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The platform nine and three quarters was busy and loud with lively conversation on the first of September, 1974, with students and their parents running around, searching for their friends, struggling with luggage and unruly pets.
Remus Lupin walked through the barrier that separated the platform from the muggle world with his parents by his side. His stomach felt funny with the mixture of sadness for leaving his family for the next three and a half months, excitement over living with his best friends once again, and nervousness about another school year.
Mum and dad helped him carry his trunk into the train, both gave them a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and wished him good luck, promising to write him letters often.
It wasn't long until the compartment door opened again to reveal the first one of his friends, with his long hair, grey eyes and the brightest smile.
Seeing Sirius that day wasn’t as shocking as it had been the previous year because one, Remus had already seen him a few times over the summer, and two, he already knew he fancied him, although he very much wished he didn’t.
Sirius himself felt a lot better the whole of summer than he usually did. His parents were still making sure to make his life spent at home a living hell and Regulus still didn’t dare talk to him most of the time, but at least he had been allowed to leave the house alone and see people he truly loved. He could never thank Alessia enough. He didn’t even think she realised how much she’d helped him at all.
When Sirius had got with her near the end of third year, he had not expected to find out that Alessia was not only a pureblood, but a Malfoy on her mothers side, as well. That meant that his own parents were for once satisfied with his choice of company and had allowed him to visit her a few times over the summer. Little did they know that Alessia's family were blood traitors too, and Sirius and her could hang out with all of his friends.
When Sirius walked into the marauders' usual compartment, Remus was already there, in a seat by a window, curly and tall and smiling at him. Sirius felt his shoulders relax completely for the first time since June. Remus stood up and Sirius gave him a quick hug, making Remus’s stomach jump. He pushed the feeling down resolutely.
They lifted Sirius’s trunk together on an overhead rack before falling back into seats.
“All right, Moony?“ Sirius grinned at him, making Remus smile once again.
“Yeah, not bad. You?“
Sirius was about to answer when the compartment door opened again and in walked Peter. He had sunglasses on and his blonde hair was longer. It looked wet from the amount of gel he’d used to make it all go to the left. “Hiya!“
Remus and Sirius exchanged a look before turning back to him. “Hey, Pete.“
“Nice glasses,“ Sirius said. “Where did you get those?“
Peter took them off now that he was inside and looked at them in his hand. “My granddad gave them to me. Apparently they helped him woo nan back in the day, and well... I thought, now that I’m fourteen, I need to start putting in some effort in that department, I guess.“
“Yeah!“ Sirius clapped his hands. “We will get you a girlfriend in no time! Both of you,“ he added, looking at Remus.
Remus hummed vaguely.
The platform nine and three quarters wasn’t as busy and loud when the Potters hurriedly walked in through a barrier that separated it from the muggle part of the train station. Most students had already boarded the train. James gave a big squeeze to both his parents, they gave him a kiss each, wished him good luck in the new school year, and he jumped into the closest carriage just as the last train whistle echoed through the platform.
Students were walking in and out of compartments, looking for their friends. Many of them said hi to James as he walked down the corridor, pulling his trunk behing him with one hand and carrying a smaller bag in the other. It took quite a while for him to get through the train, he stopped to have a chat with Mary, Marlene and Dorcas on the way, and Frank and other fifth year boys too.
The Marauders compartment was just down the last carriage when he caught with a corner of his eye something rather unpleasant. Lily Evans was sat alone with Severus Snape. It looked like they were arguing. Neither of them looked happy.
James frawned and moved away from their window. That simply wouldn’t do. He needed to save Evans from that greasy git. But how?
He mused for a few moments before a genious idea struck him and James fished his wand out of his pocket.
A couple of minutes later, he strolled nonchalantly into the compartment where his best mates sat, chatting.
Sirius was on his feet as soon as he appeared.
“There you are!“ He gave James a big hug, slapping him on the back. James returned it just as enthusiastically. Sirius then put his hands on James’s shoulders, stepped back and looked him up and down.
He was glowing, all tanned from a two week long holiday in the Maldives and with brand new glasses.
“Look at you!“ Sirius exclaimed. “Pete, I think you’ll have some competition this year.“
James shoved the bag he had beed carrying to Sirius’s chest. “Take your clothes, Black.“ He levitated his trunk to store it above the seats and lowered himself next to Remus.
Sirius opened the bag to have a look at his beloved black leather and jeans.
