Disclaimer - Don't own a penny – not even some form of distant teenage stock you can purchase.
A/N - Thought of on my way to a family holiday two years ago – I finally found the notes and hopefully I will now carry on with it! Odd references to Greek things included. Now just to let you know, the only reason this has been updated so quickly is because I haven't slept all night - IT'S NOT THE USUAL! Seriously it isn't...
Review Info
Dan: Come again?
Hanny: Yeah, no honest idea why I did that... Probably my hatred for people like that getting put into writing... But that still makes no sense whatsoever... Sorry
General note anyway: I have never been so inundated with reviews - I felt like crying... And here's a new chapter for you.
Marauders Take a Trip
"I'm going to ride a dragon!" Sirius said for the twenty seventh time in a row.
The exasperated security guard put his head in his hands and asked him again.
"Why did you go mad in the car Mr Black?"
"I'm going to ride a dragon!"
A small scream emanated from the corner, where Lily, James, Peter and Remus were sitting. They had been sitting in the airport security office for more than an hour – too late to catch their designated flight of course. They had been represented by Lily, who knew the muggle code of conduct better than any of the others, and the explanation had been almost accepted by the guards.
Almost.
They felt it right to question Sirius to as why he went mad in the car, and if he would be safe to travel. At the mere mention of this Remus had groaned, but Sirius looked happy to co-operate. If you can call repeating "I'm going to ride a dragon!" every time he was asked a question co-operation.
The waste paper basket was brimming with empty coffee cups; the once standing guards had resorted to sitting on the floor and James was playing solitaire with Peter's cards. Everyone was tired, annoying, bored and aching – and their only way to fix it was to get Sirius to stop being… well, Sirius.
From the corner, a quiet cough caught the attention of the head security guard.
"Umm, Mr Johnson? Can I go to the bathroom please?" Remus piped up, weirdly out of character.
The others shot him a weird look, but the guard wearily accepted.
"I need to go to," Sirius said, "so I'll go with Moony."
He darted out of the door before anyone could argue and Remus tentatively followed him. As soon as they were outside the door, he grabbed Padfoot by his jacket collar and roughly but subtly dragged him to the nearest restroom. He was whining in annoyance at being manhandled, but was silenced by a look when the door was closed behind them.
"Sirius Black, you shall shut up about dragons this instant and talk some sense to that man! Thanks to you we are late, annoyed, tired and generally bored. If we have to pay fees for getting a later flight, YOU shall pay them. And you can pay for all our coffees. So get back in there, sober up and tell us all why you went mental and nearly gave me rabies!"
"But… I'm going to ride a dragon…"
"One more word about dragons and I shall personally take you to Wales and FEED YOU TO ONE!"
Remus' rare loss of composition jolted Sirius back into some form of sanity. He looked pathetically up at his friend before turning his gaze to the floor and shuffling his feet.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Something like you saw someone who reminded you of someone from somewhere in your life where you saw someone like the someone you saw on the way here."
Moony took in a deep breath and steadied himself against the nearest cubicle as Sirius took it all in.
"Okay… Story sorted… Now, can I go to the loo? I'm bursting…"
Remus shook his head and walked outside slowly, heading back for the guard room. A few minutes later, Sirius caught him up and they walked together the final few metres to the "holding pen" as James later nicknamed it.
Taking their seats inside, the questioning started again.
"Mr Black; what did you see that made you lose control in the car?"
"Well on the motorway I saw a weird man standing on the bank. I recognised him from last night's Crimewatch and went slightly mad when I realised it was the serial murderer who's trademark was to dump the bodies on the highway. None of these guys knew what I was on about and they tried to shut me up, so I couldn't warn anybody."
Everyone's jaw dropped as Sirius smiled happily. Lily, James and Peter looked at Remus accusingly, who continued to look at his other friend in complete shock. He expected him to say something weird, but this was a new record for the Padfoot journal.
"So… you saw a serial murderer on the motorway and your friends just thought you went berserk? Well I suppose that would explain the madness involving dragons…" the guard said partially to himself.
