❁ BOTANY; r.lupin

11.

"Hogsmeade"

IT WAS THE lovely James Potter's idea to take a group trip out to hogsmeade on that winter Saturday. As far as James' plans go, this was a good one. Well except for the bit about finding a wild horse by the shrieking shack and taking it for a ride. 

Janice wrapped up warm for the occasion, she hadn't been out in a while. The others often played rounders by the Black Lake but she hadn't felt up to it as of recently. Emmeline grabbed her gryffindor scarf off of her bed and wrapped it around Janice's neck. As Jan let out a delicate laugh, Em smoothed the scarf down and whispered, "You'll be brilliant."

Jan smiled at her friend and felt overcome with gratitude and affection for her. She truly was loved.

Lily stepped out of the en suite and placed her hat on her head, "Come on then, girls. Potter will throw a hissy fit if we're not on time for his itinerary."

The four girls chuckled and headed down to the common room to meet the boys. Peter had sunken into the armchair, Merlin knows how long they'd been sat down there for. Remus sat on the arm of Pete's chair, Sirius was sprawled out across the sofa and James was pacing anxiously. He could be such a control freak. 

He sighed in relief, "There you are, you were almost late."

"Almost, Prongs. No need to worry." Marlene commented as she swooped over and pinched a half-asleep Peter's bobble hat. 

"Hey!"

"Apologies, Pete."

"Please can we just leave before James has an aneurysm.", Remus butted in. 

Janice moved beside him and patted his shoulder, "Come on then."

Finally, they had all made it to Hogsmeade alive. The first stop was Honeydukes and Janice browsed the shelves intently. 

"What are you fancying?"

Jan turned her head to glance at Remus, his breath warm on her face. "Well, chocolate cauldrons are my favourite, but I'm partial to a sugar quill."

"How about both?", he smiled.

She scoffed, "I'm not made of money, I've got christmas presents to be saving up for."

"Well I'll get you them then, J. I seem to remember you had a pretty nasty quidditch accident and I never got you anything for it."

She flipped her body around to meet him face to face, "You don't have to do that because you feel sorry for me, Rem."

His expressions softened. She knew that this wasn't really about the accident, he felt bad about her dad. 

"I'm buying my friend some sweets because I love her, is that allowed?"

She smirked, "I suppose when you put it like that..."

"You can wait outside if you want, Sirius and Lily are out there."

She nodded, thanked him and made her way out of the crowded shop. They weren't hard to spot, not with Lily's hair. "You two not fancy going in?"

"Sirius wanted a smoke and I wasn't too fussed about sweets."

"You get anything good?", Sirius eyed her pockets.

"Remus wanted to get me something, I feel bad but maybe if I let him get me some chocolate cauldrons he'll stop pitying me."

Lily placed her hand on Jan's arm, "He's got a good heart."

They all nodded in agreement. If there was one thing that they could all agree on, it was Remus' good intentions. They were in debt to him. 

Once the group had reformed outside of Honeydukes, they trodded off down the cobbled road towards Zonko's. James was chewing poor Emmeline's ear off about whatever new type of dung bomb there was; Jan sent Remus a knowing look and he bit back a smile. Sirius held open the door for the young witches and wizards as he sucked on one of Janice's sugar quills. 

"Thank you, kind sir", she curtseyed as she stepped inside the shop. Sirius simply smirked at her cheekiness. 

Jan gazed up at the endless shelves filled with all of the extendable ears, screaming yo-yo's and inflatable tongues the boys could ever wish for. She just hoped she wouldn't be on the receiving end of any of those pranks. 

Peter struggled to carry the bags of items they had purchased - he was, quite unfortunately, the designated bag holder. Janice wordlessly took one of them as she watched him hobble out of the door, he thanked her greatly. 

"I dread to think what you're going to do with all that," Lily commented with a concerned frown. 

James threw his arm around her shoulder and grinned, "We'd never lay a finger on you, Lily Flower. Don't worry about that." He was anything but reassuring.

She shrugged off his wandering hand and grumbled, but Janice could see her covering her reddening face with her hair. 

Stumbling into the Three Broomsticks, the friends managed to squash into a booth while Sirius and Marlene got the butterbeers. Janice was pressed between Remus and James, she struggled to remove her scarf without elbowing either of the boys. Remus leaned away helpfully, but James remained entirely in his own world. By the time she was at a comfortable temperature the drinks had arrived. 

It had been far too long since she'd tasted butterbeer, it reminded her of third year trips to Hogsmeade and Christmas. Her brother had once attempted to down about seven pints of the stuff but ended up with half of it spilt all over himself. He smelt like butterscotch for days. Mikey never did that sort of stuff nowadays, he's all "I'm so serious. I work for the ministry". He'd sent Janice a letter after their dad died asking if there was anything of his that she wanted. She desperately wanted to see Michael, hug him and ask him how he was - instead she just asked for dad's quidditch jumper and the chain that he always wore. 

She suddenly felt quite guilty. Being there, drinking butterbeer, smiling, laughing, being happy. She imagined Mikey sat at home with his arm around their heartbroken mother. She regretted necking her pint so fast, her stomach felt like it was doing backflips. It was all very nauseating. 

"I need to go-" a familiar feeling was rising in her chest and her hand flew to her mouth. She pushed past James and Em and rushed towards the public bathroom. Just as she reached the toilet, she regurgitated everything she'd eaten that day. 

There was a pair of hands pulling her hair back and rubbing her back. Marlene. "Its okay, J. You're going to be alright."

Janice didn't even realise that there were tears falling from her eyes until her shoulders began to shake and her nose ran. Marlene pulled her into a hug and whispered soothing words. Jan cried, and then she laughed. If anybody came in then they would have looked very odd, two girls cuddling on the toilet floor. Marls started to laugh too, they looked daft. 

"Come on," she stood up, dusted off her jeans and held out a hand for Jan. She smiled up at her friend as she was assisted up from the floor. When they'd reached the table, everyone had finished their drinks and hushed in concerned tones. 

"I'm ready to go home."

So each of them got up, Marlene remained gripped onto Janice's clammy palm. Remus shuffled out of the booth with Jan's scarf and wrapped it loosely around her neck. They smiled at each other silently and Marlene led her out of the pub. 

Her dad would've loved them, all of them. And he would have been thrilled that Janice had a lovely day out with her best friends.

"What are you smiling at?"

Jan turned her face towards Marlene, "Nothing."