"Yes Lily?" I asked, popping into visibility over her head. "What is it?"

Lily looked confused for a moment, glancing around for the source of my voice. She finally thought to look up, and startled, jumping a bit. "Wha-Ah!" she yelped. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it's amusing," I admitted with a shrug. "Like eleven-maybe-twelve-year-old boys turning each-other into bologna."

"Turning each- what? Nevermind. I was going to ask you something, but I've forgotten what, no thanks to you and your… weird comments about bologna, for some reason." Lily looked irritated. Valid, really.

"Turning… first years… into… bologna… Thanks for the idea, Bitsy!" Sirius wrote down a rather different version of what I had said on a piece of paper.

"No, they turned each other into bologna," I corrected him. To be perfectly honest, I do not know how they turned back into themselves, only that they eventually did.

"Enough with the bologna!" Lily waved her arms in the air, telling us to cut it out, "Let's just… let's just get back to this book."

The boys nodded, all eager to continue. Peter offered to take the book this time, and so they began another chapter. I flickered out of sight again to merely observe.

… a good dream.

"No, my baby… why would you think it was all a dream?" Lily had already begun to tear up as Peter was reading. James, sitting next to her, was blinking back tears of his own, probably trying ineffectually to appear more manly.

Across the couch, Sirius was nodding. "That makes sense," he finally said.

"What?" Lily sat up straighter, tears actively beginning to run down her cheeks, her voice full of anger. "Why would him thinking it's all a dream make any sense at all?"

"I mean, think about it," Sirius waved a hand somewhat dismissively, looking away from Lily. "He's been stuck with the Dursleys for as long as he can remember, he's probably had lots of dreams about being rescued from them. The wizards part might be new, but the rest probably isn't. I know I used to have a lot of dreams about being rescued from my home before I ran away this summer."

Considering the silence that followed Sirius's statement, I'm fairly certain no-one knew what to say to that. Remus's face began to look a bit wet, but he remained silent also. It wasn't until Peter cleared his throat and continued reading that anyone said anything at all.

...savaging the coat.

"Well, that owl certainly is very persistent, isn't it?" James attempted to crack a smile, but only Sirius returned the gesture, and quite frankly his smile looked more grateful than genuine.

...into the sofa.

"Ex-cuse me?" Lily huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Hagrid wants Harry to pay the owl? How? He has no money, and even if he uses yours, he has no idea how the wizarding monetary system works! Hagrid!"

James nodded along as Lily talked, although weather that was because he agreed with her or because he just liked hearing her talk was anybody's guess.

... leave yeh anything?"

"Well, considering he was told we were deadbeats and drunkards who died in a car crash and wasn't informed of the truth until yesterday, it's more likely he thought we didn't have anything to leave him," Lily sniffed.

"What Lily said!" James sat up straighter, presumably to mimic Lily's haughtily indignant stance. "And additionally, it was completely unnecessary to assume he thought we didn't care about him. And rude, too."

Sirius rolled his eyes good-naturedly at James.

Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business."

Every eye in the room narrowed simultaneously. "Hogwarts business?" Remus was the first to speak. "What kind of Hogwarts business?"

"And why is he doing it while he has Harry with him?" Peter sounded concerned.

"It's a trick, a taunt, a- a manipulation," Sirius wiggled his fingers as he looked for the right word. "Dumbledore wants Harry to get involved in whatever this 'Hogwarts business' is."

"That wanker!" James was seething.

"I know you're probably right, Black," Lily wrinkled her nose angrily, "And that only makes me want to know what the 'Hogwarts business' is more. We can't avoid it if we don't know what it is! And poor Harry… caught up in all of this."

… in his life.

Lily took a deep breath, visibly calming herself down so that she wouldn't yell and hurt her throat again. "Excuse me, what?" her face was split with a horrific smile, "What did Dursley do to make Harry 'know' something like that?"

