Title: Harry Potter And The Return Of The Marauders
Pairings: JP/LE
Rating: R
Parts: 12/?
Warnings: Post-OOTP, has spoilers. Do not read if you haven't read the 5th book! Also has Child Abuse and Rape
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all the original Harry Potter characters and settings. Everything not owned by her is mine.
Summary: AU – Harry's Parents come back with Sirius. A few surprises, with new powers, new romances and new problems.
Key: "…" – Talking
'…' – Thinking
… Parseltongue
… Phoenix

Authors Note: About Dudley going to Azkaban. I was actually half asleep when I wrote that part, and could not for the life of me remember where else he could go. Oh well. He's in Azkaban now, so. Meh.

Chapter Twelve – Exams, Talks and Pranks

Hogwarts, Great Hall

Harry stood there with his parents, and smiled at his teachers. It had been two days since the trial. Hermione had been right, and there was a front page coverage about the Dursley's the day after the trial. When Draco had gone into the Ministry to press charges against his father, Harry had stayed home. If it weren't for the wards around the house, Harry was sure he would've been swamped by reporters. Now he was waiting to take the written part of his NEWTs. He was taking the basic exams. Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, DADA, Herbology and Care Of Magical Creatures.

Professor McGonagall walked up to Harry and nodded, "Are you ready, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded then followed his teacher to a classroom. He sat down at a desk and began. There were 50 questions for each exam, and an essay for Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. He went into details that had been long forgotten about human transfiguration, listed every detail about using and making Veritaserum. He described the advantages of locking charms and password charms to regular locks. When he was finished almost the entire day had passed. When he looked up he noticed there was a plate of food sitting beside him and his teacher was busy preparing for the new term, "Professor, I'm finished."

Professor McGonagall looked up and graced Harry with a small smile, "Very well Mr. Potter. I'm quite sure you're hungry by now. Your parents should be in the Great Hall still. I will meet you there, and you will have your practical in Transfiguration first, then Charms, CoMC and you will finish with Herbology. Day after tomorrow, you will report to the dungeons for your Potions practical, then you will have DADA. Since you are the only one taking the exams right now, you should have your results by the end of the week. Any questions?"

"Yes, actually. For the new term, what am I doing?" asked Harry.

"I'm not sure, Mr. Potter. I believe Dumbledore either wants you to work here or take some other classes," responded McGonagall.

Harry nodded and thanked his teacher before leaving. He headed towards the Great hall and smiled when he entered. His parents, Sirius and Remus were waiting for him.

"How were the exams, kid?" asked Sirius.

"Not as hard as I thought they might be. Tomorrow I have Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and CoMC. Day after I have Potions then DADA," Harry said as he sat down to eat, "I asked what I was going to be doing this term, and I was told I'd either have a job or would take some other classes," he filled his plate up and stopped talking as he began to eat.

"Did you even stop to eat?" Lily asked.

James laughed as Harry shook his head, "Well, that explains why you're eating so much."

Remus sat beside Harry and piling food onto his plate, "Well, he has the right idea."

The other three sat down and began eating as well. Soon after they started, the teachers joined them. Everybody chatted idly with each other, everybody excluding Harry, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable around so many teachers. He hurried through his meal, then left quietly, thinking no one had noticed. He walked to the lake and sat down, allowing himself to get lost in his memories.

Remus had been speaking to Sirius, he had noticed when Harry had left. He excused himself and followed Harry. He stood back and watched him sit by the lake, seemingly staring into the lake. He smiled grimly, he knew Harry was remembering. Since Harry had been younger, Remus had, had a connection with him. He always knew what was wrong with Harry, and when he was in trouble. Though he'd never told anyone, there had been a few times when he'd thought he'd pass out from the danger Harry had put himself in. It took him a few years, but he'd figured out that the wolf within had marked Harry as his cub, simply because he was born into his 'pack'. He walked over to Harry and stood beside him. Very quietly he spoke, "You alright, cub?"

Harry jumped a little and looked up at Remus, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Why'd you leave?" asked Remus, curiously.

Harry shifted a little, "It was uncomfortable. I'm the youngest here, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I wasn't even included in any of the conversations, so I thought no one would notice if I went outside for a bit."

Remus sat beside Harry, "Sorry about that, but I can tell you the teachers are probably just as uncomfortable as you are. They rarely deal with students outside a professional level. You're right though, we didn't really try and make an effort to involve you did we?"

Harry shrugged, "It's fine. I suppose when everyone else is around we just don't notice."

