Chapter 1 Werewolves
Tom and James were in the library for the first time ever. Obviously they were still working out where everything was. It was however only their second year but it was a rare case to go a year without seeing the famous Hogwarts library.
Believe it or not the had spent over 3 hours in the library already. What is amazing is that it took that long for them to get in a fight.
"James you dipstick! The books go on the shelves not me!" said Tom who was wrestling with a copy of Monster Book of Monsters which had half of Tom's dreadlocks in it's mouth and refused to let go.
"Well I wouldn't have this problem if you would help me find the astronomy book!" shouted back James from atop a rather tall ladder.
"I spend 3 hours in the library and you think I'm an expert on the Dewy frickin Decimal system!" said Tom whacking the book against the wall.
"Well four hands are better than one." said James as a book sailed down and landed 5 inches from Tom.
"My two hands are busy at the moment." said Tom, "and besides, you won't even tell me what we are looking for."
Tom heard a whoop of joy and James climbed down the ladder at top speed.
"I take it you found it." said Tom as he liberated himself from the book with one final blow.
"You take it right." said James triumphantly.
James instantly flipped open the book and began reading.
"James," said Tom folding his arms, "why are we learning?"
"Look." said James pointing to an astronomy chart.
"So, somebody doodled in the book big deal." said Tom.
"Tom, they are not doodles, it's an astronomy chart!"
"Oh, well why is that important?"
"Tom, have you ever noticed how Remus is missing once a month. He's either visiting his sick mum or a relative died or his dad is going broke and he needs him to work in a coal mine."
"Yeah that last one did strike me as odd." said Tom.
"Well, have you made the connection?" Tom shook his head. "Tom, he's missing whenever there is a full moon."
Tom stared at James.
"He has lycropathy." said James dramatically.
Tom stared in awe for a while. Then he broke the silence, "So he can start a fire like, with his thoughts?"
"No, he's a werewolf." said James.
"A....a werewolf?"
"Yes." said James dramatically
"At Hogwarts?"
"Yes."
"He's a werewolf?"
"Yup."
"And he's at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah."
"A werewolf?"
"Uhuh."
"At Hogwarts."
"Yes."
"A werewolf Hogwarts?"
"Yeah."
"A Hogwarts werewolf?"
"YES TOM YES!"
"Okay, chill out." said Tom, "You sure?"
James rolled his eyes, "Yes."
"Oh well then that proves my theory." said Tom.
"What's that?"
"Dumbledore is out of his tree." said Tom.
"You won't hear me arguing that point." said James.
"So a werewolf Hogwarts?"
"What does that even mean?" asked James
Tom cracked up.
"There you are!" said Sirius as he entered the library with Remus and Pete r.
"We've been looking for you for ages." said Peter.
"Hazel said you two were in the library but we didn't believe her." said Remus.
"So what brings you to the land of bore?" asked Sirius sitting down on the table.
"Nothin!" said James and Tom together.
"Well that looks like something." said Sirius nodding at the Astronomy book.
"Well it's uhhhh..." began Tom but James picked up the book and threw it over his shoulder. It knocked out a first year.
"Ooooookay, well dinner is in fifteen minutes so when you are done knocking out children come on down." said Remus.
"K!" said James and Tom together again.
Sirius, Remus, and Peter departed and it just hit Tom.
Remus, one of his best friends, quiet, bookworm Remus, was a monster, a werewolf..........da da duuuunnnnn.
Chapter 2 To the Kitchens
"So what the heck are we gonna do about this whole werewolf thing?" asked Tom as he and James walked down to dinner.
"His furry little problem." said James grinning.
Tom laughed.
"Besides, being a werewolf doesn't sound like a biggie." said James.
"It's a BIG BIGGIE James! A BIIIIIIIG BIGGIE!" shouted Tom appalled that James would say that, "James, do you have any idea what werewolves go through?"
"No, how do you we haven't studied them yet?"
"Doesn't matter, but James, Remus has to change in a solitary place, to satisfy his hunger he probably has to chew on his own self."
"That would seem unpleasant." said James.
"Yes James, it would." said Tom, "Remus needs us now more than ever."
They kept walking in silence until-
"I practiced that line, like, in my head do you think it was a little corny?"
"Nah man it was good." replied James.
"Ok." said Tom.
They turned a corner and they saw Peter running at top speed to them. Keep in mind this is Peter's top speed so he resembled a wounded bear who had too much to eat.
"Tom! James!" he yelled.
"Peter Peter!" yelled back James with mock excitement.
"What?" said Tom lazily.
