The house was silent and it worried her. She had left the men home alone nine hours ago when she had gone to start her shift at the hospital. Closing the front door behind her she moved to place her keys on the table, sticking her head into the sitting room to see if they were there. Judging by the state of the room, cushions all over the floor and empty butter-beer glasses all over the table, the boys had been in here at some point. Lily grabbed the glasses from the table, straightened the cushions and went to the kitchen to deposit the dishes before she continued on her search for her husband and his friends. She was just about to go check the basement, when she heard pounding from up above the kitchen, where Remus and Sirius' room was. Taking the stairs two at a time, her eyes tumbled upon a an open Hogwarts envelope that had most likely fallen out of one the boy's grasp.

The laughing and howling grew louder as she neared the door— hesitant to go in. She slowly pushed the slightly cracked open door to reveal a mess of a room, with feathers amongst other things floating down from the ceiling— the three Marauders distributed beneath the canopy they had created. She stifled a laugh as she saw the current state of James, who was laying on the floor covered in some sort of goo, feathers attached to him in odd blotches all over his body. His hair had changed colour too and had gone from being an unruly mop to a long flow that did him no justice.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" she teased as she walked over to brush him off. "I've never met such an…interesting intruder."

"Ha-ha, so funny," he joked, eyes rolling as he too patted himself down.

After realizing that not only was her trying to brush off the feathers a waste of time but that it was inconvenient given her status as a witch, she pulled out her wand and blasted all the goo off, leaving James looking only slightly better than before.

"Thanks," he said, before he felt the top of his head. "What did you do?" James asked, before trying to spot a mirror in the room. He found one nearest the wall, a shocked expression creeping across his face when he realized his hair was gone. "Put it back, Lily."

"No."

"Yeah, Prongs. The woman said no, and besides— its about time you realized your fate," Sirius grinned, walking up next to his best mate and tapping his own wand on James' shoulder, changing his clothes from their current state to some more ancient looking robes. "Much better."

Remus, who was trying to hold back his own laughter in the corner, lost complete control at the sight of James in his 'old attire', and fell over.

"I can't….even… Prongs… old…. make it stop…" he gasped between howls.

They were all on the floor in a matter of moments, James pretending to be the old wizard he looked the part of, imitating the way his own grandfather walked and talked.

Lily picked herself up first, suddenly remembering the crumbled envelope in her hand. James, Remus, and Sirius slowly followed. James transforming himself back to his original self, Remus and Sirius taking control of the cleaning of the room.

"So what exactly caused all of this?" Lily asked the Marauders.

"Well, uh…" Sirius said, looking to James and Remus for help.

"It's funny you should ask that…" James started.

"We got a letter," Remus took over. "From Professor McGonagall…"

"They don't happen to send out 'Happy Halloween' letters to families do they?" Lily asked hopefully. They all shook their heads in a 'no' response. "Just tell me he didn't do something stupid that would even slightly resemble him following in your footsteps, James."

James just looked at her with a big smile.

"I need to sit down," Lily said, her head shaking. She settled down on the foot of Remus' bed. "Remus?"

"There was a little mishap tonight, involving Harry," Remus continued. "A mountain troll got into Hogwarts..."

"Just give her the letter, Remus," James said calmly, taking in Lily's expression.

He passed her the folded letter, which she opened quickly, her eyes tearing across the page.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,

Tonight during the Halloween Feast at Hogwarts our DADA professor, Professor Quirrell, who proceeded to inform the hall that there was a troll in the Dungeons of the castle before he fainted and was knocked out, interrupting our meal. This of course caused an uproar amongst the students who were rightfully terrified of the situation. The students were instructed to follow the heads and prefects back to their dormitories and wait there for confirmation of situation before leaving for evening study. The staff went down to the dungeons to search for the intruder, but to no avail as by this time it had moved to a different part of the castle. A short while later,Severus Snape, Professor Quirrell, and myself found the troll in one of the girl's lavatory on the second floor. Upon entering we found your son and two of his fellow first-year Gryffindor's standing around a knocked out Mountain Troll. I assure you that your son and his two friends are not harmed physically but that they have been talked to thoroughly about their intentions there tonight.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"He fought a troll?" she asked in disbelief to no one in particular.

"And knocked it out!Take that troll," Sirius exaggerated, knocking over Remus with a jab of his wand for dramatic effect.

