Disclaimer: No characters belong to me; they go to the wonderful J.K Rowling along with some borrowed paragraphs.

"Put that away, will you," said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer, "before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."

Wormtail turned slightly pink, but James grinned.

"If it bothers you." he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket. Harry had the distinct impression that Sirius was the only one for whom James would have stopped showing off.

"I'm bored," said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might be." said Lupin darkly from behind his book.

"Having a nice chat are we boys?" Moody growled, leaning against his staff grinning ruefully at the three men causing his heavily scarred face to twist rather gruesomely.

"Er – hi…" James murmured suddenly looking rather nervous, he ruffled his hair and quickly glanced over to Remus for help who returned with a look of similar nerve, "Er – yeah?"

Moody let out a harsh laugh and pocketed his wand which until then Remus had not noticed the Auror had drawn. His normal eye was fixed on Remus, his magical one spinning sickeningly fast from James to Sirius. Remus coughed drawing the attention of both the Auror's eyes to him.

"Hello Alastor," Remus greeted calmly, "I presume you've noticed these two are in fact not dead?"

Moody simply laughed again in reply, moving both of his scarred hands to the top of his staff.

"Course I did Lupin, other wise the two bloody idiots impersonating them would be dead by your feet now," He responded a slight growl to his voice, his magical eye shifting from James to Sirius once more, "My eye would see through any tricks Death Eaters would have up their sleeves anyway and I trust that you're smart enough to not fall for any Death Eater tricks."

Remus had to concede to that.

"Would killing really be an option?" James asked with raised eyebrows, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the desk beside where Sirius was still sat.

Despite the casual tone to his voice his stance was tense, alert. It was a stance Remus was very accustomed to seeing especially in the last few years of James's live, years of training for the Order had taught the Potter to be alert in situations like this. Remus glanced over at Sirius to see that his hand was very tight around the handle of his wand.

Moody eyes fixed on him unwaveringly, he grinned again the scars twisting his face so that he resembled some strange gruesome sculpture.

"Like Father like son eh Lupin?"

Remus grinned despite the rather tense atmosphere, "Yes it is." He agreed.

"I've told you a million times before Potter," Moody said seriously, fixing James with a stern gaze, "Constant vigilance!"

James jumped slightly, surprised as he always when Moody yelled this – Remus supposed some things never changed and couldn't hide his amused smile. Over at the desk, he saw Sirius flash James a grin as he rolled his eyes, James returned the grin his hazel eyes shining before he turned his gaze back over to Moody. His tense stance had relaxed slightly, just slightly.

"So I'm guessing you wanna know how we're alive?" James guessed.

"Yes," Moody replied and his gaze turned to Remus now, "But I'd rather have Lupin tell me, haven't forgotten how bloody difficult it is to talk to you and Black at the same time." He added in a grumble.

"Hey!" James and Sirius chorused indignantly but they were both smirking.

"He's right," Remus sighed wearily with a small smile, he didn't think it would be so easy to fall into the natural weariness at his best friends antics, "Once you two start it is rather difficult to stop you, and when I say rather I mean extremely."

"I resent that Moony," James said a smirk curving his lips, he unfolded his arms and rested his palms on the desk behind him, "But you are right."

"He usually is Prongs," Sirius shrugged slightly; "It's his thing after all."

"Oh Merlin not this again." Remus groaned resisting the urge to cover his face with his hands. He could not count the amount of times he had had this conversation wit his friends.

James and Sirius merely grinned at him clearly amused at his response.

"Not what?" James asked in an innocent voice that Remus did not buy for even a second. James Potter was far from innocent.

"You know exactly what," Remus said responded sternly pointing a finger at the Potter, "Ten bloody years I had to deal with it; we are not re-starting it now."

"Suit yourself," Sirius shrugged again, a grin lighting the once weather features of his face, he then glanced over at James leaning against the desk beside him, winked and mouthed, "Later."

James grinned in reply and chuckled lowly as he inclined his head slightly in confirmation.

