I know the story seems a bit slow so far, but don't worry, things will speed up once Remy gets to Hogwarts. Alrighty, Chapter seven! Sirius and Snape make appearences! Penguins implied.
Disclaimer: Rowling's fo sho'.
Chapter 7
Diagon Alley
"Dig in you little wraith," Zelda prodded as she urged Remus to eat his breakfast. She had taken him out to eat at Waffley Humperdinks' Imporium of Breakfast-like Things in Diagon Alley. Despite his appetite, Remus could not fully absorb himself in his six inch thick waffle smothered in syrup, chocolate and cream. He was too eager to explore Diagon Alley. He was captivated by all the shops and the people bustling in and out of them. When Remus finished eating his gargantuan waffle, they set off down the street.
"So Remus, what would you like to do first?" Zelda asked, "We have all day so there is no rush."
"Hmmmmm," Remus pondered, staring at a witch wearing a purple turkey hat,"Can we go get my wand?"
"Sure, sweet pea," Zelda said teasingly, pinching his cheek.
"Gran..." Remus sighed, blushing with embarrassment as they walked toward Ollivander's.
As soon as Remus entered the shop he wished he hadn't. It was true that Remus wanted a wand more than almost anything; he could be just like everybody else. However, the creepy old man who worked in the shop gave him serious chills.
"Hello there," said Mr. Ollivander quietly. He took a step closer so he was invading Remus' personal space, "Who might you be?"
"Urm, Remus Lupin," Remus sshifted uncomfortably.
"Come for your first wand eh?" Mr. Ollivander asked, his pale eyes studying Remus carefully.
"Mmmhmm," Remus replied. He needs to move back. Eep, creepy.
Ollivander stiffened and swung his head toward Zelda as though she just appeared out of thin air, "Zelda Lupin, first wand a twelve inch oak with a dragon heartstring core. And of course the only user of my twin wand design. Two 10 inch elm wands, one with a pheonix feather, and the other with a basalisk scale. Some of my finest work," he beamed proudly.
"Yes they're quit good, particulary with debilitating hexes," Zelda smirked, "Now if you don't mind, could you find Remus his wand."
"I'd say the wand finds the owner," Ollivander said cryptically as he led Remus to the middle the shop where he measured his various limbs, nostrils, and bellybutton.
When he was finished he scribbled some notes and walked behind the counter mumbling to himself, "Outtie bellybutton, eyelash length: 1.27..."
Remus stood staring after the old man feeling very perplexed. "Come over here boy and let me get a good look at you." Ollivander said.
Remus stood at the opposite side of the counter fidgeting while Ollivander stared deeply at him. He gasped and pulled a shocked Remus toward him by the shirt collar. He pried Remus' eye open with his hand.
"Your silver eyes, your thin pupils,"Ollivander looked at him amazed, "You surely are a werewolf my boy."
He let go of Remus and bustled about the shop, snatching various boxes from the shelves, "Ohhhh a magical creature in my shop, how exciting!" he said happily, "I didn't even know they were allowed in school, must be Dumbledore's doing."
The usually amiable Remus had become quite irratible, "Excuse me sir, I am not a magical creature as you put it. I am a person," Remus crossed his arms on his chest and huffed.
Ollivander acted as though he did not hear him, "Here we are," he said as he placed a box on the counter, "Magical creatures, particulary werewolves have a magical orientation that's very different from humans."
"Hey, I'm hu-" Remus protested.
Ollivander cut him off, speaking quickly, "Instead of concentrating magic at the core, theirs is more like a far flung spider web of strands which connect to an ancient well of magic," he lifted the lid off the box, "So the power of their wands must woven into the wood rather than placed in the middle. Have a look."
Remus looked into the box and was amazed. The wand was very unusual indeed. It was made up of two parts which interlocked; spiraling around eachother. The first part was a smooth limb of white wood which still had a couple of glittering silver leaves growing out of it. Remus cold see little bits of silver woven within. The second part was white gold and had strange incriptions craved on it.
