Chapter 29: Revelation

"There you are!" Ariadne had cornered Sirius in the hallway outside the Charms classroom after class the next day.

Sirius leaned casually against the wall with the tiniest smirk on his lips. "Back looking for more already, love?" he said, quietly enough that the masses of shuffling students around them wouldn't hear.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I couldn't find you anywhere this morning. Did you sleep straight through Transfiguration?"

"Had a bit of late night chat with the mates, so I indulged and slept in," said Sirius casually. "You know, lots to catch up on…"

"Please, I'd really rather not imagine how intimately Potter is acquainted with the details of my sex life now," said Ariadne with an internal shudder. "I don't care what you were up to, but you should have been in class. Have you forgotten all about this?" She held up a thick sheaf of parchment and shook it slightly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"The Transfiguration project, Mr. 'You-Can't-Prepare-For-Everything.' Term will be over in a month, and we still have a lot to do."

"Your ability to bludgeon the fun out of anything with a troll-sized club of schoolwork never ceases to amaze me."

"As much as you think of school as a castle full of ready-made fans, beautiful girls to snog and rivalries to fight, some of us are in fact here to learn something."

"Oh, I think I learned something last night, and it wasn't in a classroom."

"You seem to think you know me well, Black, so there's no way you could honestly expect me to let you off the hook just because we hooked up," answered Ariadne, crossing her arms.

"Right, I forgot, no more 'coasting by on my good looks,'" said Sirius, bowing his head in mock humility.

"If you're done grappling with your own ego, I'll see you in the common room after dinner. And here's some light reading for your free period." She dropped two heavy volumes into his arms, which he caught just before they fell to the floor, and left.

Ariadne grilled Sirius on the particulars of animal transfiguration for an hour before she allowed them to take a break. Sirius immediately put his feet up on the table in front of them, which was covered in parchment scraps, quills and textbooks, and slouched deeply into the couch.

"Well, you might do reasonably well on that portion of the practical," concluded Ariadne.

"I'll admit, I don't remember being ridden this hard by anyone else at Hogwarts, student or professor," said Sirius.

"Your innuendos are getting lazy," replied Ariadne, not looking at him and flipping through some notes on object-to-animal transfiguration.

"Nah, I think they're just becoming more real, rather than mere insinuation," said Sirius with a mischievous smirk.

"Are you ever going to stop bringing up the fact that I finally slept with you, or..?"

"I'm just reveling in my victory a bit."

"I'm not your conquest, Black."

"Oh, I'm aware. It would be entirely presumptuous of me to think that I could win over Ariadne Morrigan in some kind of game. I've known that since the Quidditch party." He paused. "But I knew we'd end up shagging eventually."

Ariadne put her notes down somewhat brusquely. "If you were so sure, then why didn't you suggest the idea to me weeks ago?"

"Because I knew that if I propositioned you, you'd more than likely reject me. You had to be the one to decide you wanted it, since you need to be in control of everything," explained Sirius matter-of-factly.

Ariadne hated how accurate he was. He had her pinned down. Ariadne tried to resist mind's urge to visualize that in a literal rather than figurative sense, because that would only be proving his point.

"So you've just been waiting and biding your time all this while? Did you have a date set?"

"No, to be honest, I didn't know when exactly you'd finally come around. You're a bit unpredictable in that sense," said Sirius candidly, picking at a loose thread in his robes.

"Well, I suppose I'm glad I could surprise you in some way."

"I'm hoping you'll surprise me in many more ways yet, Morrigan," he said suggestively.

Ariadne didn't respond, mostly because there was nothing left to say that could diffuse the tension between them, and indeed, she doubted that anything within the bounds of appropriate behavior for a crowded common room on a weeknight could.

Luckily, they were rescued from this moment by the appearance of Remus and James.

"Having fun practicing your Transfiguration, kids?" asked James with a wicked smirk.

"James, remind me to work with you on your double entendres," said Sirius, sitting up.

Lupin greeted Ariadne in a friendly manner without making any reference to her sexual activities, which she appreciated. They seated themselves opposite Sirius and Ariadne, and then James began a series of silent communications with Sirius, which, though obvious to all, Ariadne couldn't hope to interpret. Sirius straightened up properly and leaned in close to the group.

"I think it's time to tell her," James finally announced out loud.

"Remus?" said Sirius with a nod towards him, asking for his approval.

"I'm in agreement," said Remus with a small, tight smile. Ariadne noticed that despite his friendly greeting, he seemed to have tensed up slightly in anticipation of what his friends were about to say.

"Well, Ariadne," said James, rubbing his hands together, "it's time for you to become a full Marauder. It's only proper, now that you've bedded one."

"If sleeping with one of you was the only requirement for induction into you cult, then there would be quite a few more women here," Ariadne pointed out.

"Hmm, I guess you're right," said James, frowning as if he were trying to do some simple arithmetic in his head. "But Sirius did say that you're—"

"What James is trying to say," interrupted Sirius, casting him a look, "is that no one beyond us has ever been offered a place among the Marauders before. You're about to be privy to certain…information that has not, and must not, leave this group."

"Ariadne, you've proven yourself a loyal and true friend to us," said Remus quietly. "I trust you with my life."

James was grinning, as if he couldn't wait to share whatever their secret was. Ariadne locked eyes with Sirius. He held her intense gaze and seemed to be trying to communicate something to her, but she wasn't sure what.

"Well, it's about time that you've learned to trust me, especially after the Clarice fiasco. Let's get this over with," she said, feeling the tiniest bit anxious herself.

James glanced at Sirius, as if wondering where to start. "Well, I guess what we want to tell you is that…"

"The first thing you should know, Ariadne, is that I'm a werewolf," cut in Lupin, keeping his voice down to a discreet level.

"I know."

All three of them stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, you know? Did James let something slip when I wasn't around?" demanded Sirius. James looked offended at this accusation of indiscretion.

"No, of course not. I figured it out long ago. The monthly illnesses that always coincided with the full moon, the lingering tiredness, your withdrawn personality…all in someone so young. It was the only possible explanation. I've known since third year," explained Ariadne.

Remus smiled wanly, as if he, once again, wasn't very surprised by Ariadne's revelations.

"I swear I haven't told anyone," she reassured Remus directly.

"If this changes your feelings about our friendship, I entirely understand," said Remus, looking down at his hands, which he was kneading together.

"Remus, I've known all along, and I still wanted to be your friend. I'm glad that I am now," she said, briefly squeezing one of his hands in her own.

He acknowledged her with a nod, seeming relieved by her nonchalant reception of his identity.

"Well, that was a bit anticlimactic," said James with a certain level of disappointment.

"At least you can start referring to Remus' 'furry problem' in front of her now," said Sirius dryly.

"That is a perfectly opaque and suitable euphemism," replied James indignantly.

"Anyway, Ariadne, I suppose we should've known better than to think anything that goes on in this castle escapes your notice. But that isn't all we wanted to tell you," continued Sirius.

Ariadne waited patiently for the next bombshell.

"James and I are becoming Animagi."