Chapter 6

Dora was standing nervously in front of Dumbledore's office. She hadn't talked to him since her arrival but now she needed his advice. It was dangerous to mess with time and the decision she had to make could change the past and with it the future she knew. She couldn't allow that to happen. Dora liked the future the way it was, thank you very much.

So she gathered her courage, knocked on Dumbledore's door and stepped into his office. The old headmaster didn't look surprised at all by her visit, something that unnerved her slightly.

"Good morning Miss Granger. Please take a seat. Lemon drop?" he offered, his blue eyes twinkling merrily.

"No thank you, Sir." Dora declined his offer.

"Then how may I help you Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked the young redheaded woman sitting in front of him.

Dora took out the letter from Sirius and put it on Dumbledore's desk.

"I got this letter this morning. What do you think I should do about it, Professor? Do you think it could just be one of his pranks?"

Dumbledore took the letter and read it carefully. Then he put it down and looked at her piercingly.

"I do not believe Mr. Black would joke about such a matter. This is indeed a very serious situation that obviously requires some consideration. May I ask about your thoughts on this?"

"I don't know. I'm confused. As you know I am from the future and I never heard of Sirius Black being married – to anyone. And to be honest I don't particularly like him. He is an arrogant bully who thinks he can have and do everything and everyone he wants. But I also know that he will grow up some day – at least to some extent – and that it would change things significantly if he was forced to marry Bellatrix."

"Hmm, obviously he is quite desperate to escape this marriage and I agree that it would be a bad match. But you are right, Miss Granger we must be careful not to change the future. I will have to think about this."

Dora already wanted to take her leave when Dumbledore started to speak again.

"Just one more question, Miss Granger. Would you be willing to help him escape this fate if it would not change the future as you know it?"

Dora hesitated. "Yes. I wouldn't want him to be married to his own murderer, no one deserves that" she finally answered and left.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk deep in thought. He had observed her over the last few months and she really seemed to be who she said she was. She seemed to have no ulterior motive in being here and was responsible enough not to change the future deliberately. But now he had to make a decision, the decision to trust her or not, a decision that would apparently influence the future of a lot of people if Rose Weasley was to be believed.

Her last words had shocked him. Would Bellatrix Black really kill her own cousin in the future? He wondered when and how it would happen. He could guess the reason though. Bellatrix was one of the most fanatic Death Eaters and Sirius Black would probably join the light side when he was old enough to make his own decision. This war was tearing families and friends apart and Dumbledore hoped it would be over soon but he knew it was unlikely.

Only a few years ago he had started to gather a group of people to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix they called themselves. But they barely had any information about Voldemort's plans and often came too late to save the people they tried to protect. And now the members of the Order were on top of Voldemort's hit list. James Potter's parents, Alastor Moody, Dedalus Diggel, Elphias Dodge, Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Caradoc Dearborn, Hagrid, Dorcas Meadowes and his own brother Aberforth. Some of the seventh years had already indicated that they would like to join the group - Frank Longbottom, Emmeline Vance and Fabian and Gideon Prewett.

But back to the matter at hand - Sirius Black's impending engagement. There really seemed no way around it. Parents had the right to draw up a marriage contract for their underage children and the only possible way out of it was to be engaged to someone else and they had to wear the family engagement ring. He hoped Sirius could get his hands on the ring otherwise his plan would fail without a doubt.

He decided to speak to Sirius and sent him a letter that ordered him to come to his office before dinner. Then he sat back down and pondered if it would be too risky to ask Dora about the future. There were some things he would really like to know.

After classes ended Sirius made his way to Dumbledore's office. He wondered why the headmaster wanted to speak to him. He hadn't pulled any pranks lately.

"Come in" Dumbledore called before he could even knock on the door.

Sirius found it slightly creepy but shrugged it off and opened the door. He stepped inside the office and greeted the headmaster. Dumbledore offered him a seat and one of his lemon drops. Sirius took the seat but declined the sweet.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Professor?" Sirius asked.

"Mr. Black, I have heard rumours about your impending engagement to Miss Bellatrix Black. Are they true?" Dumbledore asked with this all knowing twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore" Sirius answered wondering why this would interest the headmaster.

"I thought you might try to get out of this arrangement and wanted to offer you my assistance" Dumbledore explained.

"Thank you Professor, but I've already got a plan" Sirius said.

"You know there is only one way out of this?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes. I have to propose to another girl and give her my family's engagement ring after she accepts" Sirius answered.

"And you have both, a girl who will accept your proposal and the ring?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Well, yes and no. I have the ring. My parents send it to me on my birthday. The girl I'm not so sure about. I wrote her a letter and asked her for a meeting this evening. Hopefully she will agree to at least give me a chance" Sirius said.

"If she does, I would be more than happy to perform the ceremony for you next year" Dumbledore offered.

"Thank you Professor. May I go now?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Of course my boy, run along" Dumbledore smiled and watched him leave the office.

Then he slumped in his chair and sighed. Sirius Black was obviously smitten with the girl and he could only hope he wasn't wrong about being able to trust Rose Weasley or Dora Granger how she was now called. But she had done nothing to deserve his mistrust so far and Dumbledore generally believed in the good in people and in giving second chances. He would just have to trust her if he didn't want to be a hypocrite.

