Disclaimer: Harry Potter is NOT mine! I do NOT own any actual parts of JK Rowling's masterpiece, just copies of the books and films. I am just having some fun in JK Rowling's sandbox. So enjoy.
Feeling returned slowly to Harry, he could tell that he was still wearing clothes, has his glasses on and was laying flat on his back on not the most comfortable of areas. Harry flexed his hands, feeling damp earth in them. Turning his head, Harry also felt the wet grass against his face. He slowly sat up and looked around, he was in a forest; a forest that seemed familiar but Harry couldn't place it. A low groan drew Harry's attention to his right.
"Hermione!" Harry cried, spotting his best friend lying on the ground about 20 feet away. Harry scrambled to his feet, ignoring his protesting and aching muscles.
"Harry?" Hermione mumbled, her voice low and weak.
"I'm here Hermione," Harry said, kneeling down next to Hermione, helping her sit up.
"Where are we?" she asked, gripping her pounding head.
"I don't know," Harry answered, "but for some reason, this place feels familiar. What was the last thing you remember Hermione? I thought the ritual was supposed to take us back in time, not send us somewhere else."
"I don't know why we aren't in Stonehenge Harry," Hermione said. "The last thing I remember was this blinding flash of light which was either the ritual working, or the wards we constructed crashing but as we are not dead or in Azkaban, the ritual seemed to have worked."
"You don't remember hearing something that sounded like a phoenix's song?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head.
"We need to figure our where and when we are," Hermione said.
"Why when? We should be back in 1994, right?"
"If the ritual went right, we would be in our younger selves at Hogwarts," Hermione said.
"Oh right," Harry said, "well, we aren't dead and aren't in our younger bodies, so what does that mean?"
"It means we either have gone back so far in time that there is no young selves for us to inhabit, or the ritual failed but instead of killing us, we were sent somewhere else," Hermione explained.
"Which is it then?"
"No clue," Hermione said, "Do you have your wand on you Harry? I must have lost mine."
"I have mine," Harry said. He flicked his wand, and a second later; Hermione's wand came speeding through the air and slapped into his palm. "Here you go."
"Thank you Harry," Hermione said, taking her wand from Harry. "Tempus!" White glowing letter appeared in front of Harry and Hermione, spelling out 7:52 BST, August 17th, 1978.
Two wands feel from suddenly nerveless fingers as the pair stared at the time and date Hermione's spell showed.
"1978?" Harry whispered, "There has to be some mistake, right Hermione? We can't have gone back twenty years. The ritual wouldn't be able to send two people back that far."
"I don't know Harry," Hermione said, her face just as pale as Harry knew his was. "We need to find a paper or a town to find out what is going on."
Harry nodded. "Where should we go?"
"Diagon Alley," Hermione said immediately, "We need to go to the Leaky Cauldron and get all this," she waved her hand around the clearing, "sorted out."
"Ok then Hermione," Harry said. He took her hand and the pair vanished with a CRACK!
The pair reappeared in the middle of Diagon Alley. But it was a vastly different Diagon Alley than they had left. It was full of witches and wizards, families bustling up and down the cobblestone steps, entering and leaving open and colorful shops. Harry had to fight a smile at the sight of so many happy people, it had been so long since Harry had seen so many happy people, going about their business, seemingly without a care in the world, aside from what the price of unicorn hair had risen too.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed, tugging at his sleeve. "We need to find out when we are and find a place to hide."
Harry agreed and let Hermione lead him down the Alley to the Leaky Cauldron. A wooden stand was set up near the back entrance of the pub where a sandy-haired man was selling the Daily Prophet.
"Do you have any money?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head; all he had were the clothes he was wearing and his wand.
"Do you?" he asked.
"No," Hermione said.
"Distract the man, I'll grab a copy," Harry said. Before Hermione could argue with him, Harry slipped over to the side of the stand, pulling his hood tighter around his face.
"Excuse me, how much for the Prophet?" Hermione asked the salesman.
"Five Knuts luv," the man said. Hermione made a show of rummaging through her pockets but came up empty. Harry took a side step closer to the stand and casually Summoned a copy of the Prophet and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. "Sorry luv, no money, no paper," the man said. Hermione bowed her head in embarrassment before walking away.
"Hermione, look at this!" Harry said, holding up the front page of the Daily Prophet. The headline read: 5 More Killed in New Wave of Terror Attacks. Underneath the headline was the date, August 17th, 1978.
"So it is true," Hermione said, "we have gone back twenty years, somehow."
"But how is that possible Hermione?" Harry asked, "The notes said that it could send one person back twenty years at the most, not two people."
"I don't know Harry, by all laws of magic we should both be dead," Hermione said.