"White gold and Avalon tree, 14 inches. The white gold is just a shell encasing the silver core-which as you know is deadly to your kind. But this combination actually compliments and auguments your natural magic powers. The Avalon wood is from a very rare tree whose full attributes I'm sure you will learn in school. The silver strands you see in it are strands of fur retrieved from a werewolf on the night of the full moon. What an adventure that was," Ollivander said in a very fast voice and chuckled.
He lifted the wand carefully from its box and handed to Remus, "Here, try it out."
Remus waved his wand around as he had seen so many full fledged wizards do. Dozens of white roses and red doves burst from the tip and made Ollivander's dusty shop into a bright, colorful place.
"Wonderful! Fantastic! It suits you perfectly," Ollivander exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "That'll be 45 Galleons."
"WHAT?" Zelda roared, "ARE YOU INSANE OLD MAN!" Zelda lept over the counter and grabbed Ollivander's robe collar, "DO YOU THINK I CRAP GOLD OR SOMETHING?" Zelda shook the old man, shouting down his protests.
"Please Mrs. Lupin-eeep!"
Remus watched the whole scene embarassed, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop his frothing grandmother once she went on the warpath.
"Ehhem."
Zelda and Ollivander froze their struggle. Remus whirled around, startled. A very severe woman who would have looked rather attractive had it not been for the disgusted look on her face was standing there. Beside her was a smirking boy about Remus' age with shaggy black hair. The woman was adorned with various jewels and covered herself with a large amount of makeup. The boy was elegently dressed as well, but looked as though he would give his left arm to strip his clothes off, and run naked down Diagon Alley, perpetrating various acts of mischief. Their clothes and adornments contrasted sharply with the Lupins' grubby attire.
"Oh, Mrs. Black hello. I haven't seen a Black around here for a long time. You mostly inherit your wands, yes? The last one I sold was to your younger sister Andromeda Tonks; willow, phoenix feather co-"
"I know," Mrs. Black snapped, "My son Sirius needs a wand, none of ours reacted to him."
"Oh yes of course," Ollivander said breaking away from Zelda. He began to fiddle busily about the shop, looking for his magic tape measure in the farthest distance away from the eccentric senior.
Zelda glared at Mrs. Black, an expression that was mutually returned, "I went to school with your mother. You must be her contemptable offspring. Lacacia II; the sequal seems to be even snobbier, uptighter, and viler than the original."
Sirius cackled, he did not seem to mind his mother being insulted by some strange old woman. He was promptly silenced by a poisonous glare from Mrs. Black.
"Are you Zelda Lupin? My mother told me about you. Weren't you the one who hid food in her shirt to owl it home to her good for nothing parasite of a family?"
"Why you barnacle humping-"
As the arguement was escalating between the two women, Sirius sideled over to Remus.
"Hey I'm Sirius Black," he held out his hand.
"Remus Lupin," Remus replied shyly shaking his hand.
"Is that your granma?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah," Remus said nervously, not quite knowing what the rich boy was getting at.
"Well I have to say, she is the coolest granma on the face of the planet."
"Thanks," Remus smiled. For once he was not embarassed but proud of his grandmother's antics.
"Woah! Is that your wand? It looks awesome!" Sirius said, "Can I see it?"
"Sure," Remus said, handing him the wand."
"Check this out," Sirius shoved Remus' wand all the way up his nose, wiggled his head and pulled the wand back out of his right ear.
"How did you do that!" Remus gaped.
Sirius smirked proudly, "My Aunt Andromeda taught me. I can do that with just about anything."
" You know what? I like you, you're cool," Sirius said, "You have a cool granma, a cool wand, and even a cool name. We have to be friends when we get to Hogwarts."
His first friend...Remus would have burst into tears had it not been for a wayward hex cascading at him and just missing his head.
"YOU PENGUIN FARTING PIECE OF SHIT! ARRGGH!"
"LOWLIFE SMELLY STREET WHORE!"
"COME ON REMUS WE'RE LEAVING TO AVIOD MRS. BLACK'S PENGUIN FARTS. LET'S GO!" Zelda grabbed Remus' hand and started to drag him out the door.
