A/N: A few of you seem to want Sirius to join the party…! Well, it's safe to say he will make an appearance, at some point. When…well I'm not quite sure! I love Sirius, so of course he's going to be in the story! I sure as hell didn't kill him off! That's like asking me to kill Ron off…it's just not gonna happen! : ) Thanks again for the reviews!

Harry walked out the front door and stared out into the dusky sky. He figured he had about forty-five minutes until the sun set completely. He thought about all Hermione had just said to him, and now more than anything wanted to make sure James was ok.

"Ok Harry?" Liz asked as she watched him stare out into nothing.

"Yeah," he said distantly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"I can imagine," Liz said taking a step down onto the sidewalk.

"So where should we start?" Harry asked. "Where do you think James would be?"

Liz just stared down the street. "Hard to say. I guess we can just check everywhere."

"All right," Harry said as the two of them started to walk in silence.

"There," Liz said pointing to a nearby house. "I doubt he's there. He'd know it would be the first place we'd look, but maybe he stopped by."

"Whose house…?" Harry began to say before Liz cut him off.

"Mike's," Liz said as they walked up the steps and rang the bell.

"Hey," Mike said opening the door in a pair of plaid pants and no shirt. "What's up?"

"Were you sleeping?" Liz asked looking Mike up and down.

"No," Mike said shrugging. "Why?"

"No reason," Liz said shaking her head. "I just wasn't aware of the fact that you walked around the house half naked."

"I figure it's a treat for the visitors such as yourself," Mike said smiling cheekily as he flexed his muscle.

"Right…." Liz said laughing a little. "James didn't happen to stop by did he?"

"Not recently," Mike said leaning against the door frame. "Why? What happened?"

"Oh he's just gone off again," Liz said. "Harry thought we should come and look for him."

"Oh," Mike said looking out into the street. "You want me to come?"

"No it's ok," Liz said. "You know how James gets, and I'm sure your mum wants to spend some time with you. Plus, I would hate to bother you with having to go and put a shirt on."

"Ha ha, seriously though…" Mike asked as Katie suddenly appeared in the hall behind him.

"I was wondering who it was," Katie said coming over and standing behind Mike. "Hey you two. Glad to be back?"

"Yes," Liz said as Harry just nodded.

"Well that's good," Katie said. "What are you all up to?"

"Just going for a walk," Liz said quickly. "Getting some fresh air and thought we'd come say hi."

"Oh," Katie said smiling as she turned to walk away. "All right then. Well, Mike you need to finish unpacking."

"I know, I know…" Mike said giving Liz and Harry a look. "I guess I'll see you both tomorrow. If I hear anything from him, I'll let you know."

"Thanks," Liz said smiling as she turned to leave before Katie suddenly came back into the hall.

"I thought you said he cut it?" Katie said coming up and standing next to her son.

"Pardon?" Mike asked confused.

"His hair," Katie said pointing to Harry. "Didn't you say James cut all his hair off?"

"Ummm…" Mike said glancing at Harry. "Well…"

"I did," Harry said. "It just grows back rather quickly. It's a genetic thing."

"Yeah…" Katie said distantly. "I remember that with your…" She stopped as if remembering something. "Right, well, I need to get back to my article."

"We'd better go too," Liz said smiling at Mike. "Nice seeing you Katie."

"You too dear," Katie said smiling as she disappeared into the sitting room.

"Bye," Liz said as her and Harry made their way down towards the sidewalk.

"Bye," Mike said waving a little before turning and shutting the door behind him.

"I forgot that you two look different now," Liz said glancing at Harry. "It's going to be a bit confusing to explain it to people who've seen James first. That was a good save though. Very clever."

"It's true," Harry said he watched a lady struggling with a little dog. "I mean for me it is. Every time I cut my hair is just grows back the next day."

"Really?" Liz asked. "That's odd."

"I suppose," Harry said shrugging a little. "I take it that it's not a genetic thing.."

"Not that I know of," Liz said glancing around. "Come on, let's go this way."

"What's this way?" Harry asked as he followed her.

"Nothing particular," Liz said. "He just has a tendency to always go left."

"What?" Harry asked looking at Liz quizzically.

"James has a tendency to always go left," Liz said as she walked a few steps ahead of Harry.

"How on earth did you know that?" Harry said catching up to her.

"I dunno," Liz said shrugging a little. "Just something you pick up over the years."

"Well," Harry said. "I don't think I've known anyone as long as you've known James, but if I had, I'm almost positive that I wouldn't know which direction they tended to turn."

Liz laughed a little. "Well, I'm just saying that whenever we're given a situation to pick something, James always picks the left side of things. The left side of the table, the left side of the classroom…the left everything. I doubt he even notices, but I think I've noticed more because I'm always on the right side of things."

Harry just stared at Liz before she turned and looked at him. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Harry said smiling. "I'm actually surprised that you don't know exactly where he is right now. You seem to know everything else about him."

Liz just stared straight ahead. "We've pretty much spent everyday of our lives together," she began. "I mean not everyday, but a lot of it. And I don't know everything about him, because obviously he doesn't tell me everything…"

"The letters?" Harry asked.

