Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.

Any constructive criticism or reviews are extremely welcome. I adore feedback of any kind. Enjoy the chapter and all the fluff.

Interlude: Sirius

Sirius Black's life had changed drastically when he was 11 years old and went off to Hogwarts to be sorted into Gryffindor. His life before that had been listening to his parent's pureblood rantings and his little brother's attempts to suck up. He didn't see what was so wrong with muggles, muggleborns or half-bloods, they were people just like purebloods were. He certainly didn't care about the maniac who called himself Voldemort.

His tendency to voice his disagreements to his horrid parents meant his first 11 years of life were pretty miserable. Then he'd been sorted into the house of the brave and chivalrous and not the sneaky, slimy house he had been so desperate to avoid. From then on his life had been very different, he had true friends in James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Their friendship had stood the test of time for seven long years in school and three out of it when it all went wrong.

Somehow, in the space of a few days Lily and James were dead and he was in Azkaban because Peter was a bloody traitor. He didn't like to think of his time in that hellish place, sometimes he wondered how he'd managed to survive with memories of his horrible family, along with James and Lily's still bodies, Remus' accusing glance, Dumbledore's disappointment and Peter's slimy grin. When he'd finally escaped, with help from his godson and the bushy haired brunette with the time turner, he'd managed to gain some of what he'd lost back.

Remus was still there and loyal as ever, he had a reminder of James and Lily in Harry and he wouldn't want Peter back for any reason other than to kill the traitor himself. He enjoyed reminiscing with Remus about the 'good old days' in Hogwarts, when James and Lily had been alive and Peter had been a friend. He'd been a great drinking buddy for Sirius when Hermione wasn't around, always making sure he made it safely to his room before Molly could start lecturing him on his immoral behaviour. Remus was like his conscience, calmly berating and gently lecturing when his behaviour got a little too out of hand, but never being overly annoying … usually.

Harry was a blessing to him too, the son he never had and the living, breathing reminder of his dead best friend. Despite what some people thought, he had never confused his godson with his lost best friend. While Harry was the spitting image of James, with Lily's eyes, he had been through a lot more during his seventeen years than James had before he left Hogwarts and consequently, Harry was a more serious, motivated young man. There were many similarities of course, Harry's relationship with Ginny Weasley reminded him a lot of James' with the fiery Lily Evans and Harry was just as talented as his parents, if not more so in certain areas.

So there was Remus, Harry and then along came Hermione Granger. The bushy haired girl who'd saved his life had become a curly haired young woman with a heart of gold, huge intelligence and a fiery temper. They'd gotten along so easily, finding teasingly argumentative banter was their forte and enjoying their moral debates immensely. Despite his popularity in school and up until his incarceration in Azkaban, he'd had few true friends. With his rather depressing upbringing and practically his entire family as psychopathic maniacs, it took a lot for him to trust someone. He was friendly with everyone in the Order (when Molly wasn't scolding him), though he made an exception for Snape, who he would never get along with. Still, he would only trust Remus, Harry and Hermione with his life and his closest friends apart from those three were Kingsley and Tonks.

He loved them all, needed them to remain happy. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost any of them in the war. He would protect them at all costs.

When Hermione had told him that she wanted to share their most protected secret he had almost fainted. He knew the sort of reactions the news would give and he didn't particularly fancy being on the end of it. But she'd wanted to tell their nearest and dearest so much. Then she'd brought the firewhiskey and he couldn't say no - Merlin that girl knew his weaknesses.

He'd seemed to get off lucky when most of the attention had been directed at the argument Bill had started with Hermione, but he wasn't pleased at seeing Hermione so upset, though he knew that most of the time Bill was good for her. Still, he'd got a lecture from Moony and another later from Kingsley - never an enjoyable experience - while his purple haired cousin and Ginny had giggled and Harry and Ron had stayed resolutely quiet, not really wanting to think much about the entire incident.

Bill had come to find him the day after what he termed as 'the incident', a little sheepish and obviously sorry. He'd apologised for the things he'd said and how he had reacted, assuring Sirius that he had also apologised profusely to Hermione as well. Sirius had forgiven him easily, he only held grudges against those he really hated and he'd known that Bill's jealousy and anger could be a likely reaction to the news. They'd parted amicably, though Sirius had seen a hint in the younger man's eyes of a little lingering jealousy, nothing to worry about though.

Hermione, Tonks, Ginny and Luna were all at a wizarding spa, while Kingsley and Moody had been assigned to accompany them. Sirius laughed at the thought, the poor bastards must hate that assignment, both boring and embarrassing. He wondered how Moody was acting about the whole thing, he somehow didn't think that the auror would appreciate having to spend a day babysitting the girls.

Sirius spent a rather awkward hour talking with Narcissa and Draco, made even worse by the fact that Tonks wasn't there to chatter on and act like a buffer. Still, he got through it without any terrible silences or arguments, managing to remind himself that Cissa hadn't been all that bad when they were younger (though not nearly as nice as Andromeda) and that while Draco had been a bastard when he was younger, he had repented and tried to make amends.

