Thanks:
Caity, Anonymous, hazeleyedmarauder, Harry/HermioneAlways, DreamAngel.
Please R/R.
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Chapter 3, Realisations
"But then you're…" Ginny began in a whisper.
"Thirty? Yep! Time-travelling is fun!" Sirius piped up, chuckling.
"But it's not possible, not for that amount of time," Hermione, always the rational one, told them. She scolded them gently for telling impossibilities.
Remus smiled lightly. "It's not as impossible as you might think. After all, we're here, aren't we? Flesh and blood. Fifteen-year-olds."
"I guess you are," Hermione allowed, begrudgingly. "Are those your real names then?"
Lily shook her head. "No, and don't look in the Map. It'll tell you, and then it'll send bad repercussions about the place. It might change your past or our future."
"Are you related to us somehow, then?" Ron asked.
Lily shook her head. "Not to you, at least. Though I believe I might know a Weasley. Arthur? And Molly Prewitt, they got married a couple of years back?" At the twins', Ron's, and Ginny's nods, she carried on. "I met Bill a few weeks ago…well, for my time at least. He must be in his twenties now! How is he?"
"He's fine," Ron replied.
Sirius chuckled. "They nearly made Ja…John godfather of Charles, they were that desperate."
Ron looked over in confusion. "John? No, the only person they ever considered was…" his voice broke off. He remembered Sirius's slip-up.
Just then, a voice talked from the front of Harry's robe. He pulled out a mirror and looked into it. "Hey, Sirius!"
The Sirius in the room looked up in shock and looked around him as if he was going to see an older version of himself sitting on the couch. James rolled his eyes and pointed towards the mirror. Sirius sighed a huge sigh of relief.
The Sirius in the mirror chuckled and replied, "Hi, Harry. I see some other people in the room with you. Is this wise?"
Lily almost laughed. "That's a new one, Sirius Black talking about being wise." James dug in her ribs and told her to be quiet. Sirius-in-the-room glared half-heartedly at her.
Sirius-in-the-mirror went on, "It's just I've gained some new memories you might find interesting. It's about when I was fifteen."
Sirius-in-the-room all-but gasped. His body went rigid. This was his thirty-year-old self talking about them when they were in the room.
"Sure, and it's okay. They all know enough. They know the truth."
Sirius-in-the-mirror finished with, "If it's okay, Harry, I'll come now. I think I'll bring Moony along, too."
Remus looked up at the sound of his name being mentioned and bit his lip, he too wondering what was about to happen.
Harry agreed and Sirius-in-the-mirror vanished from sight. He turned to the Marauders. "You wouldn't know anything about this, would you?"
The quintet shook their heads hurriedly and replied in the negative. Harry raised his eyebrows but didn't push the group, knowing full well that Sirius could do that if he tried.
Ginny had been sitting down for a few moments in silence, pondering. Now she spoke. "Sirius Black? As in the murderer who sold your parents out, Harry?"
Sirius, Lily, and James's eyes widened. Harry failed to notice, and replied, "He was innocent. Professor Lupin told us that in third year. He also told us other stuff. You know, about him being a werewolf. Can you believe Snape tried to get him fired because of that? I mean, now the whole school knows."
Remus stared in front of him, his vision blurry. He was a professor. He had a job that paid money. That was a good thing. But everyone also knew about his condition. And Snape told them all. That was not a good thing.
Just then the portrait burst open and two ruffled men walked in the room. "Everyone upstairs," said a tall man with brownish-blond hair.
They all went up to the Fifth Year Boys' Dorm and sat down on the beds. The blond man stood up.
"Sirius was right in calling this meeting. We both keep remembering things that hadn't happened before in our lives. I believe you five know what we're talking about. Simon, explain."
Sirius screwed up his face. "Why me? I don't want to do it. Make Robert explain." He and his group didn't ask how the adults knew their names, as they knew quite well, but the other six were looking quite confused.
Child-Remus sighed. "Simon, it's nothing."
"Okay. So, we're from the past. We have the Marauder's Map. James was going to be Charlie Weasley's godfather…"
Adult-Sirius beamed rather uncharacteristically for his grownup personality and chuckled. "Oh yeah, he was, wasn't he! That was so funny. I think I spent a week laughing at the guy. A godfather, at fifteen…He didn't, obviously. Molly, bless her, talked Arthur out of it."
"Don't remind me!" Child-Sirius grinned. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"
"Us," Child-Remus said. "How they know exactly who we are, coz they were here."
