Infinitely Six

Animagi, Part 1

*Warning* 

Events will be changed to fit the storyline. This is also the first chapter of the first arc :)

"I know how we help you!" I yelled, sprinting into the library. Remus looked up in surprise. Madame Pince scowled.

"Help me with what?" Remus asked, bemused as I set down a stack of books and papers that toppled all over his table. I shoved some of them aside and reached for one of the books, flipping rapidly through the pages.

"Your furry little problem," I said.

"You do know there's no cure," Remus sighed.

"Oh, I know," I said, reaching the page I was looking for and turned it toward Remus, pointing. His brows furrowed in confusion.

"How is animagi going to help me?"

"Well, we're not going to have you turn into an animagus, James, Sirius, Peter, Iris, and I will," I said, matter-of-factly. He shook his head and pushed the book away.

"You're mad. Again, how is that supposed to help me?"

"Aw, c'mon Remus, I know you've read about it at least once. It's been proven that werewolves don't attack animals, only humans," Remus made a shushing motion. "Sorry," I said quieter. "But if we become animagi then we can be with you, you won't attack us, and hopefully one of us will be a big enough animal to prevent you from doing that," I gently touched his cheek, where the most of his scars were. He brushed my hand away and covered the white, jagged lines. Remus slowly shook his head.

"No, it won't work. There's no way they'll let you register to become one while you're still in school," He pointed out. I nodded.

"Well, let me rephrase this. We'll become unregistered animagi," His jaw dropped in something resembling shock.

"No. No way, you can't break the law to help me out! That's ludicrous,"

"But will you stop us?" I said. His silence was enough of an answer. I smiled. He grimaced at my look.

"You do realize how complex that is? It takes months," I interrupted him.

"Two, actually. It's not that hard. I mean, we do have to keep a mandrake leaf on our tongue for half that time, but I'll figure something out," I waved my hand about, unperturbed. He just shook his head.

"There's no way. There's no way Sirius and James will be able to take it seriously enough to accomplish this," He warned.

"Actually, I've already talked to them. They said they'd do anything if meant helping you," I saw his eyes widen and his resolve crack. He turned away. I heard him take a deep breath. It was a very choked up voice he spoke with next.

"Th—They actually said that?" I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes. We all want to help you. And if it means keeping a disgusting leaf in my mouth for a month, I'm down. And so are the others," A pause.

"Thank you,"

"No problem,"

There was a slight problem. We had been puzzling over it for a few days. How were we supposed to keep a mandrake in our mouth for a month? We had already taken the leaves from the greenhouse. That was easy. But the instructions said it had to be touching your tongue, so we couldn't glue it to the roof of our mouths with a spell as James had suggested, nor would we be able to speak while it was there. It was too noticeable. If one of the teachers saw that our tongues had mysteriously turned green, they would evidently ask why. We'd probably be able to come up with an excuse, but if McGonagall saw it we'd be dead meat. She'd know exactly what it was.

We had to get a move on. If we didn't act now, it would take longer for us to help Remus. Plus we had to time it right. We'd miss one full moon, but if we started this week, we'd be animagi soon enough for the next one. So, I came up with a plan.

We walked into Transfiguration the next day, Remus looking much better than he had a few days ago, and the rest of us completely silent. Which was not in the normal. Professor McGonagall looked at us suspiciously.

"Why are you all so quiet all of a sudden? Seems a bit out of character for you four," She said. I swallowed nervously, feeling the leaf on my tongue. Remus started rambling out a vague excuse. James took out his wand and started tracing words in the air. I rolled my eyes.

'We're protesting about the treatment of students. Teachers these days give too much homework. They—' I waved my hand through his words, giving him my "We have to convince her", look. Sirius ignored me, and started writing something else. 

'Actually, we've seen a change in heart. We've treated you very badly so we're taking a vow of silence.' It would've sounded very nice if Sirius and James hadn't been snickering. I waved my hand through this as well, gently kicked his leg under hte table,  and started writing my own words.

'The REAL story is that they gave me a potion as a prank and it hurt my voice. I won't be able to speak for a month. They're doing it because they felt bad.' McGonagall hmmed, clucked her tongue, and nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"And why aren't you doing it, Mr Lupin?" She inquired. I froze.

"Because I'm not stupid," He said, glaring at James and Sirius. They just smiled sweetly. McGonagall waved us back. We sat down at our desks. My heart was thumping, and I couldn't concentrate on the lesson as the Professor started speaking. A note slid across the table from Sirius and landed on my lap. I unfolded it and read the message.

So far so good.

Eating was a challenge. We had glued the leaves to our tongues with a spell, but that didn't mean they wouldn't tear. We decided to avoid anything you had to chew a lot, which meant our meal consisted of rolls, soup, and steamed vegetables. Marlene was concerned about the whole 'potion' thing.

"Did they seriously damage your throat?" She asked, shooting a glance at the boys. I wrote on the parchment I had been carrying around.

'No, it'll be healed in about a month.'

"Did Madame Pomfrey take a look at it?" She brushed a strand of brown hair out of her face.

'Yes.'

"Did she prescribe anything?" She asked impatiently. "Here let me take a look,"

'I'm fine, Marls.' I wrote, racking my mind for an excuse.

"Nonsense, let me see," Admitting defeat, I opened my mouth. She saw the leaf and looked at it confusedly. I saw James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus look at me in utter shock from the corner of my eye.

"Why do you have a leaf in your mouth?" She asked, her eyebrows knit.

'It's the prescription Madame Pomfrey gave me. It's supposed to help.' I wrote. Thankfully, she nodded.

"Oh, okay. That's good. I still can't believe they would do that! Those jerks," She started rambling about how terrible the marauders were. I gave a thumbs up to the boys who were still staring at me. I went back to eating carefully and scanned the room.

I looked over at the Slytherin table. I saw Lucius, Narcissa, and Snape. Some of their other friends and someone who had been hanging out with their little group for a while. Regulus sat next to Theodore Nott. I had always thought of Regulus as a sort of neutral threat, really. He didn't bother us, we didn't bother him. He used to be a bubbly little kid, and he'd always say hello to me when I went over to Sirius's place. I knew that he used to look up to Sirius, but after Snuffles went into Gryffindor and abandoned him, I knew Regulus and Sirius's relationship was torn. However, I knew Sirius still loved his brother.

I looked over at Snuffles. He was eating moodily and every so often he would glance up at the Slytherin table, at his brother. He looked conflicted. I could hardly blame him; being a pureblood with family "honor" was difficult.