24 June 1977
"See ya in a few weeks, Jimmy!" Roseberry said, throwing her arms around her cousin's neck. She kissed James, her Uncle Charlus, and her Aunt Dorea on their cheeks and followed Sirius out of King's Cross Station. The couple ducked out of sight and Sirius wrapped his arm tightly around her, apparating the both of them to the apartment they had been virtually sharing since winter.
Sirius kissed her on the cheek and nudged her onto the couch, flipping on the WWN, "Rest for a bit, Rose. I know you're tired. I'll take care of dinner."
Rose curled up on couch, looking for all appearances like she was asleep, if it weren't for the tap-tap-tap of her foot on the couch in time to the music.
Sirius tried his best on dinner and Roseberry appreciated the effort. That being said, both looked down at their plates, piled high with, well, Roseberry wasn't entirely sure.
"Looks great, Sirius," Roseberry lied, feeling warm, if a bit apprehensive, when a huge smile lit Sirius's face and he urged her to taste it.
They both took a bite of the rubbery mess and Sirius's face fell.
"It's terrible!" he exclaimed, looking for all the world surprised. He sighed dejectedly as he vanished the food on their plates, "There's an Indian place around the corner. Tell me what you want and I'll call in an order."
11 July 1977
"Sirius! Rose! Over here!" Remus called, grinning broadly at them from the terminal gate.
Sirius and Roseberry waved excitedly and all but ran to greet their friend with huge hugs.
"Is anyone else here?" Rose asked.
"Peter's in the lavatory. James is picking Lily up, but they should be here soon," Remus replied.
Rose smiled smugly, "So I take it Jimmy and Lily are hitting it off pretty well, huh? Jimmy's really not so bad once you get past his enormous ego." Rose shrieked as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and picked her up off the ground.
"What's this I hear about enormous egos?" James mock-growled.
"What, Sirius? Not going to defend my honor?" Rose asked, feigning offense.
"However could you say that, my lady?" Sirius replied indignantly as he tackled his bespectacled best friend and wrestled him to the ground.
Rose smiled amusedly at the carnage at her feet before turning to greet Lily with a hug.
"Erm, I think we're boarding, mates," Remus-the-ever-responsible announced.
"And?" both boys retorted.
"And you two need to start acting a little less like hyper puppies and a little more like humans if we're going to make it to Rome any time soon," Peter replied, pelleting them with M'n'M's.
Both boys sat up on their knees to catch the colorful candy in their mouths, not helping their cause.
Lily and Rose rolled their eyes and dragged their boyfriends up off the floor and pushed them in the direction of the gangway.
.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.
Charlus Potter had spared no expense when he rented the house in Trastevere for his son, his niece and their friends. The building was not particularly extraordinary on the outside, but the interior surprised them all. Pink marble floors and a graceful chandelier greeted them in the foyer. To the right was a dining room with a kitchen on the far side. To the left was a large family room complete with billiard tables, foosball tables, and dartboards and a modest library off to one side. One the other side of the foyer was a glass door leading out into a fragrant flower-strewn courtyard. A small staircase near the door to the courtyard led the teens up to an L-shaped hallway of with windows lining the outer walls and doors along the inner walls. The doors led to identical bedrooms with large four-poster beds, en suite bathrooms, and windows overlooking the colorful courtyard.
"Jimmy! Did you know Uncle Charlus was renting us something like this?" Rose asked incredulously as she leaned precariously out a hallway window to peer down at the passersby going about their daily routine.
"No idea," James said in a dazed voice as he poked his head into each room in turn. "Hey, Lily, choose us a room!"
Roseberry looked up quickly and exchanged an amused look with the remaining Marauders as a blushing Lily pointed to a room near the stairs.
"They're all the same, but this one's pink. I'm tired I think I want to take a nap," she mumbled.
Roseberry and Sirius snickered as James dutifully followed her into the pink room.
"Well," Remus said, having suppressed his laughter, "I didn't see that one coming."
With that, Remus made a production out of claiming the room on the other end of the hall from James and Lily, while Rose and Sirius made a production out of claiming the room next to his, leaving Peter the corner room between the two couples.
18 July 1977
The week passed at great leisure. Remus, having memorized all of his guide books, was anointed their official travel guide and dragged the lot to as many cultural and historical sites as he could manage with Rose and Lily on each arm, hanging onto his every word. James, Sirius, and Peter lamented his negligence in reading up on the fun stuff and having to forcibly drag the girls and their fellow Marauder away from the ruins on the days they visited the Roman Forum. Even they had to admit, however, that the scavenger hunt for giant stone feet was fun and the gruesome and somewhat perverted depictions of hell in at the Sistine Chapel were rather neat.
Toward the end of the trip, the six teens boarded a train to Cinqueterre, intent on getting some sun and non-cultural fun in the Mediterranean. The hike along the islands was picturesque and the teens eventually found a secluded beach on which to relax.
As soon as they were alone, Sirius took on his animagus form and loped along the rocky beach and down into the clear blue water.
James pouted, "Do you think it'd look strange if, say, a stag were to appear on the beach and play in the sand?"
"Yes, James," Lily replied, having been made privy to Remus's condition and the Marauders' Azkaban-worthy solution to it.
"But perhaps if we put up some Muggle-repelling charms on this stretch it'd be alright," Remus suggested.
Remus and Lily set about putting up concealment and Muggle-repelling charms as Rose carried a rat down toward the dog and stag playing in the wet sand.
The dog ran toward Rose at full speed and leapt on her, causing her to fall back into the water. The rat shook itself disgustedly and gratefully clambered up the stag's nose to rest securely between his antlers.
"Sirius!" squealed Rose, pushing the big black dog off of her. Padfoot barked and gave her a sloppy doggy kiss on her cheek before Remus came to the rescue in the form of a ball-wielding marauder.
"Padfoot!" Remus called, waving the large red rubber ball. "Fetch, boy!" Remus tossed the ball into the water and laughed as Sirius happily paddled out to retrieve his favorite toy.
While the boys played, Lily and Rose set about building a small bonfire and grilling meats they had brought with them. The scent of cooking food quickly brought the werewolf, animagi in tow, to the girls' side. Peter and James quickly took on their normal appearances, but Sirius whimpered and whined until Rose swatted him on the nose and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he wouldn't be getting anything to eat unless he ate it properly, as a wizard.
After their early evening meal, the teens lazed around the fire, watching the sun set over the water and singing along to the quiet strumming of Peter's guitar. Staring into the fire at dusk, each thought about what the ongoing war had cost them and how much more they had left to lose. With these morose thoughts, the teens packed their belongings and headed solemnly back to Rome, glad to have had one last carefree summer before their last year together at Hogwarts.