AN: Time for a plug! If you want to know more about this series, visit .com, where you can find timelines, information, and backgrounds for my OCs. If you want to know more about my writing in general, including original works I'm hoping to get published soon, please visit .com, where you can find a blog keeping you (mostly) up to date on what the heck I'm doing when I disappear for months on end.


July 1st 1997

The following morning, once Mandy and Arabella had arrived at Potter Manor, Addie, Jen, Remus and Sirius set off for Little Hangleton.

Like Addie the day before, they travelled on foot from her larger neighbour, clad in Muggle clothes and utilising Glamour Charms so as not to draw attention to themselves.

As they approached the shack, Addie turned to Sirius. "Alright, out with it."

Sirius gave Remus a pleading glance, but Remus was pretending to be very interested in a nearby butterfly, so he sighed and smiled innocently. "What do you mean?"

"You're planning something." Addie said flatly. "What are you planning?"

Sirius fidgeted a little under her gaze and relented. "Well, we know there's something in the shack. But there might be something in the manor as well."

"So you think we should check there as well?" Addie asked.

"No, I think we," Sirius nodded at himself and Remus, "should check the manor, while you ladies handle the shack."

Jen crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that there might be Death Eaters up there, would it?"

"Of course not." Sirius insisted.

"Because we can take care of ourselves." Jen continued, switching her glare to her fiancé.

"Don't look at me." Remus said, the words resonating in her head at the same time. "This is all his idea."

"Thanks Moony." Sirius muttered.

"But you have to admit," Remus continued, ignoring him, "it would save time if we split up."

"They do have a point." Addie said slowly.

Jen's arms dropped to her sides and she gave her best friend a quizzical look. "Alright." She agreed. "We'll meet back here."

Addie allowed herself a smile when Sirius relaxed and moved forwards to give him a hug. "Be careful." She whispered.

Sirius brushed a kiss against her cheek as she pulled away. "You too." He clapped Remus on the shoulder. "Come on, Moony, we've got work to do."

Jen kissed Remus and the two women watched their companions head towards the town. Once they were out of earshot – and keeping her mind shielded – Jen turned to Addie. "Why aren't you mad at them?"

Addie shrugged. "You know as well as I do that this was all Sirius – and can you blame him for wanting to protect us, given our history?"

Jen winced. "No." She admitted. "I can't. But that wouldn't normally stop you from being mad."

Addie smirked at her. "Jen, can we or can we not work much faster without those two under our feet?"

"Well, yes, but …"

"I checked the manor house yesterday after I found this place." Addie continued. "There's nothing there. So what's the harm in letting them go exploring while we take care of business?"

Jen laughed. "I missed you, Addie. Now, about this shack …"

The first order of business, of course, was actually getting through the brambles to the shack itself, which was easier said than done, but a great number of Cutting Curses finally did the trick.

Only then did Jen examine the wards and, like Addie, she did not like what she found. "Oh, that's nasty."

"Isn't it?" Addie agreed. "You can see why I didn't want to do this by myself."

"It looks like …" Jen began, frowning. "It looks like there's a trigger on the front door. What do you think?"

Addie narrowed her eyes, allowing the wards to come into focus. "I think you're right. I'd guess it would attack the origin of any spell or intruder." She blinked rapidly, the wards fading out of view again. "So how are we getting in there?"

"Let me think for a moment." Jen said, pacing up and down.

Addie waited patiently, leaning against one of the trees, watching her pace the length of the clearing three times, before spinning to face her.

"Mirrors." Jen announced.

"Mirrors?" Addie repeated incredulously, pushing herself away from the tree. "All that, and you came up with mirrors?"

"No, it's brilliant." Jen insisted. "We'll conjure a mirror and reflect a Bombardment Hex at the door. Then we'll Vanish the mirror and the wards will attack the place the curse came from."

"That … is brilliant." Addie conceded. "And nothing I would have ever thought of."

"Of course not." Jen said. "You're a pureblood."

"So are you." Addie pointed out.

"Yes, but I lived as a Muggle for a long time." Jen said. "This is a Muggle solution. Most wizards would overlook it. Including, I'm hoping, Voldemort."

The plan worked just as Jen had hoped, and the curse triggered by the breaking of the door ricocheted harmlessly away from the two women – as long as they counted the disintegration of a tree as harmless.

Cautiously, they made their way into the cottage, constantly scanning for traps and triggers with every step.

The interior was eerily silent, the heavy layers of dust and cobwebs dampening any sound from outside – and that had been quiet to begin with, since they were more or less in the middle of nowhere.

