A/N: This is an outtake/sequel to A Friendly Visit and An Interesting Conversation. Thanks to Silver Phoenix for beta-ing and potions gurl for proofing. Thanks to JK for providing the world of Harry Potter. I don’t own anything except Harry Hair, but even that could be called the twin’s.

 

 

 

It was two weeks before Harry went back to Hogwarts. Ever since the visit from James, Sirius and Lily, Remus had been thinking about their conversation. He and Harry had been in almost constant contact with the mirrors. Since the Ministry couldn’t detect the mirrors, Harry wouldn’t get in trouble.

When Harry had finally gotten to the Burrow, Remus had been extremely relieved. He had been invited to come anytime he wanted. That first night, Remus would have loved to attend dinner that night, but he was still recovering from a mission for the Order. Looking back it probably would have only increased problems. Percy had returned on that night to try and make up with the family. Needless to say, only Molly was truly happy to see Percy when he arrived.

Remus remembered the conversation with Harry that evening, via the mirrors.

“How can anyone be so…so irritating? He just showed up and expected to be welcomed right back into the family,” Harry moaned to Remus through the mirror.

“He is just trying to recover from the shock. Your world has been turning upside down for over a year. His is just starting to turn.” Remus said, trying to be sympathetic, but it wasn’t working out too well. Neither Harry nor Ron (who was also in the room) wanted Remus to defend Percy.

“But he just showed up, hardly gave an apology and Mrs. Weasley expected us all to accept that and be done with it. Then he went on to say that Sirius would be found soon.” At this Harry looked like he was ready to burst into tears.

“That was when Bill butted in,” Ron said, picking up the story. “He said, ‘Sirius Black is dead. He died trying to save your precious Ministry as well as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and two other students. Some more information for you to chew on is that he was innocent.’ Then Charlie added, ‘I would suggest you watch what you say about him because while Harry can’t do anything to you with magic, I can. And I know what the laws are, so know what to do without getting in trouble.’”

“What was Percy’s reaction to that?” Remus couldn’t help but ask, although he probably didn’t want to know.

“He demanded to know how they knew it and accused them of obstruction of justice. Then he stated that there was no physical proof and just like for the last year there had been no proof of Voldemort coming back,” Harry replied.

“Then Harry said, much to the shock of everyone, ‘THE BLOODY HELL THERE WASN’T PROOF. FUDGE WAS JUST WANTING TO PORTRAY AN OSTRICH.’ After that there was silence for about three second and then Harry got up and left. Percy just stared at him open mouthed and Bill and Charlie looked ready to cheer.  That was when Dad joined in and said that the proof had been given by Dumbledore that Peter Pettigrew was alive. If Peter was alive then Sirius obviously did not kill him and therefore was innocent. Should Percy want to continue any conversation on Sirius, he should do so with just dad to keep future problems to a minimum.”

“I see. Was there anything else that was said?” Remus asked, knowing it was probably good for them to get it out of their system.

“During dinner, Percy kept going on about how the Ministry was doing so much now for the fight and that it should be done in no time. That was till Charlie informed him that all the Ministry was trying to do was save its head and dignity but still not doing anything really important,” Ron answered since Harry hadn’t been present. When dinner was over Ron had brought up some food for him and they mirrored Remus.

“At that Mum said that there would be no more talk of it during this meal or any other.”

“And the twins had nothing to say to this?” Remus found himself asking. He was grateful that he hadn’t been there, or else it might have turned out worse.

“They were not home. With Hogwarts starting up soon they wanted to get their store ready for all the students.”

“Well that is probably just as well. That would have only made matters worse.”

 

Now Remus had some free time and therefore decided to see Harry and the rest of the Weasleys. The situation with Percy was never discussed; they would probably come face to face with each other this evening at dinner. Charlie was still at the Burrow for a few days more.

When he arrived at the Burrow, it was Bill that Remus met up with first and Charlie quickly joined the conversation. Remus had to admit that Charlie was definitely interesting. They relayed a simple version of the conversation from the first night. Charlie mentioned that there were a few hexes that had immediately come to mind for shooting at Percy.

“The Insect Jinx or Ron’s Slug Curse had both come to mind really quickly.” Charlie said, with a sheepish grin.

Remus decided that he really didn’t want to be on the wrong end of either of the eldest Weasley’s curses (or fists for that matter), since with their jobs, they would have perfect accuracy and Charlie especially had the strength.

