(2) Hermione's Secret
Sirius transformed & ran after the Stag. It disappeared from view. Padfoot stopped. He had to have imagined it. But no! There was the Stag again, charging up a hill. He dashed sideways hoping to cut in front of the Stag. Then he saw Remus in one of the gardens of the entrance courtyard & on his right arm was a redheaded woman. Lily?
Right behind them was a Dementor. Padfoot watched as Lily shivered. The Dementor merely went through her, unknowing of the merged timelines. Lily never even saw the creature.
Get the girl. Padfoot turned towards the castle, glancing back over his shoulder. He decided then & there that Azkaban had driven him insane. They were dead. The murderer was here. Somewhere. Get it together.
"Well I better get ready for the next lesson," Remus was saying. "My students should be nearly finished Charms by n—why hello Padfoot," Remus cooed in a sickly sweet voice, grinning evilly. "How are you?" The black dog froze, locking eyes with Remus. "I thought you were in the Great Hall." Remus shrugged it off & headed on towards the door, Lily close behind.
James came up last & turned to glare at the dog. He made a cutting motion across his throat. He hissed between gritted teeth. "What part of remain unseen do you not understand? YOU IDIOT!" James kicked the dog square on the nose. Padfoot scooted back into the bushes. "Stay there! Out of sight. Until we're in the Great Hall. What is WRONG with you? You can NOT screw this up Padfoot! All our lives depend on it!" At that James turned sharply & ran towards the door. He stopped short, stood straight & tugged at his robes. Then as dignified as he could, he entered & disappeared from sight.
Padfoot held his snout with both front paws. That was no ghost that had kicked him. Sweet Merlin, James Potter kicked like a freaking mule! Was this actually real? He slunk into the castle, tail between his legs. James was going to die for that one! Grr!
One door to the Great Hall stood partly ajar. Padfoot hurried towards it & peered in. His jaw ended up on the floor. There stood Lily with James. Right beside them was himself. Another Sirius Black. In human form. While Dementors swarmed the castle looking for him. Padfoot watched as the other Sirius Black merely pulled his cloak a bit more firmly around him.
"Merlin's Curse it's a cool day today," that other Sirius complained.
"I don't understand why it's so cold, what with all that sun out there," Lily agreed.
Padfoot twisted his head curiously. Which other Marauders knew or not? Padfoot shook his head & trotted away. What the hell had he gotten himself into now? He headed for the door to the Charms classroom & sat on his tail, thinking. What did that girl—Hermione—have that James was so persistent about? The students soon came pouring out & Padfoot caught sight of Harry & Ron. But no girl.
"I haven't seen Hermione at all," Harry said. "She's supposed to be here."
"Last time I saw her was in the Common Room," Ron put in. "Lupin's class is next. Perhaps we should go to the Common Room to look for her?"
"Good idea," Harry said, turning around to lead the way. "Oof!" He flipped right over a black dog. "Padfoot! What are you doing? Shove off!" Harry pushed him away. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Great Hall with Mom & Dad?"
Remain unseen. Padfoot cross-rolled his eyes as Harry slowly stood up rubbing his behind & shoulder. Padfoot turned & ran for the Gryffindor Tower. He had to get to that girl before the boys did.
He trotted up to the Fat Lady. It was insane. She didn't let him in last time & he had attacked her. Where was the Knight? Or did he not replace her on this side? This was so insane. He shifted to Sirius. "Fortuna Major."
"My my my Sirius. What did you get up to?" The Fat Lady stared at him. "You're a right ugly sight today."
"Wha…oh!" Sirius looked down at his prison suit. "Marauder's prank gone horribly wrong. Never mind. Fortuna Major."
"Alright go in but do stop by the nearest bath soon." The Fat Lady swung open. Just like that.
