Tricky Deals of Fate

husker_fan_2006

Rating: PG
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 20/05/2006
Last Updated: 03/07/2006
Status: completed

The second generation trio accidentally goes back in time to when their parents were their age. But things are screwed up, nobody's with who their supposed to be with. So now it's up to the new trio to fix the future before fate destroys them. Last Chapter!!

Chapters

1. Prologue

2. The Second Generation Trio

3. Nineteen Years into the Past

4. Our Seventeen Year Old Parents

5. Poking Your Nose Around Will Get You into Trouble Someday

6. Sneaking

7. Battle of the Potters

8. Matchmaker, Make Me A Match

9. So THAT'S Where Our Stubborness Comes From

10. One Too Many Lies

11. Breakaway

12. The Son and Daughters of the Trio

13. Awkward Moments

14. Tales of the Future

15. Path of Roses

16. Love is in the Air

17. Preparing for the Future and Goodbye

18. Things that Never Die

1. Prologue

Tricky Deals of Fate

By: Husker-fan-2006

Summary: It's nineteen years since the trio graduated from Hogwarts. They're married, and have kids who all attend the school their parents went to. In the year after they graduate, the new trio is born; Blake James Potter, Lily Anne Potter, and Julia Hope Weasley. They take after their parents in so many ways, that for the teachers, it's almost like teaching the original trio again. But one day in seventh year, Blake, Lily and Julia accidentally get sent back in time to the time when their parents were in their final year at school. But the past seems complicated to them, people aren't with who they're supposed to be with. The second generation trio must get their parents together before it's too late, and fate takes it's toll and they don't exist.

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Chapter 1: Prologue

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In the Gryffindor common room later one night, after most the occupants had gone to bed, a raven haired boy of seventeen walked across the room holding a book in his hand that he was sent for by the raven haired girl of seventeen sitting at a table, books stacked as high as possible without falling over. The boy dropped the book on the table, causing the girl to look up. She glanced at the title and looked up at the boy and gave him an exasperated look.

“That's the wrong one.”

“Bull crap it isn't.”

“No, it isn't. I need the history from 1950 to the present time.”

“Get it yourself then.”

“Please, just go back for me.” The boy sat down in an armchair.

“No.” The girl sighed. Another girl came down the stairs of the girls' dormitories and sat down with a roll of parchment and a quill and ink in hand. She unrolled the parchment and unscrewed the lid of the ink. She had flaming red hair and bright blue eyes, with numerous freckles; she was also by far taller than the other two.

“Ok, you two, