Rambles – Hiya darlins. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next. Lord knows I have. Reviews are absolutely lovely. Also, I went back and the scene with Harry and Justin was changed slightly, because the lovely beta pointed out it didn't flow right. Gotta love her. And, I finally changed the French in chapter 12, and fixed all the Alicia/Alice mistakes in the story. So, read, enjoy (hopefully) and leave me a very detailed review of all the things that you absolutely loved because I'm a huge review-whore.

Time Again

Lady Starlight so kiss my ass

Chapter Twenty Three.

Morning came too quickly on the first day of the holidays. It snuck up and attacked the slumbering students, many of whom had been up all night doing last-minute packing.

That was not exactly the case for one of the two seventh-year boys' dorms in Gryffindor tower. And by not exactly, I mean that three of the five occupants were wide awake while the other two slumbered, completely unaware of the smirks being shared.

"You got it, Wormtail?" Prongs asked, sly smile on his face.

"Y-yes," Warmtail stuttered. He held the bucket. Unsuccessfully willing his hands to be as steady as James'.

He glanced at the sleeping couple, and kind of wanted to run away. But James would never let him live it down if he did. Remus flicked his wand out and levitated the bucket over the bed.

"So," James asked conversationally. "Who do you think they will kill first?"

"We'll have to find out, won't we, Prongs?" Remus asked, smirking.

"You ready, Moony?""

Peter watched as Harry shifted in his sleep, Sirius' arm pulled away and the dog mumbled incoherently. He watched at the bucket tipped in mid-air, over the sleeping couple. And he froze, because, because before even the first drop of water hit them, Harry's emerald eyes snapped opened, darkly.

"BLEEDING HELL!" Sirius snarled; sitting up, his hair was soaking wet and his sapphire eyes instantly sought out James. His wand moved from under his pillow to in his hand to before anyone really saw it.

James was sent flying back and dark brown antlers popped out of his head, a reminder of Prongs that had Harry snickering.

"Well," Remus said. "Guess that answers that."

Harry's eyes were bright with amusement, and Peter could almost pretend he'd imagined the deadly glare.

"Nice antlers, Prongs," Harry sneered and James smirked.

"You like 'em, little boy?" Prongs asked as he whipped out his wand and jinxed Harry with a matching set.

Remus tried to use the distraction to back slowly – or not so slowly as was the case – out of the Dorm. Then three wands were pointed at him.

"I don't think so, Wolfie," Harry said. "I know that little spellwork was yours."

Remus was too slow in casting the protego against the three spells. He ended up with a pair of antlers himself, sitting on a shock of green hair and and to top it off, he had a bright – and I mean really, really bright – red nose.

"There you go, Remus," Harry smirked. "Sorry, guess that should be Rudolph."

Remus reached up to touch his antlers, cursing mentally. Well, at least he was already dressed, so that wouldn't be a problem.

"So," James asked, staring down at the laughing Sirius. "How long did you make them last?"

The grin on Sirius' face was lightning-quick, and James almost wanted to turn white at the mere wickedness of it.

"Oh, well, I always was curious what your mother's reaction would be to her horny son."

James face had gone so white, so fast, that Harry hadn't had time to blink before his young father was shrieking.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" James took a deep breath, and then started shaking. "Oh, Merlin, oh, Merlin. She is going to skin me. She's going to hang me above the fireplace. Show me off to all her friends." James eyes' widened with fear. "HOW COULD YOU! YOU SAW WHAT SHE DID LAST SUMMER!"

As James hyperventilated Sirius picked up his clothing and closed the curtains around his bed.

"All the sudden, I'm not so sure I want to meet Mrs. Potter," Harry murmured and Sirius laughed, reaching for Harry's nightshirt. Pulling it over his boyfriend's head Sirius grinned, raking his eyes over Harry, a frown gracing his features when he spotted several small scars that the waist of his school pants usually covered. Unfortunately, his pajamas rode too low to conceal them.

