Disclaimer: Don't own.

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.
- Marlene Dietrich

Chapter two

September 1st

On the first of September Ally stumbled into the great hall for breakfast. Saying her "good mornings" to the professors already seated she took her seat at the single table set up under one of the large windows of the hall and poured herself a glass of orange juice and started in on her breakfast. Conversation around the table was mostly directed towards what each staff member had planned for the year. Professor Sprout was speaking with Madam Pomfrey, who Ally had been told had only started at Hogwarts two years ago. They were talking about the Marauders, more specifically, they were betting on how many times the boys would visit the hospital wing this year. Professor Sprout bet that it would be less than 30 not counting each day of the visit as separate and Madam Pomfrey said she'd be surprised if it was any less than 42 and that if it was she'd be hunting them down to find out what ailment they were hiding from her. Across the table Professor Tolkien, who would be teaching care of magical creatures, bet both women that the boys would visit the hospital wing between 45 and 50 times. Other professors also added their bids and each was written onto a scrap piece of parchment, the winner would receive a term free of night patrols. Talk then shifted to the Christmas ball they would be holding this year. Ally had been asked not to inform the other students but she didn't mind, a ball sounded fun and from the information she had been getting from Professor Dumbledore the students (and staff) would need something to lift their spirits over the coming year.

The day after she had received her OWL scores, Dumbledore informed her that he had spoken with his contact in the Department of Mysteries who had told him that they had only just started preliminary tests for moving backwards through time and because the future wasn't set they were doubtful of the possibility of sending her home.

"So you can't get me home?" Ally had clarified.

Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm sorry Ally but the knowledge needed to do that isn't available to us and may not be for many years to come.

She took a deep breath, "Then I'm going to change things."

"You can't possibly mean that my dear," Dumbledore said in a grandfatherly voice. "Think of what can go wrong, how many more people could die from one minor change. You know you don't have the right to decide their futures for them. Just leave it to fate." He finished with a smile meant to put her at ease.

All through his little speech she had been getting more and more angry. "There are only three things I have to say to that Albus," she ground out. "One: I can't get the thoughts of what could go wrong out of my head so you don't need to remind me about that; two: 'I don't have the right' I seem to remember you once thought you knew what was best for everyone. And three: I don't believe in fate but if I did it wouldn't change my mind because fate will do what it wants with or without my input. At least this way I have a chance of making things better." Her voice had risen as she spoke but she finished with the last sentence barely audible.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence until, after the minutes had ticked by, Dumbledore broke it by saying softly, still with his grandfatherly voice, "I see your mind is made up," she nodded, "but why come to me?"

"If I'm going to stay in this time I'm going to need help. I have no money, nowhere to stay… no past." She paused before looking up, "and there are some things that I'm just not going to be able to do alone."

"May I ask what kinds of things?" Dumbledore asked looking concerned.

"I haven't planned very much out yet but, for starters, Voldemort will need to be taken down before the summer of 1979 or else we will have more corpses then we'll know what to do with."

"That leaves us with about a year and a half! Why would that date make any difference? Who will die that you think could change what will happen so drastically?" he appeared more concerned now.

"It's not who dies, Dumbledore, but who has to die. You see you'll be interviewing someone for the divination position and, well she's a total fraud but she makes a real prediction, 'The Prophecy' as it gets referred to later," Ally paused realising that she had started to rant. "The point is that it says that 'the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies', 'neither can live whilst the other survives' and other rubbish and a death eater overhears the first bit and runs of to tell his master and…and…" Ally trailed off staring into space at a spot to the right of the window. Her forehead wrinkled as she got up and started to pace the floor.

"And tells his master…but what if he doesn't tell, if he never hears it to begin with." She flopped down onto the floor and, sitting with her legs crossed and her chin in one hand, Ally started thinking about her plans in more detail but to be more precise what had to happen if they wanted to get the bastard for good.

Dumbledore just sat at his desk and waited patiently until she had finished, smiling a little when she started tapping her fingers against her knee. After ten minutes had passed with no sign of her being ready to talk and no movements save the slight changes in the pace she was tapping her fingers, Dumbledore decided to continue with the papers he had been reading before he was interrupted.

