Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Please review! I've been down on reviews lately and it's making me sad. Well, not really, but reviews make me happy! So review any story! Even if you have something bad to say. Pretty please?
Harry stared around. The hallway was empty, save for him and Anna. She seemed to notice this too, but for once both of them were quiet. They couldn't hear anything in the castle – everything seemed deathly still. The only source of comfort for Harry was that the paintings were still moving. And, he suddenly noticed, gawking.
"I say, where did you come from?" asked a wizard in the nearest portrait, pointing at Harry and Anna. He was dressed in what looked like high class 18th century robes.
Harry was confused. "Er – excuse me?"
"Where did you come from?" the wizard in the painting demanded again.
Harry looked at Anna. "I don't get it," he said blankly.
"Yeah, me neither…let's move," she replied, leaving the wizard calling out behind them.
"I wonder where Hermione, Ron and Neville went to," Harry said as the pair moved down the hallway.
"I dunno. They seem to have just disappeared."
Suddenly Harry had a thought. "Maybe," he suggested, "The Time-Turner did something? I mean, it broke right before they vanished. Hermione said it was broken but maybe something happened?"
"I doubt it. They're probably playing some sort of joke on us."
"Come on, Neville and Hermione?" Harry scoffed. "Yeah, that sounds like something they would do."
"Whatever, Potter, you can do what you want but I'm going to go to class before Slughorn takes points."
"Winters, wait."
"What?" Anna looked quite impatient and annoyed. Harry didn't want points docked either but he had just noticed something rather strange.
"A minute ago, Neville's potion exploded all over us, didn't it?"
"Yeah. Your point?"
"Well it's not on us anymore." Anna looked down. Harry could see the realization dawn in her eyes.
"That's weird," she said. "What happened to it?"
"Yo, James!" a voice called in the background. Harry barely heard it as he tried to comprehend what could have happened to the potion. Anna seemed to be lost in thought as well.
"Oh look, that must be his new girlfriend," another voice said. Suddenly something in Harry's brain clicked and he realized that the two voices sounded strangely familiar. He didn't dare turn around as his breath sped up.
"Yeah, let's leave them. Lunch is calling," said the first voice again. Harry heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and whipped around to see if he was imagining things or not. All he could see, however, was the ends of the boys' robes as they turned the corner.
Harry turned back around, slowly, trying to work through what had just happened.
"Hey, Potter," Anna said, waving a hand in front of his face. He jerked back from his trance-like state.
"What?" he asked.
"What's wrong with you? You totally zoned out there for a second."
"Nothing. I think we should go to Dumbledore, though."
"Uh, why? To complain about Slughorn? Because, I mean, he's no Snape but we're sure to have both lost a lot of points by now."
"No…I just – something doesn't feel right. Look, you can go to class, but I'm gonna go talk to Dumbledore, okay? I'll see you later." With that, Harry began walking down the corridor towards Dumbledore's office. To his surprise, Anna followed him.
"What do you mean 'something doesn't feel right'?" she wanted to know. "What doesn't feel right?"
"I don't know, it's just –" Harry broke off as a girl rounded the corner and began walking towards them.
"What is she wearing?" Anna breathed. Normally, Harry tried not to pay attention when girls commented on each other's clothing. But this time, he couldn't help but notice that she was dressed very strangely indeed. True, she was wearing Hogwarts robes. But they were much differently styled than Harry and Anna's. The only word Harry could think to describe them was "outdated."
As the girl passed, she gave the duo a very strange look. Anna scoffed.
"What is she looking at us like that for? She's the one dressed weirdly! I mean, those robes looked ancient! Twenty years old, at least."
"Yeah," Harry said distractedly. They continued walking until they came to an opening into a main corridor. There were students all around, most heading in the direction of the Great Hall. And every single one was dressed just like that girl Harry and Anna had just passed.
"Okay, this is getting really odd," Anna said as she let Harry drag her away down the hall. "Why is everyone dressed like that?"
"I don't know," Harry replied, "But I think we should keep out of sight. Something is really wrong here."
Anna nodded in agreement. "How do we get to Dumbledore's office though? We need to get up to the second floor."
"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait. I think it's lunch or something. Everyone'll be in there soon…" Harry trailed off, with a sinking heart.
"Including Dumbledore," Anna finished for him. "It's fine, though," she assured her companion. "We'll just wait at his office for him."
