Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not.
X-X-X-X-X
"Right, so we'll separate and meet back at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, right?" said Lyon, lookin at all his sister's friends with exhausted eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was baby-sit a load of sixteen-year-olds who fancied themselves adults. Then, of course, there was the added bonus of babysitting his nineteen-year-old brother (who acted more like he was nine), his seventeen-year-old brother (who acted like he was seven), and his eleven-year-old brother (who acted like he was twenty-one, for a change). Fortunately, the three aforementioned brothers had already disappeared in the Magical Menagerie. But he'd probably run into them later. He sighed.
"Long day, huh?" came a sweet voice from off to his left. He half-turned and smiled at his girlfriend of six years, Marie Dubois.
"You might say that," he told her, kissing her cheek lightly. She accepted his kiss with the grace with which she accepted everything else, and, as if on cue, the girls went, "Aww…" – in Janine's case, doing so for the purpose of annoying her brother, the others, simply because they thought the couple were cute. He didn't bother telling Janine to shut up. She wouldn't anyway.
Marie smiled around at them all. "You're not giving Lyon any trouble, are you?"
"No, we're not giving your itty bitty snookums any trouble at all," Janine said sweetly. It was at this point that Lyon bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and stuffed it down his sister's sweater, causing her to shriek loudly. Marie giggled, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle it. Lyon straightened up, brushing snow off of his sweater, and wrapped his arm around Marie's shoulders.
"Come on, then."
"Oh, good! Sierra's Boutique as the most darling winter outfits, and I there are a couple more places I want to stop by on Regalia Avenue…" Lyon barely managed to hide his groan as they sauntered off. Janine stood up moments later, on just having succeeded in emptying her shirt of slush.
"I'm going to get him back," she swore.
"Later," Alyssa said, slinging a friendly arm around her shoulders. "We have lots of shopping to do! By the way, I forgot to ask – what did your grandmother's note say?"
"Oh, the usual – that she was very disappointed in my behavior at the Masquerade, and that she trusts that by her next visit, I will have grown up and matured some."
"That'll be the day," muttered Remus. Janine bent low and hurled a snowball at him, but she wasn't quick enough – it splattered on the cobblestones behind him as Remus swerved out the way, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Anyway, the money was a New Year's gift – so I fully intend to spend it." She looked thoughtful as Alyssa's eyes lit up.
"Good! We can all go to Sierra's Boutique! And you can spend your money and get your brother back for stuffing snow down your shirt!"
Janine made a face at her friend. "Oh, no. I have enough clothes, thank you." Lily's jaw dropped, just as Janine added, "I don't think I need any more."
"Now I've heard everything," Marlene muttered. Janine threw a snowball at her, too, but Marlene also swerved out of the way Janine's snowball hit a passerby.
"Oy!" the man shouted. "Watch what you're doing!"
"Sorry!" Janine grinned, not looking remotely sorry. "SO! Who wants to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies with me?"
"What, you need more Quidditch supplies? You have enough of those, too," Jen said with a grin. Janine stuck her tongue out at her.
"My armguards felt apart during the last game, and I need new ones."
"I'll go with you," Sirius offered quickly. The others exchanged looks. "I've been wanting… er… a new… er…"
"Jumper," Remus supplied with a half-grin.
"Yes! A jumper, exactly!" He held out his arm, and Janine linked hers with it as they cheerfully marched off.
"I don't know why he felt compelled to make an excuse," Marlene said, looking amused. "We all know that she's going to get her armguards and then they'll find a nice, unoccupied alley where they can snog."
"Probably. I need to buy a new Herbology text," Lily said, "since a certain somebody borrowed mine and handed it back in two halves." She glowered at Jen, who stared sheepishly at the sky. "Anybody want to come?" James had his mouth halfway opened before she said quickly, "Not you."
He made a face, and Remus volunteered. "I'll go. I've been meaning to pick up a new Defense text for ages. I was using my cousin's, and it's falling apart now…"
"All right, come on then. Anybody else? Besides Potter?" she added.
