Patience, Ginny Dear!
A/N: This was originally written as a challenge on SIYE, a Harry/Ginny site. The challenge was time travel--what if James and Lily, Harry and Ginny's children, were twins and ended up back in time to their summer in fourth year, I believe. It might have been fifth year, I can't remember. This was written in two parts--hope you enjoy!
"Fred, you next," Molly Weasley said.
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"
"Sorry, George, dear."
"Only joking, I am Fred," said Fred and he grinned before running into the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Mrs. Weasley only shook her head. Those boys were quite the pair. It was only a moment after Fred disappear that Molly heard a small voice from behind her say,
"Excuse me." Mrs. Weasley turned around to see a small boy standing there, looking rather skinny and raggedy with an unruly mop of black hair. Overall he was rather endearing.
"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too." Mrs. Weasley helped the young boy onto the platform, though she did wonder where his parents had gotten too—generally even the muggleborns brought their parents with them to the Express. After a few moments Molly followed after her children, holding onto her young daughter's hand as they disappeared from the muggle world. She walked briskly towards where her children were standing, though there was no sign of Fred or George.
"Fred? George? Are you there?"
"Coming, Mom." Mrs. Weasley heard, and soon enough the two appeared.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose," Molly said, and grabbed him to rub it off his nose, though he tried to get away.
"Mom—geroff." He wriggled free.
"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins—Molly wasn't paying enough attention to know which.
"Shut up," said Ron.
"Where's Percy?" asked Molly, realizing he was missing from their small group.
"He's coming now." Molly sighed as she saw her older boy come into view. She tolerated the arguing between the twins and Percy for a time before kissing her perfect little prefect goodbye and warning the twins not to get up to any more trouble. Just when she thought they were going to leave for the train, one of the twins said,
"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train? You know, that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"
"Who?"
"Harry Potter!" Molly started upon hearing the name. Harry Potter. It was one very familiar to the wizarding world, but it had always been even more familiar to her. She smiled inside as she thought of the years to come.
"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…" her daughter beg. Molly chuckled to herself. Be patient, my dear Ginny. You'll know him soon enough—and in a way you wouldn't even think possible right now.
"You've already seen him, Ginny…" Mrs. Weasley went on to lecture her children about gawking at the poor boy like a zoo animal before sending them off to the train. She saw with some amusement, but no surprise, that Ron had taken a compartment up with Harry. Well, things are certainly starting off right. As Ginny cried as they watched the train take away her older brothers and the famed Harry Potter, Mrs. Weasley took her hand. Patience, Ginny dear. Just wait a few years, my little Ginny. Things will turn out right in the end.
"James! Lily! Don't touch that!" Ginny exclaimed as her children inched closer to the small hourglass necklace on the table. With a start, both children took a step back and looked at her.
"Why not?" little James asked innocently.
"Because I said so. Now, run along and play with Victoire and Teddy," Ginny said. She couldn't believe she'd resorted to 'because I said so'. She hated it when her parents had used that on her when she was younger, but she just didn't have the patience to explain to six year olds James and Lily the complexities of time travel. Pouting, the two children ran off, pinching each other and shouting at one another to "Quit it!" as they went. Ginny shook her head and rejoined the adults—she was simply too tired to deal with them right now. With a sigh she settled in next to her husband, who put an arm around her and gently massaged her back and shoulders. They didn't even need words to communicate anymore—Harry understood exactly what she was feeling.
"—I've managed to reconfigure it so that the turns are now years, rather than hours, but I'm afraid of the side effects," Hermione was saying.
"Like what?" Harry asked, interested.
"Well, there's the obvious and usual—someone seeing themselves and going crazy; the general manipulation of the timeline if someone were to change something detrimental to the future—what someone could do if the wrong hands got a hold of it. But then there's another side effect. With my calculations I do believe that it would be nearly impossible to judge correctly the day or hour or minute you arrive at your destination or return to your year. I think that, as a general rule, the time you spend in the past will reflect however long you're gone in the future. With hours, this is never a problem since you just return right away, but years…well, things could go awry," Hermione explained. Ginny was only half-listening to her lecture. Her mind was still on James and Lily, and of course Al as well.
When James was born, Harry and Ginny were thrilled of course, but Ginny quickly discovered that having children was tough. She had absolutely no clue how her mother had ever handled as many as she did, because Ginny knew she'd never be able to manage that many. And Harry she knew had been completely overwhelmed—as the youngest in a family with horrific guardians, he'd had no clue what to do, and though he was a natural at some things—stopping fights from ensuing, teaching the kids how to fly—he had a lot to learn with others. Ginny fondly remembered the first time the two of them had tried to change a diaper. With no one younger than her in the large Weasley family and no one younger than Harry, neither of them had ever learned how. They'd had to fire call Mrs. Weasley to ask her. Needless to say, she had been highly amused.
"Then why did you make it, if you're so concerned about the side effects, 'Mione?" Harry was asking. Hermione blushed a little.
"Well, it was supposed to be my birthday present to you, before I figured out all the problems. This way, you could go back in time and see your parents when they were alive…I thought you might like to," she said sheepishly. Harry was touched.
