"So now you're both Lord Black?" Tonks asked in between sips.

"Yup!" Sirius and Harry cheered in unison.

"What's next? You're not joking, you're Sirius?"

Remus cringed swallowing the beer in his mouth. "Can't we have one evening without your kibble or bits coming up?"

Harry didn't even pause before asking, "Does half mast count?"

Remus groaned while Tonks muttered, "As if one of them wasn't bad enough."

"Hey there's actually two of everyone to keep straight from our point of view," Harry argued.

"Yeah," Remus recalled. "How're you doing with that? Because Sirius still likes to break down sniveling like a little baby."

"One time!" Sirius insisted. "One time a bug flies in my eye."

"A bug no one could ever locate," Tonks added.

"It must have flown away," Harry mockingly suggested.

"Thank you," Sirius agreed. "That's exactly what it did."

"Although come to think of it," Harry said scratching his chin. "I think it flew back in your eye when I found you yesterday. Pesky reappearing bug."

"Bugger off," Sirius grumbled with a smile.

Remus sighed in the silence that followed and looked at Harry. "We're doing our best not to encourage those sorts of puns."

"By ignoring him though, he takes it as a challenge and will try to come up with worse puns," Harry pointed at Sirius. "See? Even right now, his warped little mind is searching for something that will provoke the right reaction. Something about the bee in your bonnet? The bug stops here? No ifs, ands, or bugs about it?"

"Oooh, good one," Sirius grinned.

"For crying out loud," Tonks jumped in, emphasizing her own addition to the pun-fest.

"Not you too," Remus groaned.

"I could say that was accidental," Tonks smiled. "Bug I won't."

Sirius nudged Harry. "Maybe you could teach Moony a buggle repelling charm?"

"This is why," Harry addressed Remus while pointing at Sirius. "This is why you have to rub his nose in it, right away. It's the only thing that works."

Remus was intrigued. "And just how would you rub his nose into a pile of bad puns?"

"Yeah," Sirius wondered. "How would you?"

Harry shrugged. "For something like this? I'd say just pinch him anytime he makes a pun."

"Oww!" Sirius yelped and clutched his ear. "That's not funny."

Tonks grinned and pinched Sirius too when he was looking at Harry.

"Oww!" Sirius yelped again.

"Huh," Remus said while considering the efficacy of this plan.

Sirius jumped up from his seat. "Dammit Harry! Leave my bum alone. It's too pretty for that."

"Sorry," Harry grinned unrepentantly. "Thought I saw a bug there."

Sirius growled.

"He was just trying to get a little revenge for you," Tonks sweetly argued.

"Before you somehow manage to lower the level of maturity in this conversation any further," Remus interrupted.

"I'm not sure that's possible," Tonks said.

"Shut up you fatherfucking traitor," Sirius snapped before slapping the back of his pinched neck. "Oww! Dammit Harry!"

"He took that as challenge," Harry demonstrated. "But now pinched and mollified, he's uncertain. He wants to curse me, but the potential of being pinched again is holding him back."

Sirius just narrowed his eyes at Harry. "He knows where you live. He knows where you sleep. And he is a Marauder."

"The Marauder name just doesn't carry as much weight as it used to," Harry commented warily noticing Remus looked as indignant as Sirius. "But that reminds me, what happened to Wormtail here?"

"Are we talking about Death Eaters again?" Tonks whined.

"Sorry," Harry shrugged. "Still trying to catch up with this dimension. We can talk about something else."

"He's alive," Sirius said answering Harry's question. "A wanted Death Eater and the Aurors know his animagus form."

"Fair enough," Harry nodded. "So what are some more pleasant topics of discussion? Chudley Cannons still blow unicorn balls?"

"Juicy ones," Tonks added. "But they've already won more games this year than last."

"How many have they won this year?"

"One," Remus answered. "By forfeit."

"Some things stay the same," Harry commented noticing Sirius was staring at an attractive brunette at the bar.

"Yeah," Remus saw Sirius wasn't even paying much attention. "Those brave few fighting the effects of evolution we can always count on. Right, Padfoot?"

