"Are we absolutely, positively sure we have nothing at all left to buy?" he growled. Remus, who had been just wrapping up his sales pitch, fell silent.
"Yes, Sirius--" he began, but Sirius interrupted him, impatiently.
"And none of our parents are coming to get us until six tonight at the earliest?" James nodded his affirmation.
"Rather thick of them, I think. Don't you agree?" he remarked, philosophically. "We could get into any amount of trouble without their proper supervision." Remus coughed, his cheeks turning a suspiciously reddish hue.
"Actually, I think that's because Peter and I convinced our parents and yours that we would all be with one of the other sets." His voice was somewhat apologetic. James looked surprised and Remus hastened to explain. "It was Sirius's idea." In answer to this, Sirius groaned and flopped over from his stomach to his back.
"Don't remind me. It was a stupid idea; we've nothing to do. And to top it all off, little Regulus is running around somewhere, too." Remus frowned for a moment, trying to remember.
"Regulus? That's your little brother. This would be his first year, wouldn't it?"
"Yes," Sirius ground out. "And a more insufferable brat you never met."
"Hmmm," Remus answered, leaning over Sirius to select one of Peter's chocolates.
"You know what?" James asked, coming to a sudden decision. "I'm so bored, I'm actually willing to compromise. Let's head to Quality Quidditch Supplies first, and I promise we'll go to that book place after. How does that sound, Remus?"
"That's fair, I suppose," Remus answered, considering. "I'm for it, if no one else has any complaints."
"It's something to do, after all," Sirius put in. "I say let's go for it. Maybe we'll meet old Snivellus along the way, eh, Prongs?" James grinned and gave Sirius a lazy thumbs-up. Remus frowned, but remained silent.
"Sounds all right to me," Peter spoke up, frowning for a different reason. "I think we should stop for more candy afterwards, though. I'm almost out." Sirius looked at him in surprise.
"But James and I haven't even eaten any yet. And Remus only had one!"
"I know," Peter mumbled. "It's not my fault. I was hungry." James shrugged and stood up, nearly knocking his head against the wooden bench Remus was reclining on as he clambered to his feet.
"Sounds fair. Come on, you three, Quidditch is waiting!" Sirius stood, more slowly than James had, and began brushing the dirt from his pants. Peter and Remus also got up and all four of them gathered their various packages.
It took them almost ten minutes to find a way to balance everything they'd bought, but they were eventually on their way and soon arrived at Quality Quidditch Supplies. It was late in the month to be buying supplies as all four had been putting it off as long as possible, and as a result the store was mostly empty. The only other customers there were Amos Diggory, a seventh year Hufflepuff Chaser, and a first year girl with an old man who appeared to be her grandfather. The latter two were arguing, rather loudly and vehemently on the girl's part. It seemed that the girl didn't see the point in buying a broom when first years weren't allowed to have them at Hogwarts, anyway, and besides, she was terrible at Quidditch. She didn't want to learn, either. The old man was unperturbed.
"Now, Nila," he began indulgently, when she paused for breath. "I know the Hogwarts regulations as well as you, but you will be allowed to have a broom next year, and you will be able to try out for the Ravenclaw team then. I want you to have a good head start." The girl - Nila - abandoned the broom debate and let be the fact that he had ignored half her argument, instead choosing to focus on a single word.
"And who says I'm to be a Ravenclaw?" Her grandfather shook his head.
"Never mind, then. Come along, Nila. We still have one more store to visit and I'm sure you'll change your mind later. We can come back then." Judging by the expression on Nila's face as her grandfather led her out the door, James seriously doubted there would be any changing of minds on her part. Diggory looked up and watched until the pair had gone out of hearing range. Then he grinned at James.
"You missed the best of it, Potter," Diggory informed him. "That little spitfire was just getting started when I came in here about three hours back. I was through a long time ago, but I stayed to see how long it would last. That miniature rant you just heard was after about an hour's worth of gradual cool-down time." James nodded his acknowledgement. He and Diggory had met last year when Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had merged one of their practices to have an actual practice game. It hadn't amounted to much, though. Ravenclaw had still won the Quidditch Cup and it wasn't until much later that summer that Remus had owled him to say that he'd just discovered Slytherin and Ravenclaw had done the same thing, anyway.