The jurney was long, but they spent it catching up and eating food from the trolley.
The Hogwarts Express arrived to the Hogsmeade station that afternoon. They all dragged their trunks to the horseless carriages, now in their school uniforms. James looked around, but there was no sign of Evans or Snape.
Sirius watched with concern as Remus winced from pain with every step as they climbed the front stairs of the castle, but nobody else seemed to notice.
They sat together at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, a bit further down, leaving enough space for younger students to fill.
“I hope the sorting doesn’t take too long,“ Peter said as Mary, Dorcas and Marlene sat next to the boys. “I’m starving.“
“Same,“ agreed Mary. “And that Dumbledore doesn’t speak forever.“
Remus hoped so too, but for an entirely different reason.
“Have any of you seen Lily?“ James asked.
Marlene shook her head. “Nope. She was supposed to join us, but I think she was with Snape the whole time.“
Remus gasped.
Sirius frowned. “What?“
Remus pointed towards the door.
James started cackling.
Sirius looked and choked on his own spit. By the door stood Lily, searching the staff table, and next to her was a boy’s body, long black greasy hair – and an ugly troll face. It was like he had a mark on, only it was his face. The mouth moved when he spoke angrily and everything.
Lily rushed to get madam Pomfrey from the teachers’ table.
James was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe.
“How did you do that?“ Sirius wanted to know. He was delighted. This was the best start of the year yet.
James managed to compose himself enough to answer. “Gideon and Fabian Prewett came to our house one day over the summer and suggested trying it on someone. I had no idea what it would actually do, only that it would activate once the person said my name. Clearly, Snivellus is a fan of mine, since he talks about me.“
“Shhhhhhh!“ Peter slapped his arm then.
“Oh, you’re dead,“ Remus murmured.
James looked up.
Lily was now storming directly towards them, so furious James almost expected her to start breathing fire.
“James Potter!“ She came to a halt in front of him.
He grinned and quickly ran a hand through his hair to mess it up. “Hello, Evans.“
“It isn’t funny!“ She fumed. “You better hope madam Pomfrey can fix him!“
“Whyever would you think it was me who did that?“ He said. “I was nowhere near you. But I don’t know why you’re so upset. If you ask me, it’s an improvement.“
“Uurrgh!“ She stamped her foot in annoyance and went to sit next to Mary, as far from James as possible.
“Calm down now, it’s just a stupid jinx, he’ll be fine,“ Mary patted her shoulder.
Marlene smirked and high-fived James discreetly under the table.
The sorting began with a Slytherin and ended with a Hufflepuff. Gryffindor had eleven new, promising students. Dumbledore held his usual start of year speech, before the food finally appeared on the table, rich and abundant. Remus chose the rawest steak he could find.
Sirius nudged him. “What do you think he’s like?“ He pointed with his head to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Dumbledore had introduced as Casper McCrary. He was a younger man, probably in his early thirties, with light hair and many freckles on his face.
“I suppose we’ll see,“ Remus said, preparing himself a bite. “The only way from last year is up.“
They ate dinner, had desert, then Dumbledore bid them goodnight, and suddenly there was commotion again, with everyone getting up, some prefects calling first years to follow them, others giving the rest of their house new passwords.
Sirius sighed dramatically when his foot touched the floor of the Marauders’ dormitory. “Home sweet home!“
“We’re fourth year already!“ Peter ran and jumped on his bed, landing on his front. “Ahh, I missed this bed. Can you believe it we’re fourth year already?“
“Don’t remind me.“ Remus sat on a desk chair. “That means that we’ve got O.W.L.s next year.“
“What’s in that suitcase-box-thing?“ James was pointing at a strange black suitcase by the foot of Remus’s bed.
“Oh.“ Remus’s mouth stretched into a little grin. “I’ll show you.“
He knelt on the floor, opened the suitcase, and took out a full on painting equipment.
“You can paint?“ Sirius stared at canvases and paintbrushes and paint and some other stuff that he had no idea what it was.
“Yup.“ Remus felt quite proud of himself, which didn’t happen very often. “I tried it a bit during summer and got addicted.“
“What are you going to paint?“ Peter asked.
“I really want to paint Hogwarts.“
“You can paint it behind the Lake. And make it reflect in the water. That would look nice,“ James suggested.
“That’s actually very good idea,“ Remus said, impressed.
