Jabberwocky
Chapter 3: Diagon Alley or Bust
by Em and Jamie
A/N: Not much to say, really. Just that we apologize for the length of time and sporadic bursts the chapters come in, but that's just the way the Cauldron Cake crumbles. We both lead very busy Muggle lives that, unfortunately, must take precedence over the great fun of writing. With that said, enjoy the chapter!
~Em and Jamie
The archway behind them melded back into a brick wall, and the view of the Leaky Cauldron's courtyard was gone. The bright morning sun shone overhead as Penelope looked for a sign of Sirius and Muriel
"Where could they have gotten off to?" she asked Remus, whose arm she was still holding on to. He shrugged.
"Couldn't have gone too far. I'm sure we'll find them later. I think we have other concerns, though," he said, softening his voice and motioning to the twins, who were staring down the street wide-eyed. Penelope nodded.
"To Gringotts!" she said cheerfully.
"Where is it?" Jamie asked.
"Big white building in the distance," Remus said. "There's a little cart ride I know you'll enjoy, Jamie." Jamie grinned and winked at Em.
As they walked up the street, the strangest sights met their eyes. An old, wizened wizard sat under a caf umbrella, discussing ministry politics with a few withered old witches and a suspicious looking hag. Owls and bats fluttered around in the display window of a magical pet shop. A huge sign (that changed colors) was hung in a potions supply shop, announcing half off on dragon livers and unicorn horns. Jamie wished, for once, that his parents weren't in such a hurry. That dragon liver sale looked interesting.
Em, on the other hand, was getting more and more nervous as they approached their destination. Goblins! Aren't those dangerous? And dragons guarding the bank vaults like treasure? She breathed a sigh of relief when they approached the white marble steps of Gringotts and saw normal looking people coming in and out of the huge bronze front doors. A Goblin dressed in scarlet and gold bowed them in.
"Classy place," Jamie whispered to her as another Goblin bowed them into a second set of doors, silver this time. There was a message engraved on them, but, since Remus and Penny had already hurried through, no one had time to read it. The inside was even more breathtaking than the facade, however.
A huge skylight set off the gilded countertops and made the white marble interior sparkle. At least a hundred goblins scurried around, weighing stacks of coins and jewels or guiding customers to their vaults. Remus, braving the hustle and bustle, accosted a goblin writing notes in a ledger.
"Can I help you, sir?" the goblin asked, placing the pencil behind one large and pointed ear and pushing the ledgers aside. Remus dug in the pockets of his robes and pulled out a small gold key.
"Lupin, vault 527?" The goblin took the key and examined it for a few seconds, then nodded.
"I'll find somebody to assist you." He walked off. Jamie's eyes followed him through the crowd, becoming saucer-like. Penelope put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's a goblin, Jamie. Don't gawk." The goblin that had been helping them pushed his way through the crowd again, this time with a companion in tow.
"This is Farlinka," he told them, and a smaller, female goblin extended her hand. Em and Jamie took in her long and fragile fingers while Remus and Penelope shook with her.
"Follow me," Farlinka said. She led them into one of the marble corridors and stopped at a set of great wooden doors, muttering something in gobbledygook. The door swung out and she held it open for them to pass through.
Em and Jamie found themselves in a dimly lit stone passageway. Farlinka whistled, and a small cart barreled down to them on little tracks. She hopped in, and motioned for them to do the same. Jamie and Em shared a look, and climbed into the mine cart after their parents. Jamie snickered; their mother looked mildly sick, and Remus had his arm around her shoulder, which her head was buried into. Then the ride began.
It was as if the fastest roller-coaster he had ever been on were a mere waterslide as Jamie threw his hands up into the air, his blonde hair whipping in the wind. He looked around. Farlinka was perched at the front, unruffled, his sister was gaping at something that appeared in the corner of her eyes, and Mum was looking quite green now. Remus was smiling, however, and gave Jamie a small thumbs up from the back. Suddenly, the cart came to a sudden, bone-jarring halt which threw all the passengers forwards, except for the goblin. Farlinka handed Remus the little gold key and motioned to the safe they had come to. Em and Jamie shared a quizzical look with one another, which didn't last because Jamie kept staring at his sister's hair, whose curly tresses were standing almost straight up. A click from the safe drew their attention back to their parents, and the safe door opened. The twins gasped; a few piles of gold were heaped in the corner, a couple large columns of silver were stacked throughout the safe, and knuts were everywhere.
