Until Such A Time

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the feedback! I'm glad to see the story is living up to "Organ..." and that people are enjoying it. I'm going to go ahead and say, I'm totally not a Ron hater, despite my track record. I adore Ron. I'm not going say any more at the moment; I just wanted to lay that out on the table. So...with that, enjoy this relatively short chapter!

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Until Such A Time
by Kristen Elizabeth

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"Are you hungry, Harry?" Lupin plucked the cast iron lid off a pot situated over the fire he had going just outside the open flap of his tent. "There's plenty here."

Harry shook his head and pulled Hagrid's blanket closer around his wet body. He had stripped down to his pants; the rest of his clothes lay nearby, drying. "We ate at the house."

"The house," Lupin repeated. "So...you've seen Hermione, then?"

"From under the blissful invisibility of my father's cloak." He shook his head. "I think the last thing she needs is the shock of seeing me." Harry looked across the camp to where Cho and Lavender were fussing over Emma and her own soaked clothes. "Fortunately, Emma agreed with me. She's...stubborn. To say the least."

Serving himself a bowl of some sort of soup, Lupin laughed. "I wonder who she could have gotten that from? I'll tell you, Harry..." He took a spoonful. "She might look like Hermione, but she is entirely your child." He lowered his spoon. "Bloody fuck. I can't believe you're sitting across from me! It's like the past eighteen years just didn't happen!"

"*You* can't believe it? Try this on for size. Not only have I been sucked into the future, I've just found out exactly how I was supposed to have died and when and how the world goes to hell after it happens. Happened. I don't even know what tense to use!!" Harry shook off the blanket in frustration. "Remus..." He ran a hand down his face. "I saw Ron."

The man paused for a second. "I'm sorry."

"Why did he do it?"

"Because..." Lupin set his bowl aside. "Man is an inherently weak creature."

"But Ron...Ron wasn't weak," Harry protested.

His old friend lifted his shoulders. "Emma doesn't know the whole story, so whatever you've heard is bound to be incomplete. But I'll tell you the truth, Harry. Although god only knows what effect it might have on the natural timeline."

"I think we're well beyond worrying about that at this point."

Lupin nodded his agreement. "Ron did have one weakness. And if you'll think really hard, I'm sure you can think of what it..."

"Women," Harry cut him off. "He could never, ever say 'no' to a woman."

"And one 'no' to one woman in particular would have been enough to save his soul."

Harry puzzled over this for a minute before his eyes grew wide. "His Spanish fling? We just met her at dinner!"

Lupin pulled at the stubble on his chin. "It's...mad hearing you talk about things as though they happened the other day."

"It *did* just happen the other day. At least, to me." Harry leaned forward on his knees. "Are you saying...that girl was a Death-Eater?"

"From a long line. Voldemort's reach extended far beyond the British Isles. He had followers in Spain, France, Bulgaria, America, Germany...the list goes on. We later found out that the girl was from a long, pure-blooded line, a Dark Arts practitioner *and*..." He shook his head. "...a half-Veela."

"Bloody hell," Harry breathed. "Ron never stood a chance."

Lupin's expression grew dark. "He still had a choice."

"Why is he so hell-bent on capturing Hermione and Emma?"

"I really don't know. Frankly, I don't care either. All I'm concerned about is preventing it." Lupin picked up his dinner again. "Since Hermione won't relocate here where it's safe, it makes things a bit more difficult, but it's certainly worth the effort." He ate a bite. "She refuses to abandon the house...the house that she lived in with you."

Harry let his head hang for a second. "Are you their Secret-Keeper?"

"No." Lupin moved the spoon back and forth through the soup. "It's someone who can be completely trusted, don't worry. It's not going to be another Wormtail."

"Of course I trust you. If all of this had to happen...I'm glad you were here for them. When I couldn't be."

Lupin cleared his throat. "For many years, I wished I could have taken care of you when James and Lily died. I wasn't about to sit around on my hands when your own wife and child needed me."

Several moments passed as Lupin finished eating and Harry glanced around the camp. In total, there were only about forty people in this resistence that he could see and from the looks of things, they had all been living underground for quite awhile. "It's quite a set-up you have here," Harry commented.

"It's Buckingham Palace compared to our last hiding place. Here we have water for cleaning, at least."

"How do you keep in contact with the outside?"

Lupin smiled. "Obviously owls can't get in here; they leave letters in a rabbit burrow and we pick them up later. It's risky, of course. One of the main reasons we abandoned our last hold-out was that we were tracked. There are resistence members who live above ground still. George Weasley for one." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. You probably thought he was..."

"Yeah. I did."

"The truth is, splitting up the twins was just necessary. They attract too much attention together. Also, he looks after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," the older man explained. "He brings us most of our supplies, every couple of weeks." He paused. "Ron is a sore spot with the entire family. Especially after Bill was killed in the initial fight. We didn't go underground without a fight."

"I never imagined you did." Harry turned his attention towards daughter; she was wrapped up in warm clothes and sipping a cup of tea, laughing at something Fred Weasley was telling her. "She's grown up in hell. But she's amazing. She's everything I hoped she'd be." He sniffed suddenly. "I suppose that's all Hermione's doing."

"Hermione's a strong woman, there's no doubt about that. But your death, Harry..." Lupin sighed. "We've never recovered. Any of us. It was just too sudden."

"So I've been told," he replied. After a pause, he continued, "Why am I here? I mean...I understand the basic of the physics behind it. But Remus, wouldn't it make more sense for me to go back now, knowing what I know? If I could stop Voldemort from ever rising...this entire world would be different."

