The full moon reflected down on the icy winter wonderland as a few stray snowflakes fell lazily to earth. The light from the guardian of the night filtered thought the dense branches stubbornly to a little clearing deep in the woods. The perfect circle was untouched it seemed by time wrapped in a protective blanket that only winter nights seemed to give. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted and as if a spell was broken dark shapes began to emerge from the woods in a close bunch grumbling to each other. If a person happened to stumble across the odd group they would either think they had a little too much eggnog or the snow was playing tricks on their eyes. One by one the members of the group settled themselves in a circle sticking close together seeking each others warmth in the frigid night. All turned to face the obvious leader of the group who rose to their feet and dipped a majestic head. Magnificent antlers sprouted from the skull of the creature the prongs tipped with snow. The stag surveyed his group with obvious pride and love. Sitting to his left was a beautiful doe her whole frame giving off the impression of being delicate but also powerful. Her emerald green eyes watched the stag as he pawed the ground impatiently she herself giving off the look of timeless patience and love so many females wore when they saw their mate being foolish. To his right was the natural predator of the two deer yet neither was afraid. A small almost ragged looking brown wolf. Scars adorned it legs and neck and many more scratches crisscrossed its sharp muzzle but it seemed calm not quite tame but not completely wild. Despite its small statue it was distinctly male. He to watched the stag which was now pacing back forth his expression one of amusement but also adoration. Snuggled against the brown wolf was another of his kind female though. Her coat was the color of liquid silver and gleamed in the light. She shifted against her mate's side seeming unable to lie still on the freezing ground. Her amber eyes traveled around the group, then flickered to the sky, other times looking at her mate. More often though she to gazed up at the stag as though she wished to join him as he paced. Sitting close to the doe was a rugged looking dark brown pit bull which alone of the group watched the stag with respect and like but not the obvious love that was visible with the others. Heads turned towards the forest at some noise and the stag snorted something to his group and as one they rose to their paws and hooves. Eyes focused on the forest they waited and from the depths of the shadow something emerged.
Sirius gasped as he was jerked awake by someone jabbing their foot into his side. He'd been dreaming hadn't he? He strained his mind trying to remember but like an oiled snake it slid away. Where was he? He looked around frantically and found himself in the Gryffindor common room sprawled out in front of the fireplace. But now the room was empty now except for his pups one of which, no one needed any guesses, was the one stabbing him with their sneaker It was late well past midnight if the common room was empty and Sirius cursed. He jumped to his feet and blinked the sleep from his eyes. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep! He'd been trying to come up with a logical explanation for the tracks. He had confirmed that the tracks he saw in the shack were in fact from a stag, a stag roughly the size James had been. But there was no scent and who knows plenty of deer might have developed an interest in the Shrieking Shack. Yes that must be it. The deer had evolved some way of getting into the shack. Even to his slightly mental brain that reasoning sucked. Sirius shook himself to clear his thoughts before barking softly letting the pups know he was ready.
Without a word Harry set off towards the portrait hole Draco and Sirius right behind him. The pups were talked excitedly wondering what forms they would take.
Okay so no normal deer caused the hoof print. What did?
So two possibilities remained. Either that hoof print had been a leftover of the Marauder days. Or James was haunting him. Sirius knew which he preferred. Why would James haunt him when Harry had been his world?
Why aren't you haunting your own fawn Prongs? He would love your little hints. My three brain cells are gonna fry if you keep confusing me like this. Or if I'm just going mental and reading into thing way too much please get over here and smack me. Just leave Lily behind. I have a feeling she wouldn't approve of me teaching Harry and Draco to be Animagus. And I am not in the mood to get my ass kicked in by a ghost.
"I bet I'm something awesome like a dragon or a basilisk." Draco was saying as Harry nodded along smiling for the first time since that afternoon.
If you are a basilisk I will personally drag your ass to the dungeons and throw you with the other snakes.
A certain Poltergeist saw them walking down the staircase and he floated ahead checking for Finch and Mrs. Norris who Sirius was well acquainted with. When Mrs. Norris was discovered Peeves lifted her up and left her yowling from the top of the chandelier. Sirius snorted as Peeves hovered beneath the trapped cat ready to catch her if she did fall but not having any interest in helping. Sirius nudged the pups into a jog nodding his thanks to Peeves as they slipped through the doors. Tomorrow he'd work on getting the boys acquainted with there soon to be partner in crime.
