Harri watched her mother leave the room, sitting her bed as she did so. Harri could tell that Euphemia had a small clue as to the sort of things that she had experienced, it was obvious.

Perhaps one day she would find out the truth. Perhaps.

Either way, Harri had seen the recognition of the type of smile she gave, and knew that Euphemia, like Harri herself, would not pry. Sirius had once told her that it seemed to be a thing of everyone in the Potter family, whether by birth or marriage. When it came to personal things, they didn't pry.

Harri had been a little bit of an oddball in that sense when she was a teenager (having taken after her mother and her insatiable curiosity), though, later on, she began to curb that, and now she very rarely actually bothered with other people's private business. It took the fun out of life. Know your enemy and all that is good, but then if you know exactly what they'd do, where was the risk? Where was the thrill of adrenaline, knowing that anything could happen, but being ready for it at the same time?

Where was the fun in knowing exactly what your opponent would do?

Sure, it was dangerous to be unaware in such a situation, but it was also fun- to Harri at least. Her old friends never agreed with her on that, though. Harri suspected that she found it enjoyable just because she was such an adrenaline addict.

"Something on your mind, mistress?" Azrael asked from his spot on the bed.

Harri stretched and stood up, tossing a 'not really' in Parseltongue to Azrael over her shoulder as she did so. She headed to her bag to begin unpacking.

As she did, the door opened and she hears a muttered 'woah'. Harri looked up to see James standing in her doorway, staring around the room in shock. "What happened to it?"

Harri glanced around and gave a half shrug. "Mum changed it for me," she glanced at James' conflicted expression. "I'm not all that much a fan of red and gold, or at least those particular shades, and certainly not together."

James gave her a blank look, "How could you not be? They're Gryffindor colors!"

Harri mentally sighed, knowing that she'd have to play the clueless thirteen year old again. "What's Gryffindor?" She asked mildly, ignoring his vaguely condescending tone as she put her clothes in the closet. She didn't have much, but it was all kept in good condition- and at least they weren't Dudley's old cast-offs.

~•~ ~•~ ~•~

James, after a few days, had gotten a little tired of talking about Hogwarts and explaining things about magic, so he ended up pulling Harri outside. "Come on, I'll teach you how to fly."

Harri visibly grew excited at this. She knew James loved flying, and she wasn't all that surprised James would try to get her to have the same opinion (even though she already did, but he didn't know that). "Flying?" Harri asked, a grin pulling on her face.

James gave her a laughing yes, and they ran out to the grounds. James led her to a shed near their Quidditch Pitch - why hadn't she known of this before - and pulled out two brooms. "Cleansweep 5, the newest broom on the market." He said by explanation, handing one to Harri.

Harri grinned, "Cool." Though she knew it wouldn't be as good Firebolt. Nothing would ever be that good, in Harri's opinion.

"Right, so, just mount the broom and push up," James explained, "I'll help you after that, and if you fall I'll catch you. But I wouldn't worry if I were you, you're a Potter and we're amazing flyers." Here he gave her a cocky grin and Harri laughed, doing as he said.

It took a bit of concentration to make it seem like it was her first time flying, but James was easily convinced. "This is fun!" Harri laughed, flying in a circle around James.

He laughed as well. "See? You're a natural!" They continued to fly for a few hours before Fleamont came outside, three teenagers with him.

"James! Your friends are here!" He called, and went back inside, leaving the teenagers there.

James gave Harri another excited grin and landed, running to them. Harri followed a little slowly, giving the three of them a hesitant smile.

She had to remember that Peter wasn't a traitor yet. He was still their friend.

"Hi guys! You'll never believe what happened earlier this week!" James exclaimed, pulling the other three to Harri and throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Harri knew this wasn't how brothers normally treated their little sister's (knowing Ginny and the Weasleys meant she knew exactly how typical brothers treated younger sisters), but she supposed it was because they had only just met that he was actually trying to include her.

"Wow, you're excited," Remus observed, giving Harri a smile. "Who's this?"

"This," James said with relish, clearly enjoying the little dramatics he was pulling off, "is my little sister, Harri."

Remus's eyebrows furrowed, Peter blinked, but Sirius gasped. "I thought the youngest Potter had died."

James nodded, "Yeah, that's what the official stuff said a year after she was kidnapped."

