In Another World [Wolfstar]

3. The Aurors

1st November 1981
11:40am
Remus Lupin's cottage – Hempnall, Norfolk

Sirius froze in Remus' embrace. They both pulled back to look at each other in horror. "What the fuck do we do, Moony?! I thought they weren't investigating! That's what the Prophet said."

"Fuck!" Remus said emphatically, but quietly. "The Prophet didn't know shit apparently."

"Mr. Lupin! Please open your door!"

"Remus! Moony! What do we do?!" Sirius was starting to panic now, holding Harry closer to him to protect the sleeping boy. "They'll arrest me for being an accomplice in James and Lily's deaths! We won't be able to prove anything without Peter!" Remus wracked his brain, trying to come up with a solution to their rather immediate problem. He and Sirius both stared at each other in panicked silence for a few seconds before Remus suddenly smacked himself on the forehead. Sirius looked startled and slightly worried for the sanity of his best friend. "Moony?"

"We're so stupid!" Sirius frowned at Remus, still not understanding.

"What?"

"Transform, Pads!"

"What!"

"Transform into Padfoot! They'll think you're just a dog – you're not registered!"

Sirius' eyes widened and he nearly slapped himself too for not thinking of it, "What about Harry though? How are we meant to hide him?" Sirius' voice was rising with his panic. "He's supposed to be dead!"

"Shhh!"

"Mr. Lupin, if you're in there we need to talk to you! You have five minutes to comply or we are coming in!" The voice shouted from behind the door again.

"Moony, what the fuck do we do about Harry?!"

"Do you have James' cloak?"

"His cloak?" Sirius looked confused again, and Remus cursed how his best friend's brain often switched off in moments of panic.

"The invisibility cloak!"

"Shit!"

Remus looked confused at Sirius' exclamation. "What!?"

"Prongs gave it to Dumbledore to look over." It took Sirius a lot of willpower to not flinch at the thought of James. There'd be time to grieve later, when they were safe. "We're gonna have to get it back for Harry when my name is cleared."

"Well, fuck."

"Disillusionment?"

"They'll probably perform homenum revelio , Padfoot. They'll be looking for you, you won't show up if you're in Animagus form but Harry will show up. So we can't just hide him somewhere, and we haven't got long enough to contact someone we trust."

"Well what the hell do we do then?"

"We could transfigure him?" Remus was very reluctant to say it, knowing how protective Sirius was. Remus couldn't say that he was any less protective himself, and the very idea of the possibility that they wouldn't be able to transfigure Harry back made him feel sick. Human to animal transfiguration was tricky, but possible, and it never harmed the human if done properly.

"What! No! We can't!" Sirius took a step back from Remus warily, as if Remus would just perform the spell without a by your leave, "Moony, what if we can't get him back?"

"Sirius! What else can we do?" Remus hissed, keeping his voice quiet so the Aurors wouldn't hear them, "I can't think of anything else, and neither can you!" Sirius opened his mouth, clearly wanting to argue that he could, but not able to come up with anything. "You're better than me at transfiguration, Sirius. Turn him into a hamster or something. I have a cage I can put him in while they're here. If he's an animal, they won't be able to detect him." Sirius was shaking his head, looking both angry and resigned. "I don't like it any more than you do, Padfoot!"