@wolfstarmicrofic June 17, word count 465
It was their first weekend in Hogsmeade, and Sirius was very excited. He’d been there before, but only to appreciate the only wizard-only village in the UK. He and his brother hadn’t been allowed in any of the shops, even though Honeydukes had smelled so good and definitely not Zonko’s.
“I want to go to Honeydukes, then Zonko’s, then the Three Broomsticks, then the post office,” he counted all the places off on his fingers. “Oh, oh, oh, and we can’t forget the shrieking shack! Mother wouldn’t go near it, said only riff-raff are excited by observing poverty.” He screwed up his nose at the thought of her.
“I’ve heard it haunted! Ghosts or some horrid beast or something. I can’t remember what they said. ” Peter piped in. “The villagers won’t go anywhere near it,” Sirius slung an arm around Peter's shoulders.
“We’re not afraid of little ghosties, are we, Pete? We’re braver than the whole village put together, aren’t we?” Peter didn’t look as convinced as Sirius was, but he went along with it anyway.
“Yeah, we’re not afraid of ghosts; they’re afraid of us!” James said confidently, winking at Peter to reassure him.
“I just want to go to the sweet shop, but I’ll come along for the rest,” Remus agreed to Sirius’s itinerary. Sirius beamed at him. He’d opened up to them since they’d discovered his secret at the end of first year. It had taken a long time, but Sirius really felt like they were proper friends now.
With bags bulging with sweets, pockets full to bursting with jokes and pranks and a warm belly full of butterbeer, the group walked towards the dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the village.
“Wow!” Sirius exclaimed, rushing ahead to get a better look. The shack was better than he could have ever imagined. It looked like it was held up by magic with the lean it had on it. All the windows and the door were boarded up with signs pinned everywhere saying, ‘Danger. Keep Out!’ The others joined him at the fence he was leaning over to get a better look. Remus’s sudden intake of breath made him drag his eyes away from the gloomy building. “Remus? Are you alright?” He’d gone white, and his hands were shaking. Sirius took them and squeezed gently. Remus’s eyes flicked to his.
“It’s me. I’m the beast the villagers are hearing. That's where they keep me on the full moon,” he whispered. Sirius didn’t think twice; he dropped one of Remus’s hands and led him back towards the village. “Come on, Remus, there’s a bookshop I forgot about. Let’s go and find you a new book to read.”
Sirius never visited the shrieking shack again after that first visit. Well, not the outside at least.
