I didn't much care what anyone thought of it, I slept in the same room with my boys that night. Scorpius had made Albus scoot over and gave up his bed to me, but none of us did that much sleeping.

We didn't talk much either, not after Scorpius and I finished telling Albus just what we had experienced in that horrible alternate reality.

I don't know whether it was really late or really early when I heard Scorpius trying to wake Albus up. "Albus... Psst... Albus." Albus doesn't wake up until Albus is good and ready. Ever. I half sat up rubbing my eyes.

Scorpius put his face really close to Albus and shouted. "Albus!"

Albus woke up with a shock. Scorpius laughed. "Pleasant. That's a pleasant and not scary way to wake up." Albus grumbled.

Scorpius was wearing a big goofy grin. "You know it's the strangest of things, but ever since being in the scariest place imaginable I'm pretty much good with fear. I am Scorpius the Dreadless. I am Malfoy the Unanxious."

Albus rolled over with a grunt. "Good."

I just threw the covers back over my head and decided I would deal with the loss of Scorpius' mind later. MUCH later. Scorpius did not want to let us go back to sleep. "I mean, normally, being in lockdown, being in constant detention, it'd break me, but now what's the worst they can do? Bring back Moldy Voldy and have him torture me? Nope."

Albus sat up glaring at Scorpius. "You're scary when you're in a good mood, you know that? Can't you do something about him Lils?"

"Scorp." I groaned. "Let us go back to sleep, huh? We will deal with your cheerfulness later."

Scorpius ignored our protests. "When Rose came up to me today in Potions and called me Bread Head I almost hugged her. No, there's no almost about it, I actually tried to hug her, and then she kicked me in the shin."

Albus rubbed his face. "I'm not sure being fearless is going to be good for your health."

"Absolutely not." I agreed, blushing over the bread reminder. "Rose is not a big hugger."

Scorpius looked at Albus, his face grows more contemplative. "You don't know how good it is to be back here, Albus. I hated it there."

Albus smirked. "Apart from the Polly Chapman fancying you bits." WHAT? We hadn't talked about that Did Scorpius fancy Polly Chapman? Absolutely not.

Scorpius just continued. "Cedric was a different person entirely dark, dangerous. My dad doing anything they wanted him to. And me? I discovered another Scorpius, you know? Entitled, angry, mean people were frightened of me. It feels like we were all tested and we all failed."

I remembered the muggleborn being thrown to animals to be ripped apart. "Yeah… I failed. In so many ways."

Albus was confused. "But you two changed things. You had a chance and you changed time back. Changed yourselves back. That doesn't seem like a failure…"

"Only because I knew what I should be." Scorpius looked at me. "I knew what WE should be."

Albus digested this. "Do you think I've been tested too? I have, haven't I?"

I shook my head and Scorpius looked a bit afraid of this. "No. Not yet."

"It was stupid to go back in time." I stared at the ceiling. "Either time."

Albus disagreed. "You're wrong. The stupid thing wasn't going back once anyone can make that mistake the stupid thing was being arrogant enough to go back twice."

Scorpius tried to make Albus feel better "We all went back, Albus."

Albus was working through a lot of guilt. "And why was I so determined to do this? Cedric? Really? No. I had something to prove. My dad's right he didn't volunteer for adventure me, this, it's all my fault and if it wasn't for you two everything could have gone Dark."

Scorpius But it didn't. And you're to thank for that as much as me. When the dementors were inside my head Severus Snape told me to think of you. You may not have been there, Albus, but you were fighting alongside me. Lilliana was with me physically, but you were there too."

Albus nodded. Touched by this. Scorpius went on. "And saving Cedric that wasn't such a bad idea not in my head, anyway though, you know, right that we definitely can't try again."

Albus sighed sadly. "Yes. I do. I do know that."

"Good. Then you can help me destroy this." Scorpius revealed the Time-Turner to us.

Albus wagged a finger. "I'm pretty sure you told everyone that was on the bottom of a lake."

Scorpius smiled big. "Turns out Malfoy the Unanxious is a pretty good liar."

Albus looked worried. "Scorpius... We should tell someone about this…"

Scorpius scoffed. "Who? The Ministry kept it before, do you really trust them not to keep it again? Only you Lilliana and I have experienced how dangerous this is, that means WE have to destroy it. No one can do what we did, Albus. No one. No," Scorpius waved his arms grandly. "It's time that time-turning became a thing of the past."

Albus laughed. "You're quite proud of that phrase, aren't you?"

Scorpius nodded with his goofy grin right back in place. "Been working on it all day."

We got up and got dressed, because Scorpius didn't give us a choice. We went upstairs to the owlery and emerged out onto a roof bathed in silver light. There was soft hooting all around us.

Scorpius tapped his lip. "So I think a simple Confringo."

Albus looked at the Time-Turner thoughtfully. "Definitely not. For something like this you need Expulso."

I sat down on a ledge as Scorpius and Albus discussed the best way to destroy that thing. "Expulso? Expulso and we'll be clearing bits of Time-Turner from this owlery for days."

Albus made a test wave of his wand. "Bombarda?"

"Or Bombarda Maxima." I offered.

Scorpius looked at us as though we had taken leave of our sense. "And wake up everyone in Hogwarts? Maybe Stupefy. They were originally destroyed using Stupefy…"

"Exactly, it's been done before let's do something new, something fun." Albus was getting far too in to this.

