A/N: Sorry about this. I had to repost the chapter because the first time I forgot to add that I made blue prints for Meadow Haven. If you want to see the blue prints and know where in the house the characters are located, go to my profile and in the first Author's Update there should be a link to my website. Just click it and when you get there open up the image saying Floor Plans of Meadow Haven (it's the last image on the page.) Also on the page are Godric's Hollow blue prints, and some for Grimmauld Place. I used as much of the canon descriptions as possible, and believe me, it took a long time. I'm a very visual reader, so I also have been planning Sirius' Island house while writing also. Happy reading and Happy Christmas!

Chapter 63

When Lily and Harry arrived all they saw of James and Sirius were a dog and stag's rear ends quickly disappearing around the side of the house. Lily chuckled as she started to walk up the drive but Harry hung back to get a good view of his dad's childhood home.

The house was really a Manor-sized dwelling. It was orangey-pink stucco with a grey tiled roof. All the windows and doors were made with white wood and there was an iron gate in front of the breezeway leading into the backyard. The lawn was impeccably tended and the landscaping was still exquisite. The house looked like someone would walk out at any minute and shoo them off the property instead of being empty for nearly twenty years.

Harry followed Lily to the front door and inside. It was huge and every creamy marble surface gleamed. There were flower vases stuffed with real flowers, chandeliers with the white candles lit and glowing, and it smelled like a field of wildflowers.

"Er, mum, why is the house so clean and smelling nice?" Harry whispered.

"House elves," Lily whispered back with a giggle. "Though I'm surprised none of them have showed up to welcome us home," she added. Shouts from the backyard drew Harry and Lily through the foyer and the living room to the open patio doors. Outside they found James and Sirius doing a joyful hug-dance on a pool deck next to the very blue and cool looking pool. Across the pool was a small building next to a very large and elaborate overgrown herb garden. It was so overgrown Harry almost couldn't make out the small greenhouse situated in the back corner of the garden.

"James, did the house elves greet you?" asked Lily. James paused and shook his head no before he reached over and shoved Sirius hard in the back and sent him flying into the pool. James and Harry burst out laughing while Sirius flailed about, getting his bearings straight and spluttering.

"I can't believe…I got you again!" James guffawed. "Every summer!"

"Oh, you think you're so great? Well, here's something I've been dying to try since I was fifteen…Accio James!" Sirius shouted. James, caught up in his laughter didn't hear Sirius until he shouted the dreaded spell and so James screamed while he flew towards Sirius, who was still shoulder deep in the cool, blue water. Harry, still laughing hysterically, pulled his wand out knowing what would be coming next.

"Accio Harry!" shouted Sirius.

"Accio Lily!" shouted James.

Lily went flying while Harry had to sit on the titled deck because he was laughing too hard. He'd sent out a well timed silent Protego to avoid the dunking Lily was now suffering.

"Master James?" asked a small voice from behind Harry, who spun around pointing his wand at the small elf who squeaked at the sudden danger.

"Mitsy?" James called from the pool. He was squinting through the water droplets on his glasses as he headed towards the edge to pull himself up.

"Yes, sir it is Mitsy! I is so happy to see sir! And Miss Lily and Captain Siri!" squealed the elf.

"Captain Siri?" Harry asked with a raised brow as Sirius sidled up to him, dripping water on Harry's shoes.

"I was getting tired of Sir and Mister Black, and I was sixteen. It still sounds nice though," he added with a wide grin before he reached over and pulled Harry into a very wet hug. Harry smacked the man upside his head before he dried himself off. Sirius was left to fend for himself and had some difficulty pulling his wand out of his wet clothes.

"It's good to see you too Mitsy. Are there any more elves here with you?" asked Lily while she dried herself off. As she walked past James she pushed him back into the pool and continued walking.

"Hey!" James shouted as he came up choking on water. Sirius was shaking his head with a grin on his face as he walked past Harry. Harry could see the look on his godfather's face and readied himself. As soon as Sirius' arm shot out Harry grabbed the arm and swung hard. Long story short, Sirius wound up in the pool again next to James while Harry walked behind his mum, who was conversing with Mitsy, with a huge smile on his face. Even more satisfying was hearing Sirius shouting behind him.

