Prologue

Thursday August 31st, 1995
London, England
12 Grimmauld Place
4:18 p.m.

It was a rather average day for those at number Twelve Grimmauld Place, well normal up until it was just after four in the afternoon, when the typical cleaning of the house that Molly Weasley had Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione actively involved in was interrupted by a rather sudden and rather piercing yell of 'Albus Dumbledore how dare you!'. At which point Molly had gone racing down the hall past the rooms the six teenagers were stepping out of and down the stairs past a screaming Mrs. Black in her painting, leaving the six to look at each other in confusion, before looking over at Sirius and Remus who had come down from the attic at the scream.

Down in the kitchen, two figures stood facing each other as the door swung open to reveal an out of breath Molly, who looked between them before collapsing into the chair that had been moved behind her by the blonde woman glaring at Albus Dumbledore. She turned and glanced at Molly to make sure she was okay, before focusing back on the Headmaster as she crossed her arms over her chest, wand tapping against her arm in sync with the foot tapping angrily and impatiently against the ground.

"Now Anna…" he began calmly.

"Anna!" she sputtered, "Since when do you call me Anna!"

"For now it would be for the best if that particular nickname was used," he countered calmly as she just stared at him before she shook her head.

"Right now, I'm not going to give a care about that. What the hell is going on that you," she pointed her wand at him for emphasis, "appear in my living room after leaving me in that place nearly fourteen years ago now, don't even give me a hello before grabbing my hand and apparating me out onto that street," she gestured towards the front door with her wand, "Tell me the location of this place and bring me in to of all places in the world, the House of bloody Black!" she shrieked, not particularly caring when he reached up to touch his temple.

"I know this is a shock my dear…"

"A shock! A shock! A shock is sticking your finger in a stupid muggle light socket! This is… You left me in muggle America for fourteen years! You swore you'd keep me updated! The last thing I know anything of is that Voldemort is dead, Sirius is being sought for because he was Lily and James' Secret-Keeper, and…" she cut herself off while shaking her head violently. "How the hell are you even in this house?" she asked as she looked around the kitchen before frowning, "And why the hell does it look like the place hasn't been used in a decade."

"No one lived here while Sirius was in Azkaban…"

"No one lived here while Sirius was in Azkaban…" Molly's voice echoed through the closed door to those gathered there debating whether or not to interfere.

"Professor Dumbledore left an American in muggle America for fourteen years?" Ron looked at the others confused.

"Sirius, do you know who that is?" Harry asked quietly as Sirius and Remus both stared at the closed door.

"The only person unaccounted for from the Order that existed fourteen years ago is dead… so no…" Remus answered for him, his hand resting on Sirius' shoulder just as the sound of something shattering in the kitchen made everyone jump.

"Is it necessary to break the plates my dear?" Albus asked quietly.

"He's in Azkaban!" she shrieked before another plate went flying. "You lying manipulative son of a bitch!"

"Good lord! Watch your language there are children in the house!"

"Molly," she began as she looked over at the woman she hadn't seen in quite some time, "I don't care about children hearing my language at the moment. He…" she pointed at Albus behind her before throwing her hands up in the air, "Gods!" she cried before turning back towards him. "I trusted you, you said there was something important I had to do, you said you'd come back to me! And now I'm finding out after all those years waiting for you to come back, to give me back my bloody wand," she tightened her grip on it possessively, "that until now you had, keeping me trapped there in that town in Alaska, if you can call it a town… And now I'm finding out Sirius was in Azkaban all this time! Why? He wasn't the Secret Keeper!"

"… He wasn't the Secret Keeper!"

"My God," Remus breathed as Sirius shot towards the door and disappeared inside, Molly giving out a minor scream when the door burst open, from shock most likely. "Stay here," he ordered before racing into the kitchen as well, the door slapping shut behind him.

"I thought no one knew Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper…" Hermione whispered.

Molly's scream and the door slamming had her spinning on her heels to face it, only to take a step back in shock at the sight that greeted her. Before she could say anything, the door opened and shut again, revealing a second face, this one she could believe was really there easier than the first… "Remus?" she focused on the second.

"A…"

"Anna," Albus cut in, Remus looked at him before focusing back on her.

"You're alive?" Remus asked softly.

