Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own his magical world.

Deviated World

Chapter XXV

"He's had another one," whispered Sirius to Remus. Remus nodded, frowning. Dumbledore still had yet to tell him whether he was willing to replace Snape teaching Harry Occlumency.

This was Harry's last training before returning to Hogwarts. They were working on disguise and concealment, a topic that Sirius's Auror training would be particularly good for. James had not come due to Quidditch practice, but he was sure to let Sirius know about Harry's nightmares.

"What was it about?" asked Remus.

"Not sure. You-Know-Who was happy about something though, which doesn't bode well for us," answered Sirius. "The prophecy is still guarded thoroughly. I can't think of advance he could have made on that front."

Remus couldn't think of anything either. While it was good that he knew some of the possibilities of things to come, it was very frustrating that he didn't have the answers to everything.

He and Sirius met up with Harry in the room they were using for training. "Today," announced Sirius dramatically, "we are working on the art of disguise and concealment, physically and mentally."

"Invisibility cloaks, while you have plenty of experience with those, aside—" started Remus.

"He does?" "I do?" asked Sirius and Harry.

"You don't?" asked Remus before realizing that no responsible parent would let their son run wild with such a precious and mischief making item. "Never mind then," said Remus. Luckily, Sirius and Harry accepted this as an answer. But, then Remus thought of something else. "Do you know about the Map?" he asked cautiously.

Sirius gave Remus a burning glare, which got Remus thinking that Harry didn't know, so he should not have mentioned it. However, Harry got a bashful look upon his face. He nodded.

Sirius looked sharply at Harry. "Did your father tell you about it?" Harry shook his head. "Then how did you come to find out about it?"

"Fred and George gave it to me. They nicked it from Filch—" started Harry.

"You had it and you didn't tell us!" exclaimed Sirius. Remus could not tell if he was angry or just surprised.

"I—" started Harry again.

Sirius held out his hand, gesturing to Harry to stop. "Of all the irresponsible things—are you at least using it well?"

Harry faltered, looking at Sirius strangely. "What?"

"If you have the Map, you have better be making some good mischief!" said Sirius.

"And using it safely and wisely," added in Remus, feeling that Sirius was missing a point.

"Yes, yes. Meaning, have you pulled pranks and snuck about the castle, but not snuck out to Hogmeade, because that would be a stupid thing to with You-Know-Who about?" finished Sirius exasperatedly.

Harry grinned. "Of course."

"Okay then," grinned Sirius.

"Sorry, I'm late," came a new voice from the doorway, making Remus jump.

"No problem; we have yet to start. Come in, Tonks," said Sirius.

Remus was taken a bit by surprise. A bit of a heart-wrenching surprise, as he had not seen Tonks in a while and he was suddenly reminded of how much he missed her, and how much he loved her.

"Sirius didn't tell you I was coming, did he?" asked Tonks. Remus realized that he had yet to greet her and he was just standing there blankly.

"He did not," said Remus, sending a glare at Sirius. "Lovely to see you, though. I am guessing he asked you because of your experience with disguise."

Tonks nodded changing her hair from pink to light blue curls. Remus smiled.

"But, one thing has to be set straight," said Tonks, turning to Harry. "Just because you look like someone else, does not mean you are disguised."

"Hear, hear," continued Sirius. "You must be able to carry what disguise you use. Hind everything that you wish no one to see and put forth a different air and confidence. You must be able to deceive like no other."

Tonks snorted. Remus could almost read her mind. "Such a great thing to be teaching to a fifteen year-old boy," said Remus. "But, he is right. A simple disguise won't fool the likes of Voldemort or his followers."

It was a fun day. The combination of Sirius and Tonks made everything light hearted, but also very informative. Harry learned a lot, including how to disillusion himself; how to be completely silent, but still mobile; how to lie and be a convincing actor (Remus cringed at this part); and how to change his appearance without Polyjuice Potion.

"Well, Harry," said Tonks at the end of the day, "if you ever decide to perform in the theatre, you are very prepared."