"We're loaded!" Jamie exclaimed, as he watched his mother sweep away some Galleons into her satchel. Remus raised an eyebrow.
"No, we're not," he said, examining a pile of knuts in the corner.
"Well, we're certainly not bad off," Penelope said, closing her satchel and waiting for Remus to finish. The entire time, Farlinka stood quietly at the entrance to the vault.
"I suppose," Remus said with a shrug, straightening up and closing the bag he held in his hands. They all walked back into the cart, except for Emily. A little silver ring buried in one of the piles of sickles caught her attention, and she was busy staring into its red stones, which glowed even though the light in the safe was dim.
"Emily Marie Lupin! Hurry up!" Her mother's voice echoed through the room, and she glanced at the ring and pocketed it. Climbing into the cart, Remus smiled at her, as Penelope closed her eyes and groaned in preparation for the trip.
"Find something interesting?" he asked. Em blushed in the dim light.
"Staring at the Galleons," she lied, as the cart sped up towards the surface.
-------------
After a quick pit stop to Florian Fortescue's, where Penelope sat for a few minutes and the twins ate giant ice-cream cones (Raspberry Peanut Butter for Jamie and Vanilla Lime Bubblegum for Em), they made their way into a dimly lit little shop with boxes stacked around every wall. Penelope walked up to the counter and rang the bell on it. A moment later, an old and pale man with huge silver eyes walked out of the stockroom. He glanced over to where Remus and the twins stood, then nodded at Penelope.
"Penelope Taylor, if I remember correctly? 12 inches, oak, and phoenix feather? Quite bendable?" he asked in a soft voice. She smiled back at him.
"That's right." Ollivander turned his attention to Remus, atill standing in the entranceway with the twins.
"And Remus Lupin, too. 10 inches, inflexible, birch and unicorn hair?"
"Yep." Remus nodded.
"And are these your children?" Em smiled weakly and Jamie waved.
"Yes," Penelope and Remus responded simultaneously.
"Hmmm... I see. Well, this is going to call for some unusual wand combinations, then." Ollivander wiped his forehead with a blindingly white handkerchief and walked over to the stack of boxes nearest the door.
"Who's first?" he asked, waving his wand and slowly bringing a couple of boxes down to rest on a footstool. Jamie grinned.
"I am!" he said. Ollivander looked him over, and handed him a box. "Try this."
Jamie opened it hastily and pulled out what looked like a highly polished stick (to Emily, at least).
He turned it over in his hands a few times and then waved it once in the air, saying "Abracadabra!"
Nothing happened.
Well, nothing other than Mr. Ollivander giving him a very strange look and both of their parents trying to hide their laughter. (and doing a very bad job, too.)
Jamie himself seemed quite disappointed that there wasn't a hole in the ceiling, or that his sister hadn't at least been turned into a goat. He voiced this opinion immediately and Em stuck her tongue out at him, forgetting her nerves temporarily. Remus shushed them both, as Mr. Ollivander came back over holding three more boxes.
"Well, the dragon heartstring and maple doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Try this one." He handed Jamie the top box. "Cherry and phoenix feather. Nice and springy."
Jamie took the wand and waved this one through the air, this time without the incantation. Once again, nothing happened. Emily was beginning to get bored, and from the looks of it, Jamie was beginning to get frustrated.
Mr. Ollivander, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest - in fact, he seemed quite pleased.
"Very Good!" he kept saying to himself. "A stubborn one! How about this? Eleven inches, willow and unicorn hair." He said, handing Jamie another box, which, after retrieving the wand from it, Jamie discarded. He waved this one half- heartedly, and, when for the third time, nothing happened, he lost it.