There she lay, head on books, fast asleep. Sirius stepped up to her & stared. Examining her. Then he saw it, the gold chain. He slowly pulled it out. A pendant dangled from it. He put one hand on either side of the pendant, grasping the gold chain & tugged. It snapped & he pulled it away. Sirius touched the pendant with one finger, letting it twist one way then back again. It was a tiny hourglass with actual sand in it; though the sand was unmoving. "A Time-Turner? I've read about these things but..." The power in his hand, worth more than a wand.
Should he? COULD he? Well obviously he could. James was here was he not? But how? Twelve years! Nay, more than twelve. He had to go back before Peter started scheming or it would be too late. Sirius thought hard. Seventh Year. He should go back to Seventh Year. He cradled the tiny thing in his hand, crying softly. Could he really save them all? Avoid Azkaban? Erase all those horrid memories of cold & loneliness? It was too good to be true. He put the chain around his neck & tied off the broken ends. How many turns? Well he'll just go back bit by bit. That's all. Heart pounding, he put a hand on the hourglass just as the door creaked open. Sirius looked up meeting the eyes of someone but it was too late, the timeline faded away.
It felt like it took forever. Sirius turned the hourglass, then turned it some more. Years went by. Gryffindor Common Room changed. Furniture moved around or was replaced.
Or even disappeared.
Students of all ages came & went. Crowds of First Years. Gangs of Quidditch Teams. Sirius kept checking on the calendar by the board. The dates were going backwards. He couldn't believe it. It suddenly flipped into their Seventh Year. Sirius slowed down the spinning. He had been working it furiously. Now he had to fine-tune his appearance to when the Common Room was empty.
Glancing around, he began to see familiar faces. Remus suddenly appeared before him. A young Remus, lying sprawled out on the couch. Sirius almost forgot to keep turning but remembering the hate Remus had for him, he kept going. This may be the 17 year old werewolf pup, but Sirius wasn't taking any chances. What if this was some Dark work that he had fallen for? Whatever! Sirius was desperate to fix his mistake & he jumped at any chance to do so. He turned slowly, rewinding time into the night & then back some more.
Finally. The Common Room was clear & silent one night. Sirius stood still, his mind still spinning. "What have I done?" He collapsed into the couch that the young Remus had been lying on…or will be lying on…a few days from now.
He sat there most of the night, thinking hard. A weak light began to filter in. Sirius transformed as he heard others starting to get up & meander down into the Common Room. Padfoot moved over to the side & hid under a table that had been covered with a dark blue tablecloth which hung down almost to the floor. He peered out a little from time to time to see what was going on. As the morning brightened, Padfoot saw many faces he had known. From Frank Longbottom & his girlfriend Alice, to a few of his own ex-girlfriends. Then Lily Po—Evans herself, came down chatting with at least three other girls, all of which Sirius dimly remembered sleeping with at one time or another. What? He was sexually deprived for twelve years. He couldn't help but notice.
Padfoot followed the group of girls out the Portrait & then dashed off under a tapestry behind which was a false wall. Feeling only a little resistance, Padfoot pushed through into the hidden passage that was a shortcut between the top floor & the second floor far down below. No moving staircases & it cut the time almost in half.
Padfoot trotted forward & winded his way downward from platform to platform. He stepped off the stairs onto the third platform & pricked his ears forward. He could hear laughter ahead. Right. Of course! The pack had discovered this passage a long time ago. He heard James boasting about another episode with 'Snivelus' (How did that git ever become a Hogwart's professor anyway?) while Remus, Peter & his younger self laughed along. Padfoot gulped & glanced around. Peering over the edge of the platform, he saw a drop of a few hundred feet. The voices were coming closer. Padfoot transformed & heaved himself over the edge. He grabbed hold of a long wooden beam criss-crossed with another one under the platform. Sirius pulled himself further into the supports & sat between joints where another wooden beam was nailed together to form a corner. He waited.
The four young Marauders were suddenly on top of him. Sirius put one hand over his mouth, hoping they couldn't hear his breathing. Four. Peter was right there above him! Only a solid wood & stone floor between them. He heard the group moving towards the next rise of stairs.
