That was Then, This is Now
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Sailor Moon do not belong to me. If they belonged to me then nobody would like them.
Kristin: Hi! I'm back again. You know what I just realized? If I wanted to then I could finish this story in about five chapters. It wouldn't be any good, but I could do it. Again, I didn't expect so many people to like this. I was expecting people to tell me to stop my pointless massacre of the characters. Okay, so maybe my friends are right. Perhaps I am a bit over critical, but if you are over critical to begin with then it is harder to get insulted when people don't like it. The same goes for life. I'm only fourteen and already I have learned that if you don't expect anything then you can't get disappointed or hurt. That's why I don't get hurt when boys only see me as 'one of the guys' and when the so called popular crowd treats me like crap. I'm kind of babbling aren't I? Sorry, I've done way too much thinking today. Oh, by the way, I made up everything about the memory stone. I have no idea if anything like that is supposed to exist or not.
***
Chapter Three
Harry stared, mesmerized at the picture. Looking closely he could see some differences. Her hair was a golden blond, and her eyes a lighter shade of blue, but the face and the stance were the same. His eyes flickered across the picture and suddenly caught sight of Sirius. Black. They had the same last name and it seemed obvious that they knew each other. Were they related? There didn't seem to be any physical similarities, but that didn't mean that they weren't related. They could be distant cousins or something to that extent. Harry spent the rest of the night trying to come up with ways for his new professor and his godfather to be related.
*
The next morning Harry raced down to breakfast, his album tucked under his arm. He found Ron and Hermione eating their breakfasts and slammed the book down in front of them, the page open to the wedding portrait. "Look." He pointed at Professor Black, who simultaneously eating and glaring at Snape, and then at the picture. Ron barely glanced at each before continuing to eat, but Hermione studied the professor and then the picture. Shock appeared on her face as she realized what she was seeing, and her head snapped back toward the teacher's table and then to the photo repeatedly.
"Wow. Professor Black must have been really good friends with your mom." Harry sat down across from Hermione and leaned across the table.
"It isn't just that. She has the same last name as Sirius. Maybe they're related." Hermione studied the picture again before giving Harry a doubtful look.
"Harry, look at her right ring finger. Notice anything?" Harry turned the album around so that he could see the picture. His eyes widened considerably.
"An engagement ring? But, that would mean..."
"That she was married to Sirius. Honestly, Harry, didn't you notice the wedding ring on her finger yesterday?" Harry looked up at Professor Black again, and this time noticed the small glare that her ring cast.
"Um, no. I was a little too worried about getting hexed by a Slytherin." At this point Ron entered the conversation just long enough to make a boastful comment about their defeating the Slytherins the day before. The conversation quickly turned to the demise of the Slytherins.
*
During potions that day, Snape was worst than they had ever seen him. "I bet that he's just angry because he likes Professor Black and she's already married," Harry murmured to Ron as they worked on their potion.
"What was that Potter?" Harry looked up to see Snape glaring down at him. Suddenly all the years of torture from the potions professor gave him courage to no longer care about what the professor could, and most definitely would, do to him.
"I said that your just angry because Professor Black rejected you and married somebody else. You don't like that she's married to somebody who isn't you." By this time the entire class was watching. Anger clouded Snape's dark eyes before they acquired a look of coolness.
"I won't pretend that I was thrilled when Professor Black told me that she was getting married, but I will also not pretend that I ever have or ever will possess any romantic interest toward her. She was a close friend and had just graduated. I felt that she was too young and inexperienced to make such a large decision. I felt the same way when your mother agreed to marry Potter. She was barely seventeen when they got engaged. Far too young, even if they were 'in love'." Snape ignored the stunned looks from his class as he walked over to his desk and began to sort through a few papers. After a moment he looked back up at Harry. "By the way, Mr. Potter, that will be twenty points from Gryffindor."
"Okay, so maybe he doesn't like her that way," Harry whispered to Ron as he stirred the potion. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Ya think?"
*
DADA went much better that day then it had the day before. Usagi went over several ways to improve upon the hexes she had seen them use the day before. She was about to begin telling them about curses when Hermione's hand shot up in the air. Again. She sighed heavily; this had to be the fifth time in the last half hour. "What bit of wisdom do you feel the need to bestow upon us now, Miss. Granger?"
