- - - - - - -
The next morning, Harry woke up by the sound of screaming, barking, and hissing. He put on his glasses and saw a horrible sight. Sirius, who had transformed into a large, shaggy dog, had his teeth bared dangerously at a huge, 5 foot long cobra. Hermione, who stood at the door with her robe on, had been the one who screamed.
"What the hell!" Harry said, now fully alert.
The giant cobra turned to Harry. "The Dark Lord will strike at joyous night and you will fall." It hissed.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked in Parseltongue.
"I have come to give a message from the Dark Lord." It hissed.
"What message?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord knows. He will conquer once and for all!" it hissed.
"I don't think so." Harry hissed back. He waved a hand and the snake blew up into a black smoke that dissolved slowly into the air.
"Guys… what happened? Are you two okay?" Harry asked Sirius and Hermione.
Sirius transformed back into a human. "We both fine."
"I was coming to wake you up when I saw that snake on your bed. I transformed, bit into the snake's tail, and hurled it onto the ground. I jumped off the bed and we were going to fight. Then Hermione came in and screamed. I barked and then you woke up, I guess." Sirius explained.
"What'd it say to you?" Hermione asked, shaking slightly.
"It said that the Dark Lord will strike at joyous night and I'll fall, or something. Then it said that the Dark Lord knows and he'll conquer once and for all. But that's all rubbish, so don't worry." Harry said.
Sirius and Hermione looked at him skeptically.
"Let's just get to breakfast. It's almost over." Harry said hastily, getting out of his bed.
-0-o-0-o-0-
Once they were all ready, they hurried to the Great Hall. Bellatrix's seat was empty.
When Harry, Hermione, and Sirius1 were about to leave the Great Hall to their classroom, the Marauders caught up with them.
"How long will Bellatrix be a ferret?" Remus asked.
"A little less than a month, if know one knows how to fix her up right." Harry answered, grinning widely.
"Brilliant." She'll be a ferret when she goes home for the holidays." Sirius said evilly.
"So, ready for tonight?" James asked quietly. Sirius1, Harry, and Hermione nodded.
-+-+-+-+-
"Today we're going to work in partners. This lesson will be writing down all of the spells you both know. Then you'll have to write down how they can be used as a defense or in a duel." Hermione said to the 7th year Gryffindors and Slytherins.
"Partners are- Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew and Jennifer Adler. Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Rodolphus Lestrange and Devin Avery. Henry Crabbe and Basiden Goyle."
Harry finally got to the last two people. "Lily Evans and James Potter." Harry said with a small smile.
James grinned at Lily, but in return, he got a glare.
Harry could see the hurt in James' eyes, but James pretended not to care. While everyone was working, Harry, Hermione, and Sirius1 walked around the classroom.
At the end of the class, Sirius called out over the noise, "No homework, have fun during the holidays!" Everyone cheered happily. When everyone was gone, James walked to his professors hesitantly.
"Er… Professors?" James asked politely.
They all looked up. "Yes, James?" Hermione said.
James went all shy. "I was, er, wondering if you guys would like to come over to my house for the holidays. I mean, I don't think you've ever met your grandparents, Harry. So would you like to come?" James asked hopefully and nervously.
"Of course, we'd love to!" they all said.
James smiled. "Great, Sirius is staying over, too. Remus will come over a little later and Peter's probably not going to. He said his mum wanted the family to go to some mountains to go skeen, or something."
Hermione giggled. "Skiing." She said corrected quietly.
- - -
At dinner, Harry didn't eat a lot. He was really nervous.
"C'mon Harry, you've got to eat. You need energy for tonight." Sirius said quietly.
"I have enough energy. I'm just a bit worried. What if something goes wrong?" Harry asked.
"Nothing will go wrong. Nothing ever goes wrong with the Marauders." Sirius said grinning.