"Then maybe I wasn't hearing things when we did the ritual," Harry muttered.
"What was that Harry?"
"Well, I thought I heard Fawkes singing while we did the ritual," Harry said. "Just before the ritual was completed, I saw this flash of fire light up the sky, and I thought I could hear Fawkes singing. When the Aurors showed up, and after Winky and Kreacher were…killed, there was this fire that sprang up all around us, seemingly protecting us from the Aurors. I thought it was Fawkes for some reason, could it be possible that Fawkes was there and he somehow made the ritual stronger?"
Hermione nibbled on her lip as she thought over Harry's theory. "It certainly is possible," she said. "But why would Fawkes do that? And why would he even come back? No one has seen Fawkes since Dumbledore's funeral."
"Who knows," Harry said. "But do you realize what this means?"
"What Harry?"
"We are in 1978, three years before my parents are killed, two years before I am supposed to be born and one year before you are to be born," Harry said excitedly. "We can save my parents, Sirius, everyone, even before the War starts."
"Harry, we shouldn't be talking about this right now," Hermione said. "We don't know who could be listening in. Come on let's find a room where we can talk freely."
Harry quickly agreed and the pair entered the dingy pub known as the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the bartender was wiping clean a glass behind the counter, and surveying the bar with a sharp eye.
"Hello sir, is there possibly a room available for my brother and I?" Hermione asked.
"Of course, room 10 is free," Tom said, "it will be 12 Galleons a night for each of you."
Harry looked quickly at Hermione who only nodded at Tom and took the key from the bartender. As they made their way upstairs, Harry leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "What are you doing Hermione, we don't have any money?"
"I know Harry but we don't have much of a choice," Hermione said, "We can't go to Gringotts since we technically don't exist at the moment. Not let's go inside and then we can talk."
The pair entered the room; it was different than the room that Harry had stayed in before his third year. Instead of one bed, there were two beds and there was a bathroom en-suite. Hermione shut the door and cast several charms on it to ensure that she and Harry were not overheard by anyone.
"Ok Harry, let's figure out what we should do," Hermione said, sitting down on one of the beds. Harry sat opposite her on the other bed.
"Well, we are in 1978, somehow," Harry said. "Apparently the war hasn't gotten truly started, judging by the calm down in the Alley."
"True but there are rumors judging by the Prophet's headline," Hermione said. "From what I recall about the First War, it didn't really pick up until late 1978."
"So we jumped right into the start of the war then?" Harry asked.
"Possibly," Hermione admitted.
"That means we could save everyone," Harry said, "think about it Hermione, we know what is going to happen; who is a Death Eater, where Voldemort put all his Horcruxes, everything. We could end the war before it all happens."
"We could Harry," Hermione agreed, "but should we?"
"Of course we should Hermione," Harry said, "That's what we were planning on doing anyway."
"But that was when I thought we would only be going back a couple of years, not twenty," Hermione argued. "The timeline could be…"
"Hermione, we came back in time to fix things, to change the bloody timeline," Harry said. "We don't have anyone waiting for us back in our time, and besides the ritual was a one-way trip. We have the chance to save everyone, my parents, your parents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Ron, the other Weasleys, and you think that we shouldn't?"
"It is not that Harry," Hermione argued. "We don't know if using our knowledge of the future will still be valid if we start changing things."
Harry paused, he hadn't thought of that. "Then what should we do? I will not stand by and let my parents be killed again, not again."
"I don't want you to have to go through that again Harry, but we need a plan," Hermione said. "We thought that we were only going back to fourth year, where we would be able to use the Triwizard Tournament as a way to train and get stronger without raising too many questions. But now, we as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger don't exist. If we barge in and start changing things, people will start asking questions, questions we don't want being asked."
"Then we make up some identities," Harry said, "I can't just hide away and do nothing Hermione."
"We won't be Harry," Hermione agreed, "Once we have a plan, then we can start changing things, and save people."
"So what is first then Hermione?" Harry asked.
"We need names," Hermione said, biting her lip. "We both need new names, we can't use our real names, especially you Harry."
Harry nodded. He knew that his father had been an only child, and he looked too much like James for comfort. "Ok then names," Harry said, "what should we call ourselves?"
Hermione opened her mouth but there was suddenly an explosion that rocked the Leaky Cauldron. Both she and Harry were thrown backward as the window was blown inward. The pair scrambled to their feet and raced over to the destroyed window.
The Alley was trashed. Storefronts and stands were destroyed and debris was scattered all over the place. Shoppers were screaming and sprinting for cover, though Harry saw several unmoving bodies lying in the middle of the street. About halfway down the Alley toward Gringotts was a group of dark robed witches and wizards, all wearing bone white masks except for a single woman.
