A/N:  I'm not really happy with this chapter, to be honest.  I was going for something else, but I've hit a block on this one.  I hope you like it – as always, read and review!

Call for help:  I'm having trouble uploading.  I write in Microsoft Word 2000, and when I upload it as a word document, it eliminates special characters/italics, but when I upload it as a web page, there's too much space between the paragraphs.  Any advice?

CHAPTER SEVEN

The sunlight cast shadows around him and reached out with its deceptively gentle rays.  As the sun hit his face and warmed his body, he began to toss and mumble.

Wait… sunlight hitting his face?  He dimly confirmed he was at Hogwarts – no where else were the beds so soft – but he was certainly not in his bed.  In fact the only dorm bed that was hit with direct sunlight was…

AH!  What am I doing in Ron's bed?!!

He shot up suddenly and did a mad half-jump off of the mattress, only to get tangled up in the sheets and land face-down on the carpet.

Oh.  And with the blow, he remembered.

"Merlin, Daniel, are you going to do this every morning?"

Remus peeked out of his curtains, frown lines etched on his face.  He was fully dressed and had an open book on his lap.

Harry was still half-asleep. "Wha-?"

Remus climbed off his bed and reached out his left hand for Harry to grasp.  "Are you all right, Daniel?"

"'M fine."

Remus arched an eyebrow and grinned.  "Not a morning person, I see."  He looked around bemusedly. 

"You might as well join the club."  Harry followed his gaze.  James's curtains were drawn, as were Peter's, and Sirius was tangled in the sheets, mouth open and emitting half-snores.

Harry smiled a bit.  "'Kay."

Still yawning, he clambered into his robes, vaguely embarrassed – this was his old teacher, after all. He tugged at the collar of his cloak – the neckline needed to be broken in.

Sometime in the night, his tunic had been given the Gryffindor emblem, and several ties lay at the foot of his bed.  House-elves certainly were useful.  He grinned – Hermione would have had a fit.

He began to make his bed, glancing over at Remus again.

"What are you doing?"

Remus glanced up.  "Studying.  I usually get up early and I need something to do."

Harry pulled back the comforter his way and piled his pillows at the top.  Not wanting to cut off the conversation, he asked, "What classes do we have today?"

Remus shrugged disinterestedly.  "We'll get our schedules at breakfast.  What electives are you taking?"

Harry stopped cold.  He didn't know.  "I guess the ones I took at my old school.  Divination and Care of Magical Creatures are taught here, right?"

Remus nodded. 

Harry threw a few random books in his bag.  Feeling uncomfortable, he took a look at the title of Remus's book. 

"Alchemy and Its Relatives?"  Ten to one odds that Hermione's read it, Harry mused.

Remus nodded a bit.  "Read it?"

"No, I don't think so.  What's it about?"

Remus glanced up.  "Oh, it just talks about the basic theory of alchemy and why muggles can't get it right.  And the tools wizards have wielded for it, too."  He paused.  "I guess you wouldn't know much about it."

Harry felt vaguely insulted.  "Alchemy?  The Sorcerer's Stone and Nicholas Flamel?  Eternal life and unlimited gold?"  Remus looked up, shocked.

Harry fought down the urge to smirk and said casually, "Yeah, I know a bit about it."

Remus met his eyes, his face eager.  "You do?  That's what I've been looking for!  This book only mentions it, it doesn't go into detail!"

Uh-oh.  Nice move, Potter. 

He took the defensive.  "Why so interested?"

Remus's expression became suddenly guarded.  His words had a forced casualness to them.  "Who wouldn't be?"

Harry accepted that.  Then it hit him – something that he had almost forgotten….

"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

Firenze had laid it all out for Harry years ago.

"…All you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something can never die.  Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!"

Voldemort himself had said that it could cure him, when he was little more than a shadow.

"…and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own…"

The stone restored its user to full health – couldn't it cure werewolf bites?

"What do you need to know about it?"

Remus looked up, amber eyes wary but searching.  "Everything!  Who has it, if there are others – what can it do?"

Harry sat down and considered his words. 

