CHAPTER 22: The Date
Remus almost ran down to the common room, where James was sitting on an armchair, awaiting Remus' arrival.
"Come, Mr. Lupin, have a seat," he gestured to the opposite armchair. Remus just blinked at James.
"Tell me or ask me what you need to," Remus had a hint of paranoia in his voice. James crossed his arms and shook his head.
"How about you tell me what you were up to last night," he raised an eyebrow.
"Prongs, I have no idea what you're talking about," Remus tried to play off his paranoia.
"Oh Remmy, you're a terrible liar. Oh hey Padfoot!" James noticed Sirius come down to the common room in casual clothes. Sirius rubbed his nose and looked from Remus to James.
"Whazz going on?" he asked, disinterested. James smirked and got up from the chair.
"Just askin' Remus about life. Let's have breakfast!" he clapped his hands and started walking towards the door. Peter came rolling down the stairs, fumbling with his shirt buttons; the shirt was two sizes small for him.
"Peter is that one of my old shirts?" Remus asked. Peter blushed and nodded.
"I've been searching everywhere for that shirt Peter! I would like it back now- on another note, keep the shirt Peter," Remus changed his mind after seeing Peter wipe his nose on the sleeve.
"Hehe, sorry Remus. I like the shirt a lot," Peter smiled. James stalked by Remus and patted him on the shoulder.
"We'll chat later."
The boys strutted down the corridors, smirking as first-years quickly got out of their way.
"What a fine day to prank Snivellus," Sirius smiled as they sat down at the Great Hall.
"I agree, but we have to go to Hogsmeade today. I'm running low on my dungbombs and puking pastilles. Check this out for a plan guys- I take a pastille in front of Evans, I puke, she freaks out and takes me to the hospital wing, we end up happily ever after, eh?" James rubbed his hands together and cheekily smiled.
"I don't know why you consider these plans, James, they will never work," Remus said, rubbing his eyes. Sirius snickered.
"I reckon he should give it a go!" he encouraged.
"Great. When I see her at Hogsmeade I will do it," James jumped up and down.
"Right, we should make a move on so we can beat the crowd there," Remus put his napkin in his plate and looked around the table. Sirius wasn't even halfway done; James also was nowhere near done; Peter was helping himself to thirds.
"No can do," Sirius said, his mouth full of pancake. Remus continued to watch as the boys ate their breakfast like ravenous animals. He occasionally had to flick pieces of flying food off his arms and face. Finally, from three satisfying burps, the Marauders sprang up from the table and headed towards the gates of Hogwarts.
"D'ya think that if I flip my hair to the side, Evans will attack me with her love?" James was seriously asking. Remus snickered and shook his head.
"RRRRRREEEEMMUUUSSSSS!" A shrill, annoying, familiar voice broke the hallway. The four looked at each other, rolled their eyes and sighed.
"Remus, do you mind not bringing Whitney please? I'm trying to enjoy today," Sirius said, annoyed.
"It's not my fault she sees me- heeeey Whitney!" Remus said just in time as Whitney came bouncing up.
"You're avoiding me," Whitney bluntly started the conversation. James, Sirius and Peter took this opportunity to walk faster up ahead.
"Ahhahha um I'm not avoiding you! I've just been swamped with the amount of homework we're getting," Remus lied. Whitney believed him and clung onto his arm.
"I wanna come to Hogsmeade with you. It can be a date!" She happily screeched in his ear. He winced at the high octaves of her voice in his ear and sighed heavily.
"Alright then, we're probably just going to do really boring things," he said.
"THAT'S OKAYYYYYY!" Whitney screamed. Remus winced again and started walking in the boys' direction. Throughout the walk to Hogsmeade, Whitney couldn't stop shrieking in Remus' ear and blabbering on about anything, while James, Sirius and Peter tried to walk faster from Remus. The five reached Zonko's Joke Shop and sauntered in like they owned the place.
"Aaaaahhhhh," James and Sirius harmonized together as they saw the stack of newest items ready for sale. They hardly spent 20 minutes in the shop, and their pockets were already full with Zonko products.
"I'm hungry," Sirius said as he tried to stuff his over-bulging pockets. James rubbed his stomach and nodded.
"Yeah me too. Let's go eat," he said, looking around.
"You just ate breakfast. How could you possibly be hungry?" Remus sighed.
"It's called SECOND BREAKFAST Remus. Read a book why don't you. Oh wait, you already do and that's why you're a NERD!" Sirius roared with laughter at his own joke. Remus threw his unoccupied arm in defeat and accepted the joke.
"It's okay Remus. You can be my nerd," Whitney cooed and James snickered. Remus shot him a glare and started walking to the nearest café. The boys followed and stepped foot in a warm, cozy, familiar café.
"Ohmygod, this is sooooo cozy," Whitney cuddled up to Remus even more. The boys snickered at that and made their way to a free booth. Sitting down and opening the menu, Sirius scratched his head.
"James I love you," he randomly said.
"I love you too babe," James responded casually. Returning from her lunch break, Isabella came in through the back doors and stopped dead in her tracks.
