Rude Awakenings

A month had gone by since the Happily Ever After for Lily and James, Alaina and Remus, and Ashley and Sirius. Ashley and Sirius were celebrating their one month anniversery. Ashley and Sirius were in the Room of Requirement celebrating. It was a pretty romantic evening. They were just finishing dinner when Ashley asked. "Do you ever wonder about our future?"

"Sometimes," Sirius admitted.

"What's it like?" asked Ashley.

"Well...We're living close by London, and we've got four kids. Two boys, and two girls. We've got a dog and a cat, and we're all happy and healthy. We're living close by all of our friends, and we're all ten minutes away from one another. Our kids all play together, and we live generally happy lives," Sirius concluded smiling and turning a bit pink.

"Wow, Sirius. I wish I knew what it would be like. I hope our future is just like that," she whispered.

"Me too," Sirius replied.

"Sirius - Do you love me?"

"Always and forever."

And then very unexpectadly, Ashley fell unconcious.

She was surrounded by darkness. And soon, she saw a greenish light. Ashley followed it, not knowing what compelled her to do so. She was in Diagon Alley. That's weird, how had she gotten here? She walked by a store, and looked at the Newspaper. November 20, 1982. 1982? How the hell did she get to 1982? Was she dreaming? No, this felt much too realistic to be a dream. She decided to just stroll into the Leaky Cauldron.

As soon as she walked in, a woman in her mid fourties walked up to her. "Blimey, you look like that Ashley Benedettis who was killed last month. Anyone ever tell ya that, deary?"

"I - I am Ashley Benedettis. W - What's going on?" Ashley asked in a frightened tone.

"You can't be her. S - She was killed last month. By you-know-who himself!" the woman replied, convincing herself that Ashley was crazed. The door opened in the background and Ashley spun to see a familiar face.

"HAGRID!"

"A - Ashley? Is tha yer? Nah - Couldn' be," Hagrid said mournfully.

"Hagrid, it is me! What's going on?"

"Er - Maybe it's bes' to to talk ou'side," Hagrid said, as if he had seen a ghost. Ashley sighed but followed him.

"What's going on?" Ashley repeated.

"Time-travel, eh?" Hagrid asked sternly.

"I don't know! One minute I was on a date with Sirius celebrating our anniversery, and now I'm here, having people tell me that I'm dead!" Ashley said furiously.

"Ugh, Black! I really shouldn' tell yer an'thing, Ashley. Migh' screw up stuff."

"But what if that's why I'm here? What if I were sent to change the future? Think about it Hagrid, How else could I have time-travelled without using any spells or a time-turner?" argued Ashley.

"Tha's true."

"Can't we at least speak to Dumbledore? I'm sure he has a clue as to what's going on," Ashley replied.

"Nah, if this was for yeh to change the future, then this Dumbledore wouldn' know much. Yer'd hafta go further into the future for tha'."

"Ugh! Then can you please tell me what's going on? I have a right to know why I'm dead!"

"Listen, Ashley. This is dark stuff, okay? If I'm resp'sible for messin' up the future, I could get inter a lotta trouble! But, I agree with ya on some of what yer sayin'."

"So will you help me, Hagrid? Please?" Ashley pleaded.

"All righ', All righ'. A little less than a month ago, James an' Lily Potter, an' yer were together. The story goes tha' yer-know-who came over with some of his Death Eaters. James told Lily ter go protect Harry-,"

"Harry? Who's Harry?" Ashley asked confusedly.

"Harry Potter. Yer godson!" Hagrid replied.

"James and Lily - have a - a - a baby?"

"Oh yeah, Forgot yer from the past. When are yer from, anyway?"

"1977."

"Er - Righ'. Anyway, back ter the story. Lily went upstairs ter protect Harry. Rumor has it tha' yeh and James tried to figh' them off, but i' was no use. I think yer guys died wi'hin seconds of each other. Then, Black was arrested o'course. Betrayed yeh, an' Lily, an' James. An' then he killed his own friend! Whatta waste of a good wizard."

"Sirius wouldn't do that! There must be a mistake!"

"Too many witnesses," Hagrid replied, shrugging off her theory.

"H - He's in Azkaban?" Ashley said, fighting back tears.

"Yes."

"Hagrid, I have to see him! Is there a way I could see him in Azkaban?"

"He be'rayed yeh!"

"What happened to Harry and Lily?" asked Ashley.

"Well, firs' he killed James. I think James told yer to go help Lily an' Harry. Probably said ter let him go, tha' was the kinda man James was. Yer probably ran upstairs, an' all we know is tha' Lily fought for Harry's life. We dunno when or where he killed yer though. Still a mys'ery."

"What happened to Harry?" asked Ashley, a single tear falling from her eye.

