Chapter 4: Parker

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter-related and mean no copyright infringement.


Molly eyed the metal box warily. Despite what had been said about the box being unbreakable, she was still very anxious about a possible Death Eater being in the house. "Well, then, what is the plan?" she asked, a little impatiently. "And when will it kick in?"

"Oh, immediately," Harry assured her, a smile stretching across his lips as the thought of the plan he and his friends had cooked up. "We just…Have to wait for Parker."

It was three days after the time travellers had made it back to 1992.

Hermione had less than four days left before she had to go to France with her parents.

Ron wasn't the only one getting more and more paranoid at having a Death Eater in the house, even if he was unconscious at all times. Molly had even gone so far as to ask Dumbledore to place a magical shield around the metal box so that, in the unlikely event that Pettigrew broke out of it, he would not be able to go far or touch anyone.

"Where the hell is she!?" Ron growled as he paced the length of the living room. "It's been three bloody days!"

"Ron's right," Ginny chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "She should've been here by now...Do you think something might've happened to her?"

Harry shook his head as he studied the notes stuck on the Muggle board Hermione had conjured up. They had turned part of the living room at the Weasleys into a temporary planning room. The board was filled with papers scribbled with notes of plans they had planned to carry out. In the middle of the board was a large, detailed map of the world.

"No, she would've found a way to contact us if that were true," Harry firmly believed that.

"How?" Neville challenged. "Her two-way mirror and her wand are with us for safekeeping."

Not knowing for sure if they'd be able to hold onto their wands and the mirrors they each had for communication purposes, they'd hidden all six wands and all six mirrors in Hermione's beaded bag before starting the ritual. The five of them had each gotten their wand and mirror back; Parker had not.

"And she wouldn't have stolen her first wand yet – that wouldn't happen for two years," Neville added.

Harry nodded. "Yes, but out of all of us, Parker does the best on the road, with nothing material to aid her," he reminded the others. "She's a natural born survivor. She's been living on the street since she was a child. She'll get here."

Hermione took out her wand and did a locator spell, just as she'd done periodically over the past few days. Her wand spun in her hand a few times before a tiny jet of light burst from the tip and headed straight for a spot on the map. The spot glowed golden for a few long moments and Harry squinted at it.

It had landed on "France."

Parker's route had been incredibly random these past few days. The first time Hermione had done a locator spell on her, Parker had been in New York. Then she had travelled to Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Harry had thought she was heading to England but she had then double-backed deeper into America and headed for Detroit and Chicago.

The next day, after breakfast, Hermione had done another locator spell and saw that Parker was making her way from Montana to California. She stayed there for half of the second day before heading to South America. She spent some time in Colombia and Venezuela.

Completely bypassing the UK, Parker had gone straight to Africa then, visiting places like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, the Congo, Kimberley, Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Somalia. She'd made a pit stop in Egypt though that only lasted for several hours.

She'd moved on to Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar by the time Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had gone off to bed on the second day.

This morning, she had been in Sri Lanka for a few hours and China a few more hours after that before heading to Russia.

"She's in France now," Harry announced to the group. "That's not far from the UK. She's probably on her way here."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Great," he sniped sarcastically. "And when she gets here, we can ask her where she's been."

Harry turned away from the board and smiled genially. "Well, that's obvious, isn't it?" he asked the room at large.

Bill, who had been staying close to the group (whether out of curiosity or whether to keep an eye on them, Harry couldn't say for sure), gave Harry a strange look. "What do you mean by that?" he wondered. "She's been continent hopping for the last few days...Nothing about it makes any sense."

Harry nodded. "Yes, but notice the areas she went to – New York, Chicago...Mafia-dominated areas. Africa – where there's an abundance of gold and valuable minerals like diamonds and rubies..."

"You think she's stealing?" Hermione asked sharply, eyes narrowing.

Neville, who was seated at the coffee table restocking their supplies of first aid potions by brewing them himself using potion ingredients he had gotten from the greenhouses on his family's property, snorted in amusement. "Well, of course she is," he waved his hand dismissively. "What else is she going to do? She's a thief."