"I was just wondering about your necklace, Professor. The gem, it's a memory stone, isn't it?" Usagi allowed her shock to show on her face.
"Yes, Miss. Granger, it is. I'm impressed that you recognized it. Ten points for Gryffindor. Knowledge about memory stones could be useful to you in the future. Since Miss. Granger knew enough to recognize the stone I will assume that she know what it does. However, I would be very impressed if anyone else in classroom knows. Would anyone wish to take a guess? It could be worth points."
"Does it improve your memory?" Usagi frowned at Draco Malfoy.
"No. Anyone else? Anybody at all," Usagi's eyes widened when Neville Longbottom hesitantly raised his hand, "Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"
"A memory stone works in the same way as a muggle video camera. Depending on the spell you place on it, it can record, play, or delete images that are stored in it. However, it is much better then a video camera because not many people still know about them and that makes it easier to tape people without them knowing. Unfortunately, they are very rare, because they have to be made by a witch or wizard and not everybody possesses the gift to create them." Usagi's lips twisted into a rare smile as she looked at the nervous boy in front of her.
"Very good, Mr. Longbottom. Twenty points for Gryffindor and another two if you tell us how you know so much about an thing that most have forgotten." Neville blushed at the complement.
"My grandmother has one. It's been in our family for generations. If I may ask, where did you get yours, Professor?" The small smile on Usagi's face widened, barely noticeably.
"My friend Rae made it for me. She is the first known person in a hundred years with the gift. Now, back to the curses."
*
Class ended without any more interruptions and as the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, Harry stayed behind. Professor Black was sitting behind her desk, busily writing what looked to be a lesson plan when Harry approached her. "Professor?" She looked up and Harry felt a chill go down his back. He had never been this close to the professor before and he only now noticed how cold her eyes were. They were like two dark blue orbs of ice, the silver flicks, like splinters of light shining out in spite of it all.
"Can I help you Mr. Potter?" Harry took the album out of his bag, opened it to the wedding portrait, and handed it to Black. A look of understanding replaced her normally blank expression.
"I figured that it would take you longer to find this." She handed it back to Harry and settled back into her chair. "So, what do you want to know?"
"You're married to Sirius, aren't you?" Harry watched as Usagi sighed heavily, and then leaned forward on her desk.
"Before I answer that I have a question for you. You know how everyone says that Sirius is the one who betrayed your parents and killed Peter and those muggles, right," she paused while he nodded, "What do you think about that?"
"I think, no I know that it is a bunch of lies. Sirius didn't do it, Peter did." Usagi smiled.
"Come with me." Harry followed as Usagi led the way to her office. "Take a seat, Mr. Potter. Yes, I am married to Sirius," she picked up a large silver orb off of her desk and tossed it from hand to hand as she paced, "And, I'm glad that you have enough common sense to know that Peter was guilty. I only have one question. How do you know?" She turned and watched Harry expectantly. He squirmed under her intense gaze.
"He told me. That, and I saw Peter alive." One hand rested on top of the ball and the other supported it from underneath. Her fingers tightened around the ball until they were white.
"You, you saw him? You saw Sirius? Have you seen or heard from him since? Where is he? You have to tell me!" Usagi's voice didn't get any louder but the pitched continued to raise until it was nothing more than a squeak. Harry watched her suspiciously.
"What would you say to him if you saw him? Or would you even say anything? How do I know that you wouldn't just turn him in?" Harry watched as his teacher's fingers slowly regained their color as she released her grip on the ball and allowed it to fall to the ground. She ignored it as it shattered, and took a step closer to Harry.
"Let me tell you something Mr. Potter," she said with emphasis on the Mr. Potter, "I tried for six years to get Sirius out of that bloody hell hole they stuck him in. The only reason that I stopped was because they told me that he was dead. Dead! They sent a death certificate and everything. I bet that you didn't know that Sirius and I have two daughters. One is your age and the other is a year younger. Sirius never even saw the younger one and yet every time I see her it feels like my heart is being ripped out. She has never met her father, but her personality is just like his," Harry felt his jaw drop in shock as a tear slipped down Usagi's cheek, "I love my husband, and never for one moment did I believe that he was guilty. I just want to see him, or at the very least write to him. I've loved Sirius sense I was thirteen. We have been married for eighteen years and I haven't had any contact with him for sixteen. Please, I just want to talk to him." Harry stood and walked toward the door.
