“Yay,” Sirius clapped his hands happily.

“He did that for the other books too,” Lily supplied Mrs. Potter helpfully.

“I’m not surprised dear,” she answered. “You should see him in Christmas morning. I had always thought James was impossible Christmas morning until Sirius first Christmas here. Then I discovered my son is a very tame angel.”

Sirius was beaming happily and jumping up and down on the bed.

The Order meeting could have gone better. That much was clear. Harry been asleep with the modified Silencing Charms around his room which had been the only reason he didn’t wake then the shouting began. With Order Headquarters being at Harry’s home, the majority of the members were on a first name basis with the teenager. They had grown to know Harry the teenager, not the-boy-who-lived. Harry was a member of the Order family so naturally anything that happened to him would be taken personally by the Order.

The Order, however, had never expected anything like what they heard from Albus Dumbledore. They had never expected that something so unspeakable could happen right under everyone’s noses. It didn’t help that Bill Weasley had been present, as a representative of the Weasleys who were in the Order. Like the other Weasley brothers, Bill saw Harry as a younger brother and was prepared to avenge him along with the majority of the Order. It took quite a bit of patience on Dumbledore’s part to calm everyone down

“Aw, come on!” James whined. “Why did you calm everyone down?”

“I quite agree. Dumbledore should have just opened the door and pointed the way towards Umbridge,” Remus said calmly. The other four members of the reading group had a collective jaw drop.

“Moony,” Sirius said in awed pride. “I always knew you had it in you.”

and explain what would happen with Dolores Umbridge and Harry’s part in it. Everyone was eager to help in serving as a guard for Harry for the hearing but in the end Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody were chosen because everyone already knew of Tonks’ connection to Harry and Mad-Eye Moody was a publicly known supporter of Dumbledore.

The question of the night had been what to tell the remaining Weasleys. As much as Sirius and Remus wanted to avoid a furious Molly Weasley, they knew hiding something like this from her would only make things worse.

“After all Moony and Padfoot have a lot of experience with mom,” James said knowingly.

“And what exactly do you mean by that young man?” Mrs. Potter asked dangerously.

James gulped, “Hum, er, you see…thing is Mrs. Weasley is a lot like you, you know? A great mother, very concerned…yes, so they have experience of why it’s wrong to keep things from the best mothers ever.”

Mrs. Potter straightened out, “Flattery always help,” she smiled and then narrowed her eyes, “But I am keeping an eye on you James Potter.”

Everyone agreed that Molly and Arthur Weasley should be informed but it was up to Harry to tell the Weasley children. Right now only a few people in the Ministry were aware that Harry was the accusing party. With any luck Harry’s identity would be kept confidential…although they were prepared for the worst nonetheless.

Once the meeting was over several members wanted to check in on Harry, especially Bill but Sirius and Remus insisted that Harry needed his rest. When everyone finally cleared out, the tired Marauders once again took up their shifts of staying by Harry’s bedside. They had cast monitoring charms around Harry’s room for the meeting but an hour was different from an entire night. There was also the fact that Harry’s nightmares didn’t normally start until after midnight but everyone felt that it was better to be safe then sorry.

The following morning Harry woke with a wince. His scar was throbbing in pain. Opening his eyes, Harry saw Remus’ blurry figure sleeping on the opposite side of the bed, on top of the mountain of blankets that Harry had gathered from being ill. Before he could think anything else of the presence of one of his guardians, a wave of pain seared through his scar forcing Harry to roll onto his stomach and bury his face in his pillow to muffle his cry. He wanted nothing more then to pound his head into something hard to knock himself out so he couldn’t feel the pain.

A muffled cry was coming from where James was trying to suffocate himself with the pillow.

“James?” Mrs. Potter asked worried.

Lily patted James’ back and gently took the pillow away. “You have to understand Mr. Potter, this tendency of Harry’s of not asking for help when help is right next to him is very frustrating. And James here has always had poor self-restraint.”

“So true,” Ms. Potter and Sirius said together.

“Excuse me? Poor self-restraint? You three are accusing me of poor self-restraint?” James asked bewildered and first pointed at Sirius, “Locked up in Azkaban because he just had to go mental on Wormtail instead of telling Dumbledore what happened,” then pointed at Lily, “do I need to remind us all of a little thing called the “pumpkin juice incident” when I accidentally spilled juice on you at breakfast and ended up with purple skin for three days?” and then finally at his mother, “Oh, yes, and poor dad still has a slight limp on cold days from that time he called grandma overbearing when you had asked what he didn’t like about your mother and promised to not overreact. I’d call hexing your husband overreaction.”

“I have no idea what he is talking about,” Lily said.

“Me neither,” Mrs. Potter brushed some invisible lint from her robe.

“Padfoot, it’s your turn,” Remus pointed out.

“Why? I know I have no self-restraint, which doesn’t change the fact that James hasn’t any either,” Sirius said flatly shrugging.

A gentle hand touched his back. “Harry?” Remus’ voice quietly asked. “Harry, what’s wrong?”

Harry turned his head and looked at Remus, unable to hide the pain he was in from his face. “It hurts,” he said with a wavering voice. “He’s angry, really angry. Nagini failed; everyone’s failed. He wants…he wants…” He could feel the pain increasing and had to bite back crying out.

“What does he want?” Remus prodded.

“I don’t know!” Harry cried in frustration, his eyes closing tightly as started to rub his forehead. It was the truth. He couldn’t explain how he knew what he did but he couldn’t figure out what Voldemort actually wanted. “I just know he wants it for answers and it has something to do with me. Why? Why is he so obsessed with me? I’m nothing special! I—I’m just me! And why now? The attack was days ago!”

“Because he is a psychopath with serious issues,” Remus offered.

The other four burst out laughing.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Lily chuckled.

