Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series is NOT mine! I do NOT own any of it, aside from copies of the books and films. I am just having some fun in JK Rowling's creation, and trying to add my own twists and history to it since we know so little of the period that I am writing about.

The two wayward time travelers had left the Leaky Cauldron after the Diagon Alley attack, not wanting to run into anyone that they might recognize from the future. However Harry and Hermione were in a bit of a bind, as they did not have any money to buy supplies or get a room at a hotel or inn. The only thing that Harry and Hermione had going for them was that they had been in this position before, during the Horcrux hunt the trio had to leave the Burrow in such a rush that they had forgotten their money pouches, they had only had a small amount of Galleons and pounds that Hermione had stowed in her beaded bag. So during the hunt, Harry, Hermione and Ron all learned how to steal enough money to survive.

"Hermione, you stay here," Harry told Hermione when they found a secluded clearing in a park in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. "I'll go find us some money and food."

The fact that Hermione just nodded instead of arguing showed that she was still shell-shocked at their predicament. Harry gave Hermione one more look over before pulling his jacket tighter around him and walked off through the trees. He quickly found a path that led him out of the park.

Taking a deep breath, Harry made his way down a busy marketplace street that bordered the park, his hands moving quickly and stealthily. He had never told anyone, not even Hermione, how he had become so adept at picking a person's pocket. It actually turned out a useful skill that he had been forced to learn thanks to the Dursleys. Pickpocketing was sometimes the only way that Harry had gotten to eat. The Dursleys routinely forgot to give Harry lunch for school.

Within an hour, Harry returned to the clearing where Hermione was waiting with his pocket full of pounds and arms holding a paper bag full of groceries.

"Come on Hermione, I've got us some food," Harry said, "You need to eat."

Hermione nodded as she looked up from the fire she had conjured. Harry knew that she had been busy since Harry had left, erecting several wards around the clearing including Muggle-Repealing, Notice-Me-Not and several types of warning wards. The wards would prevent any wandering eyes, Muggle or magical, from seeing the pair or entering the clearing. The pair ate a simple meal of fruit, toast and water.

"What do we do now Harry?" Hermione asked. "We have no money, no supplies and are nearly twenty years in the past. All of our plans are ruined, and now we have no clue what to do."

Harry set aside his cup and gathered Hermione in his arms. "It's all right Hermione," he said. "We have been in tight spots before and we have gotten out of them. And we will get out of this one too."

"How?"

"Like we always have, together," Harry said. "Now let's go over what we know: It is August of 1978, my parents and the Marauders are still alive, Voldemort and the Death Eaters are becoming a problem, and we know that Voldemort has most likely already created the diary, the ring, the locket and the Cup."

"Yes but we have no idea if they have been hidden yet," Hermione said. "We don't know when Voldemort placed the locket in the cave, put the ring in the shack or gave Malfoy the diary and Bellatrix the Cup. And we have no clue on how to get past the defenses even if we did."

"I am pretty sure that Voldemort has already hidden the locket and the ring," Harry said. "Remember Sirius telling us that his brother Regulus had joined the Death Eaters right out of school and then died before my parents were killed, and the locket was already there. And the ring I believe, was hidden after Voldemort killed his father and grandparents."

"We need help Harry," Hermione said. "We can't do all this alone."

"I agree," Harry said heavily. "But who do we ask for help from? We can't really ask the Order, it will get back to Dumbledore and who knows what he will do if he learns about the Horcruxes, if he doesn't already know."

"We don't have much of a choice Harry," Hermione said. "This is a much bigger problem then even last year. Last year, we at least had some clues and had only four Horcruxes to find and destroy. Now we have to find the five Horcruxes that Riddle has already made, destroy them and then kill Riddle, and all of that without alerting Riddle, his Death Eaters and Dumbledore. It is impossible!"

Harry winced. "Hermione, it is not impossible," he said, "I know that it will be hard. Harder than the original hunt probably but we do have an advantage that we didn't have before; we know where and what the Horcruxes are."

"But how can we destroy them Harry?" Hermione asked. "We don't have any basilisk venom, and neither of us can cast Fiendfyre or the Killing Curse."

"We will find a way," Harry said. "We will Hermione."

"How Harry?"

"I don't know just yet but we will, we have too," Harry admitted.

Hermione looked hard into Harry's eyes. She could see behind the façade of strength that Harry was trying to keep up, to the fear and desperation that Harry felt. She knew that fear and desperation that she saw in Harry's eyes were mirrored in her own eyes.

