Author's Note - I don't really want to get into how frustrating it was writing this, so I won't. Nevertheless, enjoy. As always, if you have any questions about something just ask, I love reviews and interactive readers.

Lets continue?

"Harry," The 5-year-old looked up from where he was crawling from under the bed and smiled at Remus as he stepped out of the bathroom en suite to their hotel room. The man was pulling on a dark button up shirt and was already wearing slacks. "What are you doing?" Remus asked curiously and Harry shrugged, dusting invisible lint off himself.

"Searching for something interesting," Harry answered promptly and Remus raised an amused eyebrow.

"Like…?"

"Well, last time I wrote to Keyoshia she told me that she had asked her daddy to take her to see schools too. They stayed the night at an Inn and Keyo said she found a cat under her bed."

Remus blinked. "A cat?"

Harry nodded happily and Remus shook his head fondly and walked over. He straightened out Harry's shirt collar and smoothed back the little boy's messy hair as much as he could, rolling his eyes when the rebellious locks fell back into their natural arrangement. "I don't think you'll find a cat here but I appreciate you checking." Harry giggled.

"Do I look okay?" he asked, his lips quirked after watching Remus exasperated expression.

"You'll do," the older man teased and Harry pouted even as his father helped him into his dress shoes. "Are you excited?" Remus asked as he did up the laces for the little boy.

"Yes," Harry smiled and he was. It had been a few months since their time with Skylar and Miranda and Remus had finally decided to follow up on the suggestion that he and Harry check out some schools. Harry was too young to attend of course with still two months to go before he even turned six, but the boy was happy to be able to see another magic school besides Hogwarts and the Headmaster of Salem's Institute for Boys had welcomed them with open arms.

While Harry looked forward to the trip in childish fascination (the prospect of some day going to school to learn magic was still a bit of a novelty for him), Remus saw it as more of a learning experience. He'd been startled to say the least when Miranda had even suggested that Harry had an abundance of choices of where to go to school and was now definitely interested in learning how the American schooling system was set up. It was sure to be an experience for both father and son.

(O)(O)(O)

Harry looked up at the large building in front of him with an odd feeling of this situation being familiar. He remembered vaguely the first time he visited Hogwarts, the stunned feeling he had at seeing the ancient castle and looking towards Remus, his new caretaker, for comfort.

Remus was his Papa now and he still looked to him for comfort but this place, as big as it was, was a lot different form Hogwarts. The building looked more like the pictures he'd seen of lighthouses in a book he'd once been read. There was one tall building, circular in shape with two smaller, rectangular buildings attached to either side. It gleamed in a clean, cream colored stone that shinned almost magically (which it likely was) in the light. It was also different from the first time he visited Hogwarts because there was a load of students lounging around on the slopping front lawn.

Most were boys in pressed dark blue trousers and collard white shirts with matching dark ties, but there was the odd girl hanging around in matching uniforms. None of the girls were on their own but either coupled with a boy or with a mixed group of teenagers who looked like they were studying together. They were all older than him but that was to be expected as Remus had told him that you didn't typically start your magical education until you were eleven.

Harry looked up at Remus and smiled when the man winked down at him.

"Excuse me?" someone asked from near them and both turned to a boy, about 16-years-old who was smiling charmingly at them. He had short brown hair and narrowed brown eyes and was one of the only students wearing a full and neat uniform including a cream colored vest and dark blue blazer even in the late May weather. "Are you the Lupins?" he asked politely and Remus nodded.

"We are." The boy held out a hand which Remus took curiously.

"My name is Casey Zook, Mr. Blythe, our Principal, asked me to take you on a tour today before showing you up to his office."

"Thank you, Mr. Zook." Remus blinked obviously having not expected that but appreciating it all the same. Maybe it was the sincerity in Remus' voice but the teens smile became a bit more genuine.

"Please, call me Casey, I'm hardly old enough to be Mr. Zook." Remus chuckled lightly but agreed.

