Harry and James stayed up for hours that night, whispering. Ron tried to stay awake and listen, but within ten minutes his snores had filled the musty room. The moonlight cast stripes of light upon the wall and every now and then Hedwig would rustle her feathers. The two boys talked excitedly.

"You're pulling my leg. There's no way you fought a Basilisk! You're trying to show me up, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. Ron can vouch for me, right, Ron?"

A deep grunt was heard on the other side of the room, and then turned back into snores.

"Wow… You'll have to tell me more about that story…" Whispered James, clearly impressed. "So, Snape's a potions teacher now, huh?" He chuckled. "I guess they'll make anyone a teacher these days. That slimy git was always tailing us, trying to find ways to get us in trouble. He almost got killed because of it! You think he would learn…"

"You mean when you and Sirius tricked him into going towards the whomping willow…"

"Yea- hey… you know about that?"

"Yea," Harry hissed into the dark, "Lupin told me."

James chuckled again, "Probably got a good laugh remembering it."

Harry didn't answer for a moment, "But you saved Snape's life, right?"

This time James took a minute to answer, "Well… yea."

Harry was silent for a moment. "Well, what made you do it? After all the times you and Snape went at each other, what made you turn around and save him?"

"Well, I thought Padfoot was probably taking it a little too far. He does tend to get careless in his actions. But he kept reassuring me it wasn't a big deal… and that it would be our funniest prank on Snivellus yet… and then, when Snape walked toward that tree… I dunno, there's no one I hate more than that Snape, but even so… it-it just seemed a little too cruel, you know? And as I pulled him out of the way… it-it just felt like the right thing to do."

There was silence between Harry and James for a while. Harry stared up towards the ceiling with a small smile etched upon his face. Harry knew he had been right about his father. The way Snape attacked his father memory… told Harry what an arrogant prat his dad was… he knew he hadn't been all right. His father was immature still, yes. But he wasn't stupid. Even though Snape was his enemy, he had saved his foes life. He had done the right thing. And Harry tried to imagine himself in James's place, and Draco Malfoy standing in front of the willow… would Harry have done the same noble thing? Just thinking of Malfoy made him burn in loathing. Would he have been as noble as his father in the same situation? The fact that Harry hesitated about it discouraged him. But he just hated Malfoy so much…

"He never did thank me. But I guess I didn't really want him to. I hated Snape just as much after that, and at the same time, it felt good to know I saved a life… even if I hated the life I saved. Letting someone die is not worth it, ally or foe."

It was as though James had heard Harry's very thoughts. "Yea," Harry muttered, "you're right." It was strange hearing James talk so seriously. But Harry found himself admiring his father greatly. So it was true, James was just as great a man as Dumbledore had always said.

"So, did I tell you already about the time Sirius and I tricked Lily Evans…" James continued to talk into the night, telling Harry about all the Marauder's pranks and laughing at all the amazing things Harry had done at Hogwarts. Eventually both boys grew too tired to speak another word and Harry felt as though he had barely drifted off to sleep when he was being awakened by Hermione's call.

"Get up, would you? This is the third time I've had to come up here and tell you to get up. Next time I'll drag you out of bed!" She said shrilly as she tugged James's covers off him. "Come on, we're leaving soon!" And she marched out.

Harry squinted to make sure Hermione was gone before completely opening his eyes. His body felt like lead after staying up so late. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his glasses off the table beside him. Sitting up he saw that Ron must already be downstairs. James however was still asleep, coverless, and letting out loud snores. Harry yawned, "You can stop pretending to be asleep now, Hermione's gone."

James opened one eye just to make sure and then sat up. "Jeez, I thought she'd never leave. Bossy little thing, isn't she?"

Harry shrugged.

The two boys dressed in silence. Together in perfect sync, they both sighed and adjusted their glasses on their noses. "Well, off to brunch, then?" James asked Harry as he waved a hand towards the stairs.

The kitchen smelled of bacon simmering and the low chatter of the others eating filled the hallway as they neared. The minute they had walked through the kitchen door Mrs. Weasley sprung into action. It was a bit difficult for them to make it to their chairs with Mrs. Weasley trying to shove plates of eggs into their hands and fussing with their hair, but eventually Lupin was able to clear her away and got both the boys seats next to him.

"So," Lupin began. "You're going to need to get your school books today." He leaned over and looked at Harry. "You three should have done it awhile ago," he indicated towards Ron and Hermione with his fork as they sat across from him. "But in light of the recent events," his eyes flickered in James's direction and James pretended to be concentrating on his food, not noticing, "hopefully they'll still have your new books in stock."

