A/N: Gah. Long week. Exams and all sorts of fun. But, however…I'm still writing. Slowly, but writing none the less.
Hagrid had picked Harry up that morning, and, much like when Harry had first arrived at school took the London underground.
Hagrid looked strangely…closed was the only word Harry could think of. He had cordially smiled, said hello…and yet…there was a strain about him that Harry didn't quite recognise. He really didn't want to mention it, though, and decided on some polite conversation.
"Did you have a nice time doing…well…whatever you were doing with Madame Maxime this summer?" (A/N: That was a perfectly clean comment. No nastiness was intended. I meant what Dumbledore wanted Hagrid to do over the summer. Honestly…)
Hagrid, who had been staring randomly into space, jumped.
"Eh? Oh…yeh, Olympe and I did what we needed to do…yeh know…" He continued to appear as though he had been sitting in Professor Bin's classroom, and began to stare into space again. Harry, giving up on polite conversation, blurted out with,
"What did you do?"
"Went someplaces…" said Hagrid vaguely.
"Hagrid," said Harry finally, in exasperation, "Are you not allowed to tell me something? Does this have anything to do with why you're taking me to Hogwarts early?"
Hagrid, who was very bad at keeping secrets, and even worse at lying, turned red beneath his beard, and said evasively,
"It…might be…yeh know all about the giants..O'course…"
"Giants?"
Hagrid, looking furious with himself, muttered, "I shouldn't 'ave told you that," Before staring off vacantly again with his mouth firmly closed, as if determined not to reveal anything else. Harry, exasperated, sighed, and leaned against the seat.
~**~
"James, I'm afraid we have a lot to tell you and Lily, and a very short period of time in which to do it in…" Started Sirius, but he never got to finish.
"Ad!" James said, noticing the hobbit by the door. "How are you? And Frodo, how is he?"
Sirius jumped. He had forgotten the hobbit, who had been quietly standing there, listening to the entire marauder's exchange, as though it were nothing out of the ordinary. The hobbit's face now split into a wide grin.
"Just fine sir!" He said, quite happily, "Getting on quite well with his wife and one son at Bag End."
(A/N: I have been having a very long discussion with my friend about LOTR. Honestly, the one thing Frodo needs is a girlfriend. The bloody ring is gone, and he's depressed. Who wants a depressed main character? I was thinking of "writing" a sequel just to make the poor hobbit happy. A girlfriend would solve everything. However, my friend is going on… "no no…he can't…nothing can take the ring's place…blah blah blah. Frodo needs a girlfriend, and since I'm the author, I say he gets one. Hah.)
James started.
"What?" he said, "Married and a son? He could have at least told me…" The hobbit turned red.
"Oh dear," he muttered, under his breath, "this is the wrong year…"
"I think we have some explaining to do," said Remus calmly, "and I think, James, you may want to fetch Lily and sit down."
James gave them all an odd look again and then yelled up the stairs, "LILY DARLING! COME DOWNSTAIRS PLEASE!"
"I hate it when you call me Lily Darling, it's always sarcastic. And don't yell, you sound like a howler monkey." Lily stood right behind James, holding her ears.
"Good, now, sit down." Said Sirius.
"Honestly Sirius, why tell me to sit down? I didn't need to sit down when I married James, and that's the largest cause that anyone could want," said Lily, tapping her foot. "Now tell us."
"We from the future, and we need to bring you back there," said Sirius abruptly.
Lily and James, in one simultaneous movement, sat down.