The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Minerva McGonagall's Birthday

The last bit of the trip from the Inn to Hogsmeade was indeed made by Port Key, on account of none of the lot of them had any idea where Hogsmeade was from there, and the village couldn't be located on the maps that they collected from the lobby of the inn. "We'll come back here after," James promised Lily, "And we'll do the roadtrip on home from here as you intended, Evans."

"Alright," Lily sighed, not wanting to admit defeat, but seeing no alternative, either.

Remus made the port key from a small plastic bucket intended to be used to collect ice from a dispenser down the corridor from their room, and after having breakfast they all grabbed hold of the bucket and departed.

Hogsmeade was quiet and chilly, the leaves all orange and gold and red from turning for the autumn. Vendors were selling their cold-weather fare - cones of warm candied nuts and mugs of warm chocolate. The sign over the door of the Three Broomsticks creaked in the wind. Looming high above the village was the silhouette of the castle, dark against the bright blue sky.

Elphinstone Urquart and Minerva McGonagall's small cottage was off the main road behind the owl post office, tucked into a small grove of trees. Outside on the lawn, there were several cats dwelling about. Sirius eyed the cats with amusement and interest, until Remus caught him by the shoulders and muttered, "You're not a dog... come."

Sirius opened his mouth to point out the irony of the command "come" whilst pointing out that he wasn't a dog, but Remus took hold of the front of Sirius's shirt and pulled him along up the pathway - followed by Peter, James, and Lily - to the front porch. James straightened his shirt and reached up and knocked on the door.

The wild-haired Elphinstone Urquart opened the door a moment later, his narrow spectacles low on his nose, and a wide grin splitting his mouth open from one ear clear to the other. "Ah yes you're here, you're here," he greeted them, "Come in - do come in..." He stepped back and threw the door wide opened for the five of them to ender. "Min's up at the castle, just finishing up her classes of the day... Here, you can leave your Port Key here by the door... Splendid, most excellent to see all of you!"

Dora Potter came into the room excitedly, descending the stairs with speed. She grinned when she saw the lot of them. "My boys!"

"MUM!" James and Sirius said it at the same time, looked at one another, and then shrugged and ran to Dora, wrapping their arms around her, one under each of her arms as she hugged them close and kissed each of their heads. "I've missed you both so much," she clucked.

"We've missed you, too, mum," James said, "I'm sorry it's been so long. We've been so busy..."

"I know, I know... and I want to hear all about it... but first, let's get the lot of you settled."

They all went in to the little living room and Elphinstone magicked away their cloaks when they took them off. There was tea and little sandwiches out for them already, and Peter dove in hungrily the moment they sat down. Lily stirred her tea and sipped, thankful for it as she hadn't had enough tea before they'd left the inn. Small talk and light conversation were had for a time as they waited for Minerva to return from the castle, and Elphinstone told them about an unfortunate experience he'd been having trying to grow a magical garden in the backyard. He'd bought a sprig of what he'd been told was a simple climbing vine but had actually been a plant whose flowers belched fire every second week of the month and they'd set his rose bushes on fire. "Terrible plants when they're belching," Elphinstone said, laughing, "But the sweetest little thing you could wish for otherwise. I'm hoping that Professor Sprout might help me to transplant it..."

When Minerva returned, it was accompanied by Hagrid and Dumbledore. Hagrid barely fit in the foyer of the little cottage, so they moved the party into the yard, where Elphinstone assured them the belching vine was not due to be active for another two to three days yet. Professor McGonagall cornered Sirius on the way out the door, tapping his arm and motioning for him to follow her into the kitchen. Dumbledore was there, too, looking into the sugar jar on the counter with a curious smile on his face.