"We told her not to steal anything before we came back," Hermione sniffed, indignant.

Harry grinned. "No, we didn't tell her," he corrected her. "You told her."

Ron nodded, understanding immediately. "She never listens to anyone but Harry," he agreed.

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"She views him as our leader," Neville answered. "'course, he sort of is, isn't he?"

"And you trust her?" Charlie questioned, sounding more than slightly incredulous.

Ginny shrugged. "Of course," she agreed. "Why wouldn't we?"

"She's a thief," Bill pointed out needlessly. "How do you know she won't rob you blind?"

Harry snorted. "We don't really have much by way of money or valuables," he said. "We were on the run for fourteen years and one of Zankou's first moves was to take over Gringotts. We never even saw it coming."

"Zankou?"

"Another dark lord," Hermione explained quickly without looking up from the Ancient Arithmancy tome she was reading and making notes out of. "He rose a few years after Voldemort's death."

"You-Know-Who died?" Charlie yelped.

"We'll explain after Sirius has been cleared," Ron said hastily. He had a bowl of some leftover meatballs from last night's dinner in his hands; Bill and Charlie hadn't even noticed he'd left the room but none of the others seemed surprised.

It was dinner time before Parker actually arrived.

Neville was once again staying for dinner with the others; Augusta had accepted the strange situation the adults-in-pre-teen-clothing had found themselves in and allowed him to spend as much time as he needed with them.

Since none of them knew when Parker would arrive – and since their next course of action depended on her getting there as they needed some of her skills to pull it off flawlessly – Neville had spent most of his time at the Burrow since they'd arrived in 1992. He'd only taken time from the second day back to visit his parents at St. Mungo's, spending most of the day there.

"Percy, get some glasses for the table, will you?" Molly instructed as she placed a large dish of potatoes on the dinner table.

Percy nodded and, taking his wary eye off of the five supposed pre-teenagers and headed towards the sink. He jumped, his heart racing wildly in his chest, when a head of blonde hair suddenly popped up outside the kitchen window.

He screamed.

There was a person hanging upside down outside their window!

Everyone in the kitchen jumped but when Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville saw the familiar blonde, they relaxed and released the death grips they had on their wands.

"Parker," Harry greeted and admonished at the same time.

Parker beamed innocently at him. "Why does everything you say sound like you're scolding me?" she wondered out loud.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, come on in," he said exasperatedly, knowing that if he didn't invite her in, she would stay hung upside down. For some odd reason, she loved hanging upside down for long periods of time.

Fred smirked at Percy. "Nice scream you've got there, Percy," he commented.

"Very good girlish lungs," George added, sniggering.

Percy glared at the two of them and backed away from the window when Parker climbed in through it, her hands placed on the ceramic counter on either side of the sink before she slipped her entire body inside. She flipped right-side up once her body was fully inside, her feet hitting the ground and her hands leaving the counter as she straightened up.

"You realize we have a door," Percy told her, in a tone that suggested he was highly disapproving of having a thief anywhere near him. He eyed her all black ensemble, her combat boots and the black leather jacket she wore, creating a dangerous sort of look about her "Two, in fact."

Parker, as usual, didn't catch any sarcasm. Instead, she smiled brightly at him and said cheerfully, "Where's the fun in that?"

She turned to the others and, catching sight of Mrs. Weasley, she ran forward and hugged the woman around her waist. Mrs. Weasley seemed very shocked, leading Ginny to whisper to her, "Before you..." she was unable to finish that ominous sentence but Mrs. Weasley seemed to understand her meaning just fine, "...she was quite close to you; saw you as the only maternal figure she'd ever known since she was very little."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to warm up to Parker more after that, sitting her in between Harry and Ron and feeding her seconds and thirds to make sure that she "put some meat on those skinny bones."

"That was great," Parker sighed as they dinner table was cleared of any and all sign of dinner. "I haven't eaten like that since 2000."

Those who weren't a part of the time-travelling group shared an uneasy look and nervous laughs.

"Um, yes, well..." Molly and Arthur shared a glance. "Thank you, dear."

Parker grinned at her.