Or the Tat---

Sirius raised his eyes to Harry's, a pout on his face. "How'd you get those?"

There was no way he could tell the young man Lucius Malfoy would give him those in twenty odd years, without said young man doing some serious (yes he thought that) damage to the current Lucius Malfoy.

"Quidditch," Harry whispered and Sirius narrowed his eyes. They both knew he didn't believe it. Harry had a brief flash of Sirius' hot breath and his whispered "Don't ever lie to me," from right after he'd found out the truth. And his stomach churned, because really, he didn't want to lie to Sirius, but what else could he do? The truth wasn't really an option.

Sirius' eyes fell flat, and they both knew Harry was lying. The fingers caressed Harry's side. Both vaguely head James yell at them, they ignored it. Sirius leaned over, pressing his lips to Harry's.

"I wish you could tell me the truth," he whispered so quietly that Harry feared he'd heard wrong. Harry leaned foreword, wrapping his arms around Sirius and burying his head in the older boy's neck.

"GODDAMNIT! WILL YOU HURRY UP AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES SO THAT WE CAN CATCH THE TRAIN?"

Harry giggled at James' outburst and slid on his T-Shirt. Sirius didn't bother looking away as the shirt dropped over his chest, and Harry smirked at the obvious lust oozing off his boyfriend. Picking up his pajama shirt he chucked it at Sirius' head before finishing getting changed.

Sirius pouted as he yanked his shirt off. He changed quickly, noting with some amusement that Harry couldn't take his eyes away any more than he couldn't stop the blush that stained his cheeks. Sirius picked up their pajamas and ducked through his curtains to put their clothes in their trunks. He'd barely stepped away when Harry reached through and pulled him back.

James groaned in disgust. "What are you, a couple of horny teenagers?"

Remus looked over from his trunk, where he'd been repacking, and cocked an eyebrow at James.

"Don 't answer that," Prongs muttered.

Their dorm door banged open and a pissed-off brunette stormed in. "HARRY! SIRIUS! YOU GET OUT OF THAT BED AND LEAVE EACH OTHER ALONE UNTIL WE GET TO THE POTTERS'!" She stormed to the bed, ripped open the curtains and glared at the young couple. "If you make us late, so help me God, you'll WISH IT WAS VOLDEMORT KILLING YOU!"

Harry groaned, rubbing his head. Her verbal screech had been echoed by a mental one, and Harry wasn't sure which was worse. Actually, Peter's terrified squeak at 'Voldemort' was worse. God, Harry was sick of people fearing a bloody name.

"You know, love," he tried. "I can't always be there when you screech. There are other things I'd rather be doing."

"Oh, I know what you'd rather be doing Harry P-Granger! That still gives you no right to ignore me!"

"It's not like you were in any danger," Harry tried, wanting to shake at the disturbed feeling at being called Granger. Blah.

Lily glanced at them from the door, and Harry sighed, beckoning her in as well. "You have to forgive my sister, Lily, she's a bit of a drama queen."

"I'll drama queen you," Hermione hissed, glaring at Harry, who effectively ignored her.

"She's not used to sharing," Harry said and Hermione reached up and smacked him upside the head. Hard. Harry pouted at her, but Hermione only continued to glare.

"Finish getting packed, brush your teeth, and then we are going to have breakfast." Neither male moved and Hermione raised on deadly eyebrow. "Move." They bolted for the bathroom.

Hermione sighed, picking up the abandoned clothes and fishing out her keys to Harry's trunk. Locking it when she was done, she sat on his bed with a huff. James stepped away, keeping several beds, and Lily, between the two of them. Peter had busied himself with his own belongings, having remembered that he had Transfiguration homework to do over Christmas.

Remus on the other hand, took a tentative step towards Hermione, and the brunette looked up and grinned, her eyes bright with mirth. Remus let out a breath and dropped himself beside her on Harry's bed. "Excited for the holiday's?" he asked and Hermione beamed at him.

