Chapter 28

Avedra juggled a package of books, parchment and quills, and the rest of her new school things as her mother steered her toward Madame Malkin's. She hadn't grown, they weren't worn out, yet her mother insisted on new robes this year. Probably trying to make me forget about my stellar exit from school last year, she thought as her mother took the packages from her so Madame Malkin could measure her.

"And I think a new set of dress robes, something in dark blue," her mother was saying.

"Mum, I'm supposed to meet Lily at 1:00." Avedra said through a veil of robe.

"Don't worry, Avedra, you have plenty of time." Her mum said, consulting her shopping list. "You still need some owl treats for Athena and I have a few stops to make while you're going around with your friends."

"Couldn't you just pick up the owl treats while you're shopping for yourself?" Avedra asked, her head finally out of the fabric of her new robes. "It's on your way, I'm sure."

Calli Lustra smiled at her daughter. She'd scared her when she went to the school to collect her. She'd been so tired and worn looking. You'd never guess to look at her now. She'd gotten her sparkle back. She looked so like her father, with her dark hair and pale skin. Calli snapped out of that line of thinking. It did no good to dwell on that.

"Yes, I suppose I could go do it now. Are you sure you want to Floo home on your own?" She asked for the tenth time.

"Yes, Mum, I'm sure. I'm not sure how much time Lily will need to spend on buying her stuff and I want to spend some time with her." Avedra shook out her curls and did a little turn for her mother's approval of the dress robes.

"That color looks beautiful against your complexion. And it really brings out your eyes." Calli smiled. "Well if you're sure you don't need your 'old' mother, I'll be on my way. Put those on my account, Madame Malkin."

Avedra let out a sigh when her mother left. She'd been hovering ever since Avedra had gotten home from the hospital. Actually she hovered in the hospital as well. It was a relief to not have her watching her every movement for some sign of relapse. She stood still as Madame Malkin outfitted her in her new robes and waited patiently while she packaged them up for her.

"Thank you," she said as she left the store. Finally free, she thought, walking along Diagon Alley toward the ice cream shop, the designated meeting place for her and Lily.

She hadn't made it to the outdoor tables when she saw the familiar flash of red. Lily launched herself at Avedra and hugged her. Laughing the girls sat down at one of the tables and ordered sundaes from the waiter. They both started talking at once. Laughing, Avedra motioned for Lily to go first.

"I'm so glad to see you," she said, smiling. "You look so much better from the last time I saw you."

"Well forced feedings and being knocked out with dreamless sleep potions will do that to a girl." She joked, as their sundaes arrived. "So how has your summer been so far, aside from vile Petunia?"

They talked about their summers, the homework they'd completed, the places they'd wished they had gone. They talked about everything except what they both wanted to talk about, Remus. Lily wished there was some way to know how her best friend was doing, really, without actually asking the words. Avedra wished she could bring him up without reminding Lily of how horribly she'd taken his ending things.

"So, have you heard from the Marauders?" Lily asked, skirting the issue. Surely if Remus had written she'd say something.

"Actually I have, well from two of them anyway. James and Sirius were nearly as consistent as you were in writing to me." Avedra smiled, who'd have thought those two would care enough to keep in touch. "They contemplated sending me a toilet seat from James' house, but didn't know if they'd let me have it at the hospital."

Lily rolled her eyes. Trust Potter and Black to make asses out of themselves outside of school. It was nice, she thought, that they tried keeping Avedra's humor up. It was more than she'd expected.

"What would you want a toilet seat for?" Lily asked, but it wasn't Avedra who answered.

"It'd be a conversation piece, Evans." Sirius Black said from behind her. He grabbed a chair from a nearby table and plopped it between Lily and Avedra. James followed his act, and seated himself on the other side of the table.

"You look much better," James said, grinning at Avedra.

"I feel much better." She replied with her own smile.

"Ah, come here," Sirius said, leaning over to give her a hug. "It's good to have you back, Lady."

She flinched, that had been the name Remus suggested for her Animagus form, but returned the hug. She pulled back and grinned at Sirius.

"I didn't have much of a choice in the matter," she said, sitting back in her chair. "I had a good deal of people reminding me how stupid I was acting. Not to mention that the Healers at St. Mungo's don't give their patients a say in being cured. So, how's Peter? I didn't get a speck of mail from him during my drugged stupor." She skirted the other one she didn't hear a word from.