- - - - -
"Guys, come on, it's nearly time. We've got to meet them by the Whomping Willow." Harry said. He waited for Hermione and Sirius by the portrait door, tapping his foot impatiently. At last, Sirius sand Hermione came out and Harry apparated them to the Hogwarts grounds.
"Hey guys." James whispered as they walked over to James, Sirius, and Peter.
They all transformed into their Animagus forms. James to a stag, Sirius1 and Sirius to black dogs, Peter to a rat, Hermione to a panther, and Harry decided to be a white tiger. They all went through the passageway to the Shrieking Shack. They immediately heard howls of pain echoing throughout the whole house that sent cold chills down their spines.
Wormtail crawled onto Prongs' antlers. Padfoot pawed on the door to make it open. Moony was there and he padded over to the newcomers, sniffed them, and growled quietly in approval.
They all went through the passageway and out from the Whomping Willow. Moony suddenly stopped and sniffed. He abruptly bounded towards the lake. Prongs and both Padfoots immediately tackled the werewolf, and Hermione went over and helped, too. But the werewolf was stronger and started towards the lake again.
Harry looked towards the lake. A figure was sitting on a rock. It was a girl… red hair… Ginny? No, it was Lily! Lily looked like she was frozen in shock as she widened her eyes and stared on at the animals and the werewolf. Prongs, Padfoot1, Padfoot, and Hermione sprinted towards the werewolf. Wormtail flew off of Prongs and onto the soft grass and scuttled away from the struggling and fighting so he wouldn't get trodden on. They were all trying to push the werewolf back towards the Forbidden Forest, and Harry tried to communicate with Prongs.
'James… James!' Harry said into Prongs' mind. Prongs' head turned towards Harry's tiger form and looked questioningly at him.
'We're going to try to keep Moony away from Lily… you go on, quickly, try to get her to the front door. Make sure she gets in safely, alright?' Harry said.
Prongs paused, and then nodded. Prongs backed away and started to gallop in full speed towards Lily. Lily thought the animal was charging at her and she screamed. Prongs knelt down and Lily shakily got on the stag's back. Prongs immediately started running (or however stags run) towards the school. Lily gripped tightly onto Prongs' mane as he sped up the steps of the school. Prongs slowed down and stopped at the front door of Hogwarts. Lily shakily slid off of the stag, pet it with shaky fingers, and whispered thank you before she slipped into the castle.
Prongs trotted back towards Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Padfoot1, Harry, and Hermione. Moony was calming down a bit, and stalking around, growling softly. The animals led Moony into the Forbidden Forest, where they fought off other creatures and explored until dawn.
- - - - -
At around 5 in the morning, they all bounded through the doors of Hogwarts. They were all bloody and worn out.
"Ugh, I think I broke something…" Sirius1 moaned in pain.
Everyone quietly walked up the stairs and into a corridor, where Harry mumbled the password, 'Galleon'. They all shuffled into the living quarters and collapsed onto the couches. Everyone was at least minor pains, and most were injured.
Remus was the worst. He had scratches all over his face, his robes were ripped up, and his arm refused to stop bleeding.
Harry transformed into a Phoenix and healed everyone with his tears.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to borrow Fawkes from Albus. There's no way I'm going to go to the Hospital Wing." Harry said before he disapparated.
Harry apparated in front of Dumbledore's office. He knocked hesitantly. There was a quiet 'come in' and Harry opened the door. Dumbledore was at his desk.
'Does that man ever sleep?' Harry wondered. He limped over to Dumbledore, due to a heavily bleeding leg.
"Er… could I borrow Fawkes for a minute?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"I don't want to know, do I?" Dumbledore asked.
"Er, no, not really." Harry replied with a feeble chuckle.
"Just be careful, Harry." Dumbledore said with a nod. Harry nodded back and apparated to his rooms.
When he got there, he saw that all of the Marauders were fast asleep, leaning their heads on each other. Hermione was reading a book (no surprise there) and Sirius1 was in the kitchen getting something to eat. Harry chuckled at the sight of the Marauders. Hermione looked up from her book and gasped.
