I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or anything else resembling what J.K Rowling introduced us all to. Just the plot and OC are mine.


Chapter 3

Ava slowly woke up, feeling too warm. She felt fur around her, so she pushed slightly and grumbled, "Moose, get down." The canine didn't move, so she woke herself up a little more. The sandy shade of fur in front of her eyes definitely did the trick. Feeling shocked awake, Avalynn glanced around and noticed that she was still in the Shrieking Shack with the Marauders. "What the hell?" she muttered aloud. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she saw the black dog, "Sirius", laying in front of the door to the room. Ava wasn't entirely sure what was happening because she had never woken up inside of a dream before. She just shrugged mentally and said, "Good morning, puppy," to "Padfoot" with a smile. She could've sworn she saw his eyes narrow, and she was about to say something to him, but was interrupted by the fluffy werewolf snuggled into her side shifting his weight.

Immediately, Prongs, Wormtail, and Padfoot were on high alert. The werewolf shook his head slightly and drowsily started to stand. Remembering that this "dog" was supposedly Remus in her dream, she realized that he must be about to transform back into his human self. I hope it's not as bad and painful as they showed in the movies. Although, that's what my brain has seen before, so it may pull that for my dream. Although, he doesn't look like the werewolf in the movie, more like a wolf, she thought quickly. The werewolf was fully standing and blearily looked around before snapping his head back in Ava's direction to lock his beautiful, amber eyes with her. Subconsciously, she smiled at Moony as she began to reach out to pet him. Suddenly, he lurched backwards and whimpered. Startled, Avalynn snatched her hand back and felt her entire body tense. Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail, as she had started calling them in her head, began pacing around the room nervously, putting Ava on edge. Without warning, Moony let out a pained howl. Almost immediately, Ava could actually hear the individual bones and joints snapping and popping back into place in between the howls of agony as the werewolf slowly became smaller. Her vision became blurred by tears brought on by the violent transformation in front of her. Slowly, the sandy fur on Remus' body began to disappear as well, as did the cries of pain, but the wolf kept whimpering every now and then as the body of a human became more prominent. Finally, the naked body of a sandy-haired teenage boy remained.

Ava wiped her eyes as she took a shuddering breath and softly said, "He doesn't deserve that."

James, Sirius, and Peter quickly transformed back into the wizards Avalynn assumed they were. James wore round glasses and had black hair sticking up in all directions, of course, but he was a bit taller and less lanky than she expected. Sirius stood a couple inches taller than James, with broad shoulders, black hair just past his shoulders, and a little bit of scruff on his face that made him appear to be a few years older than she figured he was. He also happened to be glaring at her rather severely. The third boy, Peter, was fairly short compared to the other two and still had some baby fat to lose. She could also see that his hair was blonde, slightly lighter than hers. Huh, Ava thought. Doesn't look much like a traitor. He looks so innocent. She was shaken from her thoughts when James curiously asked, "What did you say?"

"Uh," she eloquently responded. So far in her dream, no one had spoken to her, and she was still a little thrown off by the realistic quality of the dream. Everything felt, looked, and sounded real. All three of the boys were looking at her expectantly, so she cleared her throat and said, "He doesn't deserve that. The pain, I mean," as she gestured towards Remus' unconscious form.

The expression on Sirius' face softened a bit, but he refused to take his eyes off of her. James nodded in agreement and opened his mouth to ask where the hell she had come from, but Sirius cut him off. "Prongs, Wormtail, why don't you two take Moony on up to the Hospital Wing, and I'll keep an eye on our new friend here, huh? I'll talk with her," he told them firmly as he tipped is head in Ava's direction.

"I'm right here, you know," she said sternly. James and Peter cast quick glances in her direction. Peter looked mildly disturbed by Ava's presence, but James just appeared to be intensely curious. However, his duty as a friend came first, so James shook his head and nodded to Peter. They hoisted up Remus, one on each side, and essentially dragged him out of the room and shut the door behind them.

Immediately, Sirius whipped his wand in Ava's direction and growled, "Where the fuck did you come from!? And how do you know my nickname?"

Ava rolled her eyes, but held up her hands in surrender. "I don't know how I'm here, but considering here is just a dream, why don't you calm down a bit?"

Sirius stared at her in confusion with his mouth hanging open. "A dream?" he repeated. "This is not a dream, girl. Now, I'll ask one more time before I start throwing hexes. Where did you come from and how did you get in here?!" he shouted.

