By the time the Marauders, Auria and Lily had woken up the next morning
almost all the other Gryffindors had already gone home for the holidays,
including Peter. Only two first years and a third year were left, but they
stayed away from the older students. At 11 o'clock the group headed down to
the Great Hall for brunch.
"My feet still hurt," said Auria yawning as they walked down the third staircase.
"Would you like me to carry you?" said Sirius.
"No, no" she squealed as he picked her up in his arms and carried her down the rest of the staircase.
When they reached the bottom he started to tickle her.
"No, stop" she laughed as she tried to get away. Suddenly Sirius stumbled and tripped.
The two of them went flying across the hall and crashed through a set of doors.
"Why hello love," said Sirius with a mischievous grin, who was lying on top of Auria. He bent his face down and kissed her, ignoring the hysterical laughter that was coming from everyone outside in the hall.
"Mr. Black, Mrs. Jacobs" said a voice from above them. "A library is no place for behavior like this." Sirius gave Auria a grin before rolling off her and looking up. There was Madame Pince looming over them and looking very angry. "Five points each from Gryffindor for this inappropriate behavior, and I think I shall have to tell Dumble"
"We're sorry" interrupted Auria getting to her feet. "We actually came here for a reason."
"Oh really" said Pince skeptically. Sirius looked at Auria confused.
"I was wondering if you had any copies of a certain book?" she continued, ignoring Sirius' look.
"Does this book have a title?" Pince replied coldly.
"The Book of Ancient Magic" said Auria defiantly.
Madame Pince cocked her head and stared at her. "You would find that book in the restricted section, but not likely you would ever get the permission to take it out."
"Oh I'll get it" Auira said challengingly.
"There's no point dear" Pince said cruelly. "Someone stole that book a long time ago."
"Oh" Auria replied quietly, looking extremely disappointed.
She turned and left so quickly that Sirius had to jog to keep up with her. They walked through the castle in silence until they found their friends waiting for them at the doors to the Great Hall.
"Did you get in trouble?" asked James.
"Pince was just bursting with Christmas joy wasn't she?" laughed Lily.
Everyone else nodded and chuckled. They went into the hall and sat down. To Sirius' relief Auria's mood brightened as she retold the story over brunch.
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After brunch they all headed back to the common room. They were just about to climb through the portrait whole when they heard footsteps behind them. Turning around they saw Professor McGonagall walking down the hall towards them.
"What are your plans for the day?" she demanded.
"We, um, haven't really decided what we were going to do yet," said James politely. McGonagall glared at them.
"Probably homework" added Lupin quickly.
"Well I have to go to Diagon Alley today to pick up some supplies, and" she said dramatically. "If you all promise to behave and not cause any trouble you may come with me."
"Really?" exclaimed Auria, unable to believe her luck. McGonagall nodded. "We promise to be good then," she said happily.
Everyone else turned to look at her, confused as to why she was so excited to go to Diagon Alley.
"Alright" said McGonagall sighing. "Then go get what you'll need right now, and meet me in the Entrance Hall in half an hour. Oh and don't tell anyone I'm taking you, the other houses might feel that this is unfair." They all nodded and rushed inside to collect their things.
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Half an hour later they were all standing, dressed in their warmest clothing, in the Entrance Hall. They followed Professor McGonagall into Hogmeade and down one of the back alleys. While they walked through the town, Auria kept looking around nervously. Sirius saw this and took hold of her hand.
"He won't show up in broad day light with tons of people around" he whisper, trying to comfort her.
"I guess" she replied glancing down a street.
"But if he does, I'll protect you" he said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"Ok" giggled Auria rolling her eyes.
"No, really, I mean it," said Sirius stopping and standing in front of her. Auria began to say something but stopped, the look on his face was one of such determination that she knew he was completely serious. Auria reached up and brushed a piece of hair out of his face.
"I know you do" she replied softly. She reached down and held his hand. Then they started walking after McGonagall.
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"Um, Professor, why are we down an alley?" asked Lily, when they had stopped.
