Disclaimer: Applies to all chapters, I don't own 'em.
*~*~*A/N: Hi everyone, OMG 19 REVIEWS!!!!!! I THINK I'M GONNA DIE FROM HAPPINESS!!!!!!! :D THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!!!!!
[SoMeBoDy4reviews]: Hmmm, interesting that you think that. First flame I've ever gotten. What an experience! Okay, thanks for your thought. *shrug*
[Avestia]: Thanks!
[KayteeLern]: Aww, thanks, you're so sweet! TWO REVIEWS here's two cookies! Thank you for the creativity points, I think I'll eat them now. Wait, what? They're NOT the same as cookies? Oh. Well, okay. Lol ... actually, she's not good at Quidditch, but she can fly, at least. You'll see what happened to her in this chapter. ;) Oh, and about Harry's last name – you are absolutely right, and you'll see what happened in this chapter. :D
[Darrell P. Potter]: Thank you sir, I love that saying too!
[Mrs. Sniffy]: YES!!!!!!!!! Me too!
[Midnight3]: What? OH – now I see it ... I think what I said was that there were only a few other boys in Harry's grade in Gryffindor, not at Hogwarts. I DID say that Sirius was wearing Gryffindor robes, right? Oh dear, I might have messed up that whole sentence. Thanks for pointing it out, mate!
[flying-piggy-123]: WOW! Two reviews!!! Thank you so much! And yes, I'm updating right now, in fact.
[Delaney Skye]: I like time travel stories too, and yes, I'm not sure I meant for them to be quite so un-suspicious. I apologize deeply. How about I write something in this chapter that happens to MAKE them very, very suspicious? Although they are kind of thick skulled, yes.
[Insane and Crazy]: THREE REVIEWS! I love you. You know you're my favourite reviewer! :D *sigh* Yes, I've been told ... don't worry, they aren't WIMPS ... they're just ... OOH OOH I just got an idea!!!! OOH OOH I'm gonna write the story now!!!! INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Devonny]: WOW, this is one of your favourite stories??? Thank you so much, I feel so proud!!!!!!!!!!!! *gives you lots and lots of cookies* Oh and by the way, yes, it was Harry. But James and Sirius didn't notice because, as I've said to Delaney Skye, they are a bit thick-skulled. Lol ... but maybe they did notice, you never know.
[Allie]: You think so? Thank you, and welcome to my story!
[in love with love]: Hi Rach, how be's you? That's good, I hope you liked my story, and thx for reviewing!!!
[numberoneseeker]: Hi Sarah! How r ya? Hope ur well, lucky bum you get a holiday, u n Rach ... grrr ... bleh Canadians get no holidays!!! poo. Thx for reviewing, hope you like this chappie!
Okay, fourth chapter, people, enjoy!
(Also, I'm really sorry if I take a while to update. I do make nice long chapters though, right? You still love me?)
~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~
A tired but happy bunch of sixteen-year-olds put their brooms away and trooped indoors, joking and laughing about Hermione's adventures while flying. Harry's favourite in particular was when she had slipped off the end of her broom about forty feet up.
She started falling, and shrieked. James spotted her and dove, catching her just five feet from the ground. The sudden stop and extra weight threw him off balance, and he tumbled off his own broom, taking Hermione with him. Harry had watched in amusement as one of his best friends attempted to disentangle herself from his sixteen-year-old father.
Now the four of them walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. As James and Sirius sat down, Harry noticed them immediately start talking to another boy with thin, light brown hair and grey eyes. Harry elbowed Hermione and nodded towards the boy. Hermione's eyes widened as she recognized a sixteen-year-old Remus Lupin.
Sirius turned around. "Harry, Hermione, meet out friend Remus. Remus, this is Harry and Hermione, and –" he leaned closer "– I'll tell you where they came from later."
Another boy sat on Remus's other side. He had thin black hair that seemed plastered to his scalp, and watery, pale blue eyes. His nose quivered when he talked.
"Oh – and this is Peter. Peter, Harry, Hermione," said James airily.
"Hullo," said Peter quietly as Harry and Hermione sat down on Sirius's left. Harry's fists clenched under the table as he gritted his teeth and nodded in acknowledgement of the smaller boy. Hermione was determinedly staring straight ahead, and nodded tightly as well. Sirius glanced at them both and raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong?"
"No, we're fine," said Hermione, forcing a smile onto her face. She wasn't the one whose parents would be betrayed by this boy, but that person was one of her best friends. She had a right to be angry with Peter, even though technically he hadn't done anything – yet.
Sirius shrugged and continued talking to Remus and James. Harry stared down at his empty golden plate, stomach tightening uncomfortably. He didn't want to have to deal with Peter Pettigrew right now – not when he was happy and exhausted from flying on a broomstick. Not when he was sitting right next to his father and godfather when they were his own age. Not when he could look up and see his mother, his own age, sitting a ways down the Gryffindor table. Not when he was –
His mother?
