Disclaimer: The Purple Inkpot is based on a real place in Amsterdam named Kokopelli Smartshop.

"joie de vivre" means joy of life in French.

"What'll you do when you get lonely and nobody's waiting by your side? You've been running and hiding much too long, you know it's just your foolish pride." – Derek and the Dominos, 1970

The little boy hugged his legs tighter to his chest and slowly started to rock back and forth to calm his breathing. He squeezed his eyes shut. Breathe in, breath out. Breathe in, breathe out. Papa said everything would be all right.

He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness as he listened to the rain hit the roof above him. He whimpered softly; he wanted to be back in his warm bed. He didn't understand why his parents had taken him from his room to hide him in the outside shed. It was for his protection, his father had said. But protection from what?

Suddenly, something ripped off the shed door. A great stream of moonlight burst onto his face and he cowered as he put his hand up to shield his eyes. He began to cry out for help until heard a low, guttural snarl. He lowered his hand and saw that it was not his father or mother standing over him. It was a monster.

Fear. Unending fear. His heart was beating like the wings of a hummingbird. The large wolf snapped its teeth as it glared at him with piercing red eyes. The boy started to hyperventilate. Where was Papa? Where was Mama?

The beast jumped up on its hind legs and howled loudly at the Full Moon above them. The boy screamed. The wolf seemed to grin at his misfortune when he began to shake. It snapped its jaws one more time before lunging towards him with its large teeth, aiming for his right leg …

Gemma Rawnsley screamed as her eyes flew open. She felt someone wrap their arms around her torso and she yelped again, kicking backwards; the person behind her let out a sharp gasp as she hit something soft. She curled into a ball and began to hyperventilate as she rocked back and forth.

"Bloody hell woman, I think you just killed all my future children!" Sirius groaned as he clutched his manhood.

Gemma continued to sway, muttering incoherently. Her right eye twitched as she fixated on the deep red curtains in front of her. Things started to spin and the individual threads of the crushed velvet material moved like grass swirling in the wind. It was like being stuck in a vortex. She felt a familiar nausea creep into her stomach and the Seer grabbed Sirius' arm to steady herself as she came out of her visionary dream. The world continued to flip around and around like the inside of a Muggle washing machine.

Suddenly, her pupils dilated and then contracted back to their normal size. Relief washed over her.

Gemma let out a few shaky breaths and the world slowly stopped moving. She felt her magical ability start to leave her body and relaxed her tense muscles; she softly let go of Sirius' arm and placed a hand to her cheek. She was still burning up, but everything else seemed to be normal and she let out another deep sigh of relief and fell back into the pillows.

However, Gemma's release was short lived. When she finally started to look around her, she realized that everything was a shade of scarlet, mixed with accents of black and gold – Gryffindor colors. Although the curtains were completely drawn, she didn't need a crystal ball to know that everything in the entire room was decorated with the same color scheme.

Fear immediately replaced her relief. She was in the Gryffindor Seventh Year dormitory, specifically next to Sirius Black in his proper bed. And to top it all off, it was also the morning of the first Hogsmeade trip of the year and day before Halloween. She swore softly and tried to avoid his confused stare.

Memories from the night before flashed through Gemma's head. Sirius had just magically appeared out of thin air, saying he was wandering by her Common Room on the way home from the kitchens. Gemma remembered not questioning how he had really found her … and the way he passionately kissed her on top of the Astronomy Tower after they left together. He told her he wanted to make love to her in a real bed and since she was so caught up in the moment, she agreed. They ended up in his dormitory after some major convincing and concealment charms, but the Hufflepuff never planned to fall asleep afterwards. She never spent the night with a bloke in order to avoid situations like the one she was currently in.

"Gemma," Sirius began hesitantly, "what just happened?"

"Nothing, nothing," she replied as she threw the covers off her. She frantically began to gather her clothes together. "Look, I'm fine - fine really. Just a little spastic in the mornings. Sorry you're shagging such a crazy nutter. Well! I'll just be going then -"

"No!" Sirius cried as he desperately grabbed her hand. "Don't go. I – I love you!"