"Right," Sirius agreed absently before turning back towards the table. "Wait, what did I just agree to?"

"A duel," Tonks answered. "The three of us against you."

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Sirius cheered.

"Really?" Harry asked curiously.

"Not you three against me," Sirius corrected. "I was thinking you two against the Lords Black."

"Ahh," Remus paused and glanced at Harry. "You killed your Voldemort, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah, that's not happening," Tonks answered.

"Just a friendly duel," Sirius argued. "You can even start with Harry's wand."

"Hey," Harry complained.

"You've got another," Sirius muttered out the corner of his mouth.

"Good point."

"No duels, no Voldemort, no Death Eaters, no Quidditch," Remus interjected. "I want to get to know you, Harry. I never had the chance here. What do you do for fun? What are some of your hobbies?"

"I like Quidditch, but you already said no to that."

"Do you play?"

"Not professionally, but I like to think that I could make a pro squad. Unfortunately, I dislike people too much to play for a crowd."

"You hate people?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Only in large groups," Harry clarified. "Specifically, large groups who told stories about me before I even knew magic was real. And seem to think the death of my parents was some sort of fairy tale happy ending."

"They told stories?"

Harry nodded. "Ginny forced her dad to tell it every night when she was five."

"It was when I was four!" The ghost suddenly appeared and argued. "And it was only every night for about six months."

Harry jumped to block her from view, harshly scolding. "Ginny! Get the hell out of here!"

"Why?" Ginny frowned, having just appeared.

Harry peeked over his shoulder and whispered angrily, "Because this is a muggle bar."

"I won't drink much," Ginny offered.

"No! Go away!" Harry whispered forcefully.

"Umm… Harry?" Tonks interrupted. "You know muggles can't see ghosts, right?"

Harry snapped his head towards Tonks. "Ix-nay on the uggles-may."

"They can't?" Ginny shrieked. "All this time, you've-"

"Shh," Harry hushed. "But they can certainly hear them, so shush!"

"Let her stay," Sirius urged. "The muggles can't see her, and she'll stay quiet, right?"

Ginny nodded with a grin at Sirius, keeping her lips sealed and silent.

"Need I remind you," Harry argued, "that while Sirius and I may have been dead for twenty-five years, there is another living breathing one of her walking around right now? She's a lot more likely to be recognized than either of us."

"I think in a muggle bar we should be pretty safe," Tonks said with a roll of her eyes.

"Alright, so you like Quidditch," Remus said redirecting the conversation back on track. "What else do you do for fun? Or do you have a job?"

"No job. I've had a fair amount in the bank from my folks and an award from the Ministry. I think they retroactively put a bounty on Voldemort to buy some good press, but," Harry shrugged. "It was free money."

"How much they pay for something like that?"

"Fifty thousand galleons," Harry answered. "They knew I'd turn it down, so they also awarded all the DA members a thousand galleons each, if I happily accepted the award at a ceremony."

"You'd just refuse fifty large like that?" Tonks asked curiously.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I could've told you that."

"Of course now," Harry answered, "in a new world where I don't have any savings, I don't think I'd endeavor to be quite so noble if someone were to offer me free money."

"So no job, likes Quidditch," Remus summarized. "Any hobbies? Maybe a special girl in your life?"

Ghostly Ginny harrumphed loudly, staring at Remus.

"Present company excluded," Remus added at Harry's exasperated look.

"Nope," Harry answered. "No special girl."

"You're not a…" Sirius paused unsure if he should voice the last word.

Harry looked at his godfather curiously before realization dawned on him and he blurted out, "No! No, nothing like that. I mean I have done it before."

"Really?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Sure," Harry nodded. "Lots of times. That was when I first realized if I was angry enough I could will Ginny away."

"I didn't want to watch that!" Ginny shrilled. "And yes, Sirius, many times."

"Huh," Sirius said shaking his head. "I never would have pegged you for that."

Harry looked at Tonks and Remus who were both looking at Harry appraisingly. "So you expected me to be a twenty-five year old virgin?"

