It was some point in early November, and it was a very irregular free Friday where we didn't have to do Potions, double Charms, Herbology or Ancient runes, and we could go to Hogsmeade. There was only one downside, it was the full moon tomorrow, and Remus had explained to us how he didn't like to risk the symptoms coming early so he always left the day before. That meant he couldn't join us in the carriage or the trip to Hogsmeade.
We promised him that if we couldn't see him when we came back, we'd give him something when we could, and that the next time it would be fore sure that he was coming with us. It left a bitter sweet atmosphere as we stepped into the horseless carriages on our way to Hogsmeade, just the four of us sharing with an irritable Lily and a carefree Dorcas Meadows.
Dorcas was striking up a conversation with me and it was an awkward atmosphere. We all knew about Remus except from her.
Getting out of the carriage, thankfully, I decided to divide my time between the two groups, I was initially going to go with the boys but Lily had asked, or pleaded, me to go with the girls so I was going to spend the morning with the Marauders, and the afternoon with the girls. There was a lot of chaos in the morning with the boys planned, and so I hoped we would get over it quickly.
I would also be meeting Lily and the others in the three broomsticks at twelve, and I've heard many things about that place. Leon Jordan swore to me once that he saw a hag in the three broomsticks as she talked to herself and ordered thirteen Firewhiskeys. I didn't know if he was telling the truth, but Fabian agreed with him so I was suspicious.
James asked if we could go and see Zonko's joke shop first, as he'd heard many things about it from the Prewett twins. The shop definitely lived up to it's glory. Zonko's didn't look very big or like much on the outside, the red paint decorating it, but as you walked inside, it was large and spacious, the shelves lined with all kinds of pranking products, and the floor different coloured tiles.
There was multiple people in the crowded shop, both students on the public, all with a love of joking around. The boys all bought many things from the shop, their pockets full and their money bags considerably lighter. It seemed stupid to other people to spend so much on these products, but what they didn't know was that there was a reputation as Marauders to uphold, and it created a source of their happiness.
I didn't buy as much, only certain smaller items like nose biting teacups and frog spawn soap. They were easily concealed and they had a very funny affect, it was the best present to your evil parents.
After a long time in the shop, the boys and I had all agreed we wanted to explore around the Shrieking Shack. It was only recently rumoured to be filled with a ghost or murderous spirit, the rumour started exactly a few weeks after we arrived at Hogwarts. I also had a sneaking suspicious what was causing the dreadful noise that the villagers heard.
But, I wouldn't stop the rumour any time soon, as it was quite entertaining. Especially to the more naïve of us all.
"Do you really think it's haunted Athena?" Peter asked nervously. We were stood a little in front of the other two, standing at the fence and staring at the huge wooden house. Peter glanced at me while I laughed and shook my head, it would do no good to worry a boy that already had so much running through his head.
James and Sirius snuck behind us both and shouted suddenly, causing shock to kick in and Peter to scream. The two were holding onto each other and laughing at our reactions, James adding, "Thea doesn't know what she's talking about, the Shack is infested with ghouls and spirits which are out for revenge."
I hit him across the head and tried to calm Peter down, Sirius had a large grin on his face as he watched the curly haired boy flinch and mumble a hurried apology. I put an arm on Peter's shoulder and said, "How about we all just go to The Three Broomsticks and not petrify each other."
The Three Broomsticks was a pub, it was warm and cosy, full of drunkards with fire whiskey and full of sober students and adults sipping butterbeer and pumpkin juice. The lights created a nice atmosphere, one of warmth and friendliness, the young barmaid had blonde curly hair and red heels, Sirius and James both challenging each other to get our orders.
It was obviously nothing with alcohol in it as, in any case, we were still thirteen and fourteen, it was just pumpkin juice or butterbeer. It was apparently quite nice. I didn't mind however, I wasn't ready to get drunk and go to lessons with a horrible hangover at thirteen.
Half an hour later, the girls that I would be spending the afternoon with walked in and came to sit at our now overly crowded table. There was ten people surrounding the table and there were ten drinks on the table, Lily whispered to me, "We aren't staying in here for long, we're just having a drink and then we're going to go to Honeydukes and look around Gladrags wizard wear. We need a new dress to wear for the weekend, Marlene has a date."