"Hermione…" he said, unable to voice his thoughts. Hermione just gave him a small, understanding smile, but then she sighed.
"Well, it was a nice idea, anyway," she said. "Now it simply is impossible, at least until I get the kinks worked out. Perhaps I could combine it with an hour and day time-turner to make it work properly?"
"Let's see then," Harry said, getting up. He went to the very end of the long table, then looked around, surprised.
"Where'd you put it, Hermione?" Hermione blinked.
"Just on the end of the table, Harry," she replied, then got up to join him in the search. Soon enough, the entire adult Weasley family was over by the end of the table.
"It's gone!" Hermione exclaimed, horrified. "Where could it have gone?" Cold dread slipped down Ginny's spine. She looked around and called,
"James? Lily?" there was no reply. Everyone turned to look at Ginny. Biting her lip, she tried, "Teddy?" Teddy Lupin rushed over, knowing that when a Weasley called he had better answer—especially if it was Ginny or Molly.
"Teddy," Harry said, taking over. Teddy was, after all his Godson. "Have you seen James or Lily?"
"Yes," Teddy said. "They came over to play with me and Victoire. Then they ran over here and disappeared."
"What, er, what do you mean by 'disappeared', Teddy? Did you see them disappear, or did you turn away and they were gone?" Harry asked.
"Well, they just kind of…vanished. Into thin air. They were playing with something shiny, that's really all I saw," he said, confirming Harry and Ginny's worst fear.
"Oh God," Hermione gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth—Ron clasped her strongly from behind so she wouldn't fall over. Harry would have done the same to Ginny, except that the plucky Weasley woman would never have done with that—she didn't look faint at all, rather she looked determined.
"Well. We can fix this. We just have to make another time-turner and bring them back. Quickly," she said. Hermione was near tears.
"But Gin, you just don't understand. The way the time turner works…we don't know how far back they gone, or where they've gone or anything, and even if we did have that, it took me months to make the first time-turner, and even then it isn't perfected. We could end up at another time, totally independent of theirs!" Hermione was near hysterics, but Harry knew Ginny would keep her head, though she was paling considerably.
"Then…then we'll just keep going back until we hit it right! Come on Hermione, let's get you some strong tea and then get to work on a new time-turner!" Ginny took Hermione from Ron rather unceremoniously, and the two stormed into the house. All of the Weasley's were bustling around now, a general panic and pandamonium ensuing.
"—ask Albus' picture"
"Perhaps Minerva could—"
"—call the Ministry straight away"
"Aurors won't help, Arthur!"
Harry turned to a sigh to his forgotten birthday cake, the celebration forgotten in light of the panic and grief over the situation. They'd find him. Harry knew in his heart they would, but…just in case…
'I wish that they come back to us in one piece, without the timeline altered too terribly.'
Harry blew out his candles.
It was the middle of August before the Trio's fifth year at Hogwarts. As is the typical Sunday dinner at the Weasleys, all the family was there, including Harry and Hermione. The entire group was laughing very loudly as Gred and Forge explained an experiment gone wrong. It was the louder pop of an Apparition from the living room that silenced everybody. They all listened for a hint of who might have arrived, as they were not expecting any visitors. The only thing they could faintly make out were…children arguing. Very young children.
Everybody at the table who had a wand brought them out as Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, and Harry carefully went to investigate. Fred and George slipped out the back door to circle around the house. It was Arthur that was seen first.
"Grandpa! James did it. I was just watching to see what would happen."
"Well, Lily told me to. I didn't think it was working."
When Molly heard a child call her husband "Grandpa," she forgot all about her safety, bolted past all the men, and entered the living room. She saw the two kids and promptly fainted. By now everybody was in the living room staring at them. Molly was almost forgotten.
They both looked the same age, about six or seven. An adorable little boy, already identified as James, with messy, black hair, and twinkling brown eyes. The girl, Lily he called her, was a beautiful girl, with long, red hair, and bright, green eyes.
When the children saw Harry and Ginny come in, they ran to them. James went to Harry, calling him dad, like it wasn't his fault. And Lily ran to Ginny calling her mum, wanting her to believe her version. Arthur finally went to help Molly.
"James is lying!" Lily huffed. "I did not tell him to do it, Mummy." Lily at this point had grabbed hold of Ginny's legs and was sticking her tongue out at her brother.
"Dad! She's lying! I know you told us not to touch it Mum, but she convinced me too—it's all her fault!" James argued, then stuck his tongue right back at Lily.
"Erm," was all Harry managed to stammer out, shell shocked by this small child now clinging to his legs and calling him 'Dad'. "I'm sorry, but uh, I think you have me confused with someone else."
"M-me too," Ginny stuttered. The two looked at each other, blushed brightly and then quickly looked away. The two children only looked confused.
"No we don't, Dad. Why are you and Mum acting so funny?"
"H-harry," Hermione managed to say after a few moments, "Look…look at what the boy has." Harry looked down, along with all of the other Weasleys present—saving Fred and George and Arthur and Molly of course, who were otherwise occupied. There, shining on his neck, was a small golden time-turner.
