Author's Note:
I got.... 4 reviews I think? Within two days! I was very pleased with the response, and thusly was inspired to write more, because you all were interested and wanted more! I got one review asking for Sirius' POV, so that it mainly how it goes this chapter... But there will be moments when I'll have to give in Remus' two cents. Please don't kill me. xD
Still not entirely sure where this is going... right now we're just getting these lot into the routine of being there for Remus. I'm also trying to introduce Lily and Snape into the picture, as they will be pivotal later. AND YES THERE SHALL BE SOME SLASH! It's just taking a while to get these two together. 8[
Let's try for at least 5 reviews this time, again, alright? :D
"Cover your eyes now, Remus." James commanded.
Remus nervously placed his hands over his closed eyes, starting when he felt the tip of a wand touch to his knuckles, making him unable to separate his fingers or remove his hands from his head.
"J-James? Sirius? …. Peter?" Remus stood stock still, afraid to move even an inch, for fear he might get a foot caught on a loose board and go toppling to the floor. The Shrieking Shack was old and decrepit, and though he spent a night here every month, it was far from his favorite place to be.
There was nothing but silence from his three companions, which unnerved Remus even more. A feeling of uneasy insecurity settled into the pit of his stomach. What if his friends had just left him there, as some sort of prank?
The honey-brunette shook his head to himself, awkwardly pulling his arms along in the motion.
A noise of clacking against the floorboards made Remus jump, the small hairs on the back of his neck pricking up. He was completely defenseless, unable to reach his wand, let alone run. It sounded… almost like hooves.
"James?" Remus asked again, flushing furiously when he heard the squeaky tone to his voice. There was a tap at his fingertips and he jumped back from it, his hands flying off of his face.
"Merlin's beard!" He cried, falling back unto the dusty, squeaking bed that lay against the far wall.
In front of him stood a regal looking stag, two pronged antlers curving up into glorious spikes. The deer stood and stared calmly at Remus, cocking its head ever so slightly.
Remus' hand reached for his wand, sliding over his robe material toward his pocket, when he felt something rather large and furry brush against his fingertips. Closing his eyes and taking a rather deep breath, the teen turned to see a fat, greasy-furred tan rat sit up on its haunches and regard him with strikingly white-blue eyes. It pulled its lips up and revealed a bulging yellowing bucktooth, in what Remus almost thought could be a smile—if rats could smile, of course.
A deep, throaty growl caused Remus to turn to look to his left and slightly behind, his blood running cold at a the sight of a hulking, shaggy black wolf of a dog, standing with its head angled down and ears pulled back, white teeth and pink gums exposed as another growl rumbled up from the creature's chest.
There would have been something utterly terrifying about the animal, had Remus not noticed the dog's large eyes. They were not brown, or hazel, or blue, but a striking metallic, quicksilver grey. A playful light was glimmering deep in those eyes, a hidden smirk twinkling.
"Gods! Sirius!?" Remus exclaimed, standing and sending the rat tumbling head over paws unto the pillows.
The dog barked, and then began to wheeze with his teeth exposed, and Remus realized that he was laughing.
"…Sirius? Is that really you?"
To his shock – relief? – the dog nodded in conformation. Turning weakly, Remus reached out a hand to the disheveled rat. The shaken creature climbed unto his hand and Remus slowly, timidly brought the creature closer to his face.
"…Pete?" He whispered, feeling his blood rushing out from his head. The rat bit him gently on the thumb. "Sorry for- for throwing you." Remus apologized, smiling cheekily. "But … Does that mean…?"
Peter clambered up unto Remus' shoulder, tucking himself in at the base of his neck. It tickled, but Remus wasn't quite in the mood to laugh. The werewolf turned to face the large stag that seemed to be taking up the entirety of the room. It was still regarding him patiently.
"James." Remus stated, cocking an eyebrow. "You really… you don't look a thing like yourself," he muttered, shaking his head. "I mean… I don't really picture a bloody stag when I think of you."
