Chapter 38

In the days leading up to their final departure, M couldn't sleep. He would lie in bed with his eyes closed, yet never lose consciousness. He would listen to the slow thrumming of the Doctor's hearts reverberating through the mattress above him (the Doctor really did love bunk beds, and claimed that the top was 'more fun'), a sound he usually found soothing. Sometimes he would lie there until the Doctor woke up again, sometimes he was so restless that he would rise from bed and wander the TARDIS, ultimately ending up on the bridge, in front of the monitors.

Space-time was very much like fabric, and stitching through it could cause snags. Even worse was ripping stitches out and trying again...it stressed the weft and warp, and the fabric could eventually fall apart, or rather, respond to the stress by rearranging itself into a more stable configuration. It would tear to relieve the tension, and the results were unpredictable. This was basic Time Lord knowledge.

M felt tense, pulled towards the point where the timeline split, and he had the feeling he was missing something. He brought the divergence up the display and pored over it for the thousandth time. It had definitely been triggered by a time-travel event. They had assumed it was caused by the multiple visits the TARDIS had been making, but those had stopped weeks before the split, when the Doctor had sensed that they were reaching the limit. So, if they hadn't triggered it, at least not directly, what had?

The TARDIS' analysis was inconclusive. M sighed. He sent out gentle psychic feelers to see if Tom was awake, and felt that he was. M could've initiated a two-way connection, but he preferred to speak in person. He left the TARDIS.

The TARDIS was still at Hogwarts, disguised as a tree near the lake, and it was nearly Christmas. The goodbye from this universe had been drawn out so long, they'd decided to stay through the new year. By the time M made it to the castle, he was shivering from the cold; a sign of exhaustion since Time Lords were highly adaptable to extremes in temperature.

Tom was in his third-floor office, going over legal documents for the next meeting of the Wizengamot. He looked up when M shuffled in, and jolted in surprise. He rose from his desk and Transfigured a blanket in a second, throwing it around his friend's shoulders, taking in his pallor and the dark circles beneath his eyes. "You're not well."

"It's true," said M, grateful for the warm fabric enveloping him. "I keep thinking about November 1, 1979, when the timeline split. The night Snape attacked James. There has to be a connection."

"Maybe we went back and tried to fix it, but failed?"

M shook his head. "We didn't. We'd be able to see that. If you don't mind, would you give me your personal thoughts on the attack?"

Tom frowned, and absentmindedly scratched at the scar on his chin. "I don't want to upset anyone. Harry, especially. I mean, it's far too late for it to make a difference."

"Between you and me."

"Okay." Tom gestured for M to sit on the couch, and sat down next to him, then continued, "When I saw him in Azkaban, I looked into his mind with Legilimency. Now, Snape was certified as a perfect Occlumens, but I trained him and I knew his weak points, and once his sentence began what would've been the use of pretending, anyway? What I saw convinced me he didn't remember, and not because he was blackout drunk like they said. Drunken memories have a certain feeling and flavour to them, and leading right up to the attack he was inebriated, sure, but he wasn't blind drunk. James asked if everything was all right between him and Lily, and then time got lost and when it picked up, James was already hurt. I think Severus was Obliviated. I suggested this theory to Lily Evans, but she didn't believe it. She was already pregnant, and I think it would've destroyed her to think James was so awful. The evidence was strong against Severus...you couldn't blame her. She may have developed doubts later...she strikes me as haunted...but it might've been just too painful to consider."

"There were no witnesses," M said, thinking out loud. "It's a fixed point, so it can't be changed. There was a time event, but not the TARDIS..."

Tom gasped. "Time-Turners aren't like the TARDIS! Time-Turners don't re-write time. Fixed points can't be changed...but can they be witnessed?"

"Yes, they can!"

"They keep them in the Ministry of Magic. Severus was training there to be an Auror, until the fall of 1977 when he was dismissed."

M leapt up and ran from the room. Tom followed him. Back in the TARDIS, M checked the records and finally found what he was looking for. "Ah, ha!"

Tom squinted at the Gallifreyan symbols on the screen. "What?"

"We made a habit out of visiting you once a year. But in 1977 I see two time signatures. One's the blue TARDIS, the other is Red, my TARDIS. I'm meant to go back there."

"Meant to?"

M nodded enthusiastically. "How do I explain. It's like a beacon. I might've never seen it...it was easy enough to miss...but we figured it out and now I have to go there."

