"Can we PLEASE sit down now, Harry?" Hermione asked after Harry had dragged her, Ron, and Neville after him while he systematically searched the entire train twice. "If you haven't found whoever you're looking for by now; you're not going to find them. And look! Ginny and Luna are in the next compartment; let's go in there."
"But…but I haven't found Professor Lupin yet!" Harry protested.
Hermione's eye twitched. "You mean to say we've spent the last twenty minutes traipsing around with all our luggage because you're looking for a teacher?"
"Uh…yes?" Harry scratched the back of his head nervously and wondered why Hermione looked like she was two seconds away from beaning him with her trunk.
"Professors don't ride the train with the students, Harry," Ron added, giving him a look that implied that he was convinced Harry had recently – or not so recently, depending on how you looked at it – suffered a severe head injury. "This is our third year; surely by now you've grasped that fact?"
"I know!" Harry did not appreciate Ron's lack of faith. "But I just thought that Professor Lupin might."
"Why?" Neville asked.
"…because he's weird like that?" Harry suggested.
Hermione sighed noisily. "At least you're not bringing your scar into it this time. Now come on, let's sit down before Harry thinks of somewhere else we can look."
"You know, you didn't have to come with me," Harry said defensively as they headed off to join Ginny and Luna.
His friends exchanged looks. "Yes we did," they chorused.
"After all, who knows what you'd get up to when left to your own devices?" Neville asked rhetorically.
"Good point," Harry deadpanned. "After all, the last time that happened, Sirius and I defiled someone's grave, burned down a house, vandalized a family heirloom, and…expedited… Binn's journey to the afterlife."
It was a measure of how often Harry said things like this that they all completely failed to react.
"I'm sure you had a good reason," Luna said cheerfully. "Except for that last one. I suspect for that you just wanted to spend some quality time with your new guardian."
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to connect to new family members, right Ginny?" Harry turned to the redhead.
She studiously ignored him, as she had been doing all summer. No matter though, they had a long train ride ahead of them and sooner or later, she'd have to talk to him – if only to hex him.
----
Sure enough the next few hours passed very quickly with Harry annoying everyone by ending everything he said with a 'right Ginny?', 'what do you think, Ginny?', or something else to that effect.
Then – just as the conductor made the announcement that they were nearing Hogwarts and might want to start changing – Ginny snapped, "Alright already, I'll talk to you if you just shut up!"
Harry beamed. "Of course, I-" He broke off as Ginny glared pointedly at him and he mimed zipping his lips.
"Good," Ginny said, satisfied. "Now you boys get out of here; we need to change."
Obediently, the boys trudged out.
"Wow, you broke through the silent treatment through sheer annoyance," Ron said, sounding slightly awed.
"And it only took three months," Harry smiled self- deprecatingly.
"Don't feel bad, Harry," Neville said, patting him on the back. "It's not like you even saw her at all during most of June and all of July."
"You can come in now," Hermione said, opening the compartment door and slipping out, followed by the Ginny and Luna.
Once inside the compartment, Ron and Neville began pulling on their robes while Harry had a staring contest with Hedwig. He was fairly certain he would lose as he didn't think owls were actually capable of blinking, but then, you never knew. As he did so, it occurred to him that he and Sirius had completely forgotten to get Ron an owl to make up for the trauma of having to actually spend time with Peter Pettigrew. Not that Ron was likely to accept 'charity' or anything like that. Speaking of owls, though…
"Hey Ron, when did your sister get an owl?" Harry asked, turning automatically to look at his friend.
"…Yesterday. Remember? I wanted to know how she could afford that, even with the remainder of the Galleon Draw paying for our school supplies and she flew off the handle and asked if I was accusing her of being a thief and…well, it only went downhill from there," Ron recounted, a little sheepishly.
"Was this when you were shopping? Because remember, Sirius and I were committing various crimes then."
"There are ice cream crimes?" Neville asked innocently.
Harry made a face at him, then remembered that he was in the middle of a staring contest with his owl. "You blinked while I wasn't looking, didn't you?" he accused. Disgusted, he turned back towards his human companions. "What's her name, anyway?"
"Pigwidgeon," Ron said gloomily. Harry blinked, surprised by the coincidence, but then he remembered: Ginny had named Ron's owl last time, hadn't she? "And how do you not remember our fight? We were still having it at dinner last night until Mum threatened to hex us."