"Of course, only if you call me Remus." Gently and with a comforting hand through his hair, Remus tugged Harry forward and in front of him. "This is my son, Harry, he's the reason we're here. We're from Europe but a friend informed us that school was a bit different here in the States and that I should start think about where to send him. We were curious."

If Casey was surprised it didn't show, he just kneeled slightly so that he was able to look Harry in the eye. "Hi, Harry. Are you excited to see the school?" Harry shyly shook the offered hand but only nodded in response to the question. He was pretty used to talking to children near his own age but teenagers were rather foreign to him. Casey didn't take offense, just smiled, stood, brushed absently the knee he had kneeled on and gestured towards the towering school. "Shall we?"

The small group started up the paved road to the school, Casey chattering on as Harry assumed it was his job to do. "Welcome to Salem Institute for Boys. As the name suggests, we are an all boys school though sometimes the girls form our Sister School, the Institute for Girls, come to visit if they have boyfriends or a study group or want to join a club they don't offer at the girls school. They can stay as long as curfew, and as long as they can confirm they're not cutting classes they have as much free reign of the place as we do. That goes for us, too, if we visit them."

"That's interesting," Remus said looking around and considering the students there. Some looked at them as they walked by, a few of the younger student and the odd older girl waving cheerfully at Harry to which he blushed and waved back. "Do you know why there are two schools rather than one? I mean, you're allowed to have almost the same amount of interaction."

Casey blushed a little and ran a hand through his hair. "Um, from what I understand, the whole Women's Rights thing was much bigger in Magical America than it was in Magical Europe. While you guys figured, magic is magic whether male or female, we were a little, er, bias. Girls weren't allowed to come to any accredited magical school for a long time. They were taught at home by their mothers or went to local Hedgewitch schools. When they were allowed to join school they proved to be a bit of a distraction, according to the adults." Here Casey grinned though Harry couldn't understand why. Why would girls be a distraction? Sure Keyo and Fleur and even Loretta could be bossy sometimes but they were hardly a bother. "So they separated us again, at least for school hours. It's unhealthy, socially, for us to be completely cut off from one another."

Remus had an amused look on his face and his lips were pressed as if he were trying not to smile. "I see," he drawled and Casey blushed again.

"Anyway," the boy said louder than was strictly necessary as the passed through the front doors of the Institute. "This is the Entrance Hall." Harry squinted at the brightness of the place, not helped by the sunlight pouring in courtesy of the open doors, but otherwise looked around with interest. There was a grand staircase leading up to the a landing but, unlike Hogwarts, there were no suits of armor and the scarce paintings that were on the surrounding walls didn't move. It reminded him oddly of a muggle museum.

"Off to the left is the cafeteria, breakfast is served from 7 to 9, lunch from 11 to 1 and dinner at 5 to 7. It's so that almost no matter when you wake up or when your classes are, you have the flexibility to eat." Remus nodded and Harry peaked through the large slightly open doors of the cafeteria. He could see a few students were lingering from a late lunch at scattered tables, but the rest of the room wasn't visible through the door and so he turned away when Casey gestured again. "On the right is the swimming pool. The first years have the option of taking lessons and then in their second year they can join our open Swim Club. We have a team too, that competes, you know, with other schools."

Remus looked surprised but Harry smiled at the idea of being on a team. "Next to the Pool is the Floo Room."

"Floo Room?" Remus stopped him frowning in confusion. Casey shrugged.

"Some students commute. Not many, mind you, only about 15 percent, for different reasons. A friend of mine, his family owns a large farm, so he has to help out at home after school. Others, their parents are just not comfortable with them staying, though that's mostly for the first years. A few of the 7th years have internships or part-time jobs though, so they leave for work." He shrugged again.

"Besides, the fifth years and above are allowed to go out to the local wizarding village on weekends and Floo is how all the girls get here when the visit. You can buy Floo Power from the school at a discount if you think you'll be leaving-still minding the curfew of course. There's a Regulator in there too, Mrs. Mackenzie. She has a list of the commuters and their destinations, so she can mind where they're going."

