Disclaimer: Common knowledge.

Chapter 20: Journey

The Marauders and Lily awaited the news on Elsa¡¦s condition.

While they paced, Remus was telling James their history. ¡§We were the greatest bunch of pranksters in Hogwarts,¡¨ he was saying. ¡§We were a legend.¡¨

¡§I was a prankster?¡¨ James sounded amazed.

¡§You kidding? Master James Potter? You and I were the ringleaders. You should remember yourself!¡¨ Sirius exclaimed.

James grinned. ¡§All right, I was cool!¡¨ He rumpled up his black hair like he always used to.

Lily laughed. ¡§Even when you¡¦ve lost your memory, you¡¦re still arrogant!¡¨ James turned the grin on her, and for that moment she felt like the old James was back, at her side once more.

Remus broke in. ¡§Cool? You were the height of cool! The very definition of cool! Honestly, the women who chased you around at school all day¡K¡¨

¡§Of course, the one girl you wanted was the one girl who hated you. Lily.¡¨ Sirius seemed as eager for James to remember. Even to the point that he might lose Lily to James again.

James looked at Lily. ¡§I used to like you?¡¨

Lily winced slightly at the words ¡¥used to¡¦, but she managed to answer. ¡§Did you ever.¡¨

¡§She loathed you then. You were quite the cocky showoff. You couldn¡¦t stop yourself from trying to impress her,¡¨ Remus related, laughing.

At that moment, a Healer stepped out. ¡§Ms. Saram is ready to see you.¡¨

James leapt up and practically ran for Elsa¡¦s room. Lily and the Marauders followed at his heels. The girl was sitting up in bed, and also in the room was¡K

¡§Dumbledore!¡¨ Sirius blurted out.

¡§Professor Dumbledore. What are you doing here?¡¨ Remus exclaimed.

The old wizard smiled at them, his familiar blue eyes twinkling. ¡§Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Miss Evans.¡¨

Lily furrowed her brows. ¡§Not that we¡¦re not glad to see you, Professor¡Xbecause we are¡Xbut what are you doing here?¡¨

Dumbledore nodded towards Elsa. ¡§I came when a Healer informed me about a witch who had suffered at the hands of the Cruciatus Curse. An undiscovered witch.¡¨

All of them were shocked. ¡§She¡¦s a witch?¡¨

¡§I do not know as well how we could¡¦ve missed her. But yes, she is a witch,¡¨ The great wizard turned a fatherly smile on Elsa, who looked just as shocked by this announcement.

¡§Wait a minute. I am no witch,¡¨ she protested.

Sirius made the deduction. ¡§Then how could you see this place? This is magical community. If you were a Muggle¡Xor non-magic¡Xyou wouldn¡¦t be seeing this at all. Probably think you were in a garbage dump or something.¡¨

Elsa sank back onto her pillows. ¡§Whoa. This is crazy.¡¨

¡§But it makes sense,¡¨ James added.

Elsa¡¦s head snapped towards her companion. ¡§Evan, you knew about this?¡¨

James beamed. ¡§Yeah. Remus here told me about our entire history, or basically, my life. And told me that my name is James Potter.¡¨

Elsa lit up. ¡§You did it! You fulfilled your journey! You found your family!¡¨

James nodded vigorously. ¡§Exactly! And I guess that wasn¡¦t the end of the revelations.¡¨

¡§You bet,¡¨ Lily said. ¡§You were the last person I suspected would be a witch.¡¨

James patted Lily¡¦s back. ¡§She used to be a schoolmate of mine. And she saved us tonight.¡¨

Elsa looked amazed. ¡§How?¡¨

Sirius smiled, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend¡¦s shoulder. ¡§Some sort of sixth sense she had. I don¡¦t know where that came from, but it saved both your lives.¡¨

Remus remembered suddenly. ¡§It was Voldemort, Professor,¡¨ he told Dumbledore. ¡§He abducted James.¡¨

Dumbledore absorbed this new information. ¡§Thank you, Mr. Lupin.¡¨

Lily turned to the headmaster. ¡§So, Elsa¡¦s to go to Hogwarts, then?¡¨

¡§To learn how to do magic properly,¡¨ James explained to Elsa.

Dumbledore chuckled. ¡§Well, it would be difficult to explain her appearance there, wouldn¡¦t it? So I¡¦ve come to a decision.¡¨

They all waited with bated breath.

¡§You four will be her teachers.¡¨

¡§Four?¡¨ Sirius pointed at James, who was looking bewildered. ¡§I think not.¡¨

Dumbledore rubbed his chin. ¡§Yes, I forgot about Mr. Potter¡¦s little memory problem. Unfortunately, not even Healers can do anything about amnesia. We will have to wait. In the meantime, you all need to be as strong as possible. The three of you will be in charge of familiarizing Ms. Saram and Mr. Potter with the lessons. Sound good?¡¨

Lily thought about it. ¡§It sounds¡Klike a great plan.¡¨

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other. ¡§Aye,¡¨ they said at the same time.