He spent time talking over Order news with Dumbledore and Remus for a few hours, before going to vent his frustration at Voldemort, who had been killing more and more, in the room of requirement. By the time he had finished, showered and eaten dinner, Kingsley and Moody had returned with the four girls, all looking fresh, relaxed and happy. Moody was muttering about "bloody babysitting duty" and "Shacklebolt didn't even pay much attention, no one bothers with constant vigilance any more." Sirius snorted in amusement, though he was careful not to let Moody notice, the old auror took everything so seriously, then again with the war on he couldn't really blame the man.

Kingsley sauntered over to where he was sitting, dropping down onto the bench next to him with a grin, "Sirius mate, you missed out on a seriously good time today." Seeing the confused look on Sirius' face, Kingsley continued, "it wasn't just watching and constant vigilance, though that was all Moody seemed to want to do. There were some seriously hot women in that spa and they were all wearing next to nothing." He paused as his blissful expression faded, "of course Moody saw I was distracted, got annoyed and so Mione took pity on him and dragged us all out of there. Such a shame I couldn't get to know some of them a little better."

Sirius pouted, "you get all the luck, they'll never let me do that because I'm still a bloody fugitive and I'd be arrested as soon as I set foot in a public place." Kingsley just laughed and patted Sirius' shoulder in sympathy, "never mind mate, all the more for me." Sirius just threw a dirty look at his friend and they both laughed.

Sirius was bored. Most of the Order were out on missions, at work or busy and the teenagers were all in training. He couldn't go and annoy Tonks because her pregnancy was starting to show and she was rather hormonal and prone to hexing people for no real reason. Not to mention that Remus would probably try to castrate him if he annoyed her. They just weren't fun at the moment, too wrapped up in the pregnancy. He did think it was great that there would be a mini-marauder running round soon and he couldn't wait to teach the kid to prank, but he really was bored.

In the end he decided to go through a box of things he'd kept from his childhood and teenage years - mostly from Hogwarts. It might make him a little sad to think of James and Lily, but he didn't want to forget them and he loved to remember the great pranks the marauders had executed at Hogwarts, terrifying teachers and students alike.

Each object in the box held a memory close to his heart - it looked like it was an afternoon for reminiscing. The first thing he pulled out was his Gryffindor tie, ahh how he loved his house, it was where he'd made his best friends after all. He remembered the day he was sorted very well;

"Black, Sirius," called Professor McGonagall and Sirius walked slowly up the steps towards the chair with the sorting hat. He looked back over his shoulders at James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, who he had met on the train. None of them had been sorted yet, but he had a feeling that James at least would be in Gryffindor, from what he had seen of bookish Remus, he would probably make Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. He wasn't sure about Peter, he'd seen a little hopeless on the train.

He sat down on the stool, no worry showing on his features, he was a Black after all. However, inside he was shaking, he didn't want to be in Slytherin like practically all his family, he wanted to be Gryffindor like his great-uncle Alphard or his cousin Andromeda. He placed the hat on his head and listened as it spoke, "hmmm, interesting mind here. You have brains, that's for sure, but you prefer to use them for mischief rather than study so I fear Ravenclaw is not for you. Loyalty - you have that in abundance when someone has gained your trust, but Hufflepuff is a little too nice for you. Almost your entire family has been in Slytherin, yet you hope so badly to stay away and I believe it is a wise decision. Well that leaves just one place for you Sirius Black … GRYFFINDOR."

Sirius smiled as he went to sit down at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the whispers from the Slytherin concerning a Black not being sorted as a Slytherin. As he peered over at that table he noted that Narcissa, the only first cousin of his left at Hogwarts, was glaring at him and he knew she would most certainly be sending an owl to his mother immediately concerning his 'traitorous' leanings and he guessed he should expect a few howlers in the next few days. Never mind, it was worth it.

The rest of the sorting finished and Sirius was delighted when James, Remus and Peter were all sorted into Gryffindor too. They took places next and opposite to him and the four immediately began talking. Sirius and James soon had their first prank planned for the next day, with the help of a reluctant Remus and an eager Peter. Thus the Marauders were born.

Sirius broke away from his memory as he heard the door open and saw Remus step inside, "hello Padfoot, what have you been up to?" Sirius shrugged and gestured towards the box, "just remembering," he told his friend. Remus nodded, "well Harry's organised an impromptu quidditch game and Mione's even agreed to put down her books for a while and come watch, you in?"

Sirius placed the tie back in the box and magically sealed it, there would be time for more memories later. He stood up and smiled at Remus, "sure Moony, after all, someone's got to show the kids how real men play quidditch." Remus shook his head in amusement and they headed out to the pitch.

Thank you to all those who reviewed the previous chapter, it was very much appreciated; Readerforlife, LoveIt123 and .

From what I read on Harry Potter wiki, Andromeda Tonks and Alphard Black were both Slytherins and this seems to be confirmed by what Sirius says about his whole family being in Slytherin and Slughorn's comment about all the Blacks being in his house (Slytherin). However I am using a little creative licence and putting the two in Gryffindor to show their disbelief in Black family values.

Sorry if it seemed like a bit of an abrupt ending, but I couldn't think of anything to put. The next chapter, which will probably be up in 3 days to a week, will detail Hermione's early morning encounter with someone in the kitchens of Hogwarts.