A/N: Hi! So this is the first fanfiction that I've published, and it's a Remus Lupin and OC time travel fic, a bit of love, a bit of action, perhaps smut but hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It's a work in progress, so any tips or pointers or constructive criticism is welcome, by all means. I apologise for any muff ups in the time line (now or in the future); just let me know and i'll fix it up.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, though if I did, the ending would have been a crap load cheesier (though i'm not hating on J.K Rowling's marvellous creations). Anything you don't recognise is my work, so yes, blame me.
Alright, here goes nothing.
Prologue:
"Remus John Lupin. My, my, it's been a while," the death eater sneered.
"Cassandra," Remus replied coolly, one hand around the woman's neck, the other holding his wand firmly at her throat. "Not long enough."
He looked at the woman he held in his hand. Her silver hair had lost it's shine, now a placid white; her crystal blue eyes turned a dark, lifeless navy, and her once perfect skin was marred by scars and a gruesome, black, slithering tattoo. The girl he once knew was long gone.
"Oh Remus, why so aggressive?" she asked innocently, reaching up to twirl a golden lock of hair around her slender fingers. "Is it because I slept with your best friend?"
A growl rumbled from deep in Remus' throat, and he slammed the death eaters' head into the stone wall behind her. She let out a cry, which slowly turned into a shrill cackle as she manoeuvred her hand around Lupin and drew her wand; with a few muttered spells, Remus was thrown away from her, falling into a tumble. He was back on his feet in seconds, firing spells at her, and blocking her attacks. In the midst of the brawl she shouted, in a shrill, menacing voice; "Or is it because I killed him?"
With a roar, Remus pounced at her, forgetting spells, duel normalcies, letting his animal instincts take over. He clawed at her, biting, snarling, growling, in a flourish of arms and legs, but she fended him off. With a cry, blue sparks flew out of her wand, hitting the wolf-man in the chest.
He stopped in his tracks, dazed, and while he was vulnerable, shouted one final curse.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
But at the same instant, another voice, Remus saw not who, screamed "Initium finis!"
A jet of bright green light melded with a flash of blue, and an aqua beam hit Remus in the heart, and he was gone.
Chapter 1:
There was a small click in the astronomy tower as Albus Dumbledore apparated into sight, a very drunk Horace Slughorn at his side.
"Albus, I say, that is the last time I accept whiskey from a veela." Horace slurred, stumbling towards the door. Albus laughed good naturedly, patting the potions master on the shoulder.
"That's what you said last time," Albus chuckled, eyes twinkling. "Perhaps you should head off to bed, Horace." Slughorn mumbled in agreement and waddled off towards the door with a quiet goodnight.
As soon as the door snapped shut behind him, Dumbledore turned on his heel, beard catching in his belt. On the floor in the corner of the room was a figure in a crumpled heap, covered in a dusty brown cloak.
The figure moved, a groaning shudder rippling through the heap. The man, Albus saw when he sat up, was bleeding, from large gashes on his arms and torso, shirt shredded. He had scars across his face, right from his eye to his chin; he looked tired. He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed.
Albus cleared his throat and the man jumped, head snapping up. On his feet in an instant, the man dusted himself off, then swayed suddenly, taken over by a head sin. When he regained his composure, he looked at the old wizard in confusion.
"Dumbledore?" the man gasped. Dumbledore nodded, and retrieved his wand from his robe. The man looked weak, ready to pass out at any moment. With a flick of the old wizards wrist, the man was bound my his hands and feet, head lolling on his shoulders. Albus made the man hover on his back, like he was on an invisible stretcher, and carried him down to the infirmary.
Remus groaned, trying to sit up.
"Lie back down, foolish man. You'll never heal if you keep moving!" Madam Pomfrey snapped, suddenly over Remus pushing him back into his bed. "You've gotten yourself into quite a state! You look like you wrestled a hippogriff."
Where was he? The Hogwarts infirmary. It must be after the battle, if Madam Pomfrey is taking care of him. I'm alive he thought, relief quickly swallowed by sadness. "Harry?" Remus asked the bustling woman. "Where's Harry?"
"Who the devil is Harry?" The woman asked.
What? Who's Harry? "Harry Potter!"
"Merlin's beard, did you hit your head man? The only potter I know is James Potter."
"What?!" Remus sat bolt upright. Where was Harry? James is dead! What is this woman talking about?