Alyssa sighed. "I'll go with you," she said. "Jen?"
Jen shook her head emphatically. "Oh, no thanks. I'm not giving Lily the chance to snap at me more for her Herbology book. I'll go to the Magical Menagerie and find Janine's brothers."
"I'll go with you," offered Marlene quickly. "And James, I think you should come to."
"What about me?" Peter asked, looking hurt.
"You could follow Janine and Sirius," suggested Alyssa innocently.
Peter shot her a revolted look. "Ugh, no thanks. I'll go with you."
"Good. Then Remus won't feel so alone."
"Huh? But I've got you two to go with-"
"Come on, Lupin, don't make them spell it out for you," Marlene teased. "They want to have some girl talk, and they can't do it while you're there."
"Sure we can," retorted Lily. "We think of Remus as one of us girls, don't we?"
"Sure," said Alyssa quietly.
"Doesn't matter. Even if we think of him as girl, he's not one. Or at least," she added thoughtfully. "I hope not."
"Oh, thanks," Remus replied scathingly. "I can see when I'm loved. Come on, Pete. Let's go somewhere else – so that the girls can have their girl talk."
"Good. Because I really think it's time I stopped in at Gambol and Jape's – I'm running out of dungbombs and the next Hogsmeade trip isn't until February, and if we want to raid the Slytherin common room-"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't here that," Lily called over her shoulder. She and Alyssa were already walking away.
The rest of the group split up, James shouting, "We'll meet for lunch at Florean Fortescue's, yeah?"
"Don't be a prat!" Remus shouted over his shoulder. "Who would want ice cream in January?"
X-X-X-X-X
"Why does he have to come with us?" Bellatrix Black paused in the act of allowing her hand to stroke a particularly soft set of green silk Quidditch robes. She turned, irritated at being interrupted, upon which Narcissa sent her the full blast of her pout. Bella turned once more, and saw Regulus skulking off to the side, inspecting a pair of maroon Quidditch cords.
"Cousin, those are horrid, get away from them," ordered Bella. She turned to her sister. "Don't complain, Narcissa."
Narcissa's gray eyes turned wide, and then sulky. Her pout was more pronounced than before. "I want to go to Regalia Avenue," she complained. "Quidditch is so boring, Bella. And anyway," she added, "You can't wear those. They're non-Regulation."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Unless they're the specific Hogwarts robes, they're all non-regulation." She turned back to them, stroking them. Her dark gray eyes gleamed. "And anyway, I don't care. I'll smuggle them in and wear them anyway."
"You'll get in trouble."
"So?"
"That attitude is what didn't let you become Head Girl," Regulus said from nearby.
"Do shut up, cousin," Bella said. "We let you come along today out of the goodness of our hearts. So don't complain."
"I'm not complaining!" he retorted. "I'm only pointing out facts!"
"Well, stop doing that, then."
"I want to go to Regalia Avenue!"
Bella rounded on her sister with a scowl. "We'll go when I'm ready, Narcissa. Now stop your whinging."
"And anyway, it's not like you need more clothes," added Regulus.
"Shut up."
"You have so many. You just want to go find out who that girl with Lucius is."
"I said shut up!"
Bella turned, amused. "Now, now. He's right, of course. Fine." Bella let her hand drop. "We'll come back, and I'll buy these. For now, let's just go to Regalia Avenue and find your darling Lucius. And you,"she added in the direction of Regulus, who had just opened his mouth. "Don't you dare even think of complaining."
The Blacks strode from Quality Quidditch supplies, Bella in the lead. Unfortunately, Bella halted, causing both Narcissa and Regulus to walk into her from behind. "Ouch!" cried Narcissa. "What did you stop for?"
"Oh, Jimmy!" James turned, and a dark scowl crossed his features. Behind him, chatting companionably, were Marlene and Jen, who also stopped and glowered at Bella, although Marlene less venomously so. "Darling, come and talk to your dear Bellatrix!" She laughed as James shot her a revolted look and hastily picked up his pace, his long legs quickly carrying him into the Magical Menagerie, Marlene and Jen right behind him. Bella laughed again.