Sirius was the only one who would have had an idea of what the Dursleys might have done, and well, he didn't want to say, I don't think. In any case, he didn't say anything.

… askin' fer advice."

"... I have several questions," Remus held up a finger, confusion creasing his face. "First question: Cornelius Fudge?"

"I have no idea who that is," James shrugged. "Should I? Do any of you know how that is?"

"I do," Sirius scowled. "My family made sure I knew basically every ministry official of even minor significance. They used to quiz me on them. You don't want to know what happened when I got them mixed up."

There was silence for a minute, before Remus took a deep breath and addressed Sirius. "I'm not going to touch that with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole. Horrifying facts about your family aside, who is Cornelius Fudge?"

"He's the Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes," Sirius shrugged. "Not exactly the most likely candidate for Minister of Magic, I didn't think. And anyway, he was only appointed last year."

"His reliance on Dumbledore's advice does not speak well for him," Remus noted.

"That's probably why he ended up as Minister, though," Sirius looked thoughtful. "Blind faith led him to be the perfect moldable minion."

- here we go."

"Hagrid wants a dragon? Why?" Lily gaped.

"Why not, Lily? A dragon sounds cool!" James grinned impishly.

"A dragon would be extremely dangerous," Remus reprimanded his friend, "And not in a way that could be controlled with advanced magic and the power of friendship, although I'm still not totally sold on that plan of yours as it is, Prongs!"

"Oh, come off it, Moony," Sirius teased lightly, "It's only a little fantasy. It's hardly like anyone here is going to get an actual dragon. Let Prongs have his fun."

"But why bring it up?" Peter blinked down at the book in his hands, "Think about it. This book reads like a children's storybook. If Hagrid mentions wanting a dragon now, does that mean that he'll get one later?"

"Oh Merlin, I hope not," Lily groaned and buried her face in her hands.

...for day wear

"I swear to Merlin if the only reason we have to wear that stupid hat still is because of this list, Dumbledore will never have a peaceful day ever again!" Sirius growled. He sounded almost like a dog, something I'm sure Lily noticed, given the look she gave Sirius after hearing him.

… manage without magic,"

"Quite well, thank you," Lily sniffed. "I lived without magic the first eleven years of my life, and I still live without magic over the summer, and I shall tell you that muggles are far more capable than wizards give them credit for!"

Sirius nodded in agreement. "I love muggle studies. Muggles are way more capable than most wizards think, and in some areas I'd say muggles produce something superior to wizards. Like entertainment. All of it. All of entertainment."

Lily almost looked surprised for a moment, then nodded to Sirius, her face softening into an actual, albeit slightly strained, smile. "Thank you, Black." She said. "I quite agree."

… have thought so;

"Oh!" James perked up suddenly, cutting Peter off in the middle of a sentence, "I have an idea!"

"Is the idea 'gratuitously prank the Dursleys'?" Sirius's arms were crossed, but he was grinning. "I don't think you can claim ownership of that one, Prongs."

Lily suddenly got a stricken look on her face, like she had perhaps come to some sort of realization. Based on the way she held her arms and the words immediately afterwards, I'm rather certain that is the case. "Wait," she said, "It's you lot, isn't it? The pranksters, the ones who rain terror on the school? I knew you weren't exactly good about the rules, but I rather thought -"

"Rather thought we were simpler than that?" James leaned forwards and turned to grin impishly at Lily. "That's the idea. Who would suspect me and Peter of being clever enough to pull those pranks off? Who would suspect Remus of breaking the rules? The only one people might suspect is Sirius, but we make a point of going big - too big for just one person to pull off overnight."

"I do actually do a lot of the work for some of pranks," Sirius was grinning now too, and playing with the tips of his hair with one hand, "I'm not just stylish with myself, you know, I'm stylish all around! Our pranks would be boring without me."

"Our pranks would fall apart without me," Remus retorted. "You lot are all incredibly smart, but sometimes there isn't a lick of common sense between you."

