Sirius' Choice

Chapter Two: Time Distortion

Whimsical Firefly

Authors Note: Massive thankyou to all who reviewed (more specifically - Renatinha Black, palmetazo, maggie black, and artstaar!)

Oh, and of course thankyou especially to James Milamber for editing this. Once again if you haven't read his story, you should because it's bloody amazing.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all recognizable characters

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He opened his eyes slowly, worried that the night before had been just a dream. She was still curled up daintily in his arms, with a calm look upon her face.

Sirius wrapped his arms around her once more, and buried his face into her shoulder. She stirred slightly and whispered his name. Instinctively her hand sought his and he was more than willing to hold it. Clasping her left hand he traced the scar that ran from the base of her forefinger towards the base of her thumb.

A quick glance at the clock told him their time was running out. Soon the other members of their dormitories would be making their way down the stairs to get to the great hall. In fact, he was surprised that they hadn't been disturbed already.

He shook the girls shoulder gently. "Wake up!"

She curled up tighter still. "Come on 'Dana! Wake up before some one catches us…"

"Too late!" came a chorus of voices from nowhere. Sirius looked up in time to see James, Remus and Peter appearing from underneath the cloak with a camera.

"Cheese!" James said teasingly, before pressing down the 'capture' button. "Payback for when you did that to me and Lily, eh Padfoot?"

Sirius regarded his best friends momentarily, then looked down at Edana. "Darling," he said in mock lordly tones. "I feel I have some… business to attend to. Do you mind?"

Edana turned looked up at him, her eyes no longer sleepy. "Not at all… darling." Came her response. She turned to James, Remus and Peter and grinned in a definitely predatory way. "In fact, you don't suppose I could help?"

"Of course you may, darling," replied Sirius whilst looking at his friend's slowly retreating figures. "Now… if I may – Let's get 'em!"

The two bodies made a mad scramble at James, Peter and Remus, until the three had escaped back up the stairwell.

"This changes nothing Padfoot!" came James' voice from above.

"After all," came Remus' laughing tones. "We do still have the pictures!"

Sirius shook his head, and then looked down at Edana. Her pale cheeks were slightly flushed, her hair fell in loose tangles, and her blouse was slightly off shoulder. Sirius then found himself saying something he never thought he would say, or at least not for a long while. "Love you."

She wrapped her arms around him and whispered back "Love you too."

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Sirius looked up from the stolen photo album and surreptitiously wiped his eyes.

He was surprised Remus still had the photo. It showed him looking up at the camera with an outraged expression, and an arm up, half-shielding 'Dana. Edana herself appeared to be looking up at the camera with an expression that bordered between amusement and annoyance.

Edana had died not long after that, and he had always been thankful that he had told her, even if had been only on a whim.

But Edana was alive now. She was alive, and so was he. Death must have taken him back a fair bit, but how far? When the heck was he?

To add to his confusion, Sirius could have sworn that Edana had died at a raid on the Potter's house. And he also could have sworn that that was what he had witnessed before. The suburbs, the streets, the weather even. They were engraved in his memories, and he had grown used to seeing them in his nightmares.

So why were they both alive? He ran through the events of that night slowly. They had been staying at the Potter family home. James and Lily had gone out for the night, and it had been just him, her and James' parents. They had been practicing Quidditch.

Well, a variation of Quidditch, where whenever she scored, she claimed a kiss. But it was still Quidditch.

They had heard yells and screams. After exchanging a look they had run into the house only to find Mr. And Mrs. Potter dead, with three Death Eaters standing over them. It had taken only a moment to absorb the scene and try and back away, before the Death Eaters noticed. But they hadn't been so lucky.

Edana had sacrificed herself for him. And he had run.

Wherever and whenever he was, things seemed to be going a little bit differently than before.

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Albus Dumbledore looked around his office. A bit messy, he supposed, but he knew where everything was when he wanted it.

He was pacing again, up and down, up and down, up and down. Pity it wasn't helping.

He sat down on his chair and steepled his fingers. Heaving a huge sigh he looked thoughtfully out the window, brow furrowed.

A soft trill drew his attention to Fawkes. "I don't know what it is," said the old man tiredly. "I felt something earlier. It was as though everything rippled around and time stood still."