"Oh, honestly," said Narcissa, disgusted. Bella stopped laughing and turned to her, frowning. "Go on, flirt with Potter all you want – we don't care, I mean, who does if it makes a bad impression on the family-"
"What are you talking about?"
"It's shameful! The way you pretend to flirt with Potter, even if it is pretending. I mean, look at him – it's disgusting, although at least King is a pureblood – going about with McKinnon, a filthy half-blood, and it's nothing compared to how he lusts after that stupid Mudblood, Evans, and-"
"That's enough, Narcissa," Bella said sharply. Regulus looked from one cousin to the other, his eyes wide. "First of all, don't you even think to challenge anything I do, or I'll leave you here to find your darling Lucius all on your own."
Narcissa looked sulky again. "I'll tell Mother if you do."
"Don't be such a tattletale, Narcissa," she sneered in response. "And in any case, there is no feasible way I could shame this family more than your brother has," she added, turning to Regulus, who looked a bit startled to have been dragged into the conversation. Then he, too, became sulky.
"I didn't ask for Sirius as a brother," he grumbled.
"Who would?" retorted Narcissa. She turned to Bella. "He's an embarrassment to the family, Bella, I agree, but your behavior has become ridiculous concerned James Potter. I mean, honestly! You even have a nickname for him!"
"Narcissa, be quiet."
"All right, I suppose he's good-looking, but why can't you pursue that sort of thing in secret like everybody else?"
"Narcissa, I mean it."
"And you pretend to go out with that idiot Lestrange the entire time, but you're after Potter's heart for Merlin knows what reason-"
Crack.
Narcissa gasped and stumbled backwards, holding her now red cheek. Bella's eyes blazed. "I said," she began, in a very deadly voice, "to be quiet. Maybe you didn't hear me, sister. I trust you do now." Narcissa nodded, tears in her eyes. "Now. Be a good girl, and we'll go find your Lucius for you. But until we do, I do not want to hear your voice again. Understand?" She nodded tearfully again. "Good. Good, good. Come along, Regulus," she added imperiously. "Narcissa."
They trudged off towards Regalia Avenue. For a few moments, it seemed as though Narcissa might burst into tears, but Regulus pinched her arm. She glowered at him; he subtly shook his head. Giving a loud sniff, she swiped her tears away and held up her head, walking proudly after her sister, with almost no traces of her near-hysterical experience, looking like the true Black she was.
X-X-X-X-X
"Why don't you like Potter, anyway?" Lily looked up, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi in one hand.
"Hmm?"
"I asked, why don't you like Potter?" Lily gave Alyssa a startled look. "Well, it's a perfectly legitimate question. You must have some reason for not liking him."
"What makes you think I have just one reason?"
"Reason, reasons, whatever. Why?"
"Why not?"
"You're not answering my question." Lily sighed. "I mean, it's one thing if you just don't want to tell me – like, if he's done some horrible, awful, unmentionable thing to you." Lily was quiet. "Has he?"
"No."
"Then why don't you like him?"
Lily shrugged. "Well…" Her hand drifted lazily across some more books on the shelves, occasionally pausing on one, and then continuing.
"Yes?"
"Potter and I have never liked each other. Even since were first met. He wasn't very nice to me, so I wasn't very nice to him. Quite simple, really."
"Well, that doesn't seem to matter much. Plenty of people who never liked each other end up together. Look at Janine and Sirius! There's one couple. And… hmm… what about those two Ravenclaws, huh? Daniel Johnson and Hope Aldridge? I heard they used to hate each other. When they first met, anyway. And now, they've been dating for five months!"
"It doesn't always work out that way," retorted Lily. "Look at Sirius and Snape? They hate each other, and guess what? They're not dating."
Alyssa giggled. "Just think! They'd be the most controversial couple of Hogwarts!"