The deer narrowed his warm brown eyes and threw his head indignantly. Remus couldn't help but laugh at that, because that was truly a James-like thing to do.
"Bloody hell," Remus sighed, sinking slowly back unto the bed. Sirius padded quietly over and placed his huge head into Remus' lap, and Remus found that he couldn't help but reach out to scratch behind his ears. It was so strange to think of his best friends…
"You alright, Rem?" Came a voice, startling Remus out from his reveries. He looked up to see James slipping his wand back into his robe pocket and pushing his glasses up his nose.
"…I … I really don't know, James." He turned to look at Sirius, glowering playfully at his canine companion. "Now really, Sirius— who thought of this? Between the three of you there isn't a full brai—"
His words were cut off in a quiet cry of pain as Peter sunk his sharp rat teeth into his ear. A loud growl came from in his lap, the vibrations of the noise shaking Remus to his bones.
"His name is Padfoot." James informed Remus, sitting down beside him on the bed and taking Peter into his hands. "And we call Peter 'Wormtail' now."
"…And what's your name?" Remus murmured after a moment, his hands buried in Siri—Padfoot's fur.
"I'm Prongs." He answered, grinning proudly.
"How did you all…-"
The ringing of the school bell cut Remus off mid-sentence, the boy jumping up at the sound. Their trip to Hogsmeade was over, for now.
"Let's head downstairs, Remus. Pads and Wormtail will be right after us, right?" The animals both nodded, each moving over to their respective piles of clothing.
"I didn't even get to go to Honeydukes…" Remus muttered absently, running a hand back through his hair.
"We can send Sirius down later," James dismissed, waving his hand in the air. It wasn't long before Sirius and Peter caught up with them, but Remus kept his mouth shut and all his questions bottled up until they had passed through the portrait hole and the door to the boys' dormitory was closed behind them.
"Alright, you three. You have a lot of explaining to do."
"Well, Remus, you see… It wasn't anyone's idea … really." James started. Sirius snickered and threw himself down unto his bed, shaking his head.
"We'd just had enough mornings of you in the bloody Hospital Wing, covered in those horrible scratches and bites." Sirius muttered, watching Remus' face grow ashen and his mouth draw into a thin line.
"We just wanted to help!" Peter squawked, holding his arms out plaintively. Sirius glared under his hair at the pudgy blonde. He still wasn't sure as to how Peter Pettigrew had come to be a part of their Marauder group. The portly 5th Year wasn't good for much; he was a genius at Herbology, and followed James like a sick puppy. While it was somewhat redeeming to Sirius that the boy had been willing to illegally become and Animagi for Remus' sake, he couldn't help but chalk it up to peer pressure.
"…But what you lot've done… It's illegal." Remus exhaled, sitting at the foot of his bed and folding his arms into his lap. Sirius watched his expression become neutral as the werewolf gazed dazedly as his shoes.
"It took us nearly three years to complete the bloody process," Sirius tried to explain. "We wouldn't have gone through with it completely without being very serious about this." The shaggy-haired Black heir grinned cheekily at the old pun, looking to James for help.
"You… you all have been going at this since 2nd Year?" Remus breathed, clearly shocked.
"We can help you with your transformations, Remus." James started. Remus looked up fast enough that Sirius was able to hear his neck crack. Before the other teen could get a word in, however, James quickly continued. "Wormtail can hit the knot on the Whomping Willow," he started, gesturing towards Peter, who gave a shit-eating grin. "Prongs can help keep you under control. And Padfoot-" James shrugged, as if it were obvious. Sirius grinned as he remembered Remus' expression when he had first recognized the noble Black son underneath all that thick fur. "-Padfoot can be the werewolf's playmate."
"We even have a nickname for you, Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up and tossing his hair back with a free hand. It had grown to an inch below his ears now, the locks long and lanky; an act of rebellion against his most noble parents. "What d'you think of 'Moony'?" he offered, smiling genuinely.
"…Moony?" Remus deadpanned, his mouth set in a flat line and one eyebrow cocked in disbelief. "Really, Sirius? You, with all your tremendous creativity for pranks, couldn't think of a better name than Moony?"
