WHEN TIME STANDS STILL
sweets2: Thanks – for the perseverance and for the review!
GwEnDoLyN P. MaLfOy: Sorry! Am I forgiven?
Indiangurl: No, you're not obsessed. (I have my fingers crossed.)
colorado-chick: Imagine James-the-Marauder a responsible father! That is inconceivable.
Windwhistles: Yeah, they did, thanks. I did update that soon... and this!
Silvercrystal77: I'm improving ;) I've even tried to make this chapter longer.
supernova8610: I'm trying to keep up with you guys.
Von: I know – I didn't mean to make James so horrible when I started out! But it just happened – and I think he'll learn a thing or two before Harry goes back.
Amandinka: Here is the update – I've tried to make this chapter longer... (Note the word 'tried'.)
The Lady Reaper of the Shadows: The truth is preferable to a lie, yes... but is truth preferable to a diplomatic silence?
Emma Ackroyd: No problem – thanks for the review!
Kaaera: Harry's not stupid enough to tell them everything... is he?
Lily and James Potter: I'd say the Professor would be more concerned about their mental health if they were not late ;)
Amanda: For your sanity, then... here's Chapter 15.
An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin: Well, this is a bit longer... and a bit rambling. Review and tell me what you think.
Constance Truggle: The wait is over! A short wait too – I am (more than usually) pleased with myself over getting two consecutive chapters up so quickly.
Jeanne2: Thanks for the review!
EriEka27: Thanks!
missprongs: Thank you – I'm glad you liked it.
The Vampire Story Hunter: Probably because he didn't want to take risks – what if something went wrong?
volleypickle16: 'Soon' enough? I am trying.
insanechildfanfic: Thanks!
Olivia Wood: After all, it's a very fine line between love and hate... who said that?
Musicstarlover: Yeah, poor Lily! Imagine knowing you're going to marry someone you've hated for years. And most people think Dumbledore's an absent-minded genius... which, I think, he's not – not absent-minded, that is.
Lil Miss Potter: Harry knows some things cannot be told... hopefully.
blip-dragon: No, as long they were pulling pranks on someone else I don't think he'd be particularly bothered, either.
Japonica: Thanks for the review. How was Scotland?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried to make this chapter longer. How does it strike you? (Unfortunately, it's also a little rambling... but review and tell me what you think. Should I stick to short chapters, and not spend half of each paragraph babbling, or do you prefer this?)
CHAPTER 15: CONFRONTATION
It was only Lily glaring across the room that kept Sirius and James from joining her, Harry and Alice McKinnon as they practiced the Patronus spell. Remus seemed to have given up all hope of preventing his friends from doing as they pleased; he was sitting in his chair with an expression that said he was leaving everything to destiny.
Their second class was Potions, and without Lily for moral support, Harry had a very hard time avoiding the questioning looks Sirius and James kept shooting him; they even tried to set up their cauldrons on either side of his, but he evaded that.
Professor Cawdor, the Potions teacher, had them making Veritaserum. He put them in groups of three and Harry, much to his horror, found himself working with Snape and Pettigrew. He would almost rather have had James and Sirius pelting him with questions.
It was the most horrible Potions class Harry had ever attended, including all the classes in Fifth Year when Snape had delighted in giving him zero marks practically every week. The Fifth-Year Snape was quite as bad as the Potions-Master Snape – worse, in fact, because in addition to hating Harry for being a Gryffindor, he thought Harry was Muggle-born.
Pettigrew, of course, hated both Snape and Harry, and so the three of them spent the entire class snarling at each other when Professor Cawdor wasn't looking. Had it not been for the fact that Snape was really quite good at Potion-brewing (and, as Harry knew, he liked nothing better than threatening people with Veritaserum) they would have had nothing to put in a flask at the end of the class.
As soon as the bell rang, Harry fled to the Great Hall to find Lily. She was sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table.
"Hello," she said, as he sat down. "Alice had to go down to the greenhouses – some kind of Herbology project the Sixth- and Seventh-Years are doing. She said something about moulting Poisonberry – not that I have the faintest idea what that is – and ran off like there were a hundred Dementors after her."