"Uh huh," she nodded as she stared at Sirius, "Am I hallucinating? Molly just said Siri was in Azkaban but…" she trailed off, shifting back on her heels as 'Sirius' started towards her.

"I escaped," he answered before Remus could. "I transformed into Padfoot one night and managed to escape two years ago now," he said as he continued moving towards her, though she had stopped moving as she stared at him. "Only one person besides Peter and James knew I wasn't the Secret Keeper… but the Prophet listed her dead after she vanished that night, running theory was I killed her though they never brought charges against me without any kind of proof…" he trailed off as he stopped right in front of her.

"I never died…" she countered quietly as she stared up at his face, "They thought you killed me?"

"Peter set it up so it would look like Padfoot was the Secret-Keeper, that he had betrayed James and Lily and Harry, and that he had killed Peter when Peter found him, obliterated him actually so only his finger was left, and that he had killed twelve muggles who happened to be there," Remus explained softly.

"But… why?" she glanced away from Sirius to look at Remus, "Why would Peter…" she trailed off as her eyes shot up to Sirius' once more, "My God, he was the spy…"

"Yes," he answered simply.

She laughed harshly, "Bet Alastor was really kicking himself for that one, after accusing me," she laughed once more, bitterly this time.

"We didn't know, not until a year ago," Remus spoke quietly. "There was a picture in the Prophet from two years ago, Molly and her family won a trip to Egypt, in the picture were all the kids and the family rat."

"I saw the picture by chance when the Minister gave me the paper in Azkaban…"

"Peter," she closed her eyes and reached out for a chair before her knees gave out and instead Sirius caught her, as Remus moved a chair to them and he lowered her into the chair before kneeling in front of her. "He set it up…"

"Yes," Sirius repeated.

"You spent what, twelve years…" she looked at him, "Twelve years in Azkaban…" she searched his eyes, "How?"

"I knew I was innocent," he shrugged slightly.

"Harry?" she looked from him to Remus.

"I didn't get Harry," he answered her question, "The Ministry wouldn't let me, for obvious reasons," he sighed. "Even then…" he raised his eyes to where Albus still stood behind her.

"You left him with her?" she asked slowly as she turned to look at Albus, fury once more in her eyes. "You left him with Tunie," she growled as she rose and easily stepped around Sirius, stalking towards Albus. "You… you… You jerk! You pompous jackass! Bloody everlasting annoying creep!" she poked him in the chest, once for each of her declarations. "You, you leave me in America. You don't tell them I'm alive! You don't tell me Sirius went to prison! Or even that he escaped and has been free for two years! You let me sit in that God awful cold place where I didn't even have sun for half the year, not knowing what happened that night, thinking Peter was still a good guy, that Sirius was raising Harry! You kept my wand from me all that time to ensure I'd never get away or get to a wizarding town or anything because I had to protect that bloody thing! And you left Harry with Tunie! That woman hated Lily!"

"It couldn't be helped my dear and it couldn't have been all that bad…" Albus countered softly.

"She tried to kill Lily and me!" she yelled. "The summer we were sixteen, she tried to push us both down the stairs! The only reason we survived was because of our magic."

"She was a teenager, she made a mistake," he countered as behind her she could hear Sirius growling deep in the back of his throat.

"A mistake? A mistake is tripping and knocking someone over! Not placing a hand on the center of someone's chest and pushing them! That woman is mental! She hates magic, and you placed Lily and James' only child with them! You swore to me that it would only be for the night until you found Sirius! That's the only reason I agreed to go with you when I didn't want to be anywhere but with Harry! And then you left me in that stupid place and left him with that stupid cow!" she let out another outraged shriek as he continued to merely stand there as if they were discussing the weather. "You…. You…." she started before literally lunging at him.

"Don't!" Sirius hissed in her ear after he caught her around her waist and held her back as she still tried to get to Albus. "Stop it Ally," he continued to hiss in her ear as she fought him. "I'm angry too, but attacking him won't do anything…" he continued louder, as he looked up at Albus over her head, she knew.

"You lying son of a bitch," she yelled as her anger deflated and she began to sob, "God damn you Albus Dumbledore! You swore! You promised!" she cried as she sagged in his arms and he turned her around, holding her head to his chest as she clutched at his vest.

"Professor?"