"Will something terrible happen to the timeline if you don't?"

"Huh? Oh...no. It's just the right thing to do."

"Morally?"

M smiled. "Yes. We do our best to help."

"I don't understand. Who put the beacon there?"

"When I made the decision to look, the universe decided to put the beacon there for me to find. Past and future made an agreement in accordance with my will to act."

"Are you saying the universe itself has awareness? A consciousness?"

M shrugged. "You call it God, we call it the Untempered Schism. Nobody knows what it is. But over the years, I've learned to trust it. Don't drive yourself mad. There's only one real question: are you coming along?"

Who could say no to a Time Lord? Especially when he was still cloaked in a pink, fuzzy blanket. "Yes, but...is there any danger? The Doctor said we couldn't touch the timeline anymore."

"Right, he said that because the timeline was in danger of splitting. And it did split. What he didn't know is that we set up the conditions for it to split by doing what we're about to do. We're not doing anything dramatic, mind you. Just some subtle suggestions."

"Won't we split along with it?"

"If we stick around until it happens, yeah, and I'm too curious not to. I've examined the alternate timeline. It's stable."

"But how will we get back from there without messing with this timeline?"

"It's safe as long as we return to the future, not the past, relative to the point at which we depart. In other words, it's dangerous to do any more re-writing, but the future is still being written. Get it?"

Tom furrowed his brow, then threw his hands up. "I'll take your word for it."

M beamed. "You ready?"

"Don't you want to wait for the Doctor?"

"Mmm, no. I don't want him trying to stop me."

"But you said it's safe and stable and meant to be."

"Yeah, well...his opinion may differ."

Tom stared at him. M said, "Look, he's going to wake up really soon, so I have to go now, but if you want to stay-"

"No, I'm with you."

Lily Evans had been at the Ministry of Magic for five hours, and most of that time had been spent pacing the dim, silent, unfriendly waiting room. An Auror seated at a desk looked up at her every now and then. His gaze was cold and detached. He wasn't even vaguely interested in her troubles. She was just one of the thousands of people he'd seen pacing that room, but she was nicer than most to look at, even though her face bore traces of hastily rubbed-off Hallowe'en makeup and she was dressed as a deer, white spots and all. She would occasionally glare in his direction, and he'd turn back to his propaganda-laden newspaper.

A steel door in the wall finally opened, and another Auror gestured for Lily to follow into the hallway beyond. She was escorted to a room even starker than the waiting room, where Severus Snape sat, shoulders rounded and head hanging low. The door closed behind her and they were alone, though she was sure Aurors were listening in. She sat down across from him and took his hand. He looked up at her, and she saw his eyes were red. "Is James alright?" he asked.

"They got the bleeding under control and closed the wounds. Can you tell me what happened?"

He told her everything he'd told the Auror who'd interviewed him. "I can't explain it, Lily. I keep thinking he must've had another wand...or they're lying about it to protect him. They said they swept the property twice and didn't find anything."

She was silent. After a minute he couldn't take it any longer. He had to ask, "Do you think I did it?"

"I don't want to believe it. But it was your curse. You have been...paranoid."

She felt him start to tremble. "What did he tell the Aurors?"

"He said there was an argument, and you snapped."

She left out the fact that James had grabbed her hand as they took him into surgery, and pleaded with her to be there when he woke up. She had stayed, and he'd said a lot more; he admitted to being envious of Severus and unable to stop himself from making hurtful comments. He blamed himself for what had happened. He said he'd been a git, got what he deserved, and that he wished Sirius hadn't called the Aurors, but didn't she finally see that Severus was dangerous, that the person who'd called her 'Mudblood' had never really changed, only gotten better at hiding. "You think I did it."

"I don't know."

His face was unreadable. "I don't know, either. I guess that's it. He's clean, I'm dirty, and it's over."

"What do you mean, it's over?"

"I might go to Azkaban. The evidence is clear to them. They don't spend a lot of time on cases like this, and we're about to hit the limit."

Suddenly she felt a little explosion go off in her mind, an electric feeling, as if her brain were being squeezed. "No, you can't go to Azkaban. We have plans. We're taking a holiday in Venice."

He stared at her blankly for a long moment, then there was a spark of understanding in his dark eyes. "The tickets are on top of the breakfront. Get a refund if you can, or go with Remus or Sirius."

"I'm sorry-"

"Please, just go."

