Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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Chapter 43: A Resentful Hearth
"It is difficult to speak with this thing inside my mouth…" Peter continued to complain as they made their way back to the castle.
It was already starting to get dark, and students were getting ready for dinner, so there was no one around the grounds other than them.
"I think I'm getting used to it," Sirius responded with a smug tone.
"Be careful not to chew on it or swallow it by accident...otherwise, you're going to have to start again," James advised him.
"No way!" Peter panicked for a moment and tripped on a rock while walking.
He barely managed to keep himself from falling. "Oh no!"
"What happened?" Sirius asked.
"I bit on the leaf and broke it…" Peter said.
Sirius began to laugh like crazy, but in just a few seconds, the laughter was replaced by a coughing fit.
"Did you bite on it too?" James asked.
"I swallowed it!" Sirius shouted.
"It's a good thing we've got plenty of extra leaves," James said, pulling out a small brown bag from his tunic and handing two more leaves to the boys.
"This isn't going to work…" Peter said. "There's no way we can keep them in there for an entire month. It's impossible."
"It's not impossible. Otherwise, there wouldn't already be so many Animagi out there," James pointed out.
Sirius glared at James. "How did you get used to talking with the leaf inside your mouth so quickly?"
"Oh, I'm not used to it at all. I still find it very uncomfortable, but it's not going anywhere, thanks to the Sticking Charm I put on it," he told them.
"Wait… you put a Sticking Charm?" Peter looked confused.
"Is that allowed?" Sirius wanted to know.
"Why not? It's a very mild piece of magic that should have no influence on the final result, and there was nothing written against it in the notes you handed us," James explained. He had also read a few other sources depicting the Animagus ritual, so he was quite sure that a simple charm would have no negative impact.
"What the hell?!" Sirius glared at him.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Peter exclaimed.
"You didn't ask…" James responded.
With the charms in place and in a much better mood, the group resumed their way to the castle.
"Hold on…" When they were getting closer to one of the side entrances of Hogwarts, Sirius stopped suddenly and pointed toward the greenhouses.
"I think I saw someone over there."
"Could it be the Herbology professor? Professor Sprout often stays in the greenhouses to take care of her plants," Peter pointed out. This was one of his favorite subjects, so he was very familiar with the professor's routine.
"It wasn't the professor. I saw someone's shadow, and it quickly hid behind those walls when we approached… I think someone is spying on us," Sirius said, his voice tinged with concern.
After all, Remus's secret was one that could not be revealed to the public, no matter what. If it were, their friend would be forced to leave the school.
And he would be lucky if that was all that happened. If the Ministry or the powerful wizarding families whose children studied at Hogwarts wanted to create trouble for Remus and his family… things could get very ugly for them.
This was why they had all been very careful during the days of the full moon.
"Homenum Revelio," James said, pointing his wand in the general direction where Sirius had mentioned seeing someone.
"Look! Over there!" Peter shouted.
James's spell took effect and created a shiny silhouette behind the wall in front of the greenhouse.
Sirius rushed forward with his wand in hand. "Incarcerous!" he shouted.
James and Peter heard someone making a painful cry and hurried to see who it was.
"Let me go, you useless buffoon!" A boy with long black hair and Slytherin robes had been tied down by the magical ropes conjured by Sirius. He screamed as he moved his body around in an attempt to free himself from the bonds.
"Snape?!" Peter recognized him immediately. They had had many unpleasant encounters over the past four years.
"Snivellus! I knew it could only be you," Sirius said, frowning.
Severus Snape managed to turn his head to glare at them with pure vitriol in his eyes. "Release me this instant!"
"Not before you tell us why you were spying on us," Sirius responded.
"I have better things to do than spy on some stupid Gryffindors," Snape shouted.
James noted that the commotion had begun to attract a small audience. Apparently, there were still some students in this part of the castle.
They came into the small courtyard that contained the greenhouses and found themselves facing a tied-up Snape.
"Release him, Sirius. This is a pointless confrontation," James told his friend. It wasn't like Snape was going to admit to spying on them.
And when people saw them , it was just going to look like the three of them had ganged up on one lonely Slytherin student.
"But… he was spying on us. What if he saw something…" Sirius whispered to him.
"Then he won't tell you," James said, glancing at Snape. "And if he didn't see anything, attacking him will just make him more motivated to keep trying." He gave his wand a wave and removed the bonds on Snape. He couldn't wait any longer for Sirius to see reason, lest they all end up in detention.
"James is right… we should leave before a professor gets here," Peter said. "Or we'll be the ones who get into a lot of trouble."
"Tsk… fine," Sirius said, giving Snape one last glance as the boy struggled to get back up. "You'd better leave us alone, Snivellus. Next time, I'm going to kick your ass.
"W-Wait!" Snape stood up with difficulty and went to retrieve his wand.
But when he managed to point it in their direction, a lot more students were now around and looking at him.
With nothing but bitterness in his heart, Snape stored his wand and brushed off his robes. "This isn't over… I'll get you for this…" he muttered under his breath.
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