-0-0-0-0-

When the Marauders and the DADA professors got back to their compartment, James gave a loud whoop of excitement.

"She actually said yes!" James exclaimed happily.

Harry couldn't hide his laughter. Lily had said yes because she wasn't listening… she was quite busy with her own little thoughts. He cursed himself for talking in Lily's mind. He wasn't supposed to do that, but he just blurted it out.

"What?" James asked Harry in confusion.

"Oh, nothing. Just a memory." Harry hastily made up. James shrugged.

"By the way, what was Ginny talking about?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Oh, er…" Harry glanced at Peter. "I was trying to curse my enemy, Draco Malkey, but someone pushed me, and I kind of cursed my Headmaster and my Transfiguration master, Professor, er, McMleary. The Headmaster, Professor er… Bumbledokey, his long beard was gone and his head was shaved bald. Professor McMleary's hair pin disappeared and her hair unraveled and let loose. She never lets it out of a bun- ever. The headmaster just chuckled, not seeming mad at all, but Professor McMleary was furious. She gave me detention for a month and took 75 points off of me. Malkey was making fun of me and laughing like mad, but Professor McMleary thought he was laughing at her, so she took off 50 points and gave him a 2 week's detention." Harry said with a grin.

They all laughed, but surprisingly, Hermione laughed the most.

"What's up with you, 'Mione?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows with an amused look on his face.

She grinned apologetically. "Ron was the one that pushed you… Not on purpose, though. He was just about to warn you that something might- might go… wrong." Hermione finished feebly.

"And why didn't he tell me that so I could kill him?" Harry asked, highly amused.

"Because, er, he thought you would kill him…" Hermione said, biting her lip, trying very hard not to laugh.

The Marauders and Sirius laughed. Hermione and Harry joined in soon after that.

- - - -

The train slowed down to a stop at King's Cross station.

Once they were off the train, they all said their goodbyes.

"See you tomorrow, Moony. Have a great holiday, Wormtail." James and Sirius said, clapping their fellow Marauders on the back.

"See you in a few days, Gin." Harry said, hugging her tightly.

"I'll miss you, Harry. But I'll be having fun at Lily's, too." Ginny said with a gentle laugh. Harry grinned down at her.

When they parted from the hug, Ginny turned to walk away with a secret smile. Harry held onto her hand, and pulled her against him and his free hand caressed her cheek while he pulled her into a kiss. She knew he would do something along those lines. She smiled into the kiss. She deepened the kiss, and brushed her hand through his hair. Then they heard loud whistles and whoops. They both reluctantly parted and looked to their right and saw James and both Sirius' grinning at them. Ginny and Harry grinned, but had the decency to blush a bit.

"Did you tell Lily why you two were coming to the Potters? She did ask what James said, didn't she?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded with a smile. "I've got to go, Harry. Lily's waiting." She said regretfully.

Harry nodded. "Bye, Ginny." Harry said softly. They exchanged a quick kiss before they parted their ways.

Harry walked over to James, Sirius1, Sirius, and Hermione.

"Remus apparated to his house already. He'll be coming tomorrow evening. Peter's gone with his parents doing some muggle sport… something like skeeying." Sirius said with a look of confusion.

"It's 'skiing', Sirius." Hermione put in.

"Anyway, we'll be apparating to my house." James said.

The rest nodded. They all apparated to Godric's Hollow.

"Merlin, it feels so good to be back here." Sirius1 murmured, looking around.

"Mum, Dad, we're home!" James shouted loudly.

Hustles of footsteps were heard in the kitchen. The door opened and two people came in.

"Oh, James! Sirius! I'm so glad you're back!" James' mum cried, pulling each of them into bone crushing hugs.

James' dad ruffled James' hair and clapped Sirius' back, knowing Sirius didn't like his hair getting messed up.

Harry got a good look at his grandparents.

James' dad was wearing midnight colored robes. He had the Potter unruly hair, blue eyes and glasses, a kind smile, and looked like James. He had specks of gray in his hair. It looked like he was just an inch or two taller than Harry, but had the same build as him, lean and not too muscular.

