Okay, okay, I'm sorry it took so long to update. And that was the understatement of the century. I don't think I've updated in about two months. But here it is, and I hope it's long enough to make up for that rather conspicuous absence...

Disclamer: Not mine. Sorry.

"Sirius!"

He looked up, spotted me, and grinned widely. He was on the opposite side of platform nine and three-quarters, standing next to Remus. I made my way through the crowd towards them.

"Hey, mate," I said, slapping Sirius on the back and punching Remus' shoulder. The Hogwarts Express gleamed brightly behind us, and we were gazing happily around at the summer-tanned faces of all our classmates, whom we hadn't seen for three months. "Where're your parents?" I asked Sirius, peering around. "I want to meet them."

"They didn't come," he muttered. "They dropped me off."

"Oh," I said, slightly crestfallen.

Just then my own parents joined us. I scowled. They were going to baby me, and in front of my friends and all.

Mum smothered me in kisses and Dad shook my hand as we boarded the train. With a loud whistle, it began slowly to move, picking up speed as we rounded the bend, and the platform disappeared from sight.

The ride was pleasant enough. We spent it catching up on each others' lives and joking and laughing and playing chess and Exploding Snap, the latter of which I won, no contest. Though I had been practicing all summer, I still couldn't beat Remus at chess, though I managed to stay in the game nineteen minutes once. I was rather proud of myself.

Peter found us just before the food trolley arrived, and Sirius and I each bought twice as much as we'd be able to eat, so we could share it with our friends. Remus looked embarrassed, but Peter shamelessly stuffed his face. I shook my head as he took another chocolate frog. "Don't you think you've had enough?" I asked.

"Never," he said, and proceeded to shove it into his mouth in one bite.

The first two weeks of school were almost entirely a nightmare for me. Aside from getting slammed in detention twice, I failed a test in Charms, burned down half the library while having a duel with Sirius, and nearly got eaten by the giant squid. However, I made the Quidditch team, which cancelled out all the bad parts; I was the only second year on the team, and I was the Seeker, an honorary position, if I do say so myself.

Snape was jealous. Very jealous. He tried out for the Slytherin team, but didn't come anywhere close to making it, so he settled with making snide comments at me whenever we passed each other. I compensated with hexing him when his back was turned, and he was consequently the laughing stock of most our year.

Except for Evans. She stood up for him. I could never see why. It just didn't make sense. She was popular, to say the least, but she wouldn't make fun of the weirdoes, ever. Sirius and Peter made fun of me for liking her (I thought I'd disguised it well enough, but I was proved wrong), Remus didn't take an opinion on the matter, and she was completely oblivious. It drove me nuts.

One day, just after Christmas break, I was sitting in the half of the library that wasn't undergoing major reconstruction (it was a wonder they let me in there) when Sirius came up to me and slammed a book on the table.

"Animagi?" I asked quizzically, reading the title.

"James, I've just had the best idea," he said, sitting down next to me. "Take a look."

He showed me a paragraph from another book. I scanned it quickly, then shrugged. "Werewolves don't attack animals? So what? We're not animals… or at least, I'm not… you're another matter entirely…"

He slugged me in the shoulder, but when he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, it was excited. "Put it together, you git."

I shook my head, nonplussed. "I don't get it."

He sighed exasperatedly. "Let me spell it out for you, smarty. Werewolves don't bite animals. Animagi are humans who turn into animals. Remus is a werewolf. When he transforms, he doesn't bite animals."

There was a moment of silence before I said, "You lost me, mate."

He sighed. "James, I wanna be an Animagus."

I got it. And I freaked out. "Sirius, you can't be… you can't be serious, no pun intended! You have to go through years of studying, and then you have to register with the Ministry, and there are so many regulations you have to follow, and-"

"James, shut up!" he hissed. I realized that the students at surrounding tables were looking at me strangely. I shut up.

"We can do it, James," he said as soon as everyone had turned back to his or her work. "I went to the library at the Ministry of Magic over the summer, and they have all kinds of books on it. I'm sure we could find something and have it sent in by mail…"

"You're crazy," I told him matter-of-factly.

I retained this mindset for several weeks. But soon enough I found myself imagining sneaking out under my invisibility cloak with Sirius and Peter in various animal forms, and Remus as a wolf. For some reason, I was always a stag. I decided- hypothetically speaking, of course- that if I did become an Animagus, my animal would be a stag, a huge one with three sets of tines on my antlers.

Sirius approached me again about a month later. "James," he said, "I know you think I'm crazy, but I've found a way that we can be Animagi." And this time I didn't reject the idea so readily. "How?" I asked, intrigued.

"I've put a book from the library on mail order, under the pretense of studying the process of becoming an Animagus for Transfiguration. It explains it in depth, and I think we can do it."

"It'll take years," I warned. "We might never get it."

" I know," he said, "but I have to try."

I had to hand it to the kid. He was determined.

Three days later, on Saturday morning, three owls carrying a heavy package wrapped in brown leather soared into the Great Hall during breakfast, drawing the attention of more than one person. They landed in the middle of Sirius' plate of eggs and bacon, knocking over the pitcher of pumpkin juice in front of him.

"It's here," he whispered to me.

"What's here?" asked Remus from his other side.

"Just a book," Sirius said quickly. Remus raised his eyebrows at me. I mouthed "later" and returned to my own eggs.

Sirius jammed the still-wrapped package into his bag. As soon as he was done, he snatched it up and dashed up to the dormitory. I followed him, Remus followed me, and Peter lagged behind to finish up the last of the bacon.

The common room was deserted; it was an abnormally warm day for the beginning of February, and students were taking advantage of the sun. Sirius put the book triumphantly on the table, slit open the wrappings, and grinned as he saw the title, In Depth Animagi.

"Animagi?" Remus asked suspiciously. I was surprised. I had assumed that Sirius had told him before he even told me. Now it didn't look like he knew anything.

Sirius was excited. "James and I had this idea-" I shot him an alarmed look. "Alright," he said repentantly, "I had this idea…"

And he proceeded to tell Remus what he was planning.

Remus sank into a chair. Sirius looked concerned. "Of course," he said quickly, "if you don't want us to-"

"No," Remus interrupted. "It's not that. It's just…"

"Yes?" I prompted.

"I can't say how grateful I am that someone… that you guys would do this for me. I'm amazed."

"You're our friend," I said defensively. "We'd turn into piles of dragon dung if we thought it would help you."

"Well," Sirius said, "I would. James already looks enough like one to pass…"

Remus smiled wanly. "Don't worry, I don't think you'll have to do that."

"What about Peter?" I asked.

"I'll tell him. It's up to him if he wants to do it," Sirius said. "His animal can be a rat."

We all laughed, but I stopped suddenly. "I want to be a stag."

"Really?" Sirius said mildly. "I must say, it'd be an improvement on you appearance…"

I couldn't resist. I pummeled him. He didn't stand a chance.