(6) Silent Oath

James put both hands on the rim of the sink & bowed his head. Heaving a sigh, he dipped his hands into the water & splashed his face for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He pulled off a towel to dab himself. Pulling it away, he saw the mirror. Sirius was standing behind him. James burst into a fresh wave of tears. Giving up, he tossed the towel aside. "Oh Merlin!" He waved both hands in front of his face, as if trying to cool himself. "Stop crying!" He turned to face Sirius.

Sirius sighed & looked towards the closed curtains around Peter's deathbed. Then his gaze wandered over Lily, Remus & Snape before coming back to James. The others were still sleeping. It was now or never. "We need to talk." Looking more crushed then Sirius had ever seen him, James merely nodded mutely. "Privately." Without another word, Sirius led the way.

They exited the Castle & crossed the grounds. Reaching the edge of the Forest, both transformed & dashed in. Sirius led him straight to the same spot Remus had transformed on that morning before changing back. The Stag bounded across & skidded on its hooves over the flat stone. James appeared & sat cross-legged. Sirius did the same, facing him. He handed over two letters. "The Silent Oath will bind you now."

James pressed a hand to his pounding head. He noticed the envelopes were numbered 1 & 2. He ripped into the first one which was fatter then the second one.

Dear James,

Well this is very odd, writing to you. The irony of ironies, we have very little time to correct a fatal mistake so I'll get straight to the point.

In your Seventh Year, you will be dealing with more than one timeline. Our old friend, Sirius Black, has gone back in time from the year 1994 to save our lives from a traitor. A friend of my son's had a Time-Turner for school this year. Sirius managed to get hold of it & use it. On that one day our timelines merge & I was able to cross over & speak with him.

By the time you read this, if this works that is, Peter will be dead. But James? If Peter did not die. Lily & you, plus twelve muggles, would have. Worse, Peter faked his own death & sent Sirius to Azkaban for twelve years for things he didn't even do.

You may ask how would I know this, being of a different timeline? Well as I told you, there is ONE day in 1994 where both merge. Several things helped. I, being a Marauder, going around looking for anything unusual, happened to notice inconsistencies in some places, or things that appeared which didn't make sense unless being of another Timeline. Most of my information comes from 'America' & no, I'm not speaking about the country but a friend you will meet in a day or two of reading this.

I also noticed a young Gryffindor witch, friend of my son's, messing around with time so she could get to all her classes. She thought she was alone when she used it, but I was in the bushes & as you know, we Stags can be quite stealthy.

Yes James. I am you. Fifteen years from now. I know you're missing Peter right now, but he betrayed us all to Voldemort. He's a Death Eater. Or was.

"Sirius!" James tossed it aside. "I'm not in the mood for pranks now!"

Sirius pulled out the broken Time-Turner hanging around his neck. "It isn't. I've been working with him. Oh Prongs! He was wearing prison stripes. He's only 33 but looks ancient. Dead. The worst is, he is me! I can't let that happen."

James looked at the hourglass—half of it anyway—then at the open letter lying beside him where it had fallen. "What's this about Peter?"

Sirius took a long time in answering. "He would have killed you & Lily."

"Are you telling me, that you know who murdered him?" James felt murderous himself when he saw his friend nod.

"My future self."

"Sirius."

"He's still here," Sirius shrugged. "In one of the unicorn barns right now."

"I'll kill him!" James stood up.

Sirius grabbed James by the sleeve & yanked him back down. "You do that & it will destroy me too remember? James! Finish the letters. Peter would have killed you & Lily. I tried to come up with another way but my older self stole Remus's wand & took Peter down before I had a chance. I don't like this any more than you do, but he would have betrayed us."

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT!"

"I know," Sirius said. "But James, you don't know the worst of it."

"What could possibly be worse?"

"I ended up in Azkaban for this," Sirius said. "I escaped & went to Hogwarts looking for Peter. Moony was there & apparently he requested that my sentence was upgraded from life in Azkaban to ... to the ... to the Dementor's Kiss & they agreed."

"Dementor's Kiss?" James stared. "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

"Finish the letters," Sirius insisted. "Then you can meet my older self. He can't go back since that thing is broken, unless we can find him another one. James, please just finish those letters."

"If what you're saying is true, then you are Peter's murderer!"

Sirius raised his hand then let it fall in a helpless gesture. "I wanted nothing more than to save him like you & Lily & every one else. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with a way someday, Time-travel back again & save him. I don't know. I'm still working this out. I don't even know what's in these two letters. Maybe our answer is there."

James glared, shook his head & began reading some more.

