Disclaimer: Ugh I hate these things. We don't, never have, and never will own Harry Potter. *glowers*
Chapter 6
The three Marauders followed Harry, Ron and Hermione to their next class.
"Did you have to do that to Snape?" Remus asked groaning.
Sirius grinned "Of course I did Remy."
James snickered "Why wouldn't he?"
Remus let out an exasperated sigh and walked over to Hermione. "What class is next?" he asked her.
She smiled slightly, "Defense against the Dark Arts." She replied
"With Professor Lupin." Ron added
Remus paled and looked as though he was about to faint.
"I thought Remus said he wasn't going to start that class until the beginning of next term." Harry said
Hermione rolled her eyes "Don't you listen to people anymore Harry?" she sighed "Well Professor O'Dell quit; she said something about evil minions haunting her."
Ron laughed "She was a bit of a nutter. You would think she had seen a ghost before."
Hermione shrugged, "Yes, you would."
Harry cast a glance back at James and Sirius. They both had their heads together and were whispering. Harry tapped Remus on the shoulder, "Is that a good sign?" he asked, pointing at them.
Remus shook his head, "Not normally."
Harry stopped for a second, waiting for them to catch up to him. "Er… Si-Orion what are you two plotting? You do know that Remus is our next teacher and that he knows your pranks."
Sirius shrugged "We don't tell out ideas to non-marauders." He turned back to James "Do you have the map with you?"
James dug into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment and held it up for Sirius to see. "Of course mate, never leave home without it. I do wish I had my cloak though."
Sirius sighed "Well you can't really walk around with that thing in your pocket now can you?"
James shrugged "I still wish I had it."
Harry heard them and looked at the piece of parchment. "The Marauders Map!" he said involuntarily.
James looked at him suspiciously "What do you know about it?"
Harry shrugged "I have it up in my dormitory; along with the cloak."
Sirius got an evil twinkle in his eye "Do you now? This is turning out better than I expected." He looked at James "Prongs, your son is brilliant."
Harry rolled his eyes; he wasn't sure if he liked the young Sirius as much as the older one who had died. His eyes grew sorrowful and he walked quickly to catch up with Hermione and Ron.
After walking for three minutes more, they arrived at the classroom and were greeted by Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin stood at the front of the class smiling wearily. "Hello everyone; it is good to be back at Hogwarts to teach you all again." Some of the Gryffindors let out a whoop of joy. "I had not planned on returning to teach you but since your last teacher quit, Professor Dumbledore asked me to come back." He sighed, "I welcome our exchange students and I am happy to see you are settling in." he gave a pointed look at James and Sirius. "Everyone take out your wands please."
Everyone reached into their bags and pulled out their wands. They hadn't had a practical lesson since the Moody imposter had taught them; or if you had been in the DA, since Harry taught them.
Sirius walked over to James and exchanged a look; this was going to be fun.
"I have brought in another Bogart for us to practise on." He turned to the class "You do remember when we did Bogart's don't you?" the class nodded in agreement, and Professor Lupin smiled. "Well since Lord Voldemort has returned I have decided to help you defeat some of the creatures that work for him." He looked around the room and spotted Harry. "Harry, come here for a minute please." Harry walked over to Professor Lupin. "Lord Voldemort uses Dementors to help him and since Harry fears Dementors, I decided we can practise." He looked at Harry "You don't mind do you Harry?"
Harry shook his head "No Rem-Professor Lupin."
Professor Lupin smiled slightly at Harry then turned back to the class. "The Bogart is in this briefcase but first I think we should learn the Patronus Charm. Everyone take out your wand and say Expecto Patronum."
The class held out their wands and began to say the spell. Some of them already knew it, since they had been part of the DA the year before.
Throughout the period Professor Lupin had been trying to avoid James and Sirius. He had lost Sirius a few months ago and still missed his friend very much. James had been dead for so long that to see him alive again, was slightly unnerving. When there were only ten minutes left in the period James waved Professor Lupin over to where he was.
Professor Lupin walked over to where they were working on the charm. "Yes Jack?" he asked him
James looked at him, "We were just wondering," He said, indicating himself and Sirius
"Yes?" Professor Lupin asked as though he was talking to a complete stranger and not a friend who had been dead for many years.
