Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: This is adopted from Rainbow Stripes the first couple of chapters were written by her (20ish pages on word!!!) I have split them into smaller chaps so *grins* you will now when I start writing stuff coz the standard will drop (and I will tell you). Whilst most of it is her work I have added and edited some bits so....*shrugs* ENJOY!
A/N2: I know, I know another story but I couldn't let it go to waste. I hate to say it but my Merlin stories do take preference and I am working on a request story.
A/N3: Ok so this is still Rainbow stripes bit with my editing
A/N4: Sorry i didnt mean to wait this long! Sorry
Warnings: Will be slash, innuendo, maybe character bashing in the future.....XD
Lets Do The Time Warp Again
Harry was fiddling with the plain coloured cases for his iPod and thought they were a bit too plain. Using his wand, he inked various designs on the cases. His silver case was decorated with blue, black, and silver flames under a phoenix of the same colours. His dark green case had his sleek black panther form frozen in a prowl, emerald eyes glowing. A red case had a roaring Gryffindor lion on the back with Gryffindor written in gothic gold script. He then just painted random patterns, symbols, and designs over the rest of them. By the time, he was finished he needed to go to dinner. He sat through the silent meal and just got back to his room when a haughty looking eagle owl flew through the window and onto his desk. He gently tore the letter from its leg and opened it.
Dear Mr. Potter
Tonks told me you discovered her today. I am sorry for having you followed but it is for your own safety now that Voldemort is back. She also informed me that you wish to join us here. I will send an advanced guard to pick you up soon. I cannot say a date in case this letter is intercepted.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry rolled his eyes. At least he was being picked up earlier than last time round. He shooed the owl away and slid into his 'home', setting the dial to normal time and playing Xbox until bedtime.
He woke up early in the morning, went through his usual training rituals, and took a quick shower before dressing in combat trousers, a pale blue t-shirt with the phrase 'Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.' Written in bold black letters, deciding to un-glamour his tattoos. He grinned and ate a small breakfast before getting out of the trunk with Silas. ^Silas, I will let you out for the day. When you want to come in just go up the tree and onto the windowsill. ^ He hissed to the snake, setting him on the branch by the window. Silas nodded and slithered off. Harry went down to the kitchen and prepared breakfast before going outside. He quickly set his magical sight on and had to choke back his laughter. Snape stood there with his arms folded under his chest under an invisibility cloak. He could tell by the dark mark shaped black spot on his arm. 'Let's see if he's got any muscle under those robes.' He thought as he set off. Ever since the 'Cho incident' as he dubbed it, he realised that girls just were not his thing. He found himself admiring traits about men around him and he had wondered what Snape would be like wearing muggle clothing.
He jogged down the same path as before, again adding some muscle and was now his usual lean self. He was pleased to see that Snape was keeping up with his pace. He circled the area and sprinted back to the garden where he found Silas waiting for him. He let him slide around his wrist. He straightened up and leant against the wall. "So, how'd you like the run, Professor Snape? I must say, you keep up pretty well for a potions master." He said, sitting on the cold stone and stroking the dark blue scales on Silas' head. Snape took off the cloak, showing him dressed in black jeans and a black pullover. Harry absently noticed that he looked good for a middle-aged man.
"And just how did you know it was me, Potter?" He sneered. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Not many other people willing to guard me would call me an impertinent brat. If that's the best you can think of your losing you are touch." He teased dryly. Snape smirked.
"Finally grown a backbone, have we? Well as much fun it is to go running with you; I have better things to do." He said before throwing the cloak over himself and leaving Harry on the wall. He went about his day and just before dinner, his uncle cornered him.
"Boy, we, as in, your aunt, cousin, and I, are going out. Do not steal our food, do not use our things, and do not touch our TV." He said gruffly, adjusting his tie in the mirror.
"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry droned, knowing that it was his guard coming that night. He watched the car go out the driveway and walked sedately up the stairs. Before he went to pack, he snuck into Dudley's room and wandlessly cast a spell to make all his clothes too small. Sniggering he crept out and into his own room. Most of his things were already in his trunk but he put back the few books and other things that he had taken out. ^Silas, I am about to have some people come, we are going to fly. Do you want to go in the trunk or around my arm? ^ He said as he put his leather jacket on the back of his chair. Silas thought for a moment before sliding up to his forearm. Now he only had Hedwig's cage and his jacket out. He heard the smash of Tonks breaking a plate and flicked his wrist, calling his wand out of his holster. He crept out of the room and onto the landing where he saw Remus down in the hall. "Professor Lupin?" He asked, pretending to be confused but still keeping his wand out.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, I can't see a thing!" A voice Harry recognised as Emmeline Vance said. "Lumos!" She said sharply and a bright light lit up the hall. Harry saw Remus, Mad-eye, Tonks, Kingsley, Emmeline, and Dedalus Diggle standing there.
