Thursday 1st August 1974
Potter Manor, 10:30
James glared at his summer work, as if he could intimidate it into doing itself. Seriously, what was the point in it? There was nothing useful about it. All it did was spoil your summer. There was always too much of it and the topics weren't fun (when were they ever?) and he was never in the mood to do any of it.
Granted, he was never exactly in the mood to do regular homework but that wasn't the point. He could be trying to figure out when the next storm was going to roll in but no he had summer work to do instead. It just wasn't fair.
He couldn't even risk sneaking down to the Library for the last copies of the Daily Prophet dad kept to check the weather forecast. Mum and dad had gotten fed up with his constant procrastination and told him, with uncommon sternness, not to come out of his room until he'd put down at least a paragraph for each subject. Monsters.
Well, not really. But they were being unfair! Hadn't he got all his summer work done eventually in the last few years. Sure, last year he was doing an essay on the train and all but he had honestly thought he'd finished it.
It was nothing to get worked up over, that was for sure. But no, OWLs were coming up so he had to focus.
Well, he didn't want to focus. Not over the summer anyway. It was nowhere near exams! Summer was for fun and not worrying about things. Anything. James picked up his quill, a look of complete disgust in his face.
"I hate you," he grumbled.
Of course, it didn't reply. It being a quill and all.
[xxxxxx]
Sunday 4th August 1974
Lupin House, 08:15
Bleary-eyed, Remus cracked his eyes open with a loud groan. At least, he thought the loud groan came from him. He was the only one here. He was too tired to check.
Everything hurt, from the thumping just under his temples to his toes. Like he had strained every possible muscle he had. All pretty normal after a full moon.
He tried opening his eyes again and breathed a sigh of relief when there was no bright light. That would have hurt. But there was no bright light in his parents' basement. It wasn't necessary considering there was only one thing it was used for.
Him. Just him. Or, more correctly, him during the full moon. This was his little area that he could never fully remember what he did to it. Except destroy the few crates that used to be down here. Not that he did that anymore.
They had just recently "upgraded" to chaining him to the wall for the night. Ever since last hear after he and his dad got nervous about him splintering the basement door from flinging himself against it all night long. The wolf in him just wanted to be free. Well, they weren't willing to take that risk, even if his mum did think they were being a bit ridiculous, so chains it was. For all four limbs. They had originally gone for the chain around the neck like you would for a dog but after the bruises, cuts and struggles with breathing the next day they thought that that did too much damage. Hence the basically attaching him to the wall. Not quite spread-eagled, his feet were on the floor and he had a short length of chain between each limb and the wall. But they were short enough that he couldn't leap anywhere. Or move really. Something the wolf didn't like but that was just too bad. No one was asking his opinion.
"Remus?" his dad's voice came from above.
Remus groaned in response. The aching wasn't going away.
"Are you awake?"
"Dad?"
That was all he could rasp out. His mouth felt like someone had poured sand into it. And he had experienced that before. Connie had poured a whole bucket of sand over his head one summer when they were eight over some silly argument. Most of it had gone into his mouth and up his nose. It was a decidedly unpleasant sensation.
His dad didn't answer him, instead swinging the door open properly and coming in. Remus flinched again; all the noises were loud. Too loud. Footsteps echoed and did dad always breath that heavily?
Then it was too bright. Light seared against his eyeballs, making him hiss in pain. That hurt. So, so bad.
"Sorry," dad whispered, knowing how sensitive his ears were. "I can't see otherwise."
And if dad couldn't see that meant Remus wasn't getting off this wall. He would just keep his eyes firmly shut. It's not like he couldn't tell what was going on anyway. The "perks" of extremely enhanced senses after the full moon. His body thought it was still a wolf for the first half of the next day.
Soon the chains were off him and Remus finally felt at ease enough to slump against the wall. Not exactly relaxing because he ached too much for that but letting something else hold his body up at the moment was very welcome. He never could do that when he was restrained, he couldn't let himself do it. They put him on edge.
What also put him on edge was the way his dad worriedly loomed over him to check for injuries. The wolf in him read it as a threat. Even if he meant well.