"Well, if you are here, and Snape is here; where am I, Siri-Orion, and Peter?" James asked
Professor Lupin sighed, "Ask Harry, or come talk to me later. Right now, isn't the best time."
James nodded "Ok," when Professor Lupin turned to leave James got a devilish grin on his face. "Moony."
Professor Lupin smiled softly and turned around. "Yes?"
James grinned "Just making sure."
Professor Lupin rolled his eyes and walked away muttering "Same old James."
A few minutes later the class was over and the students left.
Harry stayed behind to talk with Professor Lupin. He watched as Remus, Hermione, Sirius, Ron and James left the class room and headed to lunch. He walked over to Professor Lupin and stood by his desk. "Er…Remus?" he asked
Professor Lupin looked up, "Yes Harry?"
Harry sighed, "I am sort of confused. It is sort of strange to have lost Sirius only a few months ago and now to see him, my erm…father, and you; at my age." He shrugged "I don't really know how to respond."
Professor Lupin nodded and lifted his arm as though to give Harry a hug, but decided against it. "It is strange for me too Harry. I remember going to school with them, I remember the pranks they played, and I remember when they died."
Harry nodded solemnly, "It is a good thing Pettigrew isn't with them, I would murder him." He said seriously.
Professor Lupin sighed, "He was not bad when he was a kid. He was much like Neville Longbottom."
Harry looked up at him and met his eyes, "Neville, is not a coward. Just because Professor Snape scares him, he isn't good in some classes, and he isn't as smart; doesn't make him like Wormtail."
Professor Lupin smiled, "I know," he said simply "I know."
Harry nodded, "Is there any new news from the Order?"
Professor Lupin shook his head. "Nothing."
Harry nodded, "I better go and catch up with Ron and Hermione then." He said gloomily.
Professor Lupin nodded, "Alright Harry." He watched Harry leave and went back to his work. 'Sirius,' he thought 'if only you were here to see yourself and James. You would be surprised at how much you have changed from when you were a younger kid.'
Professor Lupin sighed; he knew that one of the reasons the adult Sirius had changed so much, was because he was accused of betraying his best friend and being sent to Azkaban. Looking at the young Sirius he felt terrible about knowing his fate. He shook his head, 'if only James and Sirius were still alive' he thought 'then things would be different.'
Please Review!!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I (Sploogal this time) would say thanks to each individual one in the replies below, but there are only so many ways you can say it before it gets boring.
girlknight – Sploogal loves the name Paul too. *grins* He's really cute. *blushes* How did we meet? Well, we didn't actually. Not in person anyway. We both write our own stuff for ff.net and we ended up emailing each other about the co-writing thing, and The Maraderettes was born.
darkdestiny2000 – Here's an update. *big grin* Hope you still like it!
phredtheflyingmonkey – Woohoo! You like it! Yeah! *jumping up and down*
TheSilverLady - *looks at Star* It's not just good, its very good! *victory dance*
Bloodfang – Oh yes, wouldn't it be great if we could actually see Snape's big nose?
Sea-Turtles – Hope you liked the Snivellus encounter. The Remus/Lupin bit shouldn't be too confusing after a while.
Walking Censure – We think that Sirius and James would have been a little arrogant and all that though, because they definitely were in their fifth year, but not so much in their seventh (judging by the fact that Lily went out with James in seventh year). They would have been somewhere in between at this time. There will be pranks, but they probably won't be too over-the-top given the situation. We know lot's of people don't agree with leaving Peter out, but he is very difficult to write as a good person. He will be mentioned by the marauders though, don't worry. Hope that clears things up.
Nakhti – Once again, thanks for your fantastic review! Hope you liked this chapter.
theweaselytwins – Wow. You think it's cool! *grins* Yay!
JewelValentine - *blinks* *stares* Are you sure you're not high? *shrugs* Ok. You have a good point with the quidditch. I (Sploogal) hadn't even thought of that. Will talk it over with Star.
Hoover – Thanks for the idea *smiles* but we like it the way it is.
jennifer – Another update. Hope you like it. *big grin*
J.E.A.R.Potter – Yes, you got it right. Sirius is Orion, James is Jack, and Remus is Paul. Hope it doesn't get too confusing.