"Bellatrix!" Harry snarled, his eyes narrowing into slits at the sight of Sirius and Tonks' killer, and the monster that tortured Hermione. "Come on Hermione, we need to help…Hermione?" Harry turned and saw Hermione standing completely still, her face extremely pale and she was trembling. "Hermione, are you all right?"
"It is her," Hermione whispered. "Bellatrix." She grabbed her left forearm, where Harry knew that Bellatrix had carved the word 'Mudblood' into Hermione's arm.
"Hermione!" Harry said sharply, placing his hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Whoa, easy there Hermione, it is just me, Harry," he said when Hermione jerked away, acting like a scalded cat drenched in water.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, as if she was coming out of a trance.
"Hermione, we need to help," Harry said. "There are Death Eaters out there, including Bellatrix. We have to help those people."
"I can't, I can't Harry," Hermione said softly, her eyes wide and scared.
Harry saw that Hermione was still gripping her left arm, and shaking in Harry's arms. "Ok Hermione, then you just stay here," he said. "I will be right back."
Another explosion rocked the Alley causing Hermione to jump in fright.
"Stay here Hermione," Harry told Hermione once more before rushing out of the room.
Diagon Alley was a war zone when Harry managed to fight his way out of the pub, pushing his way through the crowd that were fleeing the Death Eaters. Bellatrix's cackling laughter filled Harry's ears, drowning out the screams and cries of the victims.
"Harry's wand shot up and he cried, "Reducto!"
The spells sped across the Alley and slammed into one of the masked Death Eaters, and sent him flying through the air until he slammed into a wall, slumping to the ground and not moving.
The other Death Eaters, including Bellatrix, whirled around; stunned that anyone would dare to attack one of their own.
"Potter!" Bellatrix snarled. "And without your Mudblood whore or blood-traitor bastard as well, isn't this our lucky day. My Lord will reward me greatly when I bring your beaten corpse to him."
Harry blinked before realizing that Bellatrix thought Harry was James. Deciding not to dissuade the Death Eaters of their mistake, Harry started casting rapidly at the Death Eaters; Stunners, Blasting, Banishing and Capture Spells flew through the air. The rapid and aggressive casting caught two of the Death Eaters by surprise, putting them down and out. But the remaining Death Eaters were quicker to react and began raining down powerful and lethal spells at Harry.
Harry dove out of the way, rolling into an empty storefront. Keeping low to the ground, Harry rushed behind the counter, and then glanced back out of the broken window. The Death Eaters quickly poured into the store, their wands out and searching for Harry. Harry took a deep breath, gathering up as much of his magic as he could before spinning out of his hiding place and sending the Death Eaters flying out of the store due to an overpowered Banishing Charm.
Harry sank to a knee, his breath coming in great gasps. Overcharging the Banishing Charm had taken a lot out of Harry, but it had been worth it, clearing the store of the Death Eaters.
"Come out here Potter, you cowardly blood-traitor!" Bellatrix screamed. "Come out here so I can rend the flesh from your bones!"
'Well with an invitation like that how can I say no?' Harry thought. "Fumos!" he muttered. A thick black smoke spewed from his wand and spilled out into the Alley. With a tap of his wand, Harry cast a Disillusionment Charm over himself and raced out of the shop. He found cover behind a pile of rubble about twenty feet away from the store he had been hiding in. The Death Eaters still had their wands trained on the storefront that had smoke pouring out of its entrance.
"Percutio!" Harry cast, sending three bright beams of blue magic speeding across the Alley. All three spells found their mark, and three Death Eaters fell to the cobblestones, clutching at holes in their legs.
"Potter!" Bellatrix roared, whirling around. "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry ducked behind his pile of rubble. Bellatrix had just upped the stakes; she had cast the first Unforgivable of the battle.
Harry was about to fire back when the sounds of rapid popping filled the air. "Aurors! Everyone freeze!" a deep voice shouted. "And drop your wands!"
Harry blinked when he recognized the deep voice. It was Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Aurors!" Bellatrix hissed in rage, sounding almost like Voldemort. "Retreat," she spat before sending a flurry of spells at the Aurors. Harry flinched when he saw that two of the Aurors were caught unawares and struck by Bellatrix's spells. Their screams covered up the pops made by the Death Eaters Disapparating.
Harry peaked out from behind his cover and saw the Aurors quickly scanning the Alley, now fully alert while two white-robed Healers attended to the two downed Aurors. Harry nearly dropped his wand when he saw two Aurors standing guard over the Healers, and their downed comrades. It was James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Hey you! Don't move!" an unfamiliar voice barked at harry. He slowly turned and saw a pair of Aurors standing over him, wands drawn. One of the Aurors looked very familiar in an unfamiliar way. With a jolt, Harry realized that he was looking at Frank Longbottom, Neville's father.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here kid?" Frank demanded. "You could have been killed!"
