Mum didn't mind a tag-along, especially one as friendly as Sirius, as soon as she knew I'd invited him along and his name. He told her that his mother was somewhere around there, conveniently leaving out the detail that he'd slipped off, and apparently unaware that he seemed to be able to talk for five straight minutes without taking a breath, asked her if she was where I got my quiet from. She laughed at him and told him that she had no idea where I learned it— both Mum and Dad could talk plenty when allowed a word in edgewise. Sirius went red and was subdued for all of about five seconds. "I'm quiet because I can't fit a word in edgewise with the two of you, either," I mumbled, putting on a show of being irritated at it.

She laughed. "Most kids whose parents talk that much are shouting to be heard," she commented. "Now where are the two of you going to drag me first?"

I dragged the both of them into Flourish and Blotts. Sirius immediately found the section on hexes and counter curses— I followed him quite happily. Mum called something about finding the books I needed while the two of us explored as we headed off.

Sirius was flipping through one of the books by the time I caught up. "Looking for anything in particular?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what Bellatrix shot at me last family reunion. She got a Ministry letter for it— my uncle was furious. She told him it was more than worth it. Ah, here it is. Nasty thing. Wonder how quickly I could learn to get her back with something. . . ."

I glanced at the curse, suddenly surprised he hadn't needed a healer for that one. Sirius shrugged at my reaction. "Hey, I've been threatened with the Imperius to get me to behave— obviously it hasn't worked, and that sure isn't an Unforgivable." He continued to flip through book, moving on to curses he found himself likely to cast; meanwhile I found a charm to change the colors of things, wondering aloud absently if the wizard chasing his lizard had used that charm.

"There's a multicolored lizard out there being chased by someone?" Sirius asked. I nodded. Sirius snorted and shook his head. "It's not funny . . . really, unless it's a chameleon, but. . . . Well, there's never a dull moment on this street, that's for sure."

I had to agree with him.

Sirius found some slightly more benign curses and was reading their effects out loud, speculating what the reactions of several of his family members might be— probably the best of the lot was his description of a girl named Narcissa's probable reaction to having her nose turned into a pig's snout. Mum had some trouble dragging us out of the bookshop.

Mum herded us into the Apothecary next. While she talked to the older clerk about potions supplies, Sirius decided to cause trouble with younger clerk, attempting to explain to her precisely how to smuggle Chimaera eggs out of Greece. She seemed pretty nervous, and kept mumbling something about not selling Chimaera eggs. "I know that," Sirius told her, "I'm just trying to tell you. . . ." He described a somewhat unlikely incident of smuggling them out by wrapping them in packaging paper and explaining to Muggle customs, should they be run through on of those little things that showed to insides of things— I had to break in with the fact that it was a x-ray machine here— that they were model dinosaur kits.

He was getting into how to sneak them out by air, and the girl was staring at him oddly, as if she though he was crazy— I must admit I was beginning to agree with her. I tapped him on the shoulder. "I think you're making her nervous."

"Well, yes, that's the point," Sirius told me, and turned back to the clerk. "Well, Sphinx cubs are a little easier to get legally, anyway," he added to her, and she made a grab at the opportunity to turn the conversation from the smuggling of illegal eggs to magical beasts in general.

Meanwhile I made an attempt to examine the other things in the Apothecary, like unicorn horns and dragon hearts in their glass cases, but I had to poke my head up and correct one or the other so often I eventually just joined in the conversation, which was leaving the realms of the uncomfortable anyway.

In another shop, Sirius pulled a ball out of his pocket and we started tossing it around, until he ran into a stack of cauldrons and sent them toppling. Despite our offers to help pick the mess up, both Mum and the clerk chased us out, announcing that they'd clean it, and Mum adding that she would skin us if we wandered off too far— she seemed to have decided she'd look after Sirius until we found his mother.

"Something tells me we shouldn't have done that," Sirius muttered, glancing back into the interior of the shop, where the clerk was spelling the cauldrons back into their places.

"No kidding," I muttered.

"I have been reminded that my parents aren't kidding when they say they can't take me anywhere," he added, shaking his head.

"I wonder why," I said sarcastically.

