The smell of an untouched space greeted James as he shoved open the front door to their London home after having spent a fun-filled month away at their cottage on the Roseland Heritage Coast. He just finished dropping handfuls of bags into the foyer before he was swiftly knocked aside by his son who darted through the door, past him and up the stairs. His wife sauntered in, just moments after with the remaining luggage, laughing.

"What's so funny?" James asked as he walked down the hall towards the kitchen where he flung open the kitchen doors, hoping to bring some fresh air into the stuffy house.

"He's just like me," she said as she emptied the contents of the bags into the laundry bin. "I used to do the exact same thing after coming back from family vacations."

"You used to run through the house like a banshee?" James chuckled as he folded the bags up, and tossed them down the stairs into the darkness below. He laughed harder when he took in his wife's unimpressed expression. "What? I'll deal with them later, I'm still on vacation for another 3 days…"

"I did not run like a banshee, and you will put those away by the end of the day," she said smirking as her husband's grin turned into a look of defeat. "What I meant was that I used to run around like crazy in search of letters from my friends."

"Why didn't your owl just deliver them to wherever you were?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Because I didn't have an owl, remember?" she responded with a grin. "And because even if I did my parents, let alone my egotistical self-centered sister wouldn't have appreciated owls dropping in on whatever we were doing."

"Oh now I wish that they had," James said, clapping his hands together, "and that you would have gotten a picture of that. I can just imagine Petunia's face all scrunched up in disgust at that 'ruddy creature'. That's what she called it at dinner that one time right?"

"Yes and then right after that Sirius' owl came flying through the dining room window and landed right on the lip of her plate, oh she was so furious," Lily exclaimed, laughing so hard she had to grab onto the railing to regain her balance.

"And didn't in knock some of her food into her hair, or was it her lap when it stretched out to hand the letter off?"

"It went everywhere, she was so disgusted, but mum and dad they were delighted at the sight, they couldn't stop laughing for days at her expense, I think she ran away to Vernon's the next day," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Your dad was always so amused by it all, it was such a refreshing experience every time I visited your house," James said, finally regaining his composure.

"He loved it all, mum did too. They were always so excited to hear my stories from school each time I went home from break that they actually stated writing them all down so they could relive them when I was away. That drove Tuney pretty mad too," Lily snickered.

"I can imagine," James said, "there she would be, thinking that while you were away she would regain the attention of your parents only to have them still marveling at everything you can do. That would have killed her."

"Oh it did," Lily said, a little softer, only to have a huge grin appear on her face again moments later.

"What now?"

"Did I ever tell you that she wrote to Dumbledore and asked him if she could attend Hogwarts with me?" she asked, throwing her head back as she relived the memory.

"What? No! I would have remembered that. Lils, how could you not have told me?" James exclaimed.

"Not tell you what, dad?" Harry inquired as he joined his parents in the front hall, taking a seat on the stairs.

"Your mother failed to inform me that your aunt who looks like she has a stick up her- "

"James!"

"That your lovely, long-necked,"

"Better."

"That your long-necked aunt wrote to Dumbledore begging to get let into Hogwarts with your mum! Lils, come on, I can't believe this!"

"I'm sorry," Lily exclaimed, still laughing only to gasp mid-laugh when she was tackled from behind by her husband who dragged her into the living room where she was instantly pummeled to the ground. James sat victoriously on-top of her back, bouncing ever so slightly up and down while Lily pleaded her case.

"Lily, Lily, Lily, what am I going to do with you?" James pondered out loud to the enjoyment of his son who had jumped on top of his mum as well, helping his father to hold her down.

"Let me go!" she shrieked with laughter as Harry gripped her shoulders in a hug, keeping her firmly in her place.

"Not a chance!" Harry bellowed to the amusement of James who was laughing at the tone of Harry's voice at that very moment.

"Yeah! Not a chance," he reaffirmed as they dog-piled her once again. "You forgot to tell me the most important information to ever exist about your dear sweet sister, my dear Lily. And for that you shall pay!"

