When Remus woke on Saturday morning, he groggily reached for his Transfiguration textbook without even emerging from underneath the covers. James froze in the middle of pulling his shirt on and stared in horrified shock.
“Remus, it’s Saturday!” he cried. “Sirius already left to go and study; don’t you start, too!”
“Sirius is studying?” Remus yawned.
“Yeah, and he took Peter with him,” James answered in an annoyed voice, wrestling his arms into the sleeves. “They’re off in hiding somewhere, working on the Animagus spells.”
“Really? That’s great,” Remus said with a pleased smile.
“Hey, I know it’s good for you, mate, but this is our first weekend together!” James grumbled. “I wanted us all to explore my discovery together.”
Remus’s ears pricked up and he set his book aside. “What discovery?” he asked curiously. It had been several months since their last adventure together and Remus was feeling a spark of unfulfilled mischievousness. James hopped onto the end of Remus’s bed, considerably happier now that he’d found an accomplice.
“I think I found a new secret passageway in the dungeons,” he confided. “I saw Filch slip out of it last night when I was coming back from detention. I didn’t get the chance to go inside, but I figure we can sneak in now and see where it goes.”
Remus pondered this for a moment. “If it was in the dungeons… you could have found the storeroom passage!”
“That’s what I was thinking,” James nodded excitedly. “Imagine it… all the potions ingredients at our disposal. The professor’s wine supply!”
“We don’t know that there’s really a wine supply,” Remus said practically.
“Well there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” James grinned. “Hurry up and get dressed; we can go while everyone’s at breakfast.”
Remus hastily pulled on his clothes and followed James out of the dorms, a wave of nervous excitement in his stomach. He loved exploring the secret passageways of Hogwarts. Besides the thrill of being caught, discovering the castle’s secrets made it feel all the more like home to him. Every year they learned more and more by prowling after hours, until Remus was sure that they knew more about the castle than any other student, and maybe even some of the professors.
James led the way down to the cellar and into a long, musty hallway that was lined with suits of armour and burning torches. The reflections of the two boys danced across the shiny metal; one shorter and darker, the other taller and lighter, and both skinnier than was healthy. James stopped suddenly and ran his fingers across an unremarkable section of the stone wall.
“It was here,” he muttered. “I saw a ray of light just as it closed behind Filch.”
James pushed his sleeves up and tapped his wand against the stones. “Alohamora! Patefacius! Expostius! Erm… openus stupidus doorus!”
Remus sniggered and pointed his own wand at the wall. “Well, I was sure that last one was going to do it,” he teased. “Let me try. Eripius! Extricus! Commodus!”
Despite the onslaught of spells, the wall staunchly remained a wall. James frowned and kicked the dusty stones, then tried to hide his pained wince. “Bloody door,” he grumbled.
Remus tapped his chin thoughtfully. “If this is one of Filch’s passages… let’s try Inconcessus!”
A sudden spark of white light illuminated the outline of a door, which swung open with a rusty creak. Remus stepped up to the newly revealed tunnel and laughed out loud. “Good old predictable Filch!”
“Well done!” James cried out. “What was that spell?”
“If you’d paid attention in class, you wouldn’t have to ask,” Remus winked. “After you, Master Potter.”
“Cheers, Master Lupin,” James grinned and led the way into the tunnel. When the door swung shut behind them, they found themselves plunged into complete darkness. Remus whispered a quick Lumos, revealing damp earthen walls and fresh footprints on the ground.
“Brilliant, I bet there’s just been a shipment,” James whispered reverently, walking faster down the long passageway. “Firewhiskey, dark detectors, Quidditch equipment… who knows what else!”
“Plants?” Remus ventured, pointing out the roots hanging from the ceiling. “We must be outside the castle now.”
“Damn, that means this can’t be the storeroom passage!” James cried in disappointment.
“Well, it’s still a way outside,” Remus reasoned. “That’s almost as good.”
After a few more minutes of walking in silence, the ground curved up sharply, leading to a sudden dead end and a trapdoor in the muddy ceiling. James gestured to the handle and offered, “Care to do the honours?”
