Hanging by a Moment
Chapter 6 – Faith and Trust
The group made their way to the shrieking shack in no time. No one talked, all immersed in their own minds. Remus and Lily looked like they were going to be ill with worry and James and Sirius kept glancing at them and to each other, avoiding eye contact with Hermione and Draco who brought up the rear. Hermione and Draco had taken to holding hands, Hermione needing something to keep her from backing out of the most important part of their plans…getting the Marauders to believe them.
When they finally entered the small sitting room of the shack Hermione didn't have time to take in the broken furniture as she did in her third year. James and Sirius started firing questions at an impossible speed.
"Who are you?"
"Where are you from?"
"Who sent you?"
"What do you know about Remus?"
"How do you know anything?"
Hermione held up her hands in a vain attempt to settle them down and let her speak. Her nerves and patience finally got the best of her and she pulled out a wand and shouted; "Silencio!"
The two boys never saw it coming.
They glared angrily at her. Hermione sighed and said: "If I take the spell off of you, will you promise to let us explain? I promise, we want to help you more than you can possibly even imagine."
The boys facial expressions flickered from angry, to worried, to confused, but they both nodded.
Hermione ended the spell with a wave of her wand and sighed. "Draco and I are from the future. About 20 years in the future, give or take a few months."
They were not expecting this. Sirius, who was leaning against a beat-up recliner in the attempt to look aloof nearly fell over, while Remus and James opened their mouths with wide eyes to start firing more questions.
"Ah!" Hermione lifted her wand again to remind them she was not through explaining. They snapped their mouths shut and she continued.
"We used a time turner," Hermione continued. "And I…I am going to have a hard time explaining, so please, please be patient with me."
"I am the son of Lucius Malfoy." Draco took up where words failed Hermione. "And as you know, he is not old enough to have a 19 year old son. You see, in the next twenty years the wizard world is going to be torn apart by two wars. You all are going to play a major role in the first one, but…" Draco paused, unsure if he should go on. He glanced at Hermione who nodded encouragingly. "Only Remus is going to make it to the second war, and then he will die."
Hermione thought for a moment that Lily was going to be sick, but she simply slumped to the floor while James went over to her. Sirius was still staring at them with wide, disbelieving eyes. Remus looked like he wanted them to continue.
"James, Lily," Hermione started speaking again. "You are going to get married in another year here, right after the war starts. You're going to have a baby boy, and you're going to name him Harry."
"Harry is my father's name." James said numbly, almost in defeat. "I always wanted to name my son after him…how..how?" He looked as though he could not form the question.
"I know his name because he was one of my best friends. I desperately need to back up though. How much have you heard in the past year about a man named Lord Voldemort? He was previously known as Tom Riddle when he was at Hogwarts."
Lily spoke up first. We've heard rumors…whispers of someone practicing seriously dark magic and gaining followers, but they're just rumors!" She looked like she didn't really believe everything she was trying to say.
"People have been disappearing." Sirius said darkly. "The papers have been trying to hush it up, but you cannot ignore it."
It's the beginning of the war." Hermione said. "In another year an organization called the Order of the Phoenix will form to help put an end to Voldemort. You all will be members, of course," Hermione offered them a small grin. They looked hearted at their imposing bravery in times of struggle. "But Peter will not be joining you for long."
"Peter dies?" Sirius says with worry etched into his handsome face. "How can we stop it?"
"You'll wish that's what happens." Draco said in a flat tone. "He joins Lord Voldemort, causes the death of Lily and James, kills a bunch of muggles and Sirius gets locked up for over a decade in Azkaban because Peter frames him for all the murders."
You could have heard a pin drop in the shack. Again the four friends looked at Draco and Hermione as though they had sprouted another head right in front of their eyes.
"I don't believe it." Sirius said in a slightly angry tone. "Peter would never do that to us, any of us!"
"I can prove it," Hermione said gently. "You wonder how I know everything? Remus's secret? I know he's a werewolf, I know the three boys are unregistered animagus. I even know what you turn into…Stag, dog, and fittingly a rat."
"You could have seen us change at any time." Sirius said, the anger slowly leaving his voice and being replaced with desperation. He was determined to avoid the truth.
