(15) Time Squared

12 years later

James shivered & pulled his Cloak more firmly around him. He stood by the beech tree near the lake at Hogwarts. It was late spring & the sun was burning brightly but today was unusually cold. He glanced back to the bridge. Though it was to far away to see, he knew that his wife was standing near there. James then glanced to the Forest & wondered if Padfoot survived his latest prank on their werewolf. James laughed. If only Remus knew that it had been his idea, not Padfoot's.

James & Sirius had charmed every flag & banner in Hogwarts to say 'Hogwarts Bachelor up for sale. Your dear Professor Remus J. Lupin awaits his match. 1000 Galleons … or best offer!" Naturally all the girls & even a few guys suddenly admitted their undying love for Hogwarts' favourite Dark Arts Professor. Naturally of course, James was no where in sight all of a sudden, letting Sirius take the heat for it.

Remus was currently dashing through the Forest, the great Grim ahead of him. Merlin, he was fast in human form! Padfoot tripped & went spinning nose over tail down a hill. He landed with a loud splat in a stream. Perhaps it was fortunate since Remus had fired yet another hex at the black dog & only by tripping was Padfoot saved.

A look of pure murder flashed in his werewolf's eyes. Remus hated him. Sirius couldn't blame him.

Padfoot picked himself out of the water & ran again. He stayed in the stream, running along, following its course winding through the Dark Forest towards the lake. Remus skidded to a stop by the edge & glanced up & down but Padfoot was gone, black fur blended into the constant night that settled into the forest.

"Black?" Remus sniffed on both sides but couldn't pick up the scent. "If I see you again I'll kill you! You hear me? I'll bloody KILL you!"

Padfoot hurried on his way, ending up in a bog full of bloody hinkypunks! Fantastic. Padfoot sighed.

Remus huffed & turned back the way he had come. Sirius Black couldn't hide forever. He'll fix him. Hey. Good idea! Remus will literally FIX Sirius Padfoot Black! So there! The werewolf growled & snorted, blowing air through his fangs as he came across the covered bridge. He cut through the small grove of trees to find a red-headed woman.

Lily turned to look at him. "Oh stop chuffing," She flicked his nose. "What else could you expect from Sirius?"

"I'm going to murder him."

"Later," Lily laughed. "James & I are going to the Great Hall to meet up with him for something. You can kill him after your next class."

"He's in the Great Hall?" Remus was skeptical. "Um, I just chased his sorry arse all through the Forest."

Lily shrugged, taking Remus by the arm to lead him to the castle. "He must have found a short way back."

"Or I went after the wrong one," Remus grumbled.

"No, Orion isn't here today," Lily said. "He's in France. Cherbourg really."

"In that case, he can move fast."

"When you want his hide, yes," Lily laughed, then shivered. "It's so cold today."

"I know," Remus nodded. The pair stopped in a garden of the entrance courtyard, watching the Stag come bounding up to them. He was hurrying up the hill from the direction of the boathouse. Lily suddenly shivered violently. Remus held her closer to keep her warm. After several minutes, James finally stood with them. "Well I better get ready for the next lesson," Remus began. "My students should be nearly finished Charms by n—why hello, Padfoot," Remus cooed in a sickly sweet voice, grinning evilly. "How are you?" The black dog froze, locking eyes with Remus. "I thought you were in the Great Hall." Remus shrugged it off & headed on towards the door, Lily close behind. He'll deal with the sex addict later. "This isn't over!" Remus muttered to himself as he marched through the doors & headed for his classroom.

James glared, trying to look as normal as possible. He had JUST told that Grim to stay out of sight & what does he do? Uh huh! Sits on his fat arse while Remus walks right by him. James sighed & went into the Great Hall where Lily & Sirius were.

"Merlin's Curse, it's a cool day today," that other Sirius complained, pulling his Star Cloak a bit more closely around him. The cloak was faded at the moment for the daytime but it still offered some warmth.

"I don't understand why it's so cold, what with all that sun out there," Lily agreed.

"Wait a minute," Sirius suddenly said. "Today's the day, isn't it Prongs?"

"What day?" Lily asked.

"The timelines merge!" Sirius snapped his fingers. "My Demented friends are out there, aren't they?"

"The Dementors!" Lily gasped, remembering what James had once told her. "Yes! Thank Merlin they can't get through to our side."

Sirius pulled out a Time-Turner hanging from his neck. "I better go."

"Good luck, Padfoot," James said as Sirius ran out the door.

Sirius fled for Gryffindor Tower. He had to give Hermione back a Time-Turner before she noticed it was gone. The one he had wasn't the same one that Orion had broken. A few days before that fateful Halloween over a decade ago, James had given Sirius a small package with a letter.

Dear Padfoot or America,

If things do indeed go wrong on Halloween, use this to kick my sorry arse in gear & get it together.

The Memory Charm America put on the broken one has been transferred so give this to the girl instead.

~Signed: Prongs

The package had a new Time-Turner. Sirius guarded it with his life for many years. When Harry Potter went to Hogwarts for the first time, he finally got to meet the girl. A muggle born of a dentist family. (Remus was soon the main victim of the Granger family who developed a keen interest in his dental work.) It was only a matter of Time—tongue firmly in cheek—before that girl, Hermione Granger, would unwittingly save all their lives due to taking on more subjects in her third year than a normal thirteen year old girl (or boy) would do.

Sirius turned a corner so fast that he hopped sideways on one foot, then crashed headlong into two boys.

