Found my missing thread! I have no intention of re-writing Cursed Child. For the most part, I liked it. There were obviously some things I'd change, and some things I thought were dumb, but over all I did enjoy it. So here, a Neglected Version of some events. FYI, though I never show it, the trolley witch is just an ordinary witch, none of that demon from the black lagoon nonsense. I dunno what they were thinking on that one. Personally, I support either Scorbus or ScoRose, I can see either one happening but I don't address it here.
CURSED CHILD
After Albus uses the time-turner twice:
September 2020
"Albus Severus Potter, what in the name of Merlin's pants do you think you're doing?" Jo asked, arms akimbo, staring down at the young Potter. Jo had come to guest-lecture in both Magical Creatures and Defense against the Dark Arts.
"What do you mean?" Albus scowled. Jo was related by only the flimsiest of reasons; she was his uncle's wife's best friend. Somehow that made her his aunt, he'd never had reason to resent it before.
"You are fiddling with time, aren't you?"
"What do you mean? Of course not! Time turners were all destroyed."
"I'm aware; I was there. But! I am uniquely versed in what Time-turning feels like. Your aunt Hermione used one in her third year; the déjà vu was absurd."
"Scorpius, you're not encouraging this are you?"
"No!" the little blonde boy blurted, Albus' Aunt Jo kinda scared him. Not like Albus' Aunt Leilani did, though. There were rumors that she'd killed people when she'd been in school, but if you tried to ask her about, she just got real quiet and then she'd smile this too bright, too wide smile that was somehow brittle and tell you that you shouldn't listen to rumormongers. Then, of course, when you weren't looking, Jo would come up and smack you upside the head with her book.
XXX
What the boys saw:
After humiliating Cedric Diggory at the Triwizard Tournament, they returned to their own time to find Harry Potter was more than 20 years dead, Albus had never been born and Scorpius was the so-called Scorpion King. Cedric is the Death Eater who killed Neville.
What actually happened:
Jo, disguised as a grindylow, was swimming after Harry when she saw Cedric rising through the water. She made the choice to continue after Harry, trusting Leili to help Cedric.
Leili watched in horror as Cedric ballooned and the crowd laughed. She stood up and made her way out of the stands. "Hang on Cedric, I'll get you down from there!" she called. Cedric managed to lodge himself in a tree, stopping himself from floating further away. "Finite," she cast.
Cedric quickly deflated. "Thanks," he called back. He hopped down out of the tree, "I lost my wand."
"I'll help you find it. You ok?"
"I've just been humiliated in front of three schools and my parents, no, I am not okay."
"That's fair."
Harry still came in second in the task since he felt the need to rescue everyone—some things stayed the same, no matter how you meddled.
In the third task, Jo summoned the cup and things proceeded as according to history, it was as the girls made their escape from that Graveyard that things changed.
"Leili, get to the cup!" Jo shouted. After a very brief pause, Leilani changed course and ran for the cup, dully aware of a searing pain in the right side of her ribcage.
Jo got up to follow but a severing spell knocked her off her feet. A bleeding gash opened diagonally across her chest. Jo tried repeatedly to stand, failing miserably as she hemorrhaged.
As she reached for the cup Leilani turned, looking for Jo. She couldn't leave without her. Instead of seeing her best friend running like her tail was on fire, she found her collapsed on the ground. "Jo!" she called.
Jo looked up, pushing herself to her knees in the grass, glancing from Leili to the Death Eater behind her. Pressing her wand arm across her chest, she tried to stem the flow of blood. Leili stood frozen for the space of a heartbeat, maybe two, though it felt like minutes, before the Death Eater exploded into a thousand pieces and a fine pink mist. She didn't have the time to process what she had just done.
Across the Graveyard, Voldemort pointed his wand at Jo, "Avada Kedavra!"
"ACCIO JO!" Leili's shout swallowed the rest of the curse.
Jo zipped through the air to Leilani who caught her, fell back, slammed her hand down on the cup and they were gone.
They landed back at school but something was wrong.
Jo wasn't breathing.
"Jo," Leili said shaking her shoulder. "JO!" The curse had been finished and it had hit its mark.
Jo was dead.
Tiny arcs of lightning flared sharply as someone touched her shoulder. A bolt of connected Leilani's arm with Mad-Eye Moody, it entered through his hand and exited out his back when he hit the ground. "Jo! Jo, wake up. Please, wake up! Please!" Hot tears rolled down her face.
"Leilani…?" A voice said by her ear.
"You're safe dear," that was Professor Sprout.
"Jo?" Leili asked, hoping that if she just kept talking, maybe Jo would hear her name and wake up. But she didn't.
"Lei…?" the first voice said again. Only one person ever called her Lei: Fred. She turned to look at him.
"She won't wake up…!" Her voice was little-girl-lost.
Fred swallowed, his own brown eyes bright, "I know."
He held out a hand, she went to take it but pulled back when she saw the sparks on her fingers, "I don't want to shock you…"
He closed the distance and took her hand anyway. He pulled her gently towards him, and she buried her face in his chest, one hand clasping his, the other holding Jo's.
If he was being shocked, he didn't show it.
She sobbed like her heart was broken, because it was. Fred held her and stroked her hair. He would never dare tell her not to cry, never shush her, never tell her it was ok, because it wasn't and never would be. He did tell her he loved her, though.
"I love you," murmured into her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you," as he rocked her gently while her tears soaked his shirt. "I love you," as she cried herself into unconsciousness. "I love you," as he sat next to her in the hospital wing while the matron patched her up.
"What am I gonna do without her, Fred?" Leili asked after relating the whole tale to Dumbledore.
Padfoot was lying on her bed with his big blocky head on her knee. He didn't have the heart to panic her by showing her his human face and she needed the warmth of a dog right now. Plus she was absentmindedly stroking his fur and it had been years since anyone had run their fingers through his hair and he was a horrible person for thinking about that right now.
"I don't know," Fred said honestly. "You've got me, though. I won't leave you."
"I'm not leaving you, either." She snorted and rolled her eyes at herself. "Jo'd say we're giving her cavities. Merlin, I miss her already. Oh my god, what am I going to tell Jillian?" Tears threatened again as she was overcome with a wave of panic.
Padfoot whined and stood up on the bed to drape his paws over her shoulders and rest his chin on top of her head—as close to a human hug as he could get while he still had a tail.
When Cedric was approached later, he seized the opportunity. He joined the Death Eaters.
Leilani was horrified when she found out, but he had a plan! He knew all about the Slytherpuff Alliance and this was the perfect opportunity to do something useful. He'd pass along information to the Alliance.
They spent years like this. As the Dark Lord continued to rise, muggles, muggle-borns and those who loved them were hunted. Some went into hiding, others stayed and fought and were frequently tortured to death.
After Jo had been killed, her family moved to a small desert town a few hours away. Leilani's parents went to Hawaii, moved into the house Aloiki's parents had left the family when they had died.
Her parents had tried to convince their daughters to move with them, but Leili couldn't leave. She wouldn't leave Fred and she couldn't leave Harry. She and Jo had set out to protect that boy and by Merlin and Morgana she was going to do it.
