Sirius smiled as he crossed the boundaries of his estate and shortly afterwards saw the castle-like manor rise up at the horizon. His intervention had been successful and very soon he would meet his first-born again. Now only one last problem needed to be solved. As an effect of his time-travel, he now had two different memories of the events. He still remembered vividly, how he had encountered Marius in the Leaky Cauldron and had decided to use the time-turner to change his past. In contrast, Mercuria only knew that he had abducted his son as a toddler and brought him to Antwerp to be raised by her there. This in itself was not a problem. But Mercuria was also unaware that he had used the time-turner. She did not even suspect that he had activated it and he thought it better to leave it at that. Because as long as his wife believed that he could not use the piece, she would not pay any special attention to it, and it would always be available to him in case of emergency. Therefore, he had to discreetly slip the piece back to her without arousing her suspicion. He feverishly thought about how to do this while he landed the motorbike in front of the terrace. Mercuria was sitting at the table with Regulus and Gavin. They greeted as he stepped up to them and kissed his wife. "Sirius, good to have you back. Where have you been all day long?". He waved his hand dismissively. Mercuria explained, "I was just about to tell Gavin and Regulus that Marius is finally coming home on Saturday". Sirius saw his brother and Gavin staring at him open-mouthed. Confused Regulus asked, "Excuse me, but are you talking about Marius whom Sirius met in the Leaky Cauldron three days ago?". Exasperated, Sirius gestured defensively. Mercuria turned to him. "You've already met him? Why didn't you tell me? I didn't know he had already arrived in Britain. And why didn't he contact me right away even if he wanted to stay in London for a couple of days?". Sirius denied enthusiastically, "Oh no, Regulus is confusing things. That wasn't our Marius whom I met". Mercuria explained, "Marius is Sirius' eldest son. I adopted him back in Antwerp when Sirius abducted him from his mother. I raised him. But I haven't seen him for such a long time. When years ago I heard that Voldemort had reappeared in the body of this young teacher, Professor Quirell, I moved from Antwerp back to London. But I didn't want Marius to visit me there. I had told him the story of how Sirius had taken him from his mother and we both agreed that it would be too much of a risk if he visited me in Britain. What if someone accidentally recognised him? Hence, we always spent his holidays together on the continent. Until Sirius showed up at my place again. As an escaped convict, his situation was of course very complicated at the time. And after his faked death at the Ministry, no one from the Wizarding World was supposed to know that he had survived. Not even Marius. After leaving school, he then went to Egypt, where he qualified as a healer. But now he is finally coming home. And gets to know his father. Marius wrote that he will arrive on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. All these years, Sirius has been desperate to meet him. Haven't you, dear?". Sirius nodded and more than he saw them he felt the quizzical stares of Regulus and Gavin.
"Sorry, guys, I have work to do. I'll see you at dinner". Mercuria got up and went into the house. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief and placed an Imperturble Charm on the terrace. Curiously Regulus leaned towards him. "Tell me, brother. Three days ago you meet a boy you suspect is your son, and now your wife has suddenly raised him. How did you do it? If you ask me, it smells a hell of a lot like the Dark Arts". Sirius snorted. "I admit that one might get this impression, Regulus. But believe me. I did not revert to the Dark Arts. However, what I did was illegal". "Then tell us what you did", Gavin said dryly. "The matter is quite simple. After I gathered all necessary information, I decided that I had to do more for the boy than to just take him in. And fortunately, I had the means to do so. I changed his past. With a time-turner and as you might know, to own such a device is illegal". Regulus said, "You are trying to say that somehow you procured yourself with an illegal time-turner, and Mercuria mustn't know about it, right?". "No. She knows that the time-turner exists. She created it herself". "She created it herself?", echoed Gavin surprised. Sirius leant back, lit a cigarette and explained, "first and foremost a time-turner is a highly complicated precision mechanical instrument. This is the only reason, why not every wizard has one. Magic doesn't do the job and the piece has to be manually crafted. Practically no one in the Wizarding World is capable of doing that. And only very few Muggles can. Mercuria is one of them. She created it years ago, when the war against Voldemort was coming to an end and James Potter was still alive. But she never allowed me to activate it. Only yesterday could I convince her to hand over the time-turner and the incantation which set it in operation. But she doesn't know. She recalls taking in Marius as a toddler and raising him. Only the time traveller himself, that is me, knows what really happened. In simple terms it is like I have two parallel memories of the events. Now I must return the piece before she finds out that I used it. Otherwise she might put it out of function". "What's wrong with using the piece if it's already there? Even if it is illegal?". "Each change of past events results in a different future. More than anything else, Mercuria fears that I will use it to save James Potter from death. And she is absolutely right. In fact I was on the verge of doing so". "What would be so bad about saving someone you really like. After all, James Potter was your best friend and one of the good guys, wasn't he?".
