A/N Hmmm…I've also noticed that I use our character real and fake names interchangeably. I don't know if I should. It randomly switched to Marauder POV in the middle, and I needed to get some Golden Trio+1 POV in there, so I did it by calling them Ron and Harry. Sorry…It will switch.

Harry slung his bag over his shoulder and walked hurriedly out of class. He didn't even wait for Ron, Hermione, or Ginny. They would just ask questions. Some distance also needed to placed between him and Snape.

Harry was mentally smacking himself, wondering why he had idiotically assumed that Snape would seem different. This wasn't the Snape that had been one of the Light Side's greatest allies…this was the Snape that dreamed of becoming a Death Eater, was James Potter's worst enemy, was immersed in the Dark Arts and didn't want to stop drowning in them…This was a Snape that Harry could, by all right, hate. But he couldn't. He still saw the hero that Snape would become when he looked at him, heard his dying words: "Look at me!". But Snape wasn't that man yet, he wasn't the hero…no, he was just a seventeen-year-old Slytherin. That was all.

Harry turned a corner suddenly, now that he had made it to the third floor. He knew that very few people knew about this little room behind the painting of Wendelin the Weird (he'd never really understood why there was a picture of her in Hogwarts). It was small, and really only suited for about four people comfortably. It was where he'd hidden a few times throughout the years when he was avoiding people. Ron, in his fourth, year for one. Filch, a few times...and Romilda Vane and her friends quite often, too. Right now…he wasn't avoiding anyone in particular (except Snape, but he highly doubted Snape would make a b-line for him). Just avoiding people, more or less, while he simmered down. He didn't know why this one incident of a Slytherin wanting to become a death eater bothered him so badly. Actually, that was a lie. He knew why. It was because it was Snape, a man he had known. He knew where this path would lead him. He sighed, closed his eyes, and slid down the wall, his head resting on it. Somehow, he had thought that going to the past would be easy. It was only his first day and he was already having some problems.

"… he looked pretty angry" someone said, and Harry slipped back out into the open corridor upon recognizing Hermione's voice.

"I wonder what hap—Harry!" Ron said, spotting him. Ginny and Hermione looked up him, worry evident their eyes right next to the relief on having found him. "You all right, mate?" Ron asked, looking at him closely. Ron was dense, but he could tell when there was something wrong with his best friend, and this was on of those times.

"Sure…I'll get over it," Harry said, shrugging. He noticed Hermione's disbelieving look and Ginny's eye roll, but he pretended he hadn't. "Let's just get going, alright? We have…supper next," he said, checking his timetable and sighing. Perfect. Another chance to run into Snape. He'd have to make a conscious effort to avoid the Slytherin now, for his own sanity. "C'mon…let's go. We have to get to the Great Hall before Sirius if we want to get any food," he said, sending them all a quick smile, which was very close to being a true smile in spite of the tension, before turning around and heading to the Great Hall. Ginny was the first to follow him, running a little to catch up. She slipped her arm into his and Ron and Hermione watched as he smiled down at her and she smiled up at him. Ron and Hermione lingered for a short while. They had a quick conversation, but not a word was spoken. One look at the other and they both knew they were thinking the same thing: What's gonna happen to Harry? He can't have anything worse happen to him…can he?

With a deep sigh, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and they followed their friends, worried thoughts filling their heads.

"Did you hear him?" Sirius said, turning to James, a slightly awed look on his face.

"Yeah…he said You-Know-Who's name!" James said in a whisper, looking around at his friends.

"He—he did?" squeaked Peter, his fear very evident.

"Yeah…he did," Remus said, but unlike the other's, his voice wasn't fearful or full of awe...Remus was thoughtful. No one said You-Know-Who's name, except for Dumbledore, but this kid had done it easily. Why? What reason was there for him being unafraid of the darkest wizard in history? The possibility of Death Eater's came into his mind, but he shook that thought away. Dumbledore wouldn't let a Death Eater into Hogwarts and they were still young…18 was too young to be useful to the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And anyway, You-Know-Who was still afraid of Dumbledore. He wouldn't risk it. Then why…? Remus added this to the long list of mysteries surrounding the new kid.

"Hey…" a voice said from behind Remus, breaking him out of his thoughts. One glance at James's huge grin was all it took to let him know who it was. "Did you guys happen to, er—hear anything said between Severus and Daniel?" Lily asked, a little hesitantly. She tried her hardest not to talk about her ex-best friend, and asking if they had eavesdropped on one of his conversations…Not a very Lily thing to do.