"Excusez-moi (Excuse me)," Remus's French accent suddenly filtered down to him. He heard the Wolf pup skitter quickly across the floor. Damn his werewolf senses!
"Come on Moony," James whined. "I'm tired."
"Non (No)!" Remus said sharply, holding up a hand. He got down on one knee, sniffing. He stood up again. "Padfoot."
"Yes?" Both asked at the same time. Sirius down below mentally kicked himself.
"I..." Remus stopped & looked around. He had heard a double voice.
"What?" The younger Sirius above finally demanded.
Remus turned a golden gaze on him. "You were just here. How can you be here & down the stairs with us at the same time?"
"Remus, put Moony to sleep now," the young Sirius stepped forward. The wood creaked, casting dust down onto his older self. "What are you talking about?"
"Padfoot," Remus continued to glare, keeping his inner Wolf still in his eyes. "Your trail is here. It goes right to the edge."
"We come up & down here all the time," Peter put in. (Peter! It was all the older Sirius could do to stop himself from clamouring up there to kill the Rat once & for all.) "Surely it's an older trail."
Remus shook his head. "Non (No)."
"Well look over the edge then if it makes you feel better," Peter offered.
Merlin did Sirius ever hate Peter!
"Trés bien (Alright)," Remus agreed.
The Sirius below heard the creaking of wood & the clicks of boot heels on stone as Remus moved forward to the edge & knelt down. Got to be kidding me! Sirius REALLY hated Peter. He glanced around frantically & suddenly spied a doxy sleeping in a crack, wings tucked underneath its little blue & grey body as a bed. He grabbed it & just as Remus's hair dangled over as he leaned down to check, Sirius threw the squealing creature hard.
Remus recoiled with a barking yelp. "Great! Where there's one there's usually a whole nest!" Hardly had he said so when the air suddenly came alive with buzzing gossamer wings while swirls of blue-grey dashed about, taunting the Marauders.
"I told you we should have gone on," James complained, pulling out his wand. The other three Marauders followed suit. "For the Full Moon's sake you stupid Wolf! You just HAD to wake up a nest, didn't you?"
"Je suis désolé (I'm sorry)," Remus muttered, not really caring. He was more interested in prising off a doxy that lodged itself into his hair. "Ow ow OW! Descendez (Get off)!"
"Attention (Careful)!" The young Sirius exclaimed, using his friend's native tongue. "Piqûres doxy sont toxiques (Doxy bites are poisonous)."
"Ah ouais? Ainsi sont les morsures de loup-garou (Oh yeah? So are werewolf bites)," Remus snarled, fangs gritted, both hands clasped around the writhing little body trying to burrow into his hair. "Jurez-Merlin si vous ne sortez pas de mes cheveux tout de suite (Swear to Merlin if you don't get out of my hair this instant)!" He pulled harder, ignoring the blood on his fingers from the bites. He was starting to see double.
Peter suddenly screamed. "Help! HELP GET ME DOWN!"
The three of them stared up. Peter was being lifted by half the horde of doxies flitting about, squealing madly. They threw anything they could grab, stones, sticks & even dirt, forcing the Marauders to duck & dodge at the same time as trying to cast magic.
Remus closed his eyes & with a frantic yip of pain, yanked the thing out. A few locks of his hair flew in the air as he threw it away. He pointed his wand straight up. "Aquis!" A jet of water shot out. That took care of the dust & drowned many of the doxies that were nearby. Peter came crashing down on top of James & Sirius. "Run! Up stairs now. They can't go through the barrier." His pack didn't need to be told twice. Remus fled upstairs behind them, leaving the remaining doxies behind to chatter & find someone else to wreak mayhem on.
"Let's get you to the hospital wing," Peter's fading voice said as the pack disappeared through the barrier.
Still hiding below, Sirius could hear the squeals of the doxies. Now he was stuck. He had to wait for them to settle before climbing up & shape-shifting back to Padfoot. This was the last time he planned on using this shortcut until he had sorted everything out. That had been far to close for comfort!