"That's rather different," Remus muttered looking a bit stunned. "Brilliant, but different." Casey smiled and led them up the main staircase to the second floor.

The landing wrapped around so that anywhere you looked over the railing you were looking down on the entrance hall and there were many doors lining the walls. "These are all Club rooms," Casey told them. "Music, art, martial arts, and meeting rooms for the outdoor clubs like tennis and soccer, er, football, and Quodpot of course. The girl's Institute doesn't offer some like clubs, like martial arts, so they come here if they want to take that. The same with the guys wanting the join something like Gymnastics or the Equestrian Club."

Casey paused. "It's not really a gender thing," he suddenly said. "The way the clubs are spilt like that. It's more of general interest. If more girls wanted to take martial arts, they'd have their own club there and vice-versa." Remus hummed his understanding and Harry stared at some of the boys playing around as they passed some of the rooms to reach the opposite side of the landing where a narrower and less grand set of stairs. The boys looked at them and one of them grinned enthusiastically.

"New recruit, Casey?" the boy asked and Casey rolled his eyes.

"He's five," he deadpanned. "They're just looking around."

The boy all but pouted which cased Harry to giggle a little at the childish look and gained all their attention. He ducked behind Remus' legs much to older man's amusement and missed when the three teenagers exchanges humored glances. "Come on Harry," Casey said kindly and they continued on their way.

An archway, sequestered between two doors, housed a wide, twisting stairwell that reminded Harry of the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office except that it went much farther up. Straining his neck to look up at all the stairs, he saw they occasionally branched off into a small landing each with a doorway. They trailed up the steps to the first landing.

"This is the third floor, it's completely dedicated to the Library," Casey said, his voice quieter than it had been. He pushed open the door and Harry gasp at the vastness of the room in front of him. He knew that it was probably as large as the entrance hall downstairs and that itself had been amazingly large. A wide window sat on the opposite side of the room letting in a torrent of natural light that fell on what was indeed an impressive Library. The bookcases, higher than any he'd ever seen (and he had to wonder how anyone could get a book from something that high) were in nicely spaced rows on either side of the room. Up and down the middle of the room were work tables that were, surprisingly, rather full with students leaning over them. They stepped in a bit, the door closing with a soft thump behind them and Harry noticed the large counter to the left of them where a woman sat. She was covered head to toe in and odd cloth so that only her face was visible. She glanced over at them as they entered and her eyes crinkled as she smiled warmly before returning to whatever it was doing.

"That's Ms. Hakim (1), the Librarian. The middle of the room, obviously, acts as a study area though in the far back there are some more comfortable chairs and things. The Library has something on just about every subject, magical and non, and if we don't have a book you want, we have an exchange policy with the Girl's Institute and Prospero Academy (2), in New York." Harry wasn't listening much to what Casey was saying at the moment, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the library still. Once he had learned to read, he loved doing so and would have definitely wanted to explore farther had he thought it would be allowed, but there were so many other people there now…

"Why is it so crowded?" he asked softly and Casey actually jumped, not having heard his voice before now. He smiled widely down at Harry however causing the younger to smile a little back.

"It's nearing the end of the year, exams are starting next week. Most people are looking for a place to study because usually they're pretty hard."

"Oh," was all Harry could say at the revelation. Exams? He knew that meant test. Did all school have hard test?

"Harry," Remus called him quietly and Harry obediently followed the two older males out of the room, though he glanced back at the crowd behind him a few times before the door closed. Up the twisting stairwell they went until they reached the next landing, therefore the next floor and was meet by a set of heavy double doors. When Casey pushed these open, they were met by a silence that hadn't even been present in the library.

"These are the first floor of classrooms," Casey explained. "But the classrooms here aren't used during the regular school hours."

"Why?" Remus asked and Harry was curious too. What were the point of classrooms that nobody used? Casey strolled towards one of the door and pulled it open. Inside the room were the normal tables and chairs that you would find in any classroom and up front was a blackboard.