"I'll see what I can do. I'm not making any promises, but I'll try." He stepped out the door.
"Thank you," she whispered at the closed door.
*
The next morning Usagi threw open the door to the Great Hall and ran across the room toward Dumbledore as quickly as she could. She leapt up the stairs that lead toward the table and skidded to a stop right before she collided into the table. She slammed a piece parchment down in front of the unflinching headmaster and pointed to the first line of the letter as she tried to get her breathing under control. "The school in Japan. Attacked. Very few survivors. No place to go. Complete massacre." Severus rushed to bring Usagi a chair to sit in while she regained her breath and helped her sit down. As Dumbledore read the letter his face seemed to become older. Usagi looked up at Dumbledore, and clutched at Severus' hand for support, the enormity of the crisis overriding her anger at him. "What are we going to do?"
***
Kristin: *wipes away a tear* I was crying the entire time that I wrote Usa's little speech. I'm probably the only one who was really touched by it since I'm the only one who really knows how she is saying it. Oh well. I tried. That's the best you can ask for, right? Oh, and in the next chapter you will find out who Usagi's other daughter is and why Severus and Usagi are so close. Ok, it was kind of annoying when I had nothing to write in response to a review except for 'thanks, glad you liked it' so I'm only going to write actual responses if I feel that it needs one from now on.
Special Thanks To:
Solarmistress17
Little One
Silver Moon Goddess: Try thinking Sailor Moon Stars and short, okay? Good guess though, and I did consider it, but Rae can be so insulting to Usagi that it would be terrible to make her Usagi's daughter.
Seregon
Za Kaze no Nisou: Super duper duct tape is the highest honor that you can get from me. I carry a roll around in school and if I'm happy with somebody then I will stick some on them. It's kind of like my own personal trademark. Just be happy about it.
Booyaka: Oh, I'm glad that the idea is new. As for the chapters, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but just be glad that I'm not one of those people who write two hundred word chapters. However, I am trying to make them longer. This one is about two times longer then my normal chapters.
Sailorruss
Koneko
Alexz
Selenitey
Em: You are correct that the first child is Hotaru, but like I said in the AN, you will find out who the second child is next chapter. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Sailor Moon do not belong to me. If they belonged to me then nobody would like them.
Kristin: Hi! I'm back again. You know what I just realized? If I wanted to then I could finish this story in about five chapters. It wouldn't be any good, but I could do it. Again, I didn't expect so many people to like this. I was expecting people to tell me to stop my pointless massacre of the characters. Okay, so maybe my friends are right. Perhaps I am a bit over critical, but if you are over critical to begin with then it is harder to get insulted when people don't like it. The same goes for life. I'm only fourteen and already I have learned that if you don't expect anything then you can't get disappointed or hurt. That's why I don't get hurt when boys only see me as 'one of the guys' and when the so called popular crowd treats me like crap. I'm kind of babbling aren't I? Sorry, I've done way too much thinking today. Oh, by the way, I made up everything about the memory stone. I have no idea if anything like that is supposed to exist or not.
***
Chapter Three
Harry stared, mesmerized at the picture. Looking closely he could see some differences. Her hair was a golden blond, and her eyes a lighter shade of blue, but the face and the stance were the same. His eyes flickered across the picture and suddenly caught sight of Sirius. Black. They had the same last name and it seemed obvious that they knew each other. Were they related? There didn't seem to be any physical similarities, but that didn't mean that they weren't related. They could be distant cousins or something to that extent. Harry spent the rest of the night trying to come up with ways for his new professor and his godfather to be related.
*
The next morning Harry raced down to breakfast, his album tucked under his arm. He found Ron and Hermione eating their breakfasts and slammed the book down in front of them, the page open to the wedding portrait. "Look." He pointed at Professor Black, who simultaneously eating and glaring at Snape, and then at the picture. Ron barely glanced at each before continuing to eat, but Hermione studied the professor and then the picture. Shock appeared on her face as she realized what she was seeing, and her head snapped back toward the teacher's table and then to the photo repeatedly.
"Wow. Professor Black must have been really good friends with your mom." Harry sat down across from Hermione and leaned across the table.
"It isn't just that. She has the same last name as Sirius. Maybe they're related." Hermione studied the picture again before giving Harry a doubtful look.
