Chapter Two: Seen and Unforseen

Ron was shaking head to toe as they sat down at the great hall, at a few of the other tables he could see other witches and wizards gathered for late meals. None of them were wearing Hogwarts uniforms. In fact, Ron saw a couple of families sitting together.

"Do you know if there's any astronomical events tonight?" Peter asked. "Maybe that has something to do with how you got through."

"I dunno," Ron said, "I, er—didn't do my astronomy homework this week." Harry snorted, and James nudged him to stop. Ron wished he could melt into the ground, maybe he'd wake up tomorrow morning and this whole thing would just turn out to be a weird dream.

"Tell us a little about your world then." James offered helpfully. Ron felt a little more confident.

"Right, so I'm a fifth-year student, just made prefect actually. My friends and I are in Gryffindor. Um—I actually don't know what to say, everything's pretty normal except that you-know-who came back last summer. But he's being really quiet about trying to get power again. My parents are in the Order." Once again, everyone became gravely silent.

"You're lucky then." Sirius observed, "he's had control of England for eight years now, Hogwarts is the only place that's still safe. 'course not many people know him as Voldemort here. He goes by the name Tom Riddle."

"Oh …" Ron didn't know what to say. As he looked closer around the great hall, he noticed that various things seemed to have been repaired. "I mean, it can't be that different … everyone sort-of looks the same, except Harry. You eyes and hair are a different color—"

"I'm sure its not that different." Ron could've sworn he saw a look of panic cross Harry's face. "Maybe you haven't noticed it with more people yet."

"Oh, yeah…" Ron felt stupid for even bringing it up. Sirius's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We can talk more about everything in the morning, if that's alright." James said, swiftly cutting off the conversation. Sirius opened his mouth to argue but decided against it.

Ron felt like he'd lost his appetite. He looked across the table and noticed Lupin and Sirius gripping each other's hands tightly.

"Oh! I er—are you too together then?" Ron asked. Last summer he and Harry had a bet about whether they were a couple. Ron made a mental tally that if he ever got home he owed Harry a sickle.

"Seven years now." Sirius smiled, looking at him it was easy to forget another version of him spent twelve years locked in Azkaban. He seemed grateful for the change in conversation. "Had ourselves a ceremony in the courtyard."

"I was the ring bearer!" Peter scooped another pile of mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"James actually officiated the ceremony for us." Lupin explained, "it was dreadful, he spent three months before the wedding coming up with puns."

"Dearly beloved, we are here to celebrate a matri-moony," James recited, "if you'd like I can do your tenth anniversary as well, you'd be barking to say no." The three other marauders erupted in laughter. Ron's heart stopped beating so rapidly.

"Still, I mean—it can't be all bad living here, right?" Ron asked. "I mean, Harry, you must've had fun growing up here?" The marauders went silent, Sirius gave James an empathetic look. Harry worked quietly on his Yorkshire pudding.

"I didn't grow up here." He said. Ron felt his face burn red.

"Oh—I er—"

"Harry arrived two weeks." Lupin broke the tension. "Actually, it'd be really helpful if you showed Ron around tomorrow, help him get settled."

"Okay."

Ron looked over to James, hoping for some reassurance.

"We'll talk more in the morning, I promise." James said, moving the cleared plates. "Anyhow, its probably best if you stay with us while you're here. We've broken out different dormitory rooms and classrooms into apartments for some of the refuges. I'm up in Gryffindor tower."

"Thank you." Ron said quietly. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep in something that at least looked like his bed.

The dormitory room had one bed set up and a small partition curtain covering another corner of the room, two armchairs were set up in a mock living room. Ron'd always liked it when Harry came to stay with his family, one more brother didn't mean a whole lot in terms of how crowded it could get. But now that the tables were flipped, Ron felt awkward following James and Harry into the apartment. He couldn't help but notice that Harry's mother wasn't there.

"It's not much," James explained, "but we'll get you set up over in the corner and get something more comfortable until we figure out how to send you home."

Ron nodded. Harry disappeared behind the curtain, which Ron assumed was his room. James conjured up a cot bed, and took a couple of blankets and a set of old PJs out from a chest at the foot of his bed.

"Pete knits when he's anxious, so now I'm drowning in afghan blankets." James passed Ron a couple of blankets to set up.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Ron said sheepishly. He went down the hall to change in the bathroom, before snuggling into a pile of blankets on his cot. For just a moment, Ron pretended he could smell his mother's perfume on them.

The next morning, Ron woke up to find that James had already gone down to the great hall and grabbed a couple of things for breakfast. Harry must've left earlier, since the partition curtain was pulled back, revealing a similar camping cot and a small nightstand. James sat down in one of the armchairs.

"Morning," he croaked, taking a sip of his morning tea. Ron muttered a similar greeting and took a seat in the opposite armchair. "I thought it'd be easier if I answer any questions, you have myself, if I can." James explained, "and I didn't want you to get mobbed in the great hall, its not all that often that we get new faces around here."

"Okay," Ron took a raspberry filled donut from the table. "How did it happen? The war, I mean."

"They'd been planting loyalists in the ministry for years, when Riddle came out and proclaimed himself Lord Protector of all of England, no one really knew what to do about it." James took a sip of his tea. "He's basically the minister now. Some people wanted it to be honest, he immediately broke the statute of secrecy. Lots of muggles are stuck now in forced work camps. We were lucky enough to have Dumbledore create a barrier at the school, every once in a while, we'll have people break away to find Hogwarts. That's why we were so surprised to find you already inside."

"Dumbledore died two years ago," James continued. "It was awful and … public. They keep finding new ways to keep people afraid, I guess a witch burning is as good of a deterrent as any." There was an awkward pause, Ron's brain raced at the thought.

"Is there a version of me and my family here then?" Ron asked, his hopes rising. James shook his head.

"We lost contact with them four years ago, I'm sorry I don't have any more information. Sirius is in charge of our spy network though, he's looking to see if anyone knows what happened."

"But you—I mean if you've only been here for two weeks, that's good right? That means other people could make it too."

"I've been here for years," James's face darkened. He looked down at his cup, deciding whether or not he wanted to say anything else. "Look, I know you're friends back where you're from, but I really don't want you asking Harry about it." James took in a deep breath, "my fiancée didn't want to stay here once she figured out she was pregnant. She knew it'd be dangerous, so she packed up and left. I … should've gone with her but—"

"Sorry," Ron said.

"It's okay, you didn't know," James shook his head. "London is a very hard place to live right now, Harry said she died a few years ago. Harry came in two weeks ago with a few other people. He was the only one that got past the blood barrier outside, so that was that ... I've tried not to ask much about what happened to his eyes. The aurors can be difficult …"

"Blood barrier?"

"It lets members of the Order and their children through. We couldn't have it just be family members since, well … Sirius's relatives. Dumbledore created it himself. It's the only thing keeping the Death Eaters out."

"It's all just—I'm sorry." Ron's head was reeling, that family really couldn't catch a break …

"If it's all the same to you though," James said. "How did I die? Where you're from."

"Oh! You were protecting your family, you-know-who killed you himself."

"And Lily and Harry, they're okay?" James looked at him hopefully.

"She died too." Ron said flatly, "but Harry's alright, I mean, he survived a killing curse, but you-know-who's got it out for him now."

There was a sharp knock at the door, James flicked his wand to open it. Harry was patiently waiting, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wasn't sure if you were done." He said, staring blankly ahead. "Do you want to see the rest of the castle?"