"What hurts the worst?"
Best to get the worst injuries out of the way first.
"Shoulders," he gasped.
They ached and throbbed more than anything else. He tried to lift his arms so he could check them himself but even the act of flexing his hands sent pain all the way up his arm.
His dad immediately set to carefully tugging his ripped shirt off him. No matter how slow or gentle he went, it still hurt so badly but eventually he managed it. Even if Remus had tears dripping down his cheeks.
He tried not to gasp as his dad poked and felt around his shoulders. However, the flinching and trembles was something he couldn't control.
"Not dislocated this time," dad said with an approving nod. "You must have just strained the muscles badly."
That was something to be thankfully for. Dislocated shoulders were never any fun. His dad was basically an expert at popping them back in for Remus, it happened far too many times, but Remus would really much prefer not to go through the whole process at all if he could.
Dad gave them a rub which both hurt and felt good. Definitely muscle pain. He would take it.
"Look, no cuts this time," Remus said, holding out his arms, or more specifically, his wrists.
They tried something new with the chains this time. Normal padding didn't work, Remus' struggles wore through it in a night. Which was extremely painful and Remus was just thankful that those cuts never really scarred. He had enough of those. No, this time they had glued several layers of cotton wool to the insides on the cuffs before wrapping them in leather. It seemed to have worked, even if it felt quite odd.
"Brilliant," dad proclaimed after doing a thorough inspection of his wrists and arms. "We'll make the bindings more permanent and that should be you set from now on."
Remus nodded, immediately regretting it as pain shot through his head. Nausea also overcame him as the world swirled for a long few seconds. He always felt worse after the full moon at home now. His wolf was used to being somewhat free at school, as restricted as his environment was. Being chained up was something the wolf definitely did not like.
Unsteadily, he scrambled to his feet - staggering as his feet tried to remember how to work. Pins and needles were shooting down his limbs with their uncomfortable prickliness.
"Come on," dad said, letting him lean heavily on him. "Mum's got a hot bath waiting for you."
Now that sounded heavenly.
[xxxxxx]
Monday 5th August 1974
12 Grimmauld Place, 17:30
Another dinner, another hour of stilted conversation. It was nothing like dinner at the Potter House. Merlin, it was probably nothing like dinner at the Lupin's or Pettigrew's either. Not that he'd ever be allowed to go there but they seemed to be cheerful people. Unlike his family. He didn't even like paying attention to whatever his parents were currently talking about. Not that he was expected to contribute, children should be seen and not heard and all. Even though he wasn't a child anymore. Nope, still couldn't voice his opinions without getting told off. Not that he really wanted to talk to his parents- all they did was find things that was wrong with him - but the point still mattered. He was no longer a child. Not like Regulus. He was doing his OWLs next year, after all.
"We must tell Cygnus that we are going next week," his mother was saying. "Perhaps Bellatrix and Rudolphus would join us."
"I doubt newlyweds would want to join their family on holiday," father chuckled.
Mother gave him a disapproving look, complete with pursed lips. The type of look that implied that he had said something inappropriate. Which Sirius didn't think he had.
"Nevertheless, we shall ask."
"Of course, Walburga."
Father seemed very apologetic now. Sirius exchanged a confused look with Regulus, who looked even more confused than he felt. What were they talking about?
They soon settled into a discussion on whether grandfather would go early, he usually went to France the last week of August to early September. Sirius rarely saw him outside of family functions. And when he did all grandfather wanted to know was how far he had progressed with his studies and who he had allied himself with. At least he had been impressed with Sirius' friendship with James. Grandfather said that if he must be a Gryffindor, it was imperative that he make appropriate allies in Gryffindor. And Potter were the epitome of appropriate Gryffindor allies in grandfather's eyes. Allies, mind, not friends. When Sirius had told him, he was friends with James, grandfather had declared it to be "stuff and nonsense and a waste of time".
Wait. When did they say they were going to France?
"We're going this week?" Sirius blurted out.
It got him sharp looks from both parents. Not that he cared. Not when there were more important things to worry about here!
