Perfect Situation

Chapter One

Author's Note: This is my new fanfic. I was going to write a Neville/OC but this plot bunny threatened to kill me, so, yeah. Basically, it's a sequel-of-sorts to In The Life of Skye Black. The main character is Ellie Weasley, and it's a Back to the Future of sorts. Pretty interesting, I think.

Ages are as follows: James, Freddie, Ellie and Nolan: Fifteen; Rose and Albus: Twelve; Lorcan and Lysander: Eleven; Lily: ten; RJ and Lauren: twenty-one.

Please Remember: THIS HAS SPOILERS TO IN THE LIFE OF SKYE BLACK, so keep that in mind. The spoilers are mostly mild, though.

X

"I can't believe I have to spend my summer there," I groaned.

"Come on, your Grandad Sirius isn't that mental," Dad laughed.

"It's not him. He's pretty brilliant. It's the thing that calls itself my uncle. I mean, damn, he's not old enough to be my father, ergo, I shouldn't have to respect him any more than I respect Teddy."

"RJ isn't that bad, Ellie," Mum said.

"Easy for you to say, he doesn't think he's superior to you. Is Eliza going to be there?"

"No, but I think Lauren is."

"Why the hell has she stayed with him this long?"

"You know, that's the same thing I said about Audrey and Percy?" Dad laughed.

"Great," I muttered, "They're going to get married, then."

Mum laughed. "He's not that bad. And it's time to go."

We were using Floo Powder, since I couldn't Apparate for another two years.

We Flooed to the Burrow, where my cousins Freddie and James promptly decided to smother me with hugs.

Of course, these hugs were not without reason; nothing ever was with those two.

"I've got some wicked pranks planned… Lucy won't know what's hit her!" Freddie whispered.

"And," James added, "I'm thinking a prank on Vicky and Teddy… he's going to be here, too…"

I laughed as they released me. Those two were brilliant.

"We were going to play some Quidditch," Freddie began, "Roxy's going to play, and if you play, it'll be two-on-two."

I love Quidditch. I can play Quidditch. But I can't look down.

"How'll that work?" I asked. "You two have Beating programmed into your heads."

"Fine, I'll force Al and Rosie into it, too," James said, before walking off.

"Vicky and Teddy might play, if they aren't too busy snogging…" Freddie said, smirking, and walking upstairs.

"Ellie!"

There was a flurry of red hair and my cousins Rose and Lily rushed to hug me.

"Ellie! Guess what!" Lily grinned, as she and Rosie released me.

"What?"

"Auntie Luna's coming! Auntie Luna and Uncle Rolf!"

"Professor Longbottom is coming, too, with his wife and Nolan."

Rose would die. "James is looking for you… wants to force you into Quidditch?"

Rosie shrugged and wandered off.

"I got the new issue of the Quibbler," Lily smiled, "Do you wanna look through it with me?"

"Sure," I said. Lily grinned.

Lily adored Luna Scamander and The Quibbler. She was really a sweet kid, which made me wonder if James was the one who was out-of-place in his family.

"Look at this," Lily said, pointing to a page, wide-eyed.

There was an article about time travel. Not with Time-Turners and that lot, no, serious Back To The Future time travel.

"Uhm…"

"Oh, yeah, Mum says it's all true, you know, someone wasted their life making a charm that'll enchant a broom or some rubbish," Lorcan Scamander muttered. He was a year older than Lily, and going into Hogwarts next year.

"It's not a charm," Lysander corrected, "it's a powder. And I bet you twenty Sickles it would work."

"I double that," Lily grinned.

Great.

"You in, Ellie?"

I looked up to see Nolan Longbottom –when had he arrived?

"Uhm…?"

"Let's try it out, you and me," he grinned.

"You and I," I automatically corrected.

"Are you in?"

"Uhm…" I repeated, "I dunno, because there'll be hell to pay If it does work… which, given that there are cases, it probably will."

Lily grinned. "So, can I go with you?"

"It's all up to your older cousin," Nolan said with a smile.

"Fine," I said. I doubted it'd really work.

"Are you going to go time travelling without me?"

"Here comes the arse," I muttered.

RJ raised an eyebrow. "I'm going. If it works, you three'll need someone who's of age."

"Technically, we won't be born yet, so there won't be a problem, we won't exsist, technically, so we wouldn't be underage."

RJ's arched eyebrow went even higher. "I won't let Teddy come, and I won't act like I've got authority over you… even though I do. Hey, Laurie, come here."

