(16) Ocean Of Memories

The next day was a dreary rainy Saturday. The Marauders Pack found themselves in the upper room of the Shrieking Shack, holding bottles of Butterbeer & passing around a bowl full of chocolates & other sweets. Sirius & Remus curled up at the head of the bed while Lily sat on the foot of it. James was sitting on the piano's bench while Harry was lying sprawled out in the middle of the bed & staring up at the ceiling.

Harry was in a daze. He had just finished listening to an epic tale of Time travelling, death & betrayal, all due to Hermione's Time-Turner. (So that's how she got around.) From the corner of his eye, he could just make out Sirius, resting his head on the werewolf's shoulder, his greying shoulder-length hair pulled over on one side to hang down.

"Harry?" Remus finally broke the awkward silence. "How are you?"

"Oh fantastic!" Harry said acerbically.

Remus cringed a little. The young Stag didn't seem to be taking this to well. "It is an amazing story, but it is the truth."

"You're asking me to believe that I almost grew up without any of you around," Harry said. "That Sirius was in Azkaban all these years, technically speaking, for stuff he never even did. How does one respond to that?"

"Just be glad you have a bookworm friend," James said, hitting a few notes. "Oof! This needs tuning! The power of Time itself is probably the most dangerous of all."

Harry sat up a little, leaning back on his hands. "Mum, how did you handle this when you first found out?"

"Oh I nearly killed your Dad," Lily laughed softly. "It took a while to sink in that he was telling the truth."

Harry re-arranged himself to sit cross-legged on the center of the bed. "It's a good thing you didn't," he suddenly started. "Otherwise I wouldn't have had baby twin sisters to annoy."

"We planned to have Edwina & Cordelia once Halloween of 1981 was past," James said.

"Too bad they're aren't starting school until next year," Remus put in. "I'd have loved taking a shot at teaching them. But I won't be here."

"What? You're not staying?" Harry looked horrified. "You're the best Professor we ever had!"

"Merci, Harry (Thanks, Harry)," Remus began. "But Severus & I just can't get along. He let slip the fact that I'm a werewolf. The owls should soon be arriving. Parents won't want ... well someone like me teaching their children. Let's just say I'm used to it.*"

"Or they'll all like you," Harry tried. "Hermione's parents do."

"They're muggles & aren't blinded by prejudiced knowledge of my kind," Remus said. "Plus being what they are, I'm something of a freak patient to them." He laughed, exposing his fangs.

"Fred & George won't like this," Harry said. "Not one bit!"

Remus scoffed. "I can't believe they found that map! It's a good thing to since Jim needed it yesterday. So he could find Orion in the other Time line."

"Speaking of which," James suddenly glanced around. "Um guys? Where's America?"

"Oh!" Remus gasped, eyebrows shooting up into his bangs. "I don't know. Sirius! We've all been up here for over two hours. We went ahead without him."

"No you didn't," Sirius said. "He's right here, don't worry."

"Where?" Remus asked.

"Right here," Sirius sat straight. "The Time lines are merged. We are all one now." He got off the bed & went to the window, staring out for a moment. "There were in fact, three Sirius Blacks in the world for one moment in time."

"WHAT?" Everyone exclaimed in one voice.

"The Sirius you all grew up with, unaffected by Azkaban," Sirius began. "Orion of course. But yesterday, Orion ... of the present day ... was in France while Sirius was in the Great Hall. Meanwhile, you Prongs, went down to the boat house & reached literally across Time to talk to the Sirius Orion there & convince him to jump. So three of us for one moment. The moment he jumped, he merely became Orion ... of the past."

"How do you figure that?" Remus stared incredulously at him. "You dare to call me mental? That's just insane!"

"Remember what I told you last night, Moony?" Sirius turned to look at him. "That Orion was already back. In fact, ALL the Sirius Blacks were back. That's why I was knocked out. The points in Time all finally merged into one. It pulled all my parts back together."

"That's impossible!" James stared.

"Is it?" Sirius transformed into Padfoot, barked, then transformed into America & screamed.

Remus stared agape. "No one! NO ONE! Can do more than one Animagic form! You'd have to give up your previous form. Once Orion showed us America, he was never Padfoot again."

"So explain what you just saw," Sirius folded his arms & waited.

Remus stared, looking more & more like a were-goldfish then a werewolf. After a few minutes of hard thinking, he threw his hands up in defeat. "I can't!"

"It's because I was actually doing two forms at the same time for many years straight," Sirius explained. "My younger self had the Padfoot form. My older self had the American one. When everything was finally merged yesterday, I knew both forms so well that I was able to keep both due to years of experience with them."

"Is that why you have grey hairs now?" Harry suddenly asked. "Your old self, Orion, has some grey in his. Not as much as you though."

"I think so yes," Sirius nodded. Then he sighed. "I had hoped that memories of Azkaban would be deleted with this final time shift. As it is, I retain memories from both sides & also ... this." He bared his right shoulder & moved closer to the others to show them. Harry read off the numbers & the abbreviation.

