I dont have an excuse to why I didn't do another chapter sooner, sorry.

Chapter three – TAILCOATS AND LETTERS

Harry looked out of his window and sighed, the summer holidays had now officially started and he was still grounded. Susan made frequent visits to his room to ask if he was alright, which would have been nice of her if she hadn't smiled every time she asked. This was one of the longest-ever punishments he'd had; his longest being when he was eight-years-old, he had completely stuck Susan to her bed using duct tape, somehow not waking her, before doing the same thing to the door, then releasing a lot of spiders he had found from the garden into her room and then climbing out of the window. Susan's screams at three in the morning was the reason for the lengthy punishment as it woke the whole street up. Did Harry ever regret doing it? Absolutely not.

To make things worse, Susan's birthday was three days ago and she was rubbing it in completely by showing off her presents to a caged Harry, who didn't understand how waving some fancy sparkly make up in his face would deem as a worthy way of trying to make him jealous. What made him jealous was the fact Susan had been out shopping for three days now, his Aunt obviously trying to make Harry understand the gravity of what his punishment meant, no spending of the Black millions. Sirius tried to put on a face of pity but he also kept grinning, it was probably his idea to send Susan shopping every day.

There was one person in the whole house who seemed to understand Harry's pain of being grounded and it wasn't even a person, Orion, the Irish Wolfhound had spent every day since Harry being grounded laying on his bed. Only leaving for the occasional walks and meals, Harry loved his dog, well, his and Sirius's. They got Orion whilst still living in the apartment in central London, Sirius being an Animagus which allowed him to understand what the dog wanted helped a bit as well; thus Orion became the most loyal and friendly dog in the British Isles…So Harry and Sirius would say.

Gazing at the opened books around a sleeping Orion, Harry realised that he won't being seeing his Muggle friends much once he went to Hogwarts, which was another reason why being grounded at the moment was annoying; he wanted to spend as much time out of the house and playing with his friends.

Harry knew about the Marauders, Sirius had told him just about everything, maybe leaving some of the more, rude pranks out but he promised he would tell Harry when he was older. When he was thirteen. Sirius's idea. So Harry not wanting to let the Marauder legend die, formed a band of merry men of sorts at his Primary school. They caused quite a mess several hundred times throughout the six years they attended, funnily enough they were only caught a handful of times. Peter Lindsay, a brown haired rosy cheeked boy who always wore a smirk, Harry's closest friend, he helped develop the idea for the prank and he also lived on Rose Drive, number fifteen to be exact. Rosie Hill, a strawberry blonde, very freckly and very intelligent girl, Harry 'dated' a few times; Harry insisted they were boyfriend and girlfriend but at seven-years-old apparently you don't date you just "Like" each other. Rosie collected the resources to do the prank, and finally there was Milan Harris, a tall mixed-race boy who had an eye for detail and always had an idea to make the prank better, Harry and Milan played for the under-eleven's Rugby team as well.

Together the four friends caused chaos, Sirius always wiped a fake tear away when Harry was caught.

"Your father would be so pride!" he would announce before getting a stern lecture from his wife about how he was encouraging these acts, this would all take place in the Headteacher's office. Harry and the Head teacher, Mrs. Donovan, after the sixth time of Harry being caught, became sort of friends, so whenever his Aunt was having a go at his Godfather, Mrs. Donovan would ask Harry how his classes were going and about Rugby as she was an avid fan.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

One day in July, Harry was reading up on the history and uses of Potions and Alchemy when someone knocked on his bedroom door. Orion sat up slightly, before realising it wasn't a threat, so he went back to sleep again.

"Come in!" Harry called not looking up from the book, it was an interesting chapter called The Twelve uses of Dragon's Blood, the book itself Obscure Potions and Equally Obscure Alchemy was a gold mine for knowledge for any person who wanted to become a master in those particular arts, of course it borrowed quite a few sections by other people, but it credited them appropriately at the bottom of each chapter, this chapter had Albus Dumbledore's swirly signature at the bottom. Harry didn't want to become a Potions master, but he saw it in Flourish and Blotts one day, it looked like a good read so he bought it. A clearing of a throat made him look up after putting his bookmark in, it was his sister holding something wrapped in a green plastic bag.

"Whatcha got their sis?" Harry asked, Susan grinned innocently before unwrapping whatever it was from the bag, what it was, was clothes. Laying them out on Harry's bed, after pushing Orion off, who whined and curled up next the bed, Harry saw it was a uniform. The uniform consisted of a maroon tailcoat, orange knickerbockers and a flat straw hat which if Harry remembered was called a boater or something boat-y. Susan smiled.

"Er-"

"It's your new uniform!" Susan said happily, Harry stared at her in confusion.

"Hogwarts doesn't have that uniform? We haven't had our letters yet but I know for sure they don't wear…" Harry waved his hands in the direction of the uniform on his bed.

"Who said it was for Hogwarts?" Susan said in a sing song voice. Harry gaped at her.

"Y'what?!"

