Chapter 24: Afternoon Chat
Harry and Harley were in the Three Broomsticks Inn halfway through their butterbeers, well, Harley more so than Harry, who finished talking about the Philosopher's stone, how he received the cloak of invisibility that Christmas and it was their father's, and his first Weasley sweater, and was basically face to face with Voldemort whose face was at the back of the head of the DADA professor of the time, Professor Quirell.
He was now talking about Lockhart, last year's DADA professor, the Chamber of Secrets that opened and how students, including Hermione, were being petrified by the basilisk, Aragog the giant spider, and Ginny was basically talking to the soul of Voldemort the whole time
Harley had her jaw drop a few times. Her brother did all of that the past two years? Also, how in Godric's name were all of these things happening under the nose of Dumbledore? Wasn't this school supposed to be the safest place for young witches and wizards?
Well, I guess, no one's actually died... so...
"There you two are!" Hermione made her way to where the two sat, Ron stayed back to order two more butterbeers before following her.
"Looks like you both got to Hogsmeade properly," Ron teased as he sat down.
"We saw Fred and George in Zonko's and they told us you two were going around," Hermione says as she takes off her jacket.
"Ron, when we get back, can you teach me how to play Wizard's Chess?" Harley asks.
"Oh, Ron's brilliant at it!" Hermione exclaims, "He got us to win the house cup on our first year."
Ron blushes but nods his head with a sheepish grin, "Yeah, of course, they've got a few chess boards in the common room."
Harry and Harley had to sneak back inside Honeydukes without Professor McGonagall noticing, as the other students gathered before they went back to the castle together. Inside, Harley starts looking through the shelves. She's tried the Salt Water Taffy, the Jelly Slugs, The Chocolate Frogs, of course... Pink Coconut Ice looks good, she thought as she picked up the container, then paused for a moment before reaching for a box of Jelly Slugs, those never disappoint. Then stopped again to reach for some Salt Water Taffy, for Padfoot. And a few chocolate frogs won't hurt anyone, so she grabbed those too and made her way to the till.
Ambrosius was just finished ringing up her sweets, chatting on about how he was needing new ideas for sweets, something about wanting to feel like a young sweets maker again when Fred and George entered with a box full of things they bought from Zonko's.
"Right, off we go," Fred says as he goes straight for the door to the basement.
George, carting the box, nods to Ambrosius, "See you next week, Ambrosius!"
Harry was already following Fred and Harley got her bag from the kind man, "See you next week, Ambrosius!" waving goodbye, following George.
Ambrosius waves to the four, making sure the door closes shut properly.
After exiting the One-Eyed Witch's statue, the Weasley twins went straight to the dormitory to unbox all their goodies, Harry and Harley on the other hand, went to the Owlery, hoping to maybe have a chat with Sirius before dinner. They've done that a few times now. The Owlery wasn't the most secluded of places, which is why they sometimes walk to the Great Lake. There was a little cabin there, where the ropes, lanterns, and the oars that were used for the boats were kept. Sirius would sometimes stay here instead of the Owlery at night if he wanted to not be a dog for the evening. Nothing a little heating charm and a few transfiguration spells couldn't fix.
Halfway to the Owlery, Padfoot was already waiting, and when he saw that the twins had seen him, he starts walking in the direction of the Great Lake, he walks slow enough for the two to catch up.
"We finally got to go to Hogsmeade this time," Harley says.
"And Ron and I are teaching Harley Wizard's Chess later," Harry added.
"Oh! And we have some Salt Water Taffy," she shakes the Honeydukes bag.
Padfoot lets out a little exhale with a nod as they continued on to the Great Lake.
Sirius sighs as he sits down on the small armchair he transfigured, "How was Hogsmeade? Haven't been there in ages!" He twists open the cap of his flask.
"Pretty neat, wanted to buy a lot of stuff, honestly," Harley said as she starts opening her boxes of treats, handing the jelly slugs and taffy to her brother.
"Did you two go to Zonko's?" Sirius took a sip from his flask after he asked.
Harry nodded, "Never knew dung bombs had so many varieties."
"Do you think those tadpoles from Frog Spawn Soaps ever really grow into adult Frogs?" Harley wondered out loud.
Sirius chuckles, "I'm pretty sure your father, and I, and the other Marauders may have... inspired some of those varieties."
"What?" the twins' jaws fell open. They knew about the Marauders, they knew how mischievous and clever their father and his friends were when they too were students in Hogwarts, but there were just so many more stories they need to know.
"We wanted to be more creative and did some experiments," Sirius elaborates, taking another sip from his flask, sighing again with a relaxed smile pulling his lips, "word got back to Zonko's, and we received quite a few Galleons for sharing the modifications. This was in... 4th year, maybe? Can't really remember."
