Chapter 124: Unexpected Turn
"How's Remus doing?" Lily asked softly the moment James and Sirius stepped out of Remus' room at half past ten.
"Sound asleep." James smiled. They had tried to dope Remus with the Sleeping Draught the night before, which was the same day when James and Lily got it from Pomfrey. But Remus was too smart for them, he refused to eat or drink anything from anyone. And of course, needless to say, he was haunted by nightmares again. The two guys contemplated trying to drop a few drops into his mouth while he was asleep, but Remus' mouth was closed firmly without a slit.
"We had such a hard time inside." Sirius dramatized. He wiped his forehead with the back of his palm as if he had been doing some laborious work inside.
"It was pretty tough." James admitted. "But today he drank it up willingly."
"We were just drinking butterbeers.." Sirius started. The two girls stared at him wide-eyed. "Don't give me that look. This is a non-alcoholic version, something like butterbeers de-beered."
"Specially prepared by the house elves earlier." James boasted. "Thanks to our brilliant minds to think of something like that."
"Surprisingly it tasted exactly the same, except without the after taste. I could barely tell the difference between the real and the fake." Sirius chimed in. "You ought to try this." He held up the half-filled jar out and conjured two goblets out of thin-air. "C'mon, give it a try." Lily and Arabella eyed Sirius and the goblets suspiciously.
"Don't worry. It's not drugged." James laughed at the reaction of the two girls.
"Don't you girls trust me?" Sirius asked innocently.
"No!" Both of them answered at the same time and started laughing, spilling some of the butterbeer in their goblets.
"Take it as I never asked." Sirius mumbled.
"Alright, I drink this two first and pour another one for you." James took Lily's goblet and drained the content into his mouth before pouring another gobletful for her, and followed by Arabella's goblet.
"If anything out of the ordinary happens, you two are going to get it from us tomorrow." Lily warned them jokingly and they took a small sip of the de-beered butterbeers.
"Nice." Arabella nodded and finished up the remaining up.
"Ya, taste just like Rosmeta's butterbeers." Lily agreed and drained her goblet of butterbeers. "Yummy."
"See, I told you so." Sirius smirked. "The result of not trusting me will be," Sirius drank up the remaining half jar of butterbeer. "Not getting any more of this." He gave an evil laughter.
"Hey!" Lily and Arabella whined.
"I thought we put a refillable charm on it?" James asked. "But I supposed you must have removed it."
"Of course. That's genius mind at work." Sirius walked off towards his bedroom, leaving the empty jar on one of the corridor tables for the house elves to clear up.
"I guess that's good night then." Lily shrugged. "Rest well, I see you all tomorrow." She touched James' arm lovingly as they parted.
"Good night." James gave Lily a kiss on her forehead before entering his bedroom opposite hers.
"Lovey dovey." Arabella giggled. "Good night." She turned and went into the room next to Lily.
Another end of the day.Lily sighed in relief that nothing unfortunate had happened to them that day. Everyday was filled with uncertainties. She looked over at the other room on her left, Stefanie's old bedroom, and gave another sigh. If someone told me one month ago Stefanie would just vanish into thin air, I probably wouldn't believe that person. But now.. She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her. I must find the way to reverse the history. She said aloud in determination and walked straight towards her bed. Within five minutes of lying down, she fell into a deep sleep.
X
"Guys, thank you so much." Remus said gratefully. "I've been really awful in the last two weeks." He looked down on the floor.
"Don't worry about it. We understand." Arabella said softly, touching his forearm.
"We're so glad to have our old Remus back." Sirius was literally jumping in joy.
"You must be hungry. Let's go for dinner." Remus had just come out of his room. He had locked himself inside for the entire day skipping both breakfast and lunch.
"Ya, quite a bit." Remus grinned, the first smile since the attack at St Mungo.
"You look so old and haggard." Sirius was telling him. "To think that once upon a time you were the second best looking guy in Hogwarts." He shook his head.
"Don't tell me you are the best looking guy in Hogwarts." Remus replied. "I might puke before I even get to eat." The rest of them laughed, at both his joke as well as Remus' recovery.
"That's my Remus." James patted his best friend's back. They settled down at the round dinning table with several plates of food in their middle.
