A/N: Got a teeny bit of writer's block with this story, BUT I'm over it enough to put out a chapter, so yay! This is a lighter chapter in some ways and a much darker chapter in others, at certain points and subject matters. I feel like it is a bit of a detour from the central plot, but that's alright. Thanks to the reviewers and new followers, and here you go!

All hell broke loose rather quickly. James wasted no time in ripping his wand out of his pocket when he saw the cold fury in Lily's face.

"You're such a big man that you have to a go at an eleven-year old, Mulciber?" Lily shouted as she deflected a curse from Nott, who immediately entered the fray when his friend went down. "Does that make you feel powerful?" She pushed Harry back with one hand as he tried to insinuate himself closer, though he wasn't holding his wand and probably didn't know one singular thing about dueling. "Stay back, Harry!"

"I wasn't having a go, you little slag." Mulciber had righted himself, his hand yanking down singed robes. "Defensive of the little first-year mini-Potter…" he laughed shortly. "Look at the two of you, playing house?! Are you finally taking up with a pureblood, Evans?

"Not that that will save you," Nott sneered. "Either of you. A mudblood or the blood traitor that moons after her!"

James shoved his wand in Nott's face and snarled, "Careful. I've been very patient so far. Stop calling her that" Although Lily hadn't been, he thought grimly. He felt Harry moving uncomfortably and possibly angrily at this showdown, but he didn't turn around to look. This time, Lily didn't put a restraining hand on his arm, and if he had to guess, she still had her wand out as well.

"It's too late, Potter," Mulciber sneered. "I don't give out freebies." He sent a curse at Lily, but she was ready for him and her shield charm sent the curse bouncing back so that Snape had to jump out of its way. James had hardly noticed Snape before then because he had been so quiet, but now as a melee broke out, he noticed the ugly, furious look on the pale Slyterin's face.

James' anger mounted, though as it always was with Snape now…he could barely trace the source of it. Before, it was simple enough. Snape was a Slytherin that went about with other Slytherins who had terrible prejudices against Muggle-borns. And he was Lily's best friend which, as the years grew on, baffled all of the Marauders, even Lupin. None of them could figure out how they got on when Snapes' opinions were more than clear. But their friendship was a great source of jealousy for James, as petty as it was.

Then that day by the lake happened…

Now James' hated Snape more. He hated that he broke Lily's heart by killing their friendship so openly. James especially hated his own part in the whole conflict and having to see the look on her face when the other boy spat "mudblood". But what he hated the most of all was that Snape was sorry. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Snape's feelings went beyond friendship, even though Lily's hadn't. He knew what it was to love Lily Evans.

And he knew that even now, Snape probably pined for her. But he was too cowardly to do anything about it. It made James sick to think that Lily trusted someone so much and he had been so careless and cruel with her kindness. He had no sympathy for Snape, he never had.

Snape sent a few lazy curses towards them, of course directing them mostly toward James. The sixth-year Gryffindors, in the face of Mulciber and Nott's lack of dueling skills and Snape's reluctance to truly participate, were more than holding their own. And then the odds got way better…

"What do we have here?" Sirius yelled loudly as he entered the fray. "Having all the fun without us, mate? Is this what Evans does in her spare time?"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Lily shot back curtly, seemingly unsurprised by Padfoot's sudden appearance. Nott barely blocked her last, furious curse. "Following me around the corridors…"

"On Jamesie's orders."

"Pastime of yours to pass Evans around, is it?" Nott sneered. "Come to think of it, I remember going over this in Potions class."

"Yeah, and it didn't turn out so well for you then either," Sirius said coldly, raising his wand.

"You were lucky to be rid of that mudblood whore, Snape," Mulciber grinned, and then startled when a smaller voice interjected hotly.

"Shut up!" Harry yelled, unable to resist the insults to his mother any more, even though he didn't know what they meant. "Just shut up!" His wand came out before Lily or James could stop him.

"Harry…!"

Snape was already smarting from Mulciber's mocking jeer, so when the Potter look-a-like was the one standing there defending Lily's honor, like he knew her, like he could even understand her at all, a rage he didn't know he possessed came out of him and he sent a curse at the young boy. Lily and James both reacted immediately, sending the curse sprawling away and both attacking Snape with more intensity than they had displayed before. Even Sirius was cowed, though he numbly covered their backs when Mulciber and Nott got it together and Sirius managed to grab a glaring Harry around the collar and pull him back. "Hey, hey, little bloke. Let the adults sort this out."

