Looking up from his book when he felt movement at his side, Remus saw Sirius pull himself onto the windowsill beside him.
"Class already over?"
"Yes, McKinnon blew up the telephone so we were dismissed early."
"Is she all right?"
Sirius pulled his legs up into a more comfortable position. "I don't understand why they don't just teach teachers basic first aid healing. She just had a couple of burns that could've been taken care of in moments."
Humming in agreement as he knew his friend was a lot better in assessing injuries than most teachers combined, Remus looked back at his book. "Did you need me for something?"
"Finish your chapter, then there's something I want to show you."
Nodding, Remus returned his attention to his book; grateful it was Sirius who had disturbed him instead of one of the other two.
James would've taken it from him; impatiently bribing him with it to get him to hurry up while Peter would nervously shift back and forth, driving him insane until he gave up. But Sirius either always read with him over his shoulder or stayed otherwise occupied until he was done.
Aware his thoughts had left the book, he closed it; knowing he was to curious to what the other wanted to show him and slipped it back into his bag and sliding down from the windowsill. "I'm done."
"No you're not," grinning, Sirius let Remus help him down.
"Is what you're going to show me going to take long?" Remus asked as he absent-mindedly scratched at his palms; instinctively knowing he only had about two hours left until he had to leave to the Shrieking Shack.
"I'll show you there, I told Madam Pomfrey I'd take you today."
"Right," it wasn't unusual for one of his friends to accompany him towards the shack instead of the matron so he simply followed his friend out of the library.
Noticing Sirius' hands were buried deep in his pockets, Remus reached into his bag to pull out his scarf; knotting it into a loop before tossing it over his friend's head with a bit of magic.
"What am I; a horse?" Sirius laughed, but let him wind the scarf around his neck.
"A very wild one," Remus grinned as he shrugged out of his outer robe and slid it around his friend's shoulders.
"Are you sure you won't be cold?" Slightly worried grey eyes met his own and he shook his head fondly.
"One of the very few benefits to being me is that I make for an excellent bed-warmer," his grin faded as Sirius abruptly stopped and pulled away as if struck.
"Who's daring to use you as a bed-warmer?"
"Eh...you?" Confused, Remus watched outrage and horror cross the other's face; not entirely sure what had caused the sudden horrified look.
"I would never...I never even...what makes you think I would ever do that to you?"
"Because you sometimes crawl into my bed at night when it's extremely cold and cuddle close because I'm always warm?" Swallowing at the expression on Sirius' face, he frowned. "It was meant as a joke, why are you so upset?"
"Rem...do...do you know what a bed-warmer is?" An unreadable expression crossed Sirius' face.
"A small metal container containing hot coals that Muggles put underneath their sheets to warm them up so it won't be so cold when they go to bed in the winter?" He hadn't meant to pose it as a question, but the intensity in those warm grey eyes made him nervous.
"In the magical world, a person who is only used for sexual intentions but not actually loved is often called a bed-warmer. They serve their purpose before being kicked out again."
Immediately understanding why his friend had become upset at his words, Remus winced. "I sometimes forget that some things have a different meaning in the Wizarding World. It's an expression my Mum always uses when Dad says he looks forward to cuddling during a cold night, sorry."
"I'm sorry, too. I didn't take into account that it might have a different meaning for you. You do know I would never..."
"I know," interrupting him softly, Remus reached out to squeeze his hand. "Even if you would have been the type to sleep around, I know you'd never use anyone like that; least of all one of us."
The tension disappeared out of Sirius' posture as he seemed to read the truth in Remus' expression and he couldn't help but ask. "What would you refer to me as, then?"
"A warm cuddle buddy?" Sirius didn't look the least bit embarrassed while Remus couldn't help but flush a little at the calm words.
"Like a teddy bear?"
"I've never had a teddy bear, but James says they're sources of comfort and warmth, so sure."
It always broke Remus' heart to hear another piece of evidence of Sirius' horrible childhood; knowing that Sirius of all people deserved to have one and he spoke his mind before he could second-guess himself. "Well, then I'll just have to be your teddy bear."
"My teddy bear?"
"Yes, no sharing with the others," the potential humiliation of never living this down was well worth it to hear the soft laugh that escaped the other.
"My own personal warm and oversized teddy bear?" The straight face he'd been trying to keep faltered as soft grey eyes looked up to him in wonder and he smiled.
"Just don't tell James, he'd never let me live it down."
"Sure he would, after all, he wouldn't want me to call him by his own nickname in public."
"You're never going to let him live that name down, are you?" He grinned guiltily as it was his fault Sirius even knew about the character as he had been the one to take one of his most beloved children's books to Hogwarts in their first year after learning his Pure-Blood friend loved animals.
