Once again, thank you for your reviews. Don't worry, I think the secret will come out to the reader in this chapter. Please note that since I hate Peter so much, he will be away visiting his…uh… sick grandpa. Enjoy!

Ch.3, The Secret

The Marauders waited for the girls to come through the Portrait hole, under the pretense of doing non-existent homework. Soon, James spoke up.

"Where are they? It is already 8:00, and they didn't have much homework." He complained.

"Well, if you really want to know, why not use the Marauder's map to see where they are? " Remus suggested.

Sirius clamped his arm around his shoulder, "How did you get so smart Moony?"

James called them as he took out the map. They all exclaimed as they saw three dots labeled ' Lily Evans, Lenilah Candel, Melissa Smith' climbing the stairs around Griffindor tower.

"Lily and Len I can understand, they could be doing rounds together, but Melissa doesn't need to be with them." Remus said.

"What if they're having their little Girls Night in the tower? You know, so no one could sneak in on them. I can see Lily thinking of something like that. But Len agreeing to it? That's what I don't understand." Sirius said.

"Well, are we going to follow them or not?" James said as he held out the invisibility cloak. As the others nodded, he threw it over them.

000000000000000000

The three girls were chatting about what they would do if they saw the Marauders when in the secret form. They were laughing at Melissa's idea, when they came to their goal, a window. It was very high. Perfect for take-off.

Melissa looked around the corner. No one was there. The girls made sure that they weren't being watched, (at about this time, the Marauders are starting to come, but they are still about 10 minutes away) and when they were satisfied, they transformed.

(Refer to ch.1 for an explanation as to why they are transforming.)

Then, where Lily, Len and Melissa had been, there were three animals in their places. The first was an eye-catching pheonix. It had practically no gold feathers, it was all red. However, it did have several gold feathers on it's back, and if you looked closely enough, they formed an L . It also had sparkling green eyes.

The second was a brown owl. It was very large for an owl, but the main thing about it was what looked like pure gold talons. Its blue eyes radiated wisdom and the odd bit of playfulness.

The third was a raven. Nothing unusual about it, except it had no other colour on it but black. Even the talons were black. Only one thing wasn't black, and that were its mischievous brown eyes.

No one in Hogwarts knew that these three birds were actually Lily, Len and Melissa. Melissa had convinced them to do something unpredictable, and that was to become Animagus. They started researching in secret in third year, and actually did it in the fifth. On GNs they transformed and flew around. Len was probably the only vegetarian owl in the world.

The three took off from the windowsill and hadn't been flying for five minutes when they saw the Marauders standing at the window. How they got there without them noticing, the birds had no idea. They landed in a nearby tree and started talking in birdian. (Is that a word? I don't think so…) Melissa wanted to carry out her idea. Lily agreed. But Len wasn't so agreeable. She flat out refused. So, Lily and Melissa went over to the window. Then, the Marauders leaned out, just as they hoped they would. The owl shook her head in hilarity as they carried out their plan on everyone except Remus.

000000000000000000000

"Ahh ----! That stupid bird just used me as a toilet!" Sirius shouted, trying to grab hold of the cawing raven. Who looked eerily like it was laughing.

"You're not the only one! That ---- pheonix!" James shouted angrily. Meanwhile, Remus was attempting to hold in laughter with all his strength, as was the owl. As Sirius used his wand to free himself and James from excrement, the owl flew over to the other birds and hooted a warning. Then all three birds looked past the Marauders, into the hall. There, from the shadows, was the caretaker's cat.

Everyone hated this cat. (who in my eyes is the mother of Ms. Norris.) She could practically sniff students who were out of bed. As the Marauders backed against the wall, they were very surprised to see the birds swoop in and confront the cat. While the cat was distracted with its friends, the owl picked it up, and with help from the pheonix, took it out the window.

The Marauders were stunned for a moment, before running to the window, only to see the birds in the distance, flying away. They stopped at the lake. It was impossible to see which bird was which. Then, the two birds carrying the hissing cat, all of a sudden dropped her into the lake. The Marauders roared with laughter. Those were some really smart birds. The birds came back with gleeful expressions, for an animal. However, they didn't return to the tower window, they went to the Griffindor common room window. The Marauders decided it was time to go.