"Yes, Sirius," his father said tiredly, probably expecting an argument. "Is that a problem?"
Ha, he knew better than to do that. Most of the time. Anyway, it wasn't like he could argue about it because that would make them suspicious and he couldn't be having that.
"No, I just thought we were going next week."
"No, it's this week. In two days, in fact."
"Finally," mother sniffed, cutting through her meat.
Father sighed. "I told you that I couldn't get away any sooner, Walburga."
Mother said nothing but her displeasure was clear. Definitely not the time to maybe suggest him joining them at the weekend or next week.
There was supposed to be a storm rolling through this week! He couldn't miss it! But it wasn't like he could stay behind or anything. Or could he. Hmm...
He looked to his parents who were now engrossed in a conversation between themselves. Something about a law they wanted influence. Normal things really.
No, it was probably not best to bring that idea up. He'd actually managed to not get into trouble so far, except for disapproving looks when he got back from the Potters. His back didn't sting or throb and neither did any of the other parts to his body. And he would kind of like to keep it that way.
Not that he thought that it was any of his doing. Both of his parents had been somewhat distracted recently. With what, Sirius couldn't bring himself to care. He had other things to worry about after all.
This waiting for a storm business was annoying. Especially when he had been keeping his mandrake leaf safe in a dark spot for nearly a month already (he had managed keep it in his mouth from full moon to full moon in the last month of school). He was getting impatient. There weren't nearly as many storms as he'd thought there be. It had been warm enough too! Some real scorchers. It just wasn't a London summer without a heatwave and then a thunderstorm, was it? But only the heatwave had happened so far. Thank Merlin for air-freshening charms. This house was stuffy enough even when it was cold.
And now a storm was actually forecasted and he wasn't even going to be here? Why did he have to have such bad luck?
[xxxxxx]
Wednesday 7th August 1974
Blackpool, 15:00
Lily happily dug her bare toes into the sand, the pink nail varnish vanishing under the sand. There was no better feeling to describe summer in her opinion. The sun on her skin, sand under her still damp feet from her paddle in the sea, and the smell of seaweed in the air. It was great! Holidays like this were always the best. Nothing over complicated or busy about them. They could just take life slowly and relax. And they were going to be here for two whole weeks! Hopefully the weather would hold out the entire time. There wasn't much to do here if it was raining except the arcades and those got boring after a while.
"Lily!"
She shaded her eyes as she turned in the direction of that shout. Chryssie and dad had returned. Finally! They had taken absolutely forever.
"Get lost?" Mum teased.
"The queue was so long," Chryssie complained.
"Half the beach must have been getting ice-cream at the same time as us," dad backed her up.
"Why did we have to pick the most crowded beach?" Petunia complained.
Lily didn't blame her - Petunia had been hit four times now with an assortment of beach balls and frisbees. Two dogs had also crashed into her, and they hadn't been small ones.
Chryssie handed her a dripping ice-cream cone, which she took gratefully. It was hot. So hot she could practically feel her skin burning. More sunscreen was definitely in her future. Lily looked at her mother enviously. She tanned, unlike her and Petunia. If they stayed out in the sun too long, they turned into tomatoes. Why couldn't she have inherited the tanning genes?
Taking a long lick of her ice-cream, Lily looked around at her family. They were all busy relaxing. Dad was fiddling with his camera, he'd taken it up as a hobby again, mum was lounging on a deckchair with a soppy romance novel and Petunia was trying to do something similar but also slapping even more sunscreen on her already quite red skin. Chryssie and herself had been provided with their stripey beach towels to do something similar - and Lily had a discarded book (not a romance novel) next to her - but it was too hot to do much of anything. Hence the discarded book. She didn't understand how Chryssie had the energy to build all the sandcastles she had. There were one, two, three... six of them surrounding their little group. All different despite using the same bucket for each of them.
"You girls still going to ride some roller coasters?" Dad asked.
Lily and Petunia nodded, Petunia loved the massive loop to loop one here, while Chryssie frowned.
"Hope I'm actually tall enough for some of the fun rides," she grumbled.