"D'you think she'll get Gryffindor?" Remus asked absently as he settled in to wait for the other three to finish. Diggory shrugged.
"Well, she certainly won't take Ravenclaw after that display, if only out of spite. The subject came up about once every three minutes. She seems as if she might be bright enough, though. Could be Gryffindor." Remus nodded and watched idly as his three friends zeroed in on the latest Nimbus. Remus and the others were used to all sorts of people just walking up and chatting with James. Even seventh years, like Diggory. About twenty minutes later, the other three were still browsing the store and Diggory was long gone. Quite some time later, Remus sighed and settled in for the rest of the wait. With nothing better to do, Remus's mind turned back to Nila. He didn't think she'd make Gryffindor, but if anyone had asked, he wouldn't have been able to say why. Besides that, she looked strangely familiar, though he was certain he'd never seen her before in his life. She had a plain face, unremarkable but not precisely ugly. Her jet-black hair was clipped as short as some boys' and it looked wet. It laid as though it was wet as well, limp and clinging to her head. Her pale skin made her look just as lifeless and just as frail and sickly as Remus himself did a few days before the full moon. He hadn't seen much of her eyes because her hair was a bit overgrown and hung in the way, but he was sure they were either black or a very dark brown. It was pitiful, thinking about first years like this, but he had already finished with his purchase which consisted of last year's World Quidditch Scores for his collection. Remus turned back to his friends.
"Come on, are you three almost done?" James nodded reluctantly.
"S'pose so." He yawned and stretched. James had spent the last ten minutes or so with his neck twisted in an awkward position trying to read the fine print on the bottom of a Snitch box. "Maybe we'll head back here later, then."
"Why?" Remus asked as he urged the other three out the door. "We've Ibeen/I here. There's nothing left to do"
"There's always more to do in a Quidditch store!" Remus rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." Without pausing to listen to more Quidditch conversation, Remus led the way to Flourish and Blott's. He had no problem with Quidditch. He himself thought it was very exciting and always watched the scores closely, but there was a limit to his capacity for it. Much like James's relationship with books.
They found Nila already in the bookstore and as she was still there when James was through with what little he had to do with books, he wandered over and started conversation.
"Hello," he introduced himself in his typical confident and easy manner. "My name is James Potter. You're a first year, aren't you? I saw you in Quality Quidditch Supplies. So, your name's Nila, is it?" She looked up from her book somewhere around the 'in Quality Quidditch Supplies' part of his greeting when it ostensibly became apparent that he was not merely passing.
"Yes, I'm a first year." She studied his face as she spoke. "But, actually, it's Nihila. Nila for short, if you don't want to waste time on the extra syllable."
"Pleased to meet you, Nila," James said gallantly. "Do you like Quidditch, at all?" Nihila shrugged.
"Not really. I mean, what is Quidditch? Fourteen empty-headed jocks flying around a field on brooms and throwing balls at each other using up valuable resources and space that could easily be converted into something more practical, were they not wasting it." James was astonished.
"Like what?"
"Well. The field could be used for a testing facility," was her prompt answer. James considered this for a moment.
"You know," he said slowly and with his most charming expression. He had the vague notion that maybe she just hadn't met any real Quidditch players yet. "I play Seeker for the Gryffindor team."
"I'm not surprised." Nihila had returned to the ancient-looking volume through which she was now frantically flipping. James decided right then he didn't like her. He certainly hoped she did not make Gryffindor, not with that idiotic detached expression on her face. If he had to see that every day, he'd kill somebody.
"You shouldn't make snap judgments," he scowled at her. She looked up now, surprised.
"I didn't."
"Oh, really? Then why weren't you surprised?" Nihila shook her head impatiently.
"You were in Quality Quidditch, but no one was forcing you to go there, and one of the first things you wanted to know was if I liked Quidditch. That means you probably play. There's a Snitch in your pocket," Here James glanced at his struggling pants pocket. "and that means you're a Seeker. Furthermore, you are wearing the Gryffindor House colors. I may be a first year, but I've read a few things and I know that much at least." James looked her over rather coldly, still not satisfied.
"Why don't you like Ravenclaw House?" She had returned to her search and was stuffing the first book she had been looking through back on the shelf while simultaneously reaching for another that looked almost identical to the first.
