Birth of the Marauders
After not finding his friends in the common room, Remus headed to the dormitory and saw them huddled around James’ bed, whispering.
“Why didn’t you tell us you’re a werewolf?” asked James
Stunned, Remus replied, “Because I knew you wouldn’t like me.”
Sirius said, “You’ve got it all wrong. We’re friends no matter what. It’s actually really cool.”
“How’d you figure it out?”
“After two years of being gone every full moon? We aren’t that thick,” replied James.
“You don’t hate me?”
“Of course not, mate. We’d never abandon you,” said Sirius
Remus smiled, realizing the Hat had been right.
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“We’ve decided something,” announced James. “It must be lonely when you transform, so we’re going to become Animagi. Peter researched it and werewolves only attack people, so we’ll be safe with you as animals.”
“I can’t let you do that. It’s too dangerous.”
James had a gleam in his eye. “We’ve got it all worked out. Sirius nicked a book from his parents’ library. It’ll be brilliant.”
“It won’t be easy. What if something goes wrong?” He couldn’t let his friends get in trouble.
“I’m top of the class.” James grinned confidently. “Think of all the fun we can have.”
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Remus couldn’t believe what his friends had told him. He couldn’t make them understand. They’d argued until a Prefect said ‘lights out’. James and Sirius wouldn’t budge. They were adamant.
Sirius had showed him the book. It made the transformation process sound simpler than Professor McGonagall’s lecture, a point he had tried to make. Once he realized arguing was futile, he had let it drop. They were his only friends, and he didn’t want to risk losing them. But would this be risking making them like him? He wasn’t sure. He only knew he didn’t want to drive them away.
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While they practiced in secret, they would give Remus regular updates on their Animagi progress. Surprisingly, none of them had suffered any serious harm, though Peter did once have a rat’s tail for two days, and Sirius’ hair became shaggier than normal.
He still couldn’t believe his friends would go through this much effort to make his transformations more bearable. Sirius and James would talk eagerly about finally being able to explore the Forbidden Forest and have free run of the grounds. Remus smiled weakly as he listened to their plans, harbouring unspoken doubts. How could he destroy that glee?
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They’d noticed Severus eyeing them warily, and James grew concerned about what the greasy Slytherin knew. No one really liked ‘Snivellus’, so no one said anything when James decided to discourage Snivellus’s snooping.
When Snape retaliated, Sirius joined the fray. Remus knew he should say something, stop his friends, but what? James and Sirius would claim Snape had it coming, and he had been snooping. Deciding there was nothing to be done, Remus remained silent.
It didn’t stop that day. It almost seemed as though James and Sirius were making it a habit, but Remus continued to rationalize their behaviour.
Chapter End Notes:
A/N: I hope that you are enjoying this unique little fic. I found it a fun way to paint Remus and his time at Hogwarts.