The Bonds of Spirit are stronger than the Bonds of Blood

Chapter Twelve

Remus was buried in a stack of books, writing yet another essay for History of Magic. He wasn't sure why he bothered, as Professor Binns hardly ever graded the homework he assigned. Still, not wanting to lose points, he decided it'd be best to just complete every assignment just to be sure. While he was looking into the causes behind the Goblin Rebellions, he heard a voice just above his head. Looking up he found Lily Evans, one of the brightest witches of their year. He tilted his head curiously as she spoke to him, saying "Hello Remus. I know we don't really talk, but I'm worried. Sirius and the others keep disappearing. I think you should go check on them." His jaw dropped slightly, as he looked around the room for confirmation. He was surprised to find his friends no longer in the Common Room. How long had he been working? How had he not noticed them leave? Judging by her words, the trio had been leaving like this for quite awhile. He knew he could become absorbed in whatever assignment he worked on, but he couldn't believe that he had never noticed his friends leaving. He grew worried. Sure they had been incredibly kind after finding out he was a werewolf. Honestly, he had expected them to be at least somewhat weary of him after that. But they never treated him any differently. Instead, they carried on as if he wasn't this dangerous creature. Remus was certain he was still a danger to them, but so long as they were willing to have him around, and so long as he could maintain some semblance of control, he would be there for them no matter what. But now they were disappearing without a word to him. Thoughts ran through his mind. Did they hate him now? What if they didn't want to be his friend anymore? These panicked thoughts circled through his mind as he tried to find the words to respond. Determined to find out what was going on with his friends, he muttered "Thank You." Then he quickly left the Common Room to find answers.

Remus paced the corridor outside of Gryffindor Tower. He had managed to make it out here, but he had no idea where to go next. There were plenty of secret areas the quartet had found since arriving at Hogwarts, but his friends could easily be hiding somewhere new. If they were up to something, they wouldn't hide out in one of their usual haunts, so that at least narrowed down the possibilities a bit. He headed down a narrow corridor towards one of the secret rooms they had found, hoping to find at least some trace of his friends. But as he reached the room and saw it was dark, he knew it was a lost cause. He continued along the corridor, taking another hidden corridor, until he reached another empty secret room. He searched every secret door, every hidden corridor, and every hidden alcove he could think of, but he still couldn't find his friends. Disheartened, he began to make his way back toward Gryffindor Tower, head down as he tried to sort out his thoughts, when he suddenly heard laughter. Following the sound, he turned through several small corridors, winding around in a circle trying to find the source, when finally he came across an old door he hadn't come across before. Remus hesitated outside of the door. What if inside were professors? Or some other members of staff? He could get in serious trouble for this! But it could also be his friends, tucked away in a hidden room to do whatever they had planned. Taking a deep breath, gathering his courage, he opened the door just enough to see inside, and took a look around. Inside he found his friends, laughing. Well, he had found two of them at least! Sirius and Peter were laughing, clutching their sides as they tried to remain standing. Curious, Remus tilted his head and looked toward the other side of the room, opening the door just a fraction more. There he saw James, arms and legs double their usual length, walking about using the four limbs like a performer on stilts. What in Merlin's name were they up to?! Finally, he flung open the door and said "By Merlin's beard! What are you three up to?!"

Sirius used his arms and legs to dance a small jig, the doubled limbs performing surprisingly well. It had taken him a few tries to get the arms to transfigure properly, but it was well worth it. James and Peter were laughing up a storm, James clutching the wall to keep from falling while Peter had long since lost balance and just twitched on the floor as he laughed. Sirius smirked, laughing a bit, before taking a few calming breaths. Concentrating, despite his friends' incredibly loud laughter, he managed to shrink his arms and legs back to normal. Lifting Peter off of the floor, he shoved the boy towards the other side of the room and said "Alright, your turn!" Peter nervously stood in place, before taking some calming breaths. Copying the motions Sirius had taken, Peter slowly started to transfigure his arms and legs. Doing this with four limbs at once was certainly a lot more difficult than just transfiguring the arms or legs separately. Peter took twice as long as Sirius to complete the transfiguration, but he did manage to succeed. He tried to raise his arm into the air, raising a cheer, but lost balance. He wasn't used to using four legs instead of two, so he quickly stumbled to the ground, despite his best efforts to stay upright. James and Sirius laughed at this, before going to stand beside him. With James on one side and Sirius on the other, they managed to get Peter upright once more. Peter gave them an embarrassed smile before transfiguring himself back to normal. Sharing a grin with Sirius, the two pushed James into the spotlight, cheering for him to try out this latest step of their transfiguration process. James bowed, lapping up the attention, before steadying himself before activating his magic. After intense concentration, he managed to double the length of his arms and legs, standing like some sort of majestic deer, posing in the corner of the room. Peter and Sirius burst out laughing, trying desperately to avoid crashing to the ground as they watched James. Suddenly the door burst open and in came Remus looking utterly bewildered and angry. He shouted "By Merlin's beard! What are you three up to?!" James looked at him like a deer in the headlights while Peter cowered behind Sirius, hoping Remus wouldn't notice him. Sirius gave an embarrassed smile, stepped towards Remus and said "Ah, we were hoping you wouldn't find out yet, we were going to tell you later! But, well, ya see, I can explain everything!"