Chapter 45
The three marauders and Lily all looked anxiously to one another, before James began to speak, hesitantly "Well, we saw you on the map, and saw who you really were" he began
"And who do you think we are?" asked the older Sirius
"Well, you're Sirius Black and you're Harry Potter" answered Remus as he pointed to Sirius and Harry
"Very good, now what else did you figure out?" asked Harry
"Well, we think you must be from the future or something and that you are James and Lily's son" said Sirius
"Right again" said Harry with a nod and a smile
"Wow Lil's, we really do get married and have a kid" said James in amazement "I was starting to think that Harry was some long lost cousin or something"
"I guess you're right, we have a kid who right now is older that us and that is in the process of lecturing us for sneaking around and spying on him" said Lily with a grin and James' face fell
"Oh yeah, that's just a little weird" he muttered and everyone else laughed
After several minutes of laughing, they calmed down enough for Harry to speak again "So, anything else you know?" he asked
"And we also figured out that we're dead" said James calmly
At this, Harry and Sirius looked to each other in horror "How did you figure that out?" asked Harry finally, all the previous lightheartedness forgotten
"Well, you told us the first time we asked you about your parents that they died when you were young, and then yesterday we heard you say that you were happy that you decided to get to know Lily and I because you never had the opportunity to meet us before, so we figured that we were your parents that dies while you were a baby" said James with a shrug of his shoulders
"I guess you wouldn't tell us how and when they died, would you?" asked Sirius hopefully
"Sorry, we can't, but you have no idea how much we both wish we could" said Harry in a depressed tone before he decided to change the subject "What else do you know?" he asked them
"Well, we heard you say that Padfoot was in Azkaban" said Remus "Can you tell us why?"
"No, another thing that is better left unknown, but I'll assure you that he was innocent" said Harry with a grim smile
"That's all we found out about the future, then" said James with a shrug of his shoulders
"Good, well, just so you know, we'll have to erase your memories before we leave, just to be safe" warned Sirius "Now, what did you see as far as Harry's abilities?" he asked
"Well, we know he has more than one animagus form, at least three, a raven, a jaguar, and a griffin. And we know he is able to do some wandless magic, like summoning things. We saw him summon his staff yesterday and his glasses and clothes this morning" answered Remus
"True on all of those assumptions" said Harry "But please don't tell anyone about any of that" he pleaded
"Well, it doesn't look like you know as much as we feared" said Sirius with a smile on his face "Just remember that you can't tell anyone else what you found out, not event the headmaster knows" he said and the marauders all nodded their heads, but Lily was still looking curiously at Harry
"Have you really faced you-know-who more than once and survived, and were you really hit by the killing curse once?" she asked suddenly and Harry and Sirius exchanged a glance before Harry answered
"Yes, I've met Voldemort on five separate occasions, and survived all of those through sheer luck. And yes, I was hit with the killing curse once, and how I survived, I still don't know" he answered, deciding not to mention the many times he was hit with the curse while being held by the death eaters, or the fact that it was her sacrifice that protected him the first time
"Oh" was all she said before she too nodded to show that she wouldn't tell their secrets
"Well, now that we are done with that, we need to ask a favor of you four" said Harry "We came here in search of a girl, and it is a matter of life and death that we find her and bring her back with us to perform a very old and complicated spell" he told them in all seriousness
"Who is she?" asked the younger Sirius
"We don't know for sure, but we do know that she is the daughter of a very powerful wizard and a muggle woman. Her mother left the baby girl with her brother when the girl was two and she has been raised by the woman's brother ever since. She is a sixth year now, and her father was a Slytherin, but we don't know what house she's in" answered Harry as he remembered every single detain he could from the time Voldemort spoke of his daughter.
"Is that all you know about her?" asked Remus after he thought about what Harry had said for a couple of minutes
"Yes, other than the fact that her eyes are not black or dark brown" said Harry with a smirk
"Oh, that helps us a lot" muttered the younger Sirius
"Tell me about it, I've been watching every single girl with light colored eyes forever it seems" said Harry
"I take it you don't know her last name or anything, do you?" asked Lily with her brow furrowed
"No, we think she was born under her mother's maiden name instead of her fathers" answered Sirius
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no idea" said James finally
"Me either" chorused Remus, Sirius, and Lily
"Well, it was worth a shot anyways, but could you keep your eyes out for us?" asked Harry and the others all nodded in agreement "Thanks" said Harry genuinely
"Is there anything else you needed to talk to us about?" asked Remus as he looked to Harry and Sirius
"Not that I can think of, you Harry?" asked Sirius as he turned to his godson
"Just a few more things. I know Peter is one of your best friends, but please don't tell him what you know" he began "And, if I ask you to go anywhere or do anything that may seem strange, don't do it. Voldemort has some of my hair and he plans to use it in a polyjuice potion, so watch your backs, he knows who my friends are and he wouldn't hesitate to use any of you to get to me" he said sternly and they all nodded "And lastly, in case we don't get another chance to talk, it's been a dream come true to finally get to meet you" he said fondly as he looked to his future mother and father
"You too" said Lily softly as she smiled at Harry for a minute before Sirius interrupted them
"You four had better get back to the tower, it's getting late and in case I'm not mistaken, three of you will probably not get much sleep tomorrow night" he said as he looked to James, Sirius, and Remus