"Harry," Hermione sighed. "I know that you think we can do this alone but we don't have too. I have not been Dumbledore's biggest supporter ever since we learned more about the Headmaster, but he does want to see Voldemort defeated. Even if his methods leave much to be decided."

"But Hermione, weren't you the one who didn't want to deal with Dumbledore when we were supposed to return to fourth year?" Harry asked.

"That was if all went according to plan Harry," Hermione said. "It we had returned to fourth year, we would know how to proceed and what to search for, and where to look. But now, we have no clue how powerful Voldemort is right now, what defenses he has around the Horcruxes and how many Death Eaters we will have to contend with. We need help, and the Order is the only place we can get it."

Harry sighed but inwardly he agreed. He knew that alone he and Hermione had no chance of completing their mission now with everything having gone all pear-shaped. They needed to help, and the Order was the only place they could get help from that they could reasonably trust.

"All right Hermione," Harry said. "You are right, we need the help, and only the Order can help us. But how are we going to explain to the Order that we can be trusted, let alone that we are from the future. Merlin Hermione, how am I supposed to act around my parents who aren't my parents yet?"

"As you said earlier Harry, we will figure it out," Hermione said, "First things first, we need to come up with new names for ourselves, and you need a disguise. You look too much like your father to go unnoticed in the magical world."

"How can I disguise myself without any Polyjuice?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry Harry, we will just do the same thing as we did for…Ron when we went to Gringotts," Hermione said, pausing slightly at Ron's name. "I can change the color of your hair and that should be enough."

"Ok but what about names?"

"Well, like I said, I have the name that I used to go to Australia," Hermione said, "From now on you need to call me Juliet or Julie if you have too."

"You really don't like nicknames do you?" Harry chuckled.

"When you have been called by so many names like I have, any nickname brings back difficult and painful memories," Hermione said, "So Juliet will be acceptable."

"Ok Juliet," Harry said. "I will be…Patrick, Patrick James."

"Just Patrick James?" Hermione asked.

"Patrick James Daniels," Harry finished. "What about you Herm…Juliet? What will your last name be?"

"Watson," Hermione said quickly. "My full name will be Juliet Rachel Watson."

"Why that name?"

"My grandmothers were named Juliet and Rachel, and my mother's maiden name was Watson," Hermione explained. "Are you sure you should be using James as a middle name?"

"Yes," Harry answered firmly. "Like you want to keep honoring your family, I am honoring mine."

Hermione nodded. "All right Harry, I mean Patrick. Se we have our names, now what is our plan?"

"We need to get in touch with the Order, and figure out how we can get them to believe us," Harry said.

"Who in the Order do we contact?" Hermione asked. "Dumbledore and any of the old crowd either won't believe us, think we've gone Dark or try and control everything so that nothing happens."

"My parents," Harry said. "We need to find my parents, they will believe us and we can convince them to keep a secret."

"What about Pettigrew Harry?" Hermione asked. "If he has already joined the Death Eaters, then he can't be trusted."

Harry scowled at the thought of the rat traitor that had betrayed his parents and Sirius. "I know Hermione but it is a risk we have to take," he said. "If we go to Dumbledore, the rat will still find out and we won't be able to control what he finds out. If we talk with the Marauders, we will be able to control what information they, and Wormtail, knows."

"I suppose you are right but I do not like this Harry," Hermione said. "We are taking an awful risk."

"We don't have much of a choice Hermione," Harry agreed. Hermione nodded.

"Ok Harry, we will try it your way," she said, "Now stand still, I am going to change your appearance so you won't look like your father's twin."

Harry held himself still as Hermione waved her wand over his head, muttering a spell. He had to fight back the urge to squirm and scratch at his itching scalp. After thirty seconds, the annoying tingle on his scalp and face faded away. Hermione then conjured a small mirror and held it up for Harry. The distinctive inky black locks that marked Harry as a Potter were gone, replaced by dirty brown hair that hung nearly to his shoulders, and it also covered his scar. He still had green eyes, his mother's eyes but his chin and cheeks were now covered by thick stubble.

"There you go, no one will mistake you for James Potter now," Hermione said, stowing her wand back up her sleeve.

"Thank you Hermione," Harry said, running a hand through his changed hair. "What about you Hermione? Don't you need a disguise?"