"Harry, you look terrible!" Hermione exclaimed quietly.
"Looks worse than it feels, probably." Harry said with a weak laugh. He clutched at his side when he felt a sharp pain. "Possibly not."
Harry sat down and let Fawkes heal him while Hermione looked on in worry. Harry winked at her. "See? I'm better. I'd better get Fawkes back to Dumbledore." He apparated to Dumbledore's office and knocked again. The door opened automatically.
"You're lucky it's the day of holidays, Harry." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Er, yeah, I guess so." Harry said, putting Fawkes back on the perch, "Thank you, you know, for Fawkes."
"Oh, not a problem at all." Dumbledore said kindly.
"Enjoy your holidays." Harry said, smiling at the headmaster.
"You, too, Harry." Dumbledore nodded.
With a pop, Harry disapparated.
"Harry! Shh, don't apparate so loudly." Sirius1 whispered loudly.
"Sorry." Harry whispered back, looking at the sleeping forms of the Marauders.
"Are you excited about going to your grandparents' house?" Sirius1 asked, taking a bite of a sandwich. (He had made sandwiches and charmed them so the plate was always full)
"Hell yeah!" Harry exclaimed, taking a sandwich.
"Shhh, not so loud!" Hermione chided quietly, also taking a sandwich.
"Too late. I'm a light sleeper. The rest are practically dead until you do something drastic." Remus said. He yawned and took a sandwich.
"So, how are the Potters?" Harry asked.
"They're great! They're awfully nice, too. Mrs. Potter likes to keep everything clean and Mr. Potter likes pranks as much as we do! Mrs. Potter's a Healer and Mr. Potter's an Auror. Whenever we eat there, Mrs. Potter makes us eat at least 3 servings." Remus answered enthusiastically.
"Wounds strangely like a mother we know…" Hermione said smiling.
"Wow… they sound like great people." Harry said smiling sadly.
"What do you mean?" Remus asked, frowning.
"I never knew my grandparents." Harry said.
"Who'd you live with, then?" Remus asked curiously.
Harry's face darkened.
"Sorry, you don't have to answer that." Remus said quickly.
"No, it's fine. I had to live with my Aunt Petunia, her husband Vernon, and their pig of a son, Dudley." Harry answered.
"Petunia? I've heard Lily talking about her sister a few times. Never anything good, though. Lily never said anything about Petunia being married." Remus said.
"I guess they're not married yet." Harry said.
"So, do you think they'll be up anytime soon?" Sirius1 asked, looking at Sirius (just to clarify that, it's his past self), James and Peter.
"Do you want them to wake up?" Remus asked.
Hermione looked at the clock. "Yeah, they should wake up, it's almost eight o'clock now."
Remus smirked and walked over to them.
"I'll wake James up first." Remus said. They nodded.
Remus whispered something in James' ear. Since they were all Animagis, they could hear what Remus said.
"Hey, Prongs… Lily's right here. She's strip dancing for you!" Remus whispered, grinning.
James' head bolted straight up. "Where? Lily?" James said wildly looking around.
"Bugger… just missed her." Remus managed to choke out from hysterical laughter.
Harry and Sirius were also laughing enthusiastically and Hermione giggled.
"Moony, don't do that… you're getting my hopes way too high." James grumbled, ruffling his hair.
"Sorry, mate, couldn't resist." Remus said, grinning.
"Shall we wake up the others, then?" James asked, with an evil grin.
"Yes, we shall." Remus said with a similar grin.
"Three…. Two…. One….!" James marked off.
"FOOD!" Remus and James screamed on top of their lungs, into Sirius and Peter's ears.
"AARGH! Where?" Sirius yelped.
Peter tipped over and fell on the ground, curse words flowing out of his mouth.