"Harry," Remus' quiet exclamation made her pull her head back to look over at the doorway where the group of teenagers were gathered. The tallest two had to be Molly's twins, the other red-haired boy the youngest, Ronald. The girl must be Ginny and the other she didn't recognize, though her eyes caught back on the one that must have been Ginny for a moment… the girl's eyes…. But then she focused on Harry and gasped, carefully pulling herself away from Sirius as she looked at him.

"Hello Harry…" she whispered as she wiped at her face with the back of her hand.

"Hello," he answered slowly, glancing around at the other adults quickly before looking at her.

"You know, I'm sure you've heard this a lot…"

"I know, I look just like my Dad," he nodded as if knowing where this was going already.

"Yes," she chuckled, "I'm sure you've heard that a lot too. I was actually going to say, you have your Mother's eyes," she smiled sadly, "Though I'm assuming James' eyesight…"

Harry blinked at her a few times, "No one ever mentions her first…"

"I was Lily's best friend, not James'," she offered as explanation as she stopped in front of him, reaching out towards his hair before catching herself and lowering her hand. "Sorry, we use to do that to James all the time…" she gave a slight shrug.

"Who are you?" the boy that had to be Ron asked slowly.

"Children, this is Anna, she was a member of the Order during the first fight with Voldemort," Albus answered before she could.

Frowning she looked back at him, "First?"

"Voldemort has returned," Harry answered quietly. "He killed a boy named Cedric Diggory in the graveyard where his father and grandparents were buried last year, when he performed a spell to regain his body," he continued, almost defiant.

"I think I need to sit down…" she began as she reached behind her for a chair, only to have Sirius wrap an arm around her waist and lead her back to the chair she had been sitting in.

"You're not automatically saying it's not true?" the girl she didn't have the slightest clue about spoke up for the first time.

"I wouldn't put anything past that… man," she sniffed, "Was always a right bastard, if anyone was going to manage to come back to life, it would be him…"

"Come now, Professor Dumbledore needs to fill… Anna," Molly glanced over at her with the slightest frown of confusion before focusing back on the teenagers, "in on things she missed out on over the years. We have cleaning to do…" she ushered them out before they could protest, following after them.

She stared at the closed door a moment before turning in the chair to face Albus, "I'd make myself comfortable because you have a lot of explaining to do. And what the heck is it with calling me Anna?"

"For the time being it has to be," he answered quietly as Remus and Sirius took seats next to her.

"Huh…" she frowned before looking up at the sound of movement on the floor above them. "I wonder…" she trailed off before focusing back on her former Headmaster, and the leader of the Order as he began to explain.

Wednesday June 5th, 1996
London, England
The Ministry of Magic
The Department of Mysteries
The Hall of Prophecies
1:27 a.m.

Part of her screamed they shouldn't have come, it was a trap, all a trap... but as they ran she knew she would have come given the chance again. Seeing the doorway up ahead they all ran faster, trying to escape the domino effect her spell had created. They piled through the doorway, and suddenly they were falling, only to stop a few feet above the ground before they dropped the rest of the way.

"Department of Mysteries, well they got it right, didn't they?" Ron asked as they climbed to their feet; looking around at the empty room, save for the archway in a spotlight almost in the middle of the room.

"The voices, can you hear what they're saying?" Harry asked as he approached the archway.

"There aren't any voices Harry," Hermione frowned as she looked around, "Let's get out of here..."

"I hear them too," Luna interrupted, as she approached the veil with him.

"Harry it's just an empty archway," Hermione looked around once more before focusing on him, pleading, "Please Harry..."

"Get behind me..." he ordered as he spun around, wand raised.

They all quickly gathered, ready for anything, or so they thought until the black smoke circled around them, overpowering them, and then it disappeared and they were spread through the room, save for Harry who was laying there on the dais by the archway. Each of them was being held by a man, none of them knew, save for Neville in Bellatrix Lestrange's grip.

Lucius' chuckling drew his attention to the man as he walked towards where Harry stood, "Did you actually believe, were you truly naive enough, to think that children stood a chance against us?" he passed Harry by, moving a few steps further before turning towards Harry who had already turned towards him, eye to eye now as it were. "I'll make this a simple deal Potter. Give me the prophecy now, or watch your friends die."

Harry looked away, at the others as they were being held, before looking back at Lucius.

