Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.
A/N: Thanks for the review: nicolehpmagic21 – It will all be explained this chaptern
Chapter 20
"Sirius!" he yelled, but it was too late.
There was a BOOM!and the four friends were thrown back into the wall by an explosion...
Debris flew around them as they sat with their backs against the wall, too startled to move. Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, everything cleared away, leaving the four alone in a completely empty room.
"Lily, is the baby okay?" James asked from his position against the wall, suddenly afraid for Lily and the baby.
"Y – Yes, he's fine! He's still kicking," Lily replied, attempting to stand up and then having to use the wall for support. James quickly jumped up and helped steady her.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around. Sirius and Remus were getting shakily to their feet, and all of Severus' things had disappeared.
"The time sand was all dumped into the potion. Actually, I think only half of it made it in," Remus answered.
"Damn, Snape is going to kill us," Sirius said, suddenly looking frightened. "You don't want to get on his bad side."
"No," Remus corrected. "I'll make sure he only kills you, Padfoot. You're the one who knocked it in!"
"But why did it explode?" James interrupted
"That much time sand, the belladona, helleborn, and wormwood all reacted badly, causing the explosion. Since the potion got onto us, it should have done something...but I'm not sure what," Lily said, eyebrows furrowed.
"If we are still in Hogwarts, we should find Dumbledore," Sirius said. Remus nodded.
"Probably the smartest thing Sirius has ever said," he said, pulling open the door and leading the way out into the empty corridor on the other side.
"Hey!" Sirius said.
"Hmm, wonder where all of the students are," Lily remarked as they walked up the marble staircases to the seventh floor.
"Dunno," James said, looking around for any sign of any people at all. Remus' eyebrows were furrowed, as if deep in thought, but nobody noticed.
When they got to the seventh floor, they heard the clicking of feet on the ground. James looked around the corner and exclaimed,
"Minerva!"
The others looked around the corner and saw a startled Professor McGonagall walking toward them. There was something different about her since the last time they had seen her, but they didn't know what.
"Mr. Potter! Might I ask how – and why, for that matter – you are here before the Hogwarts Express, and calling your professors by their first name!"
"What are you – ?" James started, but McGonagall cut him off.
"I am astounded that you would do such a thing! I could see your sister doing this – oh, how I could see her doing this – but you? What has gotten into – ?" She cut off once she noticed Lily, Remus, and Sirius as well. Her eyes widened and she said, "Follow me." Bewildered, the four didn't know what to do besides follow her.
She led them to the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, and said quickly to it, "Lemon drops." She then led them up the stone stairs and knocked on Dumbledore's office door.
"Enter."
McGonagall led them inside, and as soon as Dumbledore saw James, the first to enter, he said,
"Harry, what are you doing here – ?" But he cut off when he saw the other people with James. "James? Sirius? Remus? Lily?" he asked, glancing from one to the other, disbelieving.
"I found them in the seventh floor corridor and brought them straight here," McGonagall explained.
"Minerva, could you so kindly leave us?" McGonagall did as asked, and Dumbledore then conjured up four chairs for them and asked them politely to sit down.
"Sir, what happened to your hand?" Lily asked suddenly, looking down at Dumbledore's black, withered hand.
"That is a story for another time, Lily. First of all, I want you to tell me what happened just before you came here." They explained how they had been making the potion, how Sirius knocked the time sand in accidentally and how there was an explosion, at which point Dumbledore smiled.
"Ah, can you do me the pleasure of telling me what day, month, and year it is?"
"February 1st, 1980, sir, but don't you know that?" Lily answered, confused.
"Well, I would, Lily, if it weren't for the fact that it is actually September 1st, 1996."
"Bloody hell," Sirius wheezed.
"The wormwood and amount of time sand reacted and sent you guys exactly 16 years and seven months into the future," Dumbledore explained. Sirius whistled.
"Is there a way to send us back to our time?" Remus asked.
