Last Time:

"Hello," she said when she was within earshot.

He spun around. "Holy – what are you doing here?"

"Alex? Who are you talking to?" A female voice came from a short distance away.

"Brenna," the man called, not taking his eyes from Danger, "you might want to hurry over here!"

A woman garbed in blue came around the treeline. As soon as she saw Danger, she stopped dead in her tracks, mouth agape. After her momentary shock passed, she turned to glare at the man. "Alexander Slytherin! What is going on here?"

Chapter Twelve

"What's going on? I don't know! She's not supposed to be here yet! Unless… Brenna, might she be from the other Pack? Shoot! I bet she is… Crud, I'll get in huge trouble if they find out she's here…"

By this time, Danger was fed up with the man, so she did what any sane person would do. She interrupted his rant with one of her own.

"Excuse me, I'm standing right here! And I have a few questions for you. First off, where am I? Who are you? And what do you mean, other Pack?"

"Yes, Alex. I think we'd all like to know that." All three spun around to find a small crowd headed by two women and a man. None of them seemed to be very happy with him.

"Well, Rick, it's interesting you should ask about that. See…"

By now Danger's brain had begun working again, and she belatedly reacted to his name. "She called you Slytherin! But – but–"

"Here we go," said Alex, grimacing.

"What is going on here?" Danger demanded. "I was brought here without my knowledge or my consent, and I want to return to my home! Now! Can one of you be bothered to send me back before you start a row with each other, please?"

The man called Rick – dressed in red, Danger noted vaguely, as opposed to Alex's green – nodded. "I am sorry for the inconvenience to you, madam. I shall personally return you to your home." With that he raised his wand and performed a complicated twist, all the while chanting under his breath. Danger closed her eyes when she heard a small whooshing sound. She opened them again when it became silent. She hadn't moved.

"Was something supposed to happen?" she asked.

Rick was frowning. "Yes. My apologies. I must have miscast the spell. Would you graciously allow me to try again?"

Danger nodded, and again closed her eyes as the whooshing sound came again, this time more intense. She felt an odd sensation- similar to apparating. She opened her eyes as the whooshing stopped, and found herself at the same point she had woken up in this world.

She was sure by now that this was indeed Hogwarts, but not the school she knew. This Hogwarts possessed a sense of newness, or rather, an agelessness which made it seem forever young and fresh.

Danger began to move back to the small crowd standing around the man she had first met. She could hear the older man (in red) saying "Now that that is finished, Alex…"

She interrupted. "Excuse me, but it's not. All that happened was I moved a small distance back."

The man cursed. "Godric!" scolded the woman in yellow. "Watch that language, or I'll have to Scourgify your mouth again!"

"Of course, Helga. My apologies. Rowena? Any guesses about the cause of Miss…" He paused, and addressed Danger. "I'm sorry. What is your name?"

She answered promptly. "I go by Danger. And it's actually Mrs. Danger Granger-Lupin."

"But dear!" the yellow-robed woman protested. "Danger can't be your real name."

"It's not. I don't answer to my given name."

"Still, what is it?"

Danger reluctantly gave it. "Gertrude."

The woman tried it out, saying it several times, and then laughed. "What a wonderful name! I simply don't understand why you don't go by it."

"Well, apparently you haven't read Hamlet."

The blue-garbed woman pounced on her statement. "Who is he, another new poet? I thought I was caught up on all of the modern writers!"

Danger gaped at the woman. "You've never heard of Hamlet! What about Romeo and Juliet?"

Godric looked absolutely shocked. "Juliet! You mean a woman wrote something and got it printed?"

Danger looked as thought the three people standing in front of her had committed a great scandal. "You've never heard of Shakespeare? You must be living in the dark ages!"

She said it a little teasingly, she thought she was joking… but their faces made it clear that they were taking her completely seriously.

"Dear," the woman in yellow began, "we rather are. You see…"

She was once again interrupted by Danger, who had just now recalled the names the three had used to one another. "You… you're all… You're Godric Gryffindor!" she said, pointing to the older man. "And you… you two are Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw!" The two women acknowledged her with nods.

Danger promptly passed out.

(Scene Break)

Remus, as ordered, had come downstairs after his shower. The cubs were ecstatic to see him, and had gathered all around him. They all tried to scent-touch him at once, to climb into his arms. Meghan was the only one who succeeded until he sat down, at which point Hermione and Dove made it into his lap. Harry and Draco sat on the floor beside him, chattering to him about what they'd been doing the past few days.

Aletha and Sirius looked on in approval. "They all needed this, didn't they." Sirius had worded it as a question, but he knew it was true. Aletha knew it as well, but answered him anyway.

"Yes. Our alpha needed to be reminded of his Pack, and the cubs needed their alpha's assurance."

Sirius pulled his gaze away from Remus, who showed signs of actually smiling as Harry and Draco described the fort they were building in the den room, and looked at his love. "What are the chances that Danger will actually pull through this?"

Aletha sighed. "It all depends on her will to get back to us. If she truly feels needed, she will return." She smiled slightly. "I think her chances are pretty good."

"I pray you're right, love." Sirius pulled her into his arms, feeling her lean on him as much as he leaned on her. "I pray you're right."

End Chapter

Well, everyone… I'm home and recovering from my surgery Wednesday. For those of you that didn't know (most of you), I had a surgery on my right eye to correct the muscles. Not very serious, but it means that I won't be able to write much unless I find someone around here to scribe for me. Merry Christmas, and God Bless

Ria