DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 5: Lily and James in the Future
Lily landed on the floor outside a cold prison door. She looked around, looking for James, struck by a sudden premonition of fear. Without thinking she moved to the door and pressed her ear against it, wondering if anyone was in the room. She heard voices and listened closely.
"That dratted boy! He's fallen asleep again! After all that we have done for him, he can't even show us some appreciation by telling us what is happening!" A gruff voice sounded from the interior of the room. Lily disliked it as soon as she heard it.
"Er…Dad…it's obviously something to do with his…abnormality, you know? We wouldn't have gotten into this mess if he wasn't...if he didn't have those powers." It was a teenage boy's voice, going through the changes of puberty. Powers probably meant…wait, was there a wizard in there?
"Oh, Vernon, what are we going to do?" a breathy woman asked from inside the room. Much to her surprise, Lily found that it sounded like her sister's voice. What in the world was Petunia doing there? Out of curiosity the younger sister knocked on the door.
The room became silent, and then Lily heard the sound of someone groaning, as if he had just woken up. "What?" It sounded like James, but that was hardly possible. James wasn't around here anywhere. Petunia hated James too.
"You, boy." It was the gruff voice again. "Go investigate that."
"Investigate what?"
"Over there," the gruff voice answered. Lily suspected that the man had pointed to the door's location. "There was a knock."
Lily heard the sound of footsteps coming from inside the room, towards the door, and retreated slightly out of instinct. "Hello?" A boy's voice called. "Anyone there?" The next phrase was so quiet—or perhaps the wall was too thick—"Anyone who is magical?"
"Yes," Lily replied with some strange difficulty. She felt a sudden, protective attachment to the speaker at the door.
"Do you have a wand?" the boy, whose voice sounded like James, asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Are you outside of a door? Because in here it's all walls."
"I'm outside of a door. Do you want me to do the Alohomora spell? Who are you anyway? How do you know about magic?"
"I'm a wizard and Voldemort wants me dead. Is that satisfactory enough?"
Lily shuddered. Voldemort, the Dark Lord! Was he near? "All right," she agreed. "I let you out." She paused suddenly. "Wait—are there any wards on this place?"
"I don't know," the boy answered, sounding as if that had never occurred to him before. "If you know how to take any wards down, though, you'd better try that before you do the Alohomora spell. Better safe than sorry, as they say."
Quickly Lily did all the de-hexing spells that she had learned in Charms and then opened the door. As the hinges creaked and the cell door swung open, however, she stepped back, shocked. At the threshold was a mirror image of James but with her eyes. The boy looked equally as stunned to find her standing there. The color drained suddenly out of his face and he looked sad and sick simultaneously.
"Who are you?" she asked.
James landed on the soft ground of someone's yard. He quickly drew himself up and dusted his clothes off. Presently he looked around. He was in a small village, a middle-class, typical type of village. It was similar to Hogsmeade, yet it wasn't Hogsmeade. A large sign of a pub could be seen about three blocks away, joke shops closed in on the small row of houses, and stores used for practical needs surrounded the community.
James glanced at the house whose yard he stood on. It seemed normal. There were cracked spots of paint here and there, but otherwise, it was perfectly fine. He decided to find out where he was and knocked on the door. Nobody answered. Apparently they weren't home. Being the marauder that he was, the sixteen-year-old boy went to the back of the house and snuck through the unlocked back door. Carefully he closed the door and explored his surroundings. The next room was a large room that seemed to be used as a study. A sturdy desk stood on the opposite wall, surrounded by papers and books. A quill and ink stand stood at the corner. He was in a wizard's house. Feeling more familiar to his location, James crept around the floor, not aware that the owner of the house was home.
Suddenly the boy heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked around frantically for a hiding place, not wanting to get in trouble. James Potter never gets in trouble, remembering something he had told, smirking smugly, to his best friends. He could find no place and decided to turn around so that the person would not see his face. How he wished he had his Invisibility Cloak at the moment!
The owner of the house finally finished going down the stairs and walked into the room. At first they did not seem to notice the adolescent crouching in the corner in an attempt to hide, but then they suddenly realized that another person was there.
"Sirius?" the man called. "What are you doing?"
James did not dare to move, but wondered how the man knew Sirius.
The man walked closer. "Siri—Harry!" he exclaimed. "How did you get here?"
James was confused. Who was Harry? The man's voice became stern. "Harry, turn around. How did you find this place? It's top-secret, a hide-out for me and Sirius."
"Harry, turn around." The voice was stern and commanding and James reluctantly swiveled around, keeping his eyes to the floor.
"Harry, look at me. Don't be afraid. I have to get you back home, even if you hate your relatives. I won't tell Dumbledore, I promise, if you get back home in secret and safely."
Dumbledore? This man knew Dumbledore? His voice sounded familiar too. James looked up out of curiosity and, astounded, looked at an older version of Remus. "Remus?" he asked, straightening himself. "This is your house?"
The older Remus blinked. "Why, yes, Harry. If you want to see Sirius, I'll go get him if you want."
"Sure," James replied, wondering if Sirius was older too, and if he had traveled through time. Or maybe Remus's father was named Remus too, and Remus had never told them that he was a junior. As Remus went back upstairs, James turned his thoughts to ponder about who Harry was. Maybe his friends had made up some new nicknames for him in this future time period. Well, Harry wasn't such a bad name. He didn't mind.
Two sets of feet came down the stairs this time, and James, surprised, found himself looking at an older and serious version of Sirius. There was a haunted look in his best friend's eyes, something that looked like he would never completely recover from, and his face was grave, serious, and sad.
"Harry, how did you get here? You know you're supposed to stay at the Dursleys for the summer."
"Who…"
Sirius interrupted, suddenly recognizing his best childhood friend. "James!" he yelled, astonished.
