A/N: I hope all the length and excitement packed into this chapter will make up for my prolonged period of absence. Things have been super crazy lately, and will only continue to get more hectic, so I hope you can please excuse any lag in replies to reviews or lack of chapters until the madness is over. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me.

As the new morning`s glow started to escape from behind the curtains and into the boys dormitories, it was hard to tell whether or not the previous day had been an elaborate dream. Sure, one didn`t typically get concussed and bruised in a dream, but he`d had splitting headaches from Voldemort before while he slept. And there in the bed opposite was Neville, sound asleep, and Seamus` snoring was its usual inconsistent rumble from the next bed to the left. Harry took his glasses off the nightstand and rubbed the tired disbelief from his eyes. How could this be the 1970`s if they were in their normal positions?

"Oi, Ron," Harry whispered, nudging the lump in the neighboring bed.

"Mmrumph."

Ever since Ron had woken up to Sirius standing over him with a knife in third year, he`d been a tad jumpy when other people tried to get him up, so Harry kept am arm's length away while nudging Ron again. "Mate, come on, you`re never going to believe this. I went back in time and met my parents!"

The blankets stirred slightly, traveling downwards to reveal the ruddy face of their human core. A pair of startled blue eyes flashed outward at Harry. But instead of the familiar red mop and "Bloody hell, Harry!" he`d been anticipating, Harry realized he was looking upon the drowsy and deceitfully innocent reason he`d journeyed back in the first place. Springing back, Harry desperately wished this was still part of his nightmares.

"Huh, I`ve never had that dream before. I was a quaffle in mine, it was a bit terrifying. So many sweaty guys hugging me to their pits…" Peter shook the apparently graphic replay from his head with a shiver. "More of a nightmare really."

Stumbling backwards over a trunk at the end of the bed that wasn`t yet his, Harry found it hard to both contain his terror and the fact that he had barley heard what Pettigrew had been saying over the sound of himself mentally freaking out. Despite all this, Harry found it impossible to tear his eyes away from those of the rat`s.

Peter didn`t look sinister at all, nor treacherous, nor anything really, except tired and, Harry was reluctant to admit, friendly. He was just a boy.

But if he was not stopped, this boy would live among his unsuspecting friends for years, gaining trust, until day he would finally ruin them all. Sirius, jailed. Remus, stripped of that which made lycanthropy bearable. James and Lily, dead. If he was not stopped, this boy would do the same thing in the house of the future best friend of the baby he`d orphaned, and would wait until the moment until he could strike again and raise Voldemort from the dead.

Also, that would-be killer was becoming very concerned, as Harry had now been staring at him strangely for an abnormally prolonged period of time. "Did you just fall back asleep? Can people actually sleep with their eyes open? Have you just been sleepwalking this entire time?"

Peter reached out to guide Harry back to bed, but Harry jerked away. "No! No, I`m awake just…hungry. Yeah, I think I`ll head down to breakfast now…"

"Save me some pudding, will you?" muttered Pettigrew, sleep having already reclaimed almost all of his consciousness. Nodding, Harry had absolutely no intentions of saving anything but a cell in Azkaban for the lethargic wizard. Dementors had never seemed so useful.

As he escaped out the door, Harry made sure not to step on any of the notoriously creaky floorboards. One accidental conversation with a future murderer was more than enough for him. The common room proved to be blessedly empty, so he settled down on the spot where he would later play his first game of Wizard`s Chess and turned his mind to the preservation of his parents.

Obviously, Harry had to save himself before he could save them. If Mattie was right, his very existence was in jeopardy thanks to his mother`s mistaken affection for the wrong messy-haired quiddich star. James clearly was positioned for the imminent emotions to be cast his way; it was just the matter of getting Lily back to where she was supposed to be. It would take a big shove in the right direction-a grand gesture, maybe- to make Lily see James as anything but a class O twat.

And from the looks of it, Harry was going to need a very grand gesture.

