AN: Just so things don't get too confusing, the older Remus is going to be Professor Lupin, and the younger Remus is going to be Moony or Remus... yeah, I don't do this often!


Changing Times

By Neurotica

Chapter Three: "What am I doing these days?"

Sirius and James were laughing harder than they had in days. They were red in the face, falling off their chairs, and receiving strange looks from the others in the room. You may ask what had them in hysterics. And you wouldn't be the only one. Lily was looking from one to the other in exasperation. "What is so funny?" she asked.

Sirius was finally able to calm himself enough to answer. "You… you're a… a p–professor!" he gasped staring at the younger Lupin in the room.

"And you are a moron," Remus said, moving his eyes away from Sirius to take a look at his older self. He looked, well, old is the only word to use. He looked as if he'd been through a lot of hardships in his life.

Professor Lupin had been led to a sofa next to Dumbledore's desk by Harry, and was told of the events that brought his friends (and himself, apparently) into the future. He had to admit it was good to see them all happy again. He had trouble remembering the days in which he was mostly carefree. At the moment, however, he was trying to remember when he and his friends had gone back in time.

"Will you two idiots stop already?" Lily asked.

James and Sirius finally got themselves under control, still gasping for air, and smiled charmingly at Lily. "Sorry about that, Evans," Sirius said, snickering. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Harry," Dumbledore said. "I am going to ask you to proceed to the welcoming feast at this time. I would like to speak with our visitors and Professor Lupin alone for a moment."

"We're missing the feast?" Peter asked.

"You eat too much, Wormtail," Sirius muttered.

"You said that already, Padfoot," James muttered back.

"No, I said he needs to lay off the Chocolate Frogs," Sirius said. "Right, Mr. Moony? Er, younger Mr. Moony?"

"Sirius is right, James. And I think you two should lay off the nicknames at the moment," Remus said, jerking his head at Dumbledore.

"I hear nothing," the headmaster said, looking off into the distance.

Professor Lupin watched the banter between the young Marauders with a smile on his face. Oh, how he missed those days.

"You can see them later, Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded. "Um, okay. Er, bye, then," he said awkwardly with a small smile to Professor Lupin.

"Bye, Harry! Nice meeting you!" Lily called as Harry left the room.

"Nice kid," Sirius commented. "A little edgy at first, but nice." He looked around the room for something to say, and his eyes landed on the older Lupin. "So, what am I doing these days?" he asked.

The smile on Professor Lupin's face faded quickly at Dumbledore. How do you tell a teenage boy the horrors he's going to face?

"You're not doing much at the moment, Sirius," Dumbledore said sadly.

Professor Lupin's eyes widened at the blunt answer.

"I knew it!" James cried in mock-sadness. "He's a secretary for the Department of Magical Pets, isn't he?"

The two Lupins rolled their eyes; one in annoyance, the other in affection.

"I'm afraid not, James," Dumbledore said, looking at Sirius. "Are you sure you wish to know, Sirius?"

"Is it bad?"

"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore answered.

"Okay, lay it on me," Sirius said, preparing himself for anything.

"Headmaster, are you sure about this?" Professor Lupin asked, looking pointedly at Dumbledore.

"I am, Remus," Dumbledore said. He looked at the five students before him. "Sirius Black died less than three months ago."

James' grin slid off his face as he looked at his best friend. Sirius had gone ghostly pale as he looked from Dumbledore to Professor Lupin.

"I died?" he whispered.

"Yes," Professor Lupin confirmed.

"He had a good life though, right?" Remus asked. It was strange to talk about his friend in the past tense (something the older Remus was quite used to), but Sirius was too shocked to ask.

For a second, Professor Lupin thought Dumbledore would break down and tell them everything. Instead, the headmaster said, "We will talk more soon. At the moment, I must ask the five of you to be patient, and get some rest. I believe Professor Lupin will be happy to escort you to your quarters. I will send a few house-elves with you dinner."