"For goodness sake, lie. Down!" she snapped. "It's the middle of the night, and-"
She was cut off mid-sentence by a noisy group of teenagers running into the room, stamping their feet and whispering frantically.
"BE QUIET." Pomfrey hissed at the group. There was four of them, Remus could see, carrying a limp figure in their arms. They shut up, and one- the tallest one- looked around. Remus' heart gave a large thud. James!
He could see now, in the dim candlelit room, the other marauders, placing the figure onto a bed. It was him! Moony, right there! When was this? What had he done? It must have been after a particularly bad full moon. The others looked quite exhausted and rugged. It must have been a hard night.
When he saw Sirius, young and healthy, he could barely sit still. Then he saw Peter. A fiery surge of hate flew through him, boiling inside him.
"TRAITOR!" He bellowed, the words flying out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The group jumped and spun, and Remus caught the eye of the fifth marauder. Cassandra Mina. Her silvery hair was as vibrant as ever, flickering in the dim light. Her eyes shone intensely; anger pulsated through her, at this stranger. But that didn't matter. She was untainted by dark magic.
Forgetting her, Remus leapt out of bed, grabbed his wand off the night stand beside his bed and bounded towards Wormtail. The boy squeaked and cowered as the man pushed him up against the wall and held him firmly, shouting, cursing at him.
"YOU WERE ALWAYS WEAK, I KNEW IT, BUT HE WAS YOUR FRIEND. WE ALL WERE. We took you in and cared for you and you betrayed our trust!" he screamed, holding the boy with one arm, while fending off three children with the other.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing-"
"Get off of him psycho-"
"Petrificus totalis!"
Then the man was on the ground, bound by invisible ties once more. Albus Dumbledore lowered his wand and moved into the room. He looked at the boy on the bed and at his friends. "I am incredibly sorry for this man's behaviour. He is... under a lot of stress at the moment." he said sincerely.
"He's a lunatic!" Cassandra burst out. "What is he doing here?"
"That," Dumbledore said. "I do not know. Now, off to bed. Madam Pomfrey and I will take care of Mr Lupin."
The four all muttered there okay's and left the room, sullen. When they were gone, Madam Pomfrey administrated the wolfsbane potion to the sickly looking boy on the bed and left him, Albus, and the other man alone. Albus turned to the man on the floor and released him. The man got to his feet and swore.
When he had had his rant, Albus said, "Would you care to explain yourself?"
"He- I-" But he couldn't. There was no justifying what he had just done without sounding insane.
"Mr Lupin, what year did you come from?" Dumbledore inquired calmly. "And what is it that happened that possessed you to attack a student?"
"That's it." Remus whispered. That's the only thing that explained this. It had to have been Cassandra. Her spell combining with the other spell... But, that's hardly ever been heard of. It's impossible, isn't it?
"Nineteen ninety seven." Remus said. If anyone could help him figure this out, it was Dumbledore. Who was now alive and well in front of him.
"I see." He said. "And why did you come back, may I ask? How?"
"I- I'm not sure. I was in a battle. Something happened. I have a theory, but it's incredibly unheard of." Lupin explained his battle with the death eater, but did not say that it was his best friend. "all I know for sure is that I blacked out, and woke up here."
"How I see it, Mr Lupin, is you've been given the chance to change the future." Dumbledore said. Remus just blinked. The thought had fluttered across his mind, but Dumbledore seemed to think that was all there was too it!
"Professor?"
"Terrible things happen to wizards who meddle with time," the old man said. "I trust you know that. But it seems to me that you have been presented with an opportunity. There are things in your future that you would like to change, I imagine. There are things in all of our futures that are imminent, but you have been given the opportunity and the knowledge to change things." Dumbledore leant closer.
"I know you, Remus. I have watched you grow for the last six years. I know the man you will, and have, grown to be. You were always destined for great things."
This wasn't right. It wasn't meant to be this easy. Dumbledore... had a plan. Already, yes, but he always had a plan. Perhaps, Remus thought, the old man is right.
He knew what was going to happen. He could stop it. He could save James and Lily, Harry; stop Peter, stop Voldemort if he tried. He could save Cassandra. He had been given an opportunity. He would take it.
Remus inhaled deeply, and looked over at his younger self who was sucking in ragged breaths. Then he looked back to the dead man in front of him. "What did you have in mind?"