A/N: Thanks for the review MrsAliciaWeasley. I'm not sure if this is going to be a Charlie/Tonks fic, I'm still thinking about it, I'll see what happens. Hope you're enjoying it so far : )
Sirius Black had left the Great Hall in a hurry. It had been hot in there, the summer air muggy and still. He took a deep breath to relieve himself of his nerves, before regaining his couldn't-care-less composure. Leaning against the nearest stone statue, he began to hum absently to himself, waiting for his fellow Marauders to complete their Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam, and join him in the foyer. In accordance with the alphabetic system, Remus Lupin was first to join Black. He had a grin on his face.
"Hey, Moony," Sirius called, "How'd it go?" His friend shook his head.
"Terrible! But it's done now. You?"
"I'm guessing I scraped a pass. Not really bothered though," he added coolly. The Marauders had adopted a relaxed and distanced approach to their OWL exams, though they all secretly knew they wanted to do well.
"You still up for going into Hogsmeade later?" Lupin asked.
"Yeah, I've gotta meet my cousin Andie, it's her birthday so I promised I would. You guys don't have to come if you don't want to. I won't be long."
"It will be good to get out of the castle to be honest," Remus admitted, and Sirius had to agree. The teachers were driving them crazy; they were more stressed about the current exams than their pupils were.
"Hey, there's Wormtail." Sirius pointed over to the door at the short, chubby boy who began to scuttle towards his two friends. Remus began to ask him how it went but Peter Pettigrew just cringed, and they said no more.
"Prongs is just taking his now, he looked very sure of himself," said Wormtail glumly. Sirius rolled him eyes at the thought of his friend James Potter.
"Cocky git," he muttered. Sure enough, James Potter left the Great Hall and strode over to his three best friends, a massive grin covering his face and a twinkle in his eye.
"Piece of cake, what do you reckon lads?" The others glanced at him grimly, muttering under their breaths causing James to laugh."Come on, let's get outta here."
The four friends changed out of their school robes and headed for the village of Hogsmeade. James was talking about the exam. The other three pretended not to listen. Finally, Sirius spoke up.
"We get it Prongs! You did great, as usual. But let me tell you now, if you've failed we three are gonna laugh so hard you won't believe." James shrunk back slightly, and kept quiet from then on. The sun shone brightly, the stone buildings of Hogsmeade reflecting the light so much that it was dazzling. They stopped outside The Three Broomsticks. Sirius turned to them.
"Right, we'll have a drink with my cousin, 10 minutes max, and be out of here ok? I promise, this won't take long." The other three nodded, not really caring. The Three Broomsticks was relatively quiet. Sirius picked out his cousin quickly.
"Andie," he called to a tall, elegant woman with dark hair tied back in a low ponytail. She was pale but beautiful, with the same dark eyes and bone structure of Sirius himself. She smiled as the four boys reached her. "Hi, Andie. Happy birthday." He hugged his cousin and kissed her on the cheek. "I would have got you something but …you know."
"You're a tight git," she finished for him with a smile. "Nice to see you Riu." Sirius looked embarrassed that his nickname had been used in front of his friends.
"Um, Andie this is James, Peter and Remus. Guys this is my cousin Andromeda." After the fumbling introduction, the four boys and woman sat down around a table. Peter had been sent off to fetch the drinks and he quickly obeyed. Sirius was just about to tell his cousin that he couldn't stay long, when she beat him to it.
"I can't stay long Riu, I'm meeting Ted in London. His parents are coming over and we need to get some food in." She rolled her eyes and he laughed. "It's my birthday and I'm waiting on the in-laws, typical eh." She hesitated. "Sirius, you know how you haven't bought me a present, well maybe you could do me a favour instead." He froze, knowing what was coming. "Would you watch Nymphadora for me. Only for a couple of hours, I promise." He turned to his friends, who looked uncomfortable enough as it was. He knew they wanted to leave. But this was Andie, and she had done so much for him. He caved in.
"Sure, I'll do it, as long as it is only two hours." Andromeda nodded her head.
"Great! Thanks Riu, I owe you one." She looked around the pub. "I don't know where Dora's got to. You'll have to keep an eye on her, she's going through a bit of a stage." She stood to go. "I'll see you later, thanks again." She kissed Sirius on the cheek. "Nice to meet you, boys," she added to the horror-stricken Marauders as she made her way out of the pub.