"There is a potion that should," Dumbledore said. "It has to be made perfectly and will take a month. I can start it tonight. And I'm afraid that we will have to wipe your memories before we send you back, as we wouldn't want you guys to change your future – or my past – now would we?"
"Why can't we keep our memories? We won't change anything," James said. "It's not that I want to change it, it's just that I don't want to loose my memory."
"Because you will probably want to change it, and we can't let that happen," Dumbledore said. The four still looked rebellious – even Lily did – but they backed down as Dumbledore continued. "It's a very good thing that you came today, actually, because it is the first day of school. The train has yet to arrive, it should be here soon though. We should come up with a cover story and you can pose as new students for a while."
"How about we were home-schooled until we decided to come here? Remus and I can be siblings, and Sirius and James can be siblings and we were neighbors," Lily suggested. "That way James and I can still be together without being siblings."
"Sounds good to me. As you are graduated, you have a choice of what year you would like to go into. I would recommend two of you go into sixth year, two of you into fourth, as you will find somebody you will know in both years. We can use Glamor Charms to make you look younger and unrecognizable, as people will recognize you and that isn't a good idea," Dumbledore said.
"I should probably go into sixth year," Lily said. "Glamor Charms can't hide my stomach, and being a pregnant 16 year old is better than being a pregnant 14 year old, even if 16 is still pretty young."
"I want to be with Lily," James said, intertwining his hand with hers. She smiled at him.
"Remus, Sirius, are you okay with being fourth years?"
"Sounds good to me," Sirius said while Remus merely shrugged.
"We need you to have different names then."
"I'll be Blithe," Sirius said.
"Uh, Sirius, that's a girl's name," Lily said. Sirius shrugged, indifferent.
"It's the opposite of 'serious' so I'm using it." Lily rolled her eyes.
"I'll be Lizzy," Lily said.
"You should be Remy, Remus," James said. "I'll be Jamie, or is that too close?"
"Nobody will put notice that they are that close," Remus pointed out. "Especially if we have Glamor Charms on. It's only a month. And I guess I'll be Remy, that's not bad."
"How about last names?"
"James and Sirius should be White, since it is the opposite of Black," Remus said. "And Lily and I could be Evans, I guess." Dumbledore nodded.
"Ready for the charms?" he asked, picking up his wand with his black, withered hand. The time-travelers nodded, and he waved his wand around each of them and said, "There. That should do." They all looked at each other.
They had changed so much that even Dumbledore himself wouldn't have recognized them. The most obvious change, besides that they looked several years younger, was their hair and eyes. Lily's hair had turned dark brown and was shoulder length and straight and her eyes had turned a darker, duller green. Remus' hair was slightly darker than Lily's and had shortened to nearly a buzz cut and his eyes were the same color as Lily's. They were both nearly exactly the same height, but Remus looked a little younger than Lily. James and Sirius both now had blonde hair. Sirius' had shortened to James' length and James' had flattened so it was no longer messy. They both had caramel colored eyes as well, and the only difference was that Sirius was now shorter than James and looked younger.
"Whoa, this is crazy!" Sirius exclaimed, examining his friends.
"Now, after we sort the first years, I will introduce you and you can come into the Great Hall using the teachers entrance and be sorted again," Dumbledore explained. James groaned.
"Can't we just say we were already sorted and are in Gryffindor?" Dumbledore smiled but shook his head.
"It's easier this way." He looked toward the window, and then he smiled slightly. "Ah, yes, the train is here. I'll show you to the staff entrance – although I'm sure three of you already know how to get there." He smiled at James, Sirius, and Remus, with the usual twinkle in his eyes, but quickly turned away and lead the four of them to the staff entrance to the Great Hall.
After all of the first years were sorted, Dumbledore introduced them and they entered the Great Hall.
Lily was the first to be called up – as "Evans, Lizzy" – to put the Sorting Hat on. She knew that she would get a lot of stares as she was pregnant AND a new student, but didn't care.
"Miss Evans! How surprised I am to see you again!"
"Why is that?" Lily asked it.