"What?" Sirius asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Weren't you asking me whether I was a virgin?" Harry said, and glanced over seeing Ginny nodding with him.

"No," Sirius said with a bark of laughter. "I was asking if you were gay. And apparently your answer is no but you have done it before."

"Many times," Tonks helpfully added.

"No special girl," Remus grinned.

Harry blinked. "Sorry Moony. I don't swing that way no matter how well kept your moustache is."

"There are other straight men with moustaches, I'll have you know," Remus tiredly pointed out.

"So in answer to your question," Harry said turning to Sirius. "Nope. I'm not. Never have been."

"Well there was-"

"Ginny, shut it," Harry warned pointing his finger.

"It counts."

"You want me to banish you?"

"Dennis apologized, or should I say Denise apologized?" Ginny stopped at the look on Harry's face and hurriedly floated over to hide behind Sirius. "I'll be quiet now."

Harry sighed and looked at the other three brightly smiling faces. "Don't ask."

"Can I picture it?" Sirius grinned happily. His grin faltered when Harry narrowed his eyes and Sirius felt a sudden painful poke. "Oww! My eye! Dammit Harry."

"You know, come to think of it," Harry continued ignoring Sirius' angry muttering. "Since we're staying, the history of that world is like a figment of our imagination with very little relevance here. So I think it's my turn to learn about this world."

"Fair enough," Sirius agreed. "What do you want to know?"

"I'm guessing Death Eaters are going to be unavoidable, but you mentioned something about Neville Longbottom?"

"The Chosen One," Tonks agreed. "After you were killed, the Order quickly moved to hide the Longbottoms away. It was known for years that the Dark Lord wanted to kill Neville Longbottom. Considering, he'd gone out of his way to murder one baby born in late July of 1980, and was trying to kill the other, the story and prophecy eventually became common knowledge."

"And I take it Neville's not still in hiding?" Harry asked, hoping to avoid any uncomfortable questions.

Remus winced. "It was early summer of '87 when the contents of the prophecy became public. Knowing there was a savior in the form of a six year old growing boy, a lot of people wanted to help him. Whereas before he only had very limited contact with the wizarding world, that year he was inundated with birthday gifts: lots of weapons, cloaks, armors, books, that sort of thing. People assumed he was the next Dumbledore and when he was ready, he'd lead the fight to destroy Voldemort."

"I can empathize with the pressure," Harry wryly added.

"Thing is, no one knows what happened to him," Tonks continued. "March 21, 1988 he disappeared. Completely. No trace of him. No sign of his existence. Not even an indication whether he's dead. Just… gone."

"No one's seen nor heard from him since he was seven?" Harry clarified.

"Nope," Remus sadly answered as he took a drink of his beer.

"Nothing confirmed," Tonks corrected. "But there are plenty of unconfirmed accounts."

"Unconfirmed?" Harry asked askance.

"About a year after Neville disappeared, a wizard dressed in black, stood up to the Dark Lord and stopped him," Tonks explained. "Ever since then, it's been like Voldemort is on the defensive. Our spies say he's had several major plans fall apart before the Order even heard about them. Not quite as extreme as the way your first war ended, but before Neville's disappearance and after is like the difference between a war and a skirmish."

"It does seem sort of… cautiously relaxed around here," Harry added.

"A lot of people believe Neville got some special training and has been protecting us," Tonks continued. "They say he is waiting until he can defeat Voldemort before returning to his family. I'm not sure about that, but a lot of people have seen a wizard in black fighting off Death Eaters."

"As an eight year old?" Harry repeated, making sure he understood. "Do you believe that?"

Remus was hesitant but answered, "It's one of the nicer things to believe in, when the other options usually include Neville's death."

"If he's really the Chosen One," Tonks pointed out. "I mean what was the point of that prophecy for the downfall of the Dark Lord, if it got you killed and Neville killed too before anyone was marked, right? Neville being alive was the only possible option for it… well, until you-"

"No!" Sirius said slapping a hand over Tonks' mouth. "We discussed this."