"Because we don't want people to see us," she replied, pulling a long gold necklace out of her pocket. She pulled out her wand and tapped the necklace while muttering a spell. "It's a portkey," she said holding it up. Everyone placed their hand on the necklace. "Ready?" she asked looking around. Everyone nodded in agreement. "One, two, three."
Auria felt the pull around the navel and not a second later her feet hit the cobblestones. They were standing behind the wall that led to Diagon Alley. McGonagall tapped the wall with her wand and the familiar archway appeared. "We will meet back here at 4 o'clock. You had all better be on time," she said sternly before heading off into the crowd.
"Excellent" said James, grinning at Sirius. "Where shall we start?"
"Flourish and Blotts" said Auria quickly.
"What, why?" James asked in a disbelieving tone. "I need to see if they have the book I was looking for at Hogwarts" she explained. "Please, it will only take a moment, and then we can go where ever you want" she added, glancing over at a joke shop.
"Sure" said Sirius.
"Thanks" she replied smiling at him, while James rolled his eyes.
They headed over towards the bookshop and went inside.
"I was wondering if you had a certain book, The Book of Ancient Magic," she said to the clerk.
"Yes, we have it. Come, follow me," he said, sounding oddly excited. Everybody made their way towards the very back of the shop. The clerk stopped in front of a glass case. "There is it," he said tapping on the glass. Auria looked inside. There was the book, lying on a piece of purple velvet.
"May I look at it?" she asked.
"Only if you intend to buy it," replied the clerk pointing to a price tag in the corner. She leaned over and gasped silently. It cost 5000 galleons. However, she turned back to the man, her mind already made up. "I need this book" she thought. "I know this is wrong but I need the information."
"I do intend to buy it," she said in a serious tone. James, Sirius, Remus and Lily stared at her. The clerk eyed her suspiciously, but eventually deciding that she was completely serious, began to unlock the case. He took out the huge, leather bound book and laid it down carefully on a nearby table.
"Why is it so expensive?" she asked running her hand down silver and black decorated cover. "Because it's a very rare book. This is one of the only copies in Britain, except for the one at Hogwarts."
"Oh, I see" she replied smiling slightly.
Just then another customer came into the store. "Be careful with it," said the clerk as he left to deal with the customer. "I'll be back in a moment."
The instant he was out of sight Auria opened the book and began madly flipping through the pages.
"What's in there that you need so badly?" asked Sirius.
"You'll see soon enough" she said grinning. "Can you and James keep watch? And can you" she said pointing to Remus, "keep him busy."
"Sure" they replied in unison.
"Why?" asked Remus.
"Because I need to copy out a few things," she explained quickly. The boys left to take their places. Auria found the page she was looking for and in an instant had pulled a quill, some parchment and a bottle of ink out of her bag. She began to copy down a specific part and had been madly copying out a particularly long paragraph when her quill broke.
"Oh no" she moaned and then turning to Lily said "Can you keep my page? I need to get another quill."
Lily nodded. She put her finger on the page and watched as Auria snuck towards the front of the store. A moment later she returned with a new quill in hand. Lily quickly flipped back to Auria's page. Auria kept writing for a few more minutes until Sirius whispered that the man was coming back. Turning around, she saw the clerk walking back towards them, followed by Remus carrying an armload of books. Auria quickly jammed the parchment, quill and ink into her bag and pretended to look very interested in a particular paragraph.
"So, what do you think?" asked the clerk curtly.
"Well, actually, I was surprised to find that it was not as throughout and informative as I expected it to be. I don't think I'm going to buy it after all. I'm terribly sorry to have troubled you," she said sweetly.
"Don't worry," said the clerk sounding disappointed. "It was no trouble at all."
The group of friends left the store as quickly as they could. James decided that they should all head to the joke shop. After a large restocking of prank supplies, the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering in and out of stores and drinking hot chocolate, and laughing at Auria and Sirius after they got caught making out in a change room at Madame Malkins. No matter how fascinating the new broom sticks, pets or potions, all Auria wanted to do was head back to the school to read over the notes she had copied down. However, she was in for a big surprise, one that would almost distract her completely from doing the new spell she had spent months preparing for.