The four-letter word hung in the air and Gemma froze in an awkward position, her chocolate, corduroy trousers pulled half way up her legs.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. You what?"

"I love you!" repeated Sirius.

Her eyes widened with shock.

"Are you bonkers?"

"What?"

"Are you bonkers?" repeated Gemma.

"No -"

"This isn't love. This is sex, only sex."

Sirius took a moment to pause and gave her a forlorn look.

"It's love for me," he whispered, a bit of shame coming through in his voice.

Gemma looked into his grey eyes and saw that he was telling the truth; his aura pulsated with sincerity and genuineness. But his honesty smacked her in the face and sent her flying into the unknown.

"Don't – don't go. Please," said Sirius.

She stayed put, sucked in a deep breath and ran a hand through her messy blonde hair. She couldn't face him. Sirius was opening so many new doors to so many new feelings and she couldn't deal with it. It was all too much to handle, especially since she had just recently come out of a mystical tunnel of misery and despair. She clutched her torso as her stomach acid began to bubble.

Shit. The word echoed through her thoughts.

Shit, shit, shit.

"I'm scared!" she blurted out, finally letting her walls come down. "Ok? I'm scared. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I can't help but run! It's just what I do. I don't get attached."

"Well neither do I," Sirius said with a grin. She peered up at him, her eyes glassy and red. "I've certainly – well how do I put this politely?" He bit his lip and glanced down at his shaking hands. "Ok, I've been with a lot of girls. There's no way around that one. But I swear to Dumbledore, I have never felt this way before."

"But Sirius, I'm not really relationship material," she shrugged as she turned her cheek. "I'm damaged goods."

"You are not damaged goods. If you say ever say that again, I will -"

"I'm a Seer, you dolt!" Gemma replied, lightly smacking him on the side of the head.

"A Seer?" he repeated, taking in the new information.

"Yes. What you just saw this morning? That was me coming out of a vision."

She took a moment to acknowledge the frightful dream she had just seen. Was it real or fake? She didn't know.

"So you see, damaged goods."

"I told you not to say that again."

"It's true! I make prophecies whenever I drink tea, which is a lot. I carry crystals around with me. I'm bloody insane!"

"You are not insane," Sirius said as he reached out and took her face in his hands. Gemma felt the most vulnerable she had ever felt in her life. "My family is insane. They hunt Muggles for sport. But you aren't like them in the slightest. You're … absolutely wonderful. A bit batty, sure, but wonderful. So being a Seer doesn't change anything. I – I still love you."

His touch sent tiny shocks up her arm and down into her chest and the warm, tingling feeling quickly spread to her brain. Gemma felt her entire face go numb. She blinked, realizing that she was feeling pure happiness. It was electric and the most satisfying thing she had ever felt. She wondered if she could cast a full patronus using this memory alone.

"Then I'm yours," she swooned as she wrapped her arms around his bare chest. Sirius nuzzled his lips against her neck. She protested, but once he started kissing her collarbone, moaned appreciatively. Their desire took control, but just as Sirius flipped her to a more comfortable position, she yelped.

"Sirius! I still have my trousers on!"

"Not for long," he growled as his hands wandered south.

"Ralph Arcoiris – yes, here you are on the list! Jolly good. Now, you say this is your date for the day? How did you get so lucky? Well I guess I'll just have to cross you both off the list then. Together. What's your name, dearie?"

"Medea Green."

"Alright, done. You're free to go. But be careful lad, you're taking a delightful young woman on a date. If I hear you were anything other than a gentleman, I will have to simply -"

"That's enough James," Lily Evans said rolling her eyes. "Let them go on their merry way. We're just about done here."