"Enough chit-chat," Moody growled suddenly making his presence known once more to the three men (who had quite clearly fallen into the trap of their usual immature banter) "Lupin, from the start." He instructed.

Remus did so. He recounted the entire story, from where he had been knocked down in the Death Chamber at the Ministry right up until their conversation they had just had and the tale James and Sirius had informed him of. Moody listened patiently his normal dark eye not wavering from Remus's face, his magical was spinning wildly though and it was a rather sickening sight that the werewolf desperately tried to ignore as spoke.

When Remus had talked himself hoarse a ringing silence was left in the room. James was watching the ex-Auror expectantly, his hazel eyes very bright but his face an impassive mask, betraying no emotion; the Potter noticed how different Moody looked from when he had last seen him. His face was, somehow, covered in even more scars that James remembered, making it more gruesome and twisted than ever; part of his nose was missing creating an unpleasant hole there and his hair was even more grizzled and slightly stragglier than it had once been.

James had to remind himself, not for the first time in past few hours, that it had been over fourteen year since he had last laid eyes on Alastor Moody.

"Well Lupin," Moody said slowly scratching his chin thoughtfully, "It seems like something very strange is going on…"

James suddenly wished, again not for the first time in the past few hours, he had his wand with him; he couldn't help but feel on edge that he didn't have his wand held as tightly in his hand as Sirius was holding his. And not for the first time he cursed himself for setting it down on that damn couch that night at Godric's Hollow.

"We'll have to call Dumbledore."

James sighed with slight relief glad that that was Moody's response but at the same time not glad. He glanced over at Remus and Sirius and saw that they too looked rather relieved, he shared a brief significant glance with Sirius, the Black having been caught up in the less than nice feelings James and Lily now possessed for the Headmaster.

For a moment thought he truly had thought – and to an extent feared – that Moody had not believed Remus.

"I'll go fire call him." Remus volunteered.

He strode over to the still open door and paused in the doorway, turning back to the group and asked, "Should I tell the others Alastor?" he directed the question towards the Auror not exactly trusting James and Sirius to provide a serious answer.

Moody rubbed his scarred chin with an equally as scarred hand thoughtfully.

"No," He answered eventually, "We'll let Dumbledore decide that, now hurry Lupin."

Remus nodded in confirmation and left the room pulling the door shut behind him as he went.

Silence fell once again and James found it deeply uncomfortable, he had always found silence uncomfortable and this was no exception. He knew he shared this rather strong hatred with Sirius – the two of them always liked to be loud and making noise, whether other people wanted it or not. Silence was a pet hate of theirs and had been one of the first things they'd bonded over so many years ago and had always given the other an insight into whether they were okay if they were silent.

"So," James said after several long moments, rocking back on the balls of his feet and feeling the edge of the desk bite into his lower back, "Did I miss much?"

Sirius laughed his typical Sirius Black bark like laugh. Moody shot him a dark look that was only made darker by the scars and disfigured appearance.

"Course you have laddie," He growled somewhat impatiently, "You-Know-Who up and about and killing again, out for all of us, your son especially."

"I know that," James said feeling more than a little irritated at how Moody was acting as if he was completely overlooking the fact a nose less maniac was trying to murder his son, "Sirius has told me and Lily everything after all."

Moody nodded shortly then spoke again, "What you going to do about it then?" He demanded expectantly.

"What do you think?" James retorted fiercely his irritation growing more, "That bastard killed me and my wife! He bloody tried to kill my son and from the sounds of it hasn't tried to bloody given up since! I'm going to get revenge, that's what I'm going to do, who cares about the stupid Prophecy? It's done nothing but rip apart my family!"

"Don't let your Gryffindor side define you," Moody growled in a sudden stern voice that took James by surprise, "You've always acted before you thought!"

"Is that a bad thing?" James retorted resisting the urge to clench his hands into fists. He saw Sirius shot him a warning look and bite back the retort growing on his tongue.

"It is when it could get you killed again," Moody said his voice suddenly soft taking James by surprise once more, "Just when your boy has you back and doesn't even know yet…you're not going to run off and get yourself killed are you because revenge is more important?"