"I want to talk to him as soon as possible, though. But I guess we don't have a choice," Harry sighed. Suddenly he felt Anna's fingers close on his arm and she dragged him behind a suit of armor. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Shut up!" she hissed. "I hear someone coming." As Harry strained his ears he too could hear the sound of footsteps coming their way.
"I swear," a voice was saying. "I wasn't in that corridor! And my girlfriend doesn't have black hair, remember? It's still Missy!"
"Prongs," a second voice said. Harry realized, with a jolt, that it was the same voice from before. And he recognized it this time, without a doubt. "We saw you. No one else has that crap hair on their head in this school."
"Hey!" the first voice exclaimed, indignant. "My hair is beautiful, thank you very much."
"Whatever."
"So who was that then?" a third voice said. It sounded familiar, yet Harry couldn't place it.
"Maybe it's just someone we don't know?" suggested yet a fourth voice. Harry had heard this one before as well, in the corridor ten minutes ago – and many times before that. Harry peered out from behind the suit of armor. He could see the boys approaching. As his stomach gave a lurch, he realized that his suspicions were correct.
"But we know everyone," Sirius Black laughed, looking much younger than Harry had ever seen him.
"Well," said Remus Lupin, on Sirius' left. His hair was devoid of any gray, and was completely sandy brown in color. "He didn't respond when we called him. Maybe it really wasn't James?"
"But he looked like him!" protested someone from Remus' left. And Harry suddenly knew where he had heard that voice before. It was Peter Pettigrew.
"Whatever, you guys. This is getting boring. Let's talk about Snape," said the three boys' companion, stopping right in front of Harry and Anna's shielding suit of armor. He was on Sirius' right. Harry's stomach flipped again. This boy had messy black hair, much like Harry's own, and glasses, covering hazel eyes. Harry knew he was looking at his father. For the first time in his life, he saw his father in the flesh.
"Personally," Sirius said as everyone came to a stop with James. "I can't wait to see the look on his face. He won't ever be able to live this one down."
"Even Slughorn won't be able to find anything good to say about his potion," Peter sniggered. Harry suppressed the urge to rush at the boy and beat him to death.
"What good is there to say about a potion that makes the brewer grow girly parts?" Sirius said, grinning. "You know, from a teacher's perspective."
Harry was torn between laughter and disgust as his father, godfather, and their friends continued to talk about this. It had been one thing to see them torture Snape in the Pensieve. Seeing it play out in real life was much worse.
"Anyway," Sirius said as they began moving again. "Let's see if that kid is still in the corridor and then finally get to lunch. I'm dying here." With that, the quartet walked further down the hall, inspected the spot where Harry and Anna had just been, and, shrugging, made their way towards the Great Hall. Only once they were completely out of sight did Harry and Anna emerge from behind their guardian.
"Potter," Anna said, her voice shaking slightly. "Those boys were talking about Snape getting his potion judged by Slughorn…but Snape's a teacher. And the only time he could have been Slughorn's student is the last time Slughorn taught here…which was ages ago. Also, I think – I think that was Sirius Black right there. He looked different but…what's going on?"
Harry didn't answer her for a while. "Okay," he finally said. "First of all, Sirius is innocent. I'll explain later. In a nutshell, though, Sirius was framed by Peter Pettigrew, who's actually alive. The thing is, though, Sirius? He's dead. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries last term. Furthermore," he continued, loudly, seeing that Anna was about to interrupt, "That guy on Sirius' right…that was my dad."
"I'm sorry?" Anna asked incredulously as Harry began stalking down the hall. "Your dad? Potter, not to sound harsh or anything, but your dad's dead."
"And so is Sirius!" Harry snapped. "In our time, anyway."
"'In our time.' What do you mean, 'in our time'?"
"Look," Harry whirled around to face her. "Do you not see what's going on here? We were covered head to toe by Neville's faulty travel potion, into which a Time-Turner had fallen just moments before. Then we see my dad and Sirius Black walking down the hall in Hogwarts School robes. Old-looking school robes."
"Are you trying to tell me that we went back in time? Twenty years back in time?" Anna demanded as Harry began moving again.
"That's what it looks like, doesn't it?" Harry said.
Anna shook her head. "This is the weirdest day," she muttered, and followed Harry down the hall.
