A/N: Thanks reviewers! I got a few questions about how Sirius got to be
Minister of Magic. That will be answered in a few chapters. Until
then.enjoy! I've been really excited to post this chapter because this is
where the whole idea for the story stemmed from, this one little idea that
I wanted to throw in there. As always, THANK YOU KAT for beta-ing (
Every Day Is A Winding Road Chapter 6, Long Time Coming
*~*
James Potter was running.
As always, he was late.
He blew into the Three Broomsticks and immediately found his three best friends sitting at a table in the back. He grinned and walked over to them.
"Come on! She's quite lovely."
"I don't think so."
"Well, then you're stupid."
"This coming from the guy dating the woman who ran into a window, and yet is still more intelligent then him."
"Hello all!" James greeted them, interrupting Remus and Sirius' debate over Sirius' latest attempt at dating.
"Late, as usual." Remus said without looking up from the book he was reading.
James pulled the book down on the table. "With good reason, I promise you."
"Do tell!" Remus said leaning forward.
"Wait!" Sirius interrupted. "Need some drinks! Rosmerta!"
The waitress nodded at him. The four boys had met there so often that she knew their routine. "Four Butterbeers!"
James turned to Peter Pettigrew who through the whole five minutes since James had arrived, had stayed quiet.
"You alright Pete?"
He jumped at the sound of his name. "OH! Yes.yes." his hands were shaking.
James' brow furrowed. "Alright then."
Rosmerta returned placing four Butterbeers on the table.
"Thank you darling!" said Sirius, blowing her a kiss. She rolled her eyes and walked off.
"Nice one Sirius, she almost looked at you." Remus teased.
Sirius chose to ignore him. "James, buddy, pal, what's in the bag?" he asked, referring to the small bag James had delicately placed in his lap when he sat down.
"I'm glad you asked my friend." He said with a smile. He looked around meeting the eyes of each of his best friends. Since their graduation at Hogwarts three years ago, the foursome had grown apart, but through it all, one thing remained the same. They always met at the Three Broomsticks every second Sunday of each month. The only one of the four who'd been blowing off their meetings more and more, was Peter. He'd gotten some fancy job in Romania, though Remus, Sirius and James had no clue as to what he did.
Remus was working on becoming an auror, while Sirius was aiming, much to the surprise of the other three, to work in the Ministry. "I'll be ruling one day, you'll see" he'd always tell them.
James had been married a year. Happily married. He loved his wife Lily with all his heart, as did his other friends.in a different way of course. They'd had their first child only a few months ago, named Harry after his father. James smiled just at the thought of his precious son.
Remus snapped him out of his reverie. "What are you going to tell us?"
James grinned again and pulled a small box from the bag. On the small, dark blue, velvet box was A Bit Of Magic, the name of the most expensive jewelry store in town.
"James." Remus started, but James opened the box and all talking ceased.
Sitting in the small holder was a ring. Not just any ring but the most beautiful ring any of them had ever seen.
"It's a piece of a meteorite that was found off the coast of America. Most of it sunk to the bottom and turned brown, but there were a few pieces salvaged." James recited softly.
The ring had a gold band and small diamonds on either side of the meteor. The meteor was the amazing thing of course. It glowed a soft, but sparkly red. It reminded them all of..
"Lily's hair. That's why I bought it. It just.reminded me of her in every way. I wanted to get her something special for our one-year anniversary. It's been such an amazing year." James said.
"This is incredible." Sirius said with absolute seriousness. "But.what does this have to do with us."
James closed the box, and they all leaned back into their seats. "I need one of you to hang on to it for about a week and a half. If I keep it, Lily will be sure to find it in the house, since she cleans every inch of it every week. I want this to be the biggest surprise. You all are my closest mates, and I just need one of you to keep it, and we'll meet up in about a week."
"I will, I'm seeing you next week anyway to get that book I need from Lily for class." Remus said.
James nodded. "That's true." He looked at the bag.and silently passed it over to Remus, who held onto it and smiled encouragingly at James.
"I promise I'll take good care of it."
James nodded. "I know. It's just.important you know?"
Remus nodded, "I know."
Sirius clapped James on the back, "Always here for you buddy!"
James smiled and said again, "I know."
*~*
Remus pulled out a key from the drawer in his desk that he kept them in. He walked over to the storage closet, opened it, and knelt know to pulled out a small box from under a trunk. He stuck the key in the rusty lock, and opened the box.
He reached in and pulled out the small, velvet box. He took a deep breath, and opened it.
As he stared at the ring, a tear fell down his face.
The ring was a constant reminder.
It was a constant reminder of his last conversation with one of his best friends.
*
Harry and Ginny rushed into the Burrow.