"This must have been one of the first." Addie said softly. "No one's been here for a very long time."

"I think the first was the diary." Jen said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if this was the second."

"I still want to know what diary you're talking about." Addie commented, her wand hovering over a cabinet in what had once been a kitchen.

"Sirius didn't tell you?" Jen asked.

"Well, if he had …" Addie paused, narrowing her eyes at one of the cabinet doors. "If he had, I wouldn't still want to know, would I? I think I found it."

Jen joined her, flicking her wand at the place Addie indicated. "I think so."

The two women took up position either side of the offending cupboard and Jen opened the door. A jet of purple light splashed against the opposite wall and Jen pulled a face. "Lovely."

"What would that have done?" Addie asked.

"Reversed our internal organs, I believe." Jen said with false cheeriness. "Let's see what we've got here."

Neither was under any illusion that Voldemort would have made it possible to magically remove the Horcrux – whatever it was – but they tried it anyway, just in case.

When it didn't work, Jen reached into her bag and extracted a Muggle litter-picker, carefully poked it through the cupboard door and felt around with it.

It wasn't easy – not only finding the Horcrux, but actually picking it up – not least because whatever it was was very small, but finally Jen managed to hook on of the metal pincers through something and pull out …

"A ring?" Addie asked dubiously.

"A signet ring." Jen corrected, examining it closely. It radiated the same evil aura as the locket and it was old – so old that the family crest on the black stone had all but vanished, faded into obscurity over the centuries. "It probably belonged to his grandfather."

"Or his uncle." Addie said thoughtfully. "Which one was framed for the Riddles' murder again?"

"The uncle I think." Jen said, her eyes fixed on the ring. "Think the father was dead by then."

There was a strange tone in Jen's voice and Addie reached out to take the litter-picker. "Jen? Selena, let's get this packed away safely."

"Do you know what this is?" Jen asked.

"A Horcrux." Addie said bluntly. "And it's messing with your head, Jen, so let's get it away."

"I'm fine." Jen said, her brow creasing, still refusing to relax her grip. "Addie, you don't …"

A red beam of light shot from Addie's left hand and hit Jen in the chest. She froze mid-sentence and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Addie pulled a charmed protective bag from their larger satchel and placed the Horcrux inside it, bagging it twice more before she was satisfied. Then she took a seat beside Jen, tucking her knees up against her chest.

It would have been smarter to have a set of mirrors really, she thought as she waited, because Remus would have felt Jen fall unconscious, so the boys must have been frantic with worry.

Addie had just begun to consider how odd it was that she still referred to them as 'boys' in her head when they were all in their late 30s, when there was a commotion outside. She raised her wand, but it was Sirius and Remus who burst in, and she tucked it away again. "Relax, we're fine."

"What happened?" Sirius demanded, kneeling to check on his sister.

"It had some kind of Compulsion Charm on it." Addie explained. "I'm immune to them, because I'm a natural, but she's not. I don't know if she'd have fought it or not, but since I didn't know what it was telling her to do, I figured I'd Stun her as a precaution. How was the manor?"

"You knew it was empty, didn't you?" Sirius asked.

Addie smiled innocently at him. "If you want to be the big, strong protectors, who am I to ruin your fun?"

"Give it up, Padfoot." Remus advised, stroking Jen's hair. "You're not winning this one."

A few seconds later, Jen stirred, her eyes blinking open, and she sat up with a groan. "Well, that's embarrassing."

"You're not infallible, Jen." Addie said gently, before adding with a smirk, "You're not me."

Jen made a wordless gesture that caused Sirius to snigger. "It's still embarrassing."

"What was it, Jen?" Remus asked, keeping the conversation public for the benefit of their companions. "The Horcrux, I mean."

"It's a signet ring." Jen said tiredly. "But the coat of arms, from what I could see, was the Peverells."

"It's plausible." Sirius said. "From what I remember, Slytherin and Gryffindor were distant cousins. And the Potters are descended from the Peverells way, way, way back. But what does that …"

"Rumour has it they were the three brothers in the story." Jen said flatly.

"The three brothers." Addie repeated. "The three brothers? Travelling along a road at twilight –those three brothers?"

"We were always told it was midnight." Jen said, rubbing her forehead. "But yes. Look at James's Cloak. They lose potency within three years, but it's served Harry well, did the same for James, and for his father before him."

"So it's a really good Cloak." Addie said, getting to her feet. "Besides, even if that stone is the Resurrection Stone … what good ever comes from raising the dead?"

