Chapter 8

Special thanks to Ruk, Marie, and Lily-flower15 for the kind reviews. Thanks, y'all! Keep reviewing, even if it isn't a long one. Just knowing that people are reading the shit I put out keeps me motivated. Let's try to get to 80 reviews before the next chapter goes up! Thank y'all so much for reading this. :)

Sorry if updates get slow from now on. School is starting soon, so even if I don't update for a longass time, just know that I will not be abandoning this story.

I'm not sure how old Tonks is in canon, but in this story, she's in her 7th year when Harry is in his 1st.

July 24th, 1991

"Just concentrate, you really need to concentrate, Prongslet. You're almost there, you've already gotten your head to grow antlers, but now, you need to transform the rest of your body. Once you get the full transformation down, transforming back to a human is easy. Also, I need you to not get stuck with antlers on your head for the rest of the day. As you know, Lily would have my head if she found out I was teaching you to become an Animagus," Sirius instructed.

"I know, I'm trying!" Harry complained. "Nothing's happening!"

"Just close your eyes and relax. Think of the stag you're about to transform into, and imagine yourself running through the Forbidden Forest with me, Moony, and Prongs. Happy thoughts allow for your body to be more relaxed about an Animagus transformation, which is stressful on the body at first," Sirius responded. "You need to get this down before you go to Hogwarts! It'll be much harder for me to help you once you're there."

"Yeah, Padfoot. I know. You've mentioned that before," Harry replied, slightly annoyed.

"You know what? Let's work on getting you back to normal before Lily Flower comes home from the healer with Alaina. I don't really fancy a lecture from her about how I'm 'endangering you'," Sirius shuddered.

Harry nodded in agreement, and did his best to get rid of the antlers. After a few seconds, he touched the top of his head, only to find that they were still there. "Ugh, you know, Transfiguration never was my strong suit," Harry admitted.

"Come on, you're what? Technically around 30? We Marauders had this down in our fifth year, including Peter. And that pathetic rat had absolutely no skills at all! We've been at this for a few years now!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Hey, physically, I'm 11. Becoming an Animagus takes physical strength, which I, as a prepubescent boy, am lacking. You said it yourself before, if I were still physically my age, I'd have it by now. Cut me some slack. Besides, if Pettigrew really was so untalented, how did he get the best of you that night you went to Azkaban? You know, that time you abandoned your poor, innocent godson, and got yourself locked up," Harry fired back.

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, when James walked through the door. Harry looked at Sirius wide eyed. His father wasn't supposed to be back from work for another two hours. Now, Harry knew his father probably wouldn't be opposed to the idea of Harry becoming an Animagus, quite the opposite. But seeing as it was quite advanced and potentially dangerous magic, he wasn't sure how James would feel about his son trying to become an Animagus before he'd even gotten his Hogwarts letter.

"Hello!" James greeted. "Kingsley offered to take over for the rest of the day, so I got off early. By the way, Padfoot, he wants you in a little earlier tomorrow."

"Hi, Ja...Dad!" Harry answered nervously as he attempted to obscure himself behind Sirius.

Sometimes, Harry almost accidentally called his father James, instead of 'dad'. This was because when he'd actually been a child, he hadn't known his parents. Now, as an adult pretending to be a child, he saw his dad more as a peer, a best mate, or a brother figure, rather than a father. After all, mentally, they were about the same age.

Harry must not have done a very good job at concealing the two large antlers sticking out of his head, because James walked right behind Sirius, and gaped at his son.

"I'm a stag too, surprise!" Harry said awkwardly, stepping out from behind Sirius, and putting his hands out in a 'ta da' gesture.

James continued to gawk at him for a good minute before finally seeming to find his words. "But...but you're not even 11 yet! I didn't even get this far until near the end of fourth year!" James exclaimed, clearly amazed. "I take it you're going to try and get rid of the antlers before Lily gets back?"

Harry nodded. He closed his eyes again, and really, really tried to transform back into a normal human. Nothing. Harry sighed, and walked over to a chair to sit down, when suddenly, he felt his body...shift. He felt weird, almost like he was standing on...four legs! He'd done it! Granted, at the current moment, it had been a complete accident, but he'd done it!

"About time, Prongslet!" Sirius applauded happily.

"Well, looks like Prongslet is your Marauder name. You're a baby stag!" James declared happily before transforming into a much larger stag.

Harry giddily chased his father around, finding it slightly frustrating that his father had longer legs than him. He supposed his Animagus form would grow once he got older, but as of now, he was losing in the race.

Sirius then transformed into a big, black Wolfhound, and barked happily. His tail wagged as he wrestled with the two stags. Harry was a bit dismayed to find that even as a stag, he was still smaller than Sirius. The three animals chased each other around, though Harry found himself very disgruntled by the end of it, as he could never quite keep up with the adult Animagi.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?! HARRY, IS THAT YOU?!" Lily screeched, walking in on the scene as she held Alaina's hand.

Whoops. They were dead.

