Warnings: Era jumps. Language.

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore these characters and world are not mine. I own nothing but the plot and any OC's you don't recognise.

A/N - PLEASE READ! First of all, my beta has been really busy lately so this chapter is UN-BETA-EDITED! I'm sorry if there is misspelt words or sentences that don't make sense, I will replace this chapter with the edited one when I can, I just wanted to post it before you guys thought I had died or something. So enjoy!

Also, this story may begin to get a little bit confusing, and for that I'm sorry. The Weasley's wouldn't just go on living their new lives without trying to contact Bill and Charlie, so of course they will. So I will be writing about them in two different eras - the one where they are teenagers living with Nicholas and Perenelle, and then in the present when they are older, to show how they ended up the way they did. There may be numerous flashbacks of Bill and Charlie's, and the Founders and Helena, but I will always tell you when they happened. Just pay attention to the DATES I have at the top of each chapter/part, and hopefully it wont get too confusing. I will also be writing about other characters that have connections to the Weasley's, Hermione, Harry and Neville. Some were alive in the 'old' world, others were dead but are now alive because Voldemort and his Death Eaters never existed.

Also, there will be quite a few changes from the 'old' and 'new' worlds. The 'new' world will be revealed bit by bit, things that have changed, people that lived who had died in the 'old' world, and people who were born because of that. I'm working on a time-line of the old and new worlds, and will eventually put in place of the A/N that is the first chapter, and (hopefully) I will be able to constantly edit it to add changes to the 'new' world as they are revealed. If it does get confusing, or if you have any questions, please tell me so I can try and fix it! ~PPx

-o-

A DIFFERENT FUTURE - CHAPTER SEVEN

-o-

Sunday, 11th August, 1991 (Crawley, West Sussex)

It was almost two weeks later when the group, plus Fred, had the chance to see each other again. They met in Crawley, at Hermione's request, spending the afternoon at a muggle park a few streets away from the Granger's. Sitting in a circle on the grass, the group was sharing a large order of fish and chips, telling Fred all about the Founders and discussing what their parents reactions were to their missing day. Harry and Neville's lives had changed the most, and in a similar way - both the boys were now being raised by their parents in this new life, Harry had a younger sister, and Neville had younger twin siblings, one girl and one boy. The two sat next to each other, mostly talking softly, occasionally contributing to the main conversation going on around them.

"I can't believe I missed out on all of this!" Fred whined. "It's not fair!"

"If you hadn't died, we probably wouldn't have gone back though." said Ginny. "You were the main motivation."

"I would have." Harry interjected, before returning to his conversation with Neville like he hadn't said anything.

"Either way Fred, we had to save you." Hermione said with a smile.

"Definitely! Couldn't go on without my other half now could I!" George said with a grin, but the pain of loosing his twin was still fresh is his mind, and it showed in his eyes.

"Is there anything else you guys have remember from your new lives that we didn't put in the letters?" Hermione asked. The twins' faces lit up with a wicked grin, and Ron and Ginny groaned.

"What?" Hermione said, looking between the Weasley's with a slightly worried grimace.

"The twins have been waiting for ages to tell you. They didn't want to write because they wanted to see your face." Ron explained, and Hermione clearly became more confused. Even Harry and Neville stopped talking to pay attention to the identical red-heads currently grinning like Cheshire cats.

"Well. You know we've been at Hogwarts a two years already?" Fred started.

"We've told you pretty much everything we could remember about it-" George continued.

"But we left out one little detail-"

"And made the others promise not to tell you-"

"Because we wanted to see your faces-"

"When you realised that-"

"We're SLYTHERIN'S!" They finished together in a yell.

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock, Ron grinned (quite unattractively, as he still had a mouth full of chips), Ginny smirked at her friends reaction, Neville looked a little green, and Harry gave a snort of laughter, muttering under his breath, "I wonder if it'll try and put me there again."

"What?" Neville asked, the only one to hear Harry's muttered comment.

"The Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin. At first I thought it was because of the Horcrux, but now I know I'm actually a descendant of both Slytherin and Gryffindor." Harry said. Hermione, Ron and Ginny had already know that Harry had almost been a Slytherin, but it was the first time Neville and the twins had heard about it.

"Seriously?" Neville asked, a slight hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Come be a Slytherin with us!" Fred grinned.

"Yeah, it'd be awesome to have someone we actually like in our house!" George agreed, reaching over to give Harry a light punch to the shoulder.

"I'm not sure how my mum and dad would feel about that. They were both Gryffindor's, and so were all their friends." Harry said, then his whole face changed as he remembered something important.