"Well there is this new candy Remus got from his mom and-"
Peter was on the floor before he could say Merlin. Tom and James took off down the hall racing each other to the great hall.
"It's in the common room!" shouted back Peter.
James and Tom pivoted and shot up the grand staircase.
That was the usual case, thought Peter, they might be running 100 miles per hour but they would be running in the wrong direction.
When Tom and James entered the common room together they saw Remus in a chair and they dragged their panting selves over to him. Keep in mind they had just sprinted up 8 flights of stairs.
"New....." gasped James falling to his knees holding up a hand.
"Candy......" said Tom doing the same.
"There's only one piece left." he said nervously.
Sirius, Hazel, and Lily arose from a couch and joined the gathering.
"You said I could have it!" said Lily.
"No he said I could have it." said Sirius pointing to himself for effect.
"You are both crazy." said Hazel, everybody looked at her, "He said I could have it waaaayyyy before you guys."
Arguments broke out.
"You lying cheating jerk!" yelled Hazel.
"Your mom is a lying jerk what that cheats!" retaliated Sirius.
"What?" said Tom.
And so it went on. Remus stood there awkwardly. How the heck was he going to choose between his friends? He normally wouldn't make decisions like this. Sirius and James were the sort of leaders, Peter did as he was told, Remus actually thought before he did something, and Tom just sat around and joined James and Sirius on their 'top secret explore the castle' missions . But back to the story.
"Alright stop!!" said Remus. Everybody did. There was angry silence. Sirius didn't like angry silence.
"Stick it to the man!" yelled Sirius.
James and Tom laughed.
"Ok," said Remus smiling, "there is one piece of candy, there are five people who want it. There is only one clear way to solve this."
"Broom racing?" asked James.
"Arm wrestling?" suggested Tom.
"Charades?" said Hazel and Lily at the same time.
"PILLOW FIGHT!!" yelled Sirius.
"No!" yelled Remus.
"Yes!" said Sirius. He grabbed a pillow from a nearby couch and began whacking Tom with tit. Tom just shook his head. Sirius too began shaking his head after a while and put the pillow back.
"Well, what is it then?" asked Hazel.
"Well isn't it obvious?" asked Lily smirking.
Tom, James, Hazel, and Sirius looked from Remus to Lily who were smirking like they knew some sort of secret.
"What?!" who said James who looked like he was going to start killing people.
"Ok," said Remus, " Foot race to the kitchens. Whoever can get back here with jelly donuts first wins. GO!" yelled Remus.
Everybody besides Lily and Remus sprinted off to the kitchens.
"Of all the things you could've made them do." said Lily sitting down.
"Hey, I'm hungry." he said also sitting down.
"So whats so special about the candy anyway?" asked Tom to Hazel, they were in the front as they raced to the kitchens.
"You don't even know?"
"No." said Tom, he failed to see the problem.
"So you decided it would be a good idea to just win for the sake of winning?" asked Hazel, "and not know what you are getting?"
"Hazel, you have a gift. You always hit the nail on the head."
"Whatever, as far as the candy goes, it is supposed to be the best in the world. It is made of pure magic and is massive and big and...beautiful...and.."
"HAZEL!"
"Oh sorry, yeah it's really good. Only a few people have ever had it."
"How did Remus get it?" asked Tom.
"I dunno, says it was a present from his mom too make him feel better or something."
Oh yeah, thought Tom, seeing as he had to attack himself once a month.
"Hmm." said Tom.
They turned a corner and entered the kitchens.
"Oh crap." said Tom. And that pretty much described it. Professor Dumbledore was evidently inspecting the kitchens today, he was talking with the house elves.
"Let's go back." said Hazel. She had had waaayy too many detentions with The Marauders for being out of bounds.
"I got this." said Tom.
"Oh great." said Hazel.
Tom strutted into the kitchen.
"Hello, Alby, Dumbinator, Professor, Sir." he said.
"Wells." he said smiling.
"I just need to pick up a few things real quick."
"Well you do know it is after curfew."
"Actually, no I didn't." said Tom.
"And it is against the rules to wander the corridors at night for students." he said becoming slightly more serious.
"Thank you for warning me good sir. If I see one, I will inform you immediately."
Dumbledore just smiled.
"Well, I seem to have gone temporarily blind." said Dumbledore.
Hazel was watching with her mouth open.
"Thank you for your...em....blindness." said Tom, "and...uh....loss...of sight.."
"Anytime." said Dumbledore.
Tom hummed the tune of "purple haze" as he pillaged the kitchen. He finally left with a armful of jelly donuts. He was eating one.
