Rowan is pouting slightly as we go through Diagon Ally to pick up my school supplies. Tessa has already picked up hers and I can't help but to feel grateful that she isn't going to be there next year.

"I just don't see why-" Rowan breaks off as he's hit in the face with water. Flustering he turns to where the water came from, but no one's there.

I pause, "What the hell? Any friends of yours into water fights?"

"Nope, they've got to be yours." Rowan wipes his face and scowls.

Sighing I glance around the street, "I don't know. Those guys…I swear they've become brothers. Four brothers headed by non-blood twins."

"What?"

"Sorry. No they're around here somewhere. Let's buy some robes."

As Rowan and I walk down the street I notice the shadows twisting and moving slightly. Another form, changing slightly every so often, followed it but less successfully. Then there was the boy in the street. I can't tell but it seems to be the same person even if he looks different every time.

'Sirius and James in the shadows. Sirius in the lead, James following. Remus is following in the street. Just past the Quidditch store. Boys are planning something. Signal from James. Duck in about a minute.'

A minute later I shove Rowan down into a duck and roll my eyes as my back ends up totally wet. Once standing again I glare at the three boys.

"Thank you so much for getting me wet. That is exactly what I needed," I drawl.

"Thought you did," Sirius grins.

Remus rolls his eyes and pulls the random hat off of his head, "Now if you don't mind I'd like to return these items."

The werewolf walks off, casually replacing the items he'd grabbed while trailing Rowan and me. He looks a little taller than at the end of school last year and his hair has definitelygrown.

I turn to the other two boys and grin at them. James looks like he's grown the most out of the boys, making him about the same height as Sirius. He has new glasses, round wire framed ones and his hazel eyes glitter from behind the new lenses. His hair is just as messy as before and is sticking up in every which way.

Sirius is grinning and there's a glint of mischief in his eyes. I can't tell if he has something planned or if it's just because he's out of Grimmauld place that has him so happy. Probably a little of both, and add onto that he has his friends now and he's running on hyper mode. His hair is probably longer than his mother would like, but is actually really well looked after.

Remus re-approaches the group and smiles, "Hey Rowan. Sorry about what happened, but we needed to get your attention somehow. Are you going to Hogwarts this year or next?"

"Next. I really want to go this year though," Rowan pouts.

Sirius laughs, "You sound like Reg. He really wants to go as well, but he was born in early September, so even though he's turning eleven he can't attend until next year."

"Hey everyone!"

Turning, we watch as Peter runs up to us. I raise an eyebrow, surprised at the appearance of the boy. Something happened and he's lost quite a bit of the baby fat from last year. He was never fat, but he looks better now. The small mousy boy's had a tan but his hair is still the same color and he looks far to innocent to be really thought of as a mischief maker, but there's a spark in his eyes that is only familiar to anyone who spends a great deal of time with the Marauders.

"Woah, Peter. Someone's been spending some time outside," Sirius remarks.

Peter grins, "I've been helping my parents work on the new house. We've been painting and working on stuff like that. Mum has been planting the whole summer and the gardens look really good."

James nods, and his eye is caught by the Quidditch supplies in the window, "Oh wow. Hey, look at the new broom!"

It's the new Nimbus 1600. It's supposed to be really fast and maneuverable. James is starting to drool and Sirius raises an eyebrow before poking him in the ribs. This causes James to jump and stare at Sirius who just starts laughing like crazy.

"So what are we going to do other than drool over Quidditch stuff?" I ask. I don't mind the sport, but I only play for fun.

"Well they are holding Gryffindor tryouts this year. They need a couple of chasers and a new pair of beaters. I'm going to try out for one of the chaser positions," James says, "I could use a new broom though."

"And I could use a new bag for school," Remus mutters, glancing down the Alley at one of the shops where some of the nicer bags are.

"You heard the man, he needs a new bag!" Sirius shouts. He then loops his arm through Remus's and drags him off to the shop.

I laugh and pull Rowan along with me to the same store. He wanders off to look at some dueling gloves and armor while I try to find the boys.

"Sirius you are not going to buy that for me!" Remus exclaims.

"Why not? I missed your birthday, you need a new bag, and you said that you really like this one," Sirius says.

"Sirius have you even looked at the price of the bag?" Remus asks.

Sirius looks at the price and nods, "And?"

Remus's eyes widen, "Are you kidding? That bag costs fifty three galleons!"