"No reason," it replied quickly. "I still believe you would do well in Ravenclaw, but, as you should know some people here, we best put you back in GRYFFINDOR!" Lily joined the Gryffindor table as they applauded politely, sitting beside a girl with vivid red hair, who looked vaguely familiar and smiled friendlily at Lily as she sat down before turning back to her friends.
The next was Remus, who was called up as "Evans, Remy."
Hello Mr. Lupin! I should have expected you as soon as I saw Miss Evans again!
You mean Mrs. Potter? Remus corrected.
Ha, ha, yes, I do. I best put you back with Mrs. Potter in GRYFFINDOR!" Remus joined Lily, sitting beside her and vaguely noting someone who looked familiar down the table a bit as he watched Sirius get called up as "White, Blithe" and put the Sorting Hat on. Almost instantly it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius sat across from them, beside a boy with a round face who reminded Lily of somebody, much like almost every student here did.
Last to be called up was James, by the name of "White, Jamie." Almost as fast as Sirius, the hat called "GRYFFINDOR!" and he sat beside Sirius.
Dumbledore said his usual short words, and then the four dug into the food instantly. They didn't pay attention to the teachers yet, they decided they would later, and barely said anything until Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent.
"The very best of evenings to you!" There was mild chatter at the sight of his black, withered hand.
"We know this speech by heart, unless there is a new caretaker – nope, there's Filch right there!" Sirius said, pointed to Filch, standing off in a corner holding Mrs. Norris.
"Ugh, that cat is still here?" James groaned. "It should have been killed long before now." Lily hit him lightly at wishing the cat dead.
"…and Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."
"What's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Sirius asked. The girl with red hair beside Lily turned to them and said,
"You've never heard of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" she asked. When they shook their head, she explained. "It's a new joke shop in Diagon Alley. My twin brothers, Fred and George, own it. It's doing so well that they are even considering buying Zonko's to have a Hogsmeade branch. Reckon you've heard of it? I'm Ginny, by the way, Ginny Weasley."
"Nice to meet you Ginny. And we've heard of Zonko's," Lily said.
"Whoa, that shop sounds bloody awesome!" Sirius said. "We have to go there Jamie!" he said, turning to James, who looked just as excited as he sounded.
"'Course we will Blithe!" he replied.
When it was announced seconds later that Professor Snape was taking the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a few Gryffindors had yelled "No!" It was obvious he was only liked among the Slytherins.
Dumbledore gave the pep-talk that they were used to, mostly about being in a time where Voldemort was back, which greatly confused them.
"He's back? Where did he ever go?" Remus asked. Ginny turned to them again and said,
"You don't know the story of Voldemort and Harry Potter?" They tried not to show their surprise at the name Harry Potter, but knew it didn't work and that Ginny knew that they were surprised about something. What did Voldemort have to do with Lily's baby?
Finally, Lily shook her head.
"No, what story?" Ginny sighed.
"It's a long story, but here goes.
"Fifteen years ago, You-Know-Who went after a one year old baby, Harry Potter." She motioned over her shoulder. "He's down there if you are looking for him." They looked over her shoulder, but she continued talking before they could see and they turned back to her.
"He's a sixth year Gryffindor. Anyway, he killed Harry's parents – " Lily covered her mouth with her hand; She and James were dead? James held her hand under the table and squeezed it. " – and then turned his wand on Harry. But somehow, nobody knows how – well Dumbledore probably does but he hasn't told – the spell backfired onto You-Know-Who." Lily gasped again. "He was left alive, but barely just.
"Harry survived, as did his little sister – whom You-Know-Who didn't even know about – Nicole. She's down there, a fourth year Gryffindor." She motioned somewhere behind them, but they didn't turn around and look because they were too enticed by her story. They didn't even notice that Lily and James' daughter shared the same name as Nicole Sawyer of their time.
"In June 1995, after a faithful servant returned to him, You-Know-Who, in a way captured Harry and used his blood to bring himself back to full power." Once again, Lily gasped and James squeezed her hand. "Last year, nobody believed Harry and Dumbledore when they said that You-Know-Who was back to power, at least until June of this year, when the Minister himself saw You-Know-Who in the Ministry after a break-in."
