Lily looked at Sirius' face as they stepped into Diagon Alley, lit by the May sunshine, but wasn't sure what to make of it. As far as she knew, it was the first time he had been here in this time.
"Has it changed much?" she asked.
He looked around. "A bit. That used to be an ice cream place. And Quidditch Supplies was next door to the Magical Menagerie in my day, opposite Gringotts." He stopped, an odd expression on his face for a moment, as he paused outside Quality Quidditch Supplies, then grinned. "Listen to me. I sound like an old man."
"Well, just taking your birth date, you ought to be about seventy, so technically, you are an old man."
"Sixty eight, not seventy," he corrected her, "And anyway, that's not how it works. I definitely haven't been alive sixty eight years."
They continued on until they were outside Flourish and Blotts, attracting stares, as they had been ever since they stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. Thanks to the recent media attention, the people who might not have known what Sirius Black had looked like before could now hardly avoid knowing. It was not by any means the first time he had appeared in public; after all, when he first arrived, they had practically had to barricade the house against curious onlookers, as well as the press. And there had been the infamous radio interview. But it was the first time he had been spotted doing anything as normal as shopping in Diagon Alley.
A young woman rushed out of the book shop and thrust a book in his face. He blinked at it.
"Are you Sirius Black?" she asked, breathlessly, and then went on, without waiting for a reply. "Could you sign this book for me? I literally just bought it, because I saw you coming up the street. I never read it before, but I bet it's so interesting! Everyone's reading it, now you're back."
Sirius looked down at the book in his hands. It was called 'Sirius Black: The Man Behind the Mask.' He grinned broadly.
"They wrote a book about me? Merlin. They could have chosen a better picture."
The picture on the front was his prison picture, the one they had blazoned across the newspapers back in 1994.
"Dad says it's full of crap," Lily said loudly, shooting an annoyed glance at the girl. "As usual."
Sirius looked at it again. "Rita Skeeter. I remember her. Didn't she write for the Prophet? Why the hell is she writing about me?"
"Same reason she wrote about anyone," Lily said. "To make money, and spread lies. It's what she likes."
"Yeah, she always did, as far as I can remember," Sirius agreed. "When was it written? Recently?"
"No, ages ago. After the war, when they first officially cleared your name."
The girl was looking from one to the other. "But… please will you sign it?" she pleaded.
Sirius turned his most charming smile on her. "Of course. What's your name?"
Lily rolled her eyes, and pointedly examined the books in the window of Flourish and Blotts as Sirius proceeded to flirt with the girl, and write her a long message in the cover of the book.
When she had gone, he turned back to Lily, smiling smugly.
Lily raised her eyebrows. "Enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah." His smile grew. "I wrote 'the bit on page one hundred and fifty four is absolutely true,' and I signed it Beedle the Bard. Good thing she didn't look at it before she took it away."
"What?" Lily stared at him for a moment, and then began to giggle. "Sirius! How do you know what it even says on page 154?"
"I don't. But I'm going to find out."
And before she could say anything, he headed into the shop.
It wasn't hard to find a copy. A month ago, the book would have been tucked away somewhere deep in the biography section, but now there were piles of them displayed prominently near the door. Sirius seemed to find this extremely amusing, and took one off the pile, turning the pages to 154.
"Sirius!" Lily caught up with him. "We're in a hurry!"
"I'll only be a minute," he said, finding the page. He glanced down it and burst out laughing. "What's the betting that's all over the papers tomorrow?"
He handed her the book, and she scanned down it, finding the part he must have noticed.
"Oh, Merlin," she said, torn between horror and amusement. "Of all the pages you could have chosen!"
He grinned. "Good, isn't it?"
The second paragraph began:
"Black began his career as a womaniser early in life. Rumours have it that when he was in his fourth year at Hogwarts, young Sirius became intimately involved with one of his teachers at Hogwarts. Sources close to Black at the time have confirmed that the rumours 'may have some truth in them. There was one particular subject Black always got top marks in. I won't say which, and I'm not saying the two things were connected, but… well, everyone wondered.' Coy words, but the real facts of the case are easily read between the lines…"
Lily stopped there, and looked up at him. "Is it true?"
"No! Ugh." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "It's bullshit. Not to mention the part about me only getting top marks in one subject, which is also bullshit..."
"But were there rumours?" she persisted.
"Not as far as I know." He shrugged. "My fourth year. I can barely remember what happened that year, but I can definitely say that the only thing I got from any of my teachers was detention."
Amusement won, and Lily giggled. "Well, there are certainly going to be rumours now. On the other hand, she might be so humiliated when she sees how you've signed it, she may never tell anyone. That was really mean, Sirius. All she wanted was an autograph."
"What for? I haven't done anything."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Except, you know, travel fifty years through time and arrive in a time where you're officially dead. And you were pretty famous before that, actually, what with being the person everyone thought betrayed the Potters, the first person ever to escape from Azkaban, turning out to be innocent, and dying a hero's death. I don't think you can be surprised that people want your autograph."