Ava was still sitting on the ground where she woke up and she huffed as she crossed her legs and arms in frustration. How do you explain that you're in a dream to a figment of your dream? she pondered.

Sirius grumbled impatiently, but Avalynn was too caught up in her thoughts to notice this. What she did notice, however, was the Stinging Hex that he sent her way. The spell has struck her in the side of her thigh, causing her to stand up and yelp in pain. "Ouch! Don't be a dick!" she shouted indignantly as she rubbed the spot where the spell landed on her leg. She began to stomp towards him, thinking about smacking him rather hard, but Sirius quickly cast, "Incarcerous." Before Ava even had time to protest, she was on the ground again, but this time wrapped up in ropes, with her arms pinned to her sides. Laying on the floor, she lifted her neck to take a better look at Sirius and accusingly asked, "What was that for?"

He merely shrugged and said, "Precaution." Then he proceed to cast Expelliarmus with no avail. Ava rolled her eyes and huffed. She couldn't keep in her chuckle when he tried a couple more times and his face turned red in irritation. "What's so funny?" he snapped.

"I don't have a wand, you idiot. I'm a Muggle," she said with a grin, but then her smile dropped. Sirius was sure that if he wasn't an Animagus, he wouldn't have heard her next statement. "I wish I had magic though," she whispered disappointedly, looking down at the ropes binding her.

He wasn't sure how to handle that information, but he kept his wand trained on her just in case it was a trick of some sort. Avalynn sighed and looked up at the Animagus. "Can you please let me go? This isn't exactly comfortable." Sirius just stared at her in confusion. He had no idea how a Muggle could just pop up in the middle of a full moon in the Shrieking Shack. "Ugh! I just. Want. To. Wake. Up," Ava grounded out as she struggled with the ropes.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why do you think you're in a dream?" he asked. Before Ava could answer, James opened the door to the room and informed them both that Peter was staying with Remus back up at the castle. She could hear the boys whispering amongst themselves as James caught his breath from sprinting back to the shack, and occasionally they would glance over in her direction. She assumed that Sirius was relaying all the information he had learned to James, which was practically nothing. After a minute or so, Ava complained once more. "Can you please let me out of these ropes? For crying out loud."

James sighed and said, "Finite." Sirius gave him a hard look, so he said, "What? She's a Muggle. What's she gonna do?"

"Thanks, James," Ava quickly said as she stood up and stretched. She slowly walked over to them, trying to think of a plan to wake herself up. As she was approaching the boys, Sirius asked once more, "So how'd you know my nickname?"

Ava waved him off. "Forget about that. How do I wake up? Stupid dream," she replied, mostly to herself, looking between the two of them.

Sirius continued his frown from before, and James laughed lightly, until the other two stared at him with raised eyebrows. Avalynn was tired of this situation, and Sirius didn't trust this whole sudden appearance situation with the girl. James cleared his throat and said, "Right. So, uh, this isn't a dream."

Ava just shook her head and smiled. "Of course it is. You're from a book," she said, waving her hand between the two of them. The best friends frowned at her in unison, looked at each other, then back at her.

Sirius elbowed James in the side softly and muttered, "She's crazy, mate. Like St. Mungo's crazy."

Ava crossed her arms and stomped her foot. "I do not need to go to the hospital. What I need to do is wake up." Suddenly she held out her arm. "Alright, c'mon."

The boys looked down at her arm in confusion. "What?" James asked.

"Pinch me. I'm dreaming, right? Pinch me, and I'll wake up," she told them.

"Don't mind if I do," Sirius said with a smile as he reached out to pinch Ava's arm. Indeed, he grabbed a little patch of Ava's skin and pinched, and it hurt like a bitch.

"Fuck!" she yelled as she snatched her arm back and rubbed the pinched spot.

Both of the boys laughed. "Well what did you expect, girl?" Sirius asked.

Avalynn scoffed. "Excuse me? Girl? I'm older than you, kid. You're all just a bunch of teenagers."

"Uh, you're definitely around our age, umm, what's your name?" James said with a frown.

She rolled her eyes, but answered with, "Ava. Well, Avalynn. But call me Ava."

"Okay, Ava. For starters, you are most definitely a teenager, like us. And you definitely aren't dreaming," James informed her.

