A little meow caught Sirius' attention as he was making his way to the Room of Requirement. He looked down to see none other than Nutmeg.

"What do you want?" he asked it. Nutmeg meowed mournfully and looked at his hand. "Oh, you want this?" He'd been eating a Cornish pasty along the way. He'd already eaten half of it and he offered the rest of it to the cat. Nutmeg gratefully polished it off. "There, happy now?" He started walking again but the tinkling of a bell alerted him that Nutmeg was following him. "What you want now? I haven't got anymore food. You're getting fat anyway." Still Nutmeg meowed. "I am not going to stroke you, for all I know you'll start targeting me like that chicken. He walked on but Nutmeg followed him until he reached the room. "Go away! I haven't got anymore food!"

The door opened and Remus stuck his head out. "Are you talking to a cat, Padfoot?"

"The stupid fur ball keeps following me."

"Just let it come in, standing outside and talking to a cat can look rather suspicious you know."

Sirius shrugged and went in with Nutmeg close behind. "You've gone all animal lover lately." He said observing Chewy on Remus' shoulder and then nodding at Brent. It turned out that Brent had arrived just before Sirius.

"Lately? I've always loved animals. I am one!" Remus said with little humor.

Sirius pulled his sleeves up. "Right, let's get these bad boys out!" He threw a glance at Brent who was still hovering by the door.

The pot in front of them was already simmering. Remus added a pinch of powdered mink teeth. "I still don't know how you managed to get him to cooperate." He whispered under his breath.

Sirius gave him a wide grin. "Easy, I threatened to hex him." Remus rolled his eyes but he also grinned.

"Nothing like a direct approach right?"

"Exactly!" Sirius motioned for Brent to come closer to the hot cauldron. The poor Squib looked like he wasn't done from suffering the nightmares of his last encounter in the Room of Requirement and magic. "Come on!" Sirius repeated this time with a lot less patience.

Brent edged closer but still stopped a good few feet away. Sirius sighed and wondered briefly what he had done to deserve this before he lunged and yanked Brent to the cauldron.

Insulted Brent rearranged his clothes and sniffed. Sirius leaned over the now boiling pot. "Is the stuff really gonna work?" he said pointing at the bubbling purple liquid.

"Of course." Remus replied. "Brent, your task is simple, all I need is you to stir the contents of this cauldron with this." He handed the ladle to Brent who treated it like it would bite him.

"That's it?" Siirus folded his arms unimpressed. He'd secretly been hoping that the spell would involve Brent getting squeamish although at a glance he could see that the guy was plenty squeamish already. "Why can't you or I stir it?"

"Because we don't have the stone."

"Ohh, I get it. It's that rock again. Handy thing to have isn't it? Pity it's in his stomach."

Brent's free hand went protectively to his stomach in fear that Sirius might suggest cutting it out. Sirius saw this and he deliberately gave him a wolfish grin.

"Suminus Protectus." Remus breathed over the frothing broth and poured a few drops of tortoise oil into it. Nobody knew what to expect but pretty soon it was apparent that nothing was happening.

After a minute or two Sirius spoke. "Great, I bet this happens in our N.E.W.T potions."

"What?" Brent asked curiously.

"Absolutely nothing. That's a fail straight off."

"I thought you didn't care much about education?" Remus said amused.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah well, it looks like I'm going to have to care because you need good grades to be an Auror." Remus raised an eyebrow; he had been aware that his friend was interested in the career but it was quite a surprise to see him so committed. "What you got to smile about anyway? The spell didn't work!"

"It seems that way."

Sirius threw his hands up exaggerating exasperation on purpose. "You're supposed to be the brainy one out of the group! Make it work!"

"Yeah but with competition like you three it's not hard to be the clever one."

"Haha. Real clever." Sirius picked up the bottle and inspected the peeling label.

"Of course."

"What the heck…" he tipped the entire contents of the bottle into the cauldron. "Keep stirring Brent." he ordered. Brent responded by stirring with the ladle furiously. "There, instant reaction." He said as the broth began to change color.

"Sure, but what are the side effects of overdosing a spell?" Remus waved his hand in front of his face as plumes of smoke that was already pouring out.

"Beats me!" Sirius coughed and backed away. Brent had tossed the ladle aside and was out through the door before you could say 'Quidditch'. "Do we need him back?"

"No, the spell is done." The smoke was dispersing now leaving the room slightly foggy.