Remus started to gently rub Harry’s back in an attempt to calm Harry down. “I know it’s maddening, cub,” he said softly. “Just try to think of something else. It’ll pass. Try not to think of the pain or what Voldemort wants. Think about Quidditch. Can you do that?”

“Quidditch always help,” James said simply and Mrs. Potter muttered something that sounded like “stupid Potter curse.”

Harry slowly nodded and concentrated on flying through the air on his Firebolt, trying to catch the Snitch. For a few minutes nothing happened but eventually Harry could feel the pain slowly decreasing. Once it was down to a mere annoyance, Harry felt his body finally relax. In the absence of pain, Harry once again felt exhausted but he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He had slept through the past few days and didn’t want to sleep through another. Opening his eyes, Harry once again saw Remus’ face and smiled. “Thanks Moony,” Harry said gratefully.

Remus smiled and sat up so he was leaning against the headboard. “And what have we learned, cub?” he asked with a grin.

Harry looked up and Remus and shrugged. “Whenever my scar hurts, think of Quidditch,” he said as he subconsciously rubbed his scar. He was really starting to hate this connection he had to Voldemort although he had to admit that if he didn’t have it, Mr. Weasley could be dead. It was an annoyance and it made him ill but if it saved the lives of those he cared about then it made everything worth it, right?

Remus let out a laugh. “That wasn’t what I had in mind,” he said candidly. “I was referring to your habit of suffering in silence. I was right here, cub. I wouldn’t have minded if you woke me when your scar started hurting. That’s what I’m here for you know.”

Remus took his little list and scratched something off it satisfied.

“What’s that?” Mrs. Potter asked.

“We haven’t been able to read it, but every now and then Moony writes something there while muttering,” James explained.

“It’s a list of things we have to talk with Harry about!” Remus said annoyed.

“I knew that!” Sirius said proudly. “I even wrote on it myself.”

“Well done Sirius, that is very mature of you,” Mrs. Potter praised and Sirius looked at her horrified.

“Mrs. Potter, don’t do that to the poor boy,” Lily said biting back a smile. “Now he’ll have nightmares.”

Harry shrugged. “You looked tired,” he said honestly. “I’ve had scar headaches before. This one just came on a lot—er—faster and harder than some of the others.” Silence filled the room. Harry felt a hand running through his hair and reflexively closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Running fingers through Harry’s hair had been a comforting motion that Sirius had been doing for years and Remus had picked up on it since it was always a reliable way to calm Harry down. “Remus?” he asked softly.

“Yes, Harry?” Remus asked; his amusement showing in his voice.

“Why are you amused Moony?”

“Why can’t you be quiet so Mrs. P can read Padfoot?”

“Do you think it’s selfish of me not to want this connection to Voldemort?” Harry asked hesitantly.

“NO!” five cries were heard.

“I mean, I know I helped with Mr. Weasley and everything but…but there has to be a better way, right? I can still see Mr. Weasley on the floor, bleeding. He’s been so angry lately, I’ve felt it. I don’t want to feel what he’s feeling. I—I don’t like what it’s doing to me.”

Remus slid an arm underneath Harry’s shoulder and pulled the teen closer so he could wrap both arms around him. “I don’t think you’re being selfish, Harry,” he said sincerely. “I really wish you would have told us how much your scar had been bothering you. We’ll talk to Dumbledore and find a solution, I promise, but from now on, no more secrets, all right? Padfoot and I can’t help you unless you talk to us.”

Harry nodded, his head now resting on Remus’ chest. He knew that there was a double meaning in Remus’ words. Remus was referring to all of the secrets Harry had been keeping lately, not just his pain from Voldemort. There had been so many secrets that Harry had begun to lose track of what he had told who so to keep everything straight he had stopped telling anyone anything. He had allowed his fear to overpower him. He should have said something, protested in some way, but he was more worried about the Order than doing what was right.

The silence dragged on. Harry knew Remus was waiting for him to say something. Sometimes Remus was too patient for his own good.

“I know, Harry!” Remus said in a suffering tone. “These two wouldn’t try half the stuff they try if I wasn’t so patient with them,” he said pointing at the other two grinning Marauders.

“How did the meeting go last night?” Harry asked at last.

Remus let out a chuckle. “Well, we had several offers of cursing Umbridge into insanity,” he said candidly. “I think Alastor and Kingsley were prepared to resort to Muggle violence. Last night I think Dumbledore, Sirius and I realized how much everyone in the Order cares about you, Harry. It was all Sirius and I could do to stop them from coming up here to check on you and I have a good feeling we will be seeing quite a few of them in the next few days…including Bill and Molly.”

Harry instantly looked up at Remus nervously. The Weasleys know?

“Bill was here last night,” Remus clarified. “We can’t hide this from Molly and Arthur, not when the rest of the Order knows. I know you don’t want the attention, cub, and we’ve told the Order as much. Dumbledore was rather insistent that at the moment, you need your space. On the other hand, you can’t hide in this place forever. You can’t hide from those who care about you, including your friends.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Remus said puffing his chest.

Sirius, Lily and James ogled him and the burst out laughing.

“I happen to agree with Remus,” Mrs. Potter said disapprovingly.

“But mum,” James said through his laughter. “He agreed with himself!”

Letting out a sigh, Harry slowly sat up, ignoring the small wave of dizziness that abruptly hit him. “Can we please not talk about this anymore?” he asked softly. “I know I messed up. I know I have problems. Professor Umbridge made it her mission to point out every single one during detention.”

Remus gave Harry’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “That wasn’t what I meant, Harry,” he said gently. “Whatever Umbridge said to you was a lie, remember that. I was referring to the fact that you tend to take everything on yourself instead of allowing others to help you. You’re friends had no idea what was going on except that you were receiving an overabundance of unfair detentions. How did you manage keeping everything to yourself for so long?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “The thought of a break away from Hogwarts was usually enough,” he admitted.