It wasn't long until they were back in the tunnel and Sirius chose to stay a dog so he didn't break his skull open on the low ceiling. Even then he had to keep his head down.
Who was this tunnel made for? Hobbits? Some of us happen to be over 2 feet tall. He threw a glance over his shoulder noting that Draco was stooping and only Harry who came to just below Draco's shoulder in height could walk straight. He kept his eyes fixed ahead or on the pups not looking at the floor. If it really was James then his friend would have to come up with a more obvious way of letting him know.
Finally he saw the doorway and Harry reached passed him to tug on the door handle and with a great protest of rusted hinges the door swung open. Sirius turned human and led them inside. Guilt twisted his gut as he surveyed the room he'd probably slept in more than his own dorm. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and every piece of furniture except the large bed had been thoroughly torn up. The bed had been left in one piece so the Marauders exhausted from long days of mischief making could sleep without having to drag themselves back to the castle.
James… Remus… Sirius whimpered. He wanted to collapse on the bed and have good long cry but Harry and Draco had moved passed him and were exploring now.
"What happen to this place." Draco asked running his finger along a desk that had a nice burn mark in it.
"Let's just say we were a little bit wild when we were here." Sirius grinned remembering just how that mark had gotten there. Moony had become quite tame as a wolf after they transformed with him but sadly the same could not be said for his pack mates. If he remembered correctly that mark had been caused by James deciding to play catch the chocolate frog in animal form. Easy enough except for the fact that James had bewitched the frog to be about the size of a dinner plate. And naturally being Prongs he had the thing breathing fire.
Sirius eyed the bed and wondered what was living in it.
"So you guys think if I sit on the bed it will eat my ass? 'Cuz I'm very fond of my ass. It's a very nice one."
Harry and Draco starred at him incredulously for an instant before bursting out in giggles. Sirius turned shaking his butt at them playfully.
"That's just wrong." Draco shook his head a wide grin on his face.
Sirius huffed putting on his most offended look. "I will tell you know Tundraeyes that my ass is far from being wrong. In fact I bet you can't find a better one anywhere."
"Are we seriously talking about your butt Sirius?" Harry asked laughing at the same time Draco cocked his head to the side looking confused. "What did you call me?"
"Yes. Prongslet we are." Sirius turned his attention to Draco. "As for you I called you Tundraeyes. As in tundra plus eyes equals you."
Draco starred at him. "Why?"
Sirius shrugged and did a complex cleaning spell over the bed. With a soft puff all the dust banished and the sheets and mattress lost their rattyness and holes instead becoming soft and nice smelling as if they had just been pulled from the wash. Satisfied Sirius sat down and began to aim cleaning spells at the rest of the room. "You don't have a nickname. Every Marauder has to have a nickname. As for why Tundraeyesa it's because of your eyes. They are blue-grey kinda like a snow on ice. I thought snow but now that I think about it they're more icy then snowy. So maybe Glaciereyes. You like that?"
"You called me a Marauder. What's a Marauder?"
"It's the nickname my dad, Siri, and their friends went by when they were at school." Harry explained. "Marauder means to plunder but for a person it means rogue. Basically an outlaw… a trouble maker. I thought you wouldn't maybe want to be one with me. But it's okay if you don't." Harry blushed and looked at the floor and Sirius rolled his eyes. Harry had bugged him like crazy after dinner when they had been in the dorm and Draco was in the loo. If Harry didn't care Sirius was a cat. Wait he was a lion. Did they count as felines?
Draco studied Harry for a moment. "What does a Marauder do?"
"Well the original group was to cause trouble, torment the Slytherins, help James win Lily's heart, be the best of friends forever, become Animagus, protect Harry with our lives." He snagged Harry's waist and tugged his godson down next to him tickling him lightly so Harry stopped looking depressed and giggled. "He hasn't said no pup." He murmured against his ear. Harry brightened.
"But for you and Harry? You're the new generation, Marauders 2.0. So you're in-training. I would say be Bff's, cause mischief, annoy the hell out of Snape, I guess I can add become Animagus to the list." He glared at Harry and Draco who exchanged smug glances.