"How was Arithmancy?"
"Oh, I love Arithmancy – it's my favourite subject – after Charms, of course. It's really fascinating, Harry; you should –"
She broke off with a groan as Sirius and James came and sat opposite them.
"Go away, you two."
"Oh, go on, Evans, just a little chat."
"For heaven's sake, Potter!" Lily hissed. "Do you have any idea how suspicious it looks for you two to sit here? Go away."
Sirius scowled, and he and James got up and went to join Remus and Peter. Lily shook her head.
"Professor Flitwick's busy today; he said we should use the class to finish the assignment. We can go to the library after lunch; since Potter never goes anywhere he can't play with a Snitch, we can avoid him there. I don't think we're going to be so lucky after dinner." She looked at Harry suddenly. "Tell me something. Do I – that is, does the future me – know that you're in the past?"
"I don't think so," Harry said, trying to keep his voice even.
"Good. At least I'm not worrying myself silly, then."
*~
Harry and Lily were bent over an ancient book called 'Advanced Defensive Charmwork in Magical Dueling'. There were a lot of complicated diagrams – including some rather horrible pictures of the charms gone wrong – and entire pages about the importance of moving you wand correctly.
"Flick," Lily said, "and then jab... and then you say the spell – no, don't try it here! Madam Pince will not be remotely pleased if you Shield the library."
Harry lowered his wand. "It probably wouldn't have worked the first time, anyway."
"It would be prudent to have it not work the first time in the Common Room. Then maybe Potter won't be able to hex anyone for a few days."
As if on cue, there was a sudden, horrible noise, like a hundred ghosts all playing the Magical Saw at the same time.
"Potter and Black," Lily shrieked above the noise. "Whatever this is, it's their doing."
Harry looked around. Sure enough, Sirius and James had used the Summoning Charm to get all the books in the Restricted Section out. Madam Pince was shouting at them already.
"You dare disrupt my library! Three hundred books out of place! Out!" She raised her voice. "OUT! I want every single person in this room to leave NOW! Anyone still here in five minutes' time will be serving detention for the rest of their natural lives! OUT!"
In the stampede to leave, just in case Madam Pince carried out her threat, Sirius managed to mutter to Harry, "We'll talk to you tonight – and if you dare go to bed before the Common Room is empty, you will regret it."
Harry turned to protest, but Sirius had vanished.
*~
"I'm sitting up with you," Lily said promptly. "You'd better not go to bed; I wouldn't put it past Black to announce to the entire school at breakfast tomorrow that you're Potter's son from the future. But I am sitting up, too, and I am going to tell Potter a thing or two." She looked at Harry. "Just keep one thing in mind – I assume that at some point Potter will become a lot less arrogant and a lot more responsible, or else I would never marry him. Now, though... just be careful what you tell him."
Harry nodded. "I... er... I figured."
"I gather he isn't very vocal about the fact that he was once the biggest bully in Hogwarts."
"Um... I don't think he and Sirius are very proud of that any more."
"I imagine not. It's just as likely that they don't want to have to explain to you why they were so horrible."
"That too," Harry said. For the first time, he could think of the future Sirius without feeling helpless despair.
Lily grinned. "Come on. Let's go see if Madam Pince has calmed down yet."
*~
At eleven o'clock, the last person yawned and went up to bed. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting around the fireplace, and Lily and Harry were at one of the tables doing their Charms work. Having Lily around was just like having Hermione – one way or another, you always had work ready to hand in on time.
James looked over at them and cleared his throat. Lily glared at him, and nodded in Peter's direction. James shook his head firmly. Harry glared at James, too; he had no intention of telling James and Sirius as much as he had told Remus, but if Peter was there he had no intention of saying anything that the cringing rat might tell Voldemort later.
James sighed and nudged Remus, who took the hint.
"Let's go to bed, Wormtail; I don't think these two are coming before dawn."