"Harry, look at her right ring finger. Notice anything?" Harry turned the album around so that he could see the picture. His eyes widened considerably.
"An engagement ring? But, that would mean..."
"That she was married to Sirius. Honestly, Harry, didn't you notice the wedding ring on her finger yesterday?" Harry looked up at Professor Black again, and this time noticed the small glare that her ring cast.
"Um, no. I was a little too worried about getting hexed by a Slytherin." At this point Ron entered the conversation just long enough to make a boastful comment about their defeating the Slytherins the day before. The conversation quickly turned to the demise of the Slytherins.
*
During potions that day, Snape was worst than they had ever seen him. "I bet that he's just angry because he likes Professor Black and she's already married," Harry murmured to Ron as they worked on their potion.
"What was that Potter?" Harry looked up to see Snape glaring down at him. Suddenly all the years of torture from the potions professor gave him courage to no longer care about what the professor could, and most definitely would, do to him.
"I said that your just angry because Professor Black rejected you and married somebody else. You don't like that she's married to somebody who isn't you." By this time the entire class was watching. Anger clouded Snape's dark eyes before they acquired a look of coolness.
"I won't pretend that I was thrilled when Professor Black told me that she was getting married, but I will also not pretend that I ever have or ever will possess any romantic interest toward her. She was a close friend and had just graduated. I felt that she was too young and inexperienced to make such a large decision. I felt the same way when your mother agreed to marry Potter. She was barely seventeen when they got engaged. Far too young, even if they were 'in love'." Snape ignored the stunned looks from his class as he walked over to his desk and began to sort through a few papers. After a moment he looked back up at Harry. "By the way, Mr. Potter, that will be twenty points from Gryffindor."
"Okay, so maybe he doesn't like her that way," Harry whispered to Ron as he stirred the potion. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Ya think?"
*
DADA went much better that day then it had the day before. Usagi went over several ways to improve upon the hexes she had seen them use the day before. She was about to begin telling them about curses when Hermione's hand shot up in the air. Again. She sighed heavily; this had to be the fifth time in the last half hour. "What bit of wisdom do you feel the need to bestow upon us now, Miss. Granger?"
"I was just wondering about your necklace, Professor. The gem, it's a memory stone, isn't it?" Usagi allowed her shock to show on her face.
"Yes, Miss. Granger, it is. I'm impressed that you recognized it. Ten points for Gryffindor. Knowledge about memory stones could be useful to you in the future. Since Miss. Granger knew enough to recognize the stone I will assume that she know what it does. However, I would be very impressed if anyone else in classroom knows. Would anyone wish to take a guess? It could be worth points."
"Does it improve your memory?" Usagi frowned at Draco Malfoy.
"No. Anyone else? Anybody at all," Usagi's eyes widened when Neville Longbottom hesitantly raised his hand, "Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"
"A memory stone works in the same way as a muggle video camera. Depending on the spell you place on it, it can record, play, or delete images that are stored in it. However, it is much better then a video camera because not many people still know about them and that makes it easier to tape people without them knowing. Unfortunately, they are very rare, because they have to be made by a witch or wizard and not everybody possesses the gift to create them." Usagi's lips twisted into a rare smile as she looked at the nervous boy in front of her.
"Very good, Mr. Longbottom. Twenty points for Gryffindor and another two if you tell us how you know so much about an thing that most have forgotten." Neville blushed at the complement.
"My grandmother has one. It's been in our family for generations. If I may ask, where did you get yours, Professor?" The small smile on Usagi's face widened, barely noticeably.
"My friend Rae made it for me. She is the first known person in a hundred years with the gift. Now, back to the curses."
*
Class ended without any more interruptions and as the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, Harry stayed behind. Professor Black was sitting behind her desk, busily writing what looked to be a lesson plan when Harry approached her. "Professor?" She looked up and Harry felt a chill go down his back. He had never been this close to the professor before and he only now noticed how cold her eyes were. They were like two dark blue orbs of ice, the silver flicks, like splinters of light shining out in spite of it all.
"Can I help you Mr. Potter?" Harry took the album out of his bag, opened it to the wedding portrait, and handed it to Black. A look of understanding replaced her normally blank expression.
"I figured that it would take you longer to find this." She handed it back to Harry and settled back into her chair. "So, what do you want to know?"
"You're married to Sirius, aren't you?" Harry watched as Usagi sighed heavily, and then leaned forward on her desk.
