True Fear

Prologue-Back To The Past.

"Harry, you are supposed to be studying…what are you doing?" I whispered to my best friend.

Harry looked up at me.

"I'm doing McGonagall's homework," he whispered back.

"In Potions class," I said slowly. "If Snape sees that…"

My voice trailed off as Professor Snape stopped by the desk and placed his hand palm down on top of the parchment Harry was writing on.

"So Potter," Snape said in a cool voice. "Doing another teacher's homework while in my class? You're supposed to be working on the Bindel Potion."

Harry regarded Snape.

"I know sir, it's just that I didn't get much sleep last night and I didn't have a chance to do it earlier," Harry replied.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said and continued to walk up the aisle.

I leaned close.

"Why didn't you get much sleep last night?" whispered my other best friend, Ron Weasley.

"I had a nightmare," Harry replied finishing the parchment. "It had to do with my parents."

I looked at him sympathetically as I added two Huny wings to the potion.

"What happened?" Ron prodded.

"Be quiet you two," I scolded. "You'll get more points taken from us."

They fell silent.

We continued to work on the potion.

Snape made his rounds again. The Bindel potion was used to cure headaches, but if the ingredients were added wrong, there's no telling what the potion would do. It's one of the most unsteady and dangerous potions to make. It cures the headache though, but the person remains dazed for a day before the effect wears off. I remember a case in Hogwarts: A History where some 7th years brewed the potion to cure headaches around exam time. A loud 'poof' went off and they vanished without a trace. No one was able to find out where they had gone for several years.

Finally, about 5 years later, they mysteriously turned up in Egypt. The odd thing was they hadn't aged at all.

I correctly added my ingredients into the potion. It was supposed to be a lime green color and smell like citrus. Mine was the correct color and it smelled like citrus. Harry's was a lime green as well, but it was giving off a strong odor of peaches. Ron's potion was an absolute disaster. It looked emerald green and smelled of popcorn.

Snape over looked mine, and then moved onto Harry's.

"Potter," Snape said stiffly. "Does nothing penetrate that large brain of yours? You were supposed to add the Huny wings before the Devine scales!"

Harry swallowed.

"Sorry, sir,"

Snape regarded him with his dark eyes.

"Had you been paying attention instead of doing your homework for another teacher, you might've been able to add the ingredients in at the correct time and intervals,"

Ron's ears were turning pink.

Snape leaned forward over Harry's cauldron.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor," he smirked.

Something silver dropped from Snape's robe into Harry's cauldron and landed with a 'tink' at the bottom.

Suddenly, a loud booming noise erupted, followed by a 'poof'. It felt like we were being portkeyed so Harry, Ron and I gripped the desk for dear life. Wind whipped my hair around my face as the room continued to spin.

"What's happening?" I shouted over the roar of the wind.

"I don't know," Harry shouted.

Finally, the room stopped spinning and everything came back to normal.

The classroom was empty though.

"Bloody hell," Ron said looking around at the potions room. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Harry said as we stood up. "But I think we should leave."

We quickly gathered our things up and headed out of the classroom.

We began walking up the corridor. Students were walking around, laughing and talking.

We saw a bunch of Slytherins against the wall talking.

"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked curiously. "Not that I care."

I carefully scrutinized the surroundings.

"Does anyone feel that the school changed?" I asked slowly.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked.

"I'm saying, there's something completely different about the school," I said huffily. "Something's changed."

Harry, Ron and I stopped walking.

We scanned the entire school and courtyard. Everything looked the same, yet there was a different feel to it. Something was off.

Just then, we saw wearing Gryffindor robes walking toward us.

"Excuse me," Harry said as we walked up to her. "Where did Professor Snape go? And the class? It seems like we were left in the class."

The girl had shoulder length dark blond hair and honey brown eyes.

"Professor Snape?" the girl said slowly. "Who's Professor Snape?"

Immediately, my insides felt like ice.

"He teaches Potions," Ron offered staring at the girl like she was mad.

The girl smiled.

"Professor Dawes teaches Potions," she said laughing. "I'm guessing James and Sirius put you up to this?"

I could see by the look on Harry's face that it completely drained of all color.

"I-I'm sorry?" he stammered. "I didn't quite hear you."

"James and Sirius," the girl continued. "I bet they put you up to this joke. Wait till I get them in the common room. I don't believe I've seen you before."

She looked us over.

"And you're wearing Gryffindor robes," she continued frowning. "Yet I've never seen you around."

I was feeling sick. Ron looked absolutely horrified and terrified…but I think Harry looked the worst.

He began staggering sideways and leaned against the wall.

"Whoa," the girl said looking alarmed and concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I don't feel so well," Harry said swallowing.

"Yeah you don't look it," she said. "Wait here I'll be right back. Stay with him."

She instructed to us.

Ron and I crouched down in front of Harry.

"What in Bloody hell is going on here?" Ron asked.

Harry just shook his head. He kept swallowing a lot, which meant he was sick to his stomach.

I had to admit, I wasn't feeling well myself and I had to voice what we were all thinking.

"We've traveled back in time," I whispered quietly. "To Harry's parents' time at school."

Harry looked absolutely horrible.

"This has to be some kind of joke," he said swallowing. "It has to be."

We looked up. The blond haired girl and someone awfully familiar came running toward us.

It was Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.

Sirius crouched down in front of Harry.

"He looks exactly like James," Sirius said wide-eyed. "What's going on here? Did you play some kind of prank, Elizabeth?"

The blond haired girl shook her head.

"No. It wasn't me at all," she said then turned angry. "And why on earth would you think I would pull something like this? That's you and James' field."

