Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Chapter 2

Past … or Future?

So many questions had been popping into my mind during the train journey that I felt I needed to write them all down first before even attempting at getting answers.

What was I supposed to do? At twenty-two, when the logical part of me had taken over my daily life (most of the time), I was going to be thrown back into a - for all purposes and matters - a fantasy world. And even worse, Harry Potter's fantasy world. I would've really appreciated seeing my family's reaction to that.

Unexpected things just happen, yet I wondered why it had to happen now that I had two months of blissful nothing in front of me. I should have realised right then that quiet would never be an adjective to describe my life with.

I took a glance at the landscape from the dusty window. The characteristic yellow and green hues perfectly complementing the startling pale blue sky dominating the land. The Australian sky always seem to be somehow wider, deeper than anywhere else in the world.

James appeared to have noticed it, too.

'Nice view, eh?', he commented fascinated, his nose almost touching the window panel.

'Yeah', I agreed. 'I'll never stop being fascinated by nature."

'How long have you been living here?, he asked me interested.

'Four years.' I answered thoughtfully.

'Do you miss your country?', Lily wanted to know.

'Yes and no.' I sighed. 'I reckon it's because my childhood wasn't that great to be honest. I love my culture though, that'll be always a part of me.'

James and Lily nodded understandingly.

The war must have taken a lot from them already, I thought.

That made me ask a rather important question. 'What day was it when you left?' I tentatively questioned.

'1st October 1981', Lily said half-afraid of where my thoughts were directed to.

I closed my eyes. They had a month left to live.

'What's wrong?' James asked. 'What's going to happen is going to happen soon, right?'

'It's not going to happen because you won't choose Peter as Secret Keeper this time.' I explained.

'Tell us about the books, please.' pleaded Lily, kissing her baby boy on the forehead.

I realised they had been waiting for me to tell what I knew of their son's life. Yet, they were terrified of what I was going to say. Sirius, who had been eerily quiet for awhile, straightened his posture and looked at me expectantly.

'In the books Peter betrayed you and Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow on Halloween-'

'This Halloween?', Sirius interrupted, an anguished look etched across his face.

'Halloween 1981, yes.' I continued. 'He killed you first James, then went upstairs to kill Harry but you Lily protected him'.

The three of them looked petrified.

'Voldemort gave you a chance to live but you refused -' I immediately saw Lily nodding defiantly while James and Sirius looked puzzled. 'He - he killed you then and tried to kill Harry, too. But something went wrong'.

'What happened?' asked James, a sob escaping his lips.

'The curse backfired and Voldemort lost his powers.' I explained.

'Harry lived?' asked Lily amazed.

James and Sirius were staring at Harry who, unaware of his surroundings, had been asleep for quite awhile now, his little hands firmly grasping Lily's dark green blouse.

'Yes, he did. He became the Boy-Who-Lived that night', I said, a sad tone evident in my voice.

Then I explained how Lily's sacrifice worked and Severus Snape's request. I talked about the scar and what I knew about why Voldemort survived the Killing Curse. James, Lily and Sirius followed every single word, trying to understand and remember every detail, every piece of information.

'Who took care of Harry?', James and Lily questioned at the same time expectantly.

'I did, right?' Sirius asked before I'd even opened my mouth to answer.

'No, Sirius. Harry grew up with the Dursleys.' I stated frowning.

'What?' Lily exclaimed angrily, almost waking her son up.

'Where was I?' Sirius asked worried.

'You went after Peter,' I explained. 'When you found him he framed you by saying you were the Secret Keeper. He then blew up the street and killed twelve Muggles. He cut his finger and transformed, everyone thought him dead and you…you were sent to —'

'Azkaban', he managed to choke out frightened.

Lily and James were speechless. I knew what they were thinking. Even though Voldemort had disappeared, their family was no more, their friendships broken. Sirius in Azkaban, Peter a traitor, Remus abandoned and Harry…Harry was all alone. Lily knew perfectly well how her sister would've treated her son, she hated magic and everything related to "the freaks".

James hands were hiding his face, yet I could hear him crying quietly. Sirius was in shock, terrified at this possible future, afraid of losing everyone he cared about.

'This is not going to happen, I promise', I told them. 'But you must teach me magic first.'

The world I had longed for years had finally found me when I'd been least expecting it… what choice did I have?

Saying no hadn't even crossed my mind. However saying yes meant jumping into the unknown, my future becoming the past.

I had always wondered if I could be called brave, yet at that point in time I realised it all came down to being alarmingly reckless.

Reckless. The perfect word to describe myself when I decided to leave my ok life for something that, I knew it already, was going to change me entirely. I was going to forget who I was, forget my name, my story. I was going to become Jemma De Angelis, that alter-ego I had created out of boredom so many years before.

However, I also knew I had to save them, no matter what.

And that's how my story began.

AN: Please read & review!