"Yeah, I can't wait. I love school, but there needs to be time to relax."

"Too true," Remus agreed.

Sirius and Harry came out of the bathroom bantering, and froze when they saw Hermione. The brunette eyed the black haired couple and stood, walking towards the dorms door.

"She's scary," Sirius muttered in Harry's ear. The young hero laughed.

"You have no idea," he said. When they snickered Hermione turned and glared at them.

Breakfast was a loud event, despite the fact that several students were missing – probably still packing, or sleeping, according to Hermione. They ate quickly, their own conversation stilted under Hermione's careful eyes. The young woman snatched their plates away before they were finished and Sirius glared at Hermione for daring to take away his food. Hermione glared back. Darker.

The couple trudged after her, heads lowered like obedient puppies.

They boarded one of the not-so-horseless carriages and Hermione eyed the Thresals nervously. She wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of them, let alone seeing them. And knowing the reasons why she could see them.

Sammy jumped into the carriage with them, grinning hugely as he closed the door. "So," the brunette said. "Hot plans at the Potters?"

"Looks like," James admitted, then reached up to touch his antlers, glaring at Sirius. Harry smirked, touching his own. He'd take off to the bathroom once they got on the train, to get rid of his.

"You'll be coming for New Years, right?" James asked and Sammy frowned. James narrowed his eyes.

"What's your excuse this time, Winchester? I do believe last year it was your brother who was sick, the year before that, your Aunt May, who sounds suspiciously like Spiderman's Aunt, by the way, was visiting."

Sammy bit his lip, looking outside. Maybe jumping in their carriage had been a bad idea. "I'm not sure, James. I can try, but..."

"Right, well, if your brother puts up a fight, tell him to fuck off and come with. I'm sure your Dad won't mind if Dean is there as well."

"We'll see," Sammy said. "So, where did the prank start, guys?" He asked, eying the three sets of antlers.

"HIM!" James, Remus, Sirius and Harry said, pointing to James. James frowned, looking at his traitorous finger, before turning it around and pointing at Sirius. Sammy snickered, shaking his head.

"I only cast the first jinx," Sirius defended. "YOU'RE the one who decided and ice bath was the best way to wake us up in the morning."

"Well, if you didn't insist on sleeping in every morning, maybe I wouldn't go to such extremes to wake you up," James argued.

"Well," Sirius sneered. "A simple 'Hey, Pads! Time to get up, mate,' would work more effectively, and wouldn't leave you cursed."

"Most of the time you turn around and jinx me anyway! I was making the consequences worthwhile!"

"There are other ways than water!"

"What are you, a bleeding CAT?"

"PRONGS!" Remus yelped, his eyes widening as Sirius glared dangerously.

"A CAT? A cat you say? A freaking CAT? I'm no cat, boy, you'd best remember that."

"No, you're just a horn dog, emphasis on the DOG," James glared back.

Sammy blinked several times as the argument degraded into name-calling, He had witnessed a few fights like this, and apparently, from the disinterest of the others, so had they.

Remus had his nose buried in a book, muttering as he rubbed his scarily red nose. Harry, taking pity on the wolf, pulled out his wand and muttered a counter. Remus thanked him and Harry smiled in return. James however, broke from his litany of 'your momma' jokes with Sirius to whine.

"It was a bit much, Prongs," Harry muttered and in the corner he could sense Peter stiffen. Peter really didn't like Harry's place in the group. He didn't like how James and Sirius and the level-headed Remus were so willing to see his side of it, were eager to take his advice and talk to him about everything from pranks, to the war against the Dark Lord.

And some of Harry's opinions, it almost sounded like he knew what he was talking about, like maybe he'd gone up against the Dark Lord. But that was impossible, because no one went up against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and lived. It simply wasn't done. Unless your name was Albus Dumbledore and you were Headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry wasn't either of those things. Let alone both.