"My feet still hurt," said Auria yawning as they walked down the third staircase.
"Would you like me to carry you?" said Sirius.
"No, no" she squealed as he picked her up in his arms and carried her down the rest of the staircase.
When they reached the bottom he started to tickle her.
"No, stop" she laughed as she tried to get away. Suddenly Sirius stumbled and tripped.
The two of them went flying across the hall and crashed through a set of doors.
"Why hello love," said Sirius with a mischievous grin, who was lying on top of Auria. He bent his face down and kissed her, ignoring the hysterical laughter that was coming from everyone outside in the hall.
"Mr. Black, Mrs. Jacobs" said a voice from above them. "A library is no place for behavior like this." Sirius gave Auria a grin before rolling off her and looking up. There was Madame Pince looming over them and looking very angry. "Five points each from Gryffindor for this inappropriate behavior, and I think I shall have to tell Dumble"
"We're sorry" interrupted Auria getting to her feet. "We actually came here for a reason."
"Oh really" said Pince skeptically. Sirius looked at Auria confused.
"I was wondering if you had any copies of a certain book?" she continued, ignoring Sirius' look.
"Does this book have a title?" Pince replied coldly.
"The Book of Ancient Magic" said Auria defiantly.
Madame Pince cocked her head and stared at her. "You would find that book in the restricted section, but not likely you would ever get the permission to take it out."
"Oh I'll get it" Auira said challengingly.
"There's no point dear" Pince said cruelly. "Someone stole that book a long time ago."
"Oh" Auria replied quietly, looking extremely disappointed.
She turned and left so quickly that Sirius had to jog to keep up with her. They walked through the castle in silence until they found their friends waiting for them at the doors to the Great Hall.
"Did you get in trouble?" asked James.
"Pince was just bursting with Christmas joy wasn't she?" laughed Lily.
Everyone else nodded and chuckled. They went into the hall and sat down. To Sirius' relief Auria's mood brightened as she retold the story over brunch.
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After brunch they all headed back to the common room. They were just about to climb through the portrait whole when they heard footsteps behind them. Turning around they saw Professor McGonagall walking down the hall towards them.
"What are your plans for the day?" she demanded.
"We, um, haven't really decided what we were going to do yet," said James politely. McGonagall glared at them.
"Probably homework" added Lupin quickly.
"Well I have to go to Diagon Alley today to pick up some supplies, and" she said dramatically. "If you all promise to behave and not cause any trouble you may come with me."
"Really?" exclaimed Auria, unable to believe her luck. McGonagall nodded. "We promise to be good then," she said happily.
Everyone else turned to look at her, confused as to why she was so excited to go to Diagon Alley.
"Alright" said McGonagall sighing. "Then go get what you'll need right now, and meet me in the Entrance Hall in half an hour. Oh and don't tell anyone I'm taking you, the other houses might feel that this is unfair." They all nodded and rushed inside to collect their things.
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Half an hour later they were all standing, dressed in their warmest clothing, in the Entrance Hall. They followed Professor McGonagall into Hogmeade and down one of the back alleys. While they walked through the town, Auria kept looking around nervously. Sirius saw this and took hold of her hand.
"He won't show up in broad day light with tons of people around" he whisper, trying to comfort her.
"I guess" she replied glancing down a street.
"But if he does, I'll protect you" he said proudly, puffing out his chest.
"Ok" giggled Auria rolling her eyes.
"No, really, I mean it," said Sirius stopping and standing in front of her. Auria began to say something but stopped, the look on his face was one of such determination that she knew he was completely serious. Auria reached up and brushed a piece of hair out of his face.
"I know you do" she replied softly. She reached down and held his hand. Then they started walking after McGonagall.
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"Um, Professor, why are we down an alley?" asked Lily, when they had stopped.