"Oh it's on little boy! I will get you in this pool if it's the last thing I do! You will end up in here today at some point! I promise you that!"

Lily, Harry and Mitsy walked into the house and down a small hallway to the kitchen.

"We's been slowly dwindling down to just three house elves Mistress Lily. I's the only female left, then there is Mitsy's mate Jari and us's baby Meelo. Meelo is being here for eight years now and is almost old enough to work on Meelo's own, though…Mitsy is hoping that cuz of the large amount of work Meadow Haven is needing Mistress and Master Potter will allow Meelo to stay on instead of giving Meelo to House Elf Auction?" Mitsy finished speaking and instantly slammed her head against the brick oven next to her.

"Mitsy! Don't ever do that again. I don't want you or any elves to punish themselves in my household, ever. Do you understand or do I have to make it an official order?" Lily said loudly as she gripped Mitsy's shoulders. Just as Harry imagined, Mitsy burst into loud tears and declared Lily to be the greatest Mistress in the world. At the same time James and Sirius finally walked into the kitchen. They saw Lily crouched down and hugging the crying elf and surprisingly stayed silent.

"Now, Mitsy, I'm sure James won't have any problem allowing you to keep your child here. Meelo is very welcome to stay a part of our family, alright? So dry your tears, Meelo can stay. Right James?" Lily asked as she looked back. The look in her eyes said 'agree or you will pay', so James instantly began nodding and saying, "Yes, yeah the kid can stay, I don't care."

"Thank you Master James, Mistress Lily! Meelo will be a good elf, he will be very good at cleaning and cooking and yard work and—"

"We understand Mitsy. I have a couple questions though about the last several years. Where are all the other elves right now?" asked James.

"Oh…Mitsy is sorry to say Master James but the only elves left now is Mitsy, Jari, and Meelo. Jari and Meelo went to Market to buy food. Reisi, Odma, Ipto, and Tober all passed on to the Summerland in the last couple years. They was old and getting unable to do theys duties in the last couple years so Mitsy made Meelo assist them to learn theys duties himself. Meelo can now do pool maintenance, cook, and work the yard nicely, sir," Mitsy said nodding quickly.

"Er, how long ago did the other elves die? And how old is Meelo?" asked James.

"Reisi died first from Doxy Measles from when Odma asked Reisi to help with the attic cleaning four years ago. Odma also died from a Doxy bite that became infected but she died after Reisi. Ipto was just too old and she went in her sleep. Tober was cleaning the pool and a bird flew near him and startled him. I's telling Tober for years, I is, to learn to swim once he got the pool maintenance job, but Tober was one stubborn elf and he ended up drowned. Meelo is being eight years old now sir! Meelo is nearly old enough to leave Mitsy and Jari. The other elves made sure to teach Meelo all there is to know about theys jobs," said Mitsy finally taking a breath.

Just then a tiny elf skidded into the room and ran up to Mitsy.

"Shi shael sai si tasaer, Naneth!" it squealed. (We went to Market, Mother!)

"Thys masti tor!" (for shame child) Mitsy replied harshly. "Our Masters have returned. Elves must speak in theys Masters Tongue when they in front of them!" she said in English. "Cyrn cali Ai varaer mes ei thyr?" (how have I raised such a fool?) she finished in Elven under her breath. The young elf Harry assumed was Meelo blushed crimson and bowed his head.

"I 'pologize Masters and Mistress. Please don't whip Meelo?" he asked tears forming in his eyes.

Harry's heart broke. He stepped forward, crouched down, and took Meelo's tiny hand.

"Meelo, the Potters are an different type of wizard family. See, we don't whip our elves, in fact we never punish them by hurting them, and we even make it an order that any elf in our household is forbidden from punishing themselves as well. Alright?" Harry asked. Meelo stared up at Harry with his mouth open slightly and nodded. Tears leaked out the corners of his bulbous eyes.