"How," said Hazel as they walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, "did that just happen?"
"Hazel, I am me? Understand?"
She rolled her eyes and grabbed donut.
"Just take one." said Tom.
"Thats all I need." she said taking off.
Tom walked along smiling and eating happily.
He entered the common room to see Remus holding a massive piece of candy he was about to give to Hazel.
"Hold on there buddy." said Tom.
"What?" asked Remus.
"You said donuts, with an s. All I see is one." he nodded to the donut Hazel was holding.
"You did say donuts." said Lily from the couch. Hazel did not look in the least bit happy.
"You tricked me."
"I did not," said Tom grinning making the trade, "you tricked yourself by tricking yourself into that you could trick me when really you can't trick me so you just ended up tricking yourself."
She looked at him funny.
"Well Tom," said Lily.
"No it's Wells, Tom Wells." said Tom.
"Okay, that was almost as bad as those Sirius jokes Sirius was obsessed with last year." said Remus.
"Oh gosh, don't even speak about it." said Hazel.
"Well Tom," she started again, "I can't say you are not...kinda...smart."
"Thank you?" said Tom, "Now," he said staring at the massive piece of candy in his hand, "I can...." everybody was staring at him. He looked around smiling, "save it for later." he said.
"Just eat it." said Hazel.
"No, don't want to at the moment. "
The portrait whole flung open. Standing there was Peter, "So what's going on guys?"
"Later." said everybody.
Then the portrait hole opened again. In walked James and Sirius with scrapes, their clothes were torn, and they were mad.
"You look bloody awful, what the heck are you doing?" asked Tom.
"You know what." said James angrily, "you could've told us which kitchen to go to."
"Dear Merlin." said Remus, "you went to the ones in the dungeons."
"But those have been out of service for years." said Hazel.
"Whoever told you that has evidently NOT been down there." said Sirius.
"There was an army of demented house elves that were bent of slaughtering anybody who goes in there." said James.
"They remind me of Kreacher minus his good nature and love toward 'blood traitors'." said Sirius, "why hasn't anybody closed that place off?"
"Dumbledore said at the beginning of the year that he didn't think there were stupid enough people on the earth that would go within 10 yards of that place."
"See, I told you not to fall asleep on your ham." said Peter who was standing there trying to figure out what was going on.
"Well, I'm going to sleep." said Tom.
"Yeah me too." said Remus.
"NO!" yelled James excitedly, "let's do something."
"Against the rules?" asked Tom.
"Yep!" said James excitedly.
"Count me in." said Tom and Sirius together.
"Excellent." said James mischievously, "let me grab my invisibility cloak."
"I'll help." said Tom sensing what was going on.
"He doesn't need any-" began Hazel.
"Slilencio." said Tom. Hazel's mouth kept on moving until she realized no words were coming out.
"Oh wait!" shouted Remus, "I have to visit my mum tonig ht, she's sick."
"Ok, go ahead." said James trying not to smile triumphantly, this was proving a difficult task for him. Tom noticed and shoved James into the dorm. He entered and slammed the door behind them.
"Okay James, who is staying behind and telling Sirius and Peter?" said Tom.
"I dunno, you can go I guess seeing as you are....ummm...."
"You're afraid aren't you?" said Tom smiling leaning against the wall.
"Well yeah, the man is a menace at full moons." he said.
"Okay, I'll go with Remus." said Tom, he coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'afraid'.
"Shut it." said James. Tom could tell he really was afraid.
There was silence, "Aren't you afraid?" asked James.
"Nah." said Tom.
"Okay." said James.
"Well, I guess it's go time." said Tom.
"Yeah, look, Tom, you won't hear me say this much but be careful okay?"
"James," said Tom, "are you ill?"
James laughed nervously.
"Look, I'll be fine Potter, now go out there and make a scene." said Tom.
"Ok." said James handing his cloak to Tom.
"Werewolf Hogwarts." they said in unison and laughed.
Chapter 3 The 12 O'clock Rock
Tom exited the common room shielded by the invisibility cloak. This was more than your average Marauder mission by far. It actually involved being careful. This was not something Tom was used to but that is not to say he didn't know how to be careful. He had seen James Bond movies, he knew how it's done.
It was by random chance that Tom actually found Remus, he glanced out a window and saw him on the grounds, running. Tom took off down the stairs taking the cloak off. That might not have been the best thing to do.
"Hehehee a little second year!" cackled Peeves as he swooped down to Tom.