Remus accepted the lead with a nod and slowly lifted the door above his head. He climbed out onto the sun-warmed earth, his pulse racing with the thrill of discovery, and took in his surroundings. The first thing that struck him was the overwhelming scent of exotic flowers. The small courtyard was filled with colorful blossoms swaying in the soft breeze and perfuming the air. The second thing that struck him was Lily, sitting on a bench in the midst of those flowers, her hair gently blowing in rhythm with the peach roses surrounding her. After the initial shock, Remus almost laughed out loud at the bitter irony. He had spent the whole week trying to avoid her, trying to force himself not to love her anymore, and now she sat before him like a woodland fairy veiled by this enchanted garden. All she needs is for birds to alight on her arms, he thought wryly. James let the trapdoor slam behind him as he crawled out, causing Lily to look up from her book in alarm.
“Remus!” she exclaimed with just a trace of guilt in her voice.
“Evans?” James stood up and quickly ruffled the dirt out of his hair.
“Potter,” Lily frowned. “Where did you come from?”
“Your dreams, love.”
Lily rolled her eyes and ignored him. “I thought I was the only one who knew about that passage,” she said, turning to Remus with a sly grin. “You’re not going to turn me in, are you?”
“We’re here, too,” Remus smiled. “No sense getting us all into trouble.”
Lily winked, causing Remus’s heart to flutter, but not as painfully as he expected. It still hurt knowing that his faint hope of having her was gone, but he found that he had missed her company despite the pain. You can do this, he persuaded himself. Just be her friend. You haven’t lost her if you never had her.
James, tired of being ignored, sauntered forward and leaned over Lily. “And what’s a responsible, law-abiding prefect such as yourself doing in secret passages?” he asked. “I thought that your badge came with responsibilities.”
Lily pointedly slid away from James to the end of the bench. “I’m just studying; that’s hardly a violation of my responsibilities,” she informed him. “I prefer the Potions garden to the common room because, amazingly enough, there aren’t any explosions or flying furniture to distract me in here.”
“Does Filch know you’re here?” James asked innocently. “Or did you sneak in?”
“Does he know you’re here?” Lily snapped back.
“Easy, Evans,” James smirked. “I just think that in light of this… transgression… you should be a little nicer to me about rule-breaking in the future. What do you think, Remus?”
Remus shook his head. James seemed determined to make it as difficult as possible to help him. “First of all,” he advised, “I think that you shouldn’t even begin to compare your rule-breaking to Lily’s.”
“That’s true, she has none of my artistic flair,” James mused, prompting a rather unladylike snort from Lily.
“And second,” Remus emphasized, “I think it would be wise not to taunt someone who’s shown that she’s willing and able to blast you in half.”
Lily blushed at the memory of her violent outburst but maintained her resolute expression. “That’s good advice, Potter. I suggest you follow it. Now if you’ll excuse me, your distractions are what I came here to get away from.”
She dropped her head back down to her book with an apologetic smile directed only towards Remus. James frowned disappointedly, the wheels clearly turning in his head coming up with the most elaborate and obnoxious way to regain her attention. Remus managed to catch James’s eye and mouthed warningly, Be nice! James started to protest but then stopped as he remembered that he had specifically enlisted Remus’s help. He managed to replace his disappointed expression with a helpful smile instead.
“What are you studying?” he asked.
“Why do you care?” Lily said flatly.
“Maybe I can help you,” James offered and plopped onto the bench right beside her so she had no more room to slide away.
Lily stiffened and responded coolly, “Thank you, but I don’t need any help.”
James paid no attention to her refusal. “Transfiguration, huh?” he said, taking the book out of her lap. “You’re in luck, I’m ace at Transfiguration! Watch this.”
He waved his wand at the flowering tree shading them and a moment later Lily’s face was lit with thousands of tiny rainbows. Her eyes widened at the tear-shaped crystals dangling from the branches where the flowers had been.
“That’s lovely,” she seemed hesitant to admit, “but you shouldn’t have done that. That was a scarlet olivaciae; Professor Sullivan collects those flowers for Potions. They’re very expensive.”
“Then I guess I’d better change them back, hadn’t I?” James said and waved his wand once more with a casual flick. The rainbows disappeared from Lily’s face as the crystals transformed back into small red flowers. Lily seemed even more impressed by this; she stood up in awe to touch one of the petals.