"He's alright," James said, looking at Lily. "His parents are keeping his nose to the grindstone on the homework. He didn't do so well on the OWLs."

"Oh, so he's not coming to get his stuff today?" She asked, wondering how long Lily would keep quiet with James leering at her.

"No, his mum came to town as soon as he got his OWL results and got what he needed." Sirius answered. "Remus was supposed to be here by now."

Lily turned away from glaring at James to see how Avedra took the news. She'd blushed a little, but seemed to be doing ok. At least until she went to move her sundae dish and Lily could see how her hands were shaking.

"Remus is coming into town today too?" Avedra said, willing herself to be calm.

"Yeah, when we got your letter, we invited him too." James said, turning to look at Avedra too. "That's alright, isn't it?"

Lily was a little surprised at Potter's tone. He sounded like he was worried for Avedra, like he cared whether seeing Remus now would be too soon. She looked at him and noticed that he was studying Avedra, his forehead creased.

"It's fine," Avedra said, looking down at the table. "Where did you say you'd meet him? Perhaps you missed him."

"No, we didn't. Here he comes now." Sirius said, waving at his sandy haired friend.

Avedra took a deep breath and looked up. He was slowly making his way between tables toward them. The sun glinted off his hair and she knew how clear it would make his eyes. She bit her lip, and fidgeted with her napkin. And then he was there, standing behind Lily and Sirius, looking down at her.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. Mum let me sleep in." He said, looking away from Avedra at Sirius.

"No problem, we haven't really gotten started shopping yet. We were just letting the girls finish their ice cream." James answered, looking away from Avedra.

"Remus," Lily said, smiling up at him. "Had a good summer?"

"Not too bad," he said, wondering if he could say hello to Avedra. He turned to look at her, but she had her eyes lowered to the table. Before he could say anything, Sirius spoke.

"So, are we shopping today or what?" He asked, standing up.

"Well, I'm actually just along for the fun of it. Me and Mum got here early and I got my school things." Avedra said, as Sirius offered her a hand to pull her from her chair. She picked up her package of robes and Sirius took them from her.

"I'll carry this for you." He said, smiling.

"OK," she said, a little confused by the attention. He put his hand on the small of her back and pressed her forward.

Lily raised her eyebrow, but said nothing. She stood up and fell into step with Remus. James came around to walk on her other side. She looked at him, wondering if he knew what Sirius was up to, but didn't think she should ask him.

"Where to?" Sirius asked, turning his head to look behind him.

"I need potions ingredients, my new textbooks, and some quills and parchment," Lily said.

"I think we all need new textbooks, let's start at Florish and Blott's." James said.

Sirius and Avedra turned toward the bookstore. He still had his hand on the small of her back, as though she needed coaxing. She was going to say something to him about it, but when she looked up at him, he winked at her and grinned. She couldn't help but smile back. Whatever he was up to, it was probably pure mischief.

They walked into the cool interior of the bookstore and everyone set off in different directions to get their new books. Sirius grabbed Avedra's hand when she turned to follow Lily. He motioned toward one of the stacks and she followed, curious of what he was up to. He pulled her into the shadow of the stack and grinned down at her.

"I've been thinking," he whispered. "I'm pretty sure I know how to wake Remus up."

She crinkled her nose. "Wake him up?"

"Yes, you see, I think a good dose of jealousy will turn him around." He said, holding up their hands.

"You want to try to make him jealous?" Her eyebrow raised. Hadn't she promised herself she was going to let it go? What if it backfired? What if it didn't? "I'm not sure, Sirius. I think I'd rather just let it go."

Sirius looked down at her. "Come on, Ave. Can you honestly say you're over him? Don't you want him back?"

Avedra bit her lip. "Of course I'm not over him and I'd love to have him back. But Sirius, I don't want to play games with him. I want him to come back to me because he wants to, not because I fluttered about with his best mate." She squeezed his hand. "Thank you for the offer, but I'd rather just let it go. I'm not a game player, Sirius, I never was."

Sirius stared down intently at her. He knew that she didn't play the usual games that girls played to get the guy they wanted to pay attention, but he had been pretty sure that she'd want Remus back bad enough to give anything a try. Including, he thought with a far too upbeat feeling to be entirely innocent, dating him.