She shook her head. "No, I am just a muggleborn," she said, "as long as I don't run into my future mother, I will be fine."

"Ok Hermione," Harry said, "now what?"

"We find your future parents, the Marauders, and pray to Merlin that we can somehow convince them to believe us," Hermione said. "Where do we start?"

"I don't know where my father's house is, and only know that my mum lived in Cokeworth while she went to Hogwarts," Harry said. "But I know that my father and Sirius are Aurors, so we could go to the Ministry if all else fails."

"Let us try your mother's home in Cokeworth first," Hermione said, "I really don't want to go to the Ministry if I don't have too."

Harry nodded in agreement. The pair quickly removed the wards around the clearing and vanished with twin pops.

"So James, why do you think my crazy cousin came after you?" Sirius asked, kicking his feet up onto his desk.

"I honestly have no clue mate," James answered, over the top of a report, at his best friend and Auror partner. "I thought she would come after you, not me, after your rebellion."

Sirius shrugged. "Honestly I have no idea what goes on in my cousin's head," he said. "My parents have always said the Blacks were the pinnacle of the wizarding world, that we shall bow to no man. Yet they have no problem falling at the feet of the Dark Lord. It was easy to go against them."

James chuckled as he quickly scribbled his signature at the bottom of his report and then tapped his wand to the top of the folder. The parchment folded itself up into a paper airplane that rose off the desk and sped away.

"Come on mate, I am starving," Sirius groaned. "Let's go to the mess and get some food."

"Always thinking with your stomach aren't you Sirius?" James laughed. But he rose with Sirius and the pair made their way down to the Ministry's mess hall.

The pair plopped down at an empty table, and James spun his wand around the pair, whispering a Silencing Charm to keep others from overhearing the two. Sirius arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he dug into his Shepard's pie. "So what did you really want to talk about Sirius?"

Sirius grinned around a mouthful of pie and quickly swallowed. "Caught that did you Prongs," Sirius grinned. "Well James, I was able to sneak a peak at the memory copy of the Diagon Alley attack."

"You were? How?" James shouted.

"That's not important," Sirius waved James down. "But I got a clean look at the guy who pout those four Death Eaters down."

"And?" James asked.

"He looks just like you mate," Sirius said. "And I mean exactly like you; hair, glasses, face, everything except for two things."

"What were the two differences?"

"This guy has a wicked looking scar on his forehead, like a lightning bolt, and he had green eyes," Sirius said.

"Green eyes and a lightning bolt scar?" James frowned.

"Yeah mate, the guy almost could be a cross of your and Lily," Sirius chuckled. "Maybe he's your son?"

A moment later the pair burst into laughter. Their actions drew the attention of the other Ministry workers but no one approached the two young Aurors, as they weren't disrupting anyone else due to the silencing ward James had erected.

"Come on Sirius, be serious," James said, shaking his head.

"I am always serious," Sirius grinned as James groaned at the pun. "But James, is it really that big of a surprise that you would have a sprog with Evans? Ever since second year you have been mooning over her, when she finally agreed to start dating you in seventh year, you looked like you wanted to start writing your vows. Sprogs would be the next step."

"Sirius, you know I haven't even asked Lily to marry me," James said.

"So you have thought about marrying Lily though?"

James blushed heavily, turning his face Gryffindor scarlet. "Of course I have," he admitted quietly. "But I don't know if either of us are ready. We are both really young, we just graduated from Hogwarts not even three months ago, and we haven't been dating a year yet."

"So?" Sirius asked. "Look at how many couples get engaged or hitched right out of Hogwarts, your parents did, so did mine."

"My parents had been dating since dad's fifth year," James pointed out. "And your folks were betrothed since they were kids, weren't they?"

Sirius nodded. "I guess my family isn't the best example," he admitted.

"And Lily is muggle-born, she would chop my bollocks off if I brought up a betrothal contract," James said. "If we are still together when you and I get through the Academy, then I will think about asking Lily."

"That might come quicker than you think James," Sirius said. "I heard some of the older Aurors talking about some changes that Crouch is trying to push through the Wizengamont. One of the changes would be cutting out the third year of the Academy in order to get more Aurors out onto the street sooner."

"Is this because of the Death Eater attack last week?" James asked.

"Probably," Sirius said, "It is all about politics. Bloody hell, I hat politics. It reminds me too much of those 'lessons' that my father made me and Regulus take before we went to Hogwarts. Course, as soon as I became a Gryffindor, my father forbade me from attending because he claimed that as a Gryffindor, I was too stupid and brash to understand the subtleties that a Slytherin used while dealing with politics."