What kind of grand gestures did girls fall for these days anyway? Something told Harry a room full of flowers wasn`t the sort of thing Lily Evans found endearing. Also, with his luck, she`d probably be allergic or something. What else did girls like? From what Harry knew from memories and secondhand information, his mum had been studiously bookish like Hermione, and Hermione always was in search of exciting new things to read, so maybe James could give her something of that sort. But in Harry`s opinion, books didn`t exactly scream "have my child so that he may one day come back and save us from a so-called friend"…. Maybe he should consult Mattie or Sirius, who both seemed way more competent in the planning of epic exploits that could conceivably convince Lily to finally see James for the genuine person he was under all that pompous swagger.

However, Sirius wasn`t exactly known for his helpfulness, and even if he had any useful ideas, wouldn`t he have told James -his best friend- already?

"Potter? Oh, it`s you."

The red-haired assailant from the night before stood at the top of the stairs. Harry reached for his wand, only to remember it was still sitting up in the boy's dorm, next to the dormant Peter Pettigrew. So there was nothing for him to do but grip tightly to the couch cushion as Melody descended and plopped down next to him.

"Funny, I didn`t take you for an early riser. Your cousin sure isn't."

"I couldn`t sleep." He replied, discreetly distancing himself millimeter by millimeter until he hit the arm rest.

"Yeah, me neither. Usually it`s easy but…" She flicked her eyes over to Harry`s fingers clinging to the couch. "I really am sorry about the whole window dangling thing, you know. It wasn`t personal, promise."

"Funny, it kinda felt personal."

Melody laughed, and his grip on the cushion eased. "Look, if there`s any way I could make it up to you, I`ll totally do it. Within reason, of course. Need anyone dangled out a window?"

"Not really. Unless you know how to make two people fall in love despite the fact that they mostly hate each other, then I really don`t think you can help."

"A challenge, huh?" She thought for a minute, eyes focused on the dying fire, before finally saying, "You just have to make them see the best in each other. Everyone is flawed, but under the mess there`s always that little glittering spark to make a constellation out of, if you can get the two stars to recognize it."

"Just that?"

"Hey, you`re the one who asked for an impossible match. Force them to go to the Marauder Extravaganza together, I don`t know."

Melody stood up and was halfway to the common room door when Harry asked, "The Marauder Extravaganza?"

"Oh, Mattie never mentioned those? It`s this party the Marauders put on, because Gryffindors basically live to party, and the Extravaganza`s always the biggest and most exclusive one of the year. It`s invitation only, and this year`s was announced a couple weeks ago, but I`m sure since you`re Mattie`s cousin they`ll make an exception and let you in anyway. Everyone who`s anyone at Hogwarts is always there, even some of the less awful Slytherins."

"When is it?"

"Thursday after next. I`d love to stay and chat, but I`ve got some errands to run before the school wakes up. See you around, and again, very sorry about the window thing."

"It`s all good." Harry assured her, because it was.

The sun was rising, the owls were hooting, and Harry had a way to save his parents, himself, Sirius, and ultimately the wizarding world.

Now all he needed to do was to get James to go along with it.

"Absolutely not. You obviously are new to this, but despite what some may think, I do not have a death wish." James declared in between bites of the muffin he`d swiped from the kitchen, having slept through breakfast with Sirius and Peter.

Sirius guffawed, spraying egg bits all over Frank. "I think it`s a brilliant idea! Remember last time you asked her to Hogsmeade, Prongs? No hesitation, bat-bogey to the face…"

"-Stinger to the ribs-"

"-and smacked you over the head with her books for good measure." Sirius recounted fondly. "A double potions day too, if I remember correctly."

Harry tried not to wince as the looming situation grew more and more dire with every word out of the Marauder's collective mouths. The optimism he`d been carrying inside him all through breakfast with Frank, stewing until the plot could be revealed to James, was now rapidly suffocating.

"What time is Lupin getting back from his Mum`s?" Frank asked, holding open the castle door and allowing the others to step out into the brisk fall wind ahead of him. This was largely left unappreciated, like many things done by Frank Longbottom for that particular group of boys, but mostly because Harry felt cheated of the warm weather he`d skipped right over.

"Oh, sometime this afternoon, probably."