Sirius snorted. "You think that was bad? I managed to send me, my brother, and my aunt's cat off the roof once— we were lucky my uncle was trying to figure out where we were. And even that's nothing to me on a broomstick. . . ." Perfectly cheerfully, he explained that he'd succeeded in breaking five bones flying alone, not mentioning falling down stairs, fighting with various family members, and climbing, as he put it, "things that apparently weren't meant to be climbed."

Mum came out, shaking her head. "I'm beginning to wonder what kind of trouble the school's going to be in if the two of you stick together through it. . . ." she announced. "What've we got left?"

"A wand," I answered.

"Ah, yes, Ollivander's," Mum said. "One place even a pair of eleven-year-old boys might have trouble causing a scene."

Sirius declared that he would race me there. I have no idea what possessed me to agree with him, but I chased him all the way down the street. Sirius skidded to a stop just before the door. "I win."

"You had a head start and your legs are longer," I panted in my defense. "I can be pretty fast when I want to be."

We headed in after Mum appeared. The inside of it was dark and there wasn't much too it. It was almost entirely full of shelves of wands and the air was very still. "Good evening." An old, man with silvery eyes appeared, looking us over. "Hm. . . . Back again, Mr. Black? Your mother was in here looking for you half an hour ago."

"Was she mad?" he asked.

"Exceedingly."

Sirius grinned at that like he was happy about it; I reached the conclusion that I'd never met anyone more crazy in my life and probably never would.

Mr. Ollivander turned to my mother. "Karen Jessman? Oak, wasn't it, thirteen inches?"

Mum started but nodded. "Yes . . . so you do remember every wand you sell. It's Lupin now, though; I've been married for almost fifteen years," she corrected him.

"Then the other boy must be your son," Mr. Ollivander guessed.

Both of us nodded. Mr Ollivander looked me over and went to the shelves, pulling down a couple of the boxes. The first one he told me to try was ten inches long, made of yew and unicorn hair, and didn't last long in my hands. The next several lasted equally long— the fourth only about two seconds, I'll still swear— and Mr. Ollivander, who'd first struck me as one of those calm old men who were never really startled became excitable indeed.

I think it took over fifteen tries to come up with one that felt different from the others— ash, twelve and a half inches, with a dragon heartstring core. I was more than happy of it; I'd always hated being the center of attention and now I had three pairs of eyes on me. Sirius was trying not to laugh. "You'd think you were a witness in a murder trail," he told me.

"I don't like people looking at me," I grumbled.

Sirius shrugged. "I can't imagine how. Than again, I s'pose I've really had to get used to it." If the time we'd spent together was any indicator, that was certainly true— he'd caught more than enough notice today in any single incident I could think of.

We headed back out, and Mum was in the process of asking Sirius if he had any idea where his mother might be looking for him, when somebody started shouting his name. "Sirius! Sirius Black!"

"Er . . . I think that may be her," he said.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

"Yeah, that's my mum, alright," Sirius said with a sigh, turning to face a severe looking woman. It was obvious where Sirius got his height from— she had to be almost six feet tall. She had black hair, too, pulled back into a bun, and she looked livid. "Hi, Mum," he greeted her, perfectly calmly.

"Honestly, I have been looking everywhere for you for three hours!" Mrs. Black shouted. It was a wonder more people weren't stopping to stare. "And all you can say is 'Hi, Mum'? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"I'm fine!" Sirius protested.

"Do you really think I've been worried about you?" his mother asked, apparently trying to calm down. "More likely the general populace!"

"I haven't hurt anyone else, either!"

Mrs. Black glowered at him and turned to Mum. "Thank you for keeping my son from getting into too much trouble," she said.

"Oh, it really wasn't that much of a problem," Mum answered.

Mrs. Black raised a skeptical eyebrow and started off. Sirius glanced at her and sighed, obviously well aware he was in for it. "Well, see you on the train, Remus," he told me. I nodded and he followed her.

Mum shook her head after the pair. "Probably one of the most unusual boys I've ever met," she commented absently. "I don't particularly blame his mother for being worried about the rest of the world. Shall we get the rest of this done and head for home ourselves?"

Author's Note: I have twelve reviews? I have twelve reviews! Yay! I hope this is worth checking back with me. . . . we very close to the train, and where Hogwarts is, the other two Marauders can't be far behind (nor can my three important OCs, but that's another story). Thanks to my reviewers, specially those who keep 'em coming! Cheers! — Loki