The dog - Sirius the dog - barked twice and wagged its tail playfully as Remus picked himself up off the floor. He looked at James and Peter, who were both smiling sheepishly. He looked at the dog again, and it transformed back into Sirius, standing before him with the same mad grin.
"You did it." Remus said, tonelessly, "I can't believe you bloody did it." He sat down again, feeling a bit wobbly.
"Are you angry with us?" James asked, his eyes huge and earnest.
"Can you all do it?"
Peter and James looked at each other, then nodded. Remus breathed in, his chest tight. "Go on then," he whispered, "Show me."
At once, James and Peter transformed into a huge, regal stag, and a fat brown rat. James's antlers scraped the low ceiling of their room, so that he had to bow his head slightly. Sirius laughed,
"We couldn't choose what we turned into," he explained. "Otherwise Peter probably would have picked something else..."
"Oi!" Peter said, transforming back, "Rats are highly intelligent creatures, I looked it up."
"Shame you're not." Sirius replied.
"Not everyone wants to be a big slobbering mutt," James transformed back too, and punched Sirius on the shoulder,
"All right, Bambi, calm down," Sirius smirked, ruffling Peter's hair, "Just having a laugh, aren't we, mate?"
Peter smiled back. He did look pretty happy. All of them did. Remus was still speechless. He watched them all as if they were strangers. Had they really done this - some of the most difficult magic, which required skill, concentration and - above all - patience , just for him?
"Remus?" James asked, looking serious again, "You are angry aren't you?"
"I..." Remus frowned, then shook his head, "No, no, not angry... I just..." He rubbed the back of his head, closing his eyes, "I knew you'd do it anyway, I knew you'd try, at least. You never listen to me."
"We're sorry." James said, forlorn. Even Sirius had stopped bouncing about.
"No, don't be sorry!" Remus said, quickly, opening his eyes, "What you've done is amazing... you lot are amazing. I just... I don't know what to say."
He cursed himself for not being able to thank them properly - for feeling everything so strongly, but being unable to put any of it into words. What was the point of all that reading if it didn't give you the words when you needed them?
He looked up again to find Sirius watching him - his smile was calmer now, and the light of understanding shone in his eyes. Remus's heart skipped a beat.
"Thank you." He said, quietly, just to Sirius.
"Anything for our Moony!" Sirius grinned again, and suddenly everything was back to normal, and the dorm room was just their dorm room, and these incredible people were just his friends. "Come on," Sirius said, brightly, addressing all of them, "Let's go down for dinner. We've got a long night ahead of us!"
"Tonight?!" Remus said, surprised, "You want to try it tonight?!"
Of course , he thought, this is why they chose the very last moment to reveal themselves.
"No time like the present," James smiled.
"You can't want to spend another night alone in that horrid shack when you don't have to, Remus?" Peter said, earnestly.
Remus thought about this as he followed the others down the many stairs and corridors to the Great Hall. He did not like being alone, right before the moon or right after it. He assumed the wolf didn't like being alone either, judging by the pain it caused him. But he had always done it alone. It had never been a question before.