"We wouldn't be able to pull off nearly as many of our flashier pranks without me!" James jumped in, eager to show off his contribution too. "I have the most raw magical power, which allows us to go ever bigger!"

"Without me, you lot just might go too far," Peter shook his head fondly. "Between James's gung-ho nature, Sirius's… less than decent home life, and Remus's ability to bounce back from just about anything, you don't always consider what might be too much for other people."

"And we're very grateful for your insight, Peter," Remus smiled. "I wouldn't want to hurt anyone."

"I think Wormtail is a bit of a killjoy," Sirius pouted. "They'd get over it. I've gotten over worse."

Lily's face had gone from indignant anger to horrified and trying (and failing) to hide it at Sirius's last sentence, and now she said, "Okay… um… perhaps, Pettigrew, you should continue reading?"

Peter nodded, clearly glad for the change in subject, and began to read again.

… Harry's knees buckle.

"Okay, firstly, he should be more aware of his own strength," Remus sounded mildly judgemental. "And secondly, that was the least subtle thing I've ever seen, and I've seen James try to flirt with Lily."

"Hey!" James was indignant. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're about as subtle as a train wreck, Potter," Lily said gleefully, "Your most subtle moments come in the form of flashy explosions."

Sirius began laughing, and Peter hid a smile behind the book while Remus rolled his eyes with a fond grin on his face. "She's got you there, Prongs," Sirius said between bursts of laughter.

James colored, and he glared around at all of his friends. "Hey…"

Peter shook his head and turned back to the book.

… the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh, no," Peter shook his head. "No, that's the worst possible outcome. No, he doesn't need that, and those people should know better…"

Lily nodded, seemingly a little surprised that Peter had spoken. "Exactly, Pettigrew," she said. "They are adults and he is eleven. This is inappropriate at best, and at worst…"

"I don't want to go there," James looked disgusted.

… the very thought.

"Are they still having trouble filling the Defense position? That's… actually, that's probably something Dumbledore uses to his advantage somehow," Remus scowled. "I don't trust this Quirrell person. Who knows what he wants? What Dumbledore wants from him?"

"Agreed," Sirius said, "Those nutters are always very suspect. Have we had a single decent one?"

"I liked Professor Tillybranch, from second year," Lily said. "She was nice."

"Lily, she assigned 100 pages of reading for each class. For second years. Even I thought it was a bit much," Remus gave her an odd look.

"Was it that many?" Lily looked thoughtful. "Oh. I guess I just enjoyed it so much…"

"Lily's enjoyment of second year's reading material aside," Peter cut in, looking nervous, "Quirrell's stutter feels… almost performative, as I'm reading it. Like he wants people to underestimate him. But also, he seems terrified of the subject he himself is teaching! That seems even more unlikely than him actually having a stutter. He's hiding something, I'm sure."

Everyone but Remus turned to look at Peter, slightly incredulous.

"What?" Peter protested their stares. "I notice things! I read, just not non-fiction and textbooks and dictionaries and things like Lily and Remus do. I know how a novel works! And like it or not, this book reads like a novel. I'm capable of picking up on foreshadowing!"

… liver, seventeen Sickles…

"But… that's just a Galleon," Remus looked perplexed and slightly frustrated. "Just say one Galleon!"

… Thousand - fastest ever -"

"Whoa," James looked as if he were almost drooling over the broom described.

"Potter, really? We aren't here to be thinking about future broomsticks or anything of the sort! This is a matter of life or death! There's no time for frivalry!" Lily objected strenuously.

"There's always time to have some fun," James frowned. "Come on, Lily. What's the point of life if you don't enjoy yourself at least every once in a while?"

Lily blinked at James like he'd just gone and grown a second head, but Peter didn't give her time to respond, he just started reading again.

… to both vaults.

"This is a set-up," Sirius scoffed. "Dumbledore wants Harry to be curious about whatever it is that Hagrid is retrieving."

