Defying the Stars

The Marauder's Tale and Attack of the Greaseball

"Well what do we have here?" He snarls, my eyes meeting him in a glare. "Bait for your father, and another snack for the Dementors." And with that, he drags me back up the stairs, him slamming my head against the wall, causing spots to dance in my vision as he hides us both from sight.

"-they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times in my life. They became Animagi." Pop's voice rings into the hallway.

"My Dad too?" Harry asks, shocked.

He's listening.

"Yes, Indeed. It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it-"

"Only took Pup and her friends one though," Dad barks out a small laugh.

"Mara's one too?" Ron asks. Snape snaps back to look at me, amused that he'll have one more thing to use against me at the ministry-and maybe the girls too.

"Yes, but that's a story for another time." Pop answers. "Your father and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagi transformation can go horribly wrong-one reason why the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get From James and Sirius. Finally in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"But how did that help you?" Ron asks.

"They couldn't keep my company as human, so they kept me company as animals," Pop answers, the smile in his voice can be heard-which I can attest for, seeing as I can't see the room, but I can hear his smile. "A werewolf is only a danger to people, They sneaked out of the castle each month under James' Invisibility Cloak. They transformed...Peter, the smallest, coils slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes them. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."

"Hurry up Remus," Dad snaps.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there...well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now we could transform. Soon we were leaving Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any other Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts and Hogsmeade grounds than we did...and that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."

"What sort of animal-"

"That was still really dangerous!" Hermione cuts Harry's question short. "Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me-and others. And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless, carried away without our own cleverness. I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course..." Pop's tone changes as he thinks of the man that's kept our family apart-and continues to. "He had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other Headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three students into becoming Animagi illegally-well, now he does, but that's irrelevant. I always managed to forget my feelings every time we sat down to plan next month's adventures. And I haven't changed.." Pop's voice fades in and out of my ears

Why is my neck wet? I wonder as I feel drops fall on it. My hair's wet as well...interesting...why's Pop's voice gotten so funny?

"-Snape?" Dad barks harshly. "What's that slimeball got to do with it?"