"Think of it, Remus! Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs! The four Marauders! The bane of all who teach at Hogwarts!" Sirius felt his grin stretch further across his face, making his cheeks hurt faintly.
"It does have quite a ring to it… we should change our names on The Map." James agreed, nudging Remus gently with his elbow. "C'mon… Give it a try, Moony."
"…. I can't have you all there when the werewolf comes out!" Remus exclaimed, seemingly coming to terms with what had all been said. Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes, slightly disappointed. Remus should have been rolling on the floor in gratitude, not trying to logically find a way to undo an illegal act.
"We can take care of ourselves, Moony." Peter said softly. Sirius had to admit he liked the new nicknames, even though he most likely wasn't going to walk around calling Peter 'Wormtail' anytime soon—it wasn't all that attractive.
"Have you seen Prongs' antlers?" Sirius added, scoffing and rolling his eyes playfully. "No werewolf'll mess with him once he's proved himself to be a friend – and a force to be reckoned with."
"It isn't safe!" Remus continued, shaking his head. "If something happens-"
"Nothing will happen, Remus!" James soothed, sitting next to Remus and clapping him gently on the back. Thank Merlin for James. "The werewolf is a part of you, right? He'll know who we are… maybe all he wants are some friends. If he had something to do, you know he'd be much better behaved. He only attacks himself so feverishly because he's got nothing better to do. Once a month he gets to come out, and what does he have to look forward to— a bloody time out in a dusty, creaky, cramped flat? Oh, gee, just what the werewolf doctor ordered." James wrinkled his nose playfully and managed to coax a grin across Remus' wane face.
"Just one chance, Moony. There's three of us—if anything happens, we promise to get whoever's hurt to safety." Sirius added, after having a quick laugh at the image of a grumpy werewolf in timeout, dunce cap planted low on its head.
"…You lot are either the stupidest bunch of blockheaded blokes I've ever met," Remus started, shaking his head, "Or the most amazing mates a werewolf could ever have."
"You all know the plan, right?" Remus queried, his voice shaking. Sirius felt like reaching an arm out to steady his clearly in-pain friend, but was afraid that the other boy would snap at him, or break his arm in a random act of violence.
It was merely minutes before the full moon would rise. It was their first full moon with Moony since they had revealed their very illegal secret roughly a week ago in August (It was now September). The four Marauders stood at the foot of the stairs, Remus slightly above Sirius and the others; his tie loosened and first buttons of his shirt undone.
"We stand here and wait until you come charging down to gorge on our blood," Sirius muttered dryly, earning him a firm clap on the ear.
"I'm in no mood for jokes, Black." Remus reprimanded darkly. Sirius blanched and blinked at his usually charming and non-confrontational companion, but clenched his jaw shut.
"We'll be ready, Remus, don't worry," James soothed, pulling his sweater over his head as he spoke. Remus sighed resignedly and shook his head, pushing his fingers against closed eyes.
"And if there is even the slightest sign of—" Remus' words were cut short by a cry of pain and a sickening crunch of bone. Before Sirius or the others could begin to comprehend, the boy was up the stairs and behind a hulking wooden door.
"Better change fast mates," James commanded, ripping his tie from around his neck and quickly undoing his belt.
The four of them soon stood stark naked in the dark, dusty lower room of the Shrieking Shack, listening to Remus' barely contained moans and sobs of pain.
Sirius began the transformation, feeling his bones and tissue slide effortlessly against themselves to rearrange; form new joints, expand muscle, grow new appendages. In a few painless moments he was standing on all fours, watching a stag gradually grow two-pronged antlers, and a rat slowly shrink down to size.
Before he could think to get his bearings, Padfoot heard heavy footfalls upstairs, accompanied by the scrape of claws. A low growl rumbled through his body unbidden, canine instincts quickly taking over. In his peripheral vision he was able to notice Prongs coming to attention and Wormtail quickly clambering up and unto Prongs' back, for safety.