Now he was looking for Harry; he figuring that if he found Ron, he would find Harry. Bill had reported that they seemed slightly closer, but figured that was from the shared experiences of the battle at the Ministry.

Wandering out to the garden, he found Ron and Harry in the air. From the look of it, they were practicing some of their Quidditch Moves. It wasn’t until Harry did an absolute perfect Wronski Feint that either boy realized down on the ground was Remus. Harry waved at Ron to head for the ground, and they both landed near Remus.

It was worth it to Remus to see Harry’s wide smile as the boys approached.

“How are you doing, Harry?” Remus asked.

“A little better. Anything would be better than living with the Dursleys, but being here is the next best thing to Hogwarts,” Harry replied as all three settled down on the steps. “Flying everyday helps as well.”

“That is good to hear. How are you doing Ron?”

“Surviving, it was getting a little tense for a while. After dinner the other night, everything seemed to clear the air a little,” replied Ron. “Fred and George are coming to supper this evening. They want to make sure that Percy knows that they support what Bill and Charlie said on the first night. They were sad to have missed the action.”

“How did your mission go, Remus?” Harry asked wanting to get off the subject of Percy and the threats that were issued.

“Well, it goes slow. We are back to where we started, in a way. Now we have to try and find where they are hiding again. The other thing we have to do is figure out who might have already gone over to the other side, and those who might go over to the other side in the near future.” Remus replied, looking tired. “But you two are not to worry about that. Professor Dumbledore wants you to enjoy the summer and be ready for classes this fall. No I do not know who will be the Defense Against the Dark Arks Professor.”

“We were not going to ask. That ruins the surprise of the Welcome Feast,” Ron informed Remus, flashing a grin worthy of the Marauders.

Right, and Snape is a good friend of James Remus thought, but he decided it would be prudent to keep that thought to himself. “If you say so, Ron. Harry, I don’t remember mentioning to you something from the conversation I had with James, Lily and Sirius.”

“What was that Remus?” Harry asked. It was still a little on the odd side to talk about the conversation he had with James and Sirius.

“Well, Sirius asked me if I would look out for you. Be sort of the unofficial Godfather for you.”

“That is great, what other responsibilities did he hand you with that title?” Harry couldn’t help but ask, a small grin showing on his face.

“Well, James wanted to make sure you knew that…while he was a bit of a light weight when it came to drinking, Lily could drink even Sirius under the table if she wanted to.”

“Very useful information to be passing on there, Remus.” Bill said, coming out the back door and settling on the steps with them.

“Never know when it may come in handy,” Remus replied in an offhand matter.

At that all four of them burst out laughing. It took them a while to calm all of them down.

“What else useful information did Sirius request that you pass on?” Harry asked when he had his breath back.

“Well…” Remus said, getting a little nervous about the next part he had been assigned to inform Harry of. “He said that if he was unable to pass on this important knowledge, at least one Marauder should make sure you were well informed on the ways of the world and birds and the bees.”

Both Harry and Ron blushed a little at the thought of not only getting that talk from someone, but their old teacher. Bill just laughed at the younger boys embarrassment and Remus’ description of Sirius assignment for him.

Seeing that neither Ron nor Harry wanted to say much, Remus took the initiative to start the talk. “Do either of you have any questions, to start with?”

Remus didn’t want to admit that he was about as lost as Harry and Ron. His father hadn’t really given him much of a talk, knowing that Remus was probably not going to need it. Almost all his knowledge of it came from the talks with James. Sirius had been given the message of “You have embarrassed the family enough, don’t do anything more to bring shame to our family.” Mr. Potter had a very open relationship with his son, and would have willingly given the necessary talk to all three of James’ friends. Part of him was glad that Bill was there, and could offer advice and insight to the talk.

Noticing that Harry and Ron were both shaking their heads, Remus figured that he should move the talk on. “All right, you do know where babies come from?” Remus had vowed not to look at Bill, who sounded like he was choking with laughter a little.

“Yes Remus, we do know where babies come from.” Harry choked out. “What is it that you are wanting to impart on us?”

“Not what Sirius got from his father,” Remus said, before he could stop himself. “He was informed not to embarrass the family any further then he had all ready by being in Gryffindor. I don’t really know, Bill do you have any suggestions for them?”

“No, Remus you seem to be doing really well. Dad would try to come up with some crazy analogy with Muggle tools or something. He had just figured out the seatbelts in the old Anglia and not only used a seatbelt analogy, but also brought me out to try to show me.”