Ava essentially ignored his comment and decided to keep trying to wake herself up. "Alright, boys. I want one of you to slap me." James looked completely baffled, while Sirius was grinning. Ava turned to him, expecting a willing participant.

Sirius' eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No way, I'm not slapping you."

"Oh, so just pinching, then?" she grumbled with narrowed eyes. "Stupid pureblood manners," she muttered as she shook out her arms. "Okay, Ava, let's do this." She stilled and then suddenly swung up her hand, and slapped herself across the face. Her cheek reddened and the boys were standing there, gaping at her. "Well, shit. That actually really hurt." Ava was finally beginning to panic. "This isn't right. This has to be a dream. You guys aren't real. Seriously. What the fuck?" Her breaths were coming faster as she began to pace the room.

With the level of hysteria that the unknown girl was displaying, the boys began to consider their options. "She's certifiable, mate," Sirius said. "I think we should take her to Dumbledore, he'll know what to do." James didn't want to get in trouble, his parents would certainly kill him this time, but he thought Sirius was right. This was bigger than they could handle. Ava was still too caught up in the fact that this was somehow real to hear what the boys were talking about. Seeing the girl walking around and occasionally put her head in her hands, James agreed. "Okay, yeah," he told Sirius.

They both turned to Ava and James told her that they would take her to Dumbledore. However, Sirius then pointed out that since she's a Muggle, she won't be able to see the castle, so the plan changed to have one of them stay there with her and the other go fetch the Headmaster. At first, Ava thought that'd be a great idea, but the tiny bit of doubt in the back of her mind stopped her from agreeing immediately. If this is just a dream, it doesn't matter who I talk to. But look at the facts, Avalynn. You fell asleep here, you woke up here, you can clearly see, touch, and feel things. Like pain, and Moony's fluffiness. This could be real. If, and that's a big if, this is real, then I don't think I want Dumbledore to know. Ava wasn't entirely trusting of the Headmaster and how he led the Order and Harry around. He had so much information that he could've passed on, but he specifically chose not to. So who then? I still someone to help me figure this all out. The Marauders aren't exactly dream, dimension-hopping, time-traveling experts.

Once she realized who the best candidate would be, Ava nodded slowly to the boys, showing her approval of the plan to get Dumbledore, and she walked towards the boys, stepping closer to James since he was holding his wand loosely. The boys were too busy discussing whether or not they'd get detention over this situation when Avalynn quickly grabbed James' wand right out of his hand, stepped slightly behind him, grabbing one of his arms, and pressed the wand against his neck.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled as he pointed his own wand at Ava, but since she was using James as a shield, he didn't have a good shot.

"I'm sorry guys, but you can't bring Dumbledore into this. He can't know," she shouted at them, knowing that the older wizard would definitely value her knowledge and maybe a little too much. Sirius shouted for her to release James, and James was panicking. "Both of you, calm down," he said loudly.

"I am calm, James. I won't hurt you. But only if you don't tell Dumbledore," Ava told them. She looked at them both expectantly.

"We won't tell him, right Sirius?" James said quietly.

"Right," he agreed, while glaring at Ava.

"So, Sirius, please go get Professor McGonagall instead," she said politely, as if she wasn't holding a wand at his best friend's throat. He nodded quickly, but growled out a threat at Ava to not harm James while he was gone. When the sounds of his departure faded away, Avalynn dropped the wand from James' neck.

James leapt away and turned, glaring at her. "You didn't have to do that."

"Sorry James, but I really can't have Dumbledore finding out about me being here, if this is real," she told him firmly. "Besides, I don't have magic, remember?" she added with a grin.

The expression on his face flashed between confused and angry, then settled on amused. "Touché, Ava. Very nice," he told her with a slight grin. After a beat of silence he asked, "Can I have my wand back then?"

She immediately replied with "Nope," popping the end of the word.

James sighed and grumbled, "It was worth a shot."

They waited in silence for several minutes before James couldn't contain himself any longer. He had been pacing the room while Ava stood, leaning against the back wall with his wand still in her hand. "Why are you convinced this is a dream?" he asked.

"You all are characters from one of my favorite book series. For this to be real would be insane," she replied.

James shrugged. "Magic can do some pretty insane things."

Ava grinned. "Like create a map of the school with everyone's names on it? And show their locations in real time?"

James' eyes widened and then he returned her grin. "You know about that?"