"Okay, that's good. My name's Harry by the way, that's my mum and dad, Lily and James and that is Sirius. He prefers to be called Snuffles though," Harry added with a grin. "Commander Snuffles," he added as an afterthought. James and Lily hid their grins behind their hands while Sirius glowered at Harry.

Another elf, this time larger than both Mitsy and Meelo combined popped into the room floating several sacks of groceries. When he saw the humans in the room he stopped suddenly and dropped three bags while he bowed low to the ground.

"Master James! Mistress Lily! Captain Siri! Young Master Harry! You have returned!" he shouted a wide smile appearing on his face.

"Jari! My main elf! It's good to see you again, Edhel Mellon!" James said loudly. (elf friend)

"Master James, yous remembering! I mean Aras Adan," Jari replied with a chuckle. (deer man)

"We need to catch up on everything that has been going on here the last twenty years or so Jari. Why didn't any of the elves leave when Lily and I…er, died, but Kreacher, Sirius' elf, transferred to Harry's command?" James asked as he picked up a couple bags and helped move them into the kitchen towards the icebox. Harry had a feeling that the discussions would take a while and he wanted to see the rest of the house.

"Hey, I have an idea, why doesn't Meelo give me a tour of the house since I've never been here?" Harry spoke up.

"But I wanted to give you a tour of the house I grew up in," James said sadly.

"Why don't the three of you go with Meelo and I'll stay and talk business with Mitsy and Jari, alright?" Lily said.

"Alright!" came four excited voices. Harry followed his dad out of the kitchen and down the hallway back to the foyer.

"Okay, we'll start here. This is the foyer," James said with his arms spread wide. "Kind of boring, so we'll move on this way." He started walking towards a door to the right of the front door. "This is the Study slash parlor. This is also the room that has the entry Floo, I should probably re-instate the Floo soon." He picked up a flowery vase and peered inside before coughing loudly. "And get rid of the rancid Floo Powder," he wheezed. He waved his wand over the vase and Vanished the bad powder before turning back to the people behind him. "Across the foyer is the Library. The room has had an extension charm placed on it and is about two-thirds the side of the Hogwarts Library. A lot of rare and valuable books in there, a couple family trees as well. Well probably check that with your mum later.

"Okay, then, now through here and down the hallway to the right is the Master Bedroom," he explained as they walked into a huge bedroom that was dominated with a huge bed. There were many pictures on the walls of James and his friends, James when he was younger, family pictures with two older people Harry assumed were his grandparents, even a little baby picture of a naked James cooing at the camera with his bum in the air. Harry had a rush of Dursley related déjà vu, but as he saw more images of James and Lily, and one of himself being held by his grandmother at St. Mungo's the feeling passed. These were happy pictures.

"She died just over a year after you were born. Dragon Pox. No one is sure whether you gave it to her or she gave it to you, but you both had it around the same time. We're pretty sure she had it first though. My dad had died during my seventh year. He was still coaching at that point and he'd crashed and fallen from his broom. The injuries were too extensive and they couldn't save him. Dad always said that if he died on his broom, we'd at least know he died happy." James stopped and watched a picture of his parents from their wedding day. Next to it was a picture of her in the hospital bed holding a bundle with a tuft of black hair sticking out.

"What were their names?" Harry asked quietly.

James gave him a surprised look that turned into a sad smile. "Her maiden name was Genevieve Eloise Leveque, but she preferred Elie, dad called her Jelly as his little pet name. My dad's name was Harold Dylan Potter. We actually named you after him, shortened of course." James watched Harry for a moment before he sat on the edge of the bed. Sirius saw James' face and started to back out of the room.

"I'm going to check our old rooms and deactivate any boobie-traps we may have left. Be back in a bit," he said quickly as he dragged Meelo out with him. Harry, engrossed in the images on the wall, barely heard him.

"Harry," James started. Harry turned around. "Come here for a moment. I think we're overdue for a man to man talk." Harry walked over and sat on the lounger next to the bed. "I know you have spent some time with your mum, just the two of you, and I know we were together at Godric's Hollow just the two of us, but I don't know if you've felt like this or not, but I've noticed some…hesitation between us." James paused and Harry interrupted the silence.