“Look at you, Potter,“ Sirius smirked. “Who knew you could be creative?“
“Oh bloody hell,“ murmured Peter. He was studying the timetables for the year. “We’ve got history first thing in the morning on Tuesdays and Fridays.“
“That’s not that bad,“ Sirius pointed out. “We can just wake up, go to class and continue sleeping.“
“The man’s right,“ said James. “It’s better than Herbology or Creatures in the mornings. I don’t want to go outside in the cold right after waking up.“
“Well, Herbology is first thing tomorrow,“ Peter informed them, looking at Monday’s column.
James muttered, “For fuck’s sake.“
Remus shouldered a rucksack he’d prepared at home. “All right, I’m off.“
“Wait, I just need a jacket,“ Sirius rushed to take it.
“Off where?“ Peter asked.
“It’s the full moon today,“ Remus said.
James looked at him quickly. “Already?!“
“Looks like Moony’s missing the first Herbology class,“ Sirius said. “You two need to hurry up if you want to come.“
Peter, who’d just taken off his trousers to change into pyjamas, hurriedly pulled them back on.
They rushed to the hospital wing to meet madam Pomfrey.
James, Sirius and Peter walked with Remus and madam Pomfrey to the Whomping Willow, watched them disappear into the tunnel, and then Sirius turned to the other two.
“This is actually perfect.“
“What is?“ James asked.
Sirius rolled his eyes. “What is! He asks what is! We can get the mandrake leaves today without Remus noticing.“
“Ohhhh,“ James remembered.
“We’re starting the animagus thing today?“ Peter looked horrified.
“Of course we are,“ Sirius said. “The faster we learn how to transform, the less chances Remus has got to clew his face off.“
Peter didn’t particularly like the thought of spending nights with an animal that was capable of clawing its face off, but Sirius and James were so determined to become animagi that Peter couldn’t back out. And he did want to help Remus, who had always been kind to him, as much as he could.
“How are we going to get into the greenhouses?“ He asked. “We haven’t planned anything!“
“Well.“ Sirius pulled the Marauders Map and the Invisibility Cloak from the inside of his jacket, grinning.
In the long, boring days at the Grimmauld Place during summer, Sirius had spent many hours researching and planning. He would sneak into his father’s library, find a book that seemed helpful, then quickly run to his room and spend most of the day reading. With everything he now knew about Transfiguration, he reckoned he could take a N.E.W.T.s exam right now and pass with decent marks.
“When did you get my Cloak?“ James demanded. “It was in my trunk!“
“In the train. Come on now, we need to move.“ He spread the Cloak and the three of them gathered under it.
They made their way across the grounds to the greenhouses. The door didn’t open with alohomora, but James tried an unlocking spell his dad used on his study at home, and the lock clicked and the door opened. Peter found professor Sprout’s pair of gardening scissors and cut off three big mandrake leaves.
With the task successfully completed, checking the Map for Filch and Mrs Norris, they returned to the dormitory twenty minutes later.
“So we just shove these things in our mouths and keep them there for a month?“ Peter asked.
Sirius said, “Yeah. Sounds easy enough.“
“I’m going to wash mine.“ James went to the bathroom.
“Do we roll or fold them?“ Sirius wondered.
“Roll,“ said Peter. “And stick them between the teeth and your cheek.“
“People are going to be able to see something’s in there like that,“ Sirius pointed out.
“I think people would notice our month’s full anyway when we aren’t able to talk properly for a month,“ James said.
“Oh, right,“ Sirius crumpled up his face. “I didn’t think of that. What do we say?“
“We can say we are having a silent protest against something,“ Peter offered.
“That’s stupid,“ Sirius said. “How would that achieve anything?“
“You just can’t fathom even thinking about not talking for a month,“ Peter replied.
“And you can? Always going on, and on, and on about something.“
“We can just say we’re having a competition to see who can keep something the longest in their mouth,“ James suggested.
“That does sound like us,“ Peter agreed. “They’ll believe that.“
“Perfect then,“ Sirius agreed and rolled his leaf.
In the morning, the three of them ran to the hospital wing before going to breakfast. Remus was already in bed, tired but mostly uninjured.
“Morning, Moony,“ Sirius sat on one of the stools. “How was being a wolf last night?“
“Good,“ Remus shrugged. “You know me, I like myself a bit of howling.“
The other three laughed. James drooled. Remus watched with disgust as saliva fell on the floor.