There was a loud thud outside the door followed by a crash. Both Harry and Remus rolled their eyes and let out a sigh. They knew who was awake and making their way to Harry’s room. “Good morning, Tonks!” they shouted at the same time.

“I’m okay!” Tonks shouted back causing both Harry and Remus to laugh. The woman could be so predictable sometimes.

“Oh, is that little Nymphadora?” Mrs. Potter cooed. “She is so adorable.”

“Some say adorable,” James said, “Some say menace.”

“We already know which you prefer James,” Remus scolded.

“He does have a point though,” Sirius agreed.

 A moment later she entered Harry’s room with a sheepish grin on her face, wearing a pair of baby blue pajama pants and a form fitting white shirt which made her short, spiky purple hair stand out more than usual. “Wotcher Harry!” she exclaimed as she jumped on the bed. “Wotcher Remus! So, what do you two have planned for today? Decorating, wrapping presents…cooking?”

“Oh my, little Nymphadora jumps in a bed with two men quite easily,” James teased and was pelted by three pillows.

“Oi, that’s my baby cousin you’re talking about!”

“James Potter don’t be rude!” Mrs. Potter scolded.

“Yeah, what Mrs. P said!” Lily said sternly.

Remus let out a snort. “Tonks has been missing you cooking, Harry,” he clarified. “Apparently my cooking isn’t good enough for her.” He then turned his attention to Tonks. “Maybe you should test Dobby’s cooking, Tonks. If I know that house elf like I think I do, I have a good feeling that he wouldn’t allow Harry anywhere near the kitchen.”

Tonks seemed to ponder the comment for a minute then smiled. “I might just do that,” she said then hopped off the bed. “I’ll have Dobby bring something up for you two lazybones.”

Harry and Remus watched as Tonks left the room with what appeared to be a bounce to her step. “She is too perky in the morning,” Harry said bluntly. “Are you sure she’s related to Sirius?”

“Maybe she’s adopted,” James pondered.

“Must be,” Remus agreed. “Unless it’s Christmas morning there is no way Sirius gets out of bed before four in the afternoon willingly.”

“I sense people are making fun of me!” Sirius said through greeted teeth.

Remus let out a laugh

“Moony! You’re laughing at my expense!” Sirius cried.

“Is there a better way to laugh?” Remus asked straight faced.

as he pulled Harry into a fierce embrace, catching Harry by surprise. “We really missed you, cub,” he said with a chuckle. “It just isn’t the same around the big old place without you.” He relaxed his arms and let Harry sit completely upright again. “Do you think we should go wake up Padfoot? It could be fun.”

“Don’t bother,” a sleepy Sirius said from the doorway. He hid a yawn as he stumbled into Harry’s room and collapsed on the bed, next to Harry. “Morning Pronglet, Moony,” he mumbled. “What is everyone doing up so early?”

“Finding ways to annoy you, Padfoot,” Remus answered innocently.

Sirius glared at Remus who smiled sheepishly back.

“It is our mission in life, you know, although Tonks did bring up an interesting question. What do you want to do today, Harry? You probably should take it easy for the next few days and it probably wouldn’t be smart to leave the house. We could play fetch with Padfoot—”

“What?” Sirius hissed and Remus gave him a cheeky grin. “I do not play fetch!”

“Fetch!” James cried as he threw a pillow at Sirius who turned and caught it before it hit his face. “See, you do play fetch.”

Lily smacked James head and said biting back a laugh, “Don’t be mean.”

“—hey!” Sirius exclaimed but made no effort to move from his comfortable spot. “Padfoot does not play fetch! Padfoot does not need a girlfriend! And Padfoot does not need little puppies running around the house! So everyone just get off Padfoot’s back!”

“Someone’s touchy,” Lily said lifting her eyebrows and biting her lips. Sirius just narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

Harry glanced at Remus nervously before slightly moving towards his secondary guardian. He had never intended on offending Sirius but apparently he had which was odd. Sirius usually took everything with a laugh. Hearing Sirius sound irritable wasn’t something Harry was used to. “Er—that’s okay,” Harry said softly. “I—I need to go back to Hogwarts.” Both Sirius and Remus looked at Harry in disbelief. “Er—my trunk’s still there with—er—things I sort of need.”

“Dobby can bring your trunk,” Sirius said as he sat up and stole a glance at Remus before returning his gaze to Harry. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Pronglet. I didn’t mean it like it sounded…well, maybe I did. You see, you weren’t the only one who’s mentioned puppies around this place—” He glared at Remus before softening his gaze at Harry“—except that you were a little more tactful in your approach. I think Moony wants to be an uncle again.”

“Aw Moony,” James jumped on the bed and threw his arm around Remus. “Do you want more cubs? Don’t worry, will get Padfoot a nice girl.”

“Now Sirius, I didn’t mean anything by it and you know that,” Remus said in exasperation. “You tell me all the time that I should find female wolf to howl at the moon with. How is what I said any different? It isn’t. I don’t understand why you are taking this so personal.”

“Yes he does,” Remus grumbled. “Annoying as hell.”

Harry really didn’t want to be in the middle of this conversation, especially one that appeared to have been going on for a while. Hearing his guardians talking about their love lives or lack thereof reminded Harry of why things were as they were. Sirius really wouldn’t be able to go out without attracting attention because of his celebrity status and everyone knew Remus was a werewolf thanks to Rita Skeeter’s articles. At the moment, Harry figured his guardians were feeling incredibly trapped.

“They are trapped and it’s because of you.”

“No we’re not!” Sirius cried.

“Remus, did you write in that list something about talking to Harry about this blaming himself thing that he has going on?” Mrs. Potter asked.

“I have it written loads of times and even underlined it,” Remus said showing the list.

