Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, creatures, or spells associated with it ("So quit asking me about it, dammit! I don't care if you are a lawyer!").

Quite an awkward scene was bestowed on young Harry upon being let into the Headmaster's office. This is partly because the person who let him in was indeed…himself, himself aged a good twenty years with a few stray graying hairs here and there, but it was himself and there was no doubt about that, the bewilderment in his piercing emerald eyes, Harry's eyes, told him that. 

Harry felt all eyes upon him as he wordlessly stepped forward, temporarily forgetting that there was an anxious child squirming to get off of his back now that the 'ride' was over. Seeing his elders and professors in the future proved to be too much for him as he fought to stay conscious, much unlike the girl they had encountered in the restroom, he noted silently. He brushed his eyes over towards the desk where a docilely grinning Lupin was seated, stroking his dog serenely as if this were all just a pleasant surprise instead of a major time dilemma, as Snape obviously saw it.  Snape observed Harry in an equally horrified way looking more disgusted as the grueling moments of silence crept on. Finally, Harry found the initiative to say something, not fir one moment thinking that it may not have been the wisest thing to say at the moment, which it most certainly wasn't.

"Oh…Bloody hell, you're still working here?" Harry gasped out in a raspy, low voice to Snape, realizing in mere seconds that he had actually said was he was thinking.  Snape continued to scowl at both Harry's menacingly, continuing on the parade of uneasy silence until it was broken by Lizzy who was still dangling off to Harry's neck.

"You funny Jamie! Of course Snake is still working here! Daddy says he's the one that teaches all the 'slither mans' to be dirty, rotten, sons of bit-" The little girl chatted warmly through her giggles, obviously not sensing the uneasiness in the office.

"-Oh, ha ha, Libs," The elder Harry started to say sheepishly, unconsciously stroking a weary hand through his wiry hair, "-But of course I don't say such things…it must've been…your…Er…mother…" he gave a tired excuse to Snape, still eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"I-don't-have-to-stand-for-this," Snape mumbled out jerkily making his way towards the door, shoving Harry out of his path as he went, yet before Harry could protest, Lupin spoke up.

"Of course you don't, you can sit while young Elizabeth here introduces us to her new…friend here…"

"Lupin," Snape growled shortly, whipping around so that a large, angry scar extending from Snape right temple down to the base of his chin was revealed from behind a curtain of his greasy, silver hair suddenly. "I don't know what kind of circus you're running here-" His beady eyes flickered dangerously between the two Harry's, "-But I'm starting to sense Dark Magic in all of this. Good day." He bid them farewell shortly, slamming the door on his way out so hard that some of the portraits grumbled lightly from being awoken from their naps.

"…Well…I guess you'll be wanting an explanation then…" Harry began to say unsurely, rubbing the back of his head self-consciously, feeling as if he were some animal on display by the beguiled way the two were staring at him.

"That would be quite nice…I was just believing that we would have to cart you off to the ministry for a grand inquisition." The older Harry commented quite briskly, stroking his wand slightly in his pocket, not knowingly of course.

"Now, now, no need for animosity, we're all friends here, young and old…isn't that right, Harry?"  A wafting, rickety though at the same time, warm and familiar voice to Harry, spoke up for the first time, calming Harry's nervous symptoms.

"Dumbledore! How pleasant, you've finally chosen to come back to your portrait." Lupin greeted lightheartedly, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.  "Where have you been all autumn?" Lupin questioned, as if it were an every day thing to question your pictures of their whereabouts.

"Oh you know, here and there, exploring the castle…You know, now that I exist in portraits as well, I really do realize that Sir Cadagon is, well, mad."

"I could've told you that," The older Harry pointed out, scoffing, "In fact…I did…many times actually…"

"Well Harry…Harry's…I do suppose an explanation is in order…"

Meanwhile

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Er…now, Hermione, any more bright ideas? Ron's got us stuck in this blasted mess, so is it up to you now to get me murdered by Harry's kid? Just wondering…" Neville muttered helplessly, plastered against the wall next to Hermione as Alexia thrust her wand closer in their faces. "Please, I'm too young to die-well…maybe not here- but, please-"

"-Would you hush up?!" both Hermione and Alexia hissed in unison to Neville who had been bantering on for the last few minutes which seemed to stretch on for hours. They both glanced at each other momentarily, initially shocked, before Hermione drew out her own wand swiftly, causing Alexia to withdraw a bit.

