Chapter 2
Hi! I'm back! Here's the next installment of A Crescent Moon!
I know I've been saying that I'll update my other ongoing fanfiction, A Strange Encounter, for the past week now, but I promise, the next chapter of that will be out soon. I've just got a bunch of standardized testing this week and the next. Ugh. And the people in charge of the education department here in South Carolina, USA don't seem to be able to make up their minds about standardized testing, so we have a new type of test practically every year that's supposedly 'better' than the one before it. I wish.
Anyway, back to my original point: please check out A Strange Encounter if you haven't yet!
Thank you all for all of your support! I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, favorited, or followed. Cookies for everyone! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
So now I'll shut up and we can get to the disclaimer, then the actual story. ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings in this story, nor do I claim ownership. It all goes to the great J.K. Rowling, who had changed many lives(including my own) with her wonderful writing and creativity.
Molly Prewett Weasley felt like retching.
No, scratch that. She felt like utterly puking her guts out. And on top of that, she felt worried, shocked, angry beyond compare- well, you get the gist of it.
Why, you might ask?
That fool Mundungus Fletcher was the stupidest, most unbearable, aggravating, creature on the entire planet.
And because of that, here they were, being dragged by nothing through- well- nothing.
It felt almost like using a portkey, except the gentle tugging sensation was amplified a hundredfold. And on top of that, Molly's stomach was churning like she'd just swallowed a particularly disagreeable combination of the twins' "products".
And, of course, there was the fact that she couldn't see, feel, or hear anything, which just made the pain in her navel and the nausea worse-
A blast of warm summer air buffeted an unsuspecting Molly in the face, and she gasped. Before she was able to see what was going on, there was suddenly a sensation of falling, then a sharp pain in her head, and several omphs and ouches that she knew did not belong to her.
When Molly opened her eyes, she saw that she had landed head-first in some grass. In fact, upon further inspection, she was in the front lawn of a-
Oh. Merlin.
She was in the front lawn of an absolutely huge house. In fact, not really in the front lawn. More like to the side in a patch of grass. The front of the house- well, mansion, really- was occupied by a huge fountain and an intricate formation of hedges. The mansion itself was huge- at least three floors high, quite wide, and made of a tan colored stone. Rows of Victorian windows filled the front of the house, not to mention some pretty intricate stonework.
Beside her, she heard a gasp. Spinning around, wand in hand in case of a threat, she quickly relaxed. It had merely been Sirius. In fact, all of the Order was behind her on the grass, some still picking themselves up, others already up and staring, open mouthed, at the huge manor in front of them.
For several moments, silence reigned. Then Molly felt herself explode. "MUNDUNGUS! Now look what you've done! That was a time-turner, and seeing as it's IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY RIGHT NOW, I'd bet ANYTHING that we're LOST SOMEWHERE IN TIME!"
There was a breakout of muttering at this, and it was Arthur who calmed Molly down. "Molls, please," he pleaded, looking at her. "We can figure this out-"
"FIGURE THIS OUT?! WE'RE STUCK SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF TIME, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE-"
Surprisingly, it was Remus who interrupted, though his words were not directed at Molly. Or at anyone, for that matter. For the past couple of minutes, Remus had been completely ignoring all going on around him, staring, as if in a trance, at the mansion. Now, he finally spoke.
"Potter Manor," he breathed, as if in a trance.
Everyone went silent.
"What?" Molly asked intently, her eyes boring into Remus.
Remus didn't say anything. He just kept staring at the mansion with an unreadable look in his eyes.
It was Sirius who answered Molly. "We're at Potter Manor. Where…" His voice caught, but he managed to go on, though his voice was barely above a whisper. "James's childhood home."
Suddenly, Molly understood. Potter Manor. She could recognize that look in Remus's eye now.
It was greif.
No one said anything.
Hestia broke the silence. "So… What do we do now?"
