"You just had to sit there and do homework! Man I am definitely going to faint next time we get in trouble."
"I didn't do it on purpose," muttered Remus, his cheeks, already flushed from the cold air, going slightly redder.
James rolled his eyes.
"Well I know that," said James, "it'd be a cool skill to learn though."
"I'd hardly call to a skill," Sirius laughed, "you just need to crack your head hard enough against and stone floor apparently. So you've just got to learn to be as clumsy as Remus."
In his absence James, Sirius and Peter seemed to have decided that Remus's fainting and subsequent hospitalisation had been due to a nasty bump on the head when he tripped while they were running away from the teachers, and Remus was perfectly ready to let them continue believing that. Though he couldn't quite believe that they had really managed to attribute a three day absence to a simply head wound, even if they average eleven year did not have quite so much experience of injuries they surely would realise that if that was all that happened Madam Pomfrey would have let him go by tea time? But despite his scepticism he was thankful for any ready-made excuse which came his way at the moment. It meant he didn't start having to think them up for himself until a whole month away.
"So, are you going to tell us where you're taking us James or are you planning on leading us into the Dark Forest so you can murder us all?" asked Sirius.
"Well, that wasn't my plan but we could do that instead of you prefer, but no, what I wanted to show is just over here," James veered a little to the left, picking up his pace as they approached the brow of a small hill, "there," he pointed, "would you look at the size of those!"
"Pumpkin?!" exclaimed Peter, Remus and Sirius at once.
"Yeah! Pumpkins! For Hallowe'en!"
"Huh, yeah they are pretty big I suppose," said Sirius, "so… was that it?"
"What d'you mean was that it?"
"Was your mysterious expedition really all leading up to a rather anticlimactic view of the gameskeeper's sodding vegetable patch?"
"We didn't just come here to look at them," said James, "we're going to go in there and get a couple so that we can carve them."
"Why?" asked Sirius.
"Because it's Hallowe'en," said James.
"Well, yes, but I mean, doesn't this place have House Elves to do that?"
"I assume so, but where's the fun in that? I knew the Black's were stuck up don't tell me you think you're above carving pumpkins!"
"I don't think I'm above carving pumpkins," said Sirius indignantly, "but the idea doesn't sound like much fun to me."
"I like carving pumpkins," said Peter, "last year I made mine a vampire, it had fangs and everything!"
"Come on Sirius, it's fun I promise, and besides, you have to carve pumpkins of Hallowe'en, it's tradition. Isn't that right Remus?"
"We always did it," nodded Remus.
"See, you're outnumbered three to one anyway, and majority rules I'm afraid, okay I'll hold the fence first and then one of you lot hold it for me okay?"
"Fine," said Sirius, "it sounds alright I suppose, I don't know what I'd make mine though."
He started to follow James towards the were fence which separated the vegetable patch from the rest of the grounds. Remus and Peter however did not follow, they merely looked at each other nervously.
"Come on, d'you want to get caught again?"
"I… I don't think we should be stealing things that aren't ours," said Remus.
"Well by all means go and steal something that is yours if you want Remus but I think you'll have a hard job pulling that off," laughed Sirius.
"We're not stealing," said James, "they're for us anyway. They're for sharing. Anyway we'll only take one each and if we choose the small ones no one will ever notice."
"But…"
"Fine, you two can go back to the dorm if you're too scared, d'you want us to get you a pumpkin."
"I'm not scared," said Peter, starting to make his way towards Sirius and James.
"No!" said Remus, "it's… you can't…"
Remus didn't know what to do. Playing jokes was one thing, but stealing was just wrong.
"So you don't want a pumpkin then?" asked James, "fine, bloody hell, I just thought it'd be a bit of fun, Merlin, why are you all so difficult?! First Sirius wanting to get a House Elf to do it for him…"
"I didn't…"
"…then Peter being too scared and now you getting all uppity about a bit of casual thefff…"
James trailed off, he was looking up in terror and stepping backwards towards the fence, beside him Peter and Sirius were doing the same. Remus could feel the presence behind him, and he was equally afraid of turning around and keeping his back to it. In the end he turned slowly around, stepping slowly towards Sirius, James and Peter and he did so.