Lily had read somewhere that a Time-Turner had a maximum range of six hours per day. She wasn't sure if that was true, but if it was it meant she only had twenty-five minutes to get back to the moment of the crime. As soon as she was away from the Ministry she Apparated back to St. Mungo's. She found Remus in the hall outside of James' room. "How is he?" she asked.

"Sleeping. The healer said the scarring may clear completely."

"That's good. Where's Sirius?"

"Getting food. Are you-"

"Apparate with me right now, to Spinner's End? It's really important, but we have to go now."

Remus nodded his head. They joined hands and moments later were standing on the street outside of Snape and Lily's place. She ran up to the door, fumbling with the keys. "What's going on?" asked Remus.

She threw the door open and bolted to the breakfront. Too short to reach the top, she stood on a chair. She found a small box, and inside it was a golden spherical object in which an hourglass was imbedded. "You know how to use a Time-Turner?" she asked, hopping down from the chair.

"Sirius took me on a tour of the Time Room...you spin the inner part once per hour you want to travel back."

"He showed you how?"

"Yeah," he said, blushing as he recalled long exquisite afternoons of 'lost time' he'd shared with Sirius.

"C'mon, to Godric's Hollow."

When they arrived, the sky was growing light and the street was hushed except for the sound of birds. The gate of James Potter's house was hanging open and the lawn was littered with plastic cups and an assortment of Hallowe'en decorations. A wand could easily be hidden here, thought Lily. Don't get distracted.

She found the spot where the incident had happened, and looked around for a place to hide that still afforded a clear view. She settled on a shrub to the left of the door. It was a little close for comfort, but there was nowhere else suitable. They ducked behind it, and just to be sure, she cast the Disillusionment charm on both of them. "Turn it back six hours. We need to see what happened," she said.

Remus' expression was anxious and more than a little sad, but he looped the long golden chain around them both and turned the inner wheel six times. Lily watched in awe as the stars whirled around them, the moon popped up into the sky, and sounds of revelry returned to the scene. She gave her eyes a minute to adjust, then peeked out from behind the shrub and saw Severus smoking a cigarette to her left. A moment later, James appeared from her right, and if she hadn't shrunk back against the wall he would've walked right into her.

Their conversation seemed normal enough until James brought up the psychological evaluation. When he called Severus unstable, Lily felt a rush of anger, partly at James and partly at herself for thinking the same thing on occasion. Despite years of therapy and a genuine willingness to heal, despite all his progress, Severus was still troubled and would likely never be free from certain demons. Lily had known he was difficult since they were children; it was something she fully accepted. She didn't mind a challenge, in fact, she would've been bored with someone with less depth. Every so often, however, his pain was so acute and so unknowable to her that she wasn't sure he could withstand the weight of it. There were places his mind went where hers could not imagine going, places he would never wish her to follow.

"You've always been wrong," said James, and Severus turned to face him.

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?" he asked calmly.

"You mean other than just existing?"

"If you really feel that way, why did you save me that night? Why not let Remus kill me?"

James shrugged. "I didn't want him to be expelled."

Snape stared at him in disbelief. "I don't understand how you can claim to empathise with Muggleborns, and be so intolerant."

"Funny hearing that from a pureblood supremacist. You may have fooled her-"

"I was wrong! If you knew how deeply I regret it...if you could open your mind and let me show you, feel it for yourself...but you can't, can you? You're missing something, James, the part that hurts when you see others hurting. And maybe it takes one to know one, but I'm not who I was when I was fifteen. I can barely believe Lily cares for me even a little, but she chose me and if she believes I'm worthy, I believe her. People can change."

"No, they can't. You are who you are."

"Then you'll always be a bully. But I'm not as weak as I used to be."

"Prove it."

James drew his wand. Lily braced herself. Severus turned to enter the house. James whispered, "Imperio."

An all-pervading sensation of peace and calm washed over Severus. "Turn around. Take out your wand," said James. "Good. Think of a curse, something that will hurt me badly, but not kill me. Curse me, now."

"Sectumsempra," Snape said cheerily.

James gasped as deep cuts opened up across his face and chest. He was glad he had taken a painkilling potion beforehand. The amount of blood was rather shocking. He stumbled backwards and said, "S-stop. Close your eyes. Obliviate."

He sat down, and then added, "Finite incantatum."

In the moment it took Snape to come to his senses, in one smooth motion that had evidently been rehearsed in advance, James stuck the wand he'd been using into a crack between two of the stones in the foundation of his house. Then he started to scream.