She and Cedric exchanged coded letters, he told her where Voldemort was heading next, sometimes no more than a few minutes before he attacked. They saved as many people as they could, but sometimes they just… weren't quick enough.
Harry and Neville were killed in the Battle for Hogwarts and suddenly Cedric was stuck. He'd killed Neville. He hadn't meant to! He'd missed on purpose! But the missed spell caused the bridge to collapse and Neville had drowned.
Cedric paraded the 'kill' around to keep his cover intact but he hated himself for it. The guilt ate him up inside.
Without Jo there to stop her, to make her take a break, Leilani kept sorting the wounded into triage.
Without Jo to help her, Leilani didn't go looking for Fred.
Without Jo, the hour passed her by. It wasn't until Fred was brought into the Hall that she stopped.
When she did, the world stopped around her. Something inside her broke beyond repair. She'd carried on after Jo's murder, under the premise of "she would want me to" but when Fred had been pronounced dead after being brought into the hall, it shattered whatever had been left. She screamed as though she was being used for crucio practice but she couldn't hear it above the silence in her own head.
He'd promised her he'd never leave her! He'd promised!
There was no Jo to turn to for help, Fred was lying broken on the floor and there was nothing she could do. The lightning on her skin exploded around her, arcing out into the floor, the walls, anyone who was close enough without the sense to dodge and she didn't care.
More than 20 years after the war had been lost, Leilani was a different person. Cedric saw it in the skirmishes the Alliance staged. In the letters they exchanged. As a student, Leilani had been good-humored and never happier than when she was with Fred. As an adult, she was subdued. Cold. Reckless.
As a Death Eater, Cedric had more hope than Leilani did. He could hope that the war would someday be over and he could go back to his life, but she couldn't ever get back the things she had lost. She didn't speak to her family, "to keep them safe," she said.
She didn't have Jo to talk out of insane ideas; she came up with them herself, instead. She didn't have Fred to turn to when yet another person she knew died or went missing. She swallowed her sorrow, squashed her tears and nurtured her anger. Her anger was her lifeline, she fed it and fanned it into a sustainable flame and she used it to keep herself going.
Working with Dumbledore's Army, the Alliance passed on the list of Voldemort's horcruxes to Cedric. All but one had been destroyed. The problem was that Voldemort kept Nagini with him at all times. Cedric couldn't get near her.
Then came the day when Scorpius and Snape walked into the shrieking shack and changed everything.
Hermione tackled Scorpius, pinning him to the wall. "Make one move and your brain will be a frog and your arms will be rubber."
"He's safe," Snape declared. When Hermione didn't remove her wand from the boy's throat, he rolled his eyes, "You never could listen."
Leilani stepped out of the shadows as Ron ran in declaring, "I'm armed! And entirely dangerous!" He looked anything but, with his wand the wrong way around. Losing Fred and Harry seemed to have addled his brain more than a little.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault. Mine and Albus'." Scorpius moaned around the wand in his throat.
"Dumbledore is dead," Hermione said, pressing harder.
"Not that Albus," Scorpius choked out.
"You may want to sit down," Snape advised. The ensuing story was a lot for anyone to swallow.
Eventually, they all sat down.
"How's your father, Scorpius?" Leilani asked, sounding more curious than she had in years. It was a surprise even to her own ears.
"He's confused," the young Malfoy admitted. For that matter, so was he. The Leilani of his time was still close to his dad. Not best buds or anything but close enough to have been an occasional babysitter. Close enough for Scorpius to know her kids.
"Ok. Tell us what's going on," Hermione said, all business.
Scorpius did.
At the end of the story, his audience was reeling. Hermione studied the time turner while Ron tried to digest that the whole of history lay with Neville: sweet, clumsy, overlooked, dead Neville.
Hermione asked, "To be absolutely clear: in the other time, before you meddled…?"
"Voldemort is dead. Harry killed him. You're Minister for Magic."
Hermione blinked, "Really?"
Scorpius nodded.
"Sweet. What do I do?" Ron asked eagerly.
"You're head of the Aurors. But you're mostly focused on bringing up your kids."
"I bet their mother is hot…" Ron daydreamed.
Scorpius coughed.
Leilani took the hint. "Ron. How do you feel about Hermione?" She knew what things had been like in school; it wasn't hard to put two-and-two together to get four.
"Why?"
Scorpius explained, "You two have kids. Together. Rose and Hugo." Ron and Hermione were stunned. "Married. In Love. Everything. You are constantly astounded by it."
"Shut your mouth when you're looking at me, Weasley," Hermione snapped. Ron's jaw shut with an audible click. "And Snape? What's he like in this other world?" she asked.
"Dead, presumably," Snape said.
Scorpius' eyes widened as his mouth twisted into a grimace, "How did you know?"
"You were a little too surprised to see me. How?"
"Bravely."
"Who?"
"Voldemort."
Snape scowled, "How irritating."
Scorpius looked at Leilani: she was sitting on the floor, legs straight out in front of her, crossed at the ankle, leaning back on her elbows. She was the only one who hadn't asked about the other timeline.
He understood that while the Leilani he knew scared him a little, she was nothing compared to this Leilani. There was no fond recognition from this Leilani, just cold calculations, seasoned with mild curiosity.
This Leilani was hollow; darkness collected around her. Here, her eyes were a flat, unforgiving grey. She'd cropped her hair short as a boy's and scars stood out starkly against the freckles on her nose and cheeks. This Leilani had killed, willingly killing bits of herself in the process to provide a little safety to others and if he could bring a little light back into her life, he'd do it.
"Leilani?" Scorpius asked.
"Can it possibly be worse than it is now?"
"No." In the copy of Hogwarts, A History that he had read, there had been a list of the dead. He knew what this version of his best friend's aunt had been through. At least, he thought he did.
She blinked, considered the opportunity before her and then said, "No."
"No?"
She repeated herself, "No. I don't want to know. Knowing what happened in the other timeline won't help me do anything I need to do here. So, no."
Scorpius frowned; this wasn't anything like how he expected Albus' aunt to be. "They're alive," he said anyway, ignoring her choice. "You and Fred got married right after the war. You've got kids. Jo Montgomery married Marcus Flint. They have a daughter." He said it so fast that she didn't have time to stop him. He thought she needed to hear this, whether she wanted to or not.
She was on her feet in a second, the anger she kept at a constant simmer rising as she did until it was boiling and she was shouting, "What did I just say?! I said: I don't want to know! What good is it if Fred is alive there? He's dead here, now, today! Knowing that I could have had a different life doesn't help me in this one! The fact that you think it does just proves to me that you have no fu-ck-ing clue what you're actually doing. Why don't you leave the saving of the world to the adults, little prince?" she sneered. "Go home to your daddy, at least he understood when he fucked up."
Scorpius flinched away, he hadn't expected this; he'd thought she'd be grateful after she heard.
She stomped out of the room. Scorpius and Albus were stupid kids. She shouldn't have snapped, but it was either shout or sob and she didn't cry anymore.