“It’s really not Remus’ fault,” Lily said annoyed. “It’s that good for nothing, envious, pompous b- er – sister of mine’s fault.”

Harry instantly grabbed his head and closed his eyes as he tried to shake the statement out. He had no idea where that came from but pushed it off as to a reminder of what Professor Umbridge had been trying to make him believe for over a month now. That had to be it. His scar was only a dull ache like it normally was so it wasn’t related to Voldemort. There was also the fact that the voice didn’t sound anything like Voldemort’s or anyone else that he knew.

“Excuse me? He’s hearing voices?” Lily asked worried. “Make him tell you!” she cried as she grabbed Sirius and shook him.

“Help here! Little help!” Sirius cried.

“Lily is extremely correct, Harry tell you’re guardians,” Mrs. Potter said sternly to the book not paying attention to the struggling Sirius.

“But what voice is that?” James asked worried and Remus shrugged desperately. Sirius was still trying to pry the deranged girl from him but was having no help at all.

A hand grabbed Harry’s left shoulder while another rested on his back. Opening his eyes, Harry saw a somewhat blurry version of his guardians looking at him, their dispute instantly forgotten. He blinked a few times then felt his glasses being slid into place, allowing everything to finally come into focus. “Er—sorry,” Harry said uncomfortably. “I don’t know what just happened.”

Sirius and Remus carefully helped Harry lie back down. “Is your scar hurting again?” Remus asked patiently and let out a relieved sigh when Harry shook his head, ignoring the look of surprise on Sirius’ face. “Just take it easy, Harry. You have been rather ill the past few days. Dobby can bring your trunk here and we can go from there.” He looked over at Sirius. “You’re recovery is what’s important now.”

“Yes,” Lily said relieved as she finally let Sirius go. “Thank you Moony!”

“Moony’s right,” Sirius said with a smile. “Don’t mind us, Harry. We just know how to push each other’s buttons extremely well.” Sirius glanced down at Harry’s right hand and looked at the words engraved on the back of it. “Does it hurt?” he asked softly.

Harry shook his head as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the looks of sympathy from his guardians. “It usually stops hurting after two days,” he said truthfully. “It looks worse than it actually is, trust me.” Harry rolled onto his stomach and hid his hands underneath his pillow. Deep down Harry knew the holidays would most likely revolve around Professor Umbridge in some form or another. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Don’t do that, Harry,” Remus said firmly. “Don’t try to ignore what happened because you don’t want to anger us. You tried to do that with Cedric’s death and it didn’t work, remember? We need to talk about this. You need to face this.”

Harry groaned in frustration. The entire topic was getting old rather fast. How many times did he have to hear that Professor Umbridge was lying to him? He knew that. He had always known that. “I have,” Harry said in annoyance. “She was wrong to do what she did and I was wrong to keep it to myself. End of story. Both of you and Professor Dumbledore have told me as much repeatedly. There’s nothing else to talk about.”

“If that’s true then why are you having nightmares about us sending you back to the Dursleys?” Sirius asked instantly as he wrapped an arm around Harry. “We want to help you through this, Pronglet, but you have to let us. You have to talk to us. If you don’t want to talk about this anymore right now, we’ll accept that. We know you understand Umbridge was lying but there’s a fair chance that you don’t completely believe it yet. If you start to have doubts again, please come to us, all right?”

“Well done Sirius,” Lily said approvingly.

Sirius looked at her warily but nodded his thanks nonetheless.

Harry nodded. He could live with that. At the moment he didn’t need endless talks because he did believe that Sirius and Remus would never do any of the things that Professor Umbridge claimed they would. At the moment, he was fine although there probably would be times when he did have doubts, most likely after a nightmare as much as Harry hated to admit it. When that time came, Harry made a mental vow to talk to his guardians. It was probably the only way he would keep his sanity.

“Finally!” James sighed.

---

Remus wasn’t joking when he said there would be a lot of visitors. Throughout the next few days it seemed that nearly every member of the Order stopped by for a visit, some even more then once. Mrs. Weasley and Bill were the first to stop by on Saturday afternoon. Bill sat and joked around with Harry while Mrs. Weasley annoyed Sirius and Remus to no end by checking and re-checking to make sure they were doing everything necessary to help Harry. Somewhere between the nagging and the joking Harry learned that Mr. Weasley was fine however his wound wasn’t healing as fast as they had hoped. Both Bill and Mrs. Weasley thanked Harry for saving Mr. Weasley’s life, something that made Harry feel incredibly uneasy. He still remembered being the snake. He remembered what it felt like to be that snake. It…it just felt wrong to be thanked for it.

The presence of Dobby seemed to be a mixed blessing. Dobby had brought back Harry’s trunk and wand from Hogwarts with a snap of the fingers, angering Kreacher immensely. Kreacher clearly wasn’t welcoming Dobby with opening arms and made a point to grumble about Dobby’s inexcusable behavior. Kreacher didn’t approve of how Dobby continuously pestered Harry concerning if he was hungry or not, if he was warm enough or if he needed anything. When Kreacher finally cornered Dobby, the Hogwarts elf proudly stood his ground, claiming he was ‘Mr. Harry Potter’s elf and was here to aid in Mr. Harry Potter’s recovery’.

It was a rare occasion that Harry was left alone, even throughout the night. Harry’s nightmares had decreased dramatically and had altered slightly but they were still present. Now, instead of Sirius and Remus declaring that they didn’t want Harry anymore, Harry’s nightmares consisted of Professor Umbridge aligning with Vernon Dursley in order to ‘make Harry see the truth’. Sirius and Remus would quickly wake Harry the moment he woke them by shouting in his sleep and assure him that he was safe, calming Harry down immediately.