James gave his best friend a sad smile as Sirius talked about his parents and family, knowing that while Sirius gave an impression of not caring or disinterest, the 'white' sheep of the House of Black still held out hope that he would one day prove his family wrong."

"What are some of the other changes then?" James asked, "Aside from the shortening of the Academy."

"Crouch is trying to push through harsher measures on any dissent against the Ministry," Sirius said. "The Death Eaters and the Dark Lord's supporters are at the top of the list but it is clear that he's aiming for the top spot, the Minister's chair."

"Is that not a good thing though?" James asked. "We will be able to fight back against the Death Eaters. That guy from the Diagon Alley attack was able to fight off the attack pretty much by himself."

"It depends James," Sirius said. The Black teen had always known that James was naïve when it came to politics, having come from a family that kept itself out of politics for the majority of the last century. The Potters were a strong family but one that many in the Wizengamont believed was too progressive, nearly radical in its interaction with the Muggle world. "It all depends on how many people agree with Crouch's methods. The Dark Lord's supporters will fight against Crouch to protect their friends, while many on the Light will believe that Crouch and his measures go too far."

"Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore," Sirius agreed. "You heard what he said in that meeting, he believes that the Death Eaters can be defeated without 'stooping' to their levels."

"And what do you believe Sirius?"

"I think that Dumbledore has started to lose the plot," Sirius said. "We are at the turning point. We can stop the rise of this Dark Lord if we take them seriously from the beginning. If we follow Dumbledore's plan, all we will be doing is fending off this threat, not actually stop it."

"You want us to become murderers then?"

"No James, I want us to survive this war that is about to begin," Sirius said. "You have no idea how dangerous these Death Eaters are, James. There are a lot more people who would agree with the Dark Lord than people think or want to believe. Not in the way you might think James, but a lot of people are angry with the Ministry and wouldn't mind seeing a new power in charge. Also the promises that the Dark Lord has offered to the werewolves, trolls and giants are alluring for them, the Ministry has always looked down upon those who aren't like them."

"Sirius, you are sounding like you agree with the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters," James said.

Sirius' face turned hard and as cold as ice as he regarded his friend and partner. "Don't be a fool James," Sirius said harshly. "I will never bow or grovel to any man, and certainly not the Dark Lord, but I am not naïve enough to believe that the Ministry is united enough to beat this Dark Lord, nor do I think that Dumbledore's way will be able to defeat the Death Eaters. There will be blood spilt in this conflict, the Death Eaters believe that anyone that doesn't agree with them are not worthy of living, and are less than human. You won't be able to defeat this type of person by trying to convince them through words."

"Sorry mate," James said. "It is just hard to think that I might have to kill someone."

"Don't think of it like that James," Sirius said. "We are Aurors, we are the protectors of our society, and sometimes blood will be spilt to protect our loved ones. Are you willing to let the Death Eaters kill Lily just because you wouldn't stop them with everything you have?"

James froze as an image of a dead Lily flashed through his head. "No," he said lowly. "I will not let that happen."

"I know you won't James," Sirius said.

"Merlin, here we are, in the middle of the Ministry, and talking about killing people," James said, "as if it were nothing."

"No James, it is not nothing," Sirius said, "It makes me sick that I am even thinking about this but I am not going to let these Death Eater animals attack, hurt or kill my friends and family because I wasn't strong enough or had the guts to put them down, and put them down hard."

"I am not hungry anymore," James said. Sirius nodded and the pair left the mess hall to return to their office.

"Are you sure this is the right place Hermione?" Harry asked.

"This is the address that the post office had for the Evans," Hermione said. "And it is Juliet, remember Patrick?"

"Oh right, sorry Juliet," Harry said. "So Juliet, are we sure this is the right place?"

"Yes Patrick," Hermione answered sharply. "Now stop asking me. Merlin's beard, it is like you are terrified of meeting your mother."

"It is not just that Juliet, my aunt could also be here along with my grandparents," Harry said.

"Oh bollocks, I forgot about your aunt," Hermione cursed. "If you want, I can do this alone, you don't have to be here."

"No, I think I do," Harry said. "I never met any of my grandparents, and my aunt never spoke about them."