"Get her!" Harry yelled as Lily finally managed to squirm her way out of her predicament, scurrying around the living room floor on her hands and knees trying to stay out of reach of James who was desperately trying to recapture his prisoner.

"I didn't think it mattered that much!" Lily laughed in defense as she dived underneath the coffee table, dodging a pillow that Harry had just flung her way from his triumphant place on the couch.

"You didn't think it mattered?!" James bellowed, grabbing a pillow from Harry and whipping it towards Lily who had taken shelter behind the closet door.

"That is a game-changing piece of information, Lils! Can you imagine the jokes I could have made at those boring dinners with her and that whale if you had only told me! We could have had the upper hand!"

"Whale?" Harry asked, confused.

"Your uncle," James said, before he went back to throwing pillows and other small things at his wife who was scurrying away down the hall towards the back door. "She's escaping! Get her," he yelled as he and Harry scrambled their way out of their pillow fort and down the hall, tripping over things on the way.

Together they checked the kitchen and entrance to the basement before they turned around ever so slowly to look out the back door. They raised their hands in defeat the moment they fully understood what was about to unravel when they saw Lily standing with a not so innocent grin on her face, fully armed with the garden hose.

"Now, Lily," James said quietly, as he inched his way forwards towards the doors. "Let's not do anything that we might later regret, for instance, spraying your dear sweet loving husband and son because they were having some innocent fun."

"Innocent," she chuckled, for a moment before she let the water stream towards them.

"Duck!" James yelled, grabbing Harry by the collar of his shirt, sending them both flying towards the ground.

Lily took it to them, soaking them with the hose as they scurried about, trying to hide behind the planters and outdoor furniture or further into the house thinking that she wouldn't dare spray inside there. They were wrong though, because she got them every time.

She failed to notice though, James coming up behind her while she had rounded on her son. James took the opportunity to snatch the hose away from her with one hand while the other one wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"Miss me?" he said, an evil grin spread across his face while her face went blank. He laughed before saying, "I'll take that as a yes," and turning the hose on her, watching as she squirmed in her arms as her clothes began sticking tightly to her body, unable to escape the ice-cold water that was raining down on her.

"I surrender, James. I surrender," she pleaded, laughing.

"Good. Now, are you sure you've told me every little thing about your sister that I could possibly use against her in unlikely future meetings?"

Lily pondered that for a second before she smiled and agreed that she had indeed told him everything that he needed to know.

He smiled and hugged her tighter, temporarily losing his strong grip on the hose, which Harry took as the perfect opportunity to get revenge on his parents.

"Harry!" Lily shrieked as the cold water plummeted towards her and James, yet again.

"Why did we have a kid again?" James questioned jokingly as he tried to shield himself from the blast.

"I think he was a result of getting carried away more than a couple of times," she joked back, as she ran behind him, using him as a shield.

"We leave for a couple of hours to sort out some jobs and living arrangements and we miss all the fun!" Sirius exclaimed from the deck, automatically freezing the three Potter's in their places.

"Uh, so uh, Harry, did you find those letters?" James asked awkwardly trying to diffuse the tension.

"…Happy Birthday Dear Harry, Happy Birthday to you," they all sang, clapping when the cake was finally placed in front of the raven-haired birthday boy.

Harry blew out the candles in one go before he ran his finger along side the one edge of the cake, taking the frosting with him as he went, before he took the glob and smeared it on Sirius' face.

"What was that for?" Sirius exclaimed, wiping the icing off his face and onto the sleeve of Remus' jacket.

Harry merely shrugged, "It's my birthday, I felt like it."

James clapped his son on the back, smiling as he did at his son's remark towards his best mate.

"You can't seriously be siding with this menace, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, pushing away from the table.

"Like he said, it is his birthday, Padfoot," James said, grabbing his piece of cake from Lily before he settled down at the head of the small table. "And he's my son," he added with a mouthful of cake.

"Ew, James!" Lily yelled. "At least swallow before you talk, I don't need to see that!"

