Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter. I only wish it was so.

Twinsanity Abounds Steph 'n' Ollie Chapter 6

For the next seven weeks, Harry and the Asylum trained; using every free moment they had to do this. Their progress showed up in the accomplishments they made in the Dueling Club. Harry and Ginny were paired, as were Mia and George, Steph and Charlie; Ron was paired with a Ravenclaw girl named Padma Patil, and Fred was paired with Katie Bell.

Padma had been asked to train with the group, as was Katie. They were not told that the group were the infamous Asylum, just that it was suggested by one of the Professors that they should train together. To this they were thankful, as Harry was everything that Professor Lupin said he was. He taught them Expelliarmus, the Patronus, Rictusempra, Levicorpus, and many other spells and enchantments.

They were the top five teams in the club of over 300 teams, with Harry and Ginny naturally being No. 1. Charlie and Steph were No. 2, and Ron and Padma were No. 3. Mia was disappointed that she and George were set at No. 4, but knew that there was no way that they could beat Harry and Ginny. What surprised her was the fine work displayed by Ron and Padma. They nearly beat Charlie and Steph in their last match.

The day before Halloween, the group was called into Professor Snape's office. The ten students walked into his classroom to be met by three hooded figures. As soon as the ten were in the room, Harry had them take a defensive stance when they were attacked. Soon, four students were hanging upside down with their wands in the custody of the three hooded figures. Mia, Padma, George and Fred were out of the duel. Ron and Charlie had taken up a position behind the hooded figures and attacked from the rear. Steph and Katie took the right side. Harry and Ginny, the front. Charlie and Ron soon had one of the hooded figures on the floor laughing from a Rictusempra. Steph and Katie had a second one bound with an Incarcerous, while Harry and Ginny were in a battle with the last one. Harry told the rest of the Asylum that they were to stay out of the fight, it was between the three left fighting. Harry stood back and watched Ginny take on the last figure, and she was doing brilliantly. She soon had the last figure up in the air, hanging by one ankle, and the fight was over.

The group of ten had defeated the mysterious three. Everyone was released from their predicament, and soon the three wearing hoods began laughing. The tallest of the three dropped his hood to show the students it was Professor Snape. The other two dropped theirs as well, to show Professor Lupin, and a stranger to all but one. Harry walked over to the stranger and pulled him into a hug. "Sirius, it's good to see you. I hope this means what I think it does?"

"It's good to see you too, pup, and yes, I think it is time. Your friends are better than I thought they would be. Remus told me that you were good, but, I wasn't expecting you all to be that good. I figured it would be just you standing at the end."

"Well, I put them all through hell, and they took it very well. They had no complaints, and learned very quickly. I was surprised that you got Mia so quickly. She was one of the fastest learners, and is very defensive minded. What happened, Mia?"

"I'm sorry Harry. I forgot what Professor Lupin taught us on our first day. I wasn't expecting to be attacked and got caught off guard. I know I can expect ten laps around the training area the next time we train."

"I think we can let it slide this time Mia, but it is as Remus said, always be on your guard when facing the unknown. You never know what to expect. There was a reason I had you all take a defensive stance."

Severus then broke off the conversation and introduced the group to the newest member. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to the third member of our group, Sirius Black. Now, I am going to allow Sirius to take over."

"Thank you Sev. OK kiddies, get ready for me to knock your socks off. First, to properly introduce myself. I am Sirius Black, but am also referred to as Padfoot. Sev is also known as Wolfie, and Remus is known as Moony. You may have heard of us as the Marauders. Now I will let Moony take over."

"AH Pads, quite the orator, isn't he. Yes, I am known by the name of Moony. Sirius is known as Padfoot because of his ability to turn into a dog. That is the name we call his Animagus form. Severus is known as Wolfie, because he turns into a wolf. I will leave my name alone, as I don't wish to alarm anyone."

Hermione stood and said, "Professor, I talked with Harry about this because I was suspicious of the way you were missing for two days out of the month. When he sad he knew you, I figured he might know why this was. He confirmed this with me, and I told him we needed to share it with everyone, to see if they wished to continue on with the training. There were no negative statements, denials, or wishes to discontinue. We are all in agreement that your 'furry little problem' means nothing to us, and couldn't care less about it. You have become our favorite professor. Sorry to tell you Professor Snape, but you are a close second. So, to set your mind at ease Professor Lupin, we don't really see your being a Werewolf as being anything but a monthly mood shift, sort of like a girl's, but doesn't last as long."

Moony and Pads were laughing at this comparison, and Wolfie was holding his face in his hands. Then he burst out laughing as well. These kids are amazing, he thought to himself; so accepting of a person's illness that could be armful to others.

Then Fred asked, "Could you tell us how you became the Marauders?"

Sirius answered, "I tell you what, it is a long story, and we don't have time tonight. How about we talk Saturday, and tell all of you our story then?"

Everyone agreed, and then the kids left to finish their homework and get ready for bed.

