Through Time
Chapter one
"Nervous?" James Potter asked his girlfriend, Lily Evans, and his fellow Marauders. He received three identical nods in return. "Sure we wanna do this?" Almost everyone nodded.
"Erm." Remus looked hesitant.
"We've been preparing for this prank for months! We have to do this or everything will have been a waste of time. Do you remember how long it took us searching Prongs' library?! Don't tell me that you don't think it'd be great to see McGonagall's face when she sees us again as kids. Dumbledore will love this!" Sirius Black grinned at his friends knowing he was right. "Ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," Remus Lupin laughed nervously.
After checking to make sure no one was coming who could over hear them, the four commenced in reciting the complex spell that would send them into the future along with another dimension. They hadn't wanted to risk being expected by their older selves, had they happened to run into them. It would ruin their fun and destroy the element of surprise. James had thought ahead and had decided to bring the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak, knowing that they would need them both.
~*~
"You think it worked?" Lily whispered into the darkness. She had been the first to dare speak after they had completed the spell. She didn't feel any different. No tugs, no mutilation of a spell gone wrong, no whirling of a vortex. Just the same darkness and eerie silence that had prevailed before they had started.
"I don't know. Lumos," James whispered and the tip of his wand lit up. "Well, the room still looks the same, so either it's still a secret or the spell didn't work. I've got an idea though. I brought the map with me, so we'll just see if there are any names we recognize and any we don't." James dug the map out of his pocket as the other three drew closer to him, each lighting their wands in order to be able to see the map more clearly. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," James murmured as he touched the tip of his wand to the blank parchment and watched as lines resembling spider webs fanned out across the parchment. James could have sworn that he had heard someone else whisper the same words he had just uttered in the hall just outside the door. No one else mentioned hearing anything unusual so James put the thought out of his mind and focused on the map.
"Hey, I think it worked. There are a ton of names I don't recognize. McGonagall's still here though, along with Dumbledore, which is good. And there's one name on it that I couldn't have even thought to hope for. This prank just got a whole lot better. Severus Snape," Sirius grinned maliciously. None of them had expected to find Snape still at Hogwart's.
"Snape, huh? Wonder what he's doing here."
"Something down in the potions stockroom."
"I hope he didn't forget about." James cut himself off. He was positive this time that he had heard voices coming from the direction of the hall again. "Shh. listen."
"Uh. hey Harry?"
"Yeah, Ron?" All four of them could hear the two muffled voices whispering in the hallway.
"Why does the map have three dots on it all labeled Potter? I mean, you're the only student with the last name Potter. One of the dots is where you're standing and the other two are in there." James assumed the boy, who must be Ron, owning the voice was pointing at the door to the room they were hiding out in. When he looked his map, however he only saw two dots labeled Potter. One being him and the other had to be the Harry out in the hall. (A/N The map James had was the old one so it still showed Lily as Evans. The map Harry had had experienced Lily and James' wedding so it had given Lily the last name Potter.)
"Sirius and Lupin are with them. Did either of them tell you that they were coming to visit? It's not your birthday or anything so why would they be here?"
"No, neither mentioned anything. Odd. Usually Sirius tells me when he's coming. He better not be trying to spy on me. You know. Sometimes he takes this godfather thing too far. It's not as if Voldemort."
"Stop saying his name already!"
James sniggered. It really was childish to be afraid of saying a name, he thought. At least the boy who he assumed to be somehow related to him, a son maybe, wasn't afraid of a mere name. It was silly to be.
Harry continued on as if Ron hadn't spoken. "It's not as if Voldemort is around anymore to come after me again. He can't come back this time. Sirius doesn't need to snoop. I normally tell him everything and what I don't tell, he usually seems to guess," Harry muttered crossly.
James sniggered at Sirius. "Looks like you got yourself a teenage godson. He doesn't seem all too pleased with you either at the moment."
"Yeah, well. It looks like you got yourself a kid. If I'm the godfather and his last name is Potter then he's gotta be yours, Prongs," Sirius sniggered right back at James.
"At least he isn't complaining about me though," James looked smug.
"Come on Har', let's go see what Sirius and Lupin are up to. Maybe Lupin wants to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again."
"He would have said something to me about that though. I would think."
"Oooo. He's probably Lily's as well! That's probably why their map has three Potters. Lily's a Potter!" Sirius sniggered, effectively causing Harry and Ron's last two remarks to go unheard, and actually displayed his intelligence for once. "You two sure didn't seem to wait long after school to start reproducing. Harry's definitely one of the older students judging by his voice. And we only came forward nineteen years."
"Wonder why they call Sirius by his first name and me by my last," Remus mused softly.
"Wonder later! Run! Unless you wanna get caught!" Lily whispered rather frantically, but James caught her arm before she could get very far.
"Don't you understand?" James asked as he noticed Lily's blank stare.
