Author's note: sorry about any grammar issues in this one, my beta/editor was unable to get to this chapter in time so I tried my best haha
CW: mention of underage drinking
-x-
Because Remus had missed so much of the studying with Jean-Marie due to detention, they agreed to meet on Friday when they both had a free period. After Potions and History (neither of which Sirius wore his glasses to, and he still hadn't told James and Peter), Remus ran to the library for the session. Jean-Marie was already there, twirling his wand between his fingers and drumming his other fingers against the table.
"I'm not late, am I?" Remus asked, sliding into a seat.
Jean-Marie dropped his wand and quickly picked it up again, smiling. "No, no. You are on the time. It is good to see you again, it has been… a… while?" Remus nodded to show that was the right way to put it. "You were sick, and then having detention. A lot of detention."
Remus pulled Jean-Marie's notes over to look at them. "Hazards of b-being friends with James and Sirius."
"Hazard? I have not heard this word."
"It means…" Remus glanced up, trying to think of the best way to explain. "Danger."
"It is danger being friends with them?"
"It can be," he admitted, tucking some hair back behind his ear.
Jean-Marie put his elbow on the table and his chin against his fist, still smiling. "They are trouble."
"Oh yes, very much so."
"You are trouble too," he stated and Remus wriggled a little. "I have hear things."
Remus coughed politely. "Erm, it—it would either be 'I have heard things' or 'I hear things'. Heard means… ah, entendu que." Heard that. "While hear is present tense so… j'entends." Hear that.
Jean-Marie shook his head. "Every day I find something new. English is still very confu...sing?"
"That is right, both the w-word and what you mean," Remus said, laughing a bit.
"I hear things," he said with a nod. "And see, too. You would be like Professeure Allard. She at Beauxbatons teach…es… ahhh, you have not it here. Heal. How to heal. She is smart, like you, and also funny. She makes trouble. Une fois, elle est entrée dans la classe avec des pansements partout et nous a demandé de les enlever et quand nous le faions, elle n'etait plus là. Elle a sauté de le cagibi pour nous faire peur!"
Remus covered his mouth to quiet his laughter over the story. One time she comes into class wearing bandages all over and asks us to remove them and when we do, she is not there. She jumps out of the storage room to scare us!
"If you become professor, that is like how you will be," Jean-Marie said with a nod.
Remus bit his bottom lip, still trying not to laugh too hard. I wish I could be a teacher! Of course he couldn't explain why he couldn't so instead he said, "My father said there were d-different classes at Beauxbatons, ones we don't have here. It'd be nice to—to have some of them. I know Flitwick w-will teach basic healing l-later but… we should have that be a proper class." Healing would have been a much better option for electives than Arithmancy! "What was your favorite class there? Is it the—the same here?"
He shook his head. "It was Heal spells there, that is what I liked. I would like to be in a healing job. Would it be wrong to say I prefer Defense here, with Oncle Sylvain?"
"Of course not," Remus said. "He is a very good teacher. It's interesting, though, that both he and his sister both taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, it must be something that runs in your family. Was that your…" He trailed off, remembering that Jean-Marie didn't like his grandmother.
"My?"
Remus swallowed, wishing he hadn't brought it up. "Your grandmother?"
Jean-Marie's face darkened. "No, my Grand-mère was… hmm, her job was to be a bitch." Remus winced at that, knowing he should have just changed the subject. "She was… she wrote in newspaper. Gossip. No, it is Oncle Sylvain who is the Defense teacher."
"Is… your g-great-aunt still alive?"
"Hmm? My what?"
"The one who taught at Beauxbatons, the one who taught my father."
Jean-Marie blinked a few times before shrugging and saying almost dismissively, "Oh, no, she is gone."
Apparently that was something else he didn't like to talk about. Remus wanted to disappear, hating himself for bringing up the subject of Jean-Marie's family. "Sorry…"
Jean-Marie laughed. "Pour quelle raison, petit garçon drôle?" For what, funny little boy?
"I—I thought I might have annoy—a-annoyed you?"
"You? Never," he promised, giving Remus a wink that sent a shiver down his spine. He wondered what the French thought about… that. "Now, we should work on my notes, no?"
He swallowed, trying to sit up a bit straighter as he looked over the notes, glad that Jean-Marie wasn't annoyed at him for all of that. At least he hadn't gotten angry like Sirius did when Remus tried to talk about the Blacks!
