Suffering and Recovering [A Marauders Era Fanfic]

Ch. 4 ~ Cats and Prats

Here you go darlings :) Oh, and yes, some music won't be in that era, but please, pretend it is. And another thing, the Potter universe is owned by J.K. Rowling, not me. 

Here I am at Madam Malkin's, with my idiot twin brother and some guy that I don't even know. He grabbed my arms when I turned around, something which made me very uncomfortable. He just smirked and glanced at James, before turning his gaze back to me.

"Well, hi there," Mr. No-Name smiled. From the corner of my eye, I saw James motioning towards the guy to cut it out. The dude just stared at James in confusion. It was that prat's fault I was in some random guy's grasp, anyway! If anyone should be looking at James right now, it should be me. 

So that's exactly what I did. 

"Padfoot," James sighed, still grinning. "This is Jackie, my twin sister. Jackie, this is my best mate, Sirius." 

Charming, the twit had a name. Well, you know what he won't have? Arms, if he doesn't let go of me right now! I glared at James for a minute longer, before literally throwing myself away from both of them. 

"This is why we were waiting?" I murmured, still glaring at the two of them. "Whatever. I'm going to Florean's without you. You two can just stay here." 

Without waiting for an answer, I stormed out of Madam Malkin's. 

 *

"Ah, there you are!" Mum said, waving me over to a booth at the ice cream parlor. "But where's James?" 

When she mentioned my favorite prat, I glared at her. I think she got the hint, because she didn't mention him again. This is why I love my Mum; she lets things go when she knows she needs to.  

"Anyway, dear, here are forty galleons." She handed me a heavy sack, full of wizard currency. "Go shop for whatever you want, and then meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at dusk." I nodded, relieved that I got to go alone. Once Mum went through all of the regular rules ("Don't set the Monster Books free, and please remember not to release the mice from the Owl Emporium..."), she let me leave. 

Nothing much happened at Flourish and Blott's. I went in, got all of the books I needed, and left. I went to Eeylops Owl Emporium after that, and got immediately side-tracked by all of the adorable animals. I'm kind of an animal-freak, so this was a treat for me. Mum said I could buy a pet, which was pretty exciting, because Beauxbatons didn't allow animals in the castle. The only animals allowed at Hogwarts, though, were cats, owls, and toads, though James knows people who bring mice. I don't want a mouse or a toad, honestly. So that leaves a cat or an owl. There really was no reason to buy an owl, because James took our family owl, Skyler, to Hogwarts with him every year. So that leaves cats. I squealed unintentionally, frightening some mice. 

I'm getting a cat, I'm getting a cat, I sung in my head. 

But that was easier said than done. For one, the cat I bought had to be compatible with my animagus, a wolf; or I could just buy a kitten and train it to be compatible with my wolf. I honestly like that second idea a bit better. So that is why I ventured to the back of the Emporium, to see the litter of newborn kittens. I 'oohed' and 'awwed' at it for a while, before picking out an adorable grey calico kitten. I named her Bella, as cliche as it sounds, because it means 'beautiful' in Latin. 

So, once I purchased Bella and bought her all the necessities, I went shopping for a little while longer, before it began getting darker. I decided that I had a long way to walk, since the Leaky Cauldron was all the way on the other side of Diagon Alley, and decided to head over there. 

 *

It's the day after the Diagon Alley trip. I had another nightmare last night. It feels like the nightmares are getting worse and worse, and I don't like it at all. After I woke up, though, Bella crawled into my lap and fell asleep there. I fell asleep, too, while petting her. 

I see why everyone's so big on pet therapy now. 

But anyway, it's almost 1 in the afternoon, and I just realized that September 1, 1975 is two days from now! I don't have anything packed at all, which is bad, because it takes me a long time to pack all of my stuff. I decided to listen to music while I packed, to help me stay productive. Yes, some people think that it just distracts you, but music really helps me concentrate on the task at hand. That's why, if I don't have music with me, I'm always humming something or the other. I love music, and as corny as it is, music is the one thing (beside Bella) that could help me get over probably anything. 

So anyway, I did my carry-on first, which was a knapsack. I put my photo album in there, along with a brush, a water bottle, a bag of crisps, and some treats for Bella, along with her leash and water bottle. 

Next was my only other piece of luggage, my trunk. I took this trunk with me every year for school. I put in my clothes, Bella's stuff, and everything else that I bought at Diagon Alley. Just as I was locking the trunk, the doorbell rang. 

Strange. We weren't expecting anyone, were we? Still, I turned my music a bit lower, in case it was someone important. 

Suddenly, my bedroom door swung open, and standing in my doorway stood no one important. 

It was Sirius Black. 

Bloody hell.

I'm so sorry guys! I got lost in all ofthe packing I had to do... I'm going on a cruise to Bermuda. But, so what if it's a day late? At least I posted it :P 

Much love, Simmi Howell <33