"Wrong" said James and Sirius looked taken aback for a moment before he continued "Four of us won't be getting much sleep tomorrow night, Harry is going to join us" he said with a mischievous grin on his face
"Oh, well in that case, all of you had better get to bed" said Sirius
"Geeze, when did I turn into mister responsible father figure" asked the younger Sirius with a groan and the others all broke down into laughter again
"Don't worry, you still play your fair share of pranks" reassured Harry
"Yeah, and I would play a lot more if my godson weren't constantly getting into strange and dangerous situations that I had to help him with" said the older Sirius
"What are you talking about, Sirius?" asked Harry innocently
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the incident with the duel at the beginning of term, or maybe the time you cast a silencing spell on Poppy and Albus" he answered with a smirk
"Oh yeah" said Harry "I forgot about that one with the headmaster and Madame Pomfrey"
"Wait, you cast a spell on the headmaster and the mediwitch and you weren't expelled!?" asked James in amazement
"Yeah, what can I say, I was in the hospital wing trying to sleep right before Christmas break and they were talking too loudly, I didn't even realize what I had done until Sirius told me a couple of days later" he said with a smile
"But what kind of punishment did you get for that, about a months worth of detention?" asked the younger Sirius
"No, they tend to over look some of the things I do" said Harry with a shrug and a wide grin
"More like they have a complete blind spot where you are concerned, it took Minerva, Remus, and I nearly twelve hours to undo that little charm" said Sirius as he looked pointedly at his godson
"Hey, I apologized to both of them and they forgave me, why can't you?" accused Harry playfully as the other four students watched in amusement
"Well, it might be that I'm still sore about the 'mum' comments you have been shooting me for the past months, or maybe I still haven't forgiven you for stunning me and leaving me on the stairs for hours, or I just might be angry because you always thrash me when go against each other with our swords" said Sirius in a highly affronted tone of voice
"Well, I'll apologize for the stunning incident, even though I made it clear that I didn't need any help, but you are the worst mother hen I have ever met and I won't apologize for defeating you when we fight, because you know how hard it was to tolerate Snape for two weeks while he taught me?" asked Harry
"Ok, fine, I know I wouldn't have wanted to be in your place for those weeks" said Sirius with a shudder
The other four just looked at one another in shock upon hearing Snape's name before James spoke up "You took lessons from that greasy git?!" he demanded
"Yes, he taught me hand to hand combat" answered Harry
"Why didn't Padfoot teach you that?" asked Remus
"Simple, I may be good, but Snape is far better than me when it comes to actual fighting" answered the older Sirius
"You mean you just complimented Snape?" asked the younger Sirius in shock
"Yes, but I don't make it a habit, even though a lot has changed since we were in school and we are forced to work together, we are far from friends" guaranteed Sirius
"Good, it's nice to see that some things will never change" said James "Come on guys, we better go so Filch can't catch us" he said as he stood and stretched his legs
"I agree, night Harry, night.what should we call you, it's strange to think that you're actually me" said Sirius as he looked at his brown haired counterpart
"Just call me Joseph" said Sirius with a smile "We'll keep it simple"
"All right, we'll see you two at breakfast then" said Lily as she followed the boys out the door.
"Well, that went well" said Sirius once the door had closed behind them
"Yeah, I was afraid we were going to be in for it" said Remus
"So, what do you make of all of this?" asked James
"I don't know, I wish they would just tell us why this girl is so important. They said finding her was a matter of life and death. Who's I wonder?" asked Lily
"I don't know, but I can't believe that we have a son who ends up being so powerful, I mean, he's faced you-know-who five times and is still alive" said James in admiration
"Yeah, and he's managed to stay somewhat normal even after being raised by me" said Sirius, seeming to be even more shocked than James
"Yeah, it's pathetic that your godson has to stun you in order to make you stop mothering him" said Lily and she was met by a playful fist in her arm
"Yeah Padfoot, that's pathetic" said James with a laugh
"Come on, that's not fair, I'm being made fun of for things that won't happen for another twenty something years" said Sirius with a pout, but before the others cold respond, the rounded a corner to come face to face wit Severus Snape
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potter and his little fan club" he said with a smirk
"Bugger off, Snape, you don't have Malfoy to fight your battles for you anymore" said James as he tried to step forward
"Oh, I'm not going to fight you Potter, I just wanted to warn you to keep an eye out on your little friend Pearson, it's a shame that he's defenseless now without his precious staff. I would hate it if something happened to him" he said as he stepped around James and continued down the hall before they could figure out just what he had said
"Bloody bastard, he knows something!" exclaimed James angrily
"Calm down Prongs, we don't know that for sure" said Remus as they continued to walk
"Oh, I know he is hiding something, I'll bet he was the one that took the staff in the first place" fumed James "He may be on the good side in the future, but he's not now" he finished
"You have a point, maybe we should keep an eye on him for now" agreed Sirius as they reached Gryffindor tower, and went up to their own beds for some much needed rest.
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The next day passed quickly, and before they knew it, the sun was setting and James, Sirius, and Peter were sneaking out of the castle to meet Harry at the edge of the lake. They were under the invisibility cloak and were able to sneak up to within about a meter without him hearing them, or so they thought.
"It's about time you three got here, you can take off that cloak you know, I know you're there" he said with a smirk as he looked directly to them and they sheepishly removed the cloak.