Christmas morning arrived quickly and was the first morning that Sirius was awake before everyone else in the household. Entering Harry’s room in his Animagus form, Sirius noticed that Harry was sleeping on his side with his back facing the door. He carefully jumped on the bed and crawled between Harry and Remus, careful not to wake his friend who was sleeping on his back. As soon as he was close enough, Sirius touched Harry’s face with his wet nose and pulled away, causing the teen to swat away nothing. Sirius tried again and nearly jumped in surprise when an arm wrapped around his neck and held him like he was a stuffed animal.

“Aw,” the two women in the room cooed while Remus and James burst out laughing. Sirius just glared at everyone.

Not wanting to wake Harry up, Sirius pawed at Remus who awoke with a start and turned to see a sleeping teen and a helpless large dog. Remus instantly covered his mouth to hide a laugh before pulling out his wand and summoning a camera. What made the entire situation funny was the look on Padfoot’s place. It was clear Sirius didn’t like his current position but wasn’t about to move and wake Harry up.

With a bright flash, Harry opened his eyes and looked at Remus in confusion, blinking a few time before realizing that his arm was wrapped around something furry which was strange. He didn’t remember Sirius coming in last night. “Morning, Moony,” Harry said sleepily as he let go of the big black dog. “Morning Midnight.”

With a pop Sirius transformed back into his human form. “Happy Christmas, Pronglet,” he said happily then glanced over at Remus. “Were you two up late last night?”

“We were talking about a study group he’s a part of,” Remus said with a grin. “The Defense Association is what they call themselves. Harry’s a member of the Council that plans the meetings and instructs others in the ways of Defense. It appears that our little Marauder has been secretly defying the Ministry for quite some time.”

Sirius stared at Harry causing him to hide underneath his duvet. “Let me get this straight,” he said as he pulled back the duvet to reveal Harry’s nervous face. “You’ve been causing mischief for months and you didn’t tell us!” Sirius pulled Harry into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I am so proud of you!”

“Sirius Black! You are supposed to teach him to behave not encourage mischief!” Mrs. Potter scolded.

“Really Mrs. P, what are the chances of that happening?” Lily asked.

 He loosened his hold and looked at Harry with a grin. “So tell me everything. What’s this Council you’re a member of? What have you been teaching everyone? How did you manage without anyone finding out about it?”

For the next half hour Harry explained the D.A. to Sirius with Remus offering comments here and there. He explained the concept of the Council and was surprised when Sirius and Remus approved of the idea and the reasons for its existence (at least the reasons Harry gave them). Harry neglected to voice any of the reasons involving Professor Umbridge’s grudge against him. The reason he gave his guardians was so all houses could have a part in deciding what was taught. It wasn’t a lie but it hadn’t been the exact truth either.

Soon enough Tonks was awake and demanded that it was time to open presents. Harry shared a look with his guardians before following his honorary aunt downstairs. There were just some times when he didn’t understand the Black family.

“Then you’re better off than me Harry,” Sirius said. “I never understand the Black family!”

Dobby had taken the liberty of decorating the living room, including a tree that had a mountain of presents underneath it. Harry sat down on the sofa with Sirius sitting to his right and Remus sitting to his left while Tonks hurried to the tree and started handing out presents.

It seemed that every member of the Order had gotten Harry something along with several members of the teaching staff. Tonks had given him a small, fully functional model of a Firebolt that flew around the room while they opened presents along with a spare wand holster since his current one was starting to show its wear and tear. Sirius had given a new winter cloak with the Potter, Black and Lupin family crests embedded in the lining, Remus had given Harry a watch that automatically adjusted the time to where you were and used magic instead of batteries to operate, and together the Marauders had given Harry a set of books entitled ‘Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts’, something they had intended would help Harry with his training but figured he could now use them for his ‘study group’.

Harry had given Tonks a crystal mirror that he had spotted at Hogsmeade a few weeks ago that was charmed to be unbreakable, something that Tonks had been grateful for since she dropped it in surprise the moment she picked it up out of the package. Sirius and Remus had been difficult to shop for this year. For his guardians, Harry had managed to convince an artist at Hogsmeade to create a magical painting that consisted of a forest and three animals: a wolf, a big black dog and a stag. With all of the charms and time it took to make the painting the way Harry wanted it, it had cost him quite a bit of money but he thought it was worth it.

“Aw,” Lily cooed. “That’s so sweet.”

As his guardians opened the large package, Harry couldn’t help feeling his stomach tighten. What if they didn’t like it?

“Harry, we would love anything you gave us,” Remus said.

James looked at him and bit back a laugh, “Moony, you just sounded like my parents when I was little and made them Christmas presents.”

“Well, what’s wrong with that?” Mrs. Potter asked indignantly, “I always loved your little gifts. They show how thoughtful you were.”

“Really mom, you loved all my gifts? Like the mud pie, did you eat it? Or that cooked spaghetti with sauce hat I made you, never seen you wear it.”

“Well, hum, those were very special gifts that I keep in a very special place,” Mrs. Potter tried to defend herself.

“Uh, huh,” Sirius chuckled. “The trash.”

“Yeah, but Harry is fifteen. And he gave us an awesome gift, not a spaghetti and sauce hat!” Remus huffed crossing his arms.

“He does have a point,” Lily nodded.

“Well, sorry! I was four!” James cried.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, Harry saw the painting of just the forest at the moment. It looked exactly like the forest at Hogwarts, something that both of his guardians also noticed. From the looks on their faces it was clear that they were slightly confused but trying desperately to hide it.

“You need to activate it,” Harry said with a grin. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

The painting instantly came to life. The branches started to sway as if they were being blown by wind. A moon appeared to rise from the trees, shining moonlight over the previously dark and dreary painting. Sirius and Remus watched as three animals came out of the forest. The large black dog barked happily and started to chase his tail, the wolf looked up at the moon and howled and the stag stood proudly with what could only be described as mischievous look on his face if that was possible before he used his antlers to poke the dog in the butt, causing the Grim-like creature to yelp then growl at the stag while the wolf shook his head in exasperation. The three animals started to chase each other, hiding behind the trees in an attempt to get the advantage before pouncing.

