Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related. Any terminology, places or people that you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Eleven

"Okay, thanks a lot. You have a good day sir."

Roxanne sighed deeply as yet another customer left Quality Quidditch Supplies. It was a couple of weeks before the start of term, and many Hogwarts students were starting to flood into Diagon Alley. Everyone who roamed the street, Roxanne noticed, looked very stressed and nervous and tried to get their shopping done quickly. She heard the bell ring out again and looked over at the front door to see Ryan stroll trough the door followed closely by Rhiannon. Roxanne quickly looked around for her father who she hoped could deal with the two, but he was no where to be seen. The pair walked up to the counter, Rhiannon sneering and Ryan's face was unreadable.

"Hello Bennett. Work here?" Rhiannon asked condescendingly.

"Yes. My father owns the store. What can I do for you?" Roxanne asked, forcing politeness.

"Well," she started, turning toward Ryan and putting a hand on his chest. "It was Ryan's birthday a couple days ago and silly me, I forgot all about it. So, I told him that I would buy him some new trousers that will last him during the more rough Qudditch games." She gave Ryan a quick peck on the cheek. She turned to Roxanne and smiled.

Roxanne felt her face start getting red. "Okay, well, what size were you looking for?"

Rhiannon shrugged and looked at Ryan. "I have a 35 inch waist and 32 inches in length is best." He told her.

Roxanne nodded jerkily and searched underneath the counter for an order form. What did he think he was doing? Coming into her father's shop and parading Rhiannon in front of her trying to make her jealous? 'Well, the joke is on you because it's not working you twat.' She thought savagely.

She set the order form on the counter, motioning Rhiannon forward. "Okay, so we don't keep his size in stock, so what we're going to have to do is fill out this order form and you'll have to give a bit of a down payment. I'll put the date that it is supposed to come, which shouldn't be more than a week or so, and you can come pick them up and pay the rest. Only if you like them. If you don't, we'll just give you your down payment back and put the trousers on the shelf. How does that sound?"

Rhiannon nodded. "That sounds fine. I see that I have to sign."

Roxanne nodded too. "Yeah, go ahead and make sure everything is correct and that the price is what you want to pay, then go ahead and sign."

While Rhiannon perused the document, Roxanne looked up at Ryan who had been staring at her the whole time. She contracted her eyebrows at him and he smirked. He winked at her and kissed the air. Her eyes widened, then she rolled them, resisting the urge to start screaming at him.

"Okay, do you know the exact date they will come in?" Rhiannon asked when she was done signing the paper.

"Umm, yeah." Roxanne checked a chart and wrote the date on the paper. She then signed it as well and gave a copy to Rhiannon.

"Okay, and here is the down payment."

Roxanne took it and put it in the cash register. "Okay, thanks, have a good day." She said and Rhiannon nodded. "Well this was nice. See, we don't always have to be butting heads." Roxanne said cheerfully, pounding her two fists together to emphasize.

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said sarcastically.

Roxanne just shrugged. Rhiannon turned to leave and held out a hand for Ryan. He gave Roxanne another wink and smirk and put his arm around Rhiannon's shoulder. They left the store, paused in front of the window so Ryan could give her a soft kiss while he knew Roxanne was looking, then they disappeared.

Roxanne's mouth dropped angrily and she scoffed. She stood there fuming for a few minutes, getting to the point were she kicked the counter in anger. Rhiannon? Rhiannon? He just had to pick her to come into the store with! "I can't believe him," she told herself under her breath. Roxanne ran a hand trough her hair, and paced up and down, trying to calm herself. 'What was he playing at? Winking at me and kissing the air like that. What a jerk! I have half a mind to go find them and let Rhiannon know exactly what happened between us.' "UGH!" She kicked the counter again. She had seen the two together before, but she didn't know that they had still hung out. They might have even been dating at some point, but she didn't know. She did know that Ryan had already had most of the Slytherin girls anyway, so it wasn't a surprise that he was with Rhiannon. Not that the thought made her feel any better. She sat on a stool at the register, the anger ebbing out of her. She didn't even know what she was angry about. She didn't even like Ryan all that much. Did she?

After Ryan and Rhiannon left the store, he thanked her for the birthday present and left the alley, seeing as he had finished all of his shopping. Rhiannon went to go find her mother who had brought her, and slammed into something hard.