Harry tilted his head back, trying to remember. "Really? What was I doing at the time?"
"You, Fred, and George were giving Mrs. Weasley suggestions," Neville supplied helpfully.
"Oh, that's right! She never did take us up any of them, though…" Harry said.
There was a knock on the door. "Are you guys done in there?" Hermione called.
"Yep," Harry said, opening the door for the girls to file back in.
"Did an Umgubular Slashkilter eat your robes, Harry?" Luna inquired politely.
"Oh, no, nothing like that," Harry assured her. "I've just decided that wearing robes everywhere is a very sheep-like thing to do and so I'm not going to do so except when I'm in class."
"Are you even allowed to do that?" Hermione asked, skeptically.
Harry shrugged. "Who knows? Best case scenario: I'll lose us the House Cup this year."
"Don't you mean 'worst case scenario'?" Ginny asked.
Harry snorted. "Yes, Ginny. By 'best' I actually meant 'worst', how ever did you know?"
"Oh you know, I figured all those wrackspurts you and Luna are always talking about must have set up a colony in your head and so you get confused easily," Ginny replied easily.
"Thank you for being so understanding," Harry told her dryly.
"My pleasure," she replied sweetly.
Well, at least she was talking to him again.
----
It was, Harry decided as he helped himself to some mash potatoes, almost surreal to see Sirius sitting at the staff table. It was even stranger to see casually pointing his wand at Sirius's heart while he ate and Remus keep shooting guilty looks in Sirius's direction. They really should have guessed that Remus's failure to contact Sirius once he was officially pardoned and the real story came out would be to his far too well-developed guilty complex. It had been awhile since Harry had last seen the only competent and not evil DADA professor he'd ever had and so he could be wrong, but Harry was reasonably sure that Remus usually looked a good deal shabbier than he did then. Harry would have been thrilled to see him regardless as he had missed the man a great deal in the six years he'd been dead, but the sight of him in brand-new robes was…just bizarre. Perhaps Sirius would know more. He made a note to speak with his godfather after the feast.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore greeted them as he stood up. Instantly, the noisy Great Hall grew silent. "I have some staff changes to announce this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Most people had no idea who Remus was, but once Harry started giving him a standing ovation, the rest of the school soon followed suit. It looked like sheep mentality did come in handy sometimes after all. Remus looked astonished at the applause he was receiving and Snape's wand kept twitching towards Harry. Harry hid a smile. It looked like the presence of two Marauders was getting to him already and he idly wondered whether Sirius had done anything to him yet or if it was just Snape's well-deserved paranoia kicking in. After all, much as Harry loved Sirius now, when faced with the reminder of the boy Sirius had been at Hogwarts, he was forced to concede that they probably wouldn't have gotten along very well. After all, Sirius was violently anti-Slytherin while Harry rarely sought to provoke anyone as hostility found him often enough and Harry could never – not even as a first year – imagine being so irresponsible as to try to feed a classmate to a werewolf for the high crime of being annoying.
Once the applause had died down, Dumbledore continued, "As to our second new appointment, well I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."
Harry shot his friends a smug look (after all, they hadn't entirely believed him when he revealed Hagrid's new job to them the day before) before joining in with the rather tumultuous applause Hagrid was getting, even without him…encouraging his fellow students.
"We should have known," Ron said thoughtfully after the applause died down. "Who else would have set us a biting book?"
"But you did know!" Harry protested. "I told you yesterday."
"Like Ginny told you about her owl yesterday?" Neville asked pointedly.
"Touché," Harry acknowledged reluctantly.
"And now, for our final staff appointment I am sad to inform all of you that after his many years of quality teaching, Professor Binns has decided to seek out the afterlife and so History of Magic will now be taught be none other than the recently pardoned Sirius Black," Dumbledore gestured to Sirius who – in keeping with his decision to pretend his prison stint had never happened – looked decidedly confused.
Sirius's standing ovation was lead by Harry, Luna, and the Weasley's (who had gotten to know him quite well during their month together in Egypt) and halfway through it, the applause was drowned out by fireworks that exploded and spelled out things like 'Return of the Marauders' and 'Chaos Galore'.
Harry actually had nothing to do with it, so it must have been all Sirius's doing. Remus, he noted, was looking nostalgic as he watched the fireworks, so there was progress being made on that front.