"Peeves don't you have to be stupid somewhere else?" asked Tom.
"Not until morning." said Peeves who went into a series of dives and whoops. Tom took this chance to put the cloak back on and scram.
He made it past the prefects in the entrance hall and made it onto the grounds. Then he took off the cloak again and ran. He saw Remus walking to the whomping willow. Terrific.
But then he saw Remus freeze it or something and he walked through a tunnel on the base of it. Tom decided it would be best to go while it was still frozen.
He entered the tunnel cloaked again. Remus kept looking over his shoulder. Remus had a lantern thing so they weren't completely in the dark.
Remus kept walking forward.
"Surprise." said Tom in a scary hushed voice. Remus screamed and jumped. Tom took the cloak off trying not to snort with laughter.
"Tom?" asked Re mus holding the lantern up at Tom's face.
"Are you trying to blind me?" asked Tom.
"You have to leave, now." said Remus.
"No I don't, it's only 11:30." he said.
"You know." said Remus sadly.
"Yep."
"So, y-you don't hate me?"
"Hate you?" asked Tom, "Why would I hate you?"
"Because I'm a werewolf." said Remus looking at the ground.
"Well you are a Marauder aren't you?" asked Tom .
"Yes, if you'll still-"
"Hey, stop speaking!" said Tom, "Anyway, I don't care if your lungs are made of underwear, you are a Marauder."
"Underwear?" said Remus smiling.
"Underwear." confirmed Tom.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, underwear isn't that bad, I mean, you wouldn't be alive and all that-"
"No I mean you seriously don't hate me?"
"Of course not!" said Tom.
"Oh- well....good," said Re mus. He really didn't know what else to say, he wanted to jump around and yell and scream. He had feared for a year and a half that if anybody found out they would hate him and he's be expelled.
"How many people know about this?" asked Remus.
"James is telling Peter and Sirius." said Tom, "Isn't there anything we can do to help?"
"No," said Remus, "not that I know of." he responded. They were referring to his werewolf-ness of course.
"Not for long. If anybody finds a way it'll be me, James, and Sirius." said Tom.
"Oh great." said Remus rolling his eyes.
"I'm serious." said Tom, "You know we can't just let you gnaw at yourself in werewolf form forever." said Tom.
"Remus didn't really know what to say but one word floated in the back of his head, "Thanks."
"Anytime." said Tom smiling.
Remus couldn't help but feel he was the luckiest kid alive.
James was having no such luck.
"I wanna know what you need to talk about." said Hazel standing at the foot of the stairs to the dormitories.
"Well too bad!" said James
"James, please?"
"Marauder secret." said James.
"Don't pull that crap." said Lily.
James and Hazel looked surprised at Lily.
"No!" said James, with what he hoped was a powerful voice. It wasn't.
"James, come on." said Hazel.
James pondered for a bit. He was positive Peter and Sirius wouldn't tell anybody, it was a Marauder law to keep secrets. Lily liked Remus too much to tell anybody. But Hazel, she would be the type to accidentally tell somebody. But if he told Lily she would tell Hazel in fear of getting in a fight. OK, now he was just confusing himself.
"Oh come on." said James irritably.
"If any of you tell anybody besides Tom or Remus about this conversation I will hex you in and out of your mind." said James as he sat on a couch next to Sirius.
"Ok." said everybody.
"Ok, I have news that will shock you all but as far as I know none of you are prejudiced prats."
"Nice alliteration." commented Peter. Everybody stared at him, "Sorry, continue."
"Ok, well, our dear friend Remus is..." he looked around the room to see if anybody else was hiding in a corner reading. Nope, all clear.
"Continue...." said Sirius.
"Well Remus is kinda a werewolf."
"So just one question." said Tom.
"Shoot." said Remus leaning against the side of the tunnel.=0 A
"Does Dumbledore know about this?"
"Yeah," said Remus, "he is the entire reason I'm here."
"Oh," said Tom, "I need to thank him some time."
Remus smiled. Remus expected Tom to asked if it hurt to change into a werewolf or something like that but he didn't.
"Are you the first werewolf kid to come here?" asked Tom.
"Yeah, I think so." said Remus.
"Hmm, interesting..." said Tom, "Well, it's almost 12 so I'll.......uh oh." said Tom. Remus was paling and bending over.
"Why me?" asked Tom to nobody in particular, "Why is it always me?"
He put a hand on Remus' back and said, "Remus, we need to get you to the shack. Do you think you can walk that far?"
No answer, he didn't expect one.