Harry's eyes widened. A girl with wavy auburn hair and emerald eyes – eyes just like his own – was chatting animatedly to a group of girls around her. They all laughed suddenly at something she said, and someone else started talking. Harry watched their conversation, his breath quickening. It was his mother. The last time he'd seen her alive was over fifteen years ago in the time he lived in. He chewed on his tongue. No one here would understand why his throat was tightening because he'd spotted a girl that they'd known for years and, to them, was nothing special. They didn't know who she was to Harry.
"Harry? What's up, mate?"
Harry reluctantly tore his gaze away from his mother and turned to James. "What?"
"Something interesting over there?" James asked, nodding in the direction Harry had been gazing just a few moments ago. Harry himself shook his head and looked away.
"No, not really. Just –"
"Scouting out the girls, eh, mate?" Sirius grinned, raising his eyebrows. Hermione snorted.
"You have a one-track mind, Sirius Black. And may I remind you that I'm a girl?"
"Oh, I haven't forgotten!" Sirius said, draping his arm around her shoulders. She rolled her eyes and shrugged him off.
"Get your own!" Harry grinned, putting his own arm about his friend. She and Sirius laughed.
"What'd I miss?" James asked, leaning around Sirius so he could see them. "Did Snivellus get his cereal dumped all over his head?"
"No, but good idea, mate," said Sirius, and he raised his wand, aiming it carefully at the Slytherin table. Harry and Hermione's gazes flicked towards where he was pointing it, and each raised their eyebrows as they recognized a sixteen-year-old version of their future Potions professor. He was still as greasy as ever, even at sixteen. He wasn't sitting particularly near anyone, nor was he talking to anyone. He just sat there, hunched over his cereal bowl, eating slowly.
Hermione glanced around. No one had noticed yet that Sirius had his wand out, not even the teachers, who were chatting amiably up at the High Table. She leaned over Harry. "Um – Sirius, are you sure you should be doing that?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.
"Sure, who's gonna stop me?"
And with that, he muttered under his breath, "Wingardium Leviosa!" He slowly aimed his wand tip higher – and higher – until –
"Hey!"
Sirius whipped his wand back under the table in a split second. He had obviously done it before, because the wand didn't break, and in fact his hand didn't seem to have moved at all, except for the fact that it was no longer visible.
There was a loud cry of disgust from across the hall. All the people at the Gryffindor table turned to see what had caused it. Snape exited quickly amid gales of laughter, dripping with milk and flakes of soggy cereal.
Harry was reminded of the time in fifth year that he had looked into Snape's memory in Dumbledore's Pensieve. Sirius and James had picked on him then, too. Harry sighed. You couldn't change people's personalities, especially when you weren't in your own time.
Harry heard a distinctly loud voice from down the row, and looked to see who was laughing so hard. It was one of the girls sitting by his mother, and she looked quite silly, rolling back and forth on the bench and laughing so hard it looked as though her eyes might pop out of her head. Harry rolled his own eyes and started to eat his breakfast.
~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~
"So ... just how long, exactly, are we going to be doing this?"
"As long as we need to find out all we can about them."
"They seem normal to me and everyone else."
"Yeah, well, they would."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You wouldn't see a plot if it danced naked in front of you."
"If it was a female plot, then I would. Oh, forget it – answer my question."
"I dunno, for as long as we need to. Dumbledore said to watch them, and I plan to."
"You and your plans."
"What about them?"
"They never work."
"Only because you mess them up."
"Anyways, I don't like this whole 'spy' business. It's –"
"Informative?"
"No, it's –"
"Exciting?"
"No –"
"Oh, come on, mate –"
"I was going to say that it's boring."
"Yeah, well, Dumbledore's orders, remember."
"Fine. But keeping up this happy act is b-o-r-i-n-g, you hear me? BORING. I can't stand not doing any pranks. It's been almost two days since our last one. I'm in agony here!"
"Keep your hair on. We'll find out what we need to know, and be done with it."
"What do we need to know?"
"If they're Death Eaters or not. We can't be too careful. Honestly, from the future? Please. They might be a little more inventive."
"Suppose they really are two sixteen-year-olds, and they really are from the future."
"So?"
"So what would you do if that were true?"
"I'd make sure they got back to where they came from. Now everyone thinks they're exchange students from – where was it again?"
"We'll ask someone later. Now, do we have to hold off on pranks? Only I've got a really, really good one in mind right now, and –"
"No pranks. They're distracting, and would only take away our concentration from the mission."
"Mission, shmission. Just the one ..."
"Fine, one. But it had better be good."