"Advanced guard, am I right?" He asked, still keeping his wand trained on the crowd.
"That we are, boy! How do we know it's him?" Mad-eye said gruffly. Remus grinned.
"Harry, what form does your patronus take?" He asked.
"A stag. What did you give me in your office that Hogsmeade weekend when I couldn't go?" He shot back.
"Butterbeer and some Honeyduke's finest." Remus replied. Harry nodded and grinned.
"Ok, so how are we getting out of here, Professor?" He asked, slipping his wand back in his holster. Remus rolled his eyes.
"I'm not your Professor anymore, call me Remus or Moony. And go with Tonks to pack, get your broom, then we can go. This is Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Emmeline Vance, Dedalus Diggle, and the real Alastor Moody. Now go." He said. Harry saluted him mockingly before turning back into his room, followed by Tonks.
"I figured you lot would be here soon so I'm pretty much packed. Trust me; I'm not normally this tidy." He explained at her raised eyebrow. He grabbed his jacket and started digging in his trunk for his broom as Tonks looked in the mirror.
"I don't think violet's really my colour." She said, flicking through the rainbow with her hair. Harry grinned.
"How about something like this?" He said, concentrating and changing his hair to pink. Tonks gasped.
"You too? No one told me that!" She exclaimed, matching his hairstyle.
"No one knew, I got bored, was reading a transfiguration book, read about it, remembered I grew my hair when I was a kid and tried. I can only do hair and eyes right now but that's it." He said, changing his hair back to black with blue tips and tugging on his broom.
"There we go. Could you shrink this?" He asked, holding out Hedwig's cage. She nodded and tapped it with her wand and it shrunk to the size of a matchbox. Harry put it in his pocket. "Cheers, let's go." He said, grabbing his trunk in one hand and his broom in the other. Together they walked down the stairs and out the door where they found the rest outside.
"Harry, what happened to your hair?" Remus asked.
"Long story, tell you later." He replied distractedly. Mad-eye grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him off.
"Got your wand boy? Hold still." He growled. Harry flicked his wand out of his holster and back again, standing still as Moody disillusioned him.
"'Atta boy, I'm not even gonna ask where you got that holster. Get on your broom. I will be above, Remus in front, Tonks behind and Kingsley below. The other two will be on your sides. Just follow Remus and whatever you do, don't break ranks, even if someone is killed." He said. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Is that likely?" He asked sceptically.
"No one's going to die, Mad-eye!" Tonks said exasperatedly, strapping Harry's trunk into a harness. They saw a firing of red sparks in the distance.
"Alright, first signal. Mount your brooms!" Moody yelled. Harry swung his leg over his firebolt and waited for the green sparks. They came and the group kicked off. Harry followed Remus over the same route as before, including Mad-eye wanting to take them to Greenland. They landed outside and Moody re-illusioned him before handing him a piece of yellowed parchment. "Read it, memorise it, get someone to burn it." He said. Harry unrolled it and saw Dumbledore's familiar loopy writing. 'The headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix is found at number 12 Grimmuald Place.' He read. He looked up and sure enough, the house was there. He nodded and Remus set it alight with his wand. Harry resisted pouting, ever since he had thought of burning Dudley's clothes he had liked the idea of fire, he had a feeling it was to do with his animagi forms.
"Right, follow Moody, Harry." He whispered. Harry nodded and followed the ex-auror up the steps and into the gloomy house. Tonks held a finger to her lips in a motion to be quiet and Harry nodded, slipping into the house and through the door. He looked around at the familiar dark hallway. He followed through into the kitchen but heard a thud and screaming. He spun on his heel and saw Tonks blushing and stuttering over a fallen umbrella stand. Remus ran forward to the newly uncovered Mrs. Black and started tugging on the curtain.
"BLOOD TRAITORS! FILTH! SCUM! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She shrieked. Footsteps came from towards the kitchen and Sirius came running in.
"SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!" He yelled angrily, shoving the curtain over the portrait. Silence reigned and Sirius looked up. "Well then, Harry, I see you've met my mother." He said grimly.