"Who are you people? And why do you look…so much like…-"

"-Believe me, we'd tell you, but I'm sure you wouldn't believe us…" Hermione tried to explain, exasperatedly.

"Try me." Alexia goaded them simply, not relenting on her wand for a second.

"Put your wand down first…" Neville commanded warily eyeing her actions from the corner of his eye, not daring to move.

"Na-uh…" she shook her head stubbornly, "-Not unless she puts her wand down first," Said Alexia, jerking her head towards Hermione's direction.

"Why don't you put yours down first?" Hermione said defensively, her wand unmoving.

"You!"

"Don't try to bargain with me, who do you think you are?!"

"…Um…" Hermione clearly considered it for a while, scrunching up her nose in slight concentration as she mulled it over in her brain before Neville nudged her painfully.

"Oh just put it down before she hexes us or something, I don't heal as fast as you do, you know!" Neville pleaded, looking harassed.

"…Fine, on the count of three we both put or wands down…" Hermione suggested, as Alexia continued glaring intently at her with a sort of threatening look mingled with fascination.

"One…" Hermione began to count down, signifying their mutual agreement.

"-Two…"

"-Wait, are you guys gonna put your wands down on three or after you count three?"

"…That's actually a good question, you know…" Alexia muttered, not taking her eyes off of Hermione for a second.

"Does it matter?" Hermione questioned irritably, still aiming her wand straight at Alexia's neck.

"Well I suppose it does…" Neville protested.

"Why? We're just going to put-our-wands-down," Hermione said through gritted teeth, apparently trying to silently tell Neville something though it was obvious he didn't follow.

"…Hermione, why are you talking as if you have some sort of subliminal, non-abiding plan that might disrupt our mutual agreement we have here?"

"…Idiot…" Hermione muttered, shaking her head.

"Okay, okay, we'll do it when I say 'Now'," Alexia reasoned, rolling her eyes indifferently, "Ready? …Now!"

"Expelliarmus!" the two shouted fiercely in unison, abandoning the initial plan of surrendering their wands. Both wands flew out of the owner's hands simultaneously, surprising them both to a certain degree as they flew to the opposite corner of the corridor, narrowly missing Neville and landing at someone's feet.

"…Now, wouldn't it have been a better situation if you two would have just listened to me in the first pla-"

"Shush, Eduardo/Neville!" they both shouted heatedly, looking a bit flustered at the fact that their plots had been foiled by each other.

"Now, now, girls, no need to get fussy…" A silky voice assured them, picking up their wands delicately, watching as Alexia's expression clearly darkened as she recognized the voice.

"Drop my wand, Malfoy!" Alexia demanded sharply, spinning on her heel to come face to face with Xavier Malfoy, backed by two smirking red-heads.

"'Drop my wand, Malfoy!'" Francis Weasley mocked her spitefully, relishing in the helpless look that was dawning n Alexia's face.

"…Wait, Ron?" Hermione inquired, giving off a speculative look mixed with utter disbelief as she stared beyond the young Malfoy. Neville didn't seem to notice, as he was desperately fishing around his robes for something.

"So…So it's true then…your little story…" Francis questioned Ron, somewhat anxiously, ignoring Alexia for a second.

"You told them, Ron?" Hermione asked, feeling heated once again.

"So what if I did?" Ron spat acidly, his dismal facial expression not agreeing with his bitter tone, "I bet your little buddy's gone and told loads of people by now, how his big, stupid, ex-best friend the poor kid gave him a bit of a roughing up."

"What are you…" Hermione began to question, sudden realization darkening her face momentarily, "What did you let them do to Harry?" she inquired in a faint voice, nearly a whisper.

"Ron…Ron…answer me! What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked, feeling helpless to the fact that her friend was once again giving her the cold shoulder for no reason.

"No, what's wrong with you?" Ron snapped back viciously, "You and him!"

"…Neville? What about Neville and me?" Hermione questioned sternly.

"Not, him, Harry!"

"-I said to give me back my wand, Malfoy!" Alexia demanded once more, throwing Malfoy a dangerous glare.

"Come now," Malfoy simply purred, drawing nearer to Alexia so that she was nearly pressed against the wall, "Don't you think we've known each other long enough to go by a first name basis…?" He hissed, smirking malevolently as Alexia squirmed beneath him uncomfortably.