"Hey mum, aren't you joining us?" James asked when Helen Potter walked passed the dinning room. She joined them for meals at least once a week, for the rest of the time; she went to catch up her old friends and relatives. In these dark times, you never know when would be the last meeting.
"I'm going to meet up with some old friends from Hogwarts." Helen told them. "Remus, you look much better today." She nodded approvingly.
"Thanks for your concern, Mrs. Potter." He beamed. Although the hurt was still deeply embedded in them with the lost of their loved ones, they knew they had to move on. To find the solution in creating a life they always wanted.
"Take care of one another." Helen smiled at all of them. "Don't forget to practice your powers. Who know there might be more hidden powers?" She said in a joking manner. The rest looked rather sheepishly at her sudden reminder for they had not been practicing their powers for some time. With that, Mrs. Potter left the five of them and went out of the dining hall.
"Talking about powers, since when do you know how to teleport, or was that called apparation?" Sirius asked James suddenly.
"I don't know what exactly it is, but that for sure didn't felt like apparating to me." James commented. "You know that usual apparating feeling? It's different. It's like I can just appear somewhere suddenly. No feeling of being sucked away or something like that sort."
"You mean you can just move away from one spot to another?" Arabella asked curiously.
"Something more likely to be subconscious reaction. If I stayed at the same spot, I would have been – you know – but it's like I just blink my eyes and I appeared in the next spot." James shrugged. "I seriously don't have a clue on how that works."
"Point taken to ask Dumbledore when we see him." Lily reminded. Although there had been many questions that Dumbledore were not able to give them an answer, he had been the wisest wizard they known forever.
"Oh, and there is Lily's protection shield." Arabella spoke as if she suddenly remembered something important.
"Yeah, what's going on that day for you? Don't you realize that it's considered quite rude to throw someone defenseless against the wall for absolutely no reason at all?" Sirius reprimanded in a joking way.
"Jeez, I don't know either." Lily frowned. "Arabella was talking about it. And it's like I really did something that day, like creating some sort of magical shield. But I don't remember doing it." She scratched her head. "I wasn't even sure what have I done."
"But if you could have cast a protection shield, you could have done it back then at St Mungo." James reasoned.
"That's true." Remus pointed out. "But I don't think it was created due to powerful emotions. I mean we have been through more ordeals than Sirius' teasing, it can't be something so mild to create a protective shield with such great impact."
"Or perhaps you've been keeping a lot of things to yourself, and suddenly like explode or something." Arabella added.
"I never keep anything to myself. I tell you all practically everything." Lily admitted. "I mean I share everything with you and.. Stef." She paused for a moment before mentioning Stefanie's name again. All of them turned subconsciously to check out Remus' reaction.
"Don't look at me like that." Remus held out both hands defending himself. "I'm fine. Trust me." He gave his most assuring smile. Although deep down, the hurt was still there.
"Sorry guys. I don't really have a clue on this." Lily mumbled. "But Remus, hope you're okay with this." She paused to see Remus' reaction. "If you've been traveling to the future and all these, wouldn't you be able to foresee what's going to happen?"
Remus nodded. "Yes to some extent. Actually this is quite a long explanation to it, something I figured out, not sure if you guys understand it." He looked around at his four friends.
"Try us." Sirius urged encouragingly.
"It all rounds down to freewill. We've the freedom of choice. The decisions we made, the actions we took three years ago, had directly or indirectly created an impact on the happenings today. For example, if today we make a decision like going to move house, three years later we'll be staying in somewhere else. Which if considering yesterday, we did not make this decision or take any action, we will still be here in three years time. You guys get what I'm trying to say?" Remus held eye contact with each of them for a few moments.
"So it means that the decisions we make everyday will alter the future of everyday. And every time you go forward in time, situation and circumstances change." James said thoughtfully.
"Yes, along this line." Remus nodded. "Including people that I meet in the future."
"Oh. So does that mean Voldemort's existence could be created by something many years ago before that?" Arabella asked. "It's like he will appear somewhere in time, but it's a matter of where."
"Yes to that answer too. That's why we're in the picture. Some people believe in reincarnation. And the people you meet at every incarnation are the same. If we had any previous lives, we must have been related in some way or another too." Remus added. "This is my assumption, as I never seen us in past or future lives. However, I felt like I sensed some others. Its groundless assumptions, just my instincts tell me so."