"I've noticed it a bit, but I figured it was just because we needed some time to get used to each other and this whole…change," he said cautiously.

"I agree. Well, I sat down and had an introspective morning I guess you could say. I think I realized why I've been hesitant to…not exactly be alone with you, but have a real heart-to-heart. All our discussions so far have been about pranks and school years, your adventures. Not really very personal. I guess I just want you to know, I'm here for you if you need anything. I know you probably don't think you need a dad so much now that you've grown, but I know that after my dad died I had a lot of things I wished I'd talked with him about or asked him, a lot of times I could have used his advice on things like women, being a father, my wedding. I just…I haven't exactly been here for you in the past so I understand if you'd rather I wasn't overwhelming or coddling. I'll be whatever you want me to be; dad, friend, guy you happen to spend holidays with, whatever you're comfortable with. Okay? I love you, and I don't want you to think otherwise. I only want you to be comfortable with our…relationship, I guess." James paused awkwardly in order to collect his thoughts.

"I understand dad. I love you too. And if it makes you feel better, I will definitely come to you for advice if I need it. And I hope you'll be more than just some guy I spend holidays with. I hope you aren't too upset about me not really needing too much else," Harry replied with a worried frown.

"No I'm not upset. I'm just glad you don't hate your mother and me for what we did," James said with a sad smile.

"If I were to hate anyone it would be Dumbledore. And really, his putting you two in a coma isn't why I'm so angry with him. It's his treatment of Sirius and Remus that makes me hate him. They didn't deserve what he put them through," Harry frowned as he shook his head.

"Well, I know we've said it before, but I really am so very sorry he manipulated us so expertly and that you had a difficult life growing up. If I could go back—"

"I'd hope you wouldn't do anything different," Harry interrupted. "My life after you guys 'died'…definitely wasn't the greatest, but I wouldn't want you to change what you did. I'm so grateful to have you and mum back no matter how strange and awkward it is right now. I'm sure it will pass eventually and no matter what I lived through before, I wouldn't change what you two did. So much that has happened to me was affected by the fact that you two sacrificed yourselves for me and if you had changed anything I might not have made it to today," Harry finished.

"Well nevertheless, if I could go back and be here for you I would," James said as he patted Harry on the shoulder. "But since I can't go back in time, we're just going to have to move forward. Now let's finish showing you this house."

"You mean manor. This place is huge!" Harry exclaimed.

"Kid, you haven't seen nothin' yet. Wait till I show you the Dueling Arena," James said as he flung his arm around Harry's neck and guided him out of the bedroom. "Now, there is the living room. It has a bar, which was easy to sneak Firewhiskey from as a teen. We'll go upstairs here and come down the west staircase and circle back around to the kitchen when we're done." James said as he guided Harry up a grand staircase. Not as grand as Hogwarts, or even the Malfoy's house, but still quite impressive.

"When we all spent time here over the summer mum and dad allowed my friends to have their own rooms. That one at the end was Peter's. This one is Sirius'. Mine's down the hall." James was steering Harry away from what had been Peter's room when a loud boom and smoke appeared at the room to their left. Sirius flew out of the room backwards and landed against the railing that blocked him from falling through to the floor below. James ran into the room and then back out laughing wildly. Hearing the explosion, Lily came into the living room below them and called up to the landing.

"What are you boys getting into up there? Are you all okay?"

"Fine! Just dandy. Go back to your tea," Sirius called down. "Bloody hell," he coughed and sputtered. "James you git, are you trying to kill me?" he asked once he caught his breath.

"I'm sorry Padfoot. I completely forgot about doing that spell it was so many years ago. Er, have you gone into Peter's or Remus' rooms yet?" James asked chuckling.

"Nope. Just yours and mine," Sirius responded, holding his gut and wheezing. "Damn, that about did me in."

Harry finally lost it and burst out laughing, "Sirius, you just got pranked from the past."

"I'm, uh…just going to run down the hall for a moment," James said as he started walking to Peter's room. A moment later he returned wearing a grin. "Sirius, I think our old friend had a bit of a surprise at some point. Come check this out." The three guys walked down the hall to the room and when they entered both Sirius and Harry dropped their jaws.

