The Celestial Guidance

by FlyingPixie (Lady Lyssa)

Disclaimer: Everything in this fic belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Everything you do not recognize belongs to me! (That makes me feel so special :D)! If I were her, I would be writing the Half Blood Prince in a small café, rather than sitting here, typing on fanfiction!

A/N: This story takes place in Harry's sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

Sorry for the delay everyone! These were the worst few weeks, and I was very pressed for time. I apologize tremendously. However, I must say that these past few weekends were the bomb! I went to SSUNS (Model United Nations), and it was an amazing weekend. However, I only had three hours of free time on Sunday, and that was spent doing the homework that had accumulated during the week, as well as the Friday I had missed... so I, sadly, had no time for my fic. And then the next weekend I had a Karate Competition and a school Bazaar. I got Second Place! Go me... anyway. Once again, my apologies. I tried to get this in as soon as I could.

-------- Would people like me to stop writing for a while (well, continue writing but not posting) so that I can have enough back-up chapters that updates will once again be weekly despite my hectic schedule, or do you prefer that I simply continue writing whenever I can. I foresee that next weekend will be quite horrible, as I must study for exams. If the updates were to remain weekly, then two other choices can be given to you (I fell like a game show host): you can either leave the chapter lengths the way they are, and leave the updating in the hands of my teachers, or you may wish to have shorter chapters EVERY week. Shorter may mean 1500 words (in the least, as any less and you barely have a few pages). I am not particularly fond of that last idea, but I leave the choice in your hands. Please mention your opinion in your review! ----------

Thanks for all of the reviews! I got FIFTY! Thanks so much to all those who reviewed. This chapter is dedicated to you guys, for without you there would be no fic! Please enjoy, and I hope that you all review again! And thanks to those who realized that Dumbledore was Headmaster during the Marauder times! I'll fix the mistake soon. Now on to the chapter...

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Of Pranks, Tricksters and Evil Spirits

The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Its fit hour of activity is night. Its actions are insane like its whole constitution. It persecutes a principle; it would whip a right; it would tar and feather justice, by inflicting fire and outrage upon the houses and persons of those who have these. It resembles the prank of boys, who run with fire engines to put out the ruddy aurora streaming to the stars.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"Does anyone else know about Sirius coming back?"

"Not yet, no." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, an idea began to form in Sirius' mind. He hadn't wanted to scare Harry and Remus, but the others... Remus caught Sirius' sparkling eyes and his feral grin, and understood at once. It was time for everyone to find out about his return, Marauder style.

A bright smile illuminated his face, and his eyes twinkled brightly. The true remaining Marauders would play another prank, one that they would never forget. Remus couldn't remember the last time he had seen Sirius this happy. Sirius was prancing around the room in barely confinable energy, practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement.

"So, what's the plan?" Remus asked, wanting to be let in on the prank. "Who are we going to scare first?" Harry nodded eagerly as well, finally able to partake in a prank of his own.

"Why, Snivellus should be our first target of course. Here's the plan..." After being reassured by Remus that Snape was, indeed, spending the night at Grimmauld Place after the Order meeting, Sirius began his long-winded explanation of his plan, complete with emphatic hand gestures. Every few moments Remus and Harry would add their two Knuts, and soon enough they had a real plan formed. The three were grinning from ear to ear in anticipation of the look on Snape's face.

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Snape sighed as he climbed the short flight of stairs. He walked along the hallway until he reached his room. The candles lining the stone walls lit themselves automatically, thanks to a handy spell, as he entered the room. Sighing again, he walked up to the large, antique desk in the corner. He sat down on the cool, red leather chair and took out a handful of Potion's NEWTs he had to correct. Resigning himself to a long night, Snape took the first one and began to read.

