Time Paradox Revolution
by: PhoenixJustice
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. The Obsidian Trilogy is property of Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I only own this story and make no profit from this.
Warning: Rated M for future sexual content, language, violence, etc.
Pairings: eventual Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, Godric/Salazar, Caradoc/Fabian, etc.
Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone.
Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.
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Chapter Twenty Eight - Tea
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"I'm sorry to see you go, my boy." Albus says.
Remus smiles, a bit painfully, but smiles nonetheless. "So am I, Albus. But I cannot tell you how much I appreciate even this small opportunity. Not many would knowingly hire a werewolf." His smile turns a bit bitter.
Albus places a hand on his shoulder. "Then more fool they that they not look into a person's heart, rather than just look at their other appearance."
Remus nods briefly, getting the rest of his things together as Albus goes to talk over in the corner with Minerva.
He'd thought about leaving on the train with the children, but felt that too painful, so he would take a prescheduled Portkey off grounds. It wasn't that he wanted to leave this post; he loved it. Even more so than he thought he would. But he knew as well as the others that no one could hold the post for more than a year. Such was the curse that Voldemort had laid over the position, a curse that even Albus Dumbledore himself had been unable to break. Or the Founders for that matter.
He finds his eyes wandering against his will to where Coraggio was in a conversation with Sibyll Trelawney of all people. He seemed to be quite amused with whatever she was saying, her hands waving haphazardly aroud in the air. Ever since that brief conversation, Coraggio had been taking to coming around in the teacher's lounge more often, speaking with the other teachers. He even seemed to get along with Severus well enough, whom tended to keep to himself more often than not.
As unbelievable as what Coraggio had implied, Remus found no reason to doubt him. That would explain the familiarity with Coraggio-and his magic. But if that were the case, truly, then why was he even here? Why teach at the school? He knew what Coraggio had been doing before he came to Hogwarts to teach; apparently the bulk of his time had been searching for Salazar. Why Salazar was hiding himself from him-and for such a long time even-was something that none of them knew. Save for the Founders themselves.
Coraggio seems to feel eyes on him finally and glances in Remus' direction. He smirks, inclining his head at Remus (Sibyll took no notice, as she was busy in the middle of some kind of rant-about tea leaves, if Remus' hearing was correct?) He looks back to Sibyll, excusing himself, and walks over to Remus.
Remus stares at the hand the man extends.
"A shame that you won't be staying around for next term, but your replacement will be just as much fun." Coraggio says.
"Replacement? Albus said he hadn't decided on one yet." Remus replies, confused.
Coraggio merely smiles.
"You like being mysterious on purpose, don't you." He accuses the man.
The other man laughs. "Ah, you caught me, my friend. It's fun! I don't think I do it as well as other people," Here his smile dims for a brief moment. "But I think I do well enough! But enough of that. Are you not going to shake my hand? A bit rude, don't you think?" His tone, however, was one of humor, letting Remus know there'd be no offense either way.
Remus clasps hands with him and can't help but let out a small gasp as he feels the utter power emanating from the man. If there had been any lingering doubt about who this man was, all doubt was now erased.
This was Godric Gryffindor, one of the Founders of Hogwarts, one of the greatest Wizards there had ever been. The namesake of the House that Remus, Sirius, and James had been apart of. That Harry was now apart of.
His face is one of stunned disbelief as Gryffindor releases his hand. He pats Remus on the shoulder.
"But-" He had so many questions, so many of them. "Why did you decide to teach here?"
Gryffindor raises a brow. "I like teaching, for one thing, though I haven't done it in a long time. But it's also because it's where I need to be right now. Or want to be. Sometimes I get those mixed up. But...I think it's the place I need to be for now."
"But he won't come to the school," Remus blurts out. "Even if doesn't know you're here. Especially if you're here."
Gryffindor tilts his head in acquiesce. "I know." He says, looking a bit sad. "But it's still something I must do."
Remus realizes the time and gives a bit of a nod of apology as he grabs his things. "Sorry, my Portkey will be here soon."
"It's alright. But you can do something for me, if you don't mind?" Gryffindor asks.
One of the Founders wanted something from him? What could he possibly want that Remus could give?
"Stop calling me Gryffindor. It's Godric." Gryffindor, no Godric, says with a wink.
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He straightens up-Portkey travel was always a bit dizzying-and is surprised as he is greeted at the front of Grimmauld Place by Gilderoy Lockhart and not Sirius. He had come to Grimmauld Place and not Godric's Hollow because James and Lily were both working, and Sirius was here and he hadn't gotten to catch up with Sirius in Merlin knew how long!