Harry slowly got to his feet, his wand hanging loosely in his hand. He didn't say anything, starring right into the brown eyes that he had only seen in Neville's face before.
"What's your name kid?" Frank asked.
"Har…Patrick," Harry quickly caught himself. "Patrick Daniels sir."
"Well Mr. Daniels, you are very lucky, do you know that son?" Frank asked. "Anyway, you are going to have to come with me for the moment. We need to take your statement about what happened here."
"Oh right," Harry said. "Can't you just take a memory of it, wouldn't that be quicker?"
Frank blinked. "We could, are you offering one?" he asked. "Not many people offer to give up a memory copy to an Auror."
"Why?"
"Don't want someone rummaging through their heads I suppose," Frank answered. "Not a lot of people trust the Aurors these days."
"Well I trust you," Harry said, "so how do I give you the memory?"
"Just concentrate on the memory, and I will do the rest," Frank said. His partner conjured a glass phial while Frank raised his wand to Harry's temple. Harry felt his head go slightly fuzzy as Frank withdrew his wand, taking the memory strand with it. The Auror quickly put the memory strand into the phial and sealed it with a tap of his wand.
"Thank you son," Frank said. "Do you need any medical attention, a Calming Draught perhaps?"
"No sir, I will be ok," Harry answered. "I need to get back inside, I am sure that my sister is worried sick."
Frank nodded and let Harry run off back down the Alley toward the Leaky Cauldron.
"Sir? Was it just me or did that kid look a lot like Auror Potter?" Frank's partner asked.
"He did Stephen," Frank answered. "Could have been Potter's twin if not for those green eyes."
"Don't you find it suspicious sir?" Stephen asked. "Everyone knows that Potter is an only child but that boy could easily be his brother."
"True Stephen, and I suppose it is a bit suspicious but I don't believe we have anything to worry about," Frank said.
"Why is that sir?"
"That boy gave us his memory of the attack," Frank said. "I have never had a person willingly give their memory to an Auror, and end up have done something bad. No one would be that open and free with possibly incriminating evidence. Also, I could tell that that kid will be someone to keep an eye on in the future. There is something about him. Come on Trainee Proudfoot, looks like we are being called back."
"Harry!" Hermione cried as she came barreling out of the Leaky Cauldron and throwing her arms around Harry's neck. "What were you thinking?"
"Not here Hermione," Harry whispered. "Too many ears and eyes."
Hermione nodded and slowly released her grip of Harry, and took his hand before leading Harry back into the Leaky Cauldron and up to their room. After replacing the wards she had placed earlier, Hermione turned on Harry.
"What were you thinking Harry?" she demanded. "Going out there like that, you could have been killed, and then where would we be?"
"Hermione, we came back to help and stop the war," Harry said. "Any Death Eaters that we can stop now is one less then we have to fight later."
"But Harry, you can't take such risks," Hermione said. "If you are caught by anyone, your real name could be discovered and that would bring questions."
"Hermione, I couldn't just stand pat and do nothing," Harry argued. "That was Bellatrix out there, Sirius and Tonks' murderer, the bitch who cursed Ginny, and killed who knows who else. If we had gotten her, then Voldemort would lose his most powerful follower. It was a risk that I had to take."
"I can't lose you too Harry," Hermione cried, throwing her arms around Harry's neck again, burying her face into his shoulder. Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist, holding her gently. "I have already lost Ron, the Weasleys and my parents, I cannot lose you too."
"Hermione, I promise you that I will do all that I can to come back to you," Harry vowed. "But I will not stand back when we have a chance to save people, people we both care about."
Harry felt Hermione nod into his shoulder.
"Hermione, are you ok? Have you fully recovered from the war?" he asked.
"Of course I am Harry, why would you ask that?"
"Well, when you saw Bellatrix, you froze up and grabbed your arm," Harry said. "Right where Bellatrix…"
Hermione jumped back from Harry and held her arm close to her chest, her left arm.
"Hermione, please talk to me," Harry said, slowly approaching Hermione. "I need to know if you are ok, you are my best friend. I just want to help."
Hermione seemed to crumple in on herself. She put her face in her hands and began sobbing. Harry quickly gathered Hermione in his arms, her head once more burying itself in his shoulder.
"It is ok Hermione, I am here," he whispered.
"I am sorry Harry," Hermione sobbed. "I thought I was past this, after she had been killed I thought that was the last time I would ever see her. But seeing her again, alive and free, just made me…"
"It is ok Hermione," Harry said, gently stroking her back.
