Disclaimer: All Harry Potter material is property of J.K. Rowling. I make no claim, nor receive any compensation for this fic. Any copyright infringement is unintentional.
Author Notes: Thank you odds-and-ends! You gave me my first review ever! Just for you I'll post this 3rd chapter. Please enjoy. :D
Pensieve Times by ImperialJedi
Chapter 3: A Question While Watching
July 30, 1996 (In the Pensieve)
"Ack! Wormtail get off!" Sirius struggled to push Peter off his legs where he had fallen. In the background Remus chuckled at the sight. James pushed himself up off the cold stone floor and dusted himself off. Ignoring the others he took in the scene. Standing off to the side was Remus grinning at where Sirius and Peter were climbing to their feet. Beyond them was the grand staircase and turning around James immediately recognized the grand entrance doors.
Peter's voice held a tinge of disappointment; "It was just a liquid portkey then?" Remus shook his head and James looked slightly puzzled.
Sirius slung an arm around Peter's shoulders and altered his voice. "My good sir, you are quite mistaken if you have been lead to believe you are somewhere where you have been before. This place has all the appearance of the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts, but that it is not." Peter who was by now squirming in a headlock was released. Sirius dropped his fake attitude. "Look up, dimwit." All four of them looked up at the ceiling that was basically the same as the real entrance hall, but was still rippling from all the splashing they had made when entering.
"My apologies, Mr. Potter." Headmaster Dumbledore's voice rang out across the hall. A door closed somewhere out of sight and several footsteps could be heard coming in their direction. The Marauders looked at each other in surprise. This didn't match up with any of their theories of where they were. Maybe they did just portkey to the entrance hall and the rippling was just because they used a fluid rather than a solid.
James decided to run with it and called back, "It's no problem, sir." Why Dumbledore was apologizing they four teens did not know. They could hear some soft voices, but whatever they were saying he couldn't make out. James swallowed and continued even though he felt awkward talking to someone he couldn't see. "Professor, we were wondering," Dumbledore rounded the corner, "er, where are," Dumbledore was accompanied by three students, but just not any students. His voice flattered as he finished his question, "we?"
In front of them was the spitting image of James. "Prongs, it's not you," Remus whispered into James's ear. Dumbledore walked right past the gapping Marauders and didn't stop until he and the three students, two boys and one girl, all of which were Gryffindors but not any that they had ever seen before, were directly in front of the huge doors the Great Hall. The Headmaster turned and stepped aside.
"Please, after you." Curious to see what was going on, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter eagerly joined them. The boy who looked exactly like James Potter, except for the brilliant green eyes, gathered his courage and pushed open the heavy doors.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" Sparklers were going off and confetti was falling everywhere. Besides a huge banner painted magically to flash various birthday wishes and a really nice cake with 16 magical candles each doing their own special flare or flash, there were about 30 people in attendance. Sirius tried to see who he recognized. There was Professor McGonagall, a few other Hogwarts teachers, Nearly Headless Nick, two house elves, an family of red heads that looked like that of the boy accompanying Harry, an odd assortment of wizard and witches, and a familiar looking brown haired man who was wearing ragged clothes and looked somewhat ill.