An unlikely pair

10

"So how are we doing this?", Regulus asked playing with his wand. He really wanted to be like his brother and boyfriend but he never asked them for help, fearing they may brush it off as some silly idea of his.

Then Valentina came, showing them all that she was also an animagus. That day he picked up all his bravery and asked her to teach him. When she agreed so easily he couldn't help but smile.

"There's a lightning storm soon. That's why McGonagall moved the upcoming match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Let's go.", the blond witch took his hand and led him into an unused classroom with a clear view of the Hogwarts grounds.

"Reg,", she began in a calm voice, sensing the panic from the young Black. "If you worry it can go horribly wrong. Trust your gut.", she paused, "Think of it like this. You're back in your room at 12 Grimauld Place, Sirius is there with you, telling you of his plan to escape and to never come back, asking you to go with him." Regulus closed his eyes, listening to her calm and steady voice, going back to the night that changed his life forever and for the better.

Valentina grabbed the Animagus potion, which Regulus brew to perfection just like every other potion he makes, and slipped it into the hand that wasn't clutched around his wand. "What do you do?", she asked, looking outside waiting for the first sign of lighting. "Grab his hand without even thinking and never look back.", he answered, voice steady. His body now visibly relaxed.

"Great. Now, I want you to act just like that as soon as you see a flash of white. With the tip of your wand pointed at your heart, one final time recite the incantation and then drink the potion. Can you do that for me my little lion?", he nodded, feeling her gentle arms wrap around his torso from behind.

Kissing him on the cheek, she stood aside, sitting on a nearby chair. Thunder roared outside making the glass rattle from impact, along came a flash of light. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus.", then he drank the potion and let the magic happen.

Regulus' POV

I was scared out of my mind.

There had been so many cases of animagus attempts go horribly wrong. Somehow, with a couple of words, Valentina managed to lift three tons of stress and fear off my whole being. I'll have to admit, James struggles to do that sometimes.

After drinking the potion everything was blurry and painstakingly clear all at once. I felt two heartbeats, one steady while the other was beating frantically. I didn't know which one was mine, I guess it doesn't matter because in a sense both are.

Then I felt like I was shrinking down to a quarter of my height. I closed my eyes willing this moment to be done as soon as possible.

"Reg, you can open your eyes.", I heard Tina whisper and so I braced myself with the worst scenario possible. I mean I already made peace with the fact I will probably be some half human- half animal mutant for the rest of my life.

Opening my eyes, I came face to face with a mirror, a pair of grey eyes that definitely resembled my own looked right back at me.

Black fur, fluffy tail, really long legs and body. I've done it. I fucking did it. I'm successfully an animagus.

"So Reggsie? What do you think? I personally think it fits you. Fucking can't wait till we show your animagus off to rest of the furry squad.", she laughed, sitting down next to me. I like it, can't really understand how it fits me tho, I wanted to say but instead of words a string of meows came out.

Valentina smiled in return, "Simple. A maine coon, the cat breed that is your animagus, is giant but gentle. Despite their size, which to some may come as unnatural and a little scary, these cats tend to have a kitten like personality. Which is exactly like you. You're cold to strangers but then you cuddle next to James and let him run his fingers thru your hair, you laugh at Padfoots godawful jokes knowing it makes him imensly happy, you help Remus after a particularly hard night, you make sure that Peter is never left out of anything. You're a big, lovely ball of black curls... furr in this case.", she explained nonchalantly.

"One more thing,", she ran her hand thru my furr, "You don't have to use the incantation when you want to transform again. You just have to picture your animagus. To turn back to yourself you just concentrate on your human form. Don't overthink it, if you do you'll end up like James."

Doing as she advised, I turned back to my human self. "You understand me? Like when I'm a cat?", was the first thing that I asked her. She wrapped one arm around me going out if the classroom. "Yeah, animals understand each other somehow. Besides panthers and cats are related. Now let's go everyone's waiting to see.", she scanned her surroundings before turning into a panther running to the Whomping Willow.

Following her lead, for the second time that night, I turned into a cat. It doesn't feel any more normal than it did the first time, but I'm not so scared of doing it. Soon we arravied near the tree where Remus greeted us with the rest of the marauders also in their animagus.

I immediately took place between the stag and the dog, purposely running between the stags front legs.

"Regulus.", Sirius growled in annoyance. "Shut it, Pads.", Remus laughed kissing the dog on the nose. "Fucker.", Peter squeaked nodding his head in Monnys direction. "The fucked.", Tina added nudging in Sirius' direction.

We all then turned back into humans. "You're a giant fluffy balck cat. Siri is a giant fluffy black dog. It's no wonder you two get on like cats and dogs.", James laughed, placing an arm around each of the Black brothers.