"Why?" Peter asked eagerly. "Anothey prank on Snivelly?"
"If it is, it had better not be in my hearing," Remus said darkly. "Come on, let's go."
He and Peter went to bed, too, and Lily and Harry finally went to sit by the fire.
"Before you say anything, Potter," Lily said, "let me tell you something. You will not pressure Harry to tell you what he doesn't want to, and if you so much as breathe a word of any of this where anything including a spider on the wall can hear, then I will make sure it won't be happening again. And no more threats!"
"Oh, Evans, you won't be talking like this when you start going out with me. Then you'll wish you had let me ask all the questions I wanted, and – all right, you don't have to hex me!" James said hastily, as Lily pulled out her wand.
"Er... aren't you tired, Evans?" Sirius asked, eyeing her wand. "A good night's sleep might do you good."
"Nice try, Black. But someone has to make sure you do as Dumbledore said."
"Right," James said briskly. "First things first. Just to make sure the record's straight – you are my son."
"Yes."
"And hers." James nodded at Lily.
"Yes."
"You go to Hogwarts."
"No," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I go to a Muggle secondary school. Of course I go to Hogwarts!"
"And you really have been Seeker for Gryffindor since your first year?"
"Yes, I have."
"What's Remus doing?"
"He taught Defence for a year. Now – can't tell."
At a warning glance from Lily, James progressed quickly to the next question.
"What's Peter doing?"
Firmly suppressing the urge to call Pettigrew a few choice names, Harry said, "Can't tell."
"This isn't on," Sirius protested. "You're not answering anything. And anyway, why aren't Moony and Wormtail here? I'll get them."
"No," Harry said quickly.
"Harry, I know Dumbledore said Peter wasn't to be told anything, but I am not leaving him out."
"Potter," Lily began sharply, but James ignored her.
"So I'll just fetch Remus and Peter back downstairs, and you can tell all of us the whole story."
"I will not," Harry said flatly.
"What?" James said. "I must have heard wrong, Harry – did you just say you would not?"
"Yes, I did. Professor Dumbledore said he's not to be told anything." Besides which, he would face Voldemort unarmed before he would trust Peter Pettigrew again.
"All right, Sirius and I'll go to Dumbledore now and tell him you're desperate to tell Peter everything, if it's all the same to him."
"You will not," Harry said. James might think the entire school shook in its shoes at the thought of him, but he, Harry, did not.
"Oh?" Sirius said coldly. Lily looked at Harry with an approving smile.
"And why," James asked, "will we not?"
"Two reasons. First, it would be an outright lie. Second, because even if Dumbledore himself comes here demanding that I answer any question any of you has, I will not do it."
"Oh, I think you will," James said. He pointed his wand at Harry. "There are ways, you know."
Harry felt his temper rising.
"I know. What you don't know is that all those ways don't always work. Even if you have the Imperius Curse in mind – which I imagine you don't, because even you aren't that stupid – stronger wizards than you have tried and failed."
"You cannot take that tone with me," James snarled.
"Can't I? This isn't the future. You're not my father yet, nor," Harry spared a scowl for Sirius, "is he my godfather. Snape's always told me you're both too arrogant for your own good, and I had no idea that he was completely right! And let me tell you something else. I've had enough! Tomorrow, if you two decide you can act like normal human beings, then we will talk. I'm going to bed!"
Harry got up and headed for the stairs. At their foot, he turned.
"One more thing. Whichever of you comes to me tomorrow trying to hex me if I don't answer all your questions will be very, very sorry."
There was stunned silence for a moment after Harry had vanished up the boys' staircase.
"So," James said finally, "what about next Hogsmeade weekend, Evans?"
Lily glared at him.
"Harry's right. There's no point talking to you."
And she went to bed, leaving James and Sirius alone in the Common Room.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really am starting to update quickly – let's just hope it lasts! James and Sirius are decidedly unpleasant, aren't they? But this is the last chapter in which they'll be quite this bad. (It's partly the effect of the release date for Star Wars Episode III having just been announced, combined with Gollum grinning evilly on my desktop.)
sweets2: Thanks – for the perseverance and for the review!
