A/n: Anything underlined and in italics like this was take completely from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which was written by the amazing J.K. Rowling. Incidentally, all the characters in this fic were created by and owned by her.

This fic was partially inspired by A Christmas Carol. The name is a reference to that.

"James! And... James and James?" Said a very confused Sirius.

Prongs laughed. "Well you're nearly right. Padfoot, meet Harry and James. Harry and James meet Padfoot".

Sirius grinned flirtatiously but that was just Sirius. His flirt didn't have an off switch. "Pleasure to meet you".

Harry nearly choked. It was Sirius, but not as Harry knew him. The Sirius before him had never been to Azkaban, had never felt the loss of the best friend and the betrayal of another, and Harry felt himself mourning the things that this Sirius could have been had his life not been taken from him by the corrupt ministry.

James, unaffected by the sight of a happy and healthy Sirius, smiled and said "Oh, the pleasure is all mine". Sirius wasn't the only one that could flirt.

Prongs pretended to be hurt. "You can't like the other me better than me!" he said in mock distress.

James shook his head. "He just likes me for my body; his heart belongs to you".

"Well, you are very handsome" said Prongs. In his opinion anyone called James Potter had to be.

Sirius laughed and his laughter sent Harry over the edge of an emotional breakdown.

He was back in the department of mysteries. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her. "Come on you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely in the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch...

And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his god-father's wasted, once handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing — Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second...

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"

"Shit!" swore James under his breath. He was probably the biggest idiot ever. And maybe the worst son as well.

He had been so absorbed in his mental litany of 'don't be weird, don't be weird' that he hadn't even considered the affect 'Padfoot's' appearance would have on his father. He'd wanted to hang out with his name sakes, and he'd ended up letting his father down.

He'd known from the moment Harry had transformed back from rabbit to man that somehow he'd been given a chance to know his father as a teen. And his Grandfather. And now his... God-Grandfather? Whatever Sirius was anyway.

It was his hero worship of the marauders that had done him in. James had ignored his dad, who now was in one of his flash backs. His mum and dad had done an admirable job of hiding Harry's flashbacks from him when he was little, but there had been one time when he was eight. His dad had gone pale and still and it scared him. Then the screaming had started. James had been petrified. Luckily his mum got there in the nick of time and calmed them both down. Harry had explained that sometimes he remembered bad things about the war and sometimes it seemed so real that he forgot that he was safe and that the war was over. Then his mum came in with cookies and his dad had taken him to Diagon Alley and they came back with his first pet: Felix the bunny. James wondered in hindsight if that had been a reference to their current situation.

He tried to remember what exactly his mum had done to calm Harry down. By now Sirius and Prongs had noticed that something was wrong.

"Harry?" said Prongs. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"That's because he has," said James under his breath.

Prongs was starting to think something strange was going on. Well, besides the whole being mysteriously transported to who-knows-where and meeting the secret triplets he never knew he had. The second Sirius showed up he'd started to wonder if someone had spiked his pumpkin juice the night before, because there was no way that his sleeping mind could dream a dream so messed up without the help of hallucinogens of some kind.

Now Harry was shouting. "Get him save him, he's only just gone through! We can still reach him—"

Prongs was pretty sure that Harry was at least a little bit mad.

James however didn't seem to care. He ran to Harry and put his hands on his shoulders. "Harry, Harry please, it's okay, you're safe, it's okay," He said over and over again.

Harry tensed up even more. "SIRIUS! SIRIUS!"

Sirius was confused, he didn't remember telling this kid his real name. "Hey!? What-"

"Try getting out of his sight line. I'll explain later" said James.

Sirius, though confused scuttled out of Harry's vision.

James whispered something into Harry's ear that seemed to calm the other boy, but Prongs couldn't make it out. Harry relaxed.

Prongs frowned. The worst of it seemed to have passed. Now he could figure out what the hell was going on.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Sirius beat him to asking.

Harry saw it over and over again. Sirius laughing, and falling and dying. Bellatrix gloating, Lupin restraining him, Voldemort possessing him. Again and again and again. Until a voice whispered to him. "Harry, Harry please, it's okay, you're safe, it's okay". Harry knew the voice was lying. Okay is a lie. Nothing ever will be okay again. But the voice told him a secret. And the secret was okay. It was more than okay. And Harry thought that maybe, if the secret was true... then... no, that was nonsense Okay, whether it existed or not was irrelevant. Harry was dead... Right?