Lily wanted to scream, too. Shaking with rage, she waited until a substantial crowd formed, then took Remus by the hand and walked around to the back of the house and cast Muffliato. "I can't believe it," said Remus.

"He said he still felt threatened and I didn't believe him. I've never been bullied...how would I know what it's like? We think it's something you just get over and move on from, but that's not true, is it? Not for the bullies or the victims. I should have listened, instead of trying to smooth things over. God, he has nightmares he won't talk about. He cries in his sleep, sweats through the sheets. And I thought it was fine that we still hung out with James. I encouraged it. He was scared, Remus, and probably scared to say how much it really bothered him, because I was always telling him he had nothing to fear."

She screamed once, very loudly. She took a long deep breath and said, "We know where James put the wand. We can get the Aurors to find it later."

"Lily, he could go to Azkaban for a long time for using Imperius. I know what he did was horrible...like watching a stranger-"

"Was it so strange? You stood by for years while he bullied Sev."

Remus began to cry. He was glad he was invisible. "I know. I know I'm guilty, too."

"Why didn't he defend himself? Why'd he turn around like that and just let him..."

"He was trying to do the right thing."

"I don't care if James Potter rots in Azkaban."

"You don't mean that. Azkaban is hell. Nobody deserves to be there. Professor Riddle is so close to getting the Wizengamot to remove the Dementors, and I know you support that."

"Not right now I don't. I'm angrier than I've ever been in my entire life, Remus. I have half a mind to go to Mungo's and set his bed on fire."

"No, please. Let's just sit down and think. We have time to think."

Lily flopped down gracelessly on the grass. Remus sat down and rubbed his eyes. "Why'd he do it?" she asked.

"Because he's a narcissistic control freak. He thinks he's better than everyone, and he can't stand feeling bad about himself. The fact that you're with Severus instead of him, the fact that Sirius and I are friends with Severus now...he can only see this as him losing and Severus winning and James doesn't know how to deal with feeling like a loser. He rants about him when you aren't around, until Sirius tells him to shut up, and then we just get on with whatever. I swear I would've said or done something if I suspected he was capable of this."

"Does Sirius know how twisted he is?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, they used to gang up..." Remus trailed off, then tried again. "Sirius estimates that about half of the Aurors are sociopaths. You know our criminal justice system is frighteningly unregulated."

"Can we trust Sirius?"

"Yes!"

"He was willing to let Sev be bitten or killed by you."

"We were idiots. Stupid, stupid children. Back then, Sirius was swayed by James' popularity, but he has since grown up. You must've noticed how much he cares for Sev, how hard he's tried to earn his trust. He's always worried that there isn't enough he can do to make up for the past. Sirius would lay down his life for him, or you, or me."

"Or James?"

Remus sighed. "Probably, but Sirius wouldn't ignore the truth. And the truth is, James is messed up. Merlin, out of all the Marauders, Peter's the only vaguely normal one, and that's probably why we barely see him anymore. Sirius and I manage James. We are so glad that you're with Severus and not him."

He paused, then added sheepishly, "He is good to you, right?"

"Like I'd be with someone who wasn't. He's intense, yeah, and can be insecure at times...and when he wakes up from those nightmares, so sad and unreachable...but he's so considerate, respectful, kind, patient...sometimes when I'm being annoying I almost wish he'd raise his voice a bit, but I know he won't. He makes me feel safe, and loved for exactly who I am. He listens, he pays attention. He actually does have a sense of humor and he's more passionate and playful than anyone knows...ah, that's getting personal. But when he looks at me I know he's savouring every moment, like he can't believe his luck, like he thinks he might be dreaming. I just hope he knows that it's a dream for me, too. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him, all of him, including the stuff he thinks is ugly, his dark moods and unhappy past and singularly glorious nose."

"Well."

"Yeah, Remus, he's the love of my life. So, um, why didn't I know James was such a total monster?"

"He puts on a charming act for you. Once he figured out that you weren't impressed by his displays of dominance, he changed tack and began to act nice when you were around. But when you aren't around, well...the cruel streak hasn't gone, obviously."

"There's other women in the world. I wonder why he's so fixated on me."

"No offense, Lily, but it's really Sev he's fixated on. He considers you a precious thing that was taken from him by an inferior opponent."

"I'm not a thing!"

"'Course you're not. He's a creep."

"Why do you hang out with him?"

"'Cause Sirius does and I love Sirius to pieces, you know that."

