Chapter 42: Remmy's Gift
Sirius, Cressida and James wait by the edge of the path as Peter, in his rat form, crawls around the Whomping Willow to find the node they need to press to enter. It seems that the tree doesn't care that much for the smaller animals and as long as Peter stays undetected, he should be fine.
"I can't believe exams are coming up so soon. It feels like we just had them."
"Is that seriously what you're thinking about right now?" Sirius grumbles from her left. His eyes and jaw are set firm as Cressida is accustomed to seeing when he's duelling or around his brother.
Sick of his attitude, Cressida smacks his side with the side of her hand. "Piss off Black. If you're going to be like this then take the damn Cloak and go back to bed like a child."
"What?" he scoffs. "Like I'm the moody one at the moment? You've been swinging around like a bludger for the past few months. One moment you want to cuddle me, the next you're smacking me."
"At least I'm not behaving like a child."
From her right, James steps around her back, his shoulders barging with theirs as they're forced apart. "Alright, alright," he says exasperatedly. "I don't care what either of you has shoved in your socks right now. Sort it out another time."
Cressida swallows her shame, shifting her weight onto the outside foot as though to separate herself even further. The Whomping Willow's branches come to a stiff stop, Peter's human figure re-emerging near the base. She's the first to move, marching towards it without a care if the others are behind her or not. Remus. She needs to focus on Remus.
Peter ducks through the tunnel first and Cressida follows in right after, using her hand to balance as she skids down the dirt ramp. Her smile naturally stretches at the sight of Remus.
"You got down here quick," he muses with a voice that cracks.
Cressida shrugs, resting her hands on her hips as Sirius and James come down the ramp behind her. "I think after five years we're finally getting the hang of it." Tossing her head in the direction of the tunnel, she urges him on with a gentle hand. "Come on, let's get there with time to spare, yeah?"
Remus nods, taking the lead as he always does down the tunnel. Sirius and Peter light their wands, allowing Cressida to hold her arms over her stomach as anticipation begins to grow into discomfort.
Nobody speaks as they make their way to the shack, not even James. Everything becomes awkward once they reach the trap door as the usual routine no longer exists. Remus, none-the-wiser, pulls out his wand and hands it to Peter who is the closest after unlocking the deadlock.
James is the one to step forward, brushing Peter out of the way and though he presses against Cressida's side, his hand holds her in place by the elbow. "We actually have another birthday present for you Remmy." James glances around, trying to smile as he usually does but the atmosphere is too thick.
Cressida nods. "But it's a little hard to show down here, so we're coming up too."
Remus' eyes widen considerably. His head shakes in a feverish manner, eyes darting between them all. "N-no," he stutters. "You can't come up."
They've all seen him transform. Twice now, on accident when they hadn't made it to the shack quick enough. And another time when they peeked through the trapdoor. Neither was a pleasant experience and though Remus was one of their closest friends, none of them has the desire to see it again. At least in their human form.
Sirius, who seems to have lost his attitude on the walk over, strides forward with a smirk. "Yeah, come on. I'm going up." He pushes them out of the way, being the first to climb up the ladder and into the shack.
"Sirius?" Remus pants. "What are you doing? What are you doing?" He lurches forward to capture Sirius' foot, but the latter is too swift and rolls onto the floor out of the way. Remus stares at them, true terror in his eyes. "Guys? You can't mess around like this."
James steps forward to him. Looking back over his shoulder, he nods to her and Cressida climbs up the ladder next while James tries to soothe their friend. As she reaches the top, a hand extends. Cressida takes it immediately and the final lunge out becomes smoother than she imagined.
Sirius smiles timidly at her, but both their attentions turn towards the hole in the floor where Peter is climbing up. Remus' voice is raising as James continuously tries to reassure him that they know what they're doing. James follows up shortly after the arguing stops and at last, Remus crawls through.
He's shaking. "Y-you guys can't be here," he stammers. "I can't control myself. Please." His eyes snap towards a window where the moon is almost in position. "Please go."