Surprisingly, it was Snape who answered. "We find out what time period we're in," he drawled in a voice that said, duh, stupid.
"Uh… if no one minds me asking, how are we going to do that, exactly?" Tonks questioned, ignoring Snape's rude tone. "Without going into the manor, of course, which may not be the safest course of action," she added, shooting glances at her cousin and Remus, who were both staring at the mansion in a nostalgic, grieved manner. " 'Cause, well, what if someone sees us?"
"We may not have another choice," Dumbledore said, gravely. "If this indeed Potter Manor, we must have time traveled years. Potter Manor has been in disarray for nearly fifteen years now."
There were gasps all around. "You mean… you mean we're-" Bill started.
He was but off by a furious Molly. "Years!? YEARS!? MUNDUNGUS-"
"Molly," Dumbledore said calmly.
Molly flushed immediately. "Sorry, headmaster."
"Quite alright. Now, I suggest we enter the Manor-"
"Enter?" Sirius asked, faintly, along with a chorus of gasps. "But- I mean-"
"We will have to take the risk, Mr. Black," the elderly wizard replied. "We can obliviate anyone who sees us before we get back."
"Albus," Minerva started nervously. "Are you sure?"
"Quite," he assured her. "Although, we may as well take precautions to not be seen to the best of our ability," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"But, Professor-" Snape began to drawl.
"Severus," Dumbledore said, almost warningly. "The matter is settled."
"So, how do we… er…" Emmeline Vance spoke, for the first time since they had arrived. "I mean…"
"We should check for protective spells first," Mad-Eye Moody said, heavily. "Do you really think this is a good idea, Albus?"
"Once again, I am quite sure," the headmaster said. "Now," he started in a more pleasant tone, "Would you mind performing several spells to check for any protective wards, as you mentioned, Alastor?"
Moody grunted consent and muttered a few spells, everyone watching him closely. After a moment, he said, "There're a lot of protective and anti-apparition wards. Pretty strong ones, too. But we seem to have ended up inside of all of them, so it should be fine."
Remus spoke up. "How many are there?"
"Five, at the least."
"That's strange. I don't remember that many wards on Potter Manor."
"Me neither," Sirius agreed. "We must gone back really far. At least twenty five or so years."
At this point, if Albus Dumbledore had not been standing there, the Order probably would have broken into chaos. But as it was, there were only mutterings and gasps.
"Really far?" Hestia Jones said, almost fearfully. "But-"
"Well," Tonks interrupted, as cheerfully as she could manage, "I suppose the only way to find out really how far we traveled is to enter the Manor.."
The Order of the Phoenix carefully made their way to the entrance of the manor, a set of huge oak double doors engraved with the Potter family seal. It was quite noticeable that the manor did, indeed, look like someone inhabited it regularly. The shrubs and flowers were carefully trimmed and cared for, the fountain was running perfectly and was quite clean, and everything gave off an organized, yet homely, feel.
As the Order walked, Remus and Sirius studied everything- from the bricks that made the path around the fountain and to the entrance, to every single plant. Both quickly noticed it was quite different from when they had last seen it- the plants were different and arranged in different ways, the fountain even looked somewhat unfamiliar. And the whole place- it just felt foreign.
Sirius let out a low whistle. "Merlin. This place sure is different."
"I've been wondering," Tonks said to Sirius and Remus, overhearing. She backtracked a little, to where the two of them were walking a little behind the rest of the Order. "What if- what if we didn't go back in time?"
Both men gave her confused looks. "What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
But, slowly, understanding dawned over Remus's face. "No. It can't be. It's never been done before."
"So? Nobody's ever traveled in time more than a couple of hours either, but here we are."
Sirius looked between them, confused. "What? Anyone mind explaining what you two are talking about?"
Remus looked at him, and said, slowly, carefully, "What if we traveled forward?"
A/N: Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger!
I know you probably all hate me right now, but I promise the next chapter will be up very, very soon.
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Bye!