Hey so sorry for the late update!
Harry watched James and Sirius as they were having a friendly duel. He was seated in the safety zone with Remus. They were a little rusty from not having used a wand in nearly 12 years, but nevertheless, Harry couldn't help but be awed by their spells and tactics. He made a mental note to learn some of the spells which he considered cool.
"Sirius can quite ruthless in a duel," said Remus.
"But he usually goes easier on his friends, so you'll have your father back in one piece," said Remus at Harry's slightly worried look.
The duel ended and both men walked towards Harry and Remus.
"Either one of you dare take on me just yet?" asked Remus with a tone of mock self-importance.
"No Remus, we wouldn't dare take on you. Not even together. You'd wipe us out in a second," said James, pretending to clutch his chest in fright.
Sirius sniggered as Remus playfully held out his tongue at them.
"Alright, let's see what you've got young man," Remus said to Harry.
Harry showed an impressive disarming charm by disarming Remus.
"Harry, this time I'm going to put up a fight and attempt to cast a spell on you and you have to attempt to disarm me before I do," said Remus.
Remus and Harry raised their wands. Harry was a split-second too late. Remus had cast a jelly-leg jinx on him before he managed to disarm Remus. Remus removed the jinx. At the third try, Harry managed to disarm Remus in time, and for cheek, he cast a jelly-leg jinx back on Remus. James and Sirius grinned.
"Sorry Uncle Remus, but everything's fair in war isn't it?" Harry said cheekily as he removed the jinx from Remus.
"I see you inherited your father's playfulness," said Remus who was also grinning.
Harry managed to disarm James and Sirius after a few tries as well. But it was relatively easy since each man was merely attempting a jelly-leg jinx and neither had any intention of harming him. He was eager to learn more defense spells.
"In our first year, Hermione used a body-binding charm on Neville. Petrificus totalus, I think. I always wanted to try that spell," said Harry.
"Why didn't you ever try it?" asked Sirius.
"I'm not as good as Hermione. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it," said Harry.
"Harry, don't underestimate yourself. I mean ... It's not good to be overconfident like I used to be either, but you need at least a certain amount of confidence if you want to achieve anything," said James.
"Your father's right Harry. You need to believe in yourself. Otherwise, even the simplest things would seem impossible," said Sirius.
"And you have had quite an achievement of escaping Voldemort twice in your first and second year," Remus pointed out.
"But, I just got lucky and had help both times," said Harry.
The Marauders exchanged looks. James walked towards Harry, and fondly put his hand on Harry's cheek.
"I'm proud of you, son. Not just because of your achievements, but for showing the modesty and humility that I didn't possess when I was your age," said James.
"Give that Petrificus Totalus a try Harry," said Remus.
"You can try it on me," said James. "A full circular swish and a forceful flick,"
"And remember to concentrate on the body binding," Sirius added.
Harry did as he was told and to the delight of the Marauders, he managed to body-bind his father with his first try. The Marauders moved on to teaching Harry how cast the perfect stunning spell. The lesson for the day ended with Harry still needing to perfect his stunning spell. But the Marauders assured him that stunning spells took time to master and promised to continue his lessons.
Later that evening, the Marauders and Harry watched the new television set they had just got to keep up with 1993. Back in the day, Remus and Lily had introduced James and Sirius to muggle cinema and it quickly became one of their favorite pastimes whenever they visited the muggle world. They had just caught Jurassic Park which was the biggest Hollywood blockbuster of the summer in the theatre on Harry's Birthday.
Star Wars was their personal favorite, and they considered the twist about Darth Vader a brilliant twist. They hadn't caught Return of the Jedi as they were in prison when it came out in 1983. They eagerly bought the Star Wars VCDs along with several other blockbusters that they missed like Indiana Jones, E.T., Back to the Future and Terminator. Harry and Remus made a pact not to reveal any spoilers from The Return of he Jedi including the reveal of Leia as Luke's sister.