XXXXXXX

After a rather long lecture from Lily about how irresponsible, dangerous, and illegal what they'd done had been, she handed Harry his Hogwarts letter. Apparently, the owl carrying it had arrived just as Lily and Alaina had gotten home. Harry looked down at the letter, noticing the signature Hogwarts seal, and grinned. While he'd loved growing up with his parents and being able to enjoy his childhood, going to Hogwarts meant being able to see all of his friends again.

Mr Harry J Potter

Third Bedroom on the Left

45 Godric's Hollow

Harry read through the letter, and noted that the book lists and supplies were the same as last time. Guess that meant he'd still have all of the same teachers, including Quirelldemort.

"Oh, Harry! Is that it? Is that the Hogwarts letter?" Alaina exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Can I see it?!"

"Alaina, honey. Why don't you wait for Harry to finish reading it first. The first Hogwarts letter is very important and exciting," Lily said gently. "Afterwards, I'm sure he'd be happy to let you see it."

"No, that's okay, Mum. I'm done with it. Here you go, Alaina." Harry handed the letter to Alaina.

Alaina jumped at Harry in excitement, and threw her arms around him. "Thanks, Harry! You're the best big brother ever!" The (nearly) six year old almost knocked him over.

"Woah there, Alaina," Harry said as he tried to stop himself from falling under his sister's weight. While she was only six, she was an early bloomer, and was only a few inches shorter than her brother. At the rate she was growing, she'd be over six feet tall by the time she was of age.

"Sorry, Harry," Alaina apologized sheepishly. She glanced over the writing on the letter, probably unable to read some of the words. "Can I go to Hogwarts with you, Harry?" Alaina asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Lainie," Harry said gently. "You have to wait until you're 11. I'll be back for the winter holidays, though. I promise to tell you all about it then," Harry said sincerely.

"You mean, you'll be gone for a ton of days?" Alaina asked, tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, just because I won't be here, doesn't mean you can't contact me. I'll write to you every day if you want. Plus, I have Dad's two-way mirror, and Uncle Padfoot has the other, so you can borrow his any time you want to talk to me, okay?" Harry comforted his baby sister.

"O...Okay," Alaina replied, wiping away her tears.

Harry hugged his sister tightly, and continued to reassure her that he'd be there for her no matter what, even if he was at Hogwarts.

XXXXXXXX

July 31st, 1991

The Potters had planned on taking Harry to Diagon Alley for his school supplies on his Birthday together. Unfortunately, James had been called in to work, as there'd been a breakthrough on a crime case he'd been working on. Since today wasn't one of his official scheduled 'days off', James had no choice but to go in. Sirius had maturely stuck his tongue out at James, as he had not been called in to work. There'd also been an emergency at St Mungos on the same day, and Lily was needed there to help them brew additional healing potions. On top of all that, Alaina had fallen ill that morning, with a high temperature and cough (she was given some Healing Potions, but those took several hours to kick in). So they'd called Remus over to the Potters' house to look after Alaina, while Sirius took Harry to Diagon Alley.

Harry and Sirius had absolutely no interest in picking up first year supplies, so they'd gotten Kreacher to do it for them. Harry had also specifically instructed Kreacher to pick up a white, snowy owl. The house elf had been extremely kind to the two of them, ever since they'd destroyed the Horcrux locket. Kreacher carried the destroyed locket pieces around everywhere, in a sack that he tied around his wrist.

"What a nutter," Sirius muttered to Harry as Kreacher Apparated away.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe, but it doesn't have to be a bad thing. He is treating us nicely now," Harry pointed out. "Hey, mind getting me a Nimbus 2000? It is my birthday, after all. I do still plan on making the team this year. Alaina will be thrilled to get my Nimbus 1990."

"Fine. But don't be expecting a Firebolt for Christmas third year. This time, I've been around for all your life, so I have nothing to make up for," Sirius agreed. "Anyway, the only thing Kreacher can't get for us is your robes, seeing as they're personalised to your measurements. You'll have to go into Madam Malkin's and get those yourself. Meanwhile, I'm going to head to Knockturn Alley and see if I can find anything...interesting," Sirius said mischievously.

Harry shook his head as he watched his godfather head towards Diagon Alley, most likely to purchase something illegal. He was a bit curious as to what it was, but he figured that he'd find out soon enough.

Upon stepping into Madam Malkins, Harry noticed a pale, blond boy standing on a stool, looking bored out of his mind. Right, he had first met Draco Malfoy for the first time at Madam Malkin's, hadn't he?

While he and Draco had been arch rivals the first go around, Harry really couldn't be bothered to deal with that this time. Besides, now that he was older, he could recognize that in some ways, Draco had been a victim. He'd been brainwashed into believing the racist beliefs that his parents held, and had only been doing what he could to make them proud. When it came down to it, Draco hadn't had the stomach to kill anyone, and hadn't given Harry's identity away when asked at the Malfoy Manor.