"What do we need to do to fix this?" Hermione asked, redirecting the conversation to more useful topics.
Scorpius explained the spells he and Albus had used to thwart Cedric. Hermione, Ron and Snape agreed to accompany him into the past to set it right. When they were done, before they left to put the plan into motion, he crept out of the room and found Leilani just outside the little shack. She'd been listening
Scorpius edged up close to her and saw with some surprise he was actually about two inches taller than she was, when had that happened? In his world she was his best friend's aunt, a school friend of his dad's but here she was a stranger. A deadly stranger. He hadn't killed anyone exactly, but he was the reason so many of them didn't exist now; him and Albus and the stupid plan to fix things that weren't really broken.
"Do you ever feel remorse for the—the people you've killed?" he asked quietly.
Flatly now, "It depends on who it is I've killed."
Scorpius blanched.
She shrugged, "I can tell you I know all their names. If that makes you feel any better."
"You're not going to survive this war… are you?" It wasn't really a question. "You have no intention of surviving," Scorpius realized.
"If that concerned me, I'd have brought it up months ago."
Big grey eyes stared at her in shock.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," she scoffed. "I don't need your misplaced concern. I need to get the job done. You need me to get the job done. Besides, if what you're saying is true, then it doesn't matter if I survive this war because this isn't the right reality."
Horror mingled with the shock in his eyes.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "I don't want to live like this anymore, little prince. I don't think you do either and you've been here for what, a week? Try 20 years." Hearing the remnants of the Order moving inside, she sighed. "Here," she said, pulling something on a long chain off over her head. Jo's necklace. "Take this. It's got a tracking charm on it. Activate it and I'll find you. Now get out of here, go get your friend back."
After they had gone, the knowledge that she—that they were happy in another reality finally hit home for Leilani, though she wasn't going to admit it out loud.
For a moment, she was jealous of the other her, she had Fred, Jo, parents, kids: a family. But here, she didn't have any of that. Fred and Jo were gone, it had been 20 years since she'd spoken to her parents or sister; she knew they were alive but for all she knew, they thought she was dead.
How come the other her got to have it all? Though… there had been a moment, a brief, shining moment, when she had had it all. But then Fred had been killed and she'd gone after the death eater and had taken two Stuns to the abdomen. She was lucky she wasn't dead.
Flashback
Just post the Fall of Hogwarts
June 1998
Voldemort had taken residence in the minister's office and his Death Eaters were holed up in Malfoy Manor. They had been for months now. Rumor stated that the Malfoys were not particularly pleased with their compatriots living in their house. The manor was protected against Appartition, true, but she'd gotten in once before. She could do it again. Last time had been easier; she'd had Dobby. This time, she dropped into the center of Stonehenge, lucky for her there was nobody around to see her appear out of thin air.
She slipped into her animagus form and flew for the Manor.
Jo's voice was in her head, saying, This is a profoundly stupid plan.
I know, she thought back.
Then why are you doing it?
They killed you.
Four years ago. If you're avenging me, why now?
They killed Fred.
As a figment of Leili's memory and imagination, Jo should have known that.
You're going to get yourself killed. Her figment Jo warned.
Voldemort won't be there. Without him there, I have a chance to get out.
A slim one! You're planning suicide by Death Eater. I wouldn't have wanted this. Fred wouldn't have wanted this. Your parents definitely don't want this.
I know.
Leili's mental Jo gave a little sigh and said, Tell me the plan.
This is where the fault lay in her mental Jo; the real Jo would have tried harder to stop her. But then, the real Jo was four years dead and this one was just an echo inside her broken head.
Without Voldemort there, and with his hold on the country pretty much a sure thing, security won't be as strict as it was in March. I won't be able to Apparate in, but what's stopping me from walking in?
Um, the Death Eaters?
Won't kill me on the spot. I wrote Ced, made sure he was on patrol today. Besides, I'm a schoolmate of Draco's and Marcus' and Cedric's. That's three Death Eaters; I'm your best friend and a member of Dumbledore's Army. They're gonna want to find out what I know first. Then they'll kill me.
Harry's dead, why would they care about a member of a leader-less resistance?
You've been dead for four years so I don't expect you to know, but last I checked: I'm on their most-wanted list. A hint of pride accompanied the thought.
This is the stupidest thing you have ever done.
Do you have a better plan?
Yes. Go HOME.
Too late. She dropped down behind Cedric who was indeed outside the gates, as promised, but there was another Death Eater with him. They were smoking. Oh, things just got complicated. She pulled herself to her full human height—which wasn't very tall, out loud she said, "Smoking, nasty habit."
Startled, they turned on her, wands drawn. Her empty hands were up, surrendering. Her surrender faltered when she recognized the Death Eater with Cedric. Her face lost its teasing humor. She'd never thrown a punch before, but that didn't stop her from trying it now. Her fist swung wildly and connected solidly with his jaw.
Jesus! That hurt! she told her mental Jo.
That's why when I actually hit someone I aimed for the soft, squishy bits. You know: stomach, jugular, groin. You're lucky you didn't break something.
I'm not so sure I didn't. Ow.
Marcus Flint wiggled his jaw, running two fingers along the spot where her punch had landed. He smiled genially back at her, as incarcerous wound ropes around her wrists, "Hello, Leilani. Nice to see you again."
Her lips curled as she snarled, "Traitor." She attempted to shake out her hand but was hampered by the bindings.
"Now, now, is that anyway to treat an old friend?"
"You are no friend of mine!" Leili continued to snarl at him, "I am going to rip your guts out through your nose when I get out of here."
"Good luck with that," he said.
Privately, Marcus was disappointed; he'd hoped Leilani would have figured out by now that he wasn't in the Death Eaters because he wanted to be. It was the family business, so to speak. His parents were die-hard Death Eaters, they had never given up that their Dark Lord would return. He'd joined after Jocelyn had died, after he'd been given no other choice. If he had joined before, like his parents had wanted, maybe he would have been in the graveyard that night. Maybe he could have saved her. But he hadn't been and she was dead. He had to live with that guilt now.
"Leilani, he's not what you think—" Cedric started.
"Let her think what she likes," Marcus shrugged, waving Cedric off.
"Are you gonna take me inside or what?" she interrupted.
They brought her inside the Manor.
"This little tart says she has valuable information to trade," Marcus said as they approached the back of what could only be described as a throne-like chair. Leili figured it must have belonged to Lucius, as head of the house he would be the one to warrant a throne.
She turned wide, surprised, almost amused eyes on Marcus, "I'm a tart now, am I? Fascinating. Funny what going Death Eater will do for your vocabulary."
What happened to your brain-mouth filter? I distinctly recall you had one.
It died when you did.
"What information do you have that you think we could possibly want?" Lucius drawled, turning his chair to face them.
"I will tell you anything you want to know about the Slytherpuff Alliance and Dumbledore's Army if you tell me where I can find Death Eater Rookwood."
"Is that so? And why do you come to us now?"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to look a gift-horse in the mouth? Just point me toward Rookwood and I'll tell you anything you want to know."
