A/N: Alrighty so we're going to tackle a few things before we get to it. If you don't wanna read my crazy ranting feel free to skip this part.

First off, this is a shorter filler chapter so I'll apologize. It's a setup for later chapters.

Second, I've made a grievous author mistake. It was pointed out to me that divination isn't actually offered in first year. A quick google search confirmed this. Bad author. Not doing my research. Not a mistake I shall repeat! Lesson learned!

Thirdly, I believe someone had mentioned that it seemed like Susan and Harry were awfully close so quick. The majority of this I attribute to two things. The first being that they were sent back together and can really only talk to the other about the past. The second being that when they got sent back they were 14-15, which is when some people start dating. For those worried, no anything that may happen between them won't happen til they reach that 14 year old range at least...

Finally, I believe someone had also mentioned that it seemed like the story was being rushed along. I can see that and maybe subconsciously I am. I'll try to reign it in but there will be some time skipping happening.

I will always try to take the time to answer questions and concerns as best as I am able

As Always - Like, Subscribe, Favorite and REVIEW!

10

The following morning at breakfast Sirius and Ami were chatting as Harry and Susan came in. After the morning pleasantries were exchanged and breakfast was had, everybody suited up for a trip to Diagon Alley to do some shopping. It was going to be their first semi-family outing although neither Harry nor Susan thought of the other as family. They were special. They were something else. Something that as of now did not have a label to it and they were ok with that.

After that long shopping adventure that included a new wardrobe. Harry stopped by the local wand shop to pick up a couple of quick draw wrist holsters. They strapped to the inside of your forearm so that you could just flick your wrist and have a wand in your hand. They were normally used by Aurors and the like so they weren't generally cheap, especially the dragonhide ones. Harry bought two. One for himself and one for Susan.

He had hers gift wrapped while he strapped his one. Time meant lives in a fight. When he left the shop he went looking for the others and found them at the animal emporium. Amelia said that she felt bad for Ron since they had to take his companion away so she bought another one. This time she got him a small hyperactive scops owl that she named Pigwidgeon. She sent it, along with a note, to Hogwarts for him. When they had left the shop, Harry pulled Susan aside.

"I've got a gift for you Sue. I'm hoping I'll always be around to protect you but in case I'm not you may need this." He handed her the giftwrapped box which she started opening. Sirius looked at him with a smirk knowing he was doing something that meant something while Amelia looked on in curiosity. As she opened the box she gasped as did Amelia over her shoulder. Sirius winked at Harry as a way of saying nice going.

"A dragonhide quick draw wand holster? That's amazing! I thought these things were like super expensive?"

Harry shrugged, "Only the best for you Sue." The next moment he was engulfed in a giant hug. All he could see was red hair flying in front of his face and then she kissed him on the check again, which caused him to turn a red that would hide him in her hair. Sirius and Amelia looked on in approval and amusement.

"That was very thoughtful of you Harry."

"Nice going pup."

Susan took the holster out of her box and put it on with Harry's assistance. "You haven't seen the best part," he said with the Potter grin. "Watch this." He quick drew his wand and then dropped it to the ground. With a flick of his wrist the wand returned to his hand. Susan repeated his motion and her wand flew back to her hand.

Susan hugged him again and wrapped her arms around his non-wand arm, grinning madly. Amelia walked over, knelt down, and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "I'll feel better she has that and you watching out for her." Harry grinned and blushed as he ran his freehand through his hair.

"Look at you getting all the attention. I'm gonna have to really step up my game," Sirius said with his trademark grin. "So…who wants ice cream?"

When they returned home later that afternoon they were worn out. Amelia and Sirius went to put all the new purchases away, except for what Harry was taking back to replace his wardrobe at school. His purchases included a set of regal robes emblazoned with the Potter family crest. After that, the two went to rest for a bit but Harry felt a spell activate and knew it was their silencing charm. He definitely didn't want to think about that.

"So what do you think," Harry said as he plopped down on the couch in front of the fireplace with Susan at his side. "We've survived our first week, we're ahead of everyone else, and our guardians are dating. Not much different from last time at all huh?"

