Not having been remotely prepared for it this time any more than the first, the eight of them collapsed to the ground in such a miserable place, for a moment the Marauders were convinced they'd been put inside the Shrieking Shack.

This place was somehow even more inhospitable. There was a storm outside, raging nearly right through the thin walls, and all of them collectively shivered and took a step closer to the center of the room. Lily took her wits about her first and jabbed her wand to the fireplace, the warmth spreading around giving them the ability to detail the rest of the area, though none of them enjoyed the view.

There was only one bedroom off to the side, a lumpy looking mattress and bedding that rather should have been burned from all the stains they could see on it. Truly those Dursleys must have been desperate to sleep on such a thing instead of their normal king sized bed with silk sheets and all their other extravagances.

The flooring had so many catches on it, uneven extremly from so many years of bad weather and ill care, it would be a miracle not to break your neck merely walking across the room, and a couch that was sagging to the ground so much they were sure Dudley had just placed his immense weight on it and cracked it in half.

"I had absolutely no desire to see the actual spot Harry laid himself on," James said in disgust, his eyes on one particular bit of corner not far from the fireplace, as if the boys instincts had still been trying to seek out warmth where none was. The thin bit of material fluttering in the breeze in the spot couldn't even be called a blanket, the patch of floor only softer than the rest because it was slightly damp from a leaky roof. It wasn't a fit place for an animal, let alone a scared little boy.

"I-" Sirius tried to say to him, going to him and wanting to put his arm around his best friend in some kind of solidarity, but James shrugged him off and stormed over to sit on the same spot, glaring around at nothing as if daring someone to stop him. He couldn't explain it to anyone, it felt stupid to even realize why he wanted this, but he wanted just some small part of himself to know what his son went through, even sitting in the same spot as he once had...or would. Whichever. The cupboard had been a punishment, this was an actual place he'd tried seeking out, and James was determined to understand why.

Sirius just watched him for a moment before reaching out and snatching the book away before Remus could protest. He wanted out of this miserable place as soon as possible, and if he was understanding this right, the pattern would continue they'd leave here as soon as the next part was over.

"Does anyone ever actually call Hagrid by his job title?" Frank asked without much interest when the chapter title was told.

"Not that I've heard," Alice agreed, keeping closer to her boyfriend than the fire for warmth in this place. "I'm just glad it was him, poor kid's had enough trouble in his life, at least Hagrid will finally help Harry to understand all this."

"I wonder why him though?" Lily said with high curiosity. "A ministry representative came and explained to my parents when I first got my letter, and after all these years, the blokes hardly memorable. He even managed to dress like one, an honest accomplishment," she finished with a small snort, remembering the few times she'd seen others try. "Hagrid on the other hand will likely leave an impression, probably not one most Muggles would forget. I imagine anyone as well as these Dursley's would be frightened by him."

"It was likely Dumbledore's decision, and he couldn't have picked anyone better," Remus said with a faint smile, looking forward to Hagrid doing more to scare the piss out of these people.

They all rather enjoyed the back and forth favoring Hagrid as he got through the Dursleys to explain to Harry what was going on, and everyone but Lily listened with interest to hear what it must be like for someone to hear for the first time something they'd known all their life.

"What does it mean by owl?" James burst out laughing. "What other way is there?"

"Never mind Prongs, I'll explain later," Peter promised, knowing there were likely a ton of things by now building up in his mind to ask about, and the only reason he wasn't interrupting every five seconds to ask was because he kept throwing sideways glances at Evans, clearly not wanting to look as imbecilic around her as he usually was. Those Muggle Studies classes he'd been taking must not have been doing him much good.

"I'm really warming up to Hagrid," Remus said conversationally to Peter, hovering with him near the fireplace and wishing Sirius hadn't followed them over while continuing. Still trying to avoid looking at him in general, he was trying to keep up some commentary with his actual friends. "Why haven't we ever gone to his place and hung around?"

"Did you honestly just suggest we hang around an authority figure at school?" James demanded while looking faint. "Merlin Moony, I know we've been laying low at school, but this is ridiculous."

Remus made a face at him and Peter nodding along, but still refused to give the sideways look at Sirius he so wanted to for someone to play along.

Alice frowned reproachfully as the four tried to act like no one else was here while Black kept going, and the feeling only grew when Hagrid brought up Harry's past. She supposed she couldn't blame the friends for banning around their mate as his death was brought up again, but aside from Potter throwing more anxious looks at his long time crush, he seemed to have decided giving her space for once would be better than jumping her for attention at further news of their demise.

So Alice took it upon herself to go up to her and give her a kindly pat on the shoulder. They hadn't spoken much outside of class, or in them for that matter, but Alice was the first from her house to offer to be her partner when others gave her such odd looks for being such close friends with Snape. Lily seemed to take the gesture warmly enough, patting her hand gratefully and giving her a small smile that melted away when Black only made things worse by parroting a future Petunia's rant.

Peter let out a low throated whistle. "Blimey, that is a lot of built up hatred for a sibling." He was giving an uneasy look at his two friends who had gone as long as he'd known without even looking at each other, he couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if it lasted as long as Petunia was implying about her sister.

By the end of the rant Lily's face was pinched tight together, she'd shrugged off Alice's hand and stalked as far away from everyone she could so she could mutter in silence about all of this. James didn't look much better, his teeth gritted together and having to powerfully remind himself not to deck Sirius for saying those things about Lily because he wasn't technically the one saying them, but the fascination of having a sibling like that had died as quickly as it had arisen. If they'd been blaming all of the misfortune on Harry before on Vernon, there was no longer any doubt this may well be Petunia's idea to take out her vindictiveness on Lily's only living family.

"Hagrid can threaten people with an umbrella?!" Remus gasped, having always wondered why he carried that around and this was the best answer ever. "That's it, I'm asking him to marry me!" He declared with a light smirk in place, looking determinedly at anyone but Sirius to return the smile and play along. Peter giggled slightly but refrained from joking along, so Remus sighed, wishing for the millionth time already none of this had even started.

"I'll fight you for that ring," Sirius happily butted in before Peter's laugh could subside. "Besides, we've far more in common!"

Remus pursed his lips rather than acknowledge anything more, and Sirius' smile was even more forced when he kept going after throwing a halfway look at James who was still watching the two with pity. At least they were trying now, though he was confident it had more to do with this situation and the unfamiliarity of it. They were trying to stick together rather than continue quarreling because of this, but the other two Marauders had a bad feeling that wasn't going to last long before something snapped between them again.

Tension did melt just slightly when everyone in the room gave varying laughs for Dudley getting a pig's tail out of the exchange, but Sirius hesitated in finally getting to the end, taking a careful breath and warning. "Well, this is almost over again, think there's any way to brace ourselves from that, that crappy version of apparating happening again?"

"I honestly doubt it," James sighed while still holding his hand protectively. It wasn't at all comforting the injury hadn't vanished with their previous surroundings, and while the throbbing had died down to mostly ignorable if he didn't flex his fingers, he knew it would flare up if he landed on it, again.

"May as well get it over with then, brace yourselves," Sirius sighed before finishing, and not having a moment to gloat he'd been right.