James opened and closed his mouth a few times. Moody had him there. Even after so long of regretting not thinking things through that night at Godric's Hollow, James was prone to not thinking things through. Well, he was certain from now on he wouldn't make that mistake again. Moody then turned to Sirius.

"And you…" He said in the same soft voice with light trace of a growl to his voice, "You ran off after Harry as well…didn't go so well did it...?"

Sirius frowned at Moody.

"What are you saying Mad-Eye?" He asked slowly as if wary of the answer he was about to be given and James didn't blame him, it wasn't everyday Alastor Moody was dealing you parent or guarding advice.

"I'm saying you two have always let being a Gryffindor define you," Moody growled in reply, "Just as a certain other Hogwarts student let his house define him and look where he is now, the reason you two were dead. There's a teenager out there who needs you both, you can't be selfish anymore and go out looking for revenge."

James openly gaped unable to stop himself from doing so. He'd never had this type of lecture from Moody before, yes he'd had lectures as had Sirius, but they had usually been about their Marauder like ways, especially involving the Order, most notably the time the pair had been caught by Muggle Police and been forced to fly away on Sirius's motorcycle. Moody had yelled at them for that for a very long time.

But it was very strange to hear Moody, the ex-Auror, lecturing them about Harry. James did have to admit though, that Moody had a point. He was putting other things before his son, things like revenge when he should be there for Harry.

A feeling of guilt bubbled in his stomach. James glanced over at Sirius who too looked rather torn and a bit guilty. Revenge had been the centre of both their minds for so many years that they couldn't quite rid themselves off, even now when their concern for Harry was at an all time high.

"You're right Mad Eye," James said quietly, meeting Moody's fierce gaze with his own, "Harry's our priority now, I know its been mine for many years but I guess at some point revenge for what had happened had overridden that, but my son is my main and only priority now…and me getting my wand back that is." He added as an afterthought.

Moody let out a harsh laugh reverting back to his usual self rather suddenly that James was once more taken by surprise.

Remus reappeared then. He shut door behind him as he re-entered Sirius's room, quietly and quickly he cast the enchantments once more.

"Dora was asking where you were," Remus informed Moody without preamble, "She suspects something for sure."

"Who's Dora?" James asked curiously, tilting his head at the werewolf.

"Moony's girlf-" Sirius began in a sing song voice a mischievous grin stretching across his face.

"Don't you dare continue that sentence!" Remus cut him off sharply, his green eyes sharp, "I told her we were simply talking, it's better to give her little information than too much, otherwise she'd ask more questions and I could slip up with the lie."

It was note of how many times Remus had had to lie to get James, Sirius, Wormtail and himself out of trouble that he was an expert in lying.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Moody asked, voicing the question James had been about to ask himself.

"He'll be here soon, I told him it was important and that I couldn't tell him through the Floo Network what was going on," Remus replied, "Luckily he had just finished talking to Harry when I called, I don't think I would have got away without being attacked for information if not."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the accurate description of his Godson. Moody grinned.

"What?" James asked his shining eyes shifting from one face to another, his stomach flipping at the mention of his now teenage son. He had an unquenchable need to know as much about his son as possible – until he was reunited with him of course.

"He's been kept in the dark for a while," Sirius explained, "He got so annoyed with it – no one really blames him for being annoyed with it either - Dumbledore's orders and all that, but if we kept another thing from him I swear we wouldn't get away from a Prewett type interrogating."

James grinned feeling more than slightly giddy at this new shred of information on his son.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yep," Sirius replied bobbing his head up and down in confirmation, "I told you he's way too curious for his own good, he could have avoided quite a lot of situations if he wasn't so bloody interested in mysterious stuff." He added with a roll of his eyes.

"I wouldn't quite put it that way Sirius," Remus said with a smile, "But you are right."

"Well the Goblet of Fire wasn't his fault," Moody said darkly, James had heard enough from Sirius about the Triwizard Tournament the previous year to understand all too well how personally Moody would take the situation, "He couldn't have done anything about that."

Remus sighed passing his fingers tiredly through his hair. "No he couldn't."

