Little Riddle | James Potter

Eighteen

       "Finally!" Alexis ran out of the house dramatically, pushing past the amused Marauders on her way out.

       "Bloody hell, you're acting like you were being held hostage or something." Sirius joked, earning himself giggles from the girl and a smack in the back of his head from Remus. "Too soon?"

       "Where are we off to, boys?" Alexis walked backwards, facing the Marauders who weren't keeping up with her fast pace.

       "Diagon Alley first. Mum needs us to run some errands." James furrowed his eyebrows while scanning the long list Euphemia had given him, before shoving it back in his pocket. "We can go to Muggle shops downtown later."

       "Yes!" Sirius leapt excitedly. "I get to see my baby!"

       Remus noticed Alexis' confused frown and explained. "A motorcycle. He's been dying to get a motorcycle for ages."

       "Isn't it dangerous to drive one of those?"

       "Oh, you know Sirius." James simpered. "Always concerned about safety."

       The Leaky Cauldron was as empty and eerie as ever when they walked in. The place didn't have any colour to it, and the tales people told about their stay at the lodging were nothing short of interesting.

       "Josh Davis told me he walked in on a house-elf f*****g a witch here," she blurted out, making the boys halt and turn to her with a mixture of disgusted and confused expressions.

       "Is that... biologically possible?" Remus screwed his face in disgust.

       "Dunno." Alexis shrugged. "Hope not."

       "Me too," Peter whispered with a horrified expression etched on his face.

       "Was that all?" Sirius groaned, annoyed, while he carried three bags on each arm.

       "It better be," Remus huffed as he carried several bags himself.

       "Cheer up, buttercups!" Alexis skipped around gleefully, being the only one who wasn't burdened by the heavy load of bags the others were carrying.

       Peter's face was red either from exhaustion or lack of blood circulation, Alexis couldn't tell which. "Can we stop at Fortescue's? Please?"

       A sigh of relief left the boys' lips when they took a seat on the ice cream parlour and placed down the bags while Alexis ordered.

       "Want to see what kind of trouble we can get into?" Sirius gave his well known mischievous grin while he gratefully took the ice cream Alexis handed him before taking a seat herself.

       "Does it involve us dying?" She asked nonchalantly.

       "It's Tuesday." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I know how to restrain myself."

       Remus scoffed, "You absolutely do not." 

       "Come on, don't be such pansies."

       Havoc ensued on the hidden streets of Diagon Alley when Sirius' brilliant idea of causing trouble consisted on turning into their animagus forms and terrorizing the innocent people who were doing some last-minute Christmas shopping.

       Madam Malkin was beyond angry when a wild stag ran into her shop, carelessly running into things and getting robes and fabrics stuck on its antlers. And although Sirius' black dog was quite big and intimidating, no one paid much attention to it. Until it went into Eeylops Owl Emporium, that is. The canine took it upon himself to disrupt the birds as much as he could, making the workers and clients have to deal with the chaos of angry owls.

       No one seemed particularly fazed by the rat running around Flourish and Blotts. Poor Peter almost got stomped several times as people were either disgusted or amused by him. It was all fun and games until a menacing panther joined the party. The rat climbed up and rode in the panther's back victoriously as it scared the soul out of people and dodged the hexes that were thrown their way.

       The four animals ran down the street as a frantic Remus Lupin chased them and begged people to 'help him catch his pets.'

       "This Elvis one is a classic." James admired the vinyl record as the lot of them made their way out of the shop.

       "Sure, but it has nothing on the Frank Sinatra one," Remus countered, seemingly pleased with his choice.

       "I'm just thrilled we finally got 'Long Tall Sally'. Now we finally got all of the Beatles' discography, don't we?" Peter held on tightly to his record as he walked alongside Alexis.

       "Shut up, all of you. Queen is going to be the first record we play when we go back to Hogwarts and that's final." Sirius pushed past them as he held 'A Night At The Opera' up high gloriously.

       "I'm glad you're all happy, now keep it moving, won't you?" Alexis made her way to the next shop completely unfazed by their discussion.

       "Why didn't you buy a record, Lexi?" Remus picked up his pace to walk next to the girl.

       She shrugged nonchalantly while she looked at all the Muggle shops around her. "Don't know much about music, to be honest. The only experience I have with it is when Ms Cole would listen to this really old radio of hers back at the orphanage."

