Sitting on the floor, Sirius Black hummed a little to himself. He was waiting for James to get his arse there and hoping that James would have enough confidence in himself to be able to arrive.

Without thinking Sirius started to sing a little. “Oh where oh where has my moony gone. Oh where oh where can he be?”

“Hiding from your awful singing,” James Potter said, leaning against a wall.

“Very funny Potter,” Sirius shot back. “At least I can sing. Unlike someone else in this space.”

“Oi, is that what you think?” James said, stepping away from the wall.

“Yeah that is what I think,” Sirius responded, watching as his best friend walked closer to him.

“Well, I think you have thought…OI, YOU OVERSIZED DUST MOP!” James shouted as Sirius dove for his legs and brought him crashing to the floor.

“Better a dust mop then a distinguished rascal,” Sirius managed just before James sent them in the other direction and starting a very undistinguishing wrestling match.

They only stopped when Sirius met some resistance in the form of two legs. Looking up they saw that Remus was standing over them, with a slightly amused look to his face.

“I wondered when you two were going to make it into my dreams,” Remus said, as James and Sirius untangled themselves. “Harry sent me an owl, letting me know that you had visited him and that I could be expecting the same.”

“Did he tell you anything else? How is he doing?” Sirius asked as Remus settled himself on the floor.

“He just said that you had visited him, I could expect a visit, and that the Dursleys were for the most part ignoring him, which is probably for the best.” Remus replied, and then looking confused, he asked, “Where is Lily?”

“She is sending us on our own to make the first round of contact. When we left she was talking to Mum about Harry’s nobility complex. Mum seems to think it is a good thing and Lily is worried about it getting him killed or suffering too much guilt.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. He does seem exceptionally noble; Ron called it ‘being thick’ during the Triwizard Tournament, when he stayed to make sure that Fleur was coming for Gabrielle.”

“Yeah, Lily was proud of him for that. We watched from land of the dead.”

“Anyway, enough about that,” Sirius said, breaking into the conversation. “Remus, in the cupboard of the left nightstand in my room is a mirror. I need you to send it to Harry. He will be sending you a broken one, which just needs to be repaired.”

“I take it there is something important about these mirrors,” Remus commented.

“Absolutely,” James cut in. “They are leftover from our Hogwarts days. Sirius and I used them to communicate with each other while in detention.”

“I want you to keep the one that Harry sends you. That way, you two will be able to communicate with each other. It is not actually doing magic, so Harry won’t get into trouble.” Sirius picked up the conversation. “I just thought that you two might like that better, especially when he goes back to Hogwarts. Then you can answer any questions without having to wait for owls.”

“Not that he shouldn’t owl you,” James added.

“All right, I think I can manage this,” Remus said, thoughtfully. “Is there anything else that I am suppose to look for?”

“Not that I can think of,” Sirius replied, after a moment of thought.

For a little while they were silent, not really knowing what to say to each other. Sirius, trying not to laugh, finally broke the silence that was getting to be uncomfortable.

“Is there something you would like to share, Padfoot?” James asked.

“Oh, I was just thinking about all the times when we were trying to think of the next prank. Usually we were sitting on the floor in the dormitory, but we were also eating usually too.”

“Kind of hard to eat here, Padfoot. And don’t even think of gnawing on my leg, like you did in fifth year,” James said glaring a little at Sirius.

“I wouldn’t do a thing like that,” Sirius said, indignantly, but he had the look of someone who was seriously considering the idea of gnawing on James’s leg.

Remus, on the other hand, was trying to contain his laughter. “No, but Padfoot would, which reminds me of a question I always wondered about. Can you change forms in the land of the dead?”

“Hadn’t thought to try,” Sirius replied, looking curious. “Will definitely have to when we get back there.”

“You can, or at least, I can,” James said, “Lily asked around our first Christmas there.”

“So, have your parents found out?” Sirius asked.