"Don't give it to him Harry!" Neville cried before Bellatrix pressed her wand deeper into his skin.

Harry looked down before slowly raising his hand and handing Lucius the prophecy. Then Lucius was turning around, looking behind him in shock where the others had already seen Sirius appear.

"Get away from my Godson!" Sirius growled before slugging Lucius, sending the blonde flying to the ground as Sirius dove towards Harry, pushing him down even as streams of white light moved around the room, pulling the Death Eaters away from them. Even amidst all that, the sound of breaking glass seemed to echo for a moment. As she watched though, the white lights hit the ground to reveal Tonks, then Mad-Eye, Kingsley, and finally Remus.

And just as fast the fight began, even as Tonks ran around the outside of the dais grabbing them, Hermione and Ginny, the others. Ginny glanced at the others as they ran before they found a spot to hide out, watching as Mad-Eye took out one Death Eater, as Harry and Sirius fought side by side against Lucius and another. She could hear the laughter echoing around from everywhere it seemed as if the person behind the laughter, Bellatrix, was everywhere and nowhere.

Ginny glanced at the others, watching as the two fought against Harry and Sirius, knowing they would be safer if Tonks was with them instead of there, protecting her, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Neville. Glancing quickly between the dais and those by her side she made a quick decision, and slipped behind the others, going around a column before racing towards the dais, even as she heard Tonks yell after her. She wasn't sure who cast the spell that sent Lucius Malfoy's companion flying, her, Sirius or Harry, but she was sure it was one of them.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried as she reached them, Lucius Malfoy's wand flying off somewhere.

"Nice one James!" Sirius grinned at him before tossing another spell at Lucius, then another that finally sent Lucius flying.

Ginny's attention though was on the missing companion, Bellatrix, trying to figure out where she was. And then she saw her and heard as she started to say the Killing Curse, knowing who it was for. Leaping forward she pushed Sirius down, the flash of green going over both of their heads, and then Sirius hit the ground and she continued to roll, right into the archway, and it felt like she was being lifted up by unseen arms. Looking out she saw Harry looking at her, while Sirius seemed to be staring at the archway instead of actually at her... for a moment it looked like everything was still, everyone staring at the archway or her.

Then she saw Lucius Malfoy getting back up, she tried to yell out a warning before she felt like she was being pulled backwards, and everything faded away.

As consciousness slowly returned to her, Ginny groaned, trying to rub her eyes only to groan again as pain lanced through her body. Slowly opening her eyes, she took in the room around her, "the Hospital Wing?" she mumbled curiously.

"Ahh, you're awake," a familiar voice spoke to her left. "Hello my dear," it continued as she turned her head towards it, "I am Albus Dumbledore, and you are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But more importantly, how are you feeling?"

"I'm hurting Professor," Ginny said as she slowly started to push herself into a sitting position only to collapse back onto the bed. "How did I get back to Hogwarts Professor?"

"You appeared in my fireplace a few hours ago, and I'm afraid that it wasn't the best of landings, you broke your leg, as well as had a good number of bruises according to Madam Pomfrey, our mediwitch. Your leg has already been tended to and will be completely healed by morning, but it sounds like you took quite the trip to get here. Oh!" he reached into his pocket, "This decided to scatter away from you when you landed, I'm sure you would like it back," he laid her wand on her bed next to her hand. "Now then, would you be so kind as to tell me your name my dear? And perhaps together we can figure out how you managed to arrive in my fireplace."

"I really don't think this is the time for jokes Professor," Ginny said as she looked around the infirmary trying to find her friends. "Where are the others?"

"My dear, I am hardly joking," he countered gently, "And others? Were there supposed to be others arriving with you?"

"Neville, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Harry and the Order members that showed up to help us in the Department of Mysteries," Ginny said. "Where are they? Why aren't they here? Did we stop them?"

Albus stared at her a moment, "You know about the Order? And you were in the Department of Mysteries?" he asked gently.

"You-Know-Who was after the prophecy about him and Harry and we thought he had Harry's Godfather in the Department of Mysteries. The Death Eaters had us cornered in a room when the Order showed up," Ginny said.

Albus sat back in his chair, "Did this room by chance have a stone archway?"

Ginny thought for a moment, her memories a little fuzzy from her pain and the medication she must have been given. "Yes Sir," she said. "There was an arch. I…I pushed Sirius out of the way of the killing curse and the next thing I know I'm waking up in the Hospital Wing."