Hermione nodded. "If you are sure…Patrick," she said, stumbling slightly over Harry's name. "Let's go then, the sooner we get this over with the better." Harry just nodded his agreement and followed Hermione up the path to the quaint looking two-story house. The stone path was worn but smooth, flanked by two small gardens filled with several plants, including roses, lilies and petunias.

Hermione knocked sharply on the soft blue painted door and stepped back to Harry's side. Harry's hand found its way into Hermione's as they heard someone approaching the door.

"Yes, can I help you?" a middle-aged woman with kind blue eyes and soft red hair asked when she opened the door.

"Yes, we were wondering if this was the Evans' household?" Hermione asked.

"Yes it is," the woman said, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I am Juliet Watson and this is my friend Patrick Daniels," Hermione introduced herself and a silent Harry. "We were looking for Lily Evans, is she home?"

"Are you friends of Lily's?" the woman asked. "From school?"

"Not exactly ma'am," Hermione admitted, unable to lie to the woman. "But we are from Hogwarts."

"Is Lily in some kind of trouble?"

"No, no, we just want to speak to her," Hermione said.

"Well, she went to the library earlier, and should be home soon," Mrs. Evans said. "Why don't you two come in for a cup of tea while you wait."

"Oh, that would be lovely, thank you ma'am," Hermione said.

"It is no problem," Mrs. Evans said. "Oh, and my name is Rose, Rose Evans."

"Mum, I'm back!" Lily Evans called out as she opened the front door.

"In the sitting room Lily dear," her mother's voice answered from down the hall.

"Hey mum, is the kettle on…" Lily trailed off when she entered the sitting room and saw that her mother was not alone. Two people, a young man and woman, were with her mother, drinking tea at the table. The strangers were roughly her age, maybe a year or two younger.

"Oh Lily, good you are back," Rose said. "This is Patrick and Juliet, they are from Hogwarts and have come to speak with you. You aren't in any trouble, are you Lily?"

"No mum, I am not," Lily answered. "Why don't you go and get us some more tea?"

"Very well dear," Rose said. She quickly gathered up the teacups and shuffled off into the kitchen. In an instant, Lily's wand was out of her sleeve and a low golden aura had surrounded the sitting room.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Lily growled, her wand trained on Harry and Hermione. "And why are you here?"

Harry looked over at Hermione for help.

"Ms. Evans, we are not here to hurt you or your family," Hermione said, keeping her hands visible on the table. "I am Juliet Watson, and this is Patrick Daniels, we need to talk with you."

"Why?" Lily asked, her wand fixed on Hermione.

"It is quite difficult to explain," Hermione said. "But we have information that is vital to not only your survival but also victory over Voldemort."

"How do you know that name?" Lily asked. "The only people I know that use the Dark Lord's name so openly are Professor Dumbledore or the Death Eaters. Are you Death Eaters?"

"No!" Harry and Hermione cried together.

"We would never join those bastards!" Harry growled.

"Patrick and I are not Death Eaters, we are the type of magicals they want to wipe out," Hermione explained. "I am a muggleborn and Patrick is a half-blood," she finished, rubbing her left arm.

"Why are you rubbing your arm?" Lily demanded. "What are you hiding?"

Hermione froze, her hand gripping her left arm. Harry shot to his feet, putting himself between Hermione and Lily. Lily's wand was now pointed right at Harry's chest. "She isn't hiding anything," he said, not paying attention to Lily's wand, just mere inches from his chest. "Lily, we are not trying to hurt you. We are not Death Eaters, nor are we supporters of Voldemort."

Lily's wand wavered ever so slightly but she kept it fixed on Harry's chest. "You will have to forgive me if I don't believe you," she said. "I know that the Dark Lord marks his followers on their left arm, so show me your arms."

Harry looked down at Hermione for advice. Hermione was gripping her arm so tightly that her fingers were white. "Juliet?" he asked softly.

"It is all right Patrick," Hermione said. "If Lily wants this reassurance, that is fine." Harry didn't look convinced but stepped aside. Hermione rose from the couch and pulled up her left sleeve, revealing the scarred word 'Mudblood' that had been carved into her flesh by Bellatrix at Malfoy Manor.

Lily's wand clattered when it fell from her nerveless fingers onto the table, and her hands covered her mouth in horror.

"Now do you believe us?" Harry asked sharply, as Hermione recovered the scar.

"How?" Lily asked as she picked up her wand and put it back up her sleeve.

