Disclaimer: Consider it disclaimed.

A/N: When I noticed I had broken 200 reviews, I somehow got the song "How Sweet it is (to be Loved by You)" stuck in my head. You are all so wonderful and if I could, I would mail you cookies and cakes and all sorts of yummy goodness, but alas, I cannot. Just remember that you're appreciated (even those of you who read, but don't review. I just like knowing you all are reading the story.)

And now for the scene you all have been yearning for!

Chapter Twelve: Revelations

Harry was in school, and it was Remus' day off to attend to whatever errands he needed to get done without having a teenager tagalong. He was taking a walk at approximately eleven in the morning when activity around the house Nymphadora Tonks recently vacated drew his attention.

Bloody Dumbledore! He knew I wanted a little time to figure out what to say! Remus thought when he caught sight of his old friend ferrying packages from a black Ministry car to the front door.

Sirius had just deposited another box just inside the door of the house when he sensed someone watching him out the corner of his eye. He shook his longish hair back and caught sight of a man wearing a worn pair of slacks and a shabby jacket. Though the brown hair was shot through with grey, the other man's amber eyes were still warm. Sirius blinked in disbelief. "R-Remus?"

Remus nodded, "Sirius…"

What he was going to say next was cut off as Sirius tackled his friend in a bear-hug. Remus wasn't sure that Sirius even realized what he was babbling, so, being the logical one, he recommended they adjourn indoors for some tea.

They sat in the kitchen for several minutes, sipping freshly conjured tea, before Sirius finally spoke. "I don't blame you, Remus."

Remus coughed. "What?"

"I'm just saying, if I had been in your shoes, I wouldn't have believed me, either. I mean, who would have thought Peter would have it in him?" Sirius chuckled a little, though it was void of cheer, "It was mostly my fault that it all happened, anyway. If I had done the Gryffindor thing and been James' keeper – and you have no idea how funny that is to think about, now – then none of this would have happened."

Remus shook his head, "I… I didn't know what to believe. I wasn't even in the country at the time, and when I got back, I learned that three of my friends were dead, and you were in prison… It… It took me a long time to try to put it behind me. I can't say I got over it, because I never did, but it took me a long, long time to become functional again." Remus swallowed the tears that threatened to escape.

"But, now you know the truth. Maybe we can both get over it."

Remus smiled, "You're 'innocent.' Anything is possible."

"I take it, since you were wandering in the neighborhood, you live around here?"

Remus nodded, not sure if he should bring Harry into the conversation or wait for Sirius to ask about him.

"Guess that's why Dumbledore pointed me this direction when the house on Grimmauld started creeping me out."

Remus decided talking about Harry might remove some of the awkwardness of the conversation. "That could be, though I think it might have more to do with one of the people I'm staying with."

"Oh? Who would that be?" Sirius drained the last of his tea.

"Harry."

Telling that to Sirius while the man was in the middle of drinking something was probably not the smartest thing Remus had ever done, as he was now wearing the majority of the tea and the cup was in shards on the floor. "Harry?" Sirius asked, dazed. "As in James and Lily's son?"

Remus scowled at Sirius and used his wand to dry himself off, "Of course James and Lily's Harry. How many other 'Harrys' do you know?"

"Merlin… He's what? Sixteen?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen then." Sirius made a dismissing motion with his hand. "What's he like? Does he like quidditch? He's a Gryffindor, right? How's he doing in school? Who was he left with after…?"

Remus held his had up to forestall the deluge of questions. "Firstly, he was left with Lily's sister and her family. His aunt didn't let him go to Hogwarts, so he wasn't sorted, however I suspect he would be a Ravenclaw. He's still going to his muggle school – I couldn't talk him out of it, he says he'll need it to go to uni – and he's doing well. I'm tutoring him in what I can insofar as his magical education is concerned, and he's scarily quick with it. Last, and I'm sure you'd hurt me if I thought it was least, he's never seen quidditch, so I don't know if he'll like it or not. I have explained the game to him a couple of times, but he keeps telling me that he's sure it will make more sense if he can watch it. To that end, we will be visiting Hogwarts next week to watch the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match."

"Why didn't he go to Hogwarts and why do you think he wouldn't be a Gryffindor?"

Remus sighed, "It's rather a long story, and I don't know how much of it I'm allowed to talk about, but the short of it is that Lily's sister doesn't approve of magic, and since she's the boy's legal guardian, he didn't go. As to his potential house… Well, like I said, he's scarily quick in learning magic, not to mention he's doing very well with his muggle studies, as well, hence – Ravenclaw."

Sirius leaned down to gather the shards of the teacup, "When do I get to meet him?"

