Thank you all so much for reviewing! Here are my replies,

SpiderSquirrel: Here it is, I hope you're not disappointed!

Biddet da Pigeon Stalker: Sorry it took you so long to find, this is just the same chapter as in the original but I promise I'm working on chapter three and I know it's gonna be fairly long.

Thanks!

~*~Mystical Dreams

Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter Characters or anything that relates to Harry Potter.

Some things never change, Chapter 2: Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

Harry Potter walked slowly down the street of Privet Drive towards an old square house a short distance away.

The neighbors, watering there perfect green lawns and strategically planned flower beds took no notice of the ruffled looking, baggy clothed boy that they would normally consider as an embarrassment to human society, and that's the way he liked it.

Harry Potter was wearing an invisibility cloak, his father's to be exact, he used it often these days, not wanting to be heard or seen by anybody, usually keeping quietly to himself and his own thoughts, though sometimes being alone with his own musings became too much for him, the pain of losing his Godfather had engulfed him the first few days of the summer holidays. All he did was stay in his small bedroom at number four Privet Drive and relive the horrible moment when he witnessed Sirius falling into the veiled archway at the Department of Mysteries. But things were different now, he knew he would never get over the great loss and the empty space in his heart, though it had shrunken only slightly, would never be filled. After some days of useless pain and misery, he had come to the conclusion that he could not possibly live this way forever, wallowing in his own self pity would never work for the rest of his life. He had finally plucked up the urge to get out every once in a while, walk about the streets of Little Winging, though he never talked to his Aunt, Uncle or cousin, and they never talked to him, that's the way things went these days and he didn't mind at all.

He had gotten used to peoples company again, sometimes he preferred to be on his own on those occasions when he was feeling a bit depressed or sad but sometimes he felt horribly lonely with no one to talk to and today was one of those days, he just needed to be in someone's company, to talk to someone about every day things, simple talk that took his mind off of other things, and that's why he had Mrs. Figg.

His dear old neighbor that he had known for many years now had become a source of information and cure for his loneliness over these past weeks, someone he could talk to about the wizarding world, someone who knew what he was going on about, and even though she was a squib he liked to listen to her non stop babble, it was somehow calming to him in these days of trouble and sadness.

He saw her frequently, and sometimes when he was lucky, members of the Order would drop by for a cup of tea at her house when he was there, to catch up on what was going on. The most frequent of the visitors was Remus Lupin, Harry thought that he had become somewhat of a savior to him but what he did not know was that the former professor felt exactly the same way about Harry. They had both been a vital link in Sirius Black's life, and both suffered greatly when he had vanished through the veil. They kept each other motivated, and Mrs. Figg helped them along.

As Harry reached the door of the small house he heard the normal meowing of cats and his heart jumped happily when he heard two voices, the unmistakable, squeaky voice of Mrs. Figg and the calm one of Lupin's.

He knocked on the door and heard the patter of footfalls on the old carpet inside. He hastily took off his invisibility cloak as the door opened and he met the face of a weary Lupin, but as soon as he saw Harry all traces of tiredness were swept away and replaced with a large grin.

"Hello Harry" he said brightly, holding the door open as Harry stepped inside.

"I've got good news". Remus closed the door behind him.

Harry looked up at the grinning face of Lupin and smiled back, something he hadn't done in a long time, it felt almost alien.

"What is it?" he asked eagerly as they walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Well since it's your birthday tomorrow"-

Harry stopped dead in his tracks, he had totally forgotten about his Birthday, it had all together slipped from his mind, many little things slipped his mind lately, they seemed very unimportant and insignificant compared to what was going on in his own head.

"You alright Harry?" Lupin asked suddenly sounding concerned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" he said moving again.

Lupin didn't look convinced but kept going anyway.

"I asked Dumbledore if we could go to Diagon Ally to get your new school supplies and"-

"Really?!" Harry said in disbelief.

"Yes, and Ron and Hermione will be coming too, and Tonks" he added grinning happily at the look on Harry's face.

Though Harry got out every once in a while and had been updated on the Orders findings and doings he had been yearning to see his friends for a long time now and was delighted to hear that he would be meeting them again.

But a slight trace of worry flew across his features and Lupin picked it up straight away.

"You can wear your invisibility cloak if you want, I don't suppose you'll want to be swooned by every witch and wizard there will you? It shouldn't be too crowded tomorrow anyway, there's some big assembly at the Ministry of Magic for witches and wizards in London"

Harry's heart went out to Lupin, he new exactly how he felt and it made him feel secure and wanted.

"Thanks, I will"

"Well now that that's settled!" old Mrs. Figg said staring on at the two, "Anyone for a cup of tea?"

Harry nodded but Lupin looked on regretfully.