"Hey, we were just trying to surprise you" said Sirius with a guilty grin
"Not a good idea, I would hate to be responsible for my actions if someone snuck up on me" he said with a smile as they approached the willow
"Thanks for the warning" said James "Hey Padfoot, why don't you two go the shack and get Moony, Harry and I will meet you here" he suggested
"Sure" said Peter with a shrug "So, Harry, what was your animagus form again?" he asked as he looked to Harry
"Oh, well, it'll be a surprise once you three get back" he said quickly, remembering that Peter's memories about Harry saying he was a raven as well as him assuming the form of a jaguar in transfiguration and a griffin in the forest had all been erased
"Ok, we'll be back in a couple of minutes" he said and with two pops a rat and a dog were in the place of Sirius and Peter who both set off down the tunnel after Wormtail had pressed the knot at the base of the tree.
"So, what form are you going to take?" asked James as he turned to face Harry
"I don't know, what is your suggestion?" Harry asked as he looked at his father
"Well, your choices are a raven, a jaguar, and a griffin, right?" he asked
"No, I won't use the jaguar, don't ask why, but that's not really me" said Harry sternly
"Ok, so a raven or a griffin, right?" asked James
"Well, not really, I have more than just those forms" said Harry with a smile
"What, you have more than three forms, how many total?" asked James in amazement
"Well, I think my current total is between twenty and thirty, but I'm not sure" said Harry with a shrug
"Wow, can you change into any other magical animals?" asked James
"I don't know, I haven't had time to try yet" answered Harry truthfully
"Oh, well in that case, I would suggest that you turn into something that can keep up with us, Peter usually rides either me or Sirius" he suggested
"Ok, well how about I just go with the raven since I like to fly" said Harry as he tilted his head to the side "We better change, they're almost here" he said and promptly changed into a black bird with green eyes and a lightning bolt, and James transformed into a white stag, and a few moments later they were joined by a dog, a rat, and a werewolf and the group of five set off at a brisk pace into the depths of a forest, Harry flying over them.
Once deep inside the forest, Sirius and Remus began a playful dog fight, with James occasionally gently butting one or the other with his antlers and Peter running between the legs of the three animals. Harry just watched his father and his friends play from his perch on a large rock at the edge of the clearing they were in, and after several minutes, the marauders all collapsed in a panting heap on the forest floor. They rested in companionable silence for over an hour before Moony leapt to his feet and took off at a full out run deeper into the forest. Sirius and James looked to each other with shocked expressions on their faces before running after him, leaving Peter behind. Harry spread his wings and took off as well, going high into the sky and searching through the branches below him for any sign of the wolf that was somewhere below him. Within minutes, he caught sight of a blur of gray fur and began to descend toward him when a voice caught his attention. It was speaking to his mind and he knew at once who it was, Terres.
"My child, you must not let them come any deeper into the forest, the dark lord has used his powers to summon all of the dark creatures that live in the forest, and Remus has heard him and can not resist the urge of the wolf. You must make them leave the forest and return to safety before any of them are captured" she said almost frantically
"What, Voldemort is in the forest?" he asked in shock
"No, he is not here himself, but several dozen of his followers are and he is using the staff to lure all of the dark creatures to the death eaters he sent here, hurry before they find your friends" she demanded and Harry hurriedly landed on the other side of the trees from where Remus was and transformed into the first thing that popped into his mind, a black lion. He knew that he couldn't change into a human because Remus would unknowingly attack him, but perhaps he could intimidate the wolf enough in this form to convince him to turn around and leave the forest.
Just as he had finished transforming, the wolf came crashing through the underbrush and skidded to a halt directly in front of the lion's feet with a startled yelp. The lion looked down on the gray wolf, but before either one could do anything, a crashing of underbrush signaled the arrival of a dog and a stag who skidded to a halt as well and the lion looked up to them, momentarily distracted by their arrival. Suddenly though, the wolf gave a low and throaty growl and lunged at the lion with his teeth barred and sank them into the distracted lions shoulder. Harry roared in pain before sending the enraged wolf flying across the forest floor with a yelp, causing the dog to start growling as it approached the black lion with his hackles raised in defense of his wolf friend, but before he could strike the lion, the stag leapt forward and placed himself between the dog and the lion, lowering his antlers toward the grim like creature and the wolf who was now standing beside the dog, with his back to the lion. Confused, the wolf and the dog stopped their advance and starred at the stag who met their gaze without flinching. They continued their stand off for several moments before a low and throaty growl from the lion shook them out of it and the stag turned to face the green eyed creature, but he kept one eye focused on the two canines behind him. The lion approached the stag and gently but forcefully nudged him toward the direction they had come from, and the stag seemed to know what he wanted because he began to urge the wolf and the dog away from their current position and surprisingly, neither protested his silent commands.
After several minutes of silent walking, they reached the clearing they had been in only a short time before to find a short scrap of parchment from Peter telling them that he had gone back to the castle alone. They then proceeded to the whomping willow, and after the dog managed to stop its assault, the three creatures descended into the passage way to spend the rest of the night in the shrieking shack.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, the lion was listening intently for any sign of the death eaters that Terres had warned him about, but he was relieved to hear nothing. Figuring that they had left after recruiting all of the creatures they could, he turned and walked haltingly back toward the castle himself, his shoulder aching from the deep bite he had been given. It took him nearly two hours to reach the borders of the school grounds, and by the time he did so, the sun was just beginning to rise and he could make out the forms of two people walking quickly toward the castle who he recognized to be James and Sirius. Giving a quiet roar, he succeeded in getting their attention and they both spun around to see him. James started to jog toward him, but Sirius grabbed the back of his cloak and stopped him and Harry could just hear what they were saying as he continued to walk toward them.
