Just In Time

By: marauderette-47

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the kind reviews! I looked and saw that this story - with just its one chapter - had over 130 visitors from 22 different countries! That's awesome! If you're enjoying this story, or even if you're not, please review! And if you don't have an FF account, I have anonymous reviews turned on! Okay, enough of this sappy pity party - I promised you all a story, so here it is! Chapter 2! (And please note, if there's too much sappiness, it's because I'm watching Order of the Phoenix right now and I'm all sad cause it's the part where Sirius dies:() Oh, and Happy New Year everyone!

Chapter Two: A Bittersweet Nightmare

1976

"N-1976, of course." replied Sirius uncertainly, looking at Harry with a rare expression of fear on his face. Harry froze for a moment in shock - he'd had a hunch that he was no longer in a recognizable place, but to hear the words so plainly from his godfather's lips made his heart pause for a moment. There was an audible moment of silence in the air, where only the sounds of Harry's breathing could be heard. When he finally managed to find his voice, all he could manage to say was, "W...What?"

"What do you mean, 'What'?" demanded Sirius acidly, taking a few steps away from Harry.

"Like I've been attempting to tell you," said Harry, surprisingly coolly. "I'm not James Potter - I'm Harry Potter. And it certainly wasn't 1976 when I went to bed last night!"

"Like I said," said Sirius shakily, backing even futher away. "I-I should go get Moony, he's the smart one, he'll know what's-"

"Sirius, don't look so scared of me," began Harry, not liking the frightened look on his godfather's face.

"How can I not? I don't even know you!" said Sirius angrily. He then proceeded to run out of the room, leaving Harry alone. Harry sat back down on the bed that he'd been asleep on, and put his head in his hands. A massive headache was already forming around his scar, and he was sure that he was going mental. It couldn't be 1976 - time travel that far back was impossible. You could only go back a few hours at most, as Harry knew from experience. And none of those rules even mattered - Harry didn't even have a Time Turner to travel back with! And a Time Turner certainly didn't explain why he was in his dad's old house.

Yes, he knew that was exactly where he was - Sirius had pretty much told him that during their conversation before he'd freaked out and run away. Sighing once again at the thought of Sirius being scared of him, Harry stood back up and put on the faded blue shirt Sirius had thrown him several minutes before. He walked on the soft carpet around the room, taking in his surroundings.

If this really was his dad's room, then his dad had been a very spoiled and pampered child. James's room reminded Harry of a wizarding-version of Dudley's room. James had everything - every book ever written, a signed Quidditch poster of every member of the Chudley Cannons, three broomsticks mounted on the wall, three closets filled wall length to wall length with robes for all occasions, and more. But none of those are what caught Harry's attention in the least - his dad seemed to have had a bit of a picture fascination. There were moving photos everywhere. Most of them seemed to be of James and the Marauders, from different stages in their lives. Most of the photos were comical, and Harry even found himself laughing a few times. There was even a picture of Harry's mum, Lily, looking very grumpy and annoyed with James. That only made Harry laugh more, though he found it odd that his mother had had any reason to be angry with his father.

Harry knew how the world worked; he knew that no one and no couple was perfect. But in all of his imaginings, Harry had always pictured Lily and James Potter being the two happiest people in the world, who had loved each other with an undying passion from the very beginning. Harry knew that it had been stupid to think that, but he'd never had any reason to think otherwise. He'd never even spoken with his parents...

"All thanks to Pettigrew," spat Harry, looking away from the obviously quickly taken photo of Lily and James. Harry turned his back on his dad's room, and walked out into the hallway. He didn't care where he was going (he didn't have a clue where anything was anyway) but he knew that he had to get away. He had to wake up from this bittersweet nightmare - he had to stop seeing the lives of his parents before everything changed. It pained Harry to see the happy, past Marauders - for Harry knew their fates, and he knew what a sad, broken man Sirius Black would become. He knew what a lonely, quiet person Remus Lupin would turn into. He knew the bitter betrayal that Peter Pettigrew would commit. And he knew the deaths that awaited Lily and James Potter.

Heart still swelled with pain, Harry entered the first door he came to, not bothering to knock. Thankfully, the room was empty of occupants. It seemed to be a guest room, as it was only the basic model of a bedroom. But there was one oddity the room held - it was a strangely out of place object on the dresser.

"Why is there a toaster here?" wondered Harry aloud to himself. Curiously, the young wizard reached out to pick up the Muggle appliance, and he turned it over in his hands. But he had barely touched it before a scarily familiar tugging at his navel made him scream, and then, he was no longer in his dad's house.

1995

"My God," gasped Remus again. "James..."

"Er...Remus?" said Sirius uncomfortably, looking sadly to his godson. "Are you feeling alright? You know right well this is Harry."

