Chapter 6

By: Almicene Melwen

Updated: August 16, 2004

Author's Note: Every chapter to this one has been updated and new material added, while other parts have been taken away. For the next chapter (which is currently being written) to make any sense, you need to reread all six chapters. Thanks for your patience and support.

"Finally back to see us old timers eh?" Peter remarked, not looking up from his game of chess with Remus. It was the weekend and students were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. Many were still adding scarves and coats as the chilly autumn wind would be present outside the castle. The three boys, Peter, Remus, and Sirius were waiting on James to leave for the trip.

James gave him a sheepish grin as he slid into an adjacent chair to watch the game. "Been busy."

Sirius coughed into his hand, pretending to be discrete. "Lily."

"All I have to say to you Padfoot, is 'Persephone,'" James shot back at him.

It was his turn to look guilty. "I'm helping her with . . . uh," the dark-eyed young man fumbled for an excuse, "Astronomy!"

Remus raised an eyebrow at that proclamation. "Are you helping her fail the class then? Because if memory serves, you didn't do terribly well last year."

"Oh shut it Moony," he sniped. "Just because I failed doesn't mean I don't know the material." Sirius huffed and looked indignant.

All three other boys looked up from what they were doing and gave Sirius a pointed look.

He raised his hands in surrender and they went back to their business. "Ok ok, so maybe I'm not tutoring her in Astronomy. So what?" He sighed, lifting his legs across the couch, and settling in comfortably. He left it at that, not wanting to reveal too much information about Persephone, but the others still knew anyways.

"She's still mad at Lily then?" James asked casually, knowing that Persephone's hatred was hurting Lily.

Sirius blew his bangs away from his face as he fidgeted with a Quidditch magazine. "Yeah." His voice became sad. "And I doubt she'll realize it wasn't Lily's fault any time soon."

James frowned.

"Bugger."

Was it powdered graphorn horn or powdered unicorn horn? Or maybe it wasn't either? Was she supposed to add salamander blood or salamander eggs? The ingredients were covered by her hand as she struggled to mentally recite the recipe for a simple memory potion.

Lily gave a cry of frustration and sent her notes over the table with a swipe of her hand. Nothing was helping her concentrate for the Potion's quiz tomorrow. Thoughts of her former friend kept her occupied with grief and guilt as Lily had been close to the Olwens. She kept thinking about sending a note apologizing to Persephone for the loss of her parents, but that would have been akin to admitting the Olwen family's deaths were her fault. She had already sent a sympathy note, but that had been returned very rudely by her disgruntled owl, Artemis, who Persephone had thrown things at.

The redhead honestly didn't know what to do. She didn't even know if she had a choice in keeping the friendship any more. Persephone obviously wanted nothing to do with her. Did that mean she should give up trying? Lily sighed, and lay on the comfy red duvet of her bed.

The young witch was glad she was in her private quarters. Although James had been so kind to her in the past few days, she needed to be alone. His reassurances that she had done nothing wrong did little to quell her doubts about her role in the deaths. She felt guilty that she wasn't feeling any better about Persephone despite his best efforts.

Perhaps what she needed was to vent her frustrations and her anxieties. Lily smiled. She knew just what to do. Grabbing her Gryffindor scarf, she headed out the door.

The four Marauders took the normal way for once to Hogsmeade, through the Hogswarts provided carriages waiting in front. Climbing into one the four were quiet as the horses started to pull them through the forest on the road. The forest held many memories for all of them and each one of them were reflecting on how they would miss Hogwarts once they graduated at the end of spring.

Sirius broke their heavy thoughts. "So why is it I had to sacrifice a perfectly good dating weekend to spend it with three uglies in this carriage?"

"Sirius, it's only a sacrifice if you're giving something up," James smirked.

Peter added, "Don't blame us if no girl wanted to go with you to Hogsmeade." He grinned, knowing that they had just insulted Sirius's pride if the wide open mouth effect was any indication.

"What?! Are you saying I couldn't find a date?!" He gasped. "I'll have you know I am seven year Hogwarts dating champion!"

"Which is exactly why you're on a date with a pretty witch right now," Remus said sarcastically.

Sirius scowled fiercely at the werewolf, grumbling "Smart ass." The words didn't escape Remus's sharpened senses.

"Well technically it's 'smart wolf.'" Remus grinned at Sirius.

Peter and James chuckled as Sirius's scowl deepened. "Yeah, just laugh it up now mates. But wait until next Hogsmeade trip when I'm sitting in a carriage surrounded by the prettiest witches while you three have to go all alone next time."

As they joked around in the carriage, making fun of each other, they didn't realize the carriage had stopped until they heard other students getting out of theirs. Once the Marauders got out, they headed towards Honeydukes first, as they had promised Peter earlier.