"That was with Barty Crouch Junior wasn't it?" James asked with a small frown trying to recall the details his friend had caught him up on weeks previously, "Sirius told me about that."

Remus nodded gravely in confirmation, "We're lucky he's a good flier and he had Dobby the house-elf to help him and his own skills of course."

James nodded in agreement. Sirius had told him all about the Triwizard Tournament, James had been nothing short of furious, unsurprisingly, when he had been told his fourteen year old son had competed in the Tournament and witnessed Voldemort's return and the death of a fellow student. His parents had died when he was seventeen and he hadn't coped well at that age at all, if he remembered correctly Sirius's cousin Andromeda had dragged him to the Room of Requirement one day into a room where he threw glass object after glass object for the best part of a day just to feel better about the loos of his parents - how on earth had Harry managed seeing his friend murdered before his very eyes?

But Sirius had told him Harry had been different after the Tournament, haunted almost…

James shook his head and focused back on the conversation at hand, merely pushing the matter temporarily aside. He assured himself that he would talk to Harry about it when he saw him.

"…looked deeply upset," Remus was saying, "I think he told Harry, he must have, I'm guessing he didn't react well, quite a bit of his Office was destroyed from the looks of it."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "And you call me hot-headed!" He exclaimed.

"That's because you are," Moody growled with a slight chuckle rolling his mismatched eyes in reply, "Carry on Lupin."

"I don't think there is much else to say," Remus admitted, "He said he would join us as quickly as possible."

"Which coincidentally is now."

James whipped around so fast that he was sure he could have snapped his neck to see Albus Dumbledore stood in the doorway of Sirius's mess of a bedroom, his face was more wrinkled but other than that he was just as James remembered him, with his long white beard and hair, that glowed silver in the dim light of the room, that he could tuck into his belt, his brilliant bright blue eyes, long crooked nose, and half moon golden glasses perched on the edge of his nose. Dumbledore was smiling benignly at them all.

James was able to suppress his scowl, he had said to himself that he would not allow fourteen years of bitter feelings explode out of him the first time he was reunited with a man he had once consider a type of Father figure to him but suddenly seeing Dumbledore once more was making that easier said than done.

"Hello Remus," He said kindly nodding at Remus who inclined his head in reply, "And Alastor and for some very strange, but not at all unpleasant, reason Sirius and James."

"Hey," James responded with a somewhat forced note of cheerfulness, he waved causing Sirius to laugh his typical bark like laugh and once more roll his eyes removing his jean clad legs from the desk where they had been propped up amongst the mess of papers and books for the best part of an hour.

Dumbledore chuckled his blue eyes twinkling in such a Dumbledore fashion, he clasped his hands before him, "Well this is a very odd turn of events isn't it? I understand your emergency call now Remus."

Remus laughed slightly, "I'm sorry Albus," he said apologetically, "But we really need you advice."

"Do you believe these are the real James and Sirius?" Dumbledore asked seriously peering at Remus intently over his glasses, "We don't want to be making any mistakes now."

At the condescending tone, James couldn't hide his scowl this time. He felt rather than saw Sirius nudge him in the side with his elbow and rearranged his features into that of forced cheerfulness once more.

"I'm certain," Remus said firmly, "They showed me their Animagus forms and they can't be copied by any potion or spell."

Dumbledore then turned to James and Sirius. James noticed that his eyes were very bright, almost blinding.

"If you would please gentlemen." Dumbledore said politely, gesturing widely with his arms.

Sirius stood up and moved to James's side as the Potter stood up straight. James took a deep breath and shut his eyes, focusing on the image of Prongs that came to mind, he felt his body shift in such a familiar way that it was welcomed, bones moved and muscles changed and suddenly he had four legs, clearer eyesight than he ever would human and was looking up at the warped but clear form of Albus Dumbledore looking down at him. Together once again they both became their Animagus forms.

Beside him Padfoot barked and lay down flat on the wooden floor, his long and shaggy tail swishing side to side across the wooden floor picking up bits of dust with each move.