-x-
Jean-Marie's little smile and wink wouldn't leave Remus's head for the rest of the day. During lunch he absentmindedly poked at his food, curious about what it'd be like to be normal. Or in a world where it was okay to be like that. Where a wink could maybe mean something. Where he could wink back, or—or—
He sank a little in his seat, trying to imagine himself flirting. It was hard enough talking to people, flirting would be a total disaster! It was probably a good thing he could never be with anyone, they'd probably dump him in ten minutes to go find someone who was better at relationships. Better at being human. Not so…
"Loopy," he muttered.
"What?" Pete asked.
"What? Oh, nothing. Mumbling to myself."
"You said 'loopy'," Peter said which got James and Sirius's attention.
"Did someone call you that again?" Sirius asked.
He shook his head. "No. Not that it's exactly wrong, in any case." He speared a piece of fish on his fork and shoved it in his mouth.
"I am looking forward to tomorrow," James said, returning to the conversation he was having. "It is going to be brilliant with all four of us there!"
Hogsmeade, Remus realized, perking up. "It will be nice being able to look around without fear of being caught, or worry about having to get back before anyone notices we're gone."
"How many butterbeers are you going to have this time?" Sirius teased.
Remus glared at him. "Only one, to dump over your thick head."
Peter gave a little clap. "It's going to be so much fun!"
"Dumping butterbeer over Sirius?" James inquired.
"No, being in Hogsmeade again." He paused, frowning. "Though I think dumping butterbeer over Sirius would be fun, actually. Maybe we should try it."
"And maybe I should try throwing you off a cliff," Sirius suggested sweetly.
"You're only worried about your hair," laughed James, poking his arm. "How about we dump it in your lap, instead?"
Sirius spread his arms out. "Why are we even talking about dumping butterbeer on me?"
"Because you brought up Remus getting drunk," Peter said.
Remus elbowed him. "I was not drunk!"
Peter leaned in, grinning at him. "Happy, then."
Remus gave him another shove, scowling. "Twat, you're all twats."
"You know what we should do?" James asked.
"Dump butterbeer on you?" replied Sirius.
James rolled his eyes. "No. What we should do is plan on a prank. For Hogsmeade, for the December visit. Prank Hogsmeade."
Peter and Remus both stared at him while Sirius snickered. "What do you mean, prank the whole town?" Pete asked.
"No! Set something up for when the carriages arrive or—or something. I don't know. Prank the area where the carriages unload."
Remus lowered his head over his plate. "As long as we don't hurt the thestrals."
James shuddered. "I forgot about those things. All right, we won't do that. We can prank the carriages, on the inside. Set something up so… there's a glitter shower or something on the way back." He raised his hands and lowered them, wriggling his fingers to indicate what he meant.
"Sticking spells on all the seats!" suggested Peter, snapping his fingers.
Sirius slammed both hands on the table. "No, no, no. Even better. Remus?" He leaned across the table, eyes sparkling with excitement. "How many of those sound spells can you do at once? Can you do a bunch?"
Remus shrank back. "I—I—I—"
"Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!" James began bouncing. "Put the spells in the carriages and make everyone listen to a really annoying song all the way back. Ooh, or under the carriages so they can't dismiss it as easily. I mean, get rid of the spell as easily. Sirius, you are a genius!"
Sirius sat back, beaming. "Thank you. I know." He flipped his hair back proudly.
"N-no," Remus wheezed out. "I—I can't. I'm s-s-sorry. I—I can't. I can barely even do a regular one, I can't do loads. Not—not—not anytime soon, at least, it will take me ages to be able to do that." He tugged at his sleeve, worried they'd be angry at him.
Instead James smiled broadly. "That's fine, we don't have to do it anytime soon. No. No! We do it to the train!" Sirius and Peter both went 'oooooh!' while Remus tried not to bury his face in his hands. "Not at Christmas," James promised, noticing his body language. "Next year, on the way home at the end of the year. Or on the way back next year, if—"
"Fourth year," Sirius suddenly said and they glanced at him. "We'll be in our fourth year, next year. I'll be fifteen in a year."
"And then our O. ," Peter moaned.
"What? Not next year, that's not till our fifth," James pointed out.
"No, I mean, when we're fifteen."
Sirius leaned over to flick Peter's forehead. "Not till we're sixteen, Petey. We'll all be sixteen when we take our O. ."
