And There Were Always Two... - oc x r. lupin & oc x s. black

- 11 -

Remus and Ashley sat across from each other in the carriage. She was still in a bad mood but tried not to show it too much. Her mug of tea had diminished to a few sips and some undissolved honey congregating at the bottom. Ashley used the spoon to scrape it up and eat it.

"What do you usually do at Hogsmeade?" he asked, leaning forward.

Ashley glanced at him sideways, wondering what made him think she wanted to talk.

Remus just looked at her simply, without much emotion other than a subtle smile. The wind was messing with his hair and he let it.

"Honeydukes, Three Broomsticks, and messing around at Zonko's," she answered. "I'll restock whatever I need and go wherever Mavis wants. I guess she's fooling around with Sirius now, so I'm going to go alone."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

Remus looked slightly offended.

"Don't you want me to come along?" he inquired, leaning back in his seat.

Ashley scrunched her nose to push her glasses up.

"I thought you were going with Potter and Pete, and besides that, I'm not good company. Not when my face reminds you of-"

"-oh stop. And I like your face and you're a delight to be around."

"And the Marauders?"

"They won't mind," Remus assured her. "James is going to chase Evans around again and Peter will follow him like a lost puppy."

Ashley snorted, Potter sure was stupid when it came to that girl.

"Then where do you want to go?"

"Well, first I like to get quidditch supplies," Remus joked, making his voice an octave lower. "'Cause you know how much I like quidditch. I then proceed to Zonko's because I don't play by the rules. To eat, I go to the Hog's Head for some fire whiskey, and when I've drunk enough I go battle ghosts in the Shrieking Shack."

Ashley smiled at his tall tale.

"But really," he said, his voice returning to normal. "Probably Scrivenshaft's, Honeydukes to restock my chocolate supply, and the Three Broomsticks, nothing out of the ordinary."

"I need some new quills," Ashley realised. "I keep losing mine, or in other words, Mavis keeps stealing mine."

Remus chuckled.

The carriage arrived and the two jumped out.

"Where to first?" Remus asked.

"Quite the gentleman, are you? How about Scrivenshaft's?"

"As you wish," he answered, holding out his elbow.

Ashley twined her arm through his and they set off down the street.

As it was the first trip of the year, there were excited third-years everywhere. Zonko's was overflowing and Honeydukes, too. Remus and Ashley walked past those busy shops and into an empty one.

"Ooh!" Ashley exclaimed, letting go of Remus and rushing over to where all the inks were. "Look! They've got the House colours!"

Remus walked over and looked over her head. Some inks swirled with two colours: yellow and black for Hufflepuff, green and silver for Slytherin, blue and bronze for Ravenclaw, and red and gold for Gryffindor.

"That's new," he said coolly, smiling at Ashley's excitement.

"And colour-changing quills!" she added, scampering across the store. "And spell-checking quills! I need one of those, my spelling is absolute rubbish."