Moony must have heard his growl, because Padfoot's heightened hearing picked up a lower, much more threatening snarl from upstairs. The large black dog braced himself near the foot of the stairs, keeping his head low and his tail between his legs, as Moony had instructed.
'He'll be very violent, Sirius. Promise me you won't try and get the upper hand on him. Werewolves are apt to be dominant. As much as it may hurt your masculine pride, try and let him be Alpha Male, alright?'
It wasn't long before Moony came bursting out the door and stumbled down the stairs, scraping across the wooden floors.
Padfoot quivered momentarily at the sight of the massive beast. It was his first time ever seeing a werewolf, and it wasn't at all what he'd been expecting.
The animal had retained most of its human body structure, so that it loped rather awkwardly, although it did have the double-jointed back legs and a long, pointed muzzle twisted into a ferocious expression. Its body was covered in sparse brown fur, thin pointed ears angled back in anger, its amber eyes – Remus' eyes, only much more violent and bright – glaring heatedly at Padfoot.
Easy there, Moony… Padfoot thought to himself, lowering himself down and then rolling over to his back, exposing his stomach and throat to the dominant male. He could hear Prongs moving anxiously, and could only hope that his friend understood that this had to be done.
The beast swam into Padfoot's vision, his teeth gleaming in the vivid, cold white moonlight. His breath smelled horrible— like rotted flesh and blood. Sirius could only wriggle faintly closer and run his tongue along the underside of the werewolf's – he couldn't think of this as Remus—throat, making a small whimpering noise. It was faintly disgusting, but Sirius wasn't being Sirius, he was being Padfoot, and if these actions kept him alive, he would do them until the moon went down.
After what felt like a lifetime, the werewolf's long pink tongue flashed out and lapped a wet line up Padfoot's face, making the wolf dog leap up and whine in disgust, running his paws across his face to remove the drool, the werewolf wagging his tail in a playful manner.
A squeaking behind him reminded Padfoot that they weren't alone, and he quickly went over to his stag-and-rat companions. The werewolf looked the two over for a moment, seeming to accept them into his presence, but showing much more interest in Padfoot.
The werewolf lowered himself unto his front haunches, his rear end going up at an awkward angle, a small playful yip popping from between his pearly whites fangs.
Ah, so… You want to play, eh, Moony?
Padfoot quickly assumed the playful crouch and gave a playful growl, his tail wagging automatically.
See, Moony? I told you—everything is fine.
"Merlin… Did I have to re-grow bones or something?" Remus asked gruffly, running a shaking hand across his face.
"You had a wonderful night last night, I'll have you know." Sirius scoffed, offended by his friend's first words. The four of them were seated in the Hospital Wing after dinner, Remus finally coherent – and comfortable enough – to carry on conversation. The night had ended without much fuss; James, Peter and Sirius had managed to leave under the Invisibility Cloak before Madame Pomfrey could get to the Shack.
While the first few moments had been sheer terror for Sirius – which he would never admit – the rest of the night had been quite fine.
"No one got hurt?" Remus asked, nibbling on his chapped lower lip.
"You didn't even raise a hackle after the first few minutes," James informed his skinnier cohort, smiling comfortingly.
"You and I actually got on well, actually," Sirius interrupted, patting Remus gingerly on the shoulder. "We romped most of the night, while Prongs played referee."
"All I got to do was watch. The most important thing I did all night was push the bloody knob on the Willow," Peter whined. Sirius repressed a very Padfoot-like growl, irritated that Peter was treating this as child's play. He would have mentioned how scared he had been, or that being that close to a real live werewolf was completely terrifying, but he didn't want to distress poor Remus any more than he was already doing to himself.
"Oi, Pete, didn't you have an exam in Herbology today?" Remus asked suddenly, changing the mood. It was such a perfect Remus thing to do—to force the conversation off from himself and focus on someone else, and Merlin new that Peter could use some more positive attention. He nearly only hung out with and talked to James, and Sirius and James were closer than brothers, but Remus was the quiet neutral in the group, everyone's friend, but no one's best friend.