The other wizard wore long dark purple robes and his hair looked a bit mussed-apparently he was still helping Sirius clean the place, something that surprised him greatly.
The first time he had seen the man's picture on one of his books, he had thought him merely a vain and spoiled man. And he was a bit of those things, to be fair, but he was also so many other things. He also was a man who had a lot of stories to tell, things he had done (things that had involved his surprisingly good thieving skills and not merely Memory Charms.) He was good company.
He finds himself smiling as he walks forward. "I take it Sirius is too busy to come meet me himself?"
Lockhart snorts, surprising Remus, and gestures him forward, smiling. The smile has him pausing. Yes, the man had won awards for his smile before (as he had heard so often before on the Wizarding Radio) but this smile was not the ones in the pictures. The smiles in the pictures were obviously fake, put on, and emotionless. This one was surprisingly soft. He finds his breath catching, confused. He shakes it off and follows him in.
"With all the cleaning he's done, I kept telling him he could start a cleaning service." Lockhart says with a chuckle, closing the door behind them. The house still had a bit of a gloomy feeling, as the very front room was still a but dusty and grimy but it was still much better than Remus had seen it last. Apparently they had gotten a lot of work done.
"Ahh, I'd go crazy in a week. Gil on the other hand, could make a pretty bit of Galleons in Doxy removal." Sirius says, walking into the front area. He looked better than Remus had seen him last, thankfully, a lot more at ease with himself. Apparently he all but gotten out of the funk he had been in. He strides over and gives Remus a large hug.
"You act like you haven't seen me in years." Remus says with a chuckle, hugging the man back.
Sirius pulls back, rolling his eyes. "Try and be nice to family and this is what you get!"
"Better than being shut away in a bottomless trunk." Lockhart says mildly, to which Sirius snorts at.
"Well, if you want to listen to her screeching, feel free to take her to your place."
Lockhart shutters. "Merlin forbid! That woman is utterly horrible! But enough of that! You haven't even tried to show Remus the progress we've made!" Lockhart pouts. He shakes his head, grabbing onto one of Remus' arms, startling him. "Here, I'll show you and then you can tell us all about how things are going at Hogwarts."
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After the impromptu look around the place, which was coming along nicely, they come to the kitchens, sitting down with a nice pot of tea. Kreacher may have been a bit of a problem at first, but he seemed to be rather helpful now. He supposed Sirius had a talk with him or something. He blows on his tea before taking a cautious sip, ignoring Sirius and Lockhart's looks of utter shock.
"You're kidding." Lockhart says, in obvious amazement, all but forgetting his cooling tea by his elbow.
Remus shrugs. "I wouldn't, not about something like that. He all but confirmed it once and then I confirmed it myself for certain when I shook his hand; his magic feels like theirs."
"I'm surprised he isn't still out looking for Salazar though. I don't get why he'd feel compelled to stay at the school right now."
Remus shrugs. "I don't know either. Said it was the place he needed to be right now. And I can't say that's a bad thing; he is a fantastic teacher, by all accounts. Harry and the rest are in very good hands."
Lockhart glances at Sirius at that, though Remus can't surmise why.
"I'm sure he is." Sirius says, looking down into his teacup.
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"I can't believe you did it!" Ron exclaims, looking quite impressed. Hermione looks a bit put out at first but ends up smiling as well, unable to hold a grudge, though Harry had gotten the better outcome in their Runes exam.
"It's a fair bit of difficult magic." Draco says, whistling, looking here and there at the Protect Rune that Professor Coraggio had allowed Harry to keep, like he had let the rest of the class (that had passed) keep their Simple Light Runes, as they were harmless Runes (plus that way, they could show their parents or guardians the work they had done.) "Well," he amends. "So is the whole subject, really. It's why you see so very few Rune Masters. Most only get the hang of a few ones and even then..." He trails off with an elegant shrug, leaning against the corner of the seat he was sitting on with Harry, with Ron and Hermione across from them.
"And you'd know that how?" Ron asks, skeptically. "You're not even apart of the Runes class."
Draco merely raises a light brow at him. "Because I read, for one, Weasley. But my father also is an acquaitance of a Rune Master, if you must know."
Before Ron can retort back-and therefor start a fight that he (and he was sure Hermione as well) did not want to hear-he jumps into the conversation.