James' mum had traditional black robes on. She had wavy red hair and James' hazel eyes. She had a warm and motherly smile. She was about Hermione's height and was skinny. She had tiny circles beneath her eyes, like she didn't get enough sleep.

"Mum, dad, these are my favorite professors." James said with a grin. "This is Hermione Granger, one of my Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. They all teach the subject." James said, beckoning to Hermione.

"Welcome, I'm Maria Potter and this is my husband, Henry Potter." James' mum, Maria, said warmly.

"You look a bit young. When did you graduate?" James' dad asked politely.

"I just graduated from school last year." Hermione answered.

"This is Sean Courtley, another one of the Defense professors." James said, pointing to Sirius1.

"Did you just graduate also?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Oh, no. I graduated a while ago." Sirius1 paused, then supplied, "I'm 40 years old." he winced slightly.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"You look quite familiar… Funny- you look a lot like Sirius over here." Mr. Potter said, squinting his eyes.

"Oh, do I?" Sirius1 said, with an uncertain smile. He was very good at acting. He chuckled. "That's a coincidence 'coz Harry over here resembles James!" Harry shot a look at Sirius1 and Sirius1 gave him a jolly smile in return.

"Oh, er," James interrupted with a cough, "this is Harry Donovan. Another Defense Professor. He also just graduated and is er, very, very powerful. I'm thinking more powerful than the great Dumbledore, himself." He couldn't help adding. Harry gave James a slight glare.

"And you're not planning to join the dark side with all that power you have?" Mr. Potter asked cautiously.

"Never. I would never join the filth that killed my parents and many others I cared for." Harry said menacingly, his eyes turning silver.

"What happened to your eyes?" Mrs. Potter asked fearfully with a small gasp.

"Oh, er, I had a little duel and my opponent got me. It happens depending on my emotions." Harry explained quietly. "It's quite useful, though. I can see through invisibility cloaks, concealment charms, illusion spells, polyjuice potions, and many other forms of disguises."

"And your hair?" Mrs. Potter asked hesitantly. She didn't suppose it was normal.

"I'm guessing it's the after-effects." Harry answered.

"What kind of powers do you have? Do you think you can show me?" Mr. Potter asked curiously.

"Dad, stop interrogating Harry." James said with a roll of his eyes.

"Professor Donovan, James." Mrs. Potter chided gently.

"That's okay. Anyone can call me Harry when I'm not teaching a class." Harry said kindly. "And I can show you what I can do, Mr. Potter."

"Call me Henry." Mr. Potter said with a brief smile.

"Yes, and please call me Maria."

Harry nodded. "I can turn invisible at will without an invisibility cloak or a disillusion charm." Harry said. He concentrated hard, and then disappeared in a split second. Then he reappeared after a few moments.

"I can turn into any creature I choose." Harry said, "But my main form is a Phoenix." Harry transformed into a Phoenix, leopard, unicorn, centaur, dog, and a baby dragon, using his best judgment that a full grown dragon would be too large to fit into the house.

"I can also turn into any person, but I have to have seen them before." Harry said. He then turned into Remus, Professor Dumbledore, Neville, Severus Snape, and Sirius1 Note that he didn't turn into any female persons. He's a modest guy )

"I can do advanced wandless magic." Harry said. He looked at a vase and it hovered around all of them and was put back down on the small table. Then he looked at Sirius and Sirius started to float up and when he was 6 feet above the ground, he was lowered back down with a small thump of his feet. Harry looked towards a hallway, and a small tornado erupted and twisted around the room, disheveling decorative items, chairs, vases, and various objects. With a snap of his fingers, the tornado disappeared with a pop and everything destroyed or strewn about were put back as they were.

"I'm highly skilled at Occlumency and Ligilimency. I can sense danger within 50 to 100 feet away from me and, if I tried, I can sense a person that comes in a room without looking at them. I can also sense emotions and thoughts. There's a lot more I could probably do, but I just haven't found out about them yet." Harry said.

"You certainly have a lot of power." Maria said, impressed.

"Er… yeah, I guess."

"So young to have all that power. Only 18 years old! That's a lot of responsibility." Maria said, "Well, anyways, I'll have James show you around and we'll have dinner."