Remus sighed & held out a hand to grab Sirius. He pulled the man back onto the bed. "I can't imagine having twelve years of hell in my head like that." Sirius turned his face away, shedding a few tears. Remus pulled out his wand. "Perhaps I can remove that tattoo."

"No," Sirius shook his head. "The mark of Azkaban is a curse put on you. It can not be removed."

Remus leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Sirius's back. "I can cut it off. It would hurt a moment, leave a scar that Pomfrey can get rid of."

"Nope," Sirius said. "I've already tried."

"PADFOOT AMERICA!" Remus looked up.

"It grows right back," Sirius scowled. "As you can see. I'm stuck with it. Forever." He glared at the floor & muttered a very bad word that made Lily glare & Harry smirk. Sirius soon went on. "Anyway, it's all done & over with now. We're all safe. That's what matters. I'm just a little tired now. That's Orion's side of things. He was never quite the same since Peter died. He told my younger self that he felt ripped apart. Now I understand the meaning since I'm all back in my own head again. I just don't get why."

James suddenly looked down at the broken piano keys. "What exactly did Orion say after killing Peter?"

"He felt ripped apart," Sirius said again. "You remember that day, right? You & Remus were both in the same bed at the hospital wing with Peter's body nearby & I suddenly ran out on you?"

"Yeah," Remus nodded. "You never told us where you went."

"I went to see him," Sirius said. "My old self under the bridge. He wasn't looking well at all & said that he felt he had been ripped apart."

A piano key snapped off & went skittering across the floor, making everyone jump & look around. "Désolé (Sorry)," James muttered.

"Anyway," Sirius sighed. "After Time merged into one again, I suddenly saw myself in three places: Cherbourg, Gryffindor Common Room of yesterday & Gryffindor Common Room of my own Seventh Year. It lasted a mere moment. Next thing I know, I'm in the hospital wing with everyone around me."

Remus lay down completely, stretching his long legs over Harry's (much to the young Stag's annoyance) & smiled softly at Sirius (after winking at Harry who was now forced to free himself for the werewolf's amusement). "Well, I'm just glad it's all over."

Sirius sighed. "I only wished the jump would have destroyed certain memories from all of us."

Remus finally let Harry go by dangling his legs over the edge. He began playing with his wand, flinging it up to the ceiling so that it spun end over end. He caught it by the handle every time, like one who juggled with a knife. "It's over, Sirius. You're out of that hell & have been for many years." He flicked his wand again.

James caught it. "Actually, it isn't over."

"Ohh NOW what?" Remus, Sirius & Lily moaned.

"Moony, have you been having problems with this wand since Wormtail's Moon?"

"Non (No)."

"Has it behaved differently at all?"

"Non (No)."

James leaned in close so that they were nose to nose. "Are you sure?"

"Prongs what—" Remus shoved James out of his face. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's the core of your wand?" James tried another tactic.

"Oddly enough," Remus half-smiled a moment. "A silver unicorn's hair. Those unicorns grow real living silver."

James pulled out his own wand. "I'm going to do an X-ray spell on this wand. Tell me what you see." A 3-D image began to glow above the wand. "Does that look like unicorn hair? Of ANY color?"

Everyone stared at the image. It was blood red smoke moving back & forth from tip to handle & seemed to twist in on itself almost like the coils of a snake. "There's the hair," Remus pointed. Sure enough, the hair was dead center of the smoke, almost as if it was trapped inside it.

"Have you seen this smoke before?" James asked.

Remus shook his head. "Before we did our OWL's, I had my wand tested to make sure it was still good enough."

Sirius laughed. "You're as bad as Hermione! You were so scared you wouldn't pass. What if you couldn't get through all the exams? What if something was wrong with your wand? Really, Remus. The dumbest things you could come up with that couldn't possibly make you fail."

"A wrecked wand could make me fail," Remus huffed. "I had it checked to make sure. That red stuff wasn't there."

"Is this the same wand?" James asked.

"Oui (Yes)."

James then cancelled the spell & handed the wand to Sirius. "The same one you used to kill Peter?" Sirius inspected it, then handed it back to Remus, nodding. James swore profusely under breath.

"JAMES!" Lily screeched. "Not in front of Harry!"

"Really Mum?" Harry whined. "I've known those words since I was nine."

"JAMES!" Lily smacked him.

But James barely felt it. He was still glaring at Sirius. "I can't believe it! No wonder you're ripped up."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

"When you killed Peter, you created a Horcrux in Moony's wand."

"What's a Horcrux?" Sirius asked as Remus went deathly pale.

"An evil thing," Remus gasped & explained the dreaded magic.

Listening to it a second time, James couldn't help but feel sick. He kept glancing at Harry. That scar. Could it possibly be? He shook his head, refusing to believe his son was a walking Horcrux of the Dark Lord himself.

"But I never kn ... oh Remus! I didn't do it on purpose!" Sirius gasped. "I didn't know."

"A Horcrux is made through murder," Remus repeated. "Gee, THANKS! Moron!" He held his wand in front of him & attempted to snap it in two. "I loved this wand! We've been through so much together!" At that, he gave a violent tug.

The wand stayed firm.

"One does not simply kill a Horcrux," James said. "I have no idea how, but you can't just crack it in two. I'll find a way." Remus growled. "Eh, eh! Don't growl! Or you won't get any chocolate for a month!"

