“Harry, what are you doing here? Where is here?” Ron Weasley asked his best friend, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

James looked up at the sound of Ron’s voice. “We are in the connecting area of the living and the land of the dead.”

“WHAT?” Ron asked, as he stood there watching James open-mouthed. “Bloody hell, you’re James not Harry.”

Standing up, James extended his hand to Ron, “A pleasure to finally meet you, Ron.”

Ron just numbly shook hands with James.

“You rascal, left me there. Like I really wanted to listen to your dear old Grandfather prattle on about being a champion Chaser, for the seventeenth time. RON, good to see you, old boy,” Sirius Black had just materialized into the area. Two long steps and Sirius was wrapping Ron in a giant bear hug.

“What are you two doing here?” Ron asked when Sirius had let go of him.

“Come to see you. We have already visited Harry and Remus. So we thought that you might like a visit,” James replied, as he conjured chairs for them to sit in. “Have a seat, make yourself comfortable.”

“How were you able to contact Harry? He is supposed to be practicing his Occlumency every night.” Ron asked as he stretched out in the chair.

“He is, he just feel asleep before he practiced,” Sirius supplied, as he sat down as well. “Which is just as well, since Jamsie-poo here has a confidence problem when it comes to making contact.”

“May I remind you that I arrived first here?” James said with a smile.

“You may remind me, but I made it first to Remus. So there,” Sirius shot back, sticking out his tongue in the process. “Hey Ron, how is the twins shop coming?”

“Great, Mum still isn’t too happy, but she is getting used to the idea. They are trying to think of new products all the time. Some things are less useful then the skive boxes but they can’t have their shop be just ways to skip out of class. Currently they are also working on something to honor the Marauders, by the way. I think it is to be a surprise for Harry, but they haven’t come up with anything yet.”

“Hmmm…very flattering,” James said, looking thoughtful.

“What would be a good thing to honor us by?” Sirius asked, more to himself then James or Ron.

“That is a very good question, Padfoot,” James commented.

“Think on it and then let me know,” Ron cut in.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sirius replied. “Do you know when Harry is supposed to be getting here?”

“Mum is hoping that it will be soon. She doesn’t care what kind of message they got across at King’s Cross. To her, sending Harry there, right after everything, is nearly criminal.”

“What about Percy, has he tried to join the family again?” James asked, knowing that it would probably not be pretty when it happened.

“No, and knowing Harry’s luck, he will show up the first night that Harry is here,” Ron replied, looking slightly nervous at the thought. “That is one event I would be willing to miss. If Percy says the wrong thing: to, near, or about Harry.”

“An explosion like last year will most likely be the results,” Sirius commented.

“From my view, it looked about like some of the ones that Lily would give,” James added.

“From what we heard, it was,” Sirius put in.

“How could you hear us?” Ron asked.

“Planted a charm, earlier in the day,” Sirius replied with a shrug. “Thought it might be interesting to hear Harry’s reaction to all that information that was coming at him. The way he exploded, I could hardly blame him.”

“Oh,” was all that Ron was able to get out.

“Sooo…Ron?” James asked, shifting topics. “What is happening between you and Hermione?”

At this Ron blurted out, “Nothing.” His face however told a different story, and James had found a sore spot.

“Uh hu…that is not what I think,” Sirius added, as James smirked. “When are you finally going to admit it to yourself?”

“Really Ron, it is obvious to everyone else. Well, sometimes I wonder about Harry, he can be pretty oblivious to that. And Hermione, she is probably just waiting for you to make some sort of move. Be the first to throw the Quaffle,” James spoke of one who knew exactly what he was talking about.

“You really think so?” Ron couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh yeah, she is definitely waiting on you,” James replied. “Lily even thinks so, and trust me, Lily really knows about this. So, the way I see it is that you just need a little help. Right Padfoot?”

“Absolutely, you even have a great foundation to build upon,” Sirius joined right in. “Friendship is a great base. First, you need to shut up about Krum. They are just friends, mate.”

“Right, and secondly, don’t tease her as much. Really, you two can bicker like my great great grandparents. And they have had almost a hundred and seventy five years of practice”

“We are that bad?” Ron found himself asking.

“Definitely, it is no wonder that Harry snapped at you two,” Sirius added.