Draco had ended up marrying Astoria Greengrass, a Ravenclaw who didn't believe in blood purity. Harry had heard rumors that the two of them had a rather strained relationship with Lucius and Narcissa, due to them not approving of her tolerance for others. And through all of the drama, Draco had stood up for his wife. Perhaps with age, Draco really had matured, and changed for the better. And maybe, if Harry could make him see the error of his parents' prejudiced ways, he could get Draco to change his views earlier. Maybe. It was worth a shot. Either way, having a Slytherin ally couldn't hurt.

Harry stepped onto the stool next to the blond boy, and gave him a friendly wave.

"Hello," Draco said. "Hogwarts too?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I don't really see the point in going to Durmstrang. I heard they speak primarily Bulgarian there, and I don't really want to learn another language. I suppose Beauxbatons could be fun, as there are a ton of Veela girls there, but again, they mostly speak French, so there's the whole 'foreign language issue' again. There's always the American schools, but I think it'd be a bit of a culture shock for me to go all the way over there. "

"Father wanted to send me to Durmstrang. At least they have a respectable headmaster there, instead of the old coot Dumbledore. Mother didn't want me to go that far away, and she threw a fit, so Father dropped the idea. You're right about the foreign languages though, that'd be a hassle," Draco acknowledged.

"I suppose you could always use a translator spell, but again, that's unnecessary work," Harry replied. "Anyway, Dumbledore may be an old coot, but he is a powerful wizard."

"Father says he's mad," Draco answered.

Harry shrugged. "Eh, I'd wager he is. But they say mad people are often the most intelligent."

Draco didn't seem to have a response to this, and changed the subject. "Anyway, my father's next door buying my books and Mother's up the street looking at wands," Draco said with the same bored, drawling voice he'd had in the previous timeline. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

"The rule is pretty dumb," Harry agreed. "My godfather's gone to go get me a Nimbus 2000. I plan on putting a Disillusionment Charm on it, and sneaking it into school. Even if they did catch a first year, like myself, with a broomstick, I could always claim that a second year or up let me borrow theirs. Besides, what are they going to do, expel me?" Harry scoffed. As if Dumbledore would ever let the "Saviour of the Wizarding World" get expelled.

Draco looked very impressed by Harry. "That's a good idea, but I...don't know how to perform a Disillusionment Charm," Draco said, looking embarrassed. "And I don't think Mother or Father would perform one for me on a broomstick, without asking questions," Draco admitted sheepishly, blushing slightly. The kid had probably never not been able to get something in his life.

Harry did his best not to laugh at the kid, even though the old him would've found an embarrassed Draco Malfoy hilarious. "If you want, I can buy you a broom after we're done getting robes. I take it your parents didn't give you enough pocket money for today to get a broomstick, and they'd be suspicious if you asked to go back to your vault right away?"

Draco nodded.

"I get a pretty good discount at Quality Quidditch Supplies, seeing as my broomstick line there has made them a fortune. You can always pay me back later. That way, you can sneak your broom home, then sneak it onto the Hogwarts Express. I can help you undo the spell once we get there," Harry offered.

"You have a broomstick line?" Draco asked skeptically. "Which one is yours?"

Harry just lifted his bangs in response, smiling smugly at Draco's shocked expression.

"Merlin! You're Harry Potter! I thought you looked familiar! They sell signed pictures of you at Flourish and Blotts!" Draco exclaimed, looking amazed. "Father said you'd be starting this year, but...I thought you'd be a bit taller. You're rather small," Draco added. He seemed to be sizing Harry up.

"Hey, just because I defeated Voldemort, doesn't mean I have to be six feet tall," Harry shrugged. Besides, I'll eventually have a growth spurt...

Draco gasped. "You're not supposed to say the Dark Lord's name!"

"Why shouldn't I? The bastard tried to kill my godfather, and I killed him instead. I have nothing to be scared of," Harry replied nonchalantly.

Draco recovered quickly from the shock, and once again, his bored expression was back. "Father says it's foolish to say the name."

Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," Harry answered, stealing Dumbledore's line. "Besides, if you don't want to call him by his 'villain name', you can always call him by his given name."

"And...what's that?" Draco asked curiously.

"Tom Riddle," Harry informed.

"But...but Riddle is not a name of any magical family I know." Draco looked puzzled.

Harry laughed. "Ironic, isn't it? The big, bad wizard with a blood purity agenda is secretly a Half-blood. Who knew? What a bloody hypocrite!"

"You're lying," Draco accused.

"Why would I lie?" Harry countered.

Draco once again seemed lost for words. After shaking his head in disbelief, he asked, "I don't think they should allow anyone who's not of our kind in, do you?"

"Not of our kind? You mean Vampires, Merpeople, Centaurs, and the like? I think most of them have their own schools anyway, but I believe that if they want to attend Hogwarts, they should be able to. Of course, I think there is a rule against drinking fresh blood at Hogwarts, so that would make it a bit difficult for blood-lusting vampires. Also, Merpeople need a plethora of water 24/7 in order to breathe, which makes Hogwarts not the most practical option for them. " Harry said thoughtfully.

"I wasn't talking about half-breeds, I was talking about Mudbloods," Draco said.

