Chapter 258 - Amato Animo Animato (2/2)

”Yes, we did,” Severus huffed as he pointedly shoved Sirius aside and pulled Rowan way from Sirius. ”Keep your hands to yourself, Siri.”

Sirius shrugged, before freezing. ”Wait, how do you know that nickname?”

”Regulus,” Severus answered with a great deal of satisfaction.

Sirius grumbles about annoying little brothers under his breath as James triumphantly says, ”So, you guessed wrongly about, Severus, Rowan.”

”I was only half wrong as he is indeed a black creature,” Rowan sniffed. ”And given his contrary nature, I should have guessed he'd transform into a creature just as stubborn as he is a bloody horse.”

”I'm a black-winged stallion, thank you very much,” Severus pointed out. ”Regular horses can't fly, but I can!”

”Can you?” Rowan gave him a rather pointed glance causing the confidence in Severus to wilt.

”Probably,” Severus cleared his throat. ”Anyway, we won't know until I try at another point in time.”

”So, you say,” Rowan retorted not budging even an inch.

Reaching into her own pouch, she pulls out a single sheet of parchment along with quill and ink. ”What's this?” They all asked.

”Per our verbal agreement, James agreed that if I guessed the marauder's animagus forms, I'd be permitted to borrow his invisibility cloak a total of three times. I'd like that in writing please,” Rowan said as she held out the parchment.

The contract was even dated along with James Potter's signature and the signatures of the three witnesses, Severus Prince, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. There was a spot for them each to sign on the sheet of parchment. Carefully reading the simple contract that didn't contain any hidden clauses or anything like that, James took the quill from Rowan and signed the contract.

Passing the quill to Sirius, James says, ”You really are serious, aren't you?”

”It's an invisibility cloak,” Rowan drily said. ”I'd hate to be accused of theft and there might be an occasion or two when I might seriously have a need for it.”

Pettigrew muttered something about scary girls, before handing Severus the quill, who promptly glared at the much shorter boy. ”Well, I think it's wise,” Severus said.

Sirius muttered, ”That's cuz you're in Slytherin.” Severus flashed Sirius such a dark look that caused Sirius to flinch, before apologetically smiling back. He'd learned his lesson last year; he didn't want another repeat.

Rowan made a copy of the contract and held it out to James to take. ”What's this?” James asked with a frown as he took the rolled-up parchment

”All parties when having formed a contract should keep a copy of the original,” Rowan replied. ”Standard procedure.”

”That's true,” Sirius nodded sagely in reply as that was what his parents said all the time.

Yawning now, Pettigrew said, ”Well, I'm sleepy. Let's get going.”

Pulling on James invisibility cloak, the three Gryffindors vanished as Rowan unlocked the door first for them to go. Rowan and Severus were next as they hurried back to their common room. Some of the Gryffindor luck must have rubbed off on them because they didn't encounter anyone on their way back. Nor much less were noticed missing from their beds.