"Well, whatever. She was only after a famous autograph - she hadn't even read the book. Served her right. I wish I could buy it, though."
Lily sighed and pulled out her purse. "For Merlin's sake, go and buy it, if you want it. Although why you want to read a biography of yourself that's full of lies, I have no idea."
"Well, it's more interesting than reading a biography of myself that only tells the truth," he pointed out. "I know the truth."
He looked at the money she was holding out to him, and hesitated.
"Pay me back when you get a job," she told him.
He made up his mind and grinned at her.
"Well, okay. Thanks."
He took the galleons from her and approached the desk. A stressed-looking shop assistant was very busy sorting through a pile of books on the desk, and barely glanced up as Sirius came up to him.
"Ten Galleons," he said briefly, looking at the book, and then his brain seemed to catch up with what his eyes had seen in that brief glance at his customer. He stopped, and looked up again, and his mouth fell open.
Lily, watching, clamped her hand to her mouth to stop herself bursting into giggles. Sirius looked her way, seeming on the edge of laughter himself, and looked away again quickly.
"I… you're…" The shop assistant's eyes moved slowly down again to the book in front of him, then back up to the politely smiling young man. "But… why?"
"I thought it might make an interesting read," Sirius told him.
"But… but… you're him! You're Sirius Black!"
"Yes," Sirius agreed cheerfully. "At least, I always assumed I was."
Suddenly the stressed shop assistant broke out into a beam. "But, that's wonderful! You know, I can't tell you how glad people are that you're back, sir. At least, not exactly back… but you know what I mean." He grabbed Sirius's hand and shook it hard. "And don't try to pay me, sir. You're… you're entitled to that book. It's yours, sir. Free. Gratis. It was an honour just to serve you, sir."
Sirius looked a bit surprised at this outburst, and then the trademark smile appeared.
"Well, thanks. Thanks very much." He shook the man's hand warmly, and picked up the book.
Outside the shop, Lily looked at him with amusement.
"You did that on purpose."
"Did what on purpose? All I did was try and buy a book. And I got it for free, so here's your money back."
He handed her the Galleons he had taken, but just as she was putting them away in her purse, a voice yelled, "Lily!"
The door to a nearby shop opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered young man came rushing out and flung his arms around her, beaming.
"Lil! I haven't seen you for ages!" He released her, and looked affectionately down at her, then at her companion. "You must be Sirius Black. Good to meet you." He held out his hand.
"Er, yeah, that's right," Sirius said stiffly, shaking hands.
He looked and sounded annoyed, Lily thought. What the hell was the matter with him suddenly? He'd been fine a moment ago.
"I'm Fred," the newcomer went on. "Lily's cousin."
"Oh!" Sirius' frown cleared, and he grinned. "Right. I've heard about you."
He glanced up at the shop Fred had come flying out of. The legend above the door read 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes,' and the window was filled with brightly coloured gadgets and things that looked like fireworks.
"Have you got time to come into the shop?" Fred asked. "Dad and Uncle Ron are both out, so it's just me."
Sirius, glancing at the products for sale in the shop window, looked enthusiastic about this idea, but Lily frowned.
"No, sorry Fred, we're in a bit of a hurry," she said.
"I suppose we are," Sirius agreed reluctantly. "But I'd love to see it some time."
"Well, drop in any time. I'm usually here, and if I'm not, Naomi probably will be, and you'd probably rather see her anyway. She's much prettier than me."
They said goodbye to Fred, who told them he'd see them later, reminding Lily of the family dinner at the Burrow, and they carried on towards the wand shop.
Lily tried to banish the irritation that had flooded her at Sirius's reaction to Fred. Perhaps she had imagined it, for it had only lasted a second. The trouble was that what she thought she had seen was exactly the reaction James had every time a semi-attractive male of a suitable age behaved in a friendly way towards her. That sudden stiffness and disapproval, until he'd realised that Fred was her cousin. Surely Sirius wasn't going to start behaving like James, and being protective over her? That would be a complete nightmare – and a very ironic nightmare too, she thought with an inward groan, almost able to see the funny side of it.
Sirius stared up at the extremely old sign above the door of the wand shop.
"Ollivander? Don't say he's still here!"
"No, he died years ago. Before I was born, I think. Definitely before I started Hogwarts. Assuming you knew the same one Mum and Dad did, but I think he was pretty old, so you probably did. I think the one there now is his granddaughter or great-niece or something. Or great-granddaughter, I suppose. I don't know how many generations it would be. She's still an Ollivander, though."
She pushed open the door and they stepped inside.
"Wow," Sirius murmured.
Lily looked at him, but he was gazing around the room with that strange look on his face again. A distant expression, as if he was seeing the shop, but thinking of something else entirely.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He looked at her. "It's just weird, because it's exactly the same. Diagon Alley looks different, because the shops are different, and are wearing different things. Even the Leaky's been smartened up. But this place just takes me right back to getting my first wand. I don't think I've been in here since I was eleven."
