A/N: Sorry everything has taken so long, and I can`t promise that everything will get back to normal, partially because normal is essentially an over glorified illusion, but I can say that I am going to keep writing. The story is far from over, and I plan on doing it justice. Thank you, by the way, to everyone who was supportive and sent me such kind reviews and messages in the past months. They really meant a lot, and I`m sorry about how long it took for me to reply.
Some of the tables in the Great Hall still had left over splatters of lunch, but other than that, the house elves had done a remarkable job getting everything presentable again after the brawl. As Harry slid onto a spot at the Gryffindor table between Remus and Mattie, he tried not to make eye contact with the whispering masses who recognized him from The Punching.
"Your first bout of infamy is always the best." Sirius commented, passing the potatoes without even a glance towards the many eyes on them. "I remember mine. First year, after bewitching some of the suits of armor to dance and follow Filch around all day. Amateur stuff, really."
Harry knew about infamy all too well. He didn't know which one was the worst, having everyone think you were the heir of Slytherin, or having them think you killed someone to pretend Voldemort had come back.
"So Pete, did you ask that Ravenclaw girl to the Extravaganza yet?" Remus queried as the Marauder in question blushed visibly.
"No-o. There hasn`t been a good time yet."
Melody and Frank both started to say sympathetic encouragements, but were cut off by an outraged Sirius.
"No good time yet? Wormtail, you`re a Marauder for Merlin`s sake! Where would we be if we had waited for the universe to give us an Extravaganza, or a Quiddich Cup, or enough firewhiskey to make both of those pervious things totally awesome? Just watch, any time can be a 'good time'." Snatching some parchment from Remus` bag, much to Remus` protests, Sirius balled it up and lobbed it at a girl down the table.
The girl looked up. "Yes, Black?"
"You, me, Extravaganza?"
"Oh, I`d love to!" She beamed. "Hold on, I have to go dump Aaron…"
"See?" Sirius said, turning back to Peter as Lily rolled her eyes in disgust, "Easy."
"I`ll catch up with you later, Harry," Mattie muttered, getting up. "The food seems to have lost its taste tonight."
"So, James, who are you going to invite as your date?" Melody asked, tactfully directing attention away from the vacant seat.
Remus elbowed him, smirking. "You know what they say- go big or go home."
"Oh Harry, you`re here! Can I, er, talk to you outside for a minute?" James asked, abruptly changing the subject.
Was his dad mad at him for stepping on his moment and saving Lily? Harry got up and started to follow James out. "Sure."
As they walked, Harry was sure he heard a low "Oooo, Prongsie`s got a crush on the new guyyyy…" coming from Sirius` direction.
"So…" Harry started, once they had reached the corridor, "Why did-"
"I wanted to thank you for what you did, punching Snape and all. I know you probably didn`t know, but you really saved me from a tough situation, and you saved Lily too. I`m not sure how much Mattie told you, but that guy you punched, Snape, is one of those manipulative Death Eater types. Lily would have totally flipped out on me if I had come to her rescue, but someone had to."
Trying to create the outwards appearance of someone being told something important for the first time, he nodded thoughtfully. "He seemed like a real jerk who got was coming to him, especially the way he wouldn`t let go of her."
"He did deserve it, believe me. By the way, I wanted to formally invite you to the third annual Marauder Extravaganza. It`s gonna be next week, on Thursday, the day before the first game of the season."
"The day before? Isn`t that a bad idea, won`t the team be too hung over to play?"
James shrugged. "The game`s at night, and besides, it`s a tradition."
"Alright, well, thanks for the invitation, and don`t worry about the Snape thing."
"Thanks, I really owe you one for that." James smiled, and started to trudge back into dinner.
"Actually…" Harry paused as his father pivoted back. "I need some help acquiring certain objects, and I was wondering if maybe you`d be willing to help me out with that."
Grinning, James nodded. "Of course! When would you be requiring my assistance for this quest of yours?"
"Any time after dinner would be brilliant." He replied, much to James` dismay.
"Aw mate, sorry, I`m scheduled to be serving time in detention after dinner. McGonagall handed it out after the brawl this afternoon."
"Er, that`s okay." Harry said, although it was far from it. He would have been disemboweled last time, if it hadn`t been for James, and was not feeling so lucky this time around.
James studied Harry`s face for a long, thoughtful moment. Was he seeing himself? Or, Harry wondered, was he seeing Lily?
"Hold on a minute. I think I might be able to find someone to help you out in my place."
Without another word or and gesture to follow, James dashed back into the Great Hall. Harry waited uncomfortably, unsure by James` confidence what he was meant to do. He hadn`t quite worked himself up into going after his father when the very person James had been thinking about as he`d stared at Harry sauntered out of the Great Hall, still gnawing on a biscuit.
"What d`ya need, Snake Puncher?" Sirius drawled, some crumbs coming to fall on his undone collar.
The irony of what he was about to say did not elude Harry in the slightest. "I need to gather certain things from around the castle, starting with, um, Mrs. Norris` collar."
Sirius guffawed, sending even more food spouting out. "Why in Merlin`s name would you want to do that?"