Cedric was suppressing the urge to gape at his fellow Hufflepuff. He sincerely hoped she was bluffing, or at least had some very good, bad information to pass on.
"Information first, since there's no guarantee you'll live to pass it on."
"Fine, then." So she told them, she sold out her friends, her year-mates, the people she'd spent six years protecting. She told them everything. And if they tortured her, that's what they would find. If they tried Occlumency on her, that's what they would find. She hid everything she still cared about by hiding nothing.
What are you doing!? Cedric wondered as he fought he urge to slap a hand over her mouth and drag her bodily from the house.
She hadn't told him the plan. She hadn't told anyone the plan, except for George. Last night she had sat down with him and explained what she needed, she needed to bury the truth, the real hidey-holes, the real plans so deep beneath a layer of lies that without his help, she would never be able to tell truth from fiction. In the layer of lies he planted red herrings, places the order had been, places they made it look like they were coming back to.
Both she and George knew that if this didn't work, she was dead. He made her secret keeper to the lies and then helped her forget, forget everything except her mission: to find and kill the man who had taken Fred away from them. If she survived, George would find her and put her humpty dumpty head back together again. She knew if she survived, she had to find George and tell him Rookwood was dead.
When she was finished, she said, "Our bargain?"
Draco's father gestured and Cedric removed the ropes, "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Don't worry, Ced, it'll be over before you know it," she whispered back. She held out an unbound hand toward Marcus. "My wand?"
He slapped it handle first into her palm and she caught a strange look in his eyes as she turned, he looked…sad. But no, that couldn't be, Marcus Flint was a heartless betrayer and death eater, he wouldn't look sad.
Rookwood sent spells hurtling towards her before she turned to face him. "Not to be a proper duel, then?" she called as she ducked. "Fine."
Spells were thrown about the room, some landing, others going wild, some bouncing off hastily thrown shields. Leilani tried to block out the things he was saying, tried to stop the feeling she'd betrayed everyone she'd ever loved and for what? To die, hopefully taking Rookwood with her.
Rookwood's Crucio caught her off-guard; it hit seconds before her shield went up. She crumpled into a screaming ball of pain, her consciousness splintering as darkness danced in front of her eyes. She knew someone had gotten inside her head, causing that half-second delay. She'd never been a good Occlumens and in a room full of Legillimens, that was bad. Her lightning shot out around her like an earthquake, striking anyone not quick enough to duck. She heard Rookwood's cry of surprised pain when he was hit and a grim smile spread across her face.
Shaking and panting, Leili hastily constructed an illusion spell that sent copies of her through the room. She ducked and dove through them as they moved around her, a giant shell game intended to disguise her and confuse him. Between one illusory copy and the next she vanished. She was extremely grateful she'd had to practice disillusionment spells as often as she had at school, it meant she was now very good at them.
Leili had no idea how long the duel continued on for but she was running out of energy, illusions took a lot out of her. Of course, even blind squirrels, broken clocks and Death Eaters got lucky sometimes. A randomly fired Cruciatus curse found her and once he had found her, there was no more hiding, only unending pain.
It was getting hard to breathe, to think, the only thing she had been doing for a while now was screaming. She tried to block out the things Rookwood was saying he'd do to her when she gave up, the things he'd make her watch him do to everyone she'd come here to betray. There was a maniacal glint in his eyes and he licked his lips like a cat looking at a mouse. She shuddered, but her revulsion was lost inside shaking she couldn't control.
Her copies burst and vanished when struck by Rookwood's spells. She was getting desperate, if she didn't end this soon, he would and it would suck.
Gathering up the scraps of her strength, she wordlessly sent a stunner at Rookwood and dashed away. Rookwood shouted and spells went shooting into her copies. There wasn't time to shield or duck as twin jets of red spell light collided with her. She heard herself yelp and then the whole world went black. In the blink of an eye, her illusions and disguises faded away, leaving her exposed and unconscious on the floor. They must have thought she was dead—or soon about to be—because they didn't finish her off.
She remained alive as Marcus was directed to "Get rid of her."
Marcus fisted a hand over his heart and gave a little bow. "It shall be done." He scooped her, limp as a rag doll, into his arms. He needed to get her to Mungo's. Simultaneous stuns could be fatal if untreated.
Cedric tried not to watch as Marcus carried their friend out the manor doors.
"This stunt was stupid, you know," Marcus told her when they were out of ear reach.
She was still out cold, but he talked to her anyway, he didn't think she'd listen to him if she was awake and it was the first time he'd had human contact outside of Voldemort's goons—and Cedric.
"It was stupid enough to rival Jocelyn's worst ideas. I'm sorry she's gone. I'm sorry I couldn't have saved her, the least I can do now is save you. So that's what will happen. If they find out you're still alive after this, I'm a dead man. So do me a favor, lie low."
Once out of sight of the manor, Marcus Apparated away. He landed in an alley near the hospital, making sure to change his robes for something less death-eater-ey before running through the window of a bricked-up department store, "Purge and Dowse, Ltd."
He bypassed the surly Welcome Witch and headed straight for the fourth floor. He laid her gently on an unoccupied bed. He stuck out one arm and clamped a hand over the wrist of a passing Healer.
"I dare say, dear boy, release me!"
Marcus pointed to Leilani, "She took two stuns at once. She's still breathing, I want her to stay that way."
The Healer blanched and called for reinforcements, outlining the situation and her stats. Marcus was crowded away from her side; that was ok. He needed to get back to the manor anyway; even if he wanted to stay, he couldn't leave Cedric there alone.
As he turned to leave one of the nurses stopped him, "You're bleeding." She rolled up his sleeve to tend the wound only there was no wound; the blood wasn't his. They both frowned at his arm—the non-tattooed one, thank Merlin—then turned as someone at Leilani's side swore colorfully.
"She's bleeding!"
The nurse turned to rush back to her patient but Marcus caught her arm.
"When she wakes up, don't tell her I was the one to bring her here." The nurse nodded and Marcus walked out of Leilani's life, half expecting to never walk back in, either because he was dead or she was. He left the blood on his sleeve; it would help sell the story that she was dead.
Marcus returned to the manor, his only goal to be seen by as many Death Eaters as possible. He took dinner with them and then declared a migraine and went for what served as his room. It wasn't unusual for him to not be seen for a while when he had his migraines, he claimed that light and sound made the headaches worse, so the Death Eaters pretty much let him hide in his room, it's not like they cared about him anyway. A house elf would bring his meals and collect the dishes.
When sleep descended on the Manor, he changed into jeans and a leather jacket and snuck out. He stopped by Jocelyn's grave. It was common knowledge even among the Death Eaters that he had loved her…that he still loved her.
"She's lost her mind," he murmured.
Grief will do that. A voice whispered in his mind. But you saved her life.
"Maybe."
If you're worried about her, go see her. Talk to her. Explain. She'll understand if you explain.
"I miss you, Jocelyn." He laid a bouquet of flowers on her stone before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. To make sure he wasn't followed, he took a circuitous route to St. Mungo's before Apparating inside.
That night, he sat by the bedside of the closest thing he had left to a friend, outside of Cedric who was more of an ally than a friend, and waited.
