Disclaimer: Any characters; plotlines or trademark idiosyncrasies that you recognise from one of J.K. Rowling's books belongs to her. Anything else belongs to me.

Chapter 1: The Veil.

"NO!" Harry roared, and rushed towards the archway. Lupin tried to restrain him but he broke past, sprinting down the tiered seats. He plunged headlong through the veil. Dumbledore and Lupin stared at the veil in shock, hoping beyond hope for the impossible, that Harry would fall through the other side of the veil. A few moments later, to their astonishment and relief, the still stunned form of Sirius dropped to the floor, followed by a small figure with messy black hair.

Harry was lying on a small narrow bed. With a feeling of the utmost relief, he realised he was lying on a bed in the hospital wing.

"Look, he's coming to." Harry recognised the voice and his heart leapt. Sirius was alive! Opening his eyes, he peered at the figure beside his bed. He could barely see, but he could tell without a doubt that this was Sirius; no one else had quite the same half loving half smirking smile.

"You're alright," Harry whispered, suddenly aware of an overwhelming tiredness.

"Sure I am, mate," Sirius replied. "What about you though, eh? You scared me half to death. Bloody hell, I nearly had a heart attack. Just don't do that to me again, alright?"

"Sure," Harry replied, so tired he was barely able to form the words.

"Hey, you rest now, mate." Sirius spoke again, seeing how tired he was. "Me and Moony are here, we'll look after you. You'll be up and about, chasing the girls again in no time."

"Are, are the o-" Harry had meant to ask if the others were alright, but utterly exhausted, he fell asleep.

Hermione and Ron stared anxiously down at Harry. Hermione was still sore from the curse the Death Eater had used on her, and Ron had huge weals on his arms from the flying brain, but they barely noticed the pain they were in. Since coming through the veil he had barely woken at all, merely mumbling incoherently. He had been asleep for over a day, and while Madam Pomfrey had been able to find nothing physically wrong with him, she was clearly worried. They all were. Hermione and Ron had barely left his side, even sleeping in their chairs next to his bed. After hours of anxious waiting, Hermione was dozing, and Ron was reciting potion ingredients to keep himself awake while Hermione slept. They had agreed to sleep in shifts, so that one would always be awake if Harry woke up. Ron was close to nodding off when he saw Harry open his eyes. He shook Hermione awake. Harry sat up, and stared at them both with wide eyes.

"Harry, mate, are you all right." Ron spoke tentatively. Hermione shot a furious look at him. Ron shrunk under her glare.

"Insensitive idiot." She muttered under her breath. "Stupid question, 'are you all right.'" She turned to Harry and gave him the news she was positive he would want to hear. "You did it Harry. You saved Sirius." Harry stared at her with huge hazel eyes, then replied, bemusedly, "that's very nice and I'd be delighted to hear exactly why Padfoot warranted rescuing, but right now, I'll settle for, 'Who the hell are you?'" Ron and Hermione stared down at the boy they thought was their best friend in bewilderment. James Potter stared back. "What the fuck has Padfoot got me into this time?"

Harry awoke to the sound of muffled shouting. Peering through the curtains that surrounded his bed he was astonished to see Sirius and Lupin forcibly restraining a red head who was yelling at the top of her voice. "No! Sirius let me through! Lupin let me go or I'll hex you. Just because I'm not a marauder doesn't mean I don't know how to behave like one. Let me go now! I have to tell him. He almost died and I didn't tell him! He thinks I hate him! James! James, can you hear me? James I need to talk to you"

Harry let the curtains drop, bewildered. He knew that he looked very like his father, and he had often seen friends of his parents looking strangely at him when they first met him, as though they were seeing their long dead friend again. On several occasions people had even mistaken him for hid father at first sight. On one memorable occasion a large plump witch wearing bright lilac robes had screamed in a shrill ear splitting tones "he's alive" and then promptly fainted. He later learnt that the woman had been his father's neighbour when he lived with his parents. She had been very fond of James and had been devastated when he died. When the lady recovered she was extremely embarrassed. Harry, on the other hand, had been delighted to meet someone that had known his father before he went to Hogwarts. He and Mrs Plumfield had talked at length about James and she had even sent him a card on his last birthday.

But despite the fact the Harry had been mistaken for James before now, it had all been cleared up after the first few minutes of confusion. Someone was now asking for him (it could only be him after all) as his father without even seeing him. Confused, he turned back to the curtain, listening as Sirius tried to placate the redhead. "Come on now, Petal. Prongs will be glad to see you, but Madam Elgard said that he needed peace and quiet, neither of which you're providing. Be a good girl now and sod off while he gets better." Sirius looped an arm round the girl's waist, flung her over his shoulder and started toward the entrance. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the picture in front of him, but he felt even more confused than ever. Why was Sirius referring to him as James as well? And who was Madame Elgard? He never seen Sirius behave like this either, except……except in Snape's Pensieve. He was behaving like that now, jokey, messing around in a way Harry had never seen him do. Fairly certain that Sirius's short trip through the veil had not brought his youthful side to the fore, there was only one possibility that he could think of for all of the anomalies he kept seeing. But that would mean that the redhead….. "oh shit" Harry said quietly to himself. He looked through the curtains again just in time to see the girl kick Sirius in the shin. Dropping the girl, Sirius started hopping around on one leg, cursing vehemently. "Lily, love, that hurt!" he whined. "OH SHIT" Harry's voice was a shout this time, easily loud enough for Sirius and Lily to hear him. As he stepped out through the curtains their faces turned toward him and he found himself looking into startling green eyes. His own eyes. "OH SHIT!"

Hermione and Ron stared at James in disbelief. Tentatively Hermione ventured, "Harry, maybe you should lie down. You – you had a bad fall, I think maybe you hit your head a bit to hard." She reached out to brush his hair away and look at his head. James, slightly annoyed that a strange girl felt completely comfortable with touching him, made to jerk away, then realised as he did so that he had indeed hit his head, and it was very painful to move. He allowed the girl to push his hair back off his forehead. Ron and Hermione gasped as they saw his forehead. Up until now, it had been hidden under his fringe. Harry always kept his fringe long in an attempt to try and hide his…. "Harry, what happened to your scar!"