Watching as Sirius ran his fingers through Harry's hair, a smile on his face, as Hermione scowled at them, and they ignored her to pick on James, he wondered when he was replaced and how it had happened without anyone noticing.

Remus glanced up, and met Peter's eyes, a concerned smile on his face and the rat smiled back, the one full of interest and amusement that he'd learned to master in the five months that Harry and Hermione and shown up and changed his world.

Peter glanced over to another carriage and his eyes locked on a pair of gray ones. The eyes smiled at Peter, before resting on Harry, fury settling in them. McNeill really hated Harry, and Peter kind of wanted to ask why.

Hermione's growl broke through his train of thought, and Peter turned to watch the girl smack Harry upside the head, glaring at him, and Sirius. "What," she drawled, "did I say about staying away from each other?"

"Not to do it?" Harry asked.

"On pain of death," Sirius agreed.

"Somehow," Sammy said. "I'm not so sure that's what she said."

The carriage stopped and the group got out to pile into the train, searching out a compartment. Sammy then said, "Happy Christmas," and left to find Alicia, Frank, Ashley and Justin and Daphne.

Claiming the last compartment for their own, they put their trunks away. Harry excused himself to go to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror Harry stared at his reflection, focusing on his antlers. He centered his magic, and moved them to the top of his head, closing his eyes he felt his own magic dissolve James' prank. When he opened his eyes again, the antlers were gone, and Sirius was standing behind him, mouth opened.

"You're going to have to explain that, you know," Sirius' voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes glazed with shock.

Harry bit his lip, and nodded. "Sure," he said and Sirius glanced up, shocked. He hadn't actually thought Harry would be willing to supply the information. "Later tonight at the Potters, alright?" Harry focused his magic, letting himself feel the magic course back through his body and settle. He opened his eyes and smiled at Sirius, who was biting his lip and staring at Harry.

"Siri?" Harry asked and Sirius smiled at him.

"You really need to show me how to do that." Harry blushed, smiling lightly at his eager boyfriend.

"No problem," Harry said. He wrapped his arms around Sirius and could hear Hermione's sharp cough in his head. DAMNIT! He needed to remember to block her out. Though, this morning proved that that was a bad idea.

Harry growled slightly, and Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I almost want to know about that, as well."

"That's a bit harder to explain," Harry admitted and Sirius smiled. He leaned foreword and kissed Harry, before unlocking the bathroom door and strolling out, pulling Harry with him.

When they entered their compartment, James glared at Harry's lack of antlers. "NOT FAIR!" he whined. "How'd you get rid of them?"

"Magic," Harry grinned at the death glare.

The train ride finally ended with them all reaching King's Cross. They pulled their luggage free with them as they left the train. Harry and Hermione watched as James scanned the crowed of parents for his mother, tentatively touching the antlers that were still sitting on his head. She was going to axe-murder him.

"MOM!" He called and six random heads turned in his direction. James shrugged, grinning. "It seemed like a good idea."

"Sure it did," Remus sighed, shaking his head. He glanced up and smiled when he spotted Peter's mum. "Wormtail, your mum's over there, she's standing with my mum."

Peter spotted the two women, and smiled. "Well, Happy Christmas, see you in a few weeks," he said.

"Yup," Sirius agreed. "Have a good trip."

"And he does mean trip," James agreed, smiling lightly as Sirius whacked him upside the head.

"Oh, you boys," Lily groaned. "Ignore them, Peter, and be careful."

"Have fun in Luxembourg," Hermione said to Peter while she walked towards Remus.

"Happy Christmas," Harry agreed, eying his sister suspiciously as she hugged Remus.

"Happy Christmas, Remus," Hermione whispered, kissing his cheek. Remus smiled at her softly.

"See you tomorrow," he agreed, kissing her quickly, casting a nervous look at Harry.

"AWWWW!" Sirius cheered. "What a touching moment!"

