Unravelling the Past

"Sirius, wake up," Remus whispered, nudging his fitfully sleeping boyfriend.

"Wha-" Sirius mumbled as he opened his eyes.

"You were having another nightmare," Remus explained, brushing the dark hair out of the haunted grey eyes.

"I think I'll go sit by the fire for a bit," Sirius said. He pushed back the blankets and sat up with a groan.

"You want some company?" Remus asked, sitting up too.

"No." Sirius shook his head and walked slowly towards the door. "You get some sleep, I'll be back soon."

Remus nodded and curled back up under the covers, but without the warm and now familiar presence of Sirius beside him he found it hard to get back to sleep. After half an hour he gave up trying and padded towards the common room.

Sirius was curled up on the sofa, still wide-awake. He moved his legs so that Remus could sit beside him, but Remus shook his head.

"Come with me," he said, reaching out his hand.

"Where are we going?" Sirius asked as he let Remus pull him to his feet.

"You need to relax if you're ever going to get a decent night's sleep," Remus told him. He picked up the map and James's cloak from where they'd been carelessly tossed on one of the chairs.

"What about him?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the extra room that they'd asked the room for…one with plenty of security to keep the older animagus confined until Prongs returned from the hospital wing.

"He's not going anywhere," Remus replied. "Now are you coming with me, or do I have to drag you?"

Sirius smiled briefly at the idea but followed Remus without an argument.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in front of the door to the prefects' bathroom.

"Waterfall," Remus said, unlocking the door for them to access the room.

"You're letting me into the hallowed ground of the prefects' bathroom?" Sirius teased.

"You've been in here before," Remus pointed out. "At least half a dozen times that I can think of. And I did promise you we'd make use of it at Easter."

"We've missed Easter," Sirius realised as he mentally calculated the time that had passed since they'd left their own world.

"I'm just hoping that we get back before the exams roll round, or we'll have missed those as well."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Sirius grinned. "You think they'd give us all top marks if that happens?"

"I doubt it." Remus shook his head in amusement and leaned over the spacious bathtub and turned on the taps.

"Can we check out the whirlpool function?" Sirius asked mischievously.

Remus smiled back and nodded. He knew it had been a good idea to bring Sirius here, and he was relieved to see him looking more and more like his old self with every passing minute.

In no time at all they were both relaxing in the bathtub. Sirius gave a sigh of contentment and Remus closed his eyes and smiled.

"This feels great," Sirius murmured quietly as the gentle waves lapped at them.

"I know what'll feel even better," Remus suggested as he moved to sit alongside Sirius.

"I can think of several things," Sirius replied with a wicked smile. "So how long can you hold your breath for?"

"I was thinking more like giving you a massage," Remus whispered, planting a soft kiss on Sirius's shoulder. Sirius took the hint and turned round so that Remus had access to his back.

"You're so tense," Remus commented as he gently rubbed Sirius's shoulders, increasing the pressure slightly at each of Sirius's groans of pleasure.

"You're so good to me," Sirius replied, his head falling back slightly. "I don't deserve you. You do know that, right? You deserve so much better than me."

"I make my own mind up as to what I deserve," Remus chided affectionately.

"I've been a pretty crap boyfriend though."

Remus slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Nonsense."

"But I have," Sirius argued. "We've been here for two months and I've not found a way to get the Wolfsbane potion back to our world yet. I've been neglecting you so much."

Remus snorted with laughter at that. If Sirius had been neglecting him that much, it wouldn't have taken him so long to find the time to speak with Professor Lupin alone.

"We could get sent home tomorrow and I'd have failed you," Sirius continued dejectedly.

"As it happens, I have an idea about the potion," Remus interrupted.

"You do?" Sirius turned round to look at Remus questioningly.

Remus nodded. "We don't really need the potion, just the recipe."

"And you have it?"

"It's in the library in the old archives of the Daily Prophet. I got Lily to look for me. The recipe was written up in the paper so that any werewolves reading it could try to make it if they wanted to. A lot of the ingredients are rare and expensive though. But the paper thought that by getting the recipe out there it would reduce the number of werewolves running about on the night of the full moon."

"I don't suppose they'd let you bring the newspaper back with you?"

"I don't want to risk Dumbledore saying no. I think we should sneak the recipe back."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Sirius asked curiously. "You don't even think he'll let us take back a few harmless chocolate frog cards."

"He probably won't. This is why I plan on being slightly more subtle than sneaking it into the pocket of my robes. It'll just need a trip to the library with the map one night."

"I still can't believe we're banned completely from the library," Sirius complained.

"You can't?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"Okay, I can believe me and Prongs being banned, but not you."

"Well, apparently the prank that got us banned was one I was involved in."

"Love to know what it was."

Remus remained quiet, knowing exactly what it was since he'd decided to ask Professor McGonagall about it. She had been surprisingly open about the prank, but also very firm in the insistence that he didn't use the knowledge to do the same thing again.

"You know what it is, don't you?" Sirius had correctly interpreted his silence and Remus sighed, knowing he'd get no peace until he told him what he knew.

"Apparently, someone had the idea to put a spell on all the books in the library," Remus explained.

"What spell?"

"The Little Wizard Reader spell."

"The what?"

"It's the spell that gets put on children's books so that they read the words out loud for children. It helps them to learn to read. Apparently we put it on all the books in the library and every time anyone opened a book the contents were spoken, shouted in fact, aloud. Madam Pince wasn't very happy about it and it took nearly a month for the spell to be removed from them all. Supposedly you can cast the spell in mass, just like the publishers do, to put it on the books, but it has to be removed individually."

"Wish I'd been there to see that," Sirius sighed. "Brilliant idea! It's got to be one of yours."

"Yeah, it does have rather have me written all over it," Remus admitted. "Anyway, I'll borrow the map and sneak in one night and get the spell to take home."

"What's wrong with now?" Sirius asked.

"You want to go to the library?" Remus asked with a smirk.

"Why not?"

Remus couldn't keep back his laughter at the astonished and mildly offended face of Sirius Black as he twisted out of his grasp and clambered out of the bath.

"What's so funny?" Sirius muttered as he grabbed a towel from the rack and started to dry himself.

"You are," Remus told him between spluttering gasps of laughter.

"And are you going to explain, or just sit there, laughing?"

Remus shook his head again as he tried to draw in a deep breath and stop the mild hysterics. "You want to go to the library," he finally gasped.

"So?"

"Do you remember our journey here back at the start of fifth year?" Remus asked.

"Sure." Sirius nodded. "We thought you'd missed the train, but instead you'd abandoned your mates for the prefects' carriage."

"I'd hardly call it abandoned. But when I came back to join you and the others, the first advantage of me being a prefect you could think of, was getting into the prefects' bathroom. You'd suggested it before we'd even passed through Buckinghamshire."

"Well, it's a good bathroom."

"You've snuck in here at least half a dozen times, and that's just the times I know about. But this is the first time you've been in here since we…" Remus's voice trailed off and he waved his hand in a vague gesture.

"Had sex?" Sirius finished for him. "Considering how many times we've done it, I would think you'd be able to say it out loud now."

"Fine, had sex," Remus said. "So, here we are, in the prefects' bathroom, in the middle of the night, with virtually no chance of anyone disturbing us. You've just been given a massage by your boyfriend, who is not only very naked right now, but highly aroused. And you decide that instead of taking advantage of this opportunity, you'd rather go to the library…a place you normally have to be dragged to under protest."

"I guess when you put it like that…" Sirius grinned and tossed the damp towel aside and climbed back into the bath. "Now, I seem to recall you once telling Prongs and Wormtail that I could hold my breath underwater for nearly ten minutes."

"Been practising, have you?" Remus asked.

Sirius grinned and drew in a deep breath before plunging under the water. Remus had no idea if Sirius would last ten minutes, but he knew that he wouldn't.

-o-xXx-o-

Lily sat on the grass by the lake, watching the sun come up. It was a very romantic spot, and popular with the young couples of Hogwarts. It was just a pity that she didn't feel in a particularly romantic mood right now.

"I can't persuade you to stay here?" Oliver asked quietly. "If Dumbledore finds a way to send you home, you wouldn't consider it?"

"We wouldn't be allowed to stay here," Lily replied sadly. "I shouldn't even have let things go this far."

"This far?" Oliver asked with a smile. "I've not even kissed you…yet."

Lily smiled at the hopeful sound of the word yet and turned to the boy sitting beside her. "I shouldn't have got involved at all," she explained.

"Is it because of Harry?" Oliver asked. "Knowing that you're supposed to be with his father?"

"No." Lily shook her head. "This is a different world and just because the Lily of this world married James, it doesn't mean I will. Just because he's injured and I show concern for his wellbeing…it doesn't mean anything."

"You like him." It wasn't a question but Lily felt the urge to answer it anyway.

"I hate him," she hissed. "He's an arrogant bully! He's pigheaded, mean and spends his life making everyone else miserable by hexing them and jinxing them and…"

"He does?" Oliver interrupted. "I've never seen him do that. There are bullies here at Hogwarts, just like any other school, but I've never seen James dishing it out."

"He's been doing it since first year," Lily argued, silently cursing the aggressiveness of her tone.

"I'm just saying," Oliver replied, raising his hands for peace. "Maybe you're still seeing him as a bully, even though he's grown out of it?"

Lily smiled and shook her head. "You realise you're trying to persuade me to choose someone else over you?" she asked.

