Padfoot's Puppy
Chapter Eight
'Snowball'
When Amber awoke the next morning, Sirius was sitting in the chair and Remus was gone. Someone had put a faded green blanket over her, and it smelled vaguely of dog. Though Sirius could see that she was awake, he didn't say anything.
Suddenly, Amber was filled with fear. It hadn't really occurred to her that she would never be going back to the Malfoys. She didn't miss them, oh no, it was impossible to miss Lucius and Narcissa, but she'd lived with them pretty much her entire life. She'd grown used to being hidden, being treated badly, and after a while, it hadn't seemed so bad. Now she was going to have to get used to a totally different life. Just the thought of it scared Amber.
"You're going to have to stay with us you know." Sirius said finally. Amber nodded, but didn't say anything. Out of the two of them, Sirius scared her more than Remus did.
"We can't let anyone else know about you." Sirius said. Amber just stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying. What were they going to do then, lock her in a closet for the rest of her life?
"So we're going to have to disguise you." Sirius continued. Amber still didn't say anything. Disguise her, how? There wasn't really much they could disguise her as so that people wouldn't ask questions.
"Remus started it already." Sirius said. Amber continued staring at him; she didn't know what to say. Remus had started it already, started what? She didn't feel any different, or look any different.
"W-what do you mean?" Amber stuttered, drawing up all of her courage. Sirius didn't answer, and Amber didn't dare to ask again. Lucius had hated it when she asked questions twice, and there was nothing saying that Sirius would be different.
For a while, there was a long awkward silence, Amber starting at Sirius, and Sirius staring at Amber. Amber was dying to ask Sirius questions, but she was too afraid to.
Finally, Remus appeared with a loud CRACK right beside Sirius. He took one look at Sirius and Amber, and then shook his head.
"Did you explain it to her?" He asked, acting as though Amber wasn't there. Amber glared at him, and she saw Sirius smile.
"No, not yet, I was waiting for you to get back." He said. Remus rolled his eyes and tried very unsuccessfully to look angry. Sirius just grinned at him, and Amber rolled her eyes. Slowly, even though Sirius scared her, she was starting to feel a little bit more relaxed around them.
"Well I'm back, start explaining." Remus said, sounding slightly exasperated. Sirius nodded, but then he didn't say anything. For several minutes there was a long silence until Remus sighed loudly.
"Fine I'll do it!" He said angrily. Turning to Amber, Remus started to speak, and then he stopped. Both Amber and Sirius watched him curiously, and it was several minutes before he finally spoke.
"We need to disguise you, so that no one will know who you are. This way, you'll never have to go back to the Malfoys, and you'll be safe. Safe from the Death Eaters, the Malfoys, and me." He said. Amber stared at him curiously. Why would he be any threat to her? She could understand the Death Eaters and the Malfoys, but him?
When Amber didn't say anything, Remus glanced at Sirius, who nodded. Remus sighed, and looked back at Amber, looking as though he was dreading what he was about to say next.
"I'm a werewolf, I can take a potion so that I can keep my mind while I'm a werewolf, but it's best to have some sort of protection against me just in case something goes wrong. So, we've decided that you should become an Animagus." He said uncertainly.
"But, isn't that, illegal?" Amber asked slowly. Sirius smiled and glanced at Remus, who didn't look happy.
"Well, yes, but it's for the best." Remus said. He still didn't sound certain though, and that scared Amber more than the possibility that something could go wrong.
"And how exactly do you become an Animagus?" Amber asked, her voice wavering with fear. Remus looked at Sirius.
"It's a very complicated process; it involves several potions, and several different spells. We can do it though; we've done it three times already." Sirius said. Though she wanted to, Amber didn't ask who they'd done it to. She was guessing that Sirius had been on of them, but she didn't have a clue as to who the other two could be.
"So, shall we get started?" Remus said, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Amber didn't say anything, but Sirius nodded. That seemed to satisfy Remus, and he went over to the little makeshift kitchen. A couple minutes later, he returned, holding a small glass. He handed it to Amber, who took it, but then just stared at it.
"Go on, drink it, it even tastes good." Remus said with a smile. Slowly, Amber brought the glass to her mouth, and closing her eyes, she drank it. It tasted somewhat like lemons and crackers. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't exactly all that good.
"That's good." Remus said, taking the glass from Amber. Over the next two hours, Amber took three more potions, and Remus performed five non-verbal spells. Why he had to do it non-verbally was a mystery to Amber, but she felt too dizzy and lightheaded to ask.
"Here we go." Sirius whispered to Remus after the third potion. Remus nodded, and quickly, Sirius transformed into the big black dog. Amber, who was still sitting on the couch, began to shake, her eyes rolling. Remus wanted to help her, but he knew it was best to let the transformation take course.
It didn't take very long for the transformation to be complete. Remus remembered the first time he'd assisted in turning someone into an Animagus. It had been James Potter, and they'd all been excited, sure that the transformation was going to be the coolest thing that they'd ever seen. They were all disappointed. The first few minutes consist of the person shaking, and then, in a second, they're transformed into what animal they are most like in personality.
It was the same with Amber. After four and a half minutes of uncontrollable shaking, she suddenly changed into an animal. Neither Remus nor Sirius were surprised by what animal she changed into, they'd suspected that she was more like Sirius than her mother Amber all along.
While Sirius was a huge black dog, Amber had transformed into a puppy-sized white dog. Remus knew that he and Sirius would probably end up arguing about whether or not Amber was really a dog or a wolf, she looked almost exactly like a wolf pup, but then at the same time, she didn't have the same characteristics as a wolf.
Amber didn't realize at first that she had transformed, and went to get up. When she saw that she had paws instead of feet, she jumped backwards quickly, terrified. Slowly, she tried to walk, and found it a lot harder than when she was human. Trying to coordinate where fours legs should go wasn't easy, especially since she was only used to telling two where to go.
"Just relax!" Sirius said sharply. Amber stared at him, terrified. Glancing up at Remus, she realized that he couldn't hear Sirius, only she could.
"It takes a while to get used to it, but once you do, being a dog is a lot of fun." Sirius was saying. Amber was barely listening though; she was too busy trying to figure out how to walk.
"Figure out how to do that later, right now you need to learn how to change back into your human form!" Sirius said, sounding angry. Amber immediately stopped what she was doing and stared at him.
"Concentrate really hard, and picture your human form in your mind. Think about becoming your human form." Sirius said. Amber tried, but it didn't work. She tried again, a picture of herself in her mind. She wanted to become human again, she really did. Being a dog was not that easy, and it felt like she had two thick, heavy blankets over here.
"There you go!" Remus said happily. Amber hadn't realized it, but she had indeed turned back into a human. She'd never imagine that being an Animagus could be like this, barely noticing when you change.
"Can I never do that again?" She asked weakly. Remus smiled, but didn't say anything to her. Instead, he turned to Sirius, who had changed back into his human form.
"We need a name now." Remus said. Sirius nodded, and thought for a moment. They didn't really need a good name for her; after all, he was named Snuffles. A typical name for a white dog was all that was needed.
"Let's call her Snowball." He said finally. Remus nodded, it was a good enough name. Amber wasn't really listening to them. She was trying to get over the fact that she had actually just turned into a dog. Remus and Sirius kept on talking, but Amber ignored them. She was absolutely terrified now, she'd agreed to become an Animagus, with no argument, that wasn't like her at all! And what had Sirius meant by saying that Remus had started the process already?
Author's Note: Oh man this chapter was hard to write…I almost didn't want to do it, and to give up on the story… it was that bad… I don't like it… I hope you guys do though…Especially since it nearly killed me to write it.