"Where's Moony?" Sirius asked James after the crowd dispersed. There was a distinctive smell of gunpowder in the air.
"Went off somewhere obviously, the library or maybe … the kitchens?" James replied. He was lying comfortably on a large reclining chair; head tilted back, eyes closed.
"Well, let's go get him! He needs to know he owes me 10 sickles." They went out the portrait hole and went down the corridor. They could hear a faint laughter around the corner. Hermione and Remus rounded the corner.
"And then there was the time Malfoy and Snape were in potions class working on their potions and Sirius 'casually' walked by, dropped a dried newt eye in it and it turned a bright shade of fuchsia and smelled like-"
"Oi. There you too are. Remus my boy, pay up." Sirius held out his hand expectantly. Remus looked towards James. "You lost?" James gave an innocent shrug.
" Sorry Sirius, I don't carry money on my person, you'll get it later."
"So... now what?" Hermione asked.
" I have an idea..."
There were people spread out around the lake, the perimeter of it was wide and slightly covered by shade, provided by the trees. Hermione was in the back of the group as Sirius lead the way to the famous, "birch tree" he had talked about. They got there and stood in a small circle.
"What's that spell for blankets?" Sirius asked James. He took out his wands and a blanket shortly after appeared. They sat down and began asking Hermione questions.
"So how long were you at Beauxbatons? It couldn't have been long, you've
got no accent." James said. He was to her right, Remus to her left and Sirius in front of her. She stopped a moment. That was a good question, she'd better give a good answer.
"I was only at Beauxbatons for a year, because I was home schooled before that and my parents moved into the area. So I attended Beauxbatons. Then they moved again. Now Hogwarts is the closest school." She had hoped that sufficed, for she wouldn't know what to do if not.
"So what do your parents do?" Sirius asked standing up. He walked over to the lake and was putting his hand in it. He leaned back to look at her. Hermione decided not to disclose the real occupation of her parents. It might be useful in the future that she hadn't.
"They work in a muggles department of the ministry, you know, making sure they don't find out about us." She stood up and took off her shoes. She then went over by Sirius and put her feet into water. Remus and James went over to the two.
"It's nice and warm, I wanna go swimming in it." Sirius stood by the edge, perfect for someone to push him in. James was that person. Sneaking up on Sirius he gave a slightly hard shove for Sirius had braced himself just in time to try and keep his balance. The two boys tumbled unto the ground. Hermione just started laughing as Remus had a small frown on his face. Although once Hermione was laughing, he let a small smile out. Sirius stood up and pushed James toward the lake, however James held onto Sirius' arms and they both went down. James sat up and shook the water from his hair which made it even messier then usual. He looked like he had just come off a broom from playing Quidditch in a rain storm and his once maroon sweater was now a dark, almost brown shade. Sirius rose out of the water a few feet away from James, out of arms reach but not necessarily out of harms way… James cupped his hands and started splashing him mercilessly.
"My once sapphire sweater is now… midnight blue!!!!! You've ruined me James!"
He fell down into the water and started kicking with his feet as if having a fit, causing the water to splash both James, Hermione, and Remus. Remus made a slightly annoyed face and started drying his glasses off. It was coated in little droplets that would obviously make it hard to read with.
"Sirius, you're acting like a child. You don't need to get us wet in the process." Remus stated. Sirius flashed him a wicked grin before grabbing him about the waist and yanked, taking an unwilling Remus in with him.
"Sirius! Don't you da-"He was cut off as they both fell into the water. Meanwhile James had snuck up on Hermione who was distracted by this whole scene. She was suddenly being maneuvered into the water. Her fighting was futile and a few moments later she was in the warm (Sirius was right) water of the lake. People were staring but then again considering who it was, that wasn't exactly new or unexpected. Some laughed. Others moved farther away, afraid of getting wet. Hermione was positively soaked. Her poncho dripped like mad and a screen of brown hair covered her face almost completely. She gave a just as soaked James a withering glare then slowly took her poncho off in an angered mannered. Then, Hermione threw the poncho at James as payback. It landed on his head with a loud plop and he was momentarily blinded. He pulled it down a bit and peeked out with one eye showing. The picture that met his eye was a smiling Hermione, not in the least bit mad.
"You faker!" Yelled Sirius, laughing as Remus was splashing him in the face.
A little bit later, after they had all decided it was about time to stop, each was dripping wet as they got out of the lake, more so, if possible, than before. Although the water was a nice neutral temperature, because it was a bit later in the day it was freezing (to them at least).
"I have another idea." Sirius said between the fake clatter of his teeth. With a little swish of his wand, he dried himself off, instantly nice and dry.
"So he is smart! Didn't know he had it in him." James joked because the idea obviously hadn't occurred to anyone else. Each followed suit and were soon as dry and warm as possible. All were sitting on the blanket, except Sirius, who was standing.
"One might wonder, what would happen if that spell were to be used numerous times at once, on the same person..." Remus pondered rather loudly, casting a glance at Sirius. Sirius, now sitting up on the blanket, with everyone else rubbed his skin appreciatively, contemplating the consequences of such a thing.
Hermione imagined what he would look like if he had a really bad sunburn on most parts of his body and the image was comical, clashing horribly with his black hair, standing out even more. This made her smile. The sky, she realized was an amazing shade of darker blue as it was getting later in the day. The stars weren't out yet because it wasn't that late and she could still see the clouds. It all made for a just nice, pleasant site. To get a better look, she lay down. The boys, who were talking about other interesting spells noticed but continued their conversation. Hermione was only half heartedly listening. She was thinking about her whole situation in general. She knew Sirius was an amazing person in his teens, but to experience it first hand. That was different. There was an almost, colossal, difference between here and in the future. To think, all that would be changed by a fluttering black veil in an obscure department in the ministry of magic. By that time he would have been in hiding for a year in his old family house that he had never wanted to return to. She didn't want to dwell on it but that's what she kept coming back to. Soon enough she had completely zoned out, her mind in the realm of possibility.
"Emily. Emily! Emiiiily." Suddenly she realized that they were talking to her.
" Oh. Sorry... What is it?" She asked regaining composure.
" You do that a lot, don't you Emily?" Remus was smiling.
"Lately, yes. I suppose there's just a lot to think about."
"I know. James lost at exploding snap and now I owe Sirius 10 sickles." Remus said.
"I have failed you, my friend." James hung his head in mock shame.
"Yes, because you never lose..." Sirius said.
"ANYWAYS, Emily, a knut for your thoughts?" Remus asked, flipping a small sickle over the Hermione, knowing that Sirius was watching.
"I don't carry money on my person. Liar." Sirius repeated Remus's earlier statement. However, Hermione was not paying attention to the 'mad' Sirius. Her eyes were fixed on Remus's. Good question, she thought, and what would be her answer?
" Maybe I'll tell you sometime."