"Not possible," Harry murmured. "It's not possible, Hermione. Time turners only go back hours, not years."
"In this time maybe," Hermione said, her voice barely a whisper. Everyone gawked at her, surprised at the implication.
"Is that what this is, Dad? A time-turner? Didn't you say Aunt 'Mione had one while she was at school?"
"Hermione," Harry said, his voice pleading, "please don't tell me you kept it."
"I-I," Hermione was speechless.
"No. That's impossible," Bill said. They all stared down at the troublesome twins, for once not Fred and George.
James, for one, was extremely puzzled. Everyone seemed so confused—but they hadn't done anything! They'd just moved the little golden circle with the hourglass around a little bit. Whatever it was supposed to do, it clearly hadn't worked. And why did everyone look so much different? His Mum and Dad were still clearly his Mum and Dad, and same with all his Aunts and Uncles and his grandparents, though they weren't paying attention anymore. They were all still recognizable but…they looked…younger? Lily looked over at James. They both shrugged. Whatever the gold circle thing had done, it probably didn't matter anyway.
"Well, if they are," Bill said, emphasizing the are but not explaining what they might be—it was too blatant in everyone's minds, like an elephant in the middle of the living room, "then they can't be here. They'll cause damage to the timeline for sure and might wipe themselves out of existance." Arthur, who had finally brought Molly around, nodded.
"We'll need to call Albus. Right away," he said. James looked at him quizzically.
"You mean the talking portrait at Hogwarts?" James' comment, innocent though it was, drained the color on everyone's faces, and though James didn't know what he'd said wrong, he knew he shouldn't have said it.
"They definitely can't be here."
"What if they aren't time travellers?" Harry asked. Everyone looked at him, questioning his sanity. "No! Seriously! You all heard the pop! Time travel doesn't make a noise.
"Not through hours. But maybe through years," Hermione said softly. Harry sighed.
"Always too smart, 'Mione. You explain away everything. Well, somebody better fire call Professor Dumbledore," he said. Arthur nodded and headed to the fireplace. "Where's Fred and George?"
"Oops. Left them outside," Ron rushed out to bring the ginger haired twins inside.
"Daddy?" Lily's tiny voice brought everyone's attention back to the little ones.
"Err, yes?"
"I'm hungry."
It was not easy to disturb a portrait. It was harder still to disturb the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, and yet it had been done.
"So they've been thrown back in time, and you don't know where to—or rather, when to?" Dumbledore asked, thinking deeply. Harry shook his head.
"We've no idea, sir. If only I'd been watching them more closely—!" Harry cut himself off and sighed. "There's not time for if's. Do you have any information that might help, Professor?"
"Well, if they run into someone you know, over time that memory will appear in that person's memory—unless they've been effectively obliviated of the experience."
"And if they don't run into anyone we know?"
"Then we'll have cause to seriously worry."
"They'll at least be at the Weasley's, right? We know that. Or—if they've gone back too far—on the land where the Weasley house is today," Harry said, pacing back and forth.
"So it's very likely they'll run into someone we know," Dumbledore said jovially.
"But even if we do find out when they went, how are we supposed to get them back here? Hermione's time turner isn't exact. It sends you back in years, but might get off on the month, day, hour…it might not even get the year right she said it's so unreliable!" Harry was extremely worried. How would they ever get them back? He felt tears threatening to well up in his eyes behind his glasses. Would he ever see little James and Lily again? Oh, he should have been watching! He should have been watching them more carefully!
"Well," said Dumbledore. "There's always 'Trial and Error'. Once Hermione has made another year turner, just go back in as many different times as you can." Harry nodded. Although he didn't like the trial and error idea, it was the only thing that would work at the present.
"Thanks, Dumbledore, but first we'd need a time turner to change, and we can't ask the ministry for one!" Harry said.
"Oh, that's not a problem, Harry. Check Minerva's bookcase—third book on the right I believe; yes, that's the one! Open it up and, yes there it is, the hole in the center," Dumbledore chuckled. "I'll tell Minerva you've taken it. I somehow don't think she'll mind—she hasn't used one in years."
"Thank you, Albus, but I really best be going now—maybe by some miracle Hermione's finished the preliminary spells for the year turner."
"I do hope so my boy. I truly do hope so." For once, there was very little twinkle in the portrait's eyes.
"So what does the shiny thing do anyway?" James asked between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. Seeing as the twins had come in during dinner, it was easy to fufill Lily's request for food. Not like it would have been hard anyway, considering it was the Weasley's house after all.
"Erm," Harry said, unsure as to how to answer. Ginny merely smirked.
"We'll explain it to you when we're older," she said. James, not catching the switch of the pronoun, just grumbled and went back to his food. Harry, the only other person still at the table, chuckled inwardly at her comment. Ginny, who caught a glimpse of the amused expression on his face merely sent him a fleeting grin before going back to help Lily cut up her chicken. If anyone had told Harry Potter that in the future he'd be marrying Ginny Weasley and having two kids with her, he would have laughed in their face. Not Ron's little sister! But with these children in front of him, he had to wonder—could it really work?
