Forgotten Promise- Marauders Era Fic

10: Busted.

(AN: Ok so, sorry for taking forever to update. Someone close to me died and football was taking up all of my time. But- I'm back now!)

 RYLAND had his head deep into a book as he was sprawled across his bed. The scent of clean linen from the freshly washed sheets filled the air. He had been trying to study some material for his upcoming term. 5th year had been right around the corner, and Ryland was certainly not enthusiastic about it. Ryland wanted to have good marks in all his classes, but he knew it wouldn't be easy.

Right before 4th year ended, the Hufflepuff's interest in the four secretive boys increased. So, he followed them to see what they were up to. What he found odd was- that he would often find Peter, Sirius, and James in the library. Them? In the library? His suspicions had been shot up instantly, and after the boys left, he would look at the book they would take out every time they went. The book was packed with so many things, and he didn't understand what their obsession was with it. Until one day, he hit the jackpot. Sirius had dog-eared a page, and Ryland eagerly flipped to the page. The blonde was taken aback by what he had seen and even gave credit to the marauders for thinking to do it.

And that's what kickstarted what he was doing this summer. The full moon was in approximately three days, and he was so excited to finally remove the darned mandrake leaf from the top of his mouth. A part of him knew he was crossing a boundary. Yet, another part of him already knew that it was too late to back out. He just wanted to understand. He wanted Remus to trust him. On the other hand, turning into an animal sounds pretty fucking cool. Let's be honest here. Sure it may be illegal, but what's fun without rule-breaking? Rule-breaking was one of the things Ryland just so happened to be pretty good at.

A knock on the door echoed through his room, and his head immediately shot up in that direction. Ryland quickly abandoned his book to get up and open the door to find his brother staring right back at him. His brother had looked different, especially now that he was 17. Dylan recently dyed his blonde hair black, making his features seem even more brooding. Ryland was mildly disappointed with how the light in Dylan's eyes slowly dulled out ever since he started hanging out with those tools in Slytherin.

"Ry, your friend is waiting outside the house right now?." Dylan had said straight to the point.

Ryland raised an eyebrow in response to that. Who could it have possibly been? Surely Amos or Edgar would have let him know in their recent letters. The youngest of the two softly shoved the other out of the way before descending the stairs. To find... James? Why was he here? And oh boy, James certainly grew.

"James Fleamot Potter," Ryland said in greeting, a small smile sneaking onto his lips. Shoot. He had hoped the leaf in his mouth wasn't ruined. He didn't want to have to start over.

"Aw Ry, the full name?" James replied a hint of amusement in his eyes before he had given Ryland a once-over. Ryland just rolled his eyes and pulled him inside. Thankfully, his parents weren't home. As they both went up the stairs, Ryland began to wonder how he even knew where he lived. Ryland pulled out a notebook and started writing. James immediately found this bizarre.

"What's with the notebook?"

Ryland kept writing ignoring the boy's question.

So, my throat's been hurting and I can't talk also why are you here?

Ryland noticed James' expression change from shock before he quickly masked it.

" I came here to talk to you about something and don't worry I didn't tell the others." What could he be talking about? Ryland gave him a look of confusion and James took it as a cue to continue.

"I saw you sneaking around and following the marauders, and seeing the state you're in right now... gives me the feeling that you know." Fuck. Busted.

"I won't tell them, but be careful. Please. Stop trying to investigate what's happening. I'll see you at school. Oh! And don't forget to write me back!" James said with a smile before he left. How could he leave just like that? After dropping a bomb like that? And why wasn't he angry with me?

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The summer went by in a blur, and thankfully Ryland's efforts paid off. He had managed to become an animagus and his form was a white husky. Now, he was sitting in the great hall conversing with his friends about the summer. He wasn't just yet going to tell him that he became an animagus. He didn't know if they'd rat him out. He tuned out of the conversation as his eyes found Remus Lupin. Oh shit. Remus had managed to get even more attractive over the summer, how was that even possible? Sirius caught him looking that way and smiled and waved him over. 

"Sorry guys I'll be right back" Ryland quickly apologized as he walked over to his ex-childhood best friend. Ignoring the calls and questioning he heard in the background. He shoved James over to make space for him as he sat between James and Sirius. 

"Hey losers, how were your lovely summers?" Ryland asked in a preppy voice.

"Quiet"

"Boring"

"Not anything out of the ordinary"

"Fine" 

He heard a chorus of similar responses from each of them, weird. They definitely became animaguses. How ironic. 

"So do you guys like dogs?" He asked filling the awkward silence before he heard Sirius choke on his drink, spitting it out all over his shirt.

"Dogs are uhm cool I guess" Sirius's voice went higher.

James gave Ryland a look of warning and he immediately understood,  James also decided to change the subject.

"So you look... different."

Sirius smiled largely and wrapped an arm around Ryland.

"You're hot now my friend!!" 

It was true he lost all the baby fat on his cheeks and his jawline was now sharp. And he has also gained some muscle and height along with that. He was caught by surprise when James pinched his cheeks and it hurt. "Noo! You lost your cute little puppy dog face" He exclaimed piercing Ryland's ears with the shrill tone of his voice. Gaining some odd looks from people around them. Ryland just chuckled as he looked across finding Remus's eyes, noticing how they darkened and that his jaw was clenched. Oh boy, was this going to be an eventful year?