"Hey! Watch where you are going berk!" She said angrily as she figured out it was a person.

"Geez Rhiannon, sorry." Cameron Adams, a Gryffindor student that shared the Marauders dorm, said, smiling at her and putting his hands up in surrender.

Rhiannon shook her head. "Oh hi Cameron"

"Bad summer?" He asked her with a wink.

She smiled a little. "No, I just don't appreciate when random people bump into me that's all."

Cameron chuckled. "If I remember correctly, you are the one that bumped into me."

"You'll never be able to prove it."

Cameron laughed out loud. "And so I won't. Okay, I admit defeat. You're very hard to argue with."

"That's why most people don't." She told him jokingly. She then studied him. 'He sure grew up this summer.' She mused, noticing that his voice was getting a lot deeper. Cameron had short brown hair, bright blue eyes and facial hair that made him look slightly older. He had a soft Scottish accent that Rhiannon loved and with his easy humor and laid back attitude, he was very easy to get along with.

He laughed again. "Where were you going on your mission anyway?"

"Oh, just to find my mom. We got separated so I was off to look for her."

He nodded. "I see. So you absolutely have to go now? Wanna go get an ice cream or something?"

"With you?" She asked surprised.

He shrugged and put his hands up in surrender again. "Never mind. See ya Rhiannon."

Rhiannon hesitated, about to call him back, then stopped herself. What if Bellatrix had seen her talking to him? She never would hear the end of it. She took one last glance at his back, and firmly shaped butt, then she chided herself and went on her way to find her mother.

When Marlene and Remus walked into Quality Qudditch Supplies a little while later, Roxanne had mostly calmed down and was wiping down the glass display cases with a rag. The first thing Roxanne noticed was that they were holding hands.

"Hey Roxy!" Marlene said happily.

"Hey guys. All right?" She asked them with a smile. She noticed Remus looked a little awkward.

"Yes, I'm perfect. Guess what?" Marlene asked with the air of announcing something huge.

"What?" Roxanne asked curiously.

"Remus asked me out! We're dating now!"

Roxanne smiled hugely, laughing only on the inside. She was expecting her to say that she was getting married or becoming the prime minister. "Oh that's wonderful! Congratulations you two! I always knew it would work out!"

Marlene nodded happily. "Yeah, talk about unexpected. We were just getting some stuff for Potions and he asked me! Oh I was so surprised."

Roxanne smiled again. "That's really awesome. I'm sure it'll be absolutely fantastic."

Marlene nodded again then blushed. "Do you have a bathroom Roxy? I've had to go for awhile."

Roxanne chuckled. "Yeah, go ahead and go in the back room and it's on your left."

"Okay, thanks. I'll be right back." She gave her bags to Remus and a kiss on the cheek and walked to the back room.

Remus looked awkward again and Roxanne looked at him, hoping he wouldn't say anything. Roxanne felt pretty bad because he had written her about five times after they left James's house asking her if they could take their "relationship" to the next level and Roxanne didn't answer a single one of them.

"I wrote, you know. Did you get them?" Remus asked her softly, as if reading her mind.

Roxanne shrugged. "Yes, I received them."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Okay, so why didn't you write me back?"

"Because I didn't really know what to say."

He scoffed softly. "All I needed was one word. Yes or no. I thought you wanted to. You told me in the woods..."

Roxanne cut him off. "Remus I'm sorry. I just said that so we would stop fighting. I never wanted to be with you in the first place."

Remus looked hurt. "Then why would you say that?"

Roxanne went out from behind the counter and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Remus. I didn't mean to get your hopes up, but you were just so persistent and it seemed like you wouldn't take no for an answer. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"Well congratulations. You did a fantastic job." He said sarcastically.

She sighed sadly. "Please don't be mad at me Remus. We could never have been together. I already felt bad enough for what we did. Marlene is one of my best friends and it would have crushed her to see us together no matter what. I really am sorry."

Remus sighed too. "I'm not Roxy. I'm not mad, and you're right. I was pretty pushy and I'm sorry. I just liked you so much it was hard to stop myself."

She nodded. "It's okay Remus. I really do understand. Please just tell me you're not with Marlene so you can make me jealous."