"Well that's just great." said Tom. He couldn't decide what to do. He stood there stroking his chin surveying the problem for one second. He concluded, there was a dude transforming into a werewolf, and he needed to get away.
"Uhhh... DEPULSO!" yelled Tom aiming his wand at Remus. Remus flew backwards. Now he was a werewolf completely and spells would not affect him.
"This is a problem." said Tom as the werewolf got up.
Tom dropped his wand in shock of his friend's morphing. He took a step backward and heard a crack.
"Well that's down right bad." said Tom taking off as he grabbed his broken wand and the cloak and sped off, the wolf hard on his heels.
"Excuse me?" said Hazel.
"A werewolf." said James.
"A werewolf?" asked Peter.
"A werewolf." said James.
"A Were-"
"Well it makes sense." said Lily who looked like she was deep in thought.
Everybody turned to stare at her.
"Well you're taking this well." said Sirius.
"Well we all knew something was fishy." said Lily.
"A werewolf though." said Peter. It was his turn to be stared at.
"I mean, I like Remus and still do, but a werewolf...." said Peter, "I know people who have been killed by werewolves. He could attack any second."
"You mean you knew. You knew people." corrected James.
"Could you be more insensitive if you tried?" asked Lily.
"No." said Hazel.
"Hey!" said James.
"No, haha, I mean he can't attack at any second." said Hazel, "Only on full moons."
"How do you people know these things? We haven't even had our lesson on werewolves yet!" said James holding his hand up for emphasis.
There was silence.
"Uhh James." said Sirius.
"What?"
"Yeah, we have." said Sirius.
"Oh." he said. His hand flopped to his side.
"You need to pay more attention in class James." said Lily.
"I hear if you eat more butter at breakf-" began Peter but James cut him off.
"This! Is not! About! My dairy needs!!!" shouted James, "Lily," he said calmly, "do you know of a way we can assist Remus?"
"Not that I know of." she said, "I'll go to the library tomorrow."
"WAIT!" yelled Hazel, "Where the frick is Tom?"
"I sent him to go tell Remus that we know."
"JAMES YOU MORON IT IS TWELVE O'CLOCK AND HE'S NOT BACK YET!" yelled Lily.
"So?"
"SOOO!? IT'S A FULL MOON!" yelled Hazel.
James' face fell, "I see the problem."
Sir ius ran to the window, "Uh guys, I found Tom."
Everybody crowded around the window. They saw Tom running full speed to the entrance hall. Everybody sighed in relief. Peter kept staring out the window and tapped James' arm. James turned around. They saw an eight-foot grey, hairless animal chasing after Tom.
"Werewolf." said Peter pointing to the werewolf. Everybody else whipped around.
"Oh my-" said Lily.
James and Sirius took off down stairs.
"Wait!" yelled Lily
"What?" they yelled back.
"You aren't invisible, the prefects will see you."
They ran off.
"Alright then." she said.
Sirius and James successfully made it to the entrance hall without being seen. They opened the massive doors in time to see Tom run by with Remus chasing him.
"Heeeelp!" yelled Tom.
"Ok!" said Sirius, "James let's go find-"
James took off one of his shoes and took aim at Remus.
"Ok now thats a choice." said Sirius.
"Do you have any better suggestions?" asked James.
"Well I was gonna-"
""Heeelllp!" yelled Tom as he ran by again.
James pegged Remus in the head with his shoe. Remus lost interest in Tom and advanced on Sirius and James.
"Good thinking JAMES!" said Sirius.
"Shut the door!" said James nervously.
"Ok." said Sirius nervously. He saw what James was nervous about and it was rather sharp and inside Remus' mouth.
The doors slammed shut.
They sighed. Sirius panicked again, "Tom's still out there."
James was silent.
Sirius was silent.
They turned their heads slowly around and saw Tom grinning, sitting on the bottom of the stairs.
"Did you miss me?" he asked.
"How-"
"What-"
"There is a side door Misters 'lets-shut-our-friend-out-with-the-werewolf'. You guys were a perfect distraction." said Tom.
"Oh....." said James, that's all he could think of, "Well at least we are all alive."
"Nope I'm dead I think." said Sirius.
"Ok, come on then, let's get some sleep." said Tom.
"Good idea." said James as they headed up the stairs.
"Yes, I would say that is a very good idea." said a creepy, old sounding voice. Sirius, James, and Tom pivoted around.
"Wandering the castle at night eh?" said Filch.
"No, we aren't here. This is all a dreeeeaaaammmm." said Sirius hypnotically.
"Dreeeaaaaammmm." said Tom in the same voice.
