Glimpse Of Us | JEGULUS

17 | i miss you, i'm sorry

Peter and Remus stared at the rather big dog that stood barking up at them expectantly. Sirius was the last one to shift into an Animagus. Peter had been first, James had figured it out shortly after and Sirius took almost a year after them. But he had it now.

And he wasn't shifting back.

"Come on, Pads," Peter tried. "You can do it."

"I really don't think that's going to work, Pete," Remus pointed out with a frown. "Maybe we should get-"

"No," Peter interrupted. "He said that no matter what happened, we were not to get James. No matter what."

"I don't think he expected this to happen," Remus countered, "And James did all the research so he might have an answer for us."

"You get to deal with the consequences."

"The alternative is him being stuck like this forever," Remus pointed out. "I'll happily deal with the consequences if it means I get Sirius back."

Remus made his way through the castle quickly, Peter standing guard in their room. James had tried a few times to talk to them but he deflated, losing courage every single time. They hadn't been sure what was wrong with him but he had seemed to be getting better. They just wanted to give him space.

He entered the library to find the boy in the same spot as he normally was. He seemed a bit more put together then the last time they'd seen him in here, the permanent scowl wiped clear from his face. It was an improvement.

Remus approached the table and stood there until James eventually noticed. The boy looked up, "Remus?"

"We need your help," he admitted immediately, not wasting a second. "Sirius needs your help." James immediately stood up, leaving his stuff on the table and following Remus back to their dorm.

"Oh, shit," James muttered as he stared at the black dog. The dog bared its teeth at him. "How long has he been like that for?"

"Almost a day," Peter said, glancing at his pocket watch, "In thirty minutes."

"A day?" James demanded in surprise. "He was like this for a full day and you didn't say anything until now?"

"You haven't exactly been the most accessible person, James," Peter pointed out. "And he asked us not to.

"So?" Remus said. "How do we fix it?"

"We can't," James said. "He has to do it on his own or..."

"Or what?"

"He'll be stuck like this forever."

"We can encourage him, right?" Remus said quickly, his anxiety clearly heightened. "Like, help him come back?"

"We can try."

"You have to fix this."

"Me?" James asked, "Why me?"

"Because this is your fault!"

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "It was Sirius's idea to become Animagus to help you!"

"You guys have been fighting for too long!" Remus accused. "Over stupid, petty bullshit! And you have been a horrible friend. An abso-"

"Remus," Peter tried but the boy kept going.

"-lute asshole lately. I mean, top tier, Slytherin level asshole for no reason other than the fact that you were butthurt."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, please," Remus scoffed. "I have been so patient with both of you this year but you have been insufferable. Between Regulus and-" he cut himself off as he realized what he was saying.