"Forget what I said before." He looked up in surprise. Ally had gotten up off the floor and was standing in front of his desk. "He has made Horcruxes but I don't know the dates of when he hid or even made most of them but I do know where all but one are on October 31st 1981. So I think we should wait until then before we try knocking him off."

"What about this prophecy. You said it had been made before that."

"Yes I know but if Sn-that death eater doesn't hear it he can't tell his master so we will be the only ones who know and…well, problem solved."

"How does that help us? Once the prophecy is made we can't kill him, only the one named will be able to."

"I've already said that I don't believe in this kind of stuff that much. For instance, I was thinking it over, seeing if it could work another way based off a different interpretation. You came up with the first July after the prophecy was made and you saw two wizard boys from prominent families and so did Voldemort. There are so many things wrong with that but we won't go into it now. Neither of you seemed to think that it might be the next or 100 years from now with a different dark lord or that it might not be a wizard at all. Fanfic writers did a lot with the line 'power he knows not', all sorts of muggle technology was written into it-" Dumbledore cut her off.

"-Perhaps you had better tell me the whole prophecy now before we continue because I'm afraid I have no idea about most of what you are saying." Ally grinned sheepishly before continuing.

"Um… the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…" Dumbledore stood up when she had finished and walked over to where Fawkes was sitting on his perch preening his feathers.

"Do you know who the boy will be?" He asked turning back to look at her. Any anger Ally still felt from before was pushed aside when she saw how old he looked standing there.

"I know who you and Voldemort will think it is. But this prophesy can be interpreted a different way. As I said, it might not mean this dark lord it might even have been a dark lord from years ago I read somewhere that true seers see and predict the future, the present and the past. You could also branch it out a little and still have it make sense." Now Dumbledore looked old and confused. "'Born as the seventh month dies', now let's see, July is the seventh month, which was named after Julius Caesar and he was killed, so he died on the Ides of March which was the 15th of March, so it could mean someone born on the 15th of March the day 'July' died. It could mean someone whose name is July or like in a calendar we got once that had a different fireman for each month it might mean a Mr or Miss July. And who knows what kind of calendar these people go by, a lot of months have been added and changed around, hell, October used to be the eighth month so we could be going by that." Dumbledore had moved back over to sit down at his desk while she ranted. "See, it could really be anyone, anywhere, anytime. We really have no way of knowing. With Harry it wasn't even so much him being equal as just him being a potential threat and targeted first. I wouldn't have been surprised if Voldemort had gone after the other boy as well if circumstances had allowed."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment as he absorbed all of this, he knew she had a point and it seemed so obvious to him now that he wondered why he didn't think of it then and if he did why he didn't chose to act differently. "Hindsight would be much better served if we had it before acting."

"Then it wouldn't be called hindsight, besides, where is the fun in knowing everything. My Pop liked to say that we don't learn if we don't make mistakes." He smiled slightly, the twinkle coming back into his eyes.

"He sounds to me like a very wise man."

"He was." Ally looked down sadly. "Anyway, I have planning to do and according to my stomach it must be nearly dinner time."

"Yes it has just started." He said as they both stood up. "I will see what I can do about funding for any plans you might come up with, as for accommodation, I do not see why you can't stay here until you work out something else."

"Or I die pursuing this. But thank you for the offer." Her stomach growled again as they were going out the door.

"Do you really believe it will come to that?"

"Come to death. Yes, I think there is a very real possibility that I won't live through this. Voldemort is not an idiot. People underestimated Hitler and look what happened with him. I've been reading that trash calling itself a newspaper and nobody seems overly concerned that there are a number of mass murderers on the loose."

"Things were much simpler in my day, oh I remember that…" Ally couldn't help but wonder which subject she least wanted to talk about as she and the headmaster walked the route to the great hall for dinner, impending, painful deaths or the 'old days'? So she just smiled and nodded at the appropriate moments.