The room was a bit smaller than the Master Suite, but still larger than Dudley's old room, and much larger than Harry's old room had been. The room was actually difficult to see through the destruction. The walls, which had some blue tones under the blackness, looked as if they had taken the brunt of a large blast. On one wall however was a perfect silhouette of a small, chubby figure with his arms raised up in surprise. Posters hung from one or two corners, flapping loosely. Books, comics, and even a newspaper or two had been torn and pages littered the room's floor and other flat surfaces. The bed mattress was tipped over and leaning against the wall and the bed frame was cracked in half like someone Dudley's size had sat really hard on it. The desk was also cracked in half, drawers flung out and spilling their contents. A deck of exploding snap cards had gone up in a cloud and spread around the room, little black circles surrounding each charred card. Cave-like drawings were carved into every surface displaying gruesome death scenes, all depicting rodents of various sizes.

"Whoa! Bloody Hell! What happened in here? This is not what just happened in my room," Sirius said as he gazed around the room.

"I know, look at this," James said as he pointed to a paper stuck to the closet door, which was hanging off its top hinge. Harry leaned close and read out loud to the other two.

"Pettigrew- I've been spending time with Sirius after 12 years of Azkaban and a year on the run, and I know you cannot return to the Weasley's now that your secret form has been revealed. I thought of where you might go and this was one of the possibilities. I know the charms and wards of the house can only be changed by a Potter and that means until Harry is able, you are still capable of returning here. At least until you die. Hopefully in a horribly painful manner, preferably by your 'Lord'.

"You have no right to return to the Potter's home. They took you in with all of us and loved you as much as they possibly could and look how you returned that. You have forever lost the right to return here. I have informed the elves here that if they see a rat, they are to kill it violently. Drown it, behead it, rip its limbs from its body, or feed it to a manticore, anything that would cause it pain, agony, and despair. I only hope that if they do catch a rat, it's you.

"I've never been a violent person Pettigrew. I've never had the desire to kill anything…until now. What you did to Harry and Sirius is so ghastly and so horrific I don't even know how you can live with yourself. Lily and James didn't deserve what you did to them. I hope the guilt eats you alive every day of your existence. Especially knowing that Harry of all people is the only reason you still live. I actually wish you dead and that fact tears me up inside because for almost 13 years I actually felt bad for you and remembered you in good light. I visited your grave when I visited James and Lily. I even visited your mother in the hospital before she died. And now? Now I find out it was all a facade. My feelings for the last 13 years have been false and mislead, and it's all because of you. And for that, you will never have my forgiveness.

"If I were there with you right now…I'd really enjoy the next five minutes. Goodbye Pettigrew. I hope you die painfully.

"Moony.

"PS: Marauder Declaration # 273: In regards to Marauder Rule # 12: any Marauder to betray another Marauder is subject to any punishment prearranged by at least one other member. Therefore, due to the utter betrayal resulting in the deaths of Prongs and his wife Lily, Peter Pettigrew, formally known as Wormtail, has renounced his right to the Marauder Legacy. His punishment has been decided by Moony and is as follows: henceforth, every time someone uses the nickname 'Wormtail', he will suffer violent, explosive diarrhea and itchy spots on his willy for an hour. From this day forward he will suffer burning desire every time he is near a female that has a Dark Mark, yet he will forevermore be unable to perform sexually, either with a female or alone. Every time he uses the names James, Prongs, Lily, Harry, or Potter he will feel a stabbing pain in his chest. From this day on, Peter Pettigrew is an enemy of the Marauders and as such will suffer the consequences forever more. So it is Declared, so it shall be. Signed, Moony."

"Damn Moony," James said. Harry let loose a low whistle while Sirius burst out laughing. They stared at him until he was finished.

"That explains so much. Remus cursed him…so that every time someone used the name Wormtail he'd suffer. That means anyone who was talking about Peter or to him and said his nickname he'd get diarrhea and the Weenie Pock curse," Sirius burst out laughing again. "Remus never said Peter, he always said Wormtail after that." Sirius roared in laughter.

