Headdesking - Remus Lupin/OC

Chapter 8: Slughorn's Cabinet

Remus was in a slightly better state a few days later. He put his arms around James and Sirius as they walked. "You know, if she wasn't here we could have all easily fit under your invisibility cloak." he whispered into James' ear and nodded toward Hazel. She was walking alongside Peter up ahead, leading the way toward the dungeons.

The two boys groaned in unison. "But if she wasn't here we would be unable to complete the mission." Sirius argued.

"We really should have at least brought the cloak with us though." James said anxiously. "Then at least some of us could hide under it." He looked left and right and over his shoulder, but only corridor surrounded them; getting gradually darker the further underground they got.

It was after curfew, meaning that they were less likely to run into a nosy student or teacher that could ruin their plan.

Then of course, being after curfew there were also worse repercussions on the off chance that they did. Not to mention a much higher chance of running into Mr Filch or his cat.

"We made the right choice." Sirius attested. "I don't think we should let her in on too many of our secrets. It's worse enough now that she knows about the Marauders Map."

Up ahead of them Peter was currently in charge of the map. Hazel looked on curiously as he tried to make sense of it, turning it 180 degrees left and right alternately.

James watched painfully as Peter struggled. When his grip slipped and the folds cascaded down onto the floor –like a comically long speech about to be read out– James was unable to bear it anymore and clapped a hand in front of his eyes, dragging it down across his face. "Let her have the darned thing. Let her patent it for all I care."

Remus nodded in wholehearted agreement. "That map is going to be the very thing that ruins us."

But Sirius refused to be discouraged. "It just needs a little tweaking. It's a brilliant tool. Just an unfinished one."

Peter and Hazel stopped up ahead in front of the potions classroom. James started digging into his pockets and looked at Sirius. "Will you distract her while I make use of another one of our secret weapons?" he suggested, while a moment later retrieving a penknife out of his pocket.

James went up to the door, and Sirius went up to Hazel. He grabbed her arm and turned her so that her back was facing James. "So... I was thinking..." he began.

Once she had turned, James squatted down in front of the keyhole. Peter beheld him with utmost awe as he began fiddling with it. Remus on the other hand was paying close attention to what Sirius was doing with Hazel.

"...about registering." Sirius finished. It was the first thing that popped into his head, and he decided to grasp at it.

Most cordially, as well as to their benefit, Hazel gave Sirius her full and non-suspect attention. "What about it?" she wondered.

"I'm just thinking, when the time comes, how do we go about it? How do we register ourselves as animagi?"

"Oh... You just send a letter to the Ministry of Magic. You should make it out to The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and they'll respond with a form for you to fill in."

Sirius didn't look like he was fully taking her answer in. He was detailing James' progress, but the boy was still digging around with the penknife inside the keyhole. When snapping back to their conversation, he realised that he was about to lose her attention. "Right... and how important is it really?"

His conversation piece did the trick of alerting her to their ongoing one. Her expression changed instantly into a wary one. "To register? It's absolutely vital."