There, striding towards them was the enormous form of the gameskeeper, who Remus recognised instantly from their first arrival at Hogwarts, he wasn't exactly the kind of person you could forget in a hurry.
"We weren't... really… going to take any," said James, his voice strangely high pitched, "we swear, we were just going to have a look, we're sorry."
"You sure abou' tha'?" asked the gameskeeper, "'cause I'd bet my beard I just 'eard you complaining your friend here was getting all uppity about a bit o' casual theft."
"No… no… I was just complaining that Remus had a problem with thefff… thethtralth! Yeth! I heard there wath Thethtralth in the foretht and we were going to go and look for them and we were jutht taking a thortcut but Remus wath being a thcardeycat thaying he didn't want to come because he wath thcared of the thethtrals!"
The gamekeeper looked at James hard with his beady black eyes, then all of a sudden he did something none of the boys expected… he started chuckling.
If anything this alarmed the four boys more than anything which had happened so far, they looked at one another pleadingly, clustering together for protection.
"Nice try lad," laughed the gameskeeper, "I do like it when I 'ear a new one, gonna 'ave to try 'arder next time though I'm afraid. Now come on, geh away from there all four o' youse. What's your name's I've got a feelin' I'm goin' teh 'ave the be doing this on a regular basis wih youse lot, am I right?"
"No Sir," said all four boys at once.
The gamekeeper chuckled again.
"Well yeh can call me 'Sir' if yeh want," he laughed, "but I'm Hagrid to most people round 'ere. And you lot are..?"
"Sirius Black," said Sirius confidently, stepping towards Hagrid and proferring his hand while James, Peter and Remus looked on stunned.
"Black eh?" asked Hagrid, as he shook Sirius's hand, as well as pretty much his whole body, "so yeh're the Gryffindor Black I've heard so much about then."
"The very same," beamed Sirius, "I had no idea I was so famous. But since I am… you won't be giving us detention will you?"
"Cheeky blighter!" laughed Hagrid, "I've got 'alf a mind to get you harvesting flobberworm mucus jus' for that! But no, I'll let you off wih a warning this time, but if I ever catch you up to no good again I won't be giving any more warnings, you 'ear me?"
"Yes Sir," said Peter and Remus.
"Yes Hagrid," said Sirius and James.
"So do youse three have name then?" asked Hagrid.
"I'm James Potter," said James, "and this is Remus Lupin and that's Peter Pettigrew."
Remus thought he saw a little light come on in Hagrid's eyes when James said his name, but he had gotten used to teacher's reacting in various odd ways to his name by now, so didn't think anything of it.
"Well, since yeh're 'ere, why don' you all poop in for a cup o' tea eh? I baked a whole batch o' ginger biscuits this mornin'."
"Brilliant," said James and Sirius looking at each other.
Peter also looked delighted. Was Remus the only person who was slightly wary of accepting cups of tea and ginger biscuits from strangers?
Apparently he was, for I the space of two minutes the four of them were sitting on a rather distinctive smelling sofa in Hagrid's little house by the vegetable patch. Remus looked around awkwardly, feeling very trapped in the small enclosed space, but somehow still able to appreciate the warm homeliness of his surroundings, something which, nice as his dorm was, he had not experienced since coming to Hogwarts.
Hagrid put the kettle on to boil over the roaring fire. Remus wondered why he didn't just use magic, though his mother always said tea was best made the muggle way Remus had never been able to taste the difference when his dad boiled the water with a quick charm.
"So," he said, sitting down in the sofa opposite the boys, which for Hagrid functioned as an armchair, "what were you after stealing pumpkins for anyway?"
"We we're going to carve them," said James.