Lily felt her pain. The two of them were on the short side, thanks to mum. At least they weren't as short as Marlene though. But when it came to rides it was still annoying.
"You were just under it last year," Lily said encouragingly. "And you've definitely grown."
All Chryssie's skirts were visibly too short for her so she had definitely shot up this year.
"I better have."
[xxxxxx]
Sunday 11th August 1974
Paris, France, 13:30
Sirius tried not to sigh too heavily as he leaned against a pillar in the high-end shop father had brought him and Regulus into. It sold all sorts of interesting and intricate leather work embossed and engraved with runes. Usually, Sirius would be all over something like this, he really liked the look of that wand holster over there, but he just couldn't get interested today. Not with those dark clouds that had been threatening to rain on them all day. Just the sort of clouds he had been waiting for. Well, almost. It hadn't stormed. Yet but it still could! And even if it didn't, he was pretty sure this was a storm blown over from England which would be even more infuriating.
He could be doing the next step of his Animagus training right now but instead he was shopping.
"Would you like the dark one or the light one?"
Sirius looked up in confusion at his father. In case it wasn't obvious that he hadn't been paying any attention at all. Thankfully, father wasn't mother and just gave him an irritated look instead of shrieking at him.
He held out two pieces of leather out to him, one darker than the other.
"What wand holster do you want?" father repeated.
Sirius blinked at him and then at the holsters. Huh, he hadn't realised he was going to be allowed to wear one.
"You're old enough now," father said as if he sensed his confusion.
An annoyed sound came from behind him. Regulus. He hadn't been deemed old enough for a wand holster yet despite him arguing that thirteen and fourteen weren't that different from each other but father had been firm. Fourteen was the age for a wand holster and that was that.
"You will be old enough next year, Regulus," father told him.
Which didn't cheer Regulus up at all. Sirius couldn't help but feel a little smug - being the older brother did have its perks sometimes.
"The light one," Sirius pointed.
It reminded him of Gryffindor gold in a way, not that he was going to say that out loud. He knew how to hold his tongue sometimes.
"You don't even have any taste," Regulus complained, disagreeing with his choice.
"Regulus," father warned in a tone that was not often used with his younger brother.
Regulus looked like he wasn't going to mind him but after a sharp look he folded his arms and sighed angrily. Father chose to ignore him as he watched Sirius get measured.
It was similar to the way he got measured for his wand three years ago. Did everyone who measured people have an enchanted tape measure? It was really the most disconcerting thing and Sirius was always convinced that it was going to crash into his nose or something.
At least this was quicker than getting measured for a wand and soon Sirius was being asked to choose an engraving for it. He chose stars. He was a Black after all. Stars were cool. Regulus didn't think so of his derisive snort was anything to go by.
Sirius didn't know why Regulus was even bothering to kick up a fuss. Mother would probably get him one if he asked. Anything for her "Little Prince".
[xxxxxx]
Thursday 15th August 1974
Potter Manor, 17:30
James glared out the window as the clouds rolled in overhead. They were taunting him, trying to get under his skin. He didn't need them now so they could just go away. Unfortunately, he didn't think that there was any sort of magic that could control the weather. Pity, it would make all his problems go away quite nicely.
He still hadn't managed the whole mandrake leaf thing yet, okay? He hadn't. The leaf kept falling out or he swallowed it or, in one memorable moment, it went up his nose. Keeping it in his mouth was way harder than he had ever thought it was going to be. He just liked talking too much. He was always doing it. Dad always joked that whoever said girls talked more than boys had never met him. He just had a lot to say, okay? That wasn't a crime, was it?
Well, unfortunately it made holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth a whole lot harder.
[xxxxxx]
Sunday 18th August 1974
Spinners End, 10:30
"Yeooo!"
A water balloon exploded over his head and Severus spluttered and cursed loudly. His hair was in his eyes but he knew damn well who had done this to him. They were the sons of his dad's "mates". The ones from the pub. Their children were just as rude and uncouth and dirty as they were. No use to anyone.