The next night was the Halloween feast, and it was everything they expected and more. Though the food was enchanted to look disgusting, with bowls of squirming worms, steak that looked raw and bleeding, and soup with floating eyeballs; it was exceptionally prepared and delicious as usual.

The evening had been great fun, but the group of friends was looking forward to tomorrow even more. It was Saturday and time for the story they had been waiting to hear.

The next morning at breakfast, Hedwig, Harry's owl alit on his shoulder with a note. Harry gave her some bacon, which she ate without making a mess of his shirt, and offered her a drink of his water. While taking care of Hedwig, Harry had handed the note to Ginny to read.

Harry:

Would you and your friends meet us in the RofR after breakfast? Kreacher will be there to take care of our needs for the day.

Not looking forward to this, but it really needs to be done. Bringing back old memories hurts, but maybe we can all learn from it.

See you in a bit,

Wolfie, Padfoot and Moony

The group had never seen Ron eat so fast. He always shoveled his food, but he never took the plate to his mouth and scraped the food in like he was doing now. He put the plate down and said, "Ready when you guys are." He looked to his friends and saw the looks on their faces. "What, I am really looking forward to this. Let's get a move on."

They were all laughing as they made their way to the Room of Requirement, and were surprised when Professor Dumbledore met them before they entered. "Harry, before you go in there, I have to warn you that what you are about to see will only exist in this room. To be more specific, THEY are real, but I must reiterate they will only exist in this room. If you wish to return, all you have to think of is, 'I WISH TO SEE THEM AGAIN.' So please go in, and I hope you enjoy your time spent in there. Have fun, and on occasion, I would not mind joining you in the future, as would Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick."

Harry gave the Headmaster a questioning look, but thanked him, wondering what he could be talking about.

The opened the door to see Severus, Sirius, Remus, and two others sitting there enjoying a conversation. As the students approached, two of the group sitting there stood up and turned to greet them.

Ginny saw tears forming in Harry's eyes as he ran to the two now standing.

"Mum, Dad! I can't believe this. How is this possible?"

The entire ensemble of teachers, students and guests were sharing the tears of joy shed by Harry and his parents.

James looked at his son and said, "This is the magic of Hogwarts, son. It saw the need of sharing the love we have never been able to give you while you were growing up. That is a story all in itself, but will have to be shared at a future date. Today is the story of our becoming the greatest group of pranksters Hogwarts has ever known. I think it should be Sirius, Severus and Lily who should start it off, as they were the first members of the group to be together."

Sirius started it off. "It all begins with my cousins Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix. They were friends with Severus' sister Averna, who liked to be called Ava. Andi, Cissa and Bella spent a lot of time with Ava, and they would have slumber parties in Black Manor, as it was larger than their own houses. They would talk all night, and it got kind of boring for me, so Ava started to bring her brother Severus over to keep me company. Sev and I became good friends. When he turned nine, Sev found a couple of girls playing on a playground, and became fascinated with one of them. She was a redheaded beauty, while her playmate was a skinny black haired girl with a long neck. She was very bossy, while the redhead was friendly and cheerful. Sev watched as the redhead started showing signs of magic. He watched them for a few days, and then he got me to go with him one day to see the redheaded girl and her magic. We watched as she would find dead flowers and run her hand over them, bringing them back to life."

Severus took over at this juncture. "Her name was Lily. Yes Harry, it was your mum. She was beautiful, unlike her playmate, who we later found out was her sister Petunia. Sirius and I finally got up the nerve to go talk to the two girls and mentioned to Lily that what she was doing was magic. Petunia couldn't understand how her younger sister was able to do MAGIC, and she couldn't. We tried to explain, but the more we tried the angrier Tuney became. She began to hate being around any of us, including her own sister, so it became just the three of us. We told Lily about Magic, Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade. She was thrilled about everything we talked about."

Then Lily took over. "It was just as Sev said. Tuney and I never had a civil talk between us again, but I didn't care as Sev and Siri were opening up a whole new world for me; one that I wanted to become a part of. We became friends and started to spend a lot of time together. I tried making friends with Siri's cousins. Bella wanted nothing to do with me, Cissa was tolerant of me, and Andi loved me. She became one of us, which set Bella off; she couldn't believe her pureblood sister made friends with a mudblood. Siri didn't take kindly to this, and let his cousin know in no uncertain terms that he would not tolerate this kind of talk to one of his friends. Bella quit coming over, and Cissa didn't come over quite as much, but Andi, on the other hand, continued her regular visits. Ava shared Andi's views and came over with her. That was until she became sick and died. It was strange, because she was the picture of health prior to getting sick. Sev had his suspicions about it, but could never prove Bella was behind Ava's death. Siri believed Sev, and because of that, became an outcast in his own family. His dad went along with his mum, but refused to drop him from the family or his will. It was in his second year when Siri's dad died. That was when Walburga, Siri's mum (and the family matriarch) kicked him and Andi out of the family. Andi lived with the Longbottoms, and Siri lived with the Potters. But we will talk on that later."

