Sweet Misery
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"This should be enough for your school supplies and only your school supplies," Orion Black said handing his children some money. "I don't want you buying any pranks." He looked directly at Sirius when he said this.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Sirius said. "Gwynn, on the other hand, would."
"Oh shut up Siri!" Gwynn said, hitting him.
"Liam, keep an eye on those two," Mr. Black said.
"Yes dad," replied Liam. Liam grabbed some floo powder and said, "Diagon Alley!" Sirius followed Liam out. Mr. Black stopped Gwynn just before she was about to go.
"Keep a close eye on Sirius," he said. "Your mother is sick of him torturing your younger brother and cousins."
"I will dad," said Gwynn before leaving.
When she arrived in the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius and Liam had already left. She sighed and started to get up from the fireplace when another wizard came out, knocking her down and landing on top of her.
"Get off!" she said in a strained voice due to having the wind knocked out of her and the added weight.
"Sorry, didn't see you there," the boy said jumping up. "James Potter at your service." He reached down to help her up, but she didn't take his hand. She coughed and dusted herself off. "You really shouldn't be sitting in there."
"For your information, I had just arrived when you came out," Gwynn replied. "Excuse me while I go kill my brothers for leaving me." She ran across the pub and out into Diagon Alley. James shrugged and went to Diagon Alley.
Sirius lost Liam in the confusion in the Apothecary and started towards the joke shop when he saw Remus leaving Flourish and Blotts with some red head.
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"Remie! Oh Remie boy!" Remus looked back and saw his friend Sirius running through the crowd towards him and Lily.
"Don't call me that!" Remus shouted.
"Now Remie, is that any way to greet your bestest friend in the whole world?" Sirius asked with a look of mock hurt. Sirius looked at Lily, "Who's your girl friend?"
"She's not my girlfriend," said Remus.
"She's you friend right?" Remus nodded. "And she's a girl. Therefore, she's your girl friend." Remus shook his head.
"Sirius Black," said Sirius to Lily, ignoring Remus.
"Hi, I'm Lily," said Lily, smiling sweetly.
"Ah, fair Lily! Thou art as beautiful as a rose!" Sirius said with a flourish of his hand, then a bow to complete the scene. Lily giggled.
"Don't encourage him," Remus said.
"You're such a stick in the mud, Remus," said Sirius.
"I am not!"
"Of course your not, you're just trying to act mature in front of your girlfriend."
"Sirius, you are really pushing you luck here."
"Boys, boys!" Lily said loudly. Sirius and Remus looked at her. "If you'd kindly stop acting like five year olds, we can continue getting our school supplies."
"Fine," Sirius and Remus said.
"So, Lily dear, how do you know Shorty?" Sirius asked.
"I'm not short! I'm just as tall as you." Remus said. Remus was about five centimeters shorter than Sirius, and Sirius liked to rub in that he was taller, even if it was by a millimeter.
"I'm his neighbor," replied Lily.
"Sirius! Sirius, you git! I'm going to tell Mum!" a girl shouted from some where in the crowd.
"She'll love a reason to be mad at me!" Sirius shouted back. "She'll find a way to include you too!"
"I'll tell her who pulled that prank on Narcissa!"
"Hey, let's go get our wands," Sirius said, starting to pull Lily and Remus through the crowd towards Olivander's.
"Who was that?" Lily asked.
"Sirius's older sister, Gwynn," answered Remus.
"She's my twin, and I'm the older one," snapped Sirius.
"You're really touchy, Sirius," said Lily.
"Of course he is," a girl said, grabbing Sirius's shoulder.
"Gwynn, get lost," Sirius said.
Gwynn ignored him. "Hello Remus, and, oh! Hello! I'm Gwynn Black, and you are?"
"Lily Evans," replied Lily.
"Hi Lily. What do you say we ditch the guys and we go shopping?"
"Gwynn..." Sirius growled.
"Sure," replied Lily. "I'll catch up with you later Remus!" Lily and Gwynn ran off.
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They ran into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"Guess we should have gone to the Apothecary," said Gwynn looking at the large line.
"Let's just wait," Lily said, sitting down on the bench, "since we're here now."
Lily and Gwynn were waiting about fifteen minutes before they were able to get fitted for their robes. After they bought their robes, they walked down to Olivander's.
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Lily pushed open the door and she and Gwynn walked in. The owner was no where to be seen.
"Hello?" Gwynn asked.
"It's a little creepy in here..." Lily said looking around.
"Just a little," Gwynn agreed.
"Good morning," someone said.
Lily and Gwynn jumped and saw a man standing behind the counter.
"Hello," said Lily and Gwynn having a little trouble finding their voices.
"Gwyneth Black," said Mr. Olivander. "I was wondering when I'd see another Black." Mr. Olivander turned towards Lily. "And you are?" Mr. Olivander asked.
"Lily Evans."
"Wand hands?"
"Left," Gwynn said.
"Right," said Lily.
Mr. Olivander started towards the shelves of wands that stood behind his desk, when the door opened.
"Hey Mr. O!" the boy who had just entered said rather loudly. "I was curious to how much it would cost to get about ten or more wands."
"I'll be right—" Mr. Olivander started, but was cut off by the boy who Gwynn recognized as James from the Leaky Cauldron.