"Harry?" Hermione asked warily, having never seen that look on Harry's face before.

"Fred, George." Harry asked, looking at them with something akin to a feral grin.

"Yes, our dearest honorary brother?" said Fred.

"Did you still happen to find the Marauders Map?" Harry's grin became even more pronounced, and everyone was wondering just what was going through Harry's head.

"Of course we did!" George said.

"Do you still worship the ground the Marauders stand on?"

"Hell yes! They were the best pranksters of their days!"

"Would you like to meet them?" Harry asked, watching the twins reactions. Fred and George's faces' lit up like a Christmas tree, pure childish glee radiating out of every pore at the thought of meeting their pranking heroes.

"Of course we do!" They yelled together.

"Does this mean you know who they are?"

"And how they got their names?"

"How did you find out?"

"And why didn't you tell us sooner?"

The twins fired of question after question about the Marauders, and Harry gave a chuckle at their eagerness.

"Oh, you'll never guess. Actually, one of them is your teacher." the twins reaction to that statement was to sit completely still and wrack their brains for any possible teacher of theirs that could possibly be a prankster genius. Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville all stayed quiet, watching the scene play out with amusement.

"Sorry, we have no idea." said Fred.

"Yep, none of our teachers could possibly be such a genius prankster." said George.

This just made Harry laugh louder, and the twins gave Harry a half-annoyed glare.

"Harry! Stop being mean and tell us!" George wined, and Harry finally stopped laughing enough to speak.

"My father, my godfather, and their two best friends. Your professor Lupin, is Moony." Harrys laugher started up again tenfold when the boys realised that their quiet, almost shy DADA teacher was actually one of the Marauders.

"No. Fucking. Way!" they said together, looking between themselves and a laughing Harry.

"It can't be!"

"Lupin?"

"Yep, good old professor Lupin is indeed a Marauder. And from what I've heard, he was the brains behind most of their pranks."

"Who are the others?" George asked.

"My dad is Prongs, my godfather, Sirius, is Padfoot, and their friend Peter Pettigrew is Wormtail."

"How did you find out about all of this?" Fred demanded.
"In this life, my dad and Sirius have been telling me about the Marauders exploits at Hogwarts since the day I was born!" Harry grinned.

"How did they get their names?" George asked, and everyone noticed Harry's reluctance to answer.

"You don't have to tell them Harry." Hermione said.

"Yes he does!" said Fred. "He can't just leave it there!"

"It's not me secret to tell guys. I'm sorry. I'll arrange for you to meet them, maybe next holidays, and if they want to tell you then they can. Fair enough?" Harry said.

"Deal!" George said, before Fred could interject. Fred looked a little put out, but George soon had him cheered up.

They stayed like that, just talking about anything and everything, until it began to get dark.

"I have to go. My parents want me home by 6." Hermione said, standing up.

"We should probably get going as well. Mum will have a fit if we're all home late." said Ginny, and the whole group was soon on their feet.

"I'll walk you home Hermione." said Harry, saying goodbye to the Weasley's. "Nev, your parents are at my place, want to walk with us?"

"Sure, thanks Harry."

The Weasley's soon Apparated away, and Harry, Neville and Hermione all set off down the street to the Grangers.

"Would you mind meeting my parents?" Hermione asked suddenly. Harry and Neville looked surprised. "It's just that, they've only ever met one of my friends and I think they believe I don't really have any. They probably though I was lying when I said I was meeting friends today."

"Of course we can Hermione. You probably should have asked Ginny as well though. I don't know how your parents would feel about us both being boys." said Harry with a laugh.

"Oh, I should have!" Hermione said, and Neville laughed as well at her face. "Oh well. Maybe next time?"

"I'm sure she'd love to."

The trio walked in silence for a few more minutes, until they reached Hermione's house. Walking inside, Grace and Logan were sitting in the lounge, and were more then surprised to see two young boys walk into the house with their little girl.

"Mum, dad. These are two of my friends, Harry and Neville." Harry and Neville stepped forward.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mr and Mrs Granger." Harry said.

"Hermione has told us so much about you. Don't worry, it's all good!" Neville said with a smile.

Grace and Logan seemed almost taken aback, but they soon rushed over to the three, introducing themselves.

"Please, call us Grace and Logan." Grace said, asking the two to sit down.

"We would love to Grace, but we really need to get going. Our parents want us home as well. We just walked Hermione home to make sure she got here safely." explain Neville.

"We would love to come by another time though." Harry said, and Grace and Logan told them the two would be welcome at any time.

Soon, the trio said goodbye and Harry and Neville walked to the end of the block, ducking into a deserted alley way, and Apparated home.

