I sighed, stepping out of the Three Broomsticks and waving goodbye to my mother. She was a lovely person, but honestly...living with her got a bit tedious after awhile. It seemed like she still thought I was eleven sometimes, going off to Hogwarts...I remember that time. And my third year was the best, being able to go home during school for the first time. My friends always got special discounts at the Three Broomsticks because of me, and I loved Honeydukes so much.
I used to go there regularly for Toothflossing Stringmints (my favorite!!), Ice Mice, Peppermint Toads, and sometimes even Fizzing Whizbees - though levitating got boring after awhile. I smiled, remembering how I had met a real, live (well, almost) vampire, buying enormous quantities of blood-flavored lollipops over in the Unusual Tastes section. She scared me nearly out of my wits, that one...
"Excuse me?" said a young man softly, jarring me out of my reminisces. I'd been blocking the door to the Three Broomsticks all this time!!
"Oh, I'm so sorry," I replied hastily, moving out of the way. "I was just - just -"
"Just thinking?" he asked, and on a closer look, I noticed the wrinkles in his skin and his tired, tired eyes - he seemed young, but...
"Yes, just thinking..." I answered, grateful that he understood.
"What about?"
"Well...when I was young and I used to come here..."
"Hogwarts?"
"Why, yes!" Had he gone?? Did we know each other?
"So am I...I'm Remus Lupin, how do you do?"
I froze. Not Remus Lupin!! Not the one...not the one...not the one my brother forced to back out of a teaching job at Hogwarts a month ago!! Severus said it was something he'd done as a boy...but he seemed like a pretty decent guy...I didn't understand. I hadn't seen Severus in a long time, I tried not to, ever since our parents got divorced there was an even bigger barrier between us. I grew up with a loving, caring, kind mother...and he grew up with a horror.
"Very well, thank you...I'm Julie Rosmerta," I replied, smiling and holding out my hand. I resolved to forget about the whole Snape thing - that was his business what jobs he had. But if he had gone to Hogwarts...I thought back and remembered the "hotshot" James Potter, the star Gryffindor Seeker, top Transfiguration student, and his two best friends...Sirius Black and Remus Lupin!
"Rosmerta? Not -"
"Yes," I responded to the unasked question with a grin. "She's my mother."
"Where does your father work?" he asked, meaning only to be friendly, I was sure...
"He isn't here. They're divorced." I didn't mean it to sound cold, but it did.
"I'm sorry." I wished I'd been more considerate, at least. My father was just...a Snape.
"No, no...so you went to Hogwarts?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
"James Potter's friend?"
"Well, yes...how do you know?"
"I was a first year when I first met you...you were all third years. I remember James once saying to me that he wished I could go to Hogsmeade with them for the special deals at the Three Broomsticks - jokingly, of course." I laughed, and he smiled faintly like he was remembering something. He had a faraway look in his eyes.
"Yes...I remember you...slightly...my, you look different," he said, looking at me cheerfully again, "but much better though," he added hastily.
"So do you!" I told him, grinning.
"My thanks..."
"So what brings you here?" I could have kicked myself for asking. I couldn't believe I was so stupid!! Force him to bring up the job he's just had to give up, brilliant, Julie!
"Ah...well...I'm actually job-searching, I, ah, just quit a job at Hogwarts," he said, looking uneasy, and I broke my resolve, vowing to ask Severus about it. I needed to know what he'd done to this poor man!! He was, after all, my brother, no matter how interfering and conniving he could be.
"Let's stroll around a bit," I invited gracefully, changing the subject, and he seemed grateful. I wasn't going to pursue the issue...I would ask Severus later.
"I used to practically live at Zonko's whenever I came up here. My best friends were incredible troublemakers, but they were wonderful people..."
"They had good taste in friends," I remarked casually, grinning again. He smiled, which lit up his whole face and seemed to make it young and carefree again, but he didn't say anything towards that subject, somehow ashamed beneath his smile. I wondered what I could have done now to upset him!!
"And Honeydukes was of course always a must-visit," he continued, a real smile returning.
"Oh, yes! The Toothflossing Stringmints and Peppermint Toads...what a treat..."
"And then your mother came up with the Mint Chip Float!"
"I got free tastes of that, all my friends, too. It pays to be connected to the Three Broomsticks," I told him, laughing. He grinned playfully as we approached Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop.
"I never went in there much..." he remarked.
"Neither did I. Let's go now," I suggested. So together we walked up and opened the door, hearing the recorded sound of bells behind us as we stepped in with a whoosh of crisp cold air, a relief in the summer heat. Inside, we found scales, dragonhide clothing, magic bells, wizard cameras of all shapes and sizes, power stones, strange, exotic silverware, and more wonders. I was surprised - I usually kept to the other end of town, and when I did come here, I never saw it in this light. It was as if I was discovering a brand new store.
We roamed the aisles and shelves for a little while, until we both remembered that there were only a few Knuts to be found in our light pockets. I did rather like that MagicSnap 900 camera, but...oh, well. I led him outside
"Look, there's the Shrieking Shack!" I exclaimed, pointing across the town to the haunted house. Remus shivered, and looked horrible. I didn't know what he was hiding, but I kept saying the wrong things, and I was angry with myself. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks - it's hot and I could do with one of Mother's big pink lemonades right now."
"Sure," he agreed, but a little weakly. The smile sure had disappeared. We walked in silence the rest of the way home.
I gulped at my huge glass of pink lemonade, standing next to Remus at the counter. He was chatting away with Mother.
"Remus Lupin...yes, I remember you," she rambled, "always tagging along with that James Potter and Sirius Black, the traitor! Sometimes Peter Pettigrew, bless his soul -" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Remus wince and frown. "- would come along. You boys were such troublemakers, spending too much time at Zonko's..."
"Yes, Madam Rosmerta, we quite were!! Sirius was the worst...ah, those were the happy days."
"Let's not talk about traitors, Remus. Look where troublemaking too often got Sirius, the lousy tramp!"
Again, a dark shadow passed over Remus, and I was scared. What had happened to make him shiver at any mention of the Shrieking Shack, Hogwarts, or Sirius Black? There must be a way they all fit somehow...
"So I noticed you were hiring, Madam - what jobs?"
"Well, we need someone to help Julie here," and she gestured towards me as I grinned, "run the store in the afternoons on weekdays."
"Pay's pretty good," I told him, smiling playfully, and he laughed.
"Sure! I'll take it."