"Bellatrix," Hermione answered, her face white. She sat down and hugged herself tightly.

"What did you need to tell me?" Lily asked.

"We need to get in touch with the Order," Harry said, speaking up, as Hermione did not look like she was going to reenter the conversation anytime soon.

"The Order, what Order?"

"We know about the Order of the Phoenix," Harry said. "And we know you are a part of it."

"If you know about the Order, why haven't you gone to them?"

"We believe that the Order will not believe us," Hermione said softly. "We are not from around here, and from your reaction, they won't like outsiders that much."

Lily nodded. She had noticed that most of the Order came from the 'same side of the street' as her father said, people that believed solely in Dumbledore. "Yes, I can see that," she said. "But what can I do? I have only just joined the Order, they won't listen to me either."

"We just need a way to get into the Order," Harry said, "if we can join the Order, then we can be sure our words will be more trusted."

"I do know that there is another Order meeting tonight," Lily said. "I can bring you two along, I am sure that the Order will believe you. To be honest, we need some good news after this past few weeks."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look of disbelief but they agree to let Lily take them to the Order meeting.

"Great!" Lily said. "Oh I can't wait for you two to meet James and the others. It will be great; we will be able to go on double dates and everything. Oh right, James is my boyfriend's name."

"We are not together," Hermione said quickly. Harry nodded in agreement. "We are just best friends."

"Oh, I am sorry," Lily said, blushing as red as her hair. "I just thought that since you are both here, and you seem so comfortable together, it is almost like seeing James and I in the mirror."

"Well sorry to disappoint you," Hermione said a bit harshly. "Patrick has been my best friend for years, he's like my brother." Harry nodded.

"I see," Lily said. "Again I am sorry. But still, you have to meet James, Sirius and the others." Harry and Hermione stiffened at the names. "Is something wrong?"

"We are fine Lily," Hermione said. "It is just Patrick's father was called James, and a friend of ours was named Sirius. They were killed by Death Eaters some time ago."

"Oh, I am so sorry," Lily said. "I didn't know."

"It is all right," Hermione said. "Like you said, you did not know." Harry nodded once more.

"Thank you," Lily said. "I have been trying to work at that, not saying everything that comes to my mind. It has gotten me into trouble before."

"I know someone a lot like that Lily," Harry grinned, glancing at Hermione who noticed his gaze and blushed. Something did not escape the notice of Lily. She had to hide a smile from the pair, and knew that she would get them to see their feelings for one another.

'Brother and sister, ha,' she thought. 'I am sure that Mary will help me show these two dunderheads that they care for each other, not as siblings but as man and woman.'

"Hey Lily, are you ready?" a new voice called out.

"In the kitchen James," Lily called back. "Come and meet Patrick and Juliet."

"Oh hello there, I didn't realize that Lily had company over," James said. "My name is James Potter, Lily's boyfriend."

"We know Mr. Potter," Hermione said. "Lily has been telling us quite a bit about you."

"Only good things I hope?" James asked, glancing at Lily, who giggled behind her hand.

"Depends on your definition of good," Hermione smiled, causing James to feel several beads of sweat to slide down the back of his neck.

"Um, not to be rude but Lily and I actually have plans this evening, and we must really be going," James stammered.

"Oh don't worry about them James, they'll be coming along to the meeting," Lily said.

"What?" James cried. "We can't bring them along."

"What?" James cried. "We can't bring them along."

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"For one, aren't they muggles?"

"We are not muggles Mr. Potter," Hermione said. "I am a witch and Patrick is a wizard. And we also know about the Order, we actually have information that is vital for the Order to have in order to defeat Lord Voldemort."

James' wand came up in a flash, its tip glowing red. "How do you know about the Order?"

"That is a secret," Hermione said, "You will have to trust us though, as we cannot tell you how we know about the Order. But rest assured, we are not supporters or followers of Lord Voldemort."

"I trust them James," Lily said. "And besides, don't we need all the help we can get. We aren't getting much help from the Ministry and the Order doesn't seem very impressive from what I have seen."

James frowned but his wand lowered and he holstered it. He looked right into both Harry's and Hermione's eyes, his light brown eyes boring into the two time-travelers in a way that reminded Harry of both Snape and Dumbledore. "Fine," he said after a moment, "I trust Lily with my life, so I will trust that she trust you. But know this, if you are lying or are planning on betraying her trust, there will be no place on this earth that you can hide. Do you understand?"