"I'm going to ride-" he started before stopping himself, remembering Moony's promise.
The rest of the guards started to stir as Mr Johnson rose from his seat.
"Right guys, phone the police and get them on that motorway now. We should catch him whilst the trail is still hot. Mr Black, thank you for finally co-operating – I'm sure the police will want to contact you about your sighting. We have your details, but for now you can go."
Everyone stood up wearily, still staring at Remus and Sirius. After the story he had come up with to get himself out of trouble, they were debating whether to kill their insane friend or hug him.
As they left the room, James took the discreet version of option one. Hooking his arm around his shoulders, he also grabbed his neck and started to squeeze.
"You git! What did you say that for! Now they think there's a serial killer trying to leave the country and you're the only witness. I vote we leave you here and go on holiday ourselves…"
"I second that," muttered Lily.
"I third it," Peter piped up.
"But…" Sirius gasped, "Remus told me to do it!"
Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked angrily at Remus. In the middle of the check-in area, other passengers were wandering about and a few people gave them evil looks for not moving to a more discreet location.
"I… but…" Lupin started, trying to defend himself, "I never said that! I suggested he say he saw someone who reminded him of someone so he could go into a state of shock. I NEVER told him to mention a murderer for Merlin's sake!"
"Not good enough Moony, you know what Sirius is like," James hissed.
The were-wolf looked innocently at his friends. They wouldn't do anything stupid, would they? Of course not… not in a public place… but what would happen later? He dreaded to think!
Sirius broke free and quickly put Remus into an arm lock.
"What should we do to him? Eh? How 'bout we put him in a suitcase and send him on board? Or we could-"
"He'd never fit mate; we could tie him to a trolley and leave him." Peter murmured.
Lily shook her head in annoyance. She roughly dragged Black's arm away from Lupin's head and slapped his hand.
"You leave Remus alone. If it wasn't for him we'd still be in there! Now we need to go to the check-in desk and see what they can do with our stupid tickets."
She marched off, leaving the men (or boys…) behind looking bewildered. They all quickly jogged after her and caught up with her in their queue. It was almost empty, as everyone had finished arriving and it was only the very late stragglers left to check-in.
Looking forwards, she continued to ignore them as they stood behind her talking amongst themselves. Peter and Sirius were discussing ways to get back at Remus, whilst the other two stood in silence.
It wasn't long before it was their turn at the desk, and they were met with a tired but still pretty smile. Lily opened her mouth to talk, but was immediately pushed aside by Sirius who decided to initiate conversation.
"Hello. How're you today? Whatever you feel like you still look gorgeous. Fancy staying the night with me? Let's say in the Maldives. Anywhere you want babe…"
A swift kick from Remus quickly silenced the flirting Padfoot who was pushed aside by James as Lily again tried to talk.
"Sorry about that – the idiots I'll have to spend two weeks with… we were waylaid on our way here and wondering what we can do about the flight?"
She put on her sweetest smile as Sirius complained loudly from his position on the floor.
"You can still catch your assigned plane if you hurry. It was delayed for half an hour so you should be ok. No extra fees, but you can't all sit together. We have a single seat and two double seats if you're interested. Otherwise they will be all single. Not many people have turned up today."
"Probably scared of that serial murderer on the loose…" Peter muttered under his breath.
The check-in attendant completely ignored him as she started typing away at her keyboard.
"I'll need all the relevant forms and I'll sort out your baggage." She said politely.
Turning to the others, Lily addressed them as she removed paperwork from her backpack.
"You lot, go get the luggage. Quicker you get it, quicker we get into the departure lounge and more relaxation time – got it?"
They all nodded and hurried off at once, back out the large doors towards the car park.
Sighing again, Lily handed the attendant the papers before giving her an exasperated look.
"I feel for you, honestly I do," the attendant remarked.
"If you see all five of us in a healthy condition walking out of this airport in two weeks, it'll be a very big miracle."
The woman smiled before returning to the computer monitor.