Liz just stared and said nothing. "It's just…" She stopped and looked at Harry. "I mean every time Anne Bradley sneezes or drops her quill, James has no problem telling me, in detail I might add, that she did. Yet, when he get mysterious letters from Draco Malfoy, it slips his mind? It almost makes me angry."

"When she sneezes?" Harry asked.

"Well, not really, but you know what I mean," Liz said sighing. "I mean even if he didn't think they were serious and that they were just for him being clever, don't you think he would have asked me if I was getting them as well?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't be mad at him," Harry said. "Since you do know him so well, maybe you can figure out where he's coming from."

"I'll never be able to figure out where he's coming from," Liz said as the streetlights came on. She looked around the street as if snapping back into a sense of reality. "Or where he went for that matter."

Harry smiled. Liz was the exact mix of her parents, which Harry found to be extremely refreshing, since he happened to love her parents so much. Her face, features, and frame resembled Hermione to a tee, with the exception of her red hair and her smile. Her smile was definitely Ron's. She had Hermione's cleverness and determined, yet sometimes stubborn nature, but at the same time had Ron's sense of humor and lack of authority for people she couldn't be bothered with. He had noticed that with the way she acted around Oliver Wood and more notably, Malfoy. It was because she reminded him so much of his two best friends, that he found it easy to talk to her.

"You know," Harry said cutting the silence. "I'm somewhat jealous of you."

"Me?" Liz asked. "Why?"

"Just because you know James so well," Harry said. "I mean I know I've only been here a few days, and I won't be here forever, but there something in me, maybe something paternal, that makes me wish that I knew him even half as well as you did."

Liz grinned. "It takes a lot of patience," she said. "He's not exactly the most vocal person with the way he feels about things. That comes from years of people wanting to talk to him, and him wanting nothing to do with them."

"Well," Harry said shrugging as they made yet another left onto a busy shopping street. "I can't say that I don't know what he's going through."

"I remember the stories you used to tell us when we were little," Liz said smiling faintly. "Ways you used to play tricks on the press and that one witch from the Triwizard Tournament…"

"Rita Skeeter," Harry said shaking his head.

"Yes," Liz said smiling. "You and my dad would always sit us down and tell us all these stories. It's a good memory I have of you." She stopped. "I really do miss that."

Harry glanced at her. "Do you remember me all that well?"

"Of course," Liz said. "You were always around. When you went missing I was devastated. I just had to be the strong one because of James and what he was going though. You were always like another uncle or such to me. In fact, for most of my childhood, before I knew any better, that's what I thought you were."

"Your uncle?" Harry asked laughing.

"Well," Liz said blushing a little. "On my mum's side of course. I would never have been able to believe you were on the Weasley side. There's already enough of them."

Harry smiled. "I almost feel like apologizing for putting all of you through all this."

"It's all right," Liz said. "Not your fault. It was just really rough. I think the day it hit me the hardest was when James moved in with us and they brought all of his things over. That was the first time I realized that this might be more serious than I thought."

"Well," Harry said. "If it makes you feel any better I have every intention of figuring things out before I go back to my time."

Liz didn't say anything, but Harry could have sworn he saw the slight trace of a smile.

"Do you really think James would be wandering around a muggle shopping district?" Harry asked.

"It'd be the last place anyone would look for him," Liz said staring in the window of a bake shop. "No one knows him in the muggle world. He can be ambiguous."

"There you go again," Harry said. "I guess if I have any questions I want to ask James I should ask you instead."

"He'll warm up to you," Liz said as they looked up and down the street for any signs of James. "It just takes him a little bit. Especially since you are you who are."

"So," Harry said as he tried to find something to talk about. "James really fancies this one girl…? What's her name?"

"Anne Bradley," Liz said. "He's absolutely head over heals for her."

"Really?" Harry asked grinning a little.

"Has been from the first time he ever laid eyes on her," Liz said rolling her eyes. "I mean she is really nice, and clever, and pretty, and…well perfect. Then again this is mainly the words James feeds me. I barely know her."

"You seem to not want to talk about it," Harry said. "Do you not like her?"

'It's not that," Liz said as they left the street and headed down another street. "It's just…well you should ask James about her. He'll talk for hours. Trust me…I just get a little sick of hearing about it."

"Why that?" Harry asked.

"Because…" Liz said shrugging. "He talks about her all the time."

"Is that all?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Liz said as she looked at Harry. "Why? What are you trying to get at?"

"Nothing," Harry said shrugging. "I was just making sure…"

"I don't fancy James," Liz said matter of factly. "If that's what your trying to hint at."

"I didn't say a word," Harry said.

"I know," Liz said. "I just want you to know. I hate when people just naturally assume that since we're so close that we're automatically destined to be together."

"You've never thought that? Harry asked. "I mean I could tell you that for a while your parents both would have laughed, very hard I might add, at the mere mention of them ending up together."

"I know," Liz said seriously. "James is honestly like a brother to me. I love him so much, but I'm no where near that kind of love. I mean he lives down the hall. I can see the look on my parents faces if I was to ever tell them that James and I were together." She laughed. "Dad would lock us both away."

