A/N, April 23, 2005: Once again, "C" means the present time, but somewhere other than Hogwarts. This the first 'C' chapter, and I hope you are extreamly confused by the time you finish reading this chapter.
-Ohh... We get to see the man who's bothering Esor again! Not so friendly, is he?

-Ah ha! here's a look at the Valley! Finally I get to spring it on you without even a warning! I just love that. Sorry if you're getting mad at me, I hope I'm not toooooo annoying.

DarkLordLongbottom: For all but one day out of the month, Rotiart IS only able to be in Nev's head. Terrible curse, it is. Yes, Snape is a meanie, isn't he? But, he does have someone who thinks most highly of him- as you'll see in just a few moments. Snape can't be all bad can he? Heh, that's a question only you know the answer to. :-)
With that guy breathing down Esor's neck, there's not much she can do to help Nev. She gave him a clue (which also appears in this chapter!) in hopes that he would know he was in danger of one man. If Esor tried to send a warning to anyone, she's dead. Looks like Esor's not having a good painting-life is she? Humm... Oh! By the way, I'm glad I "took moments off my life span" to read Living in Sorrow. It was a really good bit of writing, and it gave me some fantastic ideas! Thanks bunches, as always!

nnnnnnnnnn

Turning Your Time Around

By: Cheelalaucha

Dedicated to: All the writers in my 'Favorite Authors' list.

C, Chapter 13: "Frank & Ally I"

-

Present time.

-

Vix walked into the library building and searched for the "List Section". There were lists of thousands of things old and new. Lists of Hogwarts' students from years past and present, lists of creatures, lists of books even filled the building. But, there were odd things too. In one part of the List Section, there were lists of strange, rarely thought of things, events and people. For instance, there was a list of all the people in the small valley he was living in. Not only present occupants, but past ones too. There wasn't much use for it, except if they were needing to find out a ghost's identity. Most people who came to this particular valley usually ended up becoming ghosts, so if for some reason they could not remember themselves, there were always lists.

That wouldn't do Severus any good, he thought bitterly. He hadn't come back as a ghost. He should have. At least if he was a ghost, he could talk to him again. Now, there was only the lingering of his attitude in Vix's mind. The fact that he hadn't come back as a ghost only proved Vix's theory even more in his mind. He was alive.

Vix found what he was looking for and brought it up to the desk to sign it out. The tiny creature that resembled a human only slightly sat behind the desk, writing in the days events in a journal. There was hardly any of the creature to see because of the fact that his black hair covered everything.

"I'm taking this out," Vix grumbled, not bothering to ask first.

The creature poked what resembled a hand out of his hair and pulled from under the desk a clipboard with places to sign things out. He tapped on the board and a quill appeared on it. Vix took that as the hint to sign his name on it. After he did, the board disappeared into thin air and Vix hurried out of the building muttering, "Hair Goblins." in a nasty tone.

"I heard that." the goblin screeched out as he left.

Vix rolled his eyes and kept walking. He was walking away from the Valley Hall and towards the No-Go River.

Signs were plastered up all around warning people not to go near the river, but of course, Vix would not pay them any mind as he went by. Those signs were there for a reason, as many would tell him, but he didn't want to hear it. He knew this place was dangerous for them because feared death. He, on the other hand, wanted death. He prayed for it in the morning and in the night before he went for punishment. It was amazing he hadn't gone crazy yet, with all the taunting he got from other people. They told him to forget about Severus, and they'd told him he was never coming back, but he would not believe them. He may have been lost to this river, but he was not dead. He couldn't be.

((Flashback))

"Hey, Seth, come take a look at this!" Vix yelled for Severus from the boarder of the river.

"You're not supposed to be over here! Get back to camp!" a 16-year-old Severus barked back from the border of the danger zone.

"No! Just come and take a look at what I've found! Come on Seth, please?" Vix's voice came to his ears, but he could not see the boy. If the others found out that he'd left him there, he'd be in deep trouble- even worse then usual.

Severus grumbled to himself about "little trouble-makers" and "stupid little kids" and followed the trail to the river. He spotted the 8-year-old Vix hanging upside-down in a tree right above the rushing water. That stopped Severus right in his tracks.

"Get down from there!" Severus yelled as he looked from the boy to the water, scaring him nearly to death. Only nearly though.

"Just look at the markings on this tree, Seth. Aren't they-"

Vix was cut off from the fact that he was losing his grip on the tree. He screamed for Severus to help him as he held on only by his hands, which were sliding of as he spoke.

Severus rushed from the path just in time to see Vix fall from the highest branch into the raging water. He could hear his screams, but he couldn't see the young boy. Stupid boy! He's going to get himself killed!