Harry and Hermione nodded firmly. Harry was starring at his father with wide eyes. There was nothing in the very little that Harry had been told about his father that had prepared him for this. It had always been that James was a prankster, a troublemaker, a bully and someone who had a swelled head. The young man in front of Harry was someone that Harry could see himself in, a person who was willing to do anything to protect his loved ones.

"We understand Mr. Potter," Hermione said.

"Don't call me Mr. Potter, it makes me think you are talking about my father, it is just James," James said. Harry and Hermione nodded.

"Great!" Lily beamed, pulling her boyfriend into a tight hug. Harry blinked rapidly at the sight as he thought he was looking at himself being hugged by Hermione at her most enthusiastic. "We all better get going if we don't want to be late."

"Lily, you take Juliet, and I will take Patrick," James said. Lily nodded, gave James a peck on the cheek before grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her outside. James looked at Harry who was watching Lily talking animatedly to Hermione. "Sorry about that, Lily can be like that."

"It is all right," Harry said. "Her…Juliet can be like that too, at least she was…"

James looked like he wanted to ask what Harry meant but the pop of Lily leaving with Hermione made him decide to wait. "Come on, we need to get moving," James said. The two men left the house and Harry took hold of James' offered arm, gripping tightly as James began to twist.

"Welcome one and all to our meeting," Albus Dumbledore said with a broad smile at the assembled group. "Now then our first matter of business is to open the floor up, as the muggles say, for anyone who has any new information that they wish to share with the group."

"Aye, I have some news," Moody growled as he got to his feet. "We now know that the Dark Lord has people inside the Ministry, high-ranking people. The Death Eaters that were caught last week have all been sprung from t heir holding cells."

"What!"

"That is awful!"

Lily turned to James in confusion but that turned to anger when she saw James nod, his own eyes filled with anger.

"Do you have any idea on who these supporters are Alastor?" Dumbledore asked.

"No," Moody spat. "The scum were smart. They put a couple of the guards under the Imperious Curse and ordered them to release the Death Eaters when they had a chance. Crouch is furious, he sacked the guards on the spot, said weak-minded simpletons have no business in his department."

Mutters from the few Aurors, or Trainees, that were in the Order could be heard as Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.

"Could Barty be made to give these men a second chance?" Albus asked. "After everyone deserves a second chance, it was only a mistake."

Harry and Hermione both frowned at Dumbledore's request. Yes, they could see that the guards had made a mistake, and maybe they shouldn't have been fired. But saying that everyone deserved a second chance was perhaps going too far; those like Voldemort, Bellatrix, Dolohov and many of the other Death Eaters were certainly unworthy of a second chance.

"Bloody unlikely," Moody said. "You know what Barty is like Albus, he took the failure of those men as a personal insult to his honor. But of course he wasn't going to let anyone blame him, so he sacked them. We will be lucky if they don't join the Death Eaters after what Crouch did."

"Surely you can't be serious Alastor!" McGonagall said.

"Aye lass, Crouch vowed that he would make sure that they would never work at the Ministry again while he worked there," Moody said.

"That is unfortunate," Dumbledore said. "Alastor, if you would, keep an eye on these men, see if they can be swayed from their path. Perhaps they can find other work."

"I'll try Albus but Crouch has got his fingers in a lot of pots these days," Moody said. "He is using these attacks to make a push at the top spot. He is gunning for the Minister's seat, and while this incident hurt him, Crouch is gaining followers quickly."

Dumbledore nodded as he mulled over the new information. "I see," he said. "Well we will have to keep an eye on Crouch. Does anyone else have any new business?"

"Actually sir, I have someone who says they have information vital to defeating the Dark Lord," Lily spoke up. She froze and her cheeks turned rosy as the group's eyes all turned on her.

"Yes Ms. Evans?" Dumbledore asked.

Lily turned around, looking at Harry and Hermione. "This is Juliet Watson and Patrick Daniels, they say they have the information."

"And you believed them girl?" Moody shouted. "Did it ever cross your air-headed mind that they might be…"

BANG!

There was a meaty thud and a low groan as Auror Captain Alastor Moody slid to the floor, having been flung there by a Banishing Charm fired by Patrick Daniels. Harry or Patrick ignored the dozens of drawn wands aimed at him as he walked around the room to the fallen Auror. Harry reached Moody and crouched down to whisper, "Don't you ever insult my friends, or you won't like the consequences. Also, Constant Vigilance."