And he'd been right as Sirius absolutely adored the book, though he had never expected for the dark-haired teen to teasingly begin to call James Bambi on occasion; although to be fair, the nickname was very fitting.
James was both playful and curious and whenever the bespectacled fifteen year old tried to get his way after being denied; he'd bash his lashes in a way that made his brown eyes seem larger and more endearing and it were those eyes that were the reason for the nickname.
"Oh, you have no idea," Sirius' eyes glinted with mirth; causing Remus to narrow his eyes.
"What did you do now?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Knowing he'd not get another word out of his friend, he followed him through the hallways while discussing the latest book he'd challenged Sirius to read.
It wasn't hard to slip out of the castle and make their way to the Whomping Willow without anyone seeing them, and Remus watched with mixed feelings as Sirius slipped between the violent branches easily; touching the specific knot at the trunk so that they could both slip into the secret passage.
At one hand it was really handy that he could, but the knowledge that his friend had gained the ability due to trying to avoid violent beatings weighted heavy on him and he slid down the passageway quietly; blinking when he could straighten completely. "What?"
"Undetectable Extension Charm," Sirius answered the unasked question, darting forward as he wasn't bothered by the low ceiling since he was still small enough to have more than enough room to stand up straight.
"You...I had no idea that spell would work like this as well," Remus admitted, thinking of the bag his friend had modified for him by using the same spell.
"You've never used the spell for this?"
"No, we always shuffle through the tunnel while keeping low."
"That's just silly; it's true that the spell doesn't make the tunnel much wider, but this is so much easier for travelling than basically having to crawl all the way¹."
"It's certainly less claustrophobic," was the only comment Remus could think of giving to that logic as he wasn't quite sure why neither he or the matron had ever thought of it.
"There is that benefit, too," his companion agreed as he led the way into the Shrieking Shack while Remus took a deep breath as he pulled himself out of the hole as well; hating the room with everything he had. "I'll show you upstairs."
As always, Sirius didn't even bat an eye at the broken settings of the room and made his way up the stairs; Remus mutely following him as the other led him to one of the bedrooms at the far end before coming to an abrupt stop at the sight of James and Peter sitting on the bed.
"What…."
"Finally, that took forever," James grinned as they both rose to their feet.
"What are you doing here?"
"This was the safest and easiest place to show you what we wanted without anyone walking in on us," Sirius smiled as he took a seat on the bed.
"Without….just what are you three up to now?" Warily looking around, Remus couldn't see anything that might give him a clue as to what kind of crazy plan his friends had come up with this time.
"We'll show you, just sit down," James indicated to the bed.
"It's bad enough that you want me to sit down for it?"
"Just take a seat, Moony," allowing Sirius to take his hand and pull him down onto the bed, Remus turned his attention to him.
"What did you do?"
"After we had confronted you about your furry little problem, we discussed what we could do to make things easier for you," James began instead and although Remus immediately wanted to protest that they did make things easier; the slight shake of Sirius' head made him hold his tongue.
"I suggested we learn as much as we could about Healing so that we could take care of you once you were released by Madam Pomfrey and Peter suggested we'd make sure you had enough to eat around the full moon," James spoke as if he hadn't seen the interaction. "Sirius however, had a different plan."
Not sure where this was going, Remus glanced at Sirius but it was James who continued.
"As you know, he's known about Moony much longer than we have and he did some research on werewolves to learn more about them."
Nodding as Remus was aware of that, having seen first-hand how Sirius had actually gone as far as to hide the library books when he deemed them to contain incomplete information no student should be exposed to, he wasn't sure where James was going with this.
"I didn't find much information," Sirius softly continued. "But I did find one thing that might make things easier for you."
"Like what?" From the corner of his eye, Remus noticed James and Peter disappear from his view but his attention was pulled to Sirius as the other brushed a thumb over their still linked hands.
"Animagi."
"Ani...how would an Animagi make things easier for me?"
"There would be someone to stop you from hurting yourself and keep you company. It might make Moony less violent."
"I would turn an Animagus upon biting," Remus pointed out the flaw in his friend's logic, blinking when Sirius shook his head.
"That's just the thing; a werewolf bite is only poisonous to humans. An Animagus wouldn't be in danger from the curse because it's an animal. Even if Moony were to bite one, there would be no risk of change."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"We tested the blood of different Animagi with the saliva obtained from a werewolf during the full moon."
"How could you have possibly gotten that?"
"You break enough stuff in here to leave behind DNA, it was just a matter of finding enough to use it for testing," Sirius shrugged and Remus let the possibility wash over him for just a moment as he knew the other wouldn't have said it if he wasn't absolutely sure of his findings.
"But even if it would help me, Animagi are rare and the transformation is extremely difficult."
"Maybe, but wouldn't it be worth it to learn the skill if it meant keeping you somewhat safe?"