Scorpius lectured him. "Fun? Look, many wizards overlook the importance of choosing the right spell, but this really matters. I think it's a much-underestimated part of modern witchcraft."

A simpering voice spoke up behind us."A much-underestimated part of modern witchcraft" you two are the greatest, you know."

Scorpius and I looked up, surprised to see Delphi stepped out behind us. "Wow. You're... um... What are you doing here?" Scorpius asked.

Albus looked defensive. "It felt important to send an owl let her know what we're doing, you know?"

Scorpius looked at accusingly. I just glared at him. I thought we were done with this creep.

"This concerns her too." Albus reminded us. Scorpius thought, and then nodded, accepting this. Not me. I don't want her here.

Delphi looked puzzled. "What concerns me? What's this about?"

Albus showed her the Time-Turner."We need to destroy the Time-Turner. The things Scorpius saw after the second task... I'm so sorry. We can't risk going back again. We can't save your cousin."

Delphi looks at it and then at Albus. "Your owl said so little…"

Albus tried to explain. "Imagine the worst possible world, and then double it. People being tortured, dementors everywhere, a despotic Voldemort, my dad dead, me never born, the world surrounded by Dark Magic we just, we can't allow that to happen."

Delphi hesitated. And then her face broke. "Voldemort ruled? He was alive?"

Scorpius looked at me. "He ruled everything. It was terrible."

Delphi looked… odd.. excited. "Because of what we did?"

Scorpius explained. "Humiliating Cedric turned him into a very angry young man, and then he became a Death Eater and… and it all went wrong. Really wrong."

Delphi looked at Scorpius' face carefully. Her face sank. "A Death Eater?"

I did not want to talk to her, but I added. "And a murderer. He killed Professor Longbottom."

Delphi smiled. It was not warm. "Then of course we need to destroy it."

Albus ever desperate for her approval asked. "You understand?

I was not certain she did but still she said. "I'll go further than that I'll say Cedric would have understood. We'll destroy it together, and then we'll go to my uncle. Explain the situation."

Albus looked relieved. "Thank you."

Delphi smiled at Albus sadly, and then took the Time-Turner. She looked at it and her expression changed slightly. She looked… I don't know, like she was plotting.

"Oh, nice mark." I had just noticed a black bird on her shoulder. Something about it…

Delphi looked at me confused. "What?"

Delphi's cloak loosened. A tattoo was visible on the back of her neck. Was that… an Augurey…?

Albus motioned. "On your back. I hadn't noticed it before. The wings. Is that what the Muggles call a tattoo?"

Delphi smiled thinly. "Oh. Yes. Well, it's an Augurey." Scorpius and I looked at each other in horror An Augurey?

Delphi looked at us in surprise. "Haven't you met them in Care of Magical Creatures? They're sinister-looking black birds that cry when rain's coming. Wizards used to believe that the Augurey's cry foretold death. When I was growing up my guardian kept one in a cage."

Scorpius looked ill. "Your... guardian?"

Delphi looked at Scorpius, now she had the Time-Turner she was making a game of this. She used to say it was crying because it could see I was going to come to a sticky end. She didn't like me much. Euphemia Rowle... she only took me in for the gold."

Albus didn't understand our danger yet. "Why would you want a tattoo of her bird, then?"

Delphi's next words were chilling. "It reminds me that the future is mine to make."

Albus was still trying to impress. "Cool. I might get an Augurey tattoo."

Scorpius looked at Albus. "The Rowles were pretty extreme Death Eaters."

Albus was too enamored of this creep to care. "Come on, let's get destroying... Confringo? Stupefy? Bombarda? Which would you use?"

Scorpius held out his hand. "Give it back. Give us back the Time-Turner." I pulled my wand.

Delphi looked at Scorpius amused. "What?"

Albus was offended on her behalf. "Scorpius? LILLIANA What are you doing?"

Scorpius glared at Delphi. "I don't believe you ever were ill. Why didn't you come to Hogwarts? Why are you here now?"

Delphi kept up whatever ruse she was playing. "I'm trying to bring my cousin back!"

Scorpius pulled his wand and stood next to me. "They called you the Augurey. In the other world they called you the Augurey."

A slow smile grows on Delphi's face. "The Augurey? I rather like that."

Albus finally noticed her smile was evil. "Delphi?"

Scorpius tried to disarm her but she was too quick. Leveling her wand, she repelled Scorpius, and she is far stronger. Scorpius tried to keep her back, but she quickly overpowered him. My mouth had gone dry and I was frozen. I would have been HER servant?

Delphi flicked her wand. "Fulgari!"

Scorpius arms are bound in vicious, luminous cords. He screamed. "Lilliana, Albus. Run!" Albus looked around, bewildered. And then started to run, grabbing my arm.

Delphi called "Fulgari!" Twice more.

Before she could hit me with the binding I threw my wand over the wall. I couldn't fight her and she wasn't getting her hands on it! Albus and I were propelled to the floor, our hands tied by the same brutal binding. "And that is the first spell I've had to use on you. I thought I'd have to use plenty more. But you're far easier to control than Amos children, well, the male children, are so naturally pliant, aren't they? Now, let's sort this mess out once and for all."

Albus looked stunned. "But why? But what? But who are you?"

Delphi sneered. "Albus. I am the new past." She pulled Albus' wand from him and snapped it. "I am the new future." She pulled Scorpius wand from him and snapped it. She scoffed noting I had tossed mine away. "I am the answer this world has been looking for."

...