James nods towards Sirius. Sirius steps forward with a gentle sway, smiling tightly at Remus, then transfigures himself into his Animagus form. The familiar black dog stands proudly with a slow wagging tail.
"We don't like you being alone, mate," James says. "So we found a way to help you."
Remus hasn't taken his eyes off of Sirius, jaw ajar. "That's...that's Sirius," he breathes, shakily stepping from side to side. "He's a dog."
Sirius barks in confirmation, sitting down on his hind. "Yep," James grins. "We all are. Well, not dogs, but Animagus. Personally, I think a dog is rather boring." Cressida smiles to herself. Always the jokester. Sirius nips at his ankles.
Remus waves his finger between the three remaining humans. "You all are?"
Cressida takes that as her moment. The transformation is painless but still strange to feel. The room shifts from her new perspective, filling with familiar smells and one new distinct one from Remus.
Remus falters back as Peter had at the sight of a small black bear standing in front of him, a hand cupping his mouth. He's more in a state of shock than Peter's initially terror, however. A low growl rumbles in her throat, a twitch trailing from her neck to tail that ruffles the hair.
A hand scratches the top of her elongated head behind her ears, eliciting another long growl of pleasure. "Nearly big enough to ride, don't you think?" Cressida's head snaps up at James who has dropped to a kneel by her side. She knocks his jaw with her snout to display the disapproval at the idea, but he only lapses into chuckles, pressing a kiss to her snout then pushing it down. "Apparently not."
"I still don't understand," Remus breathes out. "Y-you never told me. When-where?!"
"Started with the mandrake leaf back in November," Peter answers. He then transforms himself as well back into a rat and scurries around near Cressida's paws. Remus falls into a crouch, face digging into his hands in quiet sobs. Cressida's eyes latch onto the moon that's light is visible through the boarded-up window. She nudges James' arm, warning him.
"See you in the morning," he chuckles to Remus who barely lifts his head to watch the final change. Cressida and Sirius take steps back as James transforms into his stag self. Their shoulders and backs come to the same height, but his neck stretches upwards, giving him height over her.
He does so in just perfect timing as Remus' soft cries turn violent. An invisible force thrashes his shoulder back. His shirt stretches out then the fibres begin to snap as a long shoulder protrudes from it. At the same time, he grows taller. The bottom of his legs extend and thin. Cressida stiffens at the sound of his pained howls, captured in the sight. If she wasn't so captivated by it, no doubt she'd have run long ago. They all seem to just watch it – with nothing else to do but hope that they were right about animals and werewolves.
The transformation completes. The werewolf hunches over, breathing heavily. As much as she hates even thinking it – it's hideous. One of the most awful things she's ever seen. But that doesn't change who it is.
The Animagus stand tall and still, each watching carefully. Peter even hides under a web-covered sofa chair. The werewolf slowly crawls forward, using all four of its limbs. Unlike the Animagus eyes which still belong to their owner, the werewolf's don't belong to Remus. It's a different animal entirely.
It heads towards her and James first, his snout sniffing the air as he takes in their presence for the first time. Cressida tries to hold her ground as it creeps forward, taking interest in her first. A hoof clicks against the wooden floor as James steps forward. His head is bowed, pointing the antlers forward defensively in front of the werewolf. And in front of her.
They all hold their breaths as it begins sniffing James' head. Cressida can hear everything – and she doesn't doubt they can too with their animal hearing. She can hear the creaking floor under James' hooves, she can hear Sirius' hard breathing and Peter's tail brushing over the wood.
And then it's all over. The werewolf turns away from James, its interest completely lost as it wanders over to Sirius instead. Cressida takes a step forward, her head under James' neck to watch the next interaction. Sirius' stillness has ceased, and he lets the werewolf investigate him with an eased mind. Peter finally comes out of hiding, running around on the floor. The werewolf's interest perks but not in the same way it would for a human presence. It trails after Peter with curiosity.