"One last question my dear, what year is it?" he asked very quietly.

"1996 of course," replied Ginny in confusion. "Isn't it?"

"I believe I know what has happened," he nodded, "The archway in the Department of Mysteries is believed by some to be a veil between the worlds of the living and the dead. What is little known however is that if a living soul falls though it, that person is sent to another time and place. At this moment, while we are sitting here, it is August the first, 1975."

"1975?" asked Ginny in shock. "That…that's not possible…I…I'm not even born yet!"

"I'm afraid it is very much possible my dear girl. And I'm afraid that there is no way for us to send you back, time is a fickle thing. Unless you are using a time turner, you can not actually control the movement of time. There have been very few cases of people falling through the Veil, you're actually quite lucky, the last person I know of appeared about ten years ago, he actually came from the past, and appeared in the sky over Loch Ness in Scotland. Fortunately the Kelpie that lives there got him back to the surface. I believe he disappeared about three years ago... Time will pull you back to your proper time when it is ready, and that could be tomorrow, or to be honest my dear girl, a number of years from now."

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Ginny quietly.

"You live," he answered gently. "We will create a new identity for you in the interim. I assume you have been attending Hogwarts already?"

"Yes Sir," Ginny said. "I just finished my fourth year but I haven't finished taking my exams yet."

"Well, we can administer those so you can begin your fifth year in September. Have you had your fifteenth birthday yet?"

"You said it was August first?"

"All day," he smiled.

"Ten days," Ginny sighed, rubbing her face. "My birthday is August eleventh. I'll be fifteen in ten days."

"Well, we will have to do something special for your birthday then," he smiled, eyes twinkling as they almost always did, before the twinkle faded slightly, "Now, I would like to make a suggestion..."

"A suggestion?" asked Ginny curiously.

"Knowledge of the future is a very difficult thing to deal with. Have you ever heard of a Pensive?"

"Yes sir. It's used to hold memories."

"With your agreement, I was thinking we could place your memories of things that happen in the future into a pensieve, so that you can live here as long as you remain in this time, without the pain of knowledge of the time you left behind and the things that are to come that sadly you can not change."

"Alright," Ginny agreed quietly. "As much as I want to, I know I can't change things that are in my past. If I do then the future I may return to may not be the one that I left."

"Well there is that," he nodded, "And if you were to change something, then there's a chance you might not have come back to the past, which is a rather nasty never-ending cycle to try and make sense of..." he chuckled lightly before summoning a bowl. "Now, before we actually do this, perhaps we should figure a few things out."

"What's that Professor?"

"What is your name?"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley," Ginny said. "But everyone just calls me Ginny."

"Ginny," he nodded, "And what is the exact date that you last remember?"

"We landed at the Ministry sometime after midnight the morning of June fifth," Ginny said.

"Alright," he nodded, "Now what house were you in here at Hogwarts?"

"I was a Gryffindor."

"Lovely," he smiled, "That was my house, though I imagine you already know that," he winked at her. "Now then, is there anything about your features that you have always wished was different?"

"I always wished my hair was more brown than red," Ginny said.

"Anything else?" Albus asked, eyes once more twinkling merrily.

"I've always hated my freckles."

"They can be quite annoying," he nodded knowingly, "I'll let you in on a secret, they fade with age," he whispered conspiratorially then tapped his nose.

"I hope so," Ginny said.

"From one redhead to another, they will," he promised, "Is that all then Ginny?"

"Yes sir."

"Mm hmm," he hummed, "Your wand is quite lovely, can you tell me about it?"

"It's an eight and half inch wand with a unicorn tail core," Ginny said.

"Simply lovely and the wood would be maple yes? Ollivander's work?"

"Yes sir. It's the only really new thing my family ever bought for me," Ginny shrugged.

"Mmm," he nodded, "Well then, why don't you get some more rest my dear, we shall continue tomorrow."

"Alright," Ginny said, slightly confused.

"Here," he produced a vial, "Dreamless sleep my dear girl."

"Thank you Professor," Ginny said, taking the vial from Albus and drinking it quickly.

"You're quite welcome my dear. Sweet dreams," he spoke softly as her eyes began to close.

"Good night Professor," Ginny yawned.