A/N

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Harry stood, leaning against the concrete walls, unsure whether the Professor would come and get him, or if he was supposed to enter the room on his own. All he knew was that he had probably set a new record for 'fastest time to be sent out of your first ever lesson at Hogwarts'. He hadn't even set a toe inside the room yet!

Boredom had kicked in and Harry was sure that if Snape didn't come and get him soon, he would walk off and complain to Sirius. Remus was much stricter and would definitely scold him for being out of lessons. Not that going to see either man seemed like a good idea however, if he went to find one of them, then he would have to explain why he was out of lesson and he was absolutely sure that neither of them would take fighting or duelling calmly, first day or not.

The door opened and Snape, along with his bellowing robe exited. Harry pushed himself off the wall and stood up straight, at least showing some respect to the Professor.

"Potions is not a subject that I will allow students fooling around in. You will be handling ingredients with the ability to seriously injure you. I refuse to let an anger-ridden adolescent into my classroom unless they have calmed down and is compliant by my rules."

Harry felt himself blush from his cheeks to his ears at the scolding. He had excepted Snape to come out yelling and making snide comments, not a lecture on self-control and safety.

"Yes Sir," was all that Harry could reply.

"Your foolish behaviour has earned you 200 lines, on my desk by tomorrow morning. If you dare set another foot out of line, that very same foot will be walking you to Professor McGonagall's office where she will deal with you." Harry then heard Snape mumble something about Dunderheads and why Dumbledore let them into Hogwarts but decided to let that go; he was already too wound up.

"What about Malfoy?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"Malfoy?" Snape questioned, although he knew full well that the boy at been involved and he planned on speaking to him later.

"Yes, Malfoy raised his want at me first." Harry explained.

"Not that I saw. Now if you do not enter this classroom in the next 5 seconds, I will close the door and you will not return. Find and seat and begin your potion." Snape said as he walked back through the door, instantly silencing the class.

Harry followed straight after and took a seat next to Ron who had been saving it for him. He had been pushed in at the deep end and everyone had already started their potions ages ago. They also knew how to use the equipment and start the flame.

"Let me help, we are making a boils potion. Turn to page seven and I'll get the ingredients." Ron encouraged.

Things seemed to only get worse for Harry throughout the lesson, however. He dropped a glass vial which lost him another ten points and then apparently it was his fault that Ron's potion overflowed; this lost him another five points and Ron got a T for the first potion mark. Harry somehow managed to scrape a D much to Snape's disgust. His potion was banished however and Harry and Ron both sat there while everyone else, apart from another Gryffindor called Neville, put their potions into vials for Snape's store cupboard.

"It is clear that some of you do not possess the ability to follow any sort of instructions at all." Snape sneered looking at Harry. "It is also clear that fame isn't everything is it Potter?"

Harry instantly blushed, hatred pulsating through his veins; he couldn't wait for this class to be over.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bell finally rang to signify that it was lunch time. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Snape said that they could leave. Potions was officially Harry's least favourite class and so far, it was the only one he'd had!

The rest of the day past by without any more hassle. Harry ate lunch in the Great Hall with Ron and his new friend, Neville. It seemed that the only good thing about the potions lesson was that it brought the three together as they all had a hatred for Snape.

Harry's first defence lesson was the most fun Harry had had in a long time. When they entered the classroom, the desks had been moved to one side and instead there were mats laid on the floor. Lupin told the class that they would be learning the full-body-bind jinx which seemed like a bit of a laugh for Harry. They split up into pairs; he went with Ron and began practising. It took a while but luckily for Harry, he was the first to master the spell and sent Ron down to the ground, frozen solid. He was awarded 10 points for his efforts which made him cheer up considerably; Malfoy simply glared and decided that he didn't think much of this scruffy professor.

Sirius's lesson went well too. He decided to teach them the basics of astronomy and had them play 'guess who' for each planet. He told them to split into two groups, and so they naturally split into Gryffindor's vs Slytherin's. Each group acted out 4 planets while the other group guess what the planet was. The score was a tie and so, to avoid any arguments, Sirius announced that both sides were brilliant and awarded the two houses 20 points; despite him believing that Gryffindor had won, their acting was much better.

The bell rang and the class began filing out. Harry however stayed behind like Sirius had told him and walked to the front where Sirius's desk was.