The students were enthralled with the tale. They couldn't believe Bella and Walburga - disowning their own family because they didn't share the same beliefs as them. This didn't last long, as Walburga was the next to go. Lily continued on, "She wanted to leave everything to her youngest son, Regulus, but because of the will, it all went to the oldest, Sirius. He didn't want anything to do with Black Manor, however. He gave Regulus the house and 25% of the family wealth. Kreacher and Regulus got along very well, but Kreacher became worried when Regulus became enamored with the dark arts, and told Sirius about this. Siri and Reg got into a huge fight, and unfortunately never spoke to each other again. This hurt Sirius, as three years later Regulus came up missing, and was never seen again."

Then James took over. "I was an only child, and grew up with no friends. We lived in the country, and our closest neighbor was more than three miles away. So when I got my letter to Hogwarts, I promised myself to make friends, and have as much fun as I could while I was there. Mum and dad were great parents, but because of the Secrecy Act, we did not get to know our neighbors. Luckily they were very lenient in their discipline towards me. I finally got on the train to start my schooling. I didn't know anyone, so I looked for a cabin where I could sit one on one with another first year. That was how I met Remus. We formed a friendship, and decided we wanted to expand on it. So we went looking, and found Severus, Sirius and the most beautiful girl I ever saw in my life, Lily Evans. I vowed then and there that I would someday marry that girl. It took me six years to finally get a date with her. Oh we were friends for those six years, but she was committed to her school work and didn't want to get too serious with anyone. So I bade my time, and made friends with the group. Siri, Sev, Remus, and I became like brothers, and, like me, wanted to have fun while we were at school, although Remus still wanted to excel at schoolwork. He and Lily started a study group at Hogwarts, where we became friends with Frank Longbottom. We all shared a dislike with several Slytherin students; Peter Pettigrew being the worst, followed by Lucius Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle."

Now it was Remus' turn. "We decided to name our group. Frank didn't want to become a member because his mother would not take kindly to his being a disruptive student. So it was the four of us who became the Marauders. We were the funniest group to ever roam the halls of Hogwarts. Even Fabian and Gideon Prewitt acknowledged this. They were, up until that time, known as the school pranksters, but they paled in comparison to us. Slytherins couldn't stand to be around us, as they thought we would leave them in some sort of a mess. To their distaste, we usually did. Then Sev learned of my affliction in second year. He, Siri and James decided to do something about it, and trained to become Animagi, so that they could roam the grounds during my transformation. It took them a while, but in fourth year, they finally accomplished it. Even Lily learned to become an Animagus; a silver fox. We named her Silvy; she was as beautiful in her fox form as she was a woman."

Severus finished the story. "We literally became a family during our school years. Sirius became a member of the Potter family in his second year, and James' mum and dad became the parents he never had. They even adopted Remus and me. Believe it or not, when Lily's parents died and Petunia refused to take her in, it was, once again, the Potters who were there to take her in. So there we were, five best friends who became family. I think this is why Lily and James finally got together, because she truly wanted to be a member of this great family. We never wanted for anything. Between Sirius and James, they were members of the wealthiest families in the wizarding world. Sirius was the sole remaining member of the Blacks, and when James' parents were killed by a death eater raid while shopping for Christmas, they became the leading members of the Wizengamut. Albus and they became leaders of the light, and we joined them in their fight against Voldemort. After they were married, Lily became pregnant with Harry, and that was when Albus told them of the Prophecy, because Lily was due around the time the prophecy predicted. Alice Prewitt Longbottom was also told of the prophecy because she was due at that time as well. Unfortunately, this conversation was overheard by a rat that was sitting on the steps while the prophecy was made. He got to hear half of the prophecy, before the innkeeper hit the rat with a broom, sending it fleeing towards the entry. The rat, who turned out to be the Slytherin rat Peter Pettigrew, took off as soon as the door was opened. He reported what he overheard to Voldemort, and the rest you know."

The tale had taken up the whole day, as the questions were flying between breaks in the story. The students were amazed by the fact they were still the best of friends and were happy that they got to meet James and Lily. But they were mild compared to the five who grew up together, then lost two of them to the war, only to be reunited, if only in this room. They learned that James and Lily could be called to the room every Saturday, but that was all. They could stay for twelve hours, and then had to return to the hereafter.

Every Saturday the group met and went over what was going on. James and Lily loved being able to spend time with Harry and his friends, and especially enjoyed being back together with the Marauders. James was able to give the Asylum ideas for pranks, and even helped plan them. Sirius also helped, while Severus and Remus refrained because, being teachers, they didn't feel it was right. Lily also refrained, since it was not in her nature to prank, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy listening to the stories from the group. She loved being around the students, especially Mia and Ginny who seemed to have feelings for her son. With Mia, it was more admiration, whereas for Ginny, it was definitely a start to a romantic relationship. Lily hoped she had a chance to talk to Harry alone before things got too serious.

A/N: OK, dear readers, I have a favor to ask of you. Ollie wants to "turn over the reins" of his story to me, so I'm asking for ideas, suggestions, opinions of where you think the story should go, etc. I'm counting on you! :) Thanks for reading, and please review!

- Stephanie O.