Ralph continued to grin madly and Medea's blush deepened when he reached out and grabbed her hand. Lily smiled as she watched them scamper down the road towards the small village; she closed her eyes and began to reenact her first date at Hogsmeade in her head. It was a gorgeous fall day. Although she didn't like to leave Sev alone, she wanted nothing more than to go to Madame Puddifoots with her first crush, Zander Leighton. He was so dreamy and –

"Padfoot! You're finally awake!" James exclaimed, ripping Lily from her daydreams. He had been doing that a lot over the past few hours.

She internally groaned and opened her eyes to see that Sirius had indeed graced them with his presence. He was not alone, however. He was holding hands with Gemma, the elusive Hufflepuff whom the Marauder seemed to be head over heels for. Lily had caught her out past curfew once, but didn't really know her otherwise.

"Yes, we are. So you can cross us off the list," Sirius answered, grinning madly. He looked like a child on Christmas morning and Lily's face softened when she realized that she hadn't seen Sirius this happy in a very long time.

"So you're officially going to Hogsmeade together then?" James encouraged. Lily couldn't help but perk up her ears to hear the potentially good news.

"Yes," Gemma replied sheepishly and then looked up at Sirius. "And we're actually together together now too, I suppose."

"You – you are? Merlin's beard, it's finally happened. CONGRATULATIONS you two!" James bellowed and opened his arms to hug Sirius. As he joyously slapped his best friend on the back, Lily felt herself smile at his genuine reaction. The Head Boy then pulled Gemma into a large bear hug and she yelped in surprise when he picked her up and spun her around, whooping with joy. When James put her back on the ground, he playfully pointed a finger in her face.

"You do realize what this means, right? You're an honorary Marauder now!"

As Gemma laughed and Sirius pulled her closer to kiss her on the top of her head, Lily felt a strong sense of loneliness creep up her spine. She felt like she was at the Muggle zoo, watching all the animals live their daily lives through a glass divider. She felt so detached while they looked so together. It pained her.

Although she kept telling herself that she hated James, she began to frown when she realized that he was more excited about Sirius' new girlfriend than their lack of a relationship; in fact, he was more excited about meeting every person he crossed off their master list of eligible students than socializing with her. She shivered involuntarily. She hated feeling this way.

But her imagination kept running wild. Would Sirius react the same way if she and James were to finally start dating? Would she be an honorary Marauder too?

"Look," James began before he put his parchment up over his face. Lily scowled when she realized he was doing it to block her out of the conversation. "I'll tell Josephine we'll meet you for a butterbeer at the 'Sticks. Now run along love birds!"

Sirius waved to his best friend before slipping his fingers around Gemma's hand and guiding her towards the path to Hogsmeade. Lily shook again - hating the cold shivers that her jealousy produced - and heard James heavily sigh.

"Pinch me."

"What?" Lily exclaimed, extremely confused. This was the first time he'd spoken directly to her all day.

"Pinch me, Evans! This can't be real. I can't believe Sirius finally caught her! Merlin, he was going crazy over her and she just kept running and running and run-"

He stopped midsentence when he realized he was approaching deep water.

"Sorry. Nevermind."

Lily internally screamed for him to keep going, but remained silent when James gulped nervously. He turned away from her and began to push a rock back and forth with his shoe and she almost broke down in tears right there on the spot. It seemed he was officially over her. She pulled her large beige sweater tighter around her pale blue polka dotted dress as her shivers continued. The Head Girl had been waiting for this day ever since James had first asked her out, but now that it was here, she felt abysmally sick to her stomach.

For the first time in her life, Lily actually wanted James to ask her out. She wanted to be wanted by him – and he was doing his best to ignore her completely.

"James!" someone called out.

Lily turned to see Josephine running out the Castle. Her athletic frame was clad in bell-bottom jeans and a white lacy peasant top and Lily's heart sunk even deeper. Josephine was the complete opposite of her and yet, she was the one who got the man. Her wavy blonde hair refused to stay in her ponytail and James reached out and tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

Lily almost threw up.