"Hi kiddo, how was your first day then?" Sirius asked, despite already knowing what had happened in the dungeons this morning. Whilst having lunch with Remus, he had had a fuming Professor Snape march up to his quarters and demand that he keep his godson under a tight restriction. He explained the alleged duel, loss of points and lines set. As far as Sirius was concerned, if Harry didn't want to tell him what had happened, then he wouldn't force it. Sirius knew that most parents were in the dark about what happened at Hogwarts so unless the situation called for parents to be notified and asked to come in, Sirius wasn't going to get James involved.

"The afternoon was great, it was just the morning that was awful." Harry said, looking down at his shoes.

"Oh, why was that?" Sirius questioned as he began packing up, ready to head up to his quarters.

"Just Snape being a git,"

"Language," came a voice from the door, as Lupin walked across the room.

"Only I am allowed to call him that Pup, he is your teacher don't forget." Sirius replied, kicking himself that he spoke about teachers like that in front of his godson.

Harry nodded at the mild scolding and murmured an apology to both men.

"It's fine Pup, I just don't want to accidentally calling him it to his face." Sirius replied with a wink paused as he picked up his bag, "Lead the way Moony."

Harry trailed a little way behind the pair, reflecting on his whirlwind of a day. He decided in that moment that he would tell them what happened; he technically hadn't done anything wrong.

They climbed the last spiral staircase to Sirius and Remus' quarters and unlocked the door. The quarters were in one of the towers so the sunlight that radiated through the windows in the living room was golden. It had an open living room and kitchen, curved at one end and a corridor leading off to the left. Along the corridor were 4 doors, leading to the master bedroom, a spare room, bathroom and office. Sirius was excited that he finally had an en-suite and that Remus finally has a secure place to stay.

"It's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, excited that Sirius and Remus finally had a definite place to call home.

"It really is lovely," Remus replied, unable to keep the smile off his face.

Sirius quickly showed Harry around. Both Remus and Sirius' rooms were currently immaculate; they hadn't been there long enough to mess them up yet.

The decision to share quarters with Remus had been an extremely easy one. Sirius knew that accommodation rent automatically came out of staff's wages, and if he were to not stay in the castle, it would be ridiculous, especially during night duty shifts. Sirius also wanted to give Remus the best opportunity to save as much money as possible from this job and, knowing them, they would spend the majority of their time in each other's quarters with James anyway.

"Now enough of all the formalities, I think it's I heard about your first day huh?"

The trio sat around the kitchen table with mugs of hot chocolate and a fire blazing. Harry had told them about Potions and Remus reluctantly told Harry that he did unfortunately agree with Snape on the way he handled things; however, Malfoy should also have had to wait outside as well; the situation was clearly not one-sided.

Sirius informed Harry that he should probably start on the lines, to make sure that he didn't end up in more trouble, so he reluctantly agreed and plodded off to his room to get a quill and parchment.

After about 30 minutes of writing 'I will not duel in the corridors' Harry took a break and they chatted about quidditch and the new season coming up. However, the conversation was slow, and Sirius could tell that Harry had something on his mind.

"Everything okay in Harry world?" Sirius joked glancing at Remus who was sharing the same confused expression.

Harry hummed in reply. He wasn't sure how to address what he was thinking but Malfoy made a comment about his godfather that made him wonder.

"Malfoy said something earlier. Something that I don't think I knew about you?"

"Sirius or me, cub?" Remus asked, the colour draining from his face. Not telling Harry about his condition was not a decision he took lightly but James had always insisted that Harry was too young to understand a situation was serious as his. Remus did agree but his worst fear was Harry finding out about it from someone else.

"Sirius," Harry replied.

Sirius felt slightly confused at that statement, while he was thankful it wasn't about Remus, he was sure that he shared pretty much everything with his godson.

"What was it? You can tell me kiddo, I won't be angry."

"He just said that you were a blood-traitor, which I already knew, but then he said that you nearly got yourself locked up in Azkaban or something like that?"

Sirius felt his stomach drop, glancing at Moony, he realised that he had had the same reaction. He knew that this conversation would come around at some point but as far as he was concerned, anytime was going to be too soon.

"I feel like this conversation will be a long one so why don't you finish your lines and take them down to Professor Snape. When you're finished, I will explain everything."

Harry nodded and saw the visible frown in Sirius's face. Azkaban was a scary place and only the most dangerous wizards were sent there. What could his godfather have done that was so wrong to cause that option to be considered?

