Author's Note: Okay, before I even begin I need to say that my favorite reviewer for last chapter is Freakstar! You gave me like the perfect review and I agree with a lot of your points. Plus, I have a whole new subplot thing now with the dreams because of you! You are so my hero!

Chapter 4: The First Defense Class

James blinked as he saw the day was slowly turning into night. The sun was setting on the two figures near the Great Lake. They were both hard to make out at first, but the setting slowly got closer. One of them was definitely Jameson; the other was harder to make out. He was a pasty, white figure with a completely flat face and small slits where red irises looked out angrily. The tension was unbearable. Both looked as though they wanted to kill the other. They paid no attention to anything around them even though it was hard to miss. Duels were breaking out everywhere, half were adults versus adults but a lot looked as though students from the castle were fighting and winning most of the time as well. James shook his head slowly and tried to remember that this had to be a dream, but it was another dream that looked completely real.

His thoughts trailed off as he got close enough to see that Jameson and the other man were actually holding up their wands and pointing them at each other. Whenever one would cast a spell, the other would flick it off as if it were nothing. James' eyes widened as he heard some of the spells being cast; they were clearly dark magic. But Jameson didn't resort to that; he was mainly defending however he had a twinkle in his eye that said he knew more then what he was letting on. The red-eyed man snarled, "It seems we have come to an impasse."

"Maybe," Harry said flicking off yet another spell that could have killed him and said a simple disarming spell that the other man easily shielded. Harry continued, "But, Voldemort, I seriously doubt it." His face took on a look of fury as he shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" at the same time the other, Voldemort, did the same thing.

A funny thing now happened. The spells collided in midair and a web of light appeared around the two with a light connecting the wands. A bubble appeared in the middle of that light and hovered back and forth between the two men. Harry snarled and pushed against the wand. Voldemort's face contorted into a look of amazement and fear as the bubble slowly moved down the line and almost settled right in front of his wand. Figures began to appear out of his wand, but James couldn't see their faces. He did see, though, that they kept coming and each went behind Harry and touched him as if offering him strength. Harry's eyes closed and he whispered something then when they opened they shone with a strong inner light. "Good bye, Voldemort," he said almost pleasantly and the bubble went into Voldemort's wand.

A flash of green light completely engulfed the area and when it dissipated only one figure was standing, Harry Jameson. The adults who had been in black cloaks immediately began to run but none got very far. Victory shouts were heard throughout the night. A red head darted up towards Harry and jumped, leaping on Harry and forcing him to hold her as she kissed him with a passion. James didn't see what happened next, however, as he heard a noise rustling next to him and as he looked down, he sat a rat running away from the scene. It looked familiar…

James gasped as he sat up in his bed soaking wet. Sirius was standing over his bed with a bucket, now empty, and Remus was laughing hard. Peter merely stood to the side looking as though he wanted to laugh but held himself back in case he wasn't forgiven yet. James' glare engulfed them all which made even Peter burst out laughing. "What did you do that for?" he asked with a chilly voice.

Sirius' eyes shone with innocence as he said, "Well, Prongsey-poo, you're usually the one to wake me up like this the first day of school and since it's almost time for breakfast and you were the last one up, I thought I would do the honors this year."

James now had a smile twitching on his face but merely said, "I know where you live," and got out of bed starting to get dressed quickly. Sirius turned somber at this news and looked to Remus for help but he shrugged. The prank wars between Sirius and James were legendary and no one cared to get between them. Of course, that didn't mean that Remus didn't try to make things less difficult; he was often the supplier for the ideas of each one and delighted to see all of them play out exactly as he wanted them.

Peter cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. "I, I wanted to say that I'm sorry," he muttered, "I was wrong. I just…"

Sirius looked him up and down then grinned, "I know. You're all good." Peter looked up with a grin as well and the tension that hadn't faded since yesterday now dissipated. James finally was ready and the four, now reunited, headed down the stairs only to find Lily waiting for them. She didn't say anything as she walked with them and they didn't say anything for fear of disrupting this fine balance that she and James had now that they were going out.

They got to the Great Hall and James sat down with Lily right next to him. It seemed that a hush fell over all the students and even the teachers were looking on with interest particularly Jameson who seemed to be expecting something. James didn't notice; he was sweating like a pig and his eyes darted between Lily and the table though Lily seemed not to notice. Finally, James watched with horror as one of his arms reached up slowly and decided to land on the shoulder of Lily. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at each other and covered their ears praying to God that the blowup wasn't going to be that bad. To everyone's surprise, Lily merely scooted closer to James and continued to eat.

The students looked disappointed but the teachers broke out in laughter and McGonagall gave something to Jameson which made him laugh even harder. No one seemed to notice that Sirius was distracted enough to put his elbow in his food and Remus was testing the limit as to how far his jar would drop. It was a major change in one night but the two in question looked fine with it so they didn't say anything.

