Author's Note: From now on, this story is an alternate universe. This chapter starts at the end of the summer before Harry's 5th year.
Title: Role Reversal
Rating: PG
Spoilers: There aren't too many spoilers in chapters 1-12. The whole story has some spoilers, but how else do you write a fanfic? The chapter with major spoilers is "Old Friends".
Summary: James and Lily make a bet. Lily has to pull a bunch of pranks and James can't do any.
Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Harry Potter or its characters. If you're reading this, you should already know whom it belongs to anyway.
Setting: This story is set in MWPP years. If you don't know what that means, you probably shouldn't be reading this fanfic.
!!! = setting change
[…] = time
italics= emphasis
-Back at Hogwarts… Again-
Veronica Kent Anderson sat cross-legged on her bed, waiting for her husband to come out of the bathroom. She was in deep thought.
Gabriel finished brushing his teeth and climbed into bed. He noticed his wife looking down at the covers and asked her what was wrong.
She looked at him for a moment, then removed a letter from a drawer of her nightstand and handed it to him. "Read it." She continued to look down, her long dark hair shielding her face. She waited quietly for Gabriel to say something.
"I—I don't understand. What is this? A letter from Sirius Black? How do you know he can be trusted? He's a convicted murderer!"
"He didn't get a trial, so that's not completely true. And I trust Sirius with my life. I know him. I know who he was, who he is, and who he will be. He's a good person."
"But what if he's setting you up?"
"He isn't."
"All right. Fine. What do you want from me? Do you want me to go with you?"
"No. I want you—I want you to stay here with the kids." She took a deep breath. "They need at least one parent here to take care of them. I'm going to go, and… I don't know if I'm coming back."
"What?"
"Gabriel, what they're planning to do… It's dangerous. I might not survive."
"But—"
She thought of the bonds she had formed with her friends. "I have to go. I owe it to them. I owe it to Lily and James… and Harry."
"Okay. If you want to go, I guess I have to let you. I'm just worried about you. I love you."
Veronica shook her hair out of her face and smiled. "I love you too."
!!!
[The next day]
"Kids, I have to go somewhere for a while."
"Go where? Can we come?"
"Somewhere far away, and no, you can't come. I'm sorry. I'll write you whenever I can—"
"We can't read good, Mummy."
"Your father can read my letters to you. What I'm saying is, I don't know when I'll be back, so I'm saying good-bye."
"We'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too. Come here." Veronica crouched down to hug the kids. "I love you." Tears started forming in her eyes.
"Love you."
"Love you."
Gabriel came in as she released them. "Bye."
"Good-bye." Veronica went outside, then Disapparated with tears in her eyes.
!!!
[Meanwhile…]
(AN: Remus has finally got a proper house. Yay!)
"So I guess we're going to have a big reunion, eh?" Remus asked Sirius.
"Yup. Sarah and Veronica should be here any minute."
"It's been so long since we've all been together."
"Yeah." Sirius ran his fingers through his filthy hair. He had been so busy that he had forgotten to clean himself up (AN: He's dirty because he was doing something just before he came to Remus's house.). "You're sure Sarah hasn't found someone else?"
Remus grinned. "Yes, Padfoot. I'm sure. You're the only one for her."
Sirius smiled back. "Okay. You know, Moony, you look old."
"Well, you look dirty."
"Yeah, but my reason's better than yours."
"Hey, is this a private party, or can anyone join?" a female voice behind them asked.
The two men turned around to see a smiling brunette. Sirius stood up and walked around the couch. "Hello, Veronica."
"Hi, Sirius. Good to see you again." Veronica hugged him. "Things just haven't been the same without you." She let go of him.
"Mm. Moony here tells me you're married."
She showed him the ring on her left hand.
"Ah. Gabriel, huh?"
"Yes."
"And you have kids?"
Veronica nodded. "Remus is six now, and Lily's four." She looked at the other man. "Hello, Remus."
