It was amazing what changes a decade could bring. Sirius found himself thinking that many times over the last weeks. Harry ... ahhh, his little pup. He wasn't so little anymore, and looked so much like James at times it made Sirius' heart hurt. Fortunately (for Sirius' mental equilibrium, anyway), that was where any resemblance to James ended. Harry's eyes and personality were all Lily. Harry's brains and ability were an almost frightening combination of both. Oh, Harry wasn't a genius or anything like that, but he had a scary amount of power for an almost-twelve-year-old, and picked up spells almost as fast as he was taught them.

Remus had changed too, and in more ways than the gray in his hair. The last decade alone, with no pack to call his own, and, if how he looked was any indication, little money and less rest, had not done the 'quiet' Marauder any favors. Oh, there was still a spark of the fun-loving Moony in him, but it had got rather deeply buried. Of course, over the last few weeks, more and more of 'Moony' seemed to be resurfacing, and Remus was smiling and looking happy more and more, something of which Sirius approved wholeheartedly.

But the one that had changed the most was Snape. So much so it startled the hell out of Sirius. Oh, he was still greasy, and vindictive, and had a razor-sharp tongue, but the defensive, rather easily bullied boy he'd known had become a man that Sirius would hesitate to cross wands with. And as much as it burned him to admit it, Snape genuinely seemed to care for Harry. All he'd really needed to know to figure that out was the little ... encounter ... with Quirrell. While a Gryffindor would have done what Snape did without a thought, and maybe a Hufflepuff as well (maybe), for a Slytherin to count someone else's life and welfare as more important than their own ... that was big. For a Slytherin to go charging into battle in defense of someone else was ... pretty much unheard of, as far as Sirius knew. That 'Snivellus' had done that, and more, for the son of his hated enemy ... well, the impact was incalculable.

It was enough to get Sirius to (albeit reluctantly) bury the hatchet. Whatever his reasons, Severus was clearly willing to do whatever it took to help Harry and keep him safe. It was a cause that Sirius could get behind whole-heartedly, even if it meant not sniping at the greasy git like he wanted to. Well, sort of wanted to. Knowing Severus had gone to such lengths for Harry kind of took some of the fun out of poking the git's ego down to size.

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Harry had just that first week of quiet in which to get as much of his homework done as possible before things got really busy. The first (and worst) was the 'pureblood etiquette' lessons with Augusta Longbottom. Augusta was rather a lot like Severus, which explained why Neville was so intimidated by the man. Severe, strict, and more than a bit of a perfectionist. It really didn't help that the lessons she had to impart were deadly dull.

Harry learned more about posture and the million and one different kinds of etiquette from Augusta than he ever really wanted to know. She also undertook to teach him to dance. He also learned about who ranked who, which in his case was pretty much summed up by 'you rank everybody but the Minister, The head of the DMLE, Dumbledore, and your own godfather', thanks to how old the Potter line was. In theory, anyway. In practice, thanks to his age, the list was considerably longer, but once he was of age and could exercise his political and social weight to the fullest, he'd have a lot of sway in the British wizarding world.

Fortunately for him, he only had one two hour lesson with Augusta three times a week. The rest of his lessons were far, far more fun, and interesting.

McGonagall and Flitwick introduced him to a huge range of spells that were not on the syllabus ... healing spells and what Harry termed 'combat' spells, whether they were transfigurations or charms. Learning them and performing them pushed Harry to his limits. What McGonagall and Flitwick never told him was that virtually every spell they were teaching him was post-OWL level. That he proved able to perform the spells at all stunned both teachers.

Harry got a kick out of watching McGonagall and Flitwick show him how the spells worked in friendly 'duels'. Flitwick almost always won, but McGonagall was no slouch, and made him work for the wins. When they dragged Severus and Remus into the duels, to demonstrate how to handle a two-or-three-on-one fight, rather than a 'proper' duel, things just got that much more interesting. Towards the end of the summer, when Sirius was finally able to participate, Harry was left wide-eyed at how well he and Remus worked together. They were downright scary, and between them, despite neither of them being in top condition, they could generally fight McGonagall to a standstill. Harry could just imagine what they'd been like when they were younger and in better shape.

