Changing Times

Author = Zille wwwzille@yahoo.com

A/N: SORRY!!! It took me ages to post, I know, and I am very sorry... I truly am! Please forgive me!!! I will really try to post faster, but I am extremely busy right now, with exams, (which I am pretty sure I have failed, anyway - I'll let you know. :) and my birthday coming up here the 23rd (of February)... Sorry again. I will try my best to post again asap!

Thank you for reviewing:

E. C. R. Potter = Wait and see... -I figured you don't watch Buffy, but you really should... :)
Daff*nie = Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I'm hurrying up!!!!! Please don't die!!!!
Amy Potter = Oh, wait n' see...
Sucker For Romance/Daya = Why did you change your name??? I like Daya. I like your new name too, but Daya was shorter to write... :) Thanks for reviewing!
CherryLips = Dum dum good idea. :) I will definitely consider it. Could be fun. :)
Jacks = I'm glad it makes sense to you... Because I am getting slightly confused myself... *LoL*
Misty Wildfire = Laughing??? Uh, great... Thanks. Was it funny? I'm glad you liked it, anyway. :)
Maiden of Gryffindor = Thank you. I am sorry it took me so long to post, but things has been out of the wacky. H/Hr 4ever to you too!

It really means the world to me that you bother telling me what you think of this fic. It encourages me to continue, it really does. Plus, if you have some ideas, you won't waste them by telling me. :)

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Chapter 10 = Same Faces, Different Places

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Lonely. That's what I felt as I stood and watched the Gryffindors from - literally - the last century. Had I been in any other position, and had I felt slightly confident about the whole situation, I probably would have found it interesting, to be able to research the school system when our parents were yet only innocent children. But as I looked around, I felt still more confused and alone... even though I had Ron right there next to me. I could easily pass for a sixth year, after all, I was only nineteen. But that, and the fact that I had gone more than twenty years back in time, was not what I was worrying most about at that time. I just wanted to get back, to save Harry, and then live happily ever after... in my own time.

I was so caught up in my own head that I didn't notice a group of sixth years sitting in a corner near the window looking at me and Ron.

"Miss Chang? Mr Brown? A word?" That was Dumbledore who broke the embarrassing silence that fell after the announcement of me and Ron transferring from Beauxbatons. - At least that's what Dumbledore said.

He pulled us over in a corner and spoke in a hushed voice, so that nobody else would hear us. "I have to leave you now, I have a staff meeting to attend. Now, I understand you both know just as well as everyone else how to make your way around the school, but please ask someone for help if you are going somewhere. We can't have anyone getting suspicious about anything. I will personally look for a way to send you back to your respective time -" he looked at me, "- or times, as soon as possible. I will have professor McGonagall helping me. -You do know professor McGonagall, right? Wait, don't answer that. I can't know anything about the future... No, I better go," he said, looking slightly nervous. He turned to leave.

"Professor," I called after him. "We know her." He smiled slightly, and left the common room.

"Hey," a red haired girl called, strolling over to us. "I'm Lily. I'm in sixth year," she said, beaming at us. "Do you know which year you are in?"

"Well," I said. "I'm also in sixth year, but Ro- William is in fifth year."

"Oh," she said, looking at Ron with an appalled look. "Oh, well," she looked back at me, beaming again. "But we are in the same year, that's great! I can follow you around to classes and stuff, and we can be best friends! Let me just see what we are having now... I can never remember..." She opened her bag and looked for something. She looked as though she had found it, because she smiled even wider than before. But then she frowned. "Oh... Potions... I am sorry that this is your first class. Professor Claws is such a... such a..."

"Professor Claws? I though it was professor Sna-"

"No, William, you can't bring snacks," I said quickly. We hadn't even been there for twenty minutes, and Ron had almost already messed up.

"No," Lily said. "No, I don't believe professor Claws would like that," she said, with a hint of terror in her voice. "Oh," she said, looking even more terrified. "You should probably know... professor Claws is head of the... the Slytherin house... which is also having Potions at this hour..." She looked absolutely terrified now.

"Bloody Hell!" Ron said, without thinking. He quickly added, "I- I heard they should be pretty harsh... And after the look on your face... er..."

"Pretty harsh???" Lily said, amazement in her voice. She had not noticed the insecurity in Ron's voice, luckily. "Why, isn't that the understatement of the day? The Slytherins are... ahh, there is really no word for it... Why don't we just stick with 'pretty harsh'?"

"Well, at least now we know what to be expecting," I said trying to ease the tension. I was still trying to figure out why Lily seemed so familiar.

"Yes. Yes, that is indeed a bright side," Lily said. "Well," she added, beaming at me again. "It's only a single hour today. And we can talk on the way down there."

"Yeah... sure," I said, offering her a little smile in return. Ron glared at me.

