AU! Who's Voldemort? No war. I'm sorry, Tom. Forgive me.
Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
House: Thunderbird
Class: Charms
Task: 5. Fidelius Charm: hiding from something/someone
Word Count: 1554/4500
Deer Life
"Mate, why do you look like a centaur with antlers?" Sirius asked, bewildered at James' half-transformation. James' torso was human, but his backside was stuck in his Animagus form — yet, he still had his antlers.
Harry clung onto his father's antlers — or more specifically, Prongs' antlers — with his chubby little hands as Prongs gracefully jumped over a large rhododendron bush. He giggled as he looked over his shoulder and found Uncle Padfoot running after them in his dog form. "Unca Paddy, huwwy!"
Padfoot barked and nudged Prongs' hooves with his head as he ran past them, his tail wagging in his excitement. Prongs bellowed at him and picked up the pace, glancing at Harry, who was bouncing on his back, his plump cheeks flushed with excitement, to make sure he didn't accidentally fall off. Lily would kill him if he let Harry get hurt.
When Padfoot saw a fallen tree trunk nearby, he nipped at Prongs' heels and nodded towards the trunk. Prongs quickly changed his course and followed the black dog to their new hiding place. The snow rested upon the withered and gnarled tree trunk, covering the deep wood in perfect white.
Sirius let the transformation wash over him, and once he was a human again, he plucked two-year-old Harry off of his best friend's back. He hugged Harry to his chest and grinned. "You did a wonderful job holding on for deer life, Junior."
James was in the middle of transforming back when he heard Sirius' joke, and he couldn't help but burst into peals of laughter. Unfortunately for him, Animagus transformations were tricky processes. The moment he lost his focus, James realized something bad had happened to his body. He could feel himself get stuck.
"Mate, why do you look like a centaur with antlers?" Sirius asked, bewildered at James' half-transformation. James' torso was human, but his backside was stuck in his Animagus form — yet, he still had his antlers.
"Sh—" He stopped himself before he could swear loudly, aware that Harry was too close to him. Harry was in that particular phase of life when he would only repeat the expletives James — or Sirius — used near him.
"Shoot is right! We're supposed to be hiding from Moony! What are we supposed to do with your arse?" Sirius cried, clutching Harry to his chest.
"Awse!" Harry cried, clapping as he pointed at James' backside, his eyes gleaming with delight at the rude word. James and Sirius winced at the word and looked around in a panic, searching for a place to hide.
They were playing hide-and-seek with the other Marauders. They knew Remus was on his way to look for them; Peter, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Lily had gone to visit her parents and wouldn't be back until after dinner, which meant James and Sirius had to manage their situation themselves.
"Take Harry and run! I'll mislead Moony!" James suddenly cried, pawing at the ground with his front hoof. "We can't let that bas—ketball win! He'll hold it over our heads for the rest of our lives."
"Dog-gone it, you're right," Sirius said, hoisting Harry onto his shoulders. "Prongslet, hold on to me, will you?"
"Okay, Unca Pads," Harry said, wrapping his little arms around Sirius' head.
"This is all your fault, Pads!" James whined, motioning to his body. "If you hadn't…"
"Hadn't what? Made you bark with laughter? Well, excuse me, Mr Potter, but I can't help it if I'm so paw-fect," Sirius said, trying to flip his hair over his shoulder and almost dropping Harry.
"I'll tell you later what you really are," James muttered, absentmindedly rubbing his antlers. "Now, go and hide!"
Sirius turned tail and ran, looking for a place to hide. They reached a small cave near a waterfall and knew Remus wouldn't be able to smell him and Harry near the water; it would hide their scent as long as they didn't move around too much. He hurried inside the cave, almost knocking Harry's head against the stalactites growing down from the cave ceiling.
"Oops, kiddo, you okay?" he asked, rubbing Harry's forehead, and Harry giggled and hugged Sirius. "All right, you're okay. Now, don't make any noise, or else Uncle Moony will find us."
Harry nodded solemnly, his emerald-green eyes shining with delight at the game they were playing. He looked around and asked, "Daddy?"
"He's hiding," Sirius explained, patting Harry's head gently. "And so is Uncle Wormy."
"Unca Wommy!" Harry suddenly cried, pointing at a rat that crawled past them towards a boulder.
Sirius turned his head to look at the rat and snorted, shaking his head. "No, baby, that's not Uncle Wormy. That's a normal rat."