Sirius yawned, and a flock of birds took off to their left, stirring James to look to the skies, his eyes catching on one particular projectile above the Quiddich pitch. "No, it couldn`t be…"

"Must be their free block." Peter noted. "No teacher in their right mind would sign off for a bunch of Slytherins to miss class to terrorize the skies, and I don`t think they would be as dumb to go skiving off classes in full view of the entire school."

"Don`t worry, Prongs. Practice all they like, no way they can beat us this year."

Casting another backwards glance to the pitch, James was about to say more when the disreputable entourage of Lily Evans emerged from the castle behind them. Immediately, Sirius and Peter forced themselves to look straight ahead, the way they were flanking James turning from a jovial companionship to an almost parental guidance. James, naturally, couldn`t help but let his eyes linger back on the group before complying with his friends, and Frank just plain turned and smiled.

Harry almost cringed as his mother beamed and waved in his direction. "Have you tried just being nice to her?"

"No offense, newbie, but it would take a miracle and several highly illegal potions -not all for love- to get those two together. Give it up."

"Not that I don`t appreciate the suggestions and immense support," said James tautly as they reached the greenhouse, "But the next person to mention Lily Evans will get personally hexed by each and every member of the Gryffindor Quiddich team."

"Hi Harry!" Mattie popped in between Frank and Harry, all hints of any diabolical calculating vacant from her face, an expression Harry was learning to fear. "My dad said to tell you he`s glad you were able to settle in so well last night. Oh and Frank, Lily was wondering if you would be able to take over Remus` prefect duties tonight if he isn`t back yet."

James threw his hands up in the air. "Longbottom, why were you even born?!" Sirius cried.

"That wasn`t even me!"

"That`ll keep them busy for a while…and don`t worry, they won`t actually hurt him." Mattie pulled Harry over to a more remote section of the greenhouse while the Marauders griped, and beckoned the girl she`d walked in with to follow. "I was just telling Mary here about how we need a time turner for that project we`re working on, and she thinks she`ll be able to help us get one."

"I dropped the Tuesday class I was in that required a time turner last week and already turned mine in…but I do know who is in both classes and might still have one."

"You`re brilliant. Did I mention she`s brilliant?" Mattie asked he fake cousin. "Well, she is. Name away, you bloody genius!"

"Well, there was Tori…"

"No."

"…Snape…"

"Absolutely not."

"…Jaime…"

"-Wizard God, not him!"

"…Elise?"

An older witch emerged from the depths of the greenhouse, and the clamor went down to a dull hush as everyone started to head to their stations.

"Ugh, fine. I suppose she`ll have to do. Thanks, Mar."

The girl nodded and walked ahead as Harry and Mattie headed over to the benches.

"Gross, now have to go talk to Hufflepuffs. Well, at least this should be easy. Lucky for us, it`s not hard to find happy stoners."

A Ravenclaw next to them gave Mattie a strange look, but before the exchange could escalate further, a yelp rang out from across the room.

"Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Black, how many times must I tell you not to touch the hanging baskets?!"

"We`ll talk more at lunch." Mattie promised, brushing his shoulder as she slipped by to stand next to Melody as Sirius and Peter struggled to free themselves from the vines that engulfed them.

When Harry finally tromped into the Great Hall, however, the looming time turner troubles were the least of his worries.

"Ooh, is it just me, or has Amos Diggory gotten even hotter since fifth year?" Lily said as Harry approached the table, not quite within her peripheral vision yet.

"Hmm." Neville`s mother popped a chip into her mouth thoughtfully. "He`s definitely more of a sold eight or nine now, you`re right. Too bad I`m in a committed relationship."

Harry glanced sideways at Frank, who had not looked up from his book during any point of this conversation, and showed no signs whatsoever of pining after Alice. Well, they couldn`t all have started out James Potters, he supposed, and maybe that was for the better.

"There aren`t many guys like Ryan out there, you really lucked out with that one…Oh, hi Harry."

As he went to side into the empty spot next to Mattie, she stopped him at the last minute. "Other side. Trust me."

Which he did, mostly. But it was fear, not trust, that made him slide in between her and Melody instead.

"Speaking of Hufflepuffs, I asked around, apparently Else and her crowd usually hit the library before dinner."