"It's probably the Philosopher's Stone, given the title of the book," Peter looked rather morose.

"You're probably right," Lily sighed. "That's going to put him in quite of bit danger, probably, considering that the Philosopher's Stone is a very rare magical artifact. There will probably be people trying to steal it, and Harry's going to get caught up in it."

… tell yeh that."

"Right…" Sirius flicked at his hair, possibly annoyed that he hadn't had a chance to wash it last night or this morning, "Because that isn't suspicious at all."

… but too late -

"Are there really security dragons in Gringotts?" Lily asked, curious. "That doesn't sound very safe, for anyone. Not the customers, not the goblins, and not even the dragons."

"Of course there are," Sirius looks torn between rolling his eyes and looking incredulous, "They are extremely expensive, of course, so only the wealthiest wizards have one. This usually overlaps with the oldest because unfortunately that's how the world works. My family has one at our main vault. And you're right, it is dangerous for everyone involved, but for the dragons most of all. Dragons rights activists have been campaigning to make the practice illegal for decades. After all, dragon populations are dwindling, and therefore should be protected. Personally, I agree, but I, unfortunately, do not have any kind of political clout in order to make a contribution to the cause."

Lily blinked at Sirius like he'd turned into a dragon himself, but the other boys merely rolled their eyes or sadly shook their heads. Sirius didn't seem to notice, and in fact continued to talk politics.

"Besides, even if I did have political clout, there are more pressing issues than dragons rights. Like werewolf rights! Werewolves are actual people, and therefore more important than dragons, regardless of any other factors. And quite frankly, the amount of anti-werewolf propaganda that is shoved down our throats as 'fact' is downright disgusting. Especially all that nonsense about a werewolf's non-transformed self being nothing more than a mask. None of the loonies writing this utter shite have ever met a werewolf in their life, and it shows!"

"Sirius," Remus finally cut in, smiling and shaking his head fondly, "You don't need to tell us this. We already know. And besides, maybe in the future you'll have the clout to make those changes. Not in the books, probably, but when we make changes, maybe then you can make a real difference."

Sirius looked slightly embarrassed, but he aquissed. "Yeah, okay."

"One speed only,"

"That's a damn lie," James laughed. "They just don't have slow settings. They are more than happy to make the cart go faster if you ask."

"Why would you want to make the cart go faster?" Lily gaped. "That death trap already goes fast enough to make a person sick."

"Because it's fun?" James raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"... Adrenaline junkie."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you like adrenaline."

"What is 'adrenaline'?"

"Pettigrew, keep reading."

… rather nasty grin.

"Well, that's downright terrifying," Peter stared at the book in his hands. "Surely thievery is not worthy of a death sentence? Especially not one so horrible and drawn out as starvation?"

"Well, they are checking the vault at all, that's more than they technically have to do," Sirius shrugged and played with the tips of his hair, looking disgusted. "And if someone's stealing from a vault that has that kind of security, they probably got what was coming to them." He paused and thought for a moment, and then amended, "At least, they probably got what was coming to them in the eyes of the owner of the vault they were stealing from."

Lily sighed and gave Sirius a look that was downright unreadable, even to me. "Well," she said with a sigh, "As though I needed more evidence that wizarding society needs some updates."

"Careful with that wording, Evans," Sirius looked almost worried for Lily. "That's rather what many pureblood nutters are afraid of, including my blood family. They don't want to be like muggle society. Personally, however, I agree that we could take some tips."

… inside his coat.

"As if I wasn't sure enough before," Peter rolled his eyes at the book, "that's definitely the Philosopher's Stone, or I'm a dog."

"HEY!" Sirius protested. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why are you getting so worked up over it, Black?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it was a little odd, but not that odd. And besides, he's probably right. That definitely sounds like the Philosopher's Stone to me."