"I know," Tonks grumbled. "We swore the damn oath not to tell anyone, didn't we?"

Harry had a guess about this. "What's going on?"

Sirius never even considered keeping this from Harry. "In case it's escaped your notice, Harry, these two Lupins are members of the Order. And the knowledge that a Voldemort killer and prophecy-approved person is in this dimension might be kinda relevant to the Order."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I pretty much assumed that was unavoidable when we decided to stay here."

"Well I'm not ready to give up the hope that it's avoidable," Sirius insisted. "I made these two swear oaths to not divulge any secrets about your past."

"Really?" Harry said grinning brightly and earning small smiles from Remus and Tonks in return. "You guys would cover for me like that? You don't even know me."

"I know you well enough," Sirius retorted. "And they've gotten to know me."

Tonks shrugged. "It sounds like Voldemort was a lot worse in your dimension than here. He'd never dream of strolling down Hogsmeade openly murdering children."

Remus nodded. "You're the son of a James Potter. I'll protect you even if it's from Dumbledore."

"Does he know about you?" Harry asked looking at Sirius.

Sirius waffled in his answer, finally saying, "Yeah I think he does. He never outright said anything, and he was trying to trap me in couple of questions, but he asked me to join the Order and I declined. He could certainly tell I wasn't the same Sirius he remembered."

Tonks smiled at Harry. "So we're keeping quiet about you, but back to the discussion. With you here now, I'm a bit less likely to believe Neville's alive, but before you, the answer was definitely yes, I believed Neville was the mysterious black wizard."

"I've seen weirder things than an eight year old powerful wizard," Harry figured.

"You know we're going to come up in the next Order meeting," Sirius said gesturing at Harry.

"You are?" Remus asked curiously. "I thought Harry managed to arrive without raising any red flags?"

"That was before this afternoon though," Sirius added. "When Harry managed to thwart a Death Eater attack, requiring the Assistant Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to come to the scene and take our statements."

"You met James?" Remus asked. "How was he? And, also, umm… Death Eater attack?"

"He was a prat."

"He was fine," Harry said giving his godfather a scolding look. "He was professional, though I'm not sure if he was staring because he was suspicious of me, or because he thought I looked familiar."

"Are you the stuffy Head of Family that tossed off the Imperius Curse?"

"Stuffy?" Harry repeated indignantly.

Tonks grinned. "I didn't connect that 'til just now. Yeah, Potter called you stuffy. You put him in a pretty grumpy mood all day."

"Go Harry," Sirius cheered quietly while letting his eyes drift towards the brunette seated at the bar.

"I'm not stuffy," Harry grumbled. "He's a judgmental pillock."

"Hey, that reminds me," Sirius suddenly asked, doing his best to act innocent. "The day after tomorrow's the second Friday of the month?"

"Yes," Remus slowly agreed.

"And don't the midget Potters go to the Order meetings too?"

"Why do you ask?" Remus warningly replied.

"No reason," Sirius grinned and winked at Harry.

"Hmm," Remus scoffed.

"Those meetings always last a good hour and a half, right?"

"Sirius," Remus warned.

"It's not what you think, so relax," Sirius argued.

"Well then what is it?"

Sirius failed to come up with a quick response and faltered at the sight of the attractive brunette looking right at him. She was whispering something to her friend. "Who is that Tonks? She's talking to your friend."

Tonks turned towards the bar and spotted. "Melissa?"

"Melissa's the one you introduced me to, right?" Sirius clarified. "Who's her friend?"

Tonks furrowed her brow. "Don't know." Tonks caught Melissa's eye and waved her over.

"Hey Tonks," Melissa greeted calmly approaching the group of wizards. "Sirius, wasn't it?"

Sirius just nodded.

"Okay, Sirius, listen up," Melissa began. "Don't be obvious about looking, but you know the brunette I was sitting next to that you were eyeing like a piece of meat?"

"34C, yup," Sirius answered.