"Veronica." He gave her a quick hug. "So how are the kids?"
"Fine. They want to know when Mr. Lupin will be visiting again."
"Tell them I'll visit as soon as I can."
A small pop! was heard and two figures appeared. They were Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher.
Remus, Sirius, and Veronica greeted them.
"Have you got anything to eat, Lupin?" Fletcher asked. "I'm starved."
Remus waved a hand to indicate the kitchen. "There."
"All right. Thanks."
"I'll join you," Figg said. The two walked out of the room.
The three people left in the living room sat down and started talking.
!!!
[30 minutes later]
Sarah Apparated into Remus's house. Sirius stood up. "Sirius!" She ran over and embraced him. "God, I missed you."
"Sarah," Sirius said softly.
"I hope this isn't a dream," Sarah mumbled into Sirius's chest.
"It's not."
"You're here, you're really here."
Sirius didn't reply. He just held her in his arms and closed his eyes, taking her in. He tried to memorize the feel of her, the smell of her.
Sarah pulled away from him. "You don't look so good."
"Well, it's kinda been a rough two years."
The blonde turned to her other friends. "Hey," she greeted them. "Remus, do you have some robes Sirius can borrow?"
He nodded. "In my room. Down that way, second door on your left."
"Okay. And a comb?"
"There should be one in the bathroom. It's connected to the room."
"Thanks." Sarah took hold of Sirius's wrist and pulled him down the hall to Remus's room.
!!!
Sirius had changed (Remus's robes weren't high quality, but they were definitely better than the ones Sirius had been wearing). He sat down next to Sarah on the bed.
She got up and led him to the bathroom. She wet his hair with water from the sink, then proceeded to run a comb through it. "It's longer than it used to be."
Sirius replied, "It's hard to get regular haircuts when people think you're a murderer."
Sarah smiled and put the comb down. "Done," she announced. She started to leave, but Sirius pulled her back. She gave him a puzzled look.
He took both her hands in his. "Sarah, I know it's been a long time," he said, "but we're technically still engaged… Do you still want to—?"
"Yes, Sirius. Of course I still want to marry you."
He smiled. "I love you," he whispered, before leaning down to kiss her. (AN: Maybe I should write Sirius romance fics instead of Lily/James. I seem to be better at writing those, and I tend to focus more on his relationships in my fics. Don't know why…)
!!!
Sarah came back into the living room, grinning. "Remus, do you have any scissors?"
"Kitchen."
The woman ran off to find the scissors.
"She's acting a bit… peculiar, don't you think?" remarked Remus.
Veronica nodded. "Definitely."
"Found 'em," Sarah said as she reentered the room. "By the way, do you know that Mundungus Fletcher and Arabella Figg are in your kitchen?"
Remus smiled and nodded.
"Well, okay. Later." She dashed off to go give Sirius a haircut.
"I don't think she should be running with scissors, especially in that kind of state," Remus remarked.
Veronica laughed. "She's acting like she's sixteen again."
"Hmm. Do you think she's trying to take over my house?"
"What? Why do you ask that?"
"Well, she's borrowed my bedroom, my bathroom, my robes, my comb, and now my scissors. I'm worried she'll want the couch next."
"That's just silly."
"I know. As a former Marauder, I have to make as many jokes as possible—regardless of whether they're good or bad."
!!!
Sarah had removed the engagement ring from the chain around her neck. It was now on her finger.
She started cutting Sirius's hair.
"Sarah, you could just use your wand, you know."
"Yeah, but I want to do it this way."
Sirius sighed.
"There," she said, as she finished. "All done."
He looked in the mirror. "You did a pretty good job."
"Thank you," she replied, bowing. "Okay, come on." She pulled him out of the room.
!!!
"You two must tell us all about Harry. And what Hogwarts is like now," Sarah said to Remus and Sirius.
"All right, well—"
"Dumbledore's sent word," Fletcher announced, entering the room. He handed the letter in his hands to Sirius.
