Now that the wolfsbane potion is available to help Remus, and the Mauraders are all moving on with their lives, they decide to come clean to McGonagall and ask for her help to get registered so they can't get prosecuted by the Ministry

Minerva McGonagall observed the four young men, her former students, who were sitting before her desk like they had so many times in the past. In fact, the reason there were four seats in front of her desk to begin with, rather than just one like with the rest of the Professors', was because these boys had been in her office so regularly. They sat in the same order as they always had, Peter to the far left, then Sirius, then James, and finally Remus to the far right. She used to have ordinary wooden chairs there, but after Black and Potter had started to make a regular point of complaining about how uncomfortable they were, she'd decided it was easier to replace them than listen to them winge, so now they had comfy, cushioned seats. The reason they were here today was not that she had remembered something they had done during their school days and had called them to her office to give them an overdue punishment, though the thought to do just that had occurred to her throughout the years, they had in fact asked to meet with her.

It had been almost five years since they'd graduated, though they hadn't been strangers in that time; she'd been to the Potter's wedding, they wrote her regular letters (all adressed to Minnie, which she still pretended to be annoyed about but secretly didnt mind) and since Remus had taken the post of defence against the darks arts teacher, they, James and Sirius especially, had a regular habit of flooing into his office unannounced and often visited Minerva while they were at it. She had a feeling that she'd never truly be rid of these boys, especially since James and Lily's children would be attending Hogwarts when they were old enough, and though she'd never admit it to them, she was glad.

Still, she was intrigued about what they could possibly want to meet with her over. Having exchanged pleasantries and now that they all had a cup of tea in front of them, along with a box of biscuits sitting on her desk, she got straight to the point.

"So, shall one of you end my curiosity and explain to me what you wanted to meet with me about?" To her surprise, and worry, their expressions became slightly grim.

"We wanted advice," James said, becoming the spokesperson like he often did for the group. Minerva was even further intrigued now.

"We want to ask you for help over something we did during at time at school, that would have consequences for us now that we're all adults."

The worry returned, even stronger.

"If you did something at school, even if its discovered now, you wouldn't be punished as adults if you were minors," she explained, confused, thinking they should know this.

"It wasn't exactly a one-and-done kind of thing," Sirius said.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

"Before we tell you," James said, "You should know that it's something you would have a responsibility to report us to the ministry for, something illegal, that would get us into a lot of trouble. The reason we came to you is because we want to figure out how to avoid that consequence if anyone does find out. With Lily and the kids... I can't do that to them."

Minerva nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Very well, you have my word that whatever you tell me, I won't speak a word of it to anyone."

James nodded his appreciation. "As you know, we found out Remus was a werewolf while in school, before the wolfsbane potion was discovered, when his transformations were much worse," James began to explain. "We decided we wanted to find a way to make his life easier, we found something we believed would work, and in our fifth year we finally managed it."

Minerva held her breath. Throughout their years she'd seen these boys perform outstanding displays of talent in the most inventive pranks, using magic well beyond their years, but what could they possibly have done that would've allowed them to help a werewolf?

"We became animagi," Sirius said.

One could've heard a pin drop, the room became so silent. At first she didn't think she'd heard him correctly, and once the words sank in, she was momentarily inclined not to believe him, but as she looked at their calm but serious expressions, and the guilt on Remus', she realised they were telling the truth.

"How- what- I can't even... animagi... in your fifth year? That's such advanced magic."

"We know," James said, "It wasn't easy. It was also stupid and dangerous, we knew all this then and we know it now, but at the time we were determined to go through with it, and none of us regret it. The wolfsbane may be a better alternative now, but in our animal forms we were able to make Remus' transformations much easier."

Throughout their time as her students, Minerva had felt a lot for these boys; anger at their antics, disappointment in them when they took their pranks too far, suprise at their intelligence and abilities to always surpass what she'd thought possible for wizards their age, but at the end of the day, she'd also always been proud of them, and that was the emotion that prevailed in this moment. Pride at not only their unbelievable ability to achieve something few fully trained wizards could at the age of fifteen, but also pride over their reason for doing it, to help out a friend, regardless of the risk to themselves.

"You boys will never stop amazing me, will you?" she asked them, watching as their familiar cheeky grins appeared.

"May I see what forms you take?" she asked them, unable to contain her curiosity.

They nodded, all except Remus standing and moving away from the desk. A moment later, a stag, a large black dog and a rat were in her office. Then the three young men were back, the animals gone. As they retook their seats, there were a lot of things she could've said or asked them, but there was one thing she voiced, one memory that popped into her head at that moment. "I understand now, Potter, how you got that dog to run into my classroom and steal your homework before you could hand it up to me," Minerva said, and all four of them broke out into laughter.

After another moment though, they became serious again. "As you can see Minerva, if the Ministry were to find out they were unregistered animagi, they'd face some serious consequences," Remus said. "I'm not proud of the fact I led my friends into doing something this illegal-" "You tried to stop us Remus," Sirius interrupted, "and I want to make sure they cant be punished for it," Remus finished, ignoring Sirius.

Minerva observed her former students once more, seeing their determination, and James' worry that if he were caught he'd be taken away from his young family, and she decided whatever it took, she'd ensure these boys wouldn't be affected by this.

"I'll help you," she promised them. "I think the best course of action would be to get you registered. The Ministry uses someone whose already underwent the process to help those trying it, so you could all apply to become animagi immediately, I can agree to monitor you, we can falsify the records you're supposed to keep as you work through the transformation, and in a couple of months we can notify the Ministry that you've all been successful. As long as you can keep anyone from finding out until then, you should be fine."

She saw the relief spread across their faces, James and Remus' especially.

"Thank you, Minnie," Sirius said, and though he used that ridiculous nickname, every bit of him was sincere, "I don't know where any of us would be without you."