Harry reminded himself that Draco was an ignorant child, repeating his parents' words. There was no use in getting angry. However, he really should let Draco know that the word was unacceptable. "You shouldn't use that term, Draco. It makes you sound like an ignoramus."

"Oh, don't get all sanctimonious on me, Potter. I suppose you believe that wizards and Muggles are equal as well?" Draco queried, looking not disgusted like Harry had expected, but almost...curious. Harry also found himself a bit impressed with the 11 year old's vocabulary before he remembered that Draco had been ranked second in their year, after Hermione. Despite his learned ignorance from his parents, the Slytherin was fairly intelligent.

"Well, everyone deserves to live freely and equally," Harry shrugged again. Time to pull out my inner Slytherin... "If you want to be friends with me, and I assure you, you do, then you can't use the word 'Mudblood' or 'blood traitor' around me or my friends. My name offers you privileges and power, which I'm sure you'll want. But...if you insult any of my friends around me, we can't be friends. Deal?" Harry offered his hand to Draco.

Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "Deal," Draco replied, taking his hand. "But for the record, this doesn't mean that I agree with you."

"That's okay," Harry said cheerfully. "Everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinions. Even if they are just repeating Daddy's quotes, word for word."

Harry noted that Draco looked a bit miffed, but didn't bother dignifying the statement with a response. Most likely, he didn't want to get on Harry's bad side. Ultimately, someone like Draco probably wouldn't want to lose such a 'powerful' friend. Also, seeing as what Harry said about "repeating Daddy's words" had definitely been true, it wasn't like Draco could deny it.

XXXXXXXX

After Harry had finished waiting for Draco to finish getting fitted, the two of them left the store together. At first, Harry wondered why he'd been done before Draco, even though Draco had been there first, but quickly realized that it was probably a result of his celebrity status.

"Mother and Father are meeting me here, but I'll ask them if we can go look at brooms together," Draco told Harry. "There they are!" Draco pointed to Narcissa and Lucius. They looked significantly younger than they had in the previous timeline, especially Lucius. Azkaban had not been kind to the man.

Harry spotted Sirius walking towards them, broomstick in hand (Sirius was giving Harry a rather odd look), and waved to his godfather. "That's my godfather, Sirius Black," Harry told Draco.

When the three adults finally made their way over to the kids, Harry felt a chilly atmosphere arise. "Cousin Sirius," Narcissa said coolly.

"Cissy," Sirius nodded at Narcissa tersely. "And...Cissy's husband. Sorry, as you know, I wasn't on the best terms with my family, so I never did learn your name," Sirius lied, looking extremely unapologetic.

"Lucius Malfoy." The older blond man looked like he wanted to strangle Harry's godfather, but held out his hand, anyway. Probably because he realized that Harry was an influential figure, and wanted to be on his good side. After all, Lucius was probably the one who had instructed Draco to befriend Harry in the first place. For all they knew, Harry could be the next 'dark lord', seeing as he had defeated Lucius's former master.

Sirius ignored Lucius's hand, and turned to Harry. "I got you your broomstick, along with something fun for us to try from Knockturn Alley, because I am the best godfather in the world," Sirius informed him. "Can we go now?"

Before Harry could respond, Draco's mother interrupted him. "You bought your godson something from Knockturn Alley?" Narcissa asked disapprovingly.

"Oh, as if your husband doesn't go there on a daily basis, selling dark artifacts," Sirius retorted.

Presumably because what Sirius voiced had been true, and they didn't want to confess to committing several illegal acts, the Malfoys didn't riposte.

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed into his ear.

"Networking," Harry whispered back.

Sirius still seemed confused, but turned back to the Malfoys. "So how's life after being 'Imperiused into working with Voldemort'?" Sirius taunted.

"That's not something to joke about, Black," Lucius snapped.

"Anyway," Harry interrupted. "Now that we've established that parents and parental figures aren't always the most 'upstanding citizens', and some of them are irresponsible tearaways," Harry looked pointedly at Sirius, "Draco and I have something to ask of you. I know Sirius already got me a broom, but I wanted to go look at some of the other designs myself. Since it's much more fun to look at brooms with a friend, Draco and I wanted to go together. Can we go?" Harry pleaded. "By the way, I'm Harry Potter," Harry informed Draco's parents, though they had probably already figured that out.

"Please?" Draco begged, looking desperate.

"As long as you're back within a half hour, honey," Narcissa replied, kissing Draco on the cheek.

"Mother!" Draco admonished, a tinge of red manifesting on his pale skin.

"Of course," Lucius added. "It is a pleasure to meet you, by the way, Mr Potter," Lucius offered Harry his hand.

Because Harry was a mature adult (unlike his godfather), he shook the Death Eater's hand. "And you, Mr Malfoy," Harry said respectfully.