"Sorry, I have to dash, I have to go and do something important for Dumbledore, but I'll meet you here at around eleven tomorrow Harry, and don't forget to tell your Aunt and Uncle"

Harry would have felt somewhat downhearted at having to inform his relatives but this small annoyance could not outdo his content mood.

"See you tomorrow then" Lupin said cheerfully.

"Bye" Mrs. Figg and Harry said in unison, and with a loud 'CRACK' Remus Lupin disaperated from sight.

~*~

The morning of the next day Harry was feeling happier than he had in months as he sat outside the doorstep of Mrs. Figgs small house, for once enjoying the sunny day and not ridiculing it as he had done so many times before for not suiting his mood.

Mrs. Figg had gone out after breakfast, claiming desperately that she hadn't enough cat food left to feed all of her precious pets because she was put on duty last night, for what, Harry had no idea.

He sat quietly, watching the small doings of those in their front yards; it seemed so simple compared to the many events he had gone through in his life.

His thoughts were disturbed however by a loud CRACK shortly followed by the smash of glass.

He jumped to his feat and started towards the cabbage-smelling living room.

He caught sight of a distressed Tonks sprawled out on the floor next to a shattered crystal vase.

"God damn! Why was I born with absolutely no sense of direction?!" She said clearly annoyed.

Harry put out his hand to help her up with a smile. He had missed the Joking Tonks over the summer.

As she got up, her hair, which was today a long and silky black, flowed behind her.

"Thanks Harry! So, how have ya been?" She asked, her voice suddenly sounding cheerful as she muttered 'repairo' and the vase sat once again whole on the coffee table.

"Not too bad" He said honestly. There was no point in denying his feelings, he knew nobody expected him to be as happy as sunshine. "How've you been?"

"Alright, dead tired though, Dumbledore has us all working over time" She said gazing around the house.

Harry didn't bother asking what for, he didn't get told much of the Order's doings, only the basics and his thirst for information wasn't as strong as it used to be. "Where's Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Oh, they should be here any minute, there coming with Remus by floo"

As if on que, there was a loud SWOOSH from the fireplace and Hermione stepped out covered in soot.

She distractedly started brushing herself off until she looked up and saw Tonks and Harry standing in front of her.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, and ran up to give him a hug.

"How have you been? What's been going on? Oh, I hoped your relatives hadn't been treating you too bad!"

It didn't seem to have crossed Hermione's mind that it was only yesterday that they had talked in a letter.

She let go of him and then looked up at his smiling face.

"You and Ron make me feel so tiny!" she finished with, happy to see him smile.

A second SWOOSH came from the fireplace followed by a third and Ron and Remus stepped out.

"Harry mate! How you been?" Ron asked coming up to Harry and clapping him on the back in a brotherly way.

"Fine now" he said, a grateful smile spreading across his face as he looked at both of his friends.

"Happy Birthday Harry" Remus said smiling at him, though suddenly the smile turned into a frown as he asked "Where's Arabella?"

"She went down to the corner shop to get some cat food" Harry replied.

"I hope she notified someone" Tonks said also frowning.

"Oh don't worry, I smelt Mundungus's reek coming from the bushes next to the house"

"Right" Tonks said unimpressed, "Well we better get going then"

"How are we getting there?" Hermione asked, "Harry can't go by floo"

"We're taking a port key" Remus said calmly.

"You can't tell me Fudge approved that!" Ron said.

"Actually he approved to the port key fully"

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him in disbelief.

"We're taking a public port key"

"Oh" Ron said understanding, but Hermione and Harry both just looked on with blank expressions.

"The wizarding world have public port keys?" Harry asked.

"Well yes, it's just like muggle subways, they take you to the main places" Tonks explained.

"Oh" they chorused together.

"The nearest one's a fair while away, there aren't any other wizards in Little Winging, we'll have to walk to it, though it will take less time then normal muggle transport" Remus said.

"Alright then, lets go, otherwise we won't be back until midnight!" Tonks said approaching the door.

"I'll leave a note for Arabella" Remus said quickly whipping up a piece of parchment and quill.

They all followed Tonks out of the door, who seemed quite impatient to get there.

Harry walked along in his invisibility cloak, talking quietly to Hermione and Ron about his uneventful summer and asking them about there's.

By the time they arrived at the place the port key designated it was late morning and the sun was shining bright on the trashed ally way.

Remus strode straight towards a large pile of trash and pointed at a deflated soccer ball, "this is it everyone"

They all walked up to the port key and after Harry had made sure he had a tight grip on his invisibility cloak, touched it and with a familiar pull on his stomach the alley turned upside down and they all hit the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley.

