THANK YOU for all the reviews!!!!! O.o I'm a happy camper!!! LOL but nonthless here with another chapter....enjoy!!
A/N: Erm, in case you were confused, James and Sirius were up late Sunday Morning in the library, and classes will resume the day after on Monday....sorry to bore you with that but I even got confused writing it LOL!!
Time After Time
Fic By MuseQ
Chapter 4- Of Marauders And Time
*****
Date- January 28, 1997
"A new student?" Harry and Hermione were sitting in front of Dumbledore, their silver Head Boy and Girl badges shimmering in the candlelight.
Dumbledore nodded. "Around lunchtime tomorrow, if I remember correctly."
"So....we just wait for him or her to...arrive?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. A million questions scrolled through her mind. She glanced at Harry and could tell he was equally confused.
"Yes, and it is a He." His eyes twinkled as he looked at her.
Pause.
"So, around lunch tomorrow, we'll just go outside and wait for this student to show up? What is he going to do, fall out of the sky?"
"More or less, Harry."
"Erm...okay, then." Harry stood up. "Um, Hermione, I think were done now."
Hermine joined him. "It was, ah, nice talking to you, professor." They walked to the door.
"Hermione?" Dumbledore stood up, hands on his desk. He was no longer smiling, but a wary, forlorn look was about him.
"You two will,- especially you, Harry- be surprised to see who it is exactly that is coming. Please do not accuse me of anything. This is completely out of my control."
"You know we won't, professor."
"Nevertheless," he said, staring at her expectantly, "I want you, Hermione, to be in charge of making him comfortable, for he too will be surprised of his new surroundings."
Harry stared at him, puzzled. "How… do you know all this?"
"It's the past, present, and future all woven into one conflict, Harry. I am just continuing something of the past, if that is easy to understand."
Harry felt utterly lost, but nodded his head. They were about to leave when the doors suddenly burst open and an enraged Professor Lupin emerged looking very pale.
"Headmaster, please tell me that you said nothing about this-" He bit his tounge just as quickly as he entered when he realized who was in the room. Slowly his face transferred from Harry to Hermione and his pale face blushed terribly.
"Remus, please, let us worry of your problem in the morning. In the time being, I advise you to get some rest, and say goodnight to the Head Boy and Girl." Without another word, he shooed them from his office.
Once outside, both Harry and Hermine started talking at once.
"That was weird, wasn't it?"
"Tomorrow'll be interesting, don't you think?"
"Do you know what in the world he is up to?"
"Remus might have an idea..." They both turned to him expectantly, who was standing quietly off to one side.
"Remus, do you know about this 'new student' we're getting?"
He smiled wryly. "It's not my business right now. Just worry about getting everything situated tomorrow then come to me with your questions, alright?" He started walking back to his office.
Hermione called to him, "Remus?"
He froze, and turned. Hermione didn't seem to notice his involuntary flinch when she called him.
"Do you know what's going on?"
He turned toward them, shrugged, and smiled. "You can't mess with time. Can you, Hermione?"
And he left, leaving them even more confused than before.
*****
Date- January 29, 1978 (a Monday, hehe ^_^)
"Damn, if morning could come any quicker..." An *extremely* tired Remus Lupin rolled off the bed and dragged himself to the showers. Hours later he was walking to his afternoon class, possibly a little more awake than before, as Sirius and James caught up with him, smirking wildly. If he would've had more energy, he could of noticed the blandly suspicious glances from his fellow Marauders, but the energy from the time-turner and extra work had drowned him enough to overlook it.
"Hey guys." He said, his voice monotone.
Sirius wasn't about to hold the secret much longer, and James knew he was ready to pop. Sure enough, as they reached an empty corridor, Sirius halted and motioned them to escape in a deserted classroom.
"You know, Padfoot, we're going to be late.." Remus said, adjusting the various books in his arms as James closed the door.
James turned around. "Don't worry about that. We need to talk to you about-"
"Just what kind of dunderheads do you think we are?" Sirius shouted. James scowled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Deep breaths, Sirius..." James warned.
Sirius exhaled and continued more calmly. "Moony, we know your secret.... about your *time-turner*, eh?"
Remus felt it was his turn to breath deep, but he couldn't find the air. His mind was racing. 'How the Hell… ?
"Why didn't you tell us?" James spoke after their suspicions were confirmed.
Remus looked down at the floor. How did they do it? How could they always figure him out, and always be right? 'They truly are my friends', he thought both bitterly and thankfully, 'I've never been able to keep one secret from them.'
"H-how long have you known?" He stammered without looking up.
"It's all new to me," James explained, "but Padfoot's known a bit longer."
"It's alright Moony," Sirius said grimly, "We're not going to kill you.... but we're down-right pissed off."
James coughed loudly. Sirius shuffled his feet.
"Erm...well, James isn't- to an extent- but I am! Damnit Moony, you should know by now that you can trust us!" He smiled more warmly than he intended to and Remus sighed.
"It wasn't that simple...Dumbledore promised me not to tell..."