"Such a lovely woman." He replied sarcastically. Sirius let out a bark like laugh and brought Harry into a strong embrace. He released him and held him by the shoulders at arm's length.
"You've grown. Come on, everyone's waiting." He said, slinging an arm over Harry's shoulder and leading him into the kitchen.
"I should hope I've grown, I was a bloody midget beforehand!" Harry said. Sirius chuckled and opened the door. Harry had a brief view of the kitchen before his vision was obscured by bushy brown hair.
"Oh, Harry, we were so worried! We're sorry we couldn't say anything in our letters but Dumbledore made us promise not to!" Hermione babbled. Harry choked.
"'Mione, need…air…" He wheezed. Hermione blushed and let go of him. Ron came up and clapped him on the back.
"Good to see you mate. You look different." He said. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"No, really?" He drawled sarcastically, smirking at Sirius' chuckle. Mrs. Weasley came up and gave him a bone-crushing hug.
"Harry dear, you're so thin. Those muggles haven't been feeding you enough. Dinner will be ready soon. You've shot up, just like Ron has." She fussed, shooing him into a chair. He refrained from pointing out that he was eating plenty and took off his jacket, slinging it over the back of his chair. Sirius let out a low whistle.
"Since when did you have tattoos?" He asked. Harry shrugged.
"Since last night." He said shortly.
"Your guard didn't see you." Sirius pointed out.
"That was the point. I've been sneaking out of the Dursley's since I was 6, it really isn't hard, and my invisibility cloak just made it easier." He said.
"And why would a 6 year old need to sneak out of the house?" Remus asked slowly.
"Food." Harry replied. Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Food?"
"Yeah. I saved up the money I either found or stole and snuck out to the local all-nighter to buy food for when I was sent to my cupboard without meals." He explained. The girls in the room gasped.
"You had to steal money?" Mrs. Weasley asked sternly. Harry shrugged again.
"Had to eat somehow. When I was kicked out of the house at night, I had to beg, plead, and steal or I would starve. I was a badass kid, sold what I stole, and stole what I sold. Dursley's didn't mind 'cause it went with my St. Brutus' Rep." He explained.
"St. Brutus'?" Ginny asked.
"St. Brutus' secure centre for incurable criminal boys. That's where I go to school according to the muggles." Harry said. Hermione thought for a moment and then gasped.
"Harry, did you ever do drugs?" She asked quietly. Harry laughed.
"No, I was never that bad, just a pickpocket. Anyway, that's over now. If you look at me, you'll see I'm fine. I have food, shelter; I've even got fitting clothes now. Uncle Vernon told me a couple of days ago that if I wanted something other than food and my room, I had to buy it myself; if I did then the family would not touch it. I was already working my ass off to live in the house. Course, he didn't know I had a vault full of gold at my disposal. I conveniently forgot to tell him that it could be converted to muggle money, didn't want him stealing my money." Harry said to the shocked, pale faces. There was silence until a sneering voice cut over the crowd.
"How very Slytherin of you, Potter." Snape said. Harry grinned.
"That's where the sorting hat wanted to put me, I told him not to. In the end he agreed that I'd do better in Gryffindor." He said, watching Snape pale. "And to think, you were nearly my house master." He said cheerfully. Snape shuddered. Sirius brought the conversation back to him.
"So, Harry, just how many times have you snuck out this summer?" Sirius asked interestedly.
"Err, once to Diagon Alley for books and money, once for clothes and about 4 other times for various other things." He said, ticking them off on his finger. He was only half lying; he had been sneaking out a lot under his cloak. Sirius laughed and ruffled his hair.
"You really are a marauder! Still, why'd you buy books?" Sirius asked incredulously, as if it was a crime.
"I was bored, needed something to do. I didn't just buy books, it was just an example. I got a load of other stuff too. Now, if we're done interrogating me, that stew smells really good." He said, gesturing to the caldron of beef stew over the fireplace. The crowd died away and Harry ended up sitting between Sirius and Fred. The twins, Harry was assuming, had been told who the marauders were because they weren't grilling him for information. He was slightly annoyed at the looks he was getting from Ginny but just ignored them.
"So, kid, what tattoos have you got?" Sirius asked eagerly. Harry just tapped his nose secretively.
"You'll find out eventually." He said mysteriously, absently fingering the sapphire stud in his right earlobe. "So, where exactly are we?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance.