"James," breathed Remus, staring at the boy in front of him for all he was worth. "But how-"

"Oh, for God's sake," said James, rolling his eyes. "We're perfectly clear on who I am, thank you. Now who the bloody hell are you two? And no lies! I know you're not Sirius and Remus, because Sirius and Remus are not only not fifty-something years old, they're also at my house, probably sleeping at the moment. Except Sirius. He's probably still awake. But whatever."

"James," asked Remus, acting as though he hadn't even heard a word of what his old friend had been saying. "How are you here?"

Sirius Black didn't have a clue as to what to think. His entire being seemed to have frozen the moment James began to speak. Sirius knew that voice - he'd listen to it ramble on and on for years. As he looked closer at James's features, he noticed the subtle differences that set the face before him apart from his godson's; the longer nose, the eye color, the ear shape - the small things that made James James. But none of that was the point - it was impossible for James to have been there. James had been dead for 14 years - and no spell could bring the dead back to life.

"Remus," said Sirius. "Remus, this must be a trick. James is dead- and you know that nothing can bring back the dead!"

"What nonsense are you spewing out, Grandpa?" sniggered James. "I'm not dead - I'm walking and talking and breathing, aren't I?"

"This is impossible," muttered Sirius, backing away from James as quickly as his legs could carry him. "Stop this, whatever you're doing!" screeched Sirius at James. "I don't care who you are, just get out of this house! My best friend has been dead for fourteen bloody years! Just - just go away!"

Without another word, Sirius stormed from the room up the steps. He made it to his room more quickly than he ever had before, and slammed the door shut with a thud. In his rage, he threw all of the comforters off of his bed, and broke a charm that was lying carelessly on the floor. He grabbed his hair in frustration, almost as though he was going to pull it from its roots. He felt anger, fury. Who would dare impersonate James? Practically throwing rotten food at his grave! Give Sirius a brief flicker of hope, and then pulling the rug out from under him!

Sirius let out a shout of frustration, and backed up into his dresser. When it was shaken, several items fell from the dresser, including a framed photograph of the four Marauders and Lily from their seventh year at Hogwarts. It fell to the hard wooden floor and shattered, causing glass to scatter all over everything. Sirius was furious for a moment, as he picked up the photograph, but upon looking at the picture within the frame, his breath came out in a whoosh.

It was the expressions on their faces perhaps, but Sirius felt as though he had never seen himself so happy. He was standing in the middle of the frame, smiling as he carelessly slung an arm around James and Remus, who were both grinning stupidly on either side of him. Lily was standing next to James, on her tip-toes, giving the messy haired Marauder a kiss on the cheek. If you looked at the picture carefully, you could see James's slight blush.

Then, on the other end of the photo next to Remus, was Peter. He looked just as I'happy as the rest of them, winking at the camera as it snapped the photo. Those times were so simple, so carefree...Voldemort and the Death Eaters seemed to be a lifetime away, and nothing could have torn the Marauders apart.

But things had changed oh, so much.

Sirius took another look at the James in the picture. It looked just exactly like the boy downstairs. The same stupid smile on his face, the same mischeif in his eyes...it took everything inside of Sirius not to run back down the old wooden steps to the dining room just to see James's face one last time before whoever was using Polyjuice turned back into themselves. But he couldn't - he couldn't just see James again to have him torn from his life one more time. Friendship hurt too much.

Saddened and suddenly quite tired, Sirius threw the framed picture of his happiest memories back on the floor, thus denting the fine golden framework. He turned off the lights in his room with a flick of his hand, and fell back onto his bed. He seemed to be asleep before his head hit the pillow, but his mind remained awake for a few moments more. He hoped to whoever was listening that it was all just a dream - he was upset enough most of the time as it was...did he have to be reminded of why?

All Sirius really wanted was to wake up from this bittersweet nightmare.

"What's his problem?" asked James, turning to Remus after Sirius's little fit. "I don't even know him, yet he stands there and yells at me!"

"James..." murmured Remus painfully, sitting next to his old friend at the table. "I don't think you quite understand what's going on. You've no idea-"

Despite the tense situation, James laughed. "I've no idea? About what! You two are the ones mistaking me for a dead man!"

"James," sighed Remus, ignoring the feeling of happiness that was erupting from within him at his ability to say his old friend's name again. "We're not mistaking you for anything. You are James Potter, yes?"

"Yeah," replied James uncertainly.

"Then...let me explain this to you. James, how old are you?"

"Sixteen." said James. "Why do you want to know how old I am?"

"Because I think you've gone forward in time."

It went against everything Remus knew to say the words aloud. Remus had always been the academic one of his group, and he'd read up on time travel many times. The only known method of any kind of time travel was using a Time-Turner, and Time-Turners could only take you back in time. And you could only go back a few hours at most. What he believed to have happened was beyond anything anyone could ever dream of. If Remus was correct, than James had gone forward nearly twenty years in time. That was all fine with Remus, but a question still burned in the back of his mind - how?