Remus smiled, "Well, we should head back you know. Before your parents or Sirius thinks someone has kidnapped us."

With that Remus got up and pulled Harry to his feet. Together they walked back into the school.

Inside the school, a few minutes after Remus had left

Lily glanced to where her son was supposed to be, with a question for him, and froze. She glanced around and noticed Remus wasn't there either. She poked James, "Where's Harry and Remus?"

James glanced around and frowned, "I don't know," he reached over and pokes Sirius, "Where's Moony and Harry?"

Sirius shrugged, "Remus left a few minutes ago. I think Harry left before then, maybe he went to check on Harry?"

James nodded, then glanced at the door before speaking again, "We need to talk to him. He's keeping his feelings locked up, and I have this feeling he's hiding something."

"Like what?" asked Lily.

"I don't know. It's just a feeling," James answered with a frown.

Sirius nodded, "You try and talk to him, James. Onto other things, has anyone figured out what to do about the Weasley kid?"

Lily shook her head, "We have two months. We'll have it figured out by then."

James smiled grimly, "Let's hope it's a bloody good plan then."

Remus and Harry entered the hall then. They walked over to the table, and Harry hugged both his parents. As he hugged Sirius he said, "I have to head off to bed. Unlike you all, I have exams tomorrow. G'Night."

After receiving his replies, Harry headed of to his room. He sighed as he entered his room. He opened his trunk and pulled out a dagger. He sat down on his bed, pulled up his sleeve and removed the concealment charms on his arm. He winced at the scars and cuts there. He didn't like how his arm looked, but for now it was his only release. He placed the dagger on his arm and dragged it across. He repeated this a few times before cleaning up and putting the dagger away.

He knew he needed to talk to someone soon. The nightmares were getting unbearable, and the memories were plaguing his days. There were small things that triggered flash backs. He sighed and placed his concealment charms back on his arm. He changed into his night clothes and climbed into bed, where he lay awake for hours before finally falling asleep.

The next day

Harry followed Professor McGonagall and his godfather to the transfiguration classroom. When he stepped in, the door closed behind him. Professor McGonagall placed a silencing charm on Sirius and spoke to Harry, "You will be doing some human transfiguration. You will be changing your godfather into a cat, then a mouse, then back again. Any questions?"

Harry shook his head and took out his wand and grinned at his godfather, who suddenly looked incredibly nervous. With a wave of his wand and a few muttered words, his godfather was no longer standing there. There was a small orange cat. The cat looked at itself in disgust and looked back at it's godson. Harry grinned and waved his wand again. No longer was there a cat, but a small brown mouse. It stood up on it's hind legs, crossed it's front paws and tapped his foot. Harry, while snickering, changed his godfather back into his normal self.

"Very good, Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall, "Professor Flitwick is waiting for you."

Harry nodded and looked at his annoyed godfather, "Why are you annoyed, Siri?"

"You were trying to make me cute, weren't you?" asked Sirius.

"Hmm…" Harry ginned and waved his wand. He ran off towards his next exam, leaving a little black poodle standing in the middle of the hallway.

Harry spent the remainder of the morning charming trunks to attack anyone who tried to break into them. He got a wonderful idea for this, but had to wait till later to use it. He entered the Great Hall and laughed at the sight before him. Sirius, who was still a poodle, was being cooed at by all the women in the room, while the men looked like they were about to pass out from laughing to hard. Sirius saw him and ran over to him. Harry was about to change him back when Sirius began yipping. Harry started laughing and couldn't reverse the spell.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall changed Sirius back, and complimented Harry. Sirius glared at his godson and proclaimed, quite loudly, that he'd get his revenge. Harry stopped laughing then and stared at Sirius.

Harry grinned, "I think my godfather wants a prank war."

Sirius blinked, then grinned. He turned to his fellow Marauder's and smirked, "I believe we should be challenging Mr. Storm here to a war."

"Mr. Storm?" asked James.

"He needs a nickname," shrugged Sirius.

"Wait, wait, three against one? How is that fair?!" cried out Harry.

The Marauder's shrugged and smirked, before leaning close and whispering to each other. Harry simply smirked at their backs. He glanced over to his mother and grinned, "This is going to be fun."

After lunch, Harry headed to the greenhouses, where he re-planted and tended to some of the more poisonous plants there. He almost ended up in the hospital when one attacked him.

