James was watching the duel, very frightened for his professor. He didn't know why, but he felt like Professor Donovan needed to live, like James wanted to protect him from Voldemort. Suddenly, Voldemort pointed his wand at James. He tensed. It felt like it was going very slowly. A green beam was shooting towards him, but a body lunged in front of James, taking the curse for him. BAM! Dumbledore was here and he shot a jet of red at Voldemort. Voldemort was blasted off of his feet.
"Dumbledore!" hissed Voldemort angrily.
"Tom." Dumbledore said coldly, eyes blazing with fury.
With a swish of his cloak, Voldemort was gone.
"Miss. Granger, please levitate him to Hogwarts. Bring Professor Donovan to the Infirmary. I will expect you four to be there, too. I will see you there fifteen minutes." Dumbledore said.
Hermione nodded. She was crying silently. Dumledore went to question people in shops.
"I suppose you know another way to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked in a high pitched tone.
They all nodded miserably. Hermione was actually leading them to the Honeyduke's cellar. They didn't even ask how she knew. When they got to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey immediately took over. She put Harry into a bed and examined him. She frowned.
"Mr. Donovan-"she started.
"He's not dead, is he?" Hermione cried.
"No, Miss. Granger. He seems to have an...aura around him…a golden aura; it won't let me touch him." Madame Pomfrey explained. "But strange...he's alive!"
Hermione let out a shriek of happiness and started crying from joy.
Harry was in a golden room. He was confused. Then, an old man appeared from thin air.
"W-who are you?" Harry asked. He was thinking it was God.
The old man chuckled. He had warm, hazel eyes, and a soft, welcoming voice.
"No, Harry, I am not God. I am Godric Gryffindor."
"Where am I?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.
"The In-Between. It's a place in between life and death. There are 2 In-Betweens."
"So...Am I dead?" Harry asked.
"No, you will live. You are meant to accomplish many more." Godric said kindly.
"But I got hit with a Killing Curse!" Harry said.
"Didn't stop you before, did it? You lived from love. That's one thing Voldemort, er- Tom doesn't have. True, both of you didn't get love from your guardians as a child, but inside of your heart, you still have love from your parents. Tom, has none at all, inside or out." Godric explained.
"Oh." Harry said dumbly.
"You look a lot like your father; therefore, you look a lot like me when I was your age. Except for the, er- silver in your hair." Godric said smiling.
"W-what?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you? You are the Heir of Gryffindor!" Godric said grinning broadly. "So it's quite natural for you to be fighting the Heir of Slytherin."
"I-I am?" Harry said wide eyed.
Godric just kept grinning. Suddenly, his smile turned into a frown. A dark rumbling sound was heard.
"Uh oh. You'd better go. See you in the future, Harry Potter."
With swirls engulfing him, the setting went blurry.
Harry gained consciousness, but everything was blurry. He reached on his left and right, and finally found his glasses. He could tell it was early afternoon.
"Professor!" a voice exclaimed. Harry looked to his left. There, he was Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter in chairs by his bed.
"How long have I been out of it?" Harry asked groggily.
"Five days." Sirius answered. Harry groaned.
"Miss. Granger has been teaching your classes for you." Remus said.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"I hope so." Harry said. Truthfully, Harry's head throbbed painfully, his chest ached, and he felt like shit.
"Have I even been treated with anything?" Harry asked.
"Er...Madame Pomfrey said that a golden aura thing was surrounding you and it wouldn't let her touch you so she just let you sleep."
"Oh." Harry said dumbly.
"It's my fault that you almost died." James said quietly.
That sounded very familiar to Harry.
"No, it isn't. Hey, I'm alive, aren't I?" Harry said lightly.
"Yeah, but-"James protested.
"No buts. You're-you're just too young to die." Harry said.
James raised his eyebrow. "Too young? You're only a year older than me."
"Yeah, well, you have many things to accomplish in life- And I've faced many near death experiences and well, I've done a lot of things so if I die, I'll be content." Harry said slowly.