"Ooh, yes. Can you imagine? Going to Madam Puddifoot's, and – ugh, now I've gone to a very bad mental place." Alyssa made a grotesque face that mirrored Lily's own expression. Then the girls collapsed into giggles again.
Still a bit out of breath, Alyssa gasped, "Well, then. So it's not always the case. But surely that's not the only reason you don't like him? I mean, well, if you didn't like him then because he didn't like you – well, that's perfectly reasonable. But Lily, he adores you now. He put it behind him; why can't you?"
"He's a bullying toerag."
"That's why you can't put it behind you?"
"Well, no. He thinks he's God's gift to witches everywhere. He thinks he's so good-looking, mussing up his hair whenever there's a girl around. And he steps on people like they don't matter! And he's so arrogant! He's always thinking of how wonderful he thinks he is, but never of other people – and then there's the way he's always going off with other girls-"
"You sound jealous."
"I'm not! I don't like him because – well, I don't want somebody who's only going to date me because I'm the one girl he never had!"
Alyssa was quiet. "That's a fair reason," she said at last. "But hasn't it occurred to you that maybe the reason he wants to go out with you is only that he likes you?"
"Hasn't it occurred to you that maybe the reason he wants to go out with me has nothing to do with liking me?" she retorted hotly. Alyssa sighed, and the girls locked eyes for a moment. Alyssa gave up first. It wasn't worth it.
"If you say so."
"I do say so," replied Lily. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Let's go find Remus and Peter, shall we? They ought to be in the Defense section."
X-X-X-X-X
James patted a cat's head absently. "Jimmy. Honestly! What sort of demented nickname is that? Bella doesn't even like me."
"Mm-hmm," said Marlene noncommittally.
"I mean, why does she have to go out of her way to embarrass me like that whenever she sees me?"
"Dunno," replied Jen, bending over a cage full of sleek, black rats.
"The next thing you know, people will think we're dating! Do you know what that's going to do for my reputation?" He was greeted with silence. "Jen? Marlene?" Neither girl was paying attention to him. "You're not even paying attention to me!"
Marlene sighed. "James, we listened to you the first time. We even listened the second time. I even managed to listen through the first part of the third time! But really, four is getting repetitive."
"But-"
"We know all this. Let's talk about something else," suggested Jen, straightening up.
"But I want to-"
"Rant and rave like a lunatic all day? Fine. You do that. We'll ignore you." Jen bent over the cage again.
James sighed dramatically. "You two just don't love me," he said gloomily.
"You're right; we don't."
"If my mother were here, she'd listen to me. She loves me."
"Go ask her to listen to you, then." Jen stretched, and yawned. "Well, James seems determined to be melodramatic – shall we go wait for the others at the ice cream parlor?"
"Ooh, good idea." The girls sauntered off, Marlene adding over her shoulder, "Come find us when you're done acting silly."
"Acting silly," James grumbled as the door shut behind him. "Acting silly. I'll show you acting silly-"
"Oy, Potter, are you talking to yourself?" Damien was eyeing him warily from nearby.
"No," said James, annoyed. Jeffrey peered over Damien's shoulder.
"Really? Because it sounded like you were talking to yourself."
"I wasn't!"
"If you say so," said Damien dubiously, just as Jeffrey muttered, "We'll just have to check him into the Loony Bin at St. Mungo's, that all."
"I'm not a lunatic!" The Garnet brothers were walking off in another direction, and James hit himself in the forehead. "Great. Now they bloody think I'm insane."
"You mean you aren't?" Perry was sitting on a barrel full of who-knows-what that was meant to be faded to the double-ended newts. (Incidentally, how do you feed a double-ended newt? That was something for James to ponder another day). "Because, you know, they're right. It does sound an awful lot like you're talking to yourself."
"I'm not!" shouted James, beginning to feel angry. A nearby clerk shot him an annoyed look, one he was only too happy to return. "What is this, 'Pick on James' day?"
