/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟓.𝟛.𝟥

Peter was the first to the door. "You don't have to wait up for us if you don't want to," he said kindly. "We'll probably be late."

"Yeah, definitely," said James. "Just go get some sleep. Consider it your night off of mum duty."

"Whatever you say," Artemis sighed. "Have fun, okay?"

James gave her another lofty grin and reached past Peter to hold the door open for his friends. "We always do."

~

Getting into the Whomping Willow went smooth enough after Sirius and James talked Peter down from his panic attack over hitting the lever. "Jesus, Pete, you're going to be, like, two inches tall. The stupid tree won't even know you're there," Sirius had sighed. He'd been in a bad mood for days now.

"You're going to be fine," said James, more consolingly than his friend. "Just go fast and don't pay any attention to the branches. You know we wouldn't let anything hurt you."

Peter bit his lip and stared apprehensively at the tense branches. "But what about the time you tried that new spell on me and I hung from the ceiling for ten minutes before you figured out how to let me down?"

"That's different," James explained reasonably. "That was funny. Now, go do your thing."

At last, Peter transformed into his tiny rat form, and darted between the branches with expertise before hitting the lever. The tree froze. "Our turn," Sirius muttered, and seconds later he was on all fours as a shaggy black dog. Next to him, James took stag form and together they sprinted towards the tunnel at the base of the tree.

They trotted together through the long tunnel, eventually coming to a door. James transformed back to a human and hesitated before pushing the door open, revealing a small, heavily worn room behind. Remus was sitting on a chaise lounge in the corner, his head between his hands, seemingly trying to rip his hair out. "Hey, hey, whoa," James said, immediately going to his friend's side.

"Don't get too close," Remus warned through gritted teeth. "Could be happening any second now."

"Well-" James reached out and pried Remus's hands from his head. "-don't beat yourself up until you're actually a werewolf."

Remus winced, convulsing on the spot. "It just- hurts-" he managed to say before convulsing again.

"Hey, where are we, anyway?" Sirius's voice came from behind them, and both boys turned to see him in human form, examining the scratches on the walls carefully. "Not somebody's house, I hope."

Remus let out a low groan. "The Shrieking Shack," he said in a low, pained voice.

Everyone stared at him. "This place is haunted," James whispered, suddenly looking scared.

This got the first laugh out of Remus, but he doubled over after that, clutching at his head again. "Yeah, haunted by me, you idiot. Now, I'm serious, get back- it's happening-" Then, he let out the most piercing scream James had ever heard.

In seconds, James and Sirius were replaced by a stag and a dog, standing close to the little rat still on the floor. They watched in horror as Remus's body grew misshapen, slowly turning into a huge, devilish looking werewolf. For a moment, James thought he might be too frightened to go through with the plan. But then he remembered the look on Remus's face when they'd announced what they were doing to him, the way his eyes had lit up in grateful excitement, and all of the fear seeped from James's body. He was here for his friend. That was all that mattered.

~

If anybody had been watching the boys as they made their way across the sprawling fields on the other side of Hogsmeade, they would've been either incredibly confused or incredibly terrified. A werewolf who looked far too skinny to do much harm was loping through the grass, a hulking black dog trotting ahead and a stag towering over them protectively from the side. Peter, the rat, scrambled between them, occasionally getting trampled under foot or having his tail stepped on "accidentally" by Sirius.