"Why didn't you die?" Peter asked. Everyone looked at him.
"I meant, why didn't you die when you got shot with the Killing Curse?" Peter said quickly.
"I-I have unfinished work to do." Harry said carefully.
A bell rang from outside the Infirmary.
"We should go. It's lunch time." Sirius said rubbing his stomach.
Harry cracked a smile and nodded. After the Marauders left, Hermione came in.
"Harry!" Hermione squealed. She gave him a huge, bone-crushing hug. Harry told her about the dream he had.
"You're the Heir of Gryffindor!" Hermione said, her eyes widening. Harry nodded.
"So, what've you been teaching them?" Harry asked.
"I taught them the Summoning Charm on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and I started going over the theory of Patronuses on Friday."
"Damn. I still have to teach them Patronuses." Harry said.
"Did you notice that Voldemort called you 'Potter'?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I hope the guys didn't." Harry said frowning slightly.
They chatted until Madame Pomfrey yelled at Hermione for not getting her when Harry woke up and shooed her away.
"Can I go to dinner?" Harry asked eagerly.
"I suppose so." Madame Pomfrey said stiffly.
"Thanks Poppy." Harry said, giving her a dazzling smile.
"Are you sure you're not related to James Potter?" Madame Pomfrey asked.
Harry chuckled. "Pretty sure."
Harry almost ran out of the Hospital Wing. He could've, but his chest was slightly aching still.
He opened the Great Hall door and looked around. He was halfway down the middle aisle, when a loud bang came from the Great Hall doors. A cloaked figure came walking to Harry. Then the person gave him a nice slap on his face. The whole hall was silent yet again.
"Is this deja vu, or what?" Harry said loudly, grinning slightly.
The figure took their cloak off and gave Harry a short hug.
"Ginny, are you mad at me?" Harry asked. Ginny just glared at him but Harry could tell that it was fake.
"Thanks, love." Harry said, grinning. He twirled her around and kissed her softly. She was almost a foot shorter than Harry. They hear a low whistle from their right. It was Sirius. Harry grinned. Harry looked Ginny over.
Ginny changed a lot during the years. She was now 5'6 (while Harry was 6'4) and had a slight tan. She had an hourglass figure and light freckles sprinkled on her face. Her lips were dark pink and Ginny's blue eyes sparkled with laughter and determination. Her red fiery hair was wavy, and tumbled down her shoulders. Her big smile revealed her pearly whites.
Hermione walked over to them. "Ginny!" she exclaimed happily and gave Ginny a hug.
"Dumbledore's going to meet us in your rooms." Hermione told Harry.
Harry took both of their hands and apparated to his chambers. They sat down and Harry and Hermione began to explain things to Ginny. Dumbledore came and waved his wand. Tea and biscuits appeared on the table.
"How long will you be staying, Miss.-?" Dumbledore asked.
"Weasley, sir. I guess for how long Harry's staying."
"Actually here, your last name Is Wheeler." Harry interrupted.
"Yes, Arthur Weasley graduated two years ago and I don't think he has a younger sister." Dumbledore said smiling.
"Okay." Ginny nodded.
"You still have to go to school, Gin." Harry said.
"What!" Ginny exclaimed angrily.
"No matter what year it is, you still have to go to school. Your mum will be after my skin when we get back and she finds out that you didn't attend your last year of school!" Harry said grinning.
Ginny huffed, but in the end, she agreed to attend school. A knock came from the portrait. With a wave of Harry's hand, the portrait swung open. It was James and Lily.
'Please don't faint like Hermione!' Harry silently prayed.
"Hi Harry, er- Ginny, right?" James said.
"Hey James, Lily. Come, sit down." Harry said.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Ginny asked, confused.
"Harry talks a lot of his friends." James said grinning. Lily gave James a dirty look.
"Miss. Ginny Wheeler, this is James Potter and Lily Evans, the Head Boy and Girl of Hogwarts." Dumbledore said.