Even better, George Weasley fainted at the knowledge that one of his heroes had returned to the castle. Or he might have been testing one of his inventions; who really knew?
----
"Why are you guys following me?" Harry asked Fred and George as he made his way to see Sirius.
"Good question, Harry," Fred responded jovially.
"Better questions: why did you not tell us that your godfather was one of THE Marauders?" George demanded.
"I guess it just slipped my mind," Harry replied honestly.
"Slipped your mind? Slipped your mind? How could it have slipped your mind?" Fred challenged.
"You knew they were our heroes!" George added.
Harry cocked his head. "Did you guys ever mention that?" he asked curiously.
"I…don't know," Fred confessed. "Fred?"
"I'm not sure, George," George replied. "But he should have known anyway!"
"Absolutely," Fred agreed.
"Well you know NOW," Harry pointed out. "My father was Prongs, Professor Lupin is Moony, Sirius is Padfoot, and if you mention Wormtail in front of Sirius, he will probably hex you."
"Professor Lupin?" Fred asked incredulously. "I guess he must not be as straight-laced as I thought."
"Oh no, he is," Harry assured him. "But he's still awesome, he just needs a little…encouragement, is all."
"Why shouldn't we talk about Wormtail?" George asked. "Who is he?"
"Peter Pettigrew," Harry said shortly. "So needless to say, that's kind of a sore subject right now."
The twins nodded solemnly as they reached the kitchen.
"Why are you meeting him here?" George asked.
"Are you meeting him in here?" Fred wanted to know. "Or are you just still hungry."
"Sirius and I like the kitchens; why not meet here?" Harry asked, tickling the painting of the pears.
As the portrait swung open, Harry heard someone who sounded suspiciously like Nymphadora Tonks complaining, "Oh come on, Sirius, do I have to spell it out for you?"
"You could do that," Sirius said cheerfully. "Or you could just tell me what you're talking about."
"Why am I even here?" Remus wondered.
"Because you love me and this is the first chance we've had to catch up seeing as how you've been avoiding me," Sirius reminded him.
"I have NOT been avoiding you, I just– Hello there," Remus greeted Harry and the twins. "May I help you?"
"Can we have your autograph?" George asked.
"And yours, too, Sirius," Fred added.
"Alright," Remus looked a little surprised, but signed the parchment he was given.
"Why do you want my autograph now?" Sirius asked. "I spent August with you guys."
"But we didn't know you were Padfoot, then," George explained.
"Should I be insulted that they didn't recognize me?" Sirius asked Harry, signing his name with a flourish.
"Nah, just blame the wrackspurts," he advised.
"Ah, yes, how could I forget about the dreaded wrackspurts," Sirius grinned.
"It's why they're so insidious," Harry explained. "So Tonks, what brings you here? Are you even allowed to be here?"
Tonks shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. And don't start preaching about how I should, because God knows students aren't allowed in the kitchens, anyway."
Harry sighed. "Fine, fine…But what are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for Sirius to acknowledge my existence," Tonks explained.
"What do you think I've BEEN doing?" Sirius asked. "I think arguing with you about whether or not I know what you're talking about is acknowledging your existence just fine."
"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it!" Tonks complained.
It occurred to Harry suddenly what she was most likely talking about. "Sirius, you're the Head of the Black Family," he informed his godfather.
"…I know," came the confused reply. "What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"
"Did you ever get around to kicking Bellatrix out and reinstating Andromeda and Tonks?" Harry asked.
Sirius paused. "That did not occur to me, no. Now that you mention it, though, I will absolutely disinherit Bellatrix first thing tomorrow morning."
"…And?" Tonks prompted.
Sirius looked blank for a second. "And…then I don't have to worry about the likes of her tainting my admittedly Dark family reputation?"
"What about me?" Tonks asked.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll reinstate you and your mother, too," Sirius said dismissively.
"THANK YOU," Tonks said, looking anything but grateful.
Clearly concerned for his fellow Marauder's safety, Remus quickly jumped to his feet. "Now that that's settled, I'll escort you out."
Tonks smiled at him. "I'd like that," she said brightly, pleased at having achieved what she'd set out to do.
"We're going to head back to the Common Room, too," Fred announced.
"Don't stay down here too long; we talked to the House Elves into sending up food for our Back to School Party," George told him.