Peter rubbed his forehead. "Oh, right. Oh. Wow, I wonder what it's going to be like being sixteen. And then seventeen, and then eighteen, and then we'll be out of school."
Remus hated thinking about the future, hated thinking about the fact once Hogwarts was over then he would be stuck at home for the rest of his life. His stomach turned and he began trembling slightly. "How about we focus on now instead of the future," he managed to say.
"How about we focus on: can you do multiples of the sound spell eventually? I don't remember if you answered," James said.
He sighed, nodding. "Eventually, well down the line. I don't know if I'd ever be able to do all the carriages or—or all the carriages on the train either, but I could… eventually… possibly manage a dozen or so. In a long time," he added when James grew excited. "Not for a year or two." Even that was exaggerating things, but he did think if he worked hard he'd manage to be able to do that. Maybe.
He continued eating while James, Sirius, and Peter quietly tried to come up with a prank they might be able to do sooner, which turned into a conversation about planning for the prank to do at the end-of-term feast. At least they're finally planning ahead, Remus thought, and ignored their conversation, knowing they'd drag him into it sooner or later.
But he also wanted to momentarily bask in the pleasure of such a normal moment. He had felt a knot of panic threatening to unwind his entire being since that stupid wink, and having this conversation with his friends really helped ground him. It made him feel like he wasn't so different, and that life continued on as regular despite what he was.
-x-
The Marauders stayed up late on Friday night. James didn't have practice because Bell had exchanged a couple of their practices with the Hufflepuffs, taking two of the Hufflepuff slots before Gryffindor's game, and giving Hufflepuff two of their practice slots for the upcoming Hufflepuff game. Instead James, Sirius, and Remus all had detention though thankfully it was together, and in the kitchens where Peter could join them. While the three washed dishes, Peter sat on a nearby stool playing music for them. After they returned to the tower, they spent a couple of hours playing games until James and Sirius took the invisibility cloak to go exploring, while Peter and Remus stayed up to guard the door.
They didn't return until nearly four in the morning, both of them giggling and ecstatic over whatever they had done. Remus wearily trudged up the stairs after them, collapsing into bed, falling asleep without changing clothes.
In the morning after a quick shower, he got dressed in carefully selected clothing. Nothing he had looked good except for what he wore to the concert. He wore the tan paisley shirt and put on the pair of jeans he had gotten over the summer, the pair that actually fit him well. While he pulled socks and shoes on, he noticed Sirius standing in front of their wardrobe for a very long time.
"Trying to figure out what to wear?" Remus asked as he tied the shoelaces.
"Yes," Sirius replied, tugging at his bottom lip. "I want to look good since Cassie and I are having tea together."
Remus's head jerked up. "Cassie?"
"Yeah, we talked yesterday. She said she wasn't really mad at me for spending time with you, but because I never congratulated her on making the team." He pulled a face at that. "I did, though, and she said I didn't, and I swore I did, and she said telling her when she made reserve didn't count because now she was on the team. Does that make any sense to you?" He tossed his hair back with a sigh, not waiting for a response. "I don't know. Girls are weird. But we're going to have a date and I'll try to make it up to her. Hopefully by the time we come back here, she'll be my girlfriend again."
"Hopefully," Remus echoed, ducking his head to finish tying his other shoe. At least Sirius hadn't expected an answer since Remus would have sided with Cassie on this one: Sirius should have congratulated her when she became a proper Chaser and no longer a reserve.
"You look very good," Sirius said and Remus felt warm. "Any special occasion?"
"Yes." He stood up, looking at Sirius through his fringe. "My first official Hogsmeade visit. I even have a little bit of money for a book, or if not then maybe some sweets." He pat his pocket where a bag of coins was stashed. He had won them the previous night. He hated taking their money when they played betting games, and never did unless it was only sweets or things up for grabs. But James convinced him by suggesting he put in offers of homework help and they had worked out a monetary system for homework help. Remus owed Peter a full essay spelling check, and owed Sirius a research session for Defense. He didn't owe James anything. Instead he had a little over a galleon of James's money which would be enough for a book.
James burst into the room fresh from a shower, his hair damp and even wilder than usual. All he had was a towel haphazardly slung around his waist. "Remus, looking good. Have a date?"