Hermione took a deep shuddering breath and sat up, Harry gently letting Hermione go. She wiped her eyes with a sleeve and gave Harry a watery smile. "Thank you," she said.
"Of course Hermione," Harry said. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. I have had plenty of nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, whatever, you never need to hide things from me Hermione."
"I know Harry, it is just you have always been so strong even with everything piled on your shoulders, I didn't want to be another burden," she said.
"Hermione, never say that," Harry said, "You will never be a burden. It if wasn't for you, I would be long dead."
After a few moments of silence, Hermione seemed to have finished collecting herself. She looked up at Harry. "So then Harry, what do we do now?" she asked.
"I am not sure," Harry said. "But what I do know is that my dad and Sirius, and Neville's dad are all Aurors, so my parents and the Marauders are out of Hogwarts. And possibly have already joined the Order."
"We need to come up with a plan, our previous one was thrown out the window when we landed here instead of in 1994," Hermione said, her voice gaining strength as she spoke.
"So what is first then?" Harry asked.
"Well, we know that the date is August of 1978," Hermione said. "And as you pointed out, the Marauders and your parents have graduated from Hogwarts. We know that Voldemort has made at least five of his Horcruxes by this time, with only you and Nagini not being created. We also know where at least three of the Horcruxes are, possibly all five."
"And we know who the traitor is in the Order, and the identities of the majority of the Death Eaters," Harry said.
"Harry, we don't know exactly when Pettigrew turned traitor," Hermione pointed out. "And there is no possible way for your parents, Sirius or Remus to believe us over their longtime friend. We should concentrate on finding and destroying the Horcruxes before anything else."
"But we don't have the Sword or any basilisk venom to destroy them," Harry pointed out, "and we can't use the Killing Curse or Fiendfyre."
"Then we might have to just collect all of the Horcruxes and wait until we have a chance to destroy them all," Hermione said. "Did Dumbledore ever show you how he got the ring?"
Harry frowned as he thought back. "No," he answered. "I remember asking him about how he hurt his hand, and he said that he would tell me but of course he never did. Damn him, he promised that he would tell me everything and yet he continues to hide things from me or lie right to my face."
"So while we know where the Horcruxes are, we have no way of getting them, or destroying them," Hermione said. Harry nodded morosely. "Excellent…Harry, we are going to need help. There is no way we can do this all alone."
"I know," Harry said, "but if we tell the Order, what are they going to think? They won't believe us, and Dumbledore will probably try and use us. He has too many secrets, and seems to make things even harder than they should be."
Hermione agreed. Before they had come back in time, she and Harry had created a list of all the mistakes or mishandlings that they believed Dumbledore had made regarding Harry and his upbringing, Voldemort, the Horcruxes and the War in general, and the list turned out to be quite long.
"We don't have much of a choice Harry," Hermione admitted.
Meanwhile, over five hundreds miles to the north of Diagon Alley, a group of witches and wizards were arriving at an ancient castle for a meeting, a meeting of the secretive group called the Order of the Phoenix. The head of this Order was Albus Dumbledore, a man who looked nearly exactly what muggles thought when they thought of a wizard; with a waist-length white beard, purple flowing robes and glasses. The only thing that was missing from the picture was a staff. Next to him was a rather severe-looking woman, a woman who looked more like a librarian if it wasn't for the fact that she was wearing dark-green robes.
"Albus, are you sure this is necessary?" Minerva McGonagall asked.
"Unfortunately I do Minerva," Albus said, "Voldemort has begun his quest in purging our world of all those he deems unworthy of possessing magic. And you know that our world is very divided and there are those in the Ministry and the Wizengamont who support the aims of Voldemort. We need to be prepared for the war that is about to come."
"Albus, do you really expect this to dissolve into war?"
"Alas, I do," Dumbledore admitted. "One must always be vigilant for those who would threaten the Light."
McGonagall nodded. "I suppose you are correct Albus," she said.
Slowly the room filled up with people, and the noise level in the room began to rise as well. But that noise went silent as Dumbledore stepped to the front of the room.
"Thank you all for coming and answering the call of the Light," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix. A brief history lesson of this group before we begin; the Order was created in the early 1930s in opposition of Grindelwald's creation of the Knights of Walpurgis, and the growing darkness that came along with it. There are some of you here that fought alongside me against Grindelwald but there are too few of us remaining to hold back the tide of Darkness that has begun to rise under the leadership of Lord Voldemort. And that is why you are here. You are the best and brightest that the Light has to offer, and with your help, the Darkness can be defeated once more."