She nodded, "Yeah. So you think it could've been magic that brought me here?"

He shrugged again. After a brief moment, his eyes went wide and his head whipped to look at Ava. No fucking way, he thought.

"James?" she asked worriedly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then the door burst open with Sirius storming in, angry as Hell. When he noticed that Ava still had James' wand, he raised his own to disarm her. As they waited for Sirius to return with the professor, Ava had been considering that if this world was truly real, she would need to get her shit together. Even if she didn't have magic, she knew information from reading the book series that would be useful. She could save people. She could help them take down Voldemort even, but not on the front lines, of course. She would be defenseless and just get in the way. But then she started to think again that it would be so cool to have magic. While being a fan of the series, she always thought that it would be fantastic to have that kind of capability at your hands. Being able to finish tasks faster, save people faster, travel faster, protect yourself, create things, it'd be incredible. Just for fun, she started to run through the spells that she remembered from the series. Which is why, when she saw Sirius raise his wand at her, her body reacted by pulling James' wand in front of herself and quickly saying "Protego!", hoping it would do something to protect herself.

Ava wouldn't have known with how angry Sirius looked, but he merely yelled, "Expelliarmus!" at her, wanting to get James' wand back. He was so angry because on the way back down from the castle, he remembered that she was just a Muggle and couldn't do any magic. She wasn't a threat to James at all, and he hated being made to look like a fool. What surprised the teenagers, and the professor, since she had been told that there was a Muggle girl in the shack, was that Ava actually managed to cast the spell. A light blue shield formed around her and the spell thrown at her by Sirius merely bounced off. For a brief moment, they all stood there with their mouths gaping open, until Avalynn released a sharp yelp and tossed the wand towards James. She then wrapped her arms around herself and backed into the wall, sinking to the floor, whispering to herself. "Magic isn't real. That wasn't real. This is just a dream." She squeezed her eyes shut, pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head atop her knees, folding in on herself. "It's just a dream, Avalynn. Deep breaths."

The others in the room could hear her rambling and deep breaths as they looked at each other in complete confusion. The boys didn't understand how Ava was able to perform magic, and McGonagall mostly wanted to know where this girl came from since she wasn't a student of Hogwarts. The professor crossed the room and approached her slowly. Once she reached the distressed girl, she bent down to her eye level. "Excuse me, miss. But do you know how you got here?" she asked politely.

Ava lifted her head to reveal watery blue eyes and tears slowly rolling down her face. McGonagall appeared just as Ava and the casting directors of the Harry Potter films thought she would. The Maggie Smith look-alike was draped in deep purple, nearly black, robes, with her brown hair tucked underneath a pointed witch's hat. Her oval-shaped face showed an air of sophistication, and her eyes were kind, but held an intelligence that was partly why Ava wanted her over Dumbledore. Avalynn sniffled and wiped her eyes, and replied, "I don't know. I really don't. I don't even know how I just did that. I don't have magic!" She bit her bottom lip, trying to keep it from quivering. James and Sirius couldn't help but listen in on their conversation and feel some sympathy for the mysterious girl.

McGonagall patted Ava's shoulder. "There, there, lass. We'll get you sorted out," she reassured her. Ava took a couple of deep breaths, trying to steady her breathing. "My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, and I'm a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mr. Black informed me that even though you may be a Muggle, or at least from Muggle descent, you are familiar with our world and magic?" Ava slowly nodded. "Now, I understand that you may be confused about the particulars of how you arrived here, but can I inquire as to why you insisted on meeting with myself rather than the Headmaster?"

Ava gulped. "I, uh, trust you more, ma'am."

McGonagall's eyebrows raised and she asked, "You don't believe our esteemed Headmaster to be trustworthy?"

Well, shit, Ava thought. "Well, you see, I, um, I'm, I'm freaking out here, and I'd prefer to be looked after by someone that I believe I can fully trust. And, well, you may know Dumbledore better, but I, uh, I don't. Trust him, that is. At least, not enough for this situation. Uh, ma'am."

Sirius and James were gaping at her, not believing that she had the balls to practically insult Dumbledore in front of one of the teachers, and McGonagall to boot. However, the boys were not privy to the Headmaster's true personality and whims like the professor was. She looked at the seemingly Muggle girl knowingly. "And may I ask how you believe to know me so well when I'm quite certain that we've never met?" McGonagall asked Ava.

