June 1973 - Second Year - Age 12
"How hard can it be?" James groaned, folding his arms and leaning back against the trunk of the tree.
"If it was easy James, everyone would be one." Esme answered, kicking out at Sirius as he attempted grab the branch that she had been reaching for. He snickered and grabbed her leg, tugging her back down and scrambling up past her and further up the tree.
It was the beginning of summer, 1973 and they had all just finished their second year at Hogwarts. Despite what many had thought, all five of them had remained friends from the day that they had met. They were rarely ever found without at least one other member of the group. The only time that Esme wouldn't be with them was usually whenever she was with Lily or quite obviously the girl's dorm.
This was the second summer that they were all spending at the Potter's house. They were not always all together at one time, but James would only ever go at most one or two days a week without seeing any of his friends. Esme loved any excuse to get away from the Orphanage- as much as she loved Winifred, she had gotten far too comfortable spending most days with the boys. Like James, Esme would at most be alone once or twice a week. If she wasn't with the boys, she was at Lily's house.
For obvious reasons, no one visited Sirius's house. He never wanted to be there, never mind have his friends visiting. Sometimes they would visit Remus' house, but not very often. It was more often than not that Esme would visit Remus by herself on the days before and after the full moon.
He never had much energy on these days and as a result, rather enjoyed exploring the woodlands that surrounded his home. It was pretty isolated and far from the village which meant it was full of both magical creatures and plants. From her very first year, Esme had fallen in love with Herbology and care of magical creatures. James and Sirius teased her for it, but Remus was quite happy to sit reading his books whilst Esme sat and studied the life of the forest.
Peter had been far too embarrassed to invite anyone over to his house. This was mostly due to the fact that he had told his parents that Esme was his girlfriend and he was terrified that they would mention it if they came over. So usually, they would all end up at James' house and spend their days down at the river that ran through the village.
"What would you know, Birdie?" Sirius teased, offering a hand out to her once he had reached his usual seat in the tree. He hauled her up and she took a seat next to him on the large branch, swinging her legs back forth. "You're already half way there, being part chicken and all." He held up his arm defensively as Esme swung for him.
Before an argument could ensue, Remus spoke up. "Honestly, you guys don't need to do this. It's too dangerous!"
Peter looked as though he was in full agreement with this statement. He was stuck in a dilemma- he didn't want to risk becoming an Animagus at such a young age, what if it went wrong? He also worried about the thought of being anywhere near a werewolf, even if it was one of his closest friends. His other dilemma was that if he didnt become one, he would be left out of something.
"And let you be stuck with Es for the rest of your transformations at school? That's worse than being alone, sure- Ow" James rubbed his head as Esme snapped off a twig and threw it at his head.
As much as Esme would have liked to join the boys in their mission to become Animagi, the fact that she wasn't completely human herself, prevented her from becoming one. It wasn't all bad, it meant that with the aid of James' cloak, she would sneak out and accompany Remus through his transformations. It had been a risky experiment, but after plenty research by James, Sirius and herself, they were confident that Remus' werewolf form wouldn't consider her as a human and therefore, not attack her. That was as long as he didn't feel provoked and Esme didn't fancy provoking a werewolf into attacking her.
Remus had at first been horrified to find out that she had taken such a risk and forbade her from doing it again, believing it to have been a fluke she had survived the first time. Of course it was pointless, she wasn't going to listen. And she didn't. She would lose sleep every full moon with Remus and spend the next few days trying not to fall asleep in class.
Remus was the only student in the whole school to have heard her sing. Veela were known for their ability to entrance people with their voices and this trait hadn't skipped Esme. Though her voice wasn't quite as powerful as that of a full Veela, it was enough to calm Remus whenever he was going through a particularly difficult transformation.
"I quite enjoy it really..." Remus said quietly, smiling as Esme fell backwards from the branch so that she was swinging upside down in front of him. She grinned back at him widely.
"They're going to do it anyway, Remus. Those two can't stand thinking they're missing out on something." Her waist length hair was practically touching the grass as she hung from the branch. She looked over at James who was busy ruffling his hair up in an attempt to make it look as messy as possible.
"I'm not helping you back up." Sirius told her, plainly.
"Who said I wanted to be back up?" Esme replied.
"You in a few minutes when all the blood rushes to your head."
'You should feel quite at home there anyway, half breed. Surprised you've never made a nest." James chimed in.
"If you two want me to steal anymore mandrake leaves for your experiment next year, you best start being nice to me or else I'll only help Peter and he can join mine and Remus' club."
Peter's face burned bright red at the thought of Esme spending any time alone with him. Sirius noticed this but chose to keep it to himself. There was no fun in embarrassing him for it in front of Esme. He'd get him for it later.
James shoved his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and began to pull at the grass, ripping it out from the ground and tossing it into Esme's face.
"We'll look into it more tomorrow." He said.
"No can do, I'm staying at Lily's tomorrow night. Sirius...can you help me up now please?" Sirius just smirked and ignored her request, leaning back against the trunk.
"Can I come?" James grinned at her.
"Unless she's suddenly decided she doesn't despise the ground you walk on, I'm not convinced you'll be welcomed. Plus, you being in such close proximity to Snivellus probably wouldn't be the best idea. Sirius, I'm serious I'm beginning to see black spots..."
"Snivellus?" Sirius sat up suddenly and looked down at her in disgust. "Please tell me you're not going to be spending any time with him!"
"No...but trust me, I'd rather sit in awkward silence with him than spend any time with Lily's sister. Sirius would you please-" She yelped as Sirius suddenly grabbed her outstretched hand and yanked her back up.
"You take that back, Birdie" He warned her, pointing a finger in her face.
Esme blinked a few times in a dazed fashion as she waited for the blood to travel to anywhere else but her brain.
"Es, That was as good as treason what you said there." James told her.
"Didn't realise being a pure blood made you royalty these days. Maybe Slytherin is the best place for you two." She replied, resting her hand on Sirius' head and placing her full weight on him as she began to climb back down the tree.
"Ow- You fat cow!" Sirius complained though he grabbed her arm to steady her.
"Shut up, dog breath." She dropped back down onto the grass and fell down in a heap next to James.
"If you could choose what animal you'd transform into...what would you choose?" She asked.
There was a silence that fell over the boys as they thought about her question.
"Nothing that has any prey..." Peter said after a while.
"That's smart to be fair...which is surprising from you Peter. What were you thinking? A Lion?" Esme looked over at him.
"A Lion? Peter?" James exclaimed, laughing at the thought.
"If anyone is going to be the Lion-" He stood up and puffed out his chest. "It's me."
There was a loud thud as Sirius dropped down from the tree.
"And to think..." Remus began, shaking his head at James. "...People call you big headed and arrogant."
"I'd be a wolf...though someone already has dibs on that one" Sirius winked at Remus.
The rest of the group all rose, collecting their belongings that they had left at the base of the tree before they began to make their way back to the Potter house.
"I'd be a-"
"You're already a creature." Sirius cut Esme off.
Esme scowled, sticking her foot out to trip him up. "You've got a bloody cheek to jinx half of Slytherin for calling me that, Sirius. You're the worst out of all of them"
"Hey!" He complained, dropping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm allowed. You're our Birdie."
"You're the only one that calls her that." Remus pointed out.
"I like it." Sirius shrugged his shoulders, smirking slightly as Esme shoved him away from her.
"Freak." She muttered.
"Half breed."