"Sirius!" Harry warned, but it was too late. Sirius jumped from where he was standing, launching himself as Remus. He wrapped his arms around the wolf and sobbed ridiculously.

"Have a happy Christmas, Remy, I'll miss you soooooooooooo much I won't know what to do with myself. Mayhap, I'll take to knitting while you're not there. Something so boring that will make me miss you even more in the twenty four hours that I won't see you!" Sirius placed a smacking kiss on Remus' lips while he wailed. "Don't forget me while you're gone!"

Harry stepped forward, he snagged a lock of hair and pulled the taller boy down. "Bad puppy," he said sternly. "Your lips stay off Remus."

"Okay," Sirius agreed when Harry let go, then he reached over and kissed his best friend, much to Harry's annoyance. "Well," Sirius said when he let go of James, who was too busy laughing to pay them attention. "It's not Remus."

"Uh huh," Harry pouted, unimpressed.

Sirius reached over, laughing. He tugged Harry up close and personal, kissing him more thoroughly than the playful kisses he'd given both his friends. "You should have said," he whispered against Harry's lips. "That I'm only allowed to kiss you."

"Hmm," the happy murmur escaping Harry. "That's the one," he wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck, standing on his toes to level their faces.

"WAAHOOO! Go Harry!" Justin Taylor's voice shouted from the distance, and Harry flipped him off, hoping that he saw it.

"Hem, hem," broke through Harry's concentration, and the cough had Harry's bones freezing and moving in overdrive all at once. He flew away from Sirius, eyes darting around for the familiar lady.

But he didn't see her. At least, he thought as he took in a young woman dressed head to toe in pink, not the her who tried to ruin his life. Sirius raised an eyebrow, curious about Harry's discomfort.

"That is inappropriate behavior in a public setting, gentlemen," she stated and Harry immediately knew it was more than the public setting she disapproved of.

"Yes, Professor Umbridge, ma'am, sir, ma'am," he hurried, in reflex and glanced at the faded scar on his hand, all the reminder he needed.

"Excuse me ?" The younger Umbridge demanded in her shrill voice, which was the same one that had haunted his nightmares in fifth year (along with Voldemort, of course.)

"I said, I'm terribly sorry, ma'am," he tried to cover.

Umbridge walked past him, looking for one of the students, sparing him no more of her very valuable attention.

"Dungbitch," Harry muttered, remembering one of her many endearing nicknames from their fifth year and beyond. The students of Hogwrts, year 1997 still had nightmares about her coming back from the dead to teach them.

He glanced behind him to see the curious stares of his friends, and the knowing one on Hermione's. "She reminded me of one of my... more horrible Defence Professors. Scary lady."

"Obsessive as well," Hermione agreed.

"She's horrid," Lily said to their shock. "No respectable woman in her right mind would wear that much pink. It's a fashion disaster, I learned that much from Matilda at least." Hermione and Harry both cracked grins.

After the giggling was done, Remus re-spotted his Mum and Peter's, leaving their friends. Lily saw her Dad and headed over there alone, after James balked at the thought of talking to him. Once was more than enough, thank you very much.

"Guess that makes it just us, mates," James said, reaching up to touch his antlers. They were gone. He whipped around to stare at Sirius, who just laughed.

"Do you honestly think I would ever be the reason you end up murdered? Think again, mate." Behind their backs, Hermione and Harry exchanged a brief look. A knowing one.

"James Potter!" James jolted, a smile taking over his face.

"Mum!" he hollered back. A tall blonde raced over, smiling brightly. She wrapped her arms around James and he hugged her back, completely unembarrassed. The two let go of each other, both beaming.

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long," she said. "I had some trouble finding a place to park."

"It's no problem to wait for a beautiful lady, Mumma Potter," the grin on Sirius' face was contagious, and the charm just poured out of him. Mrs. Potter eyed him dubiously, and shook her head.

"It's good to have you back, Sirius. If only because you keep things interesting."

"Hey!" James whined. "What about me?"