"That means no matter what happens, Voldemort is meant to be doing evil out there and we're definitely here to stop. It's a question of how to defeat him?" Lily asked.
"I thought of that too." Remus analyzed. "But there's some part of the puzzle that I can't fit into place. I don't know how to explain it either. It's like the big picture is not completed yet."
"Don't force yourself too hard." Arabella patted him on his shoulders. "I'm sure you can figure that out someday."
Just then an owl flew into the dinning room, stopping just beside Lily.
"That's Joey's owl." Lily took the note and read it. The owl flew off without waiting for a reply.
Dearest Lily,
How are you girls doing so far? Life's been hectic for me and Samantha. I miss Hogwarts so much! Especially the time when the four of us used to stay together until Belle left us. Send our regards to her too.
We were thinking of meeting up for dinner one of these days. With all these uncertainties, we don't know when we might see one another again. Make it this Saturday lunch at Hogsmeade Three Broomsticks? Do ask Belle too!
Lots of Love,
Jo & Sam
"Erm.. is it just me or did they never mention a single thing about Stef?" Lily held up the parchment for the rest to see.
"You're right." Remus frowned. "They talk as if Stef hasn't existed."
"I wonder why." Lily mumbled and thought about the possibilities. "It's impossible for them not to mention about Stef."
X
"It has been such a long time!" The girls were busy hugging one another. Lily and Arabella were early for their lunch appointments and settled themselves at an isolated corner in Three Broomsticks.
"I miss you two so much!" They were ecstatic to see their old roommates again. It's such a nostalgic feeling. "Let's order some food, we're getting hungry." Lily shoved the menu to the two of them.
"Our Lily is always talking about food." Joey laughed and started reading the menu.
Lily shot a glance at her two roommates and exchanged a look with Arabella. How come both of them didn't mention a single thing about Stef? Don't they remember her? We were like roommates together for seven years! She was trying to find some topic to bring Stefanie into the conversation.
"So have you met any of our old Gryffindors?" Arabella shot the question first.
"Not much, we met a couple of our seniors at Ministry." Samantha said, not looking up from the menu. Both Joey and Samantha were working in the research department for the Ministry, which the contents were highly confidential.
"I settle for a chicken mayo sandwich and chocolate milkshake." Lily closed the menu. "So have you two heard anything from Stefanie?" She tried to ask the question as casually as possible.
"Stefanie who?" Joey frowned. She did not remember anyone by that name.
"Stefanie Black?" Lily answered, looking a little confused.
"Was there someone by that name when we attended Hogwarts?" Samantha looked up and asked.
"May I take your order, please?" A waitress came up to them and asked politely. They gave their orders and resumed conversation almost as quickly.
"As in Sirius' cousin or something?" Joey asked.
"Erm, I thought we had a Gryffindor by that name?" Arabella interrupted.
"Honestly, I don't remember." Samantha looked genuinely puzzled. "Is there something about her?"
"I thought she was a popular girl in school and dated Remus." Lily pretended to look a little blur.
"Hey, I didn't know about that." Joey exclaimed. "I didn't even notice Remus dating anyone in school. We thought he was gay or something."
"Of course not." Lily gave a small laugh. "I just thought you two might remember her."
"Sorry Lils, no recollection." Samantha told her. "Maybe we can ask around our schoolmates when I see them?"
"It's okay, nothing much about that anyway." Lily shrugged it off. Now both Lily and Arabella looked positively baffled at the current situation. Her roommates did not remember Stefanie at all.
"Pity she wasn't our roommate then." Joey commented. The food and drinks were served together by the waitress again. "Otherwise we might just have an awesome together. It's like Gryffindor only had four guys and four girls for our batch."
"There were only eight of us?" Lily asked again.
"Yeah, then after Belle left, there's only seven of us." Samantha said in between her food. "It's like so boring just having the three of us in the dormitory. Although it's quite private and peaceful, the girlie stuffs that we do aren't as fun as having all five of us."
"Ya, true true." Lily frowned and suddenly concentrated very hard on her food.
"Lils, you okay?" Joey asked in concern.
"Of course I'm fine." Lily said brightly. "So when was the last time you visited Hogwarts?"
X
"No! Not at all!" Arabella exclaimed.
