Fizzing Whizbees

~10~

The summer past quickly for James Potter. After a week of insufferable coddling by his mum and "father son bonding activities" set up by his dad, the Marauders finally came for a visit. Sirius was the first to arrive, a day earlier than expected, via the Night Bus. "I just couldn't take them anymore!" He said to an un-expecting, yet understand Mrs. Potter as she opened the door. A cot was set up in James' room, seeing as Sirius preferred sleeping next to his best friend than in the guest bedroom, with plans of it staying there all summer. At night, the boys schemed, devising master pranks and brainstorming glorious ideas for the year to come. Most days they wouldn't fall asleep until past three in the morning and wake up no earlier than noon, which threw off Mrs. Potter's daily schedule. But the boys couldn't be happier to be together. Two days after Sirius arrived, around the time of the full moon, Remus Lupin came for a visit. Peter was stuck at home with his folks, but he encouraged them "to have a great adventure without him!" and a promise that he would "be with you guys by the next full moon!" Hence, the Potter's place became a community house for the summer, taking in homeless and stray wizards (and the occasional witch, whom Mr. and Mrs. Potter remained unaware of).
On particularly busy days, when all of the Marauders were present, the boys would transform into their animagi and wander around the small forest behind the Potter estate, or they would play a 2 vs 2 quidditch game in the small meadow just out of eyesight from the muggles. Occasionally, they would sneak into town.
One particularly mischievous night, the rare occurrence of boredom struck the Marauder's hearts, resulting in their almost-expulsion from Hogwarts and James Potter's possible last chance to see Lily Evans.

It was a muggy summer night. Mr. Potter was sitting in his study reading a book about curse breaking and watching the nightly news while Mrs. Potter worked on her new sewing pattern. The Marauders were laying outside in the thick grass, stunning the swarms of insects with Mrs. Potter's new Zappo! Bug-Be-Gone magical bug removal device. It was too hot to transform into their animal counterparts, and the heat made them too lazy to do anything wild and adventurous.
"Comrades, we have to make the most of our summer." an unmotivated Sirius reminded the crew. "I know we are making the world a better place with each mosquito we zap away, but that cannot be all life has planned for us." He finished.
"What do you propose?" Asked a sleepy Remus Lupin.
"W-what about a giant slip-n-slide?" Peter chimed in. "We must have the materials at your house, Prongs. We could set it up, fill it with water and slide around. That'll be fun!"
"Too much effort. Too late. Too dark." James groggily mumbled while zapping another bug.
"What about going into town?" Sirius proposed, with a mischievous smile. "We promised we would do it at least once this summer, and I'm sure that little pub will be filled with hot girls thirsty to get away from this summer heat."
James and Peter perked up at that idea, Remus remained laying on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Yeah..." James pondered the idea, "I'm sure they can use a little magic on this dreary day." He got up to his feet, wiping grass off his buttocks. The rest of the Marauders followed.
It was around dusk and town was quiet, seeing as everyone was hiding away in air conditioned houses and restaurants. The Marauders approached the dingy pub with devious smiles, glad to see that it was full. A big screen stretched across the wall behind the bar, and it was showing a moving picture of a bunch of boys in uniforms kicking a ball with their feet. The muggles seemed entertained.
Sirius approached the bar, strategically placing himself in-between two teenage girls, and looked at the menu. "Four Guinness' for me and my mates." He advised the bartender, who seemed frazzled and overworked. The bartender nodded in acknowledgement that he understood the order, and started making the drinks. Sirius continued looking at the menu. "Wow. Look at all the drink options they serve here." He said out loud, but not to himself. The two girls turned to him, intrigued and a bit angry that he was blocking their view of each other. "Back in the small town I live in, the pub has three options...beer, wine and whiskey. I'm getting a bit sick of Guinness, though. Say, what do you guys recommend?" He turned to the girls, who were starting to gain interest.
"I like a sidecar." One girl offered.
"Would you mind if I buy you one, then?" Sirius asked. The girl smiled and nodded shyly. "My only request is that you and a couple friends come
drink it with me and my mates." Sirius made a nodding motion towards the table, which the Marauders sat down at. James, who had his arms stretched around the booth seat, waved the girls over.
"Alright, yeah, I can do that." The girl responded.
"Brilliant!" Sirius responded, turning to go back to his table with the beer, not waiting for the girl to follow.
Minutes later, the girl came with four friends and sat down at the Marauder's table. "What about them drinks you offered?" The girl asked Sirius flirtatiously before sliding into the seat next to him.
"Right!" Sirius said, "Shots all around, then?" The girls smile and nodded, and Sirius made a motion towards the bartender, who understood.