Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue, we're all happy.

I just realized how exactly incredibly AU I'm making this…

Oi vey, my very horrible, blinding humor is coming out in this chapter. Forgive me.


-The Naming and the Forming of the Marauders-

Ricki and Jesse Potter plopped down on the couch tiredly. It had taken them several hours, but they had done it. It had taken all of their combined brain cells, but they had achieved it.

They had found the perfect name for their new son.

-0-0-0-0-0-

At promptly 8 o'clock in the morning the next day (a Wednesday), the Potter crew was striding confidently through the Ministry, looking rich, powerful, and dangerous, even with the children balancing on each parent's hip.

Earlier that morning (if that was possible, as they had gotten less sleep than the author does… Eheh, that is to say, they only got two or three at the most), Jesse had flooed to the home of his friend in the Department of Mysteries. He had explained the story they had made up for their situation (though the agent didn't know that it was a cover-story, and never would, if all went well) and had inquired innocently as to what he would have to do. It was just a formality. He knew the Ministry and the most common laws like the back of his hand. Maybe tactics book would be a better simile… Yes, Jesse Potter knew the laws of the Ministry like the tactics book he made sure to update bi-monthly. Some could probably call him paranoid. Jesse would always counter smoothly that the ill-prepared was no better off than the homeless, starved street urchin in a street fight with a full gang.

Anyway, Jesse Potter had spoken to his informant earlier that morning. It was deceptively simple to get the man to agree to this, which disappointed the tactician. Weren't the workers from the DoM supposed to be the best? After learning that all he had to do was go the receptionists, get 'The Big Book of Potter' and 'Magical Adoptions – In Five Simple Steps!' to guide him through. Honestly, he thought to himself, the ministry was really lacking. They should really take a leaf out of the muggles' books! But then, maybe they were more cautious and once you signed in the book, it would do a background scan on your name and family.

First, they would have to put a drop of blood from both parents and the child they were attempting to adopt in the family book.

Then, normally, they would have to let their child drink a potion of all three bloods mixed with a version of long-lasting Polyjuice type thing, meaning that the child would look like its parents. Since Harry already looked so much like them, they would forget that step, though the remembered to always put that in that they did that in America without seeming like the had forgotten anything while speaking. Even then, they mentioned that there was a possibility of the child being a Potter by birth, too, as they had some… ah… wayward relations over in the Americas. Thus, the authorities (or the employee from the DoM, in this case) wouldn't question when the books showed no change or that they had skipped steps.

After that, though, rationally, Jesse thought that should be the first step, they would have to see if the book accepted the child or not. If it did not, then the child would not be able to access the fortune as an heir. Of course, that would always be disproved for their little ones, as they were Potters by blood and birth. (The blood of the child stays the same, though the physical features are changed. The blood does register the adoptive parents as theirs, but the prior blood is never 'washed' out of the system.)

Another thing that Jesse thought untimely, they would then have to write the name into the book as to accept it into the family tree of Potters everywhere. This, of course, would only have to be altered. They would have to input his name and put him as their son, though for true members of the 'clan' it would show that Harry was, indeed, James's son.

Also, Ricki pointed out, magical twins naturally have a bond of sorts. They figured that there was already a father-son bond, but they would have to research a ritual that would join the two as twins. This meant that most abilities were shared with each other, and they would have a close power-level. This worried the parents slightly, as they knew that Harry would grow up to be infinitely powerful. The world would, no doubt, be in chaos with neon colors, water balloons, and other novelties once the boys were at least nine. It was also possible that the bond would just naturally grow from being raised as twins, or maybe Harry would create it. They never knew with Potter children.

As they put the finishing steps to it, they carefully signed the name they had picked for their son in the appropriate spot.

Caden Harrison Potter. Ricki had snorted and attempted to dissuade Jesse from using Harrison instead of Harry, but the patriarch of the Potters stood firm, saying that there was something in tradition, or such. Ricki hadn't the will power to restrain herself from telling him that there was no horrible middle name for her spouse. After all, you can't really make anything bad out of the name Alex. He had retorted by saying that his father hadn't followed the century old tradition and that he wouldn't be like that.

At once, the tapestry that hung inside the dining room disappeared only to reappear seconds later. All around the world, the same thing happened.

- Future, or 1981, November 1 –

Harry, or shall we call him, Caden, laughed as his friends and family joked about how they had 'thwarted' the evil plans of the Dark Lord.

Lily, however, sighed. She missed her baby boy. James noticed this, and scooted noticeably closer to his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong, Lils?"

She remained quiet for a few moments, before speaking. "It's Harry. I miss him," she said, shooting a look at Caden, who looked down at his lap before he raised his hand to his mouth slightly, revealing the wedding ring on his ring finger. "I mean, I know he's alive and fine, but… I just miss him!"

Caden sighed slightly before tapping the hand previously covering his mouth to his chin thoughtfully.

"What would you say if I told you that you can see him grown up?" he said mischievously, looking at James with that twinkle. The realization spread on his twin's face as he jumped up excitedly.

He ran to the mirror on the wall as he and Harry joined hands and waved their hands over it.