"I'm sick of this. I want to leave. I'm probably not even a wizard after all!" He finished vehemently, gesturing angrily with the wand. Mr. Ollivander quietly stood off to the side, collecting boxes together and politely ignoring the scene he was making.
As Penny tried to shut him u- er- calm him, Jamie let go of the wand he was holding in mid gesture. It soared through the air. Emily shoved a pile of boxes on the floor out of her way and with a terrific lunge, managed to catch it with one hand. To her amazement it immediately shot out a trail of sparkling stars as she turned to hand it back to Mr. Ollivander.
Emily gaped. Mr. Ollivander was positively beaming, Remus was clapping, and Penny was glaring furiously at Jamie, who was quailing under her gaze.
"Well, my dear, it seems your wand has found you." Mr. Ollivander said, in characteristically soft tones, completely unruffled by Jamie's ouburst. Emily turned a glowing pink - she could feel her cheeks heating up, but didn't care. This was amazing. She waved the wand, her wand, through the air once more and more glittering stars fell from it's tip. She grinned. Jamie scowled at her through his peripheral vision.
The family walked out of Ollivander's half-an-hour later with both twins outfitted with wands. It had taken Jamie six more tries until he'd finally found a ten and a half inch spruce wand with a core of dragon heartstring that backfired and exploded in a cloud of smoke when he waved it through the air. It was definitely a Jamie wand.
"Where to next?" Jamie asked, who was in considerably better spirits after seeing his wand tip explode.
"Flourish and Blotts." Remus answered at the same time that Penny said "Madame Malkin's."
They both laughed, and the twins gave them withering looks.
"We'll do Madame Malkin's - it's at this end of the alley." Remus agreed, and soon the twins found themselves inside a bright, cheery little shop called Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Madame Malkin herself bustled over to them moments later dressed in plum colored robes.
"Hogwarts?" When they nodded, she led them briskly to the back of the shop. "I've got it all here. Can't say when I've been more busy - all week, students in and out, in and out..." She didn't seem particularly bothered by the fact, though, and Emily and Jamie both climbed obligingly up onto the stools she put in front of them. They allowed themselves to be draped in black robes, which were then magically altered with the twins still in them.
"I used to do it the muggle way - pins and needles, you know- but this is ever so much faster, especially with the thinner students. Once, this poor boy actually got stuck inside his robes, and it took ages to get him out. I underestimated how much baby fat he had, you see, but that was when I had just started magical alterations, and I'm much better at it now," She added hastily, seeing Em's terrified look. Jamie seemed to think the idea of being trapped inside one's robes was quite hillarious.
"You don't have any that are tie-dyed, do you?" He asked, fingering the black material that his father was paying for forlornly.
"Tie-what? " Madame Malkin looked at him curiously. "Well," she began, slowly, "We do have a new shipment of Robes by Virginia, but, well..." she looked at Jamie, a young boy in a tie-dyed shirt and black Hogwarts robes and gestured to the trendy satin robes that Penny would be more likely to wear than him. "...I'm sure they're not you're style." Remus laughed in spite of himself. Penny blushed a deep crimson, and hurriedly thanked Madame Malkin as she pulled Jamie out of the store, closely followed by Remus and Emily, who was still wearing her robes.
As the four headed down the bustling street towards Flourish and Blott's (and Emily was attempting to pull off the robes), Emily spotted a store with a large, polished window that read:
Quality Quidditch Supplies: Retailers of Fine Brooms
And hanging behind the glistening letters was a broom with a shimmering pale blue handle labeled in silver: Nimbus Hailstorm.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, hurrying over to the window and pressing her nose to the pane of glass alongside two smaller boys.
"Look! Mum, Dad, Jamie! It's my broom!" Penny smiled and Remus grinned and strode over to his daughter.
Jamie, however, said, "Em, how can you be interested in cleaning appliances when you could be looking at this?" He was gazing longingly at a shop across the street whose sign read:
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Enter and you'll never be the same! (And neither will anyone you meet!)
Penny shot Remus a horrified look. Jamie was heading over to the shop.