Sirius seemed embarrassed, and huffed as he elegantly flopped back into the couch cushions. The other three boys all seemed to be trying not to laugh at him.

… alone, feeling nervous.

"Are you KIDDING ME?!" Lily shrieked, loud and shrill, causing James (who was sitting right next to her) and Remus (who had very sensitive hearing) to cover their ears, "HE JUST LEFT HARRY?!"

Following her angry outburst, Lily stood up and marched back and forth across the room for a few minutes, muttering angrily and making punching motions with her fists. Once he regained the ability to hear, James joined her, clearly just as angry but a bit less vocal about it. Peter settled for glaring at the book itself as though it were Hagrid.

Remus and Sirius had more subdued reactions. Remus had simply sighed. Perhaps he understood where Hagrid was coming from. Sirius, on the other hand, looked confused. It seems unlikely that he knew why, exactly, James and Lily were quite so worked up.

Eventually, the pacing Potter and future Potter calmed down enough to sit and listen to Peter read again.

… long black robes.

"Oh, I wonder who this could be," Lily sounded almost hopeful. "Perhaps Harry could make a friend here?"

"I doubt it," Sirius sighed. "Based on what little description we got, I'd say pureblood, and not all the pureblood youth are as fabulous and rebellious as me. I'm rather the outlier, as a matter of fact." He preened a little bit, and James rolled his eyes.

"Don't be mean, Padfoot," James said, "This is just a little kid. And in any case, we only really know his hair color and face shape as of now. Too early to make a judgement. Wormtail, keep reading so that we can judge this kid."

… reminded of Dudley.

"See?" Sirius sighed. "I told you so. I didn't want to be right, but I was."

"How disappointing," Lily started to lean into James, but caught herself and slumped into the couch cushions instead before any of the other teenagers noticed.

… by the minute.

"Honestly, the amount muggleborn and muggleraised students are behind when we begin Hogwarts is downright appalling," Lily crossed her arms and snorted.

"You aren't wrong," Sirius actually grinned at her, causing her to look taken aback, "And additionally, the fact that purebloods and other wizardraised aren't required to take Muggle Studies is simply ridiculous."

It took Lily a moment to (I think) get over the shock of Sirius agreeing with her, but after a few seconds she enthusiastically agreed with Sirius. "Exactly!" she said, "There's this huge divide that I can feel between me and the non-muggleraised students. And then we're told to completely give up the muggle world and embrace everything about the wizarding world? Despite not being given a proper introduction to what's even different in the first place?"

"There are more muggles than there are wizards," Sirius nods, "And as such, many wizarding events are held in muggle venues. And everyone there is such an embarrassment! Can't even dress themselves. And even without that practical aspect, there's the cultural aspect too. There are many muggleraised here at Hogwarts, and you just mentioned how that can feel isolating. But also, muggles just make better media than wizards do."

"You're damn right they do," Lily nodded decisively. "These fools wouldn't know good music if it bit them. And don't even get me started on their poor taste in literature -"

"Hey," Peter pouted, "I like the novels in the Hogwarts library…"

"Have you ever read much muggle literature?" Lily looked quite skeptical.

"Well, no, I haven't, but -"

"Trust me, it's better. I'll get you a few books, don't look for the literary 'canon'," she scoffed. "It might have legitimately good authors in it, like Dickens, but it also has those god-awful Bronte sisters in it."

Peter looked mildly concerned for his future reading list.

… a slight sneer.

Everyone looked rather uncomfortable. Remus and Lily both shifted guiltily in their seats.

"... Well… I'm not really sure that Hagrid deserves that level of derision…" Peter frowned at the book. I think he rather enjoyed holding it, if only so that he could emote directly at it.

"But at the same time, I don't want to defend him either," Sirius shook his head. "He hasn't done all that good of a job of taking care of Harry, and he's far too loyal to Dumbledore."

There were nods of agreement all around, and then Peter turned back to the book once more.