       Sirius gasped dramatically, "That's unacceptable."

       "Every Thursday, 8 p.m., our dorm. Mandatory music sessions." James draped his arm around her while he instructed her on their new weekly activity.

       "So we have music sessions on Thursdays and Dueling Club on Fridays? Will I ever catch a break from you lot?"

       "Pffff! As if you wan—" Sirius stopped in his tracks, a smirk slowly appearing on his face as he stared straight ahead. "Well, well, well! Look who it is!" They all followed his gaze and saw a brown-skinned girl Alexis recognized from Ravenclaw. "Catherine Thirlway."

       "Also known as the love of Remus' life!" James nudged him on the side with a mischievous smirk on his face.

       "I say we stop by to say hello," Alexis commented innocently, noticing Remus' flustered expression straight away.

       "No!" Remus replied briskly, much to everyone's amusement. "Drop it, let's go now."

       "Aw, come on Rem!" Alexis pinched his cheek.

       "It's a veterinary clinic! Newsflash, we don't have any ill pets so let's keep it moving, yeah?" Alexis had never seen Remus so worked up as he tried to pull Peter and James with him.

       "Let's just wait for her outside then." James managed to escape Remus' grip with a childish smile.

       "Why are you even doing this?" Remus groaned exasperatedly. "Let's just go!"

       Sirius smirked, "Don't you want to say hello to Catherine?"

       "Yeah, Remus. Don't you want to say hello to me?"

       Remus stared wide-eyed at his friends, his cheeks already a deep pink colour, before slowly turning around and coming face to face with the Ravenclaw. "Hi, Remus." She gave him a bright smile, hesitating a bit before stepping closer and kissing his cheek. "Hi, everyone."

       "Hi." Remus sounded breathless and his nerves were far too obvious, making Alexis have to step in and help the poor boy who couldn't seem to utter a word. "What brings you here, love?"

       "Oh, my mum's rabbit has been acting odd lately." She pointed at the animal's cage next to her. "I have to get going now; if I stay any longer mum's gonna go mental. See you all back at school!" She waved goodbye as she walked away before stopping and turning to face Remus. "Write to me, yeah?"

       Remus, who couldn't possibly look any redder, nodded furiously and waved goodbye. The group was left in an unusual silence as they all stared at Remus with sheepish smiles.

       "Remus and Catherine sitting in a tree. S - N - O - G - G - I - N -G."

       "Alexis Margarita Riddle, wake up immediately!" Sirius yelled, annoyed. He had gone from jumping on the girl's bed to obnoxiously singing in her ear, but the girl just wouldn't budge and he was running out of options. "You have five seconds until I bring out the good ole bucket of water, my friend."

       She sat up groggily, fixing her hair. "I've been awake for the last ten minutes. I just really enjoy your singing, what a voice that is."

       He threw a pillow at her head which she managed to dodge as she made her way out of bed. "Wanker."

       "Mind telling me why in Merlin's beard I'm being woken up at 8 in the morning?"

       "What do you mean, why? It's Christmas, woman!" He pulled her by the arm and dragged her into the living room where the rest of the boys sat around the tree.

       She was greeted by a chorus of 'Merry Christmas' from the three boys who were still in their pyjamas and were rocking quite the bed hair. "Merry Christmas, boys."

       "Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to come open your presents?" James resembled a child, with his adorable excited face and torn wrapping paper all around him.

       She frowned, "Presents?"

       "Oh, come on!" Sirius waved his arms. "Don't tell me you don't know what presents are."

       "I do know what they are, you dimwit." She playfully smacked the sniggering boy's arm. "It's just that... I've never gotten a gift before."

       The Marauders glanced at each other with sympathy etched on their faces. Although it made complete sense, it had never occurred to them that the orphan never had anyone to care for her, let alone give her gifts. From what they've heard about Wool's Orphanage, it wasn't a surprise the holidays normally went by for Alexis without any acknowledgement. They felt slightly better knowing they would be the ones to give her her first presents, which they had thoughtfully chosen and bought with time. But still, the fact that the sixteen-year-old was about to unwrap her first present ever was depressing, to say the least.

       Remus looked for the packages he had carefully wrapped, even though it didn't look like it, and once he found them he extended the box for her to grab. "What are you waiting for, then?"

