(A/N): Hey Guys! Now, this chapter is pretty long, especially for me, so hang in there, alright? I was supposed to upload this last night, but I'd only typed up half of it, and i was falling asleep, so I apologise for the extra wait.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.
Leo
Now that the full moon was approaching once again, the Marauders were determined to become animagi more than ever, and since they were, well... inexperienced, I was enlisted to make sure nothing went wrong.
Which, of course, means Elaine tagged along to make sure I didn't screw anything up.
"How hard can it be?" Was James's all intelligent question, and we assumed the worst was about to happen. But nothing bad did seem to happen. At least, not to begin with.
"So, who's going first?" That question seemed to throw the boys, and they glanced at the circle of ingredients I had 'borrowed' from Slughorn's office.
"James can go first." Sirius said, trying to sound generous but failing miserably.
"No, no, you go first, I insist." James announced, nudging Sirius toward the circle as he dug his heels in.
"Ridiculous." I muttered, and Elaine nodded.
"I didn't hesitate this much." I shrugged.
"No, you just waited for me to wade in and save you, like a true damsel." I gripped her wrists lightly, so she couldn't smack me like I knew she wanted to. Instead, she stomped on my foot.
"Ouch," I joked. "That almost hurt." She rolled her eyes, turning back to the boys just as Peter stepped forward.
"Alright, alright, I'll go first!" The other boys paled slightly, and Remus snickered from across the room.
"And they call themselves Gryffindors." It's safe to say, Remus was soon pantsed, and Elaine buried her face in my side to spare him some embarrassment.
"Is he fixed?" I heard her whisper, and I squeezed her shoulder as he buttoned his pants.
"Yeah." She remained motionless for second, and I thought she hadn't heard me, but then she pressed her lips to my side through my shirt. I dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and she backed away slightly, hands still pressed to my shoulder blades with a little effort.
"Here," I said, lifting her so she could stand on my feet. "Now you can actually reach." She slapped me over the back of the head lightly, then kissed me on the cheek.
"Don't tease me, I can kick your ass." I rolled my eyes at her, smiling indulgently.
"I bet you could, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop." She stuck her tongue out at me, and I couldn't help but to laugh.
"Watch your step, Blue." She scolded, smacking me in the chest with her fist lightly.
"Watch yours, Damsel." I retorted, taking a step forward and watching her wobble in her perch atop my shoes, keeping ahold of her waist so I knew she couldn't actually fall.
"Are we going to get started?" Peter asked quietly, and while I could feel Elaine blush, I just nodded.
"Sit in the circle." He immediately did as I said, taking a seat in the middle, surrounded by the ingredients arranged and carefully measured out to the required amounts.
"Now we speak the incantation?" Peter questioned, and Elaine shook her head, stepping down from my shoes.
"Don't chew." Was all the warning she gave him, before shoving a whole bay leaf in his mouth. "Now we- though technically Leo, because I'm terrible at Latin- speak the incantation." He turned his attention to me.
"Are you ready?" Peter nodded, hesitantly, and I closed my eyes, concentrating, and a second later a transparent barrier erected itself between Peter and the others.
"Woah, hold on, why do you get to be on that side?" Sirius objected, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"Half-vampire, part-veela. Someone needs to do the incantation, and if Peter's animal is dangerous, I'm the one with the best chance of surviving." Elaine nodded, biting her lip roughly, probably remembering what she had done when she had first transformed.
I turned back to Peter, and he nodded with wide eyes.
"Proserpina, dea mutationem nobis pro nobis melius mutare, coibant cum spiritus animalis. Concede nobis ut cum ipsis verus Deus Persephone!" The Marauders, other than Remus, appeared shocked as the circle of of ingredients began to glow.
"No turning back now..." I heard Peter whisper, and I met his eyes.
"Spiritus Animalis apparent!" The flash came again, blocking Peter's form, and I heard my friends hold their breath as he began to change.
His change took longer than Elaine's, probably because the change in size was more severe. He twisted and shifted, shrinking all the while, even as fur sprouted all over his body and his clothes disappeared- in that order, thank god- and I had to bend down to pick him up.
"Rat." Sirius spluttered, and I examined the small, fluffy grey rat in my hand.
"Ouch." I murmured as he bit me, his buckteeth not even piercing the skin as he glared up at me with beady black eyes- until they turned his normal watery blue, that is. His vaguely unsettling little bald tail swung a little as I let him clamber around on my hand, and up my arm to my shoulder. Little claws gripping at my shirt, I slowly knelt, then scooped him up so I could put him on the ground.
After a few seconds of frenzied sniffing, he managed to change back, and looked up at me apologetically.
"Sorry about the hand." I shrugged, rubbing at the slightly red spot.
"It doesn't matter." I blinked, and a door appeared in the barrier behind which my friends had taken shelter. "Who's next?" Immediately, James came out, and took Peter's spot in the middle of the circle. After ferrying the new animagi back behind the barrier I sealed it again, and took my place across from James.
"I'm ready." He said before I could even ask, and I shot Elaine a look before readying myself.
"Proserpina, dea mutationem nobis pro nobis melias mutare, coibant cum Spiritus Animalis. Concede nobis ut cum ipsis verus Deus Persephone!" The ingredients started to glow again, and James nodded sharply. "Spiritus Animalis apparent!"
That same flash, and his form began to melt.
"Please don't be a monkey, I don't want to get pooped on again." Peter blushed sheepishly, and we soon found that my fears were unfounded.
"He's a deer." Elaine stated dryly, and sure enough, he did a great 'deer in the headlights' impersonation as he caught sight of us. If I hadn't been a vampire- or, half- catching James's animagi form would have been near impossible. As it was, I wasn't quick enough to avoid getting hoofed in the face.
"Oh!" Elaine cried, sounding honestly panicked, even though, well- I had been punched by vampires, and a crazed glorified donkey struggled to break my nose. Finally getting James under control, his eyes lightened to his normal hazel colour, and I carefully released him.
"Sorry!" He gushed as soon as he turned back, and I shrugged, staunching the blood from my nose with the handkerchief Elaine had given me.
"Consider it payback." I joked, and he was quiet for a second, then spun on Elaine.
"It's called a stag Ghislaine, not a deer!" She cocked an eyebrow at him, and I led Sirius out into the main part of the room, leaving James to regret his major slip up.
"Are you going to be alright?" Sirius inquired, looking slightly washed out at the sight of the blood on my face, and I reached out, snapping it back into place in answer.
"It'll probably be healed by the time you change back." He nodded slowly, hesitant, then moved towards the circle.
"Do your worst." I nodded, slipping Elaine's handkerchief into my pocket, lest it get further ruined.
"Proserpina, dea mutationem nobis pro nobis melias mutare, coibant cum Spiritus Animalis. Concede nobis ut cum ipsis verus Deus Persephone!" I hid a wary cringe. "Spiritus Animalis apparent." That flash came once more, and Sirius began to change.
It took longer than James's transformation, but shorter than Peter's, and half a minute later, there, in front of me...
Stood a fluffy, goofy looking big black dog.
(A/N): So, what did you think?
Please review and/or check out my other stories!
This chapter had had minor edits made to it on 31/12/22 - Please note that the animagi transformation isn't accurate to canon, because at the time where I originally wrote the transformation scenes, there was very little information on the animagi transformation available. By the time the information came out, it was way too late for me to be able to change it without rewriting large chunks of this story.