"Honestly Sirius! Are you trying to kill me?" Harry Potter snapped. "Fine Godfather you're turning out to be. Hang on, didn't you just trip me up back there down the hall?"

"Désolé! Oui, oui (Sorry! Yes, yes)," Sirius picked himself up then helped both Harry & Ron to their feet. Noticing Ron who wasn't as quite bilingual as the Marauders, he switched back to English while patting off his own robes. "I had to go back for something."

"We're looking for Hermione," Ron asked. "Have you seen her?"

"She's at Gryffindor Tower," Sirius said. "I'm going there now. I'll send her down."

"Ah, merci (Oh, thanks)," said Harry. "You just saved us a trip ... well, you know," He glared. "Sort of."

"I'll make it up to you later," Sirius winked. Then he was running away once more. Harry & Ron shook their heads & turned around, heading for the Dark Arts classroom.

Sirius fled up the stairs, jumping from one to another that had started to move. He swung over the edge for a moment & pulled himself up onto the staircase before it connected with another platform barely in Time. "Fortuna Major!"

"Sirius! You just went in. How'd you get out?"

"Someone left a broom on the roof," Sirius made up some story. "I flew it down & then came back. Fortuna Major!"

"At least you got rid of those ridiculous prison robes," the Fat Lady declared. "What a crazy prank!" She swung open.

Sirius dashed inside & then stopped short in shock. His eyes locked onto those of a semi transparent man. He was wearing prison robes. In an instant, he was gone. Sirius stepped forward slowly, staring at the place his Azkaban-traumatized self had stood a second before. He looked at Hermione passed out on her desk & put the Time-Turner by her hands.

Next moment, there was a crashing sound & his entire skeletal frame felt as if it had shifted from his body from the pain of being hit so hard. Sirius passed out in a crumpled pile on the floor by the wall all the way on the other side of the Common Room.

"He looks like he could use some Firewhiskey," James said. Why was his voice so distant?

"I reckon he won't be able to walk for a month after that blow," Remus said, also with a distant voice.

"Love his hair," Lily's faint voice added to the confusing fog.

Sirius opened his eyes a little. James, Remus & Lily stood on his left, looking down at him. On his right were Harry, Ron & Hermione.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked, pushing back some hair.

"Where ... ?" Sirius murmured.

"Hospital wing," Harry said. "Hermione was woken up by the sound of you hitting the opposite wall. We don't know who or what threw you over though."

"What did you do to your hair?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," said Sirius.

"You have a lot of grey & white in your hair," Remus said. "But I recall quite distinctly that you had a full head of raven black just this morning." He handed over a mirror.

Sirius took it & stared at his reflection. Sure enough his shoulder length hair, once as black as night, was now faded & streaked with grey. He put the mirror aside. "I had hoped … oh well. What's done is done."

The Marauders exchanged worried glances. James finally asked, "Um Padfoot? What's wrong?"

Sirius looked up at him. "Everything." He shrugged. "Yet nothing as well."

James smiled. "Sure thing, Paddy-kins." He turned to Lily & Remus. "He must have really hit that wall hard."

"He punched a hole through it," Ron said. "They have to patch it up."

Sirius sighed heavily. "Did any of you have any migraines?"

"No," James said, surprised. "We're all fine. No migraines yet."

"There won't be any for you," Sirius said. "It's all done now."

"I hope so," Remus said. "That last one I had nearly killed me."

"How long was I out?" Sirius asked.

"Just a few hours," Lily said. "You look a little tired. Sleep it off. We'll come back later."

Sirius looked towards the window & saw that it was dark outside. "Alright, see you tomorrow."

Lily shooed all but Remus out. The werewolf insisted on staying & made himself comfortable in bed, snuggling up to the chest of his Grim. When they were alone at last, Remus asked, "Padfoot, quel est le problème? (Padfoot, what's wrong)?"

"Demain (Tomorrow)," Sirius said. "Rassembler la meute. Nous nous recontrerons dans la Cabane Hurlante (Gather the pack. We'll meet in the Shrieking Shack)."

"Bon, je vais aller à Londresla première chose le matin (Alright, I'll go into London first thing in the morning)," Remus said. "Je vais téléphoner à l'hôtel Orion est à Cherbourg et à l'amener à poutre au-dessus tout de suite (I'll phone the hotel Orion is at in Cherbourg & get him to beam over right away)."

"Vous n'avez pas à vous (You don't have to)," Sirius began. "Il est déjà là (He's already here)."

"Oh?" Remus raised his head to look down on Sirius. Even though it was dark, Moony's senses helped him to see clearly. "Quand est-il arrivé ici (When did he get here)?"

"Il ya quelques heures (A few hours ago)," Sirius pressed the Wolf's head back down. "Vous allez enfin obtenir toutes vos réponses que vous attendiez pour demain. Soit dit en passant, j'ai un peu une surprise pour vous (You will finally get all your answers you've been waiting for tomorrow. By the way, I have a bit of a surprise for you)."

"Laissez-moi deviner. Demain (Let me guess, tomorrow)."

"Ouais (Yep)."

"Tu suces (You suck)."

"N'aimeriez-vous pas savoir (Wouldn't you like to know)?"

"Hey, j'ai gagné ce pari facilement (Hey, I won that bet easily)," Remus defended. "Ce n'est pas mon problème vous êtes trop stupide pour aller à l'encontre de la grande Lily Evans-Potter (Not my problem you're too stupid to go against the great Lily Evans-Potter)."

"La Ferme (Shut up)!"