Well, here we go! Happy Christmas (early) to you lot! Seeking Time is officially started, and I'm super excited about how this story is going to continue to unfold. For those of you who are finding this and have not read "Telling Time," you'll want to read that first, or you'll be lost. Seeking Time is part two of five to "The Lost Founder Series." I encourage those of you with Facebook to search out "The Lost Founder" Group over there. Lots of sneak peeks and behind the scenes stuff to be found there, as well as the ability to chat with fellow fans of this series. While "Telling Time" was written strictly from the perspectives of Minerva and Hermione, "Seeking Time" as well as the remainder of the series will be written from the perspectives of a diverse cast of characters. The pattern you will see will be more based on affiliation; a Gryffindor character, a Hufflepuff character, a non-Hogwarts character, a Ravenclaw character, and a Slytherin character. I feel this offers more balance than "Telling Time" had, and given the fact that a year and a half ago (and change), the idea for "Telling Time" was meant to be a short story, no longer than 30k... yeah, that worked out so well ...I felt that the explosion of character base warranted offering more perspectives. A special thanks to my Beta CherriiMarina, for putting up with me through this process. Okay, without further ado, I present - SEEKING TIME!

Prologue

Perenelle Flamel had just come from the Dumbledore estate, having been there to meet her newest Godson, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. What a name indeed! Perenelle thought that it was a bit much, but if her instincts were anything to go on, the babe would grow up to be one of the most noteworthy wizards of the age. He'd live up to such a pretentious name, and she'd be there to ensure he didn't become an insufferable arse during his rise to fame. She'd had to do much the same with the boy's father, and grandfather, not to mention the many generations before them to whom she'd been godmother. The first-born Dumbledore son had been hers to call her own for as long as any of them could remember.

With a quiet pop, Perenelle vanished from the border of Percival's land and reappeared moments later several hundred miles away, in front of the looming gates of Hogwarts. She didn't come here often, and seldom went inside, but even after all these years, it was still home to her, and she liked to just stop and see it. It was summer still, so there was no bustle of students running around the grounds, but that suited her just fine. The soft, green grass was a field of memories, and at least for the moment, there was no youthful laughter to rob her of her anger. Her childhood had been a beautiful dream, growing up with two professors for parents and surrogate aunts, uncles, and grandparents of the rest of the staff at that time. She'd married young, and had been happily so, but then her mother was gone.

And nothing was ever the same. Her sons were born, and her mother wasn't there. Her husband delved into the dark arts, and her mother wasn't there. Perenelle could think of a thousand examples of moments she'd so desperately needed her mother in the years that followed that bitter loss, and so for all the happy memories she could consider standing here and now, when not faced with the idyllic silhouette of a happy childhood, she stood neck high in anger. The boiling mixture of emotion threatened to choke her day in and day out, through all of her first marriage and now into her second one. Nicolas was a good man, and according to him, his overly cheerful demeanor made up for when she had a bad day.

"Madam Flamel?"

Perenelle turned to the left to see a semi familiar face. She'd crossed paths with this woman several times over the years, though it had been some time and age was really beginning to take hold of her. "Cassandra Trelawney," she greeted. "It has been some time. You look well."

"I look old," the other woman countered, "Much like you yourself do. The difference between you and I is that as I continue to age, my body will fail, and yours, well, we both know it won't."

A heavy sigh left Perenelle's lips. "I do hope you haven't joined the ranks of those wishing to exploit my husband's research."

"Oh, heavens no," came a ready assurance. "I have seen things that are to come, and I'm far too great a coward to wish to be there when they come to pass. I seek you because I have seen the fate of your newest godson, and the role you will play in his life. I have seen your past, and how your future will interconnect with my own. I have seen that you are waiting for the chosen one to arrive."

Perenelle paled. "It was all true, then? What my mother told me?"

Cassandra cocked her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "True in the manner she perceived it to be, but it is because of how she perceived it that it will all come to pass."

"Seers," Perenelle scoffed. "Must you speak in riddles?"

