MWPP - The Second Year

CHAPTER 1

Extract from an owl from Sirius Black to Remus Lupin...

"...you should have come, Moony, we would have managed you somehow, you know. Well, we'll see you in Diagon Alley tomorrow. James' mum was supposed to pick up our stuff today, but she couldn't go. My holiday homework is probably all just a load of bilge, we haven't finished yet...I bet you have yours all done and packed, you old sod. James and I just finished McG's Animagus essay, and he's had a brilliant idea. A brilliant, brilliant idea, Moony...so brilliant that I'm surprised it hadn't occurred to me a long time ago. He's so excited about the Quidditch tryouts that it seems to have stimulated his brain. See if you can guess what it is before tomorrow. If it works, it'll be the most fun we'll ever have.

You sounded really down the last time you owled. Keep that old chin up, we'll see you soon.

Sirius."

Sirius slammed the window shut and winked at James.

"If Moony guesses what you thought of, he's nearly as smart as we are. That's the first sign of real brilliance I've noticed in you, James."

"Well, you're obviously not very observant then, are you? Here's the Animagus essay...pass me that one for Professor Plutonium..."

"Wonder what Moony and Peter would say...seeing us actually working..." Sirius smirked.

"We're not really working," James reassured him. "We're just avoiding many, many detentions...I absolutely cannot miss the Quidditch tryouts, Sirius..."

"Yes, yes, James, we know...there's no way you won't get in, you'll be the shortest person trying out for Seeker..."

James scowled. "Funny. Well, definitely the best looking...I heard that Severus Snape is trying out for Slytherin Seeker. There's nothing I'd like better than to..."

"Yes, yes, I think you mentioned that a few hundred times already...for all you say you hate Snape so much, you never seem to stop thinking about him..."

"Sod off, Black! I did find a few new hexes we could use on him, in that old book of Dad's..." James' face split into an evil grin. "I nicked it while he was at the Ministry this morning...look at this one, haha..."

"Urgh...that's disgusting...it might improve Snape's appearance, though..."

Both of them cracked up.

Remus Lupin was waiting for them, the next morning, as they shot out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron. He came up to them immediately, looking even more serious than usual.

"You two had better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Huh?"

"Sirius...your letter..."

"Oh, that. Any guesses?"

"Any guesses? Sirius, James, surely you're not proposing that you become Animagi?"

James looked crestfallen. "He guessed."

"Who would have believed it?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I can't believe that even occurred to you, James."

"Neither could I," Sirius interjected. "I mean, I'm the brilliant one here."

"That isn't what I meant. There are complications, and it's dangerous and illegal and..."

"Oh, don't go all responsible on us already, Moony," Sirius snapped impatiently. "We only just got here, there's the whole year ahead..."

"It's not like that..."

"Come on...later...we have to get our stuff..."

James and Sirius sauntered down Diagon Alley, marching a very worried Remus between them. They went to Flourish and Blotts, where Remus supervised the buying of their schoolbooks while Sirius and James sniggered over volumes in the 'Curses and Counter-Curses' section...they bought fresh parchment, quills and ink, and then Remus dragged them away to buy fresh Potions ingredients.

Sirius looked around with an air of bored disinterest, while the bald old man at the counter measured out the ingredients. Suddenly, he stiffened and grabbed James' arm.

"James...look who." Severus Snape was walking towards the apothecary's, looking, in their opinion, like a greasy and anaemic crow.

"Snivellus," said James with relish. "This should be fun..."

"What should be fun?" Remus said, coming up. He followed their gaze and frowned. "Why can't you just leave him alone? He won't come and bother us..."

"Moony!" James said, shocked. "This is Snivellus we're talking about. Remember him? Slytherin, evil git, obsessed with the Dark Arts..."

"Greasy hair, no manners, hisses like a bloody snake every time you try and speak to him..." Sirius added.

"That doesn't mean you have to..."

"It's more just the bloody fact that he exists, and he gets on my nerves," James said impatiently. "Don't worry, Remus, what's the worst we could do?"

"We can't kill him...worse luck," Sirius said wistfully.

Remus frowned again, and retreated into the background as Snape walked into the store and froze at the sight of them. He seemed to be debating whether to come back later, or go ahead and walk past them up to the counter, when Sirius stepped forward with an evil grin.

