Chapter One

"Have a good year now," said Mrs. Potter to her fifteen-year-old son. "Don't make too much trouble." He grinned.

"I won't, Mum," he responded, deciding not to mention the plans he had in store for this year. "Bye!"

He and his best friends had been working on something--call it a project--for two years, and finally it would be finished. James heaved his trunk onto the train and looked out the window to see his best friend, a tall handsome black-haired boy, coming towards him, glaring in the direction of his parents and his brother. Sirius Black climbed onto the train.

"'Lo, James," he said sullenly, "Look at them, spoiling perfect Regulus rotten. I bet he'll be a prefect next year." He spoke the word "prefect" as if it were a swear word. Then he grinned up at James, "We didn't make it, did we?"

"Nope," said James, "Though I wonder who did. Have you heard from Remus?"

"Naw," said Sirius, "I bet it's him. Peter breaks the rules just as much as we do."

"Speak of the devil," said James, as a chubby boy with mousy hair came huffing down the corridor, dragging his trunk behind him. "Hi Peter, not a prefect are you?"

Peter glumly shook his head. "Mum was disappointed."

"Well, we can't always please our parents, now can we, Sirius?" said James smiling.

"And most of the time we don't want to please them anyway," added Sirius. The train whistled and slowly began to move. James looked out the window, remembering the first time he had been on the Hogwart's Express when he was eleven.

He hadn't really been scared, just really nervous. Then he had literally bumped into Sirius and his cousins, who had been instructed to look after their younger cousin. Sirius had his rebellious streak back then, too, because when his cousins realized they were talking to a Potter, they told Sirius not to mix with blood-traitors such as him. In response, Sirius had become best friends with James.

Next they had met Remus, a shy boy who seemed strangely quiet. But they soon befriended him, for he seemed like he needed friends. Finally, on the train, James had caught a prefect, Lucius Malfoy, bullying a little first-year. He had stood up to Malfoy and saved little Peter Pettigrew. The four had become the best of friends.

Not long after the train started moving, Remus came into their compartment with a shiny badge on his robes. His face was rather pale, and his robes were worn and shabby.

"Remus!" they exclaimed. James chuckled at Remus's badge.

"You won't hold it against me, will you?" said the boy, frowning slightly.

"Of course not!" Sirius exclaimed, "Have we ever held anything else against you?" Remus smiled and shook his head.

"Which reminds me," said James suddenly, "I think...we're ready." No one needed him to explain what he meant. Even Peter understood, and he gasped.

Sirius frowned slightly, looking pointedly at Peter.

"Are you sure?" he said, his voice low. James nodded.

"We've tried enough things at school, and I've been experimenting all summer," James said. "If we're going to do it, we need to do it now before the teachers suspect anything. Anyway, we need to help each other out." He was referring to Peter.

"All right," Peter said uncertainly.

"I'm in," said Sirius. Remus looked troubled.

"You really know you don't have to do this," he said.

"Yes, we do," James replied. "We're your friends. We'll meet tonight in the same place as always, all right?"

His best friends all nodded in agreement.

* * *


James was sure he had done it right. He put the finishing touches on his spell and Peter's, while Sirius did the same to his own. James took a deep breath and asked, "Ready?"

Sirius nodded without a trace of doubt, and Peter mumbled uncertainly.

"One...Two...Three!" James shouted, and they tried out the spell. With a rush of wind, they changed, and all that was left in the out-of-order girls' bathroom was a stag, a dog, a rat, and a smiling boy, who was crying in happiness. He couldn't believe he had such great friends who would risk everything for him when they found out the truth: Remus was a werewolf. And now they were all in this together. James, Sirius, and Peter had become Animagi.

From that day forward, they had a bond deeper than normal friendship. From that day, they were known as the Marauders.