Chapter 4

After the three children finally got their grandparents, and grand-godfather to believe them, the topic turned to getting them home. Every so often, however, they got side tracked.

"So, tell me. What is your father like in the future? I mean, I'm sure he grows into a great man, and I know him very well in the future, but I want to know, what is he like?" Sirius asked. 'Lily's' eyes widened.

"James," She shook her husband's shoulder around James' back who was still sitting between his grandparents. "These kids, they're proof! We live! Harry lives! You and I, we protected him, and we live!" Sirius suddenly stood up, grabbed 'James' and started dancing him around the room in a ballroom style dance. It brought a smile to the three faces that had eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. Sirius stopped dancing 'James' around the room, and then went for 'Lily'. He picked her up and gave her a resounding kiss on the cheek. Sirius sat her back down and took a seat for himself after doing a short happy dance.

"So, where were we?" He said with a large grin on his face. "Oh yes, what is Harry like?" The three children exchanged glances.

"Dad's great!" Lily began slowly.

"Caused a lot of trouble at school," James continued. Sirius whooped.

"Became best friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," Al filled in.

"Weasley," 'James' thought out loud. "Is that Molly and Arthur's youngest?"

"Youngest boy," Al corrected.

"So, Molly finally gets a girl?" 'Lily' smiled when Lily nodded.

"Granger," 'Sirius' thought out loud, as well. "I don't recognize that name."

"She's a muggle born." James told them.

"And what about your Mum?" 'Lily' asked. "Who is she?"

"Ginny Weasley," Lily beamed.

"A red head, I presume," said 'James'. The three children nodded.

"What type of mischief at Hogwarts am I going to have to punish your father for?" 'Lily' asked. The kids looked at each other.

"Well, he didn't get the marauder's map until third year," James began, "And then he began sneaking to Hogsmeade." This wasn't a total lie.

"Is that it?" Sirius asked, bug eyed.

"He doesn't tell us much," Al quickly covered. "He doesn't want to give us ideas. You see, Mum had some extremely mischievous brothers, and the one that is still around already gives us enough ideas, and Dad doesn't want to suffer Mum's wrath."

"Smart man," 'James' mumbled.

"Hold on," 'Lily' stopped them. "You said 'the one that is still around,' when referring to your Mum's brothers. What happened?"

"Well," Lily started, "There were two mischievous boys in the family, twins." The adults nodded in understanding, urging them to go on.

"And there was this horrible war, like 'taught about in History of Magic, but not until third year or later' bad." James continued.

"And one of them died. The other continues to run the joke shop that they started." Al finished.

"A horrible war?" 'James' asked. "How many people died?"

"Loads," the three responded simultaneously, each looking sadly at a different adult. Sirius caught this.

"We die, don't we?" He asked. The three looked at him wondering what to say. Of course they did, but they don't have the power to wipe their memories. Al was the first to think through the consequences of answering this question.

"I can't answer as to when, but yes, you all die sometime during this war." Al said slowly, not making eye contact with any of the adults. The room went silent.

"I suppose we all die a hero's death," Sirius said, finally looking up from where he was fiddling with his fingers, nervously.

"You do." Lily said. "Your deaths have gone down in history." Sirius smiled.

"Well, that's good enough for me. Enough of this sadness! James, Lily, your baby boy lives and that's reason enough for a celebration. Call up Remus and Peter. This calls for a party! They need in on the happiness of finding out we come out victorious!" So, after Sirius pranced around the room, trying to cheer the group up, 'James' and 'Lily' finally agreed to inviting Remus and Peter over. They were all waiting for the two to arrive when something peculiar happened. Lily's necklace began to glow.

"Lily," Al hissed at her. "Your necklace!" Lily looked down to see her necklace glowing a bright blue. She took it off and opened the locket, and it suddenly transformed into a mirror.

"Daddy?" She asked, her father's face appeared in the mirror.

"Lily!" He said, "Thank goodness you are okay!" 'Lily', 'James', and Sirius were just then distracted by the two newcomers of Remus and Peter.

"Who are they?" Remus asked at once. 'Lily' shushed them, and pulled them aside to explain the story.

"Dad," James exclaimed. "Please, don't kill me." He said.

"I knew it was you!" They heard Ginny shout in the background. James' face turned a red.

"First things first," Harry said calmly. "When are you?"

"1981," Albus replied.

"Where did you land?"

"In an empty room at Godric's Hallow" James said.

"Are you still in that empty room?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," Lily said timidly.

"Who all has seen you?"

"Your parents, Sirius, Remus, and Peter," Al rattled off the names. Harry rubbed his forehead.

"Daddy, how will we get home?" Lily asked.

"Actually, Aunt Hermione has the answer to that." Harry handed the mirror to Hermione and she quickly began to rattle off the instructions.

"Now, how broken is the Time Turner?" Lily found it out of her pocket and held it up for her aunt to see. "Okay, it is in good enough condition that you can arrive home safely, but I don't know how many detours you will take. Your dad will give you instructions as to when you can leave. When you do leave, I need you to turn the little dial on the side three times, no more, no less. You will need to have the chain wrapped around all three of your necks, and it will probably give off a little sand, so don't be too shocked by that. You will probably end up in at least two more different time periods, so make sure you know around what time you are in before you go barging in someplace. There may be a war going on and your arrival may not be taken lightly. I think that's all you need to know, but if something happens, you know how to reach me."