Remus was right, the usually crowded streets of the much loved shopping area didn't look like they had been this empty for years, there were still witches and wizards walking in and out of shops in dribs and drabs but not enough of them for Harry to run into.

"So" said Tonks, a happily, "Where do we go first?"

Hermione took out her new list of supplies for their sixth year at Hogwarts.

"Well I need to go to Flourish and Blotts"

"Of course you do" Ron muttered so only Harry could hear.

"I'd like to check out this new store, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes I believe it's called" Remus said grinning.

They all nodded in agreement, even Hermione looked excited about visiting the new joke shop.

They decided to pick up their money at Gringotts first of all and then work their way around towards the shops they needed for their new school supplies.

They first of all went to Flourish and Blotts, then proceeded to Madam Malkins robes for all occasions as, if it was possible, Ron had grown at least two inches taller and his robes were far too small. They then stopped for ice-cream and went on to find how Fred and George's business was faring.

As the walked down the road to the joke shop they could hear loud bangs and shouts coming from inside and then a resounding "FRED IT WORKS!"

Hermione stopped just outside the joke shop door and looked at it quizzically.

"Do you think it's safe?"

"Only one way to find out!" Ron said brightly.

They all stepped into the brightly painted joke shop that they had heard so much of. The walls were violent red and the counter in the middle was painted canary yellow.

As their footsteps echoed in the half empty store two red headed boys poked their heads around the door to another room at the back of the shop. They were shortly followed by the head of a boy with dark dread locks that's tanned face was hidden behind thick black soot.

"Ah! Look who it is! Welcome to our humble shop!" Fred said as he came up to meet the group.

George followed and went up to shake their hands, "As you can see, we don't have much yet, but would you be interested in a wet wonder wild, catch your friends when they least expect it, or maybe a double dunker, kill two birds with the one stone, or maybe what your really looking for is a skiving snack box, and old favourite, get you out of any trouble any time!" he said pompously, whisking Tonks away, who just kept laughing as she saw all of the items for sale.

"Hey wait a minute where's-?" Fred asked but cut himself off as he saw a hand materialise out of thin air.

"What the hell?!" Lee Jordan exclaimed, confused as he also caught site of the waving hand.

"Hey I know that hand!" Fred said.

Harry fully took off his invisibility cloak and stood before them bowing.

"Holy crap! George! George have a look at this! Harry has an invisibility cloak!" Fred shouted, bouncing over to his twin.

"What? Huh? Nah he can't!" George exclaimed from behind a dusty shelf.

"Well he does, have a look!"

George emerged from behind the shelf and saw Harry standing with a transparent cloak in his hand.

"Whoa! Where'd you get it?" George asked in awe, "Me and Fred-"

"Fred and I" Hermione corrected automatically.

"Whatever, yeah we've been trying to get our hands on one of these forever!"

Remus smiled proudly at Harry.

"From my dad" Harry said looking at it, "Comes in handy"

Fred and George beamed at him proudly also, then George faked wiping a tear away from his eyes, "taught him all he knows"

"Ahhh, always knew he would be brilliant at breaking the rules!" Fred continued.

"No wonder we gave him the Marau-"

Fred clapped a hand over George's mouth, and coughed distractedly.

Remus' face suddenly went into a thoughtful frown, and then he said hesitantly.

"You know about the Marauders map?"

"Er.yeah, how do you know about it?" Fred asked.

All eyes turned to Harry who was trying to shrink into the shadows but was failing miserably.

"Harry, would you care to explain a couple of things?" Remus asked.

"Alright" he sighed, "firstly, Lee do you know about the map?"

"Yeah"

"Tonks?"

"Yes"

Remus looked at her surprised.

"Mum told me about it"

"Oh"

"So Harry, how do Fred and George know about the map?"

"They're the ones that gave it to me in the first place"

"We found it in Filches confiscated draw in his office" George said.

"Do I want to know how you got it from the confiscated draw?" Remus asked smiling.

"Oh it was easy, a couple of dung bombs and a slight distraction and we whipped it up!" Fred said proudly.

Remus sighed rubbing his brow; they both reminded him so much of his two old friends.

"So how did you know about it?"

"Well considering I helped make it."

Fred, George and Lee all looked at Remus dumbstruck.

"You-your-you helped-you knew-YOU'RE A MARAUDER!?!?!" Fred blurted out.

"Yes, and so was Sirius"

"Wait a minute!" George said holding up his hand and then started muttering to himself "Moony.werewolf.Padfoot.black dog.Wormtail.filthy good for nothing rat.Prongs.Prongs?"

"Stag" Remus supplied.

"Oh yeah, a stag!"

"So you're telling us that you were one of the criminal master minds behind Hogwarts?" Fred asked unbelievably.

"Yeah, that would be right"

"But your so.Remus!"