… old wizarding families.

"There are several problems with that," Lily started to argue with the blond boy, despite the fact that he was not physically present.

"No doubt," Sirius cut her off, "There are many problems with that, not least of which is the ludicrous amount of inbreeding in many pureblood families, including my own - it's a miracle I look as good as I do - but those of us here are already aware of that, Evans, and this boy can't hear you."

"Oh," Lily settled back down, slightly mollified. "Right."

"But I do agree," Sirius sighed. "And I hope that kid grows out of that once he's away from his parents, but I'm not going to get my hopes up."

… knowin' about Quidditch!"

"That's just rude," Remus quirked an eyebrow at the book.

"Oh, yes, please, Hagrid," James almost growled, "continue to make my future son feel worse."

"And continue proving my point that muggleraised children are not well supported enough when they enter the wizarding world!" Lily added. That sounded rather personal to me, and it must have to Peter as well, because he quickly began to read again.

… wasn't in Slytherin.

"Well…" James started, then trailed off again before saying anything, seemingly lost in thought.

Lily, on the other hand, had plenty to say on the matter.

"Oh, that's complete nonsense," she scoffed, "You're saying there was never, not even once, a wizard or witch who was from another house who was a bad person? I can refute that without even trying. For starters, Hogwarts is only one school. What, are there only people who went to Hogwarts who are bad people? That doesn't sound like much of an endorsement. And don't even get me started on how terrible and poisoning of minds it is to tell a batch of eleven-year-olds they're all evil because an old magic hat said they have to wear green."

"Lily," Remus cut her off, "We do get the idea, or at least I do. Just because they wear green and silver doesn't make them bad."

"I don't hate all Slytherins," Sirius scowled. "I hate my family, and Snape also because he's disgusting in more ways than one and I don't know why you hang out with him, and they all happen to be in Slytherin, but honestly. I would never go after someone like Victoria Benson."

"Who?" Lily asked, confused.

"She's a muggleborn Slytherin in Regulus's year. Brown hair she keeps in a braid? Golden-colored eyes?"

Remus thought there was something interesting about that description, I could tell by the look on his face, but he said nothing.

"I don't know her," Lily shook her head.

"Shame," Sirius replied. "She rather knows a lot about how muggle things work. Always bringing in books about engineering and whatnot. Talking with her is rather fun."

Now Remus's face looked rather like he was trying to hide his emotions. Perhaps he was jealous? Of Sirius talking to this Victoria girl, perhaps?

… Knuts a scoop).

"It's nice that Harry's being allowed to be a child for once," Lily sighed. "I'm quite furious at Petunia right now. I'm not certain I will ever get over it."

"Maybe it's better if you don't, and simply put the matter out of your mind as best you can," Remus nodded at Lily, who looked grateful for his words of advice.

… don't have to -"

"Why is he protesting getting a birthday present?" James looked confused, and also possibly slightly worried.

"I don't know," Lily said, seemingly speaking for all of them. "I can't understand it."

"The only thing I can think of is perhaps he feels he doesn't want to be a burden?" Remus seemed immensely saddened by his own words. "Perhaps if the Dursleys have conditioned him that much, to where he feels that other people being kind to him is equal to them taking on a burden, he would protest. I feel like that sometimes. Not financially, but -" Remus cuts himself off with a glance at Lily, which does not go unnoticed by the girl in question, "Well, you know." The last few words were clearly aimed at the boys and the boys alone, something that Lily clearly picked up on and likely would have irritated her in other circumstances.

But as it was, the mood in the room was brought down so very, very low, and no-one said a thing for a minute or two. When someone finally began speaking again, it was Peter, reading from the book.

… under her wing.

"I'm happy for him," Lily looked quite pleased, and perhaps a little besotted.

… some secret magic.

"How… spooky…" James shuddered.