"Well, well, what do you know...Snivellus."

Snape's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything.

"What'cha looking for here, Snivelly? Lunch? Sorry, they're all out of rat spleens..."

"No, no, there's another barrell inside..." said the attendant eagerly, catching the last part. "I'll just go and fetch it..." he hurried off, while James and Sirius cracked up. Snape's eyes narrowed even further.

"I suppose you think you're funny, Black."

"You're right, I do," Sirius said smoothly. "Is there a problem with...?"

"Finished, Severus?" said a sharp voice from the doorway. "Hurry up, boy, I haven't got all day..."

"Coming, Father," Snape muttered, turning away. James and Sirius eyed the man standing in the doorway. He was tall and dark, with cold black eyes which were at the moment fixed on them, with a very unpleasant expression. Remus hurried James and Sirius out, shoving the bags of ingredients into their hands.

"Come on..." he muttered. "We have nearly everything...hmm...let's see..."

"Where are you dragging us off to now, Moony?"

"I want to buy a cat."

"Eh, what?" James looked disgusted. "What do you want a bloody cat for?"

"Excellent, Moony," Sirius beamed.

"No, Sirius, you are not practising hexes on my cat," Remus said sharply. "I happen to like cats."

"I wasn't thinking anything of the sort," Sirius said indignantly. "I happen to like cats too...an owl isn't any real sort of pet, spends most of the time in the Owlery..."

They walked into a pet store. The attendant led them through a forest of weirdly populated cages and tanks, to a small, quiet room full of cats.

"Urgh," James said in disgust, stopping outside. Sirius and Remus went on in. There were cats everywhere, sitting on old cushions, lying on moth-eaten sofas, nursing litters of kittens...cats of all colours, sizes, and even shapes. Remus and Sirius wandered round the room, wondering how on earth they were going to choose one, when Sirius stumbled and nearly fell. He grabbed the sofa next to him, and pulled himself up. He had tripped over a small, wickerwork basket that was partly hidden under the sofa.

"Moony...look..." he eased the basket out. Inside it were two little kittens, curled up together, fast asleep. One opened its eyes and stretched, yawned, spotted Sirius and started a deep, rumbling purr which woke up the other kitten.

"Ohh..." Remus picked up the basket. "Look at this one, Sirius..."

The first kitten was a funny mixture of streaks...yellow, white, brown, orange, and what looked like a dark, dull blue. He had startlingly golden eyes and a bushy tail, which he waved as he yawned again and jumped right into Sirius' arms.

"Which one do you want, Moony?" Sirius said, contemplating the kitten with his head on one side. Remus eyed both kittens for a long time. The second one was chocolate-coloured with neat browny-gold stripes on its back and legs, and rather startling orange eyes. It curled up comfortably in Remus' cupped hands, and purred serenely.

"This one," Remus decided finally.

"Fine," Sirius said briskly. "I want this one."

"Huh? Sirius, you're only allowed to bring one animal..."

"I've got it all worked out, Moony..." they walked out, carrying the kittens. James was waiting for them, looking decidedly grumpy.

"What the hell were you doing in there for so long?" he demanded of Remus. "Just to buy a bloody cat! Speaking of which...why are you carrying two?"

"Looks like we're buying both," Remus informed him, glancing at Sirius.

"You can only take one..."

"Sirius is buying the other." James gave Sirius a reproachful, Et tu, Brute look. Then he brightened visibly. "Sirius already has an owl..."

"Well," Sirius said, with his most winning smile. "There's always a way."

"And what would that be?"

"One of us here doesn't already have a pet."

It took a moment for that to sink in. Then...

"Sirius...you're not thinking of landing me with that bloody cat, are you?"

Sirius flashed his most winning smile.

"As my best friend, my closest crony, I assumed you'd be only too delighted to..."

"NO!!" howled James. "You won't get around me that way! I wont do it! I positively refuse..."

~*'*'*~

The next morning found a very grumpy James boarding the Hogwarts Express, carrying a wicker cat-carrier. Sirius was in front of him, carrying his large, spotted owl, Pluto. Remus was hurrying along behind him, carrying an identical cat basket, and an extra bag containing several books.