"Well if you wanted to carve 'em then I'm sure the 'Ouse Elves would appreciate the extra help," said Hagrid, "just so long as yeh don' let on the anyone else tha' is. It'd be a right hassle if I 'ad everyone comin' down here wanting to carve a pumpkin!"
"Would you really let us?" asked Peter.
"Sure, jus' pop in here anytime and I'll go up and come for yeh, I would let yeh go in an' pick 'em yoursels but I wouldn't want people seeing yeh in there, it is out o' bounds to students technically speaking."
The kettle started to whistle and Hagrid made the tea, bringing the full mugs over on a floral pattered teatray and placing it down in the table.
"There's sugar if yeh wan' it… oh what am I doing I've forgotten the biscuits, back in a tic."
"Is he the coolest person who work here on or what?" whispered James as Hagrid went to get the biscuits from the kitchen.
"Definitely!" said Sirius.
"But why's he giving us biscuits and letting us carve pumpkins?" asked Peter, "I thought he was going to tell us off."
"It's because I made him laugh," said James, "I knew there had to be someone here who a better sense of humour than McGonagall and Filch."
"'Ere we are, now don't worry about takin' too many, I've got another set in the oven now, they should be done in another hour or so."
Hagrid was back again, holding a plate of very burnt looking ginger biscuits.
Peter's face visibly fell, but he took one anyway, Remus did too, just to be polite. James and Sirius hesitated but after more prompting from Hagrid they took a small biscuit each and attempted to take a bite.
Watching the other boys' futile attempts Remus decided the biscuit would benefit from some severe dunking before it was ready to be eaten. James, Peter and Sirius soon admitted defeat too, and proceeded in trying to saturate the biscuits with tea, hoping that somehow it would soften them up.
"So, how are you all finding Hogwarts then?" asked Hagrid.
"It's great," said Remus, as the other boys nodded similar assertions.
"Aye, it is ain't it," sighed Hagrid, "make sure you enjoy it lads, but make sure you stay on the straight an' narrow as well, you don' want the be winding up out on your ear before you've 'ad the chance to properly enjoy it. I 'eard about your little shenanigans with those Howlers, I'm sure you'll know by now teachers do not like 'aving their teabreak interrupted."
The boys nodded, sipping their tea or gnawing their biscuits awkwardly.
"Do you boys like animals?" asked Hagrid suddenly.
James and Peter nodded, Sirius and Remus shrugged.
"Well if yeh wanted the see some interesting animals I could take yeh down to see some o' Professor Kettleburn's firecrabs."
"Firecrabs!" said Sirius, "wicked, I thought you just meant cats and toads and stuff!"
"So you'll come down this weekend then? We can go and see 'em before I get you your pumpkins."
"Okay," said the boys, and Hagrid beamed.
"Grand," he said, "you get a lot o' children who don' find stuff like that interesting these days… are you all still on your first biscuit? You don't have to eat slow to be polite you know, you're all growing lads after all…"
The conversation went on for so long that Remus actually did manage to finish his rock hard biscuit, only when it was getting dark outside did Hagrid seem to notice the time.
"Blimey!" he said, looking at the clock on the mantelpiece, "would yeh look at the time, youd all 'ave missed dinner if I'd waffled on much more. 'Ere I'll see you out. Be sure the poop in for a chat some time yeah? I'll always be here… if you're 'aving any sort o' problems," Remus was sure Hagrid focussed on him for a long moment, "of if yeh just want a little chat about… about anything really, me door's always open!"
"Thank you Hagrid," said the boys, and with more "thank you"s and "goodbye"s they finally managed to battle their way out of the door.
"Blimey," said James, "he really does waffle on doesn't he?"
"He's still definitely the coolest person who works here though," said Sirius, "even if he is mad as a hatter and a terrible baker."
"Why d'you think he invited us in?" asked Remus, "Peter's right, he should have just told us off."
"When someone offers you tea and biscuits instead of detention you don't question it Remus," said James, "even if the biscuits do break your teeth."