Those lessons took place twice a week, on the days between Augusta's etiquette lessons. He also had lessons with Severus, both revising the potions they'd learned in first year, and learning how to brew some healing potions. They also spent an hour or two together every evening working on teaching Harry occlumency.

The potions proved easy enough, so long as he had an accurate recipe. It was rather simple to follow the directions, after all. He even managed to memorize the instructions for a couple of the simplest. The occlumency, however, was going painfully slowly. Learning to meditate in order to calm his thoughts was the first step ... and one which Harry questioned, because how on earth was he to do that every time ... ? To which Severus had responded that eventually, the 'calming' process would become automatic and instantaneous, but he first had to learn how to do it at all.

Given that Harry was a nearly-twelve year old boy, with a range of lessons being taught, calming his mind proved rather difficult until near the end of summer, when he finally hit on something that worked consistently. Of course, it still took him a good twenty or thirty minutes to quiet his mind, but at least he could. Severus was surprisingly patient about the whole thing.

Of course, as Severus promised, Harry's summer wasn't all about lessons. While he had at least one lesson a day during the week (two, on etiquette days, as that's when Severus worked with him on potions), those lessons generally only took two or three hours of his day at the most, which left the entire rest of the day, and all day on the weekends, free.

HPHPHP

The Weasleys were the first to accept Harry's offer to come over, of course. Harry spent a good bit of time with Ron and the twins, and even got to know Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a lot better. Arthur amused him no end with his desire to comprehend the Muggle world. The only real fly in the ointment was Ginny, who tended to squeak, run and hide whenever she spotted him or he spoke to her. Or worse, she ended up doing something embarrassing, like tripping over her feet and falling flat on her face or some such.

But by far the most amusing incident to involve a Weasley was the day Fred and George figured out just who Sirius and Remus were, a little less than two weeks into the summer, and on their second visit to the Manor. And it was all Sirius' fault, too. Stir crazy from weeks in the infirmary, and finally shaking the worst of the lingering effects of long-term exposure to Dementors, he'd decided to embark upon a pranking spree. Harry woke the morning of the twins' second visit to find his room and everything in it a nauseating, neon pepto-bismol pink. From the yells of outrage, he wasn't the only one that got hit, though from the lack of Severus' enraged bellows, Sirius had possessed the wit to not reopen old wounds.

War having been declared, Harry promptly conferred with Moony on a proper avenue of paybacks. Needless to say, by breakfast, Severus had locked himself into the potions lab and refused to come back out until hostilities ceased, while Sirius, Remus, and Harry had a fine time racing about the Manor trying to trip each other up or slow each other down long enough to manage to connect with a tickling jinx or some other bit of silliness. The twins, Ron, Ginny and their parents flooed in in the middle of the chaos, and the twins, being who they were, dove right into the mayhem with a devious grin. Ron and Ginny were a bit slower to join, while the elder Weasleys promptly fled back through the floo.

It wasn't until nearly lunchtime when Moony finally landed a telling blow, nailing Sirius with a jinx that temporarily left him bald-headed. Sirius howled in outrage. "You've gone too far, Moony! I'll get even with you for this!"

The twins froze dead in their tracks, eyes wide. "What did you just call him?" One of them squeaked. From his mostly-hidden spot behind a heavy chair, Harry grinned hugely. Remus, who'd made tracks towards the kitchen the moment he'd hexed Sirius, poked his head around the door and grinned as well as he watched the twins. Ron and Ginny, clueless about the Map or the Marauders, just looked baffled.

Sirius, of course, didn't realize why the twins were reacting the way they were, as he'd never been told who'd had the Map. "Moony. It's been his nickname since we were in second year. Why?"

The twins were not stupid. They knew about Sirius being an animagus, and what his form was. It took them all of about two seconds to add up the facts and come to the appropriate conclusion. They flung themselves at Sirius' feet, giving him wide-eyed, hopeful looks.

"Please, please tell us you're Padfoot." they said in unison.

Sirius grinned widely, though it was clear he was still slightly confused. "Of course I am, but how ... "

"The map! We nicked it from Filch first year!" One of the twins explained.

"We owe the Marauders so much." The other one said, giving Sirius a look that bordered on worshipful.

About then, they added the last couple pieces together, and as one, their heads swiveled towards Harry.