Remus shrugged, "He should be home around eight this evening. He's got an after-school job."

"Why don't the two of you come by for a late dinner?"

Remus quirked an eyebrow at Sirius. "Since when do you cook?"

Sirius laughed, "Since never! I figured I'd grab some sandwiches or something from the market. Either that or ring up Molly Weasley… She always had food to spare for a hungry auror, and now that I've been exonerated, I'm sure she would again."

"Go for the sandwich idea for now. There's a market just a couple of blocks over that way," Remus pointed.

"Do you know what happened to my bike? The car's just on loan for today." Sirius asked, changing the subject.

Remus thought for a bit, "I'm not sure, but I think Hagrid was the last one to have it… You might want to ask him. Oh, talking of asking people things, do you know if the floo here is hooked up? I know Tonks was staying here for a bit…"

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, it's hooked up. Why?"

Remus shrugged again, "Because it's a right pain to have to go all the way into London every time I need to go to Diagon Alley; and you know I can't apparate to Hogsmeade from this far south!"

The two old friends spent the remainder of the day getting caught up with each other, though Remus felt as though he had the harder job, having to also answer questions about Harry.

While Sirius and Remus were getting reacquainted, Harry was talking to his physics instructor during his free period. Rather, he was waiting for his physics instructor to return to the class so Harry could ask the man a question pertaining to the transformation of energy from one form to another.

Harry had been waiting for ten minutes when he noticed some soft singing in the back of the classroom. He brushed it off as a radio with the volume turned low until the voice that was singing an old Beatles song suddenly stopped and asked itself, "Now, what was the next lyric? Damn… I knew I should have bit him when he brought me here, how am I supposed to keep on top of the goings on in the world when the only thing I can hear now are a bunch of kids gossiping about who's the cutest of them all?"

"Hello?" Harry called out, "Is there someone there?"

"Who's that? Someone's actually talking to me!" There was some breathy laughter, "I could faint!"

"Where are you?"

"Over here, in the glass box."

Harry wandered towards the voice. "Glass box? Are you alright?"

"Ooh, you're asking about my health? What a sweetie… Over here, yeah. Right here."

Harry blinked at the terrarium in the back of the class. A couple of weeks earlier, his physics teacher had brought in an albino ball python and declared it to be the class pet. Most of the girls in the class seemed a bit upset at the news, while the guys were scuffling over who got to hold the snake first. Harry had been working on his project, and so had ignored the whole incident. He was now wishing he hadn't. "You… you're a snake?"

"You're a few cards short of a deck, aren't you? Of course I'm a snake. You say that like it's surprising. Who did you think you were talking to? A turtle? Sorry, they're not that great of conversationalists."

Harry couldn't help it, he laughed. "Somehow, I can believe that."

The snake sniffed, "Of course you can. What's your name, leggy?"

"Harry. What's yours?"

"You weren't paying attention last week, were you? The man calls me 'Angel.' However, I don't think that fits. Firstly, though I am gorgeous, I don't have wings. Secondly, 'Angel' is a female name. I am most definitely not a girl!"

Harry snickered. This snake is funnier than most people I know. I have to wonder if this is one of those magic-things… Didn't I once talk to a snake at the zoo? I think I did... It would have been Dudley's birthday… Heh… Wonder if Angel, here, would be amenable to terrorizing Dudikins? Out loud, Harry asked, "What would you prefer I call you?"

"Julius."

"As in Caesar?"

"Precisely."

"You have issues, don't you?"

"I do not. I have ambitions. Not issues. 'Issues' implies that I need to seek counseling, which I most certainly do not need!"

"Harry? What can I do for you?" The physics instructor asked from the doorway.

Harry jumped and spun around. "Mr. Eindelberg! You startled me. I had a question for you about the conversion of energy from one form to another."

"Like electricity to heat?"

Harry nodded, but Angel sighed dramatically, "Another geek. Just my luck that the first person to talk to me happens to share an unfortunate fascination with idiocy." With that, the snake launched into a rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Feeling Groovy.' Harry found it more than a little difficult to finish his discussion with his physics teacher.

Despite Crookshanks' cranky nature, and that incident in their third year when the cat tried to eat Scabbers, Ron figured that a kneazle or kneazle-cross would be the best pet for him. He had seriously thought about getting an owl, but he didn't see the need while still in school. If he needed to send post, he could always use one of the school owls, or borrow Jupiter, Seamus' owl. Looking back on when Crookshanks had attempted to kill his rat, Ron now realized that the kneazle-cross had sensed that the rat was less than trustworthy. If he could get a full kneazle, then that particular ability would be stronger. It never hurt to be a bit on the cautious side; life was a chess game, after all.