“James, I think I’m the dog, not you. Why’re you drooling, mate?“
“Oh. Uhh. We’ve made a bet last night, us three.“
“Yeah,“ Sirius said. “The loser’s got to do other’s homework for a month.“
“What bet?“ Remus asked.
James said, “Who can keep a grape in his mouth the longest.“
Remus’s eyes narrowed.
“You want to join?“ Sirius asked.
“Absolutely not.“
Sirius smirked. That was taken care of.
“You’re going to choke in your sleep,“ Remus told them.
Peter paled. He hadn’t thought of that.
“We’ll be fine,“ James waved his arm dismissively.
Remus shook his head.
“Boys, time for classes,“ madam Pomfrey reminded them. “You can see Remus later.“
“That went well,“ Sirius concluded on their way to the greenhouses for the second time in the last thirteen hours.
“Mr Black, could you tell me why, in your opinion, it would be easier to transfigure a hedgehog into a pincushion than, say, a regular cushion?“ Professor McGonagall asked. It was the next day and the fourth year Gryffindors were all sat in the Transfiguration classroom with hedgehogs on desks in front of them.
“Probably because the spikes can become needles on a pincushion, but need to disappear to become a regular cushion,“ Sirius answered. He was leaning back in his chair, which was dangerously balanced on two back legs.
“That is correct, Mr Black. Now sit properly,“ professor McGonagall said. “And swallow whatever it is that you’ve got in your mouth, you are in class!“
Sirius let his chair fall back on four legs.
“Now, who– Mr Potter, for Merlin’s sake, wipe your face!“
James had been having a bit of a problem with drooling ever since he’d put the mandrake leaf in his mouth. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, where he’d put it that morning for easy access.
Marlene snickered.
“Miss McKinnon, do you by any chance know the Latin word for a hedgehog?“
Marlene stopped laughing. “Erm...“
“Can anyone tell me the Latin word for– Mr Potter, move that handkerchief away from your face, please.“
“Sorry.“ James lowered the handkerchief and swallowed the excess saliva.
Lily eyed him suspiciously.
“Mr Pettigrew, are you chewing something?“ McGonagall demanded.
“No, professor, just repositioning.“
“Repo...“ She turned to Remus expectantly.
“I’m not participating,“ he hastened to say.
“Participating in what exactly?“
“They made a bet to see who can keep a grape in their mouth the longest and the loser’s got to do the other two’s homework, apparently,“ Remus explained.
“Oh my god.“ Mary covered her eyes.
“Before you say anything, Minnie,“ Sirius cut McGonagall off before she could say anything “none of us is willing to lose, so this could last a while.“
Peter said, “Yeah. A month.“ James promptly stomped on his foot.
McGonagall decided to pretend that she hadn’t heard anything at all. “Could someone tell me the Latin word for hedgehog?“
Sirius raised his hand.
“Anyone else?“ She asked, but no one knew. “Very well. Mr Black?“
“Erinaceus.“
“Correct. Five points to Gryffindor.“
“Show-off,“ James accused him and a drop of drool fell on his desk.
“Mr Potter! Sort yourself out or I will have to insist that you take that grape out of your mouth. You cannot be salivating during classes like that!“ McGonagall said sternly and this time, everyone started sniggering.
James made sure to look remorseful. “Yes, Minnie.“
“Professor,“ she corrected him.
“Professor Minnie.“
Minerva sighed.
“Poor Minnie’s going to lose her mind because of you three,“ Remus said once they left Transfiguration and headed to the dungeons for Potions.
“Honestly, Potter, that was disgusting,“ Lily said. “Can’t you just swallow your spit?“
“Well, Lilipad, he is rather well known for drooling a lot,“ Sirius informed her.
“No, I’m not!“ James denied quickly.
“Yes, you are, mate,“ Peter said.
“His pillow is drenched every morning,“ Sirius expanded.
“No, it isn’t!“ James flushed. “Shut up!“
Sirius cackled.
“Maybe you were a dog in your past life, Potter,“ Lily teased. “And that’s why you like chasing balls so much, too.“
James kept his mouth shut to stop the drool from coming out, all red in the face.
Lily turned to talk to Remus after that. James punched Sirius in the arm. “Prat.“
Sirius grinned. Then he remembered something and turned to Peter. “Why the bloody hell did you say that thing about one month?“ He demanded. “Do you want Minnie to figure us out?“
“I– No, I wanted her to think we’re competing for that long so that she doesn’t figure us out,“ Peter explained himself.