------------------
By the time they had pried Em away from the window, Jamie had already gone through the double doors and found himself surrounded by the place of his dreams. Fake Wands, on the left a sign next to him read, and Fake Signs, right next to Fake Wands was seen across the way. There were piles of recipe books for joke cuisine, and mountains of dungbombs and Filibuster's fireworks.
"I've died and gone to Heaven," he said in awe.
"Hey, little guy. Interested in the fireworks, eh?" A rather muscular redheaded man came up behind him and grinned broadly.
"You have no idea," Jamie responded, not taking his eyes off the mountain. The man laughed and extended his hand.
"George Weasley, owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The bloke behind the counter is Fred Weasley, my partner." Fred bowed deeply.
"Charmed, Old Bean," he said, and went back to counting the days sales.
"Anything I can help you with?" George asked, picking up a book that had fallen earlier that day.
"Just looking... my sister is glued to the Quid-ditch supply store across the street." George nodded sagely. Remus and Penelope burst in, practically dragging Em behind them.
"In fact, there she is now!" Jamie said cheerfully, but his smile fell as he saw the look on his mother's face.
"James Nathaniel Lupin..." Penny began dangerously.
"Lupin?" Fred looked up from his counting to watch the spectacle before him.
"Now, now, Penny. It's been a long day..." Remus patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"Lupin?" George looked over at Fred, who shrugged.
"But it's only one o' clock!" Em piped up. Remus shot her a worried look.
"Honey, now isn't the best time..." Fred and George smiled at the exact same time.
"Professor Lupin?" Both Penny and Remus turned around.
"Fred? George?" Remus' tired face broke into a wide grin.
"Professor Lupin!" The Weasley chorused. Jamie and Emily exchanged surprised looks.
"Professor?" Jamie gave his father a curious look, but Remus wasn't watching. He had strode over to the counter and was heartily shaking each of the Weasley twins hands.
"Professor Lupin," Fred was saying energetically, "We haven't seen you in ages! I didn't know you were married! How's Sirius? And Muriel?"
Remus smiled easily back at them.
"Yes, this is my wife Penelope. She's also, er, a Professor Lupin. She taught at Hogwarts when Muriel was there. She and Sirius are both fine, by the way. We're supposed to be meeting them around here sometime soon... but they seem to have disappeared. And these two," he finished, his eyes falling on his children. "are James and Emily- they're twins." Jamie was gazing longingly at a barrel of ton-tongue toffees, but offered a cheery half-wave, while Emily blushed furiously and grabbed onto the side of her mother's robes as she pushed her out in front of her.
"Twins!" The Weasley twins chimed joyfully.
"Yes indeed. Jamie reminds me of you two at that age. Well, at any age, really. Emily is really quite interested in Quidditch, even though she only found out what it was yesterday."
"They were raised as Muggles." Penny explained. George nodded knowingly.
"You should introduce them to our dad - he'd love them." Fred said, glancing sidelong to George.
"Ah, yes. How are your parents? And brothers and sister?" Remus asked, and they were off discussing all nine members of the Weasley clan. The four adults were so wrapped up in their conversation they didn't even notice Jamie standing over near a vat of frog spawn ("Very useful for giving yourself or someone else warts." read the sign). He turned to his left and began to examine the contents of the nearest shelf: "dungbombs and other fine explodables".
Dungbombs? Jamie thought, curiously. What in the world are those? He picked up and economy size pack of them - twenty bombs for the price of ten!- and shook it vigorously, waiting to see what would happen.
BANG! POP! The noises, which came consecutively from the box, made Jamie jump back and throw the volatile package high into the air in surprise.
It landed in the frog spawn.
Splash! Gurgle! Glug!
"Hey!"
"What the hell...?!"
"James Nathaniel Lupin!"
"Eurgh!"
Jamie could hear all these noises, and could guess at who (and what) was making them, but he couldn't see a thing. His face was covered in slimy green liquid, and his eyes were shut tight, to protect them. Groping, he found a clean corner of his t-shirt and wiped his eyes before opening. What he saw was Emily, crouched behind the counter, Fred and George Weasley, their faces contorted into strange expressions, his father, magicking his long robes clean, and the furious, outraged face of his mother. She spluttered for a moment, but words seemed to have failed her.