Many of the attendees stood or sat a little straighter at Dumbledore's words, including the rookie Aurors James Potter and Sirius Black. They were sitting next to Lily Evans, James' girlfriend, and Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
"The Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, has given voice to the most vile and bigoted of our society, those who believe that only those who are pure are worthy of having magic, and all others are beneath them," Dumbledore explained. "They would have you believe that it is your blood that makes you worthy or unworthy of having magic. But that is wrong, it is our choices that makes us who we are, not our blood or our ancestors."
The aged Headmaster looked around the room, meeting each and every set of eyes. "We must all be vigilant of those who would espouse on the message that Voldemort voices," Dumbledore continued. "Now as most of you have probably heard, Voldemort's Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley this afternoon. And I am deeply saddened to announce that eight lost their lives to this senseless violence, including two children, ages of seven and ten. I ask that we take a moment to reflect on those whose lives were cut short."
The assembled group lowered their heads.
"Thank you. From witness reports, we know that Bellatrix Lestrange is a member of the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said. Sirius clenched his fists at his cousin's name. "The other Death Eaters wore masks that prevented our valiant Aurors from identifying them. However four Death Eaters were captured and taken into custody." Lily leaned over and gave James a peck on the cheek.
"We also discovered that an unidentified citizen defended others from the Death Eaters, incapacitating the four Death Eaters that the Aurors arrested," Dumbledore said. "However this citizen also caused the death of two other Death Eaters. I must stress that any loss of life is tragic. While those among you might believe that killing all those who fight us is the best way to end this threat, I warn you that you are wrong. No death should be taken lightly, regardless of the cause. This citizen has committed murder, while some of you might disagree; we know that this person was not an Auror or even a Hit-Wizard employed by the Ministry. If we kill those who don't agree with us, how are we any different then than the Death Eaters?"
Dumbledore's final comment silenced many of the doubts that some had. None of them wanted to become murderers.
"Now, at the moment the Order is nothing more than an intelligence gathering group," Dumbledore said, "We are not part of the Ministry or the ICW, even if some of you might work at the Ministry. And as such, we have no power to arrest or attack any Death Eaters, known or suspected. You may of course defend yourselves from attack but do not risk yourselves needlessly. We will only defeat Voldemort and his followers by not falling to their level and by showing the world that there is a better way than violence."
Most of the group was now nodding along with the Headmaster's words.
"So for the moment, we all will just gather all the information about the Death Eaters that we can," Dumbledore said. "Any names, possible targets or safe houses that you hear of, relay to myself or Alastor here. We must all persevere in the face of this Darkness. It will be difficult but I know that we will succeed if we all work together."
The meeting soon broke up after Dumbledore's speech, pockets of attendees breaking off and heading home. One such group was made up of the Marauders and Lily.
"Why don't we stop at the Three Broomsticks for a bit to eat?" Sirius suggested as the group made their way across the grounds toward the Hogwarts' gates.
"Why not?" James agreed. "Besides there is something we need to talk about."
The group of five made their way to the Three Broomsticks, chatting about random things.
"All right Prongs, what's up?" Peter asked, as the quintet found a table and each got a butterbeer from Madam Rosmerta.
"Hold up a moment Wormtail," James said. Taking out his wand, James cast several anti-eavesdropping charms over their table. "Now Sirius already knows this but we both think that you all deserve to know."
"Know what James?" Lily asked taking his hand in hers.
"This Voldemort character and his followers are a lot more dangerous than what the Headmaster is making things seem to be," James said. "Sirius and I were part of the response team that was sent to Diagon Alley today, and it was all but over when we arrived. If it wasn't for this other wizard, things would have been much, much worse."
"What do you mean Prongs?" Remus asked.
"From the evidence that we collected, this wizard who fought off the Death Eaters didn't use any Dark spells," Sirius said. "The most dangerous spells that he used was a Blasting Spell and a Piercing Spell, and even then those spells weren't aimed at a lethal area. This guys is not a murderer, he's a hero. If he hadn't fought back, then there would have been a lot more casualties, innocent casualties."
"How do you know all this?" Lily asked, "I would have thought that all the spells cast would have made it impossible to determine the exact spells."
"This guy gave Frank Longbottom his memory of the fight," James said. This was a surprise to Lily, Peter and Remus."
"Are you serious? Wait, don't answer that," Remus said as Sirius opened his mouth. "This is amazing. Why would this person hand over his memory, doesn't he realize how dangerous that could be?"
"Don't know," James said, "but whoever this guy is, he knows how to fight. He nearly took down an entire squad of Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange by himself."
Remus and Lily both shivered at the name of Voldemort's most brutal and devout follower. Bellatrix was the Wicked Witch of the West but real. Even in Hogwarts, Bellatrix had been considered deranged and dangerous. Anyone who crossed her path was a target for life, no matter how small the slight was.