“So other then those things, you really just need to give it a try,” James put in. “Next question is, would you approve of Harry and Ginny dating?”

“Yeah, just as long as he doesn’t put her in too much danger. I mean, he does have a knack for it,” Ron replied.

“That he does, and it doesn’t help to have a Grim-like dog wondering around,” James shot a look at Sirius.

“What? I didn’t directly hurt him. The closest I came to hurting him was when I bowled him over trying to get to Peter,” Sirius shot back. “The one that I really hurt was Ronniekins here.”

“I guess that is true. Lily was even surprised when his Patronus turned out to be me. Ron, how is your Patronus coming?”

“You could do a surprise kiss on Hermione and that should give you a good happy memory,” Sirius added, flashing a roguish smile.

Ron did a full Weasley blush at Sirius’ last comment. James just laughed.

“Enough about Hermione and you, although you really should work on developing that relationship further,” James commented when he finished laughing. “We need to talk to you about Harry.”

“Is there something wrong with him? Mum can’t stand the thought of him at the Dursley’s any longer then necessary. She wants to have him here for his birthday, but I doubt that is really going to happen,” Ron commented.

“I don’t think he will be here, either. Dumbledore seems to like Harry to be There until sometime in August. Personally I would rather have him there less time, but I can’t really make that decision.”

“At least he is not kept in the dark this summer,” Sirius added, his face clouding a little. “I was partly to blame for that, did not think of how he would take it.”

“Stop being too hard on yourself, you were doing what you thought was best for him at the time,” James cut in. “We probably should try and talk to Dumbledore soon. Ron, I want to thank you and your family for adopting Harry. He really needs it and your family is the best ones to do that.”

“Even if Molly is a little stifling,” Sirius added.

“You two were just trying to help Harry in you own ways. Hers is to be the Mother Hen, but sometimes she over does it. Mum got a laugh at Molly trying to comb Harry’s hair. Grandmum was beside herself with laughter and Dad felt sorry for him. One time his aunt on his mum’s side tried to do the same to him, only it was with three bottles of Sleekeasy. It only stayed down for about an hour and a half,” James said.

“Your family’s hair has more personality to it then the Weasley hair,” Ron commented, with a grin.

“Yours is just really noticeable. A trick that Fred and George should do is make a Harry Hair,” Sirius said, with a look of mischief in his eyes. “All that it should do is give the person pure messy, Quidditch-blown Potter hair, in their own hair color.”

“That would be great,” James added picking up on the idea. “They should also make it so that the length stays the same. Then they can test it on Bill or Charlie, but only after Harry gets here.” His eyes too spoke of mischief.

“Bill and Charlie wouldn’t mind either. Although, Bill’s would be funnier then Charlie’s,” Ron commented looking thoughtful.

“That is would, yet the down fall would be Bill’s might be dangerous to everyone else,” Sirius added with a grin.

They all were now picturing Bill with Harry’s hair, only at his normal length.

“It would most definitely give Mum a heart attack.”

“Now all you have to do is casually mention it to them, that shouldn’t be too hard. And drop a hint that Bill would be the perfect candidate for the official test run.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” Ron replied. “They have been begging Ginny and I for ideas, casual conversation with Ginny right near them should be really easy.”

“Right, well that would be a pleasant surprise for Harry, but doesn’t really honor the Marauders.”

“No it doesn’t, Padfoot,” James added. “Back to Harry and Ginny, how would you really feel if they started dating? After getting over the fact that Ginny isn’t six anymore and doesn’t really need your protection. She can certainly handle herself, very nicely I might add.”

“Well…” Ron started, looking thoughtful, but his ears were also turning pink. “They have a lot in common, and he already has the Weasley family approval. I guess he would be the best candidate for her.” Ron’s tone said that he liked the idea more then the words did. “Danger wouldn’t be that big of a problem. She really has proven that she can take whatever is thrown at her.”

“Good, now who do you think will be named Quidditch Captain next year?” Sirius jumped in.

“Either Harry or I. Most likely Harry since he has more experience then I do.”

“But he had a year off,” James pointed out. “I think he is a little worried about it. When you really put your heart and mind into it, you are a really great Keeper.”

“But I also have Prefect duties,” Ron countered.

