'Tis Chapter Two!

DISCLAIMER (I always forget this ): I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, nor any of it's characters... but I do own the story itself, so no sticky paws!

Dumbledore re-entered his office. Sirius was sprawled across his chair, fast asleep. Remus was staring into the fireplace, while James was out of his seat, at the window, surveying the grounds.

"The feast has ended, boys," he said, a small smile on his face. James jumped, before walking back to his seat, and Remus turned to face Dumbledore. When James arrived at his chair, he prodded Sirius awake.

"Now, I imagine you are wondering where exactly you are," said Dumbledore serenly, smiling at them, looking rather amused.

"Well... we're in the castle," Remus said weakly.

"Correct, Mr. Lupin. But you are also in the future. You are in James's son's time, and James and Sirius are dead."

Harry sat in the Gryffindor Common Room barely fifteen minutes later. The kids around him chattered, the guys about the upcoming Quidditch team, the girls about the new DADA teacher, and Hermione talking about neither.

While Ron and Harry talked about the season, and Hermione had her head burrowed in a book. Harry and Ron wondered who exactly would be captain, for nobody had told him yet. They were also pondering who would fill the remaining Beater positions and the Chaser spot. Harry was positive it was going to be Ron's sister, Ginny, until she marched up to them and declared she was going to try out for Beater.

"Why?" asked Harry and Ron at the same time, and Ginny snorted under her breath.

"Well, George and Fred had been Beaters... besides, it looks like an awfully fun position, don't you think?" Without waiting for a response, she walked away, joining up with her other friends.

"Nutters, she is," muttered Ron, and he and Harry talked about who could fill the Chaser position... and who would be Captian.

"Y'know, Harry, it may be you," reasoned Ron.

"No, it's always a seventh year," said Harry, looking at Ron in slight bewilderment.

"No, not always. Charlie became Captian in the sixth year," Ron pointed out. Harry just shrugged.

"WHAT?" three voices yelled.

"Indeed, it is so," said Dumbledore gravely. "If you are going to be in the future for very long, then you must know the truth. Harry will tell you exactly how you two died."

"Harry?" said James, struggling to remember. "Who, Harry Granger?"

"That isn't his real name," said Dumbledore, sounding distant. "But, you three must be given new identities. James, you may remain who you are, but you must fake being Harry's cousin. Sirius... you must be Sirius McCarter, an exchange student from America. Remus, you are Remus Brownings, another exchange student from America. You must keep these identities."

James nodded faintly. Dumbledore's mouth tugged into a smile. "Nobody should doubt that you and Harry are cousins, James, judging how much you look alike.

"Now, I am going to call Harry up to my office; he shall explain as much as he wishes." With that, Dumbledore tapped a small box on his desk that James hadn't noticed with his wand, and said, "Will Harry Potter please report to my office?"

Tapping the box again, Dumbledore peered over his half-moon glasses at the three. "I am sure Harry will recieve quite a shock to see you... especially you, James," he said quietly. Then he turned to Sirius.

"Sirius, Harry is in grieving over your death. Do be sensitive to him," he said, his voice quiet. Sirius nodded just as Harry came in.

James, Sirius, and Remus were facing Dumbledore with their backs to the door, so as Harry walked in, he didn't give them a second glance.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly hesitant.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It seems we have three new kids in your year. Would you direct them to the dormitories? It may be a tight fit, but we have already set up extra beds," said Dumbledore.

"Sure," Harry said, completely bewildered, "but isn't that a job for the..." his voice trailed off as the three boys turned to face him.

The word 'prefects' was lost in his throat as he saw who was staring back at him.

"Well, Mr. Potter, you have a half-hour to get back to your common room with these three, or else Mr. Filch might consider you out-of-bouds," he said, with a slight twinkle in his eye. "I trust you will explain to Messers Black, Lupin, and Potter their current states at this time?"

"Yes... sir..." said Harry slowly, still looking bewildered. "C'mon," he said, motioning for them to follow him.

"Oh, wait, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, and Harry turned around. "Congratulations... you are Gryffindor's new Quidditch Captain." Eyes sparkling, he handed Harry a small golden badge in the shape of a C.

James, Sirius, and Remus got up. "Hey, Harry," said Sirius quietly, after they had shut the door to Dumbledore's office. Harry placed the badge into his pocket.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound cheery. "Oh... James, Sirius, would you perhaps be interested in playing for the Quidditch team until you go back to... er..."

"Sure!" James said, his voice rather unsteady. "What positions are open?"

