Jaded

For Summery, warnings, spoilers and disclaimers see chapter one.


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Chapter Two: Meet the Marauders (First thing in the morning…)

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The first sound Harry heard when he woke up was a loud screeching noise. He tried to block it by pushing his pillow over his head but it didn’t stop. Harry sighed in frustration and rolled to his back, trying to figure out what the hell the ruckus was. It sounded like… very bad singing… For a second Harry thought that it might be Seamus with his little bathroom songs, but that couldn’t be it- if there was one thing Seamus was actually good at it was singing. What he was subjected to, first thing in the morning, could only be referred to as singing in the broadest sense of the word. Besides, this musical abusing sounded an awful lot like… Sirius.

In a rush all the event of yesterday returned to Harry and nearly chocked him out. He was in 1977! Harry took small gasps of breath trying to calm himself before he started his own version of screeching. He reached to the bedside table and pulled his glasses on, fighting the urge to just burrow deeper under the covers and ignore the world until Dumbledore send word that he found a way to return him to his own time.

The curtains around his bed were suddenly yanked open and in popped the brightly smiling face of Sirius Black. A young Sirius Black- not yet marred and haunted by years in Azkaban prison but carefree and happy. He was breathtaking and Harry found himself gulping and pushing back a rather inappropriate thought.

“Wakey, wakey, new guy!” Sirius cried and jumped on the bed, settling himself comfortably and watching Harry’s face morphing from a frown to full horror. Never, in all his seven years in Hogwarts has any of Harry’s roommates jumped on his bed so casually like that, “I’m Sirius Black,” Harry was tempted to say ‘I know’ but didn’t get the chance as Sirius continued to speak without waiting for an answer, “You can call me Sirius, or Black, Siri, Padfoot… Hell I’ll probably answer if you call me Nelly.” Harry couldn’t help but chuckle, this was so much like the old Sirius and yet so different.

“I’m H-“ Before he could even complete the first syllable of his name Harry felt his throat closing, cutting off his air supply, stupid confudus charm he thought angrily before he tried again, “I’m Jaime Harrison. Call me Jaime.” He said and reached out his hand for Sirius to shake.

Harry climbed out of the bed and stretched out, feeling his muscles popping satisfyingly. He shook his head and headed to his trunk to grab a towel and his toiletries. When he straightened up the first thing he saw was himself standing in the middle of the room, clad in naught but boxers. Harry did a double take and then flushed with embarrassment, averting his eyes and cursing under his breath. It was one thing to think that young Sirius was hot but there was no excuse to think the same for James bloody Potter!

“For Merlin’s sake, James, put something on, you’re scaring the new guy!” Sirius called furiously and Harry nearly kissed him in gratitude. James grumbled something unintelligent before flipping Sirius the bird and heading to the shower. Sirius rolled his eyes and led Harry through the door James disappeared in. while they brushed his teeth Sirius cast curious glances at Harry,

“So, where did you spring from?” Harry chuckled around his toothbrush and turned to spit and rinse his mouth,

“I was transferred here from Durmstrang; I arrived late last night and hadn’t had an opportunity to meet anyone yet.” He explained,

“Durmstrang… cool. What’s it like there?” Harry pretended to be too busy washing his toothbrush while he tried to figure out the answer. Shit, shit, shit! What the hell did he know of Durmstrang? He wasn’t even entirely sure where the bloody school was located! He desperately tried to remember what Viktor Krum had told him about the school, four years ago, during that hellish Triwizard Tournament.

“Cold.” He finally answered, hoping that his tone of voice indicated clearly that he didn’t want any questions asked, but he should have known better while talking to Sirius,

“Is it true they teach you dark arts there?” Sirius asked eagerly, completely unfazed by the lack of communication from Harry,

“Yes, but it’s really boring.” Harry tried to smile, again using Krum’s words,

“Ha! I knew it! My father always tried to teach me the bloody stuff. Never had a knack for it myself.” Sirius told him and Harry smiled again. This was so weird; having a conversation with someone you knew more about than they did of themselves. He packed his things and they both headed back to the room to get dressed. When Harry opened the door of the washroom he met a pair of groggy amber eyes, tawny hair and delicate features of his favourite teacher,

“P-Professor.” He gasped before he could stop himself and heard Sirius chuckling behind him, Remus Lupin, on the other hand was far from amused,

“Very funny, Black, a real inspiration you are to the new guy!” He snapped and swept past the startled Harry and the chuckling Sirius, who tried to duck the slap aimed at his head. Once the door was closed behind Remus’ back Harry gasped in shock,

“Shit! I didn’t mean… oh, no… I- I thought about someone else…” He pleaded with Sirius desperately, but Sirius clapped his hand over Harry’s shoulder and led him back to the trunk,

“Don’t worry about old Moony; he’ll be right as rain as soon as he get his caffeine fix.” He said happily. “Professor… That’s a really good one; I’ll have to tell James about it!” He nearly doubled up in laughter while making his way to his trunk. Harry sighed and cursed under his breath again. This wasn’t the best start he could hope for with the marauders.