"Sorry, mum," he said, winking at his wife before she settled down on his one knee.

They all sat there happily for a while, eating cake and laughing at Harry's expense whilst James and Lily retold some of his more embarrassing childhood memories to Remus and Sirius. Harry's face went red quite a few times before Lily dragged him over to her chair and hugged him fiercely, before she ruffled up his hair.

"So now that cake has been eaten," Sirius announced, standing up with a glass in hand, "I believe we should make a toast to my godson, the vanquisher of Dark Lords, Mr. Harry Potter!"

"To Harry!" they all exclaimed before taking a swig of fire whiskey, or in Harry's case, pumpkin juice.

"And," Remus started, standing up, and holding his glass up, "A toast to Prong's and Padfoot here who are starting at their new positions tomorrow in the Auror office!"

"To Padfoot and Prongs!" "To Dad!" "To James!"

"Dad?" Harry asked, making his way over to James.

"Yeah, Harry?" James asked, placing his drink down on the table so Harry could sit down on his lap.

"What exactly does an auror do?" Harry asked, not exactly meeting James' eyes.

"Well, an auror is kind of like a muggle police officer," James started to explain.

"Auror's are dark wizard catchers, Harry," Lily said softly. "They are a department of the Ministry of Magic."

"Dark Wizard's? Like Voldemort?" Harry asked, turning towards his dad whose face was solemn.

James' eyes looked around at his two friends who nodded at him before he turned to Lily who tried to smile.

"Yes, like Voldemort," James answered.

They all watched as Harry took in this information and as he processed the possibilities of what might happen.

"So you could end up like I did, in the hospital then?"

"Yes."

"Why can't you just stay at your old job?"

James looked into his son's eyes for a minute. Those emerald-green eyes that were an exact replica of Lily's were looking at him once again, almost pleading. He had seen these eyes not a month before when he ran his idea by Lily who was torn by it all. He saw the fear in his son's eyes at that moment but he also saw the admiration that Harry had for him in that moment—knowing that his father was willing to do whatever it took to take down the man who had been trying to kill his son for his whole life.

"I could, but doing that isn't going to protect you, or your mum," he added, smiling at his wife who was taking all of it in.

"He's going to be completely fine, Harry," Remus assured him. "For one thing he's a very skilled dueler, he knows what he is doing. And on top of that, you've already taken care of Voldemort again for the time being. Just think of it as though your dad is doing the follow-up work. You've already done the hard-part for him."

"And besides, he's got me," Sirius added, "I wouldn't let anything happen to him because if he was gone who else would I have to bug?"

Remus coughed a little.

"Well, besides Moony over here I mean."

"You know what, now that you mention it, I'm good not being part of the equation," Remus tried to argue, only to be cut off by Sirius.

"Too late."

"Harry why don't you go to bed, sweetheart?" Lily said, rubbing his shoulder while he quietly conversed with his dad about the aforementioned matter.

"Just keep coming back, ok dad?" Harry asked as he scrambled off of his dad's lap to envelope his mum in a hug.

"Always," James smiled, ruffling his son's hair after he said goodnight to Remus and Sirius and ran up the stairs to bed. The three other adults watched him for a moment, as his gaze lingered on the door.

"He'll be alright, James," Lily said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before she took the remaining icing off his plate and smeared it in his hair. She gave him a smile before she whisked away, taking the plates with her before she dumped them in the sink and started scrubbing away.

"Right," James agreed, slightly disgusted by the thought of the sticky substance all over his hair. "What time are we supposed to be there tomorrow?" he asked Sirius while he got up and went to ruffle his hair in Lily's face.

"7:30am, sharp!"

"I'll make you breakfast if that makes the early morning any better," Lily said, smiling at her husband who was stacking the clean dishes into the cupboard.

"Oh can you make some pancakes? Oh no better yet, french toast! And maybe some bacon and eggs, or do I want sausage?" Sirius rambled on.

"Oi, Padfoot! My wife is not your personal chef," James said, whacking Sirius over the side of the head.