"James, what in the hell do you think you're doing! That creature attacked Remus! He'll kill us if we get to close" shouted Sirius as he held tight to his best friends' cloak
James just gave him a glare before speaking "Sirius, Moony attacked him first, he's hurt, and we need to help him" he cried desperately
"Are you crazy! Why don't we just go get Hagrid and tell him to get his crossbow and finish that monster off. He's dangerous!" said Sirius forcefully
"What!? Do you have any idea what you're saying?" demanded James
"Yes, that is defiantly a dark creature and he needs to be destroyed. I mean, have you ever seen a solid black lion before?" he asked
"Sirius, just shut up and listen for a minute. That is not just a lion, it's Harry and he's hurt, now come on!" James exclaimed
"What do you mean it's Harry? How do you know?" asked Sirius doubtfully
"Look at him. We've both seen him change into a raven and a griffin and remember, both of those had green eyes and a lightning bolt. That lion has green eyes and on his shoulder was a white lightning bolt, I saw it last night, that's why I stopped you from attacking him" explained James hastily "He was trying to make us leave the forest for some reason" he added and Sirius reluctantly followed him to the animal
When they were within a few meters of the lion, it stopped and with a faint pop changed into a very tired looking Harry "Morning" he said to the two Gryffindors as he clutched his left shoulder in his right hand "Where's Remus?" he asked in worry as he looked around the empty grounds
"Madame Pomfrey comes to get him and takes him to the hospital wing first thing, and we would have a lot of explaining to do if we were caught in the shack with him" explained Sirius "Hey, I'm sorry about last night, I had no idea it was you" he said hesitantly
"It's ok, no harm done" said Harry with an awkward shrug as he tried to smile reassuringly, but it came out as more of a grimace
"No harm my arse, let me see your shoulder" demanded James as he tried to pry Harry's hand from his shoulder
"No, its fine, I just need to get Madame Pomfrey to check it and clean it" said Harry and they started to make their way toward the castle, but they were met at in the entrance hall by Dumbledore and the mediwitch.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Harry, good morning" he greeted them kindly, but before he could say more, Madame Pomfrey caught sight of Harry
"And what happened to you, young man?" she demanded "And why are the three of you out so early on a Sunday?" she added
"Oh, um" began Sirius
"Well, um, you see" began James
"They went out with me early this morning to check the wards for Joseph before breakfast, he was pretty tired after the past couple of days so I decided to let him have a bit of a lie in" said Harry smoothly "But we came into contact with an angry stray dog down by the village and he bit my shoulder, I was wondering if you could have a look ma'am" he said with a smile directed toward the matron
"Certainly, now let me see" she demanded and Harry obediently removed his grip on his shoulder "Dear me, that dog certainly did a number on you" she tsked as she gently prodded the wound "Hold still and let me close that up" she said as she aimed her wand at his shoulder, muttering a few words under her breath to clean the bite before closing it up "There, good as new, but I'm afraid you'll be left with a pretty nasty scar" she warned and Harry just shrugged
"Oh well, what's one more scar" he said "Thank you Madame, I had better get back to my room and let my godfather know that everything is all right, goodbye Headmaster, James, Sirius" he said as he turned and walked in the direction of the staff quarters as the two professors set out onto the grounds and the students went in the direction of their common room in silence.
When Harry entered the portrait hole guarding their rooms, he was not surprised to find Sirius sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in his hand.
"Good morning, Sirius" he greeted the man as he shut the portrait
"Morning, did you have fun last night?" he asked as he smiled at Harry
"Yeah, until the death eaters tried to round up all the dark creatures from the forest, including the werewolves. Terres said that Voldemort used my staff to summon them, and he probably recruited every dark creature that was in the forest last night" said Harry pointedly "Needless to say, Moony was not very willing to return to the shrieking shack" he said as he fingered his torn robes. Sirius immediately jumped to his feet and hurried to Harry's side.
"He attacked you!?" he exclaimed as he got a closer look at the fresh scars on Harry's shoulder
"Don't worry, I was in my animagus form when he bit me and Madame Pomfrey cleaned it up and healed it. I'm fine so calm down. I'm more worried about Remus, even though he couldn't control what happened, you know he'll still feel guilty for biting me, give me a couple of minutes and we can go down to breakfast" said Harry as he shrugged off his black cloak and robe and headed toward the shower.
"All right, but hurry up, I'm hungry" said Sirius, and as soon as Harry left, his thoughts turned to Remus, he knew the boy would feel terrible for what happened.
Twenty minutes later, Harry returned to the living room, pulling his hair into a wet ponytail as he walked "Ready?" he asked his godfather who nodded and the two left for the great hall.
The day passed quickly for Harry, he spent the entire time with Sirius in the village, not only to continue with the wards, but also as a way to avoid the marauders. He preferred to wait until Remus was out of the hospital the next day before speaking to any of them about why he had prevented them from staying in the forest, and he only wanted to have to explain his actions once, but he knew he would have to, and he was not looking forward to telling them that Remus had not only been affected by the lure of the evil wizard, but that he would have been forced to join him if Harry had not stopped him.
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A/N: Sorry this is so short. Thanks for reviewing the last chapter, and please let me know how this one was. Chapter 46 should be up by Friday, depending on how work goes.