"I know about the Marauder's map," Hermione retorted to the look of skeptical eyes. "I even know how to activate it: 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good', and then to deactivate it is 'mischief managed'. I also know about the invisibility cloak that belongs to James and the secret passage you discovered to the village from the castle under the one eyed witch….honestly, do you need to continue?" Hermione finished and looked
around the room uncertainly.
"How do you know all this?" Lupin asked the question they all knew the answer to, but simply couldn't accept.
"Harry inherits the invisibility cloak," Hermione told them. "Remus, you come to teach us defense of the dark arts when we're all in our third year and you tell us how to work the map. Don't worry, a potion will be developed in a few years that will ease the effects of the full moon, you'll be in complete control of yourself in your wolf form. Surprisingly, Severus Snape is the potions teacher in our time and makes it for you while you stay at Hogwarts as our teacher."
Lupin looked completely amazed, and this softened the expression on his face considerably.
Lily pulled herself to her feet, holding onto James for support and spoke in a tentative voice; "What about our…our son? Harry? You tell us we're going to die, but our son lives. How?"
"This is where we find out about Peter's betrayal." Hermione said sadly. "But that's why we're here now; we want to change it all." Hermione took a moment to collect herself while Draco wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. Then she continued.
"After joining the Order of the Phoenix, James and Lily have a little boy named Harry. If you think the disappearances are bad now, they will only get much worse. Voldemort is trying to seek out all members of the Order, especially the stronger ones, and James and Lily are no exception. To hide, Dumbledore helps you go under The Fidelius Charm with Sirius as your secret keeper. You stay in hiding for a year while Harry grows into a one year old. Sirius even buys him his first toy broom. Right before Halloween it's decided that Sirius needs to go into hiding as well, and allows Peter to take over being secret keeper. No one knows about this exchange, obviously, because that's the point of the spell, the fewer who know the better. The night of Halloween Peter betrays you and leads Voldemort to your home. He kills James with the killing curse, and then goes to the nursery for Lily and Harry. Lily protects Harry and offers herself for his life, and Voldemort kills her. When he turns his wand and aims the curse at Harry…it bounces off of him and destroys Voldemort. Harry now has a-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sirius interjected Hermione's history lesson. No one survives a killing curse! There's no counter spell strong enough for it, and especially nothing a one year old can do!"
Hermione smiled again. "Harry didn't do anything to counter the spell, Sirius. Lily did."
"How could I?" Lily asked. "If he had already killed me?" She looked pale as a ghost but determined to scrutinize every detail.
"Love." Hermione said simply and looked up to Draco. "When you sacrifice yourself to save someone you love, there is no magic stronger. Harry was the only one in wizarding history to ever repel a killing curse, right through our time."
Lily had tears in her eyes. "I never would have thought," she paused and collected herself again, turning her whole body to James. "I can't wait to meet him," she said to him. "Our son, our Harry."
James looked a little taken aback but smiled and kissed her forehead. "Does that mean that when I propose you won't say no?"
Lily winked at him and let out a quiet laugh, the color starting to return to her face. "We'll see," she replied.
"I'm still not completely sold," Sirius said to Hermione and Draco. How can we honestly believe all of this? I don't think you're evil or anything, but I am going to need more information before I go and interrogate Peter. He has been our friend since we were all first years, I can't turn my back on him like that."
"And you won't, not for another 16 years," Hermione replied. "Maybe it would make more sense if I just told you how exactly we ended up here?"
They all nodded, so Hermione continued her story.
"After the Dark Lord fell, the wizarding world celebrated for years. Harry was named the Boy Who Lived and was sent to live with Lily's sister and her husband," Hermione noticed Lily's horrified look but didn't dwell on it. "He grew up there until he was eleven, and had no idea who he really was or how his parents died. His aunt and uncle told him they died in a car accident. When he was eleven, as we all did, Harry got a letter from Hogwarts, asking him to join the wizarding world. That's when I met him and his friend Ron Weasley, and we became the best of friends. Throughout our school years we ran into some horrifying things. Voldemort, whom everyone thought was dead, tried to come back in our first year but was too weak to command his own body. He possessed one of our teachers and Harry defeated him again at 11. When we were in our third year, as I mentioned, we discovered that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, where he had been sent after Peter framed him for all those muggle killings. Remus also came to teach us at Hogwarts. Sirius by this point knew Peter was still alive, he saw a picture of a rat that was the pet of my friend Ron. That's what motivated him to break out and find Peter, he wanted to avenge the death of his friends.