"No she's yours, and what's yours is mine," Sirius argued, rubbing the side of this head.

"Padfoot," Remus stated, "that argument only works when the person whom you are talking to is married to you, and last time I checked, Prongs was married to Lily over there," he said, pointing towards James who had Lily pulled tight to him, his arm around her waist.

"He was mine first," Sirius pouted as Lily kissed James on the cheek, taking in her husband's handsome form.

Lily laughed a little before looking James in the eyes, smiling as she said, "I won't be too offended if you choose to divorce me and marry him instead."

James mulled it over in his head before he picked his wife up and spun her around the kitchen, pulling her in for a kiss after he placed her back down. "I'll always choose you," he whispered. "Besides, I don't fancy being betrothed to a dog…"

"I'd make a very good wife," Sirius declared, taking another swig of fire whiskey.

"I, uh-," James started but was lost for words instantly.

"To be entirely honest I don't think he knows what he's saying," Remus suggested. "Ever."

"True," Lily agreed as she locked the back doors. She pressed a small kiss to Remus' forehead, bidding him goodnight before she smiled at James and patted Sirius awkwardly on the arm, making her way to bed. James looked at Remus and nodded his head towards the door. Remus got up and followed James out, turning off the light behind them.

"I would make a good wife," Sirius repeated once again, before he trudged off to bed.

"Harry!" a voice whispered.

Harry rolled over in his bed, and blindly started patting around his side table for his glasses. He sat up groggily as he shoved his glasses lopsidedly onto his face.

He looked around his room, searching for the voice when he heard a rattling sound outside of his window. He took a closer look and jumped back when he saw that is was none other than Ron, Fred and George in a car outside of his window.

He quickly ran across the room and opened his door just enough to see that his parents door was still closed and the light's still off before he shut his door again, turning the lock as he did. He slid back across the floor to the window, unlatching it and swinging it open.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked, grinning at the sight in front of him.

"I haven't heard from you all summer," Ron exclaimed. "I sent you loads of letters but never heard anything back, wanted to make sure you were alright," he continued on, glancing around nervously before he did, "I thought that maybe you-know-who tried to kill you again."

Harry took in the Weasley boys expressions before he burst out laughing.

"I was on vacation Ron," Harry chuckled, but his face fell a little as he realized exactly what Ron had said. "Wait, you wrote me?"

"Yeah, loads of letters. Hermione too," Ron stated again.

"But, but, I never got any," Harry said a little angrily, staring at the floor, "There weren't any here when we got back a while ago, and nothing came to the cottage either."

"Weird," Harry and Ron, Fred and George concluded at the same time.

"And I sent you and Hermione plenty of letter as well," Harry stated.

"I never got anything, don't think 'Mione has either," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well we aren't going to figure any of this out here," Fred said, from behind Ron.

"Yeah, no use sitting around here, come on!" George agreed.

Ron nodded his head and looked back towards Harry expectantly.

"Well?" he asked.

"What?"

"Are you coming or not?"

Harry looked around the room behind him and towards the door to see the hallway light still off, signaling that the rest of the house was still asleep.

"Yeah," Harry said, grabbing a coat out of his closet and slipping on a pair of jeans and trainers.

Ron extended his hand to Harry, who grabbed it and was pulled out of his third story window and into the enchanted car.

"Where are we going?" he asked before strapping himself into the back seat.

"Let's go home," Fred and George said simultaneously before the former sped them off into the night.

"I'll be home for dinner so don't feed my serving to Remus," James teased Lily as he walked out the door into the bright summer day, pressing his lips to hers before he jumped down the steps.

"But I love him!" she yelled back, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed across her chest, a mischievous smile gracing her face.

"You better not love him more than me," James said as he checked his watch.

"Or me!" Sirius yelled from behind her, bounding down the stairs. He gave Lily and friendly kiss on the cheek before he marched towards James, giving him a friendly punch in the arm as he walked on by.

"Padfoot, I'm not going to go through this with you again…" Lily heard James say as he and Sirius headed down the street towards Knightsbridge Rd where they would catch the bus to the ministry.