"Ron wouldn't do that," Harry said. He stopped and thought. "Then again maybe he would…"

"He would," Liz said. "Trust me…with the exception of one, very very very momentary thought, I've never seen James as anything more than my goofy best friend. Same with Mike, incase you had any ideas about him and I as well."

"One thought, huh?" Harry asked smiling a little.

"Nothing to get excited over," Liz said giving Harry a knowing look. "It was awhile ago too. Temporary loss of sanity really." She laughed. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with his father."

"I'm not exactly his father yet," Harry said. "I mean technically from what I was told, James turns seventeen next week. I don't turn seventeen until July, so therefore he's even older than I am."

Liz laughed hysterically. "This is one of the most unusual situations ever. How many people can say their older than their father?"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Harry said grinning. "So about this one thought you had for my son?"

"I thought he wasn't your son yet," Liz said as she stopped walking.

"You're changing the subject," Harry said.

"It was back in third year," Liz said taking a defeated breath. "My dorm mates were talking about the boys in Gryffindor since all three of them are good looking and blah blah…well anyway they went from Paul to Mike and then started talking about James. I just had to laugh as I heard them call him things like cute, athletic, and funny. So I left and ran into him a short time later. I told him what they had said and afterwards I just started laughing."

"That's always a good thing," Harry said. "Laughing."

"Anyway," Liz said. "He just looked at me funny and said something like, 'good to know where I stand with you.' When I asked him what that meant…" She stopped. "He just smiled a strange smile and then turned and walked away. I just remember in that moment I thought something different for him. He just looked different. It was very fleeting I might add. He came back down in the common room later with Mike and Paul talking about how Anne is essentially the perfect girl."

"Well you never know," Harry said as he stared at some of the houses they were walking past.

"Oh I know," Liz said defiantly. "James and I joke about it, but were both pretty clear on our intentions…Hey look over there."

Harry looked in the direction of where Liz was pointing, but didn't see anything but a cat. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Liz said grinning. "Just wanted to see if you'd look."

Harry gave her a look as he watched her stop in front of a house and look up at it. Harry glanced up and saw a red headed girl sitting on the porch with a book.

"Do you know who lives there?" Harry asked stepping up next to her.

"Yeah," Liz said as the little girl looked up and saw them both standing there.

"Liz! James!" the girl said as she stood up and came running down the steps and over to them. Harry noticed that she was a very petite girl with long, red hair that went down to her waist. She couldn't have been older than twelve and smiled widely as she looked at Liz.

"Hi Abby," Liz said smiling.

"Hi," Abby said as she looked at Harry. "I haven't seen you two around here in the longest time."

"It has been awhile," Liz said grinning. "We were just walking through the neighborhood so I thought we'd say hi."

"Come in!" Abby said excitedly.

"We really can't," Liz said. "We need to be getting back…"

"Mum and dad will have your head if they know you stopped by and didn't say hi," Abby said grinning. "Come on! Just for a second?"

Liz looked at Harry. "I suppose for a second…" They all stepped forward and walked up into the house.

"Whose house is this?" Harry whispered to Liz.

"It's…" Liz began to say before she was interrupted by a tall and burly man with dark hair and a mustache that was standing in front of them.

"Well," the man said. "I was wondering who Abby was talking to."

"Hi Uncle Neville," Liz said grinning. "We were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd say hi."

"Well, that's allowed," Neville said as he ushered them in. Harry couldn't take his eyes off Neville though, which caused Neville to give him a very strange look. He was as big as an icebox and Harry didn't doubt that he could possible have picked one up.

"So how was school?" Neville asked as he sat down in a chair. Thomas was sitting in the corner watching TV and hadn't seem to notice that Liz and Harry even came in.

"Good," Liz said. "Where's Ginny?"

"In the kitchen," Neville said waving his hand in the direction of the kitchen. "She's in one of her moods again."

"Moods?" Harry asked.

"I'll tell you later," Liz whispered barely audible. "Come on James, let's go say hi."

"Ok," Harry said following Liz into the kitchen. Ginny was standing at the sink washing a plate. She was tall and slender with her trademark long red hair that trailed to the center of her back. She was wearing an apron and didn't seem to notice that they even entered the room.

"Aunt Ginny!" Liz said excitedly as she walked over to her.

"Liz," Ginny said turning around and smiling widely. "What are you doing here…" She stopped when she looked at Harry. He waved awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

"Something the matter?" Liz asked as a look of concern crossed her face. Ginny was intently looking at Harry. As if she had never seen him before.

"No," Ginny said slowly. "It's just…" She turned and looked at Harry. "It's been so long."

"So long?" Liz asked confused. "We all came round at Christmas time…"

"No," Ginny said. "I mean it's just been so long since I've seen those eyes."

"Well…" Liz said awkwardly as if trying to change the subject. "I mean James is just growing a bit and…"

"Liz sweety," Ginny said as tears weld up in her eyes. "That's not James. That is without a doubt Harry…"

Liz and Harry's eyes both widened in surprise. Harry stared back at Ginny, and only one thought crossed his mind. No one else knew and the ones that did hadn't said anything. "How on earth did she know…?"