It misted up for a moment before clearing up to show the picture of two babies curled up together on the soft blankets of their crib. They had their arms intertwined and there were soft, peaceful expressions on their faces.

Ecstatic that her baby was alright, Lily nodded before enveloping the men who meant the most to her (in completely different ways) in a gigantic hug.

-Past with Ricki, Jesse, and our favorite Twins-

The twins, coincidentally, had birthdays not even a week apart. They had just turned three the week before, and were now speaking.

Ricki had been right in believing that the bond would come naturally. Her boys were hardly ever apart. It made her so happy to see how well they got along and how incredibly complex they both were at this age.

The only people who knew the twins were the twins themselves.

For instance, while Harry was rather quiet, James was loud. Where Harry was observant, James was absentminded. But the one thing that they both shared was a passion for flying.

Years later, now seven years old, the twins were ready to take their first trip to Diagon Alley.

It was one of those times that Harry knew instinctively that something big – good – was going to happen today. Something life changing.

He was right.

When they were stumbling out of the apothecary – Ricki refused to buy potions – the two boys ran into another. When the twins looked at each other, they burst out laughing. The other didn't find it so funny, and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

Noticing the irritable air, Caden smacked his twin on the arm. "Sorry," he said in his slightly childish seven year old voice.

"You should be!" the unknown boy said snobbishly, sticking his nose in the air, before giggling slightly.

Caden and James exchanged glances warily. The boy was turning out to be a bit out of his mind.

"It's my turn to apologize. My family," he wrinkled his brow, "always says stuff like that. I don't like them very much. Oh, by the way, my name's Sirius Black."

From that moment on, the three had been thick as thieves.

Three months later, the three were wandering through Diagon Alley aimlessly, with ice cream cones dripping slightly on the pavement when they caught sight of a small boy sitting at a bench by himself.

Excusing himself quietly, Caden approached the boy and sat down next to him. He took his time examining this boy. He had light brown hair, and a scratch running across the top corner of his forehead that Harry found slightly suspicious but waved it off. The eyes of the other swung up suddenly, and Caden noticed that they were a light blue. He wasn't sure how he knew, but his intuition was telling him that this person was special.

"Hello," Caden began quietly, "My name's Caden. What's yours?"

"I'm Remus," the boy stated nervously. He hardly had contact of children his own age.

Thus, the Marauders had been born. They all got along splendidly, though their parents did not know how close the boys were, or much about the others. Sirius had already deciphered his family's intentions towards himself, and didn't want his best friends to have to endure that. However, Ricki and Jesse were almost constantly playing hosts for the friends. They could see something akin to the bond their sons possessed forming between them. It was reassuring.

The only thing that ever worried them was the silence when the boys were away. It always unnerved them, and Ricki knew it was only because when there was silence with the boys in their manor, it meant something chaotic was about to happen.

All in all, by the time the boys were eight, they were extremely tight knit and there was not a thing that could tear them apart. 'Cept chocolate, of course!

They were all there for Caden when he learned that he was not really James's twin. They all curled up next to him as he sobbed quietly. His parents were worried, he knew, but, really… it was just disconcerting to learn that the one person you're the closest to wasn't even who you thought they were, intentional or not.

Still, Caden forgave his parents; how could he not?

Encounters with unfriendly people were rare for the four. They were about to get the first when they were about eight and a half.


Aye, this was a bit of a filler chapter… sorry it was so short. Still, it's not all that short compared to others. I promised myself that it would never be less than 1500 words, though.

I bet you're wondering who I married Harry off to, aye? Vote for it, damn it!

Review replies to anonymous reviewers:

As – To you, I thank you for the suggestions and for being the first to review. Normally, I'd write a long, rambling review reply, but, well, I don't have much time.

Becky Yuy – I agree with Harry and James acting like the twins, though. I'll try the best I can. I agree with his name, calling him Harry if I did name him Armand or Amadeo. But I didn't.

As for the slash, well… sorry Toots, it depends on the votes. I warned you in the summary, though, did I not? Also, I'm not planning on sending him back, really. I already explained (by way of Jesse) that he couldn't get back and there was no evidence of such feat having been done in the past. I'm going to rant. Forgive me.

If you honestly don't like slash and think it is that wrong then why did you read it? I know I wanted to know whether you wanted it to be slash or not, but since there was a possibility of it being slash, I warned you in the summary so you didn't get hooked then flame me for making you hate it because suddenly – whoosh! Harry and Sirius start making out! Then Remus joins. And then they turn their heads and stick their tongues out at you! And then you get Marauder pranked with nonreversible charms, spells, and all-around enchantments. Your own damn fault, I repeat.

Let this serve as a warning to all who flame or slashophobes and/or homophobes.

Good day.

Oi, the poll's still open!

So the questions!

For Harry's house, so far the votes are in at:

Gryffindor - 5
Ravenclaw - 2
Slytherin - 1
Hufflepuff - 0

For the pairings, here's ones I've had suggested and voted on!

HarrySeverus - 3
HarryRemus - 3
HarrySirius - 4
RemusHarrySirius (with Remus as the dom) - 1
Not slash (boooo!) – 1

(I think those polls are pretty accurate… I'm tired and my eyes buuurn!)

-Cher-