"Chaser and Beater," he replied, rather distantly as they approached the portrait hole.

"Before we go in," James said, grabbing Harry's elbow. "Dumbledore said to fake that I'm your cousin and Sirius and Remus are from America as exchange students."

Sirius nodded. "With the names Sirius McCarter and Remus Brownings."

"Right," Harry muttered, opening the hole. The noise had died down in the ten minutes Harry had been gone; the common room was near deserted, with the exception of Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Ginny and Ron were arguing something about Quidditch, while Hermione was still reading. She looked up.

"Hey Har-" Noticing the Marauders, she stopped mid-sentence, gaping at them. Ginny and Ron turned as well and stared, particulary at James and Sirius.

"What the hell?" Ron muttered, staring at the three boys, who looked rather uncomfortable.

"James, Sirius, Remus, this is Ron, Ginny, and Hermione," Harry said shortly, nodding.

Hands were shook, but Ron was still gaping, whereas Hermione and Ginny kept their surprise to themselves.

"Right, well, I've got a lot of explaining to do to you three," Harry said, sounding uncomfortable. "Care to join us, Ron?"

Ron shook his head, knowing Harry would like privacy. "Nah, I've got some stuff to do before turning in," he said, with a brief nod.

"Well, 'night, all," Harry said, going up to the dorms, with the three Marauders following him.

"Right, so what is this rubbish about Sirius and me being dead?" James said, sitting on one of the new beds. Curiously, Seamus, Neville, and Dean weren't there; Harry found later that they had been moved to a different dorm.

James, who tried to sound nonchalant, was failing miserably.

"Right... well, you three remember the story I told you a while back, about my parents?" Harry said, in a pained voice.

James got a sick feeling in his stomach; he thought he knew what was happening.

"Well... James, you were my father," Harry said, his voice scarcely a whisper.

James swallowed this large bit of information. "Right..." he said, his voice choked. "What about Sirius?"

"Yes," Sirius said, sounding timid, something Harry had never heard him sound like. Remus adjusted himself on his bed, and Harry shuffled uncomfortably on his.

"Well, at the end of last term, the end of my fifth year, you were killed in the Department of Mysteries."

Remus chuckled uncertainly. "My father works there as an Unspeakable. How did Sirius die?"

"Did I die fighting Voldemort?" Sirius said, sounding braver. "Did I die defending Europe?"

"Well... sort of," Harry said."I'd better start at the beginning.

"In my fifth year, I was having strange dreams- things that were happening at the time I was dreaming. One of them was when I saw my friends' father being bitten by a snake. I was given Occlumency lessons, but I... didn't exactly try to master it.

"During my History of Magic O.W.L., I fell asleep and had a dream that Sirius was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius, you were my godfather then. I went to try and find you, along with a few other students- only to find that I fell into a trap. Sirius, you weren't really there. It was a trick.

"Everyone came to save us; Tonks, Moody, you, Remus, you, Sirius, and several others. We were losing, and Sirius was dueling with Lestrange-"

"Rodulphus Lestrange?" Sirius said suddenly, sounding a little angry.

"No- your cousin Bellatrix, who married him. You were fighting with her, as she was a Death Eater, and you almost won. But you fell through the viel-"

"The Viel of Death," Remus said in a hushed voice, looking sad.

"Yes, I suppose," Harry said. "You fell through. I tried to go after you, but Remus stopped me, telling me it was too late."

The three Marauders shivered. "Bad future..." James said after a minute, his voice quiet.

Harry nodded. "It's not dandy for anybody, except maybe Voldemort."

There was silence for a few minutes. But then-

"Why did he try to trick you anyway?" The voice belonged to Remus.

"There was a prophecy made before I was born, a prophecy that said that a child born to parents that defied Voldemort three times, born at the end of July, would be marked as Voldemort's equal. It applied to me, but he only heard part of it. He didn't hear the part that read, 'Neither shall live while the other survives.'

"Voldemort knew that I would be his equal, because you, James, and my mother defied Voldemort three times. So he killed you, trying to kill me."

James looked thoughtful. "Who exactly was my wife?"

Harry smiled slightly. "I'll tell you that some other time. Right now, we should probably get to bed; classes tommorow, you know."

Five minutes later, the boys had finished changing and were about to crawl into bed when Ron came in.

"You done?" he asked, smiling slightly at the others, an odd smile.

Harry nodded wearily. "'Night, everyone," he mumbled after Ron had changed and turned the lights out.

He heard a murmur pass through the dorm, which was soon taken up by deep rythmic breaths and Ron's slight snoring.

TBC...