"They have the Marauder's map as well apparently. They'll know exactly where we go. It will only make them more suspicious if we run. We can't hide from them, not if they have the map and know how to use it and obviously they do," Remus answered logically.
"Well, seeing as how it's Prongs' son, he must have given the map to Harry. Way to go James. This prank is going to be over before it even began."
"Hey! He's your godson. Maybe you gave him the map!" James shot back at Sirius. "Knowing you, you probably would! You'd want to see him making trouble!"
"So would you!"
"Not that it really matters who did or why. The point is that they have the map," Remus pointed out. "And besides if he takes after either of you he'd probably think this was brilliant, too."
"This is gonna be weird," James mumbled to himself. No one disagreed with him. It truly would be weird to meet your own son or your best friend's son when he was roughly the same age as you were.
The four watched as the door opened seemingly on its own and then close again.
"Nice going Prongs!" Sirius hissed quietly, "you gave him your invisibility cloak as well."
"How do we know it wasn't you?!"
"Because the cloak is YOURS!"
"Oh, yeah," James muttered sheepishly.
"Sirius? Who're you talking." Harry murmured as he turned on the light. Harry stared awestruck at the four blinking teens in front of him attempting to adjust their eyes to the light. He paid particular attention to the redheaded girl with green eyes, his eyes, and the boy who could pass as his mirror image only he didn't have the scar on his forehead and he had hazel eyes instead. Maybe he was dreaming, but he doubted it. Harry flinched as he pinched his arm. "Nope, not dreaming," he murmured softly.
Sirius smiled, "Uh. Hello. This is. well. weird. Can you take off the invisibility cloak? I prefer to see the person I'm talking to."
"He's right Harry. Talking to someone you can't see is pretty weird. Remember Hogsmeade back in third year? I kept asking you if you were still there?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry removed the cloak and continued to stare at what could have almost been his reflection. He hardly noticed that all four had gaped at Harry then the three at James and then back at Harry.
"He could be your twin!" Remus exclaimed.
"He's got Lily's eyes, though," Sirius added. "Told you that Lily was a Potter!"
"You two look really different y'know?" Ron informed Black and Lupin, having completely ignored their conversation. "Did you two make a potion that makes you look younger? If you did it works great," Ron commented before turning to the other two and gaping as well. All six of them wore stunned expressions on their faces.
"Ha. Harry. Are. You don't suppose.?" Ron stuttered as he stared at James.
"Mum? Dad? But you're." Harry's voice trailed off as his vision went black.
"Nervous?" James Potter asked his girlfriend, Lily Evans, and his fellow Marauders. He received three identical nods in return. "Sure we wanna do this?" Almost everyone nodded.
"Erm." Remus looked hesitant.
"We've been preparing for this prank for months! We have to do this or everything will have been a waste of time. Do you remember how long it took us searching Prongs' library?! Don't tell me that you don't think it'd be great to see McGonagall's face when she sees us again as kids. Dumbledore will love this!" Sirius Black grinned at his friends knowing he was right. "Ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be," Remus Lupin laughed nervously.
After checking to make sure no one was coming who could over hear them, the four commenced in reciting the complex spell that would send them into the future along with another dimension. They hadn't wanted to risk being expected by their older selves, had they happened to run into them. It would ruin their fun and destroy the element of surprise. James had thought ahead and had decided to bring the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak, knowing that they would need them both.
~*~
"You think it worked?" Lily whispered into the darkness. She had been the first to dare speak after they had completed the spell. She didn't feel any different. No tugs, no mutilation of a spell gone wrong, no whirling of a vortex. Just the same darkness and eerie silence that had prevailed before they had started.
"I don't know. Lumos," James whispered and the tip of his wand lit up. "Well, the room still looks the same, so either it's still a secret or the spell didn't work. I've got an idea though. I brought the map with me, so we'll just see if there are any names we recognize and any we don't." James dug the map out of his pocket as the other three drew closer to him, each lighting their wands in order to be able to see the map more clearly. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," James murmured as he touched the tip of his wand to the blank parchment and watched as lines resembling spider webs fanned out across the parchment. James could have sworn that he had heard someone else whisper the same words he had just uttered in the hall just outside the door. No one else mentioned hearing anything unusual so James put the thought out of his mind and focused on the map.
"Hey, I think it worked. There are a ton of names I don't recognize. McGonagall's still here though, along with Dumbledore, which is good. And there's one name on it that I couldn't have even thought to hope for. This prank just got a whole lot better. Severus Snape," Sirius grinned maliciously. None of them had expected to find Snape still at Hogwart's.
"Snape, huh? Wonder what he's doing here."
"Something down in the potions stockroom."
"I hope he didn't forget about." James cut himself off. He was positive this time that he had heard voices coming from the direction of the hall again. "Shh. listen."
"Uh. hey Harry?"
"Yeah, Ron?" All four of them could hear the two muffled voices whispering in the hallway.
