2. Muggle London
Remus arrived early the next morning, which was fine for James as he had woken up at the crack of dawn yet again.
"Moony!" James yelled at a level far exceeding what should be used that early in the morning,
"Shh!" Remus scolded him.
James waved his hand dismissively. "Lighten up mate, its not that early,"
Remus's face was an equal mix of amusement and irritation. He carried his bag over the threshold and placed them down. Misty appeared in front of him.
"Shall I take your bags upstairs Master Remus," the house elf asked politely.
"Er, sure," Remus replied. The elf nodded, grabbed the bags and Disapperated.
Remus and James walked towards the kitchen. Remus sat down at a bar stool and placed his arms on the counter and James walked to the other side, towards the pantry.
"D'ya want anything?" James asked his friend.
Remus shook his head, "I'm good,"
"Are you sure? Once Sirius gets here all the food with disappear."
Remus mulled it over.
"Last chance," James told him in a sing-songy voice.
Remus laughed. "Got anything with chocolate?"
"One Chocolate Cauldron coming right up,"
James disappeared into the pantry and grabbed a handful of Chocolate Cauldrons. "Only one?" Remus called to him.
"Fine, you can have two," James conceded jokingly. He took the half dozen in his hands and threw them all at once towards his friend.
Remus's arms covered his face as chocolate frogs rained down on him. When the blitz passed he started picking them up from where they were scattered on the floor.
"That wasn't very effective,"
James shrugged. "It was easier for me. I wouldn't want to have to walk all the way over to you,"
Remus rolled his eyes. "You're just lucky they're individually wrapped."
James laughed and opened one for himself.
There was the creak coming from the staircase and James and Remus looked to the wooden structure to see James's father, Harold Potter, walking down in a bathrobe with a yawn.
He walked over to the kitchen and was surprised to see James and Remus already sitting at the counter.
"'Morning boys," he greeted them before making his way to a chair that Misty was already placing coffee next to.
James took a minute to look his father over. His hair was thinning and far more grey than James had ever seen it. He had bags under his red eyes and seemed older in every aspect. Officially, Harold Potter was now retired, yet he went into the office far too often for someone who was no longer working.
"Hello Mr. Potter," Remus said politely.
"Hello Remus, how've you been?"
"I'm good, thank you. And you?"
"I've been better I must say," Mr. Potter responded and sipped his steaming coffee. He turned to James. "Do you know when Sirius is stopping by?"
James shook his head. "He's probably not even up yet, I'm guessing sometime after lunch."
Mr. Potter nodded. "I'll leave you two be, I'm going to go wash up."
"See you later Dad,"
Mr. Potter picked up his coffee mug and made his way out of the kitchen, up the stairs and out of sight. James watched him go and turned to Remus who was giving him a concerned look.
"No, none of that," James told his friend, as he pointed his index finger at the expression Remus was currently wearing. "If I'm not allowed to give you those looks around the full moon your not allowed to give them to me either."
Remus held up his hands in defense. "I know, I know, I'm just used to the Potter residence being a little more cheerful. Are you sure you guys are fine with Sirius and I staying over."
"You're staying." James told him firmly. "It'll help make things seem normal again."
Remus nodded and decided to change the subject. "Do you still have that mirror?"
James gave him a look.
"Of course you do. Anyway, why don't we give Sirius a bit of a surprise?"
James made the connection and a smile grew on his face. "Brilliant." He reached into his pocket and pulled the square mirror out.
"Let's do it outside though, we don't want to wake your parents." Remus warned.
"Mate, we can do magic," James reminded him, grabbing his wand and waving it towards the staircase.
"You're not supposed to use magic outside of school."
"Remus, when have I ever done what I was supposed to do?" James asked
Remus sighed and James smiled.
"I've missed that sound."
"My sigh?"
"Yes, it means your giving in, its wonderful really."
Remus punched him in the arm.
They turned their attention back to the mirror. "Sirius Black," James said clearly. The reflection shifted to that of a ceiling covered in red and gold Gryffindor memorabilia. James took his wand and pointed it at his neck, and then Remus's, each time saying, "Sonorus,"
Then, both boys took a deep breath and yelled.
"What the-" They heard someone yell, clearly disoriented and James wished they could've seen his face.
And he got his wish, but a moment later, when Sirius Black, hair shaggier than usual, some dried drool on his chin, and his eyes alive with anger.
"Mornin' Siri," Remus said sweetly, though it sounded more like a boom. James took his wand and muttered, "Quietus,"
"How'd you sleep?" James added, now with a normal voice.
"I am going to kill both of you," Sirius told them, an evil look in his eyes.
"If you do that I don't think my parents would want you to stay with them for the rest of the holiday," James told him
Sirius thought for a moment. "Fair point, I'll get you back during the school year,"
"I'm shaking in my boots," Remus deadpanned.
Sirius looked up from the mirror as if he heard something. "Shit, it's my Mum, see you guys later,"
The reflection in the mirror returned to Remus and James's.
"Well that was fun," James said with a smile.