"Can you - "

"Just go, Potter," she snarled as she ripped his list out of his hands. "Enjoy your date."

"Date?" Josephine said incredulously. "Is that the rumor going around? I thought this was supposed to be a day spent between two friends."

"It is," James grumbled as he glared at Lily. "I have no idea what Evans is on about. Come on, let's go."

Lily felt like a complete and utter fool. As they walked away from her - immediately striking up a conversation about Quidditch - despair filled her lungs and she felt unable to breathe. How dare he make fun of her like that? How dare he just wander away from her afterwards? Her anger prickled under her skin. Moreover, how could she have been so stupid? In a fit of rage, she kicked the rock James had been playing with earlier and it sailed through the air and hit someone straight between the eyes.

"Oh my god, Walter! I am so sorry!"

Aeryn Miller clapped her hands in delight as one of the servers placed two steaming cups of tea in front of her and Peter. The very bored looking girl left several frilly napkins at the edge of the table and Aeryn excitedly blew on her tea to try and cool it down. After a couple more tries, she dropped two lumps of sugar into her drink and wrapped her fingers around her cup. She slowly sipped her tea and looked across the table at her boyfriend; he looked awkward and skittish, but Aeryn didn't care. She was having her favorite red velvet cake tea at Madame Puddifoots – her one condition if he was going to drag her through Zonko's later.

"So did you see what Karen Milligan was wearing earlier? Oh. My. It was horrendous!"

"I didn't catch her, dear," Peter replied as he tugged at the collar of his black button down shirt. "Sorry."

"Really? You didn't see her talking to Professor Artro?" she asked. "I thought all male students couldn't keep their eyes off that woman."

She snorted loudly and sipped her tea again. Aeryn wasn't stupid. She could tell that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher attracted many forbidden admirers among the student population and possibly the faculty; she'd heard a rumor that she was shacking up with their long-standing Herbology professor, Loki Stotch. Aeryn let her mind wander as she continued to daydream over her drink. She concluded that if you combined Artro's sharp, aristocratic features with Stotch's dark hair, you'd get one hell of an attractive child.

"I don't like her," said Peter. "She seems a bit shifty to me."

"How so?" Aeryn asked before placing her lips against her cup again. She almost let out a moan of pure bliss as the delicious liquid rolled down her throat. Peter, she noticed, hadn't touched his tea yet.

"Oh I don't know," he responded while running a nervous, shaking hand through his hair. "She just slinks around. I ran into her once. One moment I'm scurrying – er, running down an empty hall on the Fourth Floor and then I turn the corner and bam! There she is. Just standing there. Alone. Doing nothing. It was creepy."

"Maybe the other faculty members warned her that the Marauders are real troublemakers," she giggled. "Maybe she's onto you. Say, do you think her and Professor Stotch are a couple? They could totally have a romance going on and we just don't know it."

"I doubt it," Peter muttered as he looked down at his steaming cup of tea. He gingerly placed his fingers around his cup and lifted it to his mouth. Aeryn jumped when he spit the liquid back into his cup. He started to swear softly under his breath as he put the cup back onto its saucer.

"Too hot," he briefly explained and then stuck out his tongue so that he could try to cool it down by fanning it with his hands.

"Peter! What is wrong with you?"

A few moments later, she realized that her question was rather loaded. Sure, he was acting like a fool in a very respectable teashop, but she'd been extremely suspicious of his behavior ever since the beginning of the term.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm just nervous."

"Nervous about what?" she asked, immediately feeling tense and jittery.

"Oh alright, I'll just come out with it!" Peter desperately wailed as he removed his hands from his pockets, placing a small black box in front of her.

Aeryn froze and felt her teacup fall from her fingers and crash on the ground; the porcelain splinters littered the floor, but she didn't register the mess she made. She could only focus on the jewelry box in front of her. It explained his nervous behavior completely. The Gryffindor snatched it up from the table with lightning speed and quickly snapped it open. Inside there was a simple silver band.