"Okay, here's what we do ..."
*~*~*A/N: Hi everyone, OMG 19 REVIEWS!!!!!! I THINK I'M GONNA DIE FROM HAPPINESS!!!!!!! :D THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!!!!!
[SoMeBoDy4reviews]: Hmmm, interesting that you think that. First flame I've ever gotten. What an experience! Okay, thanks for your thought. *shrug*
[Avestia]: Thanks!
[KayteeLern]: Aww, thanks, you're so sweet! TWO REVIEWS here's two cookies! Thank you for the creativity points, I think I'll eat them now. Wait, what? They're NOT the same as cookies? Oh. Well, okay. Lol ... actually, she's not good at Quidditch, but she can fly, at least. You'll see what happened to her in this chapter. ;) Oh, and about Harry's last name – you are absolutely right, and you'll see what happened in this chapter. :D
[Darrell P. Potter]: Thank you sir, I love that saying too!
[Mrs. Sniffy]: YES!!!!!!!!! Me too!
[Midnight3]: What? OH – now I see it ... I think what I said was that there were only a few other boys in Harry's grade in Gryffindor, not at Hogwarts. I DID say that Sirius was wearing Gryffindor robes, right? Oh dear, I might have messed up that whole sentence. Thanks for pointing it out, mate!
[flying-piggy-123]: WOW! Two reviews!!! Thank you so much! And yes, I'm updating right now, in fact.
[Delaney Skye]: I like time travel stories too, and yes, I'm not sure I meant for them to be quite so un-suspicious. I apologize deeply. How about I write something in this chapter that happens to MAKE them very, very suspicious? Although they are kind of thick skulled, yes.
[Insane and Crazy]: THREE REVIEWS! I love you. You know you're my favourite reviewer! :D *sigh* Yes, I've been told ... don't worry, they aren't WIMPS ... they're just ... OOH OOH I just got an idea!!!! OOH OOH I'm gonna write the story now!!!! INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Devonny]: WOW, this is one of your favourite stories??? Thank you so much, I feel so proud!!!!!!!!!!!! *gives you lots and lots of cookies* Oh and by the way, yes, it was Harry. But James and Sirius didn't notice because, as I've said to Delaney Skye, they are a bit thick-skulled. Lol ... but maybe they did notice, you never know.
[Allie]: You think so? Thank you, and welcome to my story!
[in love with love]: Hi Rach, how be's you? That's good, I hope you liked my story, and thx for reviewing!!!
[numberoneseeker]: Hi Sarah! How r ya? Hope ur well, lucky bum you get a holiday, u n Rach ... grrr ... bleh Canadians get no holidays!!! poo. Thx for reviewing, hope you like this chappie!
Okay, fourth chapter, people, enjoy!
(Also, I'm really sorry if I take a while to update. I do make nice long chapters though, right? You still love me?)
~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~
A tired but happy bunch of sixteen-year-olds put their brooms away and trooped indoors, joking and laughing about Hermione's adventures while flying. Harry's favourite in particular was when she had slipped off the end of her broom about forty feet up.
She started falling, and shrieked. James spotted her and dove, catching her just five feet from the ground. The sudden stop and extra weight threw him off balance, and he tumbled off his own broom, taking Hermione with him. Harry had watched in amusement as one of his best friends attempted to disentangle herself from his sixteen-year-old father.
Now the four of them walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. As James and Sirius sat down, Harry noticed them immediately start talking to another boy with thin, light brown hair and grey eyes. Harry elbowed Hermione and nodded towards the boy. Hermione's eyes widened as she recognized a sixteen-year-old Remus Lupin.
Sirius turned around. "Harry, Hermione, meet out friend Remus. Remus, this is Harry and Hermione, and –" he leaned closer "– I'll tell you where they came from later."
Another boy sat on Remus's other side. He had thin black hair that seemed plastered to his scalp, and watery, pale blue eyes. His nose quivered when he talked.
"Oh – and this is Peter. Peter, Harry, Hermione," said James airily.
"Hullo," said Peter quietly as Harry and Hermione sat down on Sirius's left. Harry's fists clenched under the table as he gritted his teeth and nodded in acknowledgement of the smaller boy. Hermione was determinedly staring straight ahead, and nodded tightly as well. Sirius glanced at them both and raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong?"
"No, we're fine," said Hermione, forcing a smile onto her face. She wasn't the one whose parents would be betrayed by this boy, but that person was one of her best friends. She had a right to be angry with Peter, even though technically he hadn't done anything – yet.
Sirius shrugged and continued talking to Remus and James. Harry stared down at his empty golden plate, stomach tightening uncomfortably. He didn't want to have to deal with Peter Pettigrew right now – not when he was happy and exhausted from flying on a broomstick. Not when he was sitting right next to his father and godfather when they were his own age. Not when he could look up and see his mother, his own age, sitting a ways down the Gryffindor table. Not when he was –
His mother?