GwEnDoLyN P. MaLfOy: Sorry! Am I forgiven?
Indiangurl: No, you're not obsessed. (I have my fingers crossed.)
colorado-chick: Imagine James-the-Marauder a responsible father! That is inconceivable.
Windwhistles: Yeah, they did, thanks. I did update that soon... and this!
Silvercrystal77: I'm improving ;) I've even tried to make this chapter longer.
supernova8610: I'm trying to keep up with you guys.
Von: I know – I didn't mean to make James so horrible when I started out! But it just happened – and I think he'll learn a thing or two before Harry goes back.
Amandinka: Here is the update – I've tried to make this chapter longer... (Note the word 'tried'.)
The Lady Reaper of the Shadows: The truth is preferable to a lie, yes... but is truth preferable to a diplomatic silence?
Emma Ackroyd: No problem – thanks for the review!
Kaaera: Harry's not stupid enough to tell them everything... is he?
Lily and James Potter: I'd say the Professor would be more concerned about their mental health if they were not late ;)
Amanda: For your sanity, then... here's Chapter 15.
An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin: Well, this is a bit longer... and a bit rambling. Review and tell me what you think.
Constance Truggle: The wait is over! A short wait too – I am (more than usually) pleased with myself over getting two consecutive chapters up so quickly.
Jeanne2: Thanks for the review!
EriEka27: Thanks!
missprongs: Thank you – I'm glad you liked it.
The Vampire Story Hunter: Probably because he didn't want to take risks – what if something went wrong?
volleypickle16: 'Soon' enough? I am trying.
insanechildfanfic: Thanks!
Olivia Wood: After all, it's a very fine line between love and hate... who said that?
Musicstarlover: Yeah, poor Lily! Imagine knowing you're going to marry someone you've hated for years. And most people think Dumbledore's an absent-minded genius... which, I think, he's not – not absent-minded, that is.
Lil Miss Potter: Harry knows some things cannot be told... hopefully.
blip-dragon: No, as long they were pulling pranks on someone else I don't think he'd be particularly bothered, either.
Japonica: Thanks for the review. How was Scotland?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried to make this chapter longer. How does it strike you? (Unfortunately, it's also a little rambling... but review and tell me what you think. Should I stick to short chapters, and not spend half of each paragraph babbling, or do you prefer this?)
CHAPTER 15: CONFRONTATION
It was only Lily glaring across the room that kept Sirius and James from joining her, Harry and Alice McKinnon as they practiced the Patronus spell. Remus seemed to have given up all hope of preventing his friends from doing as they pleased; he was sitting in his chair with an expression that said he was leaving everything to destiny.
Their second class was Potions, and without Lily for moral support, Harry had a very hard time avoiding the questioning looks Sirius and James kept shooting him; they even tried to set up their cauldrons on either side of his, but he evaded that.
Professor Cawdor, the Potions teacher, had them making Veritaserum. He put them in groups of three and Harry, much to his horror, found himself working with Snape and Pettigrew. He would almost rather have had James and Sirius pelting him with questions.
It was the most horrible Potions class Harry had ever attended, including all the classes in Fifth Year when Snape had delighted in giving him zero marks practically every week. The Fifth-Year Snape was quite as bad as the Potions-Master Snape – worse, in fact, because in addition to hating Harry for being a Gryffindor, he thought Harry was Muggle-born.
Pettigrew, of course, hated both Snape and Harry, and so the three of them spent the entire class snarling at each other when Professor Cawdor wasn't looking. Had it not been for the fact that Snape was really quite good at Potion-brewing (and, as Harry knew, he liked nothing better than threatening people with Veritaserum) they would have had nothing to put in a flask at the end of the class.
As soon as the bell rang, Harry fled to the Great Hall to find Lily. She was sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table.
"Hello," she said, as he sat down. "Alice had to go down to the greenhouses – some kind of Herbology project the Sixth- and Seventh-Years are doing. She said something about moulting Poisonberry – not that I have the faintest idea what that is – and ran off like there were a hundred Dementors after her."