Lupin settled back against a rock, studying Harry carefully. "Can't you tell, Harry? Can't you understand why she's done it this way?"

"To have me help save this world," Harry said. "Right?"

"Partly, yes. She's barely eighteen; she's never had the luxury of being naive, but she's still innocent enough to believe in miracles. But more than that..." He smiled sadly. "She's only ever wanted to meet you. You're her father. Tell me...if you had the means to meet James..." He trailed off, not needing to finish the question.

Harry sighed, silently berating himself. "Of course. I should have known. It's just...it seems like there must have been a better way."

"Well, again, she's barely eighteen. She doesn't know everything. She doesn't even know how to fly a broomstick. I'm sure she could if she tried, but there's no way. It's risky enough for her to step outside."

Despite the situation, Harry let his jaw drop. "Now there's all the reason I need to do whatever I can to fix things. A child of mine who can't fly...I can't allow it."

A moment of quiet thought passed. "You know...as much as I'd love to have you stay, Harry," Lupin shook his hair away from his face. "You really don't belong here."

"I don't, no." The younger man lightly massaged his temple. "My place is in the past. I need to get back there."

"Then..." Lupin stood and brushed off his tattered robes. "We should get it done as soon as possible. You might have already been missing for a day in your time." Harry followed him, ignoring the fact that he was only wearing pants. "Emma!" he called out to Harry's daughter. "Emma...can we talk to you, love?"

Frowning, the girl handed her tea cup to Lavender and stood up as the two men approached. "What's wrong?"

"Emma, we've been discussing the situation that you've put Harry in," the former Marauder began. "And please don't think I'm chastising you for what you did. Believe me...I understand." After giving her a warm smile, he continued, "However, you know as well as I that your father's home...and the place where he can do the most good now...is not here."

She looked back and forth between them; her eyes were almost entirely liquid green as the realization of what he was saying set in. "Is it really that awful being here?" she finally asked Harry in a choked whisper.

"Don't think of that way," Harry told her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. The girl's chin wobbled at the sudden contact. It was the first fatherly touch she had ever known. "Just imagine this. If I go back now and do what I can to prevent the Rising, everything you know here will be different automatically. Isn't that what you want?"

Emma brushed away a tear. "But if you stay here and help us...them fight, then..." She stopped. "It's me, isn't it? You're uncomfortable around me; I can tell."

By this time, they had attracted a sympathetic audience. Percy came up behind Emma, patting her other shoulder like an older brother. "Don't be silly," he softly instructed her. "You're a smart girl. You know what needs to be done."

She shook her head. "Do you know what I had to go through to get him here at all?"

"No one's mad at you, Emma," Cho assured her.

"Then why are you all trying to punish me?!" the girl cried. "I just got him! I haven't even gotten to ask him all the things..." She clapped a hand to her mouth. "I didn't mean that! I swear...I didn't bring him here just for me!!" Her frantic gaze turned to Lupin. "I wouldn't be that selfish."

"You couldn't be selfish if you tried." He reached out to stroke her cheek. "But you know that keeping him here..."

"Would be," she finished dully. "I know." A minute passed. "There's a problem."

Harry shot a look around at his old friends. "A problem?"

Emma nodded, suddenly miserable. "You see...I haven't figured out how to reverse the spell...and return someone to their normal time." She chewed her lower lip for a second. "Not exactly, anyway."

"Oh, Emma..." Lupin's forehead wrinkled in disappointment. "I know for a fact that your mother has taught you better than that."

The girl lowered her head. "I'm sorry." She sniffed and snuck a quick peek at Harry. "I'm so sorry. I just...wanted to help. You were right. I didn't plan; I just acted." Emma looked back down. "I'm sorry...everyone!" With a sob, she broke free of the crowd and ran for the solitude of the tents.

Harry made a motion to follow her, but the sound of water splashing in the lagoon immediately stole the group's attention. A head surfaced; the man attached to it wasted no time kicking for the shore.

"George?!" Fred ran to the water's edge as his identical brother came closer.

Next to Harry, Neville tugged at his sweater's sleeve, worried. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The twins embraced when George managed to drag himself to his feet; it was uncanny...they had each dressed that morning a couple hundred miles away from each other, but they had somehow both put on khaki pants and navy blue pullover shirts.

With Fred's help, George approached the group. "I have...bad news." His troubled eyes landed on Harry and blinked several times in rapid succession. "Did my charm not work? Have I died and gone to the better place?" he asked.

"It's Harry from the past," Fred explained. "Tell him 'hello.' He's been through a lot today."

George seemed to accept this without further scrutiny. "Hello, mate. Welcome back." He wiped his wet face with his hand and refocused. "It's what we feared," he said straight to Lupin.

The older man instantly paled. "God no..."

"It happened late this afternoon. When I got there, she was gone and Dad was unconscious." There was a general wave of panic and concern at this. Percy and Charlie's both balled up their fists so tightly that Harry was afraid he might see blood soon. George went on, "When he came to, he told me that Ron has her. He's figured it out, Remus."

"So it would seem," Lupin said, rubbing a shaking hand across his forehead.

Harry shook his head. "Who are we talking about? What's Ron done?"

Long looks shot back and forth between the Order members. After a minute, Percy took it upon himself to step forward. "It's...our mother, Harry. Ron's taken her to Voldemort."

"But...why?"

Sighing, Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Molly Weasley...is Hermione and Emma's Secret-Keeper."

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To Be Continued