Harry, trying his best not to be too thrown by a thirteen year old Parker (the last time they had met, she had been eighteen and looked quite a bit older), turned in his seat to look at her.

"So," he said, spreading his hands on the empty dinner table in front of him. "What have you been up to these past few days?"

Parker smiled, looking so innocent that one would doubt whether she was a thief. "I've been a bad girl," she admitted, not sounding the least bit remorseful. She retrieved a wand from her left sleeve pocket and a tiny little object from an inside pocket of her jacket.

"Where did you get a wand?" Ginny questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Stole it," Parker shrugged. "Slipped into the apartment of a witch in New York and took it. In and out in fifteen seconds – she didn't even look up from her stove," she snickered.

She waved her hand over the object resting in her palm and it grew into a black backpack. "By the way, did you know we don't have the trace on us anymore?" she asked casually.

Neville nodded. "We did a bunch of spells the first day here," he told her. "Well...Harry and Hermione did."

"Secured the traitor?" Parker asked, sharp enough not to miss anything.

Ron smirked, almost sadistically. "Oh, yeah..."

Parker didn't need any more explanations after that; what they had to do to Wormtail had been discussed thoroughly amongst the six of them before their trip back.

"So what do you have in there?" Ginny asked, nodding at the black backpack.

Parker grinned devilishly.

She unzipped the backpack, which she had placed an Undetectable extension charm on, and waved her wand again, summoning everything inside it. It took a good ten minutes for everything inside to fly out and by the time it was done, there wasn't a single inch left of empty space on the long, wide dinner table.

The entire surface was overflowing with goods; there were mountains and mountains of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, high piles of gold bars, countless priceless artefacts and stacks upon stacks of muggle dollar bills: American, British, Australian, French, Chinese, even Malaysian. These were huge bills, in the thousands, tied together using money bands.

There wasn't a closed mouth in sight.

"Well?" Parker asked breathlessly, grinning at her impressive loot. "Are you proud of me?"

"No, Parker," Hermione answered for Harry. "We said no stealing until we give the okay."

Parker shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is," she said honestly. "You're okay with me stealing all the time in the future."

"Yes, well, that was when we were on the run and had no way to get any cash or provision," Harry reminded her. "Zankou had taken over Gringotts and possessed all our assets."

Parker pouted. "Well, you have all these plans," she thought of his ideas of restructuring the Wizarding world – through the help of allies he knew they'd have with adult bodies in this time. "And they're expensive to pull off."

"I have the gold to fund that," Harry said dismissively.

"Not if you wanna be broke by the time we're done," Parker argued.

Harry shrugged, unfazed by that. "Then I'll get a job like everyone else," he answered easily.

The blonde American sighed. "Look," she said, her tone a little less playful this time. "That gold was left to you by your parents. It was their gift to you. If I had parents like yours who'd give up their lives to protect me...I wouldn't just give away their possessions, even if it's materialistic. I wouldn't waste it."

Harry stared at her. "You think stopping wars, saving lives and nipping political corruption in the bud is a waste?" he wondered.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm saying you don't wanna use it all," she retorted gently. "I stole all these," she gestured towards the money, gold and precious gemstones. "From bad people – pirates, drug dealers, mobsters...It's not like I stole from the good guys."

Harry still looked hesitant.

Hermione looked downright outraged that Harry was even considering this – Parker had never stolen anything of this magnitude before; just a few hundred pounds here and there to last them a few weeks and maybe some imperishable food for while they were on the road, camping out in the forests and such.

Ginny simply looked amused, as did Ron and Neville.

Parker grinned deviously and said temptingly, "What say you we turn this bad money good?"

"Your logic makes no sense, Parker," Harry sighed.

She perked up slightly. "Is that a yes?" she asked excitedly.

"Will you return this if I say so?" he asked tiredly, already knowing the answer.

Parker scoffed as though he was particularly batty for asking her that. "No, of course not," she answered immediately. "I'd just keep it for myself."

Molly looked as though she was second-guessing her earlier judgment about Parker being an innocent street urchin with nimble fingers who simply needs a firm guiding hand.

"Then fine," Harry agreed much to Hermione's dismay. "But no more stealing until I say so, okay?"