"There's even fewer Rune Makers as well, as far as I can tell." Harry says, taking back his Rune from Draco ("Hey!") and putting it carefully back into his robe pocket.
"Yes, it's a very, very difficult subject, maybe even more difficult than potion making, or at least on par with it." Hermione says, entering the conversation herself now, looking at ease as she so often did, talking about a subject she had obviously studied up hard on. "As good as the Professor is-I wonder why he hasn't made any himself."
"He's not even on the list of known Rune Masters either." Harry says. He shrugs. "Maybe he just didn't want to be in the spotlight or something? Maybe that's why he's at the Runes class in Hogwarts instead."
It's quiet for a few moments.
"I wonder'll who teach Defence next term." Ron says, breaking the silence. "They're gonna be hard pressed to find someone as good as Lupin."
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"Wow, the place is starting to look nice." James says with a whistle, looking around at the place.
"Yeah?" Sirius says with a shrug, though he looked obviously pleased.
It was already a better sight than James had ever seen it. Mind you, the first few occasions had been the briefly look inside as Sirius hurried out of his house, ignoring his (still living at the time) screaming mother. And then years later, when Sirius was the only Black left, the house had fallen into disrepair. Not that he could blame him; he knew most of what Sirius had gone through with them in that place, so he could understand why he'd want to forget it even existed until now. Until Albus asked them to make it headquarters for the Order.
"I'm surprised you're not the one with Harry checking out Quidditch stuff, in prep for the World Cup." Sirius says, after a pause, his back now turned to James as he gets a couple cups of tea ready.
"I would have been, but this is Lily's punishment for that stunt I pulled with the broom." James says, with a pout. Sirius laughs. "I was just trying to show something cool to my wife, why do I get punished for it?"
"Because you act stupid sometimes?" Sirius offers, handing over a cup of tea to him.
James rolls his eyes in response, blowing carefully on the still steaming tea before taking a sip.
"You know you don't have to stay here, don't you?" James says, ignoring Sirius' previous statement. "I get it needs cleaned, but you don't have to-" He stops, looking at Sirius closely (who wouldn't look at him.)
"You alright, Pads?" He asks, frowning.
Sirius startles, looking up at James. "Oh. Sorry. Just been so busy. I guess all the doxy cleaning has tired me out more than I thought. Well, watching Gil do most of that, anyway."
He laughs, but James can't help but think that there was more to it than he was letting on. He shrugs mentally, taking another drink of his tea. He'd get to the bottom of it soon enough; Sirius was never one to hold back things from him. He had been the only one, until Remus became their other best friend, that Sirius had been able to actually open up about the things in his life, after all.
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"Why does everyone keep coming round for tea?" He demands. His voice softens a bit. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but it's not like I went bloody anywhere! Just cleaning up this damned house."
"And what a fine job you've done," Albus says mildly, stirring his tea a bit. "Though I am sure you are happy it's all over with."
Sirius sits back in his chair, head tilting back, with a groan. "Yes. Remind me to never complain about cleaning services in any way, ever, again." He straightens up a bit, eyeing the older wizard. "But I'm sure that isn't what you're here for. So what did you need, Albus?"
"Well, I'm sure you've heard the news-from Remus at least, if not someone else-what we have planned at Hogwarts for this year?" At Sirius' nod he continues. "It seemed a good a time as any to bring it back. We've had it in mind for quite awhile, actually; it just took awhile to get everything together. Quite a large undertaking."
"Surely you don't need any help with that from me?"
Albus shakes his head, taking a brief drink of his tea. "Oh no, dear boy. I have a different favor to ask of you. I find myself in need of a Defense teacher."
His brows raise high on his head. "And you think that I would fit that?" he all but squeaks. "For the love of Merlin, Albus. I've never taught before. Why would I be qualified?"
"You're a powerful wizard who has seen and done many things, many some could never even begin to dream about." Albus says quietly but powerfully. "That makes you qualified for this subject, as far as I am concerned. Would you say Hagrid underqualified for Care of Magical Creatures because of his expulsion in his Third Year, despite his knowledge of the subject?"
"Well, no, of course not. It's just..." He hesitates. "Why not rehire Remus, for one thing?"
"Because he is continuing the Horcrux search." Albus says. "As well as doing a few other tasks that needed done. But we both know that even if he had nothing available, that I would be unable to hire him on two years in a row. That is the legacy that Tom Riddle has left Hogwarts."
"Sirius," Albus continues. "Do you really fear being that near Harry Potter, even if only in proximity?"
