Chapter 7
Fred. George, Sirius, James, Lily and Remus all appear inside the castle of Hogwart's although the feel of the place is quite different than they were expecting it to be.
"Why is… everything silver and green?" Fred asked softly looking at the decorations around the castle, and a large increase in snake decorating the walls, with all the old portraits of past students and others who had made some difference with Hogwarts over the years.
"Boys what are you doing out of uniform?" A stern voice asked behind them.
They turned to see McGonagall walking toward him, her lips a thin line, her eyes looking horrified.
"Out of uniform," George whispered wondering what was wrong with his school robes.
"Hurry all of you, go change quickly before your seen like this; this is no time for jokes,"
Fred looked at the others they nodded to McGonagall hurrying off toward the laundry where they could find these 'uniforms'.
Once down in the laundry room they talked there, figuring they would be safer.
"I don't get it, what's going on here?" Fred looked around at the others.
"I have no clue," George told him looking worried.
"Is this not your…. Time?" Remus asked since they were in Hogwarts
"Well year time it should be… but we've never had uniforms that looked like this?" George held up a green robe with a silver serpent on the left side, with the name Slytherin School on the right.
"Slytherin School?"
"But this is Hogwarts?" James told them looking horrified at the green robe.
"Where have you've been living under a rock?" the five boys and Lily turned to look at Neville Longbottom.
"Neville?" Fred asked unsure if the boy in front of them was really him.
"Yeah, of course, what's your problem, you two are so lame and weird," Neville, sneered at them. He took a drag on a cigarette blowing smoke in their faces.
"I guess that's what happens when your dads chucked off to Azkaban for being stupid,"
"WHAT did you say?" Fred growled as he brought his wand out.
"Don't act so tough Fred, you know why he's there and why you're always in the bottom of the class, no one likes you guys, no one wants to be around you because your family won't act like a proper wizarding family." Neville gave him a look of deepest contempt he strolled off looking extremely superior.
"Who was that?" Fred looked at George in shock.
"You called him Neville, but he sure wasn't very nice was he?" Lily pointed out watching his retreating form. She didn't like him and hoped any child of hers would not be friend with him.
"Do you think anyone will notice us and wonder who we are?" James asked looking at himself in the new school robes. He was sure he would be sick wearing them.
"I don't even know who we are, let's go." Sirius said feeling quite disgusted.
"Maybe we can talk with Dumbledore, see what he has to say about all of this?" Remus told them heading for the door.
"Sounds good let's to go the headmaster's office," Lily agreed with him.
The five boys plus Lily walked down the corridors looking at the other students as they filed by they all looked stone face and very serious.
"Hey there's Ron, let's see what he has to say?" George pointed to their younger brother as he strutted through the halls.
"Ron; wait up?" George called as they hurried toward him. Ron turned to look at them the face they knew so well slipped into a look of revulsion and disgust.
"Do not associate with me, I've told you've before I have cut all ties with your family. Percy, Ginny and I know what needs to be done, and living with a woman who can't even be proud of her heritage that she'd marry a man like your father is nothing I want to be a part of," Ron snapped at them looking down his long straight nose at them before he walked by them briskly leaving his twin brothers in complete silence, they had no clue what to say now.
"Wait Ron where is Hermione?" Fred called to him.
Ron threw him another look that clearly said you are scum and beneath my notice.
"I do not know any Hermione," Ron started to walk away when Fred called to him again.
"What about Harry Potter your best mate?"
Ron sneered at him, "My best mate is not some kid named Harry Potter, it's Greg Goyle," Ron walked off looking even more superior then ever.
"This is all so wrong," Fred, whispered horrified. James, Sirius, Lily and Remus looked even more worried.
"What happen?" Remus asked worried looking around they proceeded down the halls again.
"No clue, but we messed something up somewhere?" Fred told him gravely. They started up some of the stairs to the headmaster's office.
While they walked up the stairs they saw two mask men walking down the stairs they knew the masks they were Death Eaters.
"Move it kids," One of them growled as he walked past them.
The five looked behind them at the two men who seemed quite at home walking through the halls.
"Father," Another voice they knew very well.
They looked to see Draco's pointed face rushing past them.
"I was just talking to Professor Potter; he seemed to think I didn't deserve a higher mark on my paper,"
"Don't worry son I'll have a chat with him, I'll make sure he sees reason," Lucius said with a sneer of his own as he and the other man headed back down the stairs with Draco looking very puffed-up for this.
