Chapter Two: Welcome, Time Travellers
"His name's Slughorn."
"Slughorn?" asked Ron with a raised eyebrow. "Weird name."
"Oh, I've read about him," said Hermione instantly. "Apparently he was a teacher, back when You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts. Is he really like they say he is?"
Harry shrugged. "Depends what they say."
"Oh, that he's old-fashioned, really secretive and knows his stuff."
"Um, yeah."
After that, the six occupants of the compartments began to talk about their own thing, and soon there was three or four different conversations going on - depending on whether Luna's talking to no one in particular, with no one listening, was counted.
"So, Harry, how long have you and Ginny been... well, together?" asked Neville. Stuck at his grandma's for the holidays, Neville had had little communication with the rest of the wizarding community but had still managed to gain enough news from the residents of Grimmauld Place to gather that Harry and Ginny were now a couple.
"Since third week of the holidays."
"And is Ron..." Neville trailed off.
"He'll get over it. For the first week or so he was furious – turning red every time he saw us in the same room together. Now he just kicks up a fuss every so often on the principal of the matter."
"You should have heard him when he caught us kissing," laughed Ginny before turning away from a now blushing Neville and facing Hermione again.
"The DA's still continuing, right?" asked Ginny.
"Maybe, it depends."
Ron finally gave up his silence induced by Hermione's glare and began to talk to her again.
"Even if we do keep it going, I swear, if Smith is still there, I'm not going."
Hermione looked at him exasperatedly. "Ron! The point of the DA was to teach everyone to defend themselves against You-Know-Who. Not just the people you like."
"He could be a spy – you know, a mole or something."
"But then why didn't he betray us to Umbridge?"
"Maybe the money wasn't good enough."
"Ronald!"
"It could be true..."
"Ronald."
M e a n w h i l e - i n - M c G o n a g l e ' s - o f f i c e . . . .
McGonagle's office was a perfect match to her appearance - neat, orderly, and not the sort of place you'd expect any strange occurences to, well, occur, even if this was Hogwarts. It had barely changed from the time when, many years ago, the Maruaders (plus Lily) had been sent there by Professor Pandora White. There were a few more books on the cases, a few more items of moderate importance, and a bit more paperwork but otherwise it was still the same. The clock on the wall ticked monotonously with the passing seconds. Silence.
But then, there was a faint rushing sound, like the air going out of a balloon, followed by the sort of 'pop' sound that can only happen when several billion air particles are pushed aside to make room for several billion people particles. With this sound came the sudden appearance of several people, all in Hogwarts uniform. James, Sirius, Lupin, and Lily.
"Potter! What the hell just happened?" exclaimed Lily.
James looked around in confusion. He turned to his friends, who shrugged, and then peered at the desk. "I... don't know. One minute we were in McGonagle's office - which we still are, aren't we? - and the next..." James, Lupin and Lily turned to look at Sirius as one.
"Hey," protested Sirius, knowing it would make little difference, "she was the one who made me drop that Time Twister thing."
"It's a Time Turner," replied Lily automatically. "And I guess this does look like McGonagle's office, but it's still different. Do you think the Time Turner could have malfunctioned? Sent us back a day or two? Maybe a week?"
"Who knows? Maybe there's an answer in the desk," said James. He went over to the desk and began shifting through the sheets of paper.
After a moment, Lupin joined him. They looked through the piles of paperwork but didn't see any names they recognised. Sirius went to look through the draws, and Lily reluctantly helped as well.
"Hey," said Lupin after about three minutes. "Look at the name on this one! It says Harry--"
Before Lupin could finish his sentence, the door of the office opened and Professor McGonagle entered. They all turned round, except for James, who was staring at the piece of paper with a look of mute shock on his face.
"Potter!" snapped McGonagle. "What are you doing in my office? The feast's about to begin, and I don't know anything that..." She trailed off as she registered the faces of his companions. Her mouth dropped open in astonishment but she did not have a chance to say anything as James turned around, holding the offending piece of paper - a list of the Gryffindoor team members - in one hand.
"Why the hell -" he said "- is someone called Harry Potter playing Seeker for Gryffindor???"
McGonagle continued to blink at him, speechless for the first time since she had heard the news of James and Lily Potter's deaths. Eventually she managed to form a sentence. "I think... I should take you all... to Dumbledore."
But Lily, now intrigued and confused (never a good combination), spoke up again. "But what's going on, Professor?"
"Well," said McGonagle, her usual prim nature re-exerting itself, "by my reckoning, you've all just travelled forward 20 years. Is that satisfactory, Miss Evans?"
