Chapter Six - Consequences

Lily wiped the last of her tears and went over to James.

James? James.. Sirius, knowing she'd get nowhere with that, walked over to his fallen friend.

James stirred, and blinked.

Ow, my head.. Oi, Sirius, you won't believe the dream I ha— James stopped, however, when he saw Lily and Sirius's worried faces.

Oh, no. No no no. This is not happening. I was asleep. This is all a dream. I'm not a criminal. You're not engaged. You're not. Lily sighed.

Look, James, it doesn't really matter. What you need to go is get back to your own time. We can't possibly have you stay in the future.

Why not? He retorted, stubbornly.

Honestly, James, do you really want to spend the rest of your life an outcast, a murderer for something you never did? James shrugged.

At least I wouldn't have to live with the fact that you are MARRYING Snape. Hey, it doesn't matter what I do to change the future. So what if Remus lives if I go back? You're still going to marry that sniveling gi—

Lily slapped James with the curse, and instantly a thin red line cut itself from the base of his eye to his chin. He touched his face with his right hand, and glared at Lily.

What in—what was that for? Lily stared back.

For being a stupid sniveling git yourself. Honestly, James, So what if Remus lives? That was downright horrible. And what you said... that isn't true.

What isn't true?

That.. Severus and I.. Oh, James, why do you have to be so stubborn? Lily sighed, and helped James up.

James, Severus and I.. well.. She trailed off. Eager to change the subject, Sirius jumped in.

Hey, back to the whole getting you back so you can save Remus and rewrite history idea and all.. First off, James? James broke his eye contact with Lily and looked up at his friend.



Please tell me that you have the Timekey that was used to transport you here.

All right, I have the Timekey, James said sarcastically. Sirius rolled his eyes.

No, I mean seriously.

Sirius Lee? Why would he have it? Sirius frowned, a sight not worth seeing twice. Sirius's frowns were scarier than dementors at eighteen, and at twenty-one it looked as if it could kill you on sight. James quickly relented.

Er.. To tell you the truth, I think I actually do have it. He dug around in the pockets and rips of his cloak and found a small bottle of spray.

Here, you go, Sirius. Sirius took the spray and experimented on things in the room—for instance, he sprayed a tiny bit onto the leg of an armchair which disappeared and reappeared (on James's head) minutes later. Sirius, however, didn't look satisfied.

I can see how you got here, long squirts mean years, but how you're to get back.. well, the Timekey only goes forward, not backwards. Lily, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, jumped up then.

Hey, I've got something. Two pairs of eyes glanced her way.

The Aurors Vault has dozens of confiscated things, a bunch of them time warping capable. I think we have a Time Turner in there, as well. Sirius looked thoughtful, and then grinned.

You're right. I did remember seeing a Time Turner in the Vault. Lily, do you think you can get into the vault and take it? Sirius asked. Lily smiled.

Of course, I'm me. She gave the men dazzling smirks, and grabbed her cloak, Apparating out. James rolled his eyes.

Now THAT's the Lily I remember. Sirius chuckled, tossing the Timekey from one hand to the other. Suddenly, he dropped it. The can bounced
on the floor a couple of times, rolling off to the side, and Sirius's face looked of pure horror.

What? What is it? Sirius sat down, face sullen. James had never witnessed Sirius as a sullen person, frowns and mild pouts were all. It seemed, however, that Sirius's future self was in that mood quite often, for the lines and wrinkles on his face intensified, suggesting how he had gotten them in the first place.

Sirius sighed. James, do you remember about what McGonagall said about Timekeys and Time Turners? James nodded.

It was one of the few lessons we intensely listened to last—er, back in sixth year. I remember spouting off some snapping silly idea about making a Timekey myself—oh. His face fell.

You mean you think that by changing history—

You most likely will eliminate yourself. James gulped.

---------------------------------------------

Lily Apparated into Diagon Alley, and passed by Quality Quidditch Supplies waving slightly to Fletcher, a fellow Auror and friend. She headed up into the ADADA (Aurors Defense Against the Dark Arts) building, through the scanning doors, and into the lobby. It was rather empty, seeing as most were on holiday, the summer months creeping in. Daisy Fletcher, Fletcher's sister, was manning the front desk, and said a curt hello to Lily as she passed towards the stairs.

At the last moment, though, Lily turned towards the Auror safe, where all the dangerous devices captured Death Eaters used were confiscated. She identified herself with the tip of her wand touching the wall where the safe was hidden. A couple seconds later, the wall began to melt into a doorway. Lily waited until the door was fully formed before entering.

She looked around the safe, which looked quite like a muggle safety deposit box, millions of drawers covering all four walls, and going up quite a bit. Lily looked around, until finding the Ns.

Nabble, Nail, Nem, Nerris, Nillon, Nott... Here we go, Nott.. She reached up and pulled out his box, sifting through money, his wand, socks, and.. his Time Turner. She pulled it out of the box and slipped the chain it was on around her neck. Lily reached back to the hole, and had just finished slipping it back into it's spot when she heard a voice.

Lily Amelia Evans, I thought you were going to meet me for lunch, not the other way around.. She spun around, the Turner under her robes, and came face to face with her fiancée.

Severus Snape.



A/N: And that ends Chapter Six. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, I couldn't have kept going without your support. I do indeed have the last chapter written, and summaries for the rest, so I now have a basic plotline to follow and it's not all just random thoughts.. ^_^

Tidmag - Oy, my head hurts too, and I'm the one who supposedly understands it.. -_- If you want to get a better understanding about the time factor, read Timekeys and Time Turners. Hopefully it'll help you enough so that you don't need asprin this chapter.. :P

lizza - Yay! Internet filters are evil, aren't they? I'm glad you're going to tell your friends to read this, because after all, don't you write for people to read? (Awright, now I'm going to shut up because that last line was incredibly corny.)

Aurora - That's good.. Everything should start coming together around chapters four, five, six, and seven..

thistlemeg - Magically well? Are you kidding me? Then I'd have to roll over and die, because I wouldn't have any material for my seq—er, you didn't hear that.

Moonrose - Heh.. You'll find out exactly how Remus dies in Chapter Eight or Nine.
For the answer on why they think James did it, think of Sirius in the canon. It again comes down to that stupid little rat.. -.-;

Pranksteress Lyra - *grin* Glad you liked it. What's going to happen next is.. well.. you just read it. :p I don't blame you, I tend to hate the little rat as well, but he's great to do evil plotlines on, eh? Snape and Lily is a bit old, I guess (as I think I stated before, I wanted to do Frank Longbottom, but I really couldn't think of a good plotline for him), but it's still fun to write.