"You look rather thoughtful, Harry," Ginny said softly.
"Just thinking about how we're going to get these kids home," Harry lied. Ginny gave him a skeptical look, but went along with it.
"Yes, that is a problem," Ginny agreed.
"What do you mean how to get us home, Mum? If there's something wrong with the floo network, can't we just get Grandpa to drive us home?" Lily asked, turning her big green eyes to the fourteen year old girl.
"Um, well, we're not really talking about that kind of home, dear," Ginny murmured, trying to think of an adequate excuse. It would cause more problems if the children knew they were in the past—as it was, it was a miracle they hadn't figured it out yet; they seemed to be fairly intelligent children after all. Ginny figured it was only a matter of time, but why aggravate the problem?
"What kind of home are you talking about then, Mum?" James asked, suddenly curious—and suspicious.
"Erm," Ginny said. Harry looked at Ginny, and she looked back. Harry shrugged.
"We need to get you two back to your own time," Harry said. James' eyes widened as did Lily's.
"Oh! So that's why everything here's so different! Hear that Lils?" James turned to Lily with a smile. Lily only looked back with her wide eyes.
"James! We went back in time! How will we get back?" Lily's voice was panicked.
"Oh, don't worry little one," Ginny said soothingly; though she was only fourteen she still had maternal instincts. She pulled the young child into her lap. "We'll find a way, dear one. I promise." Harry merely looked at James, at a loss as to what to do. He wasn't panicking—did he need to be comforted too? It didn't look like it—but should he pick him up anyway because his twin was getting attention? Confused, Harry just sat there and then turned to Ginny for help. Ginny merely nodded. Taking that as confirmation to pick the little boy up, Harry did so, putting him on his lap.
It felt very odd. Harry had never been really very close to another human being; he had the rare hug from his friends, and the usual 'hello' and 'goodbye' hugs from Mrs. Weasley, but other than that he almost never touched people. It was a bit of a shock to his system to have another being on his lap, and Harry really didn't know what to do. Awkwardly, Harry put his arms around the child, who was easily snuggling into his chest. Am I good at this in the future? Harry wondered, Or am I just as helpless then as I am now?
After a little while, the weight on his lap somehow seemed to get heavier—Harry looked down. The little boy had fallen asleep. He looked to Ginny—Lily had fallen asleep as well.
"What do we do?" Harry whispered. Ginny laughed quietly.
"What do you think, Harry? Put them to bed," she said. With care, she held the girl in her arms and motioned for Harry to do the same. When they had they walked up the stairs. "Erm…well…I guess…I guess we'll put Lily in my bed, and James in yours…and then we'll sleep on the couches." Harry nodded—glad it was too dark for her to be able to tell that he was blushing. Sleeping in the same room with a girl? With Ginny? Who apparently in the future is the mother of his children? Oh, this could be an interesting evening.
Harry walked into the room he shared with Ron and tucked the small boy into bed. He was about to walk out and turn off the light when he saw the boy move restlessly. Reminded of himself, Harry walked back to the bed and sat down beside him. It was as if his hands were moving of their own accord as he gently stroked the boy's hair and whispered words of comfort. After a minute, the boy settled down, and Harry got up, puzzled at what he'd just done, turned off the lights and went to the living room. Maybe he was getting a little bit better at this already.
"Three turns ought to do it," Hermione said triumphantly. "I doubt if they've gone back far, after all." Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron had all pulled an all-nighter to turn the ordinary time turner into a year turner. The bushy haired woman put the long chain of the year turner around them all. "Ready?" At the groups' encouraging nod, Hermione turned the year turner as they all prayed that no one was lounging on the grass in the Weasley's backyard four years ago in early August. As Hermione finished the last turn, Harry felt the same familiar sensation he had felt years ago—only doubled. This time, the moment in transit lasted much more than a moment. Just as Harry was beginning to get worried enough to ask Hermione if something had gone wrong, the images around them solidified.
"Uh, Hermione? How did we end up here?" Harry asked. Hermione looked around, her face paling.
"I suppose…the magic is even more unstable than I thought," Hermione said. She could say that again! The small, snowy town around them was not only in the wrong season, but was clearly not Ottery St. Catchpole, in fact, the area looked rather familiar to Harry…
"I suppose we should check the year as well—I'll bet you anything we're not in 2007 like we should be…" Ron said.
"Well what do you want to do, Ron, just knock on one of these doors and ask 'Um, excuse me, but might you know what year it is?' That could be disastrous, Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"Well, do you have any better ideas, Hermione?" Ron snapped back.
"Hermione! Ron! Cut it out!" Ginny reprimanded them both.
Meanwhile, Harry was paying no heed to the conversation—or rather argument—at hand. He was staring—staring at a very familiar graveyard. Without saying a word, he took off at a dead run.