Lily merely nodded, before allowing herself, along with James, Sirius and Lupin to be led out of the office and towards Dumbledore's office.
"Acid Pops," McGonagle said as they reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance, which promptly stepped aside to allow the five of them through. They then ascended the winding staircase. They reached the top quickly and, after a slight hesitation, McGonagle opened the door and stepped inside, the used-to-be-Sixth-Years following after her.
"Albus," said McGonagle, with the tone of one holding a rather large snake behind their back that they were afraid was going to bite them any moment. "I don't know how to say this but... they're here."
"And who would they be?" asked Dumbledore as he stepped down into the main part of his office and went over to one of his astronomical observation items, all without looking up.
McGonagle paused for a moment. "Lupin," she said.
"Isn't he supposed to be off on Order business?"
"Well, I suppose he is. But... there are others too."
"Yes?" Dumbledore was now inspecting Fawkes's cage with extreme interest, clearing the ashes from where the Phoenix had recently died and then, of course, returned to life.
"Sirius Black, James Potter and Lily Evans." It all came out rather fast, McGonagle obviously deciding that it was best over and done with.
Dumbledore looked up now, and saw the very awkward group standing behind McGonagle. "Now that is... interesting. Well, don't just stand there, take a seat, all four of you. We have... much to discuss." He waved his wand and four chairs slid, seemingly out of nowhere, to rest in front of his desk. Sirius, James, Lily and Lupin sat down immediately. James noticed a sinking feeling in his stomach, the one he normally got right before an exam, only this time, he was filled with the notion - a not unwarented notion, mind you - that this time was much, much worse than all that.
Dumbledore peered at them over his moon-shaped glasses. "I suppose," he began, "that Professor McGonagle has already alerted you to the fact that, through some medium or another, you four have travelled forwards twenty years in time. I therefore must deduce that it is my job to bring you up to date on what has happened in your... 'absence.' In short, a dark wizard - darker than any before - emerged, aroundabout the end of your time at Hogwarts. He called himself Voldemort. I, among others, formed a force against him - the Order of the Pheonix. Now, it happened that we came across a prophercy about one who could defeat him. As it turned out, that one... was your son." Here he looked directly at James and Lily, who were seated next to each other, although to each it seemed as if he was looking at them alone.
"Who did I end up with?" asked James excitedly. Dumbledore merely glanced from James, to Lily, then back again. Then he continued.
"As I was saying, we tried to protect you, both of you, using many different methods. Voldemort searched for you, indeed, his struggle to find you never ceased, until at last he learnt a way past your defences. Then on Halloween--"
"Wait a second," interupted Lily. "Are you saying, Potter and I... we got... married?" This time Dumbledore glared slightly at her, but only just. "Sorry, continue," she grimaced, embarassed.
"Then, on Halloween, he found you. He... tried to kill Harry, but he lived. Your son somehow stripped Voldemort of his powers, rendering him almost dead, and causing him to flee. But now he is back, and he is trying to take control again. That is how things stand."
Lupin frowned, noticing that something didn't quite add up. "But... what happened to us? To James and Lily?"
Dumbledore acted as if he hadn't heard the question. "Regardless of how you got here - no, Mr Black, I am sure it is not your fault, no need to look so offended - the fact remains that you are here, and will need a cover until we can devise how best to get you back to your own time. Some extra sixth year students should do the trick."
"But won't people recognise us?" asked Lily. "I mean, Harry would at least, and there'd probably be some others. Teachers and the like."
Dumbledore simply picked up his wand and smiled. "Magic," he said.
Ten minutes later, the Marauders and Lily looked totally different. Gone was James's ragged black hair, replaced instead by much more controlled blondey-brown hair. Dumbledore had entertained the thought of a buzz cut but had decided, upon James's protests ("No... just, no...") that it was best left close to its original length. His eyes had become a murky greeny-grey.
Sirius had also received a change of look. His hair was now blonde, his eyes blue, while Lupin had been given black hair and purple eyes - an anomaly that he was assured was an actual genetic possibility. Lily had had her red hair shortened and changed to a dark-brown while her eyes were now a nondescript brown. Their facial structures had all been changed slightly as well, not so much that they could not recognise each other but enough that others - including Harry - would not.
"Now for names," said Dumbledore. "Let me see... they should be similar to your own, so you can respond to themselves, but, once again, far away enough that the general population, if you will, will not connect yourselves to, wel, yourselves."
"This is almost like a spy movie - maybe one of those Mission Impossible films," mussed Lily, smiling despite herself. Upon receiving confused looks from Sirius, Lupin and James, she shrugged and said, "Muggle film."
