The next morning, the time-travelers made their way downstairs and were quite surprised, to say the least, to see Albus Dumbledore, standing there with twinkling eyes and a smile on his face.
"Ah, hello there" he said warmly to them all "It's wonderful to see you all again" he turned and gave a sad smile to Ginny "Miss Weasley, how are you doing?" he questioned. Ginny smiled happily.
"I'm doing fine, thank you, sir" Dumbledore nodded.
"It's a shame that you don't remember anything from this time. You did have some good memories"
"Is there any way that I could remember from being in this time?" Ginny asked curiously. Dumbledore sighed.
"Well, maybe if you come to Hogwarts and look around the place, you might remember, but there are no guarantees. My guess is that you'll only have flashbacks, but you'll never truly have your memory back"
Ginny's face dropped slightly, looking disappointed.
"Oh"
Dumbledore took the opportunity and gazed at Lily and James.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to see you both again. It's been a long time since I saw you two" James nodded, while wrapping his arms around Lily's waist.
"I was wondering, if maybe, you all wanted to attend Hogwarts for a while. It'll give you something to do and I think you might enjoy seeing the younger generation. Lucius and Narcissa will be able to meet their son and-"
"Wait" Narcissa cut in disbelievingly "I have a son?!"
"Yes" Harry scowled, his face darkening "Draco" he spat out the name as if it were a dirty swear word. Dumbledore chuckled slightly.
"Harry and Mr. Malfoy detest one another, rather like a certain Mr. Snape and Mr. Potter" he told them, turning to look at the young Severus Snape and James Potter.
"Personally, I think Malfoy should just go and f-" Hermione immediately clamped a hand over Ron's mouth and laughed nervously.
"Sorry, Professor, he's talking garbage, he doesn't know what he's saying" she glared at Ron, who instantly shut up, going a deep shade of red. Harry snorted with laughter, while watching Ginny, who was rubbing her eyes furiously. She was having a flashback.
"Ginny, are you okay?" Harry questioned, looking concerned. Ginny looked up to see a pair of emerald green eyes staring into her brown one's. She blushed slightly and nodded, avoiding his gaze. Harry smiled warmly at her.
"You do know that you're like my little sister, don't you?" Harry told her "I care about you a lot and . . . I'd do everything in my power to protect you, especially after what happened with Tom Riddle and Lucius Malfoy. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you" Harry assured her. Ginny nodded and hugged him.
Ginny shivered on remembering the name Tom Riddle, what was it about him that made fear strike at her heart? Remus noticed this and pulled her into a strong hug. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.
"Great" Harry moaned, looking miserable "Today's the day that we go back to school and work" He really wanted to spend time with his grandparents and Remus' parents, they seemed really friendly and they were a great laugh.
"Hey, don't worry, we'll be joining you" James told him, ruffling his hair. Harry ducked away and grinned.
"No way are you gonna ruffle my hair, I hate it" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, he only ruffles his
hair when he's nervous" Ron said with a snigger "like whenever he sees Cho
Chang and tries to talk to her" his sniggering seemed to get louder and Harry
whirled around and sent a swift kick into the leg, which made Ron groan out in
pain. Hermione giggled madly, while Ron glared at her.
"Hey!"
"You deserved it" Harry stated. Black grinned and ruffled Harry's hair, who smacked his hand away and glared daggers at him.
"Don't ruffle my hair! God, why is it such an obsession for people to do that?! Fred and George do that to me, Padfoot does it and even Moony sometimes does it for crying out loud!" Hermione bit her lip, while grinning broadly at one of her best friends; he looked so cute when he was angry.
"What are you grinning at?" Harry questioned.
"The look on your face" Hermione told him "It's hilarious"
Ron raised an eyebrow curiously and suspiciously at her, looking from Harry to her, then back to Harry again. His eyes narrowed slightly as a sudden idea hit him.
"Hermione, can I have a word with you?" he asked calmly. Hermione nodded, looking confused.
"Uh, sure"
As they walked off, Harry grinned evilly as he yelled out.
"GO RON! SNOG HER!" He could tell instantly that yelling out that statement had embarrassed Ron because he yelled back.
"Sod off Harry!"
Harry burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. Ron and Hermione totally liked one another more than friends, but they were both too stubborn to do anything about it. It just seemed to amuse Harry so much.
"Well, are we ready to go then?" Lupin asked mildly, stepping into the room with a small smile on his face. Harry looked at him in confusion.
"You're coming to? Why?" he asked. Lupin looked offended.
"You don't want me to come?" he questioned, looking hurt. Harry grinned apologetically.
"No, of course I want you to come, but, why are you coming to Hogwarts?"
Lupin grinned and turned to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling.
"Let's just say that you're gonna have to start calling me Professor Lupin again" Harry's eyes grew almost as big as saucers as he turned to Dumbledore, who nodded. Harry grinned and let out a cheer.
"Finally! We've got our best Defense against the Dark Arts Professor back again!" Lupin smiled slightly.
"Well then, let's head to Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione will catch up later, I'm sure" Lupin told everyone else. They nodded and stepped into the fire, yelling out their destination.
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"Well, what are we going to do now?" Sirius questioned "Are we going to have to join in on the lessons or can we just hang about?"
Dumbledore looked thoughtful.