Several hours later, Snape felt his eyelids drooping slightly. Realizing that it would be pointless to proceed at this point, he finished the last exam and removed the remaining ink from his quill. Snape's head snapped up as the candles in the room flickered. Some of the flames went out, darkening the room. Gripping his wand tightly, he stood, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark. "Who goes there?" he asked, his voice steady. He was not willing to let his imagination take him away. Probably just a draft, he reassured himself, ignoring the fact that he had closed the window over an hour ago for that very reason.

He had taken two steps before the lights flickered once more. The possibility of a draft seemed even less likely. "Who goes there?" he voiced his question again, hoping to get a response. When he didn't, he simply ignored it and went back to his desk, taking the corrected exams and putting them into his bag. When he turned around again, he noticed an odd mist coming from under the door. The white mist, as if with a mind of its own, floated upwards and coalesced into a vague figure.

"Snaaaape. Snaaaape," he heard the levitating figure call out, in an oddly familiar voice. Where had he heard it before? Snape took out his wand and pointed it in front of him. "Who are you?" he all but yelled, his voice remaining steady despite his quickening heart rate. "How did you get in here?"

"The dead have many ways, Snape, of contacting the ones they wish. Have you not yet figured it out?" the mocking voice said.

That voice, it's so familiar. No, it can't be. There is no way in hell... As if he hadn't bothered him enough while he was alive.

"I think you've figured it out... Snivellus."

No! How could Sirius be back? It simply wasn't possible. Why couldn't he be left alone for once?

"Yes, I see you have figured out who I am." Sirius levitated forward, the weird mist previously covering his body parting so that his features were clearer. "I am going to have fun with you, Snivellus."

Snape backed up against the wall, seriously frightened, though trying not to let it show on his face. What could he possibly have done to deserve this? Well, perhaps quite a bit, but nothing worse than anything they had ever done to him. "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice faltering a bit.

Sirius levitated even closer to the trembling man. "Like I said, I am here to have fun with you, and to make you pay for all the terrible things you've done to Harry. Did you think you could get away with them?"

Suddenly, Snape seemed to relax. This was simply an apparition that his imagination was projecting due to a serious lack of sleep, nothing more. The situation seemed so ludicrous, in fact, that he would have laughed. He would have, if he didn't have a reputation to uphold, even if he was the only person present in the room.

"I know you aren't real," he told the apparition. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized how foolish they sounded. He really had to catch up on his sleep before one of the Professors noticed this. Intent on simply ignoring the 'illusion', he turned once more to his desk and took the remaining exams and placed them into a separate section of his bag.

"Oh come on Snivellus. You can't ignore me forever. You don't actually believe that I'm simply a figment of your imagination, do you? Explain how I can do this, then."

With that, Sirius lunged forward towards Snape, traveling through the other man's body completely before circling the room and flying back to his original position, a large grin pasted permanently on his face. Snape all but shivered from the icy cold blast he had received when the spirit had flown through him. He had only ever felt that when a ghost passed through him. Could it be? Was this really Sirius?

To say that Snape was freaking out would be the understatement of the year. When Sirius let out a maniacal scream, a frightening sound of joy, Snape bolted out the door of his room and ran down the stairs. There was no way in hell that he would be left alone in a room with a dead Marauder. Sirius grinned, and floated through the door. Phase one of their plan was complete.

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"Severus please calm down. What are you trying to tell us?"

Dumbledore was confused and, though he would not readily admit it, worried. There was very little that would shake Severus up, let alone cause him to run down the stairs and into the kitchen like a maniac (in his night clothes no less). All Dumbledore had understood from the other man's fast speech were the words 'Sirius' and 'back', before he slouched down into the nearest chair, trying to regain both his breath and his usual composure.

Could what Severus was trying to say be true? Snape took another few breaths before explaining. His usual rigid self-restraint was back in place, now that the original threat had passed, and only a small tinge of red remained on his cheeks. Snape explained the events that had transpired in his room, from the coalescing mist to Sirius' 'ghost'.