"Harry? Harry, where are you going? Come back here, Harry!" Ginny was calling, but Harry heard nothing. He whipped open the gate to the cemetery and ran inside. Past the Peverells, past the Dumbledores…an empty plot. Harry's heart stopped, then picked up in double time. They aren't here! Harry's mind was screaming. Ginny, Hermione and Ron had finally caught up to him, panting and out of breath.
"We're in Godric's Hollow, aren't we Harry? I didn't recognize it at first, without the monuments—" but Harry cut her off.
"The monuments, their graves—none of it is here! Don't you realize what this could mean? Ron, I have the perfect house to knock on for the time!" Harry was sprinting away again, Hermione, Ginny and Ron following after.
"It's too dangerous, Harry! If you do go in, you can't say anything about the future? Do you hear me? Harry! Are you listening to me?" Hermione was calling. Harry was listening. Harry knew. He was happy with the life he had. But if he could just see them…Harry reached the gate to a humble house and waited for his friends. The house was small, but obviously very merry. The lights on the house were lit, and through the sheer window curtain Harry could easily make out the outline of his mother and father, and of an additional person as well.
"Wh-what's so s-special a-about this house H-harry?" Ron panted as they all caught up to Harry.
"This is my parent's house," Harry said softly. Ron and Ginny both looked up sharply, suddenly understanding. With a deep breath, Harry pushed aside the gate and walked up to the house, the other three right behind him. Using all of his Gryffindor courage, Harry rang the doorbell. He could see three heads turn through the window and saw one of the men get up to answer.
Harry had never imagined this moment. Never in his life had he thought he might be ringing the door to his parents' house. And even if he had pictured that, he would never have pictured his Father answering. A young man with messy black hair and mischievous grey eyes opened the door. With a small shock, Harry realized how much younger his Father was than him. He had forgotten that Lily had had him at the very young age of twenty—he and Ginny had waited seven years after the final battle and what should have been Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts to settle down and have James and Lily—which, Harry reflected, felt very odd to say as he was looking into the face of James Potter the first.
"Hello," James said, puzzled as he realized he didn't know these people. "Can I help you?"
"Good evening, Sir," Harry said. "I'm Harold Potter, this is my wife Ginevra, her brother Ronald Weasley and his wife, Hermione. My wife and I are searching for our children—they disappeared last night. We've been walking quite a ways and were wondering if there was some sort of inn or restaurant in town—just somewhere we could get some dinner and get our bearings." It wasn't entirely a lie, and Harry knew how James would react. There was no inn in the small wizarding town of Godric's Hollow, and at nine in the evening the only small restaurant was closed. Yet the Potters were too generous of people to allow strangers to stay out in the cold.
"Well, Harold, there is no inn here in town, and the only restaurant is closed for the night, but if you'd like to come in for a while and catch a bite to eat, you're all quite welcome.
"That would be wonderful," Ginny gushed. James smiled and opened the door for them all to come in.
"I'm James Potter, by the way," he said, holding out his hand for each of them to shake. He looked quizically at Harry when it was his turn to shake his hand. "Any relation, perchance?"
"Oh, probably," Harry said with a small smile. "These pureblood lines go on and on forever, don't they?" James nodded.
"True enough. Well, come on into the living room," he said, leading them to another room in the house. As they entered the living room, Lily was just beginning to stand.
"James, who was at the—oh," she said, cutting off as she saw that their unexpected guests had come inside. She sat back down, a small baby in her lap, and furrowed her eyebrows a bit as she tried to figure out if she was supposed to know these people from somewhere. Sirius was also in the room, and Harry's breathing hitched momentarily. He was so much younger and looked so much happier than he had. With a growing knot in his stomach, Harry was overcome with emotions similar to those that he experienced when Mad-Eye Moody showed him the picture of the first Order of the Phoenix—everyone smiling and waving happily, none knowing of their impending doom…
"Lily, Sirius," James was saying, "this is Harold and his wife Ginny, and Ginny's brother Ronald Weasley and his wife Hermione. Harold, Ginny, Ronald, Hermione, this is my wife, Lily, and my best mate, Sirius Black." A chorus of 'It's a pleasure' and 'Nice to meet you' ran around the room. "Lily, Sirius, Harold and Ginny's children disappeared last night. They've been searching for them and wanted a break—since there isn't an inn or a restaurant in town I told them they could rest here and have some dinner."
"Oh, how awful!" Lily exclaimed. "Of course you may stay here for a bit. Let me get you all something to eat." Lily handed the baby—which Harry realized was himself and felt a bit odd—to Sirius and rushed off to what Harry assumed was the kitchen.
"Please, sit down, sit down. I can't imagine how tired you must be," James said, and as they all sat down Lily came back out with a tray of tea and biscuits.
"If you need anything more, please let me know," Lily said sincerely.
"This is wonderful, thank you, and quite sufficient. We can't thank you enough for your hospitality," Harry said genuinely. That being said, Lily sat on the opposite couch with James and Sirius.
"So, Harold—how did they disappear?" James was asking. Harry hardened his expression and brought up the grim face he'd worn for much of the war.
"We suspect death eaters. They were just playing in the yard—but we really should have been paying more attention. For now, we're just going from town to town to see if anyone has seen them. It might be a waste of an effort, but we have to get them back," Harry said. James nodded.