"No! I'm… should I change?" He plucked at the shirt. "I don't have—"
"I'm teasing," James said, smacking his arm. "You shouldn't change. You look great."
Fifteen minutes later they were all dry, dressed, and ready to go. Remus checked about ten times to make sure his permission slip was in his pocket, worried it would somehow disappear on the way from his dorms to the carriages. He kept his hand in his pocket, just in case, fingers cupping the bit of paper.
The entrance hall was already crowded, students filing their way out the door. The Marauders joined the line, the others chattering happily while Remus just felt nervous. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous. A tiny part of him was terrified that if he was on Hogsmeade somehow everyone would know he went to the house and was the reason for the 'haunting' there. Which was ridiculous.
Professors Sprout and Slughorn were checking names off this time, and Remus drifted towards the side where Sprout was. He handed her his permission slip and she checked his name off.
"Have fun in Hogsmeade," she said with a smile. "Oh, you two, hold on," she added to James and Sirius. She flipped the pages then shrugged. "All right, you are allowed in today. I thought you had your permission revoked for this month."
"We didn't do anything!" James protested.
Sprout snorted, checking their names off. "And jarveys can hold intelligent conversations. Have a good time in Hogsmeade, Pettigrew," she said as she checked his name off.
"No 'good time' for us?" Sirius asked.
Sprout raised her eyebrows. "Your idea of a good time is to cause trouble so I'd prefer it if you didn't."
"Very rude," James huffed as they continued on to the carriages.
Not wrong though, Remus thought, unable to stop his grin as they climbed into a carriage. Hogsmeade! Properly. No worries that they'd be caught or get in trouble… just freedom to wander around the town, browse shops, and enjoy himself. He pushed himself into the corner, pulling his feet up onto the seat and wrapping his arms around his knees as he looked out the window. I should buy Christmas gifts with this money instead of spending it on myself. Not that he could get much for a galleon but there would be shops selling secondhand items. Besides James's money, he also had a handful of knuts back in the dorm room which he was saving to buy sweets during the December visit as presents. He could do that, and maybe find a few things this trip.
No books, then, he thought with a sad sigh. But it made him happier to spend the money on his friends anyway. After everything they bought him. He just wished he could still knit and make them something nice… but every time he picked up his knitting needles he heard his father saying he needed a more masculine hobby, and he also thought of Spinnet calling him a poof, and Lily and Miss Fawley saying they had had an inkling.
"Reeeemus!"
Something banged into his side and he jumped a little, glancing over at his friends. "Huh? What did I miss?"
"We were figuring out plans," Peter explained. "Taking a vote on it."
"Where would you prefer to go to first?" Sirius asked.
"Bookshop," Remus said as the exact same time James, Sirius, and Peter all said it too. He scowled. "If you already knew then why bother me?"
"We'll get there by ten-thirty, we'll have a couple of hours to browse shops and then maybe lunch at the Three Broomsticks?" James suggested. "What time are you meeting with Cassie?"
"Three," Sirius replied, looking out the window at the trees passing by. "A little before."
"So we'll have more time to do things before that."
"We should visit May and Finch," Peter suggested, referring to the two witches who had founded a gaming shop in the village and who also invented Wild Aventures.
"Finch and Wild," James corrected. "It's May Finch and Flossie Wildwand."
Peter wrinkled his nose. "Ooh, right, yeah, sorry."
They continued to make plans though Remus didn't add any input; he was just happy to be able to be there. He didn't care what order they visited the shops or what they did. He'd go along with them on whatever they decided.
Even though it was a chilly, overcast day, Remus felt like it was a nice, sunny spring day with how he felt. He happily followed his friends after they arrived in town, looking around as if he had never been there before. Now Hogsmeade seemed like a normal village. The shops looked like shops instead of places where the employees could easily rat them out to the school, people that passed by weren't going to snitch on them, and teachers weren't crouched in the alleyways ready to jump out and catch them in the act.
Though the thought of Slughorn crouched in an alleyway was funny.
The first place they went to was Zonko's which Remus had never been to before. Almost immediately he regretted not bringing his earplugs. Other kids were there already and besides the happy music filling the shop, there were shrieks of laughter, the occasional banging sound, and lots of whizzing sorts of sounds.
James grabbed several baskets and shoved them into the hands of his friends, filling them up as they went down aisles. Peter had a notepad with him and was checking things off as they went.
"Are we out of whizzing worms?" James asked, finger pausing on the box.