Ginny's eyes slightly widened, but she did nothing else unusual.
"Hi, Ginny. Potter and I will be showing you around Hogwarts for the first week or two. You're in Gryffindor, right?" Lily said politely.
"Yes." Ginny answered.
There was a knock from the portrait, and in came Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
"S-sirius!" Ginny yelped, her eyes widening into the size of miniature tennis balls.
"The one and only!" Sirius said grinning.
"B-but... you're dea-"Ginny said. She quickly grew pale.
"Uh, er- she's saying you're er- uh, dea- dead-dead sexy!" Harry made up hastily.
Hermione, he could see, was trying very hard not to laugh. Dumbledore had a look of pure amusement on his face.
"I know, aren't I?" Sirius said smiling dazzily (A/N: not sure if that's a real word… probably not)
Remus frowned slightly. "I thought Ginny was your girlfriend."
"Er, yeah, she is, but nobody takes it personally when she says that stuff." Harry lied.
"Oh, Merlin...Peter Pettigrew?" Ginny gasped.
"And, Remus Lupin, yeah. They're my students. Er, will you excuse us for a moment?" Harry said, grabbing Ginny's wrist and practically carrying her to his bedroom.
"That was really weird." James stated aloud.
- - - -
Once they had privacy, Harry set Ginny on his bed.
"Ginny, are you okay?" Harry said slowly and clearly.
"Sirius is…dead!" Ginny whispered.
"This is the past. My parents and all of their friends are here, so try not to be too surprised, okay? Do you think you'll be alright?" Harry asked with concern.
Ginny nodded and took a deep breath.
They walked back to the living quarters.
"So guys, what are you doing here?" Harry asked to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
Sirius shrugged. "Bored." he answered for all three of them.
- - - -
Ginny soon got situated with her classes in the next few days and became close friends with Lily and the Marauders.
"Okay, class, we will be continuing on Patronuses, and the only person who fully got it is Gin- Miss. Wheeler." Harry said to his 7th year Gryffindor and Slytherin students.
Ginny had been able to produce a Patronus in her 5th year, when Harry was still doing the D.A.
"Keep on working on them. Remember, it's 'Expecto Patronum'." Harry said.
Hermione was Harry's assistant and was helping Sirius. Ginny was helping Lily with hers.
After fifteen minutes of practicing, Harry started to talk again.
"I have a Boggarts, and the Boggart will turn into a Dementor when it sees me, so I want all of you to try to produce a Patronus, okay?"
The class was dead silent. They didn't know that their powerful professor had a fear and they certainly didn't think it would be a Dementor. Harry took out a trunk from underneath his desk and opened it. The Boggart immediately transformed into a Dementor. Harry felt the familiar cold, icy, dead, haunted feeling washing over him, but tried to ignore it. Harry could tell everyone else could feel it too, because nobody moved.
- -
James felt a little nervous as Professor Donovan opened the trunk. He immediately felt the cold and icy feeling engulf his body. Nobody was moving at all. He hated this feeling; he could hear all of his bad, painful memories in his head. He finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled out, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!", but his wasn't the only voice that yelled it out.
A Gryffin-like figure shot out of his wand and charged at the Dementor. James also saw a...stag! It was him, Prongs! He wondered who's it was.
Professor Donovan said, "Riddikulus!" and the Boggart- Dementor now wore high heels and tripped over into the trunk and Harry locked it.
James looked at Sirius, Remus, and Peter. They were all looking back at him with a bewildered look on each of their faces.
"Who produced those Patronuses?" a voice called out.
"Mine was the Gryffin." James said. "Who's was that er- stag?"
Harry sighed. "It was mine." The bell rang. "Just practice your Patronuses for homework." was heard over the shuffling of feet.
"James and Ginny I need you two to stay." Harry called out.
James and Ginny walked over to Harry and Hermione. Ginny had a sympathetic look on her face and James had a look of confusion.
"We need to take a visit the Headmaster's office."