No diamond. Phrases of dissatisfaction overpowered any other thoughts.

"It's a promise ring," Peter explained. "I don't have the money or the status to marry you yet, but this ring will hopefully show you that I'm serious about our relationship."

Aeryn slowly took the ring out of the box and placed it in the palm of her hand. She couldn't deny that she was disappointed – girls like her always got excited at the prospect of a wedding ring – but the alternative was not the end of the world. She smiled as she placed it on the ring finger of her left hand. It looked nice against her freshly manicured, white tipped nails.

"Thank you, dear," she purred as she leaned across the table to kiss him. "We can go to Zonko's after I finish my tea."

Peter's expression exploded with relief. He met her lips eagerly and soon, their exchange began to steam up the window next them. However, no one seemed to notice because most students in the teashop were doing the exact same thing.

Marianne Minot laughed hysterically and tumbled out of Tomes and Scrolls, the oldest bookshop in Hogsmeade. She wiped her eyes as she and Remus settled just outside the main entrance to the building.

"I can't believe you called Marius Fletcher an arrogant toerag for making up the ending of We Three Witches to impress Persephone Davies! I hate to say it, but you sounded an awful lot like Lily Evans."

"Well, he was being an arrogant toerag!" Remus exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You can't just make up the ending of a critically acclaimed novel and expect no one to call your bluff."

"Well your comment forced us of the shop," she countered playfully. She down looked at her watch. "We've got a half an hour left. Since I picked Tomes and Scrolls, you pick the last place."

"Ok, one question – do you like Muggle authors?"

"I've liked the ones I've read," Marianne admitted shyly, "but there weren't many in my pureblood household when I was growing up. So I'm a novice."

"Perfect. Then I bet you've never been here before," Remus grinned and he waved for her to follow him. She chuckled and quickened her step in order to keep up with his long strides as he began to turn past Dominic Maestro's music shop.

She couldn't remember ever having this much fun at Hogsmeade before. Her previous visits had certainly been magical, but her time with Remus blew all her other experiences out of the water. They'd come up with a game – a little contest – to see who knew the bookstores of Hogsmeade the best and spent the last two hours running and in out of literary establishments, laughing every step of the way. Their witty banter was effortless and Marianne's abdominal muscles hurt from expressing her massive amounts of amusement.

"Here we are," Remus said, opening his arms wide. "The Purple Inkpot - our last stop."

Marianne felt her jaw drop in awe.

The building was a deep shade of eggplant and she counted nine hanging ferns attached to the outside of it. She could see several intricately painted star shaped lights hanging from the ceiling inside and just under their reflection, the front window advertised the shop's name written out in wiggly purple letters. She ignored Remus and ran into the shop, immediately realizing that it was more than a place that sold books; the entire inside of the building was painted sky blue with abstract puffs of white clouds scattered across the walls. To her right, there were several large pieces of psychedelic art hanging over the clouds, waiting to be sold. She turned her head to the left and saw that there were plush couches and large, self-sustaining teapots in the middle of rainbow circular tables.

But the sight directly in front of her took her breath away - endless rows of brightly colored bookshelves.

"Well, do you like it?"

"Oh, Remus," Marianne replied breathlessly as she reached down to pet one of the several wandering shop cats around her. "I never want to leave this place!" When the cat meowed and rubbed up against her, she picked it up and cooed in its ear. She meandered over to one of the couches and sat down, trying to fully drink in the trippy looking shop. The tabby cat began to purr in her lap.

"So I guess I won, right?"

"Absolutely" was her only reply. She was too busy swiveling her head around to come up with accurate praise for her literary friend.

"Remus!" an old man called out, dressed in shimmering red robes with a beard that rivaled Dumbledore's. "Back again I see. And who have you brought with you this time?" Remus grinned and stood up to hug the man while Marianne felt a blush creep into her cheeks as she continued to pet the cat in her lap.