Harry had finished his lines and was now heading down to the dungeons. Snape had said that he wanted them on his desk by tomorrow morning so surely before tomorrow looked better? He arrived at Snape's office and was about to knock when he heard raised voices. Despite only just getting into trouble for eavesdropping, curiosity took over and Harry listened in to the conversation inside.

"And what have I told you about causing a scene with the Potter boy?"

"I suppose not to?"

Harry knew that the first voice was Snape's and by the sound of the conversation, it seemed the second was Malfoy, no one else from Slytherin had caused problems for him,

"You suppose? I've told you countless times to not associate yourself with the boy and yet you disobey my every word as if it means nothing."

"No Professor, I don't. I promise!"

"I feel that this is a conversation that I am going to keep having until it gets through to you. Now you know that heads of houses have the authority to use corporal punishment, should they see fit; if starting a duel in the corridors isn't a reason to give you a dose of my ruler then I do not know what is."

Harry felt himself involuntary blush at these words. He knew that corporal punishment was used at the consent of a parent by heads of houses, but Harry couldn't help but think that Snape and Malfoy's relationship was more than teacher and student; it seemed like they had known one another for years, not just a mere few hours.

"No, please Sir, I'll do anything else." Harry heard the blonde boy whine,

"Mr Potter is upstairs writing lines for me. I feel that the punishments should match. I have no intention of doling out any punishment tonight so I would like 200 lines on my desk by the end of tomorrow. No excuses. You are dismissed."

Snape's voice was stern, and Harry heard Draco give an audible sigh. He also realised that at some point they were going to exit the office and catch Harry eavesdropping so to avoid being discovered, he ran and hid behind a pillar, halfway down the corridor until enough time had passed between Malfoy leaving and him arriving.

He watched the chastised Draco leave Snape's office and couldn't help the little smirk that showed on his face.

He gave it a few minutes before plucking up the courage again and knocked on the door to Snape's office. "Enter." He heard a muffled voice say,

"Professor, I thought th-that I'd give you my lines now." Harry stumbled. He realised that Snape hadn't even turned around from the store cupboard that he was organising so Harry couldn't see any facial expressions.

"Place them on my desk." Snape commanded, still without turning from the store cupboard, to which Harry complied. "You can leave."

Harry fled as fast as he could before Snape could say anything else or change his mind. He seemed preoccupied with something and he could already tell from the conversation that just happened with Malfoy, that he was pretty irate.

With the lines out the way, Harry's thoughts switched back to the conversation he was about to have with his godfather. He couldn't get the nagging question out of his head; what did his godfather do so wrong that he nearly ended up in Azkaban?

Sirius poured himself a glass of Firewhisky; Remus polite refused, he wasn't the drinking type. Remus had also floo called James and asked that he came over a little earlier than planned. James' initial reaction was to ask what Harry had done; but after two shakes of the head, he realised that Harry's behaviour was not the reason for him being summoned.

As soon as James stepped out of the floo, Remus enlightened him on the situation in hand. James had always been insistent on not telling Harry too much about that Halloween until he was old enough to know it all. However, the situation called for some explanation, not all, but some.

The conversation they were about to have with Harry was going to be a hard but long awaited one. Talking about his wife's death was something that he always struggled with and it never seemed to get any easier as the years went on.

They all unanimously decided that they would tell Harry the events about that night but still withhold information such as the prophecy and Voldemort's intentions. Harry did not need to live with such a burden on his back or the feeling of guilt.

"Talking of Harry, - where is he? I thought I was meeting him here?" James asked,

"Oh – he's still in his common room I think," Remus lied. Had it been Sirius who just said this statement, James wouldn't have been any the wiser, but he knew Remus, and his lack of ability to lie. He would always scratch his nose, and this had been known to get them all into trouble during their school days. He also spotted something out the corner of his eye.

"Oh, so is this a nice new bag that you've Moony?" James smirked, "It really suits you," he added as he picked Harry's school bag up and held it against Remus with a laugh.

"You know me too well, don't you Prongs." Remus replied with an eyeroll.

"He's in the dungeons, hopefully on his way back now." Sirius answered and this time James knew it was the truth.

"Detention already?" James asked, feeling disappointment run through his veins. He knew that Harry would be likely to get himself into some trouble but on his first day? That was worse than the marauders put together.

"No, well – not really." Remus stumbled.

"He had to write some lines but that over with now. We didn't send you here to become Hogwarts' next spy. That's Snivellus' job" Sirius answered, mumbling the last part.

And before James could get a reply in, the door swung open as a rosy cheeked Harry entered, clearly out of breath from running.