Peter checked the notes. "We're low, we've only got half a box left."
James nodded and put five boxes into Sirius's basket along with bottles of squirting ink (to swap in other students' bags), parchment that rolled up on your hand with a stinging snap (also to put in other students' bags), a couple of canisters of ever-bouncing balls (to let loose in a storeroom for Filch to open the door on), several cakes of frog spawn soap, and a few bottles of Fountain of Fizz which looked like bottles of fizzy drinks but when they were opened the fizz started and took forever to stop usually ending with a whole flood of fizz.
And that was just Sirius's basket.
By the time they went to the counter, their baskets were all full and Remus asked why they didn't just buy them at the end of the day so they didn't have to carry them around. James raised his eyebrows and whispered that they weren't going to carry them all around, that he was going to stash them at the end of one of the secret passages.
"That way if they try to look at what we bought when we go back, we won't have much."
Except when James did try to buy everything the shopkeeper sighed and said, "James, you know LiftAways are banned from Hogwarts."
"I was going to use them over Christmas," James replied smoothly. "At home."
The shopkeeper shook his head and set the packets aside. "Sorry, kiddo."
"There goes our attempt at making a hot air balloon," grumbled Sirius.
"At least until I can get my parents to buy me some over the holidays," said James.
They hauled the many bags outside of town, heading towards the stump. Despite the chill in the air, Remus was sweating by the time James opened up the stump. He climbed down in and the others handed him the bags.
"There." James climbed back up and shut the stump.
"What if someone uses the passage before tonight?" Pete asked as they headed back to the village.
"Hardly anyone knows about it," James reminded him. "It'll be fine." But he did look a little worried. "Remus…"
"Hmm?"
James gave him a nervous smile. "You said that, erm, you know… you go to errrr that… haunted… house?"
"No."
"So there's a way to get there and back without—"
"No."
"—it'd be safer to stash our things there—"
"No," Remus snapped for the third time, this time louder and firmer. "Absolutely not. Besides, you cannot get in from the outside."
Sirius looked uncomfortable while Peter yawned. "Not at all?" James asked, disappointed, and Remus shook his head. "There's not even a little window—"
"No."
He held up his hands. "All right, all right. Sorry." He turned and started walking, the others following. "If there were a way to stash our things there, you'd help out, right?"
Remus tried not to roll his eyes. "Yes," he said, glad that the place was impenetrable. He never wanted his friends to see the inside, to see all the bloodstains and broken furniture. It would horrify them and possibly push them away if they saw all the carnage.
Going to Zonko's and the passage had taken up more of the morning than any of them expected although they still had loads of time to spend in Hogsmeade. They went to Finch & Wild's where the two owners happily greeted them. They looked a little more haggard than the last time Remus saw them, and he wondered if they were still being harassed. The previous spring someone had attacked their store since May Finch was a Muggleborn. She sat in her wheelchair, fingers clenched around the armrest, eyes mainly focused on Ms. Wildwand. Flossie, as she insisted on being called. Flossie almost always kept one hand on May in some form, either her arm, shoulder, or hand.
Sirius bought a new deck of Jarvey cards since his were falling apart, while James bought two Muggle games: Monopoly and Twister. He seemed very excited over Twister, showing them the box as they left. You used your body and Remus knew at once he'd lose every time, judging by how the children were posing in the picture. It didn't seem like a game made for very clumsy people.
Next up was a bookshop. Remus figured his friends would split up here and they'd meet later but to his surprise, James went in, heading straight for the Transfiguration section. Sirius and Peter browsed the comic books while Remus wandered around, fingers trailing along spines as he wished he could buy loads of books. Or even one book. But he was determined to use his money on presents.
Remus paused in one section about transportation, inspiration striking him. He could write to his parents and see if they could find a book about motorcycles. Sirius was still going on about them since the lesson, and that might be a nice gift; he could claim it was for extra homework or something. Or a magazine about motorcycles.
Yes, that'd be perfect and something I could probably get away with, he decided, moving away to another aisle. He did find several books he ached to buy (and could afford) but he kept his hands off, leaving the shop empty-handed. James had a bag swinging at his hip though he refused to talk about what he bought. He kept insisting it was going to be a surprise, and Remus figured it was something about pranks.
"No books for you?" Sirius asked, tousling Remus's hair.
