The running group continued to grow after Lilly joined. James insisted the group get a name and for several days options were bandied about. Lilly liked Early Risers, James said that was dumb and advocated Hogwarts Huffing And Puffing Squad instead. Remus liked Hogwarts Sentinels and Sirius liked Dawn Patrol. They took a vote and it came down to Dawn Patrol. Within a week Frank and Alice, Marlene, and the entire Gryffindor quidditch team had swelled their ranks. After a week of uninterrupted attendance, new members received a set of enchanted athletic wear. Sirius was glad of it and decided to post fliers about the group and have the headmaster make an announcement. He truly believed that this could tip the balance between life and death for some of these students. He designed the fliers to sell the idea to the student body.
The fliers featured eye-catching phrases that would flash across the front in neon. Never be bullied again! Strong body - Strong Magic and Sirius's personal favorite: A flashing cartoonish looking fat boy turning suddenly into a muscle-bound wizard with the captions Fitness ... Fatness. Fitness ... Fatness. Professor McGonagall was quite enthusiastic about the idea and awarded them 10 points each for all the work they were doing. She made a point of asking the other teachers to encourage the students to join.
Professor Dumbledore made the announcement about the Dawn Patrol as promised the next day and Sirius watched his classmate's reaction and suspected that soon their little running group wouldn't be so little. His prediction was right when every quidditch player from every house team was compelled to attend by the quidditch captains unwilling to give away any advantage. By Halloween, almost half the student body had joined the Dawn Patrol as word spread about how much they enjoyed different aspects of the morning. Several professors felt duty-bound to assist, especially in the spellwork practice portion.
Professor Flitwick, who had once been a dueling champion, set up targets that hovered over the lake so students could practice accuracy with their spells. As the group grew they split everyone up so that first years through fourth were in one group working on spellwork, while fifth through seventh years worked on martial arts, switching off after half an hour.
Teachers reported increased productivity and that the students were more focused. Professor McGonagall managed to convince the auror department to send an expert in hand-to-hand combat to the school for a few weeks to help teach the students who were ready for more in-depth instruction.
Auror Vix James was a master of Tae Kwon Do and was astounded by how much some of the students knew. especially when she learned that an 11-year-old student was their primary teacher of the art. She pulled Sirius aside questioning where he learned, and Sirius dodged the question with lots of questions of his own. She laughed at his cheek when he asked after her marital status. The platinum blonde witch was drop-dead gorgeous and Serious loathed his 11-year-old body with a passion.
She was quite persistent however and finally, he told her that Padmus Grim, a distant cousin, had lived with them and taught him quite a lot. She insisted that he pass him her owl address so she could maybe find a decent sparring partner. Auror James was amazing as a teacher. She combined magical and martial arts seamlessly. Sirius was determined to continue learning from her as his older self, perhaps making her acquaintance over the summer.
It was several weeks later that he received a package from his grandfather. The finished Wolfsbane potion and wondered how the hell he was going to get Remus to drink it. He looked over at his friend who was eating while reading ahead in the defense against the dark arts text. Finally, he came to a conclusion, he would have to tell Remus that he knew. He didn't want to have to go through this again. Remus had been a huge pain in the ass last time, refusing to believe that it didn't make a difference to his friends what he was.
He sighed and finished his grandfather's letter. Folding it thoughtfully he picked up the package and walked over to Remus and taking a deep breath plunged ahead, "Hey Remus. Do you think we can go for a bit of a walk? I have something I need to tell you." Remus looked up surprised and his eyebrows climbed upwards a bit but the boy nodded, gathered his books, and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
Serious and Remus went to the bridge and Serious turned with his back to the view and gave Remus his full attention. "I have a friend who has a bit of a problem and I want to help him, but I'm nervous that if he knows I know about his problem he'll be worried and upset. I don't want to embarrass him and I really care about him, and I have something that can help him. What should I do?" He asked Remus who was staring at him in some confusion.
"Well..." Remus gave it some thought, "I would tell your friend that you know and that it doesn't make any difference to you."
Serious nodded, "You really think so?" Remus nodded and Serious took a big breath and let it out in a huff.
"Okay. Remus, I know about your furry problem and it doesn't make any difference to me. You're my friend and I have something that will help you. It's a potion called Wolfsbane. I ran across the potion in a journal belonging to a long-dead relative and convinced my Aunt Cassie to brew it. It's kind of complicated but it will help you keep your mind when you transform." He sighed, "You take it the night of the full moon." He took the box out of his pocket and gave it to Remus. "Are you angry?"
Remus looked absolutely gobsmacked. His mouth was opening and closing a bit like a fish. "Come on Remus. I am your friend and if you think that I wouldn't like you because once a month you aren't yourself what kind of person would that make me? I'd no sooner abandon you than you would abandon me if you found out I wasn't as perfect as I keep telling you."
"I already know you aren't as perfect as you keep telling everyone," Remus muttered.
Serious grinned, "That's my point! You know I'm flawed but you choose to be my friend anyway."
Remus frowned and he looked as pale as a ghost. "Is it really that bad that I know Remus?" He asked worriedly.
Remus looked down at the box, gripping it so hard that Serious could see that his knuckles were turning white. "Who else knows?" Remus asked worriedly.