"Sorry we're late!" Ginny called loudly bustling into the kitchen, Harry right on her heels. The two walked into the room. Everyone who had been talking and laughing, stopped, and looked at the two of them.
The room went completely silent.
"What?" Ginny said.
Harry felt himself pale a couple shades. He looked down at his girlfriend.and realized why they were silent.
Ginny's hair was sticking up in several places, her skirt was quite wrinkled, and the buttons on her shirt were buttoned in the wrong holes.
Ginny turned to meet Harry's eyes.and realized why the family went silent.
His hair was also sticking up in several places, his neatly pressed khakis were wrinkled, he had on miss-matched socks, and there was lipstick on his face.
The two, with their sudden realization, turned back to the table.
Mrs. Weasley had now stood up and her face wasn't red.
It was purple.
Harry gulped.
There was a loud burst of laughter.
All heads turned towards Fred and George.
The twins were laughing very hard. George looked up at their faces and laughed harder.
"You..You..HA!!!!"
Fred inhaled deeply, "Remember those cookies we sent you Gin?"
Ginny looked at him, very confused.
"Remember the cookies Gin?!"
"Um.sure." She said, shooting confused glances at the two boys. Harry caught on though.
"You didn't."
The two boys burst out laughing. Harry turned to the family.
"I'm guessing there was some sort of potion in those.?"
Fred nodded. "Frantilicus Potion, makes you look as frazzled as you feel at the moment."
Ginny caught on. "We ate cookies right before we left because we were early.."
".And then my godfather showed up right as we were leaving." Harry finished.
Mrs. Weasley's face went back to its normal color. "Oh! My! You two scared me for a moment there!" she bustled to the other side of the table where Harry and Ginny stood. She hugged Harry and kissed Ginny's cheek. "So glad you two could come! Have a seat!" As she walked back to her seat she gently smacked Fred and George both upside the head.
*
Dinner went very smoothly, there were no major events once Ginny and Harry were seated. After dinner, Harry was shoved out of the kitchen and he and Ginny decided to take a walk in the backyard. It was then, and only then that they pondered the incident at dinner.
"Frantilicus Potion? I knew your brothers were good jokers but liars? Tsk tsk."
Ginny laughed, "Don't complain! They saved us in there.although I have no idea why. They must want something from me and will use this as blackmail. Good thing you caught onto their plan when you did Harry, or there really would've been a Beat the Boy!"
The two laughed.
"Seriously though" Ginny said as she leaned on Harry's shoulder, "I wonder what it is they want from me."
*
"Do you think it will work?"
"I dunno Fred, this is such an awful way to get it."
"You aren't."
"No, I'm not backing out."
"Good. It looks like they're heading in."
"I wish it didn't have to be like this."
"Me too George. Me too."
*
Hours later, Harry and Ginny stood on her doorstep to her cottage. She sighed and looked up at him. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"
He nodded, "Of course."
Though he knew it was more than that. Ginny wanted to talk about Fred and George, and what they had confronted them with earlier that evening.
She had, of course, been right. They did use the lie they told for the two lovebirds as blackmail. Even if they had plainly asked though, Harry would've been happy to oblige to the request.
It was what they requested that scared him.
He sat down on Ginny's small couch just as she walked out of the kitchen and fell down beside him. She stared up at him.
"Stalkers?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know Gin, I really don't."
"But.why would someone want to stalk my brothers? They work in a joke shop for heavens sake! What would they do to make someone want to stalk them? They just bring joy..for the most part."
Harry shrugged again. "I don't know."
Ginny sighed. "And why, oh why, did they have to come to you? You have so much going on right now, so much that stresses you out as it is, and they had to come to you. They couldn't be sensible for once and go the Department of Magical Safety, no. They had to come to you."
"I'm glad they did Ginny."
She looked up at him confused.
"Stalkers are dangerous business. If they are really and truly stalking your brothers then they would know if they went to the department, and they might do something awful to them."
Ginny shuddered. "Then I guess I should be glad they came to you..what are you going to do?"
He shook his head. "No idea. I've got so many ideas running through my head. I wish they'd told me when they first suspected it instead of waiting this long. Stalkers start far, and get closer and closer.until they get whatever it is they want."
Ginny got up and walked into the kitchen, her thoughts all running together and she put the two mugs of tea on a tray.
It had been a very long night.
*
Remus walked back to his desk as he stared into the depths of the ring. It was just as beautiful as it had been many years ago when James had first trusted it to him.
A tear fell down his cheek as he remembered that James had died only 8 days after handing him the ring.
It was almost as if he knew.
Remus glanced up at the clock on the wall. Seeing that it was late, he closed the box and placed it back in its hiding spot.