“That’s amazing! Did you really recreate the species?” she wondered. “With the same magical properties?”
“Of course,” James bragged. He plucked a flower from the tree and tapped it with his wand. It disintegrated, leaving only a wisp of red smoke. “See? Good as new. So now will you let me help you with your homework?”
Lily hesitated, her skepticism returning. “You’re just going to muck about and spill ink all over my work…”
“Of course I won’t,” James said indignantly. “Just ask Remus.”
“It’s true; he’ll be good. He helps me with my homework all the time,” Remus spoke up, glad that at least that wasn’t a complete lie. On the rare occasion when James sat still long enough to study, he was surprisingly knowledgeable. “Besides, we need to do the assignment too, so we should all do it together.”
Lily’s eyebrows remained suspiciously raised. As she glanced back toward the passage, Remus tried one more time to keep her there. “Please stay. I promise, if he puts one toe out of line, I’ll turn my back and you can hex him as brutally as you want.” James nodded agreeably at these terms.
Though she still didn’t look entirely convinced, Lily finally shrugged her shoulders and replied, “All right, I have some spare parchment and quills. The first question is about retaining the structure of complex proteins between species.”
As James happily read the text over Lily’s shoulder, Remus scratched his name onto the parchment she gave him. He was rather proud that he’d convinced her to stay and given James the time he wanted with her. But you wanted to spend time with her too, didn’t you? a tiny voice in his mind pressed. It’s not just for James, is it?
Quiet, he answered himself. Why can’t it be both?
After they’d completed their assignment, James and Remus sat down together for lunch in the Great Hall. They’d invited Lily to eat with them, but she’d politely refused, saying her friends were waiting for her. Remus suspected that she’d simply had enough of James, though. He’d shown off relentlessly while they worked, never noticing how it irritated rather than impressed Lily. In fact, he still had a proud glow as if he’d just accomplished something important.
“I think that went well, don’t you?” James asked brightly, picking the tomato out of his ham sandwich. “I bet she’ll want my help with all her assignments now.”
“Well… maybe,” Remus hedged. “But next time, I wouldn’t worry so much about proving that you’re clever. She already knows you are. I think she needs more convincing of your… kindness.”
“My kindness?” James repeated in confusion. “Of course I was kind, I helped her study, didn’t I?”
A sudden explosion of voices erupted, cutting off their conversation. Remus caught sight of something black and furry streaking into the room before everyone in front of him stepped onto their chairs to get a better look. At the far end of the room, a large, shaggy dog jumped onto the Slytherin table and ran through the food dishes, causing another burst of chatter from the spectators.
“Whose dog is that?” James cried above the din, now standing on his own chair to watch the commotion.
Remus shook his head. “I don’t know; we’re not allowed dogs as pets. But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s a Gryffindor’s!”
The Slytherins were now pushing away from their table and covering their faces to avoid being spattered with the remains of their lunch. The dog had broken nearly every plate and toppled every juice goblet in its frantic circling before it finally came to a rest in front of Bellatrix. It looked her in the eye for just one moment before turning sideways and lifting its leg into the air. Sheer pandemonium exploded in the hall, yet Bellatrix’s scream of unbridled rage rose above it. She bolted up from her seat, wiping furiously at her dripping hair, and ripped her wand out of her robes.
“Avada”“ she began in a wild shriek, but her tablemates pulled her back.
“Bella, it’s just a dog!” they scolded her, trying not to laugh. Bellatrix violently shoved them aside and ran out of the hall, her sodden robes dripping a trail behind her. Uproarious laughter followed her all the way out, but no one laughed harder than James, who had fallen off of his chair and was now pounding the table hysterically.
Remus dried the tears from his own eyes and was still chuckling when he saw the dog leap off of the table and head for the Gryffindors. “Brilliant, he’s coming here now!” he laughed. “Come here, boy, you can have my sandwich for that!”
As if following his command, the dog ran straight for Remus and jumped onto him, putting his large black paws on his shoulder. Surprised, Remus ruffled the fur on the dog’s back and grinned at James, “Well, he’s got great taste. Want to keep him?”
