Selenophile // Marauders

|40| Summer 1975 - Part II

July 5th, 1975 - Tuesday

Riley stood in front of the absolutely humongous, massive, manor-like house. She wasn't sure if it was the right house or not but it had to be, the Knight Bus couldn't have possibly dropped her off at the wrong location. She walked towards the doorstep, there were a few steps before the door, and rang the doorbell.

The door was quickly opened by a house-elf. Unlike other house elves, this one was smiling, rather friendly.

"You must be Ms. Spade," the house-elf said quietly. "Masters were waiting for you."

Riley stepped into the house. Soon people yelling were heard.

"Who is it, Harley?!" James' voice shouted from a different room. The house-elf answered and the four boys looked down from the stairs. Riley waved at them and went upstairs. As expected, James' room was also a mess, maybe a bit cleaner than Riley's, at least you could find what you were searching for... It was painted in scarlet and gold, the colors of Gryffindor. Sirius and James had a mirror in their hand.

"What's that?" she asked as she took the mirror from Sirius. "Wait, I can see you in this!"

"It's a two-way mirror. We can use it in separate detentions!" Sirius said.

"Where did you get it?" Remus asked. "Did your parents give it to you?"

"No, it was for Regulus but he gave it to me."

Riley looked at the mirror harder. She could see James who was now on the other side of the room. It was genius, absolutely brilliant.

***

They went downstairs for dinner. The table was decorated with a simple table-cloth and colorful flowers in the middle. They were seven people in total; Riley, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Euphemia Potter, and Fleamont Potter. Riley didn't really talk much during the dinner, but the others sure did.

"So, Remus, how's your father?" Fleamont Potter asked.

"Uh— you know my dad?"

"Of course, the ministry is using his help to capture dark creatures," he answered. "Intelligent man, really."

"He's fine," Remus shortly answered. "Busy." He then returned to eating slowly.

"Is there something wrong?" Euphemia Potter asked. She looked at Remus and stopped eating. Remus turned to her and smiled wryly. He shook his head.

"No."

Riley looked at Remus for a moment. He didn't look up, not for a second.

"So, Riley, your family are muggles, right?" Euphemia said suddenly. Riley looked up and her eyes widened for a moment.

"Uh— yes, they are."

"Ivy told me that before, the methods muggles use for healing... Ingenious!" she said in amazement. "What are your parents' jobs?"

Riley gulped. Parents, plural. Although, she didn't correct her. "My mum is a lawyer," she said. "My dad used to be a teacher."

"Lawyer?" Fleamont asked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"The job which studies or practices law, defends people in cases and so much more. I don't really know much about it, not really interested. She loves her job though."

The dinner felt like days, weeks... Euphemia and Fleamont Potter were very kind, they were nice people. They didn't make Riley feel uncomfortable. Riley was just never comfortable around new people. James, Sirius, and Peter looked like they were having fun. Remus on the other side just stared at his food, which was now gone. He refused to talk after Mr. Potter asked him about Lyall.