Lily laughed. "I'm not sure I have either. I just remember James trying to open a drawer while they were waiting, and almost losing his fingers when it slammed itself shut."
Sirius grinned. "My mother brought me for mine. She was angry with me because I'd wandered off while she was in Gringotts. I didn't go far, but it didn't take much to make her angry."
Lily thought that it was the first time - at least since she'd been in 1980, that Sirius had mentioned either of his parents. He talked about James and Remus, and about his time at Hogwarts and in the Order of the Phoenix, but very little about his home life or his early childhood.
However, she didn't get a chance to answer. A door opened, and a woman appeared. She was in her late thirties, with long dark hair and dark lipstick. She stared at them for a moment, her eyes running over them, and gleaming as they rested on Sirius.
"Well, well." She smiled at them. "What can I do for two young people like yourselves?"
Although she said two, she barely looked at Lily. Her eyes were on Sirius, and Lily once again found herself caught between amusement and annoyance. On the one hand, she knew Ruby Ollivander pretty well - the shop where she worked herself was only a few doors down - and she knew that Ruby was always like this. Of course the fact that he was Sirius Black probably added to his appeal, but a guy didn't need to be a celebrity to attract Ruby's attention, and Lily ordinarily had no problems with that, or judgements to make about it. Ruby knew what she liked and went after it, and Lily sometimes wished she had the confidence to do the same.
But on the other hand, this kept happening today, and it was starting to grate. She told herself not to be ridiculous. It was only the second time, and it wasn't as if Sirius seemed remotely interested. Not that it would have been any of her business if he had been.
"My friend needs a wand," she said loudly.
Ruby beamed at this. "Sirius Black!" she said with relish, advancing on them. "I certainly never expected to see you in my shop."
"No, well that would be because he died about thirty years ago," Lily put in.
Sirius shot her a look that she thought was amused, and Ruby looked a little taken aback.
"Well," she said, in slightly more professional tones. "I'm sure we can find you something. What was your previous wand made of?"
"Beech," Sirius replied. "Dragon Heartstring core."
"Hm," she replied. "Well, you're a little older than my average customer. But I'll still have to take some measurements."
She drew out a measuring tape and proceeded to measure his arm. Lily was fairly sure that it didn't need to take as long as it did, and that Ruby didn't need to get quite as up close and personal as she was doing either. Being Sirius, he didn't seem to mind too much at first, although he didn't turn on the blatant charm quite as much as he had been with the girl outside Flourish and Blotts. He started to look a little less sure when she actually took his hand and positioned it on the first wand he tried, and when she repeated this, her fingers lingering on his, for the next two, he shot Lily a look that was somewhat alarmed.
Lily kept her face carefully blank. It served him right for being such a flirt with everyone.
"You don't mind if I leave you to finish here, do you, Sirius, and nip across the road to get something?" she said, trying to sound as if she hadn't noticed the way he'd looked at her. "I won't be long."
This time the look he gave her was a glare. However, his reply was casual. "Hold on. I won't be much longer, I hope."
As Ruby Ollivander moved away to fetch another wand, though, he grabbed Lily's wrist firmly and leaned over to hiss in her ear:
"Don't you dare! You're staying here!"
She merely grinned teasingly at him, but didn't abandon him.
Finally, with a new wand made from Alder wood, they emerged from the shop into Diagon Alley, and Lily allowed her stifled giggles to escape.
"Very funny." He glared at her. "Merlin, that woman's scary."
Lily took a breath and stopped laughing. "She's nice really. Just a bit over the top. Don't feel too flattered, though - that's just how she is. And she likes younger guys. Ruby's always ready to corrupt some innocence."
"I can believe it." Sirius glanced over his shoulder at the shop.
"Not that that would have been an issue for you," Lily went on. "As you don't have much innocence left to corrupt."
Which was entirely true, and she couldn't help wondering what might have happened if she hadn't been there. Ruby was older than them, but still fairly young, and attractive. Why shouldn't he have been interested? And yet he hadn't wanted her to leave - in fact, he'd actively stopped her from leaving. He didn't seem to want anything that went beyond flirting, which wasn't the same Sirius she'd once shared a hotel room, but she supposed it was only natural. He had plenty to get used to in this time without worrying about things like that.
And it was yet another reason she needed to take Louis's advice and nip her own feelings in the bud.
"So where do you work?" Sirius interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh, it's just along there. With the red and white sign." She hesitated. "I'd take you along and introduce you to Roxy - that's Fred's sister - but Louis's going to be waiting for us already. And you'll meet her this afternoon anyway - she's coming to the Burrow after she finishes work."
"Right." Sirius looked slightly uncertain. "Are you sure it's okay for me to turn up to that? I mean, your mum and dad said it was fine, but..."
She stared at him in surprised, then laughed. After all, he wasn't entirely familiar with the Weasley family yet.
"Of course it's fine. It's more than fine - I'm pretty sure they'd all be very pissed off if you didn't turn up. Don't worry. You'll get used to them."