"Why does the map have three dots on it all labeled Potter? I mean, you're the only student with the last name Potter. One of the dots is where you're standing and the other two are in there." James assumed the boy, who must be Ron, owning the voice was pointing at the door to the room they were hiding out in. When he looked his map, however he only saw two dots labeled Potter. One being him and the other had to be the Harry out in the hall. (A/N The map James had was the old one so it still showed Lily as Evans. The map Harry had had experienced Lily and James' wedding so it had given Lily the last name Potter.)
"Sirius and Lupin are with them. Did either of them tell you that they were coming to visit? It's not your birthday or anything so why would they be here?"
"No, neither mentioned anything. Odd. Usually Sirius tells me when he's coming. He better not be trying to spy on me. You know. Sometimes he takes this godfather thing too far. It's not as if Voldemort."
"Stop saying his name already!"
James sniggered. It really was childish to be afraid of saying a name, he thought. At least the boy who he assumed to be somehow related to him, a son maybe, wasn't afraid of a mere name. It was silly to be.
Harry continued on as if Ron hadn't spoken. "It's not as if Voldemort is around anymore to come after me again. He can't come back this time. Sirius doesn't need to snoop. I normally tell him everything and what I don't tell, he usually seems to guess," Harry muttered crossly.
James sniggered at Sirius. "Looks like you got yourself a teenage godson. He doesn't seem all too pleased with you either at the moment."
"Yeah, well. It looks like you got yourself a kid. If I'm the godfather and his last name is Potter then he's gotta be yours, Prongs," Sirius sniggered right back at James.
"At least he isn't complaining about me though," James looked smug.
"Come on Har', let's go see what Sirius and Lupin are up to. Maybe Lupin wants to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again."
"He would have said something to me about that though. I would think."
"Oooo. He's probably Lily's as well! That's probably why their map has three Potters. Lily's a Potter!" Sirius sniggered, effectively causing Harry and Ron's last two remarks to go unheard, and actually displayed his intelligence for once. "You two sure didn't seem to wait long after school to start reproducing. Harry's definitely one of the older students judging by his voice. And we only came forward nineteen years."
"Wonder why they call Sirius by his first name and me by my last," Remus mused softly.
"Wonder later! Run! Unless you wanna get caught!" Lily whispered rather frantically, but James caught her arm before she could get very far.
"Don't you understand?" James asked as he noticed Lily's blank stare.
"They have the Marauder's map as well apparently. They'll know exactly where we go. It will only make them more suspicious if we run. We can't hide from them, not if they have the map and know how to use it and obviously they do," Remus answered logically.
"Well, seeing as how it's Prongs' son, he must have given the map to Harry. Way to go James. This prank is going to be over before it even began."
"Hey! He's your godson. Maybe you gave him the map!" James shot back at Sirius. "Knowing you, you probably would! You'd want to see him making trouble!"
"So would you!"
"Not that it really matters who did or why. The point is that they have the map," Remus pointed out. "And besides if he takes after either of you he'd probably think this was brilliant, too."
"This is gonna be weird," James mumbled to himself. No one disagreed with him. It truly would be weird to meet your own son or your best friend's son when he was roughly the same age as you were.
The four watched as the door opened seemingly on its own and then close again.
"Nice going Prongs!" Sirius hissed quietly, "you gave him your invisibility cloak as well."
"How do we know it wasn't you?!"
"Because the cloak is YOURS!"
"Oh, yeah," James muttered sheepishly.
"Sirius? Who're you talking." Harry murmured as he turned on the light. Harry stared awestruck at the four blinking teens in front of him attempting to adjust their eyes to the light. He paid particular attention to the redheaded girl with green eyes, his eyes, and the boy who could pass as his mirror image only he didn't have the scar on his forehead and he had hazel eyes instead. Maybe he was dreaming, but he doubted it. Harry flinched as he pinched his arm. "Nope, not dreaming," he murmured softly.
Sirius smiled, "Uh. Hello. This is. well. weird. Can you take off the invisibility cloak? I prefer to see the person I'm talking to."
"He's right Harry. Talking to someone you can't see is pretty weird. Remember Hogsmeade back in third year? I kept asking you if you were still there?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry removed the cloak and continued to stare at what could have almost been his reflection. He hardly noticed that all four had gaped at Harry then the three at James and then back at Harry.
"He could be your twin!" Remus exclaimed.
"He's got Lily's eyes, though," Sirius added. "Told you that Lily was a Potter!"
"You two look really different y'know?" Ron informed Black and Lupin, having completely ignored their conversation. "Did you two make a potion that makes you look younger? If you did it works great," Ron commented before turning to the other two and gaping as well. All six of them wore stunned expressions on their faces.
"Ha. Harry. Are. You don't suppose.?" Ron stuttered as he stared at James.
"Mum? Dad? But you're." Harry's voice trailed off as his vision went black.