"Lovely," Melissa grimaced. "That's wonderful. Because she got out of a long term relationship a little over a month ago and is now desperate for some unconditional sex. So I just need you to pretend that I've been subtly trying to figure out if you have any—Sirius, what are you doing? Don't get up. Don't go over… oh god."

Sirius had jumped to his feet and was determined to be a good Samaritan, not even waiting for Melissa to explain the situation. There was an attractive woman desperate for sex, and that was all Sirius needed to know.

"Liz is going to kill me," Melissa mumbled.

Harry shrugged. "It sounds like locating sex was her first priority and ding-ding-ding, she struck gold."

"Gold?" Remus repeated doubtfully.

"Well, asbestos, anyway," Harry corrected.

Melissa shook her head, not particularly wanting to know. "I don't believe we've met."

"Sorry about that," Tonks said in sudden realization. "Melissa, you may remember my dad, Remus, and this sweet young hunk of man is named Harry."

"I think you've made my godfather's night," Harry grinned in greeting. "Or Liz will soon."

Melissa smiled weakly, before turning straight towards the ghostly form of Ginny. "And you are?"

Ginny let out an eep of surprise. "You can see me?"

"Crikey, Melissa," Tonks said smacking her forehead. "I forgot that you're a squib."

Recalling Melissa's question, Ginny answered, "I'm Gin-"

"Ginny!" Harry interrupted before he could stop himself. "That's Ginny."

Melissa glanced between Harry and Ginny. "Is Ginny short for anything?"

"Vaginny!" Harry answered immediately hoping his voice wouldn't crack. "It's short for Vaginny."

Melissa looked at Harry oddly. "Not Virginia?"

Ginny huffed.

"Or Genevieve? Ginnifer?"

Ginny harrumphed.

"Nope, she's our…" Harry paused and furrowed his brow. "Vaginny."

Sirius came running up to their table. "Melissa, it's been smashing seeing you again. Harry, you may want to stay on the other side of the manor tonight. Good evening ladies." Sirius finished without wasting a single breath and hurried towards the door of the bar where Liz was waiting.

Melissa tried not to think about what that meant. "So Harry, is that short… for anything?"

Ginny scoffed at how unsubtle the squib was acting.

"No, not short," Harry grinned proudly. "Personally, I think Harry's plenty long."

Ginny turned and scoffed at Harry.

"You're as shameless as your godfather," Melissa playfully mocked.

"You never know," Harry countered. "I could be far more shameless."

Melissa's eyes widened and she glanced at Tonks and Remus. She saw they were as amused as she was. "You're a wizard, right?"

Harry just grinned and winked at her, as a pair of his magical arms began to massage her shoulders.

"Oh goodness," Melissa stumbled for a moment at how quickly she relaxed. She had to turn her head both ways to verify there wasn't anyone there. "Tonks, Remus, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Harry? I must admit, I'm a little worried about Liz. I think the best thing will be for you to take me back to your place." She closed her eyes and groaned softly at Harry's impromptu ministrations.

"I think we'll catch up with you Lupins later," Harry stated as he got up and walked out with Melissa.

"I couldn't even tell when he cast magic," Remus finally admitted, trying not to think about how quickly they'd been ditched. "What was Harry doing to her?"

"No idea," Tonks shook her head and bit her bottom lip. "But I think I'd like to find out."

"The words of a disturbed and fanatical portrait come to mind," Remus groaned not wanting details of his adopted daughter's sex life.

"You're one to talk, filthy half-breed," Tonks retorted and stuck her tongue out playfully. "What do you think they're gonna do at the Order meeting? Do they even know where we meet?"

"I don't know," Remus answered. "But I think for the sake of plausible deniability we're better off not knowing."

Tonks sighed. "Maybe, but I bet that's not as fun."

Harry slowly made his way down the stairs, still a little groggy getting up this early.

"Good morning, Harry," Sirius boisterously greeted as he was inventorying the kitchen.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" Harry asked fearfully.

"It all depends on the night before, now doesn't it?" Sirius cheerfully retorted. "I hope you weren't too upset that I ditched you?"

