A/N: Hi again!! Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter. I forgot to mention that this will be major romance (the stuff I am made of) so be patient, because the pigs aren't flying just yet.... Also, sorry if the first chapter was short; I had to get the idea into focus.
Time After Time
Fic by MuseQ
Disclaimer: I am not J.K., therefore I own nothing.
Chapter 2- The Bustling of Time-Travel
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Date- January 7th, 1978
Remus sat in an armchair in front of the flaming common room fire, absentmindedly feeling the time-turner between his fingers. Over Christmas holidays he talked to Professor McGonagall about what Dumbledore had given him and about taking his classes. She, as he expected, was shocked and extremely annoyed that Dumbledore would stoop to breaking ministry law, yet nonetheless aided Remus in planning his confusing schedule.
He looked down at his hand enclosed around the hour-glass. 'The power of time-travel is right here.' He thought for the thousandth time, and laughed to himself at the thought of one of the other marauders possessing one. Not the best combination.
"It's decided," He said above a low chuckle, "The marauders must not know about this."
"Know about what?"
Sirius' head popped down from behind the chair. Remus, after leaping two feet from his seat, wondered if he in fact wet his knickers, or if it was from a sudden wave of sweat. Sirius and James had finished Quidditch practice early, and how much they knew, he wasn't sure.
"Why so tense, Moony?" James Called from the portrait after he stopped laughing.
"Nothing, as usual." He tried to sound normal, while secretly trying to stuff the hour-glass into his robes, but Sirius immediatey noticed it, and swiped it out of Remus' cluches in a quick action.
"Nothing, eh Moony?" Sirius smirked. "And perhaps you could explain to Prongs and I what this is?" He pulled the hour-glass to it's chain's extent so James could have a look, choking Remus in the process. Sirius was moving it between his fingers when he observed that the bottom-half was on a rotating ball. Curious, he went to turn it-
"Sirius! NO!!" Remus yelled and pulled it away, cradling it like it was his own child.
"Aaaaah, I see how it is." Sirius said, eyes shining.
"It must be a gift," James chortled, "From, perhaps, a someone special?" The two goggled at each other while racking their brains for a seventh-year girl compatable with Remus.
"What? Oh! No Prongs!!" Remus shot back. "Now why would you think I got this from a girl? You know my policy on dating."
"We do, and it's a very stupid one at that." Sirius said. "C'mon, Moony, you have to relax a little...I mean, being gone once a month can't hurt a relationship that much, could it?"
Remus looked at him both saddened and irritated. "Really Sirius, do you know what people think of werewolves?" He allowed his shoulders to sag a little, staring into the ceiling. He hated facing the truth with himself all the time. Every time it seemed to hurt him even more. Knowing that the chances of finding someone to accept his condition and love him all the same were pretty slim. But nonetheless he could never not think of it, the thought of having someone to lean on, to love, to touch... such mature thoughts and feelings clashed with, say, Sirius' idea of a 'fun night'.
"Moony..?"
He lowered his eyes to his best friends, now a more reassuring yet hopeless look in his amber eyes. "Forget about it, Padfoot. Love is something I will learn to live without. You know that."
Silence. Before long though, Sirius shook off the moment and replied sarcastically, "Right, Moony, and by this time tomorrow you'll be head over heals in love all over again."
James kept looking at him, concern brimming in his eyes.
"Look, nothing's going on," Remus said in defeat," This was just a present from Dumbledore, to, ah, help we with my classes..." He hated to lie to them. But to him, it wasn't entirely a lie, just the excluding of certain truths.
"You? Needing help?" Sirius looked at him in astonishment. "Well, in that case..." Sirius said, straitening up. "...can I play with it?"
"Remus laughed and joined him. "How about a game of Exploding Snap instead? Unless, of course, you want to hang out with this for the rest of the evening." He dangled the hour-glass carelessly in front of him as Sirius' doggy eyes watched swaqy temptingly back and forth, James laughing the whole time. But before long, Sirius stood up.
"Tempting, my dear werewolf, but I can never turn down an opportunity to beat your behind." He ran upstairs to grab his set, and almost instantly, but only temporarily, the time-turner was forgotten.
~*~*~
The next week, Remus used the time-turner to take Astronomy, Advanced Arithmancy and Divination. If his monthly transformations did anything to his appearance, then it must of doubled with the extra loads of homework he was receiving. The Marauders noticed, butm only blamed it on him having a mid-life crisis, which wasn't difficult if one was a werewolf. he constantly lost sleep, and it was frustrating for him not to have any time for his regular extra-credit assignments, or to be too tired for midnight adventures with his friends.
"I'd like to know what he's up to." Sirius mused one evening after Quidditch practice. He and James were in the middle of a lazy game of chess while peering over at Remus, who was buried in dunes of books and parchment.
"Probably wants top marks this year, working so hard like that." James muttered, his hand on his chin in concentration.
"No, I think it's something else. The other day I was talking to Melissa, you know, the chick from Ravenclaw? She told me that Remus was her partner in Astronomy and she needed the syllabus from him for the Astronomy paper."
"So? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Her astronomy lesson is when we have Potions with the Slytherins on Monday. Remus was with us in that class, wasn't he? So either she was with his twin brother that he never told us about, or he somehow can be at two places at once."
James eyes widened in surprise. "But, how?"
Sirius smirked, like he always did when he had an idea. "I think it has something to do with that necklace of his."
*****
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short...the next one will be up real quick....maybe a bit of… traveling, would you say??? LOL R/R please, I'd love it!!!!