Harry and Ron were able to laugh at Bill’s description. Remus himself had to congratulate Arthur on his ingenuity with the analogy. Even if he had gone a little overboard when it came to the whole discussion. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, it was his first time with the talk.

“What did your dad tell you, Remus?” Ron asked, before he stopped himself. He had not thought of the pain it might cause Remus.

“Not much, I had a tendency to read any book I got my hands on and one summer I went to the Muggle Library and read almost every book there. Some of those included more information then I really wanted on the topic. He just said to think before I went to far. With my condition I had to be extra careful.”

“What kind of talk did my father get?” Harry asked. He wanted to hear about his family, but also to get Remus off the depressing thoughts of his own father.

“The best of all four of us. James and his father had a very open relationship. Anything James had a question about, Mr. Potter was willing to answer the best he could. One thing he mentioned was not to give into your teenage urges. It could cause more consequences than either want to deal with. Should that happen, James was informed that he would be expected to take responsibility for his actions.”

“This seems to be more informative than what Sirius would give,” Bill observed. “I can just see him telling you that girls tend to do their robes up higher than the guys. That little hidden hook and eye that we never clip, they always do. It is a right bugger to get undone too.”

“Yes, he did remind me of that fact,” Remus said with a smile. “He also reminded me of his favorite place to take his latest girl. That was the down by the Prefect’s bathroom; there is little room that just happened to have a chair. Convenient for those who could perform Transfiguration with their minds following a completely different path.”

“I remember that room,” Bill added. “Even managed a decent blanket one night as well.”

“That was more information than I needed to know,” Ron said, blushing a little again. Harry nodded in agreement.

“I think we can safely say that you fulfilled your assignment of surrogate Godfather, Remus. ‘The Talk’ has been received and understood.”

With Bill’s announcement, talk moved to Quidditch and the prospect of Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup. By the time dinner was announced, Fred and George had shown up with their latest invention, which had been given to them by James and Sirius, via Ron.

Sitting down, Fred had managed to slip a dissolvable pill into Bill’s glass of Pumpkin Juice. Charlie observed the happenings but knew that Bill would be able to get the twins back for anything they did. So he let it go, besides, it would probably be fun to watch.

All four gentlemen who had been on the back steps talking took drinks when they had sat down at the table.

“This juice tastes a little different. Does yours taste normal, Charlie?” Bill asked, after taking his drink.

Taking a drink, Charlie smiled at Bill, “Mine tastes perfectly…” He stopped talking as he watched Bill’s hair. In fact that whole table was watching Bill’s hair.

“What?” Bill asked, feeling tugs at his scalp, but didn’t know what was causing it.

“Nice spikes,” Ron replied, trying to keep his laughter in.

Bill’s hair had become as messy as Harry’s; the only difference was that Bill’s was Weasley red and very long. The ponytail that it was normally in was undone, and his hair was all over the place in long spikes. As the hair settled, some flopped into Bill’s confused face.

Conjuring a mirror, Bill looked at his new style, while most of the table (save Molly and Percy, who had come to dinner again) laughed. Harry was beside himself with laughter.

“Well, it certainly is interesting. I will say that much. How long does it last?” Bill asked the twins when it looked like they would be able to answer.

“Six hours,” George choked out. “It is a new invention, obviously we have to work on it if you were able to taste it.”

“We are calling it ‘Harry Hair’,” Added Fred, gaining control of his laughter.

Harry had stopped laughing, and while not looking happy about having a product named after him, he had to admit it was a good invention.

Ginny set the table laughing again when she leaned over and told Harry, “Now you know what your hair will look like if you ever let it grow to be that long.”

 

 

Somewhere in another world there stood two men, they appeared to be watching some sort of television screen. They too were laughing at the scene at the supper table of The Burrow.

Looking at his companion, the one with messy hair said through his laughter, “They certainly pulled off the hair.”

“I agree Prongs, and Moony did just fine with ‘The Talk’. Mission accomplished.”

That set them laughing again, till a female voice caught their attention.

“What are you two watching that is so darned funny?”

“Nothing but your son and his hair.” James replied, pulling Lily over to see the happenings at The Burrow.

Lily smiled at the sight, and was content to watch with her husband and good friend. She thought to herself that a better family couldn’t have taken in the two lost Marauders then the Weasleys.