Chapter Text
Remus surveyed the small jars of jam, the honey, the freshly picked plums, the containers of milk that were sweating in the late August heat, all situated on the floor of the barn while the cows and horses looked on. He nodded to himself decisively. If he forgot anything, he could put it in the deep freeze and sell it next week. Waving his wand, all of the items vanished and hopefully reappeared at the Godric’s Hollow Farmer’s Market, which was where he and his dog were headed.
“Lyra,” he called out the barn door. He heard the crunching of paws on the walkway leading to the barn and his Australian Shepherd appeared in the doorway, looking around expectantly. “Time to go, girl,” he said, clipping the lead to her collar. She licked his hand as he did so. Then he picked her up and apparated them both to the farmer’s market.
The market, one of the few magical farmer’s markets as far as Remus knew, was bustling on this late summer weekend. There were some others in different wizarding communities but the Godric’s Hollow market was generally considered the best. It was still warm enough that people wanted to be outside, but when the wind blew there was a tantalizing hint of autumn in the air. He walked to the market from the apparition point, setting Lyra down so she could walk beside him. Several of the other vendors hailed him as he walked through to his stand. He waved back, stopped and shook hands with some, and let several kids pet Lyra or offer her treats on his way to his stand.
His items that he sent ahead had arrived in a jumble on his two tables under a green tent that read “Full Moon Farm” in white script. He tied Lyra’s lead to the tent and began setting up his goods.
About a half hour later, he was sweaty enough to unbutton his flannel shirt and tie it around his waist, leaving just a faded Weird Sisters t-shirt in its place.
“Remus, it’s so good to see you!”
He looked up and smiled at the plump, red haired woman poking her head into his tent from the next one over. “Molly, a pleasure,” he said, standing, kissing her on the cheek.
“Let me find Arthur, I know he’ll want to come say hello,” she said.
“How are you?”
“Well, we’re just getting everything together for the kids to go back to Hogwarts in a couple of weeks,” Molly said. “Fred and George are seventh years, Ron’s in fifth and Ginny fourth. Goodness,” she added, passing a hand over her face.
“Time does fly,” Remus said, nodding. He’d tutored the many Weasley children in reading and arithmetic in the years before they were old enough to head to Hogwarts.
“Do you have any of that lovely jam?” Molly asked.
“Of course,” Remus replied. “Plum, cherry…take your pick. I’m hoping to have some apple butter come September."
“Yes, we’ll take some cherry,” Molly said, fumbling in her apron pocket.
Remus held up his hand. “I’ll trade you the jam for a slice of that Wenselydale cheese.”
Molly smiled brightly at him. “Done. Arthur will bring it over in a bit.”
With that, she went back over to her own tent. Remus waved his wand, conjuring a camp chair so he could sit at the table while he waited for his customers. As the full moon and his imminent transformation into a werewolf grew closer, his joints were more likely to ache, making it harder to stand all day.
A steady stream of customers ebbed and flowed throughout the day. As the sun moved across the sky, he sold most of his items. He had visitors from other farmers and artisans trading gossip, offering samples as they went by.
“Can I pet your dog?” Remus looked up to see a teenage boy with messy black hair, glasses and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen.
“Yes, she’s friendly,” Remus answered automatically. The boy crouched down and offered Lyra his hand to sniff. She obliged, then licked his hand and wagged her tail.
“She’s really soft,” the boy said, grinning as he scratched behind her ears. Lyra tipped her head back with her eyes half closed.
“She is,” Remus agreed.
When he stood back up, the boy asked, “Do you have any jam left?”
“Yes…I still have a few jars of plum,” Remus said, reaching over and passing it to the boy.
“Cheers,” he said, taking some money out of his pocket. “What happened to the people who had fairy-made jam?”
Remus refrained from rolling his eyes. The Parkinson Farm said their jam was fairy-made, but it was just a gimmick. From what Remus had learned about fairies over the years, he knew there was no way they could make jam or anything else, for that matter. “I guess they’re taking a holiday,” Remus said, neutrally. The Parkinsons weren’t the friendliest, and with them absent, he’d sold more jam than usual. But this boy didn’t need to know the particulars as he continued petting Lyra’s back.
The boy shrugged. “Well thanks.” He turned away, heading toward someone Remus could see who was waiting for him toward the front of the market with what looked like a tote full of vegetables. A few moments later, Remus looked up and could have sworn he saw a motorbike flying through the air.
***
“Did you get the jam?” Sirius asked, leaning against the statue of Merlin, their full bag of purchases slung over his shoulder.
“The Parkinson farm isn’t here today. I got plum jam from Full Moon Farm instead,” Harry replied, handing Sirius the jar.
He turned the jar over in his hands, taking note of the logo on the label, a moon with three stars and shrugged. “Alright. We’ll give it a try. Ready to go? This bag is heavy.”
“Yeah,” Harry said easily. “Want me to carry it?”
“Nah, the motorbike isn’t that far,” Sirius replied. He glanced at his watch. “Shit. We better hustle. Andi will have my arse if we’re late to tea.”
“The guy from Full Moon was nice. He let me pet his dog.”
“So, that’s what took you so long?” Sirius said, ruffling his hair affectionately. Both he and Harry loved animals, and would stop to pet every dog they saw if they had time.