Sirius read the letter, then said to Sarah and Veronica, "I guess you're going to see for yourself."
!!!
The adults entered Snape's Potions classroom, where Dumbledore had told them to meet him.
"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed. "Prof—Mr. Lu—"
"Call me Remus, Harry."
The now fifteen-year-old boy nodded, then turned to the two women standing next to them.
"Harry, this is Sarah," Sirius said, taking the blonde's hand, "my fiancée."
"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "But you've only been gone one summer, how—?"
He held up a hand to silence Harry. "I asked Sarah to marry me a long time ago… At your parents' wedding, as a matter of fact."
"Their—wedding?"
He nodded.
Remus introduced the brunette. "This is Veronica."
"Pleased to meet you."
Snape entered the room. He walked toward the small group in the middle of the room. "Johnson," he said, acknowledging her with a nod of his head. "Kent."
"Anderson."
"What?"
"It's Anderson now, not Kent."
"Everyone used to think it would be Lupin," he sneered. "I can see how well that worked out."
"Snape," Sirius growled.
The Potions professor moved away to see who else had come.
Harry looked puzzled. "What did he mean, 'everyone thought it would be Lupin'?" He asked, looking back and forth between Remus and Veronica.
"We dated at Hogwarts," Remus said.
Veronica added, "Sirius proposed to Sarah at your parents' wedding." After a slight pause, she said, "That's also when Remus broke up with me."
"Why?"
"For the same reason I stopped teaching here," the brown-haired man replied.
"Oh."
Ron and Hermione burst into the room. "What happened? Are we late?"
"No, Ron," replied Harry.
The two fifth years rushed over to Harry.
"Who are you?" The red-haired boy asked the two women.
Hermione elbowed him. "That's rude."
Veronica laughed. "It's all right. I'm Veronica, and this is Sarah."
"Ron Weasley."
"Hermione Granger."
Sirius looked around the dungeon and indicated Figg and Fletcher. "Mundungus Fletcher and Arabella Figg."
Dumbledore and McGonagall entered the room. The headmaster looked around to see who had come. "The others?"
"They should be here within a few days," Sirius answered him.
"Very well. Sirius, you will have to stay in animal from when you are around the students. I am not sure everyone will be as convinced of your innocence as we are, and I don't want to cause a panic."
Sirius nodded.
!!!
The Sorting was over. Dumbledore got to his feet.
"I have an announcement to make. Witches and wizards will be staying here at Hogwarts during this school year to assist in our fight against Lord Voldemort. Now I'd like to introduce the ones present. Arabella Figg."
She stepped forward.
"Mundungus Fletcher."
He did the same.
"Sarah Johnson. Veronica Anderson. And now, someone most of you know, Remus Lupin."
Remus stepped forward and started to speak. "Most of you know that I am a—a werewolf."
Several first and second years gasped. The rest of the students remained silent.
"I promise that I will not hurt any of you. There is a potion I take that renders me harmless when I transform. I would never try to bite any of you."
"I'll vouch for him," Veronica said.
"So will I," Sarah added.
The dog at the Gryffindor table barked.
"As will I," the headmaster put in. "If any of you see a large black dog wandering around, please pay it no mind." He continued, "I am pleased to announce that Fleur Delacour, formerly of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, will be working here as a teaching assistant, beginning tomorrow." He looked at the faces of the hungry students. "Well, I believe I've kept you waiting long enough," Dumbledore said, "Dig in!"
!!!
"Nice to see you again, Prof—Mr. —"
"Call me Remus, Neville. It's nice to see you again as well."
Neville Longbottom smiled, then headed up to his dorm. That left Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sarah, Veronica, Remus, and a large black dog in the common room.
Veronica looked around. "This place looks pretty much the same as it did when we went to school here."
"Yeah, all these memories are coming back to me," Sarah said, petting Sirius.
Ron asked, "You were Gryffindors too?"
Veronica nodded.
Harry looked at the two women in the room. "You mentioned my parents' wedding earlier. Can you—can you tell me about it?"