"I'll show you guys your rooms and then show you around the rest of the house." James said.

Harry found out that the Potters had 8 bathrooms, 2 office rooms, a huge ballroom, a library, 8 bedrooms, 3 studys, a kitchen, a family room, a dining room, and 2 lounges. They had a basement that had a dueling room and a martial arts room. It also had a fairly large gym room. In the front yard, there was a huge flower garden. In the backyard, there was a deck with a patio. There was a huge Quidditch field and it was muggle-repellent, so muggles couldn't see with 500 feet in the air.

Harry learned quickly from James that Mrs. Potter loved everything about gardening and loved to cook. Mrs. Potter had made a mini hospital-type of room. It was on the ground floor. It was only one room and it was like the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, but with only 10 beds. There was a big corner where there were cabinets full of potions, medicines, herbs, and ingredients.

Mr. Potter loved pranks almost as much as James and liked to play Quidditch a lot. He didn't have much time to play Quidditch anymore because he was so busy with his Auror work. Every other day, he would go to the gym and martial arts room and practice for 2 hours.

When Harry got a look in the Infirmary room, he was glad it wasn't white. The walls were painted sky blue. Harry's room was red and gold. He could tell the Potter family were devoted Gryffindors. There were a few Quidditch posters and some pictures of James, Henry, and Maria.

"Sorry it's so red-and-gold… All of the rooms are like this." James said.

"That's alright. This is perfect." Harry said, grinning.

"After you finish unpacking, come downstairs to the kitchen. Mum will have dinner ready in fifteen minutes. Here, if you need any help, ask Dolly." James said.

"Er… Dolly?" Harry asked.

"Oh, sorry… Dolly!" James hollered the last part.

There was a loud crack and a house elf appeared in front of James.

"Mast James called sir?" the little house elf squeaked.

"Ah, yes. Dolls, I haven't seen you for a while! Gimme a hug!" James said, grinning, opening his arms out and crouching down.

Dolly sprang forward and enveloped James in a hug. After they parted, James introduced Harry to Dolly.

"Dolls, this is my, ah, friend, Harry Donovan. Harry, this is my family's favorite little girl, Dolly." James said with a wide grin.

"Pleasure meeting yous, Mr. Harry Potter sir!" Dolly squeaked happily.

Harry and James' eyes widened.

"Us house elfs has powers, we is knowing things, but does not tell secrets, no." Dolly said, shaking her head so her ears flapped wildly.

Harry relaxed. "Er, well, I don't really need anything right now."

"Okay, Mr.Donovan, sir. Just call Dolly when sir is needing her." Dolly said.

"You can call me Harry." Harry said to her.

Dolly nodded. "Okay, Mr. Harry Donovan sirs." She bowed, then with a crack she disappeared.

"You two must be very close." Harry said, grinning. He opened his trunk.

"Yeah. She's like family to us. A little sister, almost, to me. She started serving us 5 years ago. The old one, Wolly, was getting a little old, and wanted to be set free, so we freed him." James said.

"Dolly had clothes on." Harry stated, while putting some shirts in a drawer.

"Yeah, she said she'd serve us until she died no matter what, even if we gave her clothes. So we got her some decent clothes to her, none of those rubbish pillowcases. I heard the Mafoys treat their house elves like shit." James said with a shudder.

"Yeah, they do. In the future, in my second year, I freed Malfoy's house elf, Dobby. Lucius Malfoy was furious." Harry said, grinning.

"Nice." James complimented with a nod.

Harry put the rest of his clothes away.

"Well, I've got to go change. I'll meet you down in the kitchen later." James said as he walked out the door, closing it.

Harry organized the rest of his belongings and went to the built in bathroom by his desk. There, he washed his face. Harry put on a clean white tee shirt and dark blue jeans. He put on some socks and a pair of Timbs (Timberlands). He tried to flatten his hair, but was, as usual, unsuccessful. Harry got his wand and placed it in his front pocket (he still remembered Moody's warning about losing his buttocks).