"Dreeeaaaaaammmm." echoed James.
Filch was taken aback for a few moments. Then he evidently decided he was being insulted so he advanced on the trio.
"Look Peeves!" yelled James pointing behind Filch, Filch wh irled around and Tom threw the cloak over the three of them.
"You li-" Filch stopped talking when he realized there was nobody there.
"Students out of bed!!!" yelled Filch running up the staircase, "Students out of bed!!"
Tom, Sirius, and James began walking invisibly back to their dorm trying not to laugh at Filch hopping around yelling.
**Chap. 4 Maps, A Claus, and Animagi**
"So I'm just guessing here," said Tom, "but Peter, you strike me as a musical type. Like you strike me as a person that would play like, the lead roll in some musical like the lion king or something."
The Marauders were sitting under their tree on a Monday afternoon 'doing their homework'.
"Where did that come from?" said James.
"Well, actually, I have done quite a few musicals in my day." said Peter.
"In your day?" said Sirius from the canopy of the tree.
"Well, you know what I mean." said Peter.
"Hmm interesting." said Tom. Tom absentmindedly glanced over at Remus, he wasn't reading for once, he was drawing.
"I didn't know you could draw." said Tom.
"Well, I can't, but something in the charms lesson inspired me." said Remus.
"Here we go again." said Sirius testing a branch to see how high it would take him.
"Hey, thats a map of Hogwarts." said Peter looking at the drawing.
"Yep." said Remus proudly, "and Professor Flitwick mentioned a charm that the ministry uses for security. It shows you everybody in the drawn area and where they are."
Tom heard a thump and turned around to see Sirius laying on the grass. Sirius sprang up.
"Dude are you ok?" asked Tom, "you have a knot on your forehead the size of a snitch."
"No it's not important right now." said Sirius waving a hand at Tom, "Remus, that is brilliant!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! Think about it, we could know where Filch is at any time. James come here for a sec." said Sirius.
"Well don't get your hopes up too high the spell is really adv-"
"Hominum Moveo." said James pointing his wand at the parchment. The affect was like the paper was turned on. Millions of dots with names were scattered about the parchment around Remus' loosely drawn lines.
"anced magic." completed Remus staring at the parchment in shock.
"James, you never cease to amaze." said Sirius.
"This is sweet." said Tom.
"Beautiful." said James.
"Awesome." said Sirius.
"Hold it lower I can't see it." said Peter.
Remus lowered the map and Peter looked like he was going to wet himself.
"I think I can perfect this." said James snatching the map and running off.
The shock died down and the remaining Marauders returned to their positions.
"Hey, there's Snape." said Tom lazily. Sirius sprang from the tree and did a summersault and got20up.
"You seem excited." said Tom still sitting down. Remus snickered.
"And you aren't?" asked Sirius brushing dirt off his robes.
"Well it gets kinda old after a while y'know? Like, poor some goo on him one day in potions, then poor some more goo on him the next."
"Well then let's spice things up." said Sirius drawing his wand.
"Sirius you barely can stun something," warned Remus, "I don't think-"
"Projectium Maxima!" yelled Sirius. Snape who was engaged in conversing with Lily at the moment seemed to have been kicked into the lake by an invisible giant. Lily went straight to the Marauder's tree.
"How did you know it was us?" asked Sirius.
"Force of habit." she said fuming.
"Technically it was just-" Lily silenced Tom with a glare.
"Where is James? I want to hit something." she said.
"He's barricaded himself in our dorms bent on perfecting a secret project." chimed in Peter.
"Okay, in that case WHAT THE HECK HAS HE EVER DONE TO YOU?!!" yelled Lily.
"James hasn't done anything to us." said Tom.
"I mean Severus Tom." said Lily calmly, "So what has he done to you?"
There was silence. Tom and Sirius were thinking ha rd along with Peter. Remus was trying his best to act like he wasn't there.
"Come on. What has he ever done?" said Lily.
"OH remember that time in Potions last year when he spilled that sleeping draught on Peter?" said Tom.
"Okay so thats one thing." said Lily, "So you-you...jerks decided to hex him all the time just for that?"
"No, he's also ugly and greasy and eew." said Sirius.
"Oh well that's a good reason." said Lily. Snape was now out of the lake and on his way to the Marauders. Lily departed and directed Snape the other way and walked with him.
"It's no fun when James isn't around to talk to Lily." said Sirius, "he always gets her mad and we get to watch."
"Notice how she didn't deny that he was ugly and greasy and eew." said Tom smiling. Sirius gave a bark of laughter.