I look between the two and look at the tag on the bag that Sirius is holding. It's made of Dragon hide and has plenty of extra stuff that will be useful for Remus. It has a pocket with an engorgement charm on it, an ink pouch that if the bottle opens up it won't let the ink run into the other pockets, there's a pouch that will organize your spare bits of parchment, and there are about a dozen other things that are included.

"Remus this is a really good bag," I say.

"It's a really expensive bag, and I don't want Sirius to buy it for me!" Remus shouts.

Sirius looks to me, "Want to go in half?"

I nod, "Absolutely. Want to add his name and a Gryffindor patch? It'll make it an even sixty."

"That seems like a really good idea. If he loses it and someone finds it they can return it." Sirius smirks.

Remus shakes his head and leaps toward Sirius to stop him from going up to the counter. I grab him around the waist and hold him back.

"Hurry up Sirius, Remmy is stronger than we give him credit for," I smile. Remus is straining to stop Sirius, but Sirius is smart and listens to me. Diving through the crowd, he makes it up to the counter and talks to the salesman. A moment later Sirius looks back to me and mouths thirty. I nod and, while holding Remus back, pull out thirty galleons and hand them to James.

"Go take these to Sirius at the counter," I huff and watch as he weaves his way to his partner in crime. It's only because I'm really into sword fighting and that Remus really does not want to use his full strength that I'm able to hold the boy back. If he wanted to Remus could pull me along like a rag doll.

"Why are you and Sirius so stubborn?" Remus sighs. He's stopped trying to escape, but I hold onto him anyway because I know the moment I let go he's going to rush to Sirius and try and convince him against buying the bag.

"Because we know we're right. Plus the both of us missed your birthday and we feel bad about that," I inform him.

"But…but…but…"

"No, you deserve it."

Remus sighs and we watch as Sirius returns with the bag. He hands the bag to Remus. Remus looks at the bag, and when he sees Remus J. Lupin embroidered on the bag under the Gryffindor patch he smiles.

"Thank you. Really, this is…thank you," Remus whispers. He looks at Sirius and me and smiles.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

I can't help but to feel happy at the look on Remus's face. I can tell that Ann's pretty happy too and she wanders off to find her brother.

"So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" James asks.

I shrug, "Dunno."

It's silent for a few minutes and that starts to bug me. Looking around I sigh and start to wonder what would happen if I broke into random song.

"Company Always on the run destiny is the rising sun. Oh I was born 6-gun in my hand," I start. It's a song that I heard from some muggles in the street back home, and one that I find rather catchy.

Remus turns to me, "What are you doing?"

"Singing," I grin, "Behind a gun I'll make my final stand. That's why they call me bad company, and I can't deny bad company."

"Where did you hear that?" James asks, "I haven't heard it before."

"Some muggles were playing it from a big black thing down in the street. I think it was a radio, but it kept playing the same song over and over again," I explain.

"It was probably a cassette or an eight track," Remus says.

"What's a cassette? What's an eight track?" Peter asks.

"They're items that play music by a certain band or group only. You can have the songs replay by rewinding them," Remus explains. He stops to look at some books that are on a display in the alley and bites his lip.

James shakes his head, "That's actually pretty smart. You don't have to wait for your favorite song on the radio."

I nod, "Yep, and you can avoid all the annoying ones."

The four of us walk over to the ice cream shop and grab some cones. The summer is rather hot, but not too humid, plus there's a nice breeze.

"What are we going to do this year? We need to get started with the pranking or else we aren't going to do any good," James says.

Remus rolls his eyes, but grins. Something that is a little known secret about Remus, he loves to make mischief. Though not so much on the getting caught part. Remus often is the driving force behind getting the information for our pranks.

"Well, if you want to do that then we're going to go to the book shop," Remus grins, "I need some new books, and you all can get your school books."

I groan as I realize that this could take all day, "Remmy, the moment you step into the book store it will be impossible for us to get you out. It will be like pulling teeth."

"Please, it's not that bad," Remus says, frowning slightly.

"Yes it is," Peter mutters, glancing at a sweets shop.

Remus mock glares at the three of us before shaking his head and grinning.

"Alright, to the book store," James announces, "We must keep the researcher of the group happy."

I chuckle and finish my ice cream, "So long as we avoid anyone who is even slightly related to people with a name rhyming with 'sack' or 'hood' then I'll be fine. The families have taken to snitching on each other."

"That sounds like a pain in the arse."

"You have no idea."

"How can he have an idea when he has no thoughts?"

Laughing at James's face I watch as Remus takes off at a run, with James chasing after him. Peter and I look at each other, shrug, and chase after the two.