"Harry sent us a letter too," James said eagerly— handing her the second of the two letters.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I know Professor McGonagall has already written to you but Ron and I only went after the troll because our new friend Hermione didn't know there was a troll. We went to warn her but the troll was already there— we had to help her. Ron used a new charm we learned, the levitation charm to knock it out by levitating its club and dropping it on its head. I tried to deal with it by jumping on its head (my wand got stuck in its nose) but then it grabbed me and started swinging at me— at least it was giving Hermione a break. It probably seems stupid, and Mum, sorry for startling you, but we had to— we had no choice.

Hope to still see you both at the Quidditch game next week, I'm excited to see you!

Love, Harry

"I don't know whether to be mad, or grateful that he is who he is and went to save that girl…" Lily laughed.

"Let's go with grateful. He still has 7 years to wreak havoc on the place— I'm sure there will be plenty of time to actually be mad at him," James chuckled back.

They appeared on the school's borders with ten minutes to go till match time. Sirius and James were dawning their old Quidditch sweaters that they had dug out of James' closet, while Remus and Lily were merely wearing their Gryffindor scarves over top of their wool coats.

Sirius, who hadn't seen the school since his graduation day, marveled at its beauty from afar.

"Still as magnificent as it was the first time we rode up on those boats, isn't it?" he said to no one in particular.

"It sure is," Remus echoed.

The students were pouring out from the castle down to the Quidditch stands, each house sitting in their own section, ready to cheer the teams on. A few staff members were trickling out of the great oak doors behind the final few straggling students. From afar Lily recognized two of the staff members as Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, both of whom were slightly jogging to make it to the field on time.

"Running a little late aren't they?" Remus chuckled, both professors looking kind of out of place jogging down the grounds.

"So are we!" James exclaimed, grabbing Lily's arm and dragging her down to the field, Remus and Sirius trailing behind trying to catch up.

They reached the entrance to the stands at the same time as the Professors, who both lit up when they saw their company.

"I'm glad you all could make it," Dumbledore said, his eyes shimmering. "Would you care to join Professor McGonagall and I in one of the staff stands? Unless you had other seating arrangements of course…"

"That would be lovely, Professor," Lily answered, falling into step behind Dumbledore as she chatted away with McGonagall all the way up the rickety wooden stairs to their seats. James settled in next to Lily, with Remus and Sirius sitting just a row behind them. At the front of their box, was the young Gryffinodr announcer who McGonagall was fussing with, undoubtedly arguing over the way he planned to announce the rival teams.

"Now, Mr. Jordan, as we discussed earlier and countless times before that," they heard her whisper harshly as the team gates were creaking open.

"And Gryffindor is out of the gates, Quidditch Captain, Oliver Woods flying out first and looping around his end. Beaters, Fred and George Weasley follow, flanked by Gryffindor chasers: Angelina Johnson, she's a fiery girl that one…"

"Jordan!"

"Alicia Spinnet, another catch if you know what I mean…"

"I'm warning you…"

"And Katie Bell, equally as attractive! And finally the newest player on the Gryffindor team; the Boy who Lived; the youngest seeker in a century— Harry Potter!"

Lily and James caught sight of him first, on a broomstick neither of them recognized to be one of the school's. James turned to look around at Remus and Sirius, with a questioning look, but both responded stating that it wasn't them. He turned back to the game, still eager to find out who had purchased the latest broom model, but was instantly intrigued by his son's flying— it really was quite good for one who had never been on a broom before a couple of weeks ago.

They heard the boos around the pitch as the Slytherin Team made their appearance known on the field. It seemed as though only their house was rooting for them, as the 'boos' could be heard from a good three quarters of the stands.

"I see their popularity hasn't taken any hits in recent years— still as poor as ever," Sirius snidely remarked.

"Madam Hooch has taken to the Pitch… the Quaffle has been released and the game has begun!" Lee Jordan excitedly announced.

They watched for a while as Gryffindor rallied up the score, sending the quaffle through the Slytherin hoops.

"Is he supposed to just sit around up there?" Lily asked, quite a few minutes in after observing Harry fly around aimlessly way above the field.

"He's waiting for a spotting of the snitch," James muttered out of the side of his mouth— his eyes remaining on Harry the whole time. "He's spotted it!"

He stood a little as Harry made a sort of dive, but Harry pulled out of it just as quickly as both seekers were momentarily distracted by the abuse happening down in the Gryffindor end— the Slytherin captain had just knocked Oliver Wood off of his broom with a bludger!