The Halloween feast was nearing and Peter was beside himself with anticipation.
"I wonder if they will have that massive pumpkin pie like they had last year," he said in the common room. The Marauders migrated to the common room once it began to get dark.
"Not sure." said Remus.
"I hope they do." said Peter.
"Thats amazing." said James who was staring at the wall.
"And those cakes that were shaped like Hagrid's pumpkins, those had like almost a foot of icing."
"Sure did." said Tom who was watching a Quidditch match going on in a nearby portrait.
Sirius couldn't take it, "Ok, I'm bored."
"Welcome to the club." said James.
"Well let's do something."
"Thats always how it starts isn't it?" said James sitting up.
"Well I did have an idea............" said Tom.
"Let's hear it." said Sirius.
"Well we could pull a prank during the feast." said Tom.
"NO!" shouted Remus and Peter.
"Why not?" shouted James and Tom.
"You may go first Peter." said Remus.
"Ok, you will NOT ruin this perfect experience for me! I have waited all year for this!"
yelled Peter.
"Ok, now I'll go," said Remus, "we will get expelled before you can say 'bad idea' if anybody gets hurt."
"Remus, you may contradict us but you may never insult us. We value the wellness of everybody in the castle." said Tom.
"Besides Slytherins, they are weird." said Sirius.
"Yep." said James.
Remus looked unconvinced, "You all are still 12 years old, you can't ensure somebody's safety."
"Well it's worth a try." said Tom as he, Sirius and James departed to make plans.
"You aren't gonna take part in this are you?" said Remus to Peter. Peter, without answering, got up and caught up with Tom, James, and Sirius. Figures, if Tom, James, and Sirius said that becoming a death eater was cool then Peter would be first in line.
Remus sat alone reading. What sort of prank were they planning? Exploding pumpkins? No, too simple. His mind wandered as he 'read', curiosity was gnawing at him. No, he would not be a part of this. Every time he gave into curiosity he ended up getting detention. And he would like his week to be free of cleaning the dungeon bath rooms....... so it can't be exploding pumpkins, thought Remus. Oh no, here we go again. He looked over at his friends huddled in the corner. Peter looked like he would explode, Tom looked in awe, Sirius did too, and James seemed to be orchestrating the whole thing. That's it, thought Remus as he got up and approached his friends. When they told him of their plans he decided it would be worth cleaning the dungeon bath rooms for the rest of the year to see this happen.
"Wake the heck up!" whisper yelled Sirius to Tom.
"Not now I'm on the phone." said Tom who was still half asleep.
Sirius yelled and Tom shot up colliding with Sirius. Sirius fell backward and so did Tom.
"Thank you for PUNCTURING MY PUPIL!" yelled Sirius, "My eye is like bleeding."
"Come here." said Tom irritably, "it's not bleeding! How does it feel?"
"Oh kinda like this." Sirius whacked Tom in his eye.
"You thumped my eye !" said Tom.
"Yeah no charge!" yelled back Sirius. They both sat there with their hands over their eyes.
Somebody knocked on their door.
"Come in." said Tom.
In walked Hazel. She looked at both of them holding their hands over their eyes and put a hand over one of her eyes and said, "Hello."
"Oh uhh sorry." mumbled Sirius and Tom taking their hands off of their eyes.
"Ooook, well you guys are gonna be late for defense against the dark arts so unless you want Professor Claus to roast you alive-"
They leaped to their feet and Tom grabbed his books. At the beginning of the year they found it immensely humorous that they had a Professor named Claus. That was before they had an actual class with him.
Tom, Hazel, and Sirius ran to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Tom entered first, everybody turned to stare at him. He waved. Hazel and Sirius caught up and found there seats.
"Miss Blackwood, Mister Black, and Mister Wells." said Professor Claus towering over the class. He was tall and thin, Tom thought he was a hippie but all of his anger he had been containing was now pouring out of him. Professor Claus, in other words, was the polar opposite of Santa Claus.
"Pray tell why you were late to my classroom." he said staring at Tom extra hard, they never got along too well.
"Well, I was late because I was...umm...." began Sirius, he whirled around to Tom, "Should I tell him?"
"Yep." said Tom having absolutely no idea what sort of lie Sirius would weave this time. "Well we were studying for your test this Friday I might add, well we were studying and Hazel came to us and said that there was a troll in the dungeons...and umm....take it away Tom."
"What? Oh, yeah and uhh....why don't you tell him Hazel because you were more...there.."
"Oh well.....ahh I got nothing.." said Hazel.