Eventually, she stirred.
"Don't scream!" he whispered hastily as her eyes peeled open. "Hex me if you like, but don't scream."
"Marcus?" she asked. Leili blinked, squinted, blinked again. "I must be dreaming."
Marcus' normally stoic face smiled, honest relief and humor clearing his face of the shadows that had plagued it for years. His hair was disheveled, like he'd been running his hands through it.
Leili rubbed a hand over her face, "Yup, definitely dreaming. You haven't smiled at me since you turned Death Eater. Not that you smiled at me much before that, but you smiled at Jo."
"Will you let me explain that?"
"What for?" She yawned, "I'm dreaming; you're not going to tell me anything I don't already know. Hmmm…" She sighed, snuggling into her blankets. "It's nice, being able to talk to you. I don't talk to very many people anymore."
"Nor me. Are you okay?"
"Depends on your definition. I'm not me anymore. Not for a while, I think. But I'm alive. I think. I am alive right? This isn't some strange after-death hallucination?"
Marcus huffed a laugh, "You're alive. Jocelyn would never have forgiven me if I let you get killed."
"I miss her."
"Me too. What were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed."
"I was thinking Rookwood needed to pay. And I was thinking that if I die, I see them again."
"You've lost your goddamn mind," Marcus said, shaking his head.
She scowled, "You're awfully judgmental for a dream."
"Rookwood is still alive."
She swore softly, "Damn. I guess I'll have to try again."
"They're gone, Leilani. Killing Rookwood won't bring them back."
"It'll make me feel better."
"Well aren't you the little hero," he sneered.
Her laugh was a little hysterical, "There's the Marcus I remember!"
He scowled and rolled his eyes, grumbling, "When did you become the annoying little sister I didn't want?"
"Probably when you fell in love with my best friend."
His scowl softened slightly. "I miss her," he said quietly.
"Me too." Her eyes drifted closed and she was asleep again. Marcus stayed a while longer, trying to pretend the last four years had never happened.
Two days later, Leilani woke again, this time blinking in confusion at the bright hospital surroundings.
"Hey, kiddo," a familiar voice whispered.
"Daddy?" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I worked here, Hon; you think these people don't know my daughter when they see her? I've been shoving photos of you and your sister in everyone's faces since you were born. I'd have been livid if they had you here and didn't call me."
"How did I get here?"
He ignored the question, flagging down a passing Healer to fill her in on what had happened. "You took two Stuns, luckily not to the chest or I don't think you would have survived it. As it is, you survived but your baby did not. I'm sorry to inform you that you suffered a spontaneous abortion."
The news was delivered quickly and unemotionally.
"I'm sorry, what?" Leili blurted as her dad spluttered.
"You had a miscarriage, dear," a nurse offered far more gently, glaring at the Healer.
"You're pregnant?!" Her dad squeaked. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Was," she whispered, her arms wrapping around her belly as she curled into a ball, like she could protect what was no longer there.
She and Fred hadn't gotten married by the time he'd died. They'd been planning to, but with everything going on, it just hadn't seemed like the right time. Just because they weren't married didn't mean they were celibate, though; they lived together, slept in the same bed, did… other things in that bed. She shouldn't have been surprised, she remembered missing her period, but there had been so much going on that she'd dismissed it, putting it down to the stress of the situation—it wouldn't be the first time.
It was mid June, Fred had died in Early May. She was—had been roughly two months along and she'd been so distracted she hadn't noticed. She pressed down on the tears that threatened to overwhelm, pressed down on the utter devastation that came with. Her baby was gone.
Just.
Like.
That.
Rookwood was responsible for yet another death; she definitely was going to kill him now. She badgered her dad, the nurses, the healers, but if they knew who had brought her out of the Manor, they wouldn't say. She remembered her dream, but it was hazy, like most dreams are; everyone swore that no one had come to see her except for her dad.
She never saw Marcus again.
Present Day
Her charm bracelet burned on her wrist, the first time in a long, long time.
Something had gone wrong.
She'd given Jo's necklace to Scorpius. "In Case of Emergency," she'd told him. His lower lip had wobbled for a split second, she was sure of it, and she almost thought he might hug her but then, he'd straightened up, Hermione had Turned Time and they'd gone.
But now her bracelet was burning and she was flying. She flew faster than she'd ever flown before, just in time to see Umbridge come up on Scorpius and Snape. She was so close. Umbridge was thrown through the air and Snape's doe stood regally beside him.
"Always too dramatic for her own good…" Snape murmured to himself. Leili's dolphin burst from her wand before her feet touched the ground.
"So says the man who spent my school years sweeping through the hallways like a great overgrown bat," Leili told him, relishing the glare he shot her. She felt more like herself than she had in years.
"Go," was his last order to them as he brought down the Anti-apparition spells.
They went.
Leilani took Scorpius' hand and folding space around them, she Apparated him directly into the middle of the lake. "Learned your lesson, Scor? No more screwing with time."
"No more," he promised and was gone.
To their surprise, and to Albus', Scorpius sought out Jo and Leilani when he got back to his proper timeline—after being lectured at by the Headmistress. Leilani was pleased to see them, initially thinking they'd come for tutoring.
Jo and Leilani sat down with them and listened to all the things they did not want to tell their parents. "Mr. Diggory came over one night and he and my dad got into a really big fight over a time-turner and whether or not it could bring Cedric back," Albus explained. "It was my idea to take the time turner. I just wanted to fix things."
"And to get back at your dad, right?" Jo asked… not un-kindly, but there was an edge to her question.
Albus mumbled a "yeah." Then, "It's just that he's always going on about how James is a better son th'n me, how he wishes I were more like James or Lily…"
"I have a hunch as to why he said that. Would you like to hear it?" Leili said. She wasn't going to try and force her theories on this kid.
"Whatever."
"I'd like to know…" Scorpius said.
"When your dad was a kid, he did some really stupid things. Both of your dads did some dumb stuff, to be honest. Jo and I were always chasing after Harry and your Uncle Ron and your Aunt Hermione. I'll bet your dad wishes, not that you were more like your brother, though I'm sure that's what you heard him say, but that you were less like him."
"I am nothing like him!" Albus barked, thumping his fist on the table.
Leili held her hands up, palms out, classic 'I surrender'. She was giving up easily, she knew, but if he didn't want to listen, she wasn't going to force it. It was a little like trying to get Pele and Leo to eat their vegetables instead of enchanting them—something her twins still did.
"This isn't going anywhere," Jo said, leveling her best hooded-eye stare at the boys. "I have an idea. Come with me if you want the truth."
As Jo and Leili escorted the teenagers to the pensieve, Leili noticed something shiny around Scorpius' shirt. "Hold up, you. What's this?" she looped a finger though the chain and pulled it free of the uniform. She froze, "Jo, are you wearing your necklace?"
"Always, why?"
"Cause so is Scorpius."
"You gave it to me," Scorpius said.
Leili blinked then frowned, "Funny, I think I would remember that."
He shifted uncomfortably. "The other you. In the other timeline."