Harry started to fidget nervously. Sirius and Remus weren’t doing anything, just staring at the painting. The lack of verbal communication made Harry wonder if he had stepped over the line with the gift. After another ten minutes, Sirius and Remus finally pulled their eyes away from the painting and looked at Harry with tears in their eyes. Harry bit his lower lip and started to apologize when he found himself in painfully tight embrace with his guardians.

“Where did you ever find such a thing?” Sirius asked in a wavering voice. “H—how could it grasp our forms and our personalities so perfectly?”

“Because Harry knows you well by now,” Lily said happily.

“I—er—I had it made,” Harry said as Sirius and Remus finally pulled back and looked at Harry in amazement. “Both of you have told me so many stories about your times in the forest that I thought that this would cheer you both up when you needed it. Is—er—is it okay?”

A bark from the painting could be heard which made everyone laugh. “I think you have your answer, cub,” Remus said with a smile. “This is the greatest present we have ever received and I think I know exactly where to put it.” He stood up and with a flick of his wand had the painting of the Marauders replacing the Black Family Crest above the fireplace. “There,” he said proudly as he sat back down on the sofa next to Harry. “Right where it should be.”

Sirius sat down in his previous seat, wrapped an arm around Harry and pulled him close. “I could watch it all day,” he said with a smile. “I can’t believe how much Prongs is like Prongs. He actually used his antlers as a weapon quite a few times when he wanted me to pay attention.”

“Yes,” Sirius said rubbing his butt. “It hurts!”

James blew him a cheeky kiss.

Harry looked up at the painting and noticed that ‘Padfoot’ and ‘Moony’ were resting on the ground while Prongs stood over them, as if he were protecting them. The thought of his father looking out for his guardians made Harry smile as he tilted his head to the right so it was resting against Sirius’ shoulder.

James puffed his chest, “Yes, I am everyone’s protector.”

The other four occupants of the room stared at him with looks that clearly said that they thought he was out of his mind.

Closing his eyes, Harry listened as ‘Padfoot’ barked and ‘Moony’ howled. He had to admit that it did sound like the real thing.

A hand ruffled Harry’s hair. “Not yet, Harry,” Remus said in amusement. “We still have one more present for you.”

Harry opened his eyes and looked over at Remus in confusion. He saw Tonks hand over a slim box wrapped in red and gold paper to Remus who in turn handed it over to him. After an encouraging nod from Sirius, Harry carefully unwrapped the present and opened the box to see a gold chain with three circular golden pendants on it, each one with a different animal engraved on it. The first charm had a stag on it, the second had a dog that looked similar to Midnight and the third had a wolf.

“These are legacy pendants, Harry,” Remus said softly. “By putting this on, you are accepting the role as an heir to the Potter, Lupin, and Black families.” Harry instantly looked up at his guardians ready to protest. “Harry, you know that I can’t have children,” Remus said before Harry could object. “Whether Sirius has children later or not doesn’t matter. Any child he would have would look to you as an older brother.” Remus pulled out a chain out from under his shirt that appeared to have a similar charm on it. “Sirius has one also,” Remus continued. “We charmed the pendants to create a link between them for your protection. If you are ever in danger, our pendants will let us know.”

Lily and James hugged Remus and Sirius fiercely, “Thank you!” they both cried.

Mrs. Potter dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and whispered a “thank you” too.

Sirius took the chain with the pendants on it and put it on Harry. “I know you see us as fathers, Pronglet, and we see you like a son,” he said sincerely. “So let us be the adults here and do something that protects you. It’s the least we can do.”

Harry touched the pendants that were strangely warm against his skin. If he concentrated he could almost feel the link between the charms linking his pendants to those his guardians were wearing. He then looked at his guardians and couldn’t help but smile. If he ever needed a reminder that his guardians loved him he only had to look as far as the gold chain that was now around his neck. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “Thank you for everything.”

The occupants of Number 12, Grimmauld Place had to agree that it was turning out to be an extremely memorable Christmas.

“Aw,” the two women cooed.

---

After a large lunch thanks to Dobby, Harry, Sirius, Remus and Tonks flooed over to St. Mungo’s to visit Mr. Weasley. Sirius and Remus had been reluctant to give into Harry’s inquiries to see the man but knew that Harry wouldn’t stop asking about Mr. Weasley’s condition until Harry saw Mr. Weasley himself. Before leaving, Harry reflexively pulled his sleeve over his right hand to hide his marred skin. He had a feeling that if Mr. Weasley saw it endless questions that he didn’t want to answer again would be asked.

Remus had given Harry an overview how the wizarding world varied from the muggle world in regards to medical care. There were no doctors, only healers.

“Well, they kind of are the wizard doctors,” Lily said.

“I don’t think the right thing is to say that there are no doctors but more like there are no nurses,” Remus mused. “Since the healers can do everything a nurse does with a wave of his or her  wand. Madam Pomfrey for instance is a full healer whereas muggle schools don’t have full doctors on staff they have nurses.

“It’s more like they are a blend then, a healer is both a nurse and a doctor,” Lily said thoughtfully.

“Have you two stopped pondering the ways the muggle world and magical world are different? Can we go back to Harry?” Sirius asked annoyed.

 Performing surgery was a last resort when every sort of magic failed. It was almost like they stayed away from muggle ways because they were muggle ways.

“No,” Mrs. Potter said shaking her head. “It’s more because they are messy. Why open someone up when you can cleanly wave a wand and have the same result?”

Sirius was bashing his head on the pillow.