"Well, my grandfather is aware as he helped me make the potion and needed to know why... But he gave me his promise that he won't tell anyone, and well... He wrote you a message in his letter to me." Sirius dug in his pocket and handed Remus the folded parchment. Remus took the note and unfolded it, his brown eyes reading over the note quickly and then a second time more slowly.
Dear Mr. Lupin,
I want to reassure you that your secret is safe with me and my grandson. Please remember that you are a wizard first and that you are no more responsible for your affliction than I am for the arthritis that sometimes makes my knees ache. You are a young wizard with a difficult life ahead of you but I want you to know that I admire your courage to undertake your education and want to encourage you to never give up on your ambition.
Please know that I hold you only in the highest esteem and if you should find yourself ever in the need of it, a refuge from trouble within the Ancient and Noble House of Black is yours. I believe this potion will prove to be a great boon to you and encourage you to take it an hour before the full moon. It will help you retain your mental faculties and awareness.
Sincerely,
Lord Arcturus Black.
Sirius waited what seemed forever before Remus reacted. "How long have you known?" Remus asked and Serious shrugged, "I don't know. We have a friend of the family who was bitten when he was a kid. So it wasn't hard recognizing the signs." Sirius didn't lie, he just omitted the fact that Remus himself was the friend. "I just didn't know how to tell you that I knew and that as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter. For what it's worth, no one else suspects anything."
Remus nodded, "Well thank you for telling me." He looked down at the box in his hands, "This will really work?" Sirius nodded.
Remus smiled, "I'll write to your grandfather and tell him thank you." He looked at Sirius then for the first time. Shame and wonder warred in his eyes.
Serius grinned, "I think the old guy likes to feel useful in his old age."
Remus sighed, "You really don't mind? It doesn't bother you?" Sirius shook his head, "Nope. You have a furry problem. I have a family reputation problem. James has a big-headed problem, Severus has a greasy hair problem." He shrugged and said, "It really doesn't matter to me."
Remus looked down at his hands and the box again. "I... Thank you, Sirius."
Sirius shrugged then took a big breath letting it out softly, "So since I know a secret about you, I felt it was only fair that you know a secret about me. I... I'm an animagus."
Remus blinked, "You're what?"
"An animagus. I can turn into a great big black furry dog. Like McGonnagal can turn into a cat. Only I'm unregistered and intend to stay that way. And no one can know."
Remus looked skeptical. "How can you possibly be an animagus? Isn't it advanced magic?"
Serious nodded, "It is. But I have a natural talent for it."
Remus looked over towards the forest, "Prove it." Remus said.
Serious followed his gaze to the forest and nodded, "Come on then."
They jogged to the forest edge and slipped inside the solitude of the treeline. A few minutes later they stopped and Sirius said, "Now. Don't freak out." And then he transformed. His Grim form was huge, and was as big as Remus. His big tongue lolled out of his mouth in a goofy grin and he started running around Remus in a playful manner. Remus stared at him entranced and then finally the Grim jumped up putting his front paws on Remus's shoulders almost driving him to his knees and gave him a huge sloppy doggy kiss from chin to forehead.
"EW! Geroff me! Ugh your breath STINKS!" He pushed him back and Sirius transformed into a laughing boy.
"You should have seen your face!" Sirius began laughing so hard he had to sit down on the ground. Remus glared and then his lips began to curl upward and soon he was laughing as well, the sound of their mirth filling the forest. Remus laid down beside him and they stared up through the trees in companionable silence. Listening to the sounds of the Forbidden forest.
"I have secrets too Remus. We all do really. But I don't want to have them if I don't need to. You know? Some things I can't tell anyone because they aren't my secrets. But others I don't tell because I can only tell it to someone I trust." He took a breath, "The day I went to Diagon alley with my grandfather, we went to Gringotts and I went through this ceremony that heirs sometimes go through. It's called the Right of Ascension or sometimes called Ring bonding." Sirius explained. Remus listened as Serious recounted the ceremony. What the hall of rings looked like, about the potion he was supposed to drink and how awful it tasted, and about how he had to cut himself and how stupid he felt after he gashed open his hand and his grandfather just nicked his thumb. Which made Remus laugh.
He recounted Gripgold's explanations of the ceremony. How scared he was when his hand started to melt and he forced it back but that it was the hand of an older man. Remus had a few questions about that particular subject but Sirius promised he'd tell him all about it later if he'd let him get through the story. He diverted Remus's attention when he talked about the Goblin theory that magic was alive and how Olivander waxed poetic about wands and how the wand chooses the wizard. How he could still have abilities that hadn't yet manifested. And that he was a natural occlumens and the boost of magic and how he knew there were a few more animagus forms open to him.
"It was terrifying and painful and you know what grandfather said? Wait till I take on the Head of House ring." Serius shuddered. "Anyway, you're the only one that knows about this. Except for the Metamorph stuff." Sirius explained.
Remus looked humbled, "Why didn't you tell your grandfather?"
Sirius shrugged. "If magic is sentient, it chose to bestow those gifts to me in privacy, maybe for a reason. It gave me the choice of who to tell."
Finally, they climbed to their feet and made their way back to Hogwarts grounds. Sirius turned the conversation to a safe topic.
"So, I got an idea for the perfect prank..." And they walked back to the common room talking animatedly about pranking James in retaliation for him spelling Remuses pajamas with dancing teddy bears.