A/N: Can't believe I'm at 17 already… This will finish at 20… And I probably will have an epilogue too. That's how it's shaping at the moment. Well, in my personal news, the slow update has been because I was on school camp. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and our camp was for two weeks into the outback to see Ayers Rock and stuff. It was great fun, I didn't want to come home, I made some really good friends. Ok, story time now. I have some really good ideas bottled up now; it's just putting them into the story…
'S-so, where have you been the past three days?' Lily asked her son apprehensively as she sat down next to him.
'Hiding. Quidditch locker rooms, been coming here to entertain myself, scabbing food off the house-elves.' Harry said.
'You do know that you got the guys in a heap of trouble?' Lily asked him. Harry grinned.
'That was the idea, Mum.' The word sounded so weird and foreign in his mouth, like he had never said it before.
'Why not me and Hermione then?' She asked; a little unnerved by her new title.
'You two didn't deserve it.' Harry said. 'I thought back, and neither of you lied to me, you just didn't tell the truth. I can understand why.'
'You do?' Lily asked him.
'Yeah, I mean, look how I reacted!' Harry grinned in spite of himself, a few tears welling in his eyes, which he hurriedly brushed away. 'And despite what I may say, I would have reacted this way even if I was told when I first met you guys.'
'Really?' Lily asked. 'Why? I mean, wouldn't you be happy? If we hadn't hid everything, I mean.'
Harry smiled sadly.
'I have one thing to say to you. Ten years with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. Of course I would be angry with you and Dad.' Another unfamiliar word. 'It's not your fault, I mean of course you would have preferred being, erm, alive, but still, there was something to take those horrible years out on, so, I guess I just couldn't help myself taking that option when the situation sprung up.'
'Why Sirius and Remus then?' Lily asked. 'The same reason? Because, they obviously couldn't help it either. Sirius was incarcerated and they never would have let Remus with his condition.'
'No, it's not the same reason.' Harry said. 'I've known Remus for over four years now, and he never mentioned the fact that there would be some "visitors" on Halloween this year. And I knew Sirius quite closely for two years, and he never told me either. Which was very weird, he never had a problem divulging other information I wasn't meant to know.' Harry remembered briefly back to his first night at Grimmauld Place.
'Sounds like Sirius alright.' Lily said. 'He's always been such a loud happy person. Never shuts his stupid mouth.'
'And I guess that's another reason why I was angry.' Harry said. 'Didn't really seem right.'
'What do you mean?' Lily asked, clearly confused.
'Well, I remember Sirius as a grouchy, sarcastic guy.' Harry said unhappily, hugging his knees. 'Sirius-Shannon-Sirius seems so much happier, so much erm, stupid. It's like he doesn't have a care in the world most the time.'
Lily remained quiet.
'Sirius, see, he deserves to be remembered as a well, a serious guy. He went through so much, remembering him like "Shannon" is, I would rather that he was remembered by what he did and how much he risked; not just for being a funny guy.'
'Well, the Sirius I know would want to be remembered for getting most detentions in a week or something.' Lily said. 'To me, he's always been that way. I guess he changed. But he wouldn't want the past to be forgotten.'
'I guess.' Harry said, trying to sound indifferent to it all, but his mother's words did have a soothing affect. 'Did you like the picture?' He asked, changing the subject completely.
'I must admit it was funny seeing the look on Snape and Malfoy's faces.' Lily said.
'I put a Protean charm on all the other boards, so the picture went up everywhere.' Harry said.
'It was funny.' Lily said again. 'The guys have been getting so much attention. And it's probably the first time they haven't asked for it.'
Harry smiled.
'Did McGonagall have a heart attack?' He asked after a moment.
Lily laughed.
'No, she's hanging on there. Her, Dumbledore, Snape, the others and Neville, Seamus and Dean all know it's really you.'
'Neville, Seamus and Dean know?' Harry asked hurriedly.