"What about you?" Mrs. Potter said, and Sirius laughed. "Now, boys, find some manners and introduce me."

"Right," James said. "Mum, this is Harry and Hermione Granger. Mates, this is my mum, Vivian Potter."

"Pleased to meet you," Vivian said.

"Pleasure's mine," Harry flashed a grin and frowned when Vivian froze, her eyes locked on him.

"Are you... nah, never mind," she decided. "Couldn't be." She waved her hand carelessly and walked with them out of the station. "So, Sirius, I parked beside this beautiful car. I hope it's still there so that you can see it.."

"Aww! Mumma Potter," Sirius cheered. "You know the way to my heart is-"

"Through your stomach?" James guessed.

"Through your hair?" Vivian questioned.

"Through your pants," Hermione stated and Sirius pouted. He turned to look at Harry, eyes wide and playfully damp.

"Aren't you going to defend me against their cruel words?"

"Why would I?" Harry asked, "when they're right?"

"You're mean! You're all heartless and cruel. Why I even put up with you when all I get is insulted, I'll never know. I should leave now, never to return, and then you'd know what it's like to – Holy Merlin, nice car."

"Holy Merlin," Harry countered. "Nice driver."

When Sirius saw Harry's grin, the sudden tug in his gut loosened. If only a little.

"Nice brother you got there, Sammy," Sirius called out. Sammy slammed the black of the black car, and got a "Hey! That's my baby you're abusing" from his brother.

"Shut up, Dean."

"Bitch," Dean muttered, glaring at Sammy. Sammy grinned, the happy smile lighting up his face.

"Jerk. Just drive us home."

"See you on New Years!" James called out and saw Sammy glare at him, and Dean shift in his seat to stare inquisitively.

"Happy Christmas!" Sammy called back, before he rounded on his brother and reached for the tape deck. His hand was slapped away immediately.

Vivian opened the boot of her car and helped the teenagers put their trunks in. When they were on the road, she finally started talking.

"So, each of you will have your own room to stay in," she said to Harry and Hermione. "And I'm going to assume that you are sleeping in your own beds, do you understand?" she said, her question directed at Sirius and Harry, who both nodded.

Harry kicked his legs over Sirius', smiling at his boyfriend as he rested his head on Sirius' shoulder. They understood, completely.

...TBC...

Mattieau – Thanks for the note on the French, I finally went back and changed it. :D I'm glad you are enjoying my fic.

ElizaHPFAN – Hehe, I just plotted out some more of this fic. I hope you like what I deiced (after I post it) actually, I hope everyone likes how it turned out... -insert panic here- Ahh, Terrance and Ashley, I love their relationship that's really not a relationship... As to your question, good question, while I've finally figured out how to end this, I'm still a little bit torn on if they change things, or if it's already happened. :) I love Draco Malfoy. And that's all I'm saying. Ahh, thank you for responding to my question about annon. Accounts. I never even bothered to ask my mum. I just did it and I don't regret it. Well, except for the fact that I'm not totally obsessed. Ohh! I like your drabble idea, let me see what I can do with that. Happy (early) Easter.

1813 – I'm really glad that you enjoyed it. Here's more.

Neveah Black – Ahh! I understand, yeah, lol, it was mostly you and ElizaHPFAN that had me wondering. :D I also wonder if annon reviews review with different names... that would get kind of confusing, don't you think? I'm glad you liked the chapter, after editing it for the fifty thousandth time I'm mostly happy with it now. :D If you want to broaden your vocabulary go right ahead, but I'm usually happy with the vocab you have now. -cheesey grin- I realllly like the green streaks, I think they might have to make a reappearance. Thanks for the review, darlin.

Rambles – Alright, so I have a question for people, who wants to see Harry and Hermione change the future? Or what if this has already happened? While the final choice is mine, I'm curious as to what you as the readers of this epic adventure (and I mean an adventure in writing it) have to say...

Luv ya'll

Lady Starlight.