When he finished dressing he went down to breakfast with Sirius and James, who was much more communicative now that he had his shower, but still rather groggy at the morning hour.

“I’m not Jaime, I’m James!” He snapped at Sirius when the latter introduced Harry and found the idea of having two Jamies in the dorm funny. Harry decided not to comment, and suddenly wished his parents had been a little more creative with his middle name. Reaching the Great Hall, Harry began feeling uneasy again, even though he couldn’t tell why. The three of them made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down, Sirius and James flanking Harry on the bench. He saw Lily Evens sitting a little way from them on the opposite side of the table, busy explaining something to the dirty-blond haired small boy sitting next to her. It wasn’t until the boy lifted his head that Harry recognised him, Peter Pettigrew… Harry nearly chocked on the swig of pumpkin juice he just took. He felt the itch in his hands, wanting so bad to reach for his wand and… just… do something! Fuck! How does Dumbledore expect him to just sit there in front of the man that ruined his life and do nothing? This was inhuman! Harry clenched his fists and unclenched them, trying to calm his erratic mood before he did something that he would regret later. Once the red fog subsided in his brain he was aware of the noises around him again. He lifted his head and just in time to see James turning a blinding smile at Lily,

“Good morning, Lily.” The Head Girl tossed red locks behind her shoulder and smiled pleasantly at James,

“Good morning, James.” She replied cordially. Harry watched in avid curiosity, eager to see how this would fold. Sirius, the older Sirius had already told him that his parents’ beginning was somewhat rocky but now he had a chance to see that first hand, I mean how lucky is that?

“You look great,” James said, his cheeks flushing a little and his brown-hazel eyes gleaming, “This top is great on you, very revealing…” Harry nearly chocked on his toast (this time) and bit his lip as to not burst out laughing, from the corner of his eye he could see Sirius ducking his head and suppressing laughter, face turning rapidly red with lack of oxygen. On his left side James was turning an alarming shade of red as well but from a completely different reason. Before anyone could say a word James jumped to his feet and sprinted out of the Great Hall. On his right Sirius collapsed against the table in a feat of giggles and a little to his left his own mother was looking down her blouse- a standard school uniform white blouse that had that two top buttons undone, but other than her collarbone, exposed nothing.

“Is my top revealing?” She mused out loud and then fixed Harry with a green gaze, “You think my top is revealing?” To Harry’s complete horror she cupped her breasts and pushed them up a little, to make her point. Between seeing his father nearly naked first thing in the morning and now his mother cupping her breasts in front of him Harry feverishly wished Dumbledore would send him home, right now! “I’m Lily Evens, by the way,” Lily said with a slight smirk seeing the redness on Harry’s face, “Nice to meet you.”

“Jaime Harrison.” He mumbled and ducked his head, fixing his eyes on his plate, hoping against hope that his scrambled eggs won’t decide to embarrass him further. He heard Lily shuffling around her books and parchments before she rose from her seat and walked out of the Great Hall, head held high against Sirius’ snickering and Peter ambling at her wake.

Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly, it wasn’t even first period yet and he already had more embarrassment, humiliation and rage than he was used to in an entire week back in his time. He ate his breakfast slowly, only half listening to Sirius’ rambling when he felt someone sitting in the seat next to him, the one that James vacated not five minutes prior.

“Hey. Rem, guess what? It’s sandwich day again.” Sirius announced joyfully and Remus’ only reply was to take a deep draught from his coffee cup before reaching for the plate of toast and bacon with an air of tiered acceptance. Together Remus and Sirius assembled four sandwiches which Sirius wrapped in a clean napkin and placed by his plate.

“So what did he do this time?” Remus asked as he began to fill his plate,

“Told her that her top is revealing.” Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory, and Remus rolled his eyes in a well practice manner at James’ less than subtle way of trying to gain Lily’s affections. Harry stayed silent during the exchange, feeling a little strange about finding out that his father was such a blunder when it came to girls. “What about you, Jay? Are you a lady killer?” Sirius nudged Harry in the ribs none too subtle which almost cost Harry’s elbow to slip off the table. He looked at Sirius, who was grinning wide and giving him a little sultry wink.

“Hmm, no not really, I get quite tongue-tied around girls. Got it from my father apparently.” He remarked dryly, a little disappointed that his ingenious joke went unnoticed. Tongue-tied around girls was quite an understatement to him but Harry figured that he should test the water first as to how homosexuality is regarded in the mid-seventies before he came out to anyone.