Afterwards, he headed to Hagrid's hut, where he had to feed Threstrals and get some fur from the Fire Wolves. It was a difficult task, since he head to try and keep them calm so they wouldn't burst into flames and harm him.

By the end of the day Harry was exhausted. He skipped dinner and went to bed. As he fell asleep he felt a tingling run over him.

Last Day Of Exams

Harry woke up, and knew something was different. He sighed, stretched and went to the bathroom. After showering and dressing, Harry stood in front of the mirror snickering. He was dressed in Slytherin colors. His robes, which had been red and gold, were green and silver. His hair was silver with green streaks through it, and he had a tattoo of a snake around his neck. Shaking his head he headed down to the common room. James, Sirius and Remus started laughing and Lily giggled.

"Mom, could you fix my hair a bit?" Harry grinned mischievously, "The green's too light."

Everyone stopped laughing and stared at Harry, who was still grinning. Lily nodded and changed the green to a darker color. Harry nodded and headed off for breakfast.

Snape stared at him when he sat down, "Trying to be Slytherin now, Harry?"

"Nope. The Marauder's pranked me. Mind you, I was almost sorted into Slytherin," said Harry. He cracked up laughing at the stricken look on his potion master's face.

After breakfast, Harry headed to the dungeons where he would make Veritaserum. It would take all morning, and all his concentration, because next to the Wolfbane potion, it was the most difficult potion to make. He carefully chopped and ground the ingredients. He stirred them in at the right times and hoped he was doing it right. He always had problems with the truth serum, though he could never figure out why.

Half an hour before lunch he'd finished. He frowned a little. The potion was supposed to be clear, but his was a milky white. He glanced at the instructions and gaped. He'd forgotten the phoenix tears. Quickly he stirred in the last ingredient and smiled. It was clear and seemed to be right.

He glanced up at Snape and smiled, "I'm finished Professor."

Snape nodded and motioned for him to bottle it and put it on his desk. After Harry did this, he spoke, "I've finished the potion. Tomorrow, Lupin, will take the Wolfbane potion, then we will go to the Shrieking Shack and administer the cure. If my research is correct, which it is, there should be no side affects."

Harry grinned happily, "That's great. We'll surprise him, but you have to go down before then and spell the door to lock as soon as he closes it. We'll never get it to him if he heads to the forest with dad and Sirius."

Snape nodded, "I'll do that now. Go eat lunch, afterwards you have your final exam. Good luck."

Harry waved and headed to the Great Hall. He sat down and began eating. He only glanced up as his parents came in. During his potions exam, the prank had worn off, so Harry was back to normal. He sighed as the teachers ignored him again. As he was getting up to leave, Remus stood up as well. He smiled at Harry, "We're going to go do your final exam now. It should be interesting."

With a nod, Remus and Harry walked off. James watched them and sighed. Sirius looked up when James sighed and frowned a little, "What's up, Prongs?"

"Nothing, Padfoot. I just wish I was spending more time with Harry. He just seems so busy," James said with a frown.

Sirius nodded at James, "Go see him after his exam. You can talk with him then."

Lily looked up, "I get to talk with him after dinner tonight, got it?"

Both men nodded and went back to their meals.

Harry and Remus entered the defense classroom, to see Ryle and Dumbledore waiting for them. Harry arched an eyebrow and Ryle chuckled, "Remus is going to test you on dark creatures, I will test you with your swords and Dumbledore will have a magical duel with you."

Harry turned to Remus, who'd pulled out a trunk. The trunk shook and bounced. He paled, knowing hat was in the trunk. A boggart. Even though he'd faced one in third year, he knew his fear had changed, and wondered if it was possible to find anything funny about it. He glanced at Ryle who looked just as nervous as Harry felt.

He took a deep breath, readied his wand and nodded to Remus. Remus magically unlocked the trunk and a bunch of dead bodies fell out. Remus and Dumbledore paled, while Harry started shaking. The bodies were his friends and family. He took a breath and cast the spell, "R-Riddikulus," with a crack it changed. The bodies on the ground suddenly came to life and were walking around amongst each other. Remus waved his wand and sent the boggart back to the trunk. Harry stumbled back and fell into a seat. He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. He looked up, avoiding Remus's eyes, and asked Ryle, "Swords?"

Ryle nodded and pulled his sword out, "It will be first blood, Harry. Hopefully neither of us will end up in the hospital wing," he paused and grinned, "again."