000000000000000000000

"I-I can't believe you dropped her in the lake!" Melissa roared, as they returned to the dormitory they shared.

"Hey, it was Len's idea! I just helped. But did you see the look on their faces when we used your idea, Melissa? It was priceless!" Lily said.

"You know, I just hope that that cat can swim…" Len commented.

"Don't worry Len, we dumped her shallowly. Come on, its late. Let's go to bed." Lily suggested.

The girls pulled the hangings across their beds, and drifted off to sleep.

"Can you believe how smart those birds were? They worked together too" Remus said.

"Yeah. I don't like their original deed, but by dumping that stupid cat in the lake, they redeemed themselves." Sirius said joyfully.

"Still, don't you think it's a strange combination? I mean, a raven, an owl and a pheonix?" James asked.

"Well yeah, but look at us, a dog, a rat, a stag and a werewolf! If anyone saw us then they would think the same thing!" Sirius said.

"So you're saying that their animagus?" Remus asked coolly.

"They acted pretty human like to me…"

"But they used us as a toilet! No human in their right mind at Hogwarts would do that to us." James argued.

Sirius seemed satisfied with this answer, as he said no more about the subject.

000000000000000000000000

The girls looked at their timetables. They had different ones for Tuesday.

Lily:

9-10, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

10:05-11:30, Potions.

11:30-12:15, Lunch.

12:15-12:30, Free.

12:35-1:35, Arithmancy.

1:40-3, Herbology.

11:00pm-midnight-Astronomy.

Len:

9-10, Charms

10:05-11:30, Potions

11:30-12:15, Lunch

12:15-12:30, Free

12:35-1:35, Ancient Runes

1:40-3, Herbology

11:00pm-midnight, Astronomy

Melissa:

9-10, Defense Against the Dark Arts

10:05-11:30, Charms

11:30-12:15, Lunch

12:15-12:30, Free

12:35-1:35, Divination

1:40-3, Herbology

11pm-midnight, Astronomy

As she looked at the timetables, Lily scowled. They had barely any classes together!

Anyway, the day went on slowly. On the way to Herbology, the girls met, and discussed what had happened. James had tossed a firework into Snape's couldron, and thanks to him they had a 3-foot essay on the potion they were doing. Lily had several Arithmancy questions, Len had to translate a whole page of runes and Melissa had to keep a 'dream diary' as a revision.

Len hated Herbology. It was her worst subject. She was fine in the written areas, and that was probably what got her to pass the last 6 years.

When they got there, they were partnered up. They were going to start an all-term project, and that was to start with a plant as a seedling and they would be marked on how well it grew over the weeks. They could choose any plant they wished. Lily and Melissa, James and Sirius and Len and Remus.

"Hi Len, how are you?" he greeted kindly.

"Oh, I'm just dandy. This is my worst subject. Any plant I ever kept died within a week!" Len complained.

Remus had trouble holding back laughter. So this is why he had been paired with her. He was relatively good in this subject, so Professor Green must've assumed that he could help her. "Well, if you want I could try to help…"

"That'd be great, but I don't have trouble with the written stuff, just the practicall."Len said. Meanwhile, Melissa and Lily were choosing a venomous tentacula. James and Sirius were choosing different plant, while watching Remus.

"Well first we need to choose a plant. How about this. I will take care of the plant, and you can do most of the written stuff." Remus compromised.

Len smiled. "Sounds great. What plant?"

So they all spent the rest of the day choosing their plant, then asking Professor Green for the seeds. They chose a mood flower bush. It sprouted flower that can tell its holder's moods. They got the plant and Remus placed it in a pot filled with earth and fertilizer while Len looked up how to care for one. They found that they worked rather well together. Sirius pointed this out to James and they both snickered. At the end of class, they were instructed to leave the pots where they were, and set the assignment of describing what the plant should look like when it is fully grown. Len informed Remus that she would take care of it. She was going to join Lily and Melissa, when James and Sirius came up to Remus.

"Mate, you should just ask her out already." Sirius said.

"I cant. She'll just reject me. Not to mention what I am. If she ever found out…" Remus justified.

James shook his head." I don't think so."

Remus looked at the retreating form of Len. She was laughing with her friends. She looked so… happy. But now wasn't the time. Even if she did except him, it would make working with her harder. He probably would ask her soon, but not now.