Remus smiled softly and shook his head. "She wrote me a lot after we left James's and I really got to know her a lot better. I like her. I really do."

Relief flooded though Roxanne. "You guy's really seem like you make a good match and I just want you guys to be happy. I really do. I would hate it if we all couldn't be friends."

He nodded. "I like being your friend Roxanne. I'm glad we sorted everything out."

She smiled. "Yeah me too. And again, I'm really sorry for not answering any of your letters. I really just wimped out."

He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. It taught me to not be so crazy about my crushes."

She laughed. "I don't think Marlene would mind if you bombarded her with anything though. She really is head over heels for you."

"I know. Poor girl can't help herself." He said jokingly with a smile.

"Oh yes I can Remus Lupin." Marlene said with a smile coming out of the back room.

Remus smiled at her. "No you can't. You adore me."

Marlene laughed and kissed Remus on the cheek. "Thanks for letting me use the bathroom Roxy."

Roxanne laughed. "Of course. I'm not that cruel to where I would make you hold it in."

The three friends laughed together. "Well, we gotta go, I told my mom we would meet her at Flourish and Blotts to get our school books." Marlene said.

Roxanne nodded. "Okay sounds good. I'll see you guys on the Hogwarts Express."

Remus and Marlene both nodded too and left.

Roxanne waved as her friends walked out the door. She was so happy that they were together, but of course she also felt guilty for what she and Remus had done. All she could really do was hope that Marlene would never find out.

Dorcas glanced up and down the street when she arrived in Diagon Alley, just to make sure that there was nobody suspicious about. Everyone she saw looked pretty nervous so she loosened her grip on her wand slightly. Her mother and father allowed her to keep it with her at all times, even though she was underage. They told her that they would rather deal with an underage magic charge then have their daughter get hurt in any way. She stopped in front of Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor, which she was surprised was still open, and waited for any sign of Sirius who she was supposed to meet.

"Hey."

Dorcas jumped about a mile when she heard the soft voice behind her. "Oh my GOD! What is your problem SIRIUS?" She shouted, frustrated and clutching her heart. She turned around to discover that it was not Sirius at all, but Cameron Adams.

"I'm so sorry Dorcas. Are you okay? I really didn't mean to scare you." He told her concerned.

She sighed, still clutching. "Oh I'm fine. You just scared me out of my wits!"

"I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to say hi."

She nodded and managed a smile. "It's okay, come here." She pulled him in for a hug. "How are you Cameron? How was your summer?"

"Oh, it was fine, just hung out with some family." Right at that moment, a voice rang out. "Cameron? Hey!" Dorcas and Cameron turned to see Mary Mac walking toward them, a smile on her face. When she got closer, she realized that it was Dorcas he was talking to.

"Dorcas! Hey!" Mary exclaimed happily.

The two girls hugged. "Hey Mary. How was your summer?" Dorcas asked.

"It was absolutely terrible. All I did was hang out with this guy!" She said jabbing a thumb at Cameron.

Cameron laughed. "You did not have to do that, you could have hung out with Auntie Abigail! She would have loved to spend some time with you."

Mary made a face. "Yeah, she would have made me rub her bunions off her feet."

It was Cameron's turn to make a face. "God Mac. Gross."

Mary laughed. Dorcas was confused. "Hold on. You guys are related?" She asked.

They both looked at her surprised. "Yeah, cousins... you didn't know that?" Mary told her.

Dorcas shook her head. "No, I didn't."

Cameron chuckled. "Yeah, unfortunately my mother is her mother's sister."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Oh unfortunately my arse. Your mothers shining moment was when she was born into the same family as my mother."

Cameron stuck out his tongue. Dorcas laughed watching the cousin's exchange.

"Oh, I see Marlene and Remus, I'm going to go say hi... I'll be right back." Mary said. She walked over to the bookshop where Marlene and Remus were standing looking at a display.

"I can't believe I never knew you two were cousins. Did you ever tell me before?" Dorcas asked Cameron.

He shrugged. "It's not something I usually want people to know." He said seriously.

Dorcas laughed. "Oh she is not that bad."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You don't have to lie Dorcas. I won't tell her if you tell me all kinds of bad stuff about her."

