Sirius, Remus, Regulus, Lily, and Severus followed James to the passage he had found. Sirius immediately knew which one it was upon seeing it. The one that would take them to Honeydukes.
"James, are you sure we should go through with this?" Sirius asked. "What if this leads out of the school? I don't think we're supposed to leave the grounds." He couldn't tell James exactly where it would lead them, of course.
"I agree with Sirius," Regulus piped in.
"Oh, come on, the staff are probably pre-occupied. It's Saturday, after all," James explained. "They're not going to be watching us. Let's see where this leads us, at least." Sirius and Regulus gave each other concerned looks, but nodded nonetheless.
They followed James down the passage. At one point, they had to light their wands so they could see. Finally, after what felt like forever, they arrived at their destination.
"Wait!" Sirius exclaimed. "Do you have your cloak with you, James?"
"Of course I do!" James replied as if it was obvious.
"We should probably get under it, just in case," Sirius cautioned.
"Alright, come on," James motioned towards himself. The six of them got under the cloak.
"Wow!" James whispered excitedly once they were out of the passage. "We're in a shop!"
"We must be in Hogsmeade," Sirius said.
"Come on, let's figure out which shop we're in," James said. When they stepped into the actual shop, James' face lit up. "This must be Honeydukes!" he whispered.
"Yes, but we really shouldn't be here," Sirius said. In his old timeline, he wouldn't have thought twice about sneaking out, but with his grandparents at the school, he wasn't sure if he wanted to get caught.
"Look, let's just do a little exploring, then we'll go back," James promised. Sirius knew that it would be more than just a little exploring, but he agreed anyway. It couldn't hurt to be a child again for a few hours, right?
They stayed under the cloak as they explored the shop, looking at all the different candies. They decided to pitch in the cost to buy some of their favorites to share. Lily still wasn't very good with wizarding currency, but Severus helped her.
"I'll take the money up there," Remus offered. He slipped out under the cloak and walked up to the cashier. Thankfully, the cashier didn't question him, probably assuming he was a third year.
After they left Honeydukes, they went into a bookstore, which impressed Lily and Remus. After they bought a few books, they went to the Quidditch shop.
"I'm getting myself a broom," James declared.
"James, you can't!" Sirius exclaimed. "No brooms for first years!"
"But no one will know," James said with a grin. "I'll fly it in the middle of the night with the invisibility cloak around me."
"Oh yeah, a broomstick flying by itself? That won't go over well," Severus stated.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," James said. The others gave each other a look. They knew this would not end well for James.
James bought the Nimbus 1000, the newest broom out there. Sirius mentally snorted. It was nothing like the Firebolt.
The group of six finally headed to The Three Broomsticks, where they intended on ordering some butterbeer, but Madame Rosmerta took one look at them and said, "You cannot be third years already."
"Of course we are!" James exclaimed.
Rosmerta shook her head. "What is your name, dear?" she asked Regulus. "You look like you aren't even a first year student."
"His name is Reg," Sirius said quickly, knowing that revealing his full name would give her too much information.
Rosmerta frowned. "Stay here," she said before walking off.
"We're in SO much trouble," Lily stated with worry.
"This is all your fault, James," Severus said coldly.
"I hadn't intended on getting caught!" James tried defending himself.
"Oh no, we're really in for it now," Sirius whispered. Melania Black and Minerva McGonagall walked into The Three Broomsticks, followed by Rosmerta. McGonagall looked furious while Melania looked disappointed.
"Back to school, now," McGonagall said tightly.
They followed the two adults back to Hogwarts, knowing that they were doomed.