"Wait Mrs. Lupin," Ollivander who had been hiding in a broom closet called, "You need to pay for the wand."
Zelda sighed in frustration, she went to the counter and dumped all the contents of her money purse onto the counter. 15 Galleons, 12 Sickles, and 30 Knuts.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Lupin, you're still 15 Galleons short," Ollivander said quietly, "I can't sell you this wand."
Mrs. Black chuckled quietly at the Lupins' distress. "Look Ollivander, I can't pay it all now. Couldn't I just-"
"No I'm afraid not," Ollivander looked away.
"I'll pay it," Sirius piped up. He took out a bloated, black silk wallet, took 15 Galleons out and handed them to Ollivander. Sirius enjoyed the opportunity to piss off his mother almost as much as he liked helping his new friend and crazy grandmother.
"Sirius, what do you think you're doing?" Mrs. Black said sharply.
"Helping these good folks pay for their wand, mother dearest," Sirus replied mockingly.
"Thanks," the Lupins said as they rushed out the door, or rather as Remus rushed his grandmother out the door to make sure there were no more confrontations.
"See you at Hogwarts Remus," Sirius called after them.
"Well there really isn't much left to do except get your pet is there," Zelda asked.
"Yeah..." Remus said, preoccupied with the various oddities of the Alley. Then it dawned on him, "Granma we don't have any money left. You don't have to get me a pet anyway." Remus sighed, he wished his grandmother would not go to so much trouble to ensure his happiness.
"We don't need any, m'boy. I know the shop owner real well and occasionally supply him with strange and, ehem, ah, illegal sorts of creatures, heh heh," Zelda chuckled.
"Gran..." Remus started to lecture.
"Ah, here we are! Go on in and pick out anything you'd like," Zelda hastily cut him off.
Remus entered the shop and was hit by a multitude of animal aromas. He became dizzy trying to watch all the animals in motion. Snakes of all colors and sizes slithered on the floor and wall. Small golden monkies hopped and chittered. Miniature lepards wrestled. White rats raced around and performed tricks. Owls and tropical birds fluttered in their cages. Remus was so preoccupied with all the activity, he jumped when a bird unexpectedly landed on his shoulder.
Remus looked at the bird who startled him so. It fluttered from his shoulder and landed on a table in front of him. It was a handsome ebony raven with a glossy coat of feathers. It walked in a stately manner and had peculiar orange eyes. Remus gazed at the beautiful bird intently and knew he found his pet. It could carry his letters as well as look quite fierce compared to fluffy owls. Remus held out his arm and the bird hopped obediantly on. He took him up to the counter.
"Excuse me ma'am. How much is this bird?" he asked the portly old woman behind the counter.
The woman stared blankly at the bird on Remus' shoulder. I have never seen that bird before. We have no ravens on inventory. In fact, I could have sworn that bird wasn't here all day. Sure looks like an expensive animal though...
"Ummm," the woman thought a moment. The boy had been so polite, and looked so poor, she didn't have the heart to charge him much, "15 knuts," she said.
Remus perked up and shined his bright smile, "Really? Here you go," Remus pulled out some of the change he was saving for candy and paid for his new raven, "Thank you," he smiled toothily.
"You are quite welcome," the woman smiled back.
Remus dashed out of the store with the black bird balanced steadily on his thin shoulder, "Granma look, he was only 15 knuts so it looks like you don't need to use your illegal connections for me!"
"Hmmm," Zelda eyed the bird suspiciously, "A bird like that must be defective if they let 'ya have it for that cheap," she saw Remus' smile fade a little and quickly replied, "But I'm sure its fine--c'mon we have one more stop to make."
Zelda and Remus came to a halt at a grimey little shop called 'Dark Arts Artifacts Emporium.' "You wait here Lupin, I'll be right out."
Remus looked around at the graffiti and the dirty streets around him and yawned.
"If you don't mind could you go somewhere else and make your obnoxious noises."
Remus looked down at the source of the sound and noticed a small pale boy about his age with black stringy hair. "Uh, hello there my name is Remus, what's yours?" Remus couldn't think of anything else to say in reply to the rather rude remark.
