The Bonds of Spirit are stronger than the Bonds of Blood

Chapter Fourteen

The next day, after classes had finished, Remus dragged his friends to the library. Literally. He had to grab hold of Sirius' collar, who then grabbed hold of James' collar, and drag the duo towards the library. He wasn't sure why the two were so opposed to the library, maybe it was too quiet for their liking, but at this point they had no other options. Peter shuffled along behind the trio, laughing at the antics of his best friends. Remus rolled his eyes as the pair made small whining sounds, breaking only to sigh in frustration. Without turning around, or stopping, he said "Oh come on! You act like I'm dragging you to your death! It's the library! It's safe! If anything it has the greatest arsenal in the world! Especially for what we mean to do, so just suck it up!" He shook his head at their behaviour and continued down the corridor to the library. Entering the immaculate room, he set his sights on the massive book cases, looking for the section that would hold the books they needed. He scanned the titles along each shelf carefully. Transfiguration and You, Transfiguration for Beginners, Notable Failed Attempts of Transfiguration, How Not to Transfigure, Lives of the Transfigured, Advanced Transfiguration Made Simple. So far nothing seemed promising. Looking around, he found himself in a dark corner of the library. The titles of the books in this area were worn and difficult to read, so he kept pulling out books to hopefully find one that would prove useful. Finally, he grinned as he pulled out a stack of books that looked like they could have the answers the quartet had been looking for. He carried the stack towards one of the tables, dragging Sirius behind him, and quickly split the pile into four equal shares. Sitting down, and directing his friends to do the same, he said, quietly, "Alright, the answers are bound to be in one of these books. If we all look together we can find it faster and you won't have to stay in the library any longer." He smirked as James and Sirius immediately grabbed their stacks of books and got to work. It was fairly simple to get them to do what was necessary if there was a promise of immediate fun to be had! Sharing a smile with Peter, he set about looking through his own stack of books.

Sirius sighed as he distractedly flipped through yet another transfiguration book. Honestly he really enjoyed reading, but the intense quiet of the library was stifling. It reminded him too much of the house he escaped at the beginning of each school year, or even during the summer if he could manage to sneak off to James' house. Shaking himself from the memories, he attempted to concentrate. This was important after all! That's right! He was doing this for Remus! He had to focus! Straightening up, he determinedly scanned each page of the book, looking for even the slightest hint of the answers they were looking for. The book he was looking in only held instructions for transfiguring creatures into humans, which was the exact opposite of what he needed! Practically slamming the book shut in annoyance, he slid it to the side and opened the next, unaware of the confused looks he was receiving. Ten books later, he finally found something promising. Carefully reading through the passage, grin growing every second, he turned the book towards Remus and said "Take a look at this! Mandrake leaves and their use in Human Transfiguration!" He smirked as Remus quietly read the paragraph aloud. "Mandrake leaves are used in the most difficult form of Human Transfiguration, Animgus Training. The animagus in training must hold the mandrake leaf in their mouth for one month straight. If at any point the leaf falls, the wizard must start over. Over the course of this month, the wizard must meditate on their animgus form. On the final day, their animagus form will be revealed to them and the final stage of training can begin." The quartet shared blinding grins at this revelation. This had been just what they needed! Sirius thought about the instructions and said "Well, we all knew this would be incredibly difficult, but it's worth a shot, right?" When the others nodded in agreement, he grinned and said "Well then, time to grab those leaves. If we are stuck with them for a month, we might as well get it over with!" Leading the others, he gladly took the chance to leave the oppressive silence and return to the comfort of Gryffindor Tower.

Lily was studying for the upcoming exams, trying to remember everything that had been taught since the first day of class. In the middle of practicing a particularly difficult charm, which she knew would be on the practical portion of the exam, she jumped up, startled, as the portrait swung open and four pairs of footsteps echoed through the common room. Looking up she found Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter racing off towards the dorms. They looked utterly elated, about what she didn't know, but she was glad to see them all together again. Sure they caused a lot of trouble when they were together, but it was certainly better than seeing them apart and looking distraught. She wished she knew what was going on with them, but she couldn't break her promise to Sirius. No matter how curious she was, she would honour her word. She returned to her studies, or at least attempted to. The quartet swiftly returned down the stairs, ran past her muttering something about leaves, and rushed out of the common room and down the corridor. Shaking her head at how lively they all were, she set about practicing her spells again. Those four surely kept things interesting! After a few more tries, she realised she wouldn't be able to study properly after that interruption, so she packed up her things and left the common room as well. Following the stairs, she found herself at the door to the grounds fairly quickly. It was a nice day, and there was still plenty of time left until curfew, so she stepped outside and tried to find a peaceful place to study. She let her mind wander, remembering the fun summers she had had with Tunie before the Hogwarts letter had arrived. She smiled a bittersweet smile, wishing her sister hadn't shut her out. Then her mind turned to Sirius. She couldn't believe how different he really was! He always acted so arrogant and confident, like the world belonged to him. But really, he was just hurt and looking to find kindred souls to bond with. Looking at him now, it was surprisingly easy to read his true emotions. She didn't understand why she hadn't noticed before. Perhaps, she was so blinded by his act that she didn't think to look closer. Regardless, she was glad she had gotten to know the real Sirius, and she was proud to call him her friend. After sharing their stories, and all the time they spent together, she was tempted to call him family.