Sighing again Dumbledore pushed himself out of his chair and walked over to his window. "The most obvious thing to suspect would be Voldemort. Perhaps he has a new weapon." Dumbledore paused. "And what a powerful weapon it would be."

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, but what would be a powerful weapon?"

Dumbledore swiveled quickly on the balls of his feet only to see James and Lily.

Smiling, Dumbledore sat down and motioned for the two young ones to sit down in the chairs he conjured up. "Good to see you both, thank you for answering my summons so promptly."

The two exchanged a look that Dumbledore decided not to interpret. "You're welcome," smiled Lily. "But earlier what did you…"

"… mean when you said a powerful weapon?" finished James, and then smiled somewhat sheepishly at Lily. "Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off there Lily."

Dumbledore paused at the two young expectant faces before him. Then he spoke once more. "Earlier on today, I felt a disturbance in the air. It was slight, but it was definitely there."

James and Lily exchanged a puzzled look, before looking back apprehensively at Dumbledore.

When Dumbledore did not appear to be forthcoming with more information, Lily spoke. "What does that mean though, Professor?"

Dumbledore shot her a sharp look, but then chuckled. "I don't know! If only I did…all I can give you are suspicions, Lily. And as to what I suspect…"

Dumbledore's face looked tired and worn as he looked out the window. "I suspect Voldemort may have found a way to alter time. And as to what he could alter with that weapon… the possibilities, as they say, are endless."

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Lily Evans walked quietly along, with her brow furrowed in thought. Altering time. What exactly could you do with that kind of weapon, she thought.

A deep voice interrupted her thoughts. "Still thinking on what Dumbledore said?"

Lily turned to see her boyfriend standing before her. She nodded slightly and smiled when he offered her a vanilla ice cream cone.

"Thank you." She said with a laugh.

"Anytime darlin', anytime." James swung a casual arm around her shoulder and she nestled into him appreciatively. "So…"

Lily looked up at James with a curious look on her face. "So…?" she prompted.

James looked down at the ground and tugged slightly on his bottom lip. "Well… it's…difficult to say really."

Lily nodded slightly and fought back the laughter that threatened to engulf her. It wasn't funny! She told herself firmly.

"What is the general gist of what you want to say then. We can start from there."

James looked down at her and then looked back away. "Maybe you should eat your ice cream first."

"Oh… right." Lily took a delicate bite of her ice cream cone whilst James watched admiringly. He wasn't sure if he was crossing any boundaries of caring/obsessive boyfriend, but he loved to just watch her.

He loved watching her eat, sleep, talk. And he loved listening to her, and talking to her and…

"James?"

"Mm?"

"You right there?"

James felt a blush spread across his cheeks and cursed himself silently because of it. Wouldn't Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail give me heaps if they could bear witness to this?

"Yeah," he said non-commitally.

"That's great. By the way... Was your telling me to eat my ice cream a diversion?"

James looked slightly sheepish as he met Lily's eyes. "Um… kinda. Did it work?"

Lily raised her eyebrows in what she hoped was a 'not impressed' look. "It did. But why the need to…?"

James smiled wryly. "No reason, I just remember past incidents. Such as…"

"If you're talking about…"

"The time when you spilled coffee on my pants. And it was hot…"

"That was an accident, come on…"

"And then the time when you tipped pumpkin juice over my head."

"Well… that was on purpose. But we weren't going out then."

"Of course there's always the time that you kneed me in the groin."

"Ah. Well…that was… a bit…"

"Yes. Indeed it was." James grinned triumphantly down at Lily's crestfallen face. Leaning down to softly kiss the tip of her nose, he laughed. "I win."

Lily's tone was puzzled as she replied. "Win what?"

James laughed harder before leaning to kiss her deeply on the lips. "Well," he said when they parted, "not everything is a fair competition."

Lily briefly contemplated slapping him, but that would be a tad too much like before they had gone out. She looked into his hazel eyes and held his gaze. Then, giving up, she leaned in and kissed him instead.

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Edana opened sleepy eyes. She was exhausted, simply too tired too move. Then, realising that there was no comforting warmth beside her, she turned over. As she had thought, Sirius was absent from their bed.

Turning back to where she had been before she snuggled deeper into her warm spot and hauled the eiderdown up to her chin. It wasn't cold outside, but she felt cold.