"These classrooms are used mainly for summer school and Mundane subjects."

"Summer school?" Remus asked bewildered at the same time Harry frowned at the world 'mundane'. That was the word Sky and Miranda had used when referring to anything non-magical.

"Yup," Casey said pleasantly. "Some parents, mostly those of muggle-borns were a bit…concerned, when the found out that their kids weren't going to be getting a mundane education, so during the summer the school started offering cram classes to those interested. Not many are really interested enough to go to summer school, just those who think they might not want a magical profession, but some parents make the others.

"How convenient," Remus said sounding impressed. Casey just shrugged.

"This floor is also called the First Bridge. See that door over there?" he asked pointing to the opposite end of the corridor where there was another set of double doors identical to the one they were standing in front of. "It connects the academic building to the dormitories." At Remus' look Casey smiled. "You wouldn't have seen it from the front walk, it's directly behind this building. Eight floors, one for each year plus the teachers, curfew for the first three floors is 8 PM. There are two teachers rooming on each floor for disciplinary reasons and for emergencies. Students are three to a room, each year shares a common room and quiet hours for everyone are from 8 to 6AM." Casey walked them back to the door the came in.

"There is a Bridge on the sixth and eighth floors as well," he told them. "And if you walk out of the firat floor of the dorms, there are paths that lead you to the back entrances of the Caf. And the Pool." The doors shut with a bang behind them and without further ado they moved on and upwards on the stair case. The next three floors were much the same. Classrooms lined a large corridor, these with actual classes in progress or the occasional student lingering about, and Casey had a comment for almost every subject:

"Transfiguration was always a bit easier for me because the teacher is great. We do a lot of theory work in that class so we have a really good base of information to work from."

"Potions is fun but it's like really intense cooking so I'm no good at it and the teacher can be really 'hands-on'."

"The seventh floor is usually the advance classes. Advanced Defense, Advanced Charms, but we also have some upper-class electives like Healing and Spell Crafting."

Upon reaching the eight floor, Harry was a bit winded from the stairs and he could feel the beginnings of his legs starting to ache. Remus, of course, noticed this and hoisted him up on his hip. Casey quirked a smile at them and pushed through the last set of doors. "These are all the staff offices. I always thought it was for convinces sake that another Bridge was here," he said pointing out the double doors once again opposite them. "Since that one leads directly to the staff floor of the dormitories." He gestured them along the corridor and Harry noticed that most of the doors were closed and figured that meant all those teachers were currently teaching. They stopped at a blue painted door, the only one in the otherwise oak door hall, and Casey knocked.

"This is Mr. Blythe's office. I hope you've enjoyed the tour and that any information I gave you was helpful." Remus and Harry both smiled at the boy and Remus reached out to shake his hand.

"You were more than helpful, Casey, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet you." The teen flashed them a disarming smile just as the door opened.

"Ah, Casey," the man there greeted and Harry took in the sight of him. He was much younger than Professor Dumbledore but was still quite a bit older than Mister Sev'rus's. His face was rounded and his nose a bit wide, but he had laugh lines on his face and his voice was gentle and so Harry like him. That and he was wearing a plum colored suit which Harry couldn't help but find a bit funny. "Which means you must be the Lupin's? Come in, come in. I trust that Casey has been polite?" he continued.

"Very," Remus agreed and the man smiled proudly.

"A fine student, Casey," he praised and Harry grinned when the teen blushed.

"Thank you, sir."

"Not at all, son. Thank you. Would you like a note for class or…"

"No, sir," Casey said shaking his head. "I don't have class again until two. I'm going back to the dorms 'til then."

"Of course," Mr. Blyth nodded. "Have fun."

"I will, sir," he smiled and than looked at the father and son duo he'd been with all morning. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Lu- um, Remus. You too Harry."

"Bye," Harry said softly and waved goodbye to the boy as he turned to leave and Casey, grinning, returned the gesture. When he'd disappeared back through the doors, Mr. Blyth ushered them into his office.