"The only stone known of belongs to Nicholas Flamel and his wife.  They've both used it.  I think Flamel is over 600 years old now.  Flamel's the man of legend, the one muggles say disappeared from his tomb after deciphering an alchemy manuscript."

Remus waited with bated breath.  Harry licked his lips.  "The stone itself can produce unlimited gold and produce the elixir of life – which make the drinker immortal, as long as they can continue drinking it.  The stone is believed to restore full power and full health to its consumer.  The stone itself is blood red, small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, and will immediately put its owner on the hit list of every dark wizard in the world."

Remus missed the significance of a hit list, but he sat, considering all the information.  He looked up, and Harry glimpsed the distrust in his eyes.

"How do you know all this?"

Harry sighed and subconsciously smoothed down his hair. "At my old school, I had two best friends, Ron and Hermione.  Hermione is really smart – she's always investigating everything and reading book after book.  She heard vaguely of the Sorcerer's Stone and went crazy trying to find out more about it.  She started dragging Ron and I into the library everyday and going on and on about it."  Well, at least he was half sticking to the truth.

"After about six months, she found all the information she wanted, then related it to the muggle legend – she's muggleborn." 

Harry made a show of rolling his eyes.  "But along the way, I learned more about alchemy than I ever wanted to know."

Remus seemed enthralled.  "She found out about it all on her own?"

Uh-oh.  "She did most of the grunt work.  By luck, I stumbled on Flamel's name one day and that led us on the path.  She put a lot of the pieces together, you know, the real work."

Lupin bit his lip.  Harry felt for him.  From Remus's view, if he pushed for more information Harry might get suspicious.  But how was he supposed to tell him that he already knew his secret?  Harry supposed he would keep searching on his own – he must've anyway.  And he'll never go to Dumbledore to ask, that's for sure.

Harry checked his watch.  "How long 'till they usually get up?"

Remus shrugged.  "Who knows?  I think Sirius went out after us last night to do something – he does that a lot."

Harry felt a hunger pain hit.  He was surprised – he had eaten a lot last night, but he was beginning to eat more and more than usual.

He shouldered his bag.  "Well, I'm going down to breakfast.  Do you want to come, or are you waiting for them?"

Lupin closed his book and set it to the side.  "I suppose I'll go with you, there's no way you'll find your way there before it's over."

Harry shrugged.  "I'll be fine." He moved to exit the room.

Remus gave him a doubting look, but grabbed his bag and followed.

Harry ignored Remus until they reached the second floor landing, then frowned and pulled out the Map.  Remus looked over his shoulder and grinned.

Harry shrugged sheepishly and led the way again.  "Well, maybe I didn't know it as well as I thought."

Lupin laughed.  "You did better than I expected.  How many times have you been in the castle before?"

"Oh…. Uh, when I first came here to enroll, and last night.  Dumbledore showed me the map when I first came, but only the main corridors and such are on it."

"Well, no one knows this school better than the Marauders.  You'll learn pretty quickly. Hey, watch out for that step."

Harry hopped over it.  "Yeah, I got stuck in that before.  Completely humiliating.  It took me ten minutes to get myself out, then Professor Tome came."

"Professor Tome?" 

"Yeah, he was the first teacher I met here.  Ancient Runes professor, right?"

Remus nodded.  "I'm in both his classes.  I take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

"Oh, he teaches both?"

Remus nodded.  "He used to be a wizarding archaeologist, so he's fascinated with Runes.  He teaches Arithmancy on the side."

As they entered the Great Hall, Harry asked, "Huh, can you switch into one of those classes?"

As Remus led Harry to a seat, he shrugged.  "Probably not Ancient Runes, you build year by year.  But Arithmancy is easier to pick up.  Why?"

"I hate Divination – I only took it because Ron was and I had no idea what I wanted to take.  I like Care of Magical Creatures, though.  What about the other classes?  I haven't heard much about them."

Remus mulled it over, picking idly at the edge of the table.  "There's Muggle Studies, as well.  None of us are in it, though.  You know, it's rumored that'll be a mandatory class pretty soon, what with everything going on."  Remus paused, the continued.