"Xavier," Francis shouted over to him, sighing, "I'm getting bored, leave that little half-blood alone before you catch something or what-not…Hurry, if Ron is telling the truth that means we have to write my father!"

"In a minute," he growled fiercely, waving both wands over Alexia in a taunting way right before she reeled back her outstretched palm and slapped him hard across the cheek, creating and angry red splotch across his pallid complexion. "You really shouldn't have done that, Poppet…" he muttered in a dangerously low tone, clenching her tightly by the shoulder.

"We're leaving…" Francis announced heatedly, clearly not appreciating being ignored. She grasped Ron's sleeve and they were off in the opposite direction, Ron not even bothering to look back.

"You are totally out of line, X-Xavier!" Alexia informed him sternly, getting quite flustered at the unnerving way he was eyeing her in a hungry manner, "I am a prefect, and you will be sure to treat me," she regarded Neville from the corner of her eyes, silently brandishing his own wand as if waiting for a signal. Slowly, Alexia snaked her arm around Xavier's waist, making way for the back of his head where she rooted her fingers deeply into his neatly trimmed platinum blonde hair and yanked back, pulling his entire head backwards in an awkward position all in one motion, "-with respect!"

"Neville, now!" Hermione commanded, watching as the wands fell from Xavier's hand and onto the cold stone floor.

"Er…Okay, Accio Wands!" Neville shouted fiercely, sending various scarlet streams flooding out of the end of his new wand, as his father's had been snapped in the Department of Mysteries last year.

The two wands jolted up several feet into the air, and flung towards the opposite side of the hallway where Hermione scrambled after them hurriedly. Alexia had released Xavier's head only to be trapped by an enraged Xavier who clamped her down by the shoulders and threw her against the wall.

"Let her go!" Hermione commanded with a fiery passion, aiming her wand for Malfoy in a malign fashion, succeeding in startling him before he extended his own wand.

"Conjunctiva!" Malfoy hollered swiftly, sending a puff of light blue mist shooting out of his wand and straight to Hermione's eyes, temporarily blinding her.

"Neville…get him, I can't see…!" she murmured irritably, rubbing her eyes fiercely with the back of her hand.

"I think I have him," Neville shouted back, eyeing the Malfoy boy as his eyes zipped between Neville and Hermione suspiciously. "Rictusempra!" Neville shouted, sending a jet of silver light out the end of his wand, hitting Malfoy squarely on the chest and knocking the wind out of him.

"Just…Who the hell…are you people?!" Xavier demanded between wheezes as he began to crouch over panting heavily.

"Good question." Alexia commented softly, gingerly picking her wand off of the floor before taking the liberty to nudge Malfoy over so he collapsed, sprawled out on the floor wheezing. "Good luck getting them to answer…"

"Hermione, are you okay?" Neville inquired, rushing over to aid his comrade and temporarily forgetting his duel.

"I still can't see much…It's pretty blurry."

"Oh…Um…What's that counter-curse…again? Something like…-" Neville pondered aloud, seemingly not realizing that Malfoy had gotten to his feet as the charm was beginning to wear off.

"Watch out!" Alexia notified them speedily just as Xavier was managing to get the beginning incantation of a jelly leg hex out.

"Confundus!" Hermione shouted, aiming at the blob which she presumed to be Malfoy,  sending a stream of canary yellow sparks from her wand, showering Malfoy who just stood  there, looking utterly confused, signifying that the charm had worked.

"…Why was I here again…?" he inquired helplessly scratching his head for a brief moment.

"…You were going to collect…Um…disgusting bugs to feed your pet snake…right after surrendering the rest of the dung-bombs that you didn't already plant in the Gryffindor locker rooms…" Alexia convinced him edging nearer to Hermione and Neville.

"And then," Neville started off in a wafty voice, similar to Trelawney's, "You will go out onto the grounds…to…to hunt for…truffles."

"Truffles?" Alexia asked, quite confounded by the strange command.

"-Truffles," Neville confirmed, "Ah…naked, yes that'll do."

"No one needs to see all that." Hermione muttered, Alexia silently agreeing, shuddering from the mere thought.

"I doubt anyone will, it's freezing outside if you haven't noticed…"

"Oh yeah…" Malfoy replied blankly, pulling out loose items from his pockets, disregarding his fallen wand.