Harry didn't wait for Sirius to give him permission to go. This was partly because he was fairly certain that the man would say no, and also because he was a fully grown man that didn't actually need his godfather's blessing to do anything. "Let's go, Draco," Harry said quickly, grabbing Draco by the arm.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So...your godfather is my mother's cousin?" Draco asked as the two admired all of the different brooms. "I wonder why I've never met him…" Draco looked thoughtful.

"Sirius was disowned by his parents. As you can probably tell, he was a bit of a handful to deal with, and his parents were pricks," Harry answered. "Of course, they never got around to officially disinheriting him, so he's technically 'Lord Black' now."

"I guess that makes the two of us related, in a way," Draco remarked.

"Well, if you think about it, most wizard families are related to each other somehow. Pure-bloods often have to marry within the family to keep a pure line, and you end up with a bunch of inbred kids," Harry mentioned.

Draco once again seemed speechless. It appeared as though Harry now had that effect on a lot of people.

"I'll get you a Nimbus 2000, it'll come in handy when you're Slytherin's new seeker this year," Harry informed Draco. "You can pay me back on the train," Harry added, paying the cashier.

"What makes you say I'll be the new seeker?" Draco asked, looking both excited and intrigued.

"I had a dream that I would be made the new seeker of Gryffindor. I'm a Dream Seer," Harry replied.

Draco gave him a confused frown. "But...why does that have anything to do with me?"

"You'll see, Draco," Harry answered cryptically.

Draco just looked at him strangely. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask...how did you know my name was Draco? I never told you that."

"Um...my dreams told me," Harry lied lamely.

Draco gave him another odd look. Luckily, at that moment, the cashier handed Draco his new broom, and Draco dropped the topic, too busy admiring his new broom.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So...what exactly is this?" Harry asked, taking a swig of the potion Sirius had bought from Knockturn Alley. The two of them were currently at a playground a few blocks away from the Potter house.

"It's a drug...of sorts. It can cause hallucinations and euphoria. I believe a similar substance in the Muggle world is called LSD, or acid," Sirius replied.

"You gave me, your 11 year old godson, acid?" Harry questioned incredulously. "What if I don't want to be high as fuck when we get back home?"

"You're the one who drank it before finding out what it was. Besides, you're actually 30, not 11," Sirius pointed out. "Anyway, Mundungus said this stuff kicks in a lot faster than the Muggle version, in around five minutes. It should last around eight to nine hours, depending on the person. Last time I did something like this, it was at Hogwarts, with the rest of the Marauders. It made Moony so paranoid that he was convinced that he was Voldemort. He locked himself in a closet, muttering some nonsense about 'being in hell'. Wormtail just laid on his bed, and spent the whole time coloring, while your father and I just wandered around the castle, enjoying the hallucinations," Sirius said, looking nostalgic.

"Shouldn't we…" Harry began, when suddenly, the bright colors around him made him lose his focus. "Woah...It's beautiful," Harry said dreamily.

"Life is beautiful!" Sirius proclaimed. "I just...I just want to look at life, and feel the Earth. I want to be anything. Hell, I can be anything. I can be a duck, a bird, a cat, or a dog! I am a dog!" Sirius giggled, transforming into Padfoot.

"Padfoot! You can't do that, it's illegal!" Harry exclaimed, looking around to make sure there was no one watching them. Unfortunately, his surroundings kept moving, and he couldn't tell if there was one person there, or if there was a crowd watching him.

"I am a deer!" Harry declared, transforming into a stag. Harry quickly transformed back. "Now I'm a human! Life is beautiful, isn't it? I think I said that already, but it really is!"

"Indeed," Sirius agreed, now back in his human form. Sirius looked around dreamily. "I just want to love...love is gorgeous. Death is bad, unless it is Voldy Pants," Sirius cackled.

"Or Bellatrix!" Harry exclaimed. "Molly Weasley truly became an angel when she killed the bitch!" Harry laughed, taking out his wand and reenacting the fight. "Mrs Weasley was like, 'NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!', and then it was boom, boom, boom! And Bellatrix exploded into a bunch of confetti! Man, I can see it now! I just saw it again, but this time, I was Mrs Weasley! Maybe I am Mrs Weasley! Is my hair red?" Harry queried.

"Molly killed Bellatrix?" Sirius asked incredulously, not answering his question. "I guess I didn't give that woman enough credit," Sirius admitted.

"I can see it now! It's happening right now, again! This time, I'm not Mrs Weasley, though," Harry repeated, happily watching his mother figure take down Sirius's killer.

Suddenly, the scene around Harry changed, as Sirius slowly morphed into Fred Weasley, and dropped dead. Then, the swing set turned into Snape, being eaten by Nagini. More and more people appeared, all of the bodies, lined up in front of Harry. "NO!" Harry cried. "I tried to stop it!" Harry sobbed.

"Harry, Harry, calm down. Whatever you see, it's not real," Sirius grabbed his godson's shoulders. "We should get you home, maybe this wasn't a good idea. Moony might know a spell to lessen the effects."

Harry closed his eyes, and saw bright yellow sparkles. That was much better. When he opened his eyes again, the playground was back. Everything was still moving around, and the colors were still so, so bright, but the dead bodies were gone. Right. It wasn't real. Maybe nothing was real. Maybe Harry Potter wasn't a real person.