"Transfiguration is pretty good, McGonagall's strict, but she's a good teacher.  History of Magic is boring – Binns teaches that, he's a ghost."

Harry pretended to choke on his toast.  "A ghost teaches?"

"Yeah, he died in my mum's third year, but kept right on teaching.  You'd think it'd be a cool class, but Binns puts everyone to sleep." 

Harry shook his head as he gulped down his orange juice.  "What about Charms?  I like that class."

Remus waved to a passing boy.  "Oh, Flitwick teaches it.  He's about three feet tall and almost obscenely cheerful.  He's a really good teacher, too."

Between Remus's bites of bacon, Harry inquired, "What about Defense Against the Dark Arts – that my favorite."

Remus shrugged.  "The teachers change pretty often for that – after all, those with Dark Arts experience are being rapidly recruited for the war.  Last year our teacher left around Christmas and was replaced by Professor Figg.  I guess we'll have her again."

Harry spotted Sirius and James as they strolled across the threshold, still looking very much asleep.  Remus only glanced at them as they sat down, not seeming surprised.

"Good morning, you two."  Harry offered.

James answered around his bite of bacon, "G' mornin'."  Sirius just grunted sleepily and took a swig of orange juice.

Harry felt a bit uncomfortable, but Remus gave him an understanding look. 

Done with his meal, he twirled his fork a bit and looked around.  Lily hadn't shown yet.

Remus piped up, "You guys left Wormtail, again?"

James ignored the question, but Sirius grinned.  "What, he can't get himself up?"

Harry frowned.  "But will he be late for classes?"

James fielded the question.  "Probably not, but if he does maybe he'll learn to set his alarm."

"You're just bitter because you fell flat on your face tripping over his trunk this morning."  Sirius grinned maniacally.

"Glad to know it's not just me." Harry muttered under his breath.  Remus heard it anyway and sniggered.

James growled good-naturedly.  "I did not trip, I was pushed, if you recall correctly. Over something that shouldn't've been in the middle of the room!"

Remus grinned, "Not that you're bitter, mind."

The Marauders were all unhappy to see that they had Transfiguration first. 

Sirius gloomily explained to Harry as they made their way to McGonagall's old classroom.  (Harry was disconcerted to find it on the floor above where he knew it to be; her class had always stayed in the same place before.)

"McGonagall makes it difficult to pull a prank-"  Sirius began.

"Not that we're not up to the challenge." James interrupted.

Sirius nodded absentmindedly, his hand gliding along the stone wall as they walked.  "But she doles out the worst punishments, so we have to wait for something really worth it if we want to do something."

Harry grinned.  "And what did you want to do today?"

Remus frowned thoughtfully.  "I guess it depends on her mood today."

James whooped suddenly, earning him a hard glare from a passing ghost.  "The worse mood she's in – the worse prank she gets."  He grabbed Remus's arm and turned.  "This way, guys.

Remus explained patiently, "James, however, has no concept of-"

He was cut off by an oily voice Harry would recognize anywhere.

"Oh, a new addition to the Gryffindor pack, Potter?  Black?"

The four turned to see a 16 year old Severus Snape sneering at them, a small group of Slytherins skulking behind him.

Black ignored the comment and glanced at the Slytherins.  "What, you finally rented some friends, Snivellus?  How much did you have to pay?"

Snape scowled even more deeply.  "At least my friends aren't muggle-loving fools, Potter."

Remus countered, "At least ours wash their hair occasionally."

Harry recognized the voice that cut into the conversation – "Boys, don't you have a class to get to?  Well, get on, get on."

Professor Tome's voice brooked no argument.  Snape's group began to move off and Tome looked at them expectantly.  Remus, Harry, and James began to move off, but Sirius just stared at him.

Tome's eyes flashed.  "Now, Mr. Black."

Sirius turned and followed them to Transfiguration.

As they entered McGonagall's classroom, the Marauders led Harry towards seats in the back.  James and Sirius sat at the joint desk in front of Remus and Harry.  Sirius was muttering half to himself about Tome ("Who does he think he is?")