Meanwhile, James sat there dumbfounded. Had he heard this man right? Time travel? James was a clever young man - he knew that the only way you could travel through time was backwards. Almost for the first time, James noticed the tenseness of the room he was in. The man sitting next to him was perspiriing and panting, and the man before him had screeched his head off enough. And time travel would surely explain the reason why James didn't recognize anyone in this place...

James took a deep breath, and met the eyes of the man sititng next to him. But his next question died in his throat. He'd been about to ask him how far ahead in time he'd thought James had gone, but that question didn't matter anymore. James knew the pair of eyes that was staring back at him. They were so familiar...James knew exactly where he'd seen those eyes before. But surely...no. No way. Yet -

"Remus?" gasped James. "Is that you?"

Remus sighed in happiness, and leaned his head back. He recognized him. James recognized him. "Yes." he breathed.

"What happened to you, mate?" asked James. He didn't know how, but he knew this was Remus. He knew this was his old friend. But there was one thing James was unsure of - was he still Moony?

Remus let out a strained, humorless chuckle. "It's a long story," he sighed.

Then, another thought entered James's mind, and his mouth fell open again. "S-So that man," began James shakily. "Before, who was yelling at me...that really was Sirius?"

Remus looked sadly at James, and gave him a nod. James stared back at the steps which Sirius had stormed up several minutes before, and felt his heart nearly stop. Sirius had said that he was dead. Why was James dead? What in Merlin's name had happened to him?

"How'd I die?" he whispered almost inaudibly, gazing pleadingly at Remus.

"I can't tell you," answered Remus hoarsley. "When you go back to your own time, you'll know too much. It'll change the present."

"It looks to me as though the present already needs changing!" shouted James. "I don't care what you say, Remus! I'm going to find out what the bloody hell happened to me!"

Angry tears threatening to spill from his eyes, James ran from the table and trotted up the stairs he'd seen Sirius disappear up. He stormed down the hallway, not caring if he woke anyone up. His head felt like it was about to explode, his stomach felt like it had dropped to his butt - he prayed and prayed that it was all just a dream.

It must be, he thought to himself. It has to be a dream. That's it. Time travel to the future is impossible. None of this is real, none of this is real...

But nothing had ever felt more real in all of James's life.

1976

Angry yells from the floor below her made Lily Evans thrust her pillow over her face. She didn't want to listen to her sister moan and complain about her being home for the holidays - it was sad the way her family had worked ever since she'd recieved her letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She would go off to school for the year, and return for the holidays. Her sister would complain that she didn't want some 'freak' home so much, and her parents would try to relax their eldest child. But Petunia would play the part of 'distressed victim' quite well, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans would be torn between their children.

Lily had nearly given up hope of ever being able to reach out to her sister again. Petunia clearly wanted nothing to do with her, and Lily knew that she should just accept that. But part of her always held dear the memory of two little girls playing in the park, laughing and holding hands.

Before tears could dare escape from Lily's lovely green eyes, she sprung out of her soft, warm pink bed and glanced out of her curtained windows. It was very early morning obviously, and the sky outside was a light grey. Lily figured that as long as Petunia was screeching, she wasn't going to get much more sleep. Groggily, Lily walked to her closet, and put on the first thing she touched - which just so happened to be a knee-length sundress. Lily put it on without thinking, and went over by her door to turn on the light. As if by magic, ironically enough, the moment the light tunred on, a screaming boy appeared in Lily's room.

At first, Lily was terrified, and let out a girlish shriek herself. But the minute she saw who was there and the toaster he held in his hand, Lily became irate.

"JAMES POTTER!" she screeched. "How dare you use a Portkey to get here! I thought Black was joking about that! LEAVE! RIGHT THIS INSTANT! If you don't, I'll - I'll - " unable to think of a very good threat so early in the morning, Lily said the first thing that came to mind. "I'll set my sister on you, and she's a right nasty piece of work!"

As though she heard herself being mentioned by a 'freak', Petunia Evans bursted through Lily's door not a moment later. And the moment that Harry looked up from the floor and saw his mother and his aunt, he fainted.

"Honestly, Lily!" sighed Petunia. "You just can't be normal for five minutes, can you?"

Oh, the drama! This was mostly a filler-chapter to set up the rest of the story, so please forgive me if it was a little boring. Next chapter will be more eventful, I pinky promise! Oh, but it has to be! In the next chapter, you can expect:

1) James to confront Sirius

2) Harry to try and explan himself to Lily and Petunia

3) The Marauders out searching for who they beileve is a hexed 'James'

4) Ron and Hermione meeting their best friend's dead father

And so much more! Oh, and there might be a little visit from some bad guys :O Anyways, I hope you guys at least thought this chapter was 'okay', and I hope I got the characters mostly in character! And if you liked this, please be sure to check out my new one-shot 'Those Voices', which is a songfic of the song from A Very Potter Sequel:) Okay, enough advertising! Pretty please review?

~marauderette-47