Dorcas laughed again. "You're terrible."

Cameron just smiled. "So how was your summer Dorcas? Mary told me you guys all went to James's. How was that?"

"It was fun." Dorcas nodded. "It was great just being around friends and relaxing. James has got such a nice place and his parents are really nice too. It was great because they set up a pool and everything so that was fun."

Cameron nodded. "That sounds like fun. Did you do pretty well on your O.W.L.'s? I bet you did, you're a smart girl."

Dorcas blushed. "Well, I did okay. Three Outstandings."

Cameron looked impressed. "Yeah I'm pretty sure that's the definition of okay."

Dorcas smiled. "How did you do?"

"Not okay if we're comparing to you," he told her jokingly.

She shoved him lightly. "Oh shush. I'm sure you did wonderfully."

He smiled. "Yeah, I didn't do too bad. Just one Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures. I'm pretty sure it's what I want to go into."

"Oh really? You want to work at the Ministry or be more hands on?" She asked curiously.

"Probably more hands on, but we'll see. Still have a couple more years to figure that one out."

She nodded. "That's very true."

They were silent for a moment. A comfortable silence, Dorcas noticed. She took the chance to scan him over. 'Man, did he grow up or what?' She asked herself. He had filled out, his chest more muscular than it had been before and he also grew some facial hair which suited him perfectly.

Cameron noticed her staring. "You can take a picture if you'd like." He told her jokingly.

Dorcas blushed scarlet. "No, it's fine. I'll just... no... I wasn't.. well I just..." She stuttered, not knowing what to say.

He chuckled softly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I was just joking."

She shoved him lightly. "You are not very nice." She shook a finger at him.

He chuckled. "Oh, I'm very nice, you just have to coax it out of me."

Dorcas smiled, looking into his eyes. They were a very bright blue, like a clear sky. He smiled back at her and tucked a stray piece of hair that was in her face behind her ear. His touch gave her goosebumps. They stayed looking into each others eyes for a moment, then they seemed to come to their senses. Dorcas backed away a step, because somehow she had gotten very close to him. He looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

Dorcas cleared her throat. "So what did you do with your family this summer?"

He opened his mouth to answer but couldn't because at that moment, another voice rang out, interrupting their conversation.

"Dorcas!"

She turned around to see Sirius, James and Peter all walking toward her. She smiled in greeting. "Hey guys."

When the three boys made it to her, Sirius took her in his arms immediately and kissed her deeply, making Cameron back up a step or two.

"Hey Cam!" James told him, shaking his hand. "All right?"

Cameron nodded. "Yeah, I'm great. How have you been James?"

James nodded too. "I've been good. Not too bad. Kinda sad the summer is almost over."

"Yeah, I wish it could have lasted longer." Peter chimed in.

Cameron nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"So how was it?" James asked him. "What did you do."

"Oh, just hung out with some family. Dorcas was just telling me you guys got together at your house." Cameron said.

James nodded. "Yeah, it was great. Really relaxing. Hanging out mostly. Didn't want to overexert myself too much."

Cameron laughed. "Yeah, there is no need for that in the summer time."

"Okay, well I gotta go to the bookstore and get my books. You coming Cam?" Sirius interjected.

"No. I finished my shopping a little while ago. Saw Dorcas standing here like a secret agent or something so I thought I'd say hi." Cameron said jokingly.

The boys laughed and Dorcas just smiled embarrassed. "Okay, well then we'll see you on the Hogwarts express then." James told him smiling.

Cameron nodded. "Yeah sounds good. See you guys." He waved and walked off.

Sirius smiled as Cameron left then, looking around, the smile slid off his face. "Everyone looks terrified huh?" He announced to no one in particular.

Dorcas looked around. Everyone who was in the street had their eyes downcast and was rushing from store to store. "Yeah." She said sadly. "I'm surprised that there is actually this many people out."

The three boys nodded. "Yeah, well we should hurry though too. My parents were pretty nervous about letting me go out without them, so I need to get home so they don't worry too much." James told them.

The other three nodded and went on their way, making sure to keep their eyes open and their hands on their wands for anything that may happen.

A.N. Happy New Year everyone! :D I decided to start my fanfiction year off right with an update. Hope you guys liked this chapter and like the story so far.