Susan giggled. "Nope. No changes at all. I mean I'm sure last time I shared a bed with Harry Potter. Only this time he's actually real," she replied with a wink that caused Harry to blush.

"You know Sue. When I first met you I never thought we'd have a crazy time travel adventure together and yet here we are. We've become closer in a week's time than we ever were in our 3 years before. Heck I'm closer with you than I think I was with anyone at all in that time."

Susan smiled and nodded. "I know what you mean. I feel exactly the same way. At first I kept wondering why it was that I got chosen to join you on this journey but now I'm just lucky that I get to. This first week has been crazy but if it's a prelude into how the rest of the journey goes then I look forward to it." With that she leaned her head on his shoulder as they stared into the fireplace.

Later that night Harry couldn't sleep because his mind was going a million miles an hour. He threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and stepped out into the backyard. He laid down on the grass and looked up into the sky and just thought. The night sky was an absolutely gorgeous wonder as long as you didn't have 3 feet of parchment to write about it. In his head he was comparing and contrasting his former life from this one. On one hand it missed the Gryffindor antics of Fred and George as well as getting to spend more time with Ron and Hermione. On the other hand this time around he had been sorted into Hufflepuff pretty much by his own choice so that he could be with Susan Bones, the only other girl who he could talk about the other world with and wouldn't think he's crazy. Sure he'd told Sirius and Amelia but there is only so much they can believe. He wasn't even entirely sure that telling Dumbledore where all the horcruxes were was necessarily a great idea but if he got rid of them for him then I suppose it was a means to an end. He didn't really like telling everyone everything and laying it all out there but he knew he was going to need help this time around if he was going to survive Hogwarts. There was so much going on and that needed to be done that he felt like his head was going to explode with all the knowledge. He knew Susan was there for him but while they were both mentally years older they were still physically the same as first year. Even that bothered Harry some. He'd changed so much and now it felt like he was back to square one.

As he lay in the grass he conjured his patronus and it wandered nearby before laying on the grass next to him where he talked to it about all the things that were one his mind.

"At least Hermione can't say I've got the emotional range of a teaspoon," he said with a chuckle, knowing how different him and Ron were. He knew they had a thing for each other…or at least they did in the alternate world. Keeping things sorted between this world and the other one was going to give him a headache. All of a sudden Prongs stood up and looked towards the house.

"It looks just like him. That's…amazing. Where did you learn to cast a patronus," asked a very surprised Sirius from the direction of the house.

"You'd never believe me," Harry replied as he stood up and faced Sirius. He let go of his happy thought and Prongs faded away so that they could talk.

"Try me," said Sirius, "I've been in Azkaban long enough that I might believe it. No matter how crazy it sounds."

Harry hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I learned it from Professor Lupin actually. He taught me because of the dementors around school when you escaped Azkaban last time."

"Wait…Lupin? As in Remus Lupin? Dementors? I escaped Azkaban? Nobody has ever done that."

"Yes, yes and yes. It was a huge deal when they found out you were missing. Of course after that Fudge blamed you for everything that happened even when Voldeyshorts did it."

"Doesn't surprise me at all. So they put dementors at Hogwarts because I escaped? They must've known I'd come looking for you."

"Actually you didn't come looking for me at all. You found out that Pettigrew was still alive because Ron and his family had won a trip to Egypt and they were on the front page of the paper. Pettigrew was there too only in his rat form."

"Hmm…" Sirius responded after some thought. "I guess that's how you knew how to find him and free me properly then?" Harry nodded. "I never did thank you for that you know. Your parents left me the responsibility of looking after you and here you are taking care of me because of a bad decision that I made."

"We all make mistakes. It happens." With that the two hugged before taking seats on the back porch.

"So tell me more of this other timeline. What else happened that I should be aware of?"

Harry went on to tell him pretty much everything that had happened. From staying with the Dursleys all the way up through the Triwizard tournament and everything in between.

"I can't believe it. You've done so much at such a young age. Your parents would be proud of you. You're a real Marauder's son you know?"