“Not that I am aware of. I usually change when I am really frustrated by something. And that something is usually watching Harry struggle.”

“All right, here is another question. If you can communicate with me, then why didn’t you ever try before?” Remus cut in.

“He has a confidence problem,” Sirius replied for James.

“I didn’t know what I would say. Would you have really believed me if I had told you that Sirius was innocent?” James asked, looking at the floor.

“Probably, since you would have known the truth,” Remus said, quietly. “But that really wouldn’t have gotten us anywhere. No one would have believed me, not being one of his friends and a werewolf to boot.”

“It might have made two years ago easier,” Sirius commented, softly.

“That is very true, but there is no point in trying to figure out the what if’s.”

“No, that won’t get us anywhere,” James added.

Again they lapsed into silence, not really wanting to travel down that path of conversation but all unwilling to make the topic change.

When the silence broke, it was by James. “Do you remember the time we enchanted the chairs in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?”

That brought a smile to all of their faces.

“I don’t think Professor Elvy was ever going to forget about us for a while,” Remus commented.

“Yeah, and everyone was paranoid for a month about sitting down at the start of class.” Sirius added with a laugh.

“Elvy didn’t sit in her chair for nearly three weeks,” James put in, a smile growing on his face. “God we were really annoying some times. I imagine that the Professors had their own party after we left. But I have to admit that our leaving wasn’t nearly as monumental as the twins’ leaving.”

“That was something. Molly had a royal fit when she found out, and was half tempted to send a Howler to Ron.” Remus commented, and then added, “but enchanting the tables to sing the Gryffindor Fight Song was certainly interesting for a last meal.”

“They really should have expected something,” Sirius commented. “And Snape did look good in the Hogwarts Crest hair.”

“The parts weren’t equal.”

“So, they weren’t supposed to be. For once in his life, Snape was supposed to support the victory of Gryffindor.”

“I wish someone had gotten a picture of that,” James said, wistfully.

“Yeah, but getting smashed that night at my flat was even better.”

“Although the headache the next morning was not fun.”

“Prongs, hangovers aren’t supposed to be fun. If they were then it wouldn’t be a punishment for drinking yourself into oblivion.” Remus smiled a little. “Should I warn Harry that he may be a bit of a light weight when it comes to drinking anything over a Butterbeer?”

“Might, that way it is not that big of a surprise,” James replied.

“You never know, he might have gotten Lily’s drinking ability. And if that is the case then I pity anyone who wants to go up against him in a drinking contest.” Sirius added, with a smile.

“You would know about that first hand too. I swear, she has some good hearty Irish blood in her.” James beamed with pride over his wife’s drinking ability, not caring that she could easily drink him under the table.

“God created whiskey so the Irish would not conquer the world,” Remus said sagely.

“Hey Moony, I just thought of something,” Sirius said, perking up a little. He looked almost like Padfoot, waiting in anticipation for some adventure.

“What did you just think of?” Remus asked, a little apprehensive.

“Since you are Harry’s surrogate godfather, you get to give him the sex talk.” Sirius’ face broke into a huge smile, and even James laughed a little.

“Oh,” was all Remus could manage. “I don’t suppose that would be a nice thing to pass on to Arthur.”

“Harry might take it a little better, if it came from you Moony. Although I am sure, if you asked, Arthur would let you give it to Ron as well,” James said, looking thoughtful.

“But Arthur should be used to it by now. After giving it five times before, and one of the times to the twins.” Sirius commented.

“Yes, they are always a surprise. Did we ever find out how they got the money for their shop?”

“Harry,” James said, “He gave them his Triwizard Prize money. Claimed that he didn’t want it, and the world would need some laughs.”

“Nobility complex again,” Sirius muttered, but there was smile on his face. “But it went to a good use, and when the war is over I am sure a quite a few people will need some laughs. And you never know what they may come up with to help with the war effort. Those Skiving Snackboxes of theirs is a really good idea.”

“Absolutely, we sure could have used them,” James added.