 Although Harry really couldn’t complain about the way healers did their job since he had his fair share of injuries healed in a fraction of the time it would take if it was healed the muggle way.

Mr. Weasley was on the first floor, the Dia Llewellyn Ward which was second door on the right according to Mrs. Weasley. Harry nervously followed Remus with Sirius at his side and Tonks behind through the double doors and along the narrow corridor. After climbing a flight of stairs they entered the Creature-Induced Injuries corridor and took the second door on the right. Being surrounded by his family prevented Harry from really seeing anything but he figured it was probably for the best. He hated when strangers stared at him and had a feeling that people here weren’t any different.

Remus glanced over his shoulder at Harry and smiled before pushing the door open. Harry hesitated for a moment, not sure if he really wanted to see the condition Mr. Weasley was in. A gentle hand on his back and a reassuring smile from Sirius was all he needed to regain his confidence and enter. Sunlight filled the room, revealing three patients in the ward. Harry could easily pick out Mr. Weasley who was lying in the bed at the far end of the ward next to a window. Currently his only guest was Mrs. Weasley.

The moment Mr. Weasely noticed Harry a bright smile appeared on his face. “Harry!” he said happily. “Come here, son!” Harry approached the bed and was surprisingly pulled into an embrace nearly causing him to lose his balance. “How are you holding up? Bill told me everything. I can’t believe you had to go through all that.”

Not good! Change the subject and change it quickly. “I’m fine, Mr. Weasley,” Harry said as he pried himself out of Mr. Weasley’s arms. “Are you okay? I tried to stop it, I really did.”

Mr. Weasley smiled as he gave Harry’s shoulder a squeeze. “I know you did,” he said sincerely. “From what I hear you spent quite a few days sick in bed because of it.” He glanced at the scar on Harry’s forehead with a look of sympathy on his face. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Harry. If I hadn’t fallen asleep in that corridor—”

“—Voldemort still would have tried something, Arthur,” Sirius said quietly but firmly, ignoring the flinches from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as the mention of the ‘forbidden’ name. It was clear from the look on Sirius’ face that the Animagus wanted to prevent Mr. Weasley from saying something he shouldn’t. “How’s the wound healing?”

“I have to say Sirius, except that encouraging mischief episode I am very well impressed on how you matured,” Mrs. Potter said happily.

Sirius started shaking and grabbing his robes with his fist and turning the fabric around. James and Remus were quickly at his side soothing the poor distressed boy.

“Mom, you have to stop that! Poor Paddy’s heart can’t take so much dishonor. Don’t say the M word again!”

Mrs. Potter and Lily both rolled her eyes.

“Slowly,” Mr. Weasley grumbled. “They’ve tried everything yet it still bleeds every time the bandages are removed. They even tried a muggle procedure called stitches but Molly—er—didn’t approve and demanded for them to be removed.”

“With good reason,” Mrs. Weasley said firmly. “I can’t believe you allowed a Healer to do that to you. You and your muggle obsession, Arthur Weasley!”

“Now, there I agree with the author about them not wanting to use a method just because it’s Muggle. I mean, if the magical way isn’t working why not try the Muggle way?” Mrs. Potter pinched her lips disapprovingly.

Harry glanced at his guardians and Tonks nervously, not sure if this was a discussion he wanted to be present for. Remus smiled at Harry and approached the hospital bed. “So, how are the children?” Remus asked casually. “Dumbledore said that Ron and Ginny took the news rather hard.”

Mr. and Mrs.Weasley both let out a sigh and turned to Remus. “I think it was the collection of events that caused them to react so severely,” Mr. Weasley admitted as he glanced at Harry. “Ron told me what happened after Harry’s vision. According to him, you were extremely ill, Harry, and your scar was bleeding. Then, you disappear in the middle of the night and all Dumbledore would say was ‘Harry’s recovering at home’. It didn’t help that Ron had relayed everything to Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. The five of them can be quite a handful when they want to find out information.” Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat as if she were warning Mr. Weasley of something. “Anyways,” Mr. Weasley said quickly, “When they realized that you were ill because you saw what happened to me…well, I guess it was just too much to handle.”

“It’s understandable,” Lily said. “I mean, imagine having your friend go through that and then not being able to see for yourself that he is fine.”

“Yeah, after all, Harry wanted to see Mr. Weasley to be sure he was fine,” Remus reasoned.

Harry had to admit that with everything going on he hadn’t thought about what his friends were going through in seeing him the way they had. In truth he had been avoiding the topic because he knew it was inevitable when everyone learned about the hearing concerning Professor Umbridge. He knew Hermione and the Weasleys were going to be furious that he hid it all from them. “They’re fine now, right?” Harry asked at last.

“Wouldn’t you be furious if a friend of yours was hurting and hiding it from you?” James asked glaring at Remus and Sirius. “How can you help if you don’t know?”

“Oh, James,” Mrs. Potter said. “It’s not that easy or rational. He was a scared boy,” and by the way Mrs. Potter was glancing at Remus and Sirius it was clear that she was not only talking about Harry. Remus and Sirius on the other hand made a very good job of pretending they didn’t get the subtle hints.

Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, dear,” she said kindly. “Just concentrate on yourself for now. From what I understand Dumbledore is pushing for the hearing to be held soon. The children will understand that you have a lot on your mind. If you want to talk to them, feel free to fire-call anytime you need to.” Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into an embrace. “If you need anything, dear, just let us know.”

“Er—okay,” Harry said uncomfortably. He really didn’t know what else to say. He doubted that he would contact the Weasleys since they had enough to deal with as it was.

Their visit was cut short by a Healer who wanted to check Mr. Weasley’s wound. Thankful for small favors, Harry bid goodbye with wishes of Mr. Weasley recovering soon. He had to admit that he felt better after seeing Mr. Weasley so much like his old self and nothing like what he had seen in his vision although the fact that Mr. Weasley wasn’t healing did leave Harry unsettled. The attack had been more than five days ago and the wound hadn’t healed yet?