A crowd was beginning to gather, but thankfully not a large one, due to the early hour. Avery happened upon them and didn't hesitate to join in, continuing with the remarks about Lily's supposed promiscuity and dirty blood. If they didn't stop, James probably would murder someone.

"Why, in the name of Merlin, is everyone out here dueling and not having breakfast?" came Slughorn's authoritative voice, leaving the combatants to halt what they were doing and break it up, much to the Potions Master's relief. Luckily, there was little bloodshed because most of the curses were well-blocked, though Avery was stemming the blood leaking from his nose, courtesy of James. Once the small crowd had dispersed, muttering quietly, Slughorn surveyed the members of the fight and sighed. "First in my own class yesterday and now out here. Mr. Black, Mr. Avery, Mr. Nott and Mr. Snape…is there any reason I should report you all immediately for a second offense?"

"Sirius only got here when it had already begun, Professor," James said calmly, used to being questioned by his teachers after so many years of troublemaking. He glanced at Lily, knowing that she could help the situation as one of Slughorn's great favorites… but Lily was looking over at Harry worriedly, likely wondering what the boy was thinking of what had just broken out. It gave James a pang to see it, but he had to keep his head right now.

"Evans attacked first," Mulciber accused defensively. "We were on our way to breakfast—"

"I didn't know we began breakfast by yelling 'Mudblood' down the corridor," James said heatedly, before looking imploringly at Slughorn. "Professor, they insulted—"

Slughorn raised a hand to stop James' protest, before turning to his redheaded student. "Ms. Evans, is it true that you cast the first spell?"

Lily tore her eyes away from Harry to nod resolutely. Her face was as hard and as cold as James had ever seen it and it was very nearly frightening. But with what appeared to be considerable effort, she took a deep breath. "I apologize, Professor…I lost my temper. We were walking along and I let Mulciber and Nott get to me… it's been a stressful couple of days and I haven't quite been myself."

As Slughorn rubbed his chin, James could already see the Slytherins rolling their eyes and Snape's expression darkening. They believed the Gryffindors were going to walk away from this, and James thought so too, a hint of smugness rising in him. Evans had a good effect on authority figures. He wished they had been friends a lot earlier, to be honest.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore mentioned at dinner last night that you had been a bit overwhelmed, doing a little extra project for him. I had wondered where you were yesterday, but he assured me that you were well, just busy and that you hated to miss your favorite class." While James wondered privately to himself why on earth Dumbledore had covered for them so thoroughly, Lily gave Slughorn a small smile that almost brought the twinkle back to Slughorn's eye, until he remembered the situation. "However, that does not give you an excuse to duel in the corridors, young lady. Or any of you." Slughorn looked pointedly around at the others.

"Evans started it by hexing Mulciber!" Nott insisted, clearly annoyed that the Head of Slytherin House was about to let a Gryffindor Muggle-born off the hook. James suppressed a grin in spite of it all. And his delight grew when Slughorn cast a dismissive glance at his student.

"Mr. Nott…if I were to ask what you were saying to Ms. Evans before this all began, what would she tell me?"

Nott glared, but shut up after that. Slughorn wasn't the type to want to create a fuss over what he thought was small trouble. He didn't like to push confrontation when he thought it could be sorted out by sending anyone on their way.

"I think we've all had enough, don't you? Why don't we head on to breakfast?" The Slytherins stalked off, Snape going the most slowly and sending a loathing look at James before he disappeared. Slughorn looked down at Lily, seeming halfway amused now that the unpleasantness was done with. "I assume that I will see you in my class on Monday, Ms. Evans?"

"I wouldn't miss it, Professor."

With relief, James watched Slughorn start to turn away before he glanced at Harry standing behind Sirius. "And who do we have here? Mr. Potter, is that a relative of yours?"

James nodded hurriedly, not wanting to enter another conversation of this variety again. "Cousin! Just got here, I'm showing him around. And he's a bright sort so Lily's been taking him to some of her classes." He tossed an arm over Lily's shoulder, who stiffened in surprise. "Which reminds me, I think we forgot our cloaks, Evans! Can't show the little bloke the grounds on a chilly day like this without some protective wear. Come on, Harry. Good day, Professor! Thanks for everything!"

The three headed back the way they came almost like they were being chased and Slughorn stared after them. "Why, it isn't a chilly day at all! I don't know why any of them would need cloaks…don't you agree, Mr. Black?"