She laughed a little at the scene before the bent down to get the newspaper from under the mat and closed the door behind her.

"Morning Lils," Remus greeted her as he came down the stairs.

"Hi Remus," she smiled at him, handing him the newspaper before they departed down the hall to the kitchen. "Any plans for the day?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Probably just search through the Prophet's employment ads again, see if anyone could use a beast like me, three out of four weeks a month."

"They'd be lucky to have you for even a day, Remus," she said, joining him at the table, passing him a plate. He gave her back an unconvincing look, which she took as a reason to continue on. "I mean that, Remus. I've known you for the better part of my life, and you are one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and respectable people that I know."

"Thanks, Lily," he said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Besides, it's who you are on the inside that matters the most, not who you are once a month—they are all fools not to recognize that, or understand it for that matter."

"I guess you're-,"

"I am right, Remus. You just have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up, that's all,"

"Yeah, that's all," he said, a little more defeated as he read a few more ads.

Lily took note as she moved towards the counter with the endless stacks of newspapers and bulletins. She grabbed a few off the top and threw them down in front of Remus who looked up at her with a slightly startled expression.

"What are… why did you? Lily?" he asked, picking a few up and leafing through them.

"I've had a few people around the hospital and the street looking out for employment ads for me while we were away. The rest are muggle newspapers and clippings that the neighbor retrieved for us this past month. You may not be able to find anything in the magical world for you, but I guarantee you can find something here that you would excel at."

"But I don't have the credentials for it."

"Dumbledore got both James and I in without having proper schooling, well at least the proper schooling that they thing you need."

"Yes, but you and James are an exception, you needed it!"

"So do you! Remus, you tied me in almost all our test scores at Hogwarts, I'd be shocked if you told me that you didn't beat me on one or two of our N.E.W.T.'s in seventh year. You are more than capable. Besides I already talked to him and he agreed, so there."

Remus looked back and forth from Lily to the stack in front of him, before he smiled and stood up to hug one of his dearest friends.

"Thank-you," he said in a barely audible tone.

"Anything for you, Remus," she smiled.

"Same for you," he added, his head buried in the papers that were now spread out across the table.

"It's funny you say that," Lily said, giving him her best innocent smile.

"Why is it funny?" he asked, a little confused.

"Well, you see I was wondering if you would mind staying here with Harry well I went out an ran a few errands, pop into work and such?"

"Oh, if it's just that then yes, of course that's fine," Remus smiled before going back into the paper.

"Oh thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" she said, happily as she grabbed the keys of the counter. "I felt awful about the idea of dragging him with me—he hates running errands just about as much as James," she checked her watch, "He's still asleep upstairs but don't let him sleep too long or else he won't go to bed at a decent time tonight."

"It's summer holiday's Lils," Remus reminded her.

"Yes, I know," she said, slipping on her shoes, "But that doesn't mean he should stay in bed and waste away the days. Take him out, let him show you around to his favourite places," she added, placing a small pile of money on the cabinet. "He'll be glad to get to spend the day with you, especially after all the stories James told him while we were away."

Remus chuckled a little at that. "Ok, Lily. Just go do whatever you do when you run errands…"

She smiled at him before she headed out the door.

"Okay Harry," Remus said, attempting to open the 12 year-olds door. "Time to get up! Mum's orders!"

He tried to turn the nob again only to have it stuck. Remus stood there for a second before he pulled his wand out of his jacket pocket and muttered, "alohamora," easily unlocking the door.

He walked into the dark room, the drapes for the most part still blocking the sunlight from coming in. He patted the wall until he found the switch and immediately fell silent upon the realization that the room was empty.

"Ok, Remus, don't panic," he muttered to himself as he stepped around the room, looking under the bed, throwing the duvet off and flinging open the closet doors.

He backtracked into the halls and opened the bathroom to find that it was empty too, booking it down the hall seconds later to see that Prongs and Lily's room appeared untouched, bed made and Harry nowhere to be found.

