Chapter Two: Wandering Through the Crowd

A sharp crack preceded the appearance of James Potter in the middle of a cluster of chattering witches, and before he could even make an attempt to turn around, he found himself being swept along farther and farther down the street. Out of one eye he saw Sirius land on top of a frazzled little wizard, then help him up with a goofy smile and somehow push his way through the crowd.

"'Lo, Jamesie, whereto today?"

James shrugged as if to say, "Wherever you and Remus want," but his clear hazel eyes were roving amongst the groups of students, pausing just long enough to scan for a special someone. A very special someone with wavy auburn hair, emerald green eyes, and a temper to match the red highlights. It was a special girl indeed who could capture the heart of James Potter for more than a week, and one Lily Evans seemed to be the perfect one. Or at least she would be if she stayed long enough to say anything other than a retort along the lines of "You're the slimiest git Gryffindor has ever known; actually, make that the whole school."

Noting his obvious distraction, Remus, who had Apparated without causing injury to any of the old ladies trotting down the cobbled road, and Sirius let identical smirks alight on their faces. "So Prongsie, having daydreams?"

"About someone?"

"With a surname of Evans?"

"Huh?" James shook his head in confusion before realizing the thread of their conversation, at which time the look of bewilderment turned into one of anger, than embarrassment. "You know I don't have daydreams about Evans, just as well as you know she hates me."

There was an irritatingly smug look on Sirius's face that read along the lines of "Exactly, and we know you like her." But for once he elected to firmly clamp his mouth shut and instead dragged the two others into a store filled with bookshelves stocked with the sort of volumes that were found only in the Restricted Section. "Right then," he sighed with an exaggerated air of disappointment, "might as well as get all this junk first. Everyone's taking NEWT Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, and Potions, I suppose?" The last subject was met with a resounding chorus of reluctant agreement; evidently, Potions was a less than appreciated course, even when it was absolutely necessary.

At that moment, Peter stumbled into the shop, looking around nervously with weak blue eyes. Upon spotting the three Marauders, he hurried over but didn't lift his head to meet their questioning gazes. "Master, er, f-father wouldn't l-let me come until I finished a few chores," he sputtered, barely forming coherent words. He scooted over to a pile of books on the history of wands before they had a chance to make any comments and pretended to be utterly immersed in the thick volume.

Sirius merely exchanged a glance with Lupin, but James glared at them both, trying to see what they found so odd about that; not everyone had servants, they should know. "Yes, whatever. Er, I'm also taking Runes, don't know what for exactly, same as last year." After a few moments of awkward silence, they strode over to the counter, left the gold behind, and walked out talking like the same old friends once more, puzzles and troubles quickly forgotten.

For the next hour they simply walked down the street, stopping at every shop that caught the eye, occasionally poking fun at miscellaneous beings pushing through Diagon Alley, much to the apparent chagrin of other less unusual magical folk. Soon they arrived at the Quidditch shop, and it was obvious there was a special sale that day. A sign said in flashing colors that "The New Nimbus 1500 is being sold today at a discount price of 75 galleons! Buy yours today, don't want to be left behind, do we?" Of course Sirius and James bulldozed their way to the counter and dumped a bagful of gold out, receiving brand new broomsticks in exchange, while Remus stood patiently near the entrance, wondering not for the first time what was so fascinating about Quidditch. Sure, it was the most popular wizarding sport, and Padfoot and Prongs were nearly pros, and-the list of reasons could go on and on, he thought with a wry smile.

There was little more on the school shopping list, so the four Marauders chose to take a trip to their favorite store to do some miscellaneous shopping. Entering Wonko's Pranks, they flashed grins at the plump, balding owner, who, by now, knew them by name and by business. He stepped out from behind the counter and gave them a jolly wave. "So boys, will it be the usual today? Or is there something special you'd like-we just got new inventory today."

"Let's er, see what you've got." James looked back at his companions quickly before taking long steps to the side where new or bizarre items were always displayed. "Say, Padfoot, how about…multiplying balloons?" Deciding for himself, he added, "Never mind, waste of good gold. Well, anything you three want in particular?"

At the last sentence, Peter became a nervously quivering ball, quipping that he felt it was time to leave, being late and all, and perhaps ice cream would be nice? Sirius shot him a glare of slight annoyance but agreed and reluctantly left the shop. They turned out the door and walked a small distance to Fortescue's, where they spotted a few other Hogwarts students, but no Gryffindors. There were a few Ravenclaws and Slytherins sitting outside; Severus Snape, however, seemed to shun even the company of his own house. James rolled his eyes and ushered the others into the cool ice cream parlor.

The waitress smiled at them cheerfully, waving a gloved hand at the vast selection of flavors on the menu, then bustled to the back to prepare a banana split. The four pored over the menu for a few moments, but there really was no need as they probably had previously memorized all the many selections. "Right then," said James, the first to speak. "I'll have-"

"Four vanilla cones with hot fudge," Sirius cut in abruptly. "And here's the gold." He dropped a few Sickles into the girl's waiting hand.

"How would you have known what I wanted?" asked Remus, running a hand through his disheveled light brown hair. "I mean, it's called ordering something, and generally when normal people order, they choose things for themselves."

The black-haired boy shrugged casually and replied, "Well it was easy, considering we order basically the same thing every time. Except for that once you dared me to try the spinach." Ignoring Moony's argument, he still let slip a small frown, but the eyes, the eyes showed the real feelings of the charismatic Sirius Black. And right then, he looked rather pleased to have gotten along so well with a werewolf, not the least to say, after the dreadful years before school.

In silence they licked at the ice cream outside, each contemplating his last year at Hogwarts. Together they had sworn to make it an unforgettable ten months; together they would remain once out of the great stone castle. But whether or not anyone admitted it, the little group was slowly drifting apart. James and Sirius were too caught up in infatuations, going through two or more girls each week, while Remus was falling into a small rut in dealing with his monthly status of vicious beast. And Peter, he was somehow spending less time with them, and although barely noticeable, he was acting more suspicious by the day. Now, however, wasn't the time to consider such otherworldly thoughts, so instead, they focused on keeping hands free of drops of vanilla ice cream.

Finally James rose from a patio chair and stretched his arms up, preparing to leave for the house again. Padfoot and Moony followed his examples, pushing in the chairs and waving farewell to Wormtail almost apologetically. They would be seeing him again in two days though, so there was no real need for elaborate parting words. Then with three pops, they disappeared, leaving Peter, a squat silhouette in the setting sun, standing near the ice cream store. He was deathly quiet and oddly enough, all alone.

AN: First of all, I'd like to thank the people who reviewed; it does mean a lot to me although begging for reviews is not fun at all XP

Second, I apologize for the crappiness and boringness/pointlessness of this chapter, as I had no creative energies to spare for a mere walk down Diagon Alley. The next one should be at least a bit more interesting. It's going to have Lily and perhaps a few of her friends in it…

Third, if you have time, please review any of my other stories, I'd greatly appreciate if someone could tell me if there is any interest at all. Flames are accepted for all but Orchestra Teleporter, praise is welcomed, and criticism is being asked for :-)

Fourth, I'm a freshman in a high school with a strong emphasis on math, science, and engineering, and with its outstanding reputation (#1 SAT scores in the state) comes piles of homework and projects. I'm sorry if I don't update as much as a lot of other Fanfiction.net authors, but I've got to keep my wonderful, brilliant reputation as well. Yes I know I sound arrogant, and I can't help it, so don't even think about it :-P