Remus, Harry and Sirius were watching these events with hilarity, only an Illusion spell keeping the others unaware of their presence. The remaining Order members from the meeting were talking rapidly amongst themselves, trying to figure out the best course of action. Next came part two of their plan. Sirius saluted the others like a soldier preparing for battle. As Harry and Remus sat down to enjoy the show, Sirius floated down into the kitchen.

Sirius made cackling noises again. Snape spun around quickly, to see Sirius' ghostly figure once more. Snape cried out, and jumped out of his chair, old Occulmency resolve fading instantaneously at the sight of the other ghost. He had been desperately trying to convince himself that he had been imagining things, but the ghost was back. "See!" he cried, pointing at the specter. "Sirius' ghost is here. I say we get rid of it, and put it back where it belongs!"

Snape turned around to see everyone staring unblinkingly at him as if he had lost his mind. "Severus, are you okay?" Dumbledore asked, curious as to why one of his calmest colleagues was pointing at mid-air and screaming about Sirius' ghost.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN AM I OKAY? Don't you see a GHOST floating five feet above us? And you ask me if I'm OKAY?"

By this point, most of the other Order members had backed away a considerable distance, trying to put as much distance between them and the raving man, without seeming intimidated. Dumbledore tried again. "Severus, are you sure that what you are seeing is real? None of us can see anything." Dumbledore was confident that Severus' lack of sleep was taking its toll on him, and was positive that it had nothing to do with Voldemort. Grimmauld Place's defense had increased tenfold since last year, and now included magical detectors whose sole function was to locate any traces of magic having been cast by Voldemort recently, or magic whose purpose was still in place. Dumbledore made sure not to include the Avada Kedavra spell in general, so that when Harry moved back in, the detectors would not be ringing incessantly. As he had not heard any alarms ringing, he was sure that Voldemort was not the cause of Severus' illusions.

Snape, meanwhile, was ducking for cover every few seconds to avoid Sirius' wrath. Sirius was shooting various spells in his direction every few seconds, which resulted in Snape running around the room like a madman. Harry and Remus had tears running down their cheeks from the scene, and Harry was on the floor dying from peals of laughter.

When Harry recovered and regained his composure, he sat back up and studied the amusing scene before him. Just as he was looking at Dumbledore, he froze. All of the other Order members had similar auras, with a few slightly brighter than others, but no big differences between them. However, Dumbledore's aura was much brighter than everyone else's, and had many additional colors streaked through it. Was that how Dumbledore had been able to defeat Grindlewald, and why he was such a distinguished wizard? Harry knew that Dumbledore was more powerful than most, and the brightness of his aura proved that. Harry didn't know what he had been expecting, but somehow seeing the older man's aura brought the facts to life.

He sighed, trying to examine his feelings towards the elder wizard. Harry knew that he would, eventually, forgive Dumbledore for last years actions. However, he wasn't ready to forgive him yet. Not until Dumbledore realized that his actions were wrong, and promised never to treat Harry like his pawn again. Harry sighed (an action he was doing very often these days) and decided not to think about these things until they came up. He looked up at the scene before him, and realized that Dumbledore had had enough.

Dumbledore cast a quick Petrificus Totalus on Severus. He then addressed the rest of the Order members, "I believe a quick Dreamless Sleep Potion should do the trick, and we will have the old Severus back in no time." He walked towards one of the cabinet doors and opened it. It appeared to be full of various potions' ingredients. However, when he put his hand through them, they disappeared. He found a latch at the back of the cabinet and opened it. The second cabinet was filled with ready-made potions. He grabbed the closest bottle and closed both doors. The bottle in his hand was labeled 'Dreamless Sleep'. Harry stored the information for future reference.

Sirius frowned; this wasn't going to be any fun. He had to stop Dumbledore from giving the potion to Snape. He flew quickly back to his two accomplices, an idea forming in his mind. He could see Harry's and Remus' eyes glow brightly as well. He joined them, and the three shared their ideas, which all happened to be very similar. After a few, quick spells, the new Phase Three was in action.