On the way to Honeydukes, James noticed a small pet shop called Mauve's Menagerie of Magical Animals that he had never noticed before. Pausing, he looked into the shop window and saw a wide assortment of birds, cats, kneazles and more in the store. He promised himself he would go back later.

At Honeydukes for what seemed like a small eternity, Sirius, Remus and James waited outside for Peter, who was busy stocking up on all the chocolate frogs and sweets he could. James shoved his hands into his expensive, thick designer robes as he stared at the cobblestones. He wondered how Lily was doing.

"Your mind is wandering," Sirius remarked. "Thinking about Snape again?" He gave a dramatic shudder for effect.

James frowned. That thought was too disgusting for a reply, so he quickly diverted the attention away from himself. "Why are you here with us Padfoot?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Sirius had been recently joined to the hip with some blonde Gryffindor he couldn't remember the name of.

"Meaning?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you with what's-her-name?" the hazel-eyed wizard asked, glad that he could switch the topic of conversation.

"Persephone," supplied Remus.

"Oh, well, she wanted to stay at Hogwarts this time. Something about needing peace and quiet," Sirius grumbled, unhappy about that fact. It wasn't as if he had rushed her into anything. He had remained uncharacteristically devoted to her as a friend, despite any romantic feelings he had for her. It wasn't the right time to pursue it. She needed time to grieve.

"Obviously," James gave him a small smile. "Merlin knows no one can get that around you."

Sirius spun to face James, giving him a mock-glare. "I can be quiet!"

The black-haired wizard smirked. "Yeah, right," he said. Finding a pause in the conversation, James decided to use the opportunity to look at Mauve's Menagerie of Magical Animals. "I'll be right back. There was a shop we passed by that I want to look into," James stated, nodding in another direction. Remus nodded, and James walked off as Sirius shot another comment at the James's back.

"Try not to stalk Snape for too long now!"

Sirius didn't even get a reply in response. James must have really wanted to go to the shop. Remus waited patiently while Sirius thought of the best way to annoy the werewolf.

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer," he sung badly. Sirius wanted to see how long it would take for the werewolf to overpower Remus's patience.

A growl erupted after beer bottle number fifty and Remus's hand clamped over Sirius's throat. "Any other horrible Yank drinking song I will personally see to it that you don't utter a note over the next couple of days."

Sirius laughed in between gasping for air. "The wolf in you doesn't have much patience."

Remus smirked as he released his grip. "Oh no, that was all me Padfoot. The wolf wouldn't have given you a warning."

Sirius wisely stopped singing, whether it was from intelligence or the fact Pete just came out no one could say.

Their smaller and pudgier friend hurried out of the store with a large bag of candy, specifically chocolate frogs. He wanted to collect the Morgan Le Fay card so badly that not only had he bought several chocolate frogs, but the entire store supply of frogs. He panted, as he had rushed to keep his friends from waiting too long. "Just so you know Sirius," he remarked. "I could hear everything you said – including the part where you admitted you thought about Snape all the time."

Sirius's eyes widened. "I didn't-" he sputtered.

Peter raised one hand in surrender, as the other took the weight of the bags. "Don't look at me, but I'm pretty sure Snape heard you too." He nodded towards the opposite side of the street where Severus was indeed giving Sirius a very nasty look, before spinning on his heel and walking away. Most of the people walking had overheard snippets of what Sirius had told James, and looked away as Sirius glared at them for staring.

"Ugh . . ." Sirius moaned, shaking his head. "I'm never going to live that one down am I?"

Remus snorted, as Peter tried to comfort his friend. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you've made a couple of guys' day," he said, motioning to a few young wizards who were eyeing Sirius hungrily.

"Yeah, thanks mate," the dark-eyed wizard said sarcastically. "I feel a whole lot better."

"Where's James?" said Pete, looking around for the tall messy-haired wizard.

"He went to the new pet store that opened," Sirius said, and then added with a snicker, "Probably looking for his mate since he can't seem to find a girl he's willing to go out with."

"You really really need to get out more Padfoot," said Remus. Peter could only agree.

Curiosity drew him in, and he decided he would take a quick look around while Pete took his time at Honeydukes. The bell above the door tinkled as James went in. Owls hooted wildly as the small sound excited them and frogs croaked at their newest visitor, but James was drawn to the cat cages. One cat more than any of the others struck his fancy. It was a tabby cat, the lighter orange stripes running along its body like tiger stripes he had seen in a Muggle zoo. The feet of the cat were all a light orange color, and it looked incredibly sad as it pawed the bars of the cage. It made a sound in between a squeak and a very soft 'meow.'