"Certainly didn't seem it," Melissa smugly answered as she walked into the kitchen.

Sirius saw the look on Melissa's face, and glanced over at Harry, exorbitantly pleased with his godson. "Good morning, Melissa. I certainly didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Ugh," Melissa grimaced and looked to Harry helpfully. "He's a morning person."

"Actually, I think he may still be drunk." Harry corrected looking around the kitchen. "I see Kreacher cleaned this place up. We got anything for breakfast around here?"

"If you mean food," Sirius said looking in the last pair of cabinets in the row, "then no."

Melissa looked at Harry curiously. "What else would you-"

"Don't ask," Harry shook his head.

"I'd offer to run out and get something," Sirius shrugged. "But I don't really know my way around the neighborhood."

"Just apparate somewhere in the alley," Harry suggested. "Wizarding restaurants can get your carry-out meals ready a lot faster than most muggle places."

Sirius' eyes bulged. "Umm… Harry?"

Harry saw the worry on Sirius' face and glanced over at Melissa. He suddenly remembered with a wry smile. "That's right. You left too quickly last night before Melissa here spotted Ginny, and Tonks was kind enough to remind us that Melissa's a squib."

Sirius nodding in understanding before asking, "Where is Ginny?"

"She went away," Harry succinctly answered.

Melissa shrugged. "I don't think she likes me much."

"If I were to take a guess I'd bet it was probably more of a matter she didn't like what you were doing to Harry more than it was you personally," Sirius offhandedly remarked.

Harry sighed having halfway expected something like that.

Melissa clarified. "If you want to get technical, I think Harry was doing more things to me than I was doing-"

"Breakfast anyone?" Harry interrupted.

"Diego's okay?" Sirius asked looking at Harry and Melissa.

Harry nodded and saw Melissa looked indifferent. "Make sure to get muggle food and we've gotta watch what we say around Liz."

"Who?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"Oh Merlin," Harry groaned while Melissa just goggled at Sirius. "That's her name, Sirius. Liz. 34C? Up in your room still?"

"Huh," Sirius said with a smile. "You learn something new every day. Alright, I'll be back with four breakfast platters. You might need to wake… umm, what was her-"

"Liz," Melissa angrily supplied.

"Liz," Sirius repeated with a lecherous grin leaving them to wonder if he was pretending to have forgotten her name just to irritate them. "You might want to wake her up. She went back to bed, after calling in to take the morning off."

"We got a phone?" Harry asked.

Sirius shook his head. "She's got a mobile. Speaking of, we should probably get one of those. I mean we just moved in, so not having a phone hooked up works for now. But it won't make much sense for too long."

"I'm going to wake Liz," Melissa stated as she left them alone in the kitchen. "She may be able to take the morning off, but I can't."

Harry watched Melissa glance over her shoulder back at him and grinned to himself.

Sirius saw the extra sway Melissa was putting into her hips and the look she flashed at Harry. When she'd disappeared out of view, Sirius punched Harry playfully on the arm. "You dirty man-whore, you!"

"Like you're one to talk," Harry chided. "Liz who?"

Sirius sighed happily feeling like a part of his life was back in order. "Merlin, I missed you James." The moment the name tumbled from his mouth Sirius knew it was wrong.

Harry could only arch an eyebrow at the obvious slip of the tongue. He was highly amused and planned to poke fun at Sirius for this later.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't read too much into that. Okay, breakfast."

Just before Sirius could apparate away, Harry added. "And get some good juice. I don't want pumpkin."

"What's wrong with pumpkin juice?"

"It tastes like pumpkins."

"Fine," Sirius grumbled. "I'll get some muggle juice, Harry."

Remus and Tonks were sitting next to the four known members of the Potter family, James, Lily, James Jr., and Sarah. Tonks was having a whispered conversation with Sarah when the Headmaster stood up and addressed the Order.

"Welcome friends and allies," Albus began looking towards all those assembled. "It pleases me when we get together because it is convenient and not out of necessity."