"Well, you could do either, I suppose, but I think it would be better if you joined in on the lessons. You could go with Harry to his lessons, but I'm assuming you will all want to be in houses, am I correct?"
They all nodded.
"Well, you can all go in your houses that you were in at school. I will have to inform everyone of who you really are. No doubt that some students will recognize who you are, especially Mr. Malfoy"
Ginny blinked a few times and shook her head, why were these flashbacks coming so often?
"Well, if it isn't the little Weasley" Malfoy drawled "Where do you think you're going, little girl?"
Ginny's eyes flashed angrily as she tried to shove Malfoy out of the way so she could get to her next class, but to no avail, he was too strong. Malfoy smirked and grabbed a hold of her.
"Listen here Weasley, you'd better tell your big brother to stop trying to pick fights with me or he'll regret it!" he threatened. Ginny's face contorted with mock horror.
"Oh, I bet he'll be so scared" Malfoy sneered at her.
"He will be if it concerns you!" Ginny took a step backwards, looking apprehensive.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, so now you're worried?" he sniggered softly "Don't worry Weasley, I won't do anything too awful, I'll just hex you a few times, that's all" and with that, he walked off, laughing his head off.
Ginny blinked a few times in disbelief. That boy was horrible! And he was the son of Lucius and Narcissa? That was something to be worried about!
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"Well, well, well, look who it is" a voice drawled. Harry knew that voice all too well as he whirled around and came face-to-face with Draco Malfoy. Narcissa and Lucius stared at their son in amazement; he looked so much like Lucius. Draco sneered at Harry.
"Got yourself a new bunch of admirers, Potter? It's pathetic how people worship you. You aren't even that special, especially when you have a mudblood mother, oh sorry, what am I saying? I mean, when you had a mudblood mother!" he said with a snigger. Harry clenched his wand in his pocket, while everyone stared at the boy in shock. Lily looked like she was about to cry, while Ginny's eyes blazed angrily.
Draco finally seemed to notice her and observed her.
"Well, Weasley, you look different" he told her with a smirk "Older, perhaps, but that just isn't possible. Shame you're in such a disgraceful family, I would've gone for a female like you" Ginny's eyes widened and stepped behind Remus in worry, who was only too happy to oblige on being her bodyguard.
Hermione glared at him with disgust. Draco seemed to notice this and did the same.
"What are you staring at, mudblood?" he snapped. Hermione snapped and slapped him around the face-hard.
"Call me that again and I swear to god, you'll regret it!" she shrieked, pulling out her wand and aiming it between Malfoy's eyes. Malfoy stared at her, too stunned to say anything. Harry gaped at her, while Ron stepped forward and tried to hold her back from doing anything stupid.
"Ron, let me go! I swear I'm going to teach this prick a lesson!" Ron weakly let go of her arm, not wanting to anger her any further. Trying to calm Hermione down was never an easy task.
Malfoy just stared at her with his eyes narrowed.
"You just wait! Wait until my father hears about this" Hermione gasped in mock horror.
"Oh, I'm so scared. What's your daddy going to do? Nothing much as long as I'm in this school. So get lost Malfoy!" Hermione yelled. Malfoy's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds longer, before he stomped off, muttering under his breath. Hermione took a deep breath, before putting her wand back into her pocket and turning to the others.
"Shall we carry on going to the Great Hall or are you all just going to gawp at me?" she asked sharply. Everyone snapped out of their trance. Severus and Remus were on either side of Ginny, both escorting her together. Lucius and Narcissa were still in shock over seeing their son, who seemed to be a right spoiled brat. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter were looking at Hermione in admiration at the way she'd handled Malfoy.
As they entered the Great Hall, Ginny yawned widely and leant onto Remus for support. Remus put his arm around her and led her over to the Gryffindor table. Ginny winked at Severus, who smirked back at her.
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"Hey Gin, you doing okay?" Lily asked with concern, watching Ginny doze off at the table.
"W-What?" she questioned with a yawn.
"I think I'll take you to Gryffindor Tower, you're tired" Remus informed her. Ginny shook her head, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm not t-t-tired!"
Hermione hugged Ginny and told Remus the password.
"Thanks Hermione" Remus grinned, while picking Ginny up and carrying her up to Gryffindor Tower.
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"Is it me or does this seem rather familiar to you?" Ginny questioned; her arms around Remus' neck. Remus laughed as he put her down on the sofa and sat down next to her.
"Same thing happened in fifth year" he reminisced with a small smile on his face. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Remus planted a soft kiss onto her forehead, before planting another one on her lips. Ginny kissed him back with such passion that they both felt extremely dizzy afterwards.
"Whoa,
okay, maybe I won't do that next time" Ginny muttered weakly. Remus grinned. Ginny
lay down on the sofa, resting her head on Remus' lap.
"I love you" she whispered. Remus closed his eyes and sighed.
"I love you too" he whispered back.
Right at that moment, Sirius walked in to see the pair lying on the sofa, both looking extremely happy. He felt hurt, anger and jealousy build up inside of him, then he shook his head. What was wrong with him? He'd managed to put all that aside for the past three years, why could he carry on as it was before? A sudden feeling of dread and fear struck him in the heart. He was still jealous of Remus and he still wanted Ginny!