"That's misconduct! Penalty! Penalty!" Sirius bellowed, hollering at Hooch to no avail.

They watched more silently as the Slytherin team managed to put more and more goals away with the absence of a defending keeper, but their attention was quickly drawn back to Harry as he began shooting across the pitch, the other seeker just seconds behind him.

"What's he doing?" Lily asked James.

"Chasing the snitch of course— he's seeker, Lils," James said, slightly disappointed by Lily's lack of knowledge.

"So his broom's supposed to be having a sort of seizure then?" she asked, bemused.

"What?" James asked, his eyes starring intensely at Harry. "Wh-what's happening?" He was standing now.

"So that's not normal?" Lily questioned further.

"No, not at all— it's been jinxed, or cursed… He's lost control completely…" Remus muttered, his concentration directed at Harry.

Lily, finally getting the information she was dreadfully seeking, buried her head in her hands, only looking out at her son from between the cracks in her fingers.

"Come on, Harry," James was muttering repeatedly, as he rubbed a comforting hand on Lily's leg, trying to calm down his own nerves as well.

Behind them Sirius and Remus were standing up, repeating their own words of hope for the boy whose hands were slowly slipping from the broom in which he was dangling from, midair.

"Hold on, Harry! Come on!" James yelled, multiple times before he finally let out a sigh.

Lily, having heard this, immediately freed her vision, turning to James abruptly. "Is he ok? He didn't fall did he?" she asked timidly.

"Yes, and no, look, he on the chase!" James said ecstatically.

He joined Remus and Sirius towards the back of the stands, where he could stand without blocking anyone else's view.

"Did you see that? He's a rocket!" James exclaimed as Harry darted around the pitch.

"Go Harry go!" Sirius and Remus exclaimed at various points through the pursuit.

"Come on, sweetheart!" Lily exclaimed as Harry and the seeker came barreling towards the stands before diving down.

They all rushed forwards with the rest of the staff to the edge of the box eager to see the two seekers. Lily tightly gripped James arm as she watched how fast he was flying down to the hard ground below.

The three Marauders whooped when they saw Harry pull off an advance Quidditch move pulling out of his dive just inches from the ground, something the other, older seeker was incapable of as he tumbled to the ground. They were on their toes as Harry stood on his broom as it raced just above the ground, following the shiny metallic ball.

"He's almost got it… come on Harry!" James and Sirius yelled simultaneously.

"You got it, Harry!" Lily screeched beside them.

She jumped, scared, when he stepped forward, tumbling off of his broom and rolling over onto the field.

"Get up, Harry, come on, get up," she said, her heart beating fast.

She settled down when he finally stood up, but got worked up again when he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Oh, Harry," she muttered, before taking off down the stairs.

"Lils!" James yelled, but she waved him away, and he diverted his attention back to the game with Remus and Sirius.

"Harry Potter's got the snitch!" they heard Lee Jordan announce loudly over the speaker as Harry coughed up the little gold ball and raised it high for everyone to see.

"Take that Snape!" McGonagall yelled across to where they guessed her colleague was sitting. As she turned to leave, she caught their smirks of disbelief. "Say nothing— I've been waiting to beat him for years…"

They watched in astonishment as she swept away down the stairs. "Well let's go congratulate him!" Sirius exclaimed, tearing off after her.

"Snape was jinxing my broomstick?" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione who were huddled around him— their heads tightly together.

"I'm sure of it. In order to do it properly you have to have complete concentration and Snape wasn't blinking," Hermione said, sure of herself.

"Well thanks then, for stopping him, Hermione— I guess our victory belongs to you too," Harry said.

Hermione merely blushed in response, while Ron gave her a brief smile of congratulations.

"What are those three doing?" Sirius asked, having finally caught up to Lily who was eagerly waiting for her son to be finished. She was watching the three and their hushed conversation from a little whiles away, her head tilted slightly, confused.

"Not a clue," she muttered back. "They all seem so serious about whatever it is though. Those two reached him as soon as he came out of the change room, been in deep conversation ever since."

"What's the hold up?" James asked loudly, coming up behind Sirius and Lily. He followed their gaze, where he finally caught sight of Harry. He smiled brightly before bounding over to his son. "Harry!"