Hermione was left alone with her parents, and made the excuse of needing to do homework to escape up to her room, not wanting to answer the questions her parents obviously wanted to ask.

-o-

The Weasley's arrived back at the Burrow, and after eating tea and helping Molly clean up, the four converged in Fred and George's room, as had become almost a nightly habit. Maybe it was the fact that everything was so different now and they were the only people who knew the truth, or they missed Bill and Charlie, or they just needed comfort from one another, but all four found they enjoyed the nights spent talking together.

Having had two less children, the Weasley family were slightly better off, but they still lived in the creaking Burrow, still wore hand-me-downs, and still got very little pocket money. School supplies were somewhat more affordable, and they all got one new set of school robes every year, but they were still doing it fairly tough. Family members helped out as much as they could, but Molly was a hot-headed woman, and wasn't one to happily except charity. She preferred to do it a little harder and provide for her own children.

That night, George, Fred, Ron and Ginny were talking about their families financial problems, and how it could be better.

"Mum and dad were talking about making Percy get a summer job." Fred said. "Only two years now and he's of age. They said he needed more responsibilities." George and Fred both let out a shudder at that. Ron and Ginny grinned at their obvious discomfort at the thought of having to act responsibly.

"You know, you guys could sell those joke products you're always making up here." Ginny suggested, and the twins eyes lit up at the thought. "Just like you did before. And you already know how to make everything, so it will be easy!"

"Of course! We have to do that again!" George exclaimed.

"What would we even call it?" Fred wondered.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, like last time?" Ginny said.

"Weasley's What's-its and Wizbangs?" Ron suggested.

A few more suggestions were thrown about before George brought up something they hadn't thought of yet.

"Do we even want the name Weasley in it after what mum and dad did to Bill and Charlie?"

"That's a good point." Fred said. "Besides, it's probably never going to happen." a loud, pained sigh left him, and George let out one as well when he realised his twin was right.

"Not necessarily. I think Harry would help again. The Potters are loaded. And if his father really is one of the Marauders then I'm sure he'd have no problem funding the next generation of pranksters." Ginny said, and the twins lit up once again.

"You think he would?" Fred asked hopefully.

"I think so. He did last time. Although his dad is in charge of his money now. So Mr Potter will have to agree." said Ron, and Ginny nodded her agreement. "So, if he does lend you the money, what would you want to call it?"

"If you're not going to use Weasley, what name will you use? Or will you just have something simple like Zonkos?" Ginny asked.

"How about the Prewett's?" George said. "Our middle names came from Gideon and Fabian, and mum is always going on about how much we act like them." Fred suggested.

"That's an awesome idea!" said George, endless possibilities for joke shop names running through his head. "What about 'Prewett's Pranks and Practical Jokes?'"

"They'd love that!' Ron said, and the other three agreed.

"Considering this time around, they're still alive, I think they'd approve. Actually, they'd probably sponsor you as well. Maybe they'd run the place til you guys leave school?" Ginny said, her voice getting more and more excited as she spoke.

"They probably would you know. Those guys love pranks as much as you two do!" Ron agreed.

George, Ron and Ginny had been ecstatic to find out that, since Voldemort and his Death Eaters had never existed in this life, Fabian and Gideon Prewett were both still alive and kicking, and were not only qualified to teach, but were also published authors. The pair came to visit every Christmas, and always sent the Weasley kids birthday presents from whatever part of the world they were currently exploring. The Prewett twins were currently in Rome, a known safe-haven for werewolves, researching for their next book. Fabian and Gideon had a love for exploring dangerous places, people and creatures. They had written several books together, mostly on 'dark' or 'dangerous' creatures. Gideon and Fabian's books weren't widely sold, however, because they showed 'dark' creatures in a new light, by telling the truth about them and the way they live.

The pair had interviewed Vampires, Werewolves, Mermaids, Goblins, Fae, Draken, Kitsune, Kitiara, almost every type of demon alive, and many more. They had done expose's on the Ministry's treatment of vampires, werewolves, goblins, and half-breeds of every type. The Prewett twins were the first Friends of the Goblin Nation in a century, and the magical creatures who had gotten to know them often asked them for help instead of going to the Ministry.

"Let's write to them, and ask them." said Fred, and George got up to rummage around their room for parchment and a quill.

"We should write to Bill and Charlie as well." said George, coming back with several sheets of blank parchment, two quills, and a half-full inkwell.

"I actually already have." said Ginny, looking at her feet when George, Fred and Ron all looked at her in shock.

"You did? When?" Ron demanded.