       Remus, who knew her main hobbies were writing and reading, got her a beautiful journal that went blank if anyone tried to read it without her permission along with a Stephen King book collection. Peter gave her a mug with little Quidditch players flying around and some black high heels that were surprisingly a perfect fit. Sirius gave her a vinyl record with Rock n' Roll's greatest hits accompanied by a killer red leather jacket.

       Fleamont and Euphemia had been kind enough to get her some presents as well. With Fleamont giving her a set of sweaters and scarves that were ridiculously soft and warm, and Euphemia giving her a full makeup kit she couldn't wait to use.

       James took it upon himself to get her a couple of gifts. She loved the photo album he got her where she could save the pictures she'd take every now and then, (Peter was kind enough to take pictures of the emotional moment with her camera). He also gifted her a necklace with a moon pendant, explaining that he had a matching one of the sun. A beautiful black dress, an illustrative Quidditch book, and an unimaginable amount of sweets were also part of her amazing presents.

       Overall, she couldn't have asked for anything more. She had been weeping ever since Remus handed her the first gift, but for the first time in her life, she cried happy tears. For the first time in her life, she felt the light overcome the darkness.

       "Lex, you still have two gifts here." Peter frowned as he handed them over to her.

       "Josh," she whispered as she held the beautifully wrapped gift. The boys had not so subtly turned to look at James, who was trying his best to look uninterested. She looked at the beautiful, and a bit revealing, purple dress he had sent her along with a card that read 'So you can look like a sexy eggplant for our next date. Xx.'

       As far as she was concerned, she and Josh had left things off as friends, so his gift and obvious flirting had been quite a surprise for her, and apparently for Sirius as well. "Sexy eggplant?"

       "Don't ask." She grabbed the second gift which was a black velvet box, and even though there was no card in it, Alexis had the feeling she knew exactly who it was from. And it made her sick to her stomach. Inside was a beautiful ring shaped like a serpent and a little note.

'Merry Christmas, sister. I'm disappointed we didn't get to spend this beautiful holiday together.'

       She gulped, knowing Tom was displeased with the stunt she pulled a couple of days earlier, which managed to get six of his Death Eaters in Azkaban. She showed the note to the boys who stayed in a silent shock. Of course, it was Sirius who tried to ease the tension.

       "So... turkey, anyone?"

       Apparently, the Potters were known for throwing splendid Christmas parties, and Alexis could now confirm this. It was only 10 p.m. and the house was already full with guests while the music blasted, courtesy of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.

       Sirius had begun drinking earlier in the day, forcing Peter to be his drunken sidekick for the night. So it was really no surprise to see them standing on top of the piano with Sirius serenading the guests and Peter bringing out his best dance moves. Remus had been sending owls back and forth to Catherine, with a smile permanently etched on his face. Alexis swore she saw him kissing one of her letters.

       And then there was James, who was standing behind her, admiring her beauty. "You know what I hate about you?" He approached her gracefully, his hands shoved inside the pockets of his tuxedo. "I want to tell you how beautiful you look, but beautiful is a lazy and lousy way to describe you. It doesn't do you justice."

       "Ah, feeling charming, are we, Mr Potter?" She played with his bow tie.

       "Did it work?" He smirked as he neared her even more, leaving only a couple of inches between them.

       "Did you hear that? That was the sound of my knickers hitting the floor."

       He giggled and stepped closer, leaving no space in between them. "You can joke all you want, but I actually got you right where I want you."

       "Oh, you do?" She asked amused, her hands resting on his chest.

       "Yes." He pointed up towards the mistletoe hanging above them.

       She laughed and shook her head in disbelief, and as if on cue, Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love' began playing. Elvis' voice was drowned out by Sirius' horrific and loud singing, but it didn't make the moment any less romantic.

       She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the corner of his lips, but James had been waiting for weeks and did not settle with just a peck. He didn't hesitate before pulling her in for a deep, passionate kiss. They gazed at each other's eyes, mesmerized, after pulling apart. They both knew things weren't going back to how they were with a swish of a wand, and they were aware they needed a bit more time before jumping in again. But a little snogging with your friend didn't hurt.

       "Go stop Sirius before he leaves us all deaf."

       "Yes, ma'am."