Painted Scars // WOLFSTAR

Year Five: Snuffles

"How mad do you think he's going to be?" Peter asked, tucking his arms further into the armpits of his sweater.

"On a scale from one to ten? Thirteen," James replied smartly, kicking at an orange leaf and looking off towards the castle for Remus's head to pop into view.

When the boys decided on the day they would reveal that they'd become Animagi, multiple factors came into play. Mostly, they wanted to do it where no one else would see them, hence being outdoors in the cold autumn air. They'd also decided it would be smart to do so a couple of days before the moon, so as to not freak him out the day of, or, give him enough time to talk them out of coming.

"Okay, there he is. Don't say anything to scare him off, Peter," Sirius said quickly.

"What? Why me? What would I–" Sirius kicked him swiftly in the leg, plastering on a large grin and waving Remus over when he spotted them.

"Hey guys," Remus said sceptically. "Can I ask why you wanted to meet in the middle of the courtyard on a Tuesday?"

James copied Sirius's grin, clapping him on the shoulder with a hand and leading him further out of sight. "We'll get to that, don't you worry."

Remus slowed his pace so James's body was caught in an awkward trip. "You're not planning on murdering me, are you? I'm better at defence than you are."

"Us? Murdering you? Heavens no!" Sirius said unconvincingly, throwing his arm around Remus's other shoulder. "We just want to take you somewhere far away where no one could see us no matter how hard they tried!

"Alright, I was only half-kidding about the murdering thing before but now I'm feeling like that really is your plan."

Sirius looked around suspiciously. "We're getting off-topic."

"I think we should probably stay off topic–!"

"Right this way," Sirius interrupted, grabbing his arm and pulling him behind a large tree. "We've got something to tell you."

Remus looked worried – understandably so – and with every creeping second, so did Sirius. Maybe they shouldn't have done this. Remus asked them not to but yet Sirius still insisted, and that fact came crashing down on him with every sceptical look from Remus.

"You said to drop it, and we didn't. We figured out a way to help you," Sirius said plainly, laying it out before he could talk himself out of it.

Remus stared at him, and his eyes glassed over with something that wasn't quite anger. "Is this about the wolf thing again?" he asked, voice falsely steady.

"Yes, but hear me out," Sirius pleased recognising the tone of his voice and stepping closer to diffuse the situation. Remus pulled away angrily, jerking his hands out of Sirius's path.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" he yelled, looking oddly hurt. "I asked you to fucking stop!"

Sirius's eyebrows dropped painfully. "Moony, listen–"

"NO! Stop intervening in my life! You might see the wolf as something you desperately want to get rid of, but it's a part of me! Stop trying to kill it!"

His mouth dropped open softly, and his heart panged. "I'm not trying to... kill any part of you, I'm only trying to help."

Before Remus could react to this, James pushed Sirius gently aside and said, "Remus, I know that Sirius can be hotheaded, but I really think you ought to hear him out. I mean, when he brought up the idea, I thought he was crazy."

"Me too," Peter cut in.

"Bloody mental, actually–"

"–Thanks, guys–" Sirius mumbled sourly.