Remus jumped on that one.  "Uh… a Professor?"

Sirius huffed and didn't respond.  Remus rolled his eyes and  whispered to Harry the second that Sirius and James were occupied, "Oh, ignore him.  He feels oppressed because he thinks everyone's picking on him because of his family."  He hurried to explain it all to Harry.  "The Black family's a pretty old pureblood family – Slytherin type."

Harry's look softened and he nodded in understanding – he remembered Sirius's awful family.  Remus reassured him anyway.  "Don't worry, he hates them.  He's practically moved in with James's family, spends most of the holidays there– those two are like brothers, won't hear a word against the other unless they bring it up."

Harry's lips upturned.  "Yeah, we were like that, too…."  He trailed off, thinking of Ron and Hermione.  How long would it be before he would see them again?

Remus smiled at him sympathetically.  "It must be tough for you.  Sorry, Daniel, I haven't thought about that."

Harry shrugged, picking at the scratches on his desk absentmindedly.  "It doesn't matter.  I'll be seeing them anyway, during the holidays.  And I'm still writing to them."

Professor McGonagall entered, and the class immediately silenced.

She smiled at them.  "I'm happy to see you all did well on your O.W.L.s – nothing less than I would expect."  She suddenly switched back to her normal, strict tone.

"I am aware that many of you have gotten the impression from other students that your sixth year is the time to… slack off."  She spoke those words as if they left a bad taste in her mouth. 

"Your sixth year is one of the most important in your magical education.  Next year, you'll be taking your N.E.W.T. s and I expect this class to do well again.  I will not tolerate tardiness, unfinished homework, or-"  Her eyes glanced in the direction of the Marauders.  "-misbehavior."

The rest of the class looked somewhat amused by her attempt to lay down the law with the Marauders, but their smothered smiles turned into furiously muffled laughter when the door banged open.

A chubby, ratlike boy stood in the doorway. His face was red and his entire body heaved with exertion.  He looked panicked, and his pale eyes darted to the Marauders with momentary terror.

McGonagall sniffed irritably.  Harry was reminded of her frustration with Neville Longbottom, but tenfold.

"Mr. Pettigrew, as I just finished telling the class, I will not tolerate misbehavior or lateness to my class.  10 points from Gryffindor, and take a seat."

Pettigrew flushed slightly, and took his seat in the very back of the room, noticeably away from the Marauders.  Sirius rolled his eyes, but James muttered, "Don't worry, he'll get over it."

McGonagall continued her lecture, then informed the class that today's lesson would be practice N.E.W.T. level.  The rest of the class groaned, except James and Remus, who were naturals in the class, and the redhead Harry had just noticed.  She was looking at McGonagall, enthralled.

Harry mediated on this as McGonagall directed Lindsey to pass out the transfigured kittens.  She issued directions while Sirius looked up at the ceiling, mouthing words Harry was sure he didn't want to hear.

They were supposed to try to un-transfigure the kittens to their original forms, but McGonagall refused to tell them what their original forms were.  James absentmindedly turned his kitten into a pair of slippers, an umbrella, and a sea shell.  At first Harry thought he was showing off, but then James whispered to Sirius, "If you just keep guessing, you'll eventually hit on the right one."

Sirius just looked at him crossly, "But how do you know it's the right one?"

Monica and Matilda were desperately trying to keep their kittens from attacking each other, while Lily watched closely.  She offered, "Maybe if you watch what they do…."

Remus had no idea how to go about this assignment, and was thus wrapped up in his own ideas.  He muttered to himself occasionally and twitched his wand, experimenting.  He sent his kitten flying into the air after one of these movements, earning himself a reproving look from McGonagall.  He blushed, and to Harry's amusement, lay down his wand while he thought.

Harry, however, thought he should take the logical path.  He considered the staring animal in front of him.  Well… when transfiguring something, the biggest part was will.  And in Occlumency, the hardest part was forcing what you didn't want away….

Willing the item to be something else….  Perhaps if you willed it to be something other than its form, anything else.