"Alright, I'll be there soon," Harry promised them. Once he and Sirius were the only humans left in the kitchen, Harry said, "We should make Remus and Tonks spend more time together; they're a really cute couple."
"I cannot believe the word 'cute' just came out of your mouth," Sirius said, horrified. "And why would I want to set Remus up to get-" he shuddered dramatically "- married?"
"Because at least Tonks isn't boring?" Harry suggested. "Besides, I miss my godson. Surely you can understand that."
"I suppose…" Sirius agreed reluctantly.
"Why wasn't Remus on the train this year?" Harry asked. "I looked for him, but I didn't see him."
"Harry," Sirius said in his best 'responsible adult' voice. "I'm not sure if you've realized this during the eight years you've attended Hogwarts, but the teachers don't actually ride the train with the students. In fact, the only adults on it are the snack cart lady and the conductor."
"I know that," Harry rolled his eyes. "Although, in retrospect, it is horribly irresponsible to allow the entire Hogwarts population to travel together unsupervised for several hours while able to use magic. Seriously, people could get seriously injured. I've seen people get seriously injured. Hell, I've both been the injurer and the injuree in that situation…Oh, and the reason I was asking was because last time Remus was in our compartment with us on the ride to school and saved us from a couple of over-eager Dementors."
Sirius thought about that for a moment. "Hm, well, last time I was a fugitive everyone thought was after you and there were crazed Dementors on the loose. This year, nothing really happened."
"I'm kind of surprised about that. I guess I expected Pettigrew to escape custody or else, well…" Harry trailed off, embarrassed.
Sirius laughed at that. "What, you expected ANOTHER prisoner to escape from Azkaban?"
"…maybe?"
"Do you have any idea how difficult it was for ME to do it? Besides, I only managed it because I wasn't crazy-" At this, Harry coughed pointedly, so Sirius quickly amended, "Well, not overly so at any rate. I was sort of sane and I was an unregistered animagus. Now, as you're an animagus yourself, you should know how difficult it is to become one and not every idiot is capable of becoming one. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only one in Azkaban. As far as Pettigrew is concerned…you, Ron, and Hermione were thirteen the first time that happened. Well, they were probably fourteen as it was the end of the year, but still! Ron had a broken leg, we had an unconscious Snape to deal with, Dementors attacked, and top it all off, Remus transformed. That was a very long string of bad luck on top of the fact that it didn't occur to any of us to simply stun him. Wormtail really is rather incompetent and as we got some competent people involved this time, there was no way he was going to be able to escape."
"I see," Harry said. "So if there isn't going to be a fugitive out to get me, what are we supposed to do all year? I…don't think I actually know how to handle having a school year without any mortal danger."
"I'm going to reconnect with Remus, you should 'get to know' him as well, I suppose we can have him and Tonks interact during holidays and any weekend she comes by to bother me, you can work on getting Ginny to at least like you, and I fully intend to drive Snape to the brink of madness," Sirius announced.
"Speaking of Remus, what's with his new robes? I've never seen him in anything new and...it's kind of freaking me out," Harry confided.
"Oh that," Sirius waved his concern away. "It would seem that Dobby accidentally replaced all of his second-hand things with brand new items after I may or may not have accidentally given him access to my Gringotts vaults and a galleon."
"How did he react?" Harry wanted to know.
Sirius shrugged. "Not well, but what can he do? His old junk is long gone by now. And like I told him, the recent fugitive and Azkaban escapee cannot possibly look better than the normal wizard with a badly behaved rabbit for at least six months."
"Which means at Christmas..." Harry trailed off.
"I'm going to blow everyone away," Sirius confirmed. "Of course, Snape laughed at that, but everyone knows that he's just jealous because he has notoriously poor hygiene."
"Does he?" Harry asked. "I always thought it was a result of working with so many potions."
"It is," Sirius nodded. "Well, partly. But there are potions that will counteract the effects of all those potion fumes. He just doesn't bother because his hygiene skills have never quite been up to par."
"Did you happen to tell him that? Because let me tell you, he looked rather homicidal at the feat tonight. What did you do to him?" Harry asked curiously.
Sirius smirked. "Nothing yet. It's going to take every ounce of my considerable self-control, but I want to wait until he's so paranoid he can't sleep before I start in on him."
"Spoken like a true Marauder," Harry grinned.
Sirius beamed with pride.