𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒

Daily Outings

July brought another month of summer and more heat. The eight friends were practically melting under the hot summer sun. Each one of them would prefer to drench themselves in water than be outside for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

...

Remus had just experienced a full moon alone, there were scratches all over his body, leaving him feeling weak, vulnerable, and rather sore. Although all he wanted to do was sit around the house, nursing the scratches that would surely become scars at this rate and avoid all the stares, he was going to meet up with Mary.

In multiple letters, they had agreed he would go to the grocery store, at which she worked, and wait until the end of her shift arrived. Then, they would proceed to walk around and go into a coffee shop nearby.

He had arrived at the grocery store when Mary had ten minutes later of her shift. Remus watched as she bagged and scanned an old man's goods with what he could tell was a fake smile.

She still looked beautiful though. Her lilac and pink highlights had washed out leaving her dark brown hair natural. The sun seemed to bleach the top of her head making her hair color lighter than usual. He smirked when she shoved the register a little harder than she needed to and began to become frustrated with everything around her.

When she finally walked over to him, she smiled softly and they headed out the doors quietly.

Mary's work uniform consisted of a white collared shirt that had one button on the top and a small blue logo over the left breast. She had worn denim shorts that reached her mid-thigh and black sneakers. Remus wore a plain grey shirt and black shorts.

"How was your day at work?" Mary sighed and kicked a rock further down the sidewalk.

"So damn boring. Bagging other people's groceries is not all that it's chalked up to be, y'know. I wish Lily was here to give me one of her cigarettes."

"I didn't know you smoked." She looked up at him and brought back her soft smile.

"I don't usually, I'm like Lily, only in a stressful situation. I haven't seen her carry around as many any more though."

"Well, instead of smoking you could just make a game out of it." Remus suggested shrugging his shoulders.

"A game?"

"Yeah, a game. Like place bets with yourself for how long you think it'll take for someone to buy the next gallon of milk or how long it'll take for the person to check out."

"I see why you're a Marauder." This remark made him narrow his eyes.

"What do ya mean by that?"

"Nothing bad of course, but the four of you always seem to find a positive outlook on something or a way to make ourselves laugh. I don't understand how some people say you're less of a Marauder because you don't get yourself in trouble, you just work behind the scenes."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Anytime Lupin, anytime."

For the first time in what Remus thought was forever, he felt romantic feelings toward a person. Weird right?

...

Alice was woken up abruptly by her yellow curtains being magically swung open and the sound of high heels clicking on the ground. Her mum didn't wear high heels, but her older sister Michelle did.

Michelle wasn't very much like Alice. She was in Ravenclaw and as a kid, she would read books over playing with barbies. You could never describe her as a tomboy or a girly girl, she was somewhere in between.