Dumbledore smiled at her. "Indeed. In that case, Miss Evans, you can be Lacey Evangeline Smith." She nodded, satisfied with the name.
"Sirius can be Simon Bark," continued Dumbledore. "That name should suit you rather well, don't you think?"
Sirius nodded too, before doubling back and saying, "Wait a sec, how did you...," before he was cut off by James, who hissed at him, "Sirius the Dog Star, idiot."
"The name of Luthando Midnight will work for Remus - oh, sorry, Mr Lupin," said Dumbledore. He was so used to calling Lupin by his first name that it was strange to refer to him like any other student, even if that was his apparent age right now. Dumbledore wondered if he should tell the actual Lupin about this but then decided not to - it would be best to leave things as they were, without messing with the time stream any further. "And you, Mr Potter, how about Jason Pinkington?"
Sirius instantly doubled over with laughter, while James stared at Dumbledore in horror. "But... but... Why?"
Dumbledore smiled once more, but did not answer. Instead he simply turned to McGonagle, and said, "These four should be getting to their common room, don't you think? Gryffindor table, of course."
"Of course," said McGonagle. Without further ceremony, she ushered the four of them out of the office. When she was gone, Dumbledore turned to Fawkes and stroked the small phoenix's head. He stood there for a while, until the last of the footsteps faded away.
"This could be just what we need, Fawkes... just what we need..."
After the Feast, the other Gryffindor students gradually drifted into the Common Room. Nobody noticed five Gryffindors sitting on the armchairs near the fires and keeping to themselves, least of all Harry, who, upon entering the common room, found himself surrounded by a veritable mob of first, second and the occasional third years.
"Harry, can we have an autograph?" "A boy in third year said you faced a dragon! Is that true?" "Sign my book bag!" "Harry, do you have a girlfriend?" The last was from a third year girl who immediately turned pink after saying it and ran away, holding her book bag in front of her face.
"Well," said Ron, "someone's got fans. Lots of small, hyper fans. You'd think that the third years at least would be over you by now - they've been in your House for three years, after all."
"Yes, but he hasn't been the famous Harry Potter who fought Voldemort - in the flesh - until now," said Hermoine.
At that point, a group of four people came up to Harry - James, Sirius, Lupin and Lily, although of course they weren't to know that. "Excuse me," said James, "we're knew and we were wondering, where do the sixth years sleep?"
Hermoine glanced at them and then said, "Oh, the boy's dormitories are over there" - she pointed in one direction - "and the girls are up there." She pointed in another.
"Thanks," said Lupin, then he, Sirius and James headed to the boys and Lily headed up to the girl's dormitories. Later that night, when everyone else had gone to bed, the four of them all snuck back down again. By the light of the fire, they went over what had happened, just to make sure it was all real.
At the end of the discussion, Lupin said, "Before we go to sleep... there's one thing I want to discuss."
Sirius grinned, sensing some sort of mischief or mayhem. "Well, what is it?"
"If Lily's going to be going through this with all of us, how about we make her an honorary Marauder? We'd have to give her a codename but..."
James looked as if he was about to protest but then - as if remembering that he was stuck with her, they did end up married after all (Maybe she Confounded me, he mused. That would explain it...) - shrugged. Sirius followed his lead. "Tiger," said James. "She'd be Tiger."
"And how do you figure that?" asked Lily. She was rather annoyed that her decision was not being considered at all, but decided not to press that issue.
"Lily - Tigerlily - Tiger," said James simply. "Not to mention *cough* anger problems *cough*."
Lily glared at him, scarily reminiscent - not that any of them would have known - of Hermoine glaring at Ron in the train just a few hours previous. "Tiger it is then," said Lupin quickly. "Now let's get to bed..." Before the two of you decide to start another war, all on your own, he added to himself.
Without any further conversation, the four of them stood up and wandered over to their respective dormitories. The fire continued to crackle and Hogwarts lay silent, the majority - indeed, almost the entirity - of its population completely unaware of the strange event that had just occured under their very noses.
The Marauders were back.
E: Well, sorry about the long delay. Holidays (no Internet access) and starting school again really cut down on your time. But we're back now. This chapter's a bit fattened up, as I realise the last one was a bit on the short side.
R: Hi everyone! Again sorry for the delay. Any questions and queries just send us a message. Also we tweeked the timeline to fit it with our story, so keep that in mind! I'd like to say my thoughts are with the bushfire victims, thanks.
Disclaimer: We Own Nothing. At All. JK Rowling does, not us.