Alexia aimed her wand for Hermione, still watching Xavier intently; she muttered the counter-curse because it seemed that Neville was still at a loss of incantations. After it seemed that Malfoy had pulled almost everything out of his pockets, including seven sickles and an unused dungbomb he halted his actions and turned back to Alexia blankly.

"…Well, what are you waiting for? I thought I saw a spider down there! And I doubt those truffles will pick themselves!" she shouted, sending Xavier scurrying down the halls in the opposite direction.

"That did it," Neville commented simply, brushing off his hands while flashing himself a proud grin. "Let's just hope the charm doesn't where off for a while."

"Yeah…Thanks…I guess," Hermione said unsurely, getting to her feet once again noticing the uneasy way Alexia was staring them down.

"…He called you 'Hermione' didn't he…?" she questioned faintly, pointing to Neville who froze in his spot.

"…Well…The thing is, Alexia…"

"-And you, Neville?" Alexia stated, more than questioned Neville who merely nodded meekly in response.
 

Meanwhile

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You guys, I'm sure of what I saw!" Second year Santos Longbottom continued to defend himself earnestly, despite the doubtingly suspicious looks his older brother, Archie, kept throwing at him along with his two comrades Sebastian ad Riley as five of them, including Benjamin trekked throughout the corridors, heading for the Headmaster's office.

"So, a miniature of my Father-"

"-An imposter!" Santos corrected frantically, irritated that they weren't seeing the urgency in this as he did. "He ran off with your little sister! I saw it with my own two eyes!" He claimed soundly oddly sincere, something very unusual in his case.

"Oh good, I was beginning to think that you had stolen someone else's eyes…" Archie murmured indifferently, not exactly pleased to be tagging along on another of his brother's wild goose chases.

"Not funny, Archie," both Santos and Riley chided in unison, Riley nudging him in his side, hard as they continued to walk, passing the girls' bathroom.

"Face it, Santos," Ben began to say logically, "who would willingly take my sister with them? Your story's bogus, they all are."

"What about that time you said the giant squid had hatched mutated human offspring?" Ben inquired innocently.

"-Those mermaids were swimming too close to the surface…" Santos muttered, barely audible to the group.

"-Or the time that you claimed you discovered real Crumple-Horned Snorkaks in the school's pumpkin patch?"

"-It's not my fault Professor Levy insists on having picnics back there!"

"-Or the time-"

"That's enough," Archie cut through the conversation sternly, earning a grateful smile from Santos.

"Thanks Arch,"

"-We already know Santos is a delusional idiot." Archie finished his scornful comment, causing Santos to take back his graciousness and throw a vicious snarl in his direction.

"Hey, Seb," Riley hissed, tugging desperately at Sebastian's Quidditch robes he still bore from the earlier match, "Isn't that Lexi over there?" She inquired lightly, squinting her eyes a bit to see Sebastian's younger sister farther down the corridor, cornering two people.

Archie drew slightly nearer to Riley causing in Santos rolling his eye in a disgusted manner as peered over her shoulder inconspicuously, supposedly, trying to gain a better view.  

"Who's that with her?" he wondered aloud.

"That girl looks kind of like…"

"-It couldn't be!" Sebastian protested firmly, knowing what Riley had been about to say.

"See?" Santos exclaimed accusingly, thrusting his finger down the hall, "I told you, I told you all, they're making all sorts of imposters now!"

"…Who's they?" Ben inquired meekly, looking a tad bit frightened.

"Er…Let's go down there!" Santos said swiftly, avoiding the subject earnestly.

The four approached the trio cautiously, Santos lagging behind his older brother along with Ben who seemed to pale a few shades upon noticing the familiar 'strangers' accompanying Alexia. Archie and Sebastian also pulled back suddenly, taking in the eerie likeliness the two shared with their parents.

 "Lexi…who are these people?" Riley questioned curiously, observing them from a distance.

"Look, you guys, it-it's o-our mum, Seb!" Alexia proclaimed shakily, holding Hermione by her arm I a not so delicate fashion.

"Hey…" Hermione muttered, jerking back her arm, regaining her composure as Ben yelped shortly from shock.

"B-but…Mum's back there…in the hospital wing…she couldn't have…she…she…"

"She can't be our mum, she's young!" Sebastian exclaimed, totally bewildered, causing Riley to scoff momentarily.