The three marauders and Lily all looked anxiously to one another, before James began to speak, hesitantly "Well, we saw you on the map, and saw who you really were" he began
"And who do you think we are?" asked the older Sirius
"Well, you're Sirius Black and you're Harry Potter" answered Remus as he pointed to Sirius and Harry
"Very good, now what else did you figure out?" asked Harry
"Well, we think you must be from the future or something and that you are James and Lily's son" said Sirius
"Right again" said Harry with a nod and a smile
"Wow Lil's, we really do get married and have a kid" said James in amazement "I was starting to think that Harry was some long lost cousin or something"
"I guess you're right, we have a kid who right now is older that us and that is in the process of lecturing us for sneaking around and spying on him" said Lily with a grin and James' face fell
"Oh yeah, that's just a little weird" he muttered and everyone else laughed
After several minutes of laughing, they calmed down enough for Harry to speak again "So, anything else you know?" he asked
"And we also figured out that we're dead" said James calmly
At this, Harry and Sirius looked to each other in horror "How did you figure that out?" asked Harry finally, all the previous lightheartedness forgotten
"Well, you told us the first time we asked you about your parents that they died when you were young, and then yesterday we heard you say that you were happy that you decided to get to know Lily and I because you never had the opportunity to meet us before, so we figured that we were your parents that dies while you were a baby" said James with a shrug of his shoulders
"I guess you wouldn't tell us how and when they died, would you?" asked Sirius hopefully
"Sorry, we can't, but you have no idea how much we both wish we could" said Harry in a depressed tone before he decided to change the subject "What else do you know?" he asked them
"Well, we heard you say that Padfoot was in Azkaban" said Remus "Can you tell us why?"
"No, another thing that is better left unknown, but I'll assure you that he was innocent" said Harry with a grim smile
"That's all we found out about the future, then" said James with a shrug of his shoulders
"Good, well, just so you know, we'll have to erase your memories before we leave, just to be safe" warned Sirius "Now, what did you see as far as Harry's abilities?" he asked
"Well, we know he has more than one animagus form, at least three, a raven, a jaguar, and a griffin. And we know he is able to do some wandless magic, like summoning things. We saw him summon his staff yesterday and his glasses and clothes this morning" answered Remus
"True on all of those assumptions" said Harry "But please don't tell anyone about any of that" he pleaded
"Well, it doesn't look like you know as much as we feared" said Sirius with a smile on his face "Just remember that you can't tell anyone else what you found out, not event the headmaster knows" he said and the marauders all nodded their heads, but Lily was still looking curiously at Harry
"Have you really faced you-know-who more than once and survived, and were you really hit by the killing curse once?" she asked suddenly and Harry and Sirius exchanged a glance before Harry answered
"Yes, I've met Voldemort on five separate occasions, and survived all of those through sheer luck. And yes, I was hit with the killing curse once, and how I survived, I still don't know" he answered, deciding not to mention the many times he was hit with the curse while being held by the death eaters, or the fact that it was her sacrifice that protected him the first time
"Oh" was all she said before she too nodded to show that she wouldn't tell their secrets
"Well, now that we are done with that, we need to ask a favor of you four" said Harry "We came here in search of a girl, and it is a matter of life and death that we find her and bring her back with us to perform a very old and complicated spell" he told them in all seriousness
"Who is she?" asked the younger Sirius
"We don't know for sure, but we do know that she is the daughter of a very powerful wizard and a muggle woman. Her mother left the baby girl with her brother when the girl was two and she has been raised by the woman's brother ever since. She is a sixth year now, and her father was a Slytherin, but we don't know what house she's in" answered Harry as he remembered every single detain he could from the time Voldemort spoke of his daughter.
"Is that all you know about her?" asked Remus after he thought about what Harry had said for a couple of minutes
"Yes, other than the fact that her eyes are not black or dark brown" said Harry with a smirk
"Oh, that helps us a lot" muttered the younger Sirius
"Tell me about it, I've been watching every single girl with light colored eyes forever it seems" said Harry
"I take it you don't know her last name or anything, do you?" asked Lily with her brow furrowed
"No, we think she was born under her mother's maiden name instead of her fathers" answered Sirius
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no idea" said James finally
"Me either" chorused Remus, Sirius, and Lily
"Well, it was worth a shot anyways, but could you keep your eyes out for us?" asked Harry and the others all nodded in agreement "Thanks" said Harry genuinely
"Is there anything else you needed to talk to us about?" asked Remus as he looked to Harry and Sirius
"Not that I can think of, you Harry?" asked Sirius as he turned to his godson
"Just a few more things. I know Peter is one of your best friends, but please don't tell him what you know" he began "And, if I ask you to go anywhere or do anything that may seem strange, don't do it. Voldemort has some of my hair and he plans to use it in a polyjuice potion, so watch your backs, he knows who my friends are and he wouldn't hesitate to use any of you to get to me" he said sternly and they all nodded "And lastly, in case we don't get another chance to talk, it's been a dream come true to finally get to meet you" he said fondly as he looked to his future mother and father
"You too" said Lily softly as she smiled at Harry for a minute before Sirius interrupted them
"You four had better get back to the tower, it's getting late and in case I'm not mistaken, three of you will probably not get much sleep tomorrow night" he said as he looked to James, Sirius, and Remus