Draco nodded his head slightly. "Well I guess since I haven't had any better offers. I'll join." If the sarcasm hadn't been so evident Sirius would have actually been impressed. Maybe Draco had inherited the suicidal, mental, Gryffindor mindset that Sirius had been born with. Though James's theory that they'd been dropped on their heads seem plausible too.
Harry though bounced to his feet and flung his arms around Draco. The blond smiled slightly with a look of a dog when a bothersome toddler tugged on its fur. To kind to snap but not thrilled with the position. Sirius grinned remember Harry as a baby. The kid had an extreme fascination with hair and enjoyed yanking out large clumps from whoever was within his reach to watch it fall to the floor a look a baby triumph on his face. Sirius was pretty sure he still had bald spots from the pup.
"Okay Glaciereyes is now one of us. Let's start your Animagus training so I can get some sleep tonight."
Harry and Draco looked at him excitedly and Sirius patted the bed gesturing for them to sit. "I6 t took James and I 3 years to become Animagus. But we had to spend a year trying to find out how you became one. And then another year to figure out what the research meant, and then the last year was putting it into practice. I think with my help you guys should manage it in a year or so."
Sirius closed his eyes trying to think how to explain it where it would make sense. "The younger you are the easier it is to become an Animagus. Unlike most magic Animagus transformations don't need a wand. Your magical core is what controls the transformation. There are basically three steps to go through.
Step 1: You must push your magical core out of your body and form itself into your inner animal. Step 2: You have to figure out what your animal is. Then you must somehow get the essence of that animal hair, saliva, and blood. Step: 3 Combine your magical core with the essence of that animal and learn to push your core over your body and it will change you into that animal. It hurts like hell the first few times but after that it becomes second nature and is easy." Sirius saw the pups confused glance and he grinned remembering how confused he'd been.
"Watch I'll show you." He took a deep breath closing his eyes. His breathing slowed as he began to search his mind. Remus had compared the exercise to meditation but Sirius disagreed. He used his anger at Pettigrew, his fierce protectiveness of his pack, his love of his little lion, his devotion to James, his pride at being different… it all twined together in his mind. All those things motivated him and by extension his magic so he followed them deep into his center. Buried beneath all his memories there it was. The part of him that had formed the moment he'd been conceived, his center. Reaching out he grasped it and felt it hum with recognition. It was difficult to describe how he pushed it to the surface of his mind and out of his body but he did. It was one of those thing we have no clue how we did it we just did. Harry and Draco gasped and Sirius smirked opening his eyes. His whole body seemed to glow as if lit from within by a torch. The air around him hummed and crackled and seemed to vibrate but that was nothing compared to what the pups were looking at. Floating a few inches from the floor was a large dog the exact copy of his Animagus form. It was composed of white light like a Patronus but even brighter. Trying to take in more than small sections of the dog was like looking at the sun. Spots clouded his vision and he looked at the floor blinking to clear his eyes. Slowly he reached out with his mind and called the magic back to him and it responded instantly plunging the room back into darkness. As the light left he slumped back on the bed feeling as if he'd just run ten miles. His limbs shook with exhaustion and hunger gnawed at his stomach but that was far from unusual. Groaning he leaned his head back. "Damn I forgot how much energy that takes." He shook his head and looked at Draco and Harry. "All I can tell you is to search in your head for your magic. Some people do it best by meditating others need to follow their emotions. It depends on you. So I suggest you guys take a seat and work on it."
To his surprise the pups nodded and obeyed instantly sitting on the bed and closing their eyes. Sirius watched them for a while before rising to his feet and padding over to one of the windows. He peeked out a window and his heart leapt into his throat. Gleaming in the sky far overhead was a full moon.
Moony. How much pain are you in right now? How much is the wolf hurting you? How much do you hate me? If I showed up at your door right now would you Avada me on sight?
Sighing he watched the clouds float across the great white eye in the sky. The guilt that would never leave seemed to double. Not only had he failed to keep James and Lily safe but also Moony. Not once had it crossed his mind that his pack-brother had to transform alone. Remus would never join a pack of other woods. He was too different from them. How much pain had the bookish teenager that he thought of as a little brother been in because of him?
An idea struck him. Was it safe? It was the full moon he wouldn't remember it. But it would help him. Sirius closed his eyes and accessed the part of his mind he'd blocked off since Halloween ten years previously.