"Sure," replied Sarah. She smiled as she remembered it. "Lily was so ready for it."
"James wasn't," Remus remarked. "He was a nervous wreck."
Sirius barked.
"In fact, he was so nervous that at the rehearsal, he completely messed up his lines, and Lily sent flaming squirrels after him," Veronica said.
Remus grinned and added, "One even went up his pants."
Ron and Harry crossed their legs and grimaced.
"Anyway," Sarah said, continuing the story, "Veronica and I were the maids of honor, and Sirius was the best man. Remus gave Lily away."
"When the minister asked if anyone had a reason why they shouldn't be married, Sirius said he did—"
"—but of course, he didn't. He was just joking."
"As always."
"The rest of the ceremony went just fine."
"And then came the reception," Sarah said, remembering. "Sirius gave a toast at dinner."
"Then we danced."
"After a while, Sirius and I got tired, so we went out on the balcony. And… that's when he proposed to me."
"What happened next?" Harry asked eagerly.
Remus and Veronica looked uncomfortable at each other. The dark-haired woman spoke up. "Uh—that's when Remus broke up with me."
"Oh." The three teenagers looked down.
"No, it's—it's okay. I met Gabriel the next year, and, eventually, I—I married him."
"Do you have any children?" Hermione asked out of curiosity.
"Two. Remus is six, and Lily is four."
Sarah checked her watch. "I think it's safe for you to change back to human form, Sirius."
Sirius turned back to his regular self. He put an arm around Sarah and grinned.
Ron asked, "How did Harry's parents get together in the first place?"
The four adults looked at each other.
Sirius began to tell the story. "Everyone knew Lily and James had a thing for each other—"
"—except them, of course—"
"And then at the beginning of our sixth year, they made this bet—"
"Lily bet James that he couldn't—er—not pull a prank for a month, and he bet her that she couldn't pull at least one prank a day for the same amount of time. And four of those had to be heard about by the majority of the school."
"Whoever lost the bet had to be the other's slave the next month."
"If they tied, Lily had to be Sirius's and my slave, while James had to be Veronica and Sarah's," Remus informed the fifteen-year-olds.
Sirius said, "It looked like it was going to be a tie until the last day of the bet. James played a major prank on Lucius Malfoy for calling Lily a Mudblood."
Hermione looked sympathetic, since she had also been called a Mudblood by a Malfoy.
Sarah laughed. "And I won my bet with Sirius about who would win the bet."
Veronica took over the conversation. "The next day, James began doing stuff for Lily. The first thing she ordered him to do was to kiss her."
"Veronica won that bet," Remus put in. "I lost fifteen Galleons."
"Okay, so then when did you guys get together?" Harry asked.
"A few weeks before that."
"There's so much that we don't know."
"Well, that's why we're here," Sarah said. "To tell you everything you need to know."
"It's late. You three should get to bed," Veronica said.
"You sound like my mother," Ron answered.
"Well, I do have kids of my own," she replied. "Now go. You don't want to be late for class tomorrow, do you?"
"No," the three young Gryffindors chorused.
"Goodnight then," Remus said.
"Night."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to bed.
"Let's go. Dumbledore found some rooms for us to stay in."
!!!
"Veronica, are you awake?" Sarah whispered.
"No."
"Veronica."
"All right, fine. What is it?"
"Are you scared?"
"About what?"
"This. All of it. Everything that's happening."
"Yes, I am. I'm afraid that I'll never see my family again. Going up against Voldemort… I mean, Lily and James fought him, and look what happened to them."
"I'm scared too, but I can't help feeling that… we're all going to be okay. We're going to lose some people, but…" She didn't finish her sentence.
"We're being psychic again."
"I guess."
"Excuse me, but could you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep over here."
"Sorry, Arabella," Sarah said sheepishly.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Sorry if there are any mistakes. I didn't check it because it's the middle of the night and I think it should be okay.