It's worked. Their plan has actually worked. But it's going to be a long night.
Cressida decides to investigate the shack again and takes her time wandering around the different rooms. She's already done so on their first time as Animagus but this time she's looking for places to go if something goes wrong. Which door could she break through? What room could they trap him in? That window isn't boarded up as strongly as the others.
After her wanderings, running into a calm werewolf a few times as he patters through the shack, Cressida finds herself back in the main room. Sirius is tailing behind the werewolf who is still chasing after Peter whilst James keeps watch on the entire thing, standing attentively near the hallway.
Finding a decent enough spot, with an old rug, Cressida flops down in front of the unlit fireplace. She doesn't dare try and fall asleep here, at least not on their first time. After a few minutes, the stag roams over, his head stretching down to her height. They cannot communicate with words like this, but their other communication channels have tenfolded. Cressida pushes back up until she sits on her hunches instead.
Sirius returns to the room alone with the wooden foot of a broken chair between his teeth. Leaping onto the old lounge, he chews on the wood. Cressida watches him in bemusement. Dismissing it as him finding a way to cure boredom, she lies back down again as the werewolf meanders back into the room, this time, Peter on his tail.
James wanders around the room for a little longer, not so ready to relax. Perhaps it is safest for one of them to be on guard. Realising that he's the only one who hasn't slept earlier that day, Cressida rises fully once again. Coming to his side, she nudges him towards the rug. He resists her push at first, only submitting once she circles around him and the width of her body and gives him no choice but to go backwards.
He finally understands her message – she'll take over. As James settles down on the rug, his long legs tucking underneath him, Cressida keeps near Remus. The werewolf pays little heed to her, almost in his own world of thoughts.
Xx
Cressida's eyes sting, the bottom of her boots scuffing the floor. In her arms is a soft blanket which she wraps around the back of Remus' shoulders. He's just as tired – and probably even more so – than her. He's hunched over on the lounge, nearly falling asleep on the spot. But for the first time since they've known him, he doesn't have a new scratch to scar over.
"Madam Pomfrey will be waiting," she murmurs, tightening the blanket around his front. "You should go before she gets worried." Cressida glances over her shoulder. James is fast asleep near the fireplace still as a stag. Sirius is still on the couch but Peter is nowhere to be seen. They've all had a long night. "I'll walk with you."
Remus slides his hand into hers. He's wearing new clothes that are stored here specifically for this purpose as the ones from last night tore through the transformation. "You're a bear," he whispers as Cressida opens the trap door in the downstairs part of the shack.
She nods with an exhausted but warm smile. "I am," she agrees. "Bit burly but hear bears can run fast."
Remus nods with just as much fatigue. He follows her down, the darkness of the tunnel masking the shadows under both of their eyes. "I haven't thanked you all yet. I..."
"Don't need to worry about that," she finishes. "You're one of us, and we look out for each other."
"Still..."
Neither have the energy to continue any sort of conversation. Once they reach the other end, Cressida leans against the dirt wall, waiting for Remus to meet with Madam Pomfrey and once more she is left with her own thoughts.
The walk back is even longer, a drunken sway in her step. The trap door nearly slams on her head when her arm falters holding its weight. Sirius is back to his human self, lazing on the couch and rubbing his eyes. "Remus has gone back," she tells him, advancing towards the ragged cushioning.
"You look shitter than I feel," he says through a long yawn. Cressida wipes water from her eye that builds with her own yawn. She flops down on the couch, curling around a pillow. "How many things do you reckon I can put on James' antlers before he wakes up?"
"He's dead asleep," she mumbles with an airy chuckle. "But I'd like to see that too."
Sirius gets up, presumably to look for things to hang. She manages to stay awake long enough to watch Sirius hang what looks like an air freshener, some rope and a decorative hook from the back of a door before James finally awakens in a startle. He transforms back into a boy, the items falling in a loud clang to the floor which frightens Peter who must have also been asleep under a cabinet as he comes scrambling out as well.