"You see, I'm a rather tragic case when it comes to magic." He leaned against the desk. "When ever I attempt magic, things tend to explode. I just want to take every precaution. Wands are this way right?" He pointed towards the shelves and jumped behind the counter.
"No! Stay on that side of the counter!" Mr. Olivander said heading towards James to stop him, but Mr. Olivander was too slow.
"Hmm… I wonder if this is a good wand," James said. He gave it a quick flick and Mr. Olivander flew back a few feet. "No, nope, that's not it." He dropped the wand and the box.
"Excuse you but could you save your idiotic antics for later?" Gwynn asked stepping up to the counter.
"Girl from the fireplace!" he said. "Nice to see you again! Thank you for asking nicely, but I simply must find my wand now."
"Do you know him?" Lily asked watching as he kept trying wands picked randomly from the shelves. Most caused complete destruction to the store. Mr. Olivander kept trying to stop him, but was always either drenched with accidental water eruptions or being buried under boxes of wands.
"No, he just happened to land on me when exiting the Floo Network," replied Gwynn. "You know I've had enough of this, I'm going to stop him." Gwynn jumped over the counter and dodged a flying vase.
"Gwynn don't!" Lily said, but Gwynn didn't listen. She grabbed a wand and flicked it towards James. He jumped out of the way as a bunch of wands fell from the shelf from behind him.
"Nice shot!" he said. "Not quick enough though! Do you expect to get on the quidditch team with reflexes like that?"
"Come here you!" Gwynn shouted tossing the wand a side and grabbing another one. She waved the wand and a loud explosion rang from behind James, nearly burying him in wands.
"No! Stop it you two!" Mr. Olivander said. Lily just stood and watched in amusement as Mr. Olivander got in the way of their spells, trying to find his own wand that was lost in the mess of wands. The door opened and Remus and Sirius ran in.
"What's going on? Why aren't we apart of it?" Sirius said.
"Gwynn and some guy are destroying the store," Lily replied.
"Come on! I know you're faster than that!" James shouted in the direction he thought she was in.
"Big mistake," Sirius said.
"And I know you're that dumb!" Gwynn said from behind him and flicked a wand at him. James's right sleeve burst into bright blue flames.
"GAH!" He shouted waving his arm around. "Put it out!"
Mr. Olivander found after going through a pile of wands and cast a spell that put out the fire.
"You two! Other side of the counter now!" He shouted. Gwynn and James dropped the wands they were holding and walked over to where Remus, Sirius, and Lily were standing. Mr. Olivander then cast a spell that fixed up his shop. "If either of you try that again, I'll be forced to throw you out and you will go to school without wands!"
"Sorry sir," Gwynn said.
"Now, casting magic without a wand, is that hard?" James asked.
"Don't push your luck," Mr. Olivander snapped at him. "Miss Black, I'll take care of you first and then you, so I can get you two out of here before you and him can cause more damage." Gwynn was about to say something in retaliation, but thought better of it. "Try this one." Mr. Olivander handed her a wand. Gwynn gave it a quick wave, but Mr. Olivander snatched it away almost immediately. He handed her another what which she took and flicked her wrist quickly. A shower of red and black sparks shot out of the end. "Willow, seven inches, with a veela hair for the core, a good charms wand. You," Mr. Olivander pointed to James. "Try this one." Mr. Olivander handed him a wand and gave it a quick wave. Mr. Olivander quickly snatched it away and handed him another one. "Mahogany, eleven inches, pliable, a little more powerful than other wands and excellent for transfiguration. Miss Black, six galleons and ten sickles, and you, Mr. Potter, eight galleons." The two handed Mr. Olivander the money. "Please exit the store at once."
"I'll wait for you all outside," Gwynn said, following James outside. Once outside, Gwynn leaned against the shop window. James began to talk to her.
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"About time," said Gwynn when the others exited.
"So did you and Mr. Potter become friends?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"Actually yes, James is sort of nice after you look past his stupidity," replied Gwynn.
"And that's why he's gone," said Sirius.
"No, he went to go get us some butterbeers." James came back a few moments later with two bottles of butterbeer.
"Oh you're all done," James said. "Took you all long enough."
"So how'd you get roped into Gwynn's antics?" Remus asked.
"It's the other way around," Lily said.
"You're a prankster?" Sirius asked James.
"The best there is," replied James, taking a swig of his butterbeer.
"You must be mistaken, Jamie, I'm the best there is."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah."
James and Sirius jumped into a contest of who had pulled the better pranks. Lily, Gwynn, and Remus watched for a little while before becoming bored.
"You wanna head down to the Apothecary?" Gwynn asked.
"Yeah," replied Remus and Lily.
"They probably won't notice we're missing," said Lily.
Gwynn, Remus, and Lily left Sirius and James, and began walking to the Apothecary. Moments later, Sirius and James caught up to them declaring a draw.
"Darn, we thought we lost you," said Lily.
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After the five of them finished their shopping, Lily and Remus said goodbye to James, Sirius, and Gwynn. Remus and Lily went off to find Mrs. Lupin at the Leaky Cauldron.
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A/n: The revised edition of chapter 3! I rather enjoyed the part in Olivander's didn't you? It amused me greatly.
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