“Oh, there was something else that Harry mentioned in his letter,” Remus cut in. “That you were thinking of the proper punishment for Wormtail.”

“Yeah, we talked about that. Haven’t really thought about it, but there is always time for thinking when we are in the land of the dead.”

Just then another figure appeared at James’ side. Standing next to her husband, Lily looked down at the three friends sitting on the floor.

“Lily, love, why don’t you pull up some floor and have a seat,” Sirius said, with a smile on his face.

But ignoring Sirius, Lily addressed Remus. “Hello Remus, how are you doing?”

“Fine, a little sore from the last transformation,” Remus replied as he stood up to give Lily a hug.

“That is good. And I take it you are looking out for my reckless, but generally well-behaved son?”

“I try the best I can. Sirius just informed me that I am now in charge of giving Harry the dreaded sex talk.”

“Good, you will probably impart important knowledge to him. Although I cannot say the same about someone else,” Lily shot a glance at Sirius.

“What? I would have imparted important knowledge to him,” Sirius claimed from the floor, grinning mischievously up at Lily.

“Like what? Where the good hiding spots are and what time and night one should use each? Sirius, the sex talk is not to encourage him to experiment,” Lily said, giving Sirius a soft tap with her foot as she and Remus sat down.

“There is nothing wrong with exploring. And the hiding spots are good from more then just … well, that, they are excellent spots for making out. Especially when your girlfriend is in another house.”

“Even when you date within your house, those hiding spots are good. You can’t always have a good make-out session when half the house is still up and bouncing around the common room,” James put in, slipping an arm around Lily.

“Good point, especially true when an older, very protective brother is around as well.”

“I don’t think he really would mind if they get together,” Lily said, looking thoughtful.

“Not minding and not wanting to see them attached at the lips are two completely different things,” James commented, with a slight smile.

“Amazing, even in death they try to play matchmakers.” Remus half muttered to himself, but they all heard him.

Unable to disprove that is what they had been doing, everyone laughed. When the laughter died down Lily commented, “They probably would make a good couple. Much better then Cho; she was much too depressing for him. Plus the Quidditch Rivalry would have made it hard.”

“Most likely, Harry is too competitive about his sport,” James added.

“And you weren’t?” Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend.

“No, I’m just saying that would make the romance a rough one. Look at poor Ginny and Michael.”

“All right, enough talk. Remus needs to get some real sleep,” Lily said as she stood up and waited for the guys to do the same.

After giving Remus another hug, Lily told him, “We’ll keep in touch, all right?”

Only nodding a little, to keep the tears that were forming from coming out, Remus let Lily step back and then disappear. James was next; he too gave Remus a quick brotherly hug and then disappeared.

Left with just Sirius, Remus knew that he had to be careful or he would cry.

“I don’t know what to say. We’ll be watching over you, can’t really watch out for you,” Sirius managed, knowing that he didn’t want to bring up his death. Remus could hardly be further along in the grieving process then Harry.

Remus just nodded, and opened his arms. After a long hug, Sirius pulled back, knowing that he too was close to tears. Slowly he left the room, leaving Remus all alone once again.

Lily was waiting for him when he reached the “landing” point. Without saying a word, she gave him a quick hug before they set off after James to the space they stayed in while waiting for the land of the living to wake up.

 

When Remus woke up, he realized he felt better. Leaving his room, he made his way to Sirius’ old one just down the hall. After finding the mirror that Sirius had mentioned, he wrote a quick note to Harry and sent them off with the rising sun.

 

Per requests, I have made a sequel to Some Fatherly Advice. Hopefully you like this one as much as you liked the first. Originally I hadn’t planned to write more, but will try for a few others after this one. Remus’ Irish and whiskey statement is an Irish Saying.

J. K. Rowlings is the creator of Harry Potter and his wonderful world. I am just exploring it.

 

Thanks to Silver Phoenix for beta reading, again. She is great.