"Sturgis?" Albus inquired. "Would you like to start us off with some good news?"

Sturgis Podmore stood up and nodded at everyone. "Hagrid and I just got back from our annual visits with the giants. All four leaders of the biggest clans all said the same thing: they would have said no, if there even had been an inquiry from the Dark Lord. But there weren't any."

"That is good news," Albus agreed. "And of the lesser clans?"

Sturgis shrugged. "Vondal doubted any of them would support the Dark Lord. To do so may incur the wrath of the other giants who wish to stay neutral. He said it with a lot more grunts and perhaps a few shorter words, but that was the gist of it."

"Excellent," Albus said. "And Grawp?"

"Doin' great," Hagrid answered enthusiastically. "He's, eh, still datin' that strange Chang woman."

"Love comes in many forms," Albus wisely added. "Emmeline? Have we heard back from the vampires?"

"Yes," Emmeline Vance answered. "I had the misfortune of a surprise visit last week. Nothing has changed in their neutrality and they still can't stop flirting like they're in the theatre. And I have one personal message I'm supposed to deliver."

Emmeline turned to the side to address the man standing in the corner. "Julius said, 'Severus, stop writing. We're not going to turn you.'" She turned back towards the rest of the Order and finished. "That was it."

Albus could sense the anger and humiliation in the Potions Master and quickly continued. "Thank you, Emmeline. Remus, have you heard anything?"

Remus was holding in his laughter at the face Severus Snape was making and shook his head. "The only organized packs are all in Eastern Europe and they'd contact me before dealing with the Dark Lord."

"Tonks?" Albus turned to the metamorphmagus. "I don't know what details of your new assignment are classified, but is there anything you would like to share?"

Tonks' eyes widened and she glanced over at James, who only shrugged in response. Tonks began, "Alright. Thing is, a few days ago some blonde bird showed up in the Department of Mysteries. The Unspeakables weren't even sure where she came from, but she was asking a lot of curious questions about Lucius Malfoy."

Everyone there was familiar with that name as the man had bought his freedom too many times to count.

James saw Tonks didn't want to give out too many details, and continued for her. "What's notable is that she stunned and obliviated three Unspeakables before escaping. And all we have to go on is a description of a young to middle-aged blonde woman, who bears a passing similarity to Narcissa Malfoy but more… veela-like."

Tonks snorted at how large breasts consistently translated into veela-like. "So far she's not really committed any crimes that we know of other than assault on Ministry representatives when she escaped, but they got a lot of questions for her."

"The Department of Mysteries specifically requested Tonks for this job," James continued. "Indicating she was uniquely qualified for it, and instructing us not to ask why that is. Any interest in voluntarily offering answers to questions I'm not going to ask?"

Tonks smiled and shook her head knowing the real reason was because she knew Sirius, a recent confirmed dimension traveler. "Sorry. It's a pretty cushy assignment and I don't want to mess it up."

"If there were any danger or relevant threat," Albus jumped in. "I have no doubt Miss Lupin would inform us."

Tonks nodded heartily.

"I know James has a Death Eater attack to report on," Albus announced surprising many who hadn't even heard about one. "But was there anyone else with something they wished to discuss?"

Mundungus Fletcher grunted and said, "I heard some talk about worries on the other side, rumors that the Black family didn't just have a new Head, but an actual Lord."

"They are not just rumors," Albus answered, "But that ties into what James has to say. James?"

James patted his confused son on the arm as he stood up. "A couple days ago, three Death Eaters were going to put civilians under the Imperius Curse and attempt to burn down the Post Office in Diagon Alley. The reason this is the first most of you have heard of this is because it was thwarted before it ever got going."

"Was it Neville?" A hopeful voice in the back called out.

James Potter resisted the urge to groan at people jumping to conclusions. "No, it was not Neville. Gordon Smith, a cousin from Austria of that Smith family, is a marked Death Eater now in custody. He put a young man under the Imperius Curse in preparation for the attack only for the wizard to break the curse and subdue Mr. Smith rather severely. The other two Death Eaters immediately apparated away."