So, on the afternoon that Remus and Sirius were catching up and Harry was proving to be rather entertaining to a certain albino ball python, Ron approached Professor McGonagall's office after the last class of the day.

Minerva opened the door with a smile, "Mr. Weasley. How can I assist you?"

"I decided, ma'am."

"On what, pray tell, have you decided?" The professor motioned for her student to enter and have a seat.

"A kneazle or cross. I know full kneazles are rather expensive and all…"

"Nonsense, Mr. Weasley," she offered him a tin of ginger newts. "The headmaster and I both realize having to deal with not only the loss of your pet, but the knowledge that he never really was a rat is more than your peers have to deal with; likely more than they'll ever have to deal with."

Ron accepted one of the sweets, "Even so, Professor, kneazle kittens are really expensive… I honestly would be happy with a cross, so long as it's nicer than Crookshanks."

"Ah, Miss Granger's familiar. He is a bit on the brutal side, isn't he?" Minerva took a newt for herself and re-sealed the tin. She nibbled on the biscuit for a moment, thinking. "Actually, I think we just might be able to locate a kneazle for you, Mr. Weasley. I believe a cousin of mine raises them… He owes me a favor or two that he would happily pay off with a kitten."

Ron grinned, "Really?"

"Most certainly, Mr. Weasley. Now, I believe you've quidditch practice in an hour. I'll go ahead and speak with the headmaster for you."

"Thanks," Ron said, smiling wide enough to make his cheeks hurt.

"Don't mention it, Ronald." She made a shooing motion with her hands, "Run along, now. It wouldn't do to lose the match with Ravenclaw next week!"

"No, ma'am!" Ron hurried from the office.

November 7, 1997

Dear Hermione,

You will never guess who I met tonight! I met my godfather. His name's Sirius Black, and the reason he didn't raise me when my parents died was because he had been framed for murder and has spent the last sixteen years in prison! Isn't that nearly unbelievable? He said that the man that framed him was caught a couple of weeks ago, posing as someone's pet rat. Did you know people can study to turn into animals? If you did know, why didn't you tell me? That is so cool… Have you looked into it at all? If so, do you have a book recommendation for me? Sirius can turn into a big, black dog. Apparently, my Dad could transform into a deer. I was kinda hoping I'd be able to do something like that.

Anyway, I got to meet him because he moved into the house down the street where Tonks was staying while investigating the Dursleys. Remus found him while I was at school. When I got home from work, Jenn told me where Remus was and insisted that I join him if I wanted dinner. I think she got to talk to both Remus and Sirius while I was still at school. Maybe while I was at work… who knows? In any case, Sirius is a really nice guy. A bit like Ron in that he's totally quidditch-mad, so I will really have to pay attention to that game next week. He also had moments where his eyes glazed over and he looked like he might have thought he was dreaming. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I don't really know him that well just yet. I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable in his own home.

Aside from meeting Sirius, I also managed to get some information from my physics teacher on the transfer of energy from one format to another. He recommended a couple of books that I'll be ordering from Borders. I have an idea, but I need to see if it's remotely possible, first. I think you know what I want to do… If you don't, let's just say that I want to be able to have everyone, regardless of their location, to be able to use that potions program Jenn came up with.

While I was waiting for the teacher to show up, I also had an interesting interlude with Angel, the class pet. He's a ball-python and seems to think he's Julius Caesar. He's right funny though. Knows songs by the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel.

Well, I really should be getting to sleep soon, it's almost two in the morning and I have to work tomorrow.

See you next Thursday,

Harry

November 8, 1997

Dear Harry,

You met Sirius Black? How remarkable. I know a bit more of the story than you told in your letter, though. That man that was posing as a rat? Yeah, he was posing as Ron's pet! I got the full story from Ron just a few days ago. You'll have to have him tell it to you after the game next week.

So you're trying to figure out how to convert magical energy into electricity, are you? Well, it can be done, and is done all the time by a Wizarding Wireless set. That's what the additional pages are, the schematics for a wireless. Though I think having modern technology available would be fantastic, I also have to point out that the wizarding world might not be ready for something so drastic. Your average witch or wizard lives to be approximately twice the age of a muggle. This puts the mindset of the general public at around the late Victorian era. If you're successful at this, then you might want to limit its exposure to only the younger sect, or those that have a vested interest in it. Oh, bother. I just re-read over that sentence, and even I don't know quite what I was saying there. I guess I just want you to be careful with it, if you can even get it to work. We both know how useful it is, but it's something new, and newness, as a rule, usually isn't highly appreciated.