“Bah, they are two different things. Besides other Prefects have been Quidditch captains. Look at Cedric, he was both.”

“Well, Professor McGonagall will probably choose Harry. Based on experience he does have more. Training under Wood for three years would be good for anyone.”

“He does have a point with that one, Prongs,” Sirius pointed out. “The man is a maniac when it comes to Quidditch or at least from what I have heard.”

“Oh he is, down right bonkers. He has no common sense when it comes to Quidditch. Once told Harry to get the Snitch or to die trying. That is just plain crazy.”

“That was the game with Dobby’s rogue Blunger. Damn thing nearly took off Harry’s head,” Ron supplied.

“Instead, Lockhart took out the bones in his right arm. That is another one who is mental.”

“You’ve got that one right,” Sirius cut in. “I wonder who they will get for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Could prove to be interesting.”

“That it most certainly could,” James added. “But enough with this random topic change. We are talking Quidditch.”

“Right, what we need is Lily with her pros and cons lists. Ron has played more recently, but Harry is a down right natural. Sorry Ron.”

“No, he is. There is no arguing with that one,” Ron said, not looking at all offended. “He did train under Wood, but I don’t know how well he really knows the other positions. Captain does need to know about plays and other stuff like that.”

“He does have a point with that one,” James put in, looking thoughtful. “Well, let’s not debate this further. Any other topics that are awaiting discussion?”

“How is Remus doing? Being stuck in Grimmauld Place, practically all alone,” Ron asked, having not really heard from Remus.

“As well as can be expected,” James said with a sigh. “It hasn’t exactly been an easy life for him. Is Molly planning on having Remus over when Harry arrives?”

“As far as I know, the invitation stands. He probably has been told that he can come over any time.”

“Most likely feels that it would be too strange without Harry here,” Sirius put in, as a cloud came over his face.

“He probably can be persuaded to come over after Harry arrives. Would probably help Harry as much as it would help Remus,” James added. “Although, they seem to talk a lot via the mirrors.”

“That they do,” Sirius added. “But that is good that they are being put to good use. I have wondered why Harry never used it.”

“What mirrors are you talking about?” Ron asked before James could say anything about Sirius’ last comment.

“We had mirrors when we were at Hogwarts,” James started. “Sirius and I, and we would use them to talk to each other when we were in detentions. Sirius had them at Grimmauld, and gave one to Harry to use to communicate with. Harry never used it, probably because he didn’t think it would be that safe. Which was probably a wise decision on his part. Some of the stuff we did was very dangerous.”

“Yeah, can’t really say that I blame him either. I should have explained it more. Anyway, now Remus has one and Harry has the other. They use them to talk to each other almost every night.”

“Right, so that explains that,” Ron said. “So you two are going to think of something to honor the Marauders by?”

“Absolutely, and we will do one better. We’ll give our ideas straight to Fred and George. That would shake them up a bit,” James said, with his mischievous glint in his eyes again.

“Is that a safe thing to do?” Ron asked jokingly.

“Absolutely, I am sure we can handle them. No problem,” Sirius replied, flashing a very marauderish grin. “But for now, we really must get on our way. You need your rest, we shall see you again.”

With that James and Sirius vanished from sight. The chairs right after James did. Ron simply let himself drift back to his bed, to get some sleep.

 

Two days later, Ron could be heard talking to Ginny.

“I’m telling you, seeing Bill with spiky hair like Harry’s would be a riot. Leave it the same length and color, but Harry’s messy hair style.”

“It would be, but how would someone pull it off on him?” Ginny asked, not knowing where this was going, but knew Ron was up to something.

“Put something in pill form, like the Canary Cream. Fred and George could do it, and I am sure that Harry would get a laugh out of it.”

Around the corner, Fred and George shared a smile. Their newest product idea had just been handed to them on a silver platter. Harry Hair would be stared that night.

 

 

Author’s Note: Thanks to Silver Phoenix for her Beta-ing. Thanks to potions gurl for her ideas and input. Thanks to JK Rowlings for creating Harry Potter and his world, I am just playing in it. Therefore I don’t own anything except the communication space between the two worlds of the living and the dead and Harry Hair. This is the third in a could be series, the other two are Some Fatherly Advice and A Friendly Visit. There is a slight outtake from A Friendly Visit called Enchanted Chairs.