"They didn't remember her at all!" Lily added. They had just got back from their lunch with Joey and Samantha and were filling the guys with the news.
"Did Stefanie's disappearance remove her existence?" Remus asked out of the blue.
"I don't know, but I felt like it seems to others that she never existed in the first place." Lily whispered. "How could it be?"
"It's possible." Sirius' commented suddenly. "Anything is possible. Stef's departure must have brought all her existence and memories from everyone else too. There must be something we can do to change this."
"Any other possibilities?" James asked. "How about asking Dumbledore?"
"I agree with Sirius."
"Professor!" They exclaimed together. Dumbledore always seemed to appear at the time whenever they mentioned about him.
"No one else but us remember Stefanie." Dumbledore said grimly. "Not even Minerva or Poppy." He shook his head.
"Then how are we going to bring her back if no one else even remembers she existed?" Remus asked in deep concern.
"That's another puzzle I can't solve." Dumbledore said softly. "But I know we really have to pull ourselves together. With one force missing, we're significantly weakened." They looked at each other, in unexplainable expressions. Confusion, hatred, loss, and a mixture of both positive and negative emotions.
"I think you two should really get married." Remus said suddenly.
"W-What?" Lily spluttered.
"Why?" James asked.
"I don't know. I think you two should get married and have a kid or something." What Remus said was totally illogical and irrational to James and Lily at this point of time.
"We've something more urgent and important or hand and Remus, our rational one, is talking about something totally irrelevant." James blurted out.
"Actually I agree with Remus." Dumbledore said softly, winking at Remus.
"I'm going to be the best man for the wedding." Sirius self-declared. By now, James and Lily were blushing furiously and not looking at each other.
"Of course I want to be your bridesmaid. Lils, you are going to ask me, right?" Arabella chirped in. The mood at the hall seemed to have brightened many more times than it had in the past few weeks.
"Prongs, what are you waiting for?" Sirius urged James who was looking all loss of words and confused.
"B-But I'm not ready." James defended. "I'm like only eighteen!"
"Er.. I think I better get out of her for a moment." Lily stood up and left the room as quickly as possible and making a quick dash to her bedroom. This is crazy! This is crazy! Everyone is mad!
"James, what are you waiting for?" Arabella stood up in front of James.
"What am I supposed to do?" James asked in his most innocent look.
"Propose to her!" All three of them shouted together while Dumbledore was smiling behind.
"But I'm not ready for something like marriage. Can we talk about this another time?" James pleaded.
"No. What if tomorrow never comes? Like me and Stef?" Remus told him.
"But.. I don't have a ring or flowers or anything." James tried to find excuses to get out of this topic. He contemplated making a dash to the room or toilet but Sirius and Remus were standing in a position which was almost ready to pin him down if there was a need to.
"Now you do." Remus took out a red velvet box of with a glittering diamond ring in it.
"That's dubious object. It could be a portkey or something." James argued.
"No, it's not. I brought it from muggle shop Tiffany and Co., meaning to give to Stefanie one day. But now I don't think I need it anymore." Remus explained and suddenly he looked almost back to the day after Stefanie's departure.
"Stef will be back. You can give it to her next time." James tried to buy time to avoid a messy topic like this.
"I know by then I will buy her another one." Remus grinned, suddenly his sadden look was replaced by a cheeky look.
"So..?" Sirius went closer to James, holding his shirt collar as he spoke. "Are you going to do it now?"
"I-I need er.. flowers." James tried to escape but was pinned down by his two friends again.
"There you go." Sirius waved his wand and a beautiful bouquet of white lilies appeared on James' lap.
"So do you need anything else?" Remus asked as he shoved the red velvet box into James' hand.
"Erm.. I need time to think about it."
"What do you mean by you need time?" Arabella said. "Haven't you two been dating like forever?"
"If anything happens to Lily, you'll regret why you didn't do it today. The way I am regretting right now." Remus stood up, letting go of James. "Let's not force him."
"If you're not proposing to her today, I'm going to ask for her hand in marriage tomorrow." Sirius released James collar and left with Remus. Arabella and Dumbledore followed and left the hall quietly, leaving James to make the decision himself.
Should I? Or should I not? Am I ready for this big M commitment? James thought as he sat dumbly on the chair, not moving and thinking carefully.