Frowning, he waved his wand and lectured the kitten in his mind.  Listen, you….  He thought of Ms. Figg's cats and how much he detested them…  Crookshanks meowing outside his dorm all night.  Instinctively, he knew it was working.

He thought of Sirius's animagus form, of his own patronus, of a Hungarian Horntail itching to barbeque him….  At some point, he closed his eyes and got lost….

And McGonagall's voice brought him out.  "Very good start, Mr. Graham."

Harry opened his eyes.  In front of him, a very unusual-looking hand mirror.  The mirror looked exactly like those he saw Parvati and Lavender pull out to check their hair with, only the face of the mirror had random fur growing out and a cat's face.  He reached out to touch it, but it hissed and tried to clamp down on his hand.

Remus was looking at the mirror with wonder, but Sirius just grinned and tried to high-five him.  James, however, threw him an unreadable look.  When class ended, James led Sirius out ahead of everyone, and Peter moved to tail them.

Remus, however, walked with Harry to lead him to Charms.  Harry must've looked somewhat dejected, because Remus grinned and hit him on the arm playfully. 

"Oh, don't mind him.  It's just that Transfiguration is usually his subject."

Harry was bewildered.  "There's nothing to be jealous of!  It was just luck, I'm usually pretty average in Transfiguration."

Remus switched the subject to Charms, but Harry only listened with half-an-ear.  James was jealous of him?  It made no sense.  Ever since Harry had entered Hogwarts, people seemed to think that he was just an imitation – and not a particularly good one – of his father.  He had quickly grown to ignore that behavior, and had no small amount of contempt for it now that he had seen Snape's worst memory….

And now that Harry thought about it, a small part of him had always been jealous of his father.

He ended up sitting between Remus and Sirius at the next class.  Sirius was rambling on to Harry, James sitting to his right.  Peter sat in front of Remus.

Sirius grinned, "Hey, Wormtail!  Get enough sleep?"

Peter blushed, but Remus interrupted.  "Sorry about that, Peter, Daniel and I left before them, we didn't know they'd leave you."  Peter nodded, but still looked downcast.

James didn't seem to be paying much attention, and he stared at the redhead two seats in front of him.  Sirius laughed and barraged Harry with questions as the Ravenclaws filed in. 

"Where'd you go to school before?"

Daniel answered with practiced ease.  "I went to London's Academy for the first few years." 

"Why'd you leave?"  Sirius loved to ask questions, but didn't look particularly interested in the answers.

"I moved to be with my godfather and he wanted me to change schools."  Harry's mind wasn't on his answer, he was scanning the incoming Ravenclaws for Dennis.

Remus rescued Harry, "For God's sake, stop interrogating Daniel, it's his first day!"

Peter smirked.  "There'll be all year to interrogate him."  Well, he got over it quick.  When Ron and Hermione and he were angry with one another, they wouldn't speak for hours or even days on end.  In the background, Flitwick began to again tell them how important this year would be for Charms.

Sirius laugh still sounded like a bark.  "I vote Veritaserum."

James put in, "I vote torture, Spurned Witches' Curse, do you reckon?"

An amused voice interrupted them.  "And what, exactly, would you know about the Spurned Witches' Curse, Mr. Potter?"

End of Chapter Eight

A/N:  End of all twelve pages of it!  Would you believe that I'm SICK?  I hate being sick.  So I've been stuck home yesterday and today, staring at the ceiling morosely and being bored out of my skull.   And conveniently deciding against doing homework. 

Oh, and my homecoming was Saturday night, and I was sick for that, too!  I've been looking forward to it for months, and I went to it sick!  Plus, the DJ was awful and they kept playing bad songs.  And some girl took off with my black shawl, and left me her obviously different one; AND no one spiked the punch!  What kind of a homecoming was that?

Oh, for those who don't know (I don't know how global homecoming is.  I wouldn't expect much, seeing few countries are into American football.)  Homecoming is a formal dance that is held traditionally on the weekend of a school's first home football game.  It's a big deal, because other than prom, which is only open to the upper two years, it's the only formal dance for most schools.