Unbidden, from his mind, a voice said, "Well, maybe you know how the people you always pick on feel." That was Lily's voice. Where did she come from? She wasn't even there.
"If it is, it ought to be made a national holiday," said Perry, with a grin. "That way, people all over the nation would come to make fun of you." As an afterthought, he added, "I bet Lily would like that." James stared at him. "Well, she would," he said pleasantly. "And anyway, she'd be paying attention to you, but the not the sort where she ends up slapping you. And that's what you want, isn't it?" James stared at him. It's like the kid can read minds! "The mind's not a book to be read," Perry said severely. "Didn't anybody ever teach you that?" This is creeping me out. I'd better to catch up with the girls. "You do that," said Perry, turning about. "Hey! Jeff; Damien! Wait for me!"
"Well, hurry up then!" That was Jeffrey. Perry turned one last time and gave James a mysterious smile, before disappearing down the aisle.
James shuddered. That was weird. I've got to remind Janine to keep her kid brother away from me. He stepped outside, and looked up. It had begun to lightly snow.
X-X-X-X-X
"Decided to stop being melodramatic, Jimmy?" Jen teased playfully. She, Marlene, Janine, and Sirius were seated around a table.
"Don't call me that," he said succinctly, sliding into a place beside his best friend. He glanced at Janine, and smirked. "Did you get your armguards?"
She gave him a very innocent smile. "Of course I did, Jimmy. What did you think I went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to do?"
"You just got here," pointed out Marlene. "You could not have possibly been looking for armguards that entire time."
"There are lots of makes," Sirius interjected, winking in the girls' direction. Marlene pretended to swoon.
"Oh! The dashing Sirius Black winked at me."
"Yes, he did," retorted Sirius with a smirk. "Consider yourself lucky, McKinnon."
"Oh, don't worry, Black," interjected Jen. "I'm sure she'll count her lucky stars every night from now on."
James rolled his eyes. "You lot are ridiculous. Am I on the only mature one around?"
"You? Mature? That's debatable," said Lily, squeezing into a spot between Marlene and Janine. "So, tell me – why are we all clustered here, in an ice cream parlor, in the middle of January?"
"It's not the middle of January," pointed out Peter. "It's the beginning of January." Remus thwacked him on the head from behind. Rubbing his head, (and with a scowl in Remus's direction), Peter asked, "So, where to for lunch?"
"Leaky Cauldron?" suggested Jen.
"No, we're going there for dinner." Janine looked thoughtful. "There are some good restaurants around. What's one within our price range?"
"Let's pool our resources and see." After counting out their money, they determined that there was just enough to go to the restaurant around the corner: The Fwooper's Song. Lily, Marlene, and Peter had never been there, but Jen swore by it, insisting that she'd been there for practically every birthday dinner until she'd gone to Hogwarts for her first year.
"All right," said James cheerfully. "The Fwooper's Song it is."
X-X-X-X-X
A/N: Whee! New chappie, and just before I go to San Francisco, too! You should all be very proud of me. I initially intended this to be a MUCH longer chapter, as I want to make the following chapters longer, too… but my computer was being mean to me. Yesterday, the Internet steadfastly refused to work, and today, my keyboard wouldn't work this morning! Honestly! Can you imagine? The nerve!
Yes, well, anyway… As of today, I have just finished uploading the revised chapters. Important! I revised Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10! However, most of them are really minor dialogue changes that are seriously not going to become important in the future, except for one – GO READ CHAPTER 9! ONE ENTIRE SCENE IN IT HAS BEEN CHANGED! Okay, I didn't actually do too much editing… and I swear, I'm really, really trying to get more insight into the other characters! The first scene of the next chapter (which I've already begun to write) is going to be from Remus's POV. Oh, and one last thing! This is important so read this! Remus no longer has an older brother by the name of Romulus who is a vampire hunter in Australia. Instead, he has a much older cousin named Gavin that is a vampire hunter in Australia. And I made him a half-blood, like JKR said he was. So there.