Harry's eyes widened. A girl with wavy auburn hair and emerald eyes – eyes just like his own – was chatting animatedly to a group of girls around her. They all laughed suddenly at something she said, and someone else started talking. Harry watched their conversation, his breath quickening. It was his mother. The last time he'd seen her alive was over fifteen years ago in the time he lived in. He chewed on his tongue. No one here would understand why his throat was tightening because he'd spotted a girl that they'd known for years and, to them, was nothing special. They didn't know who she was to Harry.
"Harry? What's up, mate?"
Harry reluctantly tore his gaze away from his mother and turned to James. "What?"
"Something interesting over there?" James asked, nodding in the direction Harry had been gazing just a few moments ago. Harry himself shook his head and looked away.
"No, not really. Just –"
"Scouting out the girls, eh, mate?" Sirius grinned, raising his eyebrows. Hermione snorted.
"You have a one-track mind, Sirius Black. And may I remind you that I'm a girl?"
"Oh, I haven't forgotten!" Sirius said, draping his arm around her shoulders. She rolled her eyes and shrugged him off.
"Get your own!" Harry grinned, putting his own arm about his friend. She and Sirius laughed.
"What'd I miss?" James asked, leaning around Sirius so he could see them. "Did Snivellus get his cereal dumped all over his head?"
"No, but good idea, mate," said Sirius, and he raised his wand, aiming it carefully at the Slytherin table. Harry and Hermione's gazes flicked towards where he was pointing it, and each raised their eyebrows as they recognized a sixteen-year-old version of their future Potions professor. He was still as greasy as ever, even at sixteen. He wasn't sitting particularly near anyone, nor was he talking to anyone. He just sat there, hunched over his cereal bowl, eating slowly.
Hermione glanced around. No one had noticed yet that Sirius had his wand out, not even the teachers, who were chatting amiably up at the High Table. She leaned over Harry. "Um – Sirius, are you sure you should be doing that?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.
"Sure, who's gonna stop me?"
And with that, he muttered under his breath, "Wingardium Leviosa!" He slowly aimed his wand tip higher – and higher – until –
"Hey!"
Sirius whipped his wand back under the table in a split second. He had obviously done it before, because the wand didn't break, and in fact his hand didn't seem to have moved at all, except for the fact that it was no longer visible.
There was a loud cry of disgust from across the hall. All the people at the Gryffindor table turned to see what had caused it. Snape exited quickly amid gales of laughter, dripping with milk and flakes of soggy cereal.
Harry was reminded of the time in fifth year that he had looked into Snape's memory in Dumbledore's Pensieve. Sirius and James had picked on him then, too. Harry sighed. You couldn't change people's personalities, especially when you weren't in your own time.
Harry heard a distinctly loud voice from down the row, and looked to see who was laughing so hard. It was one of the girls sitting by his mother, and she looked quite silly, rolling back and forth on the bench and laughing so hard it looked as though her eyes might pop out of her head. Harry rolled his own eyes and started to eat his breakfast.
~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~
"So ... just how long, exactly, are we going to be doing this?"
"As long as we need to find out all we can about them."
"They seem normal to me and everyone else."
"Yeah, well, they would."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You wouldn't see a plot if it danced naked in front of you."
"If it was a female plot, then I would. Oh, forget it – answer my question."
"I dunno, for as long as we need to. Dumbledore said to watch them, and I plan to."
"You and your plans."
"What about them?"
"They never work."
"Only because you mess them up."
"Anyways, I don't like this whole 'spy' business. It's –"
"Informative?"
"No, it's –"
"Exciting?"
"No –"
"Oh, come on, mate –"
"I was going to say that it's boring."
"Yeah, well, Dumbledore's orders, remember."
"Fine. But keeping up this happy act is b-o-r-i-n-g, you hear me? BORING. I can't stand not doing any pranks. It's been almost two days since our last one. I'm in agony here!"
"Keep your hair on. We'll find out what we need to know, and be done with it."
"What do we need to know?"
"If they're Death Eaters or not. We can't be too careful. Honestly, from the future? Please. They might be a little more inventive."
"Suppose they really are two sixteen-year-olds, and they really are from the future."
"So?"
"So what would you do if that were true?"
"I'd make sure they got back to where they came from. Now everyone thinks they're exchange students from – where was it again?"
"We'll ask someone later. Now, do we have to hold off on pranks? Only I've got a really, really good one in mind right now, and –"
"No pranks. They're distracting, and would only take away our concentration from the mission."
"Mission, shmission. Just the one ..."
"Fine, one. But it had better be good."
"Okay, here's what we do ..."