Sirius was already heading after them though. "Sorry, Professor! I forgot my cloak as well! I'll see you around!" He was gone the same way before the Potions Master could properly blink.

"Gryffindors are very strange, aren't they…" Slughorn muttered. But breakfast was calling and he entered the Great Hall, thinking no more about it.

"Oy! Evans! Prongs!"

Harry glanced back at Sirius, even though James had him by the scruff of the neck and Lily was pulling him by the hand.

"The longer you run, the longer I yell after you, creating a big commotion!" Sirius yelled. Lily stretched a hand over to James' arm and tugged, slowing him down.

"You know he really will."

Boy, did James know…

"You win, Pad." James turned to face his glaring best mate. "Look, I'm sorry I've been giving you the slip for the last couple of days, but this is important."

"What's important?" Sirius shook his head, staring at Harry. "You haven't even told me what this is about?!"

"I did—"

"You didn't tell me the truth," Sirius barked, gestured at the young boy. "You really think I'll believe that this kid is some foreign exchange student that might be related to you and you never said anything? It's fine if you want to feed other people that story, but you forget who you're talking to, Prongs."

"Where are Pete and Moony?" James asked. "You ditch them?"

"No more than you are," Sirius said. "They're asleep. I got up early and checked the map. Saw you in the corridor with a snake infestation and thought I'd help and then get some answers!"

Lily shifted, looking at the ground and drawing Sirius' attention to her. "And what do you have to do with this? The two of you were just getting on civilly…barely. And now you're so chummy that you're together all the time and I'm never seeing my best mate…Yeah, it's weird. And I want in on it."

James had seen that look on Sirius' face before…the handsome Gryffindor looked hungry and eager. Sirius likely didn't realize that what he sensed was something extraordinary—something even wizards wouldn't believe… but James had no idea how to get Sirius off the scent. And telling him was out of the question.

"Sirius…" Lily began quietly. "It's not personal. It really is an impossible situation. You wouldn't even believe us if we told you."

"Yes, I would," Sirius said stubbornly. "I'd probably believe it more than you do."

Lily made a face at that, and James smirked. She probably actually agreed with him. This whole thing was really stretching the limits of belief. "Maybe you would." She cast a look at the noise coming around the staircase and said, "let's find an empty classroom."

Sirius readily agreed, likely hoping that this meant they were going to share. James gestured for Lily to lead the way and Lily shook Harry's hand lightly as they began to walk. "You okay, Harry?"

"Fine," Harry said, but he didn't really sound it. "That fight you had…"

"Sorry about that," Lily said immediately and both Potters frowned.

"Don't apologize," they said in unison.

"That wasn't your fault," James said, a trace of disgust in his words. He hated when Lily apologized for being victimized by people who hated her for no other reason than her blood.

"What's a…a 'mudblood'?" Harry asked, stopping them all dead in their tracks.

Lily and James exchanged a sad look. It was easy to forget that Harry wasn't from their time and all of this hatred and tension was completely beyond him. It was both sad and sweet, that he could be so innocent. Sirius just looked appalled, he looked down the corridor and swept his hand out.

"Let's…go in here, shall we?"

It was the girls' bathroom, the one that always flooded because of that crying ghost, Moaning Myrtle. Even the boys knew about it the constant flooding. No one would be in there. They all trooped in and sure enough, trudged through a couple inches of water, getting the bottoms of their robes wet. Lily stood by the faucets and crossed her arms, looking very vulnerable all of the sudden.

"What does that word mean?" Harry said to her. "They were calling you that. It sounded bad."

"It is," James said, trying to make Harry focus on him. "It's a right terrible thing to say and I'm glad that you haven't run into anyone who has said it before."

"But what does it mean?"

"It means…" James was filled with a new confidence when he saw Lily shoot him a grateful look for taking the lead on this. "So there are people in the wizarding world who care about whether you have Muggles in your family. Like if your mum or dad was born to Muggles or is a Muggle… They think that their blood is less than other peoples. They call it dirty blood."

"That's terrible," Harry said, his face contorted unhappily. "So then that word is—"

"It's something that those tossers use to refer to someone that has Muggles for parents," Sirius said. "It's total madness, mate, alright?" He grinned at the redhead, patting her shoulder. "You might have noticed that Evans here is pretty brilliant and she has Muggle parents. Awesome witch with a bad temper, sure. But a great knack for getting us decent citizens out of trouble with the administration. Thank you for that, by the way, darling."