"Here, this compartment's empty," Sirius said cheerfully, sliding aside the door of a compartment near the end of a carriage. "Come on..." he flopped down onto the seat nearest the window, and took the cat basket from James. "Ah, thank you, James..."

James made an incoherent sound, and stared out of the window. Sirius frowned.

"You aren't going to sulk all the way, are you?"

"Yes. Yes, I am going to sulk all the way. I am definitely sulking all the way. In fact, I am going to sulk until further notice."

Sirius laughed. "Come now, James. You should be proud to own a cat like Jupiter."

James jumped as if he had been stung. "Jupiter?! What the hell is with your obsession for naming animals after the bloody planets in..."

"It does suit his colouring, James," Remus said placidly. James rolled his eyes.

"And what are you calling your...creature, Moony?"

"Isis."

"Bloody hell!"

"It's a nice name, James. And after all, she is a pretty kitty."

"Gah..."

"Hey!!" said Sirius, sitting up. "Maybe in a while our cats will mate and have kittens!"

"Ohh...I didn't think of that," Remus said, his face lighting up.

"Urgh! Incest!" James howled. "This just proves cats are disgusting."

"It doesn't work like that for animals, James," Remus started to explain patiently, as the train started off.

"I don't bloody care, those two flea-ridden, snub-nosed animals are going to populate Gryffindor tower with a load of equally brightly-coloured kittens by the end of the year!"

Remus frowned and gave up. James relapsed into a moody silence, Remus took out a book and started reading, a frown on his face, and Sirius lounged elegantly in his seat, his feet up, his hair falling across his face, staring out of the window.

After about half an hour of brooding, James fell asleep. Sirius yawned and sat up.

"I'm letting my cat out for a while...what say, Moony?"

Remus glanced over at James. "Let's hope James doesn't wake up..." he lifted the lid on his cat-carrier, and Isis stalked out, purring richly. Sirius did the same with his cat. The two cats walked around, exploring the compartment, and then settled on their respective owner's laps. Isis fell asleep, while Jupiter's eyes followed the path of a fly along the window-pane. Sirius fell back into his reverie, and Remus continued with his book.

After about ten minutes, Jupiter, bored, jumped down and settled on James' lap. Sirius grinned and pointed, and motioned for Remus to leave him there. Just then, there was a flash of red through the glass of their door, and then Lily Evans poked her head in.

"Hello, Remus!" she smiled. "I just spotted your cat...where did you get him? He's beautiful!" she frowned at Sirius, and scowled at James' sleeping form.

"She," Remus corrected her. "Her name is Isis."

"What a lovely name. I just love cats, don't you?" She took Isis from Remus, and settled down to stroke her. Isis arched her back and purred richly. Remus gave James an inconspicuous poke with his wand. James sat up, startled.

"What the bloody...where...huh?" he gawped at Lily, quickly shut his mouth and smiled.

"Oh, hello, Evans. Sorry, didn't hear you come in."

Lily eyed him coldly, and was just about to say something when Jupiter woke and stretched, with a rumbling 'Mrrowww.'

"Ohh...is that your cat, James?"

James looked down, and his eyes widened in disgust. "Oh...ugh...yes, I...er."

"Actually, he's mine," Sirius said smoothly.

"He's lovely," Lily held out her hands for the cat. "What's his name?"

"Jupiter."

"That's clever...it suits his colouring, doesn't it? Blue, yellow and all..."

"That's why I named him that..."

Lily stroked the cat, and frowned slightly. "But how are you going to get him in? Don't you already have an owl?"

"Yup. With great difficulty, I have managed to persuade James to take him for me instead."

Lily giggled. "That's a clever idea..." she looked at James. "You don't like cats?"

"Oh...of course I like cats, I..."

Sirius and Remus sniggered. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh..." she stood up, handing Jupiter back to Sirius. "Well, I'll see you around." She walked out.

James leaned back and sighed. "Well, that went well," he snorted. "Who on earth would have guessed that Evans likes cats?"

"Most girls like cats, James."

"Urgh. Well, it's a good thing I have this creature, Evans seems to like him..."

"James? He happens to be my cat," Sirius drawled.

"Oh, yeah. Bugger."

"I thought you absolutely hate cats, James?" Remus smiled. James looked thoughtful.