"Yeah, we did," James said, then he seemed to realize what he'd said. "Not that I was listening, or anything!"

"Sure, Potter…" she said, rolling her eyes. "But…what did they say? He didn't look to happy when he left, and neither did Severus," she said, sitting down next to Remus, right across from James.

"Snape was being his usual non-trusting self," James said, the hate in his voice not quite as strong as it had been just a year ago, but still there.

"You know…asking Smith question after question, trying to get some dirt on him," Sirius supplied, shrugging he sent a glare the Slytherins way, (though Snape was sitting at the opposite end that he glared at).

"You know how he is, Lily. Well, he asked Daniel about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their conversation moved into his view on them, and he said he hated them and hated You-Know-Who, but he didn't say You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—he said the name! He said that fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself and if we want to bring Lord Vol-er, You-Know-Who down, we have to start by saying his name. He said that standing up to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is a worthy goal, or something like that..." Remus said, shaking his head, his voice now as awed as the others. That took some guts, both saying the name and telling a Slytherin that you wanted to stop You-Know-Who. He had done both fearlessly. Daniel Smith definitely seemed dedicated to stopping the Dark Arts. "Well, you can imagine how Snape took it. They didn't say a word to each other afterword. But as to what angered Daniel Smith so much…? I don't know," Remus said, shrugging.

Lily was staring at them. "He didn't…didn't really tell Severus all of that, did he?" She also knew how much guts that took, but she wasn't viewing it quite the same way as the others. She was worrying for the new kid. Even though she had long denied it, Severus Snape was a Death Eater wannabe. Lily was pretty sure that he was already in contact with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If her assumptions were correct, Daniel could be in some real danger.

"Yeah…it was pretty wicked, actually. You could tell he really meant it…" Sirius said, and then James spoke up suddenly.

"I wonder what happened to him to make him so outspoken about the Dark Arts? I mean, we all hate them and want to help bring You-Know-Who down, but Daniel seems like he doesn't even want to wait until after graduation. He sounds as if he plans on stopping him now. He sounds like he really—and I mean really—despises the Dark Arts. That's more than your average I-Fight-for-the-Light hate," he said quietly. Sirius stared at him oddly, but Remus and Lily were giving him considering looks. From the way James had spoken, Remus was pretty sure he wasn't even aware he'd said it out loud.

"You're right, James…" Remus said, his head cocking to one side as he thought. What could happen to one so young to turn him that fully, wholly, and passionately against the Dark Arts? Was there a story there? Was this part of the story they didn't want to tell him?

"I don't know…they all seem pretty anti-dark to me," Sirius said, shrugging. "Maybe it's an American thing. They tend to be outspoken about everything they do." Sirius jumped about a foot in the air as someone behind him laughed. "What the hell!" he snapped at the quartet of exchange students.

"Sorry, Sirius…didn't think you'd be that jumpy," Daniel said, raising a single eyebrow in Sirius's direction.

"Yeah…You're a prankster, Padfoot…you shouldn't jump that easily," James added in a falsely disappointed voice, also raising one eyebrow.

"Oh…Prankster's, are you?" Rupert asked, interested. His grin would have done any of the Marauders proud, just the perfect mix of innocence and devlishness. He was, of course, thinking of the Twins and what they—no, he would give to be here. Ron sighed, and his smirk was gone. It had been 5 months, and he still felt his brother's death as if it was fresh.

"We had some good ones at our school. I highly doubt you could compete," Harry said, giving Ron a significant look. He had a pretty good idea of the thoughts going through his best friends mind.

"Yeah right," James said, pride lacing every word.

"No one comes close to us," Sirius added, puffing out his chest and grinning. Unlike Ron's grin, Sirius's held absolutely no innocence. It was the grin of a pure prankster.

"We're the best there is!" Peter added, the same pride in his squeaky voice as had been his friends. Daniel stared at him a few moments before shaking his head and turning away. Remus barely noticed, but barely still meant that he had noticed.

"Prove it," Daniel said challengingly. Rupert grinned, as did Bonnie. Much to everyone's surprise, so did Emma.

"Yeah, I highly doubt you're better than ours. They even started a famous joke shop…it's great. Coming from me, you know it's true," she added, and everyone laughed.

"Okay, challenge accepted. Well, there was this one time when we…" Sirius started. The tale-telling lasted long past dinner, the group laughing in front of the fireplace in the common room at some of the Marauder's more insane pranks.