"Where are they?" These Protectors?" Sirius flapped his hand about to clear the air in front of him.

"I'm here." Came an unfamiliar voice. Remus jumped for the voice seemed to come from right beside his ear. The sudden movement unsettled Chewy and he took off.

"And I'm here." Came a second voice coming from somewhere at their feet.

"Where?" Neither Remus nor Sirius could see anyone other than themselves standing in the room.

Chewy circled the room once and landed back on Remus' shoulder. "I'm right here." He said to Remus. Remus could feel his eyes go wide.

"Chewy? You're the Protector?"

Upon hearing this Sirius began to laugh. "Honestly, Moony! Come up with a better one than that!"

The bat shook its ears. "I'm not Chewy, no, but I am in Chewy's body. We Protectors have to possess the body of an animal, that is the only form in which we can reveal ourselves.

Confused Remus picked up the spell book. "The spell didn't mention that part."

"Oh yes it does, it's written in the fine print."

Remus flipped open the book and scanned the page. "I don't see any fine print."

"Use the attached magnifying glass." The bat suggested.

"Oh." So that was what the small piece of glass attached to the spine of the book via a ribbon was used for. With the delicate glass he could now read a very small line at the very bottom of the page. He'd dismissed it earlier assuming it was just a decorative line of dots to mark the bottom of the page. "I see." He said finally.

"See what because I certainly don't!" Sirius said eyeing the bat with suspicion. Talking animals were freaky to him no matter what animal it was.

"Where are the other two?" Remus asked Chewy ignoring Sirius.

"The cat and the third creature is not in the room."

"The CAT?" Sirius cried staring at Nutmeg on the floor.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" the cat said, it's furry cat lips forming words perfectly.

Sirius bristled. "As a matter of fact I do!"

Remus had recovered from his initial shock already and he wasn't quite as disturbed at the idea as Sirius. "Then how the third Protector enter the body if the animal is not present?"

"The essence of the third creature is in the room." Nutmeg answered.

"Oh really? Where?" Sirius demanded. "You're not trying to tell me that the third Protector has possessed the body of a spider are you? There are plenty of those in here." Sirius squinted upwards to the dust corners of the ceiling where there was Hogwart's typical arachnid population.

If possible the cat rolled his eyes. "Of course not Mongrel!" it said with annoyance. "The creature's essence is on your bag."

"Say what! Who you calling a 'Mongrel'?!"

"Why, you of course!" the cat glared at him with its bright eyes. Muttering under his breath Sirius went to his bag. It was dusty with one or two marks left by Tatty's last attack on him.

"There's nothing there!" Sirius declared.

"Use you eyes, Mongrel. It's not that hard to spot a few marks."

"You're lying! The only marks on her are-" Sirius stopped in mid-sentence. "Are you trying to tell me that the 'essence' you're on about is the shit marks on my bag left by that damn flying chicken?"

"Yes." Sirius slapped a hand to his head at the reply.

"Nothing ever goes right for us does it?" It was rhetorical of course.

"When you're done talking to yourself, Mongrel, please be kind enough to rejoin us." The cat said with heavy sarcasm.

Sirius hit the side of his head. "I don't believe it, I'm being insulted by a damn cat!"

---

James sneezed. It was cold and he'd been out all through the previous night and day with only a brief catnap when Tatty had grown tired. It was now night time again and Tatty had once again made a stop, this time near a farm. He was kneeling at the top of a slope that overlooked the small farmhouse in the valley below.

"Is Lily in there or are you stopping for a meal, Tatty?"

Tatty didn't answer. Instead she shivered as if she were cold and then flew down to perch on a solid branch of a bush next to him. James continued to survey the house, noting any points of entry that he could use and plotting escape routes if need be.

"It's a bit chilly tonight isn't it?" Someone said. James looked at his owl.

"Yeah." He replied and returned his attention to the house. Two seconds passed before James swung his eyes back to stare at his owl. The owl stared back with its bright yellow eyes.

"What?" Tatty said.

"Wha-?" James started but he lost his balance and found himself rolling at high speed down into the valley. In the end a hedge stopped his descent. Extremely scratched and battered from his fall he sat up half dazed.

Did my owl just talk to me?

Tatty flew silently down to join him. "That was funny, do it again." It said to him. Of all the strange things that James had ever seen in his life, this one definitely came within the top five.

---

A/N: soooo! What you all think???