He entered the Gryffindor common room to be immediately approached by Remus, James and Peter who were all looking rather concerned.
"Merlin Harry, we were about to come and get you" James informed him seriously. "I was only gone a couple of hours" Harry responded.
"We were done in an hour" Remus cut in. "She didn't curse you then?" he asked worriedly.
"No, but there's always next time as she pointed out" Harry sighed, though he was still a little amused.
"Well, how was it?" Peter questioned.
"She doesn't like any of you" Harry said flatly. "But then again, I don't really think she likes anyone" he added thoughtfully.
"For Merlin sake McKinnon can we just get this done now?" the irritated voice of Sirius sounded throughout the room.
Remus, James and Peter snickered.
"They've been there for two hours and Marlene has spent the whole time winding him up" Remus explained through his laughter. Harry looked over and could see that Marlene was grinning mischievously while Sirius looked as though he wanted to tear his own hair out.
"The tension between them is disgusting" Remus continued. "It actually makes me queasy" he added with a grimace.
Harry just shook his head in sympathy and made his way over to Lily.
"Hey Lily" he greeted her. "As promised" he intoned holding out a piece of parchment to her.
"It's blank" she pointed out with a frown.
"Tap it with your wand, I put a signature charm on it so that only you can read it" he explained.
Lily did as she was instructed and her eyes lit up in awe and excitement.
"How did you do that?" she questioned. "That's really advanced" she stated. "I'll teach you at some point" Harry offered having purposely put the charm on it as an excuse to spend more time with her at a later date.
He knew that she would be interested in learning the charm he had used.
"Thank you" She replied excitedly and threw her arms around him.
"You sure you haven't got anything to worry about with Evans and Harry?" Remus asked James seriously.
"Not even remotely" James answered with a smile aimed at the pair in question.
Remus just shook his head, not understanding his friend at all. James would usually be very jealous of any boy that gave Lily their attention, but he seemed sure that Harry was no threat at all. 'He knows his brother better than anyone else I guess' he mused to himself.
(BREAK)
It was the next day, after a Transfiguration lesson spent reviewing fifth year material, that found Harry and the Marauder's in an empty classroom on the fourth floor where he would attempt to teach them how to cast a Patronus Charm.
"Ok, you have to remember that this is very, very advanced magic and only few are even capable of producing it" he began seriously. "You have to think of your happiest memory and allow that feeling to wash over you completely before you will even begin to be able to get any results" he instructed firmly. "If you do manage to produce something then that in itself is a hell of an achievement" he finished.
"Is everyone's different" Peter piped up.
Harry nodded. "Your patronus usually reflects something that means the most to you or what you most resemble in animal form" Harry answered. "It could be something that makes you feel safe or something that is relatable to yourself" he added.
"Can we see yours, so we can get an idea?" Remus requested.
Harry nodded, drew his wand and immediately cast his patronus.
"That's you" Remus said dumbly, looking at James.
James just nodded proudly.
'That's why he trusts him with Lily, Harry would never do anything to hurt him' Remus surmised.
"That's all I can really tell you" Harry broke in once more. "It will take a while to even get a wisp of a shield so just work on it and remember it is all about the emotion and basking in it, if you can do that and you get no results, then you just aren't powerful enough" he concluded with a shrug.
"How long did it take you to get it?" Sirius inquired.
"It took me a few months just to get a shield" Harry answered. "But I could do it in less than a year" he added.
"And you were thirteen when you learnt it" a red faced James asked incredulously.
Harry just nodded.
Peter and Remus just shook their head disbelievingly.
The group spent a couple of hours in the room with none of the boy's yielding any results but none were disheartened by the attempt as Harry had pointed out that it takes a lot of work. The exited the classroom and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, all pleased that the lessons for the week had been completed for all of them.
They entered the common room to be greeted by Frank Longbottom who had clearly been waiting for them.
"First practice is on Monday" he informed them. "6 o'clock, don't be late" he added sternly before walking away.
Harry smiled.
He truly could not wait to play quidditch again. It was nice that himself, James and Sirius had played a few pick up games before coming here but it wasn't the same as playing it at Hogwarts with a full team and competing against the other houses.
He did wonder however, how different it would be. This was a whole new team after all. In fact, all of the teams were different. He pushed those thoughts aside and in favour simply reveled in the knowledge that he was going to get to play his favourite game with his Father, Remus and Sirius, something that had not been possible before he came here for many reasons.
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