"I know that." Jen whispered, her head falling onto Remus's shoulder. "That's where the Compulsion Charm comes in. I couldn't stop thinking about Reggie and …"

"In the story," Addie said gently, "the second brother goes mad, because the woman he loves is not truly with him – she's trapped in both worlds. You don't want that for him."

"No." Jen agreed, letting Remus help her to her feet. "I don't. Now, I think we've stayed here quite long enough. Who wants to go and explore the Chamber of Secrets?"

Remus sighed. "Darling, you have such an odd sense of adventure."


When they returned to Potter Manor, they found Mandy and Arabella out on the Quidditch Pitch. Rather predictably, Mandy was in the air with the fliers, while Arabella sat on the grass below with Hermione, Neville and a young girl none of them recognised.

Hermione jumped to her feet as they approached, gesturing to her. "This is Luna Lovegood. She was with us at the Ministry. She knows everything we do – can she come as well?"

Jen gave the girl a kind smile. "Does your father know where you are, Luna?"

Luna nodded, a somewhat dreamy smile on her face. "Oh yes. I don't think he knows exactly where we're going, but he's just happy I actually have friends."

"Then of course you can come with us." Jen said firmly. "I'm Jen, Harry's godmother. This is my brother, Sirius; this is Addie, and you know Professor Lupin."

"I'm not your teacher anymore." Remus added. "Just call me Remus."

Luna nodded, her gaze fixed on Sirius. "You know some people think you're Stubby Boardman."

"I have heard the news." Sirius said with a grin.

Mandy had already spotted them and led the students in a steep dive, coming to land neatly in front of them. "All okay?"

"Fine." Jen said shortly. "Hello, Ron, Ginny. Ginny, are you sure you're alright to come with us?"

Ginny nodded, her face pale but determined. "I need to do this."

"How are we going to do this?" Mandy asked, putting the brooms away. "We can't apparate them all."

"I'll set up a Portkey to the Shack." Jen said, rifling through her pockets for something she could use. "We'll go through the Willow. How did you get Molly to agree?"

"Dad agreed." Ron explained. "He thinks we need training as well, to make sure we're safe. Mum doesn't know about the Chamber – but what she doesn't know can't hurt her."

"Or me." Jen muttered, finally retrieving a quill. "Okay, everyone, off we go!"


"I didn't think," Addie said seriously, "that it was possible for this place to look any worse."

The Shrieking Shack had never been a particularly nice destination when they were students, but it somehow looked even worse now – the wood beginning to rot, cobwebs strung from every available surface, a thick coating of dust on anything that stayed still long enough to collect it …

No wonder the villagers still called it haunted years after the screaming stopped – she could only imagine what it looked like from the outside.

Jen gave the Shack a cursory glance as she pulled open the trapdoor, covering her face to shield against the cloud of dust that rose with the movement. "Neither did I. I should have known better."

"Wait a moment." Hermione said softly, narrowing her eyes. "Give me a moment to make sure we're covered. Draco, I could use a … Thank you." She added belatedly, feeling him reach out to Hogwarts as well.

It took them a few moments – it was harder to hide their presence when they didn't have a castle full of students to work with – but finally, Hermione nodded. "That should do it."

"I've got the Map anyway." Harry said, pulling it from his pocket and activating it. "There's no one near the windows."

"Okay then." Jen said decisively. "Off we go."

There was a brief moment of panic about halfway to Myrtle's bathroom when Filch appeared on the Map just round the corner, but a second later, Peeves caused something to fall with a crash and he disappeared down a secret passage just as quickly.

"Was that luck or was that you two?" Mandy asked softly.

Hermione smiled innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course not." Mandy said, smirking.

Harry led them all down the last corridor and into Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle herself wasn't there, strangely, but no one was complaining.

Harry leant over the sink and stared at the tap for a few minutes. Hermione had a sudden thought that, if anyone were to walk in, they would be confronted by a very strange sight – six adults and eight teenagers, all staring at a ninth teenager trying to become one with the plumbing.

As she swallowed her giggles, Harry's mouth opened and a strange hissing noise escaped it, causing the sink to slowly melt into the floor, leaving behind the gaping mouth of a dark tunnel.

The very sight of it sent shivers down Hermione's spine and she resisted the urge to back away, swallowing hard. "So now we jump?"

"No." Ginny answered shakily. "You have to say 'stairs'."

"Stairs?" Harry repeated blankly.

Arabella groaned. "Harry, tell me you didn't just jump head-first into a dark tunnel last time."

