Update 6-14-18: Minor edits

Chapter 16: Hogsmeade – Part 1

The gossip about Sirius's parents demanding back their heirlooms was around the school by breakfast the next morning, but it died down quickly. With Sirius being so forthcoming about what had happened, it had taken the fun out of speculating. The pure-blood Slytherins were not pleased by this. Silent, hostile looks followed Sirius throughout the castle, but they made no move to go after him. With a jolt, Sirius realized he had somehow won this round. Despite their best efforts the Pure-bloods hadn't managed to bully enough Half-bloods and blood traitors to their side. And they were realizing now that even if that didn't translate to public support of Sirius, it still offered him protection. His parents may have rattled Sirius with their demonstration of their power, but in turn Sirius's reaction had increased his social standing among his peers.

James and Peter were later told the details of what had transpired. It was easier telling them than it had been Remus. James had taken the news without much comment until he proclaimed that he'd like to 'have a go' at the Blacks. Peter had been just as quiet only to surprise Sirius several days later. Peter offered to send a letter to his mother and ask her if the old trunk in their attic that was storing old fabric could be loaned to Sirius. The boxes Professor Keenan had given were adequate in the short term and this 'borrowing' sat better in Sirius's mind than James's offer to just ask his parents to buy Sirius a new trunk.

The week passed by quickly and suddenly it was Saturday, which for Sirius meant another day of detention. At least he no longer had daily detentions. This Saturday was a Hogsmeade weekend and the next Saturday would be a Quidditch game. As he was banned from both events irregardless of a detention, Sirius supposed being forced to keep busy wasn't a terrible thing.

Sirius split from his friends as they headed downstairs to catch the carriages to Hogsmeade. Detention today would prove interesting. Yesterday Professor Keenan had offered him an alternative to the usual detentions. Professor Keenan was holding a beginners class on dueling for the first and a second years, since it was not part of their curriculum. Keenan needed a student volunteer to help out and had offered it to Sirius. Sirius had hesitated at first. He was still wary of the teacher, though he supposed Keenan wasn't as awful as he originally thought. After witnessing two rather humiliating interactions between Sirius and his family, Keenan hadn't treated him any differently in or out of class. In fact Keenan hadn't even brought it up. Sirius had agreed after hearing he would only need to be present 2-3 hours in the morning, and the same in the afternoon.

Sirius knocked on the closed classroom door and Professor Keenan called him in.

"How are you Mr. Black?"

"Er…fine, sir."

Professor Keenan was dressed in more casual robes than the usual robes he wore when teaching. "First years will be here shortly. The second years will be in the afternoon."

Sirius nodded in understanding and looked around the room. Professor Keenan had his wand out and was stacking the desks along the perimeter of the room. Sirius placed his bag on the floor.

"So what exactly do I have to do?" Sirius questioned.

"I was planning on having you do most of the demonstrations."

"Me?"

"Yes. This would free me up to do the explanations. I can more easily point out the correct dueling form."

"What if I am not doing it properly?"

"I wouldn't worry. You have the best technique in your year…if not in the school."

Sirius swallowed hard. He knew where that wand technique had been instilled; years and years of instruction and drilling from his parents and tutors.

Keenan continued, "The younger students want to go straight into all the flashy wand waving. They don't want hours of technique correction, but it is more important than they realize. I've hounded them all year about the right grip on their wand. Nearly gave up trying to explain to them the subtle differences in wand motion. No matter how many times I told them the right motion will give the spell more power, they still were waving their wands too abruptly – at least for the spell we were working on. If they see someone like you, someone they admire, doing all those corrections that I've said are important, it might finally stick in their mind."

"I never thought a Professor would consider me a model student."

Professor Keenan laughed. "Well I am hoping they only copy your wand-work rather than your behavior. It's a risk I'm willing to take. You've certainly made my first year of teaching interesting. I don't think I'll ever forget it."

"So you won't be teaching again next year?"

"No, I plan to. I've heard you've had bad luck in the past few years. I think some consistency in such an important subject will do you all good."