“Well, don’t say it again.“
They met the Slytherins on the first floor and joined them on their way to the dungeons.
“Hi, Lily.“ Snape slowed down to wait for her, his face human once again. He scowled when he saw that she was with Remus. “Why’re you with him?“
“What?“ Lily asked, taken aback by the question.
“He’s one of them, Lily!“ Snape reminded her.
“One of who?“ Lily asked, confused.
“The Marauders,“ he spat the word out.
“Erm, we’re friends,“ Remus said.
Snape hissed, “She’d never be friends with you, scar-face.“
Remus turned red as Sirius yelled, “COLLAPHUS!“ and Snape doubled over as the spell punched him in the stomach.
“Don’t call him that!“ James shouted, looking down at the panting Snape.
“Why? He’s got a scar on his face, hasn’t he?“ Snape sneered.
Remus raised an eyebrow. “And you’ve got a greasy head and I don’t call you grease-head, so what’s your point?“
Sirius hooted with laughter. “Nice one, Remus.“
“Can you all stop now?“ Lily said, annoyed. She glared at Severus for insulting Remus the most.
“What are you looking at me like that for? Black hexes me!“
“You started it,“ Lily said coolly. “And yes, Remus is my friend.“
She stormed off to the dungeons. Snape ran after her.
“How is she mates with him?“ James wanted to know. “I don’t get it.“
“No one does,“ said Dorcas.
When the rest of them arrived to the Potions classroom, Lily and Severus were already sat at the desk they shared, but Lily was resolutely facing the other way.
“Is she ignoring you, Snivellus?“ James smirked menacingly.
“Don’t start again, Potter,“ Lily snapped.
“Blimey, sorry,“ James muttered and went to sit with Sirius a few desks to the left.
“I’m going to fail this,“ Remus muttered to himself half an hour later, when his potion simply refused to turn red.
Sirius peeked at him over his shoulder. “Having trouble again, Moony?“
Remus looked up. Sirius’s face was a bit moist from the vapour that came from his dark red potion. “Yes,“ Remus sighed. “And when you finish yours, make sure to save me a bit because wit sharpening is clearly what I need.“
Sirius laughed loudly. They were making the Wit-Sharpening Potion.
Slughorn glanced in their direction. “Quiet.“
“You don’t need wit sharpening, you need to mix that a bit slower,“ Sirius told Remus quietly.
“And what do I need to do?“ Peter asked. “Mine’s dark green and it says here that it needs to be yellow and not dark green, with an exclamation mark at the end.“
“What I want to know is,“ James whispered, “why steps two, three and four even exist when the first one is ’mix the ginger root until lime green’ and then the fifth one says the exact same thing. We’re just getting it back to the start.“
“Excellent, Miss Evans!“ Slughorn exclaimed from the other side of the classroom. “Truly marvelous work!“
“Wait, it turned red!“ Remus watched his potion with excitement. “Now to make it yellow and not dark green.“
“Oh no!“ James cried. His potion started bubbling.
“What did you do?“ Sirius asked, laughing.
“I drooled in it!“
Sirius, Remus and Peter cracked up.
“Quiet down, boys!“ Slughorn admonished them.
James hit his forehead on the desk repeatedly.
Keeping mandrake leaves in their mouths proved to be a lot more challenging than the boys had originaly expected. Sirius faced another unexpected and rather awkward problem soon.
After his last class was over for the day, Sirius went to meet Alessia in a courtyard. She was very happy to see him and they chatted for a bit, telling each other about the last two days, before they moved on from talking to snogging.
They were standing by a wall, Sirius leaning his head down and to the side a bit, their lips touching. She opened her mouth and he opened his and she began to move her lips and he moved his tongue – and the mandrake leaf moved and almost fell out or Sirius’s mouth into Alessia’s. He pulled back, panicked because he didn’t know what would happen if someone else’s saliva got on the leaf.
Alessia was looking at him with surprise. “What happened?“
“Uhhhh...“ He didn’t know what to say at first in his panicked state, but then he remembered the story about the bet.
“So, you almost choked me with a grape?“ She concluded.
“Pretty much.“
“Well, bloody hell, stick it deeper in there so that it doesn’t fall out! Do you want to lose the bet?“
Sirius snorted and almost swallowed the leaf.