"Before I answer that I have a question for you. You know how everyone says that Sirius is the one who betrayed your parents and killed Peter and those muggles, right," she paused while he nodded, "What do you think about that?"
"I think, no I know that it is a bunch of lies. Sirius didn't do it, Peter did." Usagi smiled.
"Come with me." Harry followed as Usagi led the way to her office. "Take a seat, Mr. Potter. Yes, I am married to Sirius," she picked up a large silver orb off of her desk and tossed it from hand to hand as she paced, "And, I'm glad that you have enough common sense to know that Peter was guilty. I only have one question. How do you know?" She turned and watched Harry expectantly. He squirmed under her intense gaze.
"He told me. That, and I saw Peter alive." One hand rested on top of the ball and the other supported it from underneath. Her fingers tightened around the ball until they were white.
"You, you saw him? You saw Sirius? Have you seen or heard from him since? Where is he? You have to tell me!" Usagi's voice didn't get any louder but the pitched continued to raise until it was nothing more than a squeak. Harry watched her suspiciously.
"What would you say to him if you saw him? Or would you even say anything? How do I know that you wouldn't just turn him in?" Harry watched as his teacher's fingers slowly regained their color as she released her grip on the ball and allowed it to fall to the ground. She ignored it as it shattered, and took a step closer to Harry.
"Let me tell you something Mr. Potter," she said with emphasis on the Mr. Potter, "I tried for six years to get Sirius out of that bloody hell hole they stuck him in. The only reason that I stopped was because they told me that he was dead. Dead! They sent a death certificate and everything. I bet that you didn't know that Sirius and I have two daughters. One is your age and the other is a year younger. Sirius never even saw the younger one and yet every time I see her it feels like my heart is being ripped out. She has never met her father, but her personality is just like his," Harry felt his jaw drop in shock as a tear slipped down Usagi's cheek, "I love my husband, and never for one moment did I believe that he was guilty. I just want to see him, or at the very least write to him. I've loved Sirius sense I was thirteen. We have been married for eighteen years and I haven't had any contact with him for sixteen. Please, I just want to talk to him." Harry stood and walked toward the door.
"I'll see what I can do. I'm not making any promises, but I'll try." He stepped out the door.
"Thank you," she whispered at the closed door.
*
The next morning Usagi threw open the door to the Great Hall and ran across the room toward Dumbledore as quickly as she could. She leapt up the stairs that lead toward the table and skidded to a stop right before she collided into the table. She slammed a piece parchment down in front of the unflinching headmaster and pointed to the first line of the letter as she tried to get her breathing under control. "The school in Japan. Attacked. Very few survivors. No place to go. Complete massacre." Severus rushed to bring Usagi a chair to sit in while she regained her breath and helped her sit down. As Dumbledore read the letter his face seemed to become older. Usagi looked up at Dumbledore, and clutched at Severus' hand for support, the enormity of the crisis overriding her anger at him. "What are we going to do?"
***
Kristin: *wipes away a tear* I was crying the entire time that I wrote Usa's little speech. I'm probably the only one who was really touched by it since I'm the only one who really knows how she is saying it. Oh well. I tried. That's the best you can ask for, right? Oh, and in the next chapter you will find out who Usagi's other daughter is and why Severus and Usagi are so close. Ok, it was kind of annoying when I had nothing to write in response to a review except for 'thanks, glad you liked it' so I'm only going to write actual responses if I feel that it needs one from now on.
Special Thanks To:
Solarmistress17
Little One
Silver Moon Goddess: Try thinking Sailor Moon Stars and short, okay? Good guess though, and I did consider it, but Rae can be so insulting to Usagi that it would be terrible to make her Usagi's daughter.
Seregon
Za Kaze no Nisou: Super duper duct tape is the highest honor that you can get from me. I carry a roll around in school and if I'm happy with somebody then I will stick some on them. It's kind of like my own personal trademark. Just be happy about it.
Booyaka: Oh, I'm glad that the idea is new. As for the chapters, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but just be glad that I'm not one of those people who write two hundred word chapters. However, I am trying to make them longer. This one is about two times longer then my normal chapters.
Sailorruss
Koneko
Alexz
Selenitey
Em: You are correct that the first child is Hotaru, but like I said in the AN, you will find out who the second child is next chapter. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you.