You've got to be fucking kidding me, she thought as she saw the boys and Whitney. Thank god I'm on bar duty today. Hoping the group wouldn't see her, she slinked her way to the bar. She breathed a sigh of half relief and started mixing drinks. While Whitney was attached to Remus' arm, she got bored of the conversation the Marauders were having. She started to look around the café- to the sides, to the front, up at the ceiling and to her back. Her eyes locked on Isabella behind the café and she smirked.
"Ohmygod guys, slave-girl alert," Whitney said. The boys ignored her and continued their conversation.
"GUYS. SLAVE-GIRL ALERT," Whitney said louder. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned his attention towards her. She pointed behind her and the boys' eyes followed. They all saw Isabella behind the bar, busy drying cups.
Oh god she's so beautiful, Remus thought. Sirius rolled his eyes and re-started the conversation with James. Peter couldn't stop staring at her and drooling. Remus smiled as he stared at her. Whitney looked at all of them with narrowed eyes.
"Uhhh guys, hello? The bitch is working here again!" Whitney re-established.
"Oh my god Whitney leave it. She's not important," Sirius snapped at her. Remus and James were quite taken aback at this comment.
"Padfoot, you hate her. You don't want to prank her or anything?" James asked cautiously. Sirius shrugged.
"All I'm saying is that I'd rather have a conversation with you than waste my time in pranking some chick I don't even care about," he explained.
"Okay but before you would say, 'that chick I hate' rather than, 'that chick I don't even care about,'" James pointed out. Sirius started to laugh.
"Guys, why is this important? Fine, that chick I hate, okay? Can we just get back to not wasting time?" He defended. Remus was still in a state of shock at Sirius' change of attitude. The waitress came over to their table and smiled.
"Hi guys, what can I get you?" She asked.
"A breakfast burrito for me, my boyfriend will have a breakfast burrito as well, Peter will have the pancakes, Remus, Whitney?" James formally told the waitress.
"I will have the French toast please, thank you," Remus ordered, his mind still on Sirius.
"I'll haaaaave…a margarita," Whitney cunningly smiled. The waitress finished writing the orders, gathered the menus and headed back to the kitchens.
"Isabella, honey, a margarita for table 22," the waitress said to her. Isabella nodded and got right to work.
"Wow Whitney, alcohol for breakfast. You've turned a new leaf," James joked. Whitney narrowed her eyes at him and flipped her hair.
"I'm not going to drink it," she said slyly.
"Well that's a waste of money," Sirius said, as he was still wondering why she was hanging out with them. Isabella started walking over to the table, margarita in one hand and receipt in the other. She looked up and saw the customers at table 22.
SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL I CAN NEVER CATCH A BREAK WHAT THE FUUUUUUUCK, she screamed in her head.
"One margarita," she plainly said and almost dropped the glass on the table. Sirius and James glared at her as Remus smiled and waved. Peter also tried to glare at her but it looked like he was constipated. Whitney cunningly smiled and folded her arms.
"I think I see something weird in my drink. Could you look and see what it is?" She asked innocently.
"No," Isabella started to turn away.
"You don't want me telling your boss on you, do you?" Whitney sweetly said.
"Whitney, just drink it," Remus tried to get her to stop. Isabella turned around, fuming, and picked up Whitney's drink.
"There's nothing in there," she gritted her teeth. At this moment, Whitney shot out her hand to the base of the glass, forcing Isabella to spill the drink all over herself. Whitney, James and Peter burst out laughing as Remus sat there in shock.
"YOU BITCH," Isabella screamed as she smacked Whitney. Remus leapt out of his seat and held Isabella back.
"Whoa whoa Isabella, that's enough!" Remus tried calming her down. Her manager came running out at the commotion and stopped in his tracks.
"CLARKE. YOU'RE FIRED!" He yelled at a now-frozen Isabella.
"B-but sir! She did-" she tried explaining.
"I'M NOT LISTENING. YOU'RE OUT," he pointed to the door. Isabella shook her head, threw her apron on the floor and stormed out of the café. Whitney cackled with laughter as Remus ran to the manager.
"Sir please, it wasn't her fault. That girl threw the drink on her," Remus tried to reason.
"Clarke has been on thin ice with this café, and that right there was a reason why we should have let her go," the manager stubbornly said. Remus sighed and went back to his seat.
"Whitney, was that necessary to do that?" Sirius said, a little annoyed.
"Um…yes?" she raised an eyebrow. Sirius rolled his eyes and decided not to speak.
He did not just stand up for Isabella…did he? Remus thought. James also was raising an eyebrow at Sirius, but he also decided not to say anything.
"Remus, wasn't that great?" Whitney cuddled up to Remus again. He yanked his arm away from her and looked at her with anger.
"Do not speak to me ever. I don't want to be friends with you or speak to you or have anything to do with you, understand? Once you get that through your thick head, please leave right now," Remus was almost about to explode. Whitney looked shocked and angry.
"Remus-" she started to say. He shook his head.
"WHITNEY. GET. OUT," he yelled at her. The whole table watched with much interest. She slowly got out of her chair and walked out of the café, confused.
"Good riddance," Sirius smirked.