Finally Penny let out a long groan.
"Aggggghhhhhhhh!"
Emily, who had just stood up, shrank even farther behind the counter, away from her mother's wrath. Remus looked like he was trying to come up with something soothing to say. Jamie just stood there.
Fred and George began to laugh. The sound echoed off the walls and reverberated in the still air, perfumed with the delicate scent of dungbombs and frog spawn. Soon Remus and Emily had begun to laugh, too, and Jamie couldn't help it. He grinned. For a moment Penny just looked from the Weasleys, to her husband, to her daughter, and finally to her son, who had a huge wart blooming on his nose, and then she began to laugh, too.
They left Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with an armful of bags full of explodables and other goodies that would make Sirius salivate (and indeed, he almost did). Jamie, of course, was relegated the task of carrying this... prodigious bounty.
"Now, we have to get you both your books, and then we can go home," Penelope was saying. Em was bobbing her head to some tune in her mind, and Jamie was grinning ear to ear, and trying to focus on the huge wart on his nose, which was gaining him quite a few stares from many of the passers-by. His mum hung back a moment, to catch up with him.
"Enjoying your wart?"
"Oh, very much." And it was the truth. Jamie Lupin, after all, always loved to be the center of attention. Penelope smiled at him, and, gazing at her son as she sometimes did when he was in a more well behaved mood, she thought about just how how different those twins were. It was almost scary, come to think of it (at least, that was Remus' viewpoint about it). Her reverie, however, was interrupted by the jingling of bells on the doors of Flourish and Blotts. Remus held open the door, and, upon letting his wife and children in, he entered the store himself.
It was just as he remembered it, with the dusty floorboards and thickly bespectacled shopkeeps milling about, assisting customers as needed. Sirius was standing off to the corner of the 'teaching manuals, instruction booklets, and guidebooks to scenic areas of Great Britain and Ireland' (it was inventory time) with a book (One-thousand Relatively Safe Ways To Teach Hex Deflection) under his arm, looking off into space whilst Muriel intently studied a thick book titled Grindylows, Werewolves, and Vampires (oh my!): How to Avoid These Denizens of the Dark. He perked up when the twins, Remus, and Penelope walked in (Jamie with a huge wart on his nose), and left his daughter standing amidst the piles of books.
"Done already?" He asked. Penelope rolled her eyes.
"Already?" She asked wryly. Jamie grinned.
"Hey, Uncle Sirius! Look what I got!" He pointed out the wart proudly, and Em wrinkled her nose.
"Jamie, that's gross."
"Oooh, excuse me, little miss perfect wizard girl."
"Witch," Muriel corrected him, from behind her book. Remus turned around, with a frown on his face.
"Em, Jamie! Stop!" The twins instantly became quiet. Remus' frown relaxed, and his eyes scanned the store.
"Listen," he began, while Penelope and Muriel were pouring over teaching aides and Sirius patiently hung back, "Why don't you all find something to do for a half hour or so while your mother and I get your books? Pick out a book on Quidditch or something." Jamie turned to Em, who shrugged.
"Okay, I guess." Remus nodded.
"Good, then. Meet us back... there," He said, pointing at the front door, and he joined his wife and Sirius over near the bookshelves.
"Remus," Muriel said, as the twins walked away, "there's some really interesting stuff on werewolves in here..."
"So now what?" Em asked. It was Jamie's turn to shrug.
"I dunno. I suppose we can find something around here. It's big enough." He walked a few paces away, looking into the crowd, and his sister followed.
Near the Quidditch section, in potions, a small red headed boy stood by his parents, a frazzled looking pair of adults to be sure. Bored, the boy was taking locks of his curly hair and stretching them out, only to let them go and sploing themselves back into place. His mother, a young-ish woman with her son's curly hair (only brown) was looking with interest at the textbook she held in her hands.
"I like the new ones," She remarked casually to her husband, whom the son had obviously inherited his hair coloring from. "They're much more informative. Minerva did well this term."