"Maybe he's downstairs in the guest rooms," Remus muttered, arguing with himself about the logic of that statement as he descended the three flights of stairs to the basement. He flicked on all the lights and opened the doors, checked under all the beds and in the wardrobes to see that as he suspected it was just as the Weasley's had left it months ago.

He sat down nervously on the couch, his hands running through his hair, pulling at it.

"What am I going to do?" he said, rocking back and forth on the seat.

Within a moment though, he stopped his rocking and pacing and bolted out of the chair and up the flight of stairs. He grabbed a piece of paper and stuck it on the fridge, having scribbled a quick white lie to Lily about his whereabouts before he booked it out the front door and down the street to the bus stop.

"Forms," Sirius muttered to himself as he signed his signature yet again at the bottom of another booklet, "If I thought going back meant paperwork I might not have done it."

James chuckled a little as he read another pamphlet from the pile at the corner of his desk, having heard Sirius' mutterings about paperwork for the past three hours.

"It's mandatory Padfoot," he said, quietly, trying to not draw attention to them. "Mad-Eye will have your head if he hears you going on about this. Constant Viligence!" he added, mocking their department head who was pacing the room around them.

"Bloody hell," he heard Sirius moan as the secretary placed another stack on his desk. "Death by paperwork, that's going to be my end. I see it now Prongs. I see the light!"

"Black!" Mad-Eye growled, hobbling over to their station. "If I hear another word from you about the grueling work of signing forms I will make sure you never leave this office during your time here, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Sirius grumbled, pulling the new pile over to him.

"Good, get on with it then!" Moody spat, before he went on to yell at the next grumbling misfit in his ranks.

James laughed a little at the scene before he dived back into his paperwork, only to be pulled back into the reality of the office around him by the yells of his name down the hall.

"Do you hear that Sirius?" James whispered harshly.

"Yeah that sounds like…."

"Remus?" James asked, standing up at his desk to greet his slightly shaken friend who was going on and on about something he didn't quite catch. He stole a look at Sirius who looked just as perplexed as he was before he turned to Remus again.

"Prongs you have to believe me, it wasn't my fault! I looked everywhere, but he's not there! Oh you and Lily are going to kill me, but I swear on Padfoot's life that I didn't lose him!" Remus said, speaking so rapidly James had a hard time understanding what exactly had happened.

"Moony, calm down you're going to give us headaches," Sirius whined from the next desk.

"Back up and explain," James laughed, leaning back on his desk.

"It's not funny!" Remus practically yelled, grabbing everyone's attention after having seen James and Sirius' less than serious expressions. "Prongs, your son is all but missing and your laughing about it!"

"Wait, what?" James said, a little more angrily this time, jumping off his desk to be face to face with Remus.

"Moony, if I were you I'd back up and then explain things a little more slowly for Prongs here…" Sirius said, motioning to James' distraught facial expression and tensed form.

"What in Merlin's name is going on over here? Black? Potter?" Mad-Eye shouted across the room as he made his way across to their desks.

"Well you see Moody," Sirius said, putting an arm around the older man, "Our good buddy Remus Lupin here came to deliver an important message for Mr. Potter, you see, and well we were trying to get to the bottom of it when you interrupted."

"Oh I'll show you what interrupting is, Sirius Black!" Moody threatened, violently shoving Sirius' arm off of him before he turned to James. "Is this fool here telling the truth?!"

"Yes, minus the interrupting part," James answered respectively.

"Well then," he said, turning to Remus, "Get on with it then. I'm sure we'd all love to hear what is so urgent."

Remus gulped as he looked around the motionless office where every eye was resting on him.

"Right, well," he started, stuttering slightly as he looked at James. "Lily, your wife, she um, well she left me to look after Harry today while she went out to do some, uh, stuff. Right. She told me that uh, Harry, right that's it that he could sleep in, so I let him. But she also said not for him to be in bed all day, so I went to wake him up before it was too long. I went to his room, right, and I tried to open the door but it was locked, which wasn't hard to get unlocked…"

"Ok, following," James said, a little calmer than before.