"Oh well. I suppose if you two insist on having them around all the time, I may as well get used to them...as a matter of fact, I might even get to like them..."

Sirius and Remus looked at each other and smirked.

~*'*'*~

"Surely you're not letting those creatures sleep on your bed?" James said, horrified.

"Why ever not, James?" piped Peter Pettigrew, who was perched on Remus' bed with Isis on his knee. "Cats are very clean animals."

"Besides, I thought you were going to try and tolerate them, and stop complaining about them all the time," Remus pointed out.

"I said I'd tolerate them, I never said I'd stop complaining..."

"Stop being a prat, James," Sirius said impatiently, climbing into bed. "They won't bother you."

The next morning, Remus awoke to find both kittens curled up on James' pillow.

"Well, I'll be buggered." He poked Sirius awake. Sirius yawned, spotted the kittens and raised an eyebrow.

"They obviously don't have any sense...or taste." He yawned again. "I mean, leaving me, and going off to someone else..."

"We'd better move them," Remus said, standing up.

"Oh, no," Sirius grinned. "Just leave them, Moony."

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius.

"What? He did say he wanted to get used to them...and besides, they look so comfortable...would you have the heart to disturb them?" He dragged Remus off to the common room. It was almost completely deserted.

Sirius glanced at his watch. "Seven. Everybody's probably going to sleep a little late." He looked at Remus. "Why on earth did you wake me up at this unearthly hour, Moony?"

"Don't know...just woke up...besides, it isn't an unearthly hour...let's go down and get some breakfast."

The Great Hall was almost deserted, just a few people sprinkled here and there along the tables. Remus and Sirius picked up a couple of stacks of toast and a flask of coffee, and walked out into the cold, dewy morning.

"Let's take a walk by the lake," Remus suggested. They made their way to the shore in silence, both of them enjoying the cold, crisp breeze which was ruffling the iron-gray surface of the lake, and blowing little shreds of dull cloud across the silver-gray sky. Sirius settled down contentedly among the roots of a tree, leaned back and started on his toast. Remus sat down beside him and sighed.

Sirius leaned back and stretched, his eyes fixed on the surface of the lake. Remus glanced at his profile and frowned slightly. Sirius always looked so relaxed, so calm, unruffled and carefree. And so arrogant. He didn't seem to really care about anything, about rules, duties or consequences...and it bothered Remus, whose mind was much older than his twelve years would indicate. Remus really worried about Sirius, and to a lesser extent, James...and this new idea they had worried him even more. Of course, there might not be anything in it, but they were so stubborn, so reckless, so...

Sirius turned his head to meet Remus' gaze. "Not eating, Remus?"

"I'm not that hungry." Remus sighed, and picked up the flask of coffee. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

"You want to talk about that Animagi idea James had," Sirius said, eyeing him closely. "Don't you?"

Remus hid his surprise. "Yes, although I didn't know it was that obvious."

"Oh come on, you've been all twitchy ever since he mentioned it, you paranoid, overly-responsible git." Sirius smiled at Remus, taking the flask from him. "Besides, it would involve breaking rules, and so we rather expected a load of lecturing...it isn't fair that James gets to miss it, though..."

"Oh, be a little serious, Sirius," Remus snapped, earning a shocked look from Sirius. Remus never snapped. "You weren't really serious, were you? Because if you were..."

"If we were what?" Sirius said coolly.

Remus hadn't really thought about that yet.

"Um...I'll never speak to you again?" he offered lamely.

"Oh, sure." Sirius laughed. "What would you do without us? You'd be bored out of your mind, Remus."

"There is that." Remus smiled. "But surely you can see that the Animagi thing would be completely impossible, don't you?"

"Why?" Sirius asked. Remus frowned.

"Because contrary to your beliefs, you two are not capable of doing everything," Remus said impatiently. "You need to be at least eighteen...you don't have the skills, you've just mastered the basics of magic..."

"So we'll learn stuff by ourselves. We'll do reasearch," Sirius shrugged.

"It'll take years...you'll never manage it..."

"So we'll wait."

Remus decided on another approach.

"It's illegal...you'll get in trouble with the Ministry..."

At this, Sirius laughed, making Remus snort with exasperation.

