Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Seventy-Two - The Marauders

Remus and Peter were stretched out on Peter's bed, sharing a pile of candy-coated chocolate drops (occasionally throwing them at one another) when James and Sirius finally returned about an hour past curfew. They ran in, huge smiles on their faces, bags full of stuff they bought. They both began talking at once, trying to tell them all about Hogsmeade until James realized Spinnet and Struthers were in the dorm as well. So they piled onto Peter's bed, yanking the curtains shut to help quiet their voices.

"It's amazing there!" James whispered. "Oh man, wait till you see Honeydukes it's absolutely..." He put his fingers to his lips then spread them out as he made a kissing sound. "But Zonko's! Merlin's beard!" He opened his bag, dumping a mixture of pranks and candy out onto the bed. "I got you these." He handed them each a wrapped chocolate bar from Honeydukes. Not really bars, but small slabs of chocolate shaped like the Gryffindor crest.

"There's this pub called the Three Broomsticks which we went into. The barmaid accused us of being first years sneaking out though we managed to convince her we were second years and already thirteen," laughed Sirius. "Plus Jimmy gave her a big tip after we bought some butterbeer."

"That reminds me, I got you these too." James pulled out two bottles of butterbeer, plonking them into their laps. "They're nothing like hot butterbeer in a mug though. You've got to sneak in with us sometime."

"Yeah good luck convincing anyone I'm thirteen," Remus said as he unwrapped the chocolate. "I don't even look twe--" He stopped when he took a bite of the chocolate. "Good God this is good!"

"Honeydukes finest," Sirius said with a wink.

"There's also this incredible clothes store!" With that James pulled out a bright, multi-colored paisley print shirt with the pointiest collar Remus had ever seen. "Which reminds me, I got you these." He fished out two pairs of socks, tossing them at his friends. "Siri and I got some too. We can all match." They were all Gryffindor motif. James's were gold and scarlet striped, Sirius's were grey with the Gryffindor badge at the tops, Peter's were red with little gold lion paw prints all over them, and Remus's were red and gold plaid print.

"I got a shirt too," Sirius said and pulled out a dark crimson-and-gold paisley print. Also with a super pointy collar. "Oh, and there's this enormous bookstore you'll like, Remy," he added, grinning at him. Remus shook his head though wondered just how big. Then his heart practically stopped as Sirius went on with, "We also got to see this super haunted house. It's not even been there a year and it's very haunted. Not like the ghosts here. Like, creepy haunted."

"Peeves kind've haunted?" Peter asked.

"Worse," James said gravely. "I guess it's full of the souls of the damned or something like that. Anyone who goes in could be killed." With that Peter squeaked, dropping his chocolate. James laughed.

"We tried to get in but it's all blocked off," Sirius sighed. "Plus we didn't really have very much time to actually properly try. We'll try again though. I want to see what's inside."

Remus swallowed his mouthful of chocolate which now tasted bitter. "D--did you get the Howler?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from his house. Full of his wreckage. Full of his blood.

"Ooh! Yes!" James clapped his hands then carefully pulled out a bright scarlet envelope wrapped in cellophane. "It's easy to do. We'll just need to make our voices different. I need to write out exactly what I want to say, make sure it's good." He put the Howler back in his bag, giggling like a madman. "It's going to be great!"

"So, how was your day?" Sirius pushed his hair back, a sort of smile that made Remus think they had been bored without the two of them.

Peter and Remus exchanged looks, going right into their plan of what to say. "Well, we hung out by the lake for a while," Peter said, tapping his chin like he was trying to think. "Course we had supper. Remus went to the library while I stayed here then we just talked before you got here, nothing too exciting." James and Sirius nodded, as if that's what they expected. "Did anything else happen?" Pete asked Remus.