"How did he notice that, though?" Sirius muttered into his hand. "How did he notice the ambient magic? Is he perceptive? Magic-sensitive? Neither? Did he just get lucky? What would cause him to pick up on that?"

"What?" James shot up in his seat as he turned to look at Sirius. "Are you saying that there really is 'some secret magic' at Ollivander's?"

"It's not a secret, technically," Sirius waved a hand dismissively at his friend, fingers lined up just so, the dismissal practically looked graceful, "But wandmakers do have special magical techniques, which leave magical residue in the air around where they were performed. I'm surprised Harry picked up on it, is all."

"Honestly, Potter," Lily huffed. "Don't you read?"

"Not about wand-making!" James protested. "Why do you even know about this stuff, Sirius?"

"Ah…" Sirius glanced around the room warily. "This is another of those stories I think you likely would rather not hear. We should skip it."

"Sirius!"

"Look, if you really want to know about my terrible family, perhaps I can tell you more after we finish reading about Harry, okay?"

The boys all gave Sirius a look, but allowed the matter to drop for the time being.

… wizard, of course."

"He seems so wise," Remus curled up on the sofa, looking nearly ready to drift back to sleep.

"Maybe he is," Sirius shrugged. "Are you tired, Moony?"

"... Maybe a little," the werewolf aquised.

… world to do …"

Everyone shuddered, and a feeling of general unease fell over the room. Remus curled in on himself a bit more. Lily and James moved slightly closer to each other, likely unconsciously. Peter's grip on the book tightened. Sirius glanced over at Remus worriedly, and sank almost imperceptibly deeper into the couch cushions.

… as he spoke.

"I think… maybe the answer is actually yes?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Chances are ten to one that his umbrella is made from the pieces of his old wand, yes," Remus nodded. "But he really shouldn't use them. Even if he was innocent, using a broken wand is a very bad plan."

"We aren't children, Moony, we know that," Sirius rolled his eyes but smiled fondly.

"Technically, Padfoot, we are children."

… onto the walls.

"Oh, how lovely," Lily looked a bit proud of her unborn child.

"It's just a wand," James made a token argument, despite the fact that his face displayed just as much pride as Lily's, if not more. Perhaps the argument was more with himself? "There's no reason to get emotional, all wizarding children get one."

Lily seemed to sense that there was no backing to his argument, as she simply rolled her eyes and shook her head, not offering any sort of verbal sparring.

… you that scar."

"That's going to be important later," Peter blurted out before anyone could say anything else.

"What is?" Lily looked over at Peter with a quizzical expression and quirked brow.

"That his wand's brother wand belongs to Voldemort," Peter said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Probably not until a while later, but still. That has to mean something."

"Like what?" Lily continued questioning.

"Well, wandlore is usually kept among wandmakers, even if it isn't technically a secret, Evans," Sirius cut in, "But likely it means that combat between Harry and Voldemort, if - or when - it occurs, will be very complicated and look quite flashy, because brother wands don't like fighting each other. The more wands with the same core-source, the weaker the connection, too, meaning that Harry and Voldemort's wands would definitely have a strong adverse reaction to each other, possibly even making direct combat nearly impossible, the way sister wands do!" By the end of his little lecture, Sirius's eyes had lit up like little stars even as he stared down at his lap.

There was a moment of silence, before Lily posed another question. "How exactly do you know all that, Black, if wandlore is not well known?"

Sirius leveled a look at her that said, quite plainly, that she didn't want to know, hadn't he just said so a few pages before? Given the other things Sirius had said about his family just during this one chapter alone, she decided that he was probably right, and instead of pushing it, gestured for Peter to continue reading.

… 'smatter of fact."

"Aw, Hagrid! That's actually a bit sweet," Lily smiled.

"I almost feel bad for being so mean to him before," James sighed.

Hagrid had gone.

"I no longer feel bad," James scowled.

Peter closed the book, holding their place with his finger, and held it out. "To prevent tired voices, we should rotate chapters. So, who's next?"