Vix went under and started down the river at full mercy of the water. He could hear "Seth", or Severus, calling for him from far away, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Next thing he knew, there he was in the water, trying to get to him. Vix held on as Seth reached him and made to grab a rock to stop them from flowing down the river. They got lucky and grabbed onto one. Vix had a firm grip on the rock, but Seth was slipping. Vix yelled out for him, but it did nothing. Seth was pushed away from the rock and was taken away by the water. Vix cried for him, but he never came back.

The adults heard Vix's screaming and came running. They saved Vix, but no one knew of what happened to Severus. After a year, he had proclaimed dead by the Valley.

((End Flashback))

Severus had died just to save him, the stupid little boy. But, in Vix's mind, he wasn't dead. He would check every bloody list in this stinking valley, no matter what people said.

The List of Hogwarts' Students was next.
Then, The List of Hogwarts' Teachers would come.

To him, Severus was alive, and even if it took him till the day HE died, he would prove it. He couldn't go without saying thank you. That's the only thing that made Vix human, according to most. But, he would show them.

Boy, would he ever.

-

Different place, same time.

-

"Frank? Frank, come and look at this," Alice yelled for her husband.

"What is it Ally?" Frank's response came from behind her.

She jumped in surprise, she hadn't known he was right there. Alice turned to face him then pointed to the right with a shaky finger. Frank followed with his eyes to see what she was actin so strange about.

Sitting on the grassy ground was a man of about 30 years and short light brown/blonde hair. He had his knees up to his chest and was rocking from side to side, not saying a word. He probably hadn't even realized the other two were there.

Frank's eyes grew wide as he saw the man. No one new had ever come into this place in all the time they'd been there. No one had ever deserved to be here in years. This man must have been a very bad boy to have been brought here. Or... a new thought... Maybe he had been brought here because he'd been very good. No. That wouldn't make any sense at all. This man definitely had to have been a betrayer or something of the sort. But, there was never anyone, even betrayers, who had come here in a long, long time. The betrayers would go to the Valley, and then they would "live" there with punishment every day. The punishments had to be great, so why would anyone be interested in dubble, tripple, or quadrupaling it? This must be a very stupid man, Frank thought to himself.

But, not known to Frank nor Alice, this man was a hero. And yet he was here. He shouldn't be there, but he was. Heck, he didn't even deserve to go to the Valley in the first place. He'd been sentenced to that place by... well he couldn't think about HIM. He had been put through horrible things as punishment. And even in the end, he'd given his freedom to save the Valley. If he hadn't of gone, than no one would have and the Valley would be no more.

Even though people feared the Valley because of what happened to you there, some people needed to be there for their own good. Some people were just in need of a rude awakening to see the wrongs of their actions. Or, at least, that was what this man had told himself before he'd given his freedom. Now, every clear thought, every spark of happiness he'd stored in him was washed away from his mind as he reached this place. Now... nothing was worth this.

"Hello?"

Frank's voice rang out around them in the field of tall grass. The sun beamed down as the man on the grass turned to the person speaking. He slowly rose to his feat.

"Who are you?" the man asked in a tone resembling that of only fear.

Frank took a step forward, eyeing the other man carefully.

"My name is Frank," he told him, and then he glanced at his wife and said, "This is Alice."

He took another step forward. "Who are you?"

The man didn't even hesitate.

"Chapin." He paused for a moment to look around then added, "From the Valley."

Frank nodded, but stopped taking steps forward. If anything, he was now taking steps backwards.

A man from the Valley. This is just the sort of thing we needed. How am I supposed to react to this? Give him a handshake?

"Glad to meet you," Frank said in the best 'I wanna be your friend' voice he could muster. Alice, though, still hadn't said anything.

The man, Chapin, didn't respond right away, he just kept still, well, except for his eyes. While the man didn't turn his head, his eyes went from each side of their sockets to the other. As if that wasn't creepy enough for Frank, the man suddenly started talking to himself in a hushed tone, but his lips did not even vibrate from speaking. And yet, every word came out clear and crisp as he... spoke them.

Chills ran down both Frank's and Alice's body as the man spoke louder and more frantically to himself. Or, they thought he was talking to himself until they listened to exactly what he was saying.

"Where. Am. I?"

The pauses between each word did nothing to comfort the both of them, but Frank respond just in hopes of getting him to move.

Frank chose his words carefully, as he thought saying, 'I have no idea where we are, but you seem strange enough to fit in here. Care for a seat at this invisible chair?'

Frank shivered again. The man would probably take that seat in the air without a second thought. Creepy, that was all to describe this man.

But, Frank was spared answering due to the sunny sky darkening with clouds. Now, these weren't normal clouds, for they came out of nowhere and would reach right above you in a matter of seconds of being seen. This time was no different. Lightning cracked around them, and Frank instinctively brought his arms around Alice, holding her tight. She looked at the storm with fierce eyes, but drew in closer to Frank.