"Nothing is real anymore!" Harry cried out gleefully. The euphoric feeling was back. "Everyone is free! Let's go back to my fake house, and not eat any fake food, because it is fake! Everything is fake!"

Sirius cackled, the worry from earlier gone. "I think we can fake Apparate home! Because you're absolutely right, everything is fake!"

"One, two, three!" Harry counted before grabbing Sirius, and disappearing with a POP!

XXXXXXXX

Harry and Sirius landed in the sitting room of the Potter house, though it took a minute for Harry to comprehend what was going on around him. The world still felt peculiar, and quite truthfully, Harry was shocked that he still remembered his own name.

"Woah, Moony! Why are you holding a small version of my mother? And why is Lily sleeping?" Harry wondered. "Or maybe she's holding you...I can't tell. Wait! Now, I remember! I have a sister. A sleeping sister," Harry giggled.

"Harry? Sirius?" Remus asked suspiciously. "Merlin, you two are high, aren't you!"

"Maybe you're high," Harry argued. "Maybe the world is high. Maybe, we're all just high during our normal states, and when we do drugs, we're low!"

"That doesn't make any sense," Remus said, looking exasperated.

"You don't make sense!" Sirius retorted defensively.

Harry heard a creaking noise, but couldn't tell if the door had really just opened, or if it was another hallucination.

"Remus? Are Harry and Sirius back yet?" Lily called out.

Oh no, they were in trouble. If his mum saw him high, he'd be grounded until he went to Hogwarts! "We're not back yet!" Harry blurted out. "Sirius and I are still at Diagon Alley! We'll see you soon!" Harry continued, trying to act sober.

Harry saw Remus put his head in his hands, almost as if he was experiencing secondhand embarrassment. Weird. He thought he'd been doing a good job at covering up his impaired state from Lily.

"Lily! We are currently not in the house, but you can leave us a message. We'll tell ourselves the message later...when we do get back! We will be our own messengers," Sirius added. "Oh, we're good at this," Sirius whispered loudly to Harry.

"No, you're not!" Remus whispered back sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Harry? Sirius?" Lily stared at him and his godfather warily as she walked into the room.

What? How did she know we were home? We just told her that we were still at Diagon Alley! Oh no, we really can't get caught!

"I am not Harry Potter," Harry laughed nervously.

"Really? Then who are you?" Lily questioned dubiously, taking a step closer to him, gazing directly into his eyes.

"I am no one. Because no one exists," Harry answered. At this point, he wasn't even sure what he was saying. The words coming out of his mouth sounded...weird. "That's Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry added helpfully, pointing to the place his godfather should've been standing. For some reason, his godfather was now Bellatrix. The world kept changing around him, it was rather strange.

Lily frowned at him before her eyes widened. "ARE YOU TWO ON DRUGS?!"

Before Harry could respond, Kreacher Apparated into the room. "Master Harry, sir! Kreacher comes bearing yous school supplies! Kreacher also has yous owl!" From the sounds Hedwig was making in Kreacher's arms, she didn't seem too happy at the moment.

Lily stared at Kreacher for a moment before turning to Harry and "Bellatrix". "You two got a house elf to do your shopping? What the hell have you been doing all day, then?! GETTING HIGH?!" Lily asked incredulously.

Yup. We are definitely dead. For real, this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

August 29th, 1991

Harry smiled as he, Lily, Sirius, James, Remus, and Alaina walked into the reptile exhibit at the zoo. It was a different zoo from the one he'd gone to with the Dursleys, but it was only a ten minute drive from the other one. Harry's grounding was officially over now, so Lily decided that before Harry went off to Hogwarts, the family needed to have one last get together.

Harry walked up to the snake enclosure, and hissed at the glass. Might as well show off my "dark talent". "Hi, my name is Harry, what's yours?" Harry asked.

"I'm Sarah," the snake hissed back.

"You're a Parselmouth, Harry?" James gaped at him.

"Yep," Harry responded nonchalantly.

"And you didn't think that was important information to tell your parents?" James protested, as Remus, Lily, and Alaina, looked on curiously.

"It's not like the ability to talk to snakes comes up in conversation much," Harry pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure at one point, I did mention fighting a Basilisk, and talking to it," Harry answered.

"Yes, but that was just another one of your imaginary stories. You should've told us in a more serious manner," James insisted.

"Imaginary stories? Do you really have no faith in us, James. Harry and I always tell you nothing but the truth," Sirius interjected.

James ignored his best friend.

"And would you have believed me, if I'd told you without proof?" Harry wondered.

"Well, probably not," James admitted. "You are a strange one, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Harry replied, grinning.

Harry turned back to Sarah. "Hey, I'm going to get rid of the glass soon for you. Do you think you could just jump on my father (he's the other guy with glasses), and scare him a bit before you escape? Don't actually hurt him, just make him scream a bit. You know, just as a prank."