"The noble and most ancient house of Black. My parent's house. When my charming mother died, she left it to me. I always hated this place." He said resentfully. Harry nodded sympathetically. He knew Sirius was wound up about being stuck inside. "And, it's now headquarters for the Order." Sirius finished.
"What's the Order?" Harry asked.
"A secret resistance group against Voldemort. Led by Dumbledore." He said. Across the table, Ron and Hermione joined in.
"We're not allowed in the meetings though, we're on cleaning duty. There's a huge rat problem in the living room, it's not enough for Crookshanks alone." Hermione said. Harry grinned.
"Good. I can help with that, which means Silas can stay inside whilst hunting." He said. Ron looked confused.
"Don't tell me you got a cat as well, mate." He said, eyeing the ginger fur ball in the corner. Harry shook his head.
"No, no offence Hermione but domestic cats aren't my thing. I found Silas in the garden of the Dursley's a few days ago; he had escaped from the pet shop. I brought kept him. I think he's sleeping." He said, rolling up his right sleeve and poking the sleeping snake. "Silas, up." He said then rolled his eyes ^Silas, wake up you lazy git. ^ He hissed. Silas yawned and looked around.
^Where are we? ^ He asked.
^Order HQ. Do not bite anyone here. Apparently, there is a rat infestation somewhere; you can hunt them, right? ^ Harry asked.
^With pleasure. ^ Silas replied. Harry looked up to the confused and slightly scared faces of the table.
"This is Silas, I'd say he's harmless but he's not but he told me he wouldn't bite anyone in this house. He'll be happy to take care of the rats for you. He's a Brazilian water viper, a magical breed." Harry said, inwardly rolling his eyes at the others.
"And just why do you own a snake, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked icily.
"He makes for intelligent conversation. He's good company for when I have no one to talk to." He said, levelling a light glare at Ron and Hermione, who blushed. Snape looked like he was about to say something but Mrs. Weasley put a plate of stew in front of him. Once everyone had food, they dug in eagerly. Sirius started to introduce everyone.
"So, you know Remi, that's my baby cousin Nymphadora Tonks, call her Nymphadora, and be prepared to face the consequences. She's an auror. That's Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror, Emmeline Vance, another auror, Dedalus Diggle, works in law, The real Moody, then we come round to Mundungus Fletcher, he's our connection to the wizarding underworld. Dung knows all the black markets, things like that. I'm pretty sure you know everyone else." As each person was introduced, they waved or nodded in greeting. Harry nodded back and looked around.
"So, what is Voldemort doing now then? I haven't seen anything in the Prophet." He asked. Sirius looked around uneasily but answered anyway.
"All we know is that he's lying low, recruiting. That's all I could tell you anyway." He said. Harry nodded, deciding to leave it at that. The meal went with loads of small conversations about school, quidditch, OWLs and how the cleaning was going. When the meal was over, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the twins excused themselves to go upstairs. Ron led them to the room that he and Harry were staying and they sat on the beds, Ron in between Ginny and Hermione on his bed and Harry on his with the twins on either side, their backs against his arms and their legs crossed.
"So, ickle Harrikins is all grown up." George said, ruffling Harry's hair. He ducked out from under the hand and punched George playfully on the shoulder.
"Yes, and I can kick your arse. So, what have you lot been doing around here?" He asked, leaning his head on Fred's shoulder. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other before turning to him.
"Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning." They said in unison. Harry let out a laugh.
"Sounds fun." He said dryly.
"Well, we try and listen in on order meetings but they've put charms on the door. The cleaning really is hard, loads of this stuff is dark and tries to kill you if you touch it." Ron said, absently rubbing a bite mark on his hand. Harry grinned.
"Good, I like a challenge." He joked.
"Well this has been fun…"
"But my brother and I…"
"Will bid you goodnight…"
"Sweet dreams…" The twins said jovially before appariting with two identical cracks, causing Harry to fall back on the bed.
"Hey, I lost my head rest!" He said indignantly, causing snorts of laughter from his three friends. Ginny and Hermione stood up.
"We'd better get going too, night guys." Hermione said.
"Goodnight Harry, Ron." Ginny said, leading the way out of the door. The two boys were alone and Harry stood up, spotting his trunk at the end of the bed. He stripped down to his boxers, ignoring Ron gaping at his tattoos, and crawled into bed, slipping Silas onto his pillow.
"G'night Ron." He said, rolling over and going to sleep.
Hope you like it and lots of praise to Rainbow Stripes