll have to forgive them," Ginny said. "We always do stuff together, so none of us really like the fact that we're separated."
"How did you all become such good friends?" Peter asked.
"Death Eater battle," Ginny said, acting as if it were no big deal.
"You know, if you didn't want to tell us, you could have just said so," I said, somewhat offended.
"I'm being…," Ginny trailed off as she glanced at Sirius. "I'm telling the truth!"
"The girl catches on quick!" Sirius exclaimed, and we couldn't help but laugh.
"Growing up with my brothers, you learn a few things about jokes and pranks," Ginny grinned. I'm sure she didn't miss the looks on our faces.
"Do any of you like Quidditch?" I asked before she could get any ideas. I could practically hear Sirius roll his eyes.
"I play chaser, Ron plays Keeper, and Harry plays Seeker," Ginny answered. At that moment, the bell rang, and the food disappeared. We stood up, and walked to the Entrance Hall. Harry was already waiting there with Ron. I spotted Felicia, Laura, and Neville approaching from the other direction. Laura said her good-byes and walked off with another fifth year Ravenclaw I knew by sight.
Just then, Snivellus, of all people, approached the group. We were close enough to here what he said.
"Granger!" he yelled to Harry. "As a Slytherin sixth year prefect, I'm required to ask if you need shown around."
"Actually," Harry said brightly. "I believe I've got someone to show me to classes, but could you show me to the common room and stuff, after supper, if you don't mind."
"If I minded, I wouldn't have offered. By the was, Severus Snape," he said, sticking his hand out.
"Harry Granger," Harry replied, shaking his hand. "See you later tonight." Snivellus nodded, and headed towards the first class, Potions.
"Well, we should get going!" I said as we drew nearer. "Peter, you can show Neville to Muggle Studies, and we'll head on to Potions." Everyone nodded. "I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black. That was Peter Pettigrew," I said, mainly to Harry and Felicia.
"I'm Felicia," the girl said, smiling slightly.
"I believe you know me best as Midnight," Harry said.
"How did you know who we were?" I asked, shocked. Sirius didn't seem to make the connection, and Peter was already gone.
"Well, I could say it was something impressive, like Legilimency." Harry grinned, looking at my awestruck look. "But while I'm fairly competent at Occlumency, I suck at Legilimency. The real reason is that I recognized your voice. You sound the same no matter what form you take." I nodded, although it still didn't make much sense. By this time, however, we were in the Potions classroom, and we couldn't continue the discussion.
"Alright, class," Professor Slughorn said as we sat down. "Today, we are getting new partners. In case no one told you," he said, talking to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "I'm Professor Slughorn, head of Slytherin. We always work with an assigned partner. Every three months, we switch partners. During June, we'll have a competition of sorts, and the people with the highest average for that month will when points for their house, as well as a 30 galleon gift certificate to the shop of their choice. That is, that's what the top three get. If there is a tie, we use the averages for the rest of the year. I must say, I expect good things from you three, seeing as you all managed O's in the class. There aren't many others who did. Now, for the partners."
After about ten minutes, he had them all assigned. I, to my great enjoyment, was partnered with Lily. She was excellent at Potions, not to mention one of Slughorn's favourites. Sirius was with Ron and Remus was with Felicia. Harry, poor guy, was stuck with Snivellus. The teacher had assigned us seats as well. Lily and I were in the back, with Sirius and Ron in front of us. Then came Harry and Snape, with Felicia and Remus in front of them.
"Sirius!" I whispered, leaning forward slightly.
"What?" he asked. Ron was busy stirring the Potion, so we could talk freely.
"We need to add something to dear Snivelly's cauldron," I whispered, holding up a Dr. Filibuster Wet-Start Firework.
"Even if it'll ruin Harry's grade?" Sirius asked, but he was already levitating it towards their cauldron. He was about to drop it in when, all of a sudden, something strange happened. Instead of falling in their cauldron, it started backwards. I realized what was going to happen a second before it did. The firework fell in my cauldron, just as Lily added some newt's eyes. It exploded instantly. I had time to duck, but Lily didn't. She was hit, and she started sprouting multi-coloured boils.
"What happened?" Professor Slughorn asked. The room was deadly silent.
"What did you add?" Lily screeched. I stood there, dumbfounded. I couldn't really say it had been caused by a firework Sirius and I had been trying to put in someone else's cauldron.
"I didn't add anything!" I protested. Everyone was looking at me doubtfully. Lily was second best in the class at Potions. It was very unlikely that she had been the one to add the wrong thing.
"It looks like this went off in their cauldron," Harry said, having come closer. He pulled out the firework.
"Who put this in their cauldron?" Slughorn asked coldly. No one moved. He was still staring when the bell rang. "Class dismissed." With that, everyone exited the classroom, not wasting any time.
"What on earth could have happened?" I asked wonderingly. I was talking to Sirius, forgetting that three of the new students were following.
"I didn't want you to mess up my Potions grade," came a voice from behind. Harry was smirking, looking quite pleased with himself.
"How did you know we were planning something?" Sirius asked, grudgingly impressed. No one, and I repeat, no one, had been able to thwart one of our pranks before.
"Don't whisper so loudly. Also, just a tip for future reference, floating fireworks look slightly suspicious, don't you think?" Harry said smugly. Sirius and I could do nothing but stare.
"Alright, if you think you're so good, we want to challenge you to a prank war," I said, before I could actually stop to think. Sirius started staring at me, now, clearly sure I'd lost my mind. I mean, after all, just one of them had stopped our last prank. Here I was giving them all six of them to prank us with a vengeance.
"Well, I'll have to consult with my colleagues first, of course," Harry said. "But there is at least one term to be agreed upon right now."
"And what is that?" Sirius asked cautiously.
"We only prank the ones in the war," Harry said simply. "Lets say that Felicia here doesn't want in on it. You can't prank her. Lets say Peter doesn't want in on it. We can't prank him. We can't prank any of the staff, or other students. Is that clear?" Sirius and I both nodded. "Good. Then I'm in."
"Me too," Ron said. Felicia nodded.
"Well, you can't very well have a prank war without opponents, now can you?" Sirius asked. "I'm in. So is the idiot over there who's having second thoughts about challenging you." He was motioning towards me. I am not an idiot.
"Let's go ask Remus, he should be up by now," I said brightly, trying to ignore the sniggers from the other three. The others agreed readily enough, seeing as it was a free period, and Slughorn hadn't had time to assign homework.
"Hi, Remus!" Sirius said excitedly once we got to the hospital wing, bouncing excitedly.
"Hi Sirius, hi James," Remus said wearily. Then he spotted our other visitors.
"Hi! We haven't properly met yet, but I'm Harry Granger," Harry grinned, offering his hand to Remus.
"Erm, hello," Remus said hesitantly, shaking his hand. "Remus Lupin."
"This is my twin sister, Felicia, and our friend Ron Welker," Harry continued, either not noticing or pretending not to notice Remus's nervousness. "Ron's sister Ginny, and our friend Laura Anderson aren't here right now seeing as they're in fifth year. Neville will probably be led here soon. He was at Muggle Studies with Peter." Suddenly, there was a bang outside as someone entered the hospital wing. Looking alarmed, the other three immediately changed. Felicia turned into her dark brown eagle, Ron turned into a small salamander, and Harry…disappeared from view. He had changed for a split second, and then just disappeared from sight.
Author's Note: Well, how did you like it? You've read it, now make my day and review! Next up, Hermione's versions of the time travelers arrival.