“Come here now.“ She pulled him down by his tie, but the same thing happened again.
“I don’t think this is going to work,“ Sirius said, his brow knitted together.
“Why don’t you just take it out for a few minutes? I promise I won’t tell the boys.“
“I can’t.“
“Why?“
Because I wouldn’t be able to become an animagus and help Remus if I took it out. “I don’t want to cheat.“
She sighed.
Sirius made sure to shove the leaf good and deep into his cheek. “I think I’m good now.“ He leaned again. He wasn’t good. He pulled back at the last moment before the leaf fell out.
“Sirius.“
“Sorry.“
She looked frustrated.
They both went back to their dormitories shortly after that.
Sirius fell on his bed with a great sigh.
“What’s up?“ James asked. He was reading a quidditch magazine while holding a tissue pressed to his mouth.
“It’s only been two days and we’re already having to much trouble with these grapes,“ he complained.
“Maybe you can spit them out at the same time and no one’s got to do the other’s homework,“ Remus suggested.
“No.“ James and Sirius refused at the same time.
“You lot are so weird,“ Remus told them.
“But what happened now?“ James asked Sirius again.
“It almost fell out of my mouth when I tried to snog Alessia,“ he groaned. “She’s going to dump me because I can’t snog her.“
James and Peter snorted.
Remus smiled down at his book.
“Put the permanent sticking charm on it in your mouth,“ Peter said.
“I don’t think that’s wise,“ Remus disagreed urgently before Sirius did something really stupid.
Sirius sighed again.
After a week of Peter struggling to eat, James drooling all the time and Alessia refusing to speak to Sirius until he took the grape out of his mouth, all three of them were sick and tired of the blasted mandrake leaves and wanted nothing more but for that month to be over.
Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, started to keep a closer eye on them, but the boys were none the wiser. She also stopped telling them to spit out the grapes, which they thought was because she finally realised they were all determined to win the bet.
Two weeks into the month, Alessia told Sirius that she would break up if he continued to refuse to kiss her. He was so scared to get her spit on the leaf that he didn’t want to give her anything longer than a peck on the lips.
One more week later, she really did break up with him.
He felt like shit for hurting her after everything she had done for him during summer and he was sad that she was now angry at him because she really was a lovely person, but helping Remus to stay safe was much more important, so he didn’t dwell on it for too long.
It was the thirtieth of September, only a day before the next full moon and a day before Sirius, Peter and James were finally, finally supported to take the mandrake leaves out of their mouths.
They passed a group of Ravenclaw girls on their way to the Great Hall in the morning, and they were glowering at Sirius. He gnawed on his lower lip. At least Alessia wasn’t with them.
“I think they hate you,“ Peter told him, as if he didn’t already know.
Remus actually felt bad. It did hurt to see Sirius with someone else, but he truly grew to like Alessia over the last three months.
“I’m going to apologise to her properly again,“ Sirius said. “I don’t want her to think I’m an arsehole. Although I am.“
Remus still couldn’t believe that Sirius had chosen losing a girlfriend over losing a bet. He knew Sirius was stubborn, but that was a bit extreme.
He couldn’t even celebrate Sirius’s new relationship status internally properly because of the pain he was in due to the full moon, but he did have a very long gossip session with Lily just after they’d broken up.
As for Lily’s crush on Jordan, a fifth year boy from Hufflepuff, she still fancied him, but they hadn’t exchanged a single word since June. Since it was only the start of the year, no one really wanted to study in a big group in the library, which was how she had met him before summer.
The Marauders arrived to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and sat down next to Frank, Alice and other fifth years.
James and Remus were talking about something and Peter turned to Mary while pouring some tea, when Sirius suddenly exclaimed, “WAIT, WHAT?“
“Bloody hell, calm down,“ Alice told him while Frank laughed. “Why are you even that surprised?“
“What is going to?“ Asked James, curious.
“They are together!“ Sirius told him.
James gasped. “Woah, what?!“
“How are you lot so surprised?“ Lily asked. “They’ve been going out for like three months.“
“We’ve snogged in the common room at least ten times this month,“ Frank added.
“They’ve been busy drooling and breaking up,“ Remus explained. “So they haven’t payed much attention to their surroundings.“
“Well, now you know,“ Alice shrugged.
There was a commotion up in the air when at least a hundred owls flew in through the high windows and searched for their addressees. Peter got a letter from home, Remus received one too, and James had a whole package in front of him.