Right, so now to go about answering questions…
They are in sixth year. Sorry, I realized that I never made that clear. That's been fixed.
Okay, as to Lily giving James a chance – he's still a prat to her, but as the year progresses, he's going to become a slightly-more-likeable prat. But when she actually gives him his chance… that will be seventh year. Sorry. But that's what JKR said, and that's what it's going to be. I want them to get together soon too… so I'll try and speed up a bit. And I realized that I always say that but I never do. I'm working on it. Promise.
Remus getting a girl… hmm, yes, let's give him a girl. I feel bad for poor Remus. If he doesn't have a girlfriend, he's welcome to have ME! …Anyway, yes, I will give him a girl. But it might not last. I don't take this fic where I want it to go, it takes me where it wants to go. But I'll see what I can do.
And now worries to anybody who thinks that Sirius and Lily are going to get together, or Snape and Lily – no, no, no, NEVER! They may have a brief fling, but it'll never last. BECAUSE LILY WILL END UP WITH JAMES! Period. So don't worry. I love Snape and Sirius as much as the next person, but James and Lily are going to get together… eventually. I swear it. I would never change that. Besides, Lily and James are by far the cutest couple EVER! (Well, Ron and Hermione are cute too, and so are Harry and Ginny, and Draco and Ginny, and – this is a bit random, though – Fred and Angelina. Of course).
To Shadowrayne – sorry. I was going to update yesterday, but the Internet conked on me, so I really couldn't. I'm a day late. Sorry, sorry, sorry! And unfortunately, you'll have to wait for the next update for a while. I'll try and update next week, but that's likely to be the last update until mid-July or August. Sorry about that!
To GryffindorGoddess28 – YES! OMG, Rupert Grint is so hot!!! I was upset that there was no Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood), though… HOW DARE THEY TAKE SUCH HOTNESS OUT!? And yes, the whole Harry having blue eyes things bothers me SO MUCH! I have complained to all my friends, who finally got pissed off at me and told me to shut the hell up before they hit me. But yes, it's true! HE'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE GREEN EYES, DAMNIT! GREEN, NOT BLUE! And yeah, I did see the movie. I'm glad they're finally making it sorta scary – I admit, I was surprised by how the werewolf looks, not to mention totally creeped out. I think I closed my eyes during one point of the werewolf scene, pathetic that I am. And Gary Oldman is a really good actor, but… not what I pictured for Sirius. Same with Remus. But oh well… we still have our dreams to imagine them as totally hot…
Oliverwoodschic – yes, I completely agree with you. The twins are really hot. Very, very, very hot. I like their hair, too! And I'm glad you like Janine/Sirius – I didn't think a lot of people would, but that just shows how much I know. And I had to give him a great girl, because he's a great guy. (In case nobody's noticed, I absolutely ADORE Sirius and Remus. They are by far the coolest people EVER!!! I think I'm going to write fics from their POV's when I'm done with this one and the D/Hr one…)
Okay, and I know it's kinda unfair of me to only mention those three, particularly when I have so many faithful reviewers (especially Lizzabeth Turner, if you ever want to be my other beta, let me know please), so I'm going to go ahead and add in all the people who reviewed on the last chapter. I love you guys!
So, to my faithful reviewers, thanx:
Dreammergurl2007, alenchic, FaLlInGsnowflake, MaD-4-u, cHoCoLaTeZ, YamiClara, BrainiacGirl, milky way bar, Claire-125, Jessie xxx, Oliverwoodschic, GryffindorGoddess28, The all mighty and powerfulM, Lizzabeth Turner, holly-evans, Kyo-grli91, Shadowrayne, Lyss, Lils, and Imscble! I 3 you guys! Thanks for sticking with me!
Right, so that's enough – you all get whatever dollies you want this time, because I am SIRIUSLY (stupid joke, I know, but it still cracks me up even though it's WAY overused) out of ideas! So whatever life-size dollies you want!
XOXO
Peaches