Parker's triumphant smile turned into a glare. "You ruin all my fun."

"'Until you say so'?" Arthur quoted, looking a little pale. His bald patch was shiny with sweat. "Why would you need her to steal – ever again? This...This is a huge...I've never..."

He wasn't the only speechless Weasley; even no-nonsense Percy couldn't find the words to reprimand Parker.

Parker, who had known Percy for several years before having to go on the run again after Zankou's rise to power in 2001, gave him a huge, knowing grin and wagged her eyebrows. "It's a lot more rewarding to be on my side of the law, isn't it?" she said temptingly.

He could only manage a weak glare.

"Oh, don't worry," Harry assured Arthur and Molly, ignoring Parker's antics. "She won't be stealing any more valuable things."

Parker huffed. "Aww..." she whined.

"I might need her to retrieve a few dark items...But that remains to be seen," Harry continued as though he was mostly talking to himself.

Parker paid no attention to Harry's words, having gone back to admiring her loot. "So...What do we do with all of this?" she asked aloud. "Especially all that pretty money..."

That earned her several odd looks.

But Harry only smiled. "We'll head over to Gringotts tomorrow," he promised her. "Set up an account specifically for our cause."

Parker didn't seem appeased by that. In fact, she looked quite incredulous and outraged. "What!?" she asked, sounding as though she wanted to plead with Harry and attack him at the same time. "No! I-it's not safe there!"

She hugged a pile of gold bars to her chest protectively, stacks of money in each hand.

Bill laughed at this. "Gringotts is the safest place in the world," he assured her, having momentarily forgotten about the illusive 'Zankou' and his takeover. "Next to Hogwarts, of course. You have nothing to worry about."

This didn't soothe Parker at all.

Glaring at Bill, she snarled, "Lest we forget, Gringotts was the easiest thing Zankou got a hold of the moment he began making a name for himself...I myself broke into Gringotts successfully when I was eighteen. In and out in eleven minutes without a scratch on me."

Percy leapt to his feet then. "You broke into Gringotts!?" he roared, face flushed yet again.

Parker sniffed. "Yes, one of my greatest accomplishments," she answered him without a single hint of regret. "I was quite proud of it until Zankou came along."

"Why do you associate yourselves with such...Such filthy criminals!?" Percy finally burst out.

"Percy!" Molly chided, even if she wasn't so keen on learning of the young girl's past and what she was capable of.

Ron, whose ears had gone red, stood up as well, somehow looking far more menacing than scrawny Percy who was a good four years older. "Oy!" he yelled. "Don't talk about her like that!"

"She broke in because a dark artefact that would eventually lead to Voldemort's eventual ultimate downfall was in a vault owned by a Death Eater," Ginny was quick to explain.

Even if they didn't reveal much, enough was given to satisfy everyone for now – Harry and Ron just weren't sure telling everyone everything right off the bat was a good idea. Too much future information leaking out would change everything drastically once too many players were involved. Hermione had warned them of such a thing.

Ron nodded. "None of us could do it," he gestured towards Harry, Hermione and himself, three out of the four who had actually been on the run during the second war with Voldemort. "But she could. It was one of the reasons we allied with her."

"But-"

Ron cut Percy off, "You know, just because she's not a ministry bootlicker like you doesn't mean-"

Molly went to intervene but, to her surprise, Harry got there first.

"Alright, that's enough," he barked, and his voice had a deep, commanding tone to it that was both impressive and strange coming out of a twelve year old body. Molly noted that though Percy didn't stand up straight, his back rigid like a soldier's, the way Ron did, even he deflated a little.

"We'll get nowhere turning on each other," Harry reprimanded, his eyes and voice sharp. Ron nodded curtly, a frown on his face even as he kept silent. "Hermione, make sure you keep a vigilant schedule keeping Wormtail on the tranquilizer potion."

Hermione nodded. "I just gave him today's dose, as well as a shot of protein," she reported.

"Protein?" Arthur wondered.

"To ensure that he stays alive – he might not be awake to register hunger but his body would react to lack of food," Hermione explained. "I give him a daily shot of protein to ensure he survives."