"Yes," Sarah agreed. "How are you planning on vanishing the glass?"

As Harry was about to respond, he was pushed to the ground by a rather large boy. "Mummy, Daddy, look! Look at what it's doing!"

"Dudley?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Who're you?" Dudley's eyes narrowed.

Lily gasped. "Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia stared at her sister before snapping at her. "You and your freaky family need to get out of here! I don't need you freaks scaring my little Diddykins!"

"Tuney, please, I've missed you!" Lily leaned in to hug her estranged sister, only to be spat on.

Oh no, she did not!

"Out! Get out!" Aunt Petunia shrieked before secreting behind her massive husband.

Harry got up off the ground, and made his way to Sarah again. "On second thought, don't go after my father. Go after those three," Harry pointed out the Dursleys. "Ready?"

"Ready," Sarah answered.

Harry discreeetly pulled his wand out, and vanished the glass. He chuckled as he watched Uncle Vernon, Dudley, and Aunt Petunia scream, trying and failing to get away from Sarah. Rip! It seemed as though Dudley's trousers had been too tight, and while he'd been trying to get away, they'd finally given out.

Finally, on Harry's signal, Sarah slithered away. "Thanks," Sarah said gratefully.

"Anytime," Harry replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

September 1st, 1991

Harry, James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Alaina arrived at the station together. It was weird to have so many family members coming to see him off, but Harry found that he quite enjoyed it. Sometimes, his new, perfect life still felt so surreal.

"You have your invisibility cloak, Prongslet?" James double-checked.

"For the fifth time, Dad, yes. And yes, I do plan to use it to sneak around the castle." Upon noticing Lily's glare, Harry added, "just kidding," before winking at his father.

"Packed with Muggles, of course," Harry looked up at the sound of Mrs Weasley's voice, and spotted a group of redheads.

Harry quickly followed them to the barrier, desperate to see his second family again.

"Now, what is the platform number again?" Mrs Weasley asked. Ginny had later explained to him that Mrs Weasley did this each year, just so the younger Weasleys who weren't going to Hogwarts could feel included.

"Platform nine and three-quarters!" Ginny piped up. "Mum, I want to go too!" Ginny whined.

Though there was no way he'd even consider dating her until they were much, much older, Harry was still thrilled to finally be able to see Ginny. The sweet, innocent version of her, who hadn't been possessed by Voldemort, hadn't lost a beloved brother, and hadn't fought in a war. Hopefully, if he played his cards right, she'd never have to experience any of that again.

Harry briefly wondered how the Weasleys had managed to arrive so early this time around, seeing as last time, they'd showed up with just ten minutes to spare. Harry didn't think he'd done anything to warrant such a change. The Dursleys going to a different zoo at a different time, made sense. The family dynamic was probably a bit different without a fourth person in the house (even if all they did was bully said fourth person). Therefore, it wasn't that far fetched that without Harry there, the places they went had changed. Though Hermione had told him during the end of third year, that even tiny changes with time travel could cause a huge ripple effect. Oh well, this change didn't seem like that big of a deal. At least this way, he and the Weasleys had time to "get to know each other" prior to getting on the train.

Before any of the Weasleys had gone through the barrier, Harry approached them. "Hello, I'm Harry, Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself, offering his hand to Mrs Weasley. He desperately wanted to wrap his arms around the woman who'd once been like a mother to him, but he just barely held himself back.

"Wow, what a polite, young boy," Mrs Weasley commended him, taking his hand. "I'm Molly Weasley. Is this your first year at Hogwarts?" Mrs Weasley asked kindly. Harry nodded. "It's Ron's first time too."

"Hi, Ron," Harry greeted his best mate. "Do you want to find a compartment together when we get on the train? My friend, Neville, will probably be joining us too."

Ron gaped at him and said nothing. Harry saw one of the twins nudge him, and Ron finally spoke up. "Erm...yeah, that sounds great!" Ron's ears went pink. "Do you...do you really have…" Ron began.

"Do I really have what?" Harry questioned.

"The scar," Ron whispered with wide eyes.

Harry lifted his bangs. "Oh, this ugly thing? Yeah, it's rather unfortunate that curse scars don't fade. I suppose having an atrocious looking scar is better than being killed by Voldemort, anyhow," Harry replied nonchalantly.

There was a series of audible gasps from the Weasleys. "You said the name!" Ron exclaimed.

"Seeing as I killed him, there's no need to be scared of little Voldy. He also lost in a duel with a defenseless infant, so, if anything, that shows he's one of the weakest wizards of all time," Harry shrugged. "Anyway, I know your names," Harry gestured to Ron and Mrs Weasley, "but who are the rest of you?" Harry prompted.

"I'm Gred-"

"I'm Forge-"

"We have a feeling-"

"That we like you, see-"

"We can sense a troublemaker from miles away and-"

"We believe you will help us liven up the school-"

"And carry on our legacy after we leave."

Harry smiled at the two. He'd forgotten that they used to talk like that. After Fred had died, George had never been the same. It was almost like he'd lost a part of himself.