James joined him and Harry joyfully remembered every dream he heard Voldemort called him Wormtail.

Once they all calmed down Harry asked, "What did he mean by Marauder Declaration?"

"Well, we had a book on a bunch of things we did or talked about, pranks we pulled, basically a compilation of all things Marauder. We had a list of rules, and we made Declarations, which are like a vow or oath that pertains to a group of people. That's also why it sounded so formal," James said. "We'd declare things like, the winner of a prank war got to use the loser as a personal slave for a day, and any Marauder who broke a secret had to chew on the sock of the Marauder the secret was about. Like, if Sirius broke a promise to me, he'd have to chew on my sock for ten minutes, or he'd suffer the consequences which were usually something embarrassing or equal to their error of judgment. Does that make any sense?" he asked.

Harry slowly nodding his head asked, "And where is this book now?"

James and Sirius looked at each other. "Last I heard you had it," James said.

"Well last I remember Remus was going…going to have Peter hold on to it," Sirius said, horror etched on his face. "If he gave it to that rat we may never find it again!"

"What were we thinking giving it to Prefect Remus?" James asked with his hands pulling his hair back.

"Guys, we can just ask Remus' portrait when we get back home," Harry said which had the instant effect of calming the two older men. "I hope he remembers where it is. I'd like to see it."

After they asked Meelo why the room was so messy still, the young elf saying Mister Moony had requested that the elves leave Peter's room alone so they didn't set off any traps, they continued down the hallway to Sirius' room. Harry peeked in after James and Sirius wandered in the door and he was surprised to see vivid green and silver colors, several anti-Gryffindor posters (one containing a serpent wrapped around a struggling lion squeezing it until it was motionless) and Slytherin Power regalia donned the walls as well.

"Look at that," James pointed to a giant stuffed Cobra on the bed.

"Was that…? That was Fin? You changed Fin into a slimy snake? How could you?" Sirius whined.

"Grow up, Padfoot. It'll all change back when you say the password," James said taking incredible delight in watching Sirius spin as he took in every corner.

"Password?" Harry asked. James ducked a swing from Sirius, who had ceased his survey of the room and lunged for James, who grabbed Harry and used him as a shield.

"Come on Padfoot, old mate, you remember what to say," James cried gaily as he ran in circles around his son, attempting to escape Sirius' grasp.

Harry not knowing what to do, but not able to get away from the grown children using him as a pole and shield, stuck his arm out straight and clotheslined the first person he could, James, which triggered a chain reaction. James went down suddenly, which Sirius wasn't expecting, so he also went down on top of James. The two, abruptly finding themselves stationary and horizontally stacked atop one another, flailed about to remove each other from the pile, which in turn knocked over Harry.

"Why the bloody hell does this keep happening to me?" asked Harry as he pushed up off Sirius to stand back up.

"Don't know kiddo, maybe you should stop knocking people over. But whatever, it's just a thought," Sirius said with a smirk. Harry reached down and pulled James to his feet.

"So, what's this password Sirius is so reluctant to say?" Harry asked. James grinned and just gave Sirius a pointed look. Sirius sighed.

"…" Sirius said quickly and under his breath. James burst out laughing when nothing in the room changed.

"Looks like you're going to have to enunciate, mate," he said.

Sirius gave James a death glare before taking a deep breath. "Minerva-McGonagall-is-the-dreamiest-witch-alive-and-I-want-to-shag-her-brains-out," Sirius said very quickly. Harry and James were on the floor laughing almost instantly. Sirius was sitting on the bed with a large stuffed lion cub petting its tiny dark mane. Harry recognized it from a popular children's movie and hid his grin. He and James tried to get Sirius to put the stuffed animal down and join them, but the man wasn't budging.

