"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Harry asked, staring down at the book James had plopped in front of them.
"Harry, this will go great." James tried to assure him. "Just do exactly what I tell you."
"Isn't Britt a little young to be doing this?" Harry asked.
"I'm only a little younger than you!" Brittany said indignantly. "If you're doing it, so am I!"
"Okay." Harry consented. "Just, try to do it right. I really don't want any of these side effects of it going wrong."
James pulled out his wand and waved it around Harry and Brittany, chanting a spell. After about five minutes, he handed them each a mandrake leaf.
"Put these in your mouths."
Harry and Brittany obeyed. Just as their mouths closed, Lily yanked the door to the closet they were hiding in open.
"James Potter, how dare you!" she screeched. "Harry and Brittany, take those leaves out of your mouths right now!"
"Harry, Britt, don't." James said. "Lily, the spells have all been cast. If they take them out now, well, uh, things will not end well."
"James Potter, I can't believe you would do this!" Lily shouted. "This is such an irresponsible, dangerous, stupid," and on and on and on.
----------------------
One very quiet month later, Harry woke up on September 1. He finally was able to spit out the leaf. The transformation was supposed to happen tomorrow, and James demanded that he be told what it was.
Harry was leaving his room when Britt headed him off.
"Promise to send me a letter telling me what your form is." she demanded, hands on her hips.
"If you promise the same." Harry said.
"I promise." Britt promised.
"Then I promise too." Harry grinned. "We've got three hours before the Hogwarts Express leaves, we should make the most of it."
Harry and Britt hurried down the stairs to breakfast.
As they sat down, James began talking animatedly, waving his hands around in wild gestures.
"And before you knew it, BOOM!" he yelled, making Harry and Britt jump so violently they fell off their chairs, "Snivellus was on the ground, soap foaming from his mouth!" he looked at the places where Harry and Britt had been sitting moments before. "Harry? Britt?"
James leaned over and looked under the table, then sat back up so quickly he banged his head on the table.
"What is it, James?" Lily asked, calmly buttering a piece of toast.
"Um, Lily, dear..." James hesitated. Harry and Britt saved him from explaining by emerging from under the table.
"THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TRANSFORM UNTIL TOMORROW!" Lily screeched.
Harry and Britt looked at each other. They were both small fawns, brown and white speckled.
"What's the harm in them transforming a day early?" James asked, nervously running a hand through his hair.
"THE HARM?" Lily shrieked. "THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS LEAVES IN TWO HOURS YOU IDIOT! FIX HIM!"
"Relax, I had transformed back by breakfast." James tried to reassure her. "So, by eight."
"When did you transform the first time?" Lily asked, taking deep breaths.
"Uh, midnight." James muttered.
"WHAT?" Lily had gone back to shrieking. "IT TOOK YOU EIGHT HOURS? WE DON'T HAVE EIGHT HOURS, MISTER, YOU HAVE AN HOUR AND A HALF TO FIX THEM!"
An hour later, Harry and Britt still hadn't transformed back, and Lily was getting desperate. So desperate, she called in the one person she would never call in a crisis.
"SIRIUS!!!"
Sirius appeared in their living room five minutes later.
"M'lady?" he asked.
Harry and Britt entered the room.
"Oh, I get it." Sirius walked over to them. "You got pet deer? Do Harry and Brittany know?"
Harry kicked him in the shins.
"Ow!" Sirius rubbed his shins. "Deer with attitude."
"Sirius, that is Harry and Brittany." Lily sighed, exasperated. "Why do you think they had that 'ultimate quiet game'? That's what you, James, and Wormtail did!"
"Oh, so you can't figure out how to change them back." Sirius nodded his head. "And the train leaves in half an hour. Okay, okay, here's what I did to change James back." Sirius knelt down next to Harry and Britt, and clapped his hands in their faces. Startled, the kids reverted back to their human form with a pop.
"Thank you, Sirius." Lily sighed, relieved. "And now we need to get to the platform. Come on kids."
"What about me?" James asked. "Don't I get to come?"
"You were included in the statement, kids." Lily said. "You have been demoted from adult to child. Sirius, you're welcome to come to."
Sirius smirked at James, and they all followed Lily out the door.
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