"You can't stay here, and I can't go with you," Oliver pointed out sadly. "It's not like you could ever really choose me."

Lily smiled sadly and leaned forward. Oliver's lips met her own half way and she leaned into the kiss. It was sweet and tender, and probably a big mistake.

"We should head back to the castle," Oliver whispered.

"Hmm," Lily nodded. Neither of them made an effort to move from the lakeside.

"We shouldn't get any more involved than we already are," Oliver continued.

"No," Lily agreed, even as their lips met for a second time. The second kiss was bolder and Lily moaned slightly when she felt a tongue teasing her lower lip. This was a mistake. She knew it was a mistake. A big mistake. Probably one of the biggest mistakes of her life. But she couldn't have stopped herself, no more than she could stop herself from breathing.

"I'll miss you," Oliver said after they'd pulled apart. He reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "A part of me hopes that Dumbledore won't be able to find a way to send you home again."

"He's the greatest wizard alive," Lily pointed out.

"I know. I just wish that he wasn't."

Lily watched as Oliver stood up and walked a few paces away from her. She wanted to stand up and wrap her arms around his waist, but her brain was finally starting to gain control of her impulses again, and she remained seated on the grass.

After a few minutes Oliver turned back to her and reached out his hand. "Come on, Lily, I'll walk you back to the castle."

Lily nodded and put her hand into his, letting him pull her to her feet. She knew she should have pulled her hand from his grasp, but it felt nice to walk hand in hand with the other boy and instead of releasing his hand, she squeezed it slightly, glowing in the returned pressure.

-o-xXx-o-

"So we're just waiting for the twins?" Remus asked.

"I say we start without them," Sirius said impatiently, glaring towards the door, behind which his older self was imprisoned.

"I think we need as many wands on him as possible," Peter muttered with a glare of his own.

"Yeah," James agreed. "I'm still feeling a little weak."

"You were perfectly fine when you ran in here to tell everyone you'd seen me and Oliver by the lake earlier this morning," Lily pointed out.

"I was in shock," James replied. "I'm about to leave the hospital wing and I look out the window to see my girl snogging the face off of some other bloke." He glared at the bloke in question, who simply looked back calmly. "It set me back so much Madam Pomfrey had to keep me in for another hour."

"For the millionth time, I'm not your bloody girl," Lily snarled.

"Only because you're too stubborn to see that we're meant to be."

Lily groaned and only the calming presence of Oliver sitting beside her stopped her from leaping from her seat and punching James in the nose.

"I say we check the map and see if they're on their way," Sirius said, casting a meaningful glance at Remus.

"That's another thing," Lily said. "That map has got to be handed in to a teacher as soon as we get home."

"No," Remus replied immediately.

"I thought you'd be on my side," Lily commented.

"Not on this." Remus wouldn't be drawn further and pulled out the map. He activated it – Lily snorted at the password – and smiled as he announced that the twins were on their way.

"Looks like they're bringing company," Sirius said, pointing to the parchment.

"Looks like they're being followed," Remus replied, pointing to something else.

"What is it?" James asked, jumping up from the sofa to see the map for himself. "Harry Potter?" he gasped, pointing to one of the dots.

"You haven't told him yet?" Peter asked.

"We thought…" Remus began.

"It's like this Prongs…" Sirius faltered.

"Bloody useless," Lily muttered. "Potter? Harry's your son, a third year, and the seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Wow," James breathed. "Seeker on the team in third year."

"Been on the team since his first," Oliver added with a grin. "Never failed to catch the snitch either."

"Really?" James grinned at the Quidditch Captain, being civil to him for the first time since he'd noticed Lily's partiality to his company.

"There's a few other things you should know as well," Remus added. He ignored Lily's groan of annoyance and quickly filled James in on the story as they believed they knew it.

"We're not too late, are we?" Fred asked as the room filled up with the new arrivals a few minutes later.

"Did you bring him?" Remus asked.

"Right here," George pointed to one of the younger boys who was carrying a small cage containing a familiar looking rat. "This is Ron, he insisted on coming with us."

"That's because I'm not having you perform some stupid spell on poor Scabbers again," the younger boy replied. "Harry and Hermione are here to make sure I wasn't outnumbered if they," he nodded to the twins, "try anything funny."

"And I'm here," Professor Lupin announced from the doorway, "because I apparently have either very good, or very bad, timing. I did want a quiet word with Remus here, but I think perhaps that might wait until after someone explains the rather loud barking coming from the room over there."

Several students cast guilty glances at each other, none wanting to be the one to begin the explanations. Finally Lily broke the silence. "Sirius Black's in there."

"He is?" Professor Lupin cast a suspicious glance towards the door.