Thinking quickly through what he could possibly say that his godfather would believe, Harry finally landed on something that would speak Sirius` language. "I lost a bet."
"Interesting stakes. Alright, first things first, we have to find out where that demon in feline form is at. Luckily for you, I`m a Marauder."
Sirius drew out some parchment from his pocket that, had it been from practically any other boy in the school`s pockets, Harry would have never looked at twice. However, as Sirius drew his wand as well, Harry knew instantly what it was.
"I solemnly swear I`m up to no good."
As the whole school began to unfold on the paper in front of them, the only thing Harry could focus on were the two names hovering right outside the Great Hall.
Sirius Black, and Harry Potter. Harry Potter, the boy who should not exist yet. Like the Sorting Hat, the map knew who he was, and if he didn`t get it away from his godfather, Sirius soon would too.
"Hey, she`s up on the fifth floor!" Harry exclaimed, snatching the map in what he hoped would be written off as overenthusiastic zeal before charging up the moving staircase.
By the time Sirius had caught up with him, Harry was crouched down, peeking around a corner, the map stowed safely in his back pocket.
"How-"
"Shhh…" Sirius muttered, drawing his wand. "Demon cats can sense trouble."
Sure enough, Mrs. Norris` fur bristled; as if she knew the one who had cat-napped her was near.
"Stupefy!" Whispered Sirius, and they rushed around the corner.
The spell had completely missed the cat, who was now scurrying off down a branching hallway. Sirius swore, and they took off in hasty pursuit.
The hallway led to a descending flight of stairs, which was in the middle of moving its landing over to connect with the fourth floor. Mrs. Norris, on the other hand, was making her way up to the second floor by way of the old connecting stair. Upon noting this, Sirius hitched himself up on the banister, and motioned for Harry to follow.
"How often have you done this?" Harry asked hesitantly, joining him.
"Once, after this." He replied, jumping. Harry had no choice but to follow.
Somehow, they didn`t die.
"Stupefy!" Harry tried, but the cat managed to skid around another corner.
Abruptly darting back the other way, Sirius called, "You keep going. I`ll cut it off."
With no other choice, Harry ran on. He almost lost Mrs. Norris down the next corridor, as she took a sharp left down towards the hospital wing, but managed to backtrack, although he lost some ground. It was fortunate he was a Quiddich player, because otherwise he doubted he would have been able to keep up the chase this long.
Speaking of keeping up the chase, where was Sirius? What if he hadn`t been anticipating the Hospital Wing diversion? What if he had gone back to the Gryffindor tower?
Up ahead, there was a loud hiss, followed by several expletives. Harry sprinted over, only to find a battered Sirius pinning Mrs. Norris down inside a helmet stolen from one of the suits of armor.
"Stupefy, you mangy little…" Sirius grunted, and the hissing died down.
"Is she…?"
Sirius tentatively peered through the visor of the helmet. "Hard to tell…It`s dark in there, but by the sounds of it, I think I got her this time."
"Aren`t you gonna lift it up and check?"
"Me? Nah, I value my exceptionally dashing good looks. You, on the other hand, can by all means feel free."
Harry crept closer. "Girls always love some good battle scars."
"You would know, from all those fights and bludger encounters you`ve had in the past week. Why did you take that Bludger for Potter anyway, and throw that punch at Snape? If you just met Lily and James, why go through all that trouble for them?"
Ironically, Sirius didn`t even know half of the trouble Harry was going through for Lily and James at that exact moment. Not just them, but Sirius himself as well. Harry was tempted to reveal it all to his godfather right there, and explain the extent of the heroism. After all, this wasn`t the first time he`d gone back in time to save Sirius, and he`d been pretty understanding the first time. However, Harry reminded himself, the first time Sirius had known his best friend had a son, and that he was in danger to begin with. 1976 Sirius would probably have a good laugh before bringing him down for a more permanent stay at Madam Pomfrey's.
"I guess it was Gryffindor instincts, mostly. Besides, from all Mattie`s told me, it almost feels like I`ve known you for years."
"Oh really? What exactly has Mattie told you about me?"
"You`re…more than just the bad boy persona you like the rest of Hogwarts to see. You do loads of reckless things just for a laugh, and sometimes it goes too far." Did Mattie know about the Snape incident? Had that even happened yet? Harry rambled on, hoping Sirius wouldn`t catch on that the information seemed rather excessive for a cousin of a classmate to know. "…James, Remus, and Peter are like brothers to you, James in everything but genes since you moved in with him, and you`d rather die than betray any of them."
Sirius` eyes flickered across Harry`s features, brow thoroughly furled. Did Sirius like him? It was tough to tell. From the very beginning, there had always been that subtle tension, but even with the Quiddich uniform returned, Harry was still afraid his godfather was holding on to some kind of resentment on James` behalf.
Sighing, Harry submitted, "Look, I`m sorry if my being here disrupted anything at all. I`m trying to fix anything I may have altered, and make things right again."
The helmet rattled again, startling the two back to the primary problem at hand.
"Hold it." Sirius commanded, nodding to the helmet he was currently kneeling on. Harry obeyed, and Sirius began removing his cloak.