"Wrong" said James and Sirius looked taken aback for a moment before he continued "Four of us won't be getting much sleep tomorrow night, Harry is going to join us" he said with a mischievous grin on his face
"Oh, well in that case, all of you had better get to bed" said Sirius
"Geeze, when did I turn into mister responsible father figure" asked the younger Sirius with a groan and the others all broke down into laughter again
"Don't worry, you still play your fair share of pranks" reassured Harry
"Yeah, and I would play a lot more if my godson weren't constantly getting into strange and dangerous situations that I had to help him with" said the older Sirius
"What are you talking about, Sirius?" asked Harry innocently
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the incident with the duel at the beginning of term, or maybe the time you cast a silencing spell on Poppy and Albus" he answered with a smirk
"Oh yeah" said Harry "I forgot about that one with the headmaster and Madame Pomfrey"
"Wait, you cast a spell on the headmaster and the mediwitch and you weren't expelled!?" asked James in amazement
"Yeah, what can I say, I was in the hospital wing trying to sleep right before Christmas break and they were talking too loudly, I didn't even realize what I had done until Sirius told me a couple of days later" he said with a smile
"But what kind of punishment did you get for that, about a months worth of detention?" asked the younger Sirius
"No, they tend to over look some of the things I do" said Harry with a shrug and a wide grin
"More like they have a complete blind spot where you are concerned, it took Minerva, Remus, and I nearly twelve hours to undo that little charm" said Sirius as he looked pointedly at his godson
"Hey, I apologized to both of them and they forgave me, why can't you?" accused Harry playfully as the other four students watched in amusement
"Well, it might be that I'm still sore about the 'mum' comments you have been shooting me for the past months, or maybe I still haven't forgiven you for stunning me and leaving me on the stairs for hours, or I just might be angry because you always thrash me when go against each other with our swords" said Sirius in a highly affronted tone of voice
"Well, I'll apologize for the stunning incident, even though I made it clear that I didn't need any help, but you are the worst mother hen I have ever met and I won't apologize for defeating you when we fight, because you know how hard it was to tolerate Snape for two weeks while he taught me?" asked Harry
"Ok, fine, I know I wouldn't have wanted to be in your place for those weeks" said Sirius with a shudder
The other four just looked at one another in shock upon hearing Snape's name before James spoke up "You took lessons from that greasy git?!" he demanded
"Yes, he taught me hand to hand combat" answered Harry
"Why didn't Padfoot teach you that?" asked Remus
"Simple, I may be good, but Snape is far better than me when it comes to actual fighting" answered the older Sirius
"You mean you just complimented Snape?" asked the younger Sirius in shock
"Yes, but I don't make it a habit, even though a lot has changed since we were in school and we are forced to work together, we are far from friends" guaranteed Sirius
"Good, it's nice to see that some things will never change" said James "Come on guys, we better go so Filch can't catch us" he said as he stood and stretched his legs
"I agree, night Harry, night.what should we call you, it's strange to think that you're actually me" said Sirius as he looked at his brown haired counterpart
"Just call me Joseph" said Sirius with a smile "We'll keep it simple"
"All right, we'll see you two at breakfast then" said Lily as she followed the boys out the door.
"Well, that went well" said Sirius once the door had closed behind them
"Yeah, I was afraid we were going to be in for it" said Remus
"So, what do you make of all of this?" asked James
"I don't know, I wish they would just tell us why this girl is so important. They said finding her was a matter of life and death. Who's I wonder?" asked Lily
"I don't know, but I can't believe that we have a son who ends up being so powerful, I mean, he's faced you-know-who five times and is still alive" said James in admiration
"Yeah, and he's managed to stay somewhat normal even after being raised by me" said Sirius, seeming to be even more shocked than James
"Yeah, it's pathetic that your godson has to stun you in order to make you stop mothering him" said Lily and she was met by a playful fist in her arm
"Yeah Padfoot, that's pathetic" said James with a laugh
"Come on, that's not fair, I'm being made fun of for things that won't happen for another twenty something years" said Sirius with a pout, but before the others cold respond, the rounded a corner to come face to face wit Severus Snape
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potter and his little fan club" he said with a smirk
"Bugger off, Snape, you don't have Malfoy to fight your battles for you anymore" said James as he tried to step forward
"Oh, I'm not going to fight you Potter, I just wanted to warn you to keep an eye out on your little friend Pearson, it's a shame that he's defenseless now without his precious staff. I would hate it if something happened to him" he said as he stepped around James and continued down the hall before they could figure out just what he had said
"Bloody bastard, he knows something!" exclaimed James angrily
"Calm down Prongs, we don't know that for sure" said Remus as they continued to walk
"Oh, I know he is hiding something, I'll bet he was the one that took the staff in the first place" fumed James "He may be on the good side in the future, but he's not now" he finished
"You have a point, maybe we should keep an eye on him for now" agreed Sirius as they reached Gryffindor tower, and went up to their own beds for some much needed rest.
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The next day passed quickly, and before they knew it, the sun was setting and James, Sirius, and Peter were sneaking out of the castle to meet Harry at the edge of the lake. They were under the invisibility cloak and were able to sneak up to within about a meter without him hearing them, or so they thought.
"It's about time you three got here, you can take off that cloak you know, I know you're there" he said with a smirk as he looked directly to them and they sheepishly removed the cloak.