They both understood what was going on when an image of a 16-year-old boy came into view before them. He stood still, shaken with fear that shown in his eyes. But, what could be seen of him was more of a hologram with lines streaked across his body. Alice looked at him with longing and love at their son, as did Frank. But, then Frank looked down at her and she knew she had to leave him to do what needed to be done. She didn't have to like it though.

Frank let go of Alice gently, and she walked over to the man Chapin carefully. She spoke some words to him that were barely heard because of the thunder. To Frank's surprise, the man actually moved. Chapin nodded and followed Alice off into the Tall Forest, glancing back once to see the teenage boy. The man's eyes fluttered from the boy to Frank and then turned back around with long blink. Apparently, that was his way of showing some kind of emotion, but which one Frank wasn't sure.

He did not stop to wonder though because he only had so much time to do what he needed. He stared at the boy for a few moments. It seemed as if he was using his willpower to get the boy to listen. He spoke out to him and tried hard not to let his flinching worry him.

"Neville."

The image of him faded for a moment, and when it was back to being semi-clear, the boy was panting.

"NEVILLE," Frank spoke louder.

He saw the boy open his mouth and respond, but could not hear a word of what he was saying, so he just continued on. He didn't know what the boy was seeing, but from the look on his face he could guess it was not good.

"Neville, use your mind. Don't let it control you," Frank told the hologram, hoping with all he was that his son could hear him.

Another flash of lightning came bolting, along with the arrival of someone new. Frank tried to pay him no mind, he knew he needed to concentrate with this to keep it going. But, he had no chance to as the new man waved his hand at the image of the boy and he was gone in an instant. Before Frank could yell, the man spoke in a dark, hard tone behind him.

"This is a wonderful woman you have here. She's very beautiful."

Frank's eyes widened and he turned around to see his wife in the hands of this new man, one hand over her mouth, and one around her waist to keep her from escaping. Frank swore that, had he not seen Alice shake her head, he would have never let that man get another word out of his mouth, ever. He stood his ground, fists tight and heart pounding loudly inside him.

"What do you want?" Frank ground out, wondering how long he'd last watching this man hold Alice.

The man smiled and, taking a small smile said, "I'll get to the point. I want your son, and you're going to help me."

Frank looked from the man's cold eyes to his wife's loving ones and replied,

"Never."

The man laughed and took a glance down at Alice, and smiled even wider. That nearly stopped Frank's heart right there. But, thankfully, he kept breathing and refrained from cutting the man's head off right there.

"I think you might change your mind if I do a little something to your beautiful wife," the man spoke with a smile and a cruel laugh.

Frank again looked into his wife's eyes and saw that she did not look scared or pleading. She looked angry. That was all Frank needed to tell him that there was no way this guy was getting his son.

"Go to hell," Frank spat back at the man.

The man laughed and said in a higher voice that matched exactly that of his wife's, "The side you chose is the side you stay with." And then added in his own dark voice, "Make sure you chose the right one, or your little missy gets it."

He shook her roughly once to get the message through, and Frank took a step forward, anger getting the best of him at the moment.

"Let her go now or you will regret it," Frank's voice was getting dark too with every passing second.

The man laughed again and he asked in a mock-baby's voice, "Daddy want Mommy? Mommy not doing good unless Daddy gives Baby to Man." He growled, back to his normal tone and let the smile fade from his face. "You will help me get him or you shall be the one regretting it."

This time, Frank smiled at him.

He replied with somewhat calmness, "I do not think so."

The man shook his head back and forth slowly as if he was watching Frank play with matches. "Very foolish you are. Very fo-"

Before the man could finish his sentence, something hit him hard in the back of the head and he fell forward onto the ground. But, after a few seconds of being dazed-looking, he vanished from sight to reveal an extremely angry Chapin behind him, frying pan in hand.

Frank nearly flew to his wife's side and embraced her. She smiled and returned it with every bit of love she had.

"Are you all right?" Frank asked frantically, looking to see if there was even a scratch on her, but not breaking apart from his wife.

She shook her head with a smile and replied, "I'm fine."

Frank returned the smile and turned slightly to see Chapin drop the frying pan on the grassy ground.

"Thank you," Frank said to Chapin, not remembering a time he'd ever ment it more.

Chapin replied, "A very handy kitchen. You have there. Miss." He paused between his sentence, and still did not seem to move his mouth at all.

Chapin shook his head slightly and, as he made his way back to the Tall Forest, he muttered, "I hate that guy."

-

-

A/N: So, what did you think about this chapter? Did it throw you through a loop and back again? Is your head spinning, ready to pop off? Good, that's what I was going for.

Where are Frank & Alice? Well, they are somewhere. I don't think that they are just 'insane' in St.M. I think they're lost somewhere, so that's how I'm writing.

Will Neville ever... find them? Only time will tell. Thanks for reading! Do I smell a review? Oh, and I thought this chapter was short, so I might just update tomorrow. Sound good?