Sirius poured himself a glass of whisky, leaned his chair against the wall and put his hands behind his head. Then he began to unfold the intricacies and dangers that were about to arise from the use of the time-turner. In order to help Lily and James, he himself would have to become their secret-keeper when the Fidelius Charm was cast on their house. That was the precondition for changing the past. True, he was prepared to be tortured and even killed by Voldemort in order to protect his friends. But what would have happened if the secret keeper died? Sirius did not know. In that case would the Fidelius Charm be lifted, leaving the house in Godric's Hollow unprotected? He had no idea. Supposing the spell continued to work. Or he even managed to elude Voldemort's pursuit. What then? Sirius remembered how it had felt when he had returned to the house at Grimmauld Place and had left it to Professor Dumbledore as the Order's headquarters. He had been safe there. But when everyone else had moved out at the start of the new term and he had been left alone, his depression and anxiety had worsened massively, and now, five years later, he admitted to himself that he had been on the verge of suicide. Without Mercuria, who had given him hope and a new purpose in life by finding the Healer Montalenfer's book, he probably would not have persevered. His situation seemed too hopeless at the time.
If James were in the same situation, what would he do? Sirius knew that his friend would not have endured permanent house arrest in Godric's Hollow, any more than he himself had withstood banishment to his ancestral home. James could have gone abroad with his family, escaping Voldemort's pursuit for the time being. But flight was something James would never have considered. Far more likely, he would have left Lily and Harry at home and taken up the fight himself. A battle in which, as far as Sirius now knew, they had absolutely no chance. A battle that could not have been won without the destruction of Voldemort's Horcruxes. No matter how he twisted and turned the issue, Sirius had to admit that any intervention with the time-turner would have bought his friend more time, but would at the same time inevitably have led to the Dark Lord's ultimate triumph. A high price to pay for a few extra weeks or months with his friend. Too high for James to accept. Sirius knew that for certain. He sighed in resignation. Mercuria had been right. Given the choice, James would have stopped him from using the time-turner to save him.
Sirius looked at Regulus and Gavin, who had been listening intently to him. Regulus said, "Honestly, I now understand why the Ministry keeps its time-turners under lock and key. The world would be in complete chaos if everyone had one and could change something that doesn't suit him. You understand my point?". They nodded. "That means you don't want to use the piece anymore?". "Who knows. If a situation arises like when Harry and Hermione freed me from the tower room at Hogwarts, it may come in handy. Likewise when Lucius saved my life during the battle at the Ministry. But these interventions happened very shortly after the original events took place. The further back in time you are travelling, the more dangerous it becomes. Because you simply cannot avoid to change things which are not directly related to your prime target. The consequences of these side effects cannot be assessed at all and might be disastrous". Regulus nodded. "I understand how that works. Your wife is very clever. And this time-turner is a massive temptation. You should return it to her for safe keeping". "I will. But first I must dismantle it". "There's one thing I don't understand", Gavin interjected. "Tell me". "You have, as you explained, two alternative memories. That makes sense because you were the time traveller yourself. And Mercuria and Marius can't remember the old version, but only recall what has happened since you intervened. Which is also conclusive. But then why do Regulus and I still know that you met Marius three days ago in the Leaky Cauldron?".