Sirius grinned at him before his head snapped up and a slow, evil smile spread on his handsome face, Harry followed his gaze and saw Malfoy, no Draconis… Alex… Damn this whole first name turned to last! Walking towards the door along with another boy, a tall, lanky boy with shoulder length black hair and sallow skin… a boy that looked remarkably like…

“Snivellus!” Sirius cried out joyfully and jumped to his feet rushing after the former Draco Malfoy and the young Severus Snape. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, well; at least it was good to know that some things never change.

“So, I hear you are a new transfer student from Durmstrang and that your name is Jamie.” Harry turned to face Remus, who was looking far more comfortable and calm now that he got his ‘caffeine fix’ as Sirius put it and tried to smile. Thinking of Sirius as hot was a natural thing, he figured, but here was the younger, fit and gorgeous version of the man who hunted Harry’s fantasies for the last two years- ever since the older Remus Lupin was reinstated as the DADA teacher in Hogwarts. Harry swallowed hard and tried to will any inappropriate thoughts away before he did something colossally stupid.

“Yeah, I am. How…”

“Sirius talks really loud.” Came the nonchalant answer and Harry smiled. “I’m Remus, by the way. I’m sorry I got all snarky this morning… I’m not much of a morning person…” Harry watched the offered hand before taking it gingerly, praying that his own hand was not too clammy.

“S’cool.” He mumbled and tried to hold his blush at bay, before either boy could say anymore a shadow fell over them and they lifted their heads to see Minerva McGonagall standing above them. Harry looked a little shocked at his mythological Head of House- although not a spring chick anymore she was certainly younger than he remembered.

“Good morning, Mr. Lupin. Mr. Harrison, Headmaster Dumbledore informed me that you’ve been sorted to my house last night. Welcome to Gryffindor. I am professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor. If you encounter any troubles please feel free to approach me.” She said in her stern way that wasn’t unkind and always managed to calm Harry with its quietness, though he never told anyone that. “Here is your time table, I am sure that your new house mates will help you acclimatise to your new surroundings and teach you the proper rules of conduct around here.” She directed her last remark to Remus who gave her a bright and a-little-too-innocent smile that made Harry want to snort in dismiss- oh yeah, the marauders will teach him the proper way around alright…

He took the parchment McGonagall handed him and glanced at it. He felt Remus leaning closer to sneak a peek and turned the parchment so that the other boy could read as well.

“Hmm, let’s see- History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms, Divination, and Astronomy. These are pretty standard NEWT’s.” Remus commented, while munching on his jammed toast, licking his finger absently and making Harry flush a little,

“Yeah, I didn’t really have time to pick any extra courses; I guess Dumbledore would give the choice next week or so.” Harry croaked, even though he wasn’t at all sure of the fact, but feeling the need to answer all the same.

“Well, at least you’ll have the marauders with you in each class. After all we do need to help you… acclimatise…” Harry grinned at the mischievous gleam in Remus’ eye. That subtle change in Remus’ behaviour never failed to amaze Harry, the way the quiet, unassuming man would take on an air for pranks. Without a doubt Remus was the most dangerous, cunning and crafty marauder ever.

“Marauders.” Harry said in a quiet voice, he could not believe that he was actually here and now, with the marauders- the group that was so legendary that it left even Fred and George Weasley in complete awe. He’s heard countless stories of them, from different people but being here among them, at their prime was something that made him feel almost breathless with admiration.

“Yes I know it’s a silly name; Sirius came up with it so it shouldn’t be a real surprise…” Remus mused aloud, still absorbed in Harry’s new time table to notice his companion’s expression. “I guess that now that you share a room with us you’re an honorary marauder.” Harry’s startled eyes met warm ambers,

“Really?” Technically, Sirius had told him that after his birth James dubbed Harry as an honorary marauder (much to Lily’s chagrin, of course), but this was way better!

“I suppose you could be promoted to a full marauder, but you’ll have to do something for us first.”

“What?” Harry breathed out eagerly, completely caught with the idea of becoming a real marauder. Remus leaned forward and brought his mouth close to Harry’s ear. Harry could feel the warmth radiating from the other boy and clenched his fists tight on top of his thighs, when he felt Remus’ breath tickling his ear and sending little delicious shivers down his spine,

“Complete a dare.” Harry gulped again and watched as Remus leaned back in his seat looking very pleased with himself at Harry’s reaction. Harry hoped that Remus thought he was scared rather than completely turned on as was the case. “Come on, let’s go, we need to get to old Binnsy’s class.” The two boys reached for their bags and rose from their seats, Remus quickly pocketing the sandwiches that Sirius left behind in his pursuit of Snape.

When they entered the classroom, Remus led the way to the back row, where a preening Sirius and a dejected James were already sitting. Harry’s eyes scanned the classroom fast and noticed that Lily was sitting in the second row, and that Peter was nowhere to be seen. The less he had to do with Wormtail was better, as far as Harry was concerned, and he really hoped he didn’t have too much to do with the rat, marauder or not. Remus indicated the seat next to Sirius, while he took a seat on Harry’s other side, which made Harry a little uneasy but pleased at the same time. Just before the bell rang Peter slipped into the classroom and took a seat next to James, looking flushed and panting for breath.