"Because we don't want people to see us," she replied, pulling a long gold necklace out of her pocket. She pulled out her wand and tapped the necklace while muttering a spell. "It's a portkey," she said holding it up. Everyone placed their hand on the necklace. "Ready?" she asked looking around. Everyone nodded in agreement. "One, two, three."
Auria felt the pull around the navel and not a second later her feet hit the cobblestones. They were standing behind the wall that led to Diagon Alley. McGonagall tapped the wall with her wand and the familiar archway appeared. "We will meet back here at 4 o'clock. You had all better be on time," she said sternly before heading off into the crowd.
"Excellent" said James, grinning at Sirius. "Where shall we start?"
"Flourish and Blotts" said Auria quickly.
"What, why?" James asked in a disbelieving tone. "I need to see if they have the book I was looking for at Hogwarts" she explained. "Please, it will only take a moment, and then we can go where ever you want" she added, glancing over at a joke shop.
"Sure" said Sirius.
"Thanks" she replied smiling at him, while James rolled his eyes.
They headed over towards the bookshop and went inside.
"I was wondering if you had a certain book, The Book of Ancient Magic," she said to the clerk.
"Yes, we have it. Come, follow me," he said, sounding oddly excited. Everybody made their way towards the very back of the shop. The clerk stopped in front of a glass case. "There is it," he said tapping on the glass. Auria looked inside. There was the book, lying on a piece of purple velvet.
"May I look at it?" she asked.
"Only if you intend to buy it," replied the clerk pointing to a price tag in the corner. She leaned over and gasped silently. It cost 5000 galleons. However, she turned back to the man, her mind already made up. "I need this book" she thought. "I know this is wrong but I need the information."
"I do intend to buy it," she said in a serious tone. James, Sirius, Remus and Lily stared at her. The clerk eyed her suspiciously, but eventually deciding that she was completely serious, began to unlock the case. He took out the huge, leather bound book and laid it down carefully on a nearby table.
"Why is it so expensive?" she asked running her hand down silver and black decorated cover. "Because it's a very rare book. This is one of the only copies in Britain, except for the one at Hogwarts."
"Oh, I see" she replied smiling slightly.
Just then another customer came into the store. "Be careful with it," said the clerk as he left to deal with the customer. "I'll be back in a moment."
The instant he was out of sight Auria opened the book and began madly flipping through the pages.
"What's in there that you need so badly?" asked Sirius.
"You'll see soon enough" she said grinning. "Can you and James keep watch? And can you" she said pointing to Remus, "keep him busy."
"Sure" they replied in unison.
"Why?" asked Remus.
"Because I need to copy out a few things," she explained quickly. The boys left to take their places. Auria found the page she was looking for and in an instant had pulled a quill, some parchment and a bottle of ink out of her bag. She began to copy down a specific part and had been madly copying out a particularly long paragraph when her quill broke.
"Oh no" she moaned and then turning to Lily said "Can you keep my page? I need to get another quill."
Lily nodded. She put her finger on the page and watched as Auria snuck towards the front of the store. A moment later she returned with a new quill in hand. Lily quickly flipped back to Auria's page. Auria kept writing for a few more minutes until Sirius whispered that the man was coming back. Turning around, she saw the clerk walking back towards them, followed by Remus carrying an armload of books. Auria quickly jammed the parchment, quill and ink into her bag and pretended to look very interested in a particular paragraph.
"So, what do you think?" asked the clerk curtly.
"Well, actually, I was surprised to find that it was not as throughout and informative as I expected it to be. I don't think I'm going to buy it after all. I'm terribly sorry to have troubled you," she said sweetly.
"Don't worry," said the clerk sounding disappointed. "It was no trouble at all."
The group of friends left the store as quickly as they could. James decided that they should all head to the joke shop. After a large restocking of prank supplies, the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering in and out of stores and drinking hot chocolate, and laughing at Auria and Sirius after they got caught making out in a change room at Madame Malkins. No matter how fascinating the new broom sticks, pets or potions, all Auria wanted to do was head back to the school to read over the notes she had copied down. However, she was in for a big surprise, one that would almost distract her completely from doing the new spell she had spent months preparing for.