She tried to pull her hand from his, but he held on to it tight. Regardless of his failed attempt to get her to play on Remus' emotions, he wasn't ready to let her go. He'd waited six years to get this close to her, to hold her hand was something he'd only ever dreamt about. The hugs he'd snuck in, but this felt different.

"Does my holding your hand bother you?" He asked with a smirk.

Her brow furrowed while she considered this. "No, not really. It's just that I'm not willing to play the game, so what's the point?"

His smirk turned into a smile as he answered her honestly. "Maybe I just really want to hold your hand."

"Oh." She said, biting her lip. "Sirius, I'm fairly certain I'm not ready for-"

His hand squeezed hers in a comforting way. "It doesn't mean anything, Ave. I just feel like holding your hand. I'm not asking for more than this." Yet, he added in his head.

She smiled up at him. "Ok. Then feel free to hold my hand, Sirius." She giggled at her formality.

"Sirius," James said, suddenly behind him. "Aren't you planning on getting any of your books for this year?"

Sirius looked over his shoulder at his best friend, taking his eyes away from Avedra only out of necessity. If James noticed him holding her hand, he was taking care not to call attention to it. He sighed.

"You're right." He pulled Avedra out of the nook they had been practically hidden in, and they went about getting the books he'd need for the new school year. He kept her hand in his, only releasing her when he had to.

"Ok, where to next?" Avedra asked when they were back outside.

"I need potions ingredients," Lily said, turning toward the apothecary. Remus, James, and Sirius all nodded in agreement.

"I guess I'm the only one not continuing Potions." Avedra said, grinning.

"I thought you got all your OWLs," Lily said, turning her head to look back at her.

"I did, but I don't need it for my future career." She replied. She was extremely happy that this was the case. She didn't mix well with caldrons.

"So what are you planning on doing when we're finished at Hogwarts?" James asked, walking beside Avedra and Sirius.

"I'm following Mum's path," she said simply.

Sirius smiled down at her. It was exactly what he'd assumed she'd do when she left. And she'd be brilliant at it.

"So what are you planning on doing after school, Sirius?" She asked, looking up at him. The sunlight caught the pale green of her eyes and made them sparkle gold.

"I'm seriously, pardon the pun, considering Auror training." He said, giving her hand a squeeze.

"And you, James?" She asked, turning to look at James.

"Same, really. The war means the Ministry will need more." She nodded, smiling.

"And Lily is going to be a famous potions mistress," she said, with a grin. "And-" She stopped, she'd gotten to Remus and didn't know how to proceed. Luckily Lily covered for her.

"And Remus, what's your plan?" Lily asked, flicking her vivid red hair over her shoulder.

"I'd like to teach, I think. Honestly though, I'm probably going to have a hard time finding anyone who'll take me on as an employee." Everyone sobered a bit at the truth of this statement.

They reached the apothecary and Sirius found that he had to release his hold on Avedra so he could juggle his packages. Avedra wandered away from him, going to spend time with Lily.

"So, Avedra," Lily said, sounding stern.

Avedra had to control her urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, Mother?"

Lily lowered her voice so the boys couldn't over hear. "Would you like to explain why Sirius Black was holding your hand like you belong to him?"

Avedra sighed. Of course Lily would notice. She never missed anything. "He said he just likes to hold my hand." She said honestly.

"Are you trying to make Remus jealous?" She asked, pretending to study a barrel of dried beetles.

Avedra shook her head. "No, you know I don't play those games, Lily. It just, it feels nice. I think it's his way of comforting me. I know I scared you all and I think this is his way of letting me know he's here for me."

Lily looked up to study Avedra's face. She could tell that that's exactly what Avedra was taking his holding her hand as. She wasn't as sure.

"Ok," she said, grudgingly. "I just don't want you to rush into anything and get hurt." She left out the "again".

Avedra smiled. "I'm not rushing into anything. We're just friends."

Lily wondered how long Sirius was planning on letting her stay "just friends" as she watched him come to stand beside her. She had to admit, he had a caring, gentle way about him when he was with Avedra. He wasn't as abrasive today. She turned to see Remus looking at his best friend and his former girlfriend laughing over the barrel of beetles and saw a confused look on his face.