"Come on, we'll see what Dumbledore says," George whispered softly as James looked at them.
"Well it seems I'm not dead, but where is Lily?" James mused as they soon stood in front of the stone Gargoyle. James reached over taking her around her waist. She gave him a dirty look they figured she was saving his telling off time for later.
"I don't know what the password is?" Fred looked around at them.
"Dumbledore always liked sweets, he always used those types before," George reminded him.
"That's true it's what he always used in our time too," Sirius agreed.
The five boys and Lily tried many different types of passwords; with every type of sweet concoction they could think of so far nothing was working.
"Boys, are you in trouble?" A soft voice asked behind them, they turned to see Professor Sprout she looked sad and scared.
"No… we just needed to see…" Fred pointed to the door.
"Well I don't think he's changed the password, it was Better Blood,"
The gargoyle leaped aside leaving them all stunned.
"Why would professor Dumbledore have a password like that?" Fred asked Sprout who looked at him worried.
"Professor Dumbledore hasn't been in this office for almost twenty years now, hurry up if you're going to see Professor Pettigrew, you don't want to keep him waiting," Sprout hurried off looking at the five boys and the one girl behind her they were acting very odd and their reaction to their headmaster seemed even stranger. The other odd thing is how familiar they seemed but something was wrong with it.
"Pettigrew is the headmaster?" Sirius said in complete disbelief.
In moments though the stairs were moving downward with voices coming from the top.
"Don't let him see us," James, Sirius, Lily and Remus all turned to keep from being seen. Fred and George stood in front of them trying to look very innocent as they moved away from the entrance.
Peter emerged with James Potter his mouth was a thin line as he listen to Peter.
"James, I need you to work with me here, you can't continue to hold this grudge. Do you really believe I want to lose you as a teacher here?" Peter patted James on the back fondly looking up at him with loving eyes.
James looked at him coldly, "Do you really believe I care?" James walked away from him his steps were stiff and mechanical as he walked away.
"James, when will you learn to love me?" Peter whispered pitifully. James and Lily looked at each other's stunned. Peter walked back to the stairs behind the gargoyle, which had remained open. Peter hardly noticed them though standing there looking horrified.
"I always thought it was just… hero worship that he had toward Prongs not…." Lily said softly. They looked at James who looked very revolted.
"Let's go talk to your older self you'll at least be able to talk with us; you don't seem to have changed," Lily commented. She figured it was best to get James away before he killed Peter.
The five boys and Lily ran down the halls looking to see where the older James had gone too.
"He can't be too far, where would you go James?" George asked.
"Back to kill Peter; where else," James replied disgusted while they ran down the halls they saw James slipping into a hidden wall, they all knew that wall well.
"Come on let's get in there," Sirius said as they ran for the wall, slipping inside it.
"You better keep out of sight of him though, it might not be too good," Fred told the three boys and Lily.
The five looked around the hall to see James Potter hurrying down the hidden corridor.
"You four hide quickly," Fred told them as they hide behind some old curtains. "Professor Potter," Fred called as the two hurried toward him.
James Potter stopped surprised to look with horror behind him.
"Boys, what are you doing, it's too dangerous to follow me, get back to…." James looked at them, his eyes going wide.
"Wait… you guys came back in time?" James pointed at Fred and George. They did wonder what would make him realize they weren't his students but figured that was for another time.
"Yeah but what happen why is Peter the head here and where is Lily and Harry?"
James looked sadly at them deadpanned, "Lily's dead," he turned to leave.
"Wait how why what happened?" George asked horrified.
"Was it Snape did he do it?" Fred asked fearfully.
James looked back at them. "No that slime kept his promise to her, he never joined the Death Eaters, but the one who betrayed her was Peter, now he's blackmailing me, to keep me here as a teacher, I hate him but he doesn't care,"
"What about Sirius and Remus?" George asked wondering about his two best friends.
"Remus is dead, they killed him before we left school, they said no school would ever have a disease like Remus in here contaminating the others, he was killed, Dumbledore was driven out by… the Dark Lord, and Sirius has been on the run from them since, otherwise they'll kill him as well."
"But why would they kill him?" George asked horrified.
James looked sadly at them, "because he's with Dumbledore they are trying to disable the Dark Lord's reign of power, but it's a losing battle. They have so few members in their pitiful Order of the Phoenix that it won't be long before that falls too and then the Dark Lord will have no one left to oppose him." He shuddered at this. "With Umbridge as minister it's just made things worse, most half breeds are dead now because of her."
Potter turned to walk away.