He and Remus reunited for a short while, but unfortunately it was the night of a full moon and Remus hadn't taken the potion that would render him harmless. Peter escaped. In our fourth year Voldemort succeeded in bringing himself back to full power, using the magic that ran in Harry's blood from Lily's protection. Again, however, Harry got away. Voldemort laid low until our 7th year, all the while Harry and Dumbledore tried to convince the world Voldemort was back. No one believed them except for the remaining members of the Order. Finally the world just could not ignore all the disappearing wizards and witches, and when we all came of age, we were initiated into the Order along with Harry."
Hermione stopped to catch her breath. Draco noticed she was visibly shaking, and he continued.
"Voldemorts followers are called the death eaters. My father was one, and when I turned 18, unlike Hermione and Harry, I joined them. I'm ashamed to admit it, but that was the path I felt was already chosen for me. I was prejudiced against muggles and muggleborns. I knew no other life.
The war went on for a little over a year. Catching and killing Harry Potter was the Dark Lord's number one priority, and he thought of little else. He killed all friends and family he could find, and we were still hunting the trio of Hermione, Ron, and Harry himself. It occurred to me throughout all this that Voldemort was little more than a mad man. My prejudices also conflicted with following him, as he was a half blood…a Malfoy does not serve a half blood is what I grew up to believe. My father, however, served Voldemort whole heartedly. He was in love with the fear and power and the sacrifice of dignity did not bother him as it did me. I began to think about all I had seen. The muggles killed did not bother me. The muggleborns we killed really didn't make me bat an eye, although it began to wear on me all the classmates I knew that perished. It was when Voldemort turned his wand against all the wizards and witches of pure blood that I became confused about our purpose here. I grew bored with the war and just wanted it to be over. I wanted to travel and see the world, and I couldn't do that while I was tied down in servitude. I always thought that Harry and his friends would win, that just seemed to me how the world works. We eventually discovered where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were hiding, but only managed to capture Hermione."
Draco looked at Hermione with uncertainty. Guilt was a foreign emotion to Draco Malfoy, but it burned in his chest with a vengeance. Hermione continued.
"After they captured me I was locked up in the Malfoy dungeons for what I assume was a little under a year. I lost track of time but I knew that my friends were still safe. I had already lost my parents to the muggle killings, they were the family I had left. I stayed in that cell without incident until the day I felt them die." A tear spilled down her cheek and Hermione looked at Draco to continue.
"I saw Harry and Ron, along with most of the remaining order die on the grounds outside Hogwarts. Because the killing curse didn't seem to work on Harry when it was Voldemort, the snake of a man snuck up on Harry and stabbed him to death," Draco paused and watched the tears in Hermione's eyes. "I don't know why, because I am not the poster child for bravery and duty, but I felt that Harry was not supposed to die like that. Something in me snapped. I went to Hermione, who was a mess in her cell. She just kept saying they were dead and I told her I knew, but maybe if we could take back some time and warn Harry, maybe he would be better prepared. Well, Hermione, being the most brilliant witch in our class, was already three steps ahead of me." Draco smiled at Hermione and let her finish the story.
"When Draco gave me the opportunity to use the time turner, I really didn't think. I was grieving, I had just lost everyone I loved and the world simply wasn't right anymore. I smashed the time turner and shouted the year I wanted. We landed on the outskirts of town and you stumbled across us a few hours later," She gestured to the boys in the room. "I know it's hard to believe, sometimes I wake up and forget everything that has happened. I think I'm back in my own time and my two best friends are in the boys dorms snoring away. Then it always hits me and sucks me under for a couple minutes. I do all I can to keep from screaming at night when the nightmares come back, but something brought Draco to me with that time turner. That's why we've been working so hard trying to alleviate the house rivalries. We've already made friends out of enemies and so much more. We want to rewrite history."
Hermione bowed her head and indicated she was done. Draco squeezed her hand and waited for someone else to start talking.
"So," it was Remus who first spoke. "You're saying that Peter is not disappearing to study…or snog. He's meeting with followers of Voldemort?"
"That's exactly what we think." Draco replied. Marcy Veddia and Scott Bolstrom are death eaters in our time. I would know," Draco pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and revealed the stunning and grotesque tattoo that still sent shivers down Hermione's spine. Draco continued, "Is Peter 18 yet?"