"What are you doing?"
Flapping the cloak out in front of him like a matador`s cape, Sirius flicked his eyebrows. "Gryffindoring up."
The helmet gave a kick that almost made Harry lose his hold on it.
"Let `er loose, mate."
As soon as Harry did, all hell broke loose. Mrs. Norris came skittering out, claws blazing, heading directly into the path of the newly instated feline Matador Sirius Black. Luckily, Sirius had his game face on, the one reserved almost exclusively for Quiddich matches and dance battles, and dove into action the second the rim of the helmet left the floor. A brief scuffle ensued, punctuated by yowls and both muggle and wizarding swear words Harry had never heard combined so explosively. It almost looked as if this fight was to be to the death, when Sirius, gasping for breath, managed to burrito Mrs. Norris with his cloak.
"I…hate…cats." He sputtered finally, yanking the collar off the malicious feline and tossing it to Harry.
"Thanks, I-" Harry`s right pants leg erupted in a brief flash of heat, dying as rapidly as it had come on, and as he tried to rationalize what in Merlin`s name had caused it, his hand reflexively reached in his pocket and pulled out the still-warm parchment the stoner Hufflepuffs had given him. The last task had been burned away, leaving in its place an entirely different impossible task.
2. The mirror of Narcissa Black
Chucking the cat aside, Sirius padded over to peer at the parchment. "What`s this? Two? Two! What, is this more of the bet? You`ve got to go gallivanting about again for….my cousin`s mirror? Talk about a hopeless cause. Ha, if you thought the Norris found hard…"
"So you won`t help me?"
"Won`t help you? Of course I`m going to help you! Fat chance you`d stand without me." Smirking, Sirius thumped Harry on the back before heading back down the corridor. "Coming?"
"Oh, absolutely, sure, yeah!" Harry tried to hold back a look of pure joy as he trotted after his godfather.
Just outside the entrance to the Slytherin dungeons, Sirius was putting the finishing touches on their newly transfigured Slytherin robes when trouble came rounding the corner.
"…They`ve been sending out scouts, you see, approaching blokes in Hogsmeade that they think show the right sort of stuff to be considered. Weathersby just got contacted last week, big honor for the whole family."
Not glancing in their direction, Sirius casually snatched Harry`s glasses and shoved them on his own face, shaking his long hair over his more recognizable features in the process. Harry scrambled to disguise himself, frantically combing his unsystematic hair into some form of order while wishing desperately for polyjuice potion. Noticing Harry`s lack of creativity with the disguise, Sirius pointed his wand at him and muttered something Harry didn`t quite catch just as the Slytherins reached them.
"…Once you`ve been proven through the trials- Oi, what are you lot doing?" The tallest in the pack sneered.
"Piss off." Sirius snarled.
Evidently, this was the equivalent of a secret handshake, because the real Slytherins did just that, turning up their noses and leading the way into their common room, not paying Sirius and Harry any further notice, not even as they slipped in behind them. This clearly wasn`t Sirius` first trip behind enemy lines (or he was just a superb actor), and Harry tried to adopt some of his swagger as he followed him up past the large underwater windows.
"Hippogriff no, she is not going to touch my boyfriend`s dark mark and get away with it!" A tornado of Slytherins brushed past them, none of which Harry recognized as Malfoy`s mom. Not that that was surprising, though, because thirty years, as shown in Sirius and Remus, took quite a toll on a person. A tap from Sirius reminded Harry to keep his head down, and instead of continuing down the hall, the boys turned down the short passage the girls had just come from.
On either side of the hallway was seven doors, all identical down to the last snake-head doorknob.
"How are we supposed to…" Harry started, but Sirius had already drawn his wand.
"Accio Narcissa Black`s hairbrush."
Just as Madeline warned, nothing happened. Tracking spells were probably out too, then. However, Harry wondered how far this no-accio ward extended…
He raised his wand. "Accio Narcissa Black`s perfume."
There was a loud smash from the other side of door number three on the left. As they drew closer, the potent smell of wasted money hit them. Bingo.
Harry cautiously placed his hand over the serpentine doorknob, and was more surprised about the fact that his hand wasn`t bitten off than it not budging.
"Here," Sirius drew a knife from his pocket, the knife Harry himself had mutilated beyond repair in the Department of Mysteries, and began to work at the knob. "Never met a lock this couldn`t open."
Why did Harry have to have personally witnessed the downfall of even the inanimate objects in 1976?
Fortunately, those downfalls were much farther down the road, and true to Sirius` word, the door clicked open. Pushing over the broken glass, the door swung to reveal a spaciously gorgeous bedroom, more like something that would belong high in a dragon guarded tower than under an ominous lake.
Unfortunately for the lions in snake skin, this room was guarded by something more dangerous than a dragon. Sitting alert on the bed, wand raised, was a regal blonde, whose dangerously indomitable look eyes brought Harry back once more to the Department of Mysteries.
The Bellatrix seemed to subside a little in Malfoy`s mother as she tilted her head, clearly not fooled by their hastily transfigured disguises. "Hello, cousin dear. I believe you have the wrong room."