"Oh," Harry muttered, but he still crawled towards the boulder and poked around in search of the fascinating rodent. "Not Unca Wommy! Come hee-yah!"
Sirius chuckled and leaned against the cool wall of the cave, watching Harry run after the terrified rat. Peter often let Harry chase him around the house, which was why Harry wasn't scared of chasing any other rodents either; the men often joked that Harry was destined to have a cat as his Animagus form.
Suddenly, Sirius heard a twig snap outside and grabbed Harry by his armpits. He whispered, "Kiddo, shh!"
Harry quickly quieted down, glancing at the mouth of the cave with curiosity. Was it his Uncle Moony? His question was soon answered when his father called out, "Pads? Harry? Where are you?"
"Hee-yah, Daddy!" Harry cried, flailing his arms to get James' attention. "Daddy!"
James trotted over to them, his hooves making soft clacking sounds, and grinned. "I couldn't find any spot big enough for me and my… butt."
"Butt," Harry repeated, giggling and covering his mouth with his hands. He didn't want Uncle Moony to find them.
Sirius glared at James and asked, "Did you get rid of your hoofprints, Prongs? You know Moony can track you because of your large feet!"
James suddenly paled at the realization. "Aw, fudge! I was so scared of getting caught that I —"
Sirius' nose twitched when a very recognizable scent wafted towards him. He groaned under his breath and glared at James. "You led him right to us!"
James blurted out, "We could outrun him, right?"
"Too late, Prongs," Remus said from the mouth of the cave, smirking at them. He ran towards them and flung himself at Harry and Sirius. "Gotcha, Harry!"
Harry burst into peals of laughter when Remus began to tickle him. "Unca Moony! Lookit Daddy!"
Remus twisted his head to look at James, who was attempting to hide his backside behind the boulder. The werewolf threw his head back and laughed, tears forming in his eyes. "Merlin, what on earth happened to you?"
"Sirius happened, that's what!" James grumbled. "We don't even have our wands because you said no magic while playing."
Remus' shoulders trembled as he laughed, and he pulled out his wand from his pocket. His friends cried in indignation at the sight, but Remus stopped them. "I didn't use my wand to track you, okay?"
"Did you cheat again? You used your superior wolfy nose?" Sirius demanded, scowling at him.
"It's right there!" Remus motioned to his nose with a grin. "It would be a crime if I didn't use it!"
"Hmph!" James and Sirius looked at him dubiously and crossed their arms over their chests.
Remus grinned and asked, "Do you want me to change you back, or do you want to…"
"I don't look half bad, do I?" James asked, preening as he inspected his antlers in the shimmering stalagmite.
"Nah, you look fine," Sirius lied, wanting to see how Lily would react to her husband's half-Transfiguration.
"Yeah, I look more than fine," James said decisively. He turned to Harry, who now held the rat in his hands. "Want to ride me home, Harry? And could you please leave the rat here? Its babies will miss him if you take him with you."
Harry bent down to place the wriggling rat on the ground and patted its head with his little finger. "Goo'bye, not Unca Wommy! I'll mish you!"
They strolled through the snow-covered forest, while Remus almost lost his composure when he couldn't find Peter anywhere. He tried to sniff him out, but to his disbelief, Peter's scent wasn't anywhere to be found. Remus searched under the boulders and bushes, inside the tree trunks and dreys, but to no avail. The men laughed and even Harry giggled at Remus' consternation at failing to find Wormtail.
Finally, Remus gave up and returned to the house with them. The moment they entered the house, Remus' eyes widened and he hurried into the kitchen. "What the fudge are you doing here, Peter?"
"You guys were taking too long, and I got bored," Peter said, taking a large bite out of his chocolate-drizzled doughnut. "I won, didn't I?"
"Yay, Unca Wommy!" Harry cried, stumbling off of James' back and running to Peter's side. Peter picked him up and fed him the rest of his doughnut. And then, Peter's eyes landed on James.
"Fu—What happened to you?"
"I've got a tailent of looking good in everything, don't I?" James boasted, puffing his chest out, and Peter glanced at Sirius and Remus, who pursed their lips to hide their grins.
"Oh, yes, James," Peter said innocently. "Lily will be pleased."
'Definitely not,' the men thought when James ran after Harry and knocked Lily's favourite vase over with his large backside.
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