"I highly doubt your mum was born forty."

"I most certainly was not!" Hermione practically snarled, dragging Neville by his sleeve towards the flight of stairs leading to Lupin's office.

"Dad! Where are you going? Forget that-where did you come from?!" Archie called out, starting of after them.

"Er…I'm not your father! I am…Eduardo Reyes from Beauxbat-"

"Oh, come off it Neville!"

At this, the crowd several steps below them gasped sharply, as if their point had been proved.

"Mum, Hermione…where are you going…?"

"…So basically, that's it…" Harry finished his tale, glancing down at Snuffles the dog who was dozing off with Lizzy in the other Harry's lap.

"What's it? All you did was rant and rave for a good fifteen minutes about how this is all Malfoy's fault-which I'm sure it is-but you didn't really tell us anything," the other Harry commented, stroking the ends of chin, deciphering.

"…If you were the real me, the future me, wouldn't you already know what's happened? I mean, how do I know you're not just some intricate trap set up to look like me? Why don't you just tell me that Voldemort killed me, Lupin?"

"…Lupin, tell me this kid did not just question me on my…me-ness!" the older Harry shouted, sounding outraged.

"Who are you calling a kid? Do I look like a kid to you?"

"No, you look like scrawny, scruffy, brat who's doing a poor job to imitate a professor!"

"-For your information, I'm nearly of age!" Harry shouted in response, taking offense.

"Oh wow, nearly, you're a big man…"

"See Lupin," the younger Harry said, rising from his seat testily, "This imposter cannot be the me of the future! Look at him for Merlin's sake; he's got a beer belly! And he's probably going bald!" Harry proclaimed wildly, glaring across the table to himself.

"Oh…what spirited students I have…" Remus muttered dreamily, looking on at the spat, clearly amused.

"-B-beer belly?! I'll have you know I've acquired a six-pack working in the auror corps nineteen years straight!"

"-And employees!" Lupin concluded, taking a stand.

"Lupin, make him stop!" both Harry's cried out irritably, shaking a fist at the other.

"Harry,"

"What?" they both responded, sending scornful looks across the table upon hearing the other respond to their name.

"Show me your scar," Lupin demanded softly, not bothering to get heated by the wild acquisitions the childish Harry's were sending across the room.

"What…?" they both questioned curiously, temporarily forgetting their row.

"Just do it, and let me see your wand, as well…"

The Harry's both turned to each other for a moment, before returning their wary glances to Lupin, surrendering their wands in the process. Slowly and unsurely parting the front bit of his hair along with the older Harry, Harry turned to Lupin, who had extended his own wand to his forehead, his scar to be precise.  Immediately, Harry felt a heated surge course through his veins, ending up in his head and through his scar, sending a sharp current of startling green electricity flowing forth to his wand, held in Lupin's hand. He backed away swiftly, surprised by the sensation.

"What was that?"

"Proof," Lupin responded simply, "That you are indeed the real Harry Potter."

"Daddy…Daddy #1…I hear Mummy outside, let's go to her!" Lizzy chirped merrily, rubbing something in the form of sleep out of her eyes.

"…What?" All three of them questioned, peering forward at the door which slowly began to creep open.

"Dad!" Sebastian called out, rushing forward ahead of the group that had entered with him.  "You wouldn't believe-we found-she's young, Dad! And-who the hell are you?" Sebastian halted, inspecting the younger Harry thoroughly.

"Well…I'm Harry, Harry Potter…kind of…just not the Harry from here, I suppose," Harry explained uneasily, intrigued as he observed his supposed son for the first time up-close.

"Oh, well, that surely explains it…" Archie muttered sardonically from his side, bringing their attention to the other people in the room.

"Damn, I guess that really does mean I'm growing up to become my father…" Sebastian spoke lightly to himself observing all of the physical similarities, ranging from their wavering height, piercing eye color, knobby knees which were barely visible beneath Harry's old fashioned school uniform and Sebastian's Quidditch robes, and basically everything save their differing hair colors.

"Hermione?" the older Harry gasped out, eyeing the young version of his wife speculatively, not noticing that his jaw fell open and remained that way for the better part of several moments.

"Harry!" Neville exclaimed, glad to see that his friend had long since found the headmaster, and hopefully a way back to their rightful time.