"Are they okay?" George asked, forgetting all about writing to Gideon and Fabian.

"I only wrote them a week ago. I haven't got a reply yet."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked. "We want to know how they are as well!"

Fred, who was the only one in the room who didn't remember Bill and Charlie, was looking between the three with interest. He had rarely seen that look of guilt on Ginny's face, nor had he seen Ron so worried over anything other then the thought of missing his next meal.

"I really want to meet them. Bill and Charlie I mean. You three all remember them as your brothers, but I have no idea who they are." said Fred sadly. Ron, George and Ginny all looked guiltily at one another, before moving over to tell Fred everything they remember about their two biggest brothers.

-o-

Tuesday, 13th August, 1991 - Gideon and Fabian Prewett(Somewhere in Rome..)

The two Prewett brothers were staying in a small werewolf-only village in Rome, a place very few non-werewolves ever got to see. The twins were trusted by the packs living there, which wasn't an easy feat. It took Gideon and Fabian many months to gain the werewolves trust, and when the twins showed them to content of their novels, they were more willing to help. After each swearing an Unbreakable Vow to never reveal the werewolves location, the two were accepted more openly. This was the twins third visit to the werewolves in Rome, and this time around they had been given the honour of staying in the actual werewolf village.

The village itself was quite similar to Hogsmead. It had shops for robes, sweets, books, potions ingredients, groceries, Quidditch supplies, and many more. There was even an ice-cream shop, a couple of restaurants, a joke shop, a pub, a bank, a hospital, and a school. Everyone in the village was either a born or bitten werewolf, and there were even a few half-werewolves, though they were more rare. Half-werewolves didn't usually survive their first transformation, as the werewolves advanced senses and healing powers were weaker in them, and the struggle in their minds during the full moon between the wolf and themselves rarely ended any other way then insanity.

Over half of the villages population were bitten werewolves, turned by rogues who wandered around the country, living like animals. Of the bitten, almost a quarter of those had formerly been muggles, and unable to defend themselves against a huge blood-thirsty werewolf. Although it was rarer for a muggle to survive the transformation - witch or wizards magic helped to keep them alive, and fatalities when transforming were significantly less then that of a person with no magic. The elder werewolves of the village often brought in newly bitten wolves, and younger kids who had been thrown out when they had been bitten. The elders took them in, found them homes, families, and introduced them into packs.

Wolfsbane was available at the Apocothery for free, so no werewolf had to go a full moon without control of their own body. Healing lotions and pepper up potions were ready at the hospital to treat any injuries, and the day after the full moon was always a day off - a day of rest and recovery - regardless of what day of the week it happened to be. There was also a research centre just outside of the village, and both werewolves and wizards alike worked there together to find ways to help ease the pain and troubles of their monthly transformations.

Gideon and Fabian were writing a book about the education of younger werewolves, especially ones who had been abandoned. They had been allowed inside the school, sat in on classes, and had talked to many of the younger werewolf students, both those who transformed monthly, and the born werewolves who had yet to reach puberty and turn for the first time.

The twins had taken notes on what the students were taught, what they had for lunch, teaching methods, and how the children felt about their school and their lives. They paid extra attention to the bitten werewolves who had been thrown out of their homes and taken in by the others werewolves living in the village, and how their lives had changed since.

Gideon and Fabian were currently sitting in the school cafeteria, having lunch and talking with some students when a familiar owl swooped into the room. He was jet black with wide blue eyes, and had a roll of parchment tied to his leg. The owls name was, ironically, Jet. Gideon and Fabian had brought the owl for Fred and George when the pair had started Hogwarts two years prior, and always managed to find them no matter where they were, or what protections they had set up.

"Jet!" Gideon said, drawing Fabian's attention to the approaching owl. "What have you got for us? Another letter from the twins?"

Normally, owls wouldn't go anywhere near a werewolf, sensing a predator in them. The werewolves tended to use crows instead of owls, for they were much less afraid of the wolf inside then any other bird. Jet, however, didn't seem fazed in the least to be in a room full of werewolves, and instead flew straight over to the twins. Pecking them both affectionately, Jet held his leg out for them to take the letter. Opening it, and scanning down to the end to see it was indeed from Fred and George, the two excused themselves to a free table to read. Taking a plate of food for Jet to eat off, the owl followed, flying happily between the two. Sitting down with the letter between them, the two began to read.

To the second best set of twins in the world,

How's everything in Rome? Got some good material for your next book?

We hope everything is going good and Ginny said you have to come home for Christmas this year!