"Of course, of course. Just let us know if there's anything we can do. I can't imagine what we'd do if we lost our little Harry," James said, his face expressing utter devastation. Harry felt his heart warm. Though he had known how much his parents had loved him, that they had loved him enough to die for him, it felt wonderful to hear it from James himself.
"But of course there's something we can do, James," said Sirius. "Just make a few calls…perhaps to Dumbledore—that crazy old man and his phoenix." Harry and the time travelers all laughed inside—to someone who didn't know what he was talking about, it might not seem blatantly obvious, but to them it most certainly was.
"There's no need, but thank you. I'm afraid we've already told the Professor and his phoenix," Harry said. This was of course partially true—they had told Professor Dumbledore of their predicament; just not in this time. Lily, James and Sirius all looked surprised, and Harry of course knew why—at the moment Lily, James, Sirius and Remus were all full time Order members, not holding down regular jobs but rather supporting themselves off of their family inheritances—well, all but Remus who James was supporting at the time. He knew they were thinking that they surely would have heard of this by now. "There's little that he can do without knowing for sure that the Death Eaters are the ones who have taken them. But he said he'd do all he could." There. Hopefully that would satisfy their curiosity.
"I see," James said, though Harry could tell he was skeptical. Harry knew they had to get out of there—and quickly, before James, Sirius and Lily all added up the strange things about them.
"Well, thank you for the breather," Harry said, "thank you so much for inviting us into your home, but we'd best continue on our search. No work was ever done by sitting around." Harry's parents and Godfather nodded.
"Yes, of course," James said. "I'll walk you out."
All too soon for Harry, they had left the small house, and he knew he would never see them again. He took Hermione aside for a moment and hugged her.
"What was that for?" she asked, bewildered.
"For my only memory of my parents. Thank you." He said. Hermione returned the hug and the four walked back to the center of the town.
"I guess we accidentally made a decade turner rather than a year turner," Hermione said. "the magic for it is obviously ridiculously unstable—not only did we not get the right month as it's clearly December, we got the wrong place!" Harry nodded and placed the chain of the decade turner over himself, Ginny and Ron.
"Three turns Hermione."
The snow covered street was silent, all houses cozy and calm. In the moment they disappeared, it was almost as if they had never been there. Almost.
"Goodnight Harry," Ginny said as she entered the living room in her pajamas, carrying a blanket and a pillow. Her pajamas were nothing more than a large t-shirt and soft shorts, but Harry found himself staring—then berated himself for it. She's Ron's little sister! Harry's mind cried out. Ah, said another voice in his head, but she's also your future wife, is she not? Harry decided that he would ignore the voice and replied,
"Night, Gin."
The next morning came on quickly—Harry made sure to get up early. He snuck back upstairs, blanket, pillow and all, and changed. He knew that he and Ginny hadn't done anything wrong—they'd just slept in the same room was all—but he was sure how Mr. and Mrs.Weasley would take that. After all, no one really knew just how far in the future the children came from—it could be from only a few years away.
No, no, no! Harry's mind screamed. He would not think like that. He would never do that with little Ginny Weasley! But you obviously did, said the other, nasty voice in Harry's head. Harry was rather irritated with this other voice. Did not, he said back stubbornly. Harry headed down to the kitchen for a bit of breakfast—he picked an apple out of a fruit bowl with a spell on it against spoiling.
"Good morning Harry!" the cheerful voice from behind him nearly made him drop the apple. Harry swallowed quickly and turned to see Ginny, still in her pajamas, headed for the fruit bowl as well. He stepped aside to let her have access.
"Morning Ginny," he said. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"
"Yes thank you," she said, picking out a banana and peeling it. "And you?"
"Just fine, thank you." There was an awkward silence for a moment. The weight of the twin time travelers weighed heavily on the two of them. How would their relationship go from here? Harry certainly felt awkward—knowing that they had two children in the future was plenty enough to make him blush as red as a Weasley's hair!
"So Ginny—"
"So Harry—" They both started at the same time, then blushed.
"You go ahead," mumbled Ginny. Harry cleared his throat.
"Erm, I really don't know how to say this, Gin, other than I think that…that we should just let what happens happen and pretend…pretend this didn't happen when it's over," he said, then, seeing the hurt in her eyes, he added quickly, "I don't mean it like I don't like you, Gin, honest. I just think that…well, if we do get together in the future…it should be because it was meant to happen and because we both wanted it to happen rather than because we felt like it was supposed to." Ginny nodded and smiled.
"Okay, Harry. I agree." She grabbed her blanket and pillow and rushed upstairs before Harry could say another word. He sighed—he hoped he hadn't hurt her feelings.
"Harry!" Ginny gasped. Hermione, Ron and Harry all looked over at Ginny. Although the three were still working on the year turner, Ginny had fallen asleep in an armchair, exhausted. They had all decided to let her sleep—after all, it had taken them a few tries to get back to the right point in time and they were all rather rattled.
"What is it, Ginny?" Harry asked, going to her at once, offering his arms to hold her. She batted his embrace away.