Harry grinned and stood. He pulled both his swords out and stepped into a fighting stance. Dumbledore gave the signal to begin. Remus and Dumbledore stared in awe as they began their duel. At the door Lily, James and Sirius gaped. They had never seen something like this. It was beautiful, frightening, entrancing and deadly all at once.

Ryle immediately stepped back from Harry's blades, and swung his dagger at Harry's abdomen. Harry side stepped it and knocked the dagger flying. He twisted away from Ryle's sword, then had to flip backwards to avoid getting injured. Harry grinned at Ryle and brought his right hand sword across in an arch. Ryle jumped back, then to the side as Harry thrust his left hand sword forward. They danced around each other, licking the air with their swords, attempting to out do each other. After half an hour, Harry saw his chance. He lunged forward, causing Ryle to stumble back and swung his sword quickly, cutting into Ryle's arm. Harry stepped back and put his swords away. He bowed to Ryle, who bowed back.

Ryle grinned proudly at Harry, "Not bad. Last time it lasted almost 2 hours."

Harry snickered, "Looks like you're going to the hospital wing though."

Ryle frowned and looked at his arm. He sighed and glared at Harry. With a glance at the door he smirked, "Look, we had an audience."

Harry spun and stared. James, Lily and Sirius were still standing there, gaping. He glanced at Remus and Dumbledore and started to laugh. He shook his head, "Dumbledore, I believe I have another duel."

Dumbledore looked at Harry, and seemed to pale. Harry's parents and Sirius entered the room and sat with Remus, not wanting to miss this. Dumbledore stood up and stood before Harry, Harry smirked, "Should I do this Wandlessly, or not?"

"Uhm. Wandlessly," sad Dumbledore.

Harry nodded and bowed to Dumbledore. Then they began. Harry immediately put up a shield, blocking most of Dumbledore's attack. He had to roll away from the ones that got through his shield. Harry waved his hand and sent a series of stunners at Dumbledore, who blocked them all. Dumbledore then cast and invisibility spell on himself and began moving around. With a quick wave of his hand, Harry changed his eyesight to look for body heat. When he found Dumbledore, he removed the invisibility spell and stunned him. Harry changed his eyesight back and walked over to Dumbledore. He waved his hand and revived him, "I win."

Dumbledore blinked and grinned proudly at Harry, "I haven't been beaten that easily since I was in school!"

Harry nodded and was about to say something when his father stepped up and put an arm around Harry's shoulder, "Is he finished?" the headmaster nodded and James grinned, "Excellent! Harry and I are going for a walk."

With that, James seared Harry out of the classroom and towards the lake. When they got there, James waved his wand and conjured a blanket to sit on. He sat down and motioned for Harry to do the same. After his son sat down, he began, "I saw your arm. Before the trial. You'd been rubbing it, and I guess you forgot to put the concealment charms on."

-Begin Flashback-

James stood there with Lily and chatted with Sirius. He glanced at Harry, and had to hide his gasp. Harry was rubbing his arm, with his sleeve rolled up. It was covered in small cuts, in every direction possible. He watched as Harry glanced at his arm, paled, and placed concealment charms on it. He looked away when his son looked to make sure no one had seen.

-End Flashback-

James looked at Harry sadly, "I told your mother and Sirius yesterday you were hiding something. They don't know what I've seen. I haven't told them."

Harry was trembling. He could hear that his father was upset, and had no idea what to do. He'd seen his parents worried and happy, but not upset. At least, not at him. He looked at his father, and flinched, "I-I'm s-s-sorry."

James looked horrified, "Harry! Calm down," he reached out, ignoring Harry's flinch, and pull him close, "I just want to talk about it with you. I don't want you to keep hurting yourself, I want…no need…to help you. Please, Please talk to me."

Harry shook his head and tried to pull away. James would have none of it and tightened his grip. Harry struggled and began to cry, finally he gave in, "I-I just need to escape. I k-k-keep r-r-remembering, and it h-h-urts. I c-can't-t st-t-top it. W-When I c-c-ut, it's l-like, it's a-all b-bet-t-ter," he sobbed into his father's shoulder.

James had tears in his eyes and mentally cursed everything that had left his son in this position. Harry didn't deserve to be afraid, or depressed. He should be carefree, worrying about girls and arguing about Quidditch with his friends. Instead, he was haunted by memories of abusive guardians, wanted by a madman and the world placed all it's hopes on his shoulders. James rubbed his son's back and smiled sadly down at Harry, "I want you to talk to me once in awhile, ok? Talk to Sirius, Remus or your mother. Even your teachers will take time to listen to you. Please. We can't help you if we don't know what's going on, ok?"