"What's Sirius's problem, then?"

"Stubbornness. Loyalty. He's a Gryffindor and a dog, Lily. A dog! He says he has to keep James from screwing things up at the Auror Office. James thinks he can just throw money at problems to make them go away, but someday that's not going to work."

She thought things over. "Why don't Aurors use Time-Turners?"

"That would make too much sense, and also get too complicated."

She let out a wry laugh. "So. If we don't want anyone to go to Azkaban, what do we do?"

"We've got to ask Sirius. He's the only one who James really respects, I think because Sirius is half-feral and rich, a genuine rebel who doesn't give a shite about anyone's opinion."

"Um, Remus...you're worrying me."

"Sirius has a conscience. It wasn't apparent, or even developed, back when we were fifteen, but I know him, Lily, and he's got a good heart. You remember how he apologised to Severus after you two started dating-"

"So did James!"

"Sirius meant it."

Lily recalled Severus saying that he trusted and liked Sirius and Remus. For Sev, that was a rave review; he wouldn't dare say a thing like that unless he was absolutely certain. Now that she thought about it, she was sure he must've used his Legilimency skills to confirm Sirius's intentions. "Okay, we'll go to Padfoot."

"This is going to sound weird, but do you mind if I sleep for a little while? We have a few hours until we catch up with ourselves."

"Sorry, I forgot the full moon is only two days away. You must be exhausted. Do you want to wait 'til the Aurors leave and sleep in the house?"

"Nah, it's okay. I'm just going to lie down right here, if that's alright."

Remus curled up on his side and almost instantly passed out. Lily couldn't see him since they were both still Disillusioned, but she heard his teeth chattering slightly, so she cast a Warming charm. "Poor Moony. You're a good friend."

She was too agitated to sleep. She listened to the Aurors conduct their fruitless search, and after a while the property grew quiet. She finally heard the quiet crack of Remus and herself Apparating in front of the house. She shook Remus gently to wake him. He whimpered slightly as he sat up, and she winced in sympathy, wondering not for the first time what it felt like to be a werewolf. She helped him to his feet, and once they were sure that the versions of them on the front lawn had Time-Turned into the previous night, they rounded the house and pried the wand out of the crack in the foundation, carefully wrapping it in a silk handkerchief so as not to disturb any fingerprints.

They returned to St. Mungo's. Lily removed the Disillusionment spell and they resumed their vigil outside of James Potter's room. Sirius arrived a few minutes later with takeaway, and gave her a hug. "Have you seen Severus?"

"We've seen a lot."

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

A lot of subtle emotions were lost on James, but he recognised anger when he saw it. Of the three people glaring down at him in his hospital bed, Lily was the most furious, Remus a close second, and Sirius was smouldering but keeping it together. "We know what you did. We found it," Sirius said evenly.

"Found what?" mumbled James, feigning drowsiness.

His Auror partner held up a plastic bag containing the wand James had used. "The last spells were Imperius and a memory charm. Your prints are on it. What did you do, lift it from the evidence chamber?"

"It's in an evidence bag. Have you turned it in?"

"No, and I won't...as long as you tell the truth right now."

"I wanted to get rid of Snape."

He said it so matter-of-factly, Lily shuddered from the coldness. James didn't seem to notice or care. "You wanted to get rid of him," repeated Sirius. "As in, from our group of friends? Or sent to Azkaban?"

"Either way, same effect."

"You shouldn't do things like that to innocent-"

"Oh, he's not innocent-"

"James, listen. You shouldn't do things like that to innocent people. Because now you are in danger of going to Azkaban, don't you see? Things you do can have negative consequences for you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Don't push me and don't underestimate me. None of us want you to go to Azkaban, but if you don't give us a choice..."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to change your story."

They engaged in a staring match. Sirius won. James let out an irritated, almost bored sigh. "Call the Aurors back."

"Pumpkins?" asked the Auror.

James nodded. "Yeah, pumpkins. He said he'd been working on some cool trick for carving pumpkins, and I asked him to show me. So, he did a few...they're on the lawn of my house...anyway, I was sitting kinda diagonal from him while he worked. He warned me not to get too close, but I didn't listen. I mean, he really seemed to have it under control, you know? Anyway, someone set off a firework. He flinched and the curse hit me. I was really angry, so I said he attacked me on purpose."

"You're an Auror. You knew he'd be facing very serious charges."