Sirius nodded. At the beginning of the year news that Keenan wanted to continue to teach would have probably made him want to do his best to cause him to leave. Now he realized he didn't care one way or the other. If he was forced to have an opinion, he'd lean towards Keenan staying since the replacement teacher could be ten times worse.

"Feel free to sit at my desk while I finish rearranging the desks."

Sirius took a seat and watched as Keenan moved the desks around. Keenan made it appear effortless, but Sirius knew from experience that it wasn't easy to lift multiple objects and at the same time have them zip around the room to different spots.

Five minutes later the first of the first years began timidly walking into the room. Most of them greeted Professor Keenan warmly and they all glanced at him curiously. Twenty-six students showed up, which was more than Sirius expected out of a non-compulsory class. After the students had all stored their bags and taken their wands out, Keenan began to speak.

"Welcome everyone. I'm glad to see so many of you. As you can see I have enlisted the help of Mr. Black. He is one of my best students in the upper years, so I hope you learn a lot from him."

Keenan made no mention that he was here on detention, which Sirius appreciated.

"We will start this lesson with a demonstration. Mr. Black, if you would please move to the middle of the classroom and everyone else make a circle around him. Remember wands in hand."

The first years shuffled around encircling him; whispering and giggling amongst themselves. "Now Mr. Black disarm them one by one as quick as you can. Go!"

Sirius was caught off guard as much as the other students, but he did what he has told. He had half the circle disarmed, wands clattering the ground, before the first years realized even what was going on. The second half tried to grip their wands tighter, but even the tightest grip was no match for strong Expelliarmus.

"Excellent, Mr. Black! Took you a respectable thirty-five seconds. Gather your wands!"

Sirius watched in amusement at the mayhem that ensued as the students scrambled to find their wands around the floor.

"Mr. Black, what was running through your head as you were going student by student in terms of proper magical technique?"

Sirius stared blankly at Keenan for a moment and then he noticed the first years were all waiting for his answer expectantly. Had he impressed them with his skill?

"Err…that I have a firm grip on my wand and-" He glanced at Keenan who nodded encouragingly. "-and that I had proper aim and a strong swish…and that I said the incantation properly."

A little girl with a high ponytail raised her hand. "Is saying a spell important even when you do it nonverbally?"

Keenan answered for him. "Great question. It is very important even for nonverbal spells, which is why if you don't learn it correctly now, it will only hurt you in the future."

Professor Keenan called out five students to step forward and instructed Sirius to disarm them in a slower, more controlled manner and to say the spell verbally. As he moved from student to student, Keenan pointed out different things (grip, stance, wand movement, aim).

Next the students were paired up and they lined up in two neat rows and were told to practice disarming each other, taking turns. Sirius began to lose interest in this part of class and his gaze wandered over to the windows. The sun was actually out and he wondered if he could eat his lunch outside. Then he heard a high voice ask, "Mr. Sirius Black?"

Sirius turned in surprise to find the same first year girl who had spoken before. The girl and her partner were the two closet students to where he stood. "Am I holding my wand right? The spell doesn't seem to be working." Sirius could hear the frustration in her voice. He looked toward Professor Keenan who was busy on the other side of the room.

"Let me see. Hold your wand like you are about to cast the spell." The girl did and he could immediately tell that she was gripping it too tightly.

"You need to loosen your grip…"

"I don't want my wand to fall!"

"It won't. Just loosen it a little. And move your grip a little lower. Yes, like that. Now give it a try. A strong swish directly at your partner."

The girl scrunched her face in concentration taking his instruction seriously. She was successful on her second try and cried out in delight. And before Sirius knew it, other first years were also calling him over for aide. Keenan hadn't been kidding by how lacking they were in the basics of magic. As he helped a pair of boys he caught Keenan looking at him. Keenan smiled and gave him a nod of approval. Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. Just because he was willing to help these first years didn't mean he suddenly fancied himself a teacher or worse a teacher's pet. He didn't have much time to grumble about it because another pair was calling out to him. Hopefully the second years wouldn't be as needy.