"Erm, not this time," he said sadly, fixing his hair. "I want to save my money for other things." James opened his mouth and Remus looked at him. "No."
"You don't know what I was going to say."
"You were going to offer to buy me something, and the answer is thank you but no."
James pressed his lips thin, looking annoyed. "Twat."
They went by Dogweed and Deathcap where James bought several various ingredients, none of which were part of the third years' potion kits. They then went into the greenhouses which connected the ingredient shop and the potions' shop next door. Two of the greenhouses were open for anyone to walk through. These were filled with flowers, herbs, some trees and bushes… it was pretty much like an indoor garden and a popular spot for students to take a date to. Most of the students there were couples… including Lily and David who were sitting on a bench, holding hands and talking. Lily saw James first and made a disgusted face which turned into a smile seeing the others.
They went into the potions' shop where James bought a variety of potions, then on to the sporting goods shop mostly for James to look longingly at things. The camera shop was next where Peter got into an argument with James about a new camera. Clothing shop where Sirius bought a blue paisley shirt which he changed into, stating it looked better than the other blue paisley shirt he was wearing ("Maybe the other wasn't paisley enough," Remus joked to Peter on the way out, and the other boy choked on nothing). The music shop to look at albums, the stationary shop where Peter got a new bottle of ink since he was running low, and finally they realized it was nearly half past one.
The Three Broomsticks was very crowded and Remus quaked a little sticking close to the others as they found a small table in the back. Sirius took James's money to buy drinks and food, as well as to flirt with the barmaid Madame Rosmerta. Soon he returned with four butterbeers, four meat pies, and a huge basket of chips which disappeared so fast that Sirius had to get a second basket before anyone was even halfway done with their pies.
Some older students walked by and one of them banged into James's chair hard enough to make him jostle his mug of butterbeer, some of it sloshing over into his lap. None of them apologized and kept going.
"Kirke's friends," James explained when he noticed the others looking bewildered.
"That's a good idea, blame the victim!" Sirius shouted after them, starting to get up.
Peter grabbed his arm. "Come on, I don't wanna get kicked out of the Three Broomsticks. Or banned."
Sirius hesitated before slowly sinking back down into his seat. "Wankers, the lot of them."
"Good thing you didn't fight them," Remus muttered, jerking his chin towards the door as Professors Flitwick and Charlemagne came in. "You might have gotten in even more trouble than just kicked out of here."
Sirius sunk lower, muttering curse words and threats into his tankard. "How can anyone still be friends with him, is what I want to know."
"Hardly anyone else talks to him," James pointed out. "Most of Gryffindor hates him for losing those points."
They had another round of butterbeers and more chips before leaving, bumping into Jean-Marie and his group of friends on the way out. Jean-Marie stopped Remus, smiling at him as he talked to him for a moment, ignoring his friends who wanted to go get their food already. Just as Jean-Marie started to lean in to tell Remus something, Sirius grabbed Remus and yanked him out of the pub.
"That was rude!" Remus complained, stumbling along behind them as he tried to get his jacket on.
"We're in a hurry," Sirius replied.
Remus gave a wave at the closing door and finished zipping his jacket up before hurrying to catch up to them. "It was still rude. Where are we going anyway? I thought we weren't visiting Honeydukes until the end."
"Exploring the town," James said cheerfully. "We never really got to properly look around when we snuck in, and last time we visited we didn't get a chance to since Sirius wanted to wait for you."
They left the main street full of shops where almost all the students were and began winding their way through town, checking out the other streets and alleys. They found a few other shops tucked here and there, and James dragged them into one. It was a secondhand shop and displayed in the window was a cloak of invisibility, which was what James was after.
"It's getting frayed," James told the shopkeeper when she fetched the cloak. "It isn't worth that much money. Look, you can sort've see a bit of cloth here, it's not fully invisible. It's wearing out."
"It's two hundred galleons," the woman said sharply. "A good deal for this cloak."
James shook his head as he examined the hem. "It's got patches in here, too. No way it's worth that much."
"Take it or leave it, this particular item is not up for bargaining," the woman said, sounding bored now. "A new cloak will run you thousands of galleons. This one's price has dropped as low as I will go."
"It'll only work at night or in shadows, it's so worn out," James argued. "One hundred."
The woman snatched the cloak back. "Two hundred."
"One hundred and ten."
"Two. Hundred."