Sirius appeared in the Potter fireplace at around noon. He held with him his trunk, which had the arms of shirts and robes sticking out of it. Hauling it out of the fireplace and dusting the soot off of himself, Sirius looked around the room.
"About time you showed up mate," James told him. He was sitting at a couch, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it when it bounced back to him. Remus was reading a book next to him, looking irritated as the ball sailed over his head and then came sailing back, just missing him every time.
"Yeah, well I like to sleep. Plus my parents yelled at me for making so much noise at such an ungodly hour." Sirius gave Remus and James a significant look respectively.
James threw the ball. "Yeah well, we were bored." He caught it as it bounced off.
"Well we'll see how you like it next time I get bored," Sirius told him, abandoning his trunk by the fireplace and walking over to his friends.
James threw the ball and caught it.
"We were gonna head into Muggle London, explore a bit," James didn't look at his friend as he said this, instead focusing on the red ball as it soared towards the wall and then made its way back.
"Cool, where are your parents?"
"Dad's at the Ministry and Mum's sleeping," James told him. He threw the ball again. It hit the wall and bounced-
Remus's hand shot out and intercepted the ball. James and Sirius stared at him openmouthed.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Super werewolf reflexes," Sirius said. Remus threw the ball at him and it bounced of Sirius's forehead and back into Remus's hand. Remus had a smirk on his face, James laughed, and Sirius looked ready to lunge.
"Enough of that," James put a hand on Sirius's chest to keep him from lunging. "Let's Floo over to the Leaky Cauldron."
Sirius pouted but acquiesced. "Fine,"
Remus dropped the red ball onto the couch and left his book next to it and the thresome made their way over to the fireplace Sirius had just entered from.
James grabbed the pot of Floo Powder and let his friends each grab a handful before grabbing one himself and putting the pot back in its place.
"Ladies first," James said, shoving Sirius into the fireplace. Sirius stuck his tongue out at his friend, threw the powder down while saying, "Diagon Alley," and disappeared.
Remus went next, vanishing with the bright green flames.
Then James entered the fireplace, dropped the powder at his feet and, as the green flames roared around him, clearly said, "Diagon Alley,"
Sucked through a tube and unable to see anything, James experienced the usual feelings of discomfort before he appeared in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.
He climbed out and found Remus and Sirius next to the bar, Sirius trying to convince Tom to give him some Firewiskey and Remus watching the exchange amusedly.
"Listen kid, I'm not giving you any, come back in four years," Tom told Sirius, annoyance creeping into his voice.
Sirius pushed himself away from the bar, calling over his shoulder, "See you in one,"
"Quit being a prat," James scolded his friend as they entered London from nowhere, and made a left, walking past the record store.
"I wasn't being a prat," Sirius defended himself. "I just wanted to try some,"
As they spoke they constantly dodged people and squeezed between groups.
"Why's it so crowded?" Sirius asked.
"You're in a major city, in the middle of the summer at lunch time, did you expect it to be deserted?"
"Touché,"
They decided to actually look inside a few shops rather than just look around. James had gotten some of his money converted to Muggle money though Remus was the only one who actually knew how to use it properly.
The first shop they entered appeared to be a cheap toy store, but James and Sirius loved it but Remus, who went to Muggle London more frequently, wasn't impressed.
James and Sirius filled bags with toys: dozens of Matchbox and green army men, Rubix cubes, silly putty, play dough, sling-shots, silly string, and fun snaps (these little paper ball things that explode when you throw them on the grown).
After having Remus pay they exited the small shop.
"I can't believe you guys never learned how to use Muggle money," Remus told them.
"That's why we're taking Muggle studies Moony, so we can play with Matbots and Rubet cubes," Sirius told him.
"Matchbox and Rubix cubes," Remus corrected him.
"Whatever,"
"So are we gonna eat or what? I'm starving." James asked.
They all agreed to find a place to eat before returning to the Potter residence (as they had some how managed to spend over an hour at that one shop). Sirius spotted this one restaurant and forced James and Remus to eat there. It turned out to be a Chinese Food restaurant.
"This stuff is amazing!" James said happily, his mouth full of pork fried rice. James and Sirius spent the first five minutes after getting their food trying to figure out how to use their chopsticks before James gave up and Transfigured them into forks underneath the table.
They ate their food until their plates were cleaned. Then they got the bill and some Fortune Cookies.
Sirius cracked one open. "'A fresh start will put you on your way.' Well alright," He ate the cookie.
James cracked his open and read, "Don't be discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."
Remus opened his. "A dubious friend may be an enemy in camouflage." He read. "I better watch my back," He added sarcastically.
"Let's grab a couple more of these, maybe we can convince Peter they're real," Sirius suggested.
Remus paid the bill and asked for a few more fortune cookies. After they got them the threesome made their way back into the streets and made the push towards the Leaky Cauldron.
A/N: I'm sorry, I know it's been longer than it should've been (almost a month!) but I've been busy. I went to Harvard Model Congress a couple weekends back and had to make up work I missed, and then I got sick and had a ton of extra make up work. I hope you liked the chapter, and please review, they'll make chapters come more regularly.