"So we`re just gonna breeze in there and ask for her time turner?"

Mattie rolled her eyes as the Marauders, including Remus, sauntered into the hall, trailing whispers and mischief in their wake. "Don`t be ridiculous. I have a natural aversion to Hufflepuffs, and Else`s group in particular won`t be very gracious to my presence. You`re going to get it. Hopefully it won`t come to stealing, but if need be…"

"…It was great, Prongs almost pissed himself laughing, it took nearly twenty minutes before Wormtail could even move his arms again. Class postponed until tomorrow, I knew you`d be proud."

"I already made up the work, you didn`t have to do that!" Remus grinned, shaking his head. His face, although already bearing some scratches and scars, was not yet the weathered and solemn one Harry was used to.

"Come on, you know you want your own Snargaluff." Sirius teased as he settled into the seat next to Mattie, the others piling into the vacant spots next to him, much to Lily`s obvious disgust.

"Don`t you have groupies or something that you menaces can plague," she asked pointedly, "Or is there really nobody else that can stand to be around you? Not you, of course, Remus. How`s your mum?"

Remus managed to mutter a "Fine," before Sirius and Peter rose up in protest, James opting to stay oddly quite in the matter.

"We are important and essential members of Gryffindor house…"

"…Horrified that you, Lilian Evans of all people would say such things, despite the immense spiritual and physical bonds we share…"

"If you think we have either of those, Black, you`re more diluted than I thought."

"…Six years, and nothing to show but broken hearts! Oh, Lily, you wound us so…"

"…Deny your feelings all you like, but you may not deny our-Ack!"

Sirius`s hands leapt to his collar, which until a moment ago had been unbuttoned and slack, but now pressed tightly to his skin, along with the rest of his shirt, much to the pleasure of the girls of Hogwarts. In spite of Sirius` tugging, the clothing only continued to shrink, his trousers and socks appearing to close in on him as well.

"So Black," Mattie started casually. "Heard you sent my cousin on some errands last night."

Cursing under his breath, Sirius struggled against the rapidly constricting clothing. "Harry was just getting a rousing welcome, that`s all."

"You sent him to get mutilated by a pack of Slytherins who you know would have mistaken him for your mangy haired friend over there-no offense, Potter, love the fifty foot free fall look- and hexed him to oblivion before he could so much as draw his wand. Those doggy eyes have no effect whatsoever, by the way."

"Harry`s fine, look at him, wasn`t even harmed in the slightest!"

"No thanks to you. Is this really the way you treat a new student? A housemate? A roommate? My cousin? I thought you had more respect for me that that."

With each syllable, the clothing seemed to shrink a size. Sirius` hand pried at the left sleeve of his shirt, eventually getting trapped under the apparently untearable fabric.

"You`ve never intervened before when I messed with first years, or Longbottom, or anyone else for that matter."

Frank ducked behind his book, the universal sign for wanting to be left out of the escalating conversation. Harry was beginning to want to do the same.

"Yeah, well you personally have never done something so cruel to Frank or any of the others. Of all people, Black, I thought you would be nice to the homeless kid on the run. Not to mention, I trusted you to ensure Harry felt welcome and safe here on his first night, and you went and betrayed that trust within the first five minutes of knowing him."

On his knees now, Sirius` shirt looked like more of a straightjacket than a uniform. His pants, on the other hand, were becoming almost revealingly tight, and a hoot from down the table made it obvious the people of Hogwarts were taking notice.

"Mattie…"

There was no mercy in her eyes. "Harry."

"Harry. I`m sorry, it was a bloody unwarranted and an arse of a move, and even if I wasn`t –Merlin`s left eyebrow, Bell!- having the life squeezed out of me, I would be sorry from what she said anyway."

After he`d seen inside Snape`s head once, accidentally watching James unnecessarily torturing him after a test, Harry had been appalled at who his father had once been. But then, an older Remus and Sirius had explained it, and only now did Harry fully understand. James and Sirius were not completely rotten people. Sirius had, after all, had what he thought were James` best interests at heart. If it came down to it, Gryffindor or not, James` son/Mattie`s cousin or not, Harry was sure they would protect him, or at least help avenge him.