Ron glared at the tabletop. "Should just let him die," he muttered even if he knew they couldn't let that happen – not just yet anyway.

"Parker, tomorrow we're going to Gringotts and depositing all of this into an account we'll set up," Harry said firmly. "No arguments."

Parker pouted at him. "Fine. But if Zankou tries anything, I'm going in and robbing him blind – and you can't stop me," she stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

Harry rolled her eyes. "Now the account will have four holders – I will represent Potter house," he looked at Ginny and offered her a smile. "If you're alright with that."

"Most definitely," she agreed. "This much money makes me antsy."

"Ron will represent Weasley," Harry looked to Ron and Hermione and received dual nods of agreement.

Molly, who had given a start when Harry had mentioned "four holders" began to shake her head. "No, no, that isn't necessary, Harry," she said, uncomfortable with both the idea of 'pity money' being given to two of her children, and with the idea of any of them being in contact with stolen valuables, even Parker the thief herself.

Harry gave her a reassuring look. "It is necessary, Mrs. Weasley," he said. "I'd like us to have equal control of the funds. Just in case something were to happen to me, they'd have complete access to finish what we've started together."

Molly gaped at him a little. "Yes, but..." she seemed at a loss for words.

"She doesn't like stolen money," Parker noted with accuracy as she gazed unblinkingly at Molly. It was unnerving enough to shift Molly's eyes away from her. "I don't get why. Freshly stolen money smells almost as good as freshly printed money."

Harry and Ron shared a look and smirked. "Not everyone understands that, Parker," Ginny said, humouring the socially inept thief.

Percy glowered at his little sister. "Ginevra!" he scolded. "How can you say something like that!?"

Ginny shrugged and whispered for her brother's sake, "Parker isn't like the rest of us, Percy. I'm just trying to soothe her."

He looked as though he didn't know why anyone would bother doing such a thing for a criminal.

"I know the idea of stolen money is...Not ideal," Hermione said loudly to smooth things over. "But, like Parker said, it was taken from very bad people and...We're using them to do good things."

Molly still didn't seem appeased but she stayed quiet. She would be having a very long talk with her husband after everyone else had gone to bed, and she would definitely be having a talk with Dumbledore.

Even if the six of them were in their thirties mentally, they were still young enough and human enough to make mistakes. Stealing other people's money, whether they were good or bad, was one such mistake in her honest opinion.

And who was to say that being older than what they looked like physically had made them more mature? Molly was still the parent in this situation. She couldn't follow Dumbledore's plan to simply sit by, support these kids while they messed with dangerous situations, and not say a single word about protecting them.

Perhaps another thing they were supposed to change was their innocence. They shouldn't have to lose it so soon.

Harry continued on, ignoring the banter. "Parker will represent...Parker. And Neville will represent Longbottom," Harry decided.

"I thought Parker's last name is James?" Fred wondered.

Parker shrugged. "I don't have a last name," she admitted.

She had never learned the surname of her biological parents and she hadn't ever felt the need to know. For a few short years when she was very little, whenever there was need for her full name (for school and such), her adoptive family would place their surname behind her first name. She had dropped that after their deaths and she had gone to live on the streets.

The last name 'James' was given to her by Harry the first time she had been in need of a full name after they had met; realizing how much the name James had meant to him, she'd kept it, even if it was unofficial, but only used it whenever she was in need of an alias or a last name.

"Not to put a damper on your plans," Bill interrupted. "But no underage wizard can create a bank account in any Gringotts branch in the world."

"We have a plan for that," Neville assured him.

"We're counting on the goblins recognizing our mature magical signatures," Harry explained to a sceptical Bill. "There is no longer a trace on our magic, or we'd have gotten multiple letters from the ministry these past few days. Our magical signatures remained the same as it was in 2015."

Hermione nodded. "It is also widely known that goblins can sense things that humans can't, even with the help of magic," she added. "Marriage bonds are one of those things. There are no known records of goblins being able to recognize someone who had time travelled from the past or the future, but only because such instances are very rare and almost never recorded; certainly nothing past the thirteenth century."