Amos Diggory let out a low whistle. "Breaking an Imperius is no simple task. Sounds like he pissed off the wrong guy."

"Considering how things worked out, I'd say he pissed off the right one," James countered. He continued a little pompously, "I was called in because the young man was Lord Black. Now there were a few curious things about this, first being that with him was the…" He paused just before saying the name, "Sirius Black that a few of us have met."

Remus and Tonks were nodding, making no effort to hide that they knew all of this.

"What I still don't understand, but have managed to ascertain from the goblins, is that they are both in fact, Lord Black. Sirius only received the title that morning."

"As fascinating as this is," Severus butted in, making no effort to hide his disdain. "Do you have a point?"

James frowned at the immature man's antics and proceed to ignore the interruption. "The other Lord Black, who I believe is named Harry-"

Tonks and Remus were both nodding affirmatively, surprising James as he continued. "He spoke of the Imperius with familiarity. Not necessarily implying he was proficient at casting it, but at the very least the effects of being subjected to it. And after snapping the Curse on him, rather than simply disarming Smith, he broke both of the man's wrists instantaneously."

James saw he had their attention and added, "Without drawing his wand, saying a spell aloud, or even turning to face the Death Eater."

"Sweet," James Jr. said quietly earning a chuckle from Remus.

"When I interviewed him afterwards, he was as calm and arrogant as you'd expect an ancient Lord to be," James explained. "And after interrogating Smith, I got the feeling this Harry had some power to back-up his arrogance."

"Is he a threat?" Arthur Weasley inquired.

"To Death Eaters it sounds like," Dung answered earning himself some chuckles.

"What do we know about this Lord Black? Or the other one for that matter?"

Albus lifted a hand and answered, "I myself met with Sirius Black a few weeks ago as he bore such an uncanny resemblance to the one many of us remember."

Albus was unconsciously stroking his beard. "But the man I met with had eyes far more haunted than should be. They still sparkled with mirth but he has clearly lived through horrors.

"The Unspeakables are notoriously tightlipped, but I managed to gather that they understood why his eyes seemed so… weathered. Given their attitude towards him, I surmised that they have no worries of him joining the Dark Lord. I perceived his attitude to be far more in line with the Sirius Black we remember than with some of the other members of the Black family. I believe Remus can tell us more. Remus?"

Remus was expecting this and explained. "I'd consider both Sirius and Harry friends. I can assure you all there's no chance they'd ever join the Dark Lord."

"Would they be interested in joining the Order?" Lily spoke up to ask.

"That was why I had approached Sirius to meet with him," Albus answered.

"You approached him?" Moody snapped wondering what Albus was doing with so few precautions.

Albus nodded. "There's undoubtedly a reason the Unspeakables are involved with him at all."

"What'd he say?" Lily asked.

Albus smiled sadly. "I got the feeling he was sick of fighting and seeing friends die. He was not particularly receptive despite lacking direction in his life. But I do not know about the other one, Harry."

Tonks leaned back and grinned. "Something tells me whichever way one of those Lord Blacks goes, so goes the other."

"It's this way."

"No, it's this way!"

"What are you talking about? You've never even been here."

"I can see the wards from here."

"Oh," Sirius said looking in the direction Harry was pointing. "Maybe it is that way."

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. "How did you talk me into this?"

"The Order meeting just started and we know this place is going to be empty for at least an hour. You've got Potter blood and should be able to open up the safe. Cheer up, Harry," Sirius grinned as he began the trek towards Number Three Godric's Hollow. "This will be fun."

"And how much ward-breaking experience do you have?"

Sirius paused for a moment before continuing. "Let's not quibble over the details."

Harry stopped right in front of the first layer of wards next to Sirius. "This isn't asking for trouble at all, now is it?"

"Aww come on," Sirius grinned. "It's not like Voldemort is going to show up and bounce a Killing Curse off your forehead, right?"

Harry sighed once more and was looking at all the layers of wards in front of them. "I'm going get you back for that, you know."

"I know."

"Alright. Let's do this."