"I know where they are," she said briskly. They all looked at her, incredulous.
"How do you know where they are?" Hermione asked.
"I dreamed about it. I think it's one of my memories now—I think a few events have been slightly altered, but nothing major. Anyway, they're here at the house during the summer before your fifth year, my fourth," Ginny said.
"Uh, that could be a problem," Harry said with a small snort. Harry, as he remembered, had been rather clueless during his fourth and fifth years, as well as hopelessly hung up on the beautiful Cho Chang. Ginny was still "Ron's little sister" to him. Having their children suddenly show up might change the timeline a bit indeed.
"Oh yeah. You've already managed to hurt my feelings," Ginny said with a snort. Harry looked at her in dismay.
"You're kidding."
"No. I agreed with you—still do I suppose—but it still managed to upset me. God I was emotional," Ginny muttered, thinking on the memory
"Well, this is really good news," Hermione said. "Now we know where they are. I think that if we combine our year turner with a day turner and then a normal time turner, we can set it to the right day and time."
"But where," Harry said, "are we going to get two more time turners?"
"Well…"
"Hermione, I don't like that look you have…" Harry said warily.
"How opposed are you to re-indulging in our Hogwarts days adventures and breaking into the Department of Mysteries?" Ron groaned, Ginny sighed and Harry simply muttered,
"Here we go again…"
After long over a decade, it was actually less breaking in and more being stealthy this time. Everyone but Ginny, after all, worked at the ministry and was highly influential. Hermione went to her department—the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures—to wait for Harry and Ron. If needed, she would cause a distraction. Harry however, was certain it wouldn't be needed. Harry and Ron walked through the Ministry, receiving many smiles and hello's, and Harry got one or two respectful bows. It was widely thought that Harry would one day be Minister—something he was highly opposed to. As the pair reached the Department of Mysteries, all they had to do was knock. The door swung open and they were met with the inquisitive eyes of a woman in plain black robes.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. What may I do for you this afternoon?"
"Routine check, Miss Whitney. Ron and I are just here to be in and out quickly," Harry said. Miss Whitney nodded.
"Very well, come right in," she said, opening the door then closing it behind them. As soon as Miss Whitney had left them in peace, Harry turned to Ron.
"We have five minutes. We both know this department well enough now—if you find one, you know what to do," he said. The two nodded and split up—in the place with moving doors, who knew who would get there fastest? Harry picked the far right door, Ron the far left. Harry looked around—he was in the room with the veil. He clenched his teeth together. Of course. During his and Ron's real inspections, it somehow always managed to appear to him, but not ever to Ron. Harry was convinced this was meant as a personal torture. Walking out of the room with determination he opened another door and—there it was. The room of Time. Much like the room of Prophecies, this room contained several small orbs—only in each small orb a certain moment was playing from all sorts of pivotal points in time—Harry was amused to see one playing himself battling Voldemort for the last time. Harry strode purposely toward the back of the room. This, he knew, was where they kept the time turners. As he reached the back he saw them—thousands of tiny, glittering time turners, all hanging from pegs on the wall. Carefully Harry extracted two, then put them in a small velvet pouch inside a secret pocket on the inside of his robes.
Just then, the back door creaked open—Harry tensed, ready to lie to another worker—when Ron stepped through.
"Beat me here eh?" said Ron. "Come on mate, let's get out of here." Nodding in agreement, Harry followed Ron through the door. In this department he knew it was always best to let Ron lead as it meant he was less likely to find the room with the veil. Sure enough, they managed to get out without any more glimpses of that particular room. As they entered the 'lobby' as Harry had come to call it, they said their goodbyes to Whitney and snuck out the door.
"I've got to say," Harry said, "that that was far less thrilling than our break in all those years ago." Ron laughed.
"Well, considering we didn't have to break anything to get in? Yeah. I agree," he said, and they both headed for the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures.
"What took you so long?" Hermione exclaimed when they arrived.
"'Mione, we hardly took any time at all, especially considering where we had to go. Now come on, let's get back home to work on our little project," Harry said. Disgruntled, Hermione led the two to the department's floo and they all headed back to the Weasley's.
Harry stepped out of the fireplace, coughing and choking on ashes. He would never get used to flooing places. He much prefered apparition or portkeys. As he was dusting himself off, Hermione was already at the table with Ron, casting various spells on one of the time turners.
"This should work," Hermione murmured. "Still, the magic is unstable. We might get the wrong time, but the right place, or conversely, the right time and the wrong place. We'll just have to see."
"You finished it then? That quickly?" Harry asked, incredulous.
"Getting a time turner to turn back days is much easier than getting it to turn back years Harry—with days all it has to do is think to turn back in segments of 24…Anyway, get Ginny, it's time to go," she said. Harry obeyed and went up the creaky stairway.
"Gin?" he called. "Gin, it's time to go!" Ginny's red head popped from out her doorway.
"Already?" she asked. Harry shrugged.
"Hermione's crazy with her wand? Come on, let's go," he said. Hand in hand the two rushed down the stairs. Hermione practically threw the three chains over their heads.