"He's kind of annoyed," Remus pointed out, rather unnecessarily. "He tried to attack Peter."

"He's barking mad," Sirius added. "Lost the plot completely if you ask me."

"Sirius Black's in there?" Harry asked quietly, pointing towards the door.

"Is there any reason why no one thought to call me or one of the other teachers?" Professor Lupin asked impatiently. "I thought you'd have trusted me at the very least."

"We do," Sirius assured him. "But there's something funny going on here. He said he wanted to commit the murder he was imprisoned for. Then he tried to attack Peter, he couldn't even tell that he's too young to be the one he's after."

"Azkaban must have unhinged him," Remus said.

"It certainly sounds like it," Professor Lupin agreed. "These sound like the ravings of a madman."

"Not all of it," Peter interrupted. "Peter, the older one is still alive."

"He can't be."

"He's over there," Peter pointed towards Ron who was still holding the cage. Ron, Harry and Hermione still looked torn between confusion and fear.

Professor Lupin turned towards Ron and peered into the cage. "Well I'll be damned," he whispered.

"Let me out of here!" screamed Sirius Black, his hammering on the door increasing at the sound of more and more voices on the other side.

"Peter, take the rat and go into the bedroom."

"I'm not giving Scabbers to him," Ron argued.

"Fine, you go with him," Professor Lupin said. "Take Harry and Hermione too."

Harry looked like he wanted to argue but followed after the others without a word.

"Sirius?" Professor Lupin called through the door. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm not deaf!" Sirius yelled back.

"Thought maybe you were, what with the way you're screaming," Professor Lupin replied calmly. "Now, will you agree to talk reasonably with us if we let you out?"

There was silence from the other room.

"Sirius?" Professor Lupin called quietly. "Padfoot?"

"Moony?" Sirius asked from the other side of the door. "Is that you? Or have I really gone mad?"

"It's me."

Remus reached for Sirius's hand as they watched Professor Lupin speaking to Sirius through the safety of the door.

"Do you hear what I hear?" Sirius whispered into his ear.

Remus smiled back at him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "You know they're not," he whispered back.

"Bet they want to be," Sirius murmured into his ear, nipping on the lobe slightly.

"Padfoot, behave," Remus scolded. He didn't dare take his eyes from the door that was now being opened by Professor Lupin.

"Moony?" the older Sirius asked. He sounded like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Padfoot." Professor Lupin nodded and a moment later he was enveloped in a tight hug.

"I told you," Sirius whispered in Remus's ear again.

"Maybe you're right," Remus agreed, more for peace and quiet than because he actually thought Sirius had a point.

Professor Lupin guided the other Sirius to the chair nearest the fire. "What happened Sirius?"

"He-" Lily began, but was cut off immediately by Professor Lupin.

"I know that you all think you've figured out what happened, but I need to hear it from Sirius, if you don't mind."

Lily nodded in understanding.

"Sirius?" Professor Lupin asked.

"It's all my fault," the older Sirius whispered. "I told them to do it."

From the corner of his eye, Remus caught sight of the bedroom door opening again. Neither Professor Lupin, nor the older Sirius saw the movement, but everyone else in the room could see Peter and the others creeping back into the room.

"Do what?" Professor Lupin asked.

"Switch. It was supposed to be a bluff, but…"

"Peter was the Secret Keeper, wasn't he?" Professor Lupin asked, receiving a sharp nod as confirmation that his guess was correct.

Remus looked at their own Peter who was growing steadily paler at the confirmation that he was the one who'd betrayed his friends. He reached out his free hand and tugged Peter down beside him. "It's not you," he whispered. "It's not you, and they aren't us. Just remember that, and we'll be fine."

Peter nodded mutely, but Remus could still see the fear in his eyes as he looked at the man who'd lost twelve years of his life because of what his own double had done.

On the other side of Peter, James walked over to perch on the arm. He patted Peter on the shoulder, leaving his hand there comfortingly.

Slowly and brokenly, the older Sirius explained what had happened on the night James and Lily Potter had died. The only one listening even more intently than themselves was Harry Potter…to whom this was all apparently news that he'd never heard before.

"It's going to be all right," Professor Lupin told the older Sirius firmly once he'd reached the end of his tale.

"It will be once I kill him."

Remus felt Peter stiffening beside him as the older Sirius darted a look in their direction.

"That's not Peter," Professor Lupin stated simply. "Look at him, he's just a boy."

"They look so much like us."

"They do." Professor Lupin smiled across at them. "They are us, as we used to be, or at least almost."

"I'm going crazy?" the older Sirius asked.

"Going?" Professor Lupin quipped with a smirk. "Padfoot, you went crazy years ago."

The older Sirius smiled back at him and across the room Remus caught a glimpse of the man he'd been before Azkaban had taken its toll on him.