"Your dad." One of them started.

"Was Prongs." Harry confirmed, grinning widely. "I've been having more fun watching the two of you try to figure out who the 'son of Prongs' was ... "

The other twin abruptly went ghost-pale as the knut dropped. "Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick. Wormtail ... "

"Is never to be spoken of again." Sirius fairly snarled. "At least, not by his Marauder name."

"Agreed." Remus said solemnly.

The twins, looking both sick at heart and enraged, gave solemn nods of agreement.

Remus brought the conversation back on to more comfortable grounds as he flicked his wand at Sirius, restoring his hair. "From everything I've heard about you two, you're proper Marauders yourselves, if not by blood, then by temperament." He glanced over at Sirius. "What say you, Padfoot? Should we induct them?"

Sirius eyed the two boys for a moment. "Hmmm. Every generation needs Marauders, and they have shown the proper spirit. They got the map, and clearly got it working, at least in part, to know it's a map. They do, however, lack one criteria, but if they agree to attempt it, I believe inducting them will be quite possible."

"Anything!" The twins said in unison.

Remus grinned. "You need to find out if you can become animagi." He told them. "Padfoot there can help you with it best. You too, Harry, though we'll have to wait a year for you, just to be on the safe side. Sirius and your dad didn't begin working on accomplishing the transformation until fourth year."

"Why can't you ... " Started one twin, looking at Remus.

The other squinted at him. "Moon ... " and then both their eyes went wide as they figured it out. Remus went stiff, half expecting them to react badly, but the twins just grinned hugely. "Wicked!" They said together.

"What?" Ron wanted to know, frowning in confusion.

"I am a werewolf." Remus said, sounding resigned.

Ron glowered at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Been around you plenty, and you haven't tried to take a chunk out of me." He said. Ginny seemed to be of equal mind.

Remus looked deeply relieved, while Sirius just looked pleased. "See, Moony? I keep telling you and telling you. Not everyone is a blind fool."

Remus gave Sirius a look that said he was thinking of re-starting the pranking. "That's enough out of you, cueball."

Which had Harry laughing, though from the look of it only he and Remus seemed to know what the name meant, and they had to spend a few minutes explaining it to the others.

HPHPHP

After that, the twins insisted on being a part of Harry's training. And with them insisting, so did Ron. And, incredibly, the twins managed something that Harry had thought impossible. They managed to drag Severus (protesting mightily at first) into the so-called Marauder meetings. Severus still disliked pranks on general principles, and he and Sirius still didn't much like each other. They were very stiff and formal with each other, but it helped that Sirius had wit enough to not start pranking Severus and thus reopen old wounds. It also helped that they had a common cause, protect Harry and make the lives of everyone that wanted to hurt him a living hell.

To say it was the beginning of an unholy alliance was to vastly understate the case. Remus and Sirius' strengths lay along lines similar to Harry's, meaning charms and transfiguration. That fact had been the basis of all their pranks as teens. The twins, on the other hand, were budding potions geniuses, and it went without saying that Severus was brilliant at them. None of them were mental slouches, despite Sirius and the twins' penchant for being silly and immature. When Hermione, returned from her summer vacation with her folks, finally joined them mid-summer ... well, the combined brainpower and magical strength and knowhow in the re-formed Marauders scared the hell out of Harry.

And the Marauders were a potent weapon. Shortly after Hermione's return, Sirius finally felt up to dealing with Narcissa, and agreed to meet her at the Leaky Cauldron, since there wasn't a power on earth that would induce any of them to welcome a potential enemy into the Manor.

Whatever situation Narcissa expected to encounter, it definitely hadn't been to walk into the private dining room and come face to face with not just Sirius, but Remus, Severus, and Harry. She stopped short and blinked, and Harry could just about see her mentally recalculating her approach.

"My lord Black?" She finally settled on, sounding surprised and curious.

"They are family." Sirius said. "I will not decide something as weighty as this without their input."

Severus looked rather a bit pained at being called family, but the truth was that at this point, he was, if only tangentially, thanks to him being Harry's guardian.

"As you wish, my lord." She said, then seated herself across the table from them.