"And, you are?" Harry inquired, turning to Percy. While Percy had never been his favorite Weasley when he was a kid, in a way, Harry understood why he was the way he was. He was definitely more ambitious than the rest of the family (he was probably a Slytherin at heart), and that had made him the butt of all the jokes, an outcast. Despite all the things he'd done, he'd come back to his family in the end, and Harry respected that.

"Percy Weasley—Prefect—and future Head Boy. If you ever have any questions about Hogwarts, I'll be more than glad to be of service," Percy said pompously, offering his hand.

Harry could hear Fred and George snickering in the background, but he ignored them, as he didn't want to offend Percy.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind, thank you," Harry said sincerely. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Perce. Can I call you that?" Harry requested with a friendly smile.

Percy seemed surprised by Harry's kindness and immediate acceptance. "Um...yes, Harry, you can."

Last but not least, Harry turned to Ginny. "What's your name?"

"I-I-I'm Ginny," Ginny whispered shyly.

Harry gently put his hand on Ginny's shoulder, "Nice to meet you, Gin," Harry smiled.

Ginny shrieked, and quickly hid behind her mother. Hopefully, she'd eventually get over her fan-girling.

"This is Lily, Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, and Alaina," Harry introduced his family, deliberately using the Marauders' nicknames.

Fred and George gawked at the Marauders, looking like they might faint. "Moony-"

"Padfoot-"

"And Prongs?"

"The makers of-"

"The Marauders Map?"

James and Sirius grinned, while Remus nodded awkwardly.

Instantly, the twins got down on their knees. "We're not worthy!" the two exclaimed repeatedly.

"Please teach us your God-like ways-"

"Oh, masters of mischief-"

"We owe you our lives!"

Whereas Harry's father and godfather looked amused, Remus seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention, but smiled slightly, nevertheless.

"I take it you nicked our map from Filch's office?" James guessed, looking impressed.

"Yes, first year!" one of the twins responded. "It's bloody brilliant!"

"You're our heroes!"

"More than just our heroes, we worship you!"

"We built a shrine to you-"

"In our bedroom!"

"Can we have your autographs?" the other twin beseeched, pulling out a piece of parchment and quill.

James and Sirius eagerly signed the parchment messily. Conversely, Remus took his time, neatly writing his name, and writing the twins a short message.

"Harrykins, your Dad is a Marauder-"

"Which means this map belongs to you-"

"We couldn't possibly take-"

"What is rightfully yours-" One of the twins took the map out of his pocket, and handed it to Harry.

"How about we share it?" Harry suggested. "I'm sure we'll be able to wreak twice as much havoc if we both use the map to pull pranks," Harry suggested.

The twins looked at each other. "Deal," they said in unison.

Harry gave the map back to the twins. "Here, you two can hang onto this for now. I'll let you know when I need it."

"Are you-"

"Sure?"

"We really don't want to-"

"Take something from a Godly son."

"Positive," Harry replied. "As long as you promise to use it to cause chaos to the best of your ability."

"We promise, thank you, son of God," the twins proclaimed in unison.

The other Weasleys looked utterly confused at the whole exchange, as to them, the map likely looked like a worn piece of parchment. Also, it was probably a strange sight to see Fred and George literally groveling at Harry's family.

"Wait...who's-" one twin began.

"Wormtail?" the other finished.

The three Marauders glanced at each other.

"He's a Death Eater who betrayed my parents, and almost got Padfoot killed. Bit of a soft spot for them. I'm pretty sure Wormtail's been disowned by them, anyway," Harry explained in a whisper.

The twins nodded in understanding.

"We should probably head through the barrier now," Molly informed them. "There's only ten minutes to go now. Harry, would you like to go first, dear?"

"Oh no, that's okay. You guys were here first, go ahead."

Harry waited for the Weasleys to finish going through before preparing to run through the wall himself. Right then, he heard a familiar voice. "Wotcher, Potters, Moony, Padfoot!"

"Hey, Tonks," Harry replied. Harry had met Tonks a few times in this timeline, and Harry learned that even when she was younger, she was just as bubbly and fun-loving. "Where are your parents?"

"I kind of...broke part of the house earlier while I was packing my things," Tonks admitted sheepishly. "So I just Apparated here by myself."

Harry didn't bother asking how Tonks had "broken part of the house", knowing that she'd most likely tripped, and somehow set off a chain of events that had destroyed the house. Quite frankly, it was amazing that Tonks had made it through her childhood without a severe brain injury.

Shortly thereafter, Harry finally ended up making it onto the train a meager second before it took off. "BYE, HARRY!" He could hear his sister screaming, and watched as she ran after the train. Harry waved to his family (just like the other first years this time around), until he couldn't see them anymore. When he'd gone to Hogwarts in his previous life, he'd always been so eager to leave home. Now...it was a lot more bittersweet. Harry brushed off his emotions, knowing that if he really missed his family that much, he was fully capable of sneaking out of school.

Turning to Ron, Harry asked, "want to find an empty compartment?"