Chapter III: Going North and Meeting Old Friends

"Ron, Hermione wake up," said Aegis.

"Ugh . . . mum can I have ten more minutes?" asked Ron in a sleepy tone.

"In five the Muggles from the Leaky Caldron will be here," answered Aegis.

Ron sprang up. "Uh my head, I shouldn't have got up that quickly." He looked around. "It's still dark, what time is it?"

"A little after six in the morning."

"So Aegis how are we going to get out of here?" yawn Hermione.

"This is a Quidditch shop, there should be brooms some where around here," said Aegis.

They went to the back of the shop.

"Ah here's a Clean Sweep and a Comet." Aegis handed one to Ron. "You can fly right?"

"Oh yeah," said Ron.

"Good. You and Hermione will ride together," said Aegis. "I'll be right back."

He then leaves them alone.

"You know that man is very creepy," said Ron.

"In what way?" asked Hermione.

"Well the way he appears one moment and then the next he's gone and he seems to know us. I don't remember him and I don't recall ever giving him our names," said Ron.

"You're right. Do you thing he's a Death Eater?"

"No, the Muggles wouldn't be after him."

"Should we even trust him?" asked Hermione.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, but until we can go back in to time we should stay by him," said Ron.

They then heard someone coming and it was Aegis.

"Hurry, get on your brooms," yelled Aegis.

"What's the matter?" asked Ron.

"The Muggles are here and they have their rifles."

"Then how are we going to get out if they're in the front of the store?" asked Hermione.

"Its looks like we're going up," said Aegis as he looked at the ceiling.

They hurried and mounted their brooms. A minute before they left the Muggles saw them.

"Fire," said Stew.

And they all took a shot but Aegis had a protection spell on them and the bullets bounced off and the three were off.

"I'll get you Aegis if it's the last thing I do!" yelled Stew.

He could hear Aegis chuckling, "No you won't."

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They've been flying fornine hours straight.

"Aegis, how much further?" asked Ron. "I don't think that my butt can stand another hour on this broom."

"Don't worry Ron, we'll be there in two minutes," said Aegis. "Do you see the forest that is in front of us? That is were we are going."

When they landed in the forest a mysterious fog appeared.

"Come, follow me," said Aegis.

"But where are we?" asked Hermione.

" Leyton Forest," said Aegis.

" Leyton Forest! Isn't it suppose to be hunted?" asked Ron.

Aegis chuckled and then he started to walk. Hermione grabbed a hold of Ron's hand and they followed. They walked about a mile and then stopped. Aegis walked a few steps ahead of them and then he began to whistle.

"This is not the time or the place to be whistling," said Ron.

Aegis stopped, "I'm giving a signal to my friends that I'm here." And then he started to whistle again.

It wasn't long before they heard someone else whistling back.

"Come on, let's go," Aegis said.

They started to walk and the fog began to lift and they saw some buildings.

"Aegis you've made it. I was afraid that you wouldn't. Are they here?" said a man. He looked to be the same age as Aegis and he had short spiky blue hair. He's tall and wearing brown muddy, ragged robes that you could see his muscles because the robes were too tight to wear.

"Here they are," said Aegis showing the man Ron and Hermione.

"It's nice to see you all again," said the man.

Ron and Hermione thought that he might have been mistaking them with someone else.

"Ronny, don't you recognizes me?"

"I'm sorry but I don't," said Ron

The man looked at his hands and then he smiled.

"You might not recognize me now but later you will," said the man.

"Garrison, could you show them to their sleeping quarters?" asked Aegis. "And then meet me in room 12."

The man nodded and then he, Ron and Hermione left.

"Now this is where you will be sleeping for tonight. Look around the place but I warn you not to leave this area. Once you're in the fog you will never be able to come back," said Garrison and then he left to meet with Aegis.

"So what to do?" asked Hermione.

"I'm still tired from that long trip," said Ron and laid down on one of the beds. "What are you going to do?"

"I . . . I'm tired too," said Hermione and she lay on the other bed and pretended to fall asleep. Once she heard Ron snoring she got up and left. She slowly closed the door and went to find Garrison. After a long look she found him coming out of one of the buildings. She kept her distance and followed him.

Garrison went to every building and checked it to make sure no one was hiding and then did a quick grounds search. Once everything was cleared he headed towards room 12. When he got to the room he felt someone's presence and quickly turned around.

