Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! LysPotter

"That exam was easy," Hermione commented as they headed toward Great Hall for lunch, making Harry and Ron sigh with good-natured hopelessness. "I mean, there wasn't really anything about the Third Goblin War in it at all, and the spell theory questions were really quite easy if you pay attention in anyone's class—"

"We've been through this issue before, Hermione. We don't need to take the exams twice." Harry sighed at his best friend's pointed remark, knowing it had much merit.

"Sorry," Hermione apologized.

"I hope I get into your year," Ginny worried. "I don't think I could be in a class without all of you in 1976. Scary," she whispered.

"Can't be worse than the Chamber of Secrets, can it?" Harry commented.

"Well, no, I guess not," Ginny relented. "But I hope it doesn't happen."

"I wonder what this paper Dumbledore gave me is for?" Lily asked no one in particular. All of a sudden, as if an invisible hand were writing it, Dumbledore's curling script appeared on the parchment.

Hermione Rose Granger—You could take your NEWTs immediately and graduate with honors, but are hereby placed in seventh year and Gryffindor house

Harry James Potter—Seventh year, Gryffindor house—get to know your parents, my boy

Ginevra Mary Weasley—Seventh year—congratulations, my dear young woman—Gryffindor house

Ronald Arthur Weasley—Seventh year, Gryffindor house—don't want you to be the odd woman out, do we now?

"Well," Lily said in shock. "Congratulations, all."

"I made seventh year," Ginny whispered, eyes wide.

"Good job, Gin!" Harry smiled.

"So, are there other girls in the dorm?" Hermione said lightly.

"Three, Lynn Andersen, Amelia Bones and Alice McKinnon."

"Amelia Bones?"

"Forget her, Alice McKinnon?" Ginny asked, impressed.

"Yes, she's quite the witch."

"I know she's quite the witch, she's Neville's mum."

"Well, would you look at that. The little Weasley girl knows the girls' dorm."

"She married Longbottom, Frank Longbottom, and had a son," Harry said suddenly "I met her—well, as meeting her as I could get."

"What?"

"At St. Mungo's, fifth year—she and Frank were tortured into insanity by crazed Death Eaters. That had to have been the worst year of my remembered life," Harry said bitterly.

"Why?"

"Because Sirius died on me, that's why! And it was all my fault!" Harry yelled. The five past teenagers looked at him with huge eyes.

"Run that by me again," Sirius asked. "Did you just say I died?" Harry shut his mouth, embarrassed. Hermione groaned. Ron's head dropped into his hands.

"Bugger, we really are making a mess of this. The future will already be changed irrevocably, won't it?" Ginny commented.

"We've really messed up this time," Hermione agreed. "Witches and wizards aren't allowed to mess with time."

"Too late," Ron said matter-of-factly. "If Harry hadn't gone ballistic when you mentioned Alice Longbottom—well, McKinnon, I suppose—then we could probably have gone back to the future with no trouble at all."

"No, Ron, there aren't any ways to make a jump that big—and that room disintegrated. Hold on, I know what that was!" Hermione exclaimed. "Square, boxy room. It pitched and turned—it all fits!"

"Care to share your magnificent discovery with the rest of us poor stupid people?" Ron asked, yawning as if it were of no concern to him.

"It was a Time-Trap! Once you close the door, if you activate it—there's no going back," she said slowly. "It won't reappear in the time you travel to."

"Well, at least I get the chance to know my mum and dad," Harry muttered.

"And it's a copy of us that's here. We haven't disappeared from our time," Hermione added. "But we may if we keep changing the future," she muttered. "Don't you think this is a little odd, that the Sorting Hat sent us back?"

"No. It's our big chance, Hermione. If we change history, Mum and Dad won't die, Sirius won't die, Voldemort won't have to because he'll be very, very dead very, very soon, and I can grow up with my parents—but I'll have to act like Dad's brother or something."

"Yes, we can't present ourselves to ourselves and claim that we're them in the future."

"Do you have any idea how wrong that sounded, Ginny?" Harry asked. "You better not run into your mum. She'll have kittens—I'm not sure she's even married your dad yet."

"Eew! Harry, that was a positively disgusting thought I could have very well lived without. Besides, they have to be married, Bill's three, Charlie's two, and Percy's just born now."

"Yes, well, if we fix it, no one here will die, and no one here will go to Azkaban—hopefully, anyway."

"Do you know what You-Know-Who would do for the kind of information you all have?" James asked, cutting into their conversation.

"Call him Voldemort. Fear of a name only increases fear of a thing itself," Hermione said absently.

"Hey, if Tom's memory had been in communication with his sixteen-year-old self, you'd probably already be dead," Ginny commented. "He's a possessed freak."

"No, he's not possessed, he's possessive," Harry joked. Ginny laughed dryly. "Look, Harry, I didn't have the time of my life lying half-dead on the floor of the Chamber. I'm actually trying to forget it ever happened." Harry shrugged. Ginny sighed. She knew she'd never actually be able to forget the Chamber of Secrets.

"Well, somehow I can't," Harry said frankly. "Got to keep all my little incidences with Voldemort written up. That was—what, number three?"