He was glad she had come to him for advice. It indicated that she trusted him as well. Maybe he would even be able to influence her to a certain degree and steer her in the right direction in case she started to stray from the right path. They would have to wait and see.

Dora was nervous. She hadn't told anyone about the letter and Sirius proposal besides Dumbledore. In only a few minutes she would meet Sirius, probably in the Room of Requirement and she was still not sure what to tell to him. Dumbledore had sent her a note earlier this evening stating it was her decision if she wanted to go through with it or not. But before she could lose her nerves and run back to her common room, Black walked around the corner and stopped in front of her.

"Granger, I'm glad you came" he said and smiled tightly at her.

"Black" she acknowledged him. "Are we going to the Room of Requirement?"

"Yes, how do you know about it?" he asked and looked at her suspiciously.

Shit, Dora thought. How am I going to explain this?

Let's go into the room first. Then we can talk" she said and started to walk up and down in front of the wall.

After she had walked by the wall three times a door formed and they stepped inside the room. It was small and cosy with a fireplace, a couch and two armchairs. The carpet was a neutral beige colour and the upholstery was brown. They chose to sit in the two armchairs rather than together on the couch.

Silence reigned in the room while both teens tried to think of something to say. They both weren't sure how to start their conversation. Finally Sirius gathered his courage and started speaking.

"How do you know about the Room of Requirement?" he repeated his earlier question.

Dora stayed quiet for a long while, while she contemplated her answer. Eventually she decided she should tell him the truth if they were really going to go through with his crazy idea. He should at least know what he was getting himself into.

"My parents and uncles told me about it."

Not a lie but not the whole truth yet either. She hoped he would ask the right questions – or maybe not. She still wasn't sure it was a good idea.

"So they went to Hogwarts? I thought you were from France?" he asked.

"Yes, they went to school here. I actually never lived in France that was just a cover story" she admitted nervously.

"Why did you need a cover story?" he asked and eyed her suspiciously again.

"To explain why I am here" Dora answered.

"And why are you here?"

"You probably won't believe me. I'm here because of a time-turner accident" she said and looked at him, curious to see his reaction.

"You want me to believe you are a time traveller? From the future?" he asked incredulous and started to laugh.

"Good one. You nearly had me there" he added after a while, still laughing.

"I'm serious, you idiot!" she snarled at him.

"No, I'm Sirius, you are Dora" he replied only slowly calming down.

"Very funny. I'm trying to make an honest confession here!" she exclaimed exasperated.

"Alright, let's assume I believe you, why would you tell me now?" he asked after he had sobered.

"Because apparently you want me to be your personal hero and save you from an arranged marriage to your deranged cousin by becoming your wife and I thought it would be a bad start to keep a secret from such massive proportions from my future husband" Dora explained.

Merlin that sounded weird, Dora thought.

"You are really going to give me a chance?" Sirius asked amazed.

"Yes, yes I'm giving you a chance. Don't make me regret it!" she warned him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he smiled broadly, run over to her and hugged her. Then he lifted her out of her armchair and spun her around.

"You won't regret it, I promise!" he said as he let her down again.

"I hope so" Dora murmured under her breath.

"Now, still want to tell me you're from the future?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, you can ask Dumbledore if you don't believe me" she replied.

"No not now. Tell me about your time. Which year are you from?" he inquired curiously.

"I'm not sure how much I should tell you. I don't want to mess up time" the red haired witch said nervously.

"Then tell me something else" the Gryffindor said visibly exited.

"Alright, my real name is Rose Nymphadora Weasley – don't you dare laugh about my middle name!"

"Why would I laugh about your middle name? It's what my cousin called her poor baby girl" he said and actually managed not to laugh.

Then suddenly a horrified expression crossed his face.

"You aren't her daughter, are you? Please tell me we aren't related somehow" he pleaded.

"No, don't worry. As far as I know we aren't. Or only very distantly, if at all" she calmed him down.

"Oh, good, you had me worried there for a moment."

"Nymphadora only had or will have? one son – Teddy – he married or will marry my cousin Victoire" she told him.

"Wicked, tell me more!"

"What else do you want to know?" she asked amusedly.

"How did you even end up here? You said it was an accident?"

"Yes I accidentally spun my time-turner a few too many times" she answered and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

"Why did you even have a time-turner?" Sirius wondered.

"To be able to get to all my classes. The headmistress gave it to me at the beginning of third year" Dora told him. "Technically I'm already eighteen years old because of all the extra time I gained through the time-turner."

"That's crazy!" the Gryffindor exclaimed.

"It's true" she shrugged.

"Typical Ravenclaw. You have something as cool as a time-turner and what do you use it for? Studying!" he exclaimed dramatically.

"That's the only reason I even got it" Dora argued.

"Do you still have it?" the black haired boy asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"No, Dumbledore took it when I arrived here. To prevent any more accidents he said."

For the first time she was glad it was safe in the headmaster's office. She didn't want to imagine what Sirius would want to use it for - probably one of his pranks.

The Gryffindor looked slightly disappointed but recovered quickly. He finally remembered why they were there in the first place and took out his family engagement rings. Sirius noticed the redhead's curious but also apprehensive look.

"Are you sure? Once this ring is on your finger it will only come off if we both decide to end our engagement or if one of us dies" he warned her.