"McGonagall usually does," The man replied, watching his son bemusedly.
"Yes, but these--" She held up the textbook, "-acually go into more detail about the potion making process. Snape can do as bad a job he wants, but they'll still learn."
"Thrilling."
"Ron," she said, somewhat peeved, "I'm beginning to think that you don't care about your children's education!" Ron put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hermione," He began, "I do care, really I do. But we all know that Artie (he gestured to his son) and Melissa will have a good education whatever the books are."
"Why can't Gwen be here?" The boy asked, looking up at his parents.
"Because Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny have gone on holiday to the Isle of Wight and won't be back for another week," His mother patiently explained.
"Anyway," Ron continued, "we're supposed to be on vacation, too, and so far we've spent it practically all in Diagon Alley. I want to see Fred and George again, and Mum and Dad. Even Percy."
His wife laughed.
Jamie pricked up his ears. Fred and George? Like, the guys from the joke shop?
At that moment another red-head ran up to the family, holding a large picture book. This little girl had the same fiery hair as her brother, but it was long and straight, pulled back neatly behind her head in a bow. She couldn't have been more than six.
"Mummy! Mummy!" She cried, when she reached her family and collided with her mother's leg. "Mummy, I want this one!" She waved the colorful book around in the air above her head.
Her mother took the book from her daughter's tiny hand and looked at the cover. It said: Simple Spells to Help You Get a Head-Start.
"Alright sweetie." Hermione nodded, as Ron hoisted his daughter onto his shoulders, making her squeal with delight.
"I don't know, Mel." He said, with mock seriousness, "If you keep on like this you'll wind up exactly like your mother-" His wife cut him off abruptly by punching him in the arm.
At this point the boy had grown bored of sploinging his curls and was wandering over to the Quidditch shelves, where Em was torn between two books: Who says We Have to Ride Side-Saddle? A History of Women in Quidditch By Glynnis Griffiths of the Holyhead Harpies, and I Believe I can Fly - But How Do I Do It?All the Basics You Need to Know Before Mounting That Broom; and where Jamie was crouched behind the shelves, spying on the family in the Potions section.
"Er -" Someone cleared their throat behind him and Jamie jumped, knocking his head on the shelf. He spun around.
"Sorry." Said the red-headed boy, who now stood in front of him. "I just wanted to get a new copy of Quidditch Through The Ages, only you're blocking the shelf."
Jamie grinned widely.
"Sorry." He said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Jamie Lupin. And this is my twin sister Emily." He gestured at Em, who was engrossed in Who Says We Have To Ride Side-Saddle? And gave the new boy the merest half a glance before returning to her book.
"I'm Arthur Granger-Weasley." The boy said, sticking out his hand as well. "What's that on your nose?"
Jamie beamed, but before he could say anything, Em cut in, "It's a wart. He practically exploded the whole joke shop before we got here and gave himself a wart." She had put down her book and was looking at Arthur Granger-Weasley with much more interest than before.
"I'm Em." She said, smiling at him.
"You guys can call me Artie." Arthur said, "Everyone else does. So are you two going to Hogwarts this year?"
"Yup," Jamie replied, proudly. "We're going to be first years."
"Hey! Me too!" Artie said. "So, who's your Quidditch team?"
"We haven't got any." Jamie said as Em replied, "The Holyhead Harpies. What about you?"
"Huh?" Artie looked thoroughly confused, and he glanced between the twins.
"Well," Jamie explained, "We were raised as Muddles-"
"Muggles, Jamie." Em sighed, exasperated.
"Whatever. So anyway, even though Mum and Dad are a witch and a wizard, we didn't know we were until yesterday - that was our eleventh birthday."
"Why did your parents raise you as Muggles if they're magical?" Artie asked, looking more confused than ever.
"Well, as far as I understand it," Em began, "They were heavily involved in fighting someone called Vulgarmore who was very dangerous- What?
Artie looked torn between being horrified and bemused.
"Not V-Vulgarmore." He laughed, then took a deep breath, "Voldemort."