Sirius flew down to Dumbledore, and snatched the potion out of his hand. He flew all around the room, a large grin permanently pasted on his face as he reached faster and faster speeds. He laughed freely when he saw the shocked faces of those below him. To them, the Dreamless Sleep Potion seemed to jump right out of Dumbledore's hand and fly around the room for no apparent reason.

As soon as the Order members had regained their senses, spells began to fly from every direction as they tried to hit the potion. The members had entered panic mode, and the spells were increasing in both difficulty and speed. Those that did manage to hit their intended target simply bounced off, a side affect of the Impervious Spell Remus had come to cast. Most spells, however, missed their speeding target by a long mile, and hit nearby furniture. Needless to say, the room looked as if a V5 tornado had come in, effectively striking everything in its path.

Mad-Eye was the most prominent of them, shooting spells faster than most present, despite his leg. Dumbledore alone did not shoot spells at the potion, but rather stayed back and assessed the scene. He seemed to realize that something was amiss, but couldn't tell what.

When Sirius tired of simply flying around in circles, he took out his wand and began to shoot spells back at the Order members. Talk about a training day! Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Harry and Remus were having a field day watching the Order members, who seemed to be flying just as much as their spells were. In an attempt to dodge the spells cast by the "potion bottle", the Order members were diving every which way, trying to cast their own as they dove.

Remus and Harry decided to execute the next part of their plan. Choosing Tonks as their victim, they cast a quick spell on her to enable her to see through Sirius' disguise. Harry nodded to himself as he noticed that Tonks' aura was streaked with more Transfiguratory magic than anyone else in the room, due to her Metamorphmagus capabilities. Tonks shrieks were loud enough to make all heads turn.

"Merlin! Snape wasn't kidding. It really IS Sirius up there!" Tonks yelled, pointing up at Sirius' floating form.

The Order members looked from Tonks, to the potion bottle (which had stopped in midair) and back to Tonks. Who to trust: Tonks or their own eyes? Many Order members still had their wands trained at the potion bottle, watching Tonks but keeping the bottle in their peripheral vision. Some seemed hesitant about it, and did not stop looking between the two. Tonks, meanwhile, was practically hysterical, still screaming nonsense about Sirius being back.

Remus and Harry grinned, and shot a spell identical to the one they had shot at Tonks to Kingsley Shacklebolt. The tall black wizard recoiled as he, too, saw Sirius' form floating above him, holding onto the Dreamless Sleep Potion and cackling like mad.

Kingsley's deep voice boomed in the room and he was shocked beyond his wits. Among bouts of swearing uncommon to the man, these words could be distinguished, "Merlin ... SIRIUS ... dead ... back..."

Dumbledore's head was the first to swerve around, the other Order members following along. Not one, but two Order members were now claiming to see Sirius, Snape not included. The gears in Dumbledore's brain began to spin. "Emmeline, please get Remus from upstairs. I do believe we should have called him a while back. I hadn't wanted to disturb him but... " Dumbledore's voice trailed off for several sections. "Please bring him downstairs, whether or not he is sleeping."

Remus and Harry shared identical looks of amusement before Remus ran up the stairs and into his room. He quickly undid the Illusion spell on him and jumped into bed. He grabbed the nearest book and opened it to a random page. He tried to control his breathing and pretend that he was reading as he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Remus called, pretending not to know what Emmeline was doing outside his door. She opened the door tentatively. She seemed about to explain what she was doing at his inquisitive looks, but gave up before she even started and motioned for him to follow her. He jumped out of bed and followed her, years of practice allowing him to paste a questioning look on his face with ease, as though he had no idea what was going on. As the two made their way downstairs, a plan of action had already formed in his mind. When Emmeline wasn't looking, Remus nodded quickly at Harry.