Processing this information, I said my goodbyes to the Marauders who were also going shopping, and I followed the girls through the Hogsmeade path to Honeydukes, a large, comfortable sweet shop buzzing with atmosphere and with people. It was a popular place for practically everyone, and I knew it would be one of my favourites.
There were assortments of confectionary with amounts of chocolate and sweet things for people to eat, and, not so sweet things. There were strange flavours like cockroach cluster, and blood lollipop, possibly for vampires.
I decided that while I was in there, I would buy a stack of their best chocolate for Remus to eat, as it comforts him during his time of the month. I enjoyed calling it that because now if I said it in public, everybody would take it as a joke and not clock on that he was a werewolf, it made the situation sound less intimidating for everyone.
I also bought myself some things to snack on during the school days in case I was ever hungry. Sugar Quills were my best bet.
We then made a short journey to Gladrags, and I decided to ask Marlene about the new information, "So Marls, a date? With who, when and where, why?" I felt like it was my duty to question every single detail about her date, and make sure they were good enough for her.
Marlene laughed at my enthusiasm and tried to answer my questions in order, "Yeah, it's with a Ravenclaw in a week by the Lake, they said it would be a picnic just so I could dress appropriately, I'm glad they gave me a warning or I would've turned up in something too extravagant. I'm quite nervous."
It was obvious that she would get a date soon, Marlene was, well, gorgeous and she had a nice personality, she was one of my best friends, and I was happy for her. I knew that she had three siblings, and that she always fought for attention just to feel special, but she didn't need to, she was enough.
I watched as Mary sat in a corner and her eyes lit up every time Marlene tried on a new dress. I saw Lily and Alice walking through the clothes and inspect something every now and then. I saw Aafiya look at a dress Marlene tried on, which was a floral, simple, knee length dress. I spotted Dorcas look through the window and inspect a blue dinner party gown, and Pandora physically drag her away after seeing the price tag in the window.
I also spotted Evelyn look in the shop and I swore that we made eye contact, but she walked away with her friends and I couldn't tell. It was the sixth choice when Marlene finally picked a dress. The dress was black with silver stars along the bottom and it was long sleeved, knee length with a v shaped neck line.
I made a joke, "That dress is beautiful Marls and it suits you but it's a bit Sirius Black isn't it?" All the girls giggled, and Marlene's lips quirked into a smile, but she looked once more in the mirror and said, "I guess I'll flaunt it in front of him then." We paid for her dress and something Alice bought, and then walked out of the shop at three thirty, making our way back to the castle and our dorms to put everything away.
Whilst the girls put away whatever they'd bought, I brought my chocolate I got for Remus, and walked into the boys dormitory room to put it on his bed. What I didn't expect was the boys to already be in there holding a bag with something in and whispering while Andre was in the corner reading some French Book called Le Petit Prince.
I walked up to them on Peter's bed and waved at them. The three didn't notice me, but probably because they were too busy with something by Sirius' bed. "How do you think Remus is doing? I mean, it must be a painful transformation," Peter said quietly, looking at the empty space. It felt weird with the boys not being complete.
I chipped in, noticing his expression, "Yes Peter, and that is why we are bringing our wolfie friend some presents to make him happy." Peter jumped as he obviously didn't see me, and I patted his shoulder as a sorry.
James spared us both a glance as he rolled his eyes, "We have to hide it though, as Remus likes to think he's independent and we need to half respect that. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, I like the sound of being on a spy mission."
Sirius ignored his best friends speech and rummaged through his bag, picking out a fluffy blue jumper, and grabbed the chocolate out of my hand saying, "I've got the chocolate and the sweater we bought, was there anything else? I don't think so. Put his sweater in the cupboard and if he asks, it was always there, and he just has too many he never noticed."
I agreed with him, it was better to let Remus not know then to put it all on him when he was too embarrassed to accept it.
"Yes do that, and I've been thinking with all of this Remus stuff, you know that we'll have to come up with code names when we change to our animagus forms," Peter said. We all fell into a thoughtful silence, well, mine was much less thoughtful, but I found it amusing how they took nicknames so seriously.
"I already know Remus', I was thinking about it last night when I was half asleep, he's got a thing with the moon so call him Moony," James said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sirius laughed, "But don't tell him, he's got to guess that he's Moony."