Sirius contemplated this. Finally he shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know. The effect of the time-turner is weird. What happens to the time-traveller as well as to those who are affected by the changes in the past, I have explained to you. Mercuria, Marius and also Hallie, Marius' mother. But what about those who are not directly involved? You two, for example". He told them about Hermione's time-turner and how with its help he escaped from Hogwarts. "Hermione had been using the time-turner all school year long to attend classes that were scheduled at the same time. Divination, for example, and Runes. And in both classes she had different teachers and different fellow students. She herself remembered what she had been learning in both subjects. Otherwise it would have made little sense. But her classmates only recalled her presence in the specific class they had attended together. She was quite lucky that none of the students from different classes got suspicious. Now that I think about it, it was really devil-may-care that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall consented to give Hermione the piece. Sorry, I really don't know. This is extremely difficult. But the fact that bystanders might only remember the unaltered version of the past is, of course, a frightening effect that should definitely be kept in mind when using the piece again". Sirius leaned back and rocked his chair against the wall. A crease formed on his forehead. "Honestly, I hope you're the only ones who remember the original version. It would be rather inconvenient if someone suddenly appeared who knew Marius in his old life". Sirius downed his glass and refilled it. Regulus shook his head. "No, it can't work like that because thus it would make no sense at all. Perhaps Gavin and I can remember because we haven't been in contact with Marius yet and you told us about him after your first encounter. I don't know". Sirius nodded. Then he pulled his necklace with the pendant from under his shirt and placed it on the table. Regulus and Gavin leaned forward curiously. "Is that it?". "Yes, that's it." Sirius held his wand to the piece and muttered, "separare". Nothing happened. "Distrahere in singulos partes". Again, nothing. "What are you doing?" asked Regulus. "The piece is made up of four separate parts, which Mercuria normally wears as jewellery. I must disassemble them before I return them to her. But I don't think it works with magic".
Sirius took the time-turner in his hand and carefully tried to take it apart. But only when he pulled hard was he able to detach a piece. After several fruitless attempts, he managed to disassemble the piece into its individual components. They stared at the earrings, ring, and necklace which lay on the table in front of them. Gavin giggled, "Mercuria is really clever. Who would ever guess that her jewellery has hidden qualities?". Sirius smiled, while he drew his wand and pointed it at the pieces. "Ad cubiculum". The parts of the time-turner disappeared from the table. Regulus and Gavin got up. "Mercuria told us that Marius will arrive here on Saturday. Perhaps you'll have some time before that. We want to electrify the house. And you have more experience with that". Mercuria, who had entered the terrace, asked them puzzled, "Isn't there electricity in the house?". Sirius put his arms around her from behind. "When one of our ancestors took over the house on Grimmauld Place from a Muggle sometime in the early 19th century there was no electricity and as a wizard, you don't need it anyway, so it stayed the way it was. But Regulus has invited us to stay at his place when we want to go out in London. And then, of course, you will need electricity". Mercuria beamed at Regulus. "How very thoughtful of you. Thank you so much. I tell you, it's really annoying that I always have to ask for assistance in a wizard's house. Uncle Phineas did not maintain electrics when he bought this estate and when we moved in here, we had no electricity. Therefore I had to ask Sirius for help all the time. As soon as it got dark outside, he had to turn on the lights or I had to take a torch. My equipment couldn't be used and I had to stop working. I wanted to return to London straight away. But then Sirius bought a generator and connected the house to the network. Only then I decided to stay. It is hard to feel at home in a house without electricity if one can't do magic". Sirius kissed the back of her neck. "But you can do a lot of things wizards can't". Gavin smiled. "Oh yes, I still vividly remember what you did with a blacksmith's hammer and a blowpipe". Regulus asked amazed, "I don't know that story, you must tell me tonight. Ok. We're off then".
During the rest of the week Sirius spent a lot of time at Grimmauld Place. Since his mother's portrait was gone and more and more rooms were redecorated, he no longer felt uneasy there and enjoyed the company of his brother and his friend. With the experience he had gained in electrifying his own manor, he quickly connected the house to the local electricity supply. Then he taught Gavin and Regulus how to install power lines by running their wands along the walls and saying "Coniungo electrica linea". He also explained to them where best to place sockets. The three of them worked their way from the basement to the topmost floor. At the end of the day, they stood in Sirius' old room. Gavin and Regulus looked at him expectantly and asked, "What now?". Sirius waved his wand and called out, "Accio light bulb". When it zoomed into his hand, he inserted it into the fitting which he had placed on the ceiling. He mounted a light switch next to the door. When he pushed it, the lamp lit up. Gavin and Regulus applauded enthusiastically.