"You… you shouldn't have been able to bring that back with you. The other timeline doesn't exist now, the me who gave you that never existed to give you that."
Jo turned dread-filled eyes back on the 14 year old, "It's not over."
Leili frowned, rubbing her thumb over the carved surface, thinking. She'd known Scorpius since he was a toddler and Albus from birth. They were good kids. Both Draco and Harry were trying to be good parents, with neither one really understanding how. Ginny was on a health food kick and had banned sweets from the house but the kids all knew where Harry kept his stash and if he was out, then all they had to do was send an owl to literally any aunt or uncle and receive a fresh bag in return. "Albus…" She said. "You said… something about a prophecy? Your dad said something about a dark cloud?"
"He thought it was Scor," Albus frowned.
Jo pitched in, "Yeah. I'mma have a word with him on that. You don't have enough friends; he shouldn't be trying to take away your best friend. He of all people should understand that."
"I don't need you defending me!" Albus snapped.
Leili bopped him gently on top of his head, "Sweetie, if you didn't need someone to talk to your father, you wouldn't be in this mess. And that's not a judgment on you so don't give me that indignant look. He, of all people, should know better than to go around blindly following prophecies, that's how they come true." She shot a look at Jo who was watching her with a mixture of confusion and impatience on her face. She turned back to the boys, "Listen to me. Listen very carefully. We all know that whatever the hell you kids did, you fixed it, but something is still coming. We know this. Do you still have the time turner?"
Scorpius answered, "No. It-it broke. When I came back, it broke. We dumped the pieces in the lake."
"Well that's something, at least." Leili muttered. "Ok, if you don't have the time turner then what ever is coming after you—after everyone—is happening in this time."
"We screwed up, didn't we?" Scorpius said quietly.
"Oh, honey," Leili smiled. "When this is all over, remind us to tell you just how bad your parents screwed up, when they were your age, ok? Harry Potter is not infallible. And Draco? Total prat for seven years."
Scorpius tilted his head at her, "Sometimes, I forget you're an adult. Like now. You aren't acting like an adult. You're acting like you're our age."
Jo cackled, "Oh no, she was way more annoying at fourteen, trust me, I was there."
"So what do we do?" Albus asked.
"You two are gonna go to bed. It's late and we're going to need you sharp if you're going to help us think our way out of whatever's coming," Jo said.
"Wait, you want our help?" Albus asked, dumbfounded. They'd bungled this whole thing so badly, he figured they'd be sent to their dorm and the adults would get together without them and fix it behind their backs.
Jo quirked an eyebrow, "It seems to me that the whole reason this happened was because you were trying to help. Seems only fair that you help make it right. Don't you think?"
The boys nodded and shuffled back to their bedroom. "What do you think?" Leilani asked when the boys were out of earshot.
"I think Harry has no idea how much he messed up his kid."
"Do any of us? But that's not what I meant and you know it."
"I think the time-turner is still intact. I think that the only way that thing will ever be safe is if they destroy it. And I think it has to be them. Their choice. Otherwise the resentment will fester."
"What do we do about it?" Leili asked, then laughed at herself, "God, it's just like being back at school. We're rushing around trying to make sure a Potter boy doesn't accidentally get himself killed."
"But this time we don't have to be sneaky. I still say they help us fix it in the morning. Their mistake, their mess, their job to help fix it. …But keep an eye on them, yeah?"
Leili nodded and folded herself into her animagus shape. She butted her head against Jo's cheek and took off down the hall after the boys.
In the Slytherin Dorm, Professor and father Harry Potter was waiting for his boy. Harry wrapped his son in a hug and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was hard on you. You shouldn't have taken the time turner, and I've locked away the map, you won't see it until you can prove that you're ready to use it. Your mum left your room exactly the same—wouldn't let me go in. Merlin, you scared us." Harry squeezed the hug tighter as he inhaled the scent of his son's hair.
"…Really scared you?" Albus asked quietly.
"Merlin, yes."
"I thought—I thought Harry Potter wasn't afraid of anything…" Albus said.
"Is that what you think of me? Is that how I make you feel?" Harry asked, pulling away to look Albus in the face.
"When Scorpius turned time, I ended up in Gryffindor and things were just as bad between us then, so it's not because I'm in Slytherin, is it?" he said, thinking out loud.
Harry gripped Albus below his shoulders and squeezed gently, "No. It's not that. I told you when you were getting on the train the first time, Severus Snape—a Slytherin—was one of the bravest men I have ever known, and Slytherin has gained a great student in you. Are you ok, Albus?"
"…No."
Harry shook his head and pulled his son in for another hug. "No. Nor me. I was wrong, you know. About Scorpius." Harry smiled over Albus' head at the blonde boy trying to be invisible. "There's no way you're anything other than Draco's son."
"And he's not a black cloud," Albus added, his voice muffled by his dad's shirt. It had been a long time since the two of them had been this close—emotionally. It felt… nice. Right. The way it should be.
Harry smiled, nodding, "He's not a black cloud. I was wrong. I'm sorry, Scorpius. Albus is lucky, to have a friend like you."
"Did you talk to Aunt Jo already?" Albus asked, sure there was no way the two of them could have talked and his dad still beaten them here.
"Jo? Why? No, I haven't talked to Jo. Should I have?"
Part of Albus soared at the confirmation, his dad wasn't saying these things because he'd had them knocked into him, he was saying them because he meant them.
Harry pulled away, "Now, get some rest, both of you. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, Dad," Albus said awkwardly.
"Night, Mr. Potter." After Harry left, Scorpius said, "You know, I really hated it in the other time line. It was awful. You didn't exist, the world was a terrible place and I was… entitled and angry. Arrogant, mean; people were totally afraid of me. I think we were all tested. And we all failed. It was stupid of us to try and change the past."
"No. The stupid thing wasn't trying once, anyone could have done that, but we did it twice. That was the stupid thing. Being arrogant enough to think it was alright if we did it. Because we knew what we were doing. But we didn't."
"I think we should destroy this," Scorpius pulled the Time Turner out of his pocket.
"Pretty sure you said that broke."
"I lied. Who can we trust to not do what we did? To not be tempted? Not your Aunt Hermione, not the ministry, they kept it."
"Aunt Jo looked positively green at the mention of it."
"But Cedric was her friend. Can we trust her to destroy it? No one can do what we did. No one. We have to destroy it. It's time Time Turning became a thing of the past."
Albus could practically hear the trumpets accompanying that statement, "Proud of that one, aren't you?"
Scorpius grinned, "Been working on it all day."
The two of them went up to the Owlry and began planning how to destroy the time turner. They sent an owl to Delphi who arrived promptly. They explained why they had to destroy the devise and she seemed to agree, until she got it in her hands and then all the pieces clicked into place. She was the ward of the Rowles, daughter of Bellatrix and Lord Voldemort, "I am the new future! I am the answer this world has been looking fo—oof!" her tirade was cut off as something came flying bodily into her.