Lauren came over. "What are you Marauders conspiring?"

"Time travel," Lily, Lysander, and Lorcan answered.

"I want you to come with us."

"Lorcan should go, too," Lysander said, pushing his brother forward.

"Why?"

"You're the one who thinks that it's rubbish. Therefore, you should be the one to go."

Lorcan rolled his eyes, "Why not," he muttered.

"Great," Lysander grinned. He pulled a pouch out of his back pocket.

"This isn't like that dust from Narnia, is it?" Nolan asked. "You know, we'll end up in the Wood Between Worlds?"

Lysander shook his head. "'Course not!"

"Wait–" RJ stopped us. "Maybe we should think of aliases, in case this does work… and try to figure out how far back we'll be sent?"

"I say back when my granddad was in school," Lily said thoughtfully.

"So 1975?" Lysander asked.

"Sounds good," RJ muttered. I could tell he didn't believe this either. "Erm… I'll be Ronald John Beverly… so I can still use RJ."

"John Beverly… like Sid Vicious?" I asked.

He shrugged. Wow, no glare.

"I'll be Lauren McCartney."

"For the record, I find it odd, she loves the Beatles, and you idolize the Pistols, and the Pistols were pretty much anti-Beatle."

"What are you going to be, Elanor?"

I glared at him. "First off –the name was your damn idea. I'll be Ellie Way."

"Nolan?" Lysander asked.

"Er… Nolan Keynes, since Tara Thomas insisted I was Skandar Keynes, time-travelling… she's, erm…"

"Loony?" I supplied. "Yeah, just a bit."

"Lily? Lorcan?"

"I think Lilith Parker sounds good, because that way, I'll still be Lily, but not Lily Potter."

"I'll change my last name to Ripley," Lorcan said. "Can we see this not work now?"

Lysander shrugged. "Whatever. Two at a time, into the Fireplace. I think The Hog's Head would be the best place to Floo, and if it doesn't work, I'm sure you can Floo back."

Lorcan grabbed some of the powder from his brother, linked arms with Lily, and Flooed to the Hog's Head.

RJ and Lauren went next. Nolan looked at me, grinning uneasily. "Er… our turn."

He offered his arm, which I took, praying my face wasn't as red as I thought it would be. We stepped into the Fireplace and Nolan said, "The Hog's Head Pub, Hogsmeade!"

"Hey! Ellie! They want you to play Quidditch!"

Albus grabbed onto the back of my robes.

Then we were spinning, and emerged, coughing in the Hog's Head.

"Al!" I yelled.

He shrunk back. Damn, why did he have to be so adorable? Wait, why is he suddenly taller than me?

"Er… Ellie, I think I found Lily and Lorcan… and they're older."

I looked to see Lily grinning, and Lorcan muttering under his breath. They looked about twelve, but that was impossible.

Then again, Al looked our age.

"Ellie, I swear to fucking Merlin I'm going to kill you."

RJ was… shorter. He looked about fourteen. Oh this was just priceless!

"Who are you lot?"

I saw Aberforth Dumbledore… noticeably younger.

"I'm Lilith Parker, and this is Lorcan Ripley, and this is Ronald J. Beverly, more commonly known as RJ, and this is his girlfriend, Lauren McCartney, and this is Nolan Keynes, and this is Ellie Way, and this is –oh my God! Al! You came? This is my brother Alb-Albert."

Nolan raised an eyebrow at Lily's hyperactivity.

"I guess it worked," Nolan whispered in my ear.

"You lot look familiar…"

Lorcan shook some soot out of his hair. Oh thank God! "Al, come here a minute. RJ, you, too."

I led them into a spare room. "Right, we're covered in soot, so I can lighten your hair."

I preformed the necessary charm on Al to make his hair a medium-brown. I made RJ's hair a dark brown and made his eyes more of a green.

"Who the hell made you boss?"

"I'm older than you," I smirked. "According to your logic, uncle, that makes me your boss."

He glared at me.

"Right, let's get back out there."

RJ groaned.

X

"So, you see, sir, it was Nolan's idea," Lily said quietly, "Though he and Ellie were going to try it out alone, RJ and Lauren wanted to join in, and so did I, and then Lorcan's twin brother, Lysander, pushed him into it, and then Al…"

I stepped on his foot. He'd been too busy staring at Dumbledore. "My brother, Ellie's cousin and best friend, wanted her to play Quidditch with him… he was one person short, including me, and he wouldn't let me see if my best friend Scorpius wanted to play, because Scorpius's family's a little… they've all been Slytherins, except for him, he was a Ravenclaw. So I grabbed onto the back of Ellie's robes, trying to see if she wanted to play, even though I knew she wouldn't, and I suppose it's like side-along-Apparation, because, I got dragged along, too."