"How was Arithmancy?"
"Oh, I love Arithmancy – it's my favourite subject – after Charms, of course. It's really fascinating, Harry; you should –"
She broke off with a groan as Sirius and James came and sat opposite them.
"Go away, you two."
"Oh, go on, Evans, just a little chat."
"For heaven's sake, Potter!" Lily hissed. "Do you have any idea how suspicious it looks for you two to sit here? Go away."
Sirius scowled, and he and James got up and went to join Remus and Peter. Lily shook her head.
"Professor Flitwick's busy today; he said we should use the class to finish the assignment. We can go to the library after lunch; since Potter never goes anywhere he can't play with a Snitch, we can avoid him there. I don't think we're going to be so lucky after dinner." She looked at Harry suddenly. "Tell me something. Do I – that is, does the future me – know that you're in the past?"
"I don't think so," Harry said, trying to keep his voice even.
"Good. At least I'm not worrying myself silly, then."
*~
Harry and Lily were bent over an ancient book called 'Advanced Defensive Charmwork in Magical Dueling'. There were a lot of complicated diagrams – including some rather horrible pictures of the charms gone wrong – and entire pages about the importance of moving you wand correctly.
"Flick," Lily said, "and then jab... and then you say the spell – no, don't try it here! Madam Pince will not be remotely pleased if you Shield the library."
Harry lowered his wand. "It probably wouldn't have worked the first time, anyway."
"It would be prudent to have it not work the first time in the Common Room. Then maybe Potter won't be able to hex anyone for a few days."
As if on cue, there was a sudden, horrible noise, like a hundred ghosts all playing the Magical Saw at the same time.
"Potter and Black," Lily shrieked above the noise. "Whatever this is, it's their doing."
Harry looked around. Sure enough, Sirius and James had used the Summoning Charm to get all the books in the Restricted Section out. Madam Pince was shouting at them already.
"You dare disrupt my library! Three hundred books out of place! Out!" She raised her voice. "OUT! I want every single person in this room to leave NOW! Anyone still here in five minutes' time will be serving detention for the rest of their natural lives! OUT!"
In the stampede to leave, just in case Madam Pince carried out her threat, Sirius managed to mutter to Harry, "We'll talk to you tonight – and if you dare go to bed before the Common Room is empty, you will regret it."
Harry turned to protest, but Sirius had vanished.
*~
"I'm sitting up with you," Lily said promptly. "You'd better not go to bed; I wouldn't put it past Black to announce to the entire school at breakfast tomorrow that you're Potter's son from the future. But I am sitting up, too, and I am going to tell Potter a thing or two." She looked at Harry. "Just keep one thing in mind – I assume that at some point Potter will become a lot less arrogant and a lot more responsible, or else I would never marry him. Now, though... just be careful what you tell him."
Harry nodded. "I... er... I figured."
"I gather he isn't very vocal about the fact that he was once the biggest bully in Hogwarts."
"Um... I don't think he and Sirius are very proud of that any more."
"I imagine not. It's just as likely that they don't want to have to explain to you why they were so horrible."
"That too," Harry said. For the first time, he could think of the future Sirius without feeling helpless despair.
Lily grinned. "Come on. Let's go see if Madam Pince has calmed down yet."
*~
At eleven o'clock, the last person yawned and went up to bed. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting around the fireplace, and Lily and Harry were at one of the tables doing their Charms work. Having Lily around was just like having Hermione – one way or another, you always had work ready to hand in on time.
James looked over at them and cleared his throat. Lily glared at him, and nodded in Peter's direction. James shook his head firmly. Harry glared at James, too; he had no intention of telling James and Sirius as much as he had told Remus, but if Peter was there he had no intention of saying anything that the cringing rat might tell Voldemort later.
James sighed and nudged Remus, who took the hint.
"Let's go to bed, Wormtail; I don't think these two are coming before dawn."
"Why?" Peter asked eagerly. "Anothey prank on Snivelly?"