They liked to spend their days terrorising other children. Especially Severus though he wouldn't call himself a child anymore. Apparently, he was their favourite target for water balloons, mud clods and even a shower of worms once. All of those things were completely disgusting and completely unnecessary.
See, this is why he never hung around his estate. There was absolutely nothing for him here. The park was much better. It didn't smell like sewer water, for one. Or rubbish. There was always rubbish on the streets here. No one cared enough to keep it clean.
Though, there wasn't much point in hanging around the park of Lily wasn't there. He tended to get suspicious looks of he went alone. Like he was going to vandalise something.
The two weeks were nearly up and Lily would finally be back from her holiday tomorrow. The days had practically dragged by. He had had absolutely nothing to do. He had attempted to brew some Potions but that was stopped pretty quick when his father had stormed into his room and kicked over his cauldron. That stain on the floor was never going to come out and the whole of upstairs now had the faint whiff of over-stewed flobberworms. Definitely not an appetising smell. And it just made his father even more annoyed even though it was his fault!
But no, of course it wasn't Tobias Snape's fault. It was never his fault. Not the losing of his job. Not the lack of money. Not the drinking. None of it was his fault. It was always someone else's fault.
Anyway. He didn't want to think about his father. He wanted to think about Lily coming back home and the time they could spend hanging out with each other. That was always fun no matter where they were.
Maybe they would be able to lie back in the park and watch the clouds as they discussed things magic could do. Or maybe his mother would be in a good mood, with his dad away, of course, and teach them Potions. Or maybe they could just go get ice-cream. The possibilities were endless.
[xxxxxx]
Wednesday 21st August 1974
12 Grimmauld Place, 14:30
"What. Is. This?"
Sirius looked up from his homework at his mother's voice. She sounded completely disgusted which could mean all sorts of things. He wasn't even sure she was talking to him. She did complain to herself an awful lot. Ah. She was glaring at him. That wasn't good. Politeness was definitely the best way to go then. Especially since he didn't want her finding out that he still had homework to do. Usually, he was better than this but it was just Transfiguration, easy enough to do.
"What is what, Mother?"
'BANG'
Sirius flinched and almost fell off his chair as his mother slammed down a book in front of him. A paperback one, he noticed when he came back to his senses. Which was odd because almost all of the books (if not all) in the Black Library were hardback.
"This," she hissed, extending a finger towards it but not touching it like it was diseased.
Sirius gave her a confused look before looking closer at the book. Not that he had to look too closely to read the title and his heart sink to the tips of his shoes.
'The Pickwick Papers' the book declared boldly across the cover. Remus' book that he had still not finished. The book that Remus had been kind enough to lend to him over the summer so he could finish it. The decidedly muggle book. That should most definitely be kept out of sight of his parents or, well, anyone in his family.
Sirius thought he had been extremely careful. Only reading it when he had been sent to bed. Using his wand to provide light instead of his ceiling one. He even kept it buried in the depths of his trunk when he wasn't reading it. It was always under his upside-down cauldron, covered by his Gryffindor scarf. Something that no one wanted to touch in this house.
"That's a book."
Which was almost definitely the wrong thing to say. His mother thought so too as she inhaled sharply, as if she was preparing herself to scream at him.
It had been a record. He'd managed to get through nearly the entirety of summer without getting into a row with either parent. Only for it all to come crashing down over a book of all things. Even his high Muggle Studies mark hadn't gotten this big of a reaction.
But it wasn't a big reaction at all. No, it was much worse.
"A book," she repeated in a soft tone. A dangerous tone.
"Yes. A book."
She took it off the table and held it up.
"A muggle book."
That wasn't a question so Sirius didn't answer. Mother wasn't expecting one anyway as she was currently turning the book over in her hands. It was making him nervous.
Suddenly, her nails were digging into the back of his neck and he was being dragged out the door. Mother was fast. When had she walked behind him?
"Ow!" he complained, wriggling.
That was a bad idea as she just dug her nails in harder. Sirius swore he could feel blood ooze around them. Mother didn't care. She didn't release him until she barged the two of them into father's study.
"Walburga!"