Harry looked confused. Then dawning appeared in his expressions. "You mean…two of you…"
Adult-Sirius nodded. "Yeah."
Child-Sirius chuckled. "Yup. How did you get such dry humour?"
The other guy grinned. "Dunno. Azkaban, probably. Merlin, I hate that place…"
"I'm sure you did."
Harry nodded at Child-Sirius. "Are you Sirius then? Are you my godfather?"
Child-Sirius beamed. "I'm your godfather? James chose me to be your godfather?"
Adult-Remus smiled gently. "Yes, Sirius, if it's not so hard to believe."
Fred spoke up. "Okay, so I get that you're all related to Harry and stuff. But what's this got to do with the Map?"
James sighed. "It has everything to do with the Map. After all, we invented it."
"You mean you're…?" George's eyes were wide in admiration.
"Mr Prongs, at your service," James told him, bowing.
"Mr Padfoot," Sirius added cheerfully.
"Mr Moony," Remus put in.
"Mr Wormtail."
As Peter finished, Adult-Sirius's face closed up. He looked like he was about to lunge at the boy. Adult-Remus tried to restrain him.
"Easy now, Sirius. He hasn't done anything wrong."
"Yet," Sirius said through clenched teeth. Adult-Remus rolled his eyes.
"Calm, Sirius. Padfoot, calm."
"Wow, am I like that in future life?" Child-Sirius asked. "Why do I hate Wormy so much?"
Peter growled, "Don't call me that."
Child-Sirius shrugged and went on, "Tell me!"
Hermione shook her head. "We can't. It would change your future. I'm sorry, but no." Her tone was final, and Child-Sirius stopped pressing the subject.
Ginny smiled at the rest of the quintet. "Who are the rest of you, then?"
Lily smiled gently. "I think I'll let you figure that out yourself." She flicked her wand and muttered the charm to re-change all their appearances. They all changed looks, and finally James grabbed his glasses off Peter's nose and perched them on his.
"I'm Remus Lupin," Remus started off, looking up at Adult-Remus. "In other words, him."
"I'm Sirius Black, obviously."
"I'm Peter Pettigrew, who all of you seem to hate," Peter said nervously and wonderingly, with good reason.
"I'm Lily Evans," Lily smiled gently and flicked her eyes gently at the sextet.
They all looked confused for a moment before Hermione said, "Oh! That's your mum, Harry."
Finally, James grinned. "I'm James. James Potter."
The room went quiet as everyone looked at James and Lily, Harry's dead parents. Harry himself was relishing their appearances, happy he had them with him, if at least for a short while.
Eventually, George broke the silence. "Coool."
"I can't believe it," James sighed. "I mean, dying, and having a son, and…and Lily…"
Lily rolled over on James's bed and buried her head in his pillow. "Don't remind me," her muffled voice said. "I get with my best friend. Eww."
"Aah, you know you love me really."
Lily rolled her eyes and told him sarcastically, "Is it really that obvious? I've totally had a secret crush on you for the past five years!"
Sirius looked excited. "You have!"
"No, Sirius, I was being sarcastic," Lily told him, annoyed. "Why are you so excited?"
Remus grinned mischievously and replied, "Because he's been trying to get you two to go out with each other since…Second Year I think."
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Sirius Orion Black…" She got up and proceeded to chase him around the room, down the stairs to the common room, and finally back up again. She flopped on the bed next to James, who hugged her close to him. She didn't move away, so he moved so he was right next to her.
Someone chuckled and said, "Those two are so gonna get together this year."
Lily buried her head deeper into James's chest and muttered a few incoherent things.
James grinned over her head and said, "Okay, so what else are we gonna do today?"
---
They walked into Snape's class the next day, Harry, Hermione and Ron grinning slightly and the Marauders and Lily not even trying to hide their laughter. The quintet had regained their assigned images and were looking like a bunch of nineties children, contrary to their actual seventies teens images.
"I assume you are the new students from Durmstrang?" Snape asked, his voice as oily as his hair. James nodded, trying to smother his laughter.
"Do you find this funny, Mr Potter?" Snape asked Harry, who was chuckling quietly next to him.
Harry shook his head quickly and sat down in his seat before Snape could dock points.
"Slimy git," James muttered under his breath. Lily giggled silently.
"John! Shut up!"
Snape assigned them to their places, and then told the class of the topic they'd be learning that day, that the quintet had already coincidentally done the year before. They moved swiftly through the potion, and Lily put her hand up when she'd finished.
"Yes Miss Burns?"