Sirius put up a dramatic hand. "We don't want any apologies. It's all over." Remus smiled in relief. He put down his bag for a moment and yawned very openly.
"We'd better be going then. Alright, Padfoot? Prongs?"
But his friends were looking at him and each other in a strange way. He had known this look for a long time- it was one of true Marauder mischief.
"What?" Remus shouted, despite how tired he was. "No matter what you guys say you are not using this!" His hand grabbed the lump in his robes.
"Moony!" Sirius gawked at him, as if his words visibly hurt him. "We wouldn't think of it...but, you know, you do look a bit tired...."
James nodded feverently. "And we don't want you to get behind..."
Remus gulped nervously. "Erm… what are you getting at?"
"Dear Moony, haven't you ever used the necklace to get more sleep? All you have to do is turn it back a few times and crash in the common room."
Remus opened his mouth to argue, but the idea dawned on him. He felt dumb. He could've very well kissed Sirius. Why hadn't he thought of that?
Remus picked up his bag, feeling aggravated on top of being half asleep already. He turned to open the door.
"Moony..." Sirius moaned, "Why don't you get some sleep now?" He looked at his muggle watch. "If you turn it, let's say, twenty times, then it'll be... around 5:15PM yesterday when you arrive."
Remus' eyebrows rose. "Twenty hours? Do you think I need that long?"
"A man needs his sleep, Moony...especially a werewolf." Sirius smiled again in anticipation.
"And didn't we hear you complaining last night on how behind you are one your essays?" James added.
Remus scowled at them. Obviously Sirius did his research. But the idea did seem appealing. He would give anything to get an extra few hours of dreamless sleep, not to mention added time to catch up on his assignments...
"Well, I suppose it won't hurt too much..." Remus went to pick up his bags, but suddenly pulled back and rubbed his head.
"Moony?" James said concerned. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I think..." He was swaying a little and had to grasp the wall to steady himself.
"You gatta be more careful.." said Sirius gently, "… Maybe you should drop some classes after all..."
"I'm fine!" He whipped out the time-turner in frustration. He stared at it, his eyes slowly blurring from his lack of sleep. "Now," his voice was groggy, and it was hard to concentrate, "which way is traveling to the past?"
"Clockwise." Sirius said quickly. He was looking as if all his dreams came true.
"Mmm...clockwise..." Remus mumbled incoherently. He began turning the bottom half. "See you in a few minutes.." He began to fade. He manged a wave, and in a second disappeared.
"...or a few hours..." noted Sirius.
"...or a few days...," began James, "...are you sure this was a good idea?"
"Either way, it'll be hilarious."
*****
Date- January 29, 1997
"This'll be damn good," mumbled Hermione as they trudged onto the grounds at lunch the next day.
"Maybe he's coming by portkey," wondered Harry, "I mean, he can't very well apparate, can he?"
"That's true... Did you talk to McGonagall yet?"
Harry froze. "What do you mean? You told me you would!"
"Bloody Hell, Harry! Does she even know?"
"Well, she's not here, is she?" Harry fumed impatiently. "What do we do?"
Hermione bit her nail. "Well, how about you go fetch her?
"Why can't you?"
"After all," she said, smirking. "I am the one who has to show him around anyway; I'll just wait for him here."
"I see how it is..." Harry mumbled before jogging off back to the castle.
Hermione sighed and checked her muggle watch. "Any minute, we can only hope..." The sun was bright and hot on the grounds that day, and soon she was under a large oak tree that hovered over the lake wiping sweat from her forehead.
Minutes went by; nothing happened. Hermione unbuttoned her robe to cool off in the humidity, relieved she had worn a t-shirt that day. She walked out by the lake, circled a rock, and went to sit down-
*FLASH*
No more than a second of blinding white light illuminated the sky, and Hermione instictly looked up, gasped, and backed into the lake. Falling towards her from miles up was, what she presumed, the new student.
she began backing up further into the lake, oblivious to being waist deep in luke-warm water.
The stranger was yards from her, and she shielded her head as he plundered down into...
*creeek*
...the tree.
"OOH, bugger!" Hermione sloshed from the lake and ran up to the tall tree, flailing her arms in panic. "Are you there... hello?"
She heard a low moan from a high branch, and so she began to climb. She felt utterly ridiculous now, slipping on every other branch, but the thought of their new student already injured pushed her forward. Soon she spotted him, draped over one of the thick, dead branches. He seemed to be steadily breathing, and Hermione let out a little of the breath she was holding. His position made his fall look extremely painful.
"Hello..." She whispered, afraid he would fall at any second.
She reached his branch, and lightly touched his back.
He groaned again, reaching blindly for something to grasp in front of him. "...B..bloody hell..."
"It's alright," Hermione cooed, trying to be supportive in the critical state, "I got you..." Balancing herself carefully she reached for his hand and helped him sit up against the trunk. He cradled his head in his hands, still turned away. Then, as if awaking from a dream, he stared around madly until he was eye-to-eye with Hermione. She gasped.
She was staring at Remus Lupin.
The branch cracked, and they tumbled to the ground.
*****
R/R tickle the cow