"This is Marianne Minot," the Gryffindor replied and she softly placed the cat back on the ground so she could stand up and meet the man in front of her. "She's a friend. Marianne, this is Ben Smithers. He owns the place."

"Marianne?" Smithers asked curiously. He reached out his hand. "French, I presume?"

"You are correct," she giggled as she shook his hand and properly greeted him.

"Hmmm," he pondered. The shop owner then pulled out a moss green book from beneath his robes. Marianne shot an excited glance at Remus and he smiled back at her.

"I think you'll like this one," Smithers winked and Marianne almost mistook him for their Headmaster as he placed the novel in her hands.

"You have Carl Menert's latest work?" Remus asked in disbelief. "It doesn't come out until next month!"

"I'm still able to surprise you after all these years," Smithers joked. "I take that as a compliment."

"Who's Carl – Menert did you say?" Marianne butted in, feeling like a dwarf next to the two tall men.

"He's an ace Muggle author," Remus responded softly. "He writes about love, politics, personal growth -"

"I think you should let the young lady find out for herself. You don't want to give away all his intricate plot twists, now do you?" Smithers chuckled. "I will tell you this though – you're going to have to read his work several times. You won't see all the clues and foreshadowing until you've gone over it a second time. In one of his books, he gives away one of the main subplots in the first chapter!"

"Wow, thank you! How much is it?" Marianne said gratefully as she began to dig into the pockets of her grey flares for her coin purse.

"It's on the house," he winked. "Now I urge you to look around. I love seeing the faces of magical folks who've come in here for the first time."

Marianne thanked him several more times before he left to resume his post at the cash register. She hugged the book to her chest and looked up at Remus, who had a dumb grin plastered on his face. He sweepingly held out his hand and directed her towards the colorful bookshelves. The Ravenclaw let out a gleeful squeal – something very unusual for her – and rushed over to examine all the books, completely losing Remus. Marianne felt the familiar thrill of adventure and the power of the written word pulsing through her.

While she recognized a few of the titles, most of them were unknown to her. She picked out one of the books from the shelf and stared at the bright yellow cover. Marianne couldn't resist herself; she opened up the novel and began to flip through it. The typewriter font jumped out at her, but when she reached the middle of the book, she realized that there were pictures. She tilted the book sideways and watched as one of the large folded pages unraveled itself towards the floor. After a second or two, she realized the pictures were not moving.

"It's a trip, right?" Remus muttered softly behind her. "You can imagine what it would be like for a Muggle to see our books. Pretty magical."

Magical was an understatement. As she placed the book back on the shelf, Marianne felt euphoria and pure joy bubble up from somewhere deep inside her. She finally felt alive and more empowered than she had ever been before … but she soon realized that the Muggle books were not making her feel that way.

It was Remus.

His dashing features and caring heart made her want to follow him anywhere. Suddenly Carl Menert's latest novel fell from her hands as she reached up to touch his face. She didn't even have time to register her courageous outburst; she was already kissing him passionately.

Remus, however, did not respond in kind. Seconds after she kissed him, he yelped and jumped back, smacking his head against one of the bookshelves behind him. The crack echoed through her ears and Marianne felt the air rush out of her lungs as she registered the utter terror in his eyes. He inhaled sharply. His hands began to shake violently and he shoved them into his pockets to conceal his fright.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't."

He quickly bolted - taking her heart with him - and left completely her alone in the aisle. Marianne cried out and instantly burst into tears as she crumpled to the floor next to Menert's novel. She'd never felt so empty in her entire life; her euphoria and joie de vivre simply ceased to exist.

"Why didn't I listen to you, Maman?" she exclaimed, hating the fact that she had caused herself so much pain.

Author's Note: Artro and Stotch are Polly Walker and James Purefoy from the HBO Rome series :D

I guess I'll just end this chapter by saying that the first ten chapters were all background so you know what each character is thinking. The real drama starts now, if you can believe it. The rest of the story is going to be a rollercoaster and that's a promise you can hold me to.