"Summer after 3rd year, actually."
The twins just about jumped out of their own seats, wands at the ready as they turned to see their Defence Against The Dark Arts professor by the door.
"Don't scare the children now, Professor Lupin," Sirius tutted as he transfigured another ore as a seat for his friend. The twins looked at each other sheepishly as they put their wands away, muttering apologies to their professor.
"You know it would still be good practice to cast an imperturbable charm, just in case students wander here by accident," Remus said coolly as he cast the charm himself as he locked the door. "And at least lock the door."
Sirius rolled his eyes before motioning for Remus to sit, "What brings you to join us this afternoon?"
"Saw two pairs of twins by the One-Eyed Witch's statue today," he raises an eyebrow at the two. "You two found the map?"
"Harley did—" "The twins—" The two looked at each other in exasperation.
"I found it in the hallway, but only after Fred and George dropped it by accident. Fred and George nicked it from Filch's office their first year," Harley explained.
Remus nodded his head, "Those twins always looked like they just show up anywhere. I've found them out in the corridors a number of evenings at the start of the term, with quite a few treats from the kitchen might I add, and Filch never caught them. Now I know why."
Harley pulls a chocolate frog box from her Honeydukes bag and hands it to Remus.
"Thank you, dear," he takes the box, opening the box, his hand over the opening quite quickly so the frog doesn't hop away. Casting a quick immobilus spell, the charmed frog going still. "Anyone needing Helga Hufflepuff for their collection?" He raises the card, the founding witch of the Hufflepuff House smiling proudly.
"I do!" Harley said as she reached out for the card Remus was already handing to her, thanking him and proceeded to read the card.
"Has Snivelus made you another draught for the next full moon?" Sirius asked as he stretched his legs, taking another sip from his flask.
"He has," Remus said with a little snap in his tone.
"Oh come now, Remus, it's only us. Your best friend and your other best friends' children, we can talk about it," Sirius said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
"I would rather not, Sirius," Remus's tone was firm and final.
Sirius nodded as he pressed his lips together to a taught smile, "Alright, as you wish."
"Speaking of Snape, he's Neville Longbottom's worst fear," the professor said as he took a bite out of the chocolate frog. "Poor boy looked so pale when the boggart shifted to his likeness."
Sirius groaned, a look of disgust on his face, "That greasy git. And for Alice's son to fear him!" He scoffed.
"You know Neville's parents?" Harry asked as he reached for another Jelly Slug from Harley.
"Oh yeah! We were all together with your parents in The O—"
"The old Gryffindor alumni list," Remus interjected, "We were all Gryffindors," he said again.
"He lives with his grandmother though," Harley pointed out.
"Well, I haven't really been in touch with anyone to be in the loop with all the news these past 12 years," Sirius shrugs.
The twins just nodded, nibbling on their jelly slugs.
"Boggarts for DADA, huh?" Sirius changes the topic. "What are you two afraid of?" he smirks as he asks .
Remus stared at his friend, wide-eyed and exasperated, wanting to punch him.
The children looked at each other and Harley spoke up first, "My old Orphanage mother telling me this is all a dream," she said timidly and Sirius's smirk falters but before he could say anything, Harry was next to confide, "Mine were the dementors."
Sirius looked at the two with his jaw hanging open. He did not expect those answers. They're just kids. He sees Remus shaking his head. "Wha— This isn't a dream. You're here. This is all real. And— and dementors? Where did you even see one? Remus?" Sirius looked at the professor. His best friends' children shouldn't have these types of fears so young.
"A few dementors flew too close to the Quidditch pitch and made Harry black out mid match," Harley spoke for her brother. She saw the face Sirius pulled and quickly added, "He's fine now, clearly! No broken bones or anything."
"I'm trying to teach them how to conjure their patronus," Remus says, "As an extra precaution."
Sirius shook his head, still trying to process what he has just learned. Harley's afraid she has to go back to the horrible orphanage, and Harry's come in contact with the very creatures out looking for him to bring him back to Azakaban, and he got hurt.
"We're fine, they were just Boggarts," Harley insisted.
And before Sirius could say anything, the castle bell chimed, signaling the students that it's time for dinner. Remus stood up with a grunt, taking the last bite of his chocolate frog, "Come on now, children, time to head back to the castle. Sirius, will you come along?"
Sirius shook his head, "I'll stay here for a bit."
The three nodded their heads as they made their way outside before Remus turned back to remind him to lock the door, just to be safe.
Sirius took a long swig from his flask before rising from his seat, time to visit the old library.