Meaningful Moments Ch. 5

"Meaningful moments throughout Remus Lupin's life. Starting from when he was bitten by Greyback until his death in the Battle of Hogwarts. There will be slash in this story but will be as canon as possible."
{~}
Why is Peter a rat?
{~}
Remus tiredly walked up the stairs to the dorm. His entire afternoon had been spent studying in the library – fifth year really was as hard as they said – and he simply wanted to relax a bit before dinner. Much like his friends had been doing since morning, like ever Saturday.

With a sigh, Remus shifted his bag to his other shoulder and placed his hand on the door to open it. But, before it got very far he realized that the others – who had been acting very secretive recently – were whispering inside.

It had been a while since a prank had been pulled and Remus feared he was their intended victim. That is, until he recalled the last time they tried something on him and he quickly relaxed. Let’s just say they’d be stupid to try anything on him ever again.

So, Remus crouched behind the door and opened it just a bit more. The three teens were sitting on James’s bed which just happened to be the farthest from the door. A long piece of parchment was sitting between them and Sirius was scribbling something on it.

“Okay, Wormy,” he said without looking up from what he was writing. “Try it again.”

That was another thing that Remus had noticed: his friends would slip up and say odd names amongst themselves that didn’t make sense to him. He’d been meaning to ask them about the nicknames Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail but had kept getting distracted.

Remus shook his head to dispel the thought for now and leaned a little further into the room for a better look. What was Peter meant to be trying again?

For a moment nothing happened. The two Purebloods were watching Peter with critical eyes and James finally sighed and took the quill from Sirius. “Wait!” Peter exclaimed when he went to write something down and then suddenly the plump teen was gone.

In his place was a pudgy looking rat.

“Bloody hell!” Remus cried out before losing his balance and fell to the floor.

“Remus!” he heard James yell but was too busy putting things together in his head to worry about his concern. The whispering…the secret looks…the advance looking books over the years…and now Peter transforming into a rat.

It all suddenly clicked.

As soon as Remus was pulled to his feet by James, he monotonously said, “He’s an Animagus.”

Peter had changed back and now his three friends were standing around him with mixed expressions. The blond boy was nervous, James was worried, and Sirius was looking irritated. “He’s not the only one,” he announced petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest in the ever famous Black Pout. “James and me can change, too.”

“But…why?” Remus asked in confusion, looking between the three of them.

Sirius rubbed his face in frustration while Peter gave him a small smile and James answered. “’Cause werewolves don’t attack other animals.”

“WHAT!?!” Remus exclaimed, actually taking a step back in shock; his brain had quickly worked out what James meant. “You’re all mad!”

“That’s beside the point,” Sirius replied with a small, playful smirk and took his own step back. “Watch this.”

Without another word, Sirius quickly changed into a black dog and rolled onto his back as if asking for a belly rub. Remus stared at him for a moment before walking over and rubbing his chest.

A squeak came from behind him and he found a fairly large rat lightly nibbling on his shoelace. “D-don’t do that, Peter,” he admonished and picked his friends up. As he continued to rub the dog’s chest, he looked up at James and waited.

Out of him and Sirius, James preferred to have attention on him while he didn’t something spectacular instead of going for the surprise factor. With his head held high, James stretched overdramatically and then there was suddenly a very large stag standing in the dorm. “Bloody hell…”

The three animals each tried to get Remus’s attention, they were obviously trying to enforce that they’d done this for him. Remus supposed he should have been more concerned about what his friends had done; after all, it was dangerous and very tricky to become an Animagus. But…he couldn’t help but feel proud of them. Also, he knew there wasn’t anything he could do now; which is presumably the reason they had kept it a secret.

The happy and pleasant mood lasted for a few minutes until Remus spoke up. “You’re not allowed in the Shack, though.”

Instantly, he was rubbing an angry Sirius’s chest and the teen quickly moved so he was on his knees beside Remus. “Like hell we’re not,” he said, sounding both irritated and rebellious. “We’ll wait until you’ve transformed if we have to. We’re not letting Moony hurt himself anymore. And that’s final!”

Remus and Sirius stared at each other for a long moment, both glaring fiercely, until James cleared his throat. “What?” they both asked with more force than necessary.

The bespectacled teen just rolled his hazel eyes and chuckled. “Don’t try to stop us, Remus. It’s no use,” he said and the lycanthrope knew there wasn’t really any argument that would work with them. He’d known them long enough to know that once they had their minds set on something, it was damn near impossible to dissuade them.

“You have to be very, very, very careful,” he told them and both James and Sirius cried out happily. A loud squeaking came from beside Remus and the three boys looked at the rat sitting there. “Um…Pete?”

“We’re still working on that,” James replied and pulled out his wand to change the rat back into the short teen.