Ava grimaced. "Well, that's where this gets really complicated and I know you have some experience with," she paused and leaned forward. The professor leaned closer as well and Ava whispered, "time-turners." McGonagall sat back with her eyebrows disappearing nearly into her hairline, and the boys sighed at not being able to hear Ava, even with their heightened senses. "I have no idea how I got here, but it's gotta be something like that, right? I figured that you might believe my story. And, uh, I know this might be silly, but I know I'm a Gryffindor, so you'd be my Head of House," she continued, thinking of all the online quizzes she took obsessively. "If I were to be sorted, that is," Ava quickly added.

McGonagall smiled slightly. The girl appeared to be truthful and genuine, and had kept her wits about her thus far. "Oh!" Ava suddenly exclaimed. "I think James might've thought of something earlier before you and Sirius arrived." She peered around the professor to see James wide eyed and Sirius looking at him in confusion. McGonagall stood and turned to the boys, with an eyebrow raised expectantly, waiting for a response from James.

"Prongs?" Sirius asked as he elbowed James in the ribs, unnerved by the looks they were receiving from both Ava and McGonagall.

James quickly glanced at his friend, then looked back at Ava. "Well, I don't know for sure, but, uh, well…"

The professor sighed and snapped, "Get on with it Mr. Potter."

"Wemight'vecastaspellthatbroughtAvahere," he breathed out in a rush.

Oh, holy shit, Sirius thought as he looked at Ava with his gray eyes as wide as saucers. "Sirius?" she asked worriedly with her brows furrowed.

McGonagall cleared her throat, causing both boys to snap to attention. "Come again?" she asked.

James looked guilty as all hell at Ava and repeated, "I think we might've cast a spell that brought you here." She frowned in confusion and he continued, "I'm really sorry, Ava. It sounds like it pulled you away from your life somewhere, but we promise it's for a good thing."

Sirius perked up at that. "Yeah, it's for Moony."

"Now what exactly did you two foolish boys do this time? Am I hearing this right, Mr. Potter? Mr. Black? You somehow managed to cast a summoning spell that dragged this poor girl here? In the middle of a full moon?!" McGonagall asked of them, her voice raising with each question. The professor looked down at Ava to see how she was handling this information. She just seemed to be in shock, looking in the boys' direction in a daze. Ava was too busy trying to cope with the idea that magic might actually be real and these book characters might actually be real people. McGonagall turned back to her thoughtless students. "So? What was the spell gentlemen?"

Sirius began by explaining how they wanted to find someone for Remus, how they were just trying to help out a friend, and James picked up the story when it got to the part where his family's grimoire came into play. By this point, the professor had heard enough. She put up her hand to silence James. "Haven't you two learned your lesson by now? The incident from the end of last school year was not enough?" she asked sternly.

This bit of news caused Avalynn to speak up. "What happened?" McGonagall looked down at her with the corners of her lips twitching. She returned her gaze to the boys. Both of their cheeks reddened and kept glancing down at the floor, but neither spoke up. The professor cleared her throat and stage whispered to Ava, "These two thought it'd be rather entertaining to change the colors of my robes to vibrant colors, but failed to do their homework and understand the spell fully. The result was both of them being disrobed in front of myself and Professor Flitwick." Ava couldn't help, but grin. "Fully disrobed," McGonagall added, glad to see the girl not crying any longer.

Sirius scoffed. "You know you loved it, Minnie," he announced confidently with the blush still present on his face. James tried to hide his grin as Ava stared at Sirius in shock. She quickly looked at the professor, expecting her to let him have it. But McGonagall merely smiled and shook her head and said, "Trust me, Mr. Black. It was a nightmare that I doubt myself or Professor Flitwick will ever recover from."

That retort caused Avalynn to burst out laughing, and she covered her mouth quickly, trying to stifle herself. Both of the boys glanced her way, grinning at first, but Sirius' expression became stormy. "You know, Ava, you never did mention how you knew about my nickname," he said nonchalantly as he began to slowly walk towards her. Ava immediately stood up and hid herself slightly behind Professor McGonagall. She hated looking weak, but she also knew that Sirius tended to be somewhat of a loose cannon.

The professor sighed, looking over her shoulder at Ava and her students. "It appears as though this situation will take much longer than a single day to unravel. Why don't we all go my office for a nice cup of tea and a talk?" she asked politely.