Hermione looked distinctly ruffled by that; it had taken them a very long time to even find a hint of clue about the Book of Tempus.

"And if that doesn't work?" Bill wondered, trying to sound just curious instead of outright sceptical.

Harry shrugged. He honestly didn't like to consider having to use their second option. It was a backup plan that he hoped he didn't have to follow through with.

"Well, we have a plan for that as well," Ginny snuck a look at Harry who seemed distinctly uncomfortable now. She reached under the table and took his hand in hers. He smiled gratefully at her.

"Of course you do," Percy scoffed. "You seem to have one ridiculous plan after another all lined up."

Ron glared at his brother. "It isn't smart not to have contingency plans, Percy," Ron growled out. "And, while we're at it, it's not smart to antagonize people left and right, either. Running your mouths unthinkingly is a trait the Malfoys have, not the Weasleys."

Percy's normally pale cheeks flooded with colour until his entire face was burning a bright magenta. He opened his mouth to argue but he was cut off.

"I'll contact Dumbledore tomorrow, as well," Harry interrupted the oncoming brotherly spat; it seemed that Ron and Percy were continually having those these past few days. It felt like they were back in 1995, which was better than 2015, but it still grated on Harry's nerves. "Now that Parker's here," he gave her a pointed look. "We can put our plan to free Sirius into action."

"Will you be letting Dumbledore in on this plan of yours?" Molly asked, slightly surprised when Harry answered in the affirmative – the six of them had been very take charge since they'd arrived, adamant on things happening their way, and Dumbledore had advised the rest to support them and only encourage or advise them in any which way they see fit; they had, after all, risked everything to return to the past. Dumbledore was sure that once they felt ready to share their plans, they would. It seemed like he was right.

Harry nodded. "Yes. No one would listen to us if we went around saying that Sirius is innocent," he explained.

"And it's not as if we can just tell the whole world we came back from the future," Neville added.

"Dumbledore will have to call upon the Wizengamot," Harry said. "And hopefully, he'll do it soon. Sirius has already spent eleven years in prison at this point."

"I'll send him a letter," Hermione said, quickly conjuring up a piece of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. "Should I tell him to come over or to just call on a full Wizengamot session?"

"Tell him to call the session," Harry told her. "He already knows our plan. He can meet Parker some other time."

Hermione nodded and set to work. Carefully shifting a few stacks of money bills to make room, she quickly wrote a note to Dumbledore.

'Headmaster,

Parker arrived. Arrange a full session for Snuffles.

Much appreciated,

The Marauders.'

"I'll send a note to Remus to make sure he anticipates a date for the trial soon," Harry said and conjured another piece of parchment and used the quill Hermione had conjured to write a brief note to Remus, once again using codenames.

None of them suspected anyone at the Ministry or anywhere else reading mail to and from Harry Potter and company but they had to be vigilant anyway. They'd learned that from the best.

They sent Hedwig off with both letters – Harry had been very much delighted to see his old owl friend; he hadn't seen her since her unexpected, tragic death in 1997, and he'd given her plenty of treats as he'd reunited with her. She hadn't understood his sudden flood of affection but she'd welcomed it happily – and the beautiful snowy white owl gave a loud, cheerful hoot and flew out the kitchen window in an almost regal manner, her coat visible against the dark sky until she was too far gone.

"Alright, then," Harry clapped his hands together. "It's already past eleven. We've got a long day tomorrow. Parker, put the loot back in your bag. We'll handle it tomorrow."

Parker still looked very much put out that her precious steal were all going to be placed in a bank she didn't think was safe enough – if she could break into the place at eighteen, who's to say who else could do the same; then again, she was one of the best thieves in the world.

Sighing, and knowing that it would take much more than her distrust of the goblins' ability to protect her loot to make her disobey one of Harry's wishes, Parker nodded and waved the stolen wand once more, packing up the money, jewellery, gold, precious gems and artefacts back inside the backpack within minutes.

Harry smiled, excitement growing as he thought of Sirius. He couldn't wait to be with his godfather again and, if things went the way he envisioned them, he would have a long life with Sirius, the way he was meant to after his parents' tragic and heroic demise.