The Alternate | A Harry Potter Original Fanfiction by Ameliapondicus

Chapter 5

James stuck his wand up his sleeve and straightened his coat. Looking out the window, he noticed rain coming down gently against the glass.

"James? Are you ready to go?" Lily called from the bottom of the stairs. "Sirius has been waiting for while, and so has Harry."

"Yes, dear, I'm coming." James responded. Taking in a sharp breath, he turned and went down the meet them.

"So, the Leaky Cauldron?" James asked as everybody grabbed his hand. Harry was clinging tightly to his mother's neck. "Then Lil's and Harry can go and do their thing. Sound good?"

"Just get on with it, James." Sirius growled. Scowling at Sirius, James twisted, and they Disapparated with a sharp pop.

************

"I'll send you a message when we are done." Lily pecked James on the lips. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Us?" James teased. "It would be impossible."

Lily and Harry walked in the opposite direction, looking for a store that sold school supplies that Harry might like.

"Are you actually sending him to a Muggle school?" Sirius asked.

James nodded. "Lily wants him to get some more of her culture in him."

"By sending him to a school?" Sirius started walking into the pub, holding the door for James.

"He could learn a lot!" James protested. "He could learn- oh, what are they called, multiplication tables?" James ended up guessing.

"That sounds about right."

"How many wizards or witches did you know who knew their multiplication tables?"

Sirius shrugged. "Not many," he confessed. "But what happens if he does magic accidentally?"

James pursed his lips. "I have no idea. If he talks about it, he is only five, and children are known for their wild imagination at that age."

"He must get that from Lily."

"Oh, shut it." James pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks. They folded away to open up Diagon Alley. It was brightly lit with magical shops. "Oh, look," he pointed. "Honeyduke's bought a Diagon Alley location."

"That's nice, James. C'mon, let's go." Sirius motioned down the dark tunnel of Knockturn Alley. It was damp, and yellow wanted posters covered almost every wall.

"I hate this place," James muttered. The slime on the stones of the wall glistened in the dark candlelight. It cast eerie shadows on the cobblestone that made him jump whenever it moved funny.

"Borgin and Burkes is just up there." Sirius pointed to a tall green building with lots of windows. Inside were countless odd artifacts, some that James had never seen in his twenty-five years.

"What are all these things?" He asked, squinting through the window. A shrivelled hand was resting on a velvet pillow. "These all look like Dark Magic."

"Probably is, mate." Sirius ran to another section of the Alley. He jumped up, grasping the edge of the building next to him, and swung himself up onto the roof. Crawling along the shingles, he now had a birds eye view of the Borgin and Burkes. "This is a good place to spy."

Grunting a little, James joined him on the roof. "How long do you think we'll have to wait?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but hopefully he'll come out soon."

"So you have been spying on this shop for a while?" James questioned. "Is this where you have been?"

Sirius nodded. "All of the trails lead back to here. It's so full of Dark ties to magic and people." He shifted his position. "I knew that this had to be where Peter was holed up."

They waited in silence for a couple of minutes, before Sirius started hitting James hard on the arm. "James! He's there."

"Where?"

"By the counter."

James stretched his neck and scanned the building. A man with greasy grey hair had their back to them, and was talking animatedly with-

"Peter." He breathed. Their friend was just as small and fragile as he remembered. A receding hairline spoke of stress, and his movements were sharp and jerky, like when he was a rat.

"Oh my God." James sat up. "What the hell do we do?"

"I don't know, James. " Sirius took a deep breath. "I don't want him to die."

James looked up sharply. "Well, of course not. No one deserves to die."

"So what should we do?"

"We tell the Order, or more specifically, Dumbledore. He can lead a team to arrest Peter."

Sirius nodded in agreement. Sliding down carefully, they dropped from the roof and walked quickly out of Knockturn Alley.

***********

"I want to buy some candy for Harry," James said as they entered Honeyduke's. It was bright and colourful; candy littered the shelves and bins by the door. Hogwarts aged students were starting to collect all their school books for the upcoming year. "I haven't spoiled him in a long time."

"You gave him two Quidditch related pillows yesterday."

"That was for his birthday!"

"It was YESTERDAY, James."

They were looking in the sugar quill bins when a silvery substance floated toward them. It quickly took shape of a doe. "Harry and I are finished, James." It said. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron for some butter beer." The Patronus dissolved after it finished delivering the message.

"What kind of magic was that?" A boy with short brown hair and a Scottish accent asked. "My parents never told me about that spell!"

"Oh," James said, surprised. "It's a Patronus Charm."

"Cool!" The boy was sporting Puddlemere United badge on his shirt. "Did you play Quidditch at Hogwarts?"

"Yeah," James answered, astounded at this boy's many questions. "I was a Chaser."

"I"m going to be a famous Keeper one day. Soon, you'll hear the name Oliver Wood everywhere in the world!"

Sirius laughed. "You bet, kid."

The boy turned as someone, presumably his mother, called him. "Bye!" He called, racing after his mum.

"That was interesting." Was all James said.

"Thanks goodness he didn't hear your name, mate." Sirius sucked on a sugar quill, and jumped when the shop owner yelled at him for not paying for it. "You were famous at Hogwarts."