Sirius flinches. Albus' words were a surprise, but the fact that Albus could know something like that did not. The man knew and learned many a thing, even without Legilimency.
He looks away, shaking his head. "I-I don't..." He starts, hoarsely, unable to think of a reply to that.
"I cast no judgement on you; it is not my place to. You seek to bring no harm to him. You are free to think of your own future, Sirius." Albus says, as seriously as he can ever remember hearing the older man be.
He laughs slightly, though he still does not look at the other man. "That's essentially what Gil said too."
"Did he now?" Albus says, obvious surprise coloring his voice. "Well, your friendship with him has certainly been the factor I hoped it would when I notice it blossom. You're good for him."
Sirius shrugs, the other subject that had been brought up still weighing on his mind.
"I only ask this one year from you. We both know it can only be one year. But if not, I will understand. I have someone else I could get for the post, but I truly believe this will be best."
"Best for you both." He adds, gently.
The younger wizard laughs mirthlessly. "Oh yes, because I can see this going well! If James even knew, or Merlin forbid, Lily-"
He holds his head in his hands before looking at Albus with bright eyes. "But the worst part? The worst part is that I want them to know. Just so I don't have to feel this way anymore, this torn. I worry about so many things. How Harry might not ever see me. What does that make me?"
"A human being." Albus says. "My boy, think of Harry now. What did that future self do when you seen him? Did he scorn you?"
"No." Sirius says, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat. A memory of an older Harry with desperate eyes and a desperate mouth.
"And when you saw Harry, that time with the Horcrux, did he scorn you then?"
"No." Sirius whispers. A memory of an Harry saving him from the madness all around him, the madness in his own head. Even if that had been some sort of mirage or something, it had still saved his sanity. That Harry had looked at him with eyes filled with love, with tears of happiness to see him.
"Even if our Harry would not see you the way you wished, we both know that he would never scorn you."
Sirius laughs again, though this time it is much more with feeling. "So you're essentially saying I should find my Gryffindor bravery and jump headlong into something I never have before, with this post?"
Albus chuckles. "Something like that. Godric himself would applaud that bravery."
"Will, you mean." Sirius says wryly.
Albus raises a silver brow and laughs loudly. "Ah! So Remus told you then! I was hoping to make that a nice surprise for later."
Sirius laughs.
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He hadn't seen Sirius in person since that night in Hogwarts, though he-and the rest of his family-had gotten letters here and there. Apparently he was doing some sort of secret project. Well, secret to Harry anyway; his mum knew, his dad knew, and Remus knew, but they kept quiet whenever he asked. Apparently it was something big, just like something at Hogwarts was happening that was big.
Just thinking about Sirius made his heart race, even now, made his face flush. It was such a weird set of feelings all at once that raced through him and even the fact that he had known Sirius all his life did not dissuade him or his feelings. On really brave days or nights, he'd sometimes wonder what it'd be like to kiss him-and immediately flush afterwards. But he couldn't help himself.
Even if Sirius did not feel the same-or could never feel the same-he just wanted to see him. Especially now of all days.
It was his bloody birthday, after all!
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"He's sorry he can't be here himself, Harry." His mother says gently, pressing a present into his hands.
He frowns inwardly but doesn't want to make his mum-or anyone else-feel bad just because he was sulking a bit. He looks down at the beautifully wrapped package, which Sirius had to get professional help-or more likely Gil-to help with as he was absolute rubbish at wrapping (not that Harry minded; he loved seeing the effort Sirius put into presents either way) and sees an envelope on top and opens it, mindful of everyone in the room.
Happy birthday.
I'm sorry I can't be there in person. Believe me when I say that I wanted to be.
But I'll see you soon enough. Be patient? Merlin knows your dad is bad about that sort of thing, so at least ONE of you two needs to be the responsible one!
Enjoy your present.
Just make sure you step back from everyone when you open it!
-Sirius
He moves back as Sirius' letter says, though everyone looks at him in confusion and pulls off the silver bow tied around the present. Instantly the present lifts off the ground and opens up, extending out (showing that the package had been magically shrunk to a normal size.) After a moment it finishes extending out and the place where the package had been was a hovering broom, sleek and shiny, the words emboldened on it saying Firebolt.
He gasps, as do everyone else.
"Merlin." Ron says weakly. "Can Sirius be my Godfather?"
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I hope you enjoyed this!
Let me know what you thought!
-PhoenixJustice