He walked into his sleeping chambers and sat on his bed, putting his head in his hands.
As much as he hated to admit it, Sirius was right about the ring.
Every Day Is A Winding Road Chapter 6, Long Time Coming
*~*
James Potter was running.
As always, he was late.
He blew into the Three Broomsticks and immediately found his three best friends sitting at a table in the back. He grinned and walked over to them.
"Come on! She's quite lovely."
"I don't think so."
"Well, then you're stupid."
"This coming from the guy dating the woman who ran into a window, and yet is still more intelligent then him."
"Hello all!" James greeted them, interrupting Remus and Sirius' debate over Sirius' latest attempt at dating.
"Late, as usual." Remus said without looking up from the book he was reading.
James pulled the book down on the table. "With good reason, I promise you."
"Do tell!" Remus said leaning forward.
"Wait!" Sirius interrupted. "Need some drinks! Rosmerta!"
The waitress nodded at him. The four boys had met there so often that she knew their routine. "Four Butterbeers!"
James turned to Peter Pettigrew who through the whole five minutes since James had arrived, had stayed quiet.
"You alright Pete?"
He jumped at the sound of his name. "OH! Yes.yes." his hands were shaking.
James' brow furrowed. "Alright then."
Rosmerta returned placing four Butterbeers on the table.
"Thank you darling!" said Sirius, blowing her a kiss. She rolled her eyes and walked off.
"Nice one Sirius, she almost looked at you." Remus teased.
Sirius chose to ignore him. "James, buddy, pal, what's in the bag?" he asked, referring to the small bag James had delicately placed in his lap when he sat down.
"I'm glad you asked my friend." He said with a smile. He looked around meeting the eyes of each of his best friends. Since their graduation at Hogwarts three years ago, the foursome had grown apart, but through it all, one thing remained the same. They always met at the Three Broomsticks every second Sunday of each month. The only one of the four who'd been blowing off their meetings more and more, was Peter. He'd gotten some fancy job in Romania, though Remus, Sirius and James had no clue as to what he did.
Remus was working on becoming an auror, while Sirius was aiming, much to the surprise of the other three, to work in the Ministry. "I'll be ruling one day, you'll see" he'd always tell them.
James had been married a year. Happily married. He loved his wife Lily with all his heart, as did his other friends.in a different way of course. They'd had their first child only a few months ago, named Harry after his father. James smiled just at the thought of his precious son.
Remus snapped him out of his reverie. "What are you going to tell us?"
James grinned again and pulled a small box from the bag. On the small, dark blue, velvet box was A Bit Of Magic, the name of the most expensive jewelry store in town.
"James." Remus started, but James opened the box and all talking ceased.
Sitting in the small holder was a ring. Not just any ring but the most beautiful ring any of them had ever seen.
"It's a piece of a meteorite that was found off the coast of America. Most of it sunk to the bottom and turned brown, but there were a few pieces salvaged." James recited softly.
The ring had a gold band and small diamonds on either side of the meteor. The meteor was the amazing thing of course. It glowed a soft, but sparkly red. It reminded them all of..
"Lily's hair. That's why I bought it. It just.reminded me of her in every way. I wanted to get her something special for our one-year anniversary. It's been such an amazing year." James said.
"This is incredible." Sirius said with absolute seriousness. "But.what does this have to do with us."
James closed the box, and they all leaned back into their seats. "I need one of you to hang on to it for about a week and a half. If I keep it, Lily will be sure to find it in the house, since she cleans every inch of it every week. I want this to be the biggest surprise. You all are my closest mates, and I just need one of you to keep it, and we'll meet up in about a week."
"I will, I'm seeing you next week anyway to get that book I need from Lily for class." Remus said.
James nodded. "That's true." He looked at the bag.and silently passed it over to Remus, who held onto it and smiled encouragingly at James.
"I promise I'll take good care of it."
James nodded. "I know. It's just.important you know?"
Remus nodded, "I know."
Sirius clapped James on the back, "Always here for you buddy!"
James smiled and said again, "I know."
*~*
Remus pulled out a key from the drawer in his desk that he kept them in. He walked over to the storage closet, opened it, and knelt know to pulled out a small box from under a trunk. He stuck the key in the rusty lock, and opened the box.
He reached in and pulled out the small, velvet box. He took a deep breath, and opened it.
As he stared at the ring, a tear fell down his face.
The ring was a constant reminder.
It was a constant reminder of his last conversation with one of his best friends.
*
Harry and Ginny rushed into the Burrow.
"Sorry we're late!" Ginny called loudly bustling into the kitchen, Harry right on her heels. The two walked into the room. Everyone who had been talking and laughing, stopped, and looked at the two of them.