"So you never married Lily?" Fred asked.
James looked at them suspiciously before speaking in very harsh tones.
"No one did, she was going to marry Snape, in our seventh year, that is when Peter betrayed her to the Dark Lord, he came in and killed all Muggle born, before our eyes, Peter just laughed,"
"WHAT?" There was more than two voices yelling but Professor Potter ignored the other voices.
"Peter knew I was still trying to win her love away from Snape. I wanted her so badly, Peter was jealous, he hated Lily for winning my heart." James spoke in a dead voice not facing them, so they would not see his bitter tears, "Peter had become a Death Eater and convinced the Dark Lord to rid the school of Dumbledore and any of his supporters and Muggle born students," James looked over his shoulder at them sadly. "Like that wasn't the Dark Lords mission already, he just wanted to get rid of Lily." He let out a heavy sigh.
"You'll find no Muggle born student in here ever again, the only ones allowed are pureblood."
"What about… Hagrid?" George asked worried since he was half, giant and had lived here on the school grounds for many years.
James shook his head,
"He's dead along with all the other giants their race was wiped out, along with the centaurs, mermaids, goblins and anyone else they saw as a threat."
James headed down the corridor, looking extremely depressed as he hurried away.
The other three boys and Lily emerged from the curtains, looking horrified.
"This is so not good,"
"We gotta follow him see who he meets up with," Remus told them looking down the corridor at the back of his distant friend.
"Easy to do," Sirius and James both brought out their wands tapping Fred, George, Lily, Remus and themselves on the heads so they all felt as though a cold wet egg was washing over them.
"What did you do?" Fred asked curiously.
"Disillusionment charm, come on lets go." Sirius hurried off in the direction James had gone.
"Wow you can do those in your fifth year?" George said impressed since it was something they barely started to learn in their seventh year.
"Prongs and I aren't tops of the school for nothing," Sirius smirked they hurried down the hall.
"There he is at the side door, I don't remember that being there?" Fred whispered softly they moved in close to James Potter who stood by the door looking at nothing.
"Me either, let's see how close we can move up to him," Remus whispered. The five boys moved closer then stopped suddenly when the door creaked open.
"Padfoot," James whispered.
"Prongs," Sirius as a grown man emerged, looking sadly at James.
"Good to see you mate, no troubles?"
"No of course not, that stupid prat is too busy trying to get me to his bed," James said scornfully.
"Maybe you should just give him what he wants," A new voice said softly from the darkness beyond.
"Snape," James growled. "Maybe you'd like to offer him your body, I'm sure he'd take whatever he could get," James spat at him.
"I'm not the one he's in love with, the one he was willing to kill for, you are," Snape said acidly. "I had a love you remember my love Lily Evans, we were to be married the one I shared a bed with,"
"Only because you backed out of being a Death Eater, she'd be alive today otherwise," James spat at him.
"No she wouldn't since you'd never be able to keep her safe from him and your little pal Peter." Severus reminded him.
"He's not my pal, he ceases being my friend when he betrayed us all," James growled.
"Maybe if you had just—"
"Gentlemen this is no time to argue, nor will it bring back Miss Evans," A soft calm voice said also emerging from the darkness.
"Sorry sir," James said softly giving a small head bow to Dumbledore.
"Remember men it's just us now, we lost Molly after Arthur was taken away, she won't let me speak with her two eldest sons. I've tried to make contact with a few others but it's been no good. Only one was slightly interested but no one takes him seriously,"
"Who was slightly interested?" James asked curiously since they've had no one interested in a long time now.
"Xeno Lovegood, but he said with looking for wild unregistered beasts and trying to find ones that have been wiped out he really doesn't have the time. He also figures it could result in his daughter's death here at school,"
"He's not the first one to think this," Black said bitterly.
"We need to figure out how to stop that man, he's already taken over so much, that most won't leave their homes for fear of one of his Death Eaters, taking them in for interrogations, and never returning." Snape said sadly.
"I know, and with the large galleon price on our heads we can hardly make a move without some Death Eater suddenly showing up trying to catch one of us," Black agreed.
"We can't give up hope though," Dumbledore said softly looking older then the twins ever remembered him looking.
"What can we do, the Death Eaters are here looking for the twins, to keep them from going back in time. The Ministry is completely under the Dark Lords rule; no one will oppose him," James said also sounding as though the war was lost.
"Keep looking for the twins of Arthur and Molly Weasley."
"I just saw them…." James started then stopped as George and then Fred appeared before them.