You must be incredibly confused & angry at the moment. I remember sitting there with the Sirius of your time. Don't fault him. We're all in this mess together. The next letter is from the Future Sirius himself, describing exactly how you & Lily died the first time around. Below, is my plan to save us from that fate this time. Removing Peter from the picture is only a small part. If anything, it merely removed Azkaban from the main timeline. Far worse lies ahead. Follow my plan to the letter. You did. I'm here. So is Lily & Sirius. Remus is now a Professor here at Hogwarts. We're ok, so stick to the plan!

~~Signed: James Prongs Potter. 1994

A second sheet of parchment fell out. James picked it up & began reading silently for several minutes, his face going whiter by the second. He laid that sheet aside, on top of the first letter. "I need no more proof. This can only be myself who wrote this letter. How else would he know our family secret? Oh this is bad. This is REALLY bad!"

"Prongs?"

James shook his head. "I can't tell you right now. In fact, you can try reading that second sheet of paper. You won't be allowed since you're not direct blood. We're only distant cousins. That page had a blood binding spell on it. Direct descent only for now."

"Ok," Sirius sighed. "Now the second one."

James gritted his teeth & then opened it. He read it through twice, closed his eyes & held it out to Sirius. The letter described his very own death & Lily's. The betrayal. Voldemort himself using the Death Curse. The exact position on the ground when James hit the floor dead before he finished his fall. Same for Lily.

"You'll have a son?" Sirius laughed softly through tears. Then his face fell. "This—THIS is how we destroy that Dark Lord?"

James looked away. "Merlin, will I never stop crying today?"

Sirius moved over to sit beside James & put an arm around his shoulders. "We've known for a while that we're going into war. You & I are both Aurors in training. So was Peter. I don't know when he became a double agent or even gone Dark completely but it had to be within the next four years. We now have a way to end this war but I don't like it. Everything can go so wrong so fast. I mean, he's only a baby & no one—I repeat NO ONE—ever ever survived the Death Curse. You're not seriously thinking of using my Future Godson like that, are you?"

James looked into his friend's eyes. He laughed. "You say that only since you don't know what's on this sheet & I can't tell you. Harry will be fine. So will Lily, provided I get all the pieces. It's only me who won't be."

"What do you mean?"

"If I get all the pieces, Lily & Harry can be thrown into a dragon's den & come out smelling like a rose," James said. "It's infallible. For them. For me? I have no protection, except impeccable timing skills. I know why he described my death so. But if I'm off by a mere second, I will be dead."

"Then we don't do this."

"Voldemort kills so much," James shrugged. "I'm willing to risk it. Sirius it is my life & the lives of every Light witch & wizard on the line, including yours & Moony's. Besides, there's a chance I'll time it right."

"James. Prongs! No!"

James held up his hands. "My decision is final, assuming I get the pieces. If not, then there's nothing I can do but take my family into real hiding."

"What pieces? Let me help you!"

"Oh you will, in time," James said.

"I'm so sick of hearing about time!" Sirius complained.

"Padfoot it's ok," James said. "I don't need your help to find those pieces. I already know where two of them are. But I will need your help afterwards. It won't be for a couple years. Let's just ... live ... for now." He folded up all the letters & put them into his cloak. "I know what I'm doing. Don't worry. Come on. We shouldn't leave Remus alone with Peter there. As far as I'm concerned, Peter was still innocent when he died. I'll still grieve. Remus will need us. Let's go."

They transformed & walked slowly through the forest. Sirius suddenly appeared. "How many pieces are there?"

"Three," James said. "We shouldn't do this here. Someone could see us. Back there, we were deep in but now we can see the castle." Prongs reappeared & soon, a black dog walked beside him.

They walked in silence for several minutes, catching glimpses of the open grounds ahead. "Do you have any idea where the third piece is?" The Stag huffed angrily, shaking his head. "You're the Omega. You can't boss me around."

"None whatsoever!" James gritted his teeth. "Now will you please transform & stay that way? Please?"

"Well," Sirius sighed dramatically & bowed. "Since you put it oh-so-nicely." He shifted & marched past, instantly regretting it. The Stag chomped down on the tip of his tail. Padfoot yanked it away with a yip of pain. The Stag actually smirked, prancing regally by the Grim. Padfoot snarled.

They shifted back to human form upon emerging from the Forest inside a thick cluster of trees where several large boulders lay. They headed back to the hospital wing. Remus & Lily were just waking up. Sirius stood by Remus & took his injured hand into his own. He began working on redoing the bandage.

"Jim? What's wrong?" Lily asked as James sat down beside her.

"Everything."