The dog barked merrily, licked Remus’s cheek and ran out the door. “Oh, that was brilliant,” James said again between peals of laughter. “Sirius is going to be furious that he missed it.”
“I know,” Remus happily agreed. “But he was too busy””
He stopped mid-sentence, his mouth agape from the thought that just sprung into his mind. No, it was impossible, it couldn’t be… but the dog had gone right to Bellatrix, and then directly to him. And he’d said he was close…
James shot him a funny look. “What?” he asked, but Remus was already running out of the hall.
A crowd of students had gathered outside, watching the dog run madly in circles. It barked joyously at every passing bird or butterfly, darting back and forth so quickly that clumps of grass flew from beneath its paws. Remus pressed his way through the crowd and cautiously walked across the field toward the exuberant animal. The dog had just ripped up a mouthful of daisies when it spotted Remus and came bounding over in a shaggy flash.
“Ooof!” Remus cried as the heavy dog knocked him to the ground. He felt a flurry of rough paws and hot dog breath on his face.
“Careful, he might be mad!” Frank called out from the crowd, but Remus ignored him. He concentrated on the dog’s black eyes instead, looking for any sign of his friend inside.
“Sirius, is that you?” he whispered, feeling a little foolish. The dog panted rapidly as if it were laughing, then Remus could have sworn he saw one of its eyes wink under its long fur. His heart leapt, but he had to make sure he hadn’t imagined it.
“Bark three times if it’s you,” he said, barely able to keep the excitement out of his voice. The dog jumped off of Remus, spun around in a circle, and barked loudly three times. Remus let out a whoop of joy and tackled the dog, rolling it over onto the ground.
“You did it! I can’t believe you did it!” he cried, tears of happiness forming in his eyes. “You’re mad! You’re brilliant, but you’re mad! I can’t believe you did it!”
Remus never knew it was possible to feel this happy. After three years of suppressing his excitement for fear that his friends wouldn’t be able to master the Animagus spells, he finally allowed all the joy to flood into him at once. He would never be alone again. He repeated the thought over and over, the thrill of the words never waning. Never alone, never again. Never, ever again! Remus threw his arms around the dog even tighter, drying his tears on his warm fur.
“You’re brilliant,” he whispered, ruffling the fur around his ears. “You’re absolutely, bloody brilliant.”
The dog licked his cheek again and then instantly jumped up and began barking more madly than ever. James and Peter were running towards them, James with a shocked expression and Peter smiling importantly.
“Peter told me! I don’t believe it!” James gasped, goggling at the black dog prancing proudly in front of him. “You did it! You great shaggy beast, you did it!”
James dropped to his knees and embraced Sirius, mussing his fur and admiring his soft, padded feet. The crowd, now satisfied that the dog was neither mad nor dangerous, edged closer with renewed interest.
“Is that your dog, Remus?”
“How’d you sneak him in?”
“Don’t let McGonagall catch him; she’ll send him back.”
“Where are you going to hide him?
“How’d you get him to piss on Bellatrix?”
“Can I pet him?”
“Sure, go right ahead,” Peter said to the pretty blonde girl who’d asked to pet him. “He’s Remus’s dog and he’s very friendly.”
“He’s just precious,” the girl raved. “I’m so glad you sneaked him in, Remus! Oh look, he wants a belly rub!”
She knelt down next to Sirius, who was now twisting on his back with all four legs in the air. “What a good doggy!” she cooed, alternately rubbing and kissing its belly. “What a sweet, little” oh! He nipped my bum, the naughty thing!”
Peter choked, trying to stifle his laughter, but the girl didn’t mind. She giggled too and wrapped her arms around the dog. “Such a pretty boy!” she glowed, kissing its cheeks. “I’m just mad about dogs!”
“And he’s just mad about you, too,” James said, trying very hard not to laugh as he watched Sirius lick her face quite thoroughly.