"She got away though," Sirius said. "I swear to Merlin, I am going to take her down, even if it is the last thing I do."
"Sirius, don't say things like that," Lily said. "I know that you want to stop Bellatrix but don't become what you are fighting against."
"Yeah whatever Lily," Sirius said, brushing off Lily's concern. "Say James, did Frank ever tell you what that guy's name was?"
James only shook his head. "No mate, Frank didn't tell me," he said. "I don't even know if Frank rightly knows the wizard's name."
"Why didn't Auror Longbottom ask for the person's name?" Lily asked her boyfriend. "I would have thought that would have been the first thing an Auror would do. My dad has said that he would always take a witness's statement as quickly as possible."
"Lily does have a point James," Remus said.
"Look, it doesn't matter whether or not Frank got the guy's name," Sirius said, "it would be better if he doesn't show his face…"
A large explosion blew open the front of the Three Broomsticks, sending glass, wood and other debris flying through the crowded pub. The Marauders and Lily were thrown backward into the back wall.
"What the hell?" Lily groaned. "James, are you all right?" she asked looking over her shoulder. James had been sitting beside her, and closer to the wall then the explosion happened.
"I think so," James groaned, "I think my wrist is broken though."
"My ankle is busted too," Sirius grunted, his voice tight with repressed pain.
"Come out here Potter!" a shrieking voice came from out in the street. "We know you are in there, with the beast, blood-traitor and your Mudblood whore!"
"Remus, can you hear me?" James asked. Remus had been the one closest to the entrance of the pub, and had had his back to it when the explosion happened.
A low groan came from Remus.
"I will take that as a yes," Sirius said, hissing as some shifting rubble landed on his injured leg.
"Potter, I know it was you today!" Bellatrix screamed. "I know it was you who ruined my fun. Come out here you blood-traitor spawn! Come out here and meet your end!"
"What is she talking about James?" Lily asked. While Bellatrix had been screaming, she, Peter and Remus had managed to pull Sirius and James from the wreckage of their table, and behind cover. Lily cast a Binding Charm on James' wrist and Sirius' ankle.
"Peter, you need to go for help," Remus said. "You can slip out the back and get the Order or call the Aurors."
"But what about…" Peter started but Lily cut him off.
"Just go Peter," she snapped, "we will be fine."
Peter gave the pair one more look but transformed into his rat form and vanished into the night.
"Potter, if you don't come out here in the next five seconds, I will burn this grubby pub to the ground and leave my Lord's glorious Mark to light the path to your charred corpse," Bellatrix screamed.
"James, what are you doing?" Lily asked as James tried to get to his feet. "You can't go out there, if you do, she will kill you."
"Lily, I can't just hide back here," James argued. "She will burn this place down if I don't, and that would kill everyone. I can't let that happen." James brushed off Lily's hand and got to his feet, cradling his broken wrist to his chest.
Lily huffed, "Prideful, stubborn, stupid man."
James climbed over the debris and stood in the destroyed doorframe. "Here I am Lestrange," James called out, "are you ready to surrender?"
Bellatrix laughed darkly. "Perhaps your surrender Potter," she cackled. "But you have refused my Lord's gracious offer to join us, to cleanse our world of all the filth that has polluted it for far too long, and because of that, you are to be an example for those who refuse to join us. Avada Kedavra!"
James dove away as Bellatrix's Killing Curse soared over his head. It crashed into a pile of rubble that then burst into green flames. "Stupefy!" James barked, sending a Stunner at the left-hand of Voldemort.
Bellatrix laughed mockingly as she swatted aside James' spell with casual ease. "Please Potter, at least fight back like a man!" she said with a cruel smile. "But then again, perhaps that is why you needed to lower yourself to be with that filthy Mudblood whore. You couldn't please a true pureblood witch, could you?"
James' face grew dark. His wand came alive as he began casting various Transfiguration spells, creating different animals from the rubble, causing earthen spikes to rise from the ground all around Bellatrix. Now the Lestrange woman gave James a wide grin.
"There we go," she laughed, blasting apart James' Transfiguration spells with her own spells. "But not enough." Bellatrix slashed her wand down in front of her, and a wave of purple flame sped toward James. James conjured a shield and braced himself.
Bellatrix's spell slammed into James' shield with a sound like a bell ringing, however the spell was wider than the shield and it seemed to wrap around James' defense.
"Argh!" James cried out as the edges of Bellatrix's spell wrapped around his shield and caught him in his right arm. The burning pain caused James to drop his wand, his shield dropping as well, though it had blocked the rest of Bellatrix's spell. James could feel blood spilling down his arm, staining his shirtsleeve and making his hand sticky.