The room went completely silent.
"What?" Ginny said.
Harry felt himself pale a couple shades. He looked down at his girlfriend.and realized why they were silent.
Ginny's hair was sticking up in several places, her skirt was quite wrinkled, and the buttons on her shirt were buttoned in the wrong holes.
Ginny turned to meet Harry's eyes.and realized why the family went silent.
His hair was also sticking up in several places, his neatly pressed khakis were wrinkled, he had on miss-matched socks, and there was lipstick on his face.
The two, with their sudden realization, turned back to the table.
Mrs. Weasley had now stood up and her face wasn't red.
It was purple.
Harry gulped.
There was a loud burst of laughter.
All heads turned towards Fred and George.
The twins were laughing very hard. George looked up at their faces and laughed harder.
"You..You..HA!!!!"
Fred inhaled deeply, "Remember those cookies we sent you Gin?"
Ginny looked at him, very confused.
"Remember the cookies Gin?!"
"Um.sure." She said, shooting confused glances at the two boys. Harry caught on though.
"You didn't."
The two boys burst out laughing. Harry turned to the family.
"I'm guessing there was some sort of potion in those.?"
Fred nodded. "Frantilicus Potion, makes you look as frazzled as you feel at the moment."
Ginny caught on. "We ate cookies right before we left because we were early.."
".And then my godfather showed up right as we were leaving." Harry finished.
Mrs. Weasley's face went back to its normal color. "Oh! My! You two scared me for a moment there!" she bustled to the other side of the table where Harry and Ginny stood. She hugged Harry and kissed Ginny's cheek. "So glad you two could come! Have a seat!" As she walked back to her seat she gently smacked Fred and George both upside the head.
*
Dinner went very smoothly, there were no major events once Ginny and Harry were seated. After dinner, Harry was shoved out of the kitchen and he and Ginny decided to take a walk in the backyard. It was then, and only then that they pondered the incident at dinner.
"Frantilicus Potion? I knew your brothers were good jokers but liars? Tsk tsk."
Ginny laughed, "Don't complain! They saved us in there.although I have no idea why. They must want something from me and will use this as blackmail. Good thing you caught onto their plan when you did Harry, or there really would've been a Beat the Boy!"
The two laughed.
"Seriously though" Ginny said as she leaned on Harry's shoulder, "I wonder what it is they want from me."
*
"Do you think it will work?"
"I dunno Fred, this is such an awful way to get it."
"You aren't."
"No, I'm not backing out."
"Good. It looks like they're heading in."
"I wish it didn't have to be like this."
"Me too George. Me too."
*
Hours later, Harry and Ginny stood on her doorstep to her cottage. She sighed and looked up at him. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"
He nodded, "Of course."
Though he knew it was more than that. Ginny wanted to talk about Fred and George, and what they had confronted them with earlier that evening.
She had, of course, been right. They did use the lie they told for the two lovebirds as blackmail. Even if they had plainly asked though, Harry would've been happy to oblige to the request.
It was what they requested that scared him.
He sat down on Ginny's small couch just as she walked out of the kitchen and fell down beside him. She stared up at him.
"Stalkers?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know Gin, I really don't."
"But.why would someone want to stalk my brothers? They work in a joke shop for heavens sake! What would they do to make someone want to stalk them? They just bring joy..for the most part."
Harry shrugged again. "I don't know."
Ginny sighed. "And why, oh why, did they have to come to you? You have so much going on right now, so much that stresses you out as it is, and they had to come to you. They couldn't be sensible for once and go the Department of Magical Safety, no. They had to come to you."
"I'm glad they did Ginny."
She looked up at him confused.
"Stalkers are dangerous business. If they are really and truly stalking your brothers then they would know if they went to the department, and they might do something awful to them."
Ginny shuddered. "Then I guess I should be glad they came to you..what are you going to do?"
He shook his head. "No idea. I've got so many ideas running through my head. I wish they'd told me when they first suspected it instead of waiting this long. Stalkers start far, and get closer and closer.until they get whatever it is they want."
Ginny got up and walked into the kitchen, her thoughts all running together and she put the two mugs of tea on a tray.
It had been a very long night.
*
Remus walked back to his desk as he stared into the depths of the ring. It was just as beautiful as it had been many years ago when James had first trusted it to him.
A tear fell down his cheek as he remembered that James had died only 8 days after handing him the ring.
It was almost as if he knew.
Remus glanced up at the clock on the wall. Seeing that it was late, he closed the box and placed it back in its hiding spot.
He walked into his sleeping chambers and sat on his bed, putting his head in his hands.
As much as he hated to admit it, Sirius was right about the ring.