"Right, that's the guy." Em hurried on, ignoring Artie's now pasty complexion. "Anyway, so they decided it would be safer if we were raised as Muggles until we went to Hogwarts. At least, that's what they told us."
Artie nodded, "Well, I guess that's understandable. You said you blew up the joke shop?" He asked, turning back to Jamie.
"Yup," Jamie answered, grinning again. "Well, just the barrel of frog spawn."
"My uncles own it," Artie replied, "I bet they loved it."
"Yeah! They were great! Mum wasn't too happy, though," Jamie said.
"Artie! Artie!" A woman's voice came from the other side of the shelf.
"Back here, Mum!" He called, and soon her curly brown head poked around the corner, followed by the rest of her and little Melissa.
"Artie, we're go- Oh! You've made new friends."
"This is Em and Jamie Lupin, Mum. They're going to be first years, too."
"Pleased to-" She broke off abruptly, "Lupin? Not related to Remus Lupin, by any chance?"
"He's our Dad," Em replied. "Why?"
"Oh my!" Hermione said, "I didn't know Professor Lupin's children were Artie's age! Harry did mention he had twins- Are your parents with you? Ron!"
"Yeah - and Uncle Sirius and Muriel." Jamie replied; they're getting our books.
"What?" Ron asked, joining Hermione and Melissa. His face broke out into a grin when he saw Jamie's face. "Nice wart!"
"Thanks!" Jamie replied happily. Hermione continued on.
"Sirius and Muriel, too? I haven't seen them in ages! Ron, these are Professor Lupin's children, Em and... I'm sorry, what are your names again?"
"Em and Jamie," Artie explained patiently. Ron stared at Hermione blankly.
"Professor Lupin's married?"
Hermione shook her head, smiling. "You were at the wedding, don't you remember? You sat right next to Neville and me?" Ron slapped his forehead.
"Oh yeah! Where are your parents?"
"We're about to go and meet them, Ron,"
"C'mon then!" Jamie said, grabbing his sister's hand and leading Artie and his family over to where they were supposed to be meeting Remus and Penny.
Penelope and Sirius had gone in search of the last remaining copies in stock of Herbology: How to Identify Those Wacky Weeds by Mary Jane Roller and Remus and Muriel were left, choosing her books.
"So we keep the Hex Deflection book, Grindylows, Werewolves, and Vampires (oh my), and Curses! Dueling the Dark Arts. Anything else?"
"Well, I personally liked the Claudius Fink series on Not Quite a Hex But Not Avada Kedavra Either. It's good for the mid grade students."
"Wonderful." Muriel looked up from the books in her arms and tapped Remus on the shoulder. "Eh, Uncle Remus? Incoming." The Weasleys and the twins walked over to them, and Hermione smiled excitedly.
"Professor Lupin!" Remus turned around, and his face brightened.
"Hermione! And Ron! Hogwarts shopping?" Hermione pulled Artie out in front of her.
"Oh, yes. This is our son, Arthur. He'll be in his first year." Artie looked up at Remus, startled, and he extended his hand.
"Er, pleased to meet you?"
Remus shook his hand, and he escaped to where the twins were standing. Hermione was looking over at Muriel, who was trying hastily to clean up the pile of books around her feet.
"My, Muriel, you've grown," she said. Muriel grinned, and straightened her glasses.
"I find that happens after 21 years. How are you, Hermione?" The two women started chatting excitedly about Muriel's new job, as Ron and Remus started speculating on the new year.
Soon Penny and Sirius turned up, arms laden with not only copies of Herbology: How to Identify Those Wacky Weeds, but many other finds as well.
"Well I.ll be a hippogriff's second cousin!" Sirius called as Penny rolled her eyes at him. "What Pen? Don't you like my sense of humor?" He gave her a rougish grin and turned back to the group in front of him, "Ron and Hermione - it's been too long! Artie can't possibly Hogwarts age yet, can he?"
"That he is," Hermione said, once again pulling her son away from Em and Jamie and shoving him in front of her. Artie shook Sirius' hand quickly and hurried back over to the twins.