Just as Ginny finished her story, they were released to go to their Common Rooms. The time-travelers followed Ginny to the Common Room, where they settled into some chairs. Most students went off to bed, but a few settled themselves into the chairs as well.
The time-travelers were silent until Remus said,
"Let's go to the Room of Requirement. We need to talk."
They all got up and followed Remus to the portrait hole. Luckily, only about ten students were left in the Common Room, and none of them saw the new students leave.
They were careful not to cross anybody's path until Sirius stopped about halfway to the Room of Requirement. The others stopped behind him and watched as he slowly picked up a small piece of paper that looked like a photograph off of the ground, his eyes wide.
He opened his mouth to say something to them, but then stopped as two voices came floating into the corridor from around a corner.
"Let's go back!" the first voice, a girl's, said.
"Come on, Demelza, I know it's around here somewhere!" the second voice, also a girl's, said.
"We've looked everywhere! Can't we go back?" the first, Demelza, whined.
"Ugh, I knew I should have brought Romilda!" the second complained.
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because she's too busy wooing over my brother! It's sick!" Demelza laughed, but only for a second.
"Can we go back now?" she asked.
"What if I died tomorrow, and this was the last picture you ever had of me and you couldn't find it because you wanted to go back to the Common Room? How would you feel then?" the first asked. Her voice sounded serious, but it was obvious she was joking.
"Yes, because You-Know-Who has it out to get you," Demelza said sarcastically and the two girls appeared around the corner.
The first one they saw had light brown hair pulled into a low ponytail. She was wearing a Gryffindor sweater and was clearly very annoyed with her friend.
The second had long, strawberry blonde hair and familiar hazel eyes. She looked exactly like the Nicole Sawyer that the time-travelers knew, only a year or two younger. All of the time-travelers' eyes widened when they saw her. The two friends didn't appear to notice the time-travelers, however.
"He does! I told you he's going to use me to get to Harry one of these days! He used Sirius and he's already tried to use me once before! If Remus hadn't been visiting that day then I wouldn't be here! And you know Harry would come to my aide, he's already proven that he's a noble git," the second said.
The time-travelers were shocked at hearing both Sirius' and Remus' name, but didn't have time to dwell on it because the second girl had ran straight into Sirius. She wobbled backwards and almost fell over until he grabbed her wrist to help steady her, his eyes wide.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, taking a step back to get a better look at him. She noticed the picture he was holding, and looked at it closer. "Did you just find this?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Uh – yeah," Sirius said quietly, glancing down at the picture again. "Is it yours?" The girl nodded and took it gently from him.
"Thanks," she said before she turned back to Demelza and said, "I told you we'd find it." She turned back to Sirius. "You're the new kid, right? Jamie?" Sirius shook his head, blinked, and regained his composure.
"No, I'm Blithe. He's Jamie," he motioned over his shoulder to James, but the girl looked at Lily and her stomach instead before turning back to Sirius.
"Can't we go back now, Nicole? You found your damn picture," her friend Demelza said before she could say anything. Nicole rolled her eyes.
"Fine." She smiled one last time at Sirius. "Do you know how to get back to the Common Room?" Sirius nodded and she turned and walked away. Sirius turned back to his friends.
"Now we really need to talk."
Once they were seated comfortably around a fire in the Room of Requirement, Sirius said,
"That girl, not only did she look exactly like Nicole from our time and have the same name, but – well, do you remember when I would constantly bug Nicole, trying to get her to let me see a picture?" They nodded. "Well I saw a glimpse of it and that's why I wanted to see it, but couldn't tell exactly what it was." He paused. "That picture I just found – that was the picture." There was silence for a moment until Remus said,
"I think I know what this means." He looked up at them, as he had been staring at his lap. "This Nicole and our Nicole are one and the same."
"How – ?"
"Time travel. That's how we got here, isn't it? An older version of this Nicole came back in time to our time."
A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.