"I think you are delusional, Siri. Even if it would help, where would one learn the skill? The transformation is the most difficult and dangerous one there is."
"But what if we could manage?" Sirius pressed on; making him sigh.
"If it were possible then it would be amazing, but it's not. Even if by some miracle you would be able to find enough information to attempt the transformation, it is still illegal."
"Illegality and difficulties aside, what if it was an option?" He wasn't quite sure why Sirius kept pressing so much on such an impossible subject.
"Siri, I know you are brilliant and so is James, but even if you both are, it is in fact imp..." seeing Sirius' eyes shift to the side, he automatically followed his gaze and trailed off as his mouth fell open at the sight before him.
A large stag stood beside him and Remus could only stare in utter shock as the magnificent animal scraped its hoof over the floor; swallowing as he saw the large antlers as the creature moved forward and he couldn't help but tense back until he caught sight of familiar brown eyes.
"Bambi..." Suddenly understanding Sirius' mirth earlier, he startled as Sirius chuckled at his side and the stag bleated in clear annoyance at the name and suddenly it clicked just who he was looking at.
"J...James?"
Reaching out in disbelief; trying to assure himself he wasn't in fact dreaming; Remus was startled by loud twittering and looked down to find a mousy brown rat sitting on its hind legs beside his shoe; staring up to him with dark watery eyes.
"Pete?"
"I think we have got the impossible part covered, Rem," turning, Remus could only gape as his best friend's shape began to change before his very eyes; transforming into a large dog with fur as black as coal.
"H...how…." he wasn't even aware he had reached out until his fingers made contact with soft fur and he couldn't help the shaky laugh that escaped as the dog licked his hand in response.
"You….how? Why?" He couldn't stop staring; even as all three of them changed back into humans.
"We wanted to do something to help you," James repeated. "As Animagi, we will be able to spend the full moon with you without being endangered by Moony's bite."
"Our presence might keep you from hurting yourself so much," Sirius added.
With their presence he'd never had to feel alone or afraid any more, Remus heard the unspoken message behind Sirius' words.
He had confided into him once how lonely it made him feel to be locked up in the Shack, how isolated he felt and a lump formed in his throat as he realised their accomplishment meant he'd never have to be alone again.
"We're sorry that it took us longer than expected to work it out, though."
"Longer than….Siri, you guys are fifteen! No one would ever believe you managed it in the first place. I hardly believe it and I just saw it with my own eyes. McGonagall told us she needed ten years to be able to successfully transform, and that was when she had guidance...how...how did you manage to do this? How long?" Suddenly realising the others couldn't have asked for help, he was even more amazed by their success.
"Trial and error, my friend," James grinned. "You've seen some of the things we couldn't hide but we'll show you the full research another time as we kept a log complete with photographic evidence for you. But it took us the better part of three years to work everything out, do proper research and manage the transformation successfully."
"Three…." he could only stare at them in shock. "I...the illegality alone...why would you risk that?"
"You are our friend," Sirius frowned. "Is that not reason enough?"
"I..." swallowing thickly as he knew that for them, that was indeed reason enough to risk everything, he couldn't stop the tears from rising and he didn't even try as his heart swelled at the knowledge they'd did this for him.
"Don't cry," he could only bury his face into Sirius' shoulder as the other wrapped his arms around him; holding onto him tightly even as two more joined their hug.
He wasn't sure how many times he whispered his gratitude into his friend's shoulder, all he knew was that he would never be able to express to them how much this meant to him; how much their friendship gave him.
He had already been beyond grateful the three had accepted him; that despite his lycanthropy they still considered him as one of their own. To know they willingly risked their very lives, just to ensure the full moon would be easier to bear was more than he could have ever imagined.
As they eventually pulled back, they only smiled at his stammering and he knew from their smiles that they already knew what this meant for him and couldn't stop his own smile from spreading.
"So...Bambi, huh?"
"No...no, absolutely not," James immediately spluttered and as the others laughed, Remus leaned back as he watched his friends banter over the ridiculous, but surprisingly accurate nickname.
And if Remus happened to think that for the first time he actually almost looked forward to the rising of the full moon; basking in the knowledge that they'd never be the same again, well, then no one had to know.
¹Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban chapter eighteen- Cat, Rat and Dog and chapter twenty – The Dementors Kiss. In chapter eighteen Harry and Hermione have to bend almost double to be able to run through the tunnel, following Crookshanks. Something that was double bending low for two fifteen year olds would leave two tall men crawling to pass through in chapter twenty. But it is never once mentioned that they almost have to bend in two again; just that the tunnel is narrow and with a low ceiling, making it awkward for Remus, Pettigrew and Ron to walk through it sidewards. Even when Harry turns around to Sirius when the man offers him a home, it is never mentioned as difficult. This left me to think there was some silent magic cast to make the walk slightly more comfortable, resulting in this.