"Well, since Sirius is ignoring us, we'll leave him here while we go on and look at the rest of the house," James said, picking himself up off the floor. He grabbed Harry's arm, linked it with his own and dragged his son out the door. Sirius chuckled as he stood up to follow them across the hallway and into James' room. They didn't take long since James had moved much of his stuff to Godric's Hollow and all that remained was furniture and several posters and trinkets. A medium sized photo of James and Remus standing side by side was framed and hanging above the desk. They were dressed in their school robes, a shiny badge on each of their chests. James' was the Head Boy badge and Sirius' was the Quidditch Captain.

Above the door was a graffiti painting with four signatures surrounding the words 'Marauders 4 Life.' As they exited the room, Harry saw a faint outline of a stag on the door frame near the handle. He glanced across the hall and could just make out a hairy dog on the frame of Sirius' room. Both carvings were small, easily missed in the grain of the wood if one were just glancing past.

"That door leads to my personal bathroom, and down here is the young people's sitting room. Generally my parents didn't come up here much, they ventured up here occasionally to see us for whatever reason or to tell us to clean our rooms and yell at us for some prank. That door there leads to a balcony overlooking the pool deck. And down there is the dining room. Hello, Lily, my love," James called down from the balcony looking down into the room below.

"Hello, James. Harry dear, are you enjoying the tour? Are your father and Sirius behaving themselves?" she asked. Harry could see her sitting at a table with the two adult elves cups of tea in front of them all.

"Yes, mum. We're behaving," Sirius called down. Harry chuckled as he saw her shake her head.

"We'll be down soon, love. Save us some tea," James said.

"Hey, James," Sirius whispered. "Remember when Ma called us down to dinner one night and instead of walking down all those stairs I just leapt over the railing and landed next to the table?" Sirius said quietly. James chuckled into his fist.

"I remember and Lily will kill you just like mum almost did. My advice is don't…just don't," James said stopping Sirius as he placed his hands on the railing and lifted a leg over. Sirius thought for a moment and then pulled his leg back onto flat ground.

"That's the last thing I need, come back from the dead so my best mate's wife can kill me for scaring her," he said. "Oh well, next time I'll grab her wand before we head up here. Let's go downstairs. I can't wait to show him the Arena." The two grabbed Harry by his arms and dragged him across the room to a staircase, down the stairs and into a hallway.

James let go and pointed to a door saying, "That's a storage room with a joined toilet, where the elves do laundry. Down that hallway is the rest of the house. That door leads outside, and this door…This door leads to the best room in the house aside from the kitchen. Before we enter a bit of family history. Sirius, go in and set up." Sirius grinned and entered the room, carefully so Harry wouldn't see inside.

"My maternal grandfather, Henri Leveque married Katharine Spinks. They moved here and built this house and had a few kids, the youngest being my mum, your grandmum. Grandad Henri was born around the time that men, Muggle or Wizard, joined the army and served for several years. After he was discharged he became an Auror. He needed a room to work out in, run simulations, basically practice and keep his skills sharp. So he created this add on to the house after a while. It has a dueling Arena, separate mother-in-law apartment upstairs which turned into Remus' room, and a detached Potions lab. Now that you know that, let's go in and see you in action," James said as he pushed Harry to the door.

When Harry entered the cavernous room he had a few moments to look around. What he saw astonished him. It was like walking into an army boot camp mixed with a grade school gymnasium. There were obstacle courses, climbing rock wall, a running track, and a small platform that was roped off. The area inside the running track had dirt and sand for the ground and everywhere he looked there were large boulders and random standing walls with spell burns and long gouges. There was even a junked Muggle ice cream truck with a tire and doors missing. Off to the side were several set of weights, chin up bars, and stretching mats. Far across the room was even a gymnastics station with uneven bars, rings, and a balance beam.

The room itself was huge. It could easily fit four basketball courts side by side inside the track. There were also curtains that could be lowered to block off certain sections from the others.

Harry gaped at the room for a few moments before a spell shot out from behind a wall. He instantly dodged away from the spell and the three guys began their games. Harry had the disadvantage of not knowing the room well enough, so he scanned it as he backed away into the corner, shielding from spells, and hid behind a set of weights. He thought about tactics and an idea popped into his head.