“Good morning class.” Harry could feel his eyelids immediately starting to drop, the natural reaction to professor Binns’ voice, and snapped his eyes wide open to avoid temptation. He was almost disappointed to discover that the living Binns didn’t have much more colour than the ghost Binns.

“He’s good isn’t he?” Sirius whispered at his side and stifled a yawn, and Harry chuckled softly,

“Indeed.” He watched as James placed his forehead on his History book while nibbling on the sandwiches behind the thick tome and Peter nodding off furiously, each time his head dropping closer to the desk’s surface. A sharp elbow in his ribs snapped Harry out of his state of prolixity a few minutes later and he sent Remus a hurt look while rubbing his side,

“Don’t fall asleep.” Remus chided him and Harry wanted to protest that it wasn’t fair that he wasn’t allowed to drop when the three others were practically bringing down the ceiling with snores. “Hey, Pads,” Remus gave a loud whisper that startled Sirius from his comatose state, “We have to figure a way to initiate Jaime here into the marauders.” At those magic words the three marauders snapped up, eyes bright and smirks flashing, ready to cause all sorts of mischief.

“Can we trust him?” Harry glared at Peter’s watery pale blue eyes; the rat is asking whether Harry could be trusted? Now that’s rich!

“Yes.” Remus snapped and Peter looked a little taken back. Harry felt a warm glow slowly creeping from the deepest part of him and tried to remain stoic and not send a childish smirk to Peter.

“I say his dare would be to kiss Evens, tongue and all!” Sirius chirped in and both Harry and James jumped up,

“No Way!” They cried out, a little too loudly,

“Mr. Potter!” Both Harry and James looked up startled at professor Binns, who seemed just as startled as they were, “And Mr…. Harrison, ten points from Gryffindor.” Harry ducked his head again. Mr. Harrison- that was him, not Potter, Harrison.

“That wasn’t funny, Pads.” Remus said in a grave voice, though Harry could see he didn’t mean a word,

“Oh, relax, professor!” Sirius shot back and Harry had the grace to blush like mad at that. Remus gave Sirius the two fingers salute, when Peter piped in,

“How about he plays against James?” Four heads turned in his direction and he tried to shrug it off. Harry gritted his teeth in anger; he knew full well what Peter meant to do with that little suggestion- make Harry look bad in front of the others!

“That’s not fair,” James objected, “We don’t even know if the lad plays Quidditch.”

“I do.” Harry answered his father. Now that he thought about it, this could be a golden opportunity, not only to watch the legendary James Potter but actually showing him that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, even if his father would never know that.

“Seeker?” Sirius inquired with narrowed eyes,

“Yes, I was actually the youngest seeker in a century back in my old school.” Harry said proudly, slightly amazed that the confudus spell allowed him to say all that. “But I didn’t bring my broom with me.” He suddenly felt deflated, thinking of his beautiful Firebolt, the one that… Sirius got him…

“You can borrow mine.” Sirius said with a grin, already warming up for the idea of a seekers’ game between the prodigy of Hogwarts and this cocky new kid.

“What brand is your broom?” Harry asked curiously, noticing that both Remus and Peter tuned them out, with a roll of eyes that said something like ‘Oh, great, here we go again…’, but Harry didn’t really care,

“A Comet Two Twenty, the same one as James. Fastest broom in the market.” Sirius announced proudly and Harry nearly bit his tongue trying to stifle a snort. Comet Two Twenty? He knew what the Comets looked like and how they preformed and sadly pondered that none of them had the slightest chance against his Firebolt. Hell, even his Nimbus 2000 was faster, but then again, he reminded himself furiously, this is 1977 and there were no Nimbus 2000 or Firebolts and it is most possible that the Comet Two Twenty was the best broom in the market right now.

“Cool.” He said at last, figuring that having the same broom as his father would probably even their odds somewhat.

“Excellent.” Sirius clamped his hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Then after dinner we go down to the pitch and see if you’re cut out to be a marauder.” Harry gave him a broad smile and caught Remus rolling his eyes again on the corner of his vision. Obviously the wolf had other ideas as to how determine whether Harry was cut to be a marauder or not, but knew better than to fight with two Quidditch nutters such as James and Sirius.

The rest of the day passed rather confusingly for Harry, who had to keep reminding himself that this was 1977 and not 1998, the teachers were different (even when they were the same people as in his own time), the material was different and he found himself rather struggling and wishing that Hermione was here with him to catch up and teach him later. He was mightily glad when dinner finally rolled in and he could relax somewhat and get a few minutes to mentally prepare himself to fly against his own father.