"That was a close one," said Hermione, she was hiding behind a bush. She slowly moved her head and she saw Garrison waiting at the door.

"You're late," said a deep voice.

"Sorry," said Garrison and then he entered.

Hermione quickly left the bush and went to the nearest window. She looked through and saw three men. One was Aegis, the second one was Garrison but she didn't know the third man. He has military hair cut, his hair is light brown. He's tall and skinny and wearing muggle clothes. His left leg has a bandage and he holds a cane. The men began to talk but Hermione couldn't hear them so she opened the window.

"Bastille please calm down," said Aegis.

"Why should I? You didn't tell me that you were bringing strangers here," said the third man.

"I thought that you would mine."

"So you go a head and told wolf boy here," said Bastille. "How do we even know that we can trust them?"

"Because we know them," said Aegis. "Remember when we had exchange students from Ireland?

"You telling me that after all these years you found Parker, Wesley and Graves?" asked Bastille.

"Yes, well . . . sort of. Bastille I need to tell you something. You might not believe me but I'm telling you the truth. Remember when Voldemort came to me and told me to teach him about time travel?"

"Yeah, I thought that he was losing his mind. Everyone knows how to travel by the time turner."

"He wasn't talking about that. Back then I discovered a way that you wouldn't need a time turner and then you could travel back more that 24 hours," said Aegis.

"Did it ever work?"

"You can bet you ass on it. You see, the exchange students weren't from Ireland. They came from the future, 20 years from the future," said Aegis.

"20 years? That would mean this year," said Bastille. "They would be just kids. You're lying."

"Oh my god he's still alive," said Hermione. "How else would he know?"

"No he's not," said Garrison. "When he told me these 6 months ago I felt the same way. Ron was my friend back in school and I didn't want to believe that he's only a 16 year old. But Aegis insisted on the time travel idea and I told him that the only way that I would ever believe him if I would see them with my own two eyes. He said that I had, that we've all had but we just didn't pay any attention. I didn't understand him and then he told me that he would bring them here and he has."

Bastille just looked at Garrison with a blanked face.

"You must believe him. If you don't just go and see them for yourself, just took me one look at them and made me a believer."

He then looked at Aegis and his face filled with emotions. He slowly walked over too him and slapped him.

"How dare you keep me in the dark, all of us. I've been truthful, told you everything. I was the one that found you in the dungeons half dead after the massacre. If it wasn't for me you would be dead," cried Bastille.

"And I am grateful . . . ."

"So why didn't you tell us from the beginning?"

"I wasn't going to tell anyone at all because it could have destroyed the time stream but when after the massacre I figured what the heck, time has already been changed."

"So why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Garrison.

"The time wasn't right. They needed to be born and I didn't want any of us to get involved in their lives," said Aegis.

"So why did you bring them here?"

"They can help us with the war. They know stuff that we don't."

"How can they help us with a war that's been going on for 6 1/2 years?" cried Bastille.

"I don't know but they can," cried Aegis.

"You are lying again!"

"Enough with the yelling," said a voice.

A fourth man entered the room. Hermione gasped when she saw who it was. She could never forget his cold gray eyes or his long blond hair.

"Malfoy?" said Hermione

"Paladin why are you back so late?" asked Aegis.

"Long story but the short version the Muggles that I was with found out who I was and they knocked me out and tied me up," answered Paladin.

"How did you escape?" asked Garrison.

"I had one last vile of the Polyjuice Potion and when the guard brought me my food I knocked him out. I manage to cut the ropes from his knife. I hide his body and pulled out some of his hairs and the rest is history," said Paladin.

"But how do we know if it's really you," said Bastille. "Anyone could have used that last vile of Polyjuice."

"I'm telling you that it's me," said Paladin.

"You know our rules. Anyone that comes back as themselves must take the Veritaserum potion," said Bastille. He then went over to a table that was in the corner of the room. On the table was a rack with test tubes; in the test tubes were potions. Bastille grabbed one of them and then walked over to Paladin.

He drank the potion and then sat down. The three men stood around him and started to ask questions.

"What is your true name?" asked Aegis.

"Lucius Malfoy."

"Your alias name?"

"Paladin Indalap."

"Who do you serve?"

"No one."

"Would you die protecting one of us?"

"Yes."

"Is Voldemort your enemy?"

"Yes."

Then they heard a noise out by one of the windows.