Tonight they were having a Star Wars marathon. Harry and Remus quite enjoyed Star Wars as well, and happily joined James and Sirius in their marathon. As they were half way through The Empire Strikes Back, the doorbell rang. James opened door to find Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid at the door. He was joined at the door by Sirius, Remus and Harry.
"Professor McGonagall... Hagrid..."
"Would it be alright if we come in?" asked McGonagall.
Unsure of what to say, James stepped aside from the door to allow McGonagall and Hagrid to enter.
"James, it's good to see you again," said McGonagall giving him a hug.
"All three of you," she added, looking at Sirius and Remus as she gave took turns hugging them.
"James, thought yeh were dead," said Hagird, giving him a bone crushing hug.
McGonagall and Hagrid were gestured into the hall and were seated along with Harry and the Marauders.
"Professor, did you know all along about Dumbledore's manipulation?" asked Remus.
"I swear, I had no idea. I thought James was dead up till yesterday. I'm appalled at Dumbledore," said McGonagall disbelievingly.
"I was such a fool to tell yeh the truth. When I saw James lying unconscious, I assumed he was dead. Didn't bother checkin'. I just took Harry and left. Dumbledore must have come over after I left and realized James was alive. I'm sorry," said Hagrid ruefully.
"It's not your fault Hagird," said the Marauders together.
"And I'm sorry for trusting Dumbledore. I thought I knew the man," said McGonagall apologetically.
"We thought we knew him too, professor. We also thought we knew Peter, but he apparently never cared about us," said James dejectedly.
"Ah yes, Peter. I couldn't believe that boy was capable of such a thing," said McGonagall, disgusted. "The ministry has not been able to locate him for the past 12 years, but I don't assume it's easy finding a common garden rat,"
"We found the rat, professor," said Sirius.
"Yeh have?" Where? I'd like to give the give that boy a good poundin';" Hagird roared.
"In a rare coincidence, he had actually been living as the rat of Harry's best friend," said Remus.
At McGonagall and Hagrid's questioning looks, the Marauders filled them in on how they figured out Scabbers was Peter and how they were planning on giving Peter his due when the Weasleys returned from Egypt.
"Boys, promise me you won't do anything foolish when you catch Peter," said McGonagall.
"But professor, he's a traitor and he should be ..."
"I understand, Sirius, but you and James have just been released from prison. I don't assume you want to be thrown back in prison anytime soon. And James, imagine if you went back to prison, won't Albus see to it that Harry is sent back to the Dursleys?" said McGonagall.
"You have a point professor," James reluctantly agreed.
"What do you suggest we do with the traitor?" asked Sirius.
"Handle it the legal and sensible way. Let the law handle Peter. Rotting in Azkaban is a fitting punishment," said McGonagall.
"If he doesn't get hanged or kissed by dementors first" Sirius pointed out.
"Hanged? But isn't that only for extreme cases?" asked Harry.
"He killed twelve muggles didn't he? That's more serious than just givin' information to Yeh-Know-Who," said Hagrid.
"He created an explosion that killed twelve muggles when he was confronted by Aurors and escaped as a rat," said Remus at Harry's puzzled look.
"That's terrible. He's worse than I thought. Killing twelve people just save his own skin," said Harry, disgusted. "What are dementors?"
Harry felt uncomfortable when he was explained about dementors. He felt bad that his father and godfather had to endure such creatures for nearly 12 years. As much as he hated Peter, he didn't think even Peter deserved a fate of having his soul sucked out.
After McGonagall and Hagrid left, they continued their Star Wars Marathon. Harry and Remus enjoyed watching James and Sirius's reactions to the revelation of Leia being Luke's sister (Sirius was a Luke and Leia shipper) and the conclusion of The Return of the Jedi.
=to be continued=
Please review so that I know if I'm going in the right direction!
I always thought James and Sirius seemed like the type of people who would be Star Wars fans if they were introduced to muggle cinema. It's sad to consider that if they were, they never got to watch The Return of the Jedi (though Sirius might have caught it between 1993 and 1996).
Please excuse me if I got Hagrid's dialogue wrong. I'm not good at channeling Hagrid's speaking style, but I tried my best.