Adventures of the Marauders

Chapter 7- Sirius:Becoming Animagi

Sirius
November 10, 1975

After months of work towards becoming animagi, the night was finally upon them. Sirius, James and Peter had been brewing a potion as one of the final steps in becoming animagi and had just been waiting for a lightning storm. Knowing this was coming, the boys, along with Remus, snuck out of the castle and into the shrieking shack before the lightning came. They were doing all of this for Remus, so that Remus wouldn't have to be alone when he transformed into a werewolf.

Tonight was not a full moon though, so Remus would witness their transformations as himself. They waited in the shrieking shack playing exploding snap until the lightning finally started.
First, they took their wands and, for the last time cast the spell "Amato Animo Animato Animagus," over their hearts. Then, they took their vials, hidden in the dark of their cloaks, out of their cloaks and into the light of the lightning. Their potions immediately turned blood red, and they drank their vials completely. Sirius's heart began to beat quickly as a black shape started to form in the back of his mind. The shape formed itself into a large black dog, and suddenly Sirius found himself on all fours and covered in black fur.

He looked up and saw a massive stag standing where James had been moments earlier. Sirius smiled at him.

Remus stood with his mouth agape in shock and awe. "You guys, you did it. You actually did it. I can't believe..." he said as tears began to fill his eyes.

Sirius looked over to where Peter had been standing and at first saw nothing. He began to wonder where he had gone too, but then he looked down and saw a little rat where Peter had been.

Sirius looked back over at Remus, who was beside himself with emotion. He had slid down the wall and was now sitting on the floor. Following his dog instincts, Sirius trotted over to Remus and sat next to him, resting his head on Remus's lap. Remus stroked Sirius's back and began to calm down. Sirius rose and thought of himself, and found himself back in his human body. "It's ok Remus. We will be here for you, always." Sirius said. "We did it!" James exclaimed when he changed back moments later.

Peter changed back just after James. "That was amazing!" He said.

James and Peter noticed the serious look on Remus's face, as Sirius pulled him into a hug. They walked over to the pair, and joined, creating a group hug with Remus at the center. "Don't worry, Remus. We are in this together." James whispered.

***
A week later it was the day before the full moon. Sirius, James, and Peter were excited to transform and jump right in alongside Remus. They were all talking in the dorm room while they were supposed to be studying, to varying degrees of actual studying. Amid the buzz of excitement Remus shut his book and said- "Please just listen to me!" This got the others attention. The other three boys had done tons of research on werewolf transformations to try to prepare for this, because it was really painful for Remus to talk about.

But the thing was, werewolves were quite poorly documented, and sources varied greatly in accuracy. "You guys have no idea how horrible the transformation is. Trust me it's not the way books make it sound. Please, just watch for the first time. I can't control myself or remember anything that happens once the transformation is complete. So, I really think you should observe before you jump into action. I know I can't turn you if you are animals, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you." Remus said, with great difficulty.

Sirius remembered how Remus's last transformation had caused him to attack himself. Seeing him in the hospital wing the next morning was so gut- wrenchingly difficult, due to just how much pain Remus was in.

"Ok, Remus, I trust you." Sirius agreed.
With great hesitation, James agreed as well, and Peter agreed with the consensus of the group.

The four of them snuck down to the shrieking shack where Remus had always transformed. They went into a room within the house with a door that actually closed. Sirius and James enchanted the door to act like one way glass, and be locked from both sides until dawn, as Remus instructed. Then they watched as Remus bound himself to the wall with chains so that he could not escape and hurt anyone. They saw the self loathing on his face as he did so. He breathed heavily as if trying to suppress something. His eyes were glassy and distant, and his mouth displayed the grimness of what was to come.

Sirius, James and Peter transformed into their animal forms and waited.

When the sun had set completely, the moon became visible in the sky. Sirius watched as Remus's normally beautiful amber eyes, turned bright yellow. Then, his already tall and lanky frame began to grow. As his limbs stretched Sirius heard the snapping of bones as they rearranged themselves. Remus's spine contorted into something more canine. Sirius had experienced something similar in his transformation but it was smoother, and this was clearly more painful. What they heard most were Remus's screams as the pain of the transformation dragged on. Then hair grew out of every pore of skin on Remus's body. As his body had contorted, his clothes became shreds on the floor. Soon, the screams turned to howling and Remus had been replaced with a hulking hairy werewolf.

While the wolf was certainly bigger than a regular wolf, and possibly could have stood on its hind legs, it looked as though it was fighting the chains as though it would rather be on all fours. This fighting worked as it eventually made it's way to the ground, but the chains kept it from running or hunting. And so it howled and bit and scratched itself, tearing at its own flesh on and off the whole night.

Even though the wolf was big, James and Sirius noted that they were too. With their combined strength they just might be able to keep him in check. If they were with him, maybe they could all go running in the forbidden forest, without the wolf hurting anyone. And then he wouldn't be hurting himself either. Maybe that's how they could help.

As the first light in the sky showed, the wolf began to change back. His limbs shrunk, which sounded even more painful than growing as bones slammed and grinded against each other. But there was no howling this time only terrible silence. And coughing. Coughing up blood as his organs shifted and slammed back into place. When Remus looked like himself again, he was limp and still on the ground, sitting in a pool of his own blood. He was only awake for a few moments before loosing consciousness. When the enchantment on the door finally lifted, the boys quickly covered Remus with the sheet he had brought. He momentarily drifted awake as they wrapped it around him and he winced. He winced hard. He was in a state of utter confusion. He didn't seem to know who his own friends were.

They knew Madame Pomfrey would be coming soon, so as much as it hurt to leave Remus, they knew they had to get back up to the castle before she arrived if they wanted to keep their secret.

As he snuck back into the castle, Sirius made a vow to himself that day. He would never let Remus go through that alone ever again. Not if there was anything he could do about it.

****
Author's note

This chapter was originally published as Short Story #1 in Prisoner of Azkaban: Raised By Moony and Padfoot. So if it looks familiar, that's why.

Also, I'm sorry for the late update, I forgot that this was my Friday upload and not my Sunday one 🤦‍♀️.
~Savanah