"Neville!" The older Harry greeted in response, "You're…so…Er…plump…" he stated flatly, observing the rather chunky Neville.

"…Indeed…" Santos and Archie agreed in unison, shaking their heads.

"Hermione," the younger Harry called out, tearing his eyes away from Sebastian momentarily to approach his friend whom he felt like he'd haven't seen in ages.

"…Harry…" Hermione said softly, her complexion gaining a bit more coloring as her eyes cast to her and Harry's side where Alexia and Benjamin were eyeing the pair with a sort of vague interest from afar. 

"…Er…" Harry murmured sheepishly unsure of what to say, peering over his shoulder to gain sight of what she had been looking at, and began blushing a furious shade of magenta when he realized what she must have been thinking.

"About that…about them-" Hermione began, pausing briefly, not really aware of what to say to the guy, previously just her friend, who she had just been informed that she would not only marry one day, but-

"-Children, sit, sit. I've heard enough of Harry's tale of this watch to piece together what has occurred-or rather, what had occurred twenty-three years ago…" Lupin interrupted, gaining everyone's attention as the room fell silent once more.

"What's going on, Headmaster? I don't understand how this is possible," Riley stated at a loss, "If these guys are really Seb's and Arch's parents then how am I staring at the old Professor P-"

"-Who are you calling old?"

"-Right at this moment as well?" It just doesn't make sense!" she concluded, stroking down her mussed raven hair in concentration.

"Well…Miss Andrews…that is exactly what I am trying to explain. Yes, indeed, time travel has been an art that wizards have attempted to perfect for…probably since the beginning of time itself…"

Even hours after his beguiling encounter with…well…himself, along with two other shadows of his past, Harry just couldn't bring himself to stop mulling over the matter at dinner time, as this was not just a matter you could simply drop, just like that. Few elements of the conversation still flitted through his head as he glanced down from the professor's table down to where the many Gryffindors were seated, himself among them though, no Weasley in sight, he noted heatedly stabbed violently at his cut of chicken on his plate accompanied by mashed potato. Of course, this action didn't go unnoticed.

"Harry, please, the poor thing's already dead," Hermione commented lightly from his side, placing a calming hand over his own sensing his distress. "Anything in particular on your mind?"

"I'll give you one guess…" Harry muttered darkly, scanning the crowds of chattering students for the certain red head he hadn't seen ever since that night, back at 12 Grimmauld Place those many years ago…

"Hmm…Let me guess, you're concerned you're gaining weight?" Hermione suggested jokingly, causing Harry to glare at her solemnly for a brief second before his face broke out into a grin.

"No, I'm merely troubled with my thoughts," Harry said haughtily, breaking his conversation from the students for once.

"Your thoughts? Since when do you regard your thoughts Harry?" Hermione inquired skeptically.

"Ever since I had an unpleasant blast from my past…tell me one thing…Was I always so…scrawny and just plain awkward looking?" Harry questioned with an imp-like curiosity, causing Hermione to giggle slightly before wrapping her arm around his waist securely.

"I thought you were cute." She assured him sternly.

"You were either delusional or just plain pitying me…please say you were delusional, I hate pity…Even from you."

"There's just so much pity I can give, Harry, just so much…" Hermione muttered, watching Harry return to his hacked up slab of chicken, "So, what is the plan for us-well…them…"

"Lupin thinks it's best to keep an eye on them, you know, make sure they stay out of harm's way…he doesn't seem to understand that it's that harm usually goes in my way." Harry muttered, peering down at himself once again who was seated next to his eldest son Sebastian at the Gryffindor table, chatting quite relentlessly with his son's friends.

"I hope they understand the risk of revealing their real identities to-" Hermione began to say, her brow creasing in concern.

"-Of course they know, or at least you do, besides, it's not them I'm worried about," Harry said, jerking his fork in the direction of the Slytherin table where a small cluster of them grouped in one corner, including two red-heads, Weasley's. "-It's him…Maybe this-this is my second chance to undo the wrongs…maybe I can save him…before-before he…"

"-Harry, its not your fault, it never was your fault, and it will never be your fault; Ron just…Ron just had issues of his own to work out…and he couldn't deal, I suppose he just wasn't as strong as you-"

"-You're wrong," Harry snapped bitterly, before shrugging lightly and grinning apologetically to Hermione who sharply turned away from him in return, to face the grand Christmas tree that had been assembled earlier that week. 