James loved Hogsmeade on Hogwarts visiting day. Shops bustling with students, laugher and chatter in every shop. That wasn't to say that the days James and his friends snuck out to Hogwarts didn't have its own advantages. He was certain they were only students in the school that knew a way to sneak out of the castle. Still he'd be lying if he didn't equally enjoy the crowds of students. James enjoyed being around others. He was even looking forward to meeting the group of girls for butterbeers. Yes, they were rather silly and shallow, but having them fawn over him wasn't exactly torture. He didn't always have to have stimulating conversations. Plus the girls would be more than happy to hear him prattle on about Quidditch for as long as he wanted. Even Sirius who enjoyed talking hours about strategy and tactics of Quidditch would tell him off for obsessing about it.

"Where to first?" Remus asked as they neared the shops.

The snow covered roofs glistened in sun. Most of the holiday decorations had been taken down, but there was still a festive atmosphere. Fellow students were milling, discussing which shops to hit first. Shop owners hung signs and banners in freshly washed windows hoping to entice students in, eager for the usual increase in purchases the day was sure to bring. Besides two Aurors patrolling the busier streets, there was no obvious added protection from any possible threat from the blood purity movement.

James suggested the small sporting goods shop. It was nowhere as large as Quality Quidditch Supply Shop in Diagon Alley. For one they didn't sell broomsticks, only items like bats, Bludgers, and kits to clean equipment. Still it was a stop that was required whenever James was in Hogsmeade.

"Fine by me," Peter replied. Peter was dressed in his best robes hoping to make a good impression on Jessica, the girl he had a crush on. James had to admit he did look more put together than usual.

Remus nodded in agreement. "I do need to make a quick stop in Puzzle's Papers."

"What for?" Peter asked.

"I need some heavier parchment for that extra credit project. It's supposed to take to magic better," Remus explained. "I can go on my own and meet you when I'm finished."

"Are you sure? We could go with you," James replied.

"I'll be fine. This way you can take your time in the Quidditch store."

"Suit yourself," James said with a shrug. "Come on, Wormy-" James froze, but the forbidden word was already out of his mouth. James colored. "Err…Peter. Sorry it just slipped out…"

"It's fine," Remus murmured rather calmly, barely glancing back at them. Remus just kept on walking toward the parchment shop.

James stared after him for a moment than called out. "Wait! Shouldn't we… talk about this?"

Remus turned back to face them. He approached them solemnly. "There's nothing to say."

James motioned Peter and Remus to the side into an alley. He didn't think they should have this conversation in the middle of the walkway. He crossed his arms. "Nothing to say? Let's start by what you mean by 'it's fine'."

Fine was one of those seemly innocuous words that could mean so many things. Somehow James didn't believe that Remus really meant that all was 'fine'. Remus adjusted the knitted hat on his head, pulling it down so that less of his brown hair was visible. The return of color to his face did nothing to hide the bruise from the transformation. Remus's blue eyes looked troubled. "I was never the one to say we couldn't use the nicknames."

James realized it had been him who had decided that. James remembered furiously telling Sirius not to call him Prongs. He shrugged. "I thought it would also be something you wanted. I didn't think you'd want us using them."

Remus sighed. "Honestly at that time I hadn't planned on ever addressing him either with his real name or nickname."

"Let's have a vote, and we'll only start using them as long as we all agree," James suggested.

"If you want," Remus said. "Or we can start using them."

"No, I think we need to vote on it. Make it official."

"Don't we know what Sirius will vote?" Peter questioned.

"Doesn't matter. We each should have a chance to vote," James answered. He had a feeling everyone would vote in the affirmative and if they did, maybe they could begin to move past this.