"What about me? Where am I to go???" He asked, furious.

"Are you William?" Another girl asked. "I am to follow you to Transfiguration, Dumbledore's orders. I am Leonora. Leonora Brown. We have the same last name."

"Blimey," Ron said, without realizing it. That girl could be Lavender for all I knew. So, her mother was not married... Or, at least hadn't taken her husband's last name. Ron was beaming widely at her. "Bye," he said, as he followed the Lavender-clone.

"Wow, seems like your friend is smitten," said Lily. "Oh no, we are late! We have to go, professor Claws will kill us if we are late!" She hurried out the door, but stumbled over a book on the way. She quickly recovered, though, and continued. I quickly followed her, and we ran towards the dungeons.

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When we reached the dungeons, the last couple of students were already entering. We ran inside as the last two, exhausted, but yet triumphant because we made it in time. Lily's smile quickly faded, as she realized that professor Claws was waiting for us. However, she followed me, as we headed back towards the back of the class.

"Stop!" professor Claws yelled, and everyone in the room stopped in mid-movement. "Well," he said, in a very Snape-like tone. "Cho Chang. The new student, transferring from Beauxbatons. Now, I don't know why you transferred, but if it was to sit in the back of the class chatting with your friends, you have come to the wrong school. Now, if you would please step up here, and sit at this table, where I can observe you. Come, join the rest of the troublemakers." The Slytherins let out slight giggles as Lily looked at me, somewhat looking sorry, and headed for the back of the class, while I slowly made my way back up towards professor Claws. I sat down where he pointed, and almost stepped on the foot of the boy next to me, because I kept staring at professor Claws. I was almost sure that Snape had got his inspiration from him. "Good. Now, I know you are probably thinking that since this is your first day, you can take a break, but you are wrong. Now, I am going to ask you a question which everyone... well, at least some of us..." he looked around the class, and his gaze came to rest on a greasy-haired Slytherin kid, looking very much like someone I knew, I just couldn't really place him... "-will be able to answer. Now, what is the difference between a Flipsciense and a Groosaluggie?" He smirked, and some of the other students gasped.

"Uh..." For the first time in my life, I was unable to answer a question. And the worst part? I knew what it was! I just couldn't remember!

"See," professor Claws continued, looking satisfied. "We had this topic taken up only last week. I guess Beauxbatons students are not very bright. -Or is it just you?" he smirked, looking very pleased with himself.

I felt more alone than ever. Luckily, Claws went to bother some other Gryffindors. I laid my head on the table, feeling more and more like I was the only one there...

Suddenly, someone pulled me up from the table, and that was just in time, because the next moment, the table was soaked with ink. "Oh God... Oh god, I'm so sorry... Are you ok?"

I turned to face the boy next to me, who had obviously tried to pat my back, but had hit the ink bottle instead. My eyes widened, as I stared into the all too familiar face. "Harry?" I whispered.

"POTTER!!! What do you think you are playing at??? And miss Chang! I knew you would be trouble! Go to my office, both of you! I will be there in a minute! -And fifty points from Gryffindor!!!" Claws screamed after us, as we hurried out the classroom.

Outside, the boy who was Harry turned to me. No, it was not Harry. Brown eyes... no scar...

"I'm James," the boy said. My eyes widened even more. James... James Potter... He looked even more like Harry than I could ever imagine.

"Uh, Cho Chang," I said, feeling myself blush slightly. Why did I have to pick that name?

"I am really sorry about that ink accident. I was just going to tell you not to worry... Claws is always like that... I guess you kind of know that now, huh?"

"Yeah..."

We slowly made our way towards Claws' office, but suddenly, the bell rang, and James said, "Yes! Now we don't have to wait for Claws anymore. Let's get out of here!"

And with that, he pulled me out of the dungeon, past the already deserted classroom, into the Gryffindor common room.

He looked around, and his eyes rested on the little group of people sitting in a corner. He headed towards them, with me in tow.

I looked around at the group. They were all boys I had not seen before, except for one. Actually, it was a girl. Lily.

"Lily?" I said. Why was she sitting with three boys?

"Cho," she said, smiling. But there was something different about that smile. It looked tense.

"Lily," James said, smiling very slightly. He quickly turned back to me. "So, let me introduce you to the gang. You already know Lily, so..." It suddenly hit me why Lily looked so familiar, and I let out a slight gasp. James stopped, as if to make sure I was ok, but I just lifted my hand in a 'you can continue' kind of way. So he did, "Anyway, this is the gang. They have names, of course, but we mostly call each other something else. This is Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, and I am Prongs."

If my jaw had dropped before, it was nothing like it did now.

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NEXT CHAPTER COMING!!! I just don't know when... Keep in touch, bookmark, or whatever... sorry for the inconvenience!

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