Mother all but threw him in the direction of father's desk as she stopped over to him. What was the point of pushing him if she was going over as well?
"Look at this filth," she snapped, holding the book out to his father without greeting.
Father raised an eyebrow but took it from her. It only went up further when he realised what the book was.
"A muggle book?" he said disapprovingly, holding it away from himself like he could catch something from it.
"It's not mine!" Sirius protested, trying to determine of it would wise to make a grab for it.
"Too bad," father said bluntly, picking up a match that he inexplicably had a box of on his desk. "You should know better than to bring this sort of filth into the house."
"You shouldn't have even accepted it," mother told him.
"I'll just send it back to him," he tried.
He couldn't let them get rid of Remus' book! It was Remus'!
"I won't have this in the house!" Mother shouted and then nodded at his father. "Deal with it, Orion."
"Oh, I am," he said grimly, sticking the match.
No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. They couldn't do this!
Except they could. Very much so. Sirius watched as his father held the corner of the book over the flame. It caught remarkably quickly and father gave it a shake to more of it caught fire. Deliberately, he held it in front of Sirius and Sirius had to watch the cover start to blacken before it was thrown resolutely on the fire next to his father's desk.
An instinctive part of him made him try to jump forwards to save it but mother grabbed him tightly by the shoulder, nails digging in. He had to watch it slowly burn to a crisp, the pages curling and collapsing in on themselves as they turned to ashes.
He hadn't even got to finish it!
[xxxxxx]
Sunday 25th August 1974
Diagon Alley, 12:00
"Is that a different textbook again?" her mother asked with a sigh, looking at Marlene's book list.
"Is this for Defence?" Marlene asked, not looking up from under the table.
She was trying to find her shoes. Again. This was becoming depressingly routine. Especially since it was happening earlier now. Maybe this meant she'd actually have her shoes on the first for a change, though she wasn't holding her breath.
"Yes."
"Then yes."
There was always a new book for Defence. Had been for all of her siblings. It was because of the brand-new Professor they got every year. And, of course, they never used the same textbook as their predecessor. Which meant that Marlene never got a used Defence textbook. It was always the best one she owned. The most expensive too.
Her mum sighed again and turned towards Flourish and Blotts. Marlene groaned as she saw the line winding out of it.
Why had they left school shopping until the very last weekend again?
[xxxxxx]
Wednesday 28th August 1974
12 Grimmauld Place, 10:30
Sirius knew that he shouldn't be doing this and that it was an extremely bad idea but he had to. He didn't have a choice. His parents had left him no choice. None at all. Well, that's what he was telling himself anyway. But it was true! He couldn't very well go back to school with no book, could he? How was he supposed to explain that to Remus? He couldn't. There was just no way.
Which brought him to now. Skulking around on the stairs and straining his ears to listen.
He just needed everyone to be busy and he would be fine. Maybe. Sneaking out into the muggle world to find a replacement' book for Remus wasn't exactly the best of ideas but he had to try.
Everyone in his house should be occupied with something by now. They had all had breakfast together and gone off to do their own thing. Father was at the Ministry, trying to influence someone on how to react to all these recent attacks, mother was at Aunt Druella's, discussing fashion or some other nonsense, and Regulus was... somewhere. Sirius didn't know what his little brother was doing but as long as he stayed out of his way, everything should be fine.
And it would be. Fine that was. Sirius would be out and then back in before anyone knew he was gone. That's what he was telling himself anyway.
"Come on, you're a Gryffindor," he tried to encourage himself.
It only somewhat worked as he held onto enough courage to walk to the front door.
This was it. The one thing between him and the outside world. The outside, muggle world. One he had never interacted with.
Before he lost his nerve, he screwed up his face and opened the door. Sirius hadn't realised that he'd stepped outside until he nearly fell off the steps. Wow, he was out.
Sirius looked behind him into the safety of his own house and resolutely shook his head. No. The door snapped shut behind him. He had a mission.
Jumping down the steps and onto the pavement, Sirius looked up and down the street he had lived all his life on but never set foot on. Weird, wasn't it? He didn't even know if the street even had a bookshop.