"Oh, he survived. Lives with the Dursley's, curse 'em all. Yeh know, he couldn' stay with his godparents, couldde? Yeh were dead and Sirius in Azkaban!"

"I want to see him. I need to see Sirius," Ashley demanded.

"Yeh can'!" Hagrid insisted.

"What was my job? Couldn't something in my work allow me to see him?" Ashley begged, tears streaming down her face.

"Well - Yeh were an auror, like the res' of 'em."

"Ha! An Auror. That's perfect. Auror's are aloud to speak to the wizards in Azkaban. My Uncle Kendrick's an Auror and sometimes he visits the people he puts in Azkaban. Normally with someone to work out what will happen to their house, money, and that kind of stuff. But he goes alone a lot too. If I can -,"

"No use. Yer dead, remember?" Hagrid asked a little sympathetically.

"Er - Right. Well there's gotta be something! We can explain our situation to Dumbledore in this time. He's the smartest man alive, I'm sure he'd be able to do something!"

"Once again, tha's true," Hagrid agreed.

"Where is Dumbledore?"

"He's stayin' at the Leaky Cauldron this weekend," replied Hagrid.

"That's great, Hagrid! Thanks!" Ashley said happily and she ran into the Leaky Cauldron again. She walked up to Tom, the Landlord. "Hiya, Tom. Do you know where Dumbledore is?"

"He'll be down for tea in a minute or so," Tom replied, nodding toward the staircase and the table and chairs. Ashley thanked him and a couple of minutes later, Dumbledore entered the room.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Ashley cried joyfully.

"Ashley? Is that you?" Dumbledore replied, looking quite shocked.

"Yes, Professor. I - I don't know what's happened. One moment I was in the Room of Requirement on a date with Sirius and the next I'm here, and I'm dead!" Ashley choked out.

"Oh my. The Room of Requirement, you say? Ah, that'll be the magic of the room. Were you possibly talking about the future?" Dumbledore asked silently.

"Yes! Sirius and I were talking about what our future would be like - er - as a couple. I said I wish I knew what our future will be like and now I'm here, hearing Sirius is in jail, and James, Lily, and I are dead!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Benedettis, but it seems to me that you're supposed to observe this time, maybe not to let it happen again, but to change it. Perhaps Sirius is not meant to be in prison. Perhaps James, Lily, and yourself are meant to be alive. Maybe poor little Harry Potter is not meant to grow up with Vernon and Petunia Dursley - and that son of theirs," Dumbledore concluded wisely.

"But how can I change it?" Ashley asked.

"I think you need to discuss that with Mr. Black," Dumbledore replied, nodding slightly.

"But sir - How? He's in Azkaban," Ashley said plaintively.

"That he is. But I'm sure I could persuade Cornelius Fudge into letting him out temporarily. Of course, a couple of aurors would have to be present," Dumbledore said.

"Okay, thanks Professor!" Ashley said, smiling.

"I'll write to Cornelius now. Here, have some tea whilst we await a reply."

"Ashley! Ashley! Please wake up. Wake up!" Sirius was frantic. He reached for her hand to feel a pulse. It was there, so she was just unconsious. He picked her up in his arms and he tried to carry her out, but everytime they reached the door, Ashley would hit and punch him in her unconsious state. "Great, so we're stuck in here."

Then, Sirius had an idea. He pulled out his two-way mirror and said "James." and James appeared where his reflection once was.

"What's up, Padfoot?"

"Ashley's unconsious! Everytime I try to take her out of here, she goes ballistic. Call Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, and get in here to help! I'll come out so I can think of what the room is," Sirius replied quickly.

"Okay, I'm going. I'll see you in five minutes," James replied, and his image was gone. Sirius went outside to wait for Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, and James. Several minutes later, they arrived and Sirius thought of what he wanted the room to be three times. They entered to find Ashley laying on a couch.

"What exactly happened, Mr. Black? Did she say or do anything that may have caused this?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well - We were - uh - talking about our future and stuff, and she said something like 'I wish I could find out what our future's gonna be like'. Maybe the room did something to show her?" suggested Sirius.

"Very possible, Mr. Black, very possible indeed," responded Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"So - She's in the future?" asked James.

"I believe so, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore replied, keeping his eyes on Ashley.

"Er - Then what do we do?" James asked.

"We wait until her trip to the future is over," Dumbledore replied, "Thanks, Poppy, but I think we'll be okay here."

"Yes, headmaster," Madam Pomfrey nodded and left.

Just then Ashley spoke. "Sirius! Sirius! Nooo!"

"Er - That doesn't sound so great," James muttered. Sirius shot him a look and walked over to her. He held her hand and stroked her hair. There was nothing more they could do.