'Yeah.' Lily said. 'I mean, they all know the imposter is "Jason" but that's about it. Just incase they decided to pull a "Sirius".'
Harry blushed slightly.
'I can't believe everyone thinks it's me though.' Harry said after a pause. 'He doesn't look that much like me.'
'Yeah, he does.' Lily said. 'James can pass off as you easy! And you could pass of as him too.'
Something clicked in Harry's brain.
'I've got an idea.' Harry said. 'You just said it then. I can pass off as him, and so you drag him away from everyone else,-'
'And you step in pretending to be him pretending to be you?' Lily asked, catching on quickly with one eyebrow raised. 'Why?'
'Entertainment.' Harry said innocently.
'No.' His mother said, standing up.
'C'mon, it'll be fun!' Harry pleaded. She looked at him.
'If anyone asks, it was your idea.' She said apprehensively.
'It was anyway.' Harry said, standing up and pulling the cloak over himself. 'Let's go do it then.'
'I'll talk to him.' Lily said.
'Ok.' Harry said. 'And… Thanks for cheering me up, Mum.'
'Err, "Harry", can I talk to you outside?' Lily asked as she entered the Common Room ten minutes later. James, Sirius, Remus and Ron were back from their detention and were sitting with Ginny, Hermione and Neville.
'Sure!' James said, jumping up and walking out of the room. Sirius winked at him and tapped his nose.
'James,' Lily said as they stood outside.
'Yes sweetheart?' James said, leaning in to kiss her.
'You're one for pranks, aren't you?' Lily said, dodging him.
'Is that a trick question?' He asked; a little upset by her lack of affection. She knew Harry wouldn't like to be subjected to having to watch them randomly make out.
'Well, I feel like pranking someone.' Lily said, grinning mischievously.
'Who?' James asked, intrigued.
'Sirius.' Lily said. 'Remus, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Snape, Susan, well, basically, everyone.'
'And what do you have planned?' James asked. 'It's a bit ambitious. You have to have a really good idea. And we have to be able to pull it off well.'
'We won't be the one's doing the pranking.' Lily said. 'We'll be the smart sidekicks, the one's that the prank relies on, we are the helpers.'
'Well who's pulling the prank then?' James asked, his eyebrows raised.
'Me.' A raven haired boy appeared from the shadows pulling his invisibility cloak off as he walked towards his parents. His eyes were puffy and a bit red.
'You got Mr. Cranky out of hiding?' James asked, grinning at Harry. Harry shot him an evil glare and gave him the finger.
'I have fingers too!' James said happily, waggling them up in the air at Harry, who tried not to laugh.
'So you'll do it James?' Lily asked her boyfriend, also concealing a grin.
'What do I have to do exactly?' He asked.
'Be Me.' Harry said. 'So basically avoid everyone, spend a couple of days in the kitchen's eating, occasionally follow people around and trip them over if you get bored.'
'Sounds good.' James said. 'Catch up on some R&R.'
'Erm, something like that.' Harry said.
'So when do we switch?' James asked. 'Tomorrow?'
'How about now?' Lily asked.
'Erm, ok.' James said, a bit nervously. Harry threw him the cloak.
'Any bets on who will notice first?' Harry asked.
'Hermione.' Lily said shortly.
'Dumbledore, but he won't let on about it.' James said.
'That's probably right.' Harry said. 'Remus might.'
'Remus-Remus or Ricky-Remus?' Lily asked.
'Remus-Remus.' Harry replied.
'It will take him at least a day though.' James said.
'We'll find out.' His son replied. 'Here you go.' Harry handed over his invisibility cloak. 'You better take this too.' He gave him the Marauders Map.
'Naah, I have my own cloak.' James said, giving back the cloak. 'And that's it too, but I have another, and… I'm gonna stop confusing myself now.'
'Good idea.' Lily and Harry said at the same time.
'Well, you better go, so I will see you two when I stop pretending to be an "angsty teen".' James said.