James, Sirius1, Harry, and Remus were in hysterical laughter. Hermione was trying madly not to laugh, but it was helpless.
"Bloody hell, you've woken me up, now where's the food?" Sirius said in an annoyed tone.
"Er, here." Sirius1 said hastily, shoving the plate of sandwiches under Sirius' nose. Sirius looked at Sirius1 (his older/future self), shrugged, then took a massive bite out of a sandwich.
"After Sirius finishes eating those sandwiches, we should all get packed for the holidays. We only have an hour and a half left." Hermione said.
Finally, after Sirius let out a deafening belch, with only one hour left, they all went their separate ways and packed for the holidays.
- - - - -
"Prongs, do you have some dungbombs with you, I'm all out."
"Yeah, only a dozen, though."
"Where's my charms book!"
"Moony, calm down. It's under your bed. Has anyone seen my Quidditch magazine?"
"Sorry, mate, borrowed it for some bedtime reading. Wormtail, do you have any Cockroach Clusters with you? Could I have a few?"
"Yeah, go ahead. On my bedside table. Take as many as you want. They give me bad gas…"
"Who the bloody hell has mirror!"
"Mate, it's in your hand. Where's my snitch?"
"Flying around somewhere, I reckon… Don't worry; you'll get it before we go. Where's my Transfiguration homework?"
"Uh… I need to borrow that. Thanks, Moony!"
"Whatever…"
"I see it! Come on, snitchy! Someone get me my broom, hurry!"
- - -
"Harry, er, what about Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"She said she was going to stay over at Lily's for the holidays. But I'll see her sometime over the holidays." Harry replied.
"Hey, Harry! Hermione! Come here!" Sirius called. He sounded urgent and surprised.
Harry and Hermione had finished and were waiting on the couches. They hurried over to Sirius' room.
Hermione gasped. It was a silver whirl, like a portal. It blew faster and faster, until something shot out of it. With his fast Seeker reflexes, Harry caught two things that were hurled out of the silver whirl. With a pop, the whirl was gone.
"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed. "Pig!"
Hedwig had 6 packages and a letter with her. Pig had 5 packages. Harry eagerly opened the letter. Harry could tell by the handwriting that it was from Dumbledore.
Harry,
I hope you are having a very pleasant time in the past. These packages are to be opened at Christmas. Remus and I have gifts for you, Hermione, Ginny, and I believe Sirius is there, too. Remus also graciously purchased Christmas gifts for James, the past Sirius, and humorously, himself in the past. Ron has not regained consciousness yet, but we are hoping for a full recovery. Molly didn't know what would happen to the food she was planning to send, so she decided it was best to just to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. The entire Order wishes you, Hermione, and Sirius a Merry Christmas and are simply ecstatic by Sirius' recovery. Er- with the exception of Professor Snape. Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your stay there.
Most sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Oh, yes, I almost forgot- thank you very much, Harry. It was a simply wonderful gift. I'm happily astounded that you remember me saying that to you in your first year.
- -
"Hedwig, make sure these presents get to James' house for Christmas." Harry said.
Hedwig hooted and nibbled Harry's knuckled lightly. There was a knock at the portrait door.
"Sirius, you ready?" Harry asked. Sirius nodded. He didn't have too much to back since he recently came.
They walked over to the door. It was the Marauders. They had a half an hour before they had to leave so they just chatted. They were all laughing about one of the Marauders' pranks, all of them except for James.
"Prongs!" Sirius yelled in James' ear.
James jumped a foot in the air and fell to the floor. He got up, cursing darkly at Sirius.
"Just thinking…" James said.
"Do your thoughts happen to include a certain greed eyed, red haired, 7th year Gryffindor girl by the name of Lily Marie Evans?" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah….." James said dreamily.
Everyone laughed.
"I just wish I could see her over the holidays… and be with her… a lot." James said solemnly.
"I think that can be arranged." Harry said mischievously.
- - -