The tension somewhat broke as Lily chuckled helplessly and shoved Sirius a little. "No problem, Mr. Black."

"Those Slytherins were ready to light fires when you walked off without so much as a reprimand."

"But why are they such prats?" Harry asked, still confused about everything and very disturbed by what his mother just went through. He had never seen people be so unnecessarily nasty like that and he wanted someone to put a stop to it. He wondered why they couldn't tell someone. Wouldn't Dumbledore do something about that? He thought back to Draco Malfoy and the Slytherins of his time. "When I get older, is that how it's going to be? Do all Slytherins think that way?"

"No!" Lily was the first to protest. She laid her hands gently on Harry's shoulders. "No, of course not…it's just that this is kind of a bad time for that kind of thing. Because of Voldemort." Harry already knew about Voldemort, so she didn't have to elaborate. "That's what Voldemort believes about people's blood, so the people that follow him think that way too. But that's not all Slytherins, I promise."

Sirius was watching them, shaking his head. James frowned in puzzlement, after the day before, he wasn't really used to people observing them with Harry. Were they doing something wrong? "What?"

"The two of you…with him. Far be it from me to agree with a bunch of Slytherins, but what was it they kept saying? 'Playing house'? That's exactly what it looks like. It's weird. Ever since this kid appeared, you've both been acting like nutters—you even had Evans skipping classes, and now you're standing here telling this little first-year about the cruel, cruel world like actual parents and this is completely mad. Evans, you used to not be able to walk by this guy without threatening to hex him into oblivion." He knocked his thumb toward James, then shook his head. "If you didn't have the kid with you, I would've just thought you had finally shagged all of that sexual tension out in a broom closet or something…"

"Sirius!" Lily hissed. "Not in front of Harry!"

"Listen to yourself!" Sirius' eyes were wide, gesticulating wildly. "You sound like a Mum! Am I supposed to believe that you're just taking this student ambassador job way too seriously? And how'd you get Prongs along for the ride?"

"Hey!"

"No offense, mate, but you aren't exactly a prefect or anything. Who in their right mind would appoint you guardian of a child?!" Sirius ignored James' semi-betrayed expression and crossed his arms stubbornly. "This whole story reeks and I want to know what is going on." Lily and James said nothing, so Sirius' eyes found Harry's bright green beneath the round glasses. "You want to tell me what this is really about?"

Harry gave Lily and James a mournful look. "If more and more people know, am I still going to be born?"

"What?" Sirius muttered cluelessly.

Lily was always quick to reassure the boy. "Of course, you'll be born!"

"Oh, Evans. You know, my heart grows bigger sizes every time you say that." James grinned at Lily's pink cheeks.

"Shut it, Potter." The good-natured flirting from Lily was coming so naturally that it scared James. He had learned that good things never lasted between him and Lily, and this strange occurrence had accorded something between them that he hoped they could hold on to.

"You lot belong in St. Mungo's," Sirius said, his jaw hanging open and James could tell he meant it. Apparently, Lily and James openly flirting without any wands being drawn was Sirius' official limit for insanity. However, considering what happened yesterday and their trip to the hospital wing, the comment brought on a sobriety to the moment that James was unprepared for. "Prongs, you tell me what's going on or I'm gonna go to Dumbledore and ask him."

Suddenly annoyed, James was about to tell him to go ahead and ask Dumbledore. The old man would never tell Sirius a thing. Because under no circumstances would James jeopardize Harry's—

"Alright, then. I'm their son from the future," Harry said, his face blank and so adorably innocent that James was bowled over by the tidal wave of shock his words brought.

"Harry!" He and Lily yelled in complete synch. Harry flinched for a moment and then blinked at his parents.

"I think he was going to find out anyway," the boy informed them. "And we might not have to worry about him telling…because I don't think he's breathing."

They turned to see Sirius getting worryingly red in the face, as Harry reported, not breathing and suppressing some noise that was emitting as a high-pitched squeal.

"Is he choking?" Lily asked, sounding suddenly nervous. Her hands twitched towards James' struggling best friend. "I know the Heimlich maneuver."

James didn't even have time to ask what in Merlin's name that was, because the room was then deafened with hysterical laughter.

A/N: Like I said, not the same route for this chapter, but we'll get back to it! I for one, am glad that Sirius knows now. Whether he BELIEVES them…is another matter. Next chapter might be Harry's POV. I want to unpack what happened in this chapter for him and focus more on that. Soooo…review please! Let me know what you think! I always appreciate it!