The boy rolled his eyes as if Remus were some sort stupid troll and replied, "Severus, Severus Snape."
There was a long silence. Remus sat next to Severus and peered over, "What are ya reading?"
Severus looked annoyed but was pleased someone had taken an interest in what he was reading, "Darkness, Dark arts, Dark Creatures and Other Miscellaneous Dark Things."
"Oh I've never read that, what's it about," Remus asked.
Severus slammed the book shut in frustration, "It's about darkness, Dark Arts, Dark creatures and other miscellaneous dark things you idiot! I've lost faith in humanity, to think people like you are going to be at Hogwarts! I'll be surrounded by ingnoramus's...is that a raven on you shoulder?"
"Uh, yeah," Remus replied, rather taken aback by the switch from an insulting rant to harmless curiousity.
Severus' eyes were alight with interest, "Did you know ravens are the source for all kinds of Dark magic? Especially ones with unique attributes like thos orange eyes. Ravens are actually sometimes the companions and sentinels of werewolves. They were pretty closley allied in the Four Corner Wars..."
"Oh really?" said Remus nervously, "That's pretty interesting."
"The really intelligent ones can speak. You should try and teach it something..."
"Yeah I'll try that--"
"Oy, Remus let's go!" Zelda called, she had a few books in her arms and a bag that was squirming suspiciously.
"Coming!" Remus said, he got up and smiled a t Severus, "I gotta go. See you at Hogwarts!" Severus nodded and returned to his book.
"You were talking with a Snape weren't you?" Zelda asked, "I saw one in the shop so I assume that kid must be his. You better watch out, Snapes are bad news.
"Well, he seemed pretty nice to me." Remus said.
"Here, lets sit down," Zelda pointed to a bench outside a shop.
Zelda looked at the two books she had ordered. 'The True Werewolf' was one she glance through it and it looked quite informative, "Here you are Remus. This book will inform you about...well...yourself. Don't go waving it around, it's a banned book, no one is supposed to have it."
"Why not?" asked Remus.
"Because the only books about werewolves that are allowed are ones that depict how viscious you are," Zelda explained.
"Well that doesn't make sense..." Remus said as he flipped through the pages, "Hey! I didn't know I had an exquisite sense of smell and hearing! Or how my sight was so amazing, even at night. I have super-human strength and speed! I thought everyone could see at night. Can't everyone lift up a couch if they drop something under it? Can't everyone hear water running from far away?"
Zelda chuckled, "See there's an upside to being a werewolf. And from what I've read, your powers will grow over time. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah," Remus sighed, "I'd still give it all up if I didn't have to be what I am."
"Remus," Zelda said gently and put her arm around him, "I know it's hard sometimes sweetheart, and people can seem so cruel. But you'll find people who won't care what you are someday."
"Thanks Gran," Remus said, though he doubted her consoling words. He already resigned himself to being alone, even at his young age. He would bet everthing he had that if Sirius knew what he was, he would shrink away in fear and disgust. "What's the next book Gran?"
"The Habits of the Lycan," Zelda said, flipping through it. It had chapters on diet and pack life. There was an extensive section on courtship, mating and reproduction which was peppered with extremely graphic pictures. Zelda laughed and closed the book, "I'll give you this one when you're a bit older."
Remus looked dissapointed. "Wait a minute, a have something else for you," Zelda said. She took out a necklace golden jewel on it, "This will protect you for most of silver's adverse affects. Of course It won't stop a silver bullet. Ugh, I'll never forget the time you grabbed that silver spoon off the table. You were ill for three days," Zelda hung the necklace on Remus' neck and hid it under his shirt, "This thing is contraband, so keep it out of sight. The Ministry banned them saying they inhibited the capture of rouge werewolves. But since you are not a rouge werewolf I don't see a problem with it," she smiled.
Remus threw his arms around his grandmother, "Thank you so much for caring about me, Gran. I love you so much," he sighed.
Zelda patted him gently, "C'mon Remy, It's been a pretty wild day. Let's go home, yeah?"
Woo, long chapter. What do you guys think? Any feedback will be met with kisses huggles : )