Rage

December 23, 1971. James

   "Sirius, are you ok?" James asked. They had gone from the hallway to Sirius's room. James had never seen his friend cry before, but he couldn't blame him. He didn't know his dad could get like that. He was so angry. It was scary to James. He knew some about Sirius's past with the abuse from his parents, but it's not like it constantly came up in conversation.

   "Yeah, just a little shaken is all. Fleamont doesn't seem like the angry type of guy, and the twins' dad is just...horrible, isn't he?" Sirius responded. His voice was hollow, and he was paler than usual. Suddenly, there was a shout from downstairs.

   "Can all you boys come here please?" came his mum.

   Instead of their normal race down the stairs, they walked down them like normal human beings. James walked into the kitchen just as the twins appeared from outside. He didn't know if he wanted to know what they were doing. 

   "So," Fleamont began. He was still visibly shaken from earlier. James didn't blame him. "We were thinking that we could get the shed and the downstairs, then when we get that stuff done we can head down to Diagon Alley and get some new clothes for everyone, especially the twins," Fleamont barely got done with what he was saying before both the twins started to object.

   "We have some clothes at home we can run over and grab," Romulus said.

   "We don't want to take advantage of you. You both are already feeding us and giving us a safe place to stay," Remus continued.

   "Boys you are not going back to that house until you absolutely need to. We can buy you clothes. Trust me," Fleamont said. Now there was a slight confusion in both the twins' face as they looked at James's parents.

   "What do you mean?" Remus inquired.

   "Were like, rich, dude," James said. His mother shot him a glare. There was a look of understanding, then envy, across their faces. James wondered what that was about. They might not be as well off but surely they could afford the basics. Like a house with enough rooms and food and a library and nice furniture. Surely they had the necessities. Like they might not have a Quidditch field like them, but they probably had nice dinners and a house elf. Who else would cook and clean and do their laundry. A house elf was necessary in a wizard's house. He didn't know how muggles lived without one.

   "Do you think that we could stop by some muggles shops as well?" Remus asked. "Most of our clothes were muggle clothes."

   "Of course, dear," Euphemia said. 

   And so they got to work. They ended up calling Peter over to help. It was Peter and Remus cleaning out the shed under the careful eye of James's father while he, Sirius, and Rom all cleared out the basement. James picked up a small, old cardboard box. It wasn't labeled, and James being the curious type, opened the box with a swift cut of one of Remus's knifes.

   At first, James thought the box was empty. It was when he threw it to the trash pile, that a silvery glint caught his eye. He walked back over to the box to investigate. When he picked up the silvery material, he was surprised by how cold it was. The texture was interesting. It felt like water, but not wet. More in its smoothness. It was very stretchy, and when James looked at it, he noticed something odd. Very odd. It wasn't there. He was holding it, he could feel it. But it wasn't there. And another thing, his hand wasn't there either.

   He asked for the other boys to come over. Sirius did without question, and so did Rom, but with much more grumbling.

   "Okay, so I'm going to do something, and you guys are gonna tell me what you see," James said with enthusiasm.

   "Sure thing," said Sirius.

   "Don't tell me what to do, bitch," was the rather predictable response from Romulus. James, rolled his eyes, and with a wave of the cloak, he covered himself. He heard the gasps, and saw the shocked looks on his friends' faces. However, unlike the total darkness he expected, he could see them clearly. That was odd.

   "James, are you still there?" Sirius asked, confusion evident. He saw Romulus scoff at him.

   "Yeah. Right here Siri," James said, giggling slightly at the startled look on Sirius's face. "I'm thinking that I should scare the other two."

   "I'm telling you right now that Remus won't fall for it, but you can try," Romulus said, with a laugh of his own.

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   December 23, 4:56. Romulus.

   Romulus had been to Diagon alley, and he was still star struck by it, but his awe at the wizard shops was nothing to compare to the awe on both James and Sirius's faces as they looked at the mall in front of them. It was kinda funny. He and Remus shared an amused glance, watching as they took everything in.

   "Alright. R and R, pick out as many clothes as you both think you'll need. James and Sirius, you both can pick out an outfit or two if you wish to. Me and Effie will wander a bit and when your done come find us. Luckily, I've dealt with enough muggles to be able to count their silly papers they hold at such value," Fleamont said with a slight scoff. Romulus rolled his eyes. Both at the 'silly papers', which were a lot more convenient than coins the size of baseballs, and at the 'R and R'. No one had ever called them that before.

   He watched the adults leave, and they were off. James and Sirius kept asking dumb questions like, "What's that box of light that says things?" and "How do muggles come up with the name 'Walkie Talkie'?". They were amusing to mess with. Like the shopping carts for example. James had asked, "What are the little baskets in the cart for? And why does it have a picture of a baby on it? Do muggles shop for babies?". Remus and him just nodded grimly. The look of shock and horror on the boys' face was priceless.

   All in all, him and Rem had gotten quite a few shirts and jeans. Remus opted more for the muscle shirts and torn black skinny jeans, where Romulus liked baggy t-shirts and sweatpants. James had gotten a white button down with rainbow flamingos all over it with basketball shorts, and Sirius got a fancy black leather jacket, with a plain white t-shirt and faded black jeans. They went to go find the adults and pay for their new wardrobes. 

   After that, they took a bus back to the Potter's and got ready for dinner.