Remus went on his way; James and Peter headed to their destination. In the Quidditch shop, James pestered the owner hoping for some insider information about the release of this year's new broomstick model. James wasn't very successful. In turn, the owner was unsuccessful in getting James interested in a new line of Beater's bat. The bats were supposedly the lightest around with the same power as the heavier models. As Chaser, James had little interest; maybe next year if he was made Captain.

Remus arrived in the store as James was trying on different gloves. One set of gloves that were supposed to give a Chaser a better grip on the Quaffle interested James for several minutes, but after seeing the price, even James knew it would be a hard sell with his parents. In the end he purchased only new polish for his broomstick. James hoped his parents would appreciate his careful purchase.

The boys made their rounds in the usual shops. Zonko's Joke Shop wasn't nearly as fun as it would have been with Sirius along. James tried to throw out prank ideas as they roamed the aisles, but the result wasn't the same with Remus's more practical mind and Peter wasn't very good with coming up with suggestions on the fly. So they ended up making general purchases, such as dungbombs, itching powder, and hiccup sweets; the sort of items even a casual prankster always had in supply.

Their stop after the joke shop was Honeydukes Sweetshop. Despite having stepped into the store numerous times, James still got a thrill from seeing the walls of sweets and treats. The shop was busy, but not as overcrowded as it sometimes could be. James broke away from Remus and Peter when he spotted his favorite treat, a chocolate filled cauldron cake. There was only one left, and as he reached for it not realizing another person had her eye on it as well. The brush of fingers sent a shiver up James's spine and as he made eye contact with -

"Evans?"

"Potter!" Lily Evans stepped back; eyes narrowed. He found her constant suspicion about his actions a bit amusing.

She looked especially pretty that afternoon. She was wearing her hair down and it fell in waves below her shoulders. Her cheeks were lightly colored from the warmth of the store. James decided to be a gentleman and offered pleasantly, "It's yours if you want."

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

James nodded and she threw him a tentative smile. Despite the good impression he had managed to make, he couldn't help adding, "And you could thank me with - "

"Actually, Potter. This isn't for me," Evans responded coolly. "It's for Severus. I'll be sure to tell him – well exactly how was it that he could thank you?"

James gaped at her. "You're buying this for Snape?"

Lily put a hand on her hip. "I am. So?"

"No thanks needed," James muttered, frowning. He'd only been teasing. He didn't understand why she'd responded so frostily. He didn't understand why she had to bring up Snape at all. After the whole Whomping Willow incident, James would rather forget he existed. Being reminded of Lily's high opinion of the greasy git was enough to get James thinking about avenues of revenge. Even though he knew he shouldn't let it cross his mind as there was still the very real danger of Snape spilling Remus's secret.

"Great." Lily picked up the candied apple. She appeared to want to say something else, but was interrupted by one of her friends.

"Lily!" Mary MacDonald linked arms with Evans. "You need to help me! I don't know which assortment of candy to buy my sister." MacDonald only then seemed to notice James. "Sorry, Potter…but my sister's birthday is today! So it's a bit of an emergency." She tugged Lily towards the front of the story. Laughing at Mary's theatrics, Evans allowed herself to be dragged, though she did glance back once at James.

James still befuddled by the whole exchange joined back with Remus and Peter. He kept on eye on Lily, but eventually lost sight of her in the store. If his friends noticed that he kept herding them where Lily happened to be, they were polite enough not to comment about it. After buying more sweets than they should have, they headed to Three Broomsticks. The place as expected was already crowded. James looked around the room taking in the familiar faces and smells. He waved at a few of his Quidditch teammates. James debated about stopping to chat with them when Gloria called out his name. She was seated with her friends and they had gotten one of the better booths. It was situated in the center, but against the wall (a combination of being seen with just the right amount of privacy). It was a tight squeeze, but they were all able to fit in the booth.

Ruffling his hair James looked around the girls with a grin. "So where's the buttebeer you promised?"

Author's note: Hopefully this first part was able to stand on its own. It was the best place to cut the chapter as far as I could tell. If it doesn't work as two separate parts, I can always go back later and edit it into one chapter. Thanks for reading and leave a review if you can!