"Or if you want to become a cat burglar," added in Sirius.

"Or a Ministry Official," said Harry.

"Oh no, that is a different skill altogether," teased Tonks. "You have to be able to have the truth right in front of you, but ignore it, for that job. It is a very specialized skill, and they only accept the best."

"Hey, I resent that!" said Sirius.

"Half the Auror and the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts departments don't count," said Tonks matter-of-factly.

"Either way," continued Remus, grinning, "you now have some useful skills, but they should only be used for good."

"Or else," chirped in Tonks and Sirius.

Not very long after they finished for the day, James came to floo back to Froderick's Gully with Harry. Sirius and Remus decided to let Harry tell James what he had learned that day. Hopefully he would spare some of the larger details.

"Well, Tonks, would you like to join Remus and me for drinks? We haven't caught up in a while," asked Sirius. Remus decided, even if it was hard, he didn't mind being around Tonks. He did, however, not trust Sirius. He was sure to be up to something. If he wasn't now, he would be later.

Tonks agreed in the affirmative and they all retired to the kitchen for drinks and snacks. They joked and laughed for a while, but eventually the conversation turned to more serious matters.

"So, how has your investigation of Charice been going?" asked Sirius. "I mean, I have seen your reports thus far, but they have been rather vague."

"It is tricky. He isn't the easiest person to investigate. On the outside he seems pretty respectable—" Sirius snorted at this description. "Sirius, do shut up. Okay, yes he is a bit kooky, but who isn't?"

"Kooky? He can't have sentence without quoting a terrible musician!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Yes, yes, I know your opinion of him, Sirius," snapped Tonks. "Anyway, he did very decently in Hogwarts and went on to train with Ollivander. He seems to have dropped that a few years ago and has had a few different jobs since. Nothing fishy though. His job, besides it being at Borgin and Burkes, is fairly normal; his hobbies, again are fairly normal; his flat is normal—"

Remus fought a slight growl when Tonks mentioned Charice's flat.

"—I haven't found any connection to your incarceration…" finished Tonks, nodding at Remus.

"Does he have a diary? You know, May 13th: I went to see the band Oscillating Oracles. May 14th: Drabbled in some dark arts, trafficked evil artifacts etc," joked Sirius.

"Of course! I haven't managed to rifle through his bad yet. I m sure he has some kind of notebook in there. He keeps it on him at all times though. It will be tricky and dangerous for my cover to get to it," said Tonks.

"In my sarcasticness we find insight!" said Sirius, beaming.

"For once," joked Remus. Then he turned to Tonks. "Does Charice suspect anything? I would think it would be quite difficult to keep up such a charade."

"It is quite difficult, but manageable. It is a bit irksome though that I still have to put up with bigoted opinions though. Honestly, at this point dating Umbridge is almost more appealing." At this both Remus and Sirius choked on their drinks, spitting them all over the table. "Charming," said Tonks, crinkling her nose. "Enough about me though, how are you two doing?"

"Research, training Harry," answered Remus in three words. Missing you, he thought.

"Remus, you see, lives vicariously through me," said Sirius. "But don't worry, you will be off parole by September and then you can join me for real fun."

"Oh, really?" said Remus, quite amused. "And what fun might that be."

"I," said Sirius drawing in a breath, "have a date!"

"Poor woman," said Tonks.

"Piss off. She is sexy, smart, and thinks I am charming and handsome," declared Sirius, indignantly.

"Translation: She has more glamour spells on her than you can count, she can count to ten backwards and forward, she doesn't speak English and is blind in one eye," said Remus.

The rest of the evening was light and fun. Remus was happier than he had been in a long while, even with his future and his past looming over him.

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A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading with an extra special thank you to those who reviewed (glad you appreciated my take on Patronuses etc, and happy to hear that this story is written well) . I appreciate input and encouragement. I also appreciate absolutely ripping things apart. Anyway, I have realized that today is the second anniversary of the posting of this story. I am not counting on having any more anniversaries.

Thank you!

Perplexity