The class laughed, Professor Claus didn't, "Very humorous indeed. The day a troll is let into Hogwarts is the day He-who-must-not-be-named teaches defense against the dark arts." Professor Claus had a funny look on his face when he said that, "No matter, you three miscreants are actually lucky."
"Really?" said Tom, Hazel, and Sirius.
"Yes, you get to help Madam Prince organize the library on Saturday." he said smiling, "It would probably be an upgrade for your so cial life on Saturdays Pettigrew so why don't you tag along too."
Peter, Hazel, Tom, and Sirius looked outraged through the rest of the class. Eventually it ended and Tom walked with Lily and Hazel to Transfiguration as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stayed behind to clean up the fireworks they set off.
"Y'know, I like defense against the dark arts but sometimes I just want to hex Claus back to the underworld." said Tom.
"You don't have pent up anger do you Tom?" asked Lily smiling.
"Lily, you never get in trouble, you don't know what it's like ok." said Hazel.
"Those detentions with him are traumatizing." said Tom.
"Tom Tom Tom Tom Toooom!" shouted a little voice. A first year with curly blond hair came running up with a camera.
"Do I know you?"
"No, I don't think so, but my name is Gilderoy Lockhart and I wanna be a Marauder." said the boy excitedly.
"Do you now?" said Tom.
He nodded so hard it looked like his hair would fly off.
"Well, I'm not sure that's possible, what house are you in?"
"Hufflepuff."
"Exactly my point, let's go." he turned around and said to Hazel and Lily.
"Okay, I'll ask James or Sirius later!" he shouted as they ran off.
"I'm sure they'd love that!" shouted back Tom.
Lockhart ran off to find the remaining Marauders, he more sprinted as if the devil himself was chasing him but he had a grin on his face. If only I could be famous someday, he thought.
This was the fist time Tom ever paid attention in Transfiguration. Partially because Professor Claus was evidently unsatisfied with James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus' cleaning skills so they never showed up for Transfiguration. Partially because the lesson actually interested him. It was about animagus. He basically copied down every word McGonagall said. Hazel passed Tom a note and he even ignored it. He already had an idea on how to help Remus' transformations.
Finally the class let out and Tom caught up with Hazel.
"I've got an amazing idea." said Tom.
"I hope it was amazing enough to ignore me. I was so bored I was about to cry and you were in there nose-to-paper copying down every word McGonagall said. Whats wrong with you?" she said.
"Well it doesn't matter. But its a good idea." he said.
"Well, plan on telling me?"
"No, it's slightly illegal. I'm gonna-" Tom ran off to leave Hazel wondering what sort of illegal activity could be dreamt up in Transfiguration class.
Tom sped back to defense against the dark arts. He skidded into the into the classroom.
"Come on." he said Tom Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James who were all holding sponges.
They dropped them and ran out of the classroom ignoring Professor Claus' yells.
"We're skipping History of Magic." said Tom.
Everybody looked overjoyed at this besides Remus, "Uhh when you say skipping-"
"Shut up we're doing this for you."
"How is not learning anything gonna-"
Tom stopped running, "Look, do you want me to help out with you furry little problem or not." They silently ran to the Gryffindor tower.
"Shouldn't you be in class." said the fat lady when they reached her portrait.
"Not now, Marauder business." said Tom.
"Nimbus." said Remus and the portrait swung open. The common room was empty.<DIV=2 0style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica""So what are we doing?" said Peter excitedly.
"I'll tell ya what we are doing, we are gonna become animagus."
"Good Lord." said Remus astounded, "You aren't serious?"
"Yep," said Tom acting like he had not heard the shock in his voice, "I've got everything we need right here." he said holding out 7 pages of notes.
Remus began laughing, "That is the most insane-"
"Thats brilliant!" said James.
"Yeah it is!" said Sirius.
"Uhh, i don't know. It's ridiculously advanced magic." said Peter.
"You can't be considering this seriously can you?" said Remus, "Okay, A, Not even 7th years can become animagus. B, you have to be cleared by the ministry. C, if by some insane way you do become animagi, you still have brought a massive risk upon yourselves. I could attack you when I'm a werewolf and not know it!"
"Remus, buddy, pal, we are gonna do it." said James, "And you can't stop us."
"I'll tell Dumbledore."
"Remus, you aren't that low." said Sirius, "it's at least worth a try."
Sirius, Tom, and James went upstairs to study Tom's notes.
"Have you ever heard of a plan where more things could go wrong?" said Remus to Peter.
"No, I don't think I have." replied Peter.