Leilani had been following the boys in bird form. As soon as Delphi revealed herself, she flew at her, transforming mid-dive to knock her to the feather and excrement-covered floor. She tossed her wand to one of the boys as she tussled with Delphi. She had no witty come-backs or snappy repartee to offer as she aimed to wrestle the time turner from Delphi's fingers. The boys managed to free themselves and rushed to help but Delphi somehow managed to make the required number of turns and by the time the boys reached them, all four of them vanished into the past.
The years wound by and the tussle continued. "When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children murder their fathers: Then the Dark Lord returns!" Delphi cried joyously as time stopped turning.
"What a load of hooey!" Leilani declared. "Unseen children. Unseen children my left foot! Albus is not an unseen child. I know he thinks he is, but would I be here?"
Delphi's face shot towards Leilani, as if she'd forgotten she was still there.
"You want your father? You want to sit at his right hand? Well, guess what, missy, I guarantee you he would not love you the way you think. He would use you like so much cheap soap. That's how he used your mother, you know. You want an 'unseen child'? Look in the mirror, kid. I think you fit that description to a T!"
They stopped in the maze, and Delphi managed to extricate herself from Leili's grip. Delphi kept the time turner, but Leilani managed to snag the blonde's wand. Delphi scuttled off.
Leili got to her feet and pressed the kids into the living wall of the maze; Cedric shouldn't see them, he certainly shouldn't see her. Oh, she could explain, 'I'm from the future' but that would lead to questions and they didn't have time for questions right now. "Aunt Leilani! She's going to save Cedric! She'll stop him from getting to the cup!" Albus cried.
She tapped the boys on the heads with Delphi's wand, Scorpius shivered at the wet-egg-dripping-from-my-hair feeling of the disillusionment spell "It'll be alright. Look, see? There it goes." Sure enough, the blue and silver cup was hurtling over-head towards the stands.
"But—!" Scorpius started.
"No buts right now, I'll explain everything later. Right now, when she comes back I want you to grab on to her, tight as you can. Don't say anything, just grab and hold tight, I'm going to get you home."
Delphi returned, smug, as the Time Turner began to shake.
"Ready?" Leilani whispered as Delphi looked around for them. "Set… Go." The boys jumped out of the hedge, each laying a hand on one of Delphi's wrists while Leilani held their other hand. Time wound forward again, dropping them on the Quidditch pitch. As soon as time settled around them, Leilani cast, "Petrificus totalis!" Delphi's arms and legs snapped together and the only thing holding her up were the boys. But there was still a triumphant gleam in her eyes.
Then from behind came a voice, "Mom?"
Leilani turned around and her face broke into a grin, "Hey babies! What're you two doing out here in the middle of the night?"
The twins gave each other a look and then ran, skidding into their mom's open arms. They were seventeen now, graduating this year and Leili blinked back a tear as she hugged them. They'd gotten so big!
"We were gonna play Quidditch but it looks like the rest of the gang has decided to sleep instead. Cowards!" Leo explained.
"Pele? Leo? What're you… I thought you'd be… gone…" Albus asked, desperately confused. Albus had never noticed before how much Pele resembled his sister Lily. Both had the trademark Weasley hair and eyes, but their noses were different, Pele's turned up at the end, like her mom's. Pele's face was more heart shaped than Lily's, but they could still be sisters. He looked at Leo… now that he looked, Leo looked like his dad with his mom's coloring. How could twins look so different?
The gleam in Delphi's eyes was giving way to suspicion. "Someone take the time turner from her, please?" Leilani requested. "I'm not going through that nonsense again."
"I've got it," Scorpius said, holding up the pendant.
"Time Turner? But you said they'd all been destroyed!" Pele said, looking at her mom.
"We thought they had. C'mon, lets talk about this inside. Which one of you boys has my wand?"
"Here," Albus held it out. "I held on to it. She broke ours."
"I'll make you a new one. Locamotor mortis." Delphi rose into the air like a balloon and they made their way inside. "So, midnight Quidditch, huh? You guys still do that?"
"They did it when you were here too?" Pele asked.
Leilani nodded, "The outgoing seventh years would let the incoming sixth years in on the secret. I only played once or twice, I was a little busy doing other things, but your Aunt Jo made time whenever she could. We'll see if we run into the rest of your friends on the way back."
They did run into the rest of the group but Quidditch was forgotten when they saw Wand Maker Leilani Akina-Weasley with a blonde girl floating along behind the Potter and Malfoy boys, this was going to be the best gossip of the year—what ever this was.
Inside now, Leilani gathered them in the Room of Requirement; they were waiting for the rest of the adults to show up because she was "not going through this nonsense again," Pele and Leo chorused with her, laughing. One of Pele and Leo's Slytherin friends had gone to fetch Marcus who would fetch his wife who was hopefully with everybody else, otherwise there was quite a lot of fetching to do. Luckily, they had time.
While they waited, Leilani scolded gently, "You told me the time turner broke, Scorpius." He had the decency to look shamed. "Tell me why you lied."
"I was afraid I couldn't trust you guys to destroy it. The Ministry had it all this time and they didn't do anything with it. I was afraid you'd be tempted to go back and save Cedric. You were friends."
"Actually, mom was never really friends with Cedric," Pele piped.
"What?" Scorpius sputtered.
"He was the Quidditch Captain but they were never really close," Leo added.
"You should've come to us," Pele said.
"We'd have told you," Leo added.
Now Albus saw the resemblance, not so much in their faces but in voices and mannerisms.
"But I saw you with him, at the second task. After we made Cedric into a balloon!" Scorpius protested.
"He was still a Hufflepuff," Leilani shrugged. "I would have still helped him out of a bind, wouldn't you?"
"I mean… we're the ones who put him in that bind. And then he turned into a Death Eater!"
"Who turned into a Death Eater?" Marcus asked as he came in, leading the rest of the adults as expected.
"Cedric Diggory!"
Marcus frowned, "Cedric Diggory never became a Death Eater. I would know. Besides, he died that night."
"Hey look: Twinsies! Hi, Twinsies!" Jo greeted as she walked in and saw Pele and Leo sitting next to their mom on one of the couches.
The twins broke into matching grins, "Hi Aunt Jo!" they said. She'd been calling them Twinsies for as long as they could remember, probably longer. She hugged them both and then went to stand beside Marcus.
She sighed genially, "I miss Amanda."
Marcus smiled and even the blind could see how he adored her. "We could make another one…" he said in an undertone that somehow caught in the ears of everyone in the room. The adults largely ignored it, though Leilani did pull a face at them, she did not like hearing about their sex life—it was bad enough the one time Jo had broken in on her and Fred.
"It's a little late for that, bub."
Marcus just laughed, "Not too late."
"Hmm, I may have to take you up on that, Captain," Jo purred.
The Twins rolled their eyes, "Gross you guys," they said together.
(This is how Amanda wound up with a much younger brother while she was off having adventures with Paige. She was a little grossed out at the idea of her parents having sex but found herself rather attached to little Milo.)
"Dad!" Albus cried, leaping over Delphi to hug Harry and then Ginny, "Mom! You're ok!"
"Of course we're ok!" Ginny said, baffled.