James scowled. "I don't think you understand this haggling thing. I say a higher number, you say a lower number, until we meet in the—"
They were promptly thrown out of the shop with a spell, all four of them flailing and trying not to fall over. "I'll tell my father about how awful she was!" James snarled after uprighting himself and brushing the dust off.
"You already have an invisibility cloak," Remus said, rubbing his knee where it had been banged violently against the door frame.
James shook his head. "Yes but we're outgrowing it! I thought if we got that one too, we'd have more room at night. It'd be fine to use at night. It must be centuries old if it's wearing out that much. Ours has been in the family for generations and is fine."
It has not, your father lied, Remus thought, keeping his mouth shut. There was no way that James's cloak was more than a few years old with the pristine condition it was in. Maybe a decade but even that was stretching it. Unless the Potters had simply put it in a special case that kept the spells on it in perfect shape and never used it, but James made it clear his family had used it before. No, Remus figured Mr. Potter had simply bought James a new one and told him it was the family cloak. He wondered what James would say when it started fraying and fading towards the end of their school days.
At two-forty they split up. Sirius to go meet Cassie, James to do James things, Peter because he borrowed James's camera and wanted to try to take some pictures, and Remus wandered around feeling content. Hogsmeade really was a lovely place.
Mostly lovely.
As he wandered he found himself near his house, which had a knot of students standing by the gate. They looked to be fifth year or so, and he could hear them gossiping about the house. About what was inside. Relief flooded his body when many things were suggested and none of them were werewolves.
Once the older students left, Remus inched closer to the gate, his heart pounding. He clutched the top rung of the gate, staring at the boarded-up door. After a few minutes he heard footsteps coming so he ducked behind a tree. It was three Gryffindors, all a year older than him. One of them was a Weasley, he knew; they had had detention together once. They were all laughing and cracking jokes about the house, daring one another to get close. Eventually the Weasley shoved the brown-haired boy (Longbottom, Remus thought) and he yelped. Weasley laughed, teasing him about being a coward.
Then the fair-haired boy said he'd go, and began climbing over the gate. Weasley and Longbottom stared wide-eyed (as did Remus) while the fair-haired boy swung his legs over so he was sitting on top of the gate.
"Go on, then, Cath," Weasley said.
"I'm going."
He slithered down off the gate but didn't go any farther. Weasley leaned in and grabbed his arm, shouting 'boo'. The fair-haired boy screamed and whirled around, punching Weasley in the face. Weasley went down, laughing despite the blood flowing from his nose.
Remus headed back into town, not wanting to see if the boy got any closer. He knew that was something people did. Try to get close to the house. Try to break in. See through the windows. Nobody could, of course, but it still made him sick with nerves.
He wasn't really watching where he was going and as he turned a corner onto the main street, he bumped into someone. He started apologizing until he saw it was Snape.
"Watch where you're going, Loopy!" Snape growled at him, picking up the bags he had dropped.
"You ran into—to—into me too," Remus pointed out.
Snape glanced around. "Where are your idiot friends? Abandoned you, have they? Doesn't surprise me. Potter and Black only ever care about themselves."
It was something Snape said on multiple occasions, always trying to get Remus to think he was an outcast among his friends. Sometimes it worked, his words digging into Remus and latching onto his soul. But at this moment they didn't bother him at all.
He felt rather heady and over-confident for some reason. It almost felt like Sirius was possessing him or something as he stuck his hands in his pockets and asked, "Buying more ingredients to poison James?"
His black eyes narrowed into little slits. "What in Merlin's name are you blathering on about, Loopy? I swear you get more insane with each passing year."
You set Kirke up, didn't you? he wanted to asked, ached to ask. You're the one who did all of that, you've got the ability to make that potion without any issue… but what evidence did he have?
"You're nothing but an eventual lifetime patient at Saint Mungo's," Snape continued, walking past him, and turning to keep looking at him as he went. "Whether by whatever disease you have or your craziness. Mark my words, you'll be in a padded room one day."
"Why did you do it?" Remus asked.
Snape stopped in his tracks, staring down his nose at Remus. "Do what?"
"Poison James."
Something flickered through his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. But if I find out you've started to spread rumors like that around school, you'll regret it," he added. Out of desperation? Or because he was telling the truth?
No, he did it.
Right?
Snape stormed off and Remus turned, heading towards the bookshop to pass the time until the Marauders met up again.