"Aunt Hermione?"

"Yes, Al?" Hermione replied to her nephew.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly as she heard the other two children say their thanks.

"Here's your father." Hermione handed the mirror back to Harry who quickly took it just to see his children's faces again.

"Now, how much do they know?" Harry asked, obviously talking about the five adults just on the other side of the room.

"Only that we are their grand kids from the future; Grandmum Weasley gets a daughter, who is our mum; Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron are your best friends; that there was a horrible war; and that they died as part of it, but they don't know when." Al began to list off everything that had just been discussed, "and plus a few things to prove we are their grandchildren."

"Like," Harry raised his eyebrows.

"The fact that we have your invisibility cloak and marauder's map, plus we know they are animagi." Al replied. Harry sighed.

"Now, as soon as possible, I need you to do what your aunt Hermione told you to do. Contact us as soon as you land in the new time period." The children nodded. They heard someone talking in the background.

"Harry James Potter, move over! I want to see my children!" Suddenly, Ginny's face appeared in the mirror. "Lily, sweetheart, how are you?"

"Fine, Mummy. I got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Potter." She replied with a large smile on her face.

"So I heard," Ginny smiled at her daughter. "And Al, how are you handling this?"

"Great, Mum." He leaned in to whisper, "I never understood how crazy Sirius was until now. He's a riot!" He laughed.

"You're lucky to be able to see him that way." Ginny replied with a smile. "Well, I'm glad you are doing well."

"I'm doing just fine, too, Mum." James said.

"James Sirius Potter, I know you caused this trouble. I am going to tell George not to give you anything from the store for a month." James paled. "It was very careless of you to break that time turner."

"I didn't mean to, Mum!" James shot back.

"Well, You're father didn't mean to inflate Marge Dursley that one summer, but he then had to live with the consequences." Ginny replied back. Her face then softened. "But I'm glad you're safe, too, James. Well, we'll talk to you soon."

"Bye Mum, bye Dad, bye Aunt Hermione." The kids rattled off the names.

"Hey, what about me?" They heard Ron in the background.

"Bye Uncle Ron."

"Bye kids," The adults replied, and Lily returned her mirror to the original form of the locket.

"What was that all about," 'Lily' asked.

"Just our parents telling us how to get home." James replied.

"So, when are you leaving?" 'James' asked his grandkids.

"As soon as possible. We really want to get home." Lily told them.

"So, this would be goodbye, then?" Sirius asked them. Al nodded.

"Lily, give me the time turner," He said. Lily handed him the time turner. He placed it around their necks and he twisted the dial 3 times. Nothing happened.

"You're still here." Peter pointed out. Al tried his best not to glare at him, then waited a bit and turned it three more times.

"It's not working." Al observed. "Lily, contact Dad." Lily opened the locket again and called her Dad's name.

"Lily?" He appeared on the other side. "What time are you in now?"

"1981," She replied.

"You mean you haven't traveled yet?" She shook her head.

"We tried Dad," Al said from where he was examining the necklace. "And then I tried again, it isn't working."

"Maybe," Hermione stopped mid thought.

"What, Hermione, what is it that is not allowing my children to come back home?" Ginny began to round on sister-in-law.

"There may be a time lapse defect." She said timidly.

"Which means," Ron asked.

"It means that they may be stuck in each time period for 24 hours or more," She informed them. "The time turner probably won't work within that period, so the kids are stuck there until it will work again, or after the time lapse period is over."

"Well, kids," Ginny began, looking into the mirror. "Looks like you get to spend the day at grandma and grandpa's." Her voice had lowed so that only the kids could hear her. "Now, all three of you, enjoy this time with your grandparents. Since your father has already been born, your next time jump won't land you with them again. And don't cause them any trouble." She said this last bit more towards James than the other two. Harry spoke to his children again.

"Lily, hand the mirror to your grandma." Lily did what her father told her, and 'Lily' was then staring at the mirror.

"Hello," Harry said. 'Lily' almost dropped the mirror when she heard her son speak.

"You… You're… Harry."

"Bloody hell," 'James' said as he looked into the mirror. 'Lily' was too shocked to scold her husband.

"Hey, James, he looks just like you!" Sirius exclaimed, "Except the eyes, and he's more fit."

"Being Head Auror and the father of three kids, plus practically being the father of another child, I'd hope to be fit." Harry laughed.

"Head Auror," 'Lily' repeated. "My son is Head Auror!"

"Who is this person you treat like a son?" Remus asked, curiously.

"My godson, Teddy," Harry told him, slightly chuckling. "He's an Auror, now, too,"

"If you're godfather, whose son is he," Sirius asked. Harry chuckled louder.

"I'm pretty certain that Teddy wants to be born so I can't tell you, but you know both the parents, Sirius." Sirius sat back as he tried to figure out who Harry was talking about. "Anyway, we got side tracked. It sounds like James, Al, and Lily will be stuck in your time at least until tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Harry, they are welcome here with us." 'Lily' told him.

"Thanks Mum." He smiled. "We will probably talk again before the kids travel, so I must be going. Kreacher is making some delicious treacle tart and it is calling my name right now. I've already been abandoned by my wife and friends for that dessert."

"Bye Dad," the kids called.

"Save me some," James called. Harry laughed as he disappeared from view.