Moody's eyes widened as Harry stepped back and turned to face the Order, most of whom still had their wands aimed at him. Some didn't, they included Hermione, Lily, James and surprisingly Dumbledore.

"Perhaps Alastor was a bit rash in his words about Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said mildly. "But resorting to violence over mere words does not make the best of impressions."

"We are not here to make impressions Headmaster," Hermione said. "We are here to help as many of you alive as we can in this conflict."

Dumbledore frowned and some of the Order began muttering and whispering at Hermione, though they fell silent at a raised hand from the Headmaster. "And how do you mean? What is this information you claim to have that is vital to defeating Lord Voldemort?"

"Well first off you can stop referring to the monster as Lord Voldemort," Hermione said sharply, her brown eyes gazing directly into Dumbledore's blue eyes. "The bastard's name is Tom Riddle, not Lord Voldemort."

Dumbledore froze at Hermione's words, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed by the Order. "How do you know that name?" he asked, his voice hard and sharp.

"I know it because I wanted to know everything I could about that bastard," Hermione said, not blinking at the demanding tone from the Headmaster. "He killed my parents, his bitch did this to me," she added, yanking up her left sleeve, showing her scar.

Many of the Order recoiled at the sight of Hermione's scar but Dumbledore's only reaction was that of pity, which Hermione caught.

"I don't need your pity Headmaster," Hermione snapped, rolling down her sleeve. "I want to know what you are going to do with this information."

"Well miss, all you have given me is a name," Dumbledore said. "While you are correct that Lord Voldemort's true name is Tom Riddle, I do not see how you believe that is vital to defeating him."

"How about the fact that Riddle is not a pureblood like he claims to be?" Harry said. "He gets the majority of his support from purebloods who believe that they are the only ones worthy of magic, or of life. It if were to come out that the man they are following so blindly is not a pureblood, but a half-blood, that support will rapidly vanish."

"The Dark Lord is a half-blood?"

"Did you know this Albus?" McGonagall asked from Dumbledore's side.

"I did," Dumbledore answered. Inwardly he was both fuming and a bit intimidated but outwardly he showed no reaction.

"Then why in Merlin's beard have you not spoken up before?" Moody demanded.

"I did not see the importance of revealing such a detail," Dumbledore said.

"Bloody hell Albus, for someone so smart you sure are dim," Moody shouted. "It is like the boy said, if people knew that the Dark Lord, Voldemort or Riddle, or whatever he calls himself, then he would lose a good chuck of his support."

"And what then Alastor?" Dumbledore asked. "Yes, some of his support would leave his banner but those that remain would be the worst of the worst. And those who would leave Voldemort's side would just continue to spread their bigotry and hate."

"We can deal with that later," Alastor growled. "They don't have the spine to fight without the backing of a 'Dark Lord', they will fade into the background like they always do. Albus, I don't know why you are even hesitating on this?"

Dumbledore frowned. "Very well, we shall use this information to our advantage," he said. "I have some extra documents about Tom Riddle that I shall copy and distribute at our next meeting. Now miss, sir, do you have anymore information that is vital to Lord Voldemort's downfall to give us?"

"At this moment no," Hermione said. "But we are hoping that you are not withholding any vital information about Riddle that would protect these brave people?"

The goodwill that Hermione had gotten by revealing Voldemort's true name suddenly began to vanish as she questioned Dumbledore.

"I tell you this miss, as someone who obviously knows the value of information," Dumbledore said, "I do not appreciate the accusation that I am withholding information that would cause my friends any harm or place them in danger."

"Of course not Headmaster," Hermione said with a slight bow. Harry glanced over at Hermione but a tiny shake of her had told Harry to keep quiet.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "Now, is there anyone else who would like to bring any more vital information to our attention?" he asked, speaking to the assembled Order but his gaze was fixed on the two newcomers that Ms. Evans had brought along. He was going to have to keep a close eye on those two, there was something about them that sent alarms ringing in Albus' head, and that was something that Albus Dumbledore didn't like.

A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of History is Written by the Victors, I hope you all enjoyed it. And hopefully you all will be able to read this as has been having some issues with uploading and alerts but I believe they have been fixed. Anyway, please let me know what you all think of the story so far, any ideas that you might like to see, or additions to the Marauders-era that I am writing about, it is such a blank state that this is going to be a lot fun. Til next time,

SlyNinjaKnight