He eagerly opened a brown box, in which were some new clothes his mum had bought for him and a smaller box full of chocolates.
“This is going straight on the highest shelf so that Moony can’t eat it all,“ he said, taking out the chocolate.
“That won’t work,“ Sirius said. “He’s so bloody tall he can reach the top shelf.“ He turned to Remus accusingly. “When are you going to stop growing already?“
Remus smirked. “Don’t be jealous of my tallness, little midget.“
James snorted.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus. “You used to be nice to me.“
Remus grinned.
They finished the meal and the fourth years shrugged on their jackets to go outside to the greenhouses again.
“Only one more day,“ Sirius told James lowly. “One day and we can take these thing out of our mouths.“
“I can’t wait,“ said James. “Has your leaf become slimy, too?“
“Yes, it’s disgusting.“
A bunch of Slytherins emerged from the dungeons in the entrance hall. One of them was Regulus. James remembered all those times that Regulus hadn’t even looked at his brother when they walked past each other, and he decided right then and there that had to come to an end.
“Hi, Regulus.“ James said loudly, so loudly that it was impossible to ignore.
Regulus looked at him with unease and murmured a hi.
Sirius looked on, surprised.
“We’ll work on that,“ James muttered.
Thursday afternoon, Remus was limping and James, Peter, and Sirius were trying not to gag on their way to the Whomping Willow with madam Pomfrey.
As soon as Remus and madam Pomfrey were gone in the tunnel, the three of them bolted back to the dormitory.
“I can’t wait to get this shit out of my mouth,“ Sirius gagged again.
James knelt down on the floor and opened his trunk.
Getting the mandrake leaves was not the only thing James, Sirius and Peter had done that night exactly a month ago. After putting the leaves into their mouths, the three of them had snuck through the dark corridors across the castle, all the way to the dungeons. They’d broken into Slughorn’s cupboard with potion ingredients and stolen the ones they needed from a list they had found in a book from the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. They’d gone back to their dormitory, completely emptied James’s trunk and put his clothes with Sirius’s, and then spent half an hour trying to put a good enough extention charm on the trunk. The charm had made the internal dimensions of the trunk expand, but it still looked exactly the same on the outside. They’d put a fireproof spell on it, too, and then lit a fire inside and placed a cauldron with required ingredients for the Animagus Potion to simmer for a month.
Now, James took out the cauldron and put out the fire.
“All right.“ Sirius was reading the book they’d stolen from the library. “We need the crystal phials.“
“Here,“ Peter dug them out of his trunk. They’d stolen those, too.
“We need to stand in the moonlight,“ Sirius instructed.
They all moved to stand by a window.
“We spit the mandrake leaves into phials–“ they did that “–and then adD A STRAND OF OUR OWN HAIR?“ Sirius’s voice rose with every word, and he looked at James, horrified by what he had just read. “I’ve got to ruin my hair for this?!“
James rolled his eyes. “Out of all the thing we’ve done, this is the one you’re complaining about?“
“But it’s my hair!“ Sirius exclaimed. “I love my hair!“
“All right, princess,“ James smirked. Peter snickered.
“Bugger both of you,“ Sirius muttered.
James took a pair of scissors, stood in front of a mirror and cut a bit of his hair behind his ear. “There we go. Easy.“
Peter did the same and proffered the scissors to Sirius. He eyed them like they were about to bite him.
“Oh come on,“ James rolled his eyes, trying to hide amusement. “Just cut a bit from the back. Your hair’s long, no one will be able to notice.“
“Remember that Remus is howling at this very moment and you just need to cut a bit of your hair,“ Peter reminded him.
That was what made Sirius do it.
“Now we add a teaspoon of dew,“ James read, “and one death's-headed hawk moth.“
When they were done, they filled the rest of the phials with the potion and sealed them securely.
“And we now place it in a dark and undisturbed spot until the next lightning storm,“ Sirius read the last bit of the instructions. “If we did everything correctly, it’ll turn blood-red when the first lightning strikes and we can drink it.“
“And then we become animals?“ Peter asked. “That wasn’t very hard, was it?“
“Well, it says here that most wizards take years to succeed in transforming, but yes, that’s all we need to do in preparation.“
“Oh.“
“We can put the phials back in my trunk,“ James suggested. “Remus won’t find them there.“
They went to bed utterly exhausted.