"Auntie and Uncle have decided that you aren't going to Hogwarts, from what I remember they said something about, being too naughty and not responsible enough to even have a wand. So they signed you up for another Private school, Smeltings I think Sirius said it was called!" Harry stepped back like he had been struck across the face.

"I-I'm not going to Hogwarts?" he whispered, a part of him was saying that this was all a joke, but the uniform in front of him was proof that it wasn't, was the boa constrictor the last nail in the coffin?

"Nope! Don't worry you still get a stick, just not magical, however the head master and Uncle came to an agreement that you'll get the stick when you get to Smeltings" Harry felt like crying.

"Auntie and Uncle want to see you wearing it, so hurry up and put it on, they're in the living room watching University Challenge." With that Susan skipped out of his room closing the door behind her. Harry sank to his knees, Orion sensing something was wrong padded over to him and licked his cheek. He sighed and stroked Orion's head before picking up the tailcoat, he cringed inwardly at the sight of it.

Ten painfully long minutes later, Harry trudged down the stairs wearing the uniform, grumbling to himself he got to the living room door and took a deep breath. The knickerbockers itched around his thighs.

Opening the door, he wore a mask of stone, everyone turned from the T.V to look at Harry. He first looked at Susan, who had the obvious smirking look, to his Aunt who looked like she had just seen something very cute, and then to his Godfather, who was slowly turning red in the face.

"Aww sweetie, you look very handsome and grown-up, doesn't he look handsome Sirius?" his Aunt gushed, Sirius just nodded very quickly his face was turning slightly blue.

"Yep" he croaked out, Harry glared at his Godfather in anger.

"Go on then, you look like you are going to pop if you don't laugh, let it out man" Sirius shook his head, Susan giggled.

"Hey Harry" a new voice said from his left, snapping his head to see who it was, all he saw was the black lens of a camera then a bright flash. Harry stood there gaping like a fish as his Uncle-in-a-but-blood, Remus Lupin, as he lowered the camera. This seemed to be the tipping point for his Godfather as he burst out laughing.

"Oh Merlin, the look on your face!" Sirius said in between guffaws, this then set off his Aunt and his sister. Harry just glared at his Uncle who was now wafting a polaroid in the air whilst grinning widely.

"You...you…"

"…and Sirius, don't forget your Godfather, he planned this" Remus said handing Sirius the camera and the picture, which then set him off again. Remus sat down in the second sofa and took a sip of his beer.

"Did you really think we wouldn't allow you to go to Hogwarts dear?" his aunt asked, Harry red with embarrassment nodded. She chuckled and shook her head.

"Alright dear, you can laugh later, give him his letter" That snapped Harry out of his anger, his letter?! Sirius put his hand down the back of a sofa cushion and brought out a cream coloured letter and gave it to Harry who looked down, his heart now racing. On the back was green ink in the address:

Mr H. Potter

7 Rose Drive

Ealing

London

Harry turned the letter over and saw the wax seal of Hogwarts, a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger encompassing a large letter H. With shaky hands and not caring about his Godfather still chuckling and commenting about the polaroid of him in the vile uniform he broke the wax and pulled out the letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF

WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Without missing a beat, Harry dashed into the kitchen, he grabbed some pen and paper from the sideboard and started to think of a reply. A while later, twelve sheets of paper and one straw hat with now many holes in it, Harry threw the thirteenth reply in a ball to the floor and groaned, Sirius walked in with a raised eyebrow.

"You alright their Pup, you've been in here for half an hour, you ran out before any of us could say anything?" Sirius asked staring at the crumpled pieces of paper that littered the floor around the table, Harry looked up from the fourteenth try.

"I'm trying to write a reply to my Hogwarts letter!" Harry said like it was blatantly obvious, Sirius looking confused leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? July 31st is two days away and I need to send them a reply saying I will go!" Harry exclaimed before stabbing the hat again.

"There isn't any point you know" Sirius said his face blank, Harry looked up at him in confusion.

"No point?"

"Yeah, there's no point you writing the reply" Harry stared at his Godfather, who was now sipping on a cold bottle of beer he just got from the fridge.

"Er-why not?"

"Cos your Aunt has already sent one off for both you and Susan" he said before taking another swig of the drink, looking not concerned at all that his Godson now looked like he had just told him some horrifying news.

"I've been sat here for half an hour trying to come up with a reply to the letter when in fact my Aunt has already sent one?!"

"Yep"

"Did you think at all, in that half an hour to tell me that?"

"Yes, now" Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"When did she send a reply?"

"Whose she?" Harry let out a frustrated sound

"When did MY AUNT send a reply?"

"About fifteen minutes after she got the letters"

"And when did she get the letters?"

"When Moony arrived, he brought them by the way" Harry looked into the living room to see his uncle gazing at the television before looking back at Sirius with raised eyebrows.

"When DID Moony arrive?"

"About three hours ago" Harry banged his head on the table.

Hope you liked it, I thought i would follow the chapter order completely but i realised I didn't need a massive gap as his Uncle Vernon doesn't start destroying his letters and them moving around so he gets the letter when he supposed to.