"Let him go." Harry said, finally.

"What?" Mattie and Sirius said at once, tones different, confusion shared. She raised an eyebrow, silently questioning whether he knew what he was saying.

"I`m not mad-let him go."

Without another word, Mattie released Sirius from the jinx with a wave of her wand, and turned back to her lunch. Disappointed, the other tables followed suit.

Harry helped his godfather to his feet. "Thanks, mate."

He didn`t say no problem, because according to his fake cousin`s stony exterior, it was quite a problem. As Harry returned to his seat, he found that Remus was quietly inspecting him. Mary and Alice had also put down their forks to stare, but they were gawking in a different direction, at a very different unusual anomaly. Harry followed their gaze, and suddenly wasn`t nearly as hungry anymore.

Perhaps he`d summoned by Harry`s thoughts of his worst memory, or maybe he just had a knack for terrible timing, but either way, standing behind Lily was none other than Severus Snape.

Harry was beginning to wonder if he was cursed with endless bad luck.

"What`s he doing here?" Peter muttered.

Sirius shrugged, clearly trying to win Mattie back over with a subliminal apology she was blatantly ignoring. However, James` eyes never left Snape`s grubby figure.

"I swear to Wizard God, if he is trying to get her to be his Potions partner again, I`m going hex him senseless this time. Lily`s pacifism or not, that snake needs to learn to back off." Alice hissed under her breath.

"Shh, enough threats, you can`t hear what he`s saying." Mary pointed out.

The crowd of Gryffindor sixth years in the immediate area went mute, and Snape`s pitiful pleas were at last audible over the din of the rest of the hall.

"Lily, please…."

"I thought I made it perfectly clear last year, Severus. You made it clear, actually, last year."

"I said I was sorry! Don`t be foolish, Lily, you know between Potter and I that clearly one of us is the lesser of the two evils."

"We weren't talking about James Potter. We weren't talking at all, actually. You were leaving." She stood to leave, the other girls rising with wands clutched tightly at their sides, already poised to spring into bodyguard mode when Lily gave the signal. Alice cocked a single eyebrow, as if requesting permission to hex Snape to oblivion.

Lily called her off with a shake of her head, the message clear. He wasn`t worth it.

As she started to walk off, Snape`s hand darted out and snatched her wrist, tethering her back to him. Lily recoiled and tried to pull free, but as she reached to her pocket to retrieve her wand, he grabbed her free hand as well.

"Please," Snape begged, "You have to listen…"

"No, I don`t."

"Let her go, Snivellus." James ordered, appearing at Lily`s elbow as the entire room fell to a hush. The teachers hadn`t noticed yet, but a gang of Slytherins had come to stand a little ways behind Snape, while the Marauders, Frank, Mel, Mary, Mattie, Alice, Harry, and some other Gryffindors Harry didn't recognize had begun to ready themselves to intervene. In that moment, all arguments were put aside in the name of a much bigger cause to preserve.

Harry was almost hesitant to stand with the others. Snape`s memory was fresh in his mind, but this was obviously not the same situation. But Snape was not the victim this time, Lily was. Although he may or may not have intended it, the horde of future Death Eaters behind him ensured that much. Besides, Harry had years of experience of how cruel Severus Snape could be.

"I don`t remember asking for your help, Potter, and I don`t need it. I can this snake on my own, thanks, so keep your gargantuan ego out of this."

James` face never wavered from its belligerent mask, but Harry, despite not really have knowing his father for that long, could detect the hurt in his features. As James Potter stepped back, Snape took the motion as a sign that Lily had chosen him by insulting his rival.

"This will just take a minute…" Snape`s tug at her wrists and apparent tightening of grip caught Lily off guard. She was registering the transition as Harry saw the Slytherins draw their wands, and in that instant he knew that she would not be able to defend herself by conquering up wandless magic at this point in the time it took for her to ignore James, get free from Snape, and identify the oncoming Slytherin danger. James saw the Slytherins too, but both he and Harry knew anything he did would only worsen the situation on all fronts.

So Harry did something he`d been itching to since, it would seem, before he was born.

He punched Severus Snape square in his greasy face.