With this information, Allyhad decided to share parts of what she knew with Dumbledore and had been inducted into the order of the phoenix the night before. She was not to tell anyone 'obviously' and Dumbledore would let her know whenever there would be a meeting. The other members of the order had not been happy to have a seventeen year old in the order and the information she gave made them more suspicious than anything else. She had given them names of people that should be watched closely and that Voldemort had tied himself to the world of the living. When asked to elaborate she had said that it was only information she could give to Dumbledore. It wasn't that she didn't trust any of them…actually who was she kidding, of course it was and she had told them as much. She had met Arthur and Molly Weasley, their eldest son Bill would be starting Hogwarts this year, Alastor Moody whose nose was intact but he already had the spinning blue eye, and Adam and Marissa Potter as well as others.

After breakfast Allyheaded to her room to make sure everything was packed and ready for the elves to move to the dorm room she was sorted into. After picking up her robe from the back of a chair and leaving a thankyou note on the top of her trunk for the elves, she left the room for the library. Professor McGonagall had already told her that she expected the same standard of work from Allywhen classes resumed and Allythought she might spend today rereading the course books for the classes she had signed up for; Potions, Herbology, DADA, Transfiguration, Charms and Care of Magical Creatures.

Closing her book 'Caring for creatures' Allystretched out on the window seat and looked out of the window, her stomach growling at her. Darkness had fallen and she could see the lanterns swinging from the sides of the carriages as they trundled up the long castle driveway. Sighing, she stretched once more and, tucking the book underneath her arm, she headed down to the room next to great hall where Professor McGonagall would bring the first years.

It wasn't long before a group of frightened looking eleven year olds were ushered in and told to straighten themselves up. Smiling kindly at a little boy with red hair, Allymoved forward to help him with his tie. "Thankyou" he said looking up at her after she had finished talking him through it.

"It was my pleasure. I'm Allyby the way." She held out her hand to him.

"Bill Weasley." He shook her hand nervously and she gave him another smile.

She was just helping a girl with her tie when a scream sounded from over near the wall. Allyturned with her wand in her hand, she had been trying to improve her reflexes over the summer and was getting much better, but she only saw a bunch of scared faces watching as a group of ghosts flew over their heads. "Ah Miss Page." a ghost with a ruffed collar called out when he saw her, "The sorting always comes so quickly. It seems like only yesterday this was happening with the last lot of youngsters." He gave her a smile.

"Hello Nick." She smiled back but before she could continue a conversation with him Professor McGonagall returned to escort them into the hall and the ghosts flew ahead of them, passing through a wall.

Allyhad been informed that she would be sorted first so as to limit the amount of 'kerfuffle', as Dumbledore put it, that the students would raise seeing someone her age in line with the first years. She stood at the front of the line behind McGonagall as the hat on its three-legged stool began to sing. When the hat had finished Dumbledore stood up to announce to the school that AllyPage would be starting in her seventh year as a transfer student for personal reasons and that he hoped she would be welcomed by the other students into the school. When he sat down Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a rolled up scroll of parchment and called out "Page, Ally".

Allysat on the stool with her book in her lap and put the patched hat on her head, trying to ignore the stares and whispers of the students. "Well, well, well." The hat said into her ear. "I have never had a time traveller to sort before. How very interesting. You have brains. Six years of schooling in three months. Hmm…Ravenclaw would suit you very well. No? Well then, if you're sure. Cunning and bravery. Good luck on your plans by the way, changing things will not be easy." 'Letting things continue this way wouldn't be easy either' "I agree. Prepared to stand up for what you believe. Hmm…I think I'll place you in…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called out to the hall and a table to the right burst into applause, one boy giving a loud wolf whistle.

Smiling she picked up her book and placed the hat back on the stool heading down to the Gryffindor table. She chose a seat a few spots down from the boy who had whistled and, seeing it was one of the boys she had met her first day here, Sirius, she returned his smile which made his widen, then shook her head with a grin when he waggled his eyebrows at her. She turned instead to watch the rest of the sorting clapping with everyone else and making room next to her for Bill when he was sorted into Gryffindor so that he was between her and another first year boy. He smiled at her when he sat down and she gave him a pat on the back. After Dumbledore had made his opening speech where he introduced the new DADA teacher, Professor Alba, and the food appeared she was introduced to the Gryffindors around her.