Finished eating, the five headed to their first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. They filed in with the other students and sat down taking out their books and waited. The bell that was supposed to signal the beginning of class rang, but Jameson was still not in sight. Another five minutes passed and still no sign of their teacher. They looked at each other and started to whisper, but before any rumors were started, the door slammed open admitting the missing teacher. "Sorry I'm late," Jameson said hurriedly as he almost ran up to his desk, "I had to put something away in my rooms that I got at breakfast this morning." He looked out at the students and smiled ignoring some of the looks of surprise on their faces.

He cleared his throat and continued, "Well, now, my name is Professor Jameson. I'll be your teacher for this year and this year only. My main goal is to teach you all to be ready for anything once you hit the real world. Which reminds me," he paused putting a flyer up on the board, "The dueling club is going to start in two weeks. That will give me plenty of time to get ready for all of you." Having said this, he looked out at them as if hoping to get some reaction but when none came, he looked a little more deflated and said, "I suppose you'll want to know the curriculum then."

At this, Lily, Remus, and most of the Ravenclaws sat up straighter as if that would help them listen. Everyone else though, slumped down further in their seats and Sirius even went so far as to groan a little. Jameson appeared disheartened as he looked at a piece of paper he picked up. "Well," he began, "It seems that Dumbledore would like me to teach you everything you'll ever need for the first semester and the rest of the year spend time reviewing for N.E.W.T.s." At this point, Sirius wasn't alone in groaning. James was the only one out of the Marauders not to groan and that was simply because Lily didn't too.

"But," Jameson continued, "I was planning on teaching spells and learning how to use them practically in the first semester, have a dueling tournament in the third quarter, and review in the fourth. Not that much different, but still more exciting then just plan learning I should think." The class looked a little better at this news and Sirius even had a slight grin on his face thinking of dueling Snape.

Harry saw the smile and looked ready to groan, "Of course, I will be the one picking your partner to avoid any mishaps." Sirius gave him a look that could freeze the rainforest.

Jameson looked at his watch and bit his lip, "You know I still have you for another twenty minutes, so I'll start with something simple… expelliarmus." At this point the class looked at him with interest despite the fact that they had seen the spell before quite often. It could have been because they wanted to see how they could teach or it may have been the death glares that Lily (and James after seeing her do it) was sending their way.

"I would like to call to the front of the room," exclaimed Jameson waiting for a second to give it a dramatic flare, "Lupin and Malfoy!" The two boys looked at each other with a grin on fixed on their faces and went up to the front of the room.

The reasoning behind this pairing may have been that Harry thought that Remus was level headed and wouldn't take it too far plus he had probably already mastered the spell a long time ago and also that Malfoy Sr. was probably as incompetent as Malfoy Jr. in his time. What he didn't take into account was that the Remus of this time was saner then Sirius and James but he was still a teenager who was still a little bit prejudiced towards those of the Slytherin house. He also wasn't aware that Malfoy was a master dueler who had recently found out that Remus was a werewolf.

Things got interesting.

The two boys walked up to the top of the classroom and bowed to each other without Harry telling them to. It was only then that Harry saw the looks that they were giving each other. It reminded him of the looks he and Malfoy had exchanged before their little duel in 2nd year. He inwardly cursed the day that Dumbledore got it in his head to send him back in time. However, he continued with his plan and said, "I'm glad to see that you've bowed but that wasn't necessary. I'm assuming you both know the spell so I want you to demonstrate it for the class. On the count of three, you will both say the spell. Whoever is still standing in the end gets 10 house points, fair enough?"

"1, 2…"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

The two boys had taken it in their heads to both say the spell just a second earlier then expected. They weren't expecting the other to do the same. Both flew back. Remus was lucky and hit the teacher's desk flying over it and falling in a crumbled heap behind it. Malfoy, however, flew straight back and straight into the wall making a dull thud as his head hit the hard stone.

Immediately, the entire class was up and the Marauders rushed to their friend's side helping him to stand. He did, eventually, with a little help on either side by Sirius and James and had a slight grin on his face as he surveyed the job he did on Malfoy. Malfoy wasn't moving as his friends gathered around him trying to wake him up. Harry had to push through the crowd to see him then murmured, "Ennervate," to wake him up. "Take him to Madame Pomfrey now," he said with a commanding tone in his voice that had never been there before. The Slytherins heard it and hurriedly picked up the blond and carried him out but not before the class saw the red line of blood dripping down the back of his head.

The class began to laugh but then stopped as soon as they saw their professor's murderous face. "5 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for not listening to instructions," he said with a deadly quiet tone, "You may leave."

The class filed out still excited from the action that had happened spreading rumors as they walked out. Sirius murmured to James, "He got really serious didn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess he learned to have a better lesson plan now."

Remus, Lily, and Peter were the last out as Lily and Peter were making sure that Remus wouldn't fall over. It was close to the full moon, so Remus was stronger then usual or else he would have been going to the hospital wing as well. That also meant that his senses were more heightened as usual as well.

Perhaps that's why he was the only one who thought he heard a soft chuckling coming from the classroom where only Jameson remained.