Chapter Text
“Go fish,” Sirius said, trying not to sound too annoyed as a translucent hand reached to the pile of cards and picked one up.
“Ahh! Fish my wish!” Martha said gleefully, waving an eight of hearts over her head. “My turn again! Do you have any kings?”
“Yep,” Sirius sighed, practically flinging his three kings at Martha, but John Hathorne tutted at him.
“You should be happy that Martha isn’t sulking around the storeroom, upending potions ingredients and tormenting your house elf anymore,” he said, licking his thumb and rubbing it against a scuff on his black leather buckled boot. He licked again and rubbed harder, but it was a hopeless endeavor. That scuff had been there since 1717.
“I am,” Sirius said testily. “I just wish it didn’t come at the price of an eternity of playing Go Fish with you lot.”
“Like you know anything about eternity, Living Boy,” said the ghost of the hanged man, who fiddled with the noose around his neck. He still wouldn’t tell them his name, like a ghoulish Rumpelstiltskin.
(“The colonists kept excellent records of their executions. Look it up yourselves if you’re so fucking curious,” he admonished over and over again).
John and the Hanged Man were already out of cards but still very much engaged in the match. Who knew that teaching ghosts the world’s stupidest card game would make them all so happy? Remus said he didn’t even know Martha had teeth until the day he saw her smiling at Sirius as he explained the rules. Still, Sirius didn’t realize that would mean he’d be required to play with them weekly.
“Do you have any threes?” Martha asked Sirius. He handed over his last two cards and couldn’t help but smile as Martha squealed with delight, jumped up, and started dancing around the storeroom.
“Careful, they’ll hang you for that,” the Hanged Man said as he watched her hoist her skirts and apron into her hands and do a little jig.
“Maybe they’d hang you for it,” she said with breathless happiness. “You’re a Puritan. I’m a Congregationalist. Don’t be a sore loser.”
“Don’t be a sore winner!” the Hanged Man snapped back. “May plague kill your crop!”
And he disappeared with a little gust of frigid wind.
“I must be off too, Sirius,” Hathorne said, standing up and straightening out his breeches. “I’ve a cemetery tour to haunt.”
“Nice seeing you, Judge,” Sirius said with a little bow.
“Likewise, young man. Give Remus my regards,” Hathorne answered, and he, too, left the storeroom in a whoosh of cold.
Sirius waved a hand and the card table disappeared completely.
"I did it!" he cheered. Remus had been teaching him wandless Vanishing, but he still often ended up leaving behind at least a little piece of whatever he was trying to Vanish, especially bigger things. Last week it had been the eyelashes of a haunted doll.
"Excellent work, Sirius!" Martha said as she two-stepped.
“Enjoy your dancing, Martha!” Sirius called over his shoulder, walking into the Apothecary side of the shop, which was absolutely bustling with activity. James and Remus were each handling a customer but there was still a line of people waiting among the shelves, which were packed with jars, vials, boxes, and bags of potions ingredients and equipment.
“What can I do, Moons?” Sirius asked, putting a hand on Remus’s back and speaking low in his ear.
“Hey, babe, can you help that hag in the corner?” Remus asked, sounding a little frazzled and nodding over to the side of the shop near the blood and bones. “She’s been here for a half hour, but won’t let me or James help her. She keeps saying she wants ‘the handsome one,’ and I’m guessing that means you. But don’t give her any of your own hair, no matter how many times she asks.”
Sirius nodded and made his way over to the hag, who was as grizzled as a rotting tree stump, had breath like dead fish, and attempted to cut a lock of Sirius's hair with a bloody dagger whenever his back was turned. Eventually, though, Sirius sent her on her way with a bag full of loose bones (“Ten for $5 is a bargain anyway you slice it, Grimhilda”), a magical cleaning solution for that filthy dagger, and some toothpaste, which he assured her wasn’t just for humans.
Finally, after nearly an hour, the shop had quieted and emptied, and James, Remus, and Sirius slumped against the counter, positively exhausted.
“How’s Lily feeling?” Sirius asked James, whose head was on his arms against the counter.
“Ready to kill me and cut the baby out herself,” he answered.
“I heard that. It’s not my fault that this kid is overstaying his welcome,” said Lily’s voice, her hugely pregnant stomach coming around the corner from upstairs before the rest of her did. She was positively waddling, but carrying a plate laden with pumpkin pasties. Sirius was happy she was passing the last few weeks of her pregnancy obsessed with baking for some reason. James said it was because the doe was nesting, but Lily had only slapped his arse in playful punishment.
“Here, eat these," she said, holding the plate in front of them. "I made them with ginseng, ashwagandha, and a little charm I invented to give you lot some extra energy to get through the rest of today.”
Remus looked at his watch.
“Only 11 more hours until Halloween is over,” he said, reaching for a pasty with his thanks. “And then we can finally get some rest.”
They ate the pasties gratefully, but not 30 seconds later, the bell on the other shop door tinkled, signaling customers in Quoth the Raven. Remus looked at Sirius with a little whimper.
“I’m tired, Pads!” Remus whined, and Sirius flung an arm over his shoulder as they shuffled through the storeroom, past Martha who was regaling Winny with the tale of her Go Fish win, and into Quoth the Raven.
A little knot of kids dressed as ghosts and witches stood in the middle of the shop, looking around with wide, frightened eyes while their parents perused a rack of Salem postcards. The children’s gaze landed on Remus and Sirius as they emerged from the storeroom.
“Why don’t you take this one,” Remus said softly, dropping a little kiss on Sirius’s cheek and handing him a pen.
“Yeah?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah. I think you’re ready.”
“OK,” Sirius said, and approached the counter, feeling the soulmate bond tingling under his skin as Remus watched him. He took a deep breath and spoke.
“Happy Halloween, kids!” Sirius said, twirling the pen between his fingers. “Who wants to see a magic trick?”