"You died Professor McGonagall's robes neon green?!" Rupert yelled, holding his sides in laugher.

"After you bewitched the suits of armor to follow her around singing Witchy Woman?" Emma put in, picturing their strict professor's face.

"You got Snape to prose to her?" Bonnie said, clearly incredulous.

"How in the world did you get Dumbledore to follow suit? At lunchtime?" Daniel added, laughing at the mental image of the bearded headmaster down on one knee in front of a furious—but blushing—Professor McGonagall, promising his unydying love…with a ring made from a butterbeer cork. Harry lost himself in laughter again.

"It was brilliant!" James and Sirius said together, also laughing uncontrollably.

"I didn't think I'de ever seen McGonagall blush, but that prank proved me wrong!" Lily added, also laughing. In hindsight, all of the Marauder's pranks were splendid and mostly harmless (she said mostly, because they had charmed all the stared to turn into slides whenever any Slytherin stepped onto them, no matter who else was one them…Lily and managed to land a broken nose, as had most everyone else, including the Marauders. Of course…that was first year).

"No, but seriously…How in the world did you get Professor Flitwick—with bubblegum pink hair and lavender highlights—to dance like a leprechaun on the staff table at breakfast yelling about his pot of gold?" Rupert asked, clearly disbelieving this had happened.

"I really have to see one of your pranks!" Daniel said and then paled as the Marauders turned their devilish grins on him. "But it can wait!" he added hurriedly.

"Really?" Sirius said.

"I think not," Peter added.

"We can do something properly devilish," Remus added, and Harry knew he was doomed. If Remus Lupin—the sanest of the group—was in on it, he was dead meat.

"I can think of a few things…" James added.

"Veritium!" the four marauders yelled as one, followed directly my Emma's "No!"

"What the heck?" Sirius said as the girl tackled him, her ebony hair nito shielding her blazing eyes.

"Seriously, Emma…what's up?" Bonnie asked, giving the girl an incredulous look.

"It's a truth spell!" Emma answered. Then she turned to Daniel, whose eyes had widened considerably at that pronouncement. Remus saw his chance, and ignoring the voice in his head that told him he'd feel awful about this later, he asked a question. After all, a side-effect of the spell that you had to answer.

"What're you hiding?" he asked, then cursed himself. It was too vague. Damn. Antoehr side-effect was that the caster—or casters, in this case—couldn't ask another question until the previous question was answered. He'd given Daniel a perfect opportunity.

"I love Bonnie," Daniel stated, and then he sighed heavily. Harry was glad that the spell allowed him to call Ginny by her fake name.

"Are you actually good at Quidditch?" James put in as Emma dragged Daniel away from everyone. Daniel spun around, his eyes alight and dancing with some hidden amusement. A real grin stretched across his face, and he looked entirely different. He looked downright handsome and happy and his age. It was a stunning difference. Everyone stared.

Yeah…I'm wicked at Quidditch!" Daniel said, then he sprinted up the stairs as quickly as he could, but not before Sirius had managed to him with a hair-change jinx.

"So…" Bonnie asked, grinning. "How long will his hair be…um…puke orange?" she asked.

"With bright yellow highlights?" Rupert added.

Sirius grinned, then burst into laughter at a very loud—and very high pitched—"Sirius Black!"

"Sirius…what else did you hit him with?" Remus asked his howling best friend. Sirius looked ready to cry, the way he was holding his sides from his laughter.

"A—a—voice-change—jinx—pre—pre-puberty!" he said, cracking up again, harder. When he had calmed some, he added another bit of news. "A full day!" then he was off in hysterical laugher again.

"Truth spell's off," Emma said, and Daniel--orange-yellow-highlighted dreadlocks and all—was standing behind her, looking put out. But then he suddenly grinned again.

"Guess I asked for it," he said, once again in the hight-pitched voice a pre-adolescent. As his voice cracked in the middle of his sentence, everyone started falling into peals of laughter again. They couldn't help but stare at the funny sight Harry made, with his crazy hair and goofy grin. James had also managed to make Harry's robes resemble something that Dumbledore would wear, and we all know what that means.

Remus stared too, but for a totally different reason than everyone else. That was a famililiar grin, on an unfamiliar face. Why did Daniel's smile make him think of James? And was that a lightning-bolt on his forehead?

A/N Umm…yeah…not too prankish, so I'm not sure how those turned out. I couldn't come up with something for them to do to Harry, so that just kind of happened…It doesn't seem Marauderish enough to me, but oh well…I'm good with pranks. Any ideas?

JK