The three looked up from their conversation upon hearing Harry's name.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed, dropping his broom from his hand and running towards his father who enveloped him in a great hug. "You made it!"

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world, champ," James said fondly, pulling Harry in tighter. "We've missed you around the house, Harry."

"I've missed you guys too," Harry said, pulling away from his dad. "Where's mum?"

"Harry!" Lily exclaimed, rushing over to him from where she had been standing with Remus and Sirius.

"Mum!" he said excitedly, rushing into her arms.

"Harry, oh darling, I've missed you. You played wonderfully today— scared me half to death, but wonderfully."

"Thanks," he said, a smile stretching across his face upon finally seeing the two people he loved most dearly in front of him again. His eyes caught a glimpse of Ron and Hermione behind him in the reflection of his dad's spectacles. He turned around eagerly with a grin to his parents before grabbing his two friends and pulling them forward. "Mum, Dad, this is Ron Weasley and this is Hermione Granger," he said proudly.

"It's nice to meet you both, we've heard a lot about you," Lily said, shaking hands with the eager young witch and wizard who appeared simply delighted to make their acquaintance.

"I didn't believe it at first when Harry said you were alive…" Ron said to Lily and James who merely chuckled at him.

"That night, we didn't believe it either," James responded wholeheartedly. "It really is great to meet the two fellow troll hunters."

He watched it amusement as the three kids faces fell and they started turning towards each other, searching for an explanation to give.

"It was all my fault…" Hermione began to explain.

"I didn't mean it, but we had to once we knew…" Ron tried to mutter out.

"We know it wasn't smart, but we really did have to…" Harry continued.

Lily and James looked at all three of them, trying to follow the three children as they told their various stories.

"Should we let them continue?" Lily asked in a low whisper to James.

"Nah, they've had enough," he responded. "Woah, kids, it's ok. We're not mad."

"Anymore," Lily added, as she sent a slightly stern look Harry's way.

"Right," James said, trying to be stern. "Anyways, Harry, we have some people who we would like you to meet. Remus! Sirius!"

"Harry, pleasure to meet you," Remus said, his hand outstretched which Harry took immediately. "Your mum and dad don't do you justice-you played remarkably tonight."

"Thanks."

"Harry, this is a very good friend of mine, named Remus Lupin. We went to school together and shared a dormitory— much like you and Ron. He's been living with us since September so you'll see him when you come home for Christmas. And this," James said, pulling Sirius into the conversation, "is another one of my best-mates from school: Sirius Black."

"I was the handsome bloat on the front page of the Daily Prophet a while ago!" Sirius said excitedly before turning to look at Harry. "It's been a long time. Missed ya, kid," he added, messing up Harry's hair.

"We've met before?" Harry inquired, looking to both his parents.

"Sirius, Harry, is your godfather. He used to spend almost every waking minute with you when we were in our old home when you were young," Lily said, trying to clear up the confusion.

"It's nice to meet you again then!" Harry exclaimed, a smile stretched across his face. "Are you staying at the house too?"

"Yes, sir," Sirius responded gleefully. "We will have plenty of fun and time to catch up when you come back. What do you think about a house-wide pillow fight? Oh no, better than that— a water fight! Ooo and you've got muggle neighbors— this calls for some serious pranking," he continued, going off into his own mind filled with endless pranks for the holidays.

"I didn't think this through," Lily muttered, shaking her head.

They stood there, all of them huddled in conversation outside of the Gryffindor change room for a while, only coming out of their conversations when a voice rang out from the crowd behind them.

"Potter!"

James and Harry, both used to this greeting, turned abruptly in the direction the voice was coming from. They watched as the Gryffindor Head of House made her way through the crowd of supporters, waving her arms around for people to move out of the way.

"Mr. Potter," she said, almost breathlessly as she reached the two Potters. McGonagall took in their questioning expressions before continuing. "Harry. Congratulations! Way to take it to Slytherin and rise above their unnecessary and cruel antics- well done!"

"Thank-you, Professor," Harry said kindly. "Thank you, also for the new broom-its wicked!" he continued, admiring the broom he still held onto in his hand.

"Use it well," she responded, before curtly nodding to the four adults, a huge grin still spread across her face before she retreated back to the castle.

"So that's where it came from!"

*Thankyou all so much for your continued support! I'd like to note that all recognizable J.K. Rowling content is fully hers and I take no credit for it. Hope to update soon!