In The Books

Chapter Two - The One In Which Amber Gets A Feathery Surprise

That night Amber lay quiet in her bed, wrapped up in her blankets. Her bed was in the middle of the room, piled high with pillows and blankets of all variety. She wondered for a moment if she would be able to to bring all of her comfortable bed dressings to Hogwarts with her before her mind wandered onto other things.

The room she slept in was lit only by the moonlight streaming in from her window. From here, she could see different shops such as Honeydukes, and also pubs like The Leaky Cauldron. Amber found herself, on nights where she couldn't sleep, staring at the lights of Hogsmeade until they went out at roughly three every morning.

Tonight all of the lights in Hogsmeade were off and she was stuck staring at the stars. She dreamed of Hogwarts and its fantastical stories. Her hands itched at her to get up and read Hogwarts: A History for the millionth time, but she refrained from this itch and instead burrowed herself into her warm cocoon of blankets. Her mother always had some sort of charm on the house, making it nearly unbearably cold. She wondered for a moment how Remus was fending before deciding that he would be fine with the soft wool blankets in the guest room. "He's probably sleeping soundly, as I should be." She whispered into the emptiness of her room. Eventually, she turned her body from the window and allowed herself to drift off into sleep filled with dreams of Hogwarts and the magnificent feasts she would tuck into there.

Meanwhile, Remus lay in his bed in the guest room with his mind working away. Avery seemed set on Sirius being innocent, but he wasn't so sure. Avery hadn't know Sirius nearly as well as the rest of them, he thought, so how would she know? He deeply wished he could consult one of his former friends, but they were gone. They were all gone.

The next morning Avery was up at the crack of dawn cooking breakfast for her daughter and her guest. She stood in her pajamas that she never wore, with her hair up in a messy bun. She hummed to herself a Weird Sisters song as she scrambled some eggs and flipped some pancakes with her wand at the same time.

This was how Remus found her when he awoke, nearly having his head sliced clean off as a butcher's knife flew by her head and into a pan of bacon. "Always the same. You were horrid with cooking even in our school days. We could never keep down your food." Remus joked warmly, watching as a small smile appeared on Avery's face.

"Ah, just as critical as ever, I see. Guess you can take the man out of the prefect position, but you can't take the prefect out of the man." Avery retorted. Remus scoffed at sat down at the dining room table.

"Moony?" Avery muttered after a few moments of comfortable silence. Remus hummed in response. "Where have you been for the past five years?"

Remus took a deep breath a sighed. He had anticipated this question, but he still had absolutely no idea how to answer it.

"All about, I suppose. Spent some time in Romania. Some in the states. Egypt. I've been trying to find work, Avery, but nobody'll take me." He settled with. Avery nodded solemnly. "I told you I would be back on her eleventh birthday, Paws. And here I am."

"Paws?" Avery inquired.

"Yeah. That's what...that's what Lily and James used to call you."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"So should I go get Amber and wake her up or-" Remus was suddenly cut off by Avery shaking her head rapidly.

"You let that girl wake up on her own if you want to keep all your hair." She said shaking her head. Remus gulped.

"Noted."

There was silence again.

"So what's been going on while I was away?"

"I told her the stories. And I taught her some simple wandless magic. She still has no idea where I go during the full moons. I'm surprised she hasn't caught onto it, really, she's such a bright girl." Avery hummed something to herself before abruptly stopping and shaking her head. "I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed."

"If she's as bright as you say she is," Remus began, "then she probably does know. But she also knows better than to bring it up."

The two adults were cut off by the soft sound of feet padding their way into the kitchen.

"So this is Diagon Alley?" Amber murmured, her jaw touching the floor and her eyes widened in awe. "It's absolutely magical!" She managed to say.

"I sure would hope so." Remus quipped, causing Avery to slap him on the arm and to give him a look that told him to allow her daughter the moment.

"Oh, Remus. You must remember how magical it was to come here for the first time ever." She said as she watched Amber run up in front of multitudes of  shops, pressing her hands on the glass and peering in with a look of pure curiosity on her face.

"She's such a wistful girl." Remus commented, watching as the girls hair framed her face in the wind and as her eyes shone with a sort of unearthly glow.

"Yes, well that's what happens when you're obsessed with reading fantasy novels." Avery chuckled, calling Amber back to her. 

"So where would you like to go first?" Avery asked her daughter, watching with a small smile as she spun in circles taking in the entire area. 

"This place is so much different than Hogsmeade! What's that place?"

Amber was pointing at the pet shop. Avery chuckled to herself silently and gave Remus an, "I told you so." Kind of look.

"That's the pet shop. Since you're a first year you have a limited selection of magical creatures you're allowed to bring to Hogwarts. I suggest either a cat, toad, or an owl. Maybe a ferret if you promise to take great care of it. Owl's are the most practical though so keep that in mind." Remus spoke up, taking Amber's hand and tugging her towards the shop. 

The two stepped into the store and both had matching looks of wonderment. Amber as she had never seen such a place before (she had seen the pet shops in Hogsmeade, but they weren't nearly as full as this particular shop in Diagon Alley) and Remus because he had completely forgotten about how amazing magical animals could be. There were little birds flying around the shop in the air and almost immediately one landed on Amber's head. 

Amber felt the little animal land on her head, and without missing a beat she put her hand up to her hair for the little animal to nip at or sniff. The tiny little bird jumped on her finger and as she was petting the little creature a voice came from above her that caused her to look up in surprise. "Ah, the griffin. Mischievous little animals those are."

The owner of the shop had noticed Amber nearly right away, and although he was surprised about the baby griffin taking a liking to her, it made him happy to see that the girl wasn't immediately terrified of the beast. "They start off super small as babies, but eventually can grow to the size of a horse, or even larger."

"I want it." Amber said immediately, looking straight at Remus. "Look at him! He's absolutely adorable. Hi, little guy." She watched in glee as the griffin nudged her hand affectionately. 

"Amber...I'm not sure that's very wise-"

"Are you sure darling? Griffins are not easy to take care of." Avery said, showing up over Remus's shoulder with a look of determination on her face.

"I want him." Amber assured. 

"Alrighty then. I'll go pay. You and Remus shop for a little cage for him." 

"Is she even going to be able to take him to Hogwarts?" Remus asked Avery before she could escape.

"Dumbledore likes me. I'm sure I can work something out."

"If you say so." Remus said, finally following after Amber. When he caught up to her he helped her pull a fairly large griffin cage off the shelf.

"This should last him a year or two." Amber said, looking up at Remus with her doe eyes.

"What's his name going to be?"

"What do you suggest?"

"How does Aether sound? A magical plane of closely related to the ether realm. It's a realm that deals with non-material objects." Remus suggested.

"Maybe Alaric. It means noble leader. He looks like he could grow up to be  a noble leader." Amber said, smiling when the little griffin nipped happily at her finger.

"I think he likes Alaric." 

"Me too."