"Oh, I have no problem with Ravenclaw," she answered, distracted. "Its just that both my parents and almost all of my father's family have been Ravenclaws so naturally I'm expected to be one as well, and I'm frankly tired of it." James felt a little better about the girl. Maybe she had a bit to redeem her.
"My best friend has that problem, too, but with a different House." Nihila was still absent, but she asked a question of her own for once.
"Is that so? Which one?"
"Slytherin." That got her attention.
"That's the one I want!" James's eyes widened.
"You want it? I didn't think anyone wanted it. I thought all those stuck-up pureblood maniacs only pretended to 'cause they couldn't get in anywhere else."
"Excuse me?" a new voice intruded. James didn't even turn around.
"Excuse you, Andromeda Black." She ignored him.
"See, that's the kind of comment I've come to expect from you close-minded brutish Gryffindors. Completely one-sided and devoid of any empathy whatsoever, not to mention the complete lack of any wit, cleverness, or substantial originality." James snorted, but he wasn't nearly as annoyed as he would have been if it where a different Slytherin.
"Thought you were the good Slytherin."
"I am the good Slytherin. But I'm still a Slytherin," She turned to Nihila. "Hello. My name is Andromeda. My older sister's one of the Slytherin prefects, so if you make it into Slytherin, tell her you know me. It'll help." James snorted again at the illusion to the Slytherin social-political world. Andromeda ignored him again. "Also, if you make it in, come find me. I can introduce you to everyone. You should probably look around for my younger sister as well. Her name's Narcissa and she's always in the center of things, so if you tell her I sent you, she can help you. All three of us Black sisters are pretty important in our own circles and we'll help each other's friends, too, though as a word of warning it's easier to get me to befriend you than the others."
"Andromeda!" an impatient voice called from the other side of the store.
"Sounds like Bellatrix isn't too happy. Better stop dawdling," James remarked. Andromeda continued to ignore him.
"That's my older sister, Bellatrix, so I'd better go. Good luck in Slytherin House." With that, she turned and was gone. James stretched and looked around for Remus. As it happened, he was just finishing here as well. James strode off towards him without a word of farewell to Nihila. Not that it mattered, she had turned back to her book and would not have heard him anyway.
"So, where do we head now?" Remus asked. "It's still hours and hours until six, and getting more candy won't take longer than five minutes." James shrugged.
"Don't suppose we'll find Snivelly anywhere, after all. He's always way earlier than any normal human being." Peter snickered, but the others were listening to Sirius already.
"I guess we could look around for Regulus," Sirius suggested grimly. "Have some fun with him, perhaps. I tell you, I'm dying to have some payback after what he did this morning. Godric, I hate that prig!" James shrugged.
"Sounds good to me. I mean, if you have a problem with somebody, I'm not going to stand in your way." Remus looked a little indecisive.
"Well... okay. As long as you guys aren't planning to hurt him really badly... I'm in." Peter clapped his hands.
"Yes! Let's do it." Sirius grinned.
"So come on then. Let's find the insect."
It was pure luck that Regulus heard them first. He had just enough time to duck behind a pile of feed crates outside the Pet Emporium before his older brother's footsteps and loud voice rounded the corner. As the voices -- plural, because apparently some of Sirius's friends were there as well -- drew nearer, Regulus squeezed himself into as tiny of a ball as he could manage. He knew as well as Sirius that their parents wouldn't show for quite some time and facing his brother all alone would be tantamount to suicide, especially after this morning. Regulus shuddered just to think of it. The voices came steadily nearer and nearer until they finally stopped just on the other side of the crates. Regulus tensed and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Well, well, well. And what have we here?" The voice was not Sirius's, but that really didn't matter. Sirius was with whoever's voice it was. Heart sinking, Regulus opened his eyes and looked around in surprise. No one was on his side of the crates; he hadn't been spotted, yet. Regulus frowned in confusion. What was that voice talking about, then? His question was answered by another voice, this one calculatedly bored, but strained.
"What do you want, Potter?" The first voice's answer was positively gleeful, even if it was not an answer per se as it did not address the question posed.
"And here I thought you'd be finished here long ago. What happened, Snivelly? You're usually such an early bird."
"Which would explain the worms..." That one was Sirius's voice and it was followed by his trademark barking laughter accompanied by the first voice and three other voices laughing with varied style and enthusiasm. The bored voice answered the question, after a fashion, but pointedly ignored the following comment.