"Honestly, Moony, do you think we really care about the Ministry? The Dark Lord's minions have been fooling them and doing stuff like this for years. Do you think they'd even notice something like a couple of underage, secret, unregistered Animagi?"

"Yes."

"Hello, Moony, this is myself and James we're talking about." Sirius smiled smugly, making Remus feel suddenly and unusually like hitting him. "We can fool any bunch of stuffy old gits, running around with quills behind their ears trying to standardise cauldron sizes..."

"That is not what the Ministry does..."

Sirius waved an impatient hand. "I don't care, I'm just saying..."

Remus got up, and flung his last piece of toast to the giant squid. "I'm going inside."

"Well, good, I've finished all the coffee and you look like you could use some..."

Remus snorted.

They found James and Peter sitting at the Gryffindor table. James was even messier than usual, and seemed to be ranting on about something, while Peter poured him his porridge and tried to placate him. As they approached, James let out a huge sneeze, nearly blowing away the owl that was dropping Travis his mail.

"...bloody cats! Dropping hair all over my pillow, spending the whole night next to my face and now look, I can barely speak for sneezing..."

Sirius grinned at Remus, who frowned at him and sat down beside James.

"Caught cold, James?" he said mildly. James turned and gave him a look that would have made Peter Pettigrew run and hide under their table in the common-room.

"Have I caught a bloody cold?! No, I never feel that breakfast is complete without a little sneezing...I find it helps with digestion..."

Remus blinked. "Maybe you're allergic to something," he suggested, making Sirius snort with laughter.

"Maybe?! Oh, yes, maybe I'm allergic to those bloody cats that spent their entire night curled up on MY face..."

~*'*'*~

"Grrgh," scowled James, dumping his bag onto the desk with a loud thump and earning himself a Look from Professor McGonagall.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on, James, we took you to Madam Pomfrey, shut up now..."

"Is there a problem, Mr. Black?"

"Er...no, Professor..."

Once everyone had settled down, Professor McGonagall stared around the class.

"I am continuing with Magical Methods of Concealment this year. Now, I would like you all to give up the essays you did over the summer..."

Sirius winked at Remus, who frowned.

"As you know, we will not be doing Animagi in detail until third year..."

Remus smiled at Sirius, who frowned.

"...but as some of you have showed interest in the topic, there is extensive information on the subject in the library..."

Sirius and James smiled at Remus, who let his head thump onto the desk. Professor McGonagall frowned at the three of them. Professor McGonagall continued. James glanced over at Lily Evans, considering teasing her a bit. He decided not to when she sent a threatening glare in his direction.

Huh.

"Hey, Remus," Lily said breezily, brushing past the three of them after class. "Hello, Sirius."

She completely ignored James.

"Hey! Evans!" he called after her.

She half-turned. "Oh, hello, Potter."

" 'Oh, hello, Potter?' That's all I get? And she's on a first name basis with you two?" James said incredulously, as she went off down the corridor.

"If I had to guess, I'd say she doesn't like you much, James," Remus said mildly. James snorted.

"She obviously doesn't have much sense, if she prefers you two over me."

"Actually, I'd say she was showing great good sense," Sirius said loftily. "And if I had to guess, I'd say you had a major thing for Lily Evans."

"Wha-? Oh, right. Just because I like teasing her..."

Sirius and Remus grinned at each other.

"Huh? Oh, come on, you two..."

"There's nothing wrong with it, you know, James" Sirius said in his most patronizing manner. "It's all part of..."

"Oh, shut UP."

"As you wish."

"Why would she dislike me, though?" James went on, ignoring Sirius and addressing Remus.

"Um, let me think. Maybe because, you've embarrassed her and got her into trouble so many times, you always make fun of her, you tease her, you make fun of all her friends, you..."

"But all that was last year!" James protested, astonished.

"Uh...well, maybe she has a long memory."

"Well, either way," James said decidedly. "I wouldn't have thought Evans was the kind of person to hold a grudge."

"A grudge?! James, you're the biggest pain in her neck," Sirius laughed. "She dislikes you more than she dislikes half the Slytherins. She absolutely despises you. She thinks you're slime."

"Thanks, Sirius." James kicked moodily at a stray scrap of parchment.