Deer Diary || Jily

Year 5 VI

At first, nothing really happened. James and Sirius glanced at each other and the whole room was silent aside from Slughorn's loud snores.

Then, almost instantaneously, James and Sirius doubled over, clutching their stomachs in pain and groaning loudly. The effect was immediate and the two of them began to shrink, smaller and smaller, until Lily and Remus were face to face with a miniature James and Sirius.

The two of them now looked about six years old, with round chubby faces and adorably confused eyes too big for their faces.

"Wha..." James said, his voice so high-pitched and squeaky. "Why are you two so tall?" he asked, blinking owlishly at Remus and Lily. "And why do I sound..." James turned to his best friend and shrieked.

Sirius shrieked as well and the two of them backed away from each other, both of them tripping over their now oversized pant legs, and falling comically on the ground.

The sound of childish yelling woke the professor and he was startled to find his students circling two little children.

"Professor," Lily said, eyes widening in shock at both the Marauders' predicament and the fact that they were caught. "We were just about to take them to the infirmary, it looked like something went wrong."

"I'm a... I look like a child! I'm a... what if I'm stuck like this forever!" Sirius wailed, hand rubbing at his face pitifully.

"Yes, it would be best if you took them away now," Slughorn agreed and he awkwardly patted Sirius on the head. "There, there, little one. I'm sure it will be fine."

Remus grabbed James by the hand and Lily grabbed Sirius. The two responsible and more mature ones, both physically and mentally, brought them out the doors and towards the halls of the infirmary.

Once the four of them were in the halls and away from the other students, Lily groaned. "I shouldn't have fallen for that. I shouldn't have let them take the potion."

"It wasn't your fault, Lily," James's pipsqueak voice chimed. "I goaded you into it."

"It's fine, Lily," Remus added. "Pomfrey is gonna fix them up and they'll be back to their normal fifteen year old selves in no time. I can't say much about their six year old brains, but I think it's always been like that."

"Oi!" The two six year olds exclaimed and Lily tried not to smile at their adorably grumpy expressions. They were drowning in a sea of their clothing, their pants slipping down, only being held up by one of their hands, and their robes trailed behind them like a large carpet with their sleeves coming down to the floor.

Then, like two dominos, Sirius took the first fall, tripping over his oversized pants once more, and James fell not a moment later.

Rolling her eyes for not thinking of it sooner, Lily cast a charm causing their shirts and pants to shrink to fit their newly trial sized bodies.

James and Sirius examined their new clothes before thanking Lily with their crooked, open mouthed smiles. Lily vaguely noticed that James had one of his front teeth missing. Cute.

Lily figured that the potion only caused their bodies to change in age, but their minds would remain the same. And that was how it was at first, but halfway to the infirmary, she and Remus began noticing some changes. James and Sirius giggled loudly as they played tag down the halls. James took his golden snitch out of his small pocket and released it so that he and Sirius could have something to chase and play with.

"I don't know if they're acting like six year olds or if they're just acting like themselves," Remus muttered.

To others, it may have sounded like a little joke, but Lily could sense the tense undertones and the way his hands fidgeted with worry. "Hey, you said don't worry," she said softly. "It's gonna be okay. We'll get them back."

***

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Just wanted to let y'all know that I recently posted the last part to my Jily short fic, "Curiosity Killed the Stag." It's about Jily (obviously) and Sirius+Lily's friendship. Also, it has James being a simp and lots of hilarious misunderstandings. So check it out and give it a few votes if you're feeling generous! ❤️