Harry smiled, a trip to Diagon Alley was always an 'A' on his list. Harry looked over at James and noticed that he was no longer shoveling down his food but picking at it with his fork as though he no longer found it interesting. Harry had an idea of what was bothering him. Harry looked up at Lupin, "What about Dad- er, James?"

Lupin looked at Harry and then to James who didn't look up from his plate of food. He wiped the side of his mouth with his napkin and turned seriously to the boys. "Well, after talking a bit about it-"

"Let me guess, you want me to stay hidden, right?" James cut in glumly as he stabbed at his eggs.

Lupin studied him for a moment. "Actually, the Order decided it couldn't hurt much to let you go."

James's head snapped up from his plate instantly, his eyes bright with excitement. "Really?"

Lupin nodded. "But on certain conditions…"

James frowned, "I knew there had to be rules attached… there's always rules." He stabbed at his eggs again.

Lupin smiled, "Dumbledore thinks it would be good to get you out of the house for a bit. Give you some fresh air. What we can do is split into two separate groups. Harry will be with one group, you with the other, you two can't be seen together if you happen to run into someone you know from school, Harry."

Harry nodded in agreement. He could just see the smug look on the Malfoys' face as they reported James's strange splinch to the Ministry. It would get Dumbledore in so much trouble. Then again, he couldn't help but smile as he imagined running into Draco Malfoy in Diagon Alley and the look of horror on his face as he saw what looked like double of Harry.

"That's the only advantage we have due to shopping so late, it's rare that you'll run into someone who would recognize you, but we can't be too sure."

"And you mustn't forget other people, like Tom the barkeeper and Ollivander, if they saw you together-." Chimed in Hermione from across the table.

"Alright, we get it, Harry and I will have to split up. What other terms are there?" James pressed impatiently.

Lupin stood up to give his plate to Mrs. Weasley and by the look of her lips pursed tight and her silence throughout the whole conversation, Harry could tell she wasn't approving of any of this.

"If someone does come up to you, you need to act like you are Harry. And James," he looked at James sternly in the eyes and Harry was surprised to see James shrink a little under the old professor's stare, "You have to stay with your group. Absolutely no wandering off."

"Why are you only addressing this towards me?" James piped up, he jabbed a finger in Harry's direction, "Harry's broken just as many rules over the years as I have."

Lupin smiled warmly. "Yes, but Harry, unlike you, rarely chooses to break the rules on purpose. You seem to have a passion for breaking rules, Harry on the other hand just happens to get caught in the wrong situations and the wrong times. I'm not worried in the slightest about him wandering off."

Harry felt a little embarrassed that Lupin had just stuck up so strongly for his innocence, especially when he knew that he had broken more than enough rules with the knowledge that he was doing wrong, but he kept his mouth shut seeing as how James was pondering this.

"Fine, I'll stay in line." He muttered. "Those terms aren't too bad I suppose."

"It's settled then." Lupin headed towards the kitchen door.

"Wait, aren't you coming with us?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"I wish I could but I have a lot of business I need to help Dumbledore sort out."

"Aw, come on, Moony! It won't be for very long!" James begged through a mouthful of food.

Lupin stopped and considered it for a moment. Then he smiled, "I really can't, but I'll stop back by when you return from Diagon Alley." He smiled in their direction once more before heading out the door.

"Aw." James turned back to his plate of food, "He's losing his sense of fun in his old age."

"Well, if we're going to go to Diagon Alley we'd better get a move on." Mrs. Weasley said sternly and Harry could tell she still wasn't okay with the idea of letting James out in public.

"Harry's in my group!" Ron said suddenly. Hermione shot him a nasty look knowing that that would leave James in her. It wasn't that she disliked James; it was just that the Weasley twins had suddenly apparated into the room declaring dramatically that it would be their divine mission to keep Hermione company since Harry and Ron were ditching her. And One Marauder would be trouble enough, add two more to the equation and James plus Fred and George equaled nothing but trouble.

A/N: Gosh, I know, I finally updated, what is my problem? Okay this chapter was pretty much the chapter that going to get the good stuff rolling. I love what I have planned for the trip to Diagon Alley, it's the chapter that will really begin to bring out the depth in the story, so I'll be updating a lot sooner, and that's a promise! Thanks for all the reviews, see you in the next chappie!