"If it is, it had better not be in my hearing," Remus said darkly. "Come on, let's go."
He and Peter went to bed, too, and Lily and Harry finally went to sit by the fire.
"Before you say anything, Potter," Lily said, "let me tell you something. You will not pressure Harry to tell you what he doesn't want to, and if you so much as breathe a word of any of this where anything including a spider on the wall can hear, then I will make sure it won't be happening again. And no more threats!"
"Oh, Evans, you won't be talking like this when you start going out with me. Then you'll wish you had let me ask all the questions I wanted, and – all right, you don't have to hex me!" James said hastily, as Lily pulled out her wand.
"Er... aren't you tired, Evans?" Sirius asked, eyeing her wand. "A good night's sleep might do you good."
"Nice try, Black. But someone has to make sure you do as Dumbledore said."
"Right," James said briskly. "First things first. Just to make sure the record's straight – you are my son."
"Yes."
"And hers." James nodded at Lily.
"Yes."
"You go to Hogwarts."
"No," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I go to a Muggle secondary school. Of course I go to Hogwarts!"
"And you really have been Seeker for Gryffindor since your first year?"
"Yes, I have."
"What's Remus doing?"
"He taught Defence for a year. Now – can't tell."
At a warning glance from Lily, James progressed quickly to the next question.
"What's Peter doing?"
Firmly suppressing the urge to call Pettigrew a few choice names, Harry said, "Can't tell."
"This isn't on," Sirius protested. "You're not answering anything. And anyway, why aren't Moony and Wormtail here? I'll get them."
"No," Harry said quickly.
"Harry, I know Dumbledore said Peter wasn't to be told anything, but I am not leaving him out."
"Potter," Lily began sharply, but James ignored her.
"So I'll just fetch Remus and Peter back downstairs, and you can tell all of us the whole story."
"I will not," Harry said flatly.
"What?" James said. "I must have heard wrong, Harry – did you just say you would not?"
"Yes, I did. Professor Dumbledore said he's not to be told anything." Besides which, he would face Voldemort unarmed before he would trust Peter Pettigrew again.
"All right, Sirius and I'll go to Dumbledore now and tell him you're desperate to tell Peter everything, if it's all the same to him."
"You will not," Harry said. James might think the entire school shook in its shoes at the thought of him, but he, Harry, did not.
"Oh?" Sirius said coldly. Lily looked at Harry with an approving smile.
"And why," James asked, "will we not?"
"Two reasons. First, it would be an outright lie. Second, because even if Dumbledore himself comes here demanding that I answer any question any of you has, I will not do it."
"Oh, I think you will," James said. He pointed his wand at Harry. "There are ways, you know."
Harry felt his temper rising.
"I know. What you don't know is that all those ways don't always work. Even if you have the Imperius Curse in mind – which I imagine you don't, because even you aren't that stupid – stronger wizards than you have tried and failed."
"You cannot take that tone with me," James snarled.
"Can't I? This isn't the future. You're not my father yet, nor," Harry spared a scowl for Sirius, "is he my godfather. Snape's always told me you're both too arrogant for your own good, and I had no idea that he was completely right! And let me tell you something else. I've had enough! Tomorrow, if you two decide you can act like normal human beings, then we will talk. I'm going to bed!"
Harry got up and headed for the stairs. At their foot, he turned.
"One more thing. Whichever of you comes to me tomorrow trying to hex me if I don't answer all your questions will be very, very sorry."
There was stunned silence for a moment after Harry had vanished up the boys' staircase.
"So," James said finally, "what about next Hogsmeade weekend, Evans?"
Lily glared at him.
"Harry's right. There's no point talking to you."
And she went to bed, leaving James and Sirius alone in the Common Room.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really am starting to update quickly – let's just hope it lasts! James and Sirius are decidedly unpleasant, aren't they? But this is the last chapter in which they'll be quite this bad. (It's partly the effect of the release date for Star Wars Episode III having just been announced, combined with Gollum grinning evilly on my desktop.)