"Hi." A girl with dark red hair smiled from the seat across from her. "I'm Lily Evans. I'm a seventh year too. You'll be sharing a room with me and Alice Phenners you'll meet her later she sits with her boyfriend at meals."

"AllyPage." Lily smiled at her again and started to introduce the boys that were sitting around them.

"Well these are the boys. They are all in our year. McGonagall called them marauders and the name kind of stuck. The one next to you is Remus Lupin," she gestured to the pale boy on her left who had sandy hair and amber eyes. He gave her a smile and held out his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you" he said. Allysmiled and nodded.

Lily continued, "That's Peter Pettigrew next to him" Allyoffered the small, chubby boy a smile and said to herself 'he's not a bad guy yet so remember not to treat him like it'. "This is my boyfriend James Potter" the boy in question gave Lily a wink and wrapped an arm around her waist. "And that" she jerked her thumb at the boy sitting on James' right "is no-one of importance" the boy gave Lily an affronted look that didn't quite work with his lips twitching into a smile.

"Sirius Black at your service, my fair lady" he stood and swept her a little bow.

Allysmirked; "We've met." they all looked at her confused. "Outside Professor Dumbledore's office before the holidays started." She rolled her eyes when James and Sirius continued to look at her blankly. "You helped me with the password." She could actually see it in their faces as the memory dawned on them; the expression was exactly the same on both boys but the others still looked confused at what was going on, though Remus had a slightly thoughtful and almost fearful look on his face.

"That was you!" Allyblushed slightly as a few heads turned towards them at Sirius' outburst and the choking sound coming from Remus. Turning so she could give the even paler Remus a good pat on the back she answered Sirius with a smile, "of course not. It was a hot pink rabbit and you were both imagining things." The others all laughed at this and colour started to return to Remus' face.

"Wait that was last year" said James. "If you were here then why are you only being sorted now?" Allywas ready for this. She stopped eating and instead began moving things around the plate with her fork. She didn't need to fake the sad expression. She still really missed being back at home but the story she had worked out with Dumbledore would be the one they got instead.

"It was just after my parents died." She said after a pause. "Their funeral was the day after I met you. I've been staying here with Professor Dumbledore since then."

"With Dumbledore? Why?" asked Peter.

"He was an old friend of my step-father and offered me a chance to come here. Before that I was learning magic at home and before you ask about my accent, I've spent most of my life in Australia we only moved here for dad's work a year ago."

"So are both your parents magical or just your dad?" asked Sirius. What an unexpectedly pure-blooded question, thought Ally.

"Just my step-dad and maybe an aunt. I've never met her but mum said that when they were little odd things used to happen, the same things, she said, I used to do. I've no idea about my birth father. He walked out on mum and me when I was two." Allystabbed at the sausage on her plate. She had decided that where possible she would tell the truth about her past so she would be less likely to slip up. This wasn't something she wanted everyone to know about but she had tried to hide it before and always managed to make a slip. The whole magic bit was a lie though since she had no idea if anyone in her family could do what she had over few months. "But I got a far better dad instead of him when mum remarried."

"So Ally, what is your favourite class" Remus asked to change the subject and she was glad he did. Allylooked up and gave him a small smile in thanks before answering, "I like potions best I think, followed by the practical side of defence against the dark arts."

"I think professor Roach will change that your first class with her," said Lily. "I'm good at potions but I just don't enjoy being in that class." She admitted. Allynodded; she had met Professor Roach last week when the witch had returned to the school after holidaying in France. She wasn't exactly a nasty person but she did demand excellence and dedication in her subject.

Talk continued on as the group got to know each other better before the school was sent off to their dorms for "a good night's sleep" as Dumbledore put it. Tired and with full stomachs they all headed up to their rooms after giving the portrait of the fat lady the password which was 'Lion Pride'. Allydidn't take the time to look around the room but rather fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.