Unknown Times

Chapter Three

The library held one of the many secret rooms of Hogwarts; not many rooms were designed to be secret rather the need of certain rooms fluctuated throughout the thousand year history of the school. This particular room appeared to be designed as a room that students either took breaks in while studying in the library or actually studied in depending on the century. The room was most recently rediscovered by a group of boys who spent countless hours in the library. The entrance was found while looking for a book, which held theory about the teaching of an advanced form of Care of Magical and Muggle Creatures, specifically specializing in animal behavior. It was one of the many books on magical theory that the discoverers had read that year, though this book was in a section in the far corner of the library that was nestled far enough from the main section of the library that very few people ever visited.

The room itself had not been used for many years if not centuries; the room that was once lavishly decorated was now abandoned and derelict. Two couches faced each other with a center table; there were also study carrels for individual studying. The room was a wonderful find for those who spent numerous hours in the library researching an illegal topic. The room was refurbished and was used often for private studying. Books were stored where no one would be the wiser that they were being read or even carefully studied. Many hours had gone into the study of advanced transfiguration, theory, and any other necessary material that would aide them to their goal of becoming animagi, accomplished a few years after the room was found.

Harry was laid across the couch in the back room and Sirius made to leave the room. Peter and Remus made slight movements as though to stop him, but changed their mind at the sight of his face.

"I'll go and start looking for books." Sirius said in the doorway, not bothering to look back. "Catch up with me once you explain everything to Peter." Without receiving a reaction Sirius left the room. Peter and Remus stared at the closed door in silence for a while. The two knew that Sirius needed to be doing something when he was upset and did not argue. Previously, Sirius had the task of getting Harry to the castle occupying his mind; however, that task was completed. Now the boy, to whom Sirius felt the need to protect, was not in any immediate danger, the full implications of the information gathered from Harry seemed to be racing around Sirius's mind. His friends knew him well enough to allow him to think this over since Sirius tended to get worked up over small details.

"What is going on?" It was Peter who broke the silence. He had less information to mull over in his mind than the others whom seemed preoccupied at the moment.

Remus cleared his mind of the thoughts of Harry and explained all of information that they knew about the situation with Harry. At the end of explanation Peter sat there with his mouth open for a few seconds before he closed it.

"We should go help Sirius," Peter said, as Remus had taken the time Peter was silent to return to his musings. Remus nodded and they left the room, with a final look back at Harry, who was still asleep on the couch.

The library held less people than usual owing to the fact that it was the last day of term; however there were still a few students whom decided to visit the library the day before the holiday. The tables were inhabited by students who were looking for books so that they could study over the holidays and students who wanted to finish their work prior to the holiday and not have thoughts of school work looming over the horizon. Sirius walked through the occupied tables to a pedestal near the front of the library, leafing through a thick book in front of him; this book held all the information about the library. Most students tended to ignore it, preferring to wander through the main sections of the library to find what they need rather than consulting the complicated, dusty volume. However there were those who chose to read it, looking for the more complicated sections and books. Since Sirius had used this book regularly for six years he had learned the art of gaining knowledge from it without much trouble; he started the intricate process of locating the position in the library.

"Sirius?" Sirius was carefully making his way toward on of the many far corners of the library, in the opposite direction from the secret room when he heard his name called. The sound of his name broke the concentration and brought his thoughts back to the library and he found himself faced with a girl from his year and Lily's best friend, Jane Canaday.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," was Sirius's only response; his face continued to look distracted.

"Well, I'm going to back up to Gryffindor Tower. I'll see you around." Jane said leaving the library, a trace of concern in her voice. Sirius bid her farewell and continued to the section on time travel, where he began to create a pile of books that might help him figure out what was going on.

This situation was one of the many in recent years that seemed to test Sirius's ability to remain in control of the direction of his life. This situation in particular seemed worse than the other hints of terror that on the outside of Hogwarts that had been growing steadily worse for the past seven years. This boy was the embodiment of Sirius' worst fears; his fears that everything that he cared about being destroyed. Though, Harry and his life seemed to be a consequence of the ruin that Sirius seemed to see as his own future.

There were two forces acting in Sirius: one to protect this boy from future harm, sheltering Harry from any evils that he had yet to encounter and another to try and protect his own world from becoming the ruin that this child portrayed. The former force held very little weight in his mind. Sirius's main concerns were always for those he cared about, this boy was someone whom he expected that he loved yet didn't know. This boy had so obviously grown up with out the love that he deserved and was expected, especially Sirius thought, for one in the family of his closest friends.

A question that Remus had brought up also continued to plague Sirius's mind. "I am worried about how and why Harry got here. I don't think that Harry would accidentally stumble across some time travel ability or any other form of magic with his aunt and uncle." Harry's family obviously kept Harry as far from magic as possible, and it was impossible that Harry himself could have performed the necessary magic. The question was who had managed to penetrate his Muggle relations to carry out the magic and why they would remove Harry from that time period. Sirius was concerned that the rational would be just that, to remove Harry, for some reason. If that was the case, Sirius believed, Harry needed to be returned to his time period, no matter how much it pained him to think about Harry's life.

Remus and Peter soon arrived to help Sirius compile the stack of books ranging from theory, history, actual time travel spells, and anything that might help them to discern the methodology by which Harry was transported to their time. The pile quickly began to grow and they made their way back towards the center of the room laden with mounds of books.

The three walked back through the main library area whispering to each other in hushed voices. They did not notice anyone around them until the top book was lifted from Sirius's pile.

"Beyond the Timeturner: Clarifying the Uncommon Methodologies of Time Travel?" Lily's voice read the title of the book she was holding. "May I ask what you intend to do with this and the rest of these books on time travel? That's an issue with rather serious legal consequences."

The three stared at Lily who was standing near James, brandishing the book. They had lost all hope of breaking the news to the two in a completely gentle fashion. They just stood there and stared, unsure how to continue.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies.

Authors Note: This chapter is dedicated to angelwriter14 for being understanding, wonderful, and many other good things this past week. *hugs Ness* Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!