The Insanity With Dating Padfoot and Prongs

While she walked down Diagon Alley hand in hand with Sirius, Lyra couldn't help but notice what the war had done to their world. The bright streets that had once been filled with loud noises and excited children were no more. In its place was something hardly recognizable. Children still went from shop to shop with their parents, but their smiles had faded, and their mothers and fathers gave furtive glances around at the other witches and wizards. Any one of them could be a Death Eater is disguise.

Remus and Sirius seemed to be unaffected by the change in atmosphere however, and were determined to make the most of their time. They were discussing Quidditch teams when Lyra started listening to their conversation.

"Do you really think Clarke is going to be drafted to the Tornados?" asked Remus.

"I hope so, he's a bloody brilliant Seeker. Much better than the one they've got now," said Sirius.

"McQuillen isn't bad," said Lyra. "He's just had a rough season."

"I think you just like him 'cause he's a prettty boy," said Sirius.

"Well that would explain why she likes you so much," Remus joked.

"Oi!" shouted Sirius. He took a breath to speak, but before they could continue Lyra ushered them into Madam Malkin's.

Less than an hour later, Lyra was turning a jar of Chizpurfle carapaces over in her hands while she browsed the selection of potion ingredients at the apothecary. She was considering purchasing it when Sirius called out for her.

"Lyra, come here," he said from an aisle in front of her. Putting the jar down on the shelf, she made her way to the two Gryffindors.

"What is it?" asked Lyra.

"How much longer will we be in here? You already made us wait forever while you tried on clothes," Sirius complained.

"Oh, come on, we were in there fifteen minutes!"

"Really?" Sirius turned to Remus, who nodded. "Oh.. well it felt like forever."

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. You can leave now while I wait in line with my things if you promise not to spy on Lily and James like I know you were planning on doing," she said.

Sirius bit his lip and looked at Remus. They shared a silent conversation before turning back to her.

"Alright, you've got a deal," he said.

"I'll see you at Fortescue's," she smiled and leaned forward to give Sirius a kiss.

"Bye!" the boys shouted as they practically ran out of the shop.

Lyra gathered her ingredients and brought them toward the counter. There were a few people in line ahead of her, so she waited silently, bouncing on the balls of her feet in boredom. The bell on the door chimed as it was opened and a few girls walked through into the shop.

"Lyra!" one of them called. She was shorter than the others and had mousey brown hair that fell in curls around her face. Lyra recognized her immediately.

"Cheryl! How have you been? I haven't seen you all summer!" Lyra abandoned her place on line to give the girl a hug. She was one of the Ravenclaws she was friends with.

"I've missed you! Been spending all your time with the Marauders, yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lyra bit her lip guiltily. She hadn't meant to neglect her other friends, really, but Sirius and the boys were so much more interesting than her other friends. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. We can always make up for it this year, right?" she smiled to show she wasn't holding it against her.

"Yeah, definitely. I look forward to catching up."

"Me too! You'll have to tell me all about the stuff you and that boyfriend of yours get up to," Cheryl winked suggestively, and Lyra blushed. "How about we have a Girls Night in the common room the first weekend we get back?"

"Sounds like fun," Lyra smiled, excited at the prospect of reconnecting with her friends. One of the girls with her, nudged Cheryl on the shoulder.

"Well I'll find you when we get back to Hogwarts, I'm sure Sirius is waiting for your somewhere," she said.

"Okay," said Lyra. "I'll see you September 1st!"

Lyra watched the other girls disappear between the aisles and turned to see it was her turn on line. She purchased the ingredients and left the apothecary with a smile on her face.

As she walked down Diagon Alley, Lyra started looking around for Sirius and Remus. Even though they weren't supposed to meet at Fortescues for another twenty or so minutes, she wanted to tell them about her run-in with Cheryl. When she was passing Quality Quidditch Supplies, she saw two young men with their noses pressed against the window who looked suspiciously like Remus and Sirius. Suddenly they both dove to the floor, one on top of the other. The one on top turned his head. Definitely Remus.

Lyra approached them, Remus still frozen on top of Sirius. She cleared her throat and looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Care to explain the position you boys are in?" she asked, gesturing at the questionable arrangement their bodies happened to be in.

"Get down!" Remus tugged on her robes and she obliged, getting on her knees beside them.

"What are you hiding from?" she asked. Then she understood. "Oh no. James and Lily are in there, aren't they."

"Maybe?" said Sirius, though his voice was slightly muffled under Remus. "Mate, could you get off? I'm getting a little too acquainted with the pavement than I'd like to be at the moment."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Remus moved and sat down cross-legged in front of Lyra. Sirius turned over and looked up at the window as she sat up, careful to keep his face out of view.

"I told you two not to spy on them," said Lyra. "How would you like it if James spied on us, Sirius?"

"Well, speaking that James is clumsy as hell when stalking someone, I think I would get a lot of enjoyment out of it."

"James isn't clumsy!" Lyra whispered loudly.

"Yes, he is," said Remus. "Well, only when he's trying to be sneaky."

"Like that one time we were sneaking about the castle at night during our first year and he fell down the stairs and rolled all the way to the second floor," said Sirius.

Remus laughed loudly, "I forgot about that. Even Peter was more graceful that night."

"Where is Peter anyway?" asked Lyra. She hadn't heard them talk about him for a while.

"He'll be back soon. Definitely within the week," said Remus.

Sirius hushed them and peeked over the window sill. Remus scrambled to his side, copying him, while Lyra just scoffed.

"Sirius, I really don't-"

"Hush woman and come over here and tell me what they are saying!" Lyra huffed but complied and peered over the window sill.

James was standing next to Lily, pointing to things in a book and speaking softly, while the redhead listened intently.

"All they're doing is talking about Quidditch," said Lyra, with a roll of her eyes. "Come on, lets go get them and get some ice cream. I'm craving something sweet."

Remus turned to Sirius as if Lyra never spoke a word, "We need to do something, something big, to get them to give us something good to watch. They're kind of boring me."

"Well, what do you have in mind?" asked Sirius.

Remus scanned the store for a moment. His eyes finally landed on something worthy of his mischievous deed.

"I know exactly what to do," he said. "You both stay here."

The couple watched as Remus sneaked into the building and made his way to a basket in the back. He gently opened the lid, keeping an eye out for James or Lily, and retracted a Golden Snitch. With a flick of his wand and a mumble of words, the little golden ball began flapping silver wings.

Remus let go of his hold upon it and the little ball went flying! Up and up it went until it was able to clear a self before it flitted down and attacked a messy-haired boy who was leaning in for a kiss from a redhead girl.

"Oi! Sirius!" James said, finally catching the Snitch in his fingers. He made his way passed a laughing Lily to the other side of the self where the Golden Snitch Basket was held. "What in Merlin's-Remus?"

Through laughter Remus spoke, "How-how bad was it? Di-did th-the Snnn-itch knock something on you-your head?"

James growled and pulled the laughing Remus close, whispering, "I was about to kiss her, you prat!"

Remus just laughed harder, going so far as to double over and clucting his stomach. James sighed and shook his head.

"Where's Sirius and Lyra?" Lily asked, trying to hide the smile on her face. Remus, who was too busy laughing to speak, just pointed behind her where the couple was walking in with similar grins upon their face.

"I kinda hate the lot of you right now," said James with a pout once the last two of the group met up with them. Remus, who was finally calmed down, took the enchantment off the ball and quickly placed it back into the basket.

"Oh, come on, it was funny," said Lily, linking arms with James. "Let's get some ice cream."