"We've finished our potions, Professor," she told him, the words sounding foreign on her tongue. She almost couldn't speak the word `professor'.
Snape walked over and examined their potions with his hooked nose turned even further upwards if it was possible. "You forgot an ingredient," he told Lily snootily.
"Professor," she replied, trying to keep her face in a nice smile, "we did this potion last year at Durmstrang. This is how it was done, and it worked perfectly well."
"But we are not at Durmstrang now, Miss Burns. We are at Hogwarts, and we do things my way in my potions lessons, do you understand me?"
Lily nodded her head hurriedly and muttered, "Sorry Professor."
After he'd turned and was snapping at someone else, a tubby Gryffindor whose name was…Neville, she thought, she muttered, "And to think I wondered why the guys called you Snivellus."
James and the other three started chuckling a few moments later, along with Hermione, Ron, Harry, and all the other Gryffindors within earshot. Even Neville seemed to find this funny.
Snape turned around quickly. The Gryffindors all got back to their work, except for the trio and the quintet. Harry was pointing out various Slytherins to James and Sirius.
"There's Draco Malfoy. He's really thick."
"Lucius Malfoy's son," Sirius nodded his head. "Who's his mother?"
"Narcissa Black," Harry told his child-godfather.
Sirius nodded his head. "Should'a known. And those two ugly-looking thugs next to him?"
"Crabbe and Goyle. They're really, really moronic. They won't pass their O.W.L.s. There's no way they will."
"Who did my cousin Bellatrix marry?"
"Rodolphus Lestrange," Harry told his friend. Again, Sirius nodded as if he should have known that already.
"They're the perfect match for each other. Both cold-blooded Slytherin Death Eaters."
"Is Snivelly partnered with anyone?" James asked, with a grimace. The two boys burst out at the thought of Snape with anyone.
"No," Harry replied. "Why do you call him that?"
"Old habit. He used to cry after all the pranks we played on him," James explained. "Rather sad, really."
Snape marched over to their table. "Do you have something interesting to talk about, Mr Potter?"
Harry shook his head immediately.
"Then why are you talking to Mr White and Mr Weaver about non-class-related topics?"
"Because I finished my potion as well, Professor, and there wasn't anything else to do."
"Well, I suggest you find something else to do, Potter, or you will be cleaning the cauldrons after lesson, in detention, along with your new friends."
"Yes, professor."
Sirius cocked his head. "We don't mind getting detention, do we Prongs? It's one more detention to add to our list, even though we got it in a different time period…"
James grinned and shook his head. "Nope, one more detention is a good thing. Maybe we'll actually beat the last total by the time we leave Hogwarts by double! We really should thank Snivellus for being there during our time period; without him we wouldn't have got half of the detentions we did. What do you think, Padfoot?"
Sirius grinned an evil grin and called out, "Professor!"
Snape turned and walked back to their table, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sirius just smiled more, and said, "We'd like to apologise for making your time at Hogwarts hell, and also thank you, for without you we wouldn't have received half the detentions we did! So thanks, Snivellus!"
Snape's eyes widened, a comical experience for Harry who tried to disguise his laughter quickly.
"Who are you five? Where are you from?" Snape asked in a whisper.
"We're from Durmstrang, like we already told you!" James said, cottoning on. "You know, where the people have never actually met us!"
Remus rolled his eyes and joined in the act, too. "I'm sorry Professor, ignore them. They're critically insane. Professor Dumbledore agreed to have them here because he could cope with people with weird problems; you know, mummies, Dementors, werewolves…though of course you'd know all about that…"
Lily smiled and thought this sounded like fun. She watched Snape's eyes as he understood the relevance of the word `werewolves' to the situation at hand.
"Calm, you three," she told them gently. "I'm sorry Professor, but they're really mad sometimes. You have to calm them down by using soothing words." She turned to speak to the three and told them gently, "Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, calm!"
Snape's eyes widened even more so. "It really is you, isn't it? Oh gosh, you're supposed to be dead…in Azkaban…fired…" he broke off and started wheezing quietly to himself. "Excuse me," he said, and he turned and walked out of the classroom in a state of shock.
The eight friends burst out laughing, understanding why he was so upset. The other Gryffindors joined in, not knowing what it was about but understanding the humour.
It seemed that the Marauders had done something seemingly implausible and impossible; they'd made Snape crack.
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I hope you enjoyed that. It was quite hard to write, surprisingly. I mean, after I got past the first part.
Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out soon.
Lyl,
Jay xx
AKA
Cassandra the Muppet Psycho
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