"I'm back, - oh hi Dad," Harry said cautiously, silently praying that he wasn't here to discuss the trouble he got himself into today.

"Hey Bub,"

"I guess we'll have that talk later then?" Harry asked

"Well actually I invited your Dad over to help with that talk, if that is okay" Sirius explained.

"Um, yeah sure" Harry said sitting down in the armchair opposite where the pair were sitting on the sofa.

Remus went onto explain the night of Halloween and how James was out of the house, visiting his parents who were also at a safe house. He told Harry of Lily's sacrifice and how Voldemort fled, barely alive afterwards. Harry was getting agitated as Remus was just telling him everything he already knew.

"How does this link to you nearly ending up in Azkaban though?"

"I'm getting there, I promise Cub,"

"Right sorry,"

James decided to continue, feeling that this was a part that he should explain,

"We were kept protected under a charm called the fidelius charm which meant that our location could not be discovered unless the person, known as the secret keeper, told of our whereabouts. Initially it was your Mr Padfoot here, who was our secret keeper, he signed all the documents and paperwork needed. However, a few months in and with Voldemort's power getting stronger, we decided to swap the secret keepers around with a man named Peter Pettigrew; they thought he wouldn't be as obvious as my best friend." James paused and looked at Sirius; he felt it important that he explain the next bit.

"After Voldemort had been and fled, I arrived to say goodnight to you as I always did and obviously found her – " Sirius had to pause and try and get his emotions under control. "It was the worst moment of my life and I felt nothing but anger. I lost my temper, which is something I always tell you to watch, and I headed straight to find Pettigrew.

Harry had been completely silent throughout; he felt a bit confused until it hit him where this story was going.

"You didn't –"Harry said with a hint of shock.

"No, luckily I didn't get chance. I tracked him down to a street in the middle of London. We had a lengthy duel in front of a lot of muggles and eventually Pettigrew somehow managed to blast a killing curse on the spectators and then transform into his animagus form leaving only his wand. All the time, your Dad had no idea this was going on. Safe houses do not have connected floo networks."

"Surely everyone saw him as an animal though?" Harry asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Not if you animagus is a rat." Remus explained.

"The aurors arrived and I was carted off to the holding cells despite telling them to check mine and Peter's wand for their last spell. They tried to charge me with the murder of 12 muggles, Pettigrew's death and the death of Lily. It wasn't until Dumbledore arrived and knocked some logical sense into the court that they checked mine and Peter's wand and realised where the curse had come from. He also told them that James was my best friend and that I would never harm him. If it wasn't for Dumbledore, I was going to get sentenced without a trial."

"Surely that was illegal?" Harry questioned.

"It is now but back then it was perfectly legal. There were too many death eaters to give them all a trial; with the history of my family and my name on all the secret keeper documents, it seemed that that was a strong enough case to charge me without trial."

"I'm sorry you went through all that, all of you." Harry said as he walked up to the sofa where his Dad was sat, only wanting to be close to him.

"It's okay Bub, without it all happening, I doubt the rat would've been caught."

"So, he is in Azkaban right now?"

"Yes. I believe he was supposed to be waiting to be kissed but his sentence got appealed to life. He, like many others claimed that he was under the imperius curse and due to his clean record, he won the case." Remus told him.

"Now I know that's probably a lot to take in and I'm sorry you found out through someone else." Sirius said as he lifted Harry up and placed him on the sofa next to him.

"I just wish you'd told me sooner. Nothing you said scared me or anything."

"I wish so too kiddo, but until recently I hadn't been able to even think about your Mum and Dad without getting all upset." Sirius said. "Now that is all over, I think we all have some catching up to do, don't you think?"

"So mister, how was your first day," James asked smirking at his best mates.

Once leaving the marauder quarters, as Sirius now liked to call it, Harry raced back to the common room where he found Ron playing chess with Neville. Ron was absolutely dominating the game and Harry had never realised how good of a player Ron was until now.

"Hey you two," Harry started

"Hey, after this game do you fancy doing something?" Ron asked

"Yeah sure, what did you have in mind?" Harry asked and Neville nodded along too.

"Well, I was thinking that it was about time, I followed in my brothers' footsteps don't you think?" Ron said with a grin.

"Which brother? You've got 5?" Neville asked, clearly not understanding.

"Neville!" Harry laughed. "The twins who else? Can you imagine Ron going for head boy?"

Neville realised his mistake and they all burst out laughing until he asked, "So, what's the plan?"