"Do you see anything odd Alastor?" Dumbledore inquired as if he was asking about the weather and not about the matter of two supposedly dead Animagi before him.

"Nothing Albus," Moody growled in reply and James didn't miss the pleased tone to his voice, "I think it's the real them."

"I'll just make sure." Dumbledore said drawing his wand with a wrinkled hand.

For a few minutes Dumbledore cast numerous non-verbal spells on the pair of them, many spells of which that James had seen before all the while James and Sirius waiting patiently for Dumbledore's test to be over as quickly as possible, Prongs soon joining Padfoot on the floor.

James knew just how vital it was that Dumbledore knew for sure that it was in fact the real them but he was growing gradually more and more impatient, he wanted to see Harry, he wanted to see his son, he had wanted to see his son the moment he had returned to the Land of the Living. He wanted to talk to him, know everything about him, to actually get to know his son.

"Well James, Sirius," Dumbledore said after an exceedingly long time pocketing his wand at long last, "You can transform back now."

James and Sirius did so. As James fixed his glasses back into place he looked over at Dumbledore, who was beaming at them, his eyes exceedingly bright and broad grin on his lined face.

"I believe with absolute certainty this is James Potter and Sirius Black." Dumbledore stated confidently.

Remus grinned at Sirius and James in a rather relieved manner as the pair high fived each other in an undoubtedly childish manner and smirked.

"You sure Albus?" Moody demanded, "We don't want to make any mistakes."

"I'm positive," Dumbledore said simply and clearly, "Now as to what we will do with them being alive we will decide in a moment, to begin with I'd like to hear how you two are alive."

"Let Lupin tell you," Moody cut in before James and Sirius could so much as say a word, "Those two idiots are bloody impossible to get a straight answer out of."

"Hey!" The apparent 'idiots' said in indignant voices.

"Can you please stop saying that?" James demanded rolling his eyes at the Auror.

"Yeah, I'm slightly miffed here and I came back for you guys and everything!" Sirius added in a mock-affronted voice.

"You're not helping," Remus interrupted firmly, "Well Albus it began like this…"

Once more Remus recounted his story Dumbledore listened with his complete and utter attention focusing purely on the werewolf. As he talked Sirius and James edged slightly away from the other three careful to make sure this distancing from the group was subtle, and began to talk amongst themselves.

"Is it just me or does Dumbledore not look that much older yet I've aged so it's really bloody noticeable?" James asked with a slight grin.

Sirius chuckled quietly and shot a glance over at said man, "Yep it is, but its Dumbledore."

"You say that like it explains everything." James pointed out with an arched eyebrow.

"Well it does, think about it Prongs, shouldn't take you too long."

"Thanks Padfoot," James smirked over at his friend, "Real good at compliments." He added sarcastically.

"I was much better when you were dead."

James looked at Sirius to see his stormy grey eyes shining with suppressed mirth. James rolled his eyes unable to conceal his grin.

"So was I, Lily actually liked me then, can you believe it?"

"She loves you but never likes you," Sirius agreed with a slight nod, his voice low, "You guys have such a nice weird relationship."

"Had," James corrected a sudden wave of sadness washing over him, "She's dead now if you think about it; unless I jump through the Veil or die I'm never going to see her again until I actually die an old man."

Sirius put a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed in a very Sirius Black comforting way.

"I know mate, I know…" He trailed off momentarily and James couldn't help but think of Marlene then, who Sirius had lost rather like James had now lost Lily, "But you're here with Harry now, Lily wanted him not to be alone more than anything, think of your son in this."

"I know," James said softly, "Thanks mate."

"No problem," Sirius said with a smile.

"Would you care to rejoin the discussion?" Dumbledore asked them suddenly, smiling over at the pair, "It concerns you now."

"Yep, sorry." James said quickly as he and Sirius took a few steps forward, rejoining the small group.

"I think the best thing to do now is to tell the Order," Dumbledore said calmly, "And only the Order, no one else will need to know, the Ministry will be very little help even with Fudge soon to be out of office and we can't risk any Death Eaters hearing of your return Sirius or James's especially."