"Great, two hours stuck watching a little brat," James mumbled. Sirius felt guilty.
"She's not a brat, she's cool. Anyway, if you guys get bored just leave and I'll meet up with you later. I'm sure I can handle an 7 year old girl by myself." His friends sniggered in response. They left the pub in search of the girl. They found her outside Honeydukes. She wore a dirty pair of frayed jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Her hair was dark and put up messily in a bun at the back of her head.
"T-Bird!" Sirius called, prompting the girl to turn around and squeal. She ran up to him and squeezed him tightly. He ruffled her hair.
"There you are. Mum said you might be watching me. I knew she hadn't asked you yet and I thought you'd say no but here you are! Are these your friends?" she added. Sirius blinked in confusion at the speed in which the young girl had spoken.
"Yes, this is –"
"No, no, let me guess!" she insisted. She looked at the three bemused-looking 5th Years. Dora wiggled a loose tooth with her tongue."Your Peter aren't you." Wormtail nodded nervously. The girl grinned up at him then moved to Remus and James. Remus looked down at her with a mild look of curiosity, James simply looked bored. "This is where it gets tough. Um… nah I don't know. You'll have to tell me."
"That's Remus and that's James," Sirius told her.
"Ooh, you're the werewolf, aren't you!" Dora exclaimed to Remus, who looked taken aback." That's cool. I'm weird too. We're not allowed to talk about that though," she added. Sirius looked embarrassed and elbowed her.
"Shut up, Dora! Sorry Rem."
"That's ok," he mumbled.
James, who had got distracted by a group of girls walking passed, announced he was leaving and ran to catch up with the girls.
"Lily Evans." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Who's that? His girlfriend?" Dora asked. Sirius shook his head. "Didn't think so, she's too pretty for him anyway." Nymphadora decided. Sirius really wished she would stop talking.
"Listen Padfoot, I'm going to take off," Wormtail said nervously. "Good luck," he added before leaving Sirius and Remus with the young girl who was looking in the sweet shop window again. Noticing he had gone, she gave a sigh of relief.
"Glad he's gone, I don't like him, he's got shifty eyes. You wanna be careful. There's a boy in my class at school, Craig, he has shifty eyes too. He stole my book."
"Fascinating," Sirius said sarcastically. Thinking of a way to shut her up he said, "Fancy some chocolate?" The girl shook her head.
"No thank you, I'm into fruit at the moment." This caused the two boys to stare in disbelief. She laughed at them. "Honestly Riu! You should have seen the look on your face!" He bought her some chocolate and the three of them walked up the street together, the young girl in the middle, looking from one to the other as the two friends spoke. When it was quiet, she took Sirius' hand.
"Can I change my hair?" He nodded to her. "You won't tell Mum will you?"
"Course not T-Bird, I thought you trusted me," he said in a mock-hurt tone.
"I do, I do. Ok …" she said letting her hair down from its bun and scrunching her face up in pain. Her hair changed from dark brown to red, and shrunk to her jaw-line in a straight bob. Remus stared and looked at Sirius for an explanation. He gave a bark of a laugh.
"Nymphadora's a Metapmorphmagus."
"Or 'Freak' as Aunt Sissy calls me," added Dora. "Aunt Sissy's a bitch!" Though shocked by the young girl's language, Sirius had to agree that his cousin Narcissa was a bitch, though a lot nicer than Andromeda's other sister, Bellatrix.
"So…how's your cat … um…"
"Snuffles," Dora provided. "He's good, cept I trapped his tail in the door the other day. It hurt him, I think, but he's ok. He jumped, it was really funny." Sirius frowned at the girl's humour.
"You're just cruel, you are Dora. Trapping his tail in the door. Calling him Snuffles …"
"Snuffles is a great name, thank you very much! The fact that he can have a name like that and still hold his head up high is very admirable. He's brave, and strong even though his name doesn't show it," Dora said firmly.
"And you like your name too, Nymphadora?" Sirius teased and Remus laughed.
"No," she replied in a small voice, "That's completely different and you know it."
A knock at Lupin's door snapped him back to the here and now. He rose slowly from him chair. Opening the door, he smiled slightly.
"I was just thinking about you …Nymphadora."