"As a matter of fact, I had, not that it's any of your business." Regulus's fear had mostly subsided now that he knew Sirius and the other boys had found someone else. He felt mainly curiosity now and had decided it was probably safe to look. After a moment of further deliberation, Regulus twisted his body around and pushed himself up to his knees with his hands on his thighs. He was careful only to show as much of his head as was necessary to peer over the edge of the crate at the five boys now visible. He only recognized one of them and this was his brother, of course. Sirius was standing behind one of the other boys and in front of two others. All four of them were facing another boy and it was this boy alone who interested Regulus. It was obvious that Sirius ardently disliked him and Regulus wanted to know why. He understood perfectly why Sirius hated him. He was obviously favored by their parents and for equally obvious reasons -- obvious to Regulus at least -- but what could his brother have against this boy who wasn't even part of the family and, judging from the look of him, not even a part of any of the other pureblood families Sirius usually had issues with?
The fifth boy was leaning against the wall of the Pet Emporium with his arms crossed over his chest and one pallid hand clutching a small brown package. Regulus couldn't see anything wrong or particularly offensive about him, but the other boys were eyeing him hungrily as though he were a remarkably succulent treat. Somewhat intrigued, Regulus decided to keep watching rather than sneak away. He knew from experience that the risk of being discovered now was surprisingly low especially if Sirius was as fixated on this boy as he usually was on Regulus. At the moment, Sirius was watching the boy in front of him who seemed to be their leader as if waiting for a cue. The leader himself was watching the fifth boy in a similar way, as if anticipating a cue of his own. It was the fifth boy who grew tired of the watching and broke the silence.
"Listen, Potter. Just get on with it, will you? I haven't got all day." He addressed this to the leader, his voice still bored but increasingly strained.
"Get on with what?" Potter asked innocently. The fifth boy's voice took on a dangerous edge.
"Get on with whatever it is you have planned for today! Get on with whatever clever remarks you've been smirking over all summer just dying until you had the chance to actually say them to me and howl about it with the rest of that circus you run! Get on with that!" Regulus leaned forward, even more intrigued than before. He'd harbored the vague idea that this could actually be not so much as a boy that his older brother disliked as just something to do because Sirius was bored. Now, however, there were certain interesting possibilities opening up. Unfortunately for the Slytherin House theory and information circulation authorities, Regulus was given no more time to observe or calculate. At just that moment, Regulus's hand slipped on his leg and his chin then forehead crashed down onto the edge of the crate. Not even bothering to see his brother's reaction, Regulus whirled and sprinted away as fast as he could, but not fast enough. One of the two who had been hanging back -- the less chubby one -- had bolted after him and, being two years older, quickly fetched him before Sirius and Potter. The four boys Regulus was not related to made short work of the family resemblance.
"This your brother?" Potter asked, indicating Regulus with his chin. "This little spy?" Sirius nodded his affirmation with the same grim expression he'd had a year ago just before he'd hung Regulus out the window by his left ankle for an hour. Really, was it Regulus's fault Sirius never bothered even trying to please? Was their mother supposed to pretend she didn't notice Regulus's helpfulness just to make Sirius feel better? Regulus rearranged his face into the one he used on Mother every time he made a mistake. The one that dripped with humility and regret.
"I wasn't spying, I swear!" Regulus pleaded, purposefully speaking with an even higher and softer voice than he normally had. Sirius had seen it work on Mother too many times for him to be affected, but some of these others might fall for it. "I was just sitting there thinking to myself and I didn't even notice you until you were already here and doing... whatever it is that you're doing. No business of mine of course, in fact -"
"Shut up!" Sirius barked. Regulus obliged. "You were spying, you were eavesdropping, and you know it. And even if you weren't," Sirius bent over so that his face was even with Regulus's. "even if you weren't, do you honestly believe I'd let you off after what you did this very morning?"
"But I didn't do anything!" Regulus wailed. Not strictly true. He hadn't done anything Sirius had any right to be mad about. Not on purpose, anyway.
"Oh, right. Of course not; my mistake," Sirius snorted. He straightened abruptly and pulled out his wand. Regulus gulped and twisted his head so he could see around his older brother and was looking straight at the fifth boy, still leaning unconcernedly against the wall.
"If I tell you what I want written on my gravestone, will you remember and tell my parents?"