There was a no response for a few minutes, then Harry looked up at James. James was surprised to see confusion in his son's eyes, "You're n-not mad?"

James closed his eyes and fought of the anger he felt to the injustice that had been served to his son. He held Harry close, "No, Harry. At least not at you. It's not your fault you've never had people to trust," suddenly James frowned, "Why did you never talk about this with Hermione or Ron?"

Harry hung his head and spoke quietly, "I didn't think they'd be my friends afterwards. And I think I blamed them a little. I always had to go back. I don't know. It's confusing."

"I think I understand," James kissed his son's forehead, "Talk to us, ok? We worry about you."

Harry smiled a little, "Yeah, I know. You're a little over-protective at times."

James laughed softly, "Hungry?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably, "I'm going to eat in the kitchens."

"Why?" asked James.

"It's uncomfortable. Even though Moony said he'd try and talk to me during the meals, I feel like I'm making everyone uncomfortable or something," said Harry with a small blush.

James nodded, "Well, I'll talk with you, and your mother wants to talk to you afterwards, so it'd be better if you ate in the hall. After tomorrow we're going home. We have to stay here for Remus's transformation. So, no worries."

Harry sighed and nodded. Both men stood and headed back to the castle. Harry waved his hand and banished the blanket to his rooms. When they got to the Great Hall everyone was there already. They sat down and began to eat. After a few minutes Harry got uncomfortable again. Suddenly, Sirius turned to Harry, "Could you show me how to use a sword like that"

"Erm…I can't use one sword. It throws me off balance. Maybe Ryle can though," he replied.

James grinned, "You did a great job in that duel though."

Lily stood up and asked Harry if he was finished. When he nodded she asked him if he'd come with her.

They went and sat in their rooms. Lily looked at Harry, "You haven't talked to use lately. I know James talked to you about something that upset you, because I saw the tear stains," she raised her hand, stopping any interruptions from Harry, "I'm not going to ask, that's between you and him, though I wish you'd talk to me. Harry, I just want you to know, that you can talk to me about anything. I feel horrible that you had to live with my sister and her horrible family, but I cannot change that, no matter how I wish I could," she leaned over and kissed her son on the cheek and gave him a huge hug, "I love you, Harry. You're my baby boy."

Harry blushed and grinned at his mother, "Thanks, Mom. That means a lot," he grinned suddenly, "Watch the door for me, please."

Lily nodded, and watched as Harry disappeared into her room, and return 5 minutes later. He repeated this for Remus and Sirius's room as well. He grinned at his mother, "Night Mom!" and quickly left to his rooms.

Half an hour later, the other three men entered the rooms, and smiled at Lily. She sat there and watched them go to their rooms, wondering what Harry did. Sirius cried out suddenly, and everyone headed to his room. They stared in shock at him.

He was now green, from head to toe. His robes had become a leather dress and his trunk was chasing him around the room. It took a few seconds for the scene before them to sink in before they cracked up laughing. Sirius glared at them all. It lasted about 5 minutes before everything went back to normal. A note popped up on Sirius's bed. He picked it up and laughed. He handed the note to Lily who read it aloud, "One down, two to go. Why did I know you would be the first I'd get?"

Remus shook his head and left for his room, where he was attacked. He took off around the room while his books chased him, leaving the other three laughing. When the books stopped, they all marched back into his room and went back to where they were supposed to be. Remus glanced at the other's and went back to his room. He glanced around it and decided it was safe to enter. He walked over and unlocked his trunk, as soon as it was open he was attacked by parchment. It stopped after a minute and went back to it's spot. He found his note, proclaiming that James was the last to get it. Remus grinned, changed and met Sirius and Lily outside James's room.

They watched as he opened his trunk, got changed then brushed his teeth. He was extremely nervous and kept glancing over his shoulder expecting something to attack him. After he finished readying for bed he decided he was safe. He opened his mouth to say good-night to the others, when bubbles came out. He closed his mouth and blinked. He tried to talk again, but only got more bubbles. He went back into the bathroom and found a note. He handed it to Lily, who read it before giggling, "Mom said you snored, so I figured I'd remedy that."

Everyone laughed. The Marauder's decided it would be more interesting to have Harry on their side, instead of trying to win a prank war against him. Everyone headed off to bed, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Note: I didn't finish this like I'd want to, but I was really getting lost. Oh well.