I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter Four — Muggle Shopping, Pizza, and Quidditch

Remus had to drag Harry out of Diagon Alley, which wasn't very comfortable for Harry with the crutches. At that time, Harry was complaining and whining that he didn't want to go clothes shopping. Remus, however, refused to put up with Harry's behavior and put a silencing charm on him and told Harry that he wasn't going to take it off unless Harry agreed to stop pouting. He agreed but Remus could tell he wasn't happy.

It soon became clear that Remus had no clue to what Muggle boys wore. He actually thought Harry would be comfortable wearing a sweater vest. Harry had to beg Remus to put down a brown sweater with orange puffballs that reminded him of one he shrunk last year. He showed Remus t-shirts and jeans even a few pairs of khakis that he could wear to court. But before they could purchase anything Harry had to give Remus some rules to Muggle shopping for preteen boys.

"There are a few things you should know about Muggle fashion. Boys don't were dresses. Robes are something you wear after a shower. Pink is okay in small amounts unless it's a button shirt, then it's considered as cool. White socks are in for every occasion. When in doubt, wear a t-shirt and jeans. And never wear orange puffballs; even in the wizard world that's a fashion don't."

"Harry, I'm sorry about the orange puffballs. I'm colorblind and thought they were brown. And I already knew about the dresses."

"I then should say no puffballs at all. Those things are hideous. I know you're not in contact with many Muggles but have ever seen one wearing puffballs on their clothes. And brown is one of my least favorite colors. Honestly, Remus, what where you thinking?"

"Just go and pay for these things so I can torture you some more with shoe shopping. It seems like your trainers are a bit worn out. And if you start complaining again I'll curse you to your bed when we get home."

"But I like these shoes; they finally reached the stage where they mold perfectly with my feet. They don't look too bad."

"Cub, you are getting new shoes and that's final. We have enough money for some brand-named shoes so you can't say they aren't comfortable and if the ones you like are I can put a cushioning charm on them."

"I can tell that I'm going not to win this battle. I'll admit that shopping for clothes isn't so bad if you let me have dinner first, I am starving."

"What do you have in mind? We have to go some place inexpensive if you want a nice pair of shoes."

"I want pizza. The Dursleys' got it all the time but they never let me have any. The smell alone is enticing."

"What's pizza?"

"You have to be kidding me. With all your Muggle smarts, you don't know what pizza is. Follow me; you're in for a treat." They entered a nearby pizzeria and Remus was in awe. "Remus, calm down. People are staring. You don't want any of the Muggles know that you never had pizza before; do you? Just to be safe I'll order for both of us. How are you with caffeine?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't think that we'll have pizza without something to drink. I'm going to order soda as well, but some have caffeine and some don't. You know what I'll get some with caffeine just to see you get hyper. You are in for a real treat"

The server came to the table and Harry ordered a pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of Pepsi. Harry watched Remus as he nervously took his first sip of soda. Harry couldn't help be laugh as Remus coughed.

"That was good but it was a bit sweet." Remus took another sip; this time he didn't cough. Before the pizza arrived, they talked about what might happen at Uncle Vernon's trial. They already knew that they were likely going to win but needed a strong case.

"Remus, what will happen if we lose? What if they charge you with kidnapping me? So many things can go wrong. I don't want to lose you. You were my first friend I remember having. In fact, you're the only one who has ever cared about me, I mean except my parents but I was too little to remember that. I want to thank you for what you've done for me. You brought me back to the world I belong in."

"Cub, listen to me. Nothing will go wrong. What the Dursleys' did to you wasn't your fault. You weren't able to protect yourself so I had to take you away from danger. And Harry even though your parents are gone, they do love you. Lily was on top of you twenty-four/seven. I swear you were the cleanest baby I have ever seen. I remember that she was extremely angry when Sirius gave you his wand. You somehow levitated all the furniture onto the ceiling. James on the hand was proud that you were showing magic abilities at such a young age."

"What happened after that? What did Mum do to Dad and Sirius? From the little I heard from Aunt Petunia, Mum had a temper that went with her hair."

"I was able to calm her down. I convinced her that the sooner you use magic the more powerful you'll be. She had the illusion that one day that you would become headmaster at Hogwarts. But even I couldn't calm her when James put you on a broom. James claimed that he was training you to be a Seeker."

"What's a Seeker?"

"A Seeker is a Quidditch position. Your father was a Seeker; one of the best to walk out of Hogwarts. He played semiprofessionally before you were born. Let me explain the game better. On each team, there are seven players: a Keeper, three Chasers, two Beaters, and a Seeker. The Keeper guards three hoops that are on each end of the pitch. The Chasers try to score points with the Quaffle, a red ball. Each score is worth ten points. The Beaters try to knock the players off their brooms with Bludgers; smallish black balls. Sirius was a Beater. The Seekers job is to go after the Golden Snitch, which is the size of a large walnut. If you catch that you get 150 points and most likely win the game."

"And you do all this on a broom. It sounds very hard to play. Did you ever play?"

"I was the reserve Keeper. Maybe one day I'll take you to a game. James would be disappointed that his son grew up without seeing any Quidditch."

"I'd like that. It should be cool even if I don't understand what's going on. But it will have to be after the trial."

"Harry, on the fifth I have to go out of town so you'll have to stay with a friend of mine. It's a cousin of Sirius'; Tonks was the only family member that I liked, except her mother. She's young and on the wild side but she's a lot of fun. She's an Auror in training, a dark wizard catcher, so she'll be able to protect you."

"You like her, don't you? I can tell just your description of her. But you called her Tonks? What's her first name?"

"Her name is Nymphadora. I don't like her that way; were just friends. I but warn you that she's a Metamorphmagi, which is a type of shape shifter. She is full of surprises if you're not careful. Right now, she likes blue hair and chocolate eyes. We should get going if were going to get your new shoes before the store closes."

"Why do you have to be so responsible? From what you told me you were the greatest pranksters who ever lived."

"I resent that you think that I lost my touch."

"Let's just get the shoes and go home. I'm tired and I don't want to argue with you because I know that I'll lose. I bet that you were the best debater in the group, am I right?"

"You are very much right. James and Sirius were the brains behind the pranks. I would fine-tune them and Peter... well, Peter was just there. Sometimes we'd used him as bait for the Slytherins. He never actually did anything. In fact, I don't think he would have passed any of his classes without our help."

"Enough about the past," Harry didn't feel right whenever Peter was mentioned, "did you like the pizza? I can't believe Mum never introduced you to it as it's a Muggle favorite."

"I don't know; I never had had a food that had so many spices. Though the drink was no where as good as Butterbeer but I liked it."

"So, it wasn't a bad experience."

"No experience with you is a bad experience. Now, on to the shoe store." Harry groaned but when Remus pointed his wand at him, he stopped.

Harry grabbed the closet pair of black shoes that were his size and immediately went to the sales counter. Remus watched Harry as he pulled out his money with a huge smile on his face.

"You really hate shopping that much; don't you?"

"More than you can ever know. Can we please go now? I have to take that awful medicine those Muggles gave me."