"What do you suggest?" Remus asked, "What about Snape?"

"Snivellus." Sirius corrected automatically. James smirked.

"Really gentleman?" Dumbledore said in a slightly reprimanding tone that grated on James's nerves immediately, "Childish name calling?"

"Sorry," James said not sounding sorry in the slightest ruffling his hair more out of habit that shame, "It's a habit we fell into after all…"

"I would say blame Lily," Sirius said putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, "But she told us not to when I told her that he was in the Order, she said that he'd finally made the right choice or something..."

Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at the wall above James's shoulder for a moment.

"Mmm," He said idly, "We may be able to use that to our advantage…"

James glanced at the others who looked just as confused as he felt.

"Anyway," Dumbledore said clapping his hands together, "With Severus, I trust him with my life, he wouldn't tell Voldemort anything, he will know because he is on our side, he may not like it-" At this James and Sirius snorted, the idea that Snape liking the fact they were alive again was ridiculous, "-but it is what we will do."

"When can we tell Harry?" James asked, "He has to know about this."

"As soon as possible James," Dumbledore smiled at the Potter who was less than pleased with this answer but tried to not let his disappointment, nor anger, show, "Do not worry, his school year has nearly ended less than a week until the end of term, we will wait until he has at least travelled to the Dursley's, but not for a long time I assure you that."

James grinned slightly at the mere mention at seeing his son again – the fact he had to wait a week to do so was something he'd address later - then felt it slide of his face at the mention of the Dursley's.

"I'm not happy with him being with them Dumbledore, not in the slightest," He said, a frown marring his face, he turned his hazel eyes to Dumbledore, "You know how much Petunia hated Lily, and Vermin wasn't any better, they both hated our guts and if anything that hatred just got worse each day. Sirius told me they locked Harry in a cupboard for eleven years, as well," his voice lowered dangerously (a skill he had picked up form his Mother and McGonagall), "That's child abuse!"

Sirius was unnaturally quiet beside him and unnaturally still. This subject was far too close to home for his liking as James knew all too well.

"I'm sorry James," Dumbledore said heavily looking like the old man he truly was, "I don't agree with their ways in the slightest if I had known, if I had ever known I would have put a stop to it I assure you that, but you understand that whilst he is with Petunia he is safe, Voldemort can not go near him."

James sighed, he knew there was no point arguing about this now, there were other things that needed to be attended to first of all, but he would not let this drop, "I know, I just…hate it you know?"

Hate suddenly wasn't a strong enough word to describe how he felt about the environment Dumbledore had put his son in.

"We know," Remus said sympathetically, "We all do."

James smiled gratefully at Remus.

"What do we do now?" Sirius asked after a pause.

"We'll tell Nymphadora and Kingseley," Dumbledore replied readily, "Then we'll call a meeting and tell the others."

"That sounds boring." James murmured under his breath, his thoughts were on seeing his son, not sitting down and explaining how he was alive.

"I know you never liked Order meetings," Dumbledore chuckled in amusement and James resisted the urge to correct him on the true meaning behind his grumble, "But given this is about you being alive I think it is rather vital you attend."

"Fair point." Sirius grinned, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Shall we go then?" Moody growled limping towards the door his staff held tightly in hand.

Dumbledore nodded in confirmation and followed the aged Auror out of the doorway.

"Is it bad I'm excited?" James grinned slightly, his hazel eyes shining with a mischievous glint behind his glasses as he and the others followed Dumbledore's footsteps.

Sirius laughed, "Not at all, rather looking forward to Tonks's reaction if I'm honest."

"Is that the Metamorphmagus? And Andy's kid?"

James remembered when Tonks had been born quite well, he had visited the then newborn in St Mungo's along with Lily and needless to say hadn't been the only one who had had a heart attack when she'd turned her hair the same black as his when he had held her. If he remembered correctly, Ted had fainted in surprise.

"Yep," Sirius replied with a nod, he glanced over his shoulder at Remus a few steps behind him on the stairs, "Moony has a crush on her."