"Hey, we were just trying to surprise you" said Sirius with a guilty grin
"Not a good idea, I would hate to be responsible for my actions if someone snuck up on me" he said with a smile as they approached the willow
"Thanks for the warning" said James "Hey Padfoot, why don't you two go the shack and get Moony, Harry and I will meet you here" he suggested
"Sure" said Peter with a shrug "So, Harry, what was your animagus form again?" he asked as he looked to Harry
"Oh, well, it'll be a surprise once you three get back" he said quickly, remembering that Peter's memories about Harry saying he was a raven as well as him assuming the form of a jaguar in transfiguration and a griffin in the forest had all been erased
"Ok, we'll be back in a couple of minutes" he said and with two pops a rat and a dog were in the place of Sirius and Peter who both set off down the tunnel after Wormtail had pressed the knot at the base of the tree.
"So, what form are you going to take?" asked James as he turned to face Harry
"I don't know, what is your suggestion?" Harry asked as he looked at his father
"Well, your choices are a raven, a jaguar, and a griffin, right?" he asked
"No, I won't use the jaguar, don't ask why, but that's not really me" said Harry sternly
"Ok, so a raven or a griffin, right?" asked James
"Well, not really, I have more than just those forms" said Harry with a smile
"What, you have more than three forms, how many total?" asked James in amazement
"Well, I think my current total is between twenty and thirty, but I'm not sure" said Harry with a shrug
"Wow, can you change into any other magical animals?" asked James
"I don't know, I haven't had time to try yet" answered Harry truthfully
"Oh, well in that case, I would suggest that you turn into something that can keep up with us, Peter usually rides either me or Sirius" he suggested
"Ok, well how about I just go with the raven since I like to fly" said Harry as he tilted his head to the side "We better change, they're almost here" he said and promptly changed into a black bird with green eyes and a lightning bolt, and James transformed into a white stag, and a few moments later they were joined by a dog, a rat, and a werewolf and the group of five set off at a brisk pace into the depths of a forest, Harry flying over them.
Once deep inside the forest, Sirius and Remus began a playful dog fight, with James occasionally gently butting one or the other with his antlers and Peter running between the legs of the three animals. Harry just watched his father and his friends play from his perch on a large rock at the edge of the clearing they were in, and after several minutes, the marauders all collapsed in a panting heap on the forest floor. They rested in companionable silence for over an hour before Moony leapt to his feet and took off at a full out run deeper into the forest. Sirius and James looked to each other with shocked expressions on their faces before running after him, leaving Peter behind. Harry spread his wings and took off as well, going high into the sky and searching through the branches below him for any sign of the wolf that was somewhere below him. Within minutes, he caught sight of a blur of gray fur and began to descend toward him when a voice caught his attention. It was speaking to his mind and he knew at once who it was, Terres.
"My child, you must not let them come any deeper into the forest, the dark lord has used his powers to summon all of the dark creatures that live in the forest, and Remus has heard him and can not resist the urge of the wolf. You must make them leave the forest and return to safety before any of them are captured" she said almost frantically
"What, Voldemort is in the forest?" he asked in shock
"No, he is not here himself, but several dozen of his followers are and he is using the staff to lure all of the dark creatures to the death eaters he sent here, hurry before they find your friends" she demanded and Harry hurriedly landed on the other side of the trees from where Remus was and transformed into the first thing that popped into his mind, a black lion. He knew that he couldn't change into a human because Remus would unknowingly attack him, but perhaps he could intimidate the wolf enough in this form to convince him to turn around and leave the forest.
Just as he had finished transforming, the wolf came crashing through the underbrush and skidded to a halt directly in front of the lion's feet with a startled yelp. The lion looked down on the gray wolf, but before either one could do anything, a crashing of underbrush signaled the arrival of a dog and a stag who skidded to a halt as well and the lion looked up to them, momentarily distracted by their arrival. Suddenly though, the wolf gave a low and throaty growl and lunged at the lion with his teeth barred and sank them into the distracted lions shoulder. Harry roared in pain before sending the enraged wolf flying across the forest floor with a yelp, causing the dog to start growling as it approached the black lion with his hackles raised in defense of his wolf friend, but before he could strike the lion, the stag leapt forward and placed himself between the dog and the lion, lowering his antlers toward the grim like creature and the wolf who was now standing beside the dog, with his back to the lion. Confused, the wolf and the dog stopped their advance and starred at the stag who met their gaze without flinching. They continued their stand off for several moments before a low and throaty growl from the lion shook them out of it and the stag turned to face the green eyed creature, but he kept one eye focused on the two canines behind him. The lion approached the stag and gently but forcefully nudged him toward the direction they had come from, and the stag seemed to know what he wanted because he began to urge the wolf and the dog away from their current position and surprisingly, neither protested his silent commands.
After several minutes of silent walking, they reached the clearing they had been in only a short time before to find a short scrap of parchment from Peter telling them that he had gone back to the castle alone. They then proceeded to the whomping willow, and after the dog managed to stop its assault, the three creatures descended into the passage way to spend the rest of the night in the shrieking shack.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, the lion was listening intently for any sign of the death eaters that Terres had warned him about, but he was relieved to hear nothing. Figuring that they had left after recruiting all of the creatures they could, he turned and walked haltingly back toward the castle himself, his shoulder aching from the deep bite he had been given. It took him nearly two hours to reach the borders of the school grounds, and by the time he did so, the sun was just beginning to rise and he could make out the forms of two people walking quickly toward the castle who he recognized to be James and Sirius. Giving a quiet roar, he succeeded in getting their attention and they both spun around to see him. James started to jog toward him, but Sirius grabbed the back of his cloak and stopped him and Harry could just hear what they were saying as he continued to walk toward them.