A half an hour later, Lily opened the door to the Arena and saw James, practically naked and hanging on the rock wall, struggling to hold a shield up as Harry pounded him with spells from two wands. Sirius was hanging upside down from the gymnastics rings in a cocoon made from his and James clothes.

"What the hell is going on in here?" she asked. Her voice caused James to lose concentration and a spell from Harry got through his shield, knocking him down the twelve feet to the ground. Harry caught him with the same movement arresting spell Dumbledore had used on him several years before, stopping him from landing nose first onto the rubber floor below. Seeing James fall, Lily shrieked.

"Dad and Sirius were just showing me the Arena," Harry said with a laugh.

"And getting our arses handed to us," James muttered as he stalked over to Sirius. Harry and Lily laughed as they walked out of the arena. She showed Harry the Potions lab, which was mediocre at best. Most of the stored ingredients had gone bad, so the two Vanished several jars worth of rancid wet ingredients that could harm the elves and then called an elf.

"Jari, could you please clean the lab? We removed all the harmful things. Just remove the contents of all the jars on the table. The ones on the shelves are to be left alone. Once you've finished emptying them, please clean them thoroughly and place them back on the shelves," Lily said carefully. "I'd do it myself, but we need to be returning to Grimmauld Place soon." Jari nodded his head and started to work.

James and Sirius finally stuck their heads in and asked, "You guys done in here?"

"Yep," Lily replied as she walked to the door. Harry followed them all through the Arena and into the kitchen. James had a grand time showing Harry the brick-and-fire pizza stove and telling the story of how he'd gotten his parents to put it in after an outing into the Muggle world where he and Sirius tried pizza for the first time.

Near the stove was a door, Harry assumed was a pantry, but when he opened it he found a narrow staircase.

"Dad, where does this lead?" he asked.

"Well, that leads down to the elves quarters. They have a room and a bathroom; I've never really gone down there. My parents made it very clear to me that the elves quarters were off limits," James said with a shrug. Harry, getting the hint, shut the door.

"What's that little house thing out there?" he asked as he pointed across the pool deck.

"The pool house. It has changing rooms and a bathroom, and a sitting room with a fireplace, we never really used it much since we all could just change in our rooms and run down. Mum hated it when we came in afterward though and dripped water all through the house. That's why dad built the stair case on the side of the house. We could bypass the whole house and go straight to Peter and Sirius' rooms by the balcony."

"Oh James, I wanted to check on the green house and garden. Mitsy says that no one has really done anything with them in years," Lily said. The two headed outside, while Harry stayed in the kitchen and Sirius wandered to the living room.

"Harry, come here," Sirius called. Harry put down the Spellman's Cookbook he was glancing through and went to find Sirius. As he entered the living room he saw Sirius standing at the bar pouring a shot of whiskey.

"Er, is that safe to drink Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Bottle wasn't opened yet. Here, join me for a toast," Sirius said as he picked up his glass. Harry reached for the other glass on the bar but as soon as his fingers touched the glass he felt the tug of a Portkey. The last thing he saw was Sirius laughing his bark like laugh.

His arrival outside was announced by a loud splash and spluttering, quickly followed by, "SIRIUS!"

Elven Language to English

Shi shael sai si tasaer, Naneth! - We went to Market, Mother!

Thys masti tor! - For shame child!

Cyrn cali Ai varaer mes ei thyr? - How have I raised such a fool?

Edhel Mellon! - Elf friend!

Aras Adan - deer man

A/N: Okay everyone! First off, My mom is doing well. She's not 100% in the clear yet, but she's at least out of the hospital now. On a different note my grandma was just diagnosed with Bladder Cancer, so please keep my family in your prayers. We all appreciate it.

I'm done with my semester, 5 B's and an A...WOOT! I'm one GPA point away from a 3.0, for anyone who cares or knows what that means. And I have an end is sight finally! By this time next year I will be a University Graduate! I've only got my senior studio and independent study classes and a few studio art classes left. What I'm going to do with my degree...I have yet to decide...

I hope everyone has a great holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanza, Yule, or don't celebrate anything (I don't know anymore and I'm a little too busy at the moment to look them up...). I shall return after the holidays some time. Please review! Thanks!