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by hvgwcrts

by hvgwcrts

CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
✧
-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH THEY TRANSFORM

. . .

Tiger mumbled a silent goodbye to the shine of the night as she followed James down the hole at the trunk of the still Whomping Willow. The Potter boy held out a hand as she slid down the dirt path, pulling her up as soon as she came to a stop.

The two of them joined Peter waiting nearby, his Animagus form giving him the ability to go first, seeing as he had to poke the knot at the bottom of the roots.

Sirius followed down them down, wrinkling his nose as he slid down the banking underneath the hole, holding out his hands. Tiger and James glanced at each other before stepping forward and drag him to his feet.

"Thank Merlin I'm not wearing any of my nice trousers." Sirius grumbled as they set off in the light provided by tip of Tiger's wand. "That drop always fucks me over."

"That drop fucks everyone over." Tiger frowned, leading the way with her wand clutched in her hand. "How Madam Pomfrey gets Remus down here easily I have no idea. They might as well put in a staircase or something."

James and Peter murmured their agreement and continued forwards. As usual, it took forever for all four of them to traipse their way down the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack, mumbling amongst themselves as they passed through.

"Careful." James' hand darted out and grabbed the Howell girl's waist. "There's a root." He smuled in the darkness, blinking as the girl waved her wand around. "Careful - careful."

"Sorry." Tiger let out a sigh as she moved the wand out of his face. "How much longer? I swear I lose all sense of time and distance in here."

"We should be getting near." Sirius called from somewhere behind them. He had lit up his wand as well along the walk and peered forward at the two.

And Sirius was right. Not five minutes later did the passageway begin to tilt upwards, and moments later it twisted. At the end was a dim circle of light, signalling the opening.

"Right." Tiger said as the four came to a stop at the corner, turning towards one another. "Remember, we need to get out of there quickly so then we can transform outside. Try not to make any noise, skip every fourth plank of wood across the floor because they all creak." She reminded them of the constant rules to what came with them joining Remus on full moons.

"Got it." Sirius nodded, a movement echoed by James and Peter. The Potter boy lead the way as they approached the opening into the Shrieking Shack, the four carefully pulling themselves out of hole in the floor.

They looked around slowly, just in case. But as usual, the room they emerged into was exactly the same; cluttered, disordered and completely dirty, paper was peeling from the walls, there were stains all over the floor, every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it and the windows were all boarded up. The Shrieking Shack was exactly as usual.

Sirius jerked his head towards the door and they began to make their way through the empty doorway. Above them, there was a creaking noise which insinuated that Remus was still upstairs, prowling around.

They knew he was going to be nearby, but they didn't expect him to be right upstairs. And that proved to be even worse for them when Peter accidentally stepped on one of the fourth planks.

The four froze, gazes drifting to each other.

A howl could be heard upstairs and then quick movement. Downstairs, Tiger, James, Sirius and Peter, all utterly filled with fear stopped caring about being careful and dashed through the rest of the house, dashing through the door and very almost falling from the staircase as they raced around the house.

"We've got to transform." James panted. "Quick - werewolves don't hurt animals.. but they kill humans."

"You think I don't know that?" Tiger hissed, watching as Sirius and Peter shrunk into their forms. "But I'm way to nervous to transform."

The howl was much louder now and James turned around the corner as he turned into a stag. Somehow, even in that form, his expression was urging Tiger to change. There was scratching in the ground and the poor girl turned around.

The Werewolf was facing her now and she gulped, willing herself to change. Then, without her even realising it, the tiger form came upon her.

And so the night began with a tiger rushing across the field in front of the Shrieking Shack, a Werewolf chasing her.

✧

a/n
i'm going to speed
things up a bit after
this