counting crows 🦢 wolfstar

ᗴᏆᏀᕼᎢ

3rd year

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"Mr. Black? May I ask why Mr.Potter and Mr.Pettigrew" professor Slughorn asked.

Sirius pursed lips and shrugged. He picked up a piece of paper and a quill and wrote we're seeing who can go the longest without talking.

Slughorn raised an eyebrow and looked at Remus, who was also looking at them oddly. "Are you participating in this challenge, Mr. Lupin?"

"No sir, I'm not," he shook his head.

"And why not?"

"I thought it would be a good idea for one of us to be able to talk. I normally know what they're thinking by their facial expression, so I thought it would be handy to translate for them."

"Ahh, got it. Well, you three can continue to do this, but McGonagall may lecture you a bit."

James shrugged and smirked.

They had a perfect cover up story, and for once, Remus wasn't a part of it. He had no idea that they were hiding a mandrake leaf in their mouth. Or that they snuck off at night to an abandoned bathroom to make a potion.

He wouldn't know until they were able to transform into animals.

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"Remus," McGonagall whispered. "Why are they so quiet?"

She pretended to be surprised and unknowing, but in reality, she knew exactly what was going on.

"They're having a contest to see who will be quiet for the longest time," he told the professor.

"You have my permission to do this as long as you wish, as long as it doesn't interfere with your education."

The three boys nodded happily and sent the woman grateful smiles.

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By the end of the month, the trio had encountered a few mishaps.

Luckily, most of their work had been done via paper, but the few spells that they had to cast they did nonverbally.

There were multiple times that James had to shove his hand over Sirius' mouth before he started talking. Peter had done the same for James and James and Sirius had to stop Peter from eating near people.

All of their food tasted like straight grass, causing a sad Sirius and disappointed Peter. James, who grew up eating a reasonable amount of vegetables, didn't seem to mind too much. Peter and Sirius constantly made fun of him.

They talked when it was just them, but the second anyone was around, even if it was Remus, they shut their mouths and went silent.

Remus was getting a bit suspicious and the trio were very excited to show him what they had done.

They sat on the bathroom floor and decided for Sirius to go first.

He drank the potion and closed his eyes tightly. Suddenly, a pop noise echoed through the bathroom and Sirius was replaced by a large black dog.

He wagged his tail and barked, before closing his eyes and turning back into himself.

Peter went next, drinking the potion and quickly turned into a small, gray rat. When he turned back, he had a disgusted face.

"A rat? Really," he complained.

Finally, James went. After swallowing the bright blue liquid, he turned into a big, brown spotter stag.

"That's so cool," he exclaimed.

"Come on! Let's go show Remmy," Sirius said excitedly. He jumped up from his seat on the floor and yanked James and Peter up, pulling them out of the bathroom.

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Remus sat on his bed, his legs criss-crossed and a book in lap.

The other three other marauders said they had a surprise for him. He expected a stupid prank, where his hair would change color or all his chocolate would disappear.

He looked put the window every while impatiently, counting a total of 8 crows fly by.

What he didn't expect was a rat, stag, and dog to burst into his room and jump on his bed.

Even more unexpected, for these animals to, with a pop, to turn into his three best friends. 

"Surprise," Sirius exclaimed, smiling and doing jazz hands.

"What. The. Fuck."

"We became Animagi to help you with your furry little problem," Sirius explained.

The three boys had decided it would be best for Sirius to explain it to Remus, as he had the best connection with the sandy-haired boy.

"You did what now," Remus looked at him with wide eyes.

"So that your werewolf-self won't hurt yourself," he continued excitedly.

Remus really wanted to be mad at them. And he would. The only thing stopping him was the happy grin on Sirius' face. The cute, proud grin dissolved all of his worries and angers.

"You guys are gonna get hurt, though," he said worriedly.

"Nothing us big, brave, fearless Gryffindors can't handle."

"And we promise to that we'll always stick with each other," James smiled.

Remus took a deep breath.

These people really did care for him. They really did want to help him. And that warmed Remus' heart.

"But, in the very small chance that you do rip us to shreds, can you give my parents my body in a bag and tape their reaction. That could be a beautiful thing to watch while I chill with Merlin," Sirius joked.

"I-"

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Yeah….. screw my update schedule, I'm just gonna post when I can/want

✎Abbie