Sirius never took his eyes off Harry.

"Let's get them back to the common room and see if we can't figure what's going on," he said.

So, we headed back to the common room.

ELIZABETH GILMORE

We entered the common room and I flopped down on the couch. The three 'strangers', I guess you could call them, nervously sat down next to one another on the loveseat section across from the couch.

The girl was pretty with shoulder length medium brown semi curly hair and honey brown eyes. Then, there was a tall, thin boy with light auburn hair and blue eyes. Then, the boy that looked exactly like James and Lily. Thick, wavy, untidy black hair and Lily's emerald green eyes which were behind a pair of thin black-rimmed glasses. They were dressed in the Hogwarts' robes and uniforms though with the Gryffindor colors.

Sirius sat on the chair.

"What are your names?" I asked kindly.

I could see they were terrified and confused.

"I'm Hermione Granger," the girl said weakly.

"Ron Weasley," the red haired boy said swallowing.

"And I'm Harry Potter," the last boy said nervously.

"Impossible," Sirius said shaking his head. "He's got the same last name too. Who are you?"

He suddenly became Sergeant Major toward them.

"Sirius," I snapped. "They're the same ages as we are. I seriously doubt their up to anything sinister. Chill out."

Sirius glared at me.

"They could be working with You-Know-Who! Or are you blind, Lizzie?"

I hated it when he called me 'Lizzie'. The only one I allowed to call me Lizzie was Remus Lupin.

I bristled.

"Sure and what would his all time evil plan be? 'I think I'm going to use spies to infiltrate Hogwarts and see how I can take over? Mwuahaha!'"

I saw Harry's lip twitch when I said that.

"I mean honestly, Sirius," I said rolling my eyes. "The Dark Lord would never use something to random and easy. He's probably more bound to go a crueler and violent way."

At that moment, the portrait entrance opened. I looked up. James, Lily, Remus and Peter entered. They caught site of the three new comers and froze.

"Bloody hell," James whispered wide-eyed behind his glasses.

"Then why is it that we never saw them around here before, huh? That they suddenly just 'appeared?'" Sirius argued angrily.

"I think I can answer that," Hermione said nervously raising her hand as though in class.

All eyes turned onto her.

"We were making the Bindel Potion in class," she said swallowing. "Our teacher, Professor Snape leaned over Harry's potion and something fell in. I think we were transported back in time."

We all looked at each other.

"I've heard that happening before," Remus said quietly as he stepped forward and stood next to me. "The case where some students brewed the potion vanished and five years later returned only in Egypt."

I saw Hermione's cheeks flushing with color when she saw him.

"Who's to say they time traveled?" Sirius asked tilting his head.

Remus' lip twitched.

"I think the 200 BC spears they had lodged in their robes pretty much said it all,"

"So being in the classroom is the last thing you remember?" I asked softly.

They nodded.

James, Lily and Peter stepped forward.

I could see on Harry's face an expression of grief, happiness and pain when James and Lily went over to him.

"He looks exactly like us," Lily said beaming. "He's got my eyes."

"And my hair," James said grinning. "What are your names?"

"Hermione Granger,"

"Ron Weasley,"

"Harry Potter,"

"The same last name too," Lily said frowning then her face lit up. "James, this is our future son!"

Sirius pretended to faint. Lily blushed furiously while James just stared at her.

"I think so," he said finally taking a deep breath.

"Mmkay," Sirius said finally sitting upright. "Now that we know who, where and how, how about asking what and why?"

"He thinks the Dark Lord is using them as spies," I said folding my arms over my chest.

"We're not spies," Ron said. "We're Hogwarts' students."

"I think there is only one way to tell," James said seriously.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE THE FARNUNDIS CHARM ON THEM!" I cried.

I started to get upset and the three new comers picked up on my nervousness and they too, became more edgy and scared.

James took out his wand. He had grief and remorse on his face.

"It would be the only way to tell," he said quietly.

Ron, Hermione and Harry huddled together in fear.

I turned and left the common room.

I stayed in the corridor and crossed my arms on top of the windowsill, and stared out at the grounds. Thick blankets of snow covered the ground and stuck on the limbs of trees. I pulled my robe around me tighter as my hair was whipped around my face by a gust of wind.

My name is Elizabeth Gilmore. I'm 17 years old with shoulder length blond hair and honey brown eyes.

James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter and I were all students in our last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Both my parents had the Farnundis Charm used on them by Voldemort's followers. It made the person spill out the deepest, darkest secrets. They had used the charm on my parents to see who was against Lord Voldemort and who was for him. Unfortunately, the spell had an unpleasant side effect. It damaged their memories and now they have no idea who I am. It was sort of like the Crucio Curse.

I really doubted they mean any harm to us. They just traveled back in time by a potion gone wrong.

Just then, I sensed someone standing beside me. I turned. It was Remus.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Of course not," I snapped. "James was about to Farnundis three innocent teenagers like us. How do you think I feel?"

Remorse filled his expression.

"And you're thinking of your parents," he said quietly.

"Duh," I said stiffly.

Immediately, I felt awful. I didn't mean to snap at Remus. It wasn't his fault after all.

"I'm sorry," I apologized immediately feeling guilty.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

At that moment, James and Sirius stepped out of the common room with blank expressions on their faces.

"So," I said coldly. "Let me guess…they're not spies?"

They shook their heads slowly.

Immediately, I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"You two are really bastards," I said angrily as the tears streaked down my cheeks. Remus went to grab my arm, but I yanked my arm out of his grasp. "I hope you're happy realizing you just damaged innocent teenagers like yourselves. I want nothing more to do with you."

With that I turned and stormed off down the corridor.