Sirius sat at a wooden table pushing his soup around in its bowl with a spoon. None of his friends had said a word since Dumbledore's revelation about his future an hour before. In twenty years, he would be dead. Sirius had never really thought about death before that night.

Professor Lupin wished them all a good night, and warned them to stay in their quarters; he knew all their tricks after all. He would visit them again in the morning, he said, and he would perhaps bring a few photos as well.

"Alright, Padfoot?" James asked quietly. The others had gone to bed, leaving the two best friends alone.

"I'm fine," Sirius said.

"Liar."

Sirius chuckled. "No, really, I'm fine. Thirty-six isn't a bad age. It's a lot longer than I thought I'd live. And I'll probably die some glorious death, like falling in a hail of wand fire during a battle to save the world."

"Only you could joke about death," James said, shaking his head.

"Somebody's got to laugh. You guys all looked like I already died. Evans, too, and she hates me."

"So what do you think of the older Remus?" James grinned.

"You know, I'm not really surprised. He's always been the scholarly type, and he likes tutoring the younger students. I wonder what you and Pete are up to," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Well, I'll be married to Lily Evans with ten kids, and have the Head Auror position at the Ministry. And Pete will have some desk job or something."

"Better not let Evans hear you say that, Prongs," Sirius warned with a smirk.

James shrugged. "Anyway, we'll find out soon, I'm sure. See you in the morning, Padfoot."

"Night, Prongs."


Ron and Hermione sat across from Harry in the empty common room in complete shock. Their friend had just finished telling them the story of the Marauder' and Lily's arrival at Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore's sure it's them?" Hermione checked.

"Yeah, he seemed sure," Harry said.

"Wow," Ron breathed. "Your parents are here, Harry."

"I know," Harry said tonelessly.

"You don't seem too happy about it," Hermione observed.

"It's… weird," he admitted. "I can get to know them now, but I know what happens in a few years."

"You can always take Pettigrew out now, save everyone a lot of grief," Ron said, still bitter about his pet rat being a Death Eater.

"He can't do that, Ron! Do you have any idea what can happen if you change the past?" Hermione said.

"But this isn't the past, Hermione," Ron argued.

"Honestly, Ron. How thick are you? If something happens to one of them in our time, it would effect the past. Which means, Ronald, that our present would be very different. And it could be for the worse," Hermione explained.

"Yeah, but could it really be that bad? A world without Wormtail, I mean? He never would have been my parents Secret-Keeper. Sirius never would have gone to Azkaban…" Harry trailed off.

"Harry, no!" Hermione said firmly.

"I'm not going to do anything," Harry insisted. "But it's a nice thought, isn't it?"

A short while later, Ron and Hermione went to bed, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. He'd met his parents. Of course, they weren't really his parents just yet, but in a few years they would be.

The whole time travel idea made Harry's head spin. He didn't understand it much better now than he had in third year with Hermione's time-turner.

Dumbledore said Harry would get to see them all again soon. What would they talk about, though? Had Dumbledore told Lily and James Harry's true identity as their son? Would Lily and the Marauders find out about their tragic lives? They'd all led tragic lives, even Wormtail. Being a Death Eater couldn't be a walk in the park…

A world without Wormtail… Harry found himself thinking about it more and more as he continued to stare into the dying flames in the Gryffindor fireplace. His parents could still be alive without Wormtail, and Harry might have even had younger brothers and sisters. He never would have had to live with the Dursleys… That thought alone brought a smile to the sixth year's face.

Voldemort never would have returned in his fourth year. But would he have gone away at all? Harry was the reason the Dark Lord disappeared in the first place. If somebody more trustworthy had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, Voldemort never would have found them. He probably would have gone after Neville, instead. Would that make Neville the Boy-Who-Lived?

The more he thought about it, the more he believed that things happened the way they were supposed to happen. The past could be changed, but at what cost?

Harry didn't know how long the Marauders and Lily would be at Hogwarts, but he was determined to make it count. He would never have another chance to meet his parents, after all…