Remus’s cheeks were starting to hurt from grinning for so long, but he couldn’t have stopped if he tried. That is, until he saw Dumbledore striding towards them with a grim expression. When the crowd saw him, they scattered in all directions, not wanting to be associated with the contraband pet. Remus couldn’t breathe. He felt as if tremendous walls were crashing in on him, even in the wide open field. Dumbledore looked far too upset to be confronting them about merely sneaking in a dog. He knows, Remus panicked internally. I can see it in his face. His dream was shattered, just as soon as it had come true.
Dumbledore swept past Remus and knelt on the ground to inspect the dog up close. Remus exchanged petrified looks with James and Peter over his head. When Dumbledore straightened up, his severe expression was tinged with doubt.
“Gentlemen,” Dumbledore spoke gravely, “when Mr. Black sees fit to show himself, I want to see him in my office.”
Without another word, he turned swiftly back to the castle. Remus remained frozen even after he’d gone, as did James and Peter. Sirius paced nervously, making soft whining noises. James laid a comforting hand on his head and whispered, “What are we going to do?”
Peter wrung his hands, whimpering, “He’s going to expel us! We’re all going to Azkaban! Sirius, you have to run away right now!”
“Let’s just calm down,” Remus said, though his heart didn’t follow his own advice. “Let’s go back through the kitchen passage. There’s a dark corner there where Sirius can change back, and then we’ll go see Dumbledore. We’ll tell him” well, I don’t know what we’ll tell him. But we’ll come up with something. Maybe Sirius will just be expelled, and not arrested.”
Nobody looked pleased by the idea of the lighter, but still devastating, punishment. Sirius gently bit James’s sleeve and tugged him towards the castle. They walked in stony silence to the deserted wall by the passage where Sirius concealed himself in the shadows. After watching him sit still with his eyes closed for several minutes, Remus nervously whispered, “Erm, he does know how to change back, doesn’t he?”
“I-I don’t know!” Peter stammered. “He ran out right after he turned into the dog. He hasn’t tried to change back yet.”
All eyes turned to Sirius, who bared his teeth and gave a low growl. The others took the hint and turned around, giving him some space. Three agonizingly long minutes later, Sirius’s shaky voice spoke up, “I’m back.”
Remus breathed a huge sigh of relief, which was echoed by James and Peter.
“That was amazing,” James said in an awed voice. “A dog! I should have known you’d be a dog.”
“It was amazing, wasn’t it?” Sirius smiled ruefully. “And now I’ll have a fun trick to keep me busy in Azkaban.”
“Don’t say that!” Remus reproved. “Dumbledore’s not going to send you to Azkaban. We’ll tell him you did it for me; he’ll understand.”
Sirius shook his head. “Then I’ll just be expelled, won’t I? Where will I go? I’ll be damned if I’m going back home, and I can’t stay here.”
“You can’t go, you just can’t!” Peter fretted. “It’s not fair! Why should you be expelled for accomplishing something so difficult? You should be given a medal!”
Sirius laughed bitterly, “I like your style, Peter. Don’t go in begging for forgiveness, demand a medal instead. I’ll let you know how that works.”
Peter shrugged sheepishly and the others fell into a tense silence. No one seemed to know what to do or what to say.
“You probably shouldn’t keep Dumbledore waiting,” Remus said quietly. “Are you ready?”
“There’s no sense in waiting,” Sirius sighed. “I’ll meet you back in the dorm afterwards. If I’m expelled, I should at least be allowed to gather my things.”
“We’re not meeting you anywhere, we’re going with you!” James insisted, but Sirius immediately shook his head.
“No way. As far as Dumbledore knows, you lot had nothing to do with this. And as much as I like your company, you’re not getting chucked out with me.” Sirius gave them a half-hearted smile and then disappeared into the passage.
Half an hour had gone by since Sirius left for Dumbledore’s office and the tension in the dorm room was unbearable. Peter hadn’t stopped pacing since he came in. He wrung his hands, whispering to himself, “It’s taking too long, far too long. Oh, this isn’t going to be good. What if he finds out about all of us? What’s going to happen? He can’t expel all of us, can he?”
“Shut it, Peter!” James snapped. “Worry about Sirius, not about us. He’s the one in trouble.”
Remus buried his head under his pillow. “This is all my fault. I knew it was too dangerous; I knew something would go wrong. Why did I let you do this?”