"I was angry and drunk. We were both drunk...apparently he was way drunker than I realised. It was partly my fault for getting too close when he warned me not to. I guess I was ashamed to admit it was a stupid accident."

"You want to drop the assault charge?"

James nodded. The Auror made some notes, and continued, "Both of you said you were arguing. You wanna change that part, too?"

"No, we were arguing a bit before. I was teasing him about failing his psych eval, and I said his girlfriend deserved better. I've teased him since were kids at Hogwarts, and he's never reacted with violence. My sense of humor can be really mean sometimes, and he knows that...he doesn't take it seriously. Not seriously enough to attack me, anyway."

The Auror nodded once. This corroborated what Severus had said in his interview about he and James never getting along, but that James' comments would not have driven him to assault. "Okay. So. You teased him and he replied to that how?"

"He said Lily's been with him for two years since he failed his psych eval, so obviously she doesn't care. That ended the argument. I felt kinda bad for teasing him so I asked if he'd been working on any new spells lately. He's great at that. He invented Muffliato, you know?"

"And this is when the pumpkin carving started?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Mr. Potter, in future I hope you'll be more responsible. Don't encourage potentially deadly party tricks."

"I understand. What will happen to Snape?"

"The charge will be dropped to reckless conduct. He'll have his wand confiscated for a year."

"Will he go to Azkaban?"

"No, he'll be released today."

James sighed. It came off as one of relief. After the Auror left, Sirius, Remus, and Lily entered the room. "How was that?" asked James, adjusting his glasses.

"Just fine," said Sirius.

"Will you destroy that wand now?"

Sirius shook his head. "I can't. I need some assurance you won't try this again, so I've hidden so you'll never find it, even if you use Legilimency or Veritiserum, so don't bother looking. There's no need for you to be concerned, as long as you don't try anything."

"You're blackmailing me."

"Into being a decent person, yes."

James sulked. Lily waited for a while, not really expecting an apology but hoping for one nonetheless. When she accepted that it wasn't going to happen, she turned to leave. "I would've been good to you," called James.

She wanted to whirl on him and scream, 'the only way you can be good to me is if I never see you again!' but instead she ignored him and just kept walking away.

That evening, happily back at Spinner's End with Severus, in each other's arms and almost asleep, something occurred to Lily. "That wasn't like you."

"Hmm?"

"You said you stole the Time-Turner from the Ministry."

"I did."

"You're not a thief. You aren't in the secret habit of stealing things, are you?"

"No."

"You have a very strong sense of right and wrong, and you know stealing is wrong."

"True."

"So? Why'd you do it?"

The day he'd stolen the Time-Turner had been odd, to say the least. Recounting it now, after all of the drama of the last twenty-four hours, didn't appeal to him, but Lily was looking at him plaintively. "They informed me that I'd failed the evaluation, gave their condolences and kindly asked me to gather my belongings from the training office. I was afraid they'd escort me from the building, but it wasn't like that. They let me leave at my leisure. For some reason I was drawn towards the Time Room. It's hard to explain...this is going to sound weird, but I got this electric feeling in my brain, and it was like...well...it was like a voice was telling me to go to the Time Room. So, I did, and then the voice told me to take one of the Time-Turners. I knew it was risky and wrong, so I tried to walk away...but the voice insisted that I take one. He —it was a man's voice— said it was okay to take it, that I would need it very badly someday. He said take it and don't worry. Just take it...then forget about it. So, I did, and I came home and hid it on top of the breakfront, and frankly I did forget about it. I chalked the whole thing up to stress, but then a few weeks ago when we were arguing about James...zap, that feeling was back and the voice said, 'mention the Time-Turner to Lily.'

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"I'd just failed that bloody psychological evaluation, and one minute later I'm hearing voices in my head, and worse than that, obeying them."

"You could've told me. I swear I felt the same thing when I came to see you at the Ministry today."

"What?"

"I felt something electric, then this voice said 'use the Time-Turner.'"

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not!"

Severus put a hand to his forehead. "If not for the Time-Turner, I would've gone to Azkaban for sure. Someone helped us."

"Maybe it was just our instincts. Maybe we're Seers and don't know it."

"Maybe."

"I don't believe in prophecies."

"Me neither."

"Can we just say it was a guardian angel and get on with our lives?"

"Gladly."

They both stared at the ceiling. "Thank you, whoever you are!" Lily shouted suddenly, with the nervous excitement of a child.

"Thanks, we'll never forget you!" cried Severus, and pulled the sheets over both of their heads.