Leili didn't move from her spot of the couch, "Come in, sit down, we have some explaining to do. But before we do that, we need to destroy that Time Turner. Scorpius, still have the necklace?"
Scorpius' hand shot to his neck, searching for the chain, he looked down when he couldn't feel it. "…It's gone!"
"Good," she nodded. "That's a loop closed."
"Boys…" Headmistress McGonagall held out a hand and Scorpius dropped the hourglass into her palm. The room lit a fire in the fireplace and all watched as she dropped in to the flames. There was a brief spark and a soft chink as the glass broke. The time turner was no more.
"Right, so everyone, this is Delphi. She is not Delphi Diggory but rather Delphi Riddle."
"Voldemort had a sister?" Leo asked.
"I wish. No, honey. Somehow, and I'm not sure how because the thought frankly boggles my mind, she's his daughter. Half Bellatrix, half Voldemort."
"Bullshit!" Jo swore, half laughing in disbelief. "Anybody got any Veritaserum handy?"
"It doesn't matter if she really is or not. What matters is she wanted to bring about a return of the Dark. Something about sparing spares and an unseen child—prophecy talk."
"'When Spares are spared and Time is Turned when unseen children murder their fathers: Then the Dark Lord returns' is what she said." Albus recited from his seat between his parents.
"Prophecy talk," Jo groaned in agreement.
Leili explained quickly what had happened in their jaunt through time, "I was keeping bird's eye on these two and so managed to interrupt her. She seemed to think that Cedric was the 'spare' and Albus was the 'unseen child'. Harry you were there, do you remember anything about Cedric being a spare?"
Harry thought about it for a second, "No. Crouch Jr. just killed him. He'd gotten too suspicious. He probably would have killed him anyway."
"Delphi thought that if we stopped Cedric from getting to the cup, we'd save him," Scorpius supplied.
"Right, but here's what Miss Riddle obviously didn't know: Cedric never touched the cup." The words dropped like stones down a well, with only the faint plonk to know they'd reached the water.
"That's right…" Harry said slowly. "Neither of us did. You did."
Leili nodded, "Jo and I Summoned the cup and kept you out of the graveyard. Nearly killed us both."
The glittering triumph had eddied out of Delphi's eyes, leaving her shaken and betrayed.
"Horrible day." Marcus murmured, snaking an arm around Jo's shoulders to pull her closer in the memory's wake.
"So by that logic… Cedric was never the spare…" Leo said, looking at his twin.
"Mom was," Pele finished, and they both turned to Leilani who was smiling at them.
"I'm so proud of you two," Leili enthused, her heart growing two sizes in her pride. She turned to Delphi whose eyes were filling with anger now. "This is why you don't listen to prophecies, they're notoriously unclear. You can't spare a spare that never died, Delphi."
"What about Death Eater Cedric?" Albus asked.
"I actually may have the answer to that one. If I may, Leilani?"
"Floor's all yours, Marcus."
"Cedric was a dyed in the wool Hufflepuff, I didn't know him well, had a few games against him, good Captain, good Seeker. He wouldn't have let a little bruised ego turn him Dark. I propose he was a spy for the Alliance."
"The Alliance?" Harry and Ginny asked.
"The Slytherpuff Alliance. A pact between Slytherin and Hufflepuff."
"Complete with buddy system!" Jo laughed, "It never occurred to me how silly the name sounded until now!"
"I was maybe fifteen years old, Jocelyn, I'd like to have seen you do better," he muttered.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I love it, it's just kind of a silly name!"
"I think it's perfect!" Scorpius defended.
"Thank you, Scorpius," Marcus said and Jo snickered.
"Can we get back on topic here?" Harry pleaded. "You think Cedric turned spy for your alliance?"
Marcus nodded, "It makes sense."
"Well, now that that's settled, what do we do about Delphi here?" Leilani asked, prodding Delphi's side with her foot.
"Minister Granger, I believe that's your job," McGonagall decreed icily—she was still upset at Hermione for having kept the time turner to begin with, not to mention keeping it so woefully unprotected that two fourteen year olds could find it.
"Yes, Headmistress. Use of forbidden relics and conspiracy to commit mass murder, I think. Jo, would you give me an hand?"
"You got it," Jo pushed away from her husband and helped Hermione lever Delphi up from the floor. "Headmistress, can you lend us a fireplace?" No point in trying to Apparate out, only McGonagall could do that. "Did she have a wand?"
"I've got it," Leilani said. "I'm going to take it back to the shop and destroy it, I just want to double check it's not one of mine."
"Your fireplace," McGonagall said, standing beside a fire glowing green. Hermione and Jo stepped inside, Delphi held between them. "Minister of Magic's office." And then they were gone.
"Alright, kids, this has been… interesting." Leilani was going to say fun but very little of it had actually been fun. "Don't forget to write Paige, tell her all about your adventure. Study hard," she kissed their temples. "No pranks." The twins knew their mother well enough that when she said 'no pranks' she really meant 'no pranks, until next week.' "Boys, I'll check my records on your wands and see what I can do to replace them. I'll need you to come in over the weekend, with the Headmistress' approval of course."
McGonagall dipped her head; she couldn't very well have students running around wandless. "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Akina."
"You know me, happy to help! Back to the shop, please, Headmistress."
McGonagall tossed a handful of floo powder at Leilani's feet in the fireplace, "Ollivander's." Leili had kept the name after she'd taken over the business—no sense in messing with a good thing.
"Bye Mom!" the twins waved and then the flames engulfed her and she was gone.
"Your turn, Miss Weasley."
Albus hugged him mom goodbye.
McGonagall turned to Pele, Leo and their gathered friends, "I'm going to forget I ever saw you tonight, so off to your beds before I'm forced to give detention for being out past curfew." The students scattered, they weren't going to get another free pass like that. That left Harry, Marcus, and the two boys. "Detention, I think, for you two. Meddling in time. And twenty points from each of you." That was forty total from Slytherin, the boys winced, trying not to make a big deal because she could easily change her mind and take more. "Five points back for trying to do the right thing in the end. Each." Ten points back took the sting out of the punishment, but not the bite. "Now, I suggest you go to bed, before anything else happens to change my mind."
"Yes, Headmistress," they said, shuffling off to their dorm.
"And my punishment, Professor?" Harry asked, feeling about as old as Albus right now, under the force of her stony gaze.
"You get to tell Draco what your sons got up to tonight."
Harry winced, talking to Draco after he'd accused his son of being the dark cloud Firenze had seen over Abus. After accusing him of being Voldemort's son. "Of course, Professor." He slouched his way into the fireplace and let himself be whisked away to Draco's.
After a long silence, Marcus spoke, "If you don't mind, Headmistress, I'd like to make sure my niece and nephew went to bed. Good night."
As he was leaving, she said, "Thank you, Marcus."
Marcus smiled, "I didn't do anything."
The room suddenly empty, Minerva McGonagall abandoned the grace and poise of her station and dropped with a groan into the couch. "I am getting too old for this."
THE END.
Yaaay! I hope you enjoyed it, I tried to insert logic into the craziness that was CC. Hopefully I did ok.