"I just…things could've been different, that's all…" Harry muttered pitifully, watching dully as a midnight raven swooped threw one of the open windows from above, contrasting greatly with the pale snow, and gently glided above the crowds towards him, leaving him to wonder who would be sending mail at a peculiar hour like that.

"So, guys," Riley whispered in order not to draw attention to Gryffindor's new visitors, "Tell us how Hogwarts was in the 'before time'…" she urged on, handing the last dinner roll over to Hermione, who simply stared up at her quizzically.

"Yeah, yeah, how does New Hogsmeade compare with Olde Hogsmeade, can you tell the difference?" Sebastian inquired through a full mouth, splattering Harry and Neville with bits of crumbs and chewed food.

"The Before Time?" Neville questioned curiously, "Before what?" he asked bluntly, stirring up questioning stares among the group.

"Why…before the war, of course…I know you wouldn't be able to tell, but massive parts of Hogsmeade and even large parts of the Wizarding world was completely destroyed, and not just here, across the world…! Hogwarts is just one of the lucky landmarks that weren't harmed too greatly and that's mainly because well-" Alexia clarified for them briskly, bewildered as to why they had no clue whatsoever about the war, judging from their horrified expressions.

"-But of course, the heat of the war-as to say, it didn't really get out of control until about mid nineteen ninety-seven…" Fiona pointed out meekly, beginning an uneasy silence which stretched over for several minutes until Harry cleared his throat abruptly.

"Well…we'd love it if you guys could show us around Hogsmeade or something, right Hermione?" Harry suggested softly, steering the subject in a less depressing path.

"We would, except, we have to pack, is all…" Archie reminded them, sounding a bit disappointed.

"You guys are going home for the holidays? Then where will we end up?" Neville asked, drawing his attention away from his emptying platter.

"Home with us, of course! Our parents would be completely daft to just leave you here…" Phoenix spoke up.

"-It'd be like leaving a part of themselves, I'm sure…" Fiona laughed along with the entire group before they were interrupted by someone approaching them silently.

"Excuse me," a tentative, female voice called out to them, with that Malfoy drawl that had become oh-so familiar to the group by now…

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Archie questioned quite rudely, though Aphrodisia didn't seemed to be taken aback, most likely because she was quite used to being spoken to that way by Gryffindors, she hadn't come to expect anything more from them.

"You can go back to shoveling food grossly down your wind-pipe, Longbottom, I was hoping to speak to Sebastian…" Aphrodisia snarled acidly, shooting Archie dirty looks from across the table as everyone turned to inquire Sebastian silently, as he simply blushed bashfully and stared down into his plate which seemed to become fairly interesting at the moment.

"I'm busy, go away…Malfoy…" Sebastian gulped, managing to avert everyone's eyes.

"Please, Sebastian," she said, being sure to emphasize the fact that she was using his first name, "It's rather important…" she finished, her eyes flickering to Harry's scar monetarily.

"How important?" Riley inquired, looking a bit heated as she glared at Aphrodisia bitterly, "I'm sure it can wait-"

"-My uncle isn't very patient, Andrews," Aphrodisia spat, peering over her shoulder to Ron for a split second before returning a pleading look to Sebastian, "You can even ask your little boyfriend over here to be sure, after all, he is his uncle as well…" she said icily, motioning to Archie.

"What's he got to do with this? He's dead-" Sebastian practically whispered, still not allowing his eyes to lift from his platter.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville each gasped audibly. Harry felt a sick, wrenching pain in the pit of his stomach…could they really be speaking about-

"-Oh wake up, haven't you Ministry boys figured it out yet?" she let out a sort of impatient groan, "Evil can't die," she said slowly through gritted teeth, "That there is proof," she said motioning to the raven which had landed heedlessly on the older Harry's plate, and was now presenting a piece of parchment. "Now, do you really want to wait around until my father starts sending your daddy notes, or do you want to come with me?"

AN- I finally added a chapter! Does anyone else notice this is the fic that usually gets left in the rain for months? Meh…Oh well…Reviews are greatly appreciated. Tell me what you think! Oh yeah, check out my fluffy little pre-pre-prequel of this fic Good Ol' Dad. Lotsa fluffy father-children bonding and pirates, ahoy!