"So that's Sirius Black?" He asked, wide-eyed. Jamie nodded, nonplussed. "I haven't seen him since I was a baby, but he visits Gwen all the time. He's her great-godfather."
"Who's Gwen?" Em asked, anxious to learn more about other potential fellow students.
"My best friend," Artie said proudly, "Gwen Potter. She's also my cousin. Aunt Ginny is Dad's sister, and Gwen's dad is Harry Potter."
This pronouncement did not, evidently, have the desired reaction. Jamie nodded vaguely, though not taking his eyes off his wart which he was looking at, cross-eyed. Em however looked impressed.
"The one who defeated Vulg- sorry- Voldemort?"
"Yes," Artie nodded, "And could you stop saying the name, please? Just say 'You-Know-Who' and we'll all know who you mean."
Em raised an eyebrow at him, "No, I don't think so."
Artie gaped at her, but any further mention of Vol- sorry- You-Know-Who was averted by Jamie shrieking: "It is!"
"What is what?" Em asked as she and Artie both turned to look at him, puzzled.
"My wart! It's shrinking!" Jamie announced, looking horribly disappointed.
They both laughed.
"Well you didn't expect it to stay like that forever, did you? It'd get boring!" Em said, giggling.
"S'pose not," Jamie muttered, looking a tad forlorn.
It was lucky that at this point all their parents mutually agreed to check out and move their conversations to the Leaky Cauldron, because just then Jamie's stomach gave a loud rumble.
After stepping out of Flourish and Blott's Sirius and Muriel bade everyone good-bye and disapparated for home.
The sun was setting over Diagon Alley as the Weasleys and the Lupins found themselves once again in the Leaky Cauldron. The crowd had picked up some, and Tom was running around in his dinnertime rush.
"Visit us whenever you want," Penelope said, as she embraced Hermione and Ron.
"We will, and the same to you!" Hermione called as she and Melissa disappeared in the flames. Ron offered a cheerful wave as he walked into the fire, and Artie grinned.
"I'll owl you," he said to Jamie and Em, and then he walked through the fire and was gone. Penelope slumped into a nearby chair and smiled at the ceiling.
"Thank Goodness it's over," she said. Em took out her copy of Who Says we Have To Ride Side-Saddle? and leaned against the wall next to the fireplace, opening up the book to where she had left off. Jamie was fidgety, though, and a sight out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention. An old woman and man had just come into the Leaky Cauldron, with a young girl in tow. She looked to be about Jamie's age, with long, buttery blonde hair and wide blue eyes. The old couple was accompanied by a younger family, a man with silvery hair, pale grey eyes, dressed in expensive looking black robes. His wife was shorter and rather pug-faced, and wore silk robes of a deepest rose color. A boywith them looked remarkably like the father, with the same pale, refined look and haughty air, though he appeared to be a few years older than the twins. And there was one other girl, one short, slightly thick about the waist girl with long, shiny brown hair and a pinched look to her face.
"Come now, Ramses," the younger man with the extremely blonde hair was saying. "Take your sister up to your rooms, and we'll meet down here for dinner. Nicoletta, follow your brother." Ramses and Nicoletta departed, leaving the older couple and their charge with the man with the blonde hair and his wife. Jamie ducked behind his table, away from their view, causing Penelope to frown and drag him up.
"Honestly, Draco, couldn't we have picked somewhere better than here? It's so... low class," the young woman drawled. Draco rolled his eyes and addressed the older couple.
"So we'll meet at Knockturn tomorrow morning, and get down to business," he said quietly.
"But of course. Remember, 9 o' clock, sharp, by Mortis Rigare's." The old man held out his hand to Draco. "It's always wonderful doing business with you, Mr. Malfoy."
"And you too, Mr. Lestrange."
Remus sputtered, and dropped a bag that he had been holding. Jamie was interrupted in his thoughts, and Em looked up from her book.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Penelope asked, stooping down and picking up the scattered contents from the potions supply store.
"Pen, kids," he said, shaken. "Let's get out of here." He put his arm around Penelope's waist as she reached into her purse for the salt shaker.
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Until next time,
Em and Jamie