When Harry walked to the top of the stairs, instead of walking down the 40 or 50 steps, he sat on the top of the glistening mahogany wood banister and slid down. He felt so good and free. He closed his eyes and pictured himself flying. Suddenly he landed on the hard ground and he felt a sharp pain on his rear end. He opened his eyes to see himself on the round. As he got up, he cursed to himself. Then he heard wild laughter from upstairs. He looked up to see Sirius, Sirius1, and James laughing.

"Don't worry; I've done that plenty of times." James reassured Harry once the laughter died down. He slid down and landed smoothly, and Sirius did the same. Sirius1 slid down, but landed somewhat shakily. He hadn't done that in nearly 20 years.

They all walked to the kitchen together to see Hermione helping Mrs. Potter and Dolly set up for dinner. Once everything was set up, Dolly went to fetch Mr. Potter from his office. For dinner, there was a huge platter of chicken legs, spaghetti, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Sirius and James wolfed everything down. Harry and Sirius ate normally, and Hermione ate politely. Once dinner was over, everyone had chocolate cake for dessert.

"Mum, dad, Remus is going to come tomorrow evening." James announced while eating his slice of cake.

"Okay, honey. That's not a problem. Remus is always welcome here, especially to calm you two down." Maria said with a smile.

"Lily Evans and Ginny Wheeler are going to come in a few days, but they're not spending the nights here- unless they want to." James added.

"Lily Evans… Isn't she that girl you like… the one that absolutely loathes you?" Mr. Potter asked.

James looked put out. "Yeah, dad, that's her."

"If she hates you, then why's she coming? And who's Ginny Wheeler? I've never heard you mention her before." Mrs. Potter said.

"Ginny is Harry's girlfriend. She's a new student in Gryffindor. She's a brilliant witch and really nice. She's practically Lily's best friend now. Funny, they look a lot alike, too. Same red hair…" James said thoughtfully.

Maria smiled at Harry, and then said, "You haven't told us why she's coming, though."

"Harry's going to be teaching us wandless magic and I didn't think Lily would pass that chance." James explained.

"Ah, you just have to see her, don't you?" Henry said, grinning at his son.

James nodded helplessly.

"Oh, James, we're going to be hosting a Christmas party this year on Christmas Eve. You, your friends, and your professors are welcome to join, but you'll need to get some formal gowns and suits or dress robes to wear." Maria said.

James groaned. "Not another one!"

"Tell Remus to come tomorrow morning instead, if he can, so you can all go to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley to shop. You can buy Christmas gifts, too. Where's little Peter? Is he going to come?" Maria asked.

"No, not this time. He's going on a trip with his family." James said.

"You should all get some sleep. You don't need to help me with the food. Dolly and I can do it." Maria said to all of them. She turned to Henry. "Molly's going to come in a few days. She's going to bring that cutie, Bill, and little Charlie along."

Harry and Hermione's eyes widened with shock.

"Erm… how old are Bill and Charlie?" Hermione asked, her voice a pitch higher than usual.

"Bill's four years old and Charlie's two. They're the cutest little things!" Maria said with an adoring smile.

"I'm so hurt! What about me and Jamesie-Poo! Maria, we're supposed to be the 'cutest little things'!" Sirius sniffled, pretending to cry.

"Oh, Sirius, get over yourself. You two are 17 year old men!" Maria said.

"Yeah, Padfoot. We're not longer cute and adorable, but we're hot, sexy, and handsome!" James exclaimed.

"Oh, too true!" Sirius cried.

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius1 snorted.

Sirius and James looked highly insulted. "Excuse me?" Sirius asked.

"You two have big heads, did you know that?" Hermione told them.

"'Bout time someone told them that." Henry said with a grin.

"You could do with some deflating a bit." Harry said, grinning.

"Yes, well- hmph!" Sirius said, sticking his nose up in the air.

There was silence.

"Last one up is a rotten Squib!" James shouted.

They all knew it was an old kid-like thing to do, but they all took it to the heart. All of them started sprinting out of the kitchen and climbing rapidly up the stairs. When they were halfway there, many pops echoed the room. Harry, Hermione, Sirius1, and James apparated to the top of the stairs. Sirius apparated after them.

"Stupid me! Stupid, stupid, stupid, me!" Sirius grumbled. The rest laughed at him.

"You do know that this is just a game, right?" Hermione asked in amusement.