"I don't!" Remus argued yet the faint blush on his cheeks said otherwise, "She's just a friend, you can have girls who are just friends you know."

"Sure," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes, "I'll believe that when it's true." He added with a wink.

Remus huffed and stalked past Sirius to walk with Dumbledore instead. Sirius and James exchanged amused expressions before promptly bursting out laughing.

As they descended the stairs into the hallway James saw someone peer out at them from one of the rooms, a mousy haired someone with dark twinkling eyes and a pretty heart shaped face. James couldn't help but see the slightly similarities in her features to Andromeda's, she may not have held the same Black family good looks that Andromeda so heavily had, at least from what she remembered, but she was a striking looking as her Mother was, her features softer, more like her Father's.

She frowned over at the group and opened her mouth to say something when he eyes fixed on Sirius and James, her mouth dropped open and her hair suddenly flashed a bright shimmering green causing James to blink in surprise.

"KINGSELY!" She bellowed suddenly leaving no doubt in James's mind that this was Andromeda Tonks's daughter, "Get here now!"

Mrs Black's portrait began to scream along with Tonks's bellow; Sirius sighed in exasperation and went to Stun her portrait along with Remus. Moody hastily limped over to Tonks as the pair hurriedly silenced the portrait of Sirius' long gone Mother, the Auror whispered something to her quickly and rather rapidly her eyes went very wide and her hair turned form the green to a sudden shocking bubble-gum pink and the death grip she had had on her wand went slack.

"What's going on Tonks?" Came a deep calm voice from behind the young woman, "Is it Albus?"

"And more Kingsely," Dumbledore chuckled as Kingsely Shacklebolt, an unfamiliar face in a group of familiar ones, appeared beside Tonks his wand drawn, "We have much to explain."

Kingsley's dark eyes went wide as well at the sight of James, who was openly grinning at the dark skinned man from his place beside Dumbledore, and Sirius who had successfully silenced his Mother's portrait at long last.

"Would anyone like any tea?" Tonks asked in a shaky voice with a slight smirk.

"You've been spending too much time with Molly," Sirius grinned over at his second cousin, "And yes we are alive, and yes we are here to annoy you again."

"Okay," Tonks murmured in a slightly dazed voice shaking her head back and forth a few times, spiky locks falling into her eyes, "I might need Firewhiskey in my tea now…"

"Don't do that," James advised, "Makes it taste like goblin piss, remember Moody?"

Moody growled, "I remember, it's the reason I drink from my own supply now."

He patted his pocket of his cloak where James knew he stored his hip-flask with his private storage of beverage and had done for many years now.

"That was a good day." Sirius grinned.

"Worst hangover though," James added, "It was when Harry was being a temperamental little blighter so we didn't get any sleep."

"Oh Merlin how could I forget that, we were writing our wills at five in the morning thinking we wouldn't last until Lily got back from her Order mission."

Remus laughed and affectionately rolled his eyes, surreptitiously glancing over at a still very stunned looking Tonks, "Instead you Flooed me begging for help."

"Desperate times Moony-" James shrugged.

"-call for desperate measures," Sirius winked,

"Second thoughts I'll just get the Firewhiskey," Tonks said with a grin not unlike Andromeda's, James noted, "And is it always this difficult to stop you guys bantering like an old married couple?"

"Enough with the old!" James and Sirius retorted unintentionally at the same time.

Mrs Black promptly began screaming again.

With a single flick of his wand Dumbledore silenced her. He smiled at the group who all turned to look at him a sudden silence falling between them, all light heartened conversation fading instantly.

"Kingsely, call everyone in the Order," He instructed in a voice that rang with authority, "We have a very important meeting to hold, now."

A/N Hey guys! I know much didn't happen here but I had to write a bit more for James and Sirius next chapter will be back to Harry and I'm going to try and upload it for Christmas, a nice present for you guys! I'm still stunned at how many people like my story, 33 reviews, 123 Followers and 70 favourites! The reviews are really helping and I love getting feedback from you guys and knowing you are enjoying it! Please review and as always thanks and Mischief Managed ;)

Edited: 15/03/15