The amber of Moony shone through Remus's hazel eyes. "Who's your Alpha?"

"I don't care! Bad Wolf. No chocolate. It's that simple!"

"Take it to Dumbledore," Sirius interrupted before Wolf & Stag became physical with each other (not like that either). "He might know." Remus hissed at him. "Don't hiss. I didn't know ok? Bite me."

"Bend over. I will."

"Professor Moony!" Harry gasped before turning away, snickering.

"I'm just saying," Remus snickered. "Didn't you have something for me?" He wisely changed the subject.

James folded his arms. "No chocolate." Remus ignored him.

Sirius glared at the Wolf before opening the small cupboard on the wall. He pulled down a large envelope. "Since I came together in the Gryffindor Common Room, I had to apparate back to Cherbourg to get this." He handed it over. "I found a box inside one of the steps at the road-stead that was built into Cherbourg's harbour. It's an old Time capsule."

Remus opened it up. Several pictures fell out & an old letter written in French. Remus stared. "My God! There are pictures here that no one has ever seen. There's so few of her to begin with."

"This one in particular might be of interest to you," Sirius picked up one that had fallen to the floor. "See that lady there? Look familiar?"

Remus stared at the couple on the docks. "Nana! I can't ... I mean, I knew she went aboard but my family don't have any pictures of their honeymoon. It was all lost when they hit that iceberg!"

"Well, now you have some pictures," Sirius smiled.

"These are really old," Harry looked at the other pictures. "Nice looking ship."

"It's the Titanic," Remus said, reading the letter to himself. It was a short love note from his grandfather to his grandmother, telling her of where he had picked their honeymoon & that he already had second-class tickets. "Papa's going to love this letter," He whispered to himself.

"Is Titanic still around?"

"Boy, don't you make me believe you never heard of Titanic!" Remus snapped, lowering the letter to glare.

"Um ... no. Should I?"

Remus gritted his fangs & let out a low growl. He launched into the full story. "My grandparents went on board in Cherbourg," Remus finished. "It was their honeymoon. Nana survived, fortunately. It's the only reason I'm here today. Grandpa didn't make it so I never met him. After the Carpathia pulled in the survivors & took them to America, Nana found out a couple weeks later she was pregnant. With my mother. It's amazing how close I came to not being here really. You see, Nana did not get on board a lifeboat. She was stuck on Titanic right through its final moments when it split & stood on end. She was pulled out of the water later. It was so cold. It's amazing her developing foetus didn't die right there."

"They recently found the bow section a few years ago," Sirius pointed at another picture that was upside-down.

Remus turned it over. "Wow! Sweet Merlin, have mercy!" He compared it to a surface picture of the ship. "It's really her." He stared a moment longer. "Sirius? Thank you for these. The Lupin family don't have much on this. These pictures are great. Especially that one with my grandparents on the road-stead there, with Titanic floating behind them. That's a new picture for us."

"No problem, Moony."

They heard thumping up the stairs & suddenly Hermione & Ron came into view. Ron had a fat grey rat on his left shoulder. It was old now. His brother Percy had bought it at Diagon Alley several years ago. Being an actual magical rat, it could live longer than a common garden rat & it was very defensive of any Weasley currently owning it; though Crookshanks, being a cat, still liked to chase it senseless. It took Ron most of the year fighting with Hermione about it to get used to the idea that the cat wouldn't actually kill the rat, only play with it. The Marauding Pack tried hard to not think of how much Scabbers looked like Wormtail.

"Harry," Hermione began. "Dumbledore is looking for everyone here."

"He wants to talk to all of you," Ron added.

"That's our cue," Remus glared at his wand as he got up.

Harry suddenly asked, "Hermione, Ron. Have you ever heard about Titanic?"

"Of course," Hermione stared at him as if he was an idiot. "Who hasn't?"

Remus smiled as Harry glowered. "Hermione. Darling. Have I told you lately that you're my favourite student ever?"

"Darling?" Hermione glared. "I'm not falling for those banners Sirius did."

"Sure you're not," Remus grumbled. "Still my favourite student though."

"Ok creep factor officially in the red," Hermione headed downstairs amidst hysterical laughter from everyone but Remus.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron managed to say after he stopped laughing. "You've got to be completely mental if you never heard of Titanic before. Even in the Wizarding World, that ship is famous. Several sorcerers died on that ship. They stayed behind to help hold her up while she went under. It's partly the reason she took so long to sink, besides her design as well."

"Merci, Ron (Thanks, Ron)," Remus said. "You're officially my second-favourite student."

"Sure, but I'm not buying those banners Sirius did either," Ron stated matter-of-factly, earning more laughter as they headed down the tunnel.

"For the record, James helped," Sirius said, in case anyone heard or cared. No one seemed like they did.

*From Prisoner Of Azkaban book/movie

(AN: Yes I've ripped off a title from Titanic's soundtrack. In fact I've been listening to that soundtrack a lot while writing this story & it's been having some influence. Yes I made a 'Lord Of The Rings' reference & lots of Star Trek references, too.)