"Well, we made Lockhart go first." Ron protested.

Mandy's mouth twitched. "Oh, well, that's alright then."

Harry grinned sheepishly and hissed something else, causing stone steps to emerge from the walls, leading down in a tight spiral to whatever lay below them. "Ladies first."

"Oh, thanks." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Nevertheless, she accepted his hand and stepped into the tunnel, her unease comforted by the knowledge that the castle would have warned her if there was anything to fear. Sure enough, she reached the bottom without any trouble and leaned against one of the walls to wait for the others. She considered sitting down, but decided, upon eyeing the debris, that standing was the safer option.

"Harry?" She asked, when she heard his footsteps. "What happened to the basilisk?"

"Er, nothing, I don't think." Harry said, emerging from the gloom.

"Oh, great." Hermione sighed. "That's going to reek!"

It took about ten minutes for everyone to gather at the bottom of the stairs, by which point Ginny was just short of hyperventilating, clinging to Draco like a lifeline.

"You don't need to come, Ginny." Jen reminded her kindly. "No one would think any less of you."

"I need to." Ginny said, her voice wavering. "I need to face it. Not for any of you, but for me."

Jen patted her shoulder. "I get it." She said, because she did. "We go at your pace, okay? Harry, anything we need to be aware of?"

"Well, you might want a Bubble-Head Charm." Harry advised. "There's a dead snake in the next chamber and it's been there for three years."

"Oh." Jen said with a grimace. "Okay, everybody, charms until we can get that sorted out."

Hermione, having had time to think on the matter, wasn't worried. She had suddenly remembered something she'd been told, back at the beginning of the year by Rowena, and she had a feeling that the snake was not an issue.

Harry led them through the tunnel, through the narrow gap in the rocks that Ron had needed to clear after Lockhart's spell backfired, all the way to a circular metal panel engraved with snakes.

"Stand back." Harry warned, before hissing again.

The metal snakes wriggled, then slithered around the circumference of the door and locked into place, allowing the door to swing open.

Inside the bubble, Harry's mouth dropped open.

With a rush of excitement, Hermione slipped past him and climbed through the hole to see the four founders standing in front of her, far more solid than they had been when she had first seen them.

With a smile, Rowena opened her arms and Hermione needed no extra prompting to run into them, embracing her great-grandmother tightly.

"Hermione, we've been waiting for you." Rowena chided gently, removing the charm with a wave of her hand and allowing Hermione to take a breath of decay-free air.

"Sorry, Grandmother." Hermione said. "I take it everyone else can see you down here?"

"That they can." Helga agreed, embracing her as well.

Hermione shook hands with the two men before turning to her dumbstruck companions, who had removed their charms. "I told you I wasn't crazy."

"We never said you were." Remus said faintly.

"Don't worry about introductions." Helga said cheerfully. "They obviously know who we are, and we've watched each of them come through Hogwarts."

"I need to sit down." Jen murmured. "There's not a lot of things that'll shock me, but this is one of them."

Draco, still stroking Ginny's hair absently, looked at Ron. "You're taking this well."

Ron shrugged. "Actually, after all this time, I just sort of go with it. Philosopher's Stone? Fine. Chamber of Secrets? Whatever. Time travel? Why not? Why wouldn't I meet the founders of Hogwarts? It's almost logical progression at this point. You alright, Gin?"

Hermione glanced over and saw that Ginny's eyes, unlike everyone else's, were not fixed on the founders, but something in the corner. Turning in that direction, her gaze fell on the corpse of a fifty-foot snake, still in fairly good condition, and she screamed.

Sirius was the next to notice it, and turned a colour white that could not have been entirely healthy. "Bloody hell, Harry; you killed that when you were a second year?"

"Yeah." Harry said casually.

"And just what were you doing fighting a basilisk, young man?" Addie asked.

Harry shrugged. "Extra credit?"

"He was saving me." Ginny whispered, still pale, but not clinging to Draco quite as tightly. Seeing the body seemed to have relaxed her, reminding her that the monster was dead, even if Riddle wasn't.

Addie turned to Sirius. "Did you know about this?"
Sirius grimaced. "Unfortunately."
She raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm fairly certain, when you were telling me all about them, you never mentioned it."

"Well, I didn't want to throw everything at you at once." Sirius explained. "They had a couple of eventful years at Hogwarts, and I didn't want to drop it on your head."

Addie pulled a face that he knew meant that she knew he was right. "Fair enough."

Godric cleared his throat. "Well, as interesting as all this is, I think everyone needs to take a seat. There are things you need to know."