Remus followed Emmeline to find Dumbledore and the other Order members in the same state of disarray as when he had left. The only difference that could be seen was Snape, the spell on whom had been apparently released by Sirius. Snape was firing spells at the ghost a mile a minute. His robes were covered with multiple footprints coming from many different angles, due to the number of Order members that had tripped off his body in an attempt to dodge Sirius' spells. His hair was in an extreme state of disarray, so unlike the professor that it had Harry laughing all over again.

Tonks and Shacklebolt refused to let down, still claiming that they saw Sirius' ghost floating above them. The two of them were trying to hold Snape down and prevent him from shooting spells at the 'fallen Marauder'. Sirius, who was still flying freely around the room, dodging the few spells that were being sent at him but not bothering to send any of his own, winked down at Remus and smiled. Remus could tell that his friend was eagerly awaiting what would happen next.

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A/N: Congratulations to all those that figured out what I had planned this chapter! Next chapter will be up as soon as possible, hopefully in two weeks! See you all then. Thanks to all those that reviewed! I got 75 reviews this chapter! That is amazing.

Now on to the review responses:

Nimbirosa: Procrastinating? No, simply doing my homework. Plus, with all the other activities I do… How dare you say I am a procrastinator! Did someone miss her Nobility Lessons as a child? lmao Thanks for the review, and I shall review your stories as soon as I can!

Khadon: Good job! You were one of the only ones who correctly guessed what Sirius would do!

Stahchild: You're right; I won't make Harry into a major prankster. He's too busy with Voldemort, and besides, he isn't a carbon copy of his father. He will, however, often play pranks on Sirius, and perhaps even Merlin! Hope you don't mind.

Dr. Gero: Thanks for realizing my mistake. I'll fix it as soon as I can. Thanks for the review!

TuxedoMac: Thanks for the review! You were one of the only ones to realize what Sirius was going to do! Good job!

Lucas13: Thanks for the review. Now, this question might seem random if you aren't who I think you are, but are you Lucas from camp? You'll know what I mean if you are the Lucas I think you are… Hope I haven't confused you.

Lord Sauron the Deceiver: Thanks for the review! Thanks for realizing my mistake! I'll fix it as soon as I can.

Aishwarya: OMG! I love you! Thanks for all of these reviews! You are the best. You can still have your chapter with gravitational training, of course I don't mind! Glad you realized that Harry has all four houses in him, and that you agree with me! And the only reason that the Dursleys became quiet was because they had been talking about him!!! Oops... guess I didn't' make that clear enough.

RealityIntrovert: Thanks for the review! Glad to have you on the band wagon. Someone on a sugar high? Of course you can have your virtual double dark chocolate with chocolate chucks brownie and cool whip on the top with chocolate sprinkles and with a glass of hot chocolate milk! I just baked an entire virtual batch just for you!

Phoebe-H: Thanks for the review! So what if you had to stay up 'till "midnight and a half"? That's what best friends are SUPPOSED to do! You liked the broom part! Thanks, that means so much to me. cough cough Exams? Important? I don't see you studying! Neways, I don't have anything else to say to you, so bye!

Thanks for all of the reviews! However, as many as there were that reviewed my chapter, there are many who don't (and who are on my author alert and favorites lists). There are actually over 150 of you guys reading my story! It doesn't take THAT long to review. (though many of you seem to disagree)! I expect at least 80 of you to review this next chapter, and I don't feel that I am demanding too much! Go on now, please review! So I should have about 280 reviews by the time by next chapter goes up! It isn't too hard. It takes me hours to write, so I deserve that much! If you've stuck with me this long, then don't I deserve a bit more? If more of you review, then the chapter will get longer!

I promise that next chapter will have more training for Harry. I'll try to include Ginny in there somehow, but no promises. To all the H/G shippers out there that are eagerly awaiting the romance: don't worry, it's going to come soon enough!

Here are some virtual Chocolate Muffins that I baked. I noticed that many of you enjoyed my cookies! If there are any other things that you want me to bake, just ask in my reviews! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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