Harry nodded as he followed Sirius to the motorbike. Sirius handed Harry his helmet and shrunk the bag of food so it fit into the compartment on the back. He clipped on his own helmet and shrugged into his leather jacket. Kicking over the side of the bike, he settled into the seat, with Harry clamoring on behind him. He squeezed the handlebars and, recognizing his magic, the bike roared to life. Harry held on tightly as they climbed into the sky, relaxing a bit once they leveled out.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Sirius that Harry loved flying. He’d been riding with Sirius even before Sirius adopted him when he lost his parents. He would take Harry for rides on the flying bike in a baby carrier, and had bought him a toy broomstick for his first birthday. He could have easily apparated them, but flying the motorbike was so much more fun than feeling like you were being squeezed in a rubber tube.
Apparating was certainly faster though, Sirius thought, as the bike touched down later at his cousin Andromeda’s house for their afternoon tea. But it didn’t have the same thrill for either of them. They were fashionably late as usual.
Andromeda’s house was secluded behind some large trees in a residential neighborhood in London. Even though she’d been ousted by the Blacks same as Sirius was, she and her husband, Ted, did well for themselves. It was a point of pride with Andromeda that she never had to ask her parents for money. The house was warded with all of the usual notice me nots and confundus charms, so Sirius could land the bike and pull into the driveway unnoticed by any onlookers.
Nymphadora, Andromeda’s daughter, was leaning against the doorframe, looking wistfully at the bike. She greeted them, then moved out of the way so they could come into the house. Dora whispered something to Harry and they went in the direction of Dora’s room. “Is that Sirius and Harry?” Andromeda called from the kitchen.
Sirius poked his head into the kitchen to see her opening the oven and pulling out a batch of scones. “Alright, Andi?”
“Hi Sirius,” she said, coming over to kiss his cheek.
“Can I help?” Sirius asked.
“Sure,” she replied. “Harry went off with Dora?”
“Yup. He has to soak up all of the cool cousin vibes before they both leave.”
Andi chuckled as a wistful expression came over her face. “Yeah…” Dora had left Hogwarts the previous year and was on her way to America to train as a curse breaker there. Sirius knew Andi and Ted were going to miss her terribly, but that Dora needed to be able to go.
Sirius took the jam out of the tote. “I got this at the farmer’s market.”
“You still go to that?” Andi asked, with a chuckle. “I thought that was just part of your rebellious phase.
“What, wanting to support farmers and local artisans? Nah. It’s just me,” Sirius replied with a shrug.
“I didn’t realize you were that passionate,” Andi said, picking up the jar and opening it. She spooned a bit onto a crust of bread and tasted it. Her eyes opened wide. “Sirius, this is incredible. You have to taste it,” she said, offering him a bit of the bread.
Sirius bit into it and flavor exploded in his mouth. The plum flavor was sweet and tart at the same time, stunning in its simplicity. It was perfectly spiced too, bringing out the different notes that Sirius was sure he would never have noticed otherwise. “Wow,” he murmured.
“Right? Well, Sirius, I’m sorry I made comments about the farmer’s market. This person clearly knew what they were doing.”
They did, Sirius thought. And now Sirius had to meet the man behind the fantastic jam.
***
Remus surveyed what was left on his table. It had been a pretty good day, he thought. He took the remaining jars of jam, clipped on Lyra’s lead and headed over to one of the tents at the far end of the market. There was a large man with an equally large mustache sitting behind a bubbling cauldron, who looked up as Remus approached.
“Remus, m’boy,” he said, holding out a hand for Remus to shake. Remus obliged, letting him wring his hand before turning his attention back to the cauldron.
“How are you, Horace?” Remus asked, politely.
“Not bad, not bad. Got that ache in my back though,” he said. “I suppose you’re here for your monthly dose?”
“Yes, please,” Remus replied. “I’ve brought you some cherry and plum jams.”
“Go on then,” Horace said as Remus placed the jars on the table. He fumbled for a pair of glasses in his shirt pocket to read the labels. Giving an approving grunt, he put the jars in a bag under his table and took two empty bottles out. With a ladle, he portioned out the potion from his cauldron into the bottles. The potion was still bubbling even in the bottles. “There you are. Remember, you must take Wolfsbane everyday in the week leading up to the full moon.”
“I know, Horace, thank you,” Remus said, resignedly. He had been taking Wolfsbane since its testing stage and was well aware of the dosage.
“Maybe at some point Belby will modify it so you only have to take it once. But either way…this is what we have to do right now. Do you have your voucher?”
Remus took a folded piece of parchment from his own pocket and handed it to Horace. It had an official looking seal from the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures on it. Horace looked it over and nodded. “That’ll do. See you next month.”
“See you,” Remus said, putting the bottles in his pocket while Lyra stayed behind to get an approving pat on the head from Horace.
“It’s time to pack up,” Remus said to his dog as they approached his tent. The sun was dipping below the clouds and there was a distinct chill in the air. Remus waved his wand and everything began packing up. Soon enough, all of his belongings were ready, and he vanished them back to the farm. He picked up Lyra and apparated them home.
That night, the waxing moon was bright over the farmhouse as Remus fixed his dinner, leaving some scraps aside for Lyra. It was almost too quiet so Remus put on the wireless. He flipped between a couple of different frequencies before settling on a Muggle station that he liked. He sat down at the kitchen table and ate, taking his Wolfbane potion as his dessert.
He could feel the pull of the moon starting even though the full was still six days away. He felt both tired and too energetic. After cleaning up, he laid down in his bed with a book he couldn't concentrate on. Instead, he flipped on his television that he’d managed to rewire so it worked on magic instead of electricity to keep him company. Lyra joined him, placing her snout on his knee and watching him carefully. He scratched behind her ears before they both settled in to sleep.