"Oh! No one … you remembered!" Peter spluttered, clearly flustered. "It went rather well, actually. Not like I'm very smart or anything-"
Fishing for compliments… He's such a bastard…
"Now Pete, you're a genius at Herbology!" Remus insisted, shaking his head, and then flinching at the motion. Sirius felt a strange sensation, like a wash of guilt, at the expression of pain. He'd thought that last night had gone well; he couldn't see any new scars on the teen, and the werewolf had enjoyed himself immensely. Then again, the transformation from werewolf to boy and vice versa was well known to be rather painful… he was probably very stiff.
"I never could how you were so good with those Mangroves… I nearly went deaf that first class!" James added, wincing at the memory. "Give me History of Magic over Herbology any day."
"That is a perfectly entertaining class!" Remus snapped, cuffing James playfully upside his head.
"You have gotten quiet violent of late, Mr. Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing his friend's bony wrist and pushing James out of harm's way overdramatically. "Do not harm my dearest Jamesy! One million points from Gryffindor!"
"I shan't let some mangy mutt take points from our own house. That's my job!"
"And you're much too good at it, Moony," James complained softly, shaking his head.
"You nearly burned that poor First Year's nose off with that fire-breathing hot sauce sandwich gag!" Remus maintained, sighing tiredly. "I would have lost my post as Prefect if I hadn't taken at least ten points from Gryffindor."
Sirius snickered at the memory… The poor girl had squealed rather embarrassingly and fled from the Great Hall in a real show.
"That sandwich had been meant for Snivellus' plate and you know it!" James growled, his eyes darkening. "No points need be taken for a prank that accidentally became purposely harmless to the wrong person!"
Remus remained pointedly quiet; he made it quite clear that he was on no one's side as far as the Severus Snape vs. James Potter war went.
"Speaking of old Snivelly…" Sirius said softly, launching into a story. "I saw he and Evans chattering away during a passing period. The two of them are becoming quite chummy—I wouldn't be surprised if Snivellus had it had it in for her."
He caught Remus' eye, and was shocked by the hostile, shocked glare that the werewolf was throwing his way.
"Wha—"
Sirius turned his head and caught sight of James' face, screwed up into a dark, foreboding grimace.
"Well, we have it in for old Snivellus. So, in that way, it's fair, isn't it, Pads?"
Nearly two weeks later, and Halloween was all but upon them. The Marauders had been plotting their annual prank. Because of Remus' Prefect position, he was unable to be 'involved' in the prank, but he occasionally gave input from behind his copy of A Separate Peace.
"—We can bewitch some sort of banner," Peter offered, shrugging. "As one of the lighter aspects of the prank, of course." He added hastily, at Sirius' unimpressed glance.
"Let's see if we can get some skeletons… maybe from Defense Against the Dark Arts… Enchant them to dance across the tables…"
"The candles can blow out, leaving everyone alone under the light of the full-mooned, enchanted ceiling… Maybe get a wolf howl for effect… Get one of the House ghosts to moan-"
"Wait, Prongs, did you just say full moon?" Sirius interjected, casting a glance to Remus, who didn't seem to have noticed.
"…Oh bloody hell!" James hissed, bringing his fist down against his knee for emphasis.
"What are we going to do? Just leave the prank to go on without us?" Peter exclaimed, earning another wary glare from Sirius, but it was too late. Remus had closed his book and was looking up with curiosity betraying his blasé demeanor.
"What's the matter?" Remus inquired, tossing his book gently into his trunk.
"The… Well, you see… the prank--"
Sirius sighed exasperatedly, raking a hand back through his shaggy hair. James was sometimes too good at beating around the bush.
"There's going to be a full moon on Halloween night." Sirius quipped, rolling his eyes. "Typical luck, isn't it?"
"…Oh." Remus stared blankly for a moment, keeping his face blank of emotion, which irritated Sirius- had always irritated the rash, headstrong Black heir.
"Now don't any of you feel obligated to stay with me!" he suddenly exclaimed, the meaning of the somber silence finally reaching him. "I know that you lot really look forward to the Halloween prank."