"Well when I went into his room it was dark and I turned on the light and well it was empty."

"How could it be empty if it was locked?" Sirius asked, rather stupidly.

"He escaped you bloody idiot," Mad-Eye grumbled. "Potter, this is your son is it?"

"Yes, sir," James answered, not fully there as his thoughts were running amuck as to where his son might be.

"Well where would he go?"

"Uh…" he started, still thinking, "Remus!" he said, startling his friend, "did you check the basement? The den? The backyard? Lily's room and mine? The loo?"

"Yes, yes, yes, of course, I wouldn't have ran here if I hadn't checked your place from top to bottom first for your missing son!"

"Right," James mumbled before turning towards his mentor. "I have to go."

"Make that, we have to go," Sirius said, patting Mad-Eye on the back before he turned off his desk light and ran out after James and Remus.

The three of them winded throughout the auror department halls, bumping into many disgruntled employees who yelled less than unkind things after them, not that they cared.

James slowed to a halt right before the golden grates that would take them to the first floor.

"What, what is it?" Remus asked, hands on knees and a little out of breath from the marathon they had just run.

"Where would we have gone?" James asked, turning on the two of them. "Where would we have gone?" he said again.

"If we had run away?" Remus asked, a little confused at the question.

"He didn't run away," James, barked, a little hurt by the assumption.

"I would have gone to your place, Prongs," Sirius said in a calming tone. "I ran away to your place, heck I lived there. You were one of my best friends, it would have been your place or Remus'."

"I would have gone to your house too, Prongs," Remus added.

James stared at them before he slapped himself on the forehead, "Ron and Hermione!" he practically yelled, turning on his heel and catching the next grate.

Remus and Sirius looked at one another before they caught on to what he meant and hoped on with him as the grate moved throughout the ministry, taking them to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department Floor.

"You think he went to one of them?" Remus yelled to James, who was way ahead of them, sprinting down the hall.

James stopped and waited for them to catch up before he answered. "You both just told me that you would come to my house. We've all seen Harry this summer and what was the thing that got him so down when we got back from the coast?"

"The lack of letters," Remus said.

"Exactly! I bet you anything he took off to Ron's or Hermione's or has at least been in contact with one of them to figure out why!"

"But why wouldn't he leave a note?" Sirius asked.

For this James chuckled for the first time since the fiasco began before he looked Sirius in the eyes and said, "Would you have left a note if you were headed off on an impulse?"

"No,"

"Well neither would he," James said, taking off again. "Remember he's my son too!"

The three of them ran throughout the ministry floor in search of Arthur Weasley's department, slowing down when they finally found it, long enough to regain their breath. James knocked rapidly on the door, multiple times. There was no answer.

"That office has the morning off, sir," a young witch from across the hall said, looking up from her work for just a moment. She continued on after she took in the three men's vacant expressions. "They had quite a number of raids last night, their head gave them the morning off to refuel for further ones tonight."

"Thanks," James said, smiling at her before he took off again.

"Where are we going now?" Sirius bellowed.

"To the fireplaces in the atrium! We have to get to the Weasley's!"

"Why didn't we just do that in the first place?"

"Because if Arthur was here and he knew that Harry was safely at his place we could've just told Lily that Harry wanted to go so Remus said it was fine,"

"Right, but why didn't he just ask in the first place then? To go I mean, if that's what he really wanted?"

"That's what we are going to find out," James said, as they came to the atrium. "Go to the Burrow, I'll meet you there," he said, hoping into the first fireplace.

AN: I really would like to thank all of those who have reviewed, liked, or followed this story from day one, and for those who have joined on since! The support means everything to me, and I love writing every detail of this story out for you all. I feel terrible for not having updated in what seems like forever but life got in the way. I mean it when I say the next chapter is already underway and will take us from here to a little bit into Harry's second year. Please take time to review this chapter, or anything really, let me know what you think, if you like it or hate it, and once again I would like to thank-you all for everything you have done!:)