He didn't say anything further, because Harri piped up. "Well, I'm obviously not dead, so you're sort of wrong, Mr Hair." That was a nickname Harri had given Sirius in her own time, and she just had to bring it back.

Remus and Peter gave her strange looks, James just sighed, having expected something like this, and Sirius gave a laugh. "Be prepared for stupid nicknames," he warned, "Harri had a knack for them."

"Oh dear," Remus murmured.

"Mr Hair?" Sirius echoed, still grinning.

"Yep," Harri explained brightly. "You have long hair, ergo, Mr Hair."

Sirius nodded, "Can't fault that logic. In that case though, I have no other choice than to nickname you… er, I don't really have a good nickname."

James grinned, "Madam Snake!" He exclaimed, poking Harri's cheek and causing her to bat away his hand. Of course, it was a nickname Remus and Sirius had given her last time as a joke when she had told them of the accidental magic situation that involved setting a snake loose at the zoo.

"Madam Snake?" Peter asked.

"I need an explanation for this," Remus said, sitting on the pitch. The others sat next to him, Harri sending out a small burst of magic to Azrael, knowing he had made his way out near the pitch while she was flying.

"Well, Harri here has a pet snake," James explained, "therefore, Madam Snake."

"A snake?" Sirius asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as Azrael slithered up to Harri to wrap around her shoulders. "What, are you a Slytherin or something?"

He asked this somewhat snidely, and Harri wasn't surprised to see that the others, while they didn't say it, all felt similarly. Even James.

It annoyed her a bit, but she had to remember they were teenagers, and she had been much the same as a teenager as well, so she really couldn't say anything.

"What's Slytherin?" She asked, pushing away the minor annoyance.

"Slytherin is one of the houses of Hogwarts, remember when I explained that?" James asked. "It's the evil snake house."

Harri blinked. "What do they all have plans for world domination or something?"

"Huh?" Peter asked.

She shrugged, "If it's evil, then do they all sit around and plot world domination? Why would an entire house for solely ev people exist without being closed down or something? Why let all the evil kids stay in a dorm together? That's just asking for trouble, there. If it's evil, why does it still exist?"

The four Marauders stared at her, then exchanged glances. "Well, putting it like that, you may have a point." James said slowly.

Harri scoffed, "Of course I have a point. No one, and I mean no one, would allow the continued existence of something that only creates evil people. Therefore, logic dictates that there are good Slytherins as well, and evil people from other houses."

There was a momentary silence as Harri pet Azrael, her lips twitching up in a grin as he slithered in between her and the four other distracted teens and approached Sirius's hand. He gave a small squeal as Azrael began to wrap around his arm.

"Calm down," a laughing Harri told Sirius, "he just wants some attention. Pet him and he'll leave you alone after a little while."

Sirius gave her a horrified look even as he hesitantly reached out to pet the snake, ignoring the snickering of the other Marauders. After a short few seconds, he was less scared and more interested. "What kind of snake is he?" Sirius asked as he made his way to Peter.

However, before Harri could reply, Peter squealed and backed up. "No no no! Keep him away from me! He's gonna eat me!"

Harri gave him a flat look, "Oh please, Azrael doesn't eat people. Much to chewy, he says." Here she wrinkled her nose, to the others' amusement. "Besides, he prefers rats to anything. Certainly, humans are not part of his diet."

Yes, Harri knew the sort of reaction Peter would have, considering the Marauders had supposedly finished their transformation earlier this summer, according to the Sirius from her timeline. Oh well, let it never be said that she didn't hold on to grudges for ridiculously long times.

Peter's eyes widened. "Oh Merlin he's gonna eat me!" He wailed.

Harri raised an eyebrow, ignoring Remus' facepalm or Sirius and James' snickers. "Did you not just hear me? I mean unless you've got a rat somewhere in your ancestry or something you'll be fine."

Azrael began hissing now, enjoying causing the rat fear just as much as she was. "Hear ratty ratty rat, come here. I won't bite… maybe… but at least it'll be a quick death."

Harri had to bite her lip to stop from laughing. "Alright Death, I think we've terrorized him enough."

Azrael pouted even as he slithered away from Peter and seemed to decide that Remus would make a good bed, so he slithered into his lap and would himself into a coil.

There was silence for a little while. "You're a Parselmouth?" Sirius asked. "How? The Potters have no connection to the Slytherin line…"

Harri shrugged. "No clue. I only found out about magic like a week ago."