James nodded, "Peter turned 18 in August."
Draco looked thoughtful. "And he started acting funny at the beginning of term? Did he spend a lot of time with those people?"
"Come to think of it," Lily's eyes widened in recognition. "He spent a lot of time with them…and others! Even Severus…but then Hermione and Draco came…oh my lord, James…they're right!" Scott and Marcy are the only ones Peter said didn't like Hermione and Draco…"
Hermione nodded. "We talked to everyone we knew would end up death eaters.
I'd imagine that little study group Peter has been going to are current death eaters, the ones over eighteen, who are recruiting the students under eighteen who will become one when they come of age."
This statement made everyone look very uncomfortable, but Lily nodded in agreement.
"What's that picture on your arm?" James asked Draco.
"That's how you can tell if someone is a full fledged death eater. Voldemort designed this to link himself with his followers."
"And we're to trust you, as a death eater?" Serious asked, not unkindly.
Draco bowed his head. "I ask that you do. I truly am not a Gryffindor, I was sorted as a Slytherin, and so my daring and chivalry are overshadowed by self preservation and cunning…but I do not want to see the world end as it has in our time. It may be purely selfish, but I have no intention of being a servant to a mad man."
Sirius seemed to accept Draco's answer, possibly due to the absolute blunt statement. "What are we to do about Peter then?" Sirius asked. "Should we see if he has a mark?"
"That would be the quickest way to see how far in he is," Hermione answered. "The hard question for you all is…what are you going to do about it, armed with the information we have given you?"
Everyone shifted very uncomfortably at the thought. Peter had not done anything to deserve retribution…yet. But to know that it was coming, why sit like sitting ducks?
"I think," Lily said slowly. "That we do nothing now. As far as Peter is concerned, we should not act any differently. You say we have a few years, that's wonderful, perhaps we may be able to end things before they get out of hand. Would you give us a year, at least?"
Hermione nodded, but concern showed on her face. "We have a year before things really start getting bad. I think the best course of action now would actually be to go see Professor Dumbledore and organize the Order of the Phoenix early. We need to get the people we've made our friends into it, and crush Voldemort with our numbers before he becomes too strong. He is already going to be hurting with the lack of supporters he had the first time around."
"We can do this!' Sirius suddenly said with resolution written all over his face. "We can take him down!"
"This is where things are going to get fuzzy." Hermione reminded everyone. "We have the advantage as of right now because we have not really changed any history. Where we go from here…well, Draco and I don't know, because this is where history is going to be seriously rewritten.
"Do you really feel it's wise, messing with the chain of events like this?" Lily asked Hermione. "Things where really that bad?"
"Lily," Hermione looked at the other girl with sad eyes. "Lily, you and James are not going to make it to see your son reach his second birthday, to say his first sentence, ride a broom at a quidditch match. How much worse can it get?"
Lily was thoughtful for a minute. "I don't even know him yet and that breaks my heart. I'm just worried about others."
"The halls of Hogwarts are filled with hundreds of ghosts," Hermione said. "Hundreds of ghosts that don't even know it yet, ghosts that won't have a chance to fall in love and have children. I had nothing left to lose in my life, so this is the choice for me."
Lily nodded and squared her shoulders. "We should speak with Dumbledore then, if that is your suggestion. What makes you think he'll believe us?"
"I think Dumbledore knows everything," Hermione said with a smile. "The man didn't even bat an eye when two students showed up and placed themselves in Gryffindor, it's almost like he was expecting us."
"Maybe he can see the future," Sirius suggested. "Maybe he knew about you two all along."
Draco shrugged. "I don't know if he knew about me. I was an evil little git."
Hermione grinned, "No truer words have ever been spoken."
"Alright then," Sirius started for the door to lead the others out. "I suppose we should speak with Professor Dumbledore before we speak with Peter again. Let's change some history!
(A/N) That. Was. Hard!! I apologize if the Marauders accepting Hermione and Draco's story isn't incredibly believable. I am hoping it has the whole so-shocking-it's-gotta-be-true thing going on. I hope that because this is the wizard world and time turners do exist that it's not too unbelievable for the 70's kids. I hope I answered/will answer the question as to why Dumbledore just accepted them. Next chapter we get to find out!