The Marauders: Year Four

The Tent in the Woods

The Tent in the Woods

Peter stood on the wizarding in front of the Leaky Cauldron, on the wizarding side, an hour early, clutching a bag full of chocolate, waiting patiently for his friends. He dawdled foot to foot and watched unusual people enter and exit through the brick walls of the passage into Diagon Alley, waiting for Severus, Remus, or James to come bounding out, looking for him. James arrived first, carrying a medium-sized cardboard box. He paused, looked around, spotted Peter, and a look of surprise crossed his face as he came over. "Hey Pete," he said as he came over, his eyes sweeping head to toe of his mate. "You look... different."

Peter looked down at himself. He hadn't realized it, but James was right. Peter had lost a considerable amount of weight over the summer. Although this only kept him from being as round as he'd once been - he was still soft 'round the midd - it did make his clothes quite baggy and now that he thought of it, he had been pulling his belt past the usual hole by almost three and tucking the tail in 'round his side lately. Apparently, having to fix one's meals made eating a bit more challenging than Peter was used to.

"Yeah, I s'pose I do," Peter said, then, almost accusingly, "You look different, too, you know. You've gotten new glasses."

It was true, James had gotten new glasses. Gone were the specky, wire frames he'd worn as a child. He now had thick black frames with square-ish lenses 'bout his eyes. He grinned and nodded, "Yeah, I thought they looked a bit more my age. Going on fifteen this year, being 14 and a quarter years old, I figured it was time to do with a bit better of style."

"You're a bit taller, too," Peter added.

James nodded. "Been working out, too, practicing my broom handling. Wait 'til you see some of the tricks I learned to do. Mum and Dad got me a Cleansweep '75 - top of the line model, you know. It's what Puddlemere's flying this summer."

"Wow, blimey, that's grand," Peter said, used to James's bragging tone.

"Yeah, it's pretty great. I can't wait to go flying with Sirius!" James grinned, "I've packed my broom, it's in my bag." He paused, then, "Is that chocolate for Remus?"

"He asked for it," nodded Peter. "Why is that what's in your box, too?"

"There's some in there," James nodded. "Told my mum that I was in charge of food for the weekend and I think she got a bit confused and thought that by weekend I meant until the very ends of time. There's enough food in here to feed a giant - an army of giants really. Oh and she's made you a couple birthday cakes. Two different flavors because she didn't believe me that you'd like any flavor cake. So you've now got a strawberry one in here as well as a butterbeer cake."

"Butterbeer cake!" Peter looked famished at the thought of it. "Blimey, your mum's fantastic!"

"Yeah. Sirius is going to be excited, too, she made a roast with cracked pepper and cut it up into sandwiches slathered with a horseradish sauce she made last year when he stayed with us over Christmas that he particularly fancied."

"SHE MADE THE ROAST?!"

The words echoed down the street, making James and Peter look up (several other witches and wizards in the square before the Leaky Cauldron looked up, too, annoyed by the shouting) and there was Sirius and Remus, coming out through the crowd. Peter was surprised to see that Remus had grown so much his ankles showed a bit at the bottom his pants. His curly hair was shaggier than usual and his dark brown eyes were bright, cheeks pink, and shirt dirty and only half tucked in. This was a very different, more relaxed version of Remus Lupin.