The next hour or so, as they ate dinner, was filled with awkward silences as everyone tried to avoid dangerous conversational ground. Eventually, dessert was consumed and Narcissa regarded Sirius for a long moment. "As much as it pains me, I believe I must speak plainly at this juncture. I love my husband, my lord, and will not apologize for that. I share many of his beliefs, and will not apologize for that, either. I do not, however, approve of his chosen venue for ... " She hesitated a moment. " ... expressing ... those beliefs. It is beyond my ability to comprehend that he seems to believe bowing and scraping to a man of unknown breeding and station will present him as a figure of power and influence. That his actions endanger our son is unconscionable."

"Then our sole problem lies in how you intend to express your beliefs." Sirius said.

Narcissa eyed him. "Muggleborns have no place in our world. They are destroying it." She said flatly.

At that point, Harry couldn't quite suppress the compulsion to say something. "And if purebloods stick to their own kind, wizards will die out in another couple hundred years." He pointed out. "The Weasleys seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. One child to a generation ... " He shook his head. "Total isolation won't work, Mrs. Malfoy, even if it was practical. The Muggleborns will still be born with magic, after all. Nothing you or anyone else can do will stop that."

Narcissa glared at him. "So our only solution is to watch our world, our way of life, be destroyed?"

Sirius snorted, taking over from Harry. "Of course not. The way things are now, Muggleborns find out about being magical at the age of eleven, then get dropped in the deep end at Hogwarts, sometimes within a few weeks. There's a Muggle Studies class available to third years, but there's not a comparable class for the Muggleborns to learn about the wizarding world. If you're so worried about the wizarding way of life being destroyed ... that's the fastest way to fix it. Contact the muggleborns at an early age, introduce them to the wizarding world well before they're old enough for Hogwarts. Teach them the ins, outs, and traditions of our world and then those things won't be lost! And maybe, just maybe, the muggleborns can teach us a few interesting things along the way. Not all traditions are good ones."

Narcissa seemed to think that one over for a few minutes. "You make a valid point." She finally allowed. "But it will never happen. The Wizengamot ... "

"Has been completely broken, Narcissa." Sirius pointed out. "And is in the process of reforming. You know how much weight being Head of House Black carries, not to mention House Potter. Even if the Dark families had remained, we could have forced new legislation through eventually. As things are now, we hardly have to try, and we have the Weasley, Prewett, Longbottom and Prince lines behind us."

Narcissa's eyebrows headed for her hairline as she perceived the point Sirius was making. With the Weasleys and Longbottoms throwing their weight behind Black and Potter, many other Pureblood families that normally sat the fence or had, until now, not had a chance at making their voices heard would rally to their banner. They possessed the ability to completely remake the British wizarding world.

For the next hour, they talked, Narcissa bringing up her concerns and beliefs and hearing Sirius and company out. Again and again, she found herself surprised to discover that while they did not agree on everything, solutions to the problems that had driven most of the purebloods to Voldemort's banner were offered. Solutions that were palatable to both sides of the issue.

Finally, Narcissa brought things back around to the main point. "I believe, my lord Black, that I can be at peace remaining a Black. Given my ... circumstances ... I rather imagine, however, that you will require reassurances."

Sirius looked pleased, but nodded. "Nothing against you, Narcissa, but Lucius is a slippery son of a bitch, and might try to force your hand, and mine, if we give him any room to wiggle. I'll require an Unbreakable Vow from both you and your son to not aid Voldemort in any way."

Narcissa nodded. "I can agree to that quite easily."

"What about Draco?" Harry wanted to know.

Narcissa glanced over at him. "Draco ... has had much to think about, since his father's arrest. I will speak to him, but I believe he will be amenable. Whatever his other faults, my son has his pride, and knowing he would be required to bow at another man's feet ... "

Harry tried hard not to grin, but wasn't too sure he managed it. He could well imagine Draco had a problem with bowing to anyone, the proud, spoilt git.

HPHPHP

Two days later, both Narcissa and Draco took the Vow. Before Harry knew it, summer was drawing to a close. Severus and McGonagall had to head back to Hogwarts for staff meetings shortly after that. When they returned, neither of them looked at all happy.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked Severus.

"Your DADA professor." Severus fairly snarled. "You will not be buying the required books. None of you will. They are so much useless dross. I will be scheduling lessons with you so that the year is not a complete lost cause."