"And that is where you belong you blood-traitor Potter," Bellatrix laughed as she stalked toward a kneeling James. "Would you mind waiting a moment, I want to have your little Mudblood whore here to see this. Wouldn't want her, my blood-traitor cousin and that beast to miss the show." She sent a quick Petrifying Charm at James, causing him to fall to the ground, unable to do anything more than glare at Bellatrix as she walked by.
"Lestrange!" a deep and gravelly voice barked.
James turned to see Alastor Moody walking toward him, along with Fabian and Gideon Prewitt flanking him. The trio was a legend in the Auror Department; they had battled the Death Eaters four times, and had come out alive each time.
Bellatrix whirled around, looking furious that someone had come to ruin her fun, again. But when she saw who had interrupted her, her anger lessened as what seemed like unease entered her gaze. "Moody, and the Prewitts," she hissed.
"Drop your wand Lestrange," Fabian ordered as the three began to spread out. "You can come quietly, or as a corpse."
Bellatrix laughed as her eyes gleamed with madness. "Oh Fabian, you know just what to say to a girl," she cackled. Her wand came up with a green orb of light at its tip. The three Aurors raised their own wands in response.
"Lestrange, there is no way that you will see another sunrise if you cast another spell," Moody growled. His wand was up and its tip was glowing a deep blue. Fabian and Gideon's wands were at the same state of readiness.
Bellatrix snarled. In a flash, she sent a Blasting Curse right into the ground at her feet, sending a large amount of dust, dirt and debris into the air, creating a screen that made it impossible to see the crazed witch. The three Aurors rushed forward, casting wind charms to clear the air but it was too late. Bellatrix had vanished, leaving James still clutching his wounded right arm.
"James!" a shrill female voice cried from the Three Broomsticks. A red blur shot out of the damaged bar and skidded to a halt at James' side.
"Hey there Lils," James said with a pained smile.
Lily quickly pulled out her wand and began casting the few Healing Charms that she knew, all the while cursing out James for being a stubborn, prideful, pig-headed man who was always running off into trouble.
"Potter, Black," Moody grunted as Sirius and Remus approached. "Lupin."
"Moody," Sirius said with a nod. "Fabian, Gideon, what are you three doing here?"
"We were leaving the meeting when we saw the smoke," Fabian said. "Are you all right?"
"Just a little banged up but all right," Sirius said, limping his way out of the pub.
Just then a group of a half-dozen figures came racing up High Street, led by Hagrid. Behind the half-giant were Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and the Defense Professor, Augustus Rickenbacker, and the Hogwarts Matron, Madam Pomfrey, and then bringing up the rear was Peter.
"Is everyone all right?" Dumbledore asked.
"We are all right Professor," Remus said.
"What happened? Mr. Pettigrew only said that Hogsmeade was under assault," McGonagall said.
"It was Bellatrix Professor," James said. "She was alone, and looking for me."
"You Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said. "Did she give any reason as to why she singled you out?"
James shook his head. "She said only that it was payback for this morning, though I don't know why since I didn't even cast a spell during the attack."
"There was that kid who gave Frank the memory, I don't know if you got a good look at him," Sirius said, "but the kid looked a bit like you James; black hair, skinny. Maybe she thought that was you. My cousin is not the brightest Lumos around."
"How is he Madam Pomfrey?" Lily asked.
"He will be fine," Poppy said, "the arm will have a scar though. Since I see nothing else that requires my attention here, I shall make myself available for the villagers who might require my assistance." "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, Ms. Evans, why don't you all head home?" Dumbledore suggested. "There is nothing more that needs your attention tonight. I am sure that Alastor, Fabian and Gideon can handle things from here."
"Aye," Moody said. "Go get some sleep, all of you. Black, you and Potter report to my office at oh-seven-thirty tomorrow morning."
"Yes sir," James said while Sirius nodded. The Marauders and Lily bade good evening to their former teachers before Disapparating.
McGonagall noticed that her superior and old friend was watching the now empty spot where the Marauders and Lily had just vanished. "Albus, is everything all right?"
"What was that my dear?" Dumbledore asked, turning to see Minerva looking at him with curious eyes.
"I asked if there was anything wrong?"
"No, no Minerva," Dumbledore said airily. "Just thinking about the future, and how bright it shall be."
A/N: Well, there you have it. We have finally gone back in time, but obviously not to the time that Harry and Hermione were trying to get back too. There is so little information that we have gotten from JK Rowling, Pottermore, etc. about the first war, and the Marauders in general that I wanted to dive into that time period. It gives me a lot of flexibility and room to expand on the skeleton that JK Rowling has provided us. But anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and til next time,
SlyNinjaKnight