"She's our newest one," said a woman coming up behind James, noting his interest.

"Why does she look so sad?" he asked, sticking a finger in the cage, which the cat immediately nuzzled against.

"She wants you to take her home," said the woman, giving him her best sales pitch. "She just adores you." Taking a closer look at James, she added, "And I can see why."

James ignored the twenty-something year old witch's advances. He wouldn't go to a pet shop to pick up women.

The kitten mewled pitifully and James couldn't resist. Taking the kitten out of the cage he thought about whether or not to get her. After all, he didn't have an owl, Albion didn't count since he was the family owl, and he was allowed one pet at Hogwarts. James normally disliked pets, and hadn't bothered with one his first year. They were too much maintenance for his eleven-year old self, but he wondered if he had really outgrown that part of his character. The kitten settled in his hands as he stroked her gently. She was in kitty bliss and that decided James. There was no way he could leave her in the cage. "I'll take her. How much do I owe you?"

"5 galleons should cover everything, including a cage, a supply of food and pet registration." The auburn headed woman summoned a registration form and readied her quill. "Now all I need is for you to fill out this section and the cat's name."

James frowned, "Hm . . . a name for her." He looked at the small kitten purring happily in his hands trying to figure out a name. The orange cat opened its big doe eyes and stared into James and he knew the name he would choose. The kitten blinked before yawning and falling asleep. The black-haired wizard smiled, scratching her ears.

"Demmez?!" exclaimed Sirius, clearing surprised and unhappy. "What kind of name for a cat is Demmez?!" He huffed and crossed his arms.

"Not 'd-mez,' Sirius. It's pronounced 'day-mez.'" James just watched the kitten as it napped near the window, trying its best to tune out the loud boys in the carriage. Meanwhile its owner was trying to staunch the headache that was coming from Sirius's arguing. "It means 'doe' in the old British tongue."

"Ok, when I said you went to the pet shop to look for a mate I was just kidding. Besides, you named your cat 'doe?' Does that make any sense to you?" Sirius argued. He had wanted the name 'hunter,' or 'killer,' or something that would intimidate others just by the sound. What kind of name was Demmez anyways? That would not strike fear into the hearts of the enemies, just confusion.

"Look, it just made sense at the time. Look at her eyes and maybe you'll understand. It really doesn't matter if you're unhappy with the name or not because it's final. I'm not changing it and that's that." James folded his arms and gave Sirius a challenging look. Sirius just shook his head, finally giving up upon seeing the resolved face James had. Remus and Peter said nothing as they just watched, amused, at the entire argument. They didn't think a cat's name was that important anyways.

The seventh-year Gryffindor wandered the halls toward the kitchen Sirius had brought her to before. Her hunger got the better of her as she tried to study in her room. By the gods it was hard not to think of her parents every single minute of the day. Even the slightest thing would remind her of them, like the Owl Post at breakfast, where her mom would occasionally send her sweets or a loving note. Her eyes prickled with tears every time the owls flew down to deliver mail, and she knew she would not be receiving anything from her parents' owl.

Her expensive dragonhide boots clacked on the floor and echoed through the empty corridor. Well, at least she thought it was empty.

A silky voice cut through the stillness of the air. "What's a pretty girl like you doing at Hogwarts on a Hogsmeade weekend?" The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows, and casually leaned against the hallway, cutting her off from reaching the kitchen's secret entrance.

"What's it to you?" she snapped, upset that a stranger was stopping her from getting a few snacks. She tried to move around him, but he stopped her with a fast arm.

His eyes seemed to rake over her slender figure that her robes only accentuated. "My apologies lovely, for intruding. But I was wondering if such a beautiful creature as yourself would like to accompany me to the kitchens – that is, assuming that's where you were headed." His kept his voice soft, but the danger of this dark handsome stranger could not be hidden.

Persephone frowned as his flattery coaxed her to accept his invitation. She studied him, taking in every detail of his outfit. He was a Slytherin – the green and silver tie gave it away, but he looked very familiar somehow. She was sure she didn't know any other Slytherins, especially ones that wanted to associate with a Gryffindor. His mere presence sent chills down her spine as he loomed over her. His dark eyes scared her, as if he could see every intention and thought she had.

"I promise I don't bite," his smooth voice assured her, as he smirked at her discomfort.

Maybe it was the promise of danger lurking in his demeanor, underlying the depths of his voice, or perhaps it was his cool and composed nature, but whatever it was, Persephone was tired of being the good little girl everyone expected of her. She offered a hand for him to shake. "Persephone Olwen," she said at last, her voice weary.

Instead of shaking her hand, the Slytherin slowly brought it to her lips, his eyes never leaving hers and kissed it. "Regulus. It's a pleasure to meet you."