“You didn’t let us. This was our choice; we knew the risks!” James said sharply.
Remus fell silent; James was obviously too edgy to listen to them torture themselves. The only sound in the room was Peter’s shuffling feet.
“I’m sorry,” James sighed a moment later, putting his head in his hands. “I didn’t mean to snap at you two. I just can’t take this waiting!”
Peter suddenly stopped pacing and stared at the door. “I think I hear footsteps!”
Remus listened; he heard the footsteps, too. They came heavy and fast, with a sense of urgency. Or was it anger? The door flew open so forcefully that Remus winced in apprehension of Sirius’s rage. However, an ecstatic Sirius ran in instead, shooting fountains of colourful sparks into the air with his wand.
“Have I told you lot how simply marvelous I am?” he sang.
“Only every day,” James said, beginning to grin. “No expulsion, I take it? No Azkaban?”
“Not even a spanking from McGonagall!” Sirius said triumphantly.
For the second time that day, Remus let out a tremendous whoop of joy and jumped into the air. “Brilliant, how on earth did you get out of that one?” he cried.
“Well, it took some convincing on my part,” Sirius grinned. “I was very nearly expelled… for using the Imperius curse on an animal!”
They burst into relieved laughter as Sirius continued. “Dumbledore was convinced I was hiding somewhere, controlling the dog to defile Trixie. I’ve never seen him so upset with me, even though I kept insisting the dog was just very well trained. Finally he stared straight into my eyes and asked me for the absolute truth. I knew he was using Legilimency so I concentrated as hard as I could and said, ‘I did not use the Imperius curse on that dog.’”
Peter’s eyes shone in awe. “And that worked? You actually tricked Dumbledore?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Sirius laughed heartily. “He could tell I was hiding something, but I convinced him I wasn’t using an Unforgivable curse. Once he believed me, he just told me to keep the dog off school grounds and suggested I look into a career in animal training.”
“Incredible!” Remus laughed. “Only you could have performed an illegal transformation in front of Dumbledore, pissed on your cousin, bitten a girl’s bum, and then come away with nothing but career advice.”
Sirius shrugged proudly. “I told you I was marvelous, didn’t I?”
“You’ve got a marvelous ego, that’s for sure,” James said, but it was clear by his grin how relieved he was that he wouldn’t be separated from his best friend.
“Well, this calls for”ow!”drinks all around!” Peter announced, digging a box out from underneath his bed and hitting his head on the way out. “Wish we had some Firewhiskey, but butterbeer will have to do.”
Remus opened the bottle that Peter handed to him and took a long draught of the fizzing drink. He smiled peacefully as the warmth spread through his body, remembering only a week ago when he had yearned for a butterbeer on the way to the Shrieking Shack. It seemed so long ago, as if it were a different world. It was a world of frustration, loneliness and emptiness. He vowed that he would never look back.
Meanwhile, James had a different vision of the new era they were entering. “First stop, the girls’ dorms, second, the forest, third, Hogsmeade…” he listed, his eyes shining brighter with every new idea that occurred to him. “You can go anywhere!”
“Don’t forget the Shrieking Shack,” Peter said in a dramatic tone. “Do you think you’re ready to face the wolf, Sirius?”
“Ready, are you kidding?” Sirius scoffed. “I can’t wait! I’ve always wanted to see Remus with his fur and fangs flying.”
“That’s because you’re a lunatic,” Remus said wryly, but he grinned at the thought. For the first time in his life, he was almost looking forward to his next transformation.
“A toast,” James announced, holding his bottle into the air, “to Sirius Black. Lunatic. Prankster extraordinaire. Living legend. And now, man’s best friend. Hogwarts has no idea what it’s in for!”
Sirius bowed with a grand flourish while Remus and Peter laughed and raised their own bottles in his honor. Their voices rang out in unison, “Sirius Black!”
A/N: Thanks to my loyal readers who waited two months for me to update! Thanks also to MagicalMaeve and Kaltaru, my immensely helpful betas, to MJ, Fatima, Ashwinder and Lex for sealing Bella’s fate, to Kaltaru for writing a spell for me, and to Fatima again for supplying me with a one dollar synonym for “waffled.”