(O)(O)(O)

"They're so pretty!" Lianna exclaimed looking through the various pamphlets that Harry and Remus had collected over the past month or so of school visits. Each one depicted moving pictures of the school they represented and it's grounds and inside there were a few notes about the particular school. Most of the information appeared and disappeared quickly in eye-catching flash illustrations but Lianna was much more focused on the looks of the schools themselves rather than the academic information inside.

"Not all of them," Leverett commented lazily picking up one of the pamphlets. "This one is hideous. Who would want to go to this school?" Harry, who was settled in his lap, shook a bit with laugher. He remembered that school, it was rather dreadful. He and Remus were currently back in France for, well, however long Gran deemed was necessary, and both had been excited to show their family the things they'd learned during their time touring American schools.

"This one reminds me a bit of Beauxbatons," Gran said smiling fondly and Harry squinted to see the pamphlet in her hand. That was from the school on Lake Erie and it was very palace like in structure and very majestic inside and out. He'd never seen Beauxbatons up close but knew from the way everyone but his papa could go on and on about it that it was lovely.

"This one," Maribell said pointing. "You said they have Floo commuting?"

"Yes," Remus nodded grabbing the Salem pamphlet to hand to her. "How lovely that everyone be given the choice to leave," she said softly glancing at the cover briefly before turning her attention to Harry. "When we were in school you could commute to Beauxbatons if you wanted to, but only if you lived within walking distance and had your parents permission. It was also one or the other, you couldn't occasionally commute and occasionally stay at the school since they didn't want to go through the hassle of creating the space for rooming the indecisive." Harry nodded, Remus had told him as much. It was one of the ideas he liked most about going to other schools; having the ability to leave at the end of the day and go home. He liked Hogwarts a lot from the little he'd seen of it and knew Mr. Sev'rus and Madam Poppy there but he'd much rather be home with his Papa after classes than only being able to see him during the holidays.

"You've gotten Keyoshia into this whole thing as well," Maribell continued and Harry buried his face in Leverett's chest to hide his smile when faced with Maribell's slightly disapproving look.

"She doesn't really want to go to any of those other schools, she just likes observing the invalids, she says," he protested, voice muffled.

"I know," Maribell drawled. "She's been banned from three place already due to her 'observing'. While usually it would be amusing, she may need allies at those schools one day and she's certainly not getting those by scaring the other children." Silence fell across the table for a few moments before Levi and Lianna snorted, Remus sighed and Gran tsk-ed.

"No business talk at the table," she reprimanded and Harry peaked up just in time to see Maribell roll her eyes skyward.

"It's simply showing concern for the well being of Keyoshia's social skills, mère." Gran hummed disbelievingly and turned to finish making dinner. Remus, shaking his head, followed her. Leverett and Lianna exchanged amused looks but didn't say any thing to a disgruntled Mari as they continued to discuss the unflattering looks of some schools. Harry burrowed into Leverett chest again with a small smile. He'd need to write Keyoshia soon. She hadn't told him exactly what she'd done to various students across Asia (3), just that she was sure to leave her mark.

A/N -

(1) Ms. Hakim - What she's wearing is a khimar, a cloth the covers the head, traditionally worn by Muslim women. Her name is Arabic in nature though I don't think it's typically a surname. Derived from a personal name based on the Arabic word "hakîm", meaning "learned, wise".

(2) Prospero Academy - I picked the name because This was the name of the shipwrecked magician in 'The Tempest' (Shakespeare). I don't know. I was having a moment.

(3) In case you've forgotten, Keyoshia is Russian, therefore she's viewing schools in Asia

IMPORTANT

If I don't get too lazy, I'll be starting editing in the next few days/weeks. Nothing significant will change, but if for some reason you reread from the beginning, please ignore any inconsistencies with times of year or character descriptions, stuff like that. I would like a Beta, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't get one. Any volunteers though…