The Potters. God, poor James. It wasn't meant to be like this, she raged silently in her mind. It wasn't meant to!

She and Siri had lived, and yet she still felt as though she had died. You should have died, whispered a traitorous part of her mind. Cutting herself off because she knew where the thought would lead, Edana tried to think of something – anything – else.

She heard soft footfalls approaching the room, and quickly closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing.

"'Dana?" came Sirius's soft tenor. She sensed him walk over to her and kneel beside the bed. "I'm glad you're safe. I don't know… I don't know what I would have done if you had died this morning."

Sirius let out a noise that was a half-sob and half-laugh. "Too close, even for a Marauder." He leaned in and kissed her softly on the temple.

"Sleep well Edana Tierne."

She heard him leave the room and flopped onto her back. Opening her eyes reluctantly she stared at the ceiling until tears blurred her eyes.

Stop crying! A part of her raged at herself. But her body refused to obey her tearful commands.

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Sirius kept idly flicking through the photo album. It was so well organized, all the pictures neatly inserted, with captions detailing the event, the date and the year.

It was just so typical of Moony. In fact, thought Sirius as his eyes roamed the walls around him, this entire room was typically Moony. In one corner of the room was a moon chart, which Moony had bewitched so it moved like a normal photograph. In another corner was a single bed, and near the door was a simple wooden desk, on top of which seemed to be textbooks and essays – some finished, some only semi completed.

But the photo album was what had really captured his attention. There were pictures of the Marauders, pictures of him and Edana, pictures of James and Lily, and many of Remus and Tess.

A faint bang as the front door opened and closed alerted Sirius to the fact he was not alone. Quickly closing the album and shoving it haphazardly onto the bookcase. Sirius looked around quickly for an escape.

To Sirius's panic there was none – save the door of course, and that was blocked by whoever was approaching. As the footsteps got louder, Sirius's thoughts became less and less coherent.

Don't hide…no! I can't face him, he might recognize me. And playing with time is dangerous. Transform into Padfoot…That won't work either if it's Moony. What if it isn't Moony? Who cares! I've got to hide? Where!? The cupboard. Hide in the cupboard. I won't fit. Well then transform, goddammit! Right, right…

Sirius willed himself to calm down and thought of Padfoot. He quickly shrunk down to the form of the large dog. Except… Padfoot couldn't see why he had to hide.

It's Moony approaching, my friend. Sure, he smells a little different, but it's still him. Why can't we go and talk with him?

Because! Sirius argued with his canine alter ego. You just can't at the moment. Hide! Closet! Now!

But do I ha-?

YES!

Alright, alright. Padfoot trotted over to the closet and nosed it open. With a wuff of displeasure he closed the door and peered through the tiny crack in the wall.

Moony entered the room, and Padfoot resisted the urge to wag his tail and whine. Throwing his coat on the desk, Moony staggered over to his bed and collapsed spread-eagled on it. Although he couldn't quite tell from this distance and this angle, it appeared as though Remus was shaking.

Padfoot merely cocked his head to one side and continued to watch. Drawing a deep ragged breath Moony heaved himself upright, and buried his head in his hands. After what seemed like a lifetime he lifted his head up slowly and rubbed at his eyes.

Moony lifted his wand, glancing towards the cupboard and Padfoot tensed suddenly. Could he sense him?

"Accio Album." Came Remus' soft weary voice.

Had Sirius not been Padfoot he would have cried. Already Moony was seeking solace in the album, just like he had earlier. Whatever had happened today could not have been good. Perhaps there had been an attack on the Potter mansion today. It was tempting to get out and comfort Remus, even if he did recognize him.

Before Sirius could do anything time seemed to stop and whirl around him at the same time, and then there was darkness. He had a vivid image of a woman with hair as black as his own, contrasting with flawless ivory skin, before he once again saw nothing.

When Sirius could see again, the room was empty.

Taking the opportunity Padfoot nosed the closet doors open and escaped down the stairs. I'll come back, he promised himself as he jumped through the open window and walked down the footpath.

As it happened, Sirius did not see a shaking man approach the house as he trotted down the pathway. The man paused slightly as he observed the jaunty wagging tail and then shook his head as he walked down the footpath and opened the front door, wincing as it closed with a bang.

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AN: As always, please let me know what you think so far.