"This is the really odd part, Professor," RJ said, "I'm twenty-one, and so is Lauren. Al is twelve, and Lorcan is eleven, and Lily is ten… it's off."

"Professor…" Nolan began, "I really screwed up, didn't I?"

He didn't answer Nolan, instead he turned to Lorcan. "Your mother is the editor?"

"Yes, sir, but she isn't born yet, sir… only my granddad… Xeno Lovegood… and I don't know much about the story… I thought it was rubbish, honestly, Lily would be the one to know."

"Lily?"

"It's a powder that… Oh, I forget! And… I can't find my copy of the Quibbler… I must have left it at Grandmum and Granddad's… the inventor's name was… oh blast! What was the name… I knew it before… I think… Poe? Yes! Brendon Poe!"

"That might be a problem," Dumbledore said sadly, "Brendon Poe is fifteen right now."

"Well… can we go to Hogwarts?"

"I think Lorcan and Lily are the only two in need of wands…" Al said. "I've got mine, Ellie's got hers, Nolan has his, RJ's never without his wand, and I think Lauren's got hers, too."

"I think you should go to Diagon Alley. Term starts in a week."

"Sweet!" I grinned.

"Hey, Professor," RJ began tentatively, "if we were to change something, what would happen?"

"I think it would create an alternate timeline of sorts," Dumbledore pondered.

"So we can do whatever we want?"

"Within reason…" his gaze fell upon me, "and abiding to the rules, of course."

X

"I'm telling you, I don't need a bloody chaperone! Especially not you!"

"Oh my gosh, it's Ellie!" RJ muttered.

"Can it," I snapped. "I'm older than you."

"No," Lauren whispered, "I think that's your father, RJ… and his brother."

"Mum told you to listen to me, didn't she?"

"I'm going," I muttered, "Since you're so capable, RJ, you can watch Al, Lily, and Lorcan. Nolan, come with me, please? We'll meet you at the Cauldron at six." It was noon.

"Were you almost Sorted into another House?" he whispered as we walked away. He was so pale that his sometimes-unnoticeable freckles really stood out.

"…Why, did you?"

He nodded slowly. "Slytherin… I never told Dad, he was so proud… and Mum was really happy, too… I mean, seriously, how bad would that look? Head of Gryffindor's son becoming a Slytherin?"

"I was nearly a Slytherin, too… it said I was cunning and determined, and I wanted to make it… you know, really prove myself."

"What if… we get Sorted into Slytherin? Whose year would we be in?"

I half-glanced over to where a much younger Granddad Sirius was arguing with his younger brother. "The Marauders'… and Snape's."

"Wasn't he a war hero?" he whispered in my ear, aware of the other people nearby. I shivered.

"The second war. He kept up a Slytherin façade and all… he wasn't pleasant in school… in love with Uncle Harry's mum, but she was the only Gryffindor he'd ever associate with then."

Nolan was still really pale. "D'you reckon RJ and Lauren can handle them?"

I shrugged. "No idea. But… let's go get our stuff and then explore Muggle London. You do know London like I know Hogsmeade, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course."

"So you can lead us back to the Cauldron?"

"Definitely. I can show you secret rooms in the Cauldron," he grinned.

"Great. We'll get our stuff, drop it off… and then look around London."

"Might want to get some Muggle money to get Muggle clothes, too… no 'punk' clothes, though, Ellie… like that doll you have… er…?"

"Julie?"

"Yes! That's the one!"

"That's San Francisco, though, not London… er… though, I do see your point."

"So, first up, books…"

X

Author's Note: That was the first chapter. If you're interested in what I picture each character to look like, I should have some links up on my profile.

There's also Ellie's Blog, which doesn't follow this story, really, but it's more in depth of her character.

My number one pet peeve with readers is when people add a story to their alerts or favorites list without a review. Seriously people. Even "It was good" or "that totally sucked" works better. I'm going to contact all non-reviews who add this to their alerts/favorites, so please… just review. It isn't hard. I accept: praise, criticism, and even flames. Praise and criticism preferred, of course.

Er, so that said: review. Or I won't update.