"James, what in the hell do you think you're doing! That creature attacked Remus! He'll kill us if we get to close" shouted Sirius as he held tight to his best friends' cloak
James just gave him a glare before speaking "Sirius, Moony attacked him first, he's hurt, and we need to help him" he cried desperately
"Are you crazy! Why don't we just go get Hagrid and tell him to get his crossbow and finish that monster off. He's dangerous!" said Sirius forcefully
"What!? Do you have any idea what you're saying?" demanded James
"Yes, that is defiantly a dark creature and he needs to be destroyed. I mean, have you ever seen a solid black lion before?" he asked
"Sirius, just shut up and listen for a minute. That is not just a lion, it's Harry and he's hurt, now come on!" James exclaimed
"What do you mean it's Harry? How do you know?" asked Sirius doubtfully
"Look at him. We've both seen him change into a raven and a griffin and remember, both of those had green eyes and a lightning bolt. That lion has green eyes and on his shoulder was a white lightning bolt, I saw it last night, that's why I stopped you from attacking him" explained James hastily "He was trying to make us leave the forest for some reason" he added and Sirius reluctantly followed him to the animal
When they were within a few meters of the lion, it stopped and with a faint pop changed into a very tired looking Harry "Morning" he said to the two Gryffindors as he clutched his left shoulder in his right hand "Where's Remus?" he asked in worry as he looked around the empty grounds
"Madame Pomfrey comes to get him and takes him to the hospital wing first thing, and we would have a lot of explaining to do if we were caught in the shack with him" explained Sirius "Hey, I'm sorry about last night, I had no idea it was you" he said hesitantly
"It's ok, no harm done" said Harry with an awkward shrug as he tried to smile reassuringly, but it came out as more of a grimace
"No harm my arse, let me see your shoulder" demanded James as he tried to pry Harry's hand from his shoulder
"No, its fine, I just need to get Madame Pomfrey to check it and clean it" said Harry and they started to make their way toward the castle, but they were met at in the entrance hall by Dumbledore and the mediwitch.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Harry, good morning" he greeted them kindly, but before he could say more, Madame Pomfrey caught sight of Harry
"And what happened to you, young man?" she demanded "And why are the three of you out so early on a Sunday?" she added
"Oh, um" began Sirius
"Well, um, you see" began James
"They went out with me early this morning to check the wards for Joseph before breakfast, he was pretty tired after the past couple of days so I decided to let him have a bit of a lie in" said Harry smoothly "But we came into contact with an angry stray dog down by the village and he bit my shoulder, I was wondering if you could have a look ma'am" he said with a smile directed toward the matron
"Certainly, now let me see" she demanded and Harry obediently removed his grip on his shoulder "Dear me, that dog certainly did a number on you" she tsked as she gently prodded the wound "Hold still and let me close that up" she said as she aimed her wand at his shoulder, muttering a few words under her breath to clean the bite before closing it up "There, good as new, but I'm afraid you'll be left with a pretty nasty scar" she warned and Harry just shrugged
"Oh well, what's one more scar" he said "Thank you Madame, I had better get back to my room and let my godfather know that everything is all right, goodbye Headmaster, James, Sirius" he said as he turned and walked in the direction of the staff quarters as the two professors set out onto the grounds and the students went in the direction of their common room in silence.
When Harry entered the portrait hole guarding their rooms, he was not surprised to find Sirius sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in his hand.
"Good morning, Sirius" he greeted the man as he shut the portrait
"Morning, did you have fun last night?" he asked as he smiled at Harry
"Yeah, until the death eaters tried to round up all the dark creatures from the forest, including the werewolves. Terres said that Voldemort used my staff to summon them, and he probably recruited every dark creature that was in the forest last night" said Harry pointedly "Needless to say, Moony was not very willing to return to the shrieking shack" he said as he fingered his torn robes. Sirius immediately jumped to his feet and hurried to Harry's side.
"He attacked you!?" he exclaimed as he got a closer look at the fresh scars on Harry's shoulder
"Don't worry, I was in my animagus form when he bit me and Madame Pomfrey cleaned it up and healed it. I'm fine so calm down. I'm more worried about Remus, even though he couldn't control what happened, you know he'll still feel guilty for biting me, give me a couple of minutes and we can go down to breakfast" said Harry as he shrugged off his black cloak and robe and headed toward the shower.
"All right, but hurry up, I'm hungry" said Sirius, and as soon as Harry left, his thoughts turned to Remus, he knew the boy would feel terrible for what happened.
Twenty minutes later, Harry returned to the living room, pulling his hair into a wet ponytail as he walked "Ready?" he asked his godfather who nodded and the two left for the great hall.
The day passed quickly for Harry, he spent the entire time with Sirius in the village, not only to continue with the wards, but also as a way to avoid the marauders. He preferred to wait until Remus was out of the hospital the next day before speaking to any of them about why he had prevented them from staying in the forest, and he only wanted to have to explain his actions once, but he knew he would have to, and he was not looking forward to telling them that Remus had not only been affected by the lure of the evil wizard, but that he would have been forced to join him if Harry had not stopped him.
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A/N: Sorry this is so short. Thanks for reviewing the last chapter, and please let me know how this one was. Chapter 46 should be up by Friday, depending on how work goes.