Harry and the others were a bit wide-eyed. "Wow. Ok, who is it that's so bad?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart." Severus fairly spat the name. "He is a charlatan and a fool."

Ron grimaced. "I've heard of him. Mum half-fancies him. He's got a load of books he's written, about the things he's done. Never read them myself. He's a real ... " Ron made a face. "Kind of a smarmy git, if the photograps on the books are anything to go by."

Severus gave Ron a nod. "Quite so. I think the twins will find him a prime target for their particular brand of mayhem."

Of course Hermione, when she came over the next day, strongly disagreed, and thought Lockhart was quite clever and brave, much to Harry and Ron's disgust. Ginny seemed to be of the same mind, which had all four boys rolling their eyes. Fortunately, Severus had found out the git was planning on doing a book signing one day in Diagon Alley, and scheduled their trip to purchase school supplies for a different day.

The day after they'd bought their supplies, Harry was in the parlor with Severus, relaxing, when Toker and Mallie popped in, holding a third elf, struggling wildly, between them. The third elf was dressed, if you could call it that, in a badly stained and torn ... well, Harry couldn't quite tell what it had been at one point, it was in such bad shape.

"Yous lets Dobby go!" The elf wailed, twisting and trying to bite Toker in order to get free. Toker, visibly aggravated, snarled and snapped his fingers, at which point 'Dobby' froze up like he'd been hit with a Petrificus Totalus.

"Toker, what on earth?" Harry asked, eyeing the third elf.

"We caughts him sneaking about, we's did!" Toker fairly snarled in outrage. "Hes is trying to hide Master Harry's trunk, he is! He is a bad elf!"

"Can you make it so he can talk to us, but keep him from running off?" Harry wanted to know.

"Toker can be doing that, Master Harry sir." Toker confirmed, and snapped his fingers again, freeing 'Dobby's' head.

"You said your name is Dobby?" Severus wanted to know immediately.

Dobby cringed, but nodded. Severus fairly snarled, then glanced over at Harry. "Lucius." He said. "Until he's caught, tried, and convicted, he retains control over the Malfoy elves."

"Damn. Draco can't do anything, nor Narcissa?"

"Not unless the Head ring abandons Lucius. Which it might, at this rate, but it doesn't solve the current problem." Severus said, eyeing Dobby with deep dislike. "I'm tempted to just ... "

Dobby squealed in alarm. "Dobby is not here to hurt Harry Potter sir!" He wailed. "Dobby is here to warn him! He cannot go back to Hogwarts!" There was real terror in Dobby's voice.

"So Lucius is up to something." Severus said, he thought for a long moment. "But what ... ahhhh. He's asked you to smuggle something in. Something that poses a danger to Harry specifically."

Dobby shook his head violently.

Severus blinked. "Not just to Harry then, but to everyone? Damn that man, his own son is at the school!"

Dobby nodded frantically.

"Very well, Dobby. Listen to me well. We are warned. We will be careful. We will guard Harry, and Draco. You know the house-elf laws. You have to obey Lucius' commands." Severus put a slight stress on the word 'command'.

From the way Dobby was nodding, he caught the significance. "Dobby understands, Professor Snape sir."

Harry grimaced. He didn't like this, but there was literally nothing they could do to help Dobby, or save him. Not with Lucius god-knows-where. "Let him go, Toker."

Toker nodded and snapped his fingers. A split second later, Dobby was gone.

"He risked a great deal, coming here." Severus said.

"How'd you know who he belonged to?" Harry wanted to know.

"Dobby is Lucius' personal elf." Severus explained. "And as such, goes just about everywhere with him, so I've seen them together frequently."

"Ahh, gotcha." Harry said. "So hopefully Dobby will only do as Lucius says, and screw with the plan every way he can other than that, whatever the plan is."

"Lucius has at least already forbidden him to speak of it at this point, given Dobby didn't say anything. Unfortunately, I don't think he can write. Lucius is very controlling, and has made sure none of his elves possess that skill."

"To keep them from spilling the beans about what he's up to." Harry fairly growled, then sighed. "So, trouble this year. And no idea what. Damn."

"I must inform the Headmaster. The sooner he knows, the better." Severus said.

"No kidding." Harry agreed.