Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All rights go to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, etc.
Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you all like the story :D
Next week, I'm going on a trip to visit my grandparents. Last time I had trouble with the internet when I first got there. We fixed it, but I don't know if it'll work again (the same thing happened at another relative's house and it didn't work). If it doesn't I won't be able to post new chapters until I get back. I'll either be back around the middle of July or the end of July, I'm not sure yet. I'm really sorry if I can't update. I'll still work on the story so that if I can't update until then, I'll be able to post a few chapters when I'm back. Again, really sorry if I can't. Hopefully it'll work (fingers crossed).
Anyway, here's the next chapter :)
"Why were you standing outside my bedroom door?" I asked.
"Who, me?" Al replied.
"Yes, you- there's no one else around!"
"Oh, right. Well, the thing is, I'm looking for a book," he stated.
"And you think I have it?"
"No, I was wondering if you could help me search through the books up in the attic."
"That'll take hours! Couldn't you just use a summoning charm? And how do you know that the book's even there?" I questioned.
"I've never seen the book before, so I don't know what it looks like; which makes it harder to use accio for. I asked Sirius if he had the book and he said that it sounded familiar and that I should check the attic," Al answered. "Please? I have a better chance of finding it if you help me. Plus, I did help you cook all that food yesterday."
"Fine. But at least when we made the food we got to eat it. Knowing you, it'll be a book that nobody else would want to read."
"You don't know that!"
"Okay, I guess you're right. What's it about?"
"Never mind," he muttered.
" I told you!"
Al kept me up in the attic all day. He wouldn't even let me go downstairs to get food. He brought up sandwiches and said that we should eat fast so that we continue looking for the book.
I knew he was hiding something.
I wasn't sure if I should have been worried or not. It could have been something as simple as all of the food we cooked being gone and that the kitchen was a mess. Or it could have been something like Teddy or Remus having a hard time recovering from the night before. Every time I tried to ask Al about what was going on, he would say that I was imagining things and that I should get back to looking for his book. At that point, I wanted to find the book just so that I could throw it at him. I could have done it with a different book, but if I learnt anything from James, it wouldn't of sent the same message. And I wanted Al to get the message.
It was around supper when Al gave up. His whole mood changed. Instead of trying to hide something, he was excited and full of energy. He decided that I was walking down the stairs too slow, so he ran behind me and shoved me the rest of the way down.
When we were at the bottom of the staircase, he put his hands over my eyes.
"What are you doing? Let me go, Al!" I protested.
"Calm down, Lils. I'm trying to do something nice," he replied. "Just walk forward."
"Okay?"
"Now turn left. Forward again. Stop! Okay, now reach out your hand and push the door open," Al said as he lowered his hands.
Sirius, Remus, James, Teddy, and Al were all standing in front of me. The room was decorated as if there was going to be a party. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. Everyone was staring at me as if it were my birthday.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We're throwing you a party! What else would this be?" James answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But why would you throw me a party? It's not even my birthday?"
"To cheer you up!" Teddy replied.
"We even made all of your favourite things to eat!" Sirius stated.
"And after we eat, we can do whatever you want," Al added.
"So basically, you guys are going to do whatever I want?"
"Yup! Well, within reason. We still can't leave the house."
"You're not joking? You threw a party just to cheer me up?"
"Yeah," James replied. "I thought we already went over this? Are you in shock or something? Why would you be in shock? It's just a party! And it's not even a good one- barely anyone's here! Are you aware that you're over reacting?"
"James!"
"Sorry? Really, I can't see what I'm doing wrong. Hey, did you guys notice that the design on the wallpaper over there, sort of looks like a bunch of penguins?"
"Oh, shut up," I laughed as I hugged him.
It was a fun night. We ate almost all of the food (they even made me a cake!). We ended up playing random party games for most of the night, considering there weren't many options of entertainment.
We even got good news. Dumbledore stopped by quickly to tell us that he would have the time turner in two days. I couldn't believe that we'd get to home so soon. As much fun as it was to meet Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore, I missed home a lot. Which was weird, considering that it was the same house, just at different point in time.
But I quickly realized that not everybody was excited about going home. Al and James seemed to feel the same way as me about going home. But Teddy looked like he couldn't decide how he felt. Home would be great, but he would never get to see his father again. Remus' reaction was similar to Teddy's. Happy for us, but sad that his son was leaving. Sirius, on the other hand, looked depressed. Once we left, he would be alone again. Remus wouldn't be able to stay much longer, he had to do stuff for the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius would have to be stuck, alone, with only Kreacher as company. And I was aware of how much he hated Kreacher.
As I was thinking about all of this, I realized something else- they wouldn't remember us. We couldn't let them remember, otherwise they would try and prevent their own deaths. They wouldn't know that Voldemort is defeated in the future, or that my dad lives. They would be back to worrying about what was going to happen. And that was very depressing to think about.
From what Dad always told James, Albus and I; there were lots of points where they had little to no hope. I didn't want to think about it anymore. But the fact that I wanted to forget it made me remember.
After Dumbledore left, the party ended. It was too awkward. Some of us were excited about the time turner, others were sad.
And it was pretty obvious how everyone was feeling.
Teddy and I ended up lying down on my bed together.
"So… we'll be home in two days. That's good. I guess," Teddy said.
"I know that half of you wants to stay. I don't blame you. If I was in your position, I'd feel the same way."
"I- I don't know how to act. Should I act happy that we'll be home soon? Or should I act depressed about leaving? I don't want to make it seem that I'm not grateful to go home. But I also don't want it to seem like I won't miss my father."
"You could act in between," I suggested.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Don't go around smiling like you just won the lottery, but don't go around looking like you're about to die. Smile a bit whenever somebody mentions home, but don't start talking about how you can't wait to get back."
"You're brilliant. Do you know how brilliant you are?"
"I don't know if I'd call that idea brilliant…" I trailed off, suddenly feeling very tired.
"You should get some sleep."
"Could you… stay here? Just until I fall asleep," I asked nervously. "Oh, never mind. It's okay, it's fi-"
" 'Course I'll stay. Don't worry, I don't mind," Teddy replied.
I smiled and rested my head on his chest.
"Could you tell me a story?"
"A story? Like what?" he questioned.
"Oh, I don't know. Something that'll distract me. Maybe something funny you did with your friends?"
"Sure. Hmm, let me think. Oh, I've got a good one! This one time, Jack and I…"
I fell asleep laughing at how crazy Teddy could be.