"Who do you think supplied all the right spells for the pranks?"

"Well.ah.good point, ok so now I can see where you fit in"

"Fred will you stop babbling and shut it for a minute!" George exclaimed. He was rubbing his forehead.

"So let me get this straight.you were Moony, a werewolf.Sirius was Padfoot, a dog.Wormtail.a rat.that would have to be Peter Pettigrew, right?"

Remus nodded.

"And Prongs.a stag..." George's eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on him, "Prongs was James! Harry's dad!"

"Yes, that's right" Remus said, his eyes were staring at George but Harry thought they had a far away expression as if he was remembering other things.

"Hey Fred, Lee! We worked it out!" George exclaimed dancing about.

They all looked at Remus awe struck until Lee snapped out of it and went up to shake Remus' hand.

"An inspiration professor, and who would have thought?"

"You'll have to tell us all about your pranks, everything! Who would have thought, the marauders being right under our nose all these years and we had no clue!" Fred said.

"I swore I thought I heard Sirius and you calling each other Moony and Padfoot one time"

Remus felt a painful jab in his gut as he was reminded of his best friends, but he didn't let it show.

"Well Ron, Hermione, you haven't been talking much have you?"

Ron's ears went red at the attention suddenly being directed at him and Hermione perked up her head.

"Oh yeah.well Harry told us about it when he got it" he looked over at Harry and then added, "naturally"

Fred nodded, "thought as much"

"Well we better head off if we want to get back before night fall" Remus said looking at the group.

"Alright but before you go we have a little surprise for Harry for his Birthday" Fred said grinning, and he took out a bottle of bright green liquid and handed it to Harry, who stared at it perplexed.

"Make sure your victim smells this little beauty and they'll start to get spots"

"But not just any spots, green spots!" George chimed in.

"Then their skin will turn a bright shade of yellow and to top it all off, hair will start to sprout from their nose!" Lea continued.

"And whala! You have a walking human freak!"

"It lasts for about three hours, one squirt should do the job, right in front of their nose"

"Or to make it more inconspicuous, spray it on their robes" Lee said happily.

"It's to use on Snape!" George whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry laughed.

"Thanks"

"Aw shocks!" Fred pretended to blush.

"We also supplied afternoon tea!"

Lee picked up a square cake off the counter that was cut into large pieces.

"I don't know about Lee but from what I've seen, you two couldn't cook if your lives depended on it!" Tonks said with suspicion in her voice.

"We're good cooks!" George said indignantly.

Ron snorted but as his stomach groaned, went to get a piece anyway.

Everyone looked on nervously as they watched him take a bite of the rich chocolate.

Suddenly there was a loud POP! And everyone looked around to see where Ron had gone, though they looked no further when they heard a little squeak coming from down on the floor.

Ron had shrunken to the size of a teacup and was mouthing off at the large forms of Fred, George and Lee. Though this had no impact whatsoever on them as his voice was as squeaky as a mouse and he was twenty times smaller than them.

The three boys erupted in fits of laughter soon joined by the rest of them at the sight of a miniature Ron who was waving his tiny fists at them all.

Finally Hermione wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and bent down to pick up Ron in her hand.

"Don't drop me!" he squeaked which made everyone laugh even more.

"How do you get him back to proper size?" Remus laughed.

"Why would you want to do that?!" Fred exclaimed, settling a bit, but he walked to the room out the back of the shop and after a considerable amount of thumping and crashing around came back out with a miniature piece of cake. He then handed it to Ron who looked at it suspiciously and then ate it in one go.

There was another loud POP! And Hermione and Ron both landed in a heap, Ron's normal size returned.

"I thought you would have learnt not to take anything from us by now little bro!" Fred exclaimed starting to laugh again.

"I was hungry!" he whined.

"Ron get off my hair!" Hermione winced.

"Well we better be off boys, nice to see you" Tonks said giggling slightly.

"Alright then, See you later" George gave them a wink; they couldn't talk about the order around Lee.

They all waved their goodbyes and started out the door, Harry throwing on his invisibility cloak, though as he walked out onto the street he nearly bumped into to someone. He didn't know what made him look back at the person, it could have been her beautiful dark hair or her unusual dress sense, she looked the same age as him, but something about her was oddly familiar, he just couldn't think what.

He slowly caught up to the others, who hadn't noticed her at all, though he had and as he walked home he couldn't help but dwell on that unforgettable face, wondering what on earth could have triggered his mind like that.

~*~

There you go! Second chapter done! It would be really great if I could get some more reviewers, so make sure you tell anyone and everyone!! Review PLEASE! I'll give you a cookie *pleading puppy dog eyes* Well thanks for reading anyways, I hope you liked it!

~*~Mystical Dreams