"I don't remember that window ever being open," said Garrison

"Were you followed?" asked Bastille to Paladin.

"No."

Paladin then grabbed his wand and went to the window. He stuck his head out and saw Hermione. He grabbed her and pulled her in. Pushing her to the wall he held his wand to her face.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Easy Paladin its Hermione Graves," said Aegis.

Paladin lowered his wand.

"Hermione what are you doing here?" asked Aegis.

Hermione was so scared and confused that she pushed Paladin out of her way. She grabbed her wand a pointed it at them.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I told you . . . ." said Aegis.

"No you didn't. Aegis isn't your real name like he isn't Paladin. So why don't you tell me your real name," said Hermione. She tightened her grip on her wand. "I heard you all talking; only one person could have known about time travel and about me and my friends but you clamed that he's dead. There's no point in denying it, just tell me. "

Aegis looked hard into Hermione's eyes. He then looked down and then at Bastille.

"No Aegis, we can't. What happened if Paladin was followed with out his knowledge? We are marked for death remember?" said Bastille.

"We have to do it. They have the right to know who we really are," said Aegis.

Then Aegis pulled out a small vial and he drank a potion. Garrison followed later.

"We're making a big mistake," said Bastille and then he pulled out a small vial and drank a potion.

Hermione watch as the three men began to change. When the transformation was over Hermione dropped her wand and covered her mouth with her hands. The person that was Garrison became Remus Lupin, Bastille is now Severus Snape and Aegis, he's . . .

"Emmett," said Hermione.

"Yes Hermione it's really me," said Emmett.

Hermione quickly ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"I knew that it was you," she said, "but why all the secrecy? Why didn't you tell me that it was really you and why is it that your names are all changed?"

"Because we are hunted men," said Severus. "Voldemort sees us as a big threat and he wants us dead."

"So we had to change our names and our appearances to stay alive," said Remus.

"I wanted to tell you but I just couldn't," said Emmett. "Voldemort has many spies and I just couldn't risk it."

"I can understand but what is Malfoy doing here. He's a Death Eater. Voldemort's head guy," said Hermione.

"No I'm not. I would never, never join Voldemort's side, never," cried Lucius.

"Why not?"

"Because he killed the love of my life and I want revenge," said Lucius.

"Paladin . . . I mean Lucius was engaged to be married to Narcissa a week after Hogwarts," said Remus.

"Oh man I'm sorry," said Hermione.

"Are they here," said a voice.

"Only Hermione, Candor," said Emmett.

A chubby blond haired man slowly walked into view.

"Hermione I think you remember Peter Pettigrew," said Emmett.

"How can I forget," said Hermione. "But I thought that you died in the massacre."

"I almost did. But if it wasn't for Daisy, Madam Pomfrey niece and her skill of medicine I would have died that night," said Peter. He then took in a deep breath. "What I have to say should be for Harry but since he's gone I will tell you. I haven't told anyone my secret, too afraid that everyone would hate me. Leave to Voldemort to die, but I waited 20 years to tell you or Ron this.

Back at Hogwarts I did a horrible act. I don't know why I did it. It almost seemed as if I was forced to. The first week of school a Slytherin came up to me and ask me if I wanted to do something for him. I told him no and started to walk away, but the next thing I notice I was facing him. He told me about Harry, how he suspected him of being a Seer and he wanted me to know if it was true. So I kept a close eye on him. When I told him that you were from the future he was over joy and he wanted me to now find out about the war."

"You're the reason why all those people died on that day, and why Voldemort is in power, you're the spy," said Lucius.

"Peter how could you?" cried Remus.

"I didn't mean to do it," said Peter. "When I over heard Emmett and Harry talking about the letters that he wrote to James and Lily, that I betrayed my friends, I told the guy that I could no longer do it and I quit."

"You may have quit giving him information but you are the reason why we are living like this," yelled Severus

"Wait a minute, that wasn't you behind the bookshelf Pete, that was Remus," said Emmett.

"What are you talking about?" asked Remus.

"No Emmett that was me in disguise," said Peter.

"Peter, did you ever figured out who he was?" asked Lucius.

"No, just some Slytherin," said Peter.

"Did you know that he was a Death Eater?"

"Not at first but later on yes. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," said Peter.

They then heard some noise outside. Remus went to the window and looked out.

"Oh no, we got company," said Remus, "Death Eaters."