"Let's see, when you were one, when you were eleven, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, I don't think you saw him sixth year—did you?"

"No. Not him, exactly. A bunch of his little lackeys, but not himself—the coward," Harry spit out.

"That's his job," Ginny smiled brightly. Harry rolled his eyes. "You know it is. It's what all Dark Lords specialize in. Cowardliness."

The rest of the group had been watching this exchange curiously. James was very confused; he could have looked nothing more like he was puzzling over an exam question. Lily appeared thoughtful. Sirius was watching with enormous eyes. Remus looked mildly interested. Peter looked nervous—like always. But Ron and Hermione were just watching, one eyebrow raised, patiently waiting for the two to stop.

"Whoops." Ginny giggled.

"So what am I like in the future?" James recovered jauntily.

"Six feet under, stone cold," Harry muttered so that only his friends from the future could hear him. "Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "You shouldn't talk about your father like that."

"Well, it's true!"

"It would appear you know us all in the future," Lily commented. "What am I like?"

"Just like James," Harry muttered again.

"Harry James Potter! This is your mum you're talking about," Hermione said angrily. "If I ever said anything like that to my parents, twenty-one years younger or not, I know I would have gone straight to my room," she huffed.

"Mum?" Lily said, voice strangled.

"Oops," Hermione whispered.

"Hey, Prongsie! Looks like you get Evans—sorry, Lily—after all!"

"Sirius, you insensitive wart," Ginny said in a businesslike tone. "That is not a tactful thing to say. I think Lily's going to have a heart attack. Harry, go help your mother, would you?"

"I…Merlin…Lily…Harry…impossible…no way…" James looked like he was choking on something.

"James, shut your mouth before a fly comes in," Remus said dryly. He slid a thumb under his friend's chin and jammed his mouth shut.

"But, hey, he's right, it would be impossible. How long would it take Jamesie here to get his Lily?" This brought Remus's hand to the back of his friend's head. "Owww! Mooonyyyyy! What gives?"

"You scream like a dying cow," Harry observed.

"Impudent little—"

"Can't use that, I'm as old as you are—maybe older," Harry said cheekily.

"Harry," Hermione said in exasperation. "You are acting like a two-year-old!"

"Technically, I'm not even born yet, so I can't be immature or mature—I don't even exist." Harry stuck his tongue out at Hermione. She sighed, not amused in the slightest.

"Well, if you don't exist, you won't mind if I do this!" Ginny said cheerily, before she slapped Harry upside the head.

In a rather hilarious mimic of his godfather, Harry howled, "Owww! Giinnyyyyyy! What gives?" in a falsetto voice.

The Marauders, Lily, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny fell into spasms of laughter, even Sirius, although to most people, ridicule would not have been funny.

"Aren't I the best," Harry claimed.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I saw that!"

"So," Ron interjected, "Who all's in the boys' dorm—besides you four?"

"You assume that there are other boys?" James asked, haughty.

"Aren't there?"

"Well, yes, but that's not the point."

"Well, who are they?" Ron pressed.

"Michael Thomas and Frank Longbottom," he relented.

"Cool. Michael—wait a second, did you say Thomas?"

"Yes, he's a tall, Black kid—"

"You don't think?" Ron's question was directed toward the future teenagers. They all understood his half-question.

"Maybe Dean's not Muggleborn after all," Harry suggested.

"Oh, forget that—Who's on the Quidditch team?"

"Well, me and Sirius, obviously—" Jams began.

"Jamesie's the captain this year," Sirius interjected.

"As I was saying, Sirius and I are Chasers, Mike and Frank are the Beaters, and our Keeper, Seeker, and other Chaser graduated."

"You've got to be kidding me," Ginny smiled.

"What?"

"Harry's the best damn Seeker in the entire world, Ron's actually a brilliant Keeper, and I used to Chase for the House team—or will chase? Never mind—we'll try out, and I guarantee at least Harry will end up on the team. He was on ours—will be on ours? Forget it, I'm sick of tenses—from first year."

"First year? Isn't that illegal?"

"Did that stop him?" Hermione said wryly.

"Where was McGonagall?" Sirius asked with wide eyes.

"Oh, she saw Harry catch Neville's Remembrall—it was his very first time on a broom, too —after a fifty-foot dive. She was getting very desperate to beat Slytherin, so Harry just automatically got the post."

"Just like your dad, hmm?" Lily asked.

"Getting extra for breaking rules?" Hermione asked dryly. "Yes."

"Oh, come on," Harry and James whined.

"You know it's true, mate," Sirius and Ron said in unison. They turned to look at each other, a little startled.

"You four!" Ginny and Remus exclaimed.

"Okay, I must confess that this is starting to scare me," Lily and Hermione said, smiling a little bit.

"Stop!" all seven yelled. The entire hall turned to stare at them. Peter sniggered. "Whoops," Harry whispered.

You all knew I was insane. Fun, huh? Yeah, I especially like Mike Thomas. Oh, and would anyone mind telling me what a Mary Sue is? Because I'm pretty new, and I have no idea what one of those is. Thanks in advance! LysPotter