"Riddles and rhythm are the foundation of prophecy," came an easy reply. "As all things that have been, and have yet to come to pass, fall into a cosmic pattern which only those with the inner eye can truly understand. It is we who must simplify things in a manner which people like you can understand, though even then, those without the sight often take too much time to even come to the most obvious conclusions."

"I don't…"

Perenelle was cut off as Cassandra's blue eyes glazed over, and her once blond hair began whipping in the summer wind. "First of three visions to be; alarm, unwind, and mend...The chosen Founder that is she on whom fate must depend...If a boy be marked to fight against the Founder's heir...Trelawney's line must make right, Lost Founder must endure."

The wind stopped just as suddenly as it had begun, and Cassandra's eyes cleared. "Do you understand, Wardling?"

It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of Perenelle's shoulders, the anger at her mother seeming to be shifted away with the winds of prophecy. "Yes," she said simply.

"Your mother's life was always fated to revolve around prophecy," the Seer said softly. "She knew that, I think, even if she's only thus far seen a little evidence to suggest it."

"I wish I'd known a long time ago."

"I cannot grant you that bequest, but I can tell you of three things yet to come," Cassandra offered. "Perhaps it will help you weather the coming years without bitterness creeping over you again."

"Any three things?"

"Ask your questions, and if I have the answers, I will provide them," Cassandra agreed.

"Will Nicolas and I ever have a child?" Perenelle inquired. They'd been trying for years, with no luck. She'd fallen pregnant once, early in their marriage, but it had only held for six weeks.

"You will, but he will not. His seed is spent, though your womb is still as young as it was when you were wed the first time. You will mother a daughter, but it will come at the price of allowing her father and his wife to raise the girl. You will, in time, meet her again. She will have her father's name, but your mantle. She will have his legacy, but your destiny."

"Well that's cryptic, but at least it wasn't a riddle," Perenelle mused.

"Next inquiry?" Cassandra offered.

"If I have a child with someone other than Nicolas, that presumes he will be gone by the time that happens," Perenelle said thoughtfully. "And as I do not apparently end up with my child's father, I find myself wondering if I will end up alone. Is there any hope for lasting love, so long as I remain immortal?"

"You will love four times in your lifetime, once for each of the reasons you cannot die. The first husband you already know of, as well as your second. Your daughter's father will be the third, though because of his marriage, this will not last. Your affair will be a consented one, as his wife is barren and while he loves her, you love him. You will give him a child born in your love, and he will not realize he feels the same until after his wife is dead. Your fourth and final love will not be met until you are freely using your original name again. My sight ends there, where you are concerned, as does the unending lifeline."

"I'll become mortal again?"

Cassandra nodded. "What is your final inquiry, Perenelle?"

"You've given me some fair clues to who my daughter's father will be, but very little about the last love I'll have. How will I know him?"

"While your heir is marked for darkness, he is a product of that path. Still, he will be good, even while the world assumes the worst for how he came to be. Like you, Hogwarts will be the only real home he's ever known, a bond created with three brothers of the heart, rather than blood. He will have your father's post, but your mother's house. He will cure your broken heart, and you will cure his broken soul."

"Well then," Perenelle sighed. "I suppose that's something to look forward to then."

"Life, love, and happiness, my dear," Cassandra agreed. "It's something we can all look forward to. One more thing though…"

"What?"

"One day, you will find the need to put an heir of mine in a difficult position in order to ensure the prophecy I just spoke to you comes to pass," the Seer replied. "And it must come to pass, or the world will fall into endless darkness, wizarding and muggle alike. Like you will give up a daughter for a time, my descendant must do the same. I tell you this now because you and I will not meet again, and I wanted you to know ahead of time that I forgive you for this, because I know it must be. All of this must be, even if it means two girls will grow up ignorant of the legacy they respectively carry. Yours, and mine."

"So not all sunshine and roses, then?" Perenelle sighed.

"No," Cassandra admitted. "Though that's what makes life interesting, don't you think?"

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