"Yeah, but-still!" Sirius said childishly.

"Come on, let's talk to Moony." Sirius1 said quickly.

They went to one of the studies. James took some floo powder and threw it into the fire. He shouted, "Remus Lupin!" into the blazing green flames.

After a second or two, Remus' head popped into the flames.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Remus said, stifling a yawn.

"You weren't asleep, were you?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"No, just a bit of light reading." Remus reassured her.

"We were wondering if you could come tomorrow morning instead so we can go Christmas shopping. And my mum said we were going to host the Christmas party and you're also invited, so we'll be going to go shopping for fancy clothes and rubbish. We're probably going to go to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley." James explained.

"Let me ask my mum. I'll be right back." Remus said.

They waited patiently for Remus to come back.

"My mum said it's alright. What time?" Remus asked when he got back.

"You can have breakfast here, so come around 7 or something." James said.

"Aright, then." Remus said.

"Dolly will probably squeal with delight when you come." Sirius said, grinning mischievously.

Remus let out a groan and rolled his eyes.

"What?" Harry and Hermione asked, very confused.

"Dolly had a wittle bitty crush on Moony over here." James said, smiling broadly.

"Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about that!" Sirius1 said, letting out a bark-like laugh.

Harry laughed lightly. Hermione giggled and said, "That's so cute!"

Remus gave her a playful glare.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Moony, bright and early." James said.

"Okay, bye guys." Remus said. With a pop, his face disappeared from the fire.

"We should get to sleep if we're going to wake up early tomorrow." Hermione said. They all agreed.

Harry put on black cotton pants and took his shirt off. He got to bed and just when sleep came to him, he heard whispers.

"Merlin, Sirius1, stop being so damn loud!"

"Eh, shut up."

Harry turned on the lamp and saw Sirius1 with a pair of pants and no shirt on and James with red and gold pajamas on.

"Anything you two need, so I can get back to sleep?" Harry asked dryly as he sat up.

"Er, yeah. Come and follow us." Sirius said in a loud whisper.

Harry sighed and reluctantly got out of his comfortable bed. He put on a wife beater and silently followed them out his door. They tiptoed to James' room. James opened a big window and slipped through. Sirius1 did the same and Harry crawled through after him. He saw that James and Sirius1 were on his right, up on the roof. He sat in between them and looked at the sky. It was beautiful. Innumerable stars glistened in the sky and the quarter moon was shining up above them.

"Time to have a father-son-godfather talk, Harry." James announced quietly.

Harry groaned inwardly, but something inside his stomach was swelling with emotion.

"Are you happy here?" James asked.

"The happiest I've ever been." Harry answered quietly.

"Shame you can't kill Voldemort now…" Sirius1 stated.

"How does he know that I'm a Potter? He probably knows that you and Lily are my parents." Harry said.

"Well, he's really powerful." James said, cringing at the obviousness of it all.

"What if he tries to get rid of you and mum? I won't be able to stay strong anymore. Every time I see Lestrange, I see Sirius' death. I've encountered Voldemort many more times that I've ever wanted and put others in danger. No matter where I go, I'm constantly putting people in danger. I'm supposed to be on a vacation for Merlin's sake." Harry said miserably.

"How are you feeling right now?" Sirius1 asked suddenly.

That question was quite unexpected and surprised both Harry and James.

"Like shit." Harry mumbled truthfully. "I'm dreading the Christmas Ball when we go back."

"But people will be helping. Lily and I are Heads so we'll help too-"James said.

"No, you won't." Harry said sharply. "That'll endanger your lives even more."

"But we want to-"

There was an earsplitting scream from inside the house. Harry had heard that same scream only once I his life.

Harry felt ultimate fear rising from the pit of his stomach. "Hermione."

- - -

Okay, so how do you like it? There are 3,896 words in this chapter! This chapter's 9 whole pages! Hope it satisfies you all.

Rasberry Jo: Thanks, I'm soo glad you like it! Keep reading! ;)

Pandas rule the world: Hmm… Ron? You'll see! But it might come up in quite a while

Missy mee: Thanks! I always thought this didn't flow too well, though. But thanks for liking it!