"We'll all have to do this at once," Hermione said. "Ron, take this one—when I say go, turn it fifteen times, Ginny, take this one and turn it once—and I'll have this one and it gets turned twice. Ok…Ron, go! Now me, now Ginny!" The three finished their turns together, and Harry was once again overcome with the feeling of flying very fast backwards. Blood pounded in his ears—this would all be over soon. Soon enough, he and Ginny would have their children in their arms again.
The Weasley family was enjoying a quiet lunch at home, despite the buzz that their newest visitors had caused.
"So what are we going to do about Harry and Ginny Jr?" Fred asked. Arthur shook his head.
"Nothing at the moment. I spoke with Dumbledore and he's under the impression that, if they have gone missing in the future, their parents will be along for them soon enough," Arthur replied. Harry nearly dropped his fork.
"You mean—?" he didn't finish his thought. Arthur nodded.
"I think we can be expecting some, erm, older visitors quickly enough," Arthur replied. There was a crash in the living room, and much of the Weasley family got to their feet as they heard voices saying,
"Bugger."
"Bloody—urgh. I forgot that was there fifteen years ago…"
"Harry! Ron! Cut it out! Let's find the kids and go before we do any more damage to the timeline than we already inevitably have—" Fifteen year olds Hermione and Ron looked startled to hear their own voices.
"Guess you don't change much in the future, 'Mione," Harry said with amusement.
"Oh shut up," she said. "Come on, we ought to get them their kids—" Hermione started, but James and Lily were already up and running—the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione all followed closely behind.
Although they were all expecting it, Harry was still shocked to see himself standing in the middle of the living room, much older than he was.
"James! Lily!" his older self cried, and sunk to his knees with open arms which the two children gladly ran into, shrieking "Daddy!". A much older Ginny joined in the embrace, and the older Hermione and Ron stood their, looking at the scene with relief. After a few moments, Harry released his children from the hug and took them each by a shoulder. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been? Any idea at all what it took to come and get you? Your mother told you not to touch the necklace on the end of the table!"
"Sorry, Daddy," the twins chorused with equal expressions of remorse.
"We," Ginny said, sounding much like Molly Weasley, "are going to have a serious discussion about this when we get home, and if you pull another stunt like this James Sirius Potter and Lilian Luna Potter, we may just not come back again to get you!" the two twins gulped, and the family stood.
"Thanks for looking out for them—sorry about this, truly," Harry said sincerely as they all encircled themselves with the chains of the time turners.
"Er, no problem," young Harry replied as everyone else was too stunned to say much of anything.
"Well, let's be on our way then," Hermione said briskly. "Fifteen turns forward, Ron, one turn for you, Ginny." With a loud pop, six people suddenly disappeared from the Weasley family living room. Hermione looked at Harry quizzically.
"I thought you couldn't go forward in time with a time turner?" she asked, puzzled. Harry shrugged.
"Who knows what the future will hold, right?" Hermione grumbled something about it not making sense, but everyone returned to the dining room for lunch anyway. Harry and Ginny lagged behind the rest.
"So, what does this mean?" Ginny asked Harry. Harry shrugged.
"Well, it could mean anything, really," Harry said. "For now, let's just let time run its course." Harry said, but smiled and took Ginny's hand. After giving Ginny a quick, reassuring squeeze, he let go, and the two entered the dining room, far happier than they had left it.
"Arthur!" Arthur Weasley turned around and smiled. There was young James Potter, a fellow Order member, calling after him through the bustling crowd at Diagon Alley.
"James! What can I do for you?" he asked. James merely smiled.
"Oh, just wanted to chat with you Arthur. I had a couple of questions for you."
"Fire away, my friend," Arthur said congenially to the younger man. James smiled, his mop of black hair going crazy in the blustery winter air.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, Arthur, but I was under the impression that no female Weasleys had been born in centuries," James said. Arthur looked at him, a puzzled expression playing on his face.
"You'd be correct. Why?"
"Do you know a Ronald Weasley, Arthur?" James asked, ignoring his question. Arthur laughed.
"Sure do!" he said. James looked surprised.
"Really?"
"Of course! Ronald Weasley is my youngest son. Going on a year old now," he replied. A small smile creeped onto James face. "Why do you ask, James?"
"Well, Lily, Sirius and I had some visitors the other night—some unexpected guests. They introduced themselves as Harold Potter and his wife Ginny, who was the sister to their other companion, Ronald Weasley and his wife Hermione," James said. "Now, I thought this was a bit odd—he looked quite a bit like me, that Harold fellow—but then I realized that it was impossible the girl would be a Weasley; after all, no female Weasley has been born for centuries! Strong coincidence too, that Harry is the name of my son—not yet a year old." Arthur was baffled.
"Do you think—?" Arthur cut himself off. James nodded, with a mischievous grin.
"I do indeed. Good day, Arthur. It's been nice chatting with you!" James said, and walked off, smiling to himself, leaving an astonished Arthur behind.
Oh, goodness. He had much to tell Molly once he got home…
Fin.