The Forest - R.L.

Chapter 51 - The Inn

After another hour or two of laughter and storytelling, parents started to arrive and everyone began to leave one by one until only James and Sirius were left.

Grace spent the majority of the next day studying for her upcoming O.W.L.s. Although she didn't think she needed to start studying yet, her mother had made her promise to at least spend a day studying during the holidays.

After a somewhat productive morning, Grace asked Paula "Is it possible for me and Remus to-"

"Remus and I," her mother corrected.

Grace sighed. "For Remus and I to catch up this afternoon?"

"You spent a whole day with him yesterday," Paula reminded her.

"We wanted to check out the new wizarding inn that's opened up in Larkstowe and see if their Butterbeer is as good as it is at the Three Broomsticks."

"What about your studying?"

"I'll do more tomorrow I swear."

Paula reluctantly agreed and Grace wasted no time rushing to her room to get ready. She emerged half an hour later in a new set of clothes with the top part of her hair braided and the new satchel that her parents had given her slung over her shoulder.

"Where are you going all dressed up like that?" her grandfather asked as she made her way to the front door.

"This is not dressed up," Grace replied, looking down at her jeans and new green knitted jumper – another Christmas present, this one from Abbey.

"For someone who only wears those old hooded sweaters every day of her life that is dressed up," he explained, causing them both to chuckle slightly. "So, are you going out with that Lupin boy with the funny name?"

"Remus? Yeah."

"On a date?"

Grace felt her cheeks grow hot. "Um, yeah I think so."

A smile broke out on her grandfather's face as he turned towards the living room and announced "Mary, you owe me a galleon!"

---

Larkstowe was a relatively small town home to a mostly muggle population, there was still quite a strong wizarding influence however. The wizarding community of Larkstowe tended to stick to themselves, living in small clumps together separate from the muggles like the area that Grace and Remus lived in. This divide between them did not go unnoticed by the muggles, but it had been that way for as long as anyone could remember so they didn't question it.

The inn was the newest addition to the small selection of wizarding shops and facilities that occupied a small lane coming of off the far end of the main road of Larkstowe. To a muggle, the lane appeared to be nothing but a small crooked alleyway filled with empty cardboard boxes and other miscellaneous rubbish.

To a witch or wizard, however, the lane was alive and bustling, with people of all ages sitting outside cafes, flicking through brightly coloured robes and playing around with trinkets in shop windows. Whilst the wizarding community of Larkstowe was rather small, they all visited the lane for all of their magical and social needs, making it always seem rather busy.

The lane was positioned right next to a bookstore owned by an older Squib woman that both Grace and Remus frequented, outside of which they had planned to meet.

As Grace began to approach the bookstore, she caught sight of Remus leaning against one of its windows, fiddling with the handles of the rectangular paper bag he was holding.

"Hey," she greeted him simply as she stopped beside him on the pavement.

"Hey," he returned, suddenly looking up at her before glancing back to the bag. "Oh, erm, I got you this."

The bag exchanged hands and Grace peered inside.

"A flower? In a bag...?" Grace queried as she reached inside and pulled it out.

"The others said I should get you flowers or something," Remus replied, shuffling his feet slightly.

"And you actually listened to them? I must say, this is not their worst piece of advice," Grace said as she lifted the rose to her nose and inhaled, its scent coming as a pleasant surprise. "It smells like chocolate!"

"That's because it is chocolate. It's just charmed into the shape of a rose. I didn't completely follow their advice, don't worry."

"Wait, so I can eat it?" Grace asked excitedly as they began to walk towards the lane's entrance, making sure no muggles were watching them closely before turning down it. Remus nodded and Grace proceed to break off one of the petals and pop it in her mouth, releasing a hum of pleasure before holding the chocolate flower out to Remus who copied her actions.

They continued to wander down the lane, only stopping to laugh at an extremely bizarre dress robe in the window of one of the shops. By the time they reached The Lark's Nest at the end of the lane they had already nearly finished eating the rose, breaking up the final piece of the step as they walked inside.

The inn was quite full – many wizards and witches had come in to see what all of the fuss was about – but they managed to find two free barstools along the very end of the bar. Grace suspected they were only free because no one wanted to sit next to the group of extremely rowdy men beside them. They didn't really mind though, it just meant they had to yell a bit in order to be heard by the other.

Remus went over to the bar and ordered them both a Butterbeer, plonking them both on the bar in front of them as he sat back down beside her. Grace wasted no time in taking a huge gulp of her drink.

"It's pretty good, I must admit. Not as good as the stuff at The Three Broomsticks but it's certainly up there," she reasoned as she put her glass back down again, a line of buttery foam left above her mouth.

"You have uh... a little something..." Remus began, motioning to his top lip.

"Oh, do I?" Grace asked, before taking another sip of her drink, adding more to the foamy moustache she had created. "How about now?"

"Much better. Moustaches really suit you, you should have one more often. Start a new trend," he added with a laugh before taking a sip of his own Butterbeer, leaving him with a small foam moustache of his own.

"Copycat."

"It's not as good as yours though, I'm jealous."

An idea popped into her head and Grace suddenly leaned forward pecking Remus on the lips in the hope of transferring some of her foam to his moustache, but only succeeding in smooshing the foam around their mouths more.

"That worked a lot better in my head."

"You're weird," Remus said with a chuckle as he used a napkin to wipe the misshapen foam mess from his face. Grace copied his actions.

"And yet you're still here," she replied, smiling before leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Yes, I can't understand why. Are you sure you haven't got me under the Imperius curse or-" Remus cut his sentence off suddenly.

He thought he heard someone say something, one word in particular, one word that he dreaded hearing, but he couldn't be sure.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked, looking around.

"A werewolf!?" one of the men beside them cried loudly. "You think we have a werewolf here in Larkstowe?"

"Oh," she said simply, looking back to Remus who sat there completely frozen, the panic clear across his face.

---

I feel like the whole mustache thing is a bit weird but I kept it anyway. In fact I feel like this whole werewolf thing (at the end, youll see more next chapter) is weird too but oh well its happening.

Also sorry for being M.I.A. for so long, I had an exam for a special science school I'm trying to get into, I've had endless school musical rehearsal and also emotions??? have been a bit everywhere which is fun but I'm feeling much better now :)

- Grace