Now, when you say that you had an interlude with a snake, what, exactly, do you mean? Spare no details, this could be important.

See you soon,

Hermione

It was Sunday. Harry was currently engaged in a twisted game of hide-and-seek in the Kellerman house. The sofa in the den had been deemed 'base,' but Harry was currently trying to figure out how to get from the closet in Remus' room to base without alerting his opponents to his location. Sirius and Remus were also playing, and had set minor magical traps all through the house. Harry's mission was to make it to the sofa. Remus and Sirius would win if Harry was caught by either of them or any of the traps. His first challenge was the colorspray charm on the closet door. He couldn't remember the incantation to neutralize the charm and as such, was stuck.

"Finite!"

Nothing happened.

"Color-erasure!"

The blue paint faded to white.

"Damn it." Harry ran a hand through his hair. At this rate, Sirius and Remus would win before the game was hardly begun.

"Incantatus invertium!"

The door flared gold for a moment before fading back to its original blue. "Revelus." The spot on the door, just under the latch, failed to glow. "Yes!" Harry hissed in excitement. He had managed to remove the charm. Now, knowing his tutor as he did, he would have to be doubly careful in stepping out of the closet. Another revelus showed the area immediately surrounding the door was safe from charms, hexes, jinx, and other surprises. Casting the all-purpose revealing charm every few feet, Harry slowly progressed to the door.

Downstairs, Sirius leaned to Remus' ear and whispered, "Hey, Remus."

"What, Sirius?"

"I have an idea."

"Four of the most terrifying words in the English language."

"Ha-ha-bloody-ha. Do you want to hear it or not?"

Remus leaned against the kitchen doorframe, "Why not?"

"Harry's likely to be relying solely on magic to try to get to the den, right?"

"So?"

"So… Does Jennifer have a bucket? We never said the traps would be all magic-based."

Remus chuckled quietly, "I like the way you think."

While Harry was busy disarming traps in the hallway and otherwise being generally paranoid, Sirius and Remus were busy rigging the door to the den with an old, old muggle practical joke.

"Think it's time to go 'look' for him?"

"Yeah, he should be out of the closet by now," Remus replied.

In the epic battle that followed, Harry managed to disarm Sirius in twenty seconds. He ducked past Remus and leapt over the banister of the stairs to avoid another trap. A stupefy narrowly missed his ear as he rolled across the floor to absorb his fall. "Ha! You'll never catch me!"

"Never say never!" Sirius shouted back, wand in hand once more.

"I'm home free, you two!"

"Don't count on it!" Remus said.

Harry grinned and turned so he could face both his companions and the hallway to the den. He cast the revealing charm on the hall and found it to be clear of traps. He backed down the hallway, never taking his eyes from either his tutor or his godfather. He reached the door to the den without incident and had to focus on the door for a moment. In the second or so it took him to verify the door was not trapped, Sirius had managed to get caught in his own trap on the stairs and Remus had followed Harry's example by leaping over the railing. He was standing at the entrance to the hall when Harry brought his wand back up. "You didn't think to trap the door?" He tsk'd, "I thought you two wanted to win."

"Don't get over confident, Harry, you're not on base, yet." Remus warned. His inner wolf really liked these games.

Harry sighed, "It's only a matter of opening the door and jumping the six feet or so to the sofa. I know you're quick, Remus, but you're not that quick."

"Try me and see."

Sirius had managed to free himself from the quicksand stair and arrived at his friend's side, wand leveled at Harry. He really didn't want to miss this.

Harry shook his head and opened the door, but didn't go in just yet. The bucket that had been placed above the door jam fell to the floor with a splash. Harry sighed, "Really. Like I hadn't expected something like that, guys. Dudley used to do stuff like that all the time." Without warning, Harry leapt through the open door and landed lightly on the sofa. "Safe!"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look that seemed to communicate that they agreed – Harry was definitely a junior Marauder in the making.

A/N2: Now, I already know where the Sorting Hat would have put this version of Harry but I am curious as to which dorm you think he's most like (you can blame the future scene on my friend, Jenn; she wanted to see some interaction with the Hat.) Also, does anyone else think the Hat might have a touch of precognition? Or that a talking hat is really, really creepy; especially one that can read your mind?

I'm a little insecure about the parseltongue segment, the one with Angel. Did you all like it, or was it a bit too much? BTW, Angel is based on a combination of my nephew's pet snake – an eighteen-inch ball python – and the class pet from my own physics class – an albino rat snake called Soriah. It wasn't as cool as the class pet the year before, though. In my chemistry class, we had a baby alligator called Lucille. Yeah, my teachers were all a bit nuts.

Review, please. I really could use the reassurance. I left my blankie at home.