Well, he was going to find out. Deciding at random to go left, Sirius started walking down the street. There was strangely no one about. It was pretty much silent except for those strange automobiles going past but they laid him no mind. They were an awful lot louder than what Muggle Studies had described.
Sirius tried to ignore them as he looked around. There were some shops up ahead. He thought. The buildings didn't look like houses.
He came to a stop in front of the first one. 'ALL BOOKS' the nearly faded letters said across the top of the door.
Score! He didn't have to go far at all. Great! With a quick look around him, Sirius pushed open the door. The bell above it rang loudly and he blinked as he saw nothing in front of him.
Inside was dark. Really dark. Well, compared to outside's blazing sun it was.
And it wasn't for lack of light, Sirius realised as his eyes became accustomed. There was a light shining overhead. Sort of. It was somewhat blocked by the stacks of books towering everywhere. And he meant everywhere.
Sirius looked around nervously. It didn't look like the place used shelves. The books were just stacked in piles that looked terrifyingly sturdy. How did you find anything in here?
"Want anything, kid?"
Sirius jumped as a voice came out of the shadows. It belonged to a skinny, greasy looking guy with far too many freckles.
"Uh, yes. I need a book," Sirius said quite stupidly.
"You are in a book shop," came the scathing reply.
Well, Sirius bristled, he didn't have to be so rude. He was a customer after all.
"What book?" He was asked before he could say something ride in response.
"Pickwick Papers, please, sir."
"Please, sir," he was mocked but the greasy man disappeared into the stacks again, presumably to look for the book.
Sirius shook his head, wondering just how someone was supposed to find anything in here. It really was a mess between the books, magazines and even posters tacked to everything. There was no order to it at all. And had he mentioned the dust? There was dust everywhere.
"Here."
The man had returned, almost as silently as Ollivander, and thrust a book into his hand.
"Thank you," Sirius automatically said.
The man ignored him and gave him a suspicious look.
"What's a kid doing reading Dickens?"
Sirius didn't understand the question but, in a moment of complete madness, decided to pour his heart out to this strange man.
"It's not mine. Or, well, for me. It's for a friend. See, it's a favourite of his and he gave me his but my parents destroyed it because they don't like it. Burned it up. So, I needed to replace it."
He was panting after all that, he had said it so quickly. Why had he said all that? It was none of this man's business.
Business, speaking of business, Sirius remembered he would have to pay the man.
"How much for it?"
There wasn't a price on it from what he could see. The man looked at it and scrunched up his nose.
"Forty pence," he declared.
Sirius didn't know if he was getting a good deal or not but it didn't matter. He was getting the book. Or, maybe not.
"I don't have any money," Sirius said in dismay.
No muggle money. He had plenty of proper money. Though, it wasn't exactly proper money here.
"Take it," the man grunted, waving a hand. "It'll never sell."
Sirius blinked at him, making the man frown.
"Take it to your friend, kid."
He looked down at the book in his hands, suddenly feeling very guilty.
"I can't do that."
"Sure, you can."
Biting his lip, Sirius looked unsurely at him. The man had a kind face.
"Are, are you sure?"
"It's for a friend, isn't it?"
"Yes..."
"Trying to fix something?"
"Yes."
"That wasn't your fault?"
"I suppose not..."
He hadn't been the one to throw the book on the fire after all.
"Well, let me give you a helping hand."
Sirius looked down at the book again and back up at the man. He smiled broadly.
"Thank you," he said gratefully, holding out his hand.
The man gave him a dumbfounded look but took it. It was a firm handshake. Sirius felt like a load had been taken off his shoulders.
"Thank you," he repeated.
"Don't mention it."
Sirius felt like he meant that figuratively and literally. Suddenly, he felt a lot more relaxed. He took a proper look around the shop. It wasn't as intimidating as je first thought.
"Wow! What's that?" he exclaimed, pointing at a big poster just behind the counter.
Whatever it was, it looked amazing. All shiny metal and sleek shape. It was wonderful looking.
"That, kid, is a Harley Davidson. Best motorcycle there is."
"Motorcycle?"