Harry grinned. "I know. I had to borrow the map to prove that Pettigrew was in Hogwarts."

"The map is still around?" Sirius chuckled. "Now I'm really going to have get ahold of Moony."

"Well when you do stop by Hogwarts. I've got some friends who would love to meet you. The marauders are their pranking inspiration."

"I might just have to do that pup," he stated with a grin. After a few moments he spoke up again, "So I've got to ask…how old are you? I don't mean now. I meant then. Bugger this whole thing is confusing. What I mean is it's obvious you and Susan are mentally older than the rest of the kids your age so how old were you when you left the other timeline?"

"Almost 15," Harry replied with a grimace. "It's why I was out here you know. Thinking about everything that happened last time and everything that has happened so far this time. It feels like my head is going to explode."

"I don't doubt it Prongslet. If you ever want to talk I'm here. Properly this time around. For now though we should get to bed or the ladies will have our hides. Speaking of how do you and Susan know each other originally? You're awfully close. Was she your girlfriend or something?"

Harry shook his head. "Funny enough Susan and I hardly spoke to each other last time around. I mean we were friendly enough but I was in Gryffindor and she was in Hufflepuff so we didn't see each other much. It was actually Death's idea that she come with me, not that either of us had a choice. She said we shared a lot in common but said we'd figure it out in time or something. All I know is that her parents were killed in the first wizarding war too."

Sirius nodded sadly. "A lot of good men and women lost their lives in the fight and now I'm finding out he's trying to return. Makes me wonder…"

"Well we'll get him this time around. Now let's go. Off to bed with you young man. Don't want Auntie Ami getting worried," Harry responded, trying to cheer Sirius up.

Sirius threw a mock salute. "Sir yes sir." With that the two headed inside to catch a few hours of sleep before the sun came up.

The following morning came too quickly for Harry as the sun came in through the window. It felt like he had just closed his eyes. He blindly grabbed his wand from the side table and flicked it at the direction of the sun and the curtains shut bringing darkness back to the room. He rolled over and went back to sleep. Harry was mid-dream when his door creaked open.

Aguamenti!

The next moment Harry had shot out of bed dripping wet. He reached for his glasses to find out what exactly was going on. He was one unhappy, dripping wet, boy-who-lived. As he put on his glasses and everything came into view he saw Susan and Sirius struggling to hold themselves up while laughing so hard it looked like they were crying.

"What the hell Padfoot? Couldn't have just woke me up like a normal person," Harry questioned.

"Yeah but where's the fun in that," he replied "besides Susan here was the one who actually wanted to wake you up but there's that whole pesky magic outside of school thing so she sought some outside help. Help I was more than willing to provide." Susan tried to look innocent as she burst out laughing again. Sirius waved his wand and moments later both Harry and the bed were completely dry. "Now let's go, the girls mad us breakfast and we don't want it getting cold. It would be rude."

Harry grumbled as he followed them downstairs but his mood improved as he smelled food. After thanking the girls for making breakfast Sirius and Harry proceeded to serve them first followed by themselves. Harry was deep in thought as to what he should do next when somebody elbowed him.

"You ok," Susan asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking. No biggie."

"Careful pup. Don't want to strain anything," Sirius added with a grin.

"This coming from you," Harry replied.

"Hey now! I'll have you know I'm a responsible adult thank you very much."

"I don't think they'll believe that dear, especially coming from you," Amelia added, much to everyone's surprise.

Sirius placed his hand over his heart before looking at Amelia. "You wound me darling."

After breakfast Harry went up and got the stuff ready that he was going to take back to school to replace his wardrobe and strapped on his new wrist holster. Once he had everything placed in the bottomless bag he had received for spending all that money he took it downstairs and tossed it one of the chairs by the fireplace. Susan and Harry said goodbye to Sirius and Amelia, giving them hugs. Harry thanked them for the new stuff they'd gotten him while shopping and thanked Sirius for the talk to which Amelia raised an eyebrow, unaware such an event took place. With a FWOOSH, they disappeared back to their home away from home, Hogwarts.