Sirius watched as the James that was not his James lowered the Harry boy to the ground. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about this. Dumbledore hadn't said much of anything. Just a few questions, and some vague advice.

The older man had called Sirius into his office. Not James and Sirius, Not Remus and Sirius, Not Peter and Sirius. Just Sirius. That was not good.

If Dumbledore wanted to see him with another marauder that meant he was in trouble, for one prank or another. No big deal. Detentions were fun when you served them with friends.

No, the thing he really feared was being called to Dumbledore alone, because that could only mean one thing.

His stupid family was messing with his already messed up life.

This time was different though. When Sirius went into the headmaster's study this time it wasn't his blood family that Dumbledore wanted to talk about.

"Ah, Sirius," said Dumbledore.

Sirius raised one eyebrow, he knew his name and just wanted to get this over with.

"I suppose you're wondering why I've called you here," Dumbledore continued.

Yes! Get to the point already, Sirius thought.

"Would you like a Lemon Drop?"

Sirius considered giving the old man the finger. Thankfully the small voice in the back of his head told him that even if Dumbledore was insane he was not someone that Sirius wanted to get on the wrong side of. "No thank you, sir".

"Are you sure? I find that Lemon Drops are the most delightful of muggle creations."

Sirius was getting sick and tired of a sweet he'd never even tried.

"However, that isn't what I called you here to discuss".

Really? Because I totally thought you called me in here ten minutes before curfew to tell me about your favorite candy. Sirius didn't quite understand the concept of 'respect your elders'.

"What would you do for James Potter?"

Sirius didn't even hesitate. "I'd die for him. In a heartbeat."

"I'm sure Mr. Potter would return the sentiment; however, it's not James Potter that's in trouble".

"Professor?" Asked Sirius.

"If James were to have a son what would you do for him?"

"What I would do for James, I would do for his son". Sirius's eyes glowed with passion. James Potter was more of a brother to him then his own brother. He owed so much to the other boy that it hurt.

"Fortunately death is not required in this instance, my boy".

Dumbledore went on to explain a number of things to Sirius, the magical aspects of time travel, the intricate relationship of one's mental health and one's will to live, and most notably why James had been missing from practice that evening.

"So you want me to go find James in this dreamworld?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, but-"

"And what exactly will I do there?"

"There will be others there, two to be exact. You, will talk to them".

"About what?"

"You'll know when you get there," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Sirius sometimes wondered if Dumbledore's eye twinkle thing was a plot to annoy him.

James lowered his father to the floor and held him as the last waves of his attack died.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Prongs bluntly.

"Is he alright?" asked Sirius softly. Harry looked an awful lot like Prongs, and Sirius would do anything for Prongs.

James raised his attentions from his father. "I thought that Padfoot was the stoic one, they never told me you were really a big softie deep down".

Sirius glared at him, he wasn't 'a big softie' he just... Well maybe he was, but no one was allowed to know how deeply he cared for his friends. Really, he wasn't worried for Harry, he just didn't like seeing someone who looked like his best friend go through so much pain.

Prongs was not amused by James's attempt to lighten the situation. "Just answer the questions!"

"Shouldn't we wait until Harry can be part of the conversation?" James gestured to the boy who, while not exactly unconscious, was lost deeply in his own thoughts.

Sirius and Prongs glared at him.

"I'll take that as a no," James smiled sadly. He was going to have to tell them the truth, but how much of the truth? He had to preserve 'the space time continuum' or whatever that Doctor bloke that Al liked so much was always on about. He had to play this right, or he could prevent his own birth.

"My name is James Sirius Potter, I was born in the year 2004, and I grew up hearing stories about my Grandfather and his friends, and their amazing pranks from my dad, Harry James Potter."

My sister told me that the Cliff Hanger was mean, but really I had to end it there. Don't worry though all will be reviled in the next chapter. Probably. Anyway I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I can't think of a way to make it better. So y'all should review and give me feed back. Thanks to Band Wizard, BlueDreamShadow, HarryPadfootLupin, LyraBlack22, Parapluie Lire, SaidieAnnabethMellark, Sakura Lisel, Thanatos1320, Michelle. , and pencil0909 for following this story.

FunFact: In my head young Sirius looks like Luke Pasqualino. Who does he look like in your head?