"Don't be silly, Moony! You need us there! Without Padfoot and Prongs, you're more apt to hurt yourself."
"A scar or two more isn't going to kill me," Remus joked quietly, giving a weak chuckle. Sirius couldn't help but scowl as he thought of possibilities. The wolf could hash himself across the stomach… bite a wrist and rupture an artery…
"No, Moony, James is right. It's much too dangerous for you to go through this alone anymore."
"I survived perfectly well for my entire life alone, Sirius!" Remus snapped softly, his amber eyes hardening. "Besides, I can tell that the Shack isn't where you want to be. And if all you're doing the entire evening is thinking about what's going on back in the Great Hall… well, you shan't be doing a very good job of taking care of me."
"…. I can stay with you, Remus." Sirius offered, not entirely sure where this was leading. He personally felt like he was the only one of the three illegal Animagi that would be of any help to Moony. Yes, there was more of a risk that Moony would cut himself or inflict a wound without Prongs there to 'discipline' him… but it wasn't like Sirius didn't know a few quick healing spells. If need be, he could throw a few out before Pomfrey came up to escort Remus back to the grounds.
He watched Remus' expression, a strange transition from anger, to uneasiness, to insecurity – does Sirius really want to do this? he would be thinking – to wonderment, to a mulling acceptance.
"Think of it!" Sirius added, quickly working to convince his friends. "Sure, there's a chance that Moony'll still inflict a scratch or two without Prongs to run interference with his great rack-"
"Bloody hell, you can make anything sound dirty…" Prongs scoffed, shaking his head.
"-But even without Prongs, Moony seems to be in a great mood around Padfoot, and that should be enough to distract him from serious bodily damage. I mean, we can't very well leave just Prongs, because he can't play with Moony, and under no circumstances do we just abandon Wormtail in the Shack alone!"
The room was silent as Sirius took a much-needed breath and focused on organizing his very disjointed thoughts. He never took this much time to think through what he said before he said it, and he found it to be rather tiring.
"It would be pointless for all of us to miss out on a prank that we were all a part of, and the teachers will get suspicious if they come looking for us and no one is here." He added, smirking when he caught sight of Remus' agape jaw. His brilliantness must have been overwhelming the poor teen. "I can claim a sore stomach before dinner, in front of everyone, go meet up with Remus at the Shack- I'll take the passage through the humped ol' Witch statue. I can be back before morning, maybe clean up some of Moony's more minor cuts…"
The silence stretched on as he finished, sitting there and staring around the room. Remus still looked rather flabbergasted, James looked thoughtful, and Peter … Peter looked hungry.
"You have to admit, Remus, he has a point." James agreed, nodding his head slowly. "It makes the most sense. Besides, Sirius is always missing dinner, sore stomach or not." The shaggy-haired teen threw Sirius an over-emphasized wink, making Sirius feel rather indignant.
"Now, Prongs, just because I get enough and you can't so much as get Evans to look at you…"
"Alright."
The soft voice made both boys stop their playful banter for a moment. They turned, and Sirius caught Remus' warm eyes in his own.
"I can't argue with your logic, Sirius… even though I'm still trying to get my head around where this logic came from…" he chuckled, and Sirius let the jab slide. "It does make sense. I'm not afraid of a few more scars, and I'm not very worried for Padfoot's safety… from what you told me, the werewolf has accepted you into his pack. As long as you make sure to stay submissive, everything should be alright."
"So Padfoot shall come with me to the Shack on Halloween… and you two had better create the most elaborate, most talked about prank in all Hogwarts' history."
"Don't worry Rem, we will." James promised, putting his hand against his chest and smirking deviously before reciting the group's self-assigned mantra,
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs--" James started, looking around at each person with their name, before they all said, in chorus,
"Solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
End Notes: Sorry for the lame... ending. But it's just showing their evolving from a random group of friends, to friends with a real purpose-- to protect Remus. And then it's going to evolve as each of them has their own agenda. Hope you all enjoyed! And don't forget to review!!