Chapter 326 - Unpredictable Episode

A family of four can be seen setting a green tent. A medium-sized boy with mousy brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes wipes the sweat off his face in the warm morning sun. Peter Pettigrew having lost most of his fat from quidditch looked like nothing from before. Freckled and tan from his summer job of working in the gardens, and he looked a bit like a ruggedly handsome youth.

"Thanks for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin," Pettigrew gratefully said.

"It was no trouble at all, dear," Hope Howell replied with a warm smile. "It's the least bit we could do after all the herbal homemade remedies your mother sends my way."

Pettigrew flushes and says, "It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Lupin. Mum just likes to help where she can."

"Indeed, Mrs. Pettigrew is a fine woman," the voice of Lyall Lupin can be heard commenting from behind them. "It's a shame that your mother's friend is ill, and she wasn't able to make it."

Pettigrew nods his head in agreement as he grabs his things off the ground and steps into the tent. Pettigrew gapes at seeing a small kitchen inside with a fridge, a tiny living room, and what looked like two bedrooms. "Wow," Pettigrew said in awe.

"Wow indeed," Remus Lupin echoed his friend's words.

Hope steps into the tent and says, "You, two boys in the left bedroom, while we take the right bedroom."

The two boys excitedly rush towards the bedroom as Lyall wraps an arm around his wife and presses a kiss to her cheek. "Clever wench," Lyall whispered. "Now we at least have one bedroom to ourselves."

Hope swats her husband's wandering hand and says, "I'll have you know that I'm proud to say that I am of welsh blood and we are never wenches!"

Lyall chuckles as his wife teasingly skips to the bedroom with him willingly following after. The door firmly closes shut behind them as Lupin knowingly says, "We should take a look around." He knew his parents rather well and they would want their privacy for a bit.

Pettigrew and Lupin scurry out as the sunlight hits the russet hair of Remus. Ever since the cure not only was Lupin that much less tired but healthier too. His complexation was bright and healthy, and despite still being rather slender, he'd sprouted several inches over the summer.

Pettigrew and Lupin point to the interesting tents and wizards. They spot a wizard that was playing some sort of a flute in front of a runespoor snake with its three heads bobbing to the beat. Further ahead is some sort of Mayan like temple with a tropical rainforest surrounding it, and rather out of place given the climate.

After some time of wandering around, Lupin says, "I bet that James and Sirius are together."

Pettigrew shrugs and says, "Yea, but I'd rather stick with you, Remy. No offense, but sometimes the two of them simply won't shut up. At times like that, I actually find myself missing Rowan's silence."

Lupin chortles with glee, "If Rowan heard you, she'd just stare at you in disbelief."

Pettigrew sniffs and says, "Weirdly enough, she's grown on me after all these years. And she's not that bad for a girl or for a Slytherin for that matter. She's rather nice when she wants to be."

Lupin shakes his head and says, "Mm, Rowan would pretend otherwise if she heard you. She's finicky like that."

"Girls," Pettigrew instantly responded as if that answered everything.

"Definitely," Lupin assented in agreement.

Glancing up at the noonday sun, Lupin says, "Well, we better head back. Mum's probably already started to fix us lunch."

Pettigrew glances around and says, "I'd like to just look around for a bit more. I'll catch up to you in a bit."

"Alright," Lupin said with a shrug, before turning back.

Pettigrew hadn't wandered for long when he saw several boys gathered around a girl. Wanting to mind his own business, but a bit worried for the girl, he wandered a bit closer with the intent to overhear what was going on.

A familiar somewhat nasally voice says, "Leave me alone, you, cretins!"

A nasty laugh can be heard from one of the heavier set boys. "I heard from my grandfather Quyen Crowley that your parents are offering a ridiculously large dowry to marry you off. Must be because your mug's so darn ugly, but that's not a problem in the dark with enough drink in one's system."

The other boys chortle at the mocking words as Quyen Crowley flushes in anger and utter humiliation. Lips twitched in a snarl, she hissed, "What about the four of you? All I see is third rate purebloods with no money to speak of and living off the crumbs of the main branches."

"You b*tch!" The heavy sized boy roared as he lifted his ham sized fist into the air.

Quyen pales with dread and closes her eyes expecting the blow to connect. A loud cry of pain causes her to peek out from under her eyelashes to only see someone kicking her attacker away. Her tormentors had been kicked away in a surprise attack.

Gawking Quyen suddenly finds her would-be rescuer dragging her by the and. "Come on, run!" Her unknown rescuer shouted.

Quyen hurriedly fled with her rescuer as her heart pounded in her ears and a faint flush that rose in her face, not from the heat. Glancing down shyly at the tanned, calloused hand that was holding her own caused her to blush even fiercer. She'd never been this close to a boy of her own age and much less held a boy's hand in this type of manner.

"Phew, I think we lost them," her rescuer wheezed.

"Thank you," Quyen shyly stammered.

"Er, no problem, Crowley," her rescuer awkwardly stammered.

Gingerly taking her hand back, Quyen gets a good look at her rescuer's face and turned a splotchy red in mortification. "Pettigrew?" Quyen whispered aghast.

"Is that problem?" Pettigrew asked while furrowing his brows.

"No, no!" Quyen cried out in panic. "I just hadn't gotten a good look at your face until now."

"Oh," Pettigrew sheepishly murmured as he scratched his chin. "Well, I best be going now, the Lupin's are waiting for me."

"Oh," Quyen numbly said as she somewhat anxiously glanced around. Were those wastrel's still looking for her? And if so, who could she ask for aid?

Seeing the sudden downcast expression on the usually arrogant face of the Slytherin girl, Pettigrew hesitantly says, "Er, well, you can join us if you'd like. I don't think Mr. nor Mrs. Lupin would really mind. But Mrs. Lupin's a muggle, and I rather she wasn't offended. She's been nothing but kind to me and I won't have you insulting her."

Quyen cheeks flush darkly, but she'd rather not be left alone right now. Trying to draw on her usual arrogant poise, Quyen stiffly says, "I'll mind my manners, Pettigrew, I am a pureblood."

Seeing Pettigrew's somewhat unconvinced expression, Quyen's face darkens into a scowl. "I promise," Quyen somewhat mutinously said, before unconsciously biting her lip. "But are you certain that the Lupin's truly won't mind?"

"They're really nice," Pettigrew drily answered, before offering her the crook of his arm. He'd been taught by his mum to always be polite to girls even to someone like Crowley. Though he wondered, what he had been thinking, when he opened his big fat mouth? Must be what Rowan was always constantly muttering under her breath about their foolish Gryffindor tendencies.