'Shut up!' Harry said in mock anger. 'I might just have to go cry!' He pretended to sob into his hands. Lily watched this mildly amused. Her son and her (future) husband got along so well. They had barely known each other a week, but they just seemed to connect. That would make sense though. For as long as she had known Harry, he was pretty much a nice mix of James, Sirius and Remus. She couldn't see herself in him. James could though. He saw his son as a perfect mix of two of his best friends and his girlfriend. It was odd, as he had known none of them growing up, but it somehow just worked. Gryffindor Pride.
'C'mon, lets go, we have to, or someone might find us.' Lily said.
'Yeah.' Harry said. 'Seeya.'
They quickly hurried over toe the portrait hole.
'Who were you talking to?' The Fat Lady asked.
'No-one.' They replied, and went in.
'What were you two talking about?' Sirius asked, grinning. He couldn't speak plainer infront of Ginny, and Neville, Seamus and Dean, but those who knew all grinned cheekily. Harry felt sick to the stomach.
'Oh, we were just discussing Jason.' Lily said, clearly not feeling well either.
'Erm, yeah, Jason.' Harry said, raising his eyebrows. He sat down in James's vacant seat next to Sirius.
'So what have you girls been up to?' Harry asked. 'We've had detention, incase you didn't know. Yay.' He ruffled his hair in a James-esque way.
Sirius shot him a glare.
'We were just sitting around.' Hermione said. 'Rose went for a walk. Where did you go anyway?'
'Erm, just around.' Lily said timidly. 'I, erm, got lost.'
The Marauders, Ron and Hermione knew that was crap.
'Yeah, I did too when I first came.' Neville said. 'I was still getting lost until halfway through third year.'
'I did maybe once.' Harry lied arrogantly, ruffiling his hair James style. As Sirius shot him a glare, Lily hid a grin. Harry was doing his very best to act like James. Sirius had obviously fallen for it.
'Don't bullshit Harry.' Ron said, glaring as well. 'We got lost plenty of times.'
'Shh!' Harry grinned, winking at Remus.
'Anyone up for some Exploding Snap?' Ron asked, giving Harry an odd look. He thought James had been a good actor up until now.
'Yeah, Ok.' Remus said.
Harry (though they thought it was James), The Marauders, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus and Ginny, who were joined by Parvati and Lavender all sat around doing homework, playing snap or just talking, Harry getting exceedingly arrogant by the minute. Remus and Sirius, thinking Harry was James pretending to be Harry, thought that Lily would be getting quite annoyed at James's "Fifth Year" behavior. She was grinning at every little sign of arrogance from the Potter boy, her white teeth gleaming. Hermione seemed to think it was odd too, that Lily was so… happy about James's arrogance. Add to the fact that James wasn't acting like Harry anymore…
'I'm going to bed.' Harry said. 'Night all!' He bounded up the stairs and into the dormitory.
'He's happy.' Ginny said.
'Well, that is his name.' Sirius said.
'What?' Dean said looking at Sirius.
'Erm, Ginny said "He's Harry" and then I said "Well, that is his name".'
'I said he's happy.' Ginny said. Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius and Remus and Hermione exchanged knowing glances. Ron grinned bemusedly.
'Ahh.' Sirius said, 'Yes. Too happy.' He rose one eyebrow and did his best detective look.
'You're a loser.' Ron said, shaking his head at the currently blonde boy.
'Thanks Ron.' Sirius said. 'I think I might do a "Harry" and catch up on some beauty sleep.'
'Merlin knows you need it.' Remus said, grinning.
'Ah ha ha ha.' Sirius said sarcastically.
'He's not being Sirius.' Lily said to everyone else. Remus, Hermione and Ron burst out in laughter.
'I'm not allowed to be Sirius.' Sirius pouted.
A/N: Ok, that was a pretty pointless place to end the chapter, but hey, next chapter needs the whole section, so… Cya then I guess. Review please, you have no idea how much they mean. Also, read my other fic, It's All In The Chase. It's a L/J fic… Please?