Leaving the ward, the three wizards and one witch left for the fireplace they had entered when a shout of ‘HARRY!’ caught everyone’s attention. Turning around, Harry was surprised to see Neville Longbottom running toward him. Naturally Harry thought the worse had happened. After all, why would Neville be at St. Mungo’s on Christmas unless something bad happened?

“Harry!” Neville said with a relieved smile. “How are you? Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t tell us anything! Everyone was so worried after you went home! You’re better now right?”

“Poor Neville,” Lily said. “He must be thinking the worse.”

“Why?” Sirius asked.

“The last time he saw Harry he was sick and bleeding and now he sees him at St. Mungo’s,” Lily explained. “I’d be thinking he had been admitted.”

“I’m fine, Neville,” Harry said truthfully. He really didn’t want to start this conversation again but knew that he better start getting used to it because everyone at Hogwarts was going to be doing the same thing. “Er—not to sound rude or anything but what are you doing here? Is your grandmother all right? Are you all right?”

Neville suddenly looked nervous. “Gran’s fine,” he said uncomfortably. “I—er—well—I’m visiting my parents. They—er—have been here for quite some time.”

Harry felt Sirius squeeze his shoulder serving as a silent message not to press the issue. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely. “If you ever need to talk or anything…”

“Neville!” exclaimed Mrs. Longbottom as she approached, clearly upset. “You know better then to run off in this place!’ She noticed Neville’s companions and forced a smile. “Sirius Black and Remus Lupin,” she said politely. “Neville has told me quite a bit about you two along with your charge.” Mrs. Longbottom looked directly at Harry. “My Neville can’t seem to tell me enough about you, Harry Potter. Your parents would certainly be proud of you.”

“Mrs. Longbottom is scary,” James said wisely.

“Oh, shush James,” Mrs. Potter said. “Augusta is a very nice lady.”

“She and mum are friends,” James explained. “I always feel like I did something very wrong when she looks at me.”

“Well, Augusta is a tad, er- how could I put it?” Mrs. Potter said.

“Intense,” Remus offered.

“Yes, well. You could say that. She runs her household very firmly,” Mrs. Potter said. “She had Frank a tad late for the Wizarding World. I think she was well into her thirties.  They thought they wouldn’t be able to have children and then they had Frank. So Augusta is a little overbearing on him. But I always thought she’d mellow with grandchildren after all it’s not her responsibility to educate them, she would be able to spoil them.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Harry said politely. “I’m sorry to hear about your son and daughter-in-law.”

Mr. Longbottom turned to Neville. “You never told anyone about your parents and the sacrifice they made in the stand against You-Know-Who?”

“I think Harry has just put his foot in his mouth,” Remus calmly said.

“What sacrifice, what happened to Frank?” James asked worried.

she asked confusion. “You should be proud of what they did, Neville. They didn’t give their sanity so you can be ashamed of them.”

“WHAT?” the five cried.

“Oh, my,” Mrs. Potter said. “So Augusta is raising Neville too after losing Frank in a way. Oh, she must be twice as…intense with him.”

Neville looked like he wanted to disappear. Harry quickly came to Neville’s defense. “Please don’t get the wrong idea, Mrs. Longbottom,” Harry said quickly. “With people like Malfoy at school we’ve learned to keep our private lives private for our own sakes. There are quite a few students who feel the need to use the pasts of others for their own gain. Trust me, it happens quite often. I’m sure Neville wasn’t ashamed. He just didn’t want anyone using such a personal matter against him.”

“Smart,” Sirius said. “Can you imagine what the little git would do with that information?”

“He would be in heaven,” James scowled.

Mrs. Longbottom let out a sigh and wrapped an arm around Neville. “I’m sorry, dear,” she said gently. “In my age I forget many of the problems that came with being a teenager.” Mrs. Longbottom looked at Sirius and Remus with a smile on her face. “You two have certainly done a fine job with this one, especially with all of the hardships recently.”

“Thank you,” Remus said with a polite nod. “If you’ll excuse us, we should be on our way. Happy Christmas.”

Harry bid farewell and followed Remus through the floo network back home. That night Harry learned the truth about Neville’s parents. Sirius and Remus told the entire story of how the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. tortured the Longbottoms into insanity right after Voldemort vanished from Godric’s Hollow. It was hard to think how it would be like to have parents who didn’t recognize you. At the moment Harry didn’t know whether to envy Neville or feel sorry for him. Neville’s parents were still alive but in reality they weren’t the parents they should have been. No matter what, Harry learned today that he had more in common with Neville Longbottom than he ever realized.

“I think I would envy Neville,” Lily said.

“Why?” James asked.

“It’s like Harry said,” she explained. “He still has them and you never know what healers will come up next. In our time there is no Wolfsbane. They could find a way to cure them. Neville has something Harry doesn’t have, he has hope that maybe one day he’ll get to have his parents back. Harry doesn’t.”

“Yeah, but that can also be tricky,” Sirius said. “What if he lives his whole life hoping and nothing ever happens? They die before they can be cured. That would make the disappointment bigger.”

“As long as he doesn’t stop living because he is waiting for them, I don’t think he’ll suffer more if he hopes than if he resigns himself to their fate. I think that even if he says he is resigned deep down he still hopes and will suffer twice because he spent all that time resigned instead of hoping something better could happen. Then he’ll feel guilty that maybe he didn’t try enough because he was resigned. This way at least he’ll know he did his best,” Mrs. Potter said.

“I don’t know,” Remus shrugged. “I think it’s a tough situation where there is no way of knowing what’s best. Maybe it would have been kinder to them if they had died or maybe Lily is right and they can be cured. You have no way of knowing with these things and can just hope what you do is the best.”