But that isn't the reason we're writing. George, Ron, Ginny and I came up with a great idea. We want to sell the joke products we make, and not just at school. We wanted to open up a shop. It's something we really want to do, and it would help out with our financial problems as well. We were hoping that you could sponsor us, and help us start up a shop? The only problem is, we wont be able to run it properly until we leave school, so we will need someone to look after it during the school year. We would run it during the school holidays, and take over completely after we graduate. We need someone we can trust, because this is really important to us! We even have a name! Prewett's Pranks and Practical Jokes. George and I both know our mischievous prankster side is all Prewett, not Weasley! What do you think?

Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny.

P.S. Please keep this a secret. Mum would kill us if she found out. She say's we're too much like you already, and this would probably drive her over the edge!

Gideon and Fabian were both practically vibrating with excitement by the time they finished the short letter. As lovers of practical jokes themselves, the idea of running a joke shop with Fred and George was an exciting prospect. Between the two sets of twins, any joke shop they created would be nothing short of explosive.

Fabian and Gideon looked just like older versions of Fred and George. Tall and lean, but with a muscular frame. Their hair was a darker shade of red - not as bright and in-your-face as the Weasley red. They had piercing, cobalt-blue eyes - also a few shades darker then Fred and George's ice-blue eyes - but the same smattering of freckles across their face. Personality wise, the two sets of twins were almost as alike as they were in looks. The Prewett twins had gotten into trouble an immeasurable amount of times as kids, their practical jokes and pranks being played on every unsuspecting person they could get their hands on. They had a need for speed and a thirst for danger and adventure. Underneath the mischievous prankster exterior, however, Fabian and Gideon were smart, lovable, and loyal to a fault, and family came before anything.

"What do you think?" Gideon asked, although he already knew what his brother was going to say.

"Sounds like a great idea! It's about time we go back to Britain anyway. We'll go after we're finished here." Fabian replied.

"It's a plan then. We should only be here another week or so anyway."

"We should write them a reply now. Got an ink and quill on you?" Gideon rummaged through his bag, pulling out a quill and a blank piece of parchment. Quickly writing a reply, Gideon and Fabian gave the letter to Jet, who flew off with a hoot.

"I guess we should start putting all our notes together and work out what we need before we go." said Fabian, and Gideon nodded, pulling out his notes as his twin did the same. Spreading them out on the table in front of them, the brothers began to work out what information they still needed for their new book before they could leave for Britain.

-o-

Sunday, 18th August, 1991

Exactly two weeks before Hogwarts was due to start for the year, the Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Neville all met up in Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. Ginny wasn't allowed to go for another year, something that greatly annoyed the young red-head, but she tagged along anyway. As compensation for being left behind, Fabian and Gideon - who had arrived back in Britain two days earlier - had said she could help them with the new joke shop while the others were at school. The Prewett twins had given Fred, George and Ron money to get extra school supplies, in case the money Molly had given them wasn't enough.

By the time the group had gathered all of their school supplies it was almost lunch, so they made their way to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour. The school equipment lists had been the talk of the seven witches and wizards all morning, and was still the topic of conversation when they had all ordered sundaes and sat down to eat.

"This year should be interesting." Hermione said, downing a spoonful of vanilla ice-cream with caramel topping. "It's got quite a few changes to what we saw last time. Even with what the twins told us, I was thinking it was going to be a boring year, but maybe not."

"We already knew there was going to be more classes." said Ron, sighing. The last thing Ron wanted to do was more school work. He hadn't even wanted to go back to Hogwarts - the thought of doing all seven years worth of school work all over again was less then appealing to the chronically lazy red-head - but the other Weasley's had convinced him he needed to go back. The thought of how Molly would react was also a deciding factor.

"Harry." George said, after conversation about school had finally stopped. "When do we get to meet the Marauders?"

"Yeah Harry. You said we could meet them! Please!" Fred whined, and harry gave a chuckle.

"I'll ask my dad tonight, and I'll owl you guys okay? You can all come! Maybe Fabian and Gideon too." Harry said, and the whole table seemed to cheer up at the thought. "I'll try and arrange something for the last week of the holidays."

"You better Harry!" the twins warned.

After lunch, the twins and Ginny split off to go and meet Fabian and Gideon, who wanted the twins to help them pick out a place for their new joke shop. They were still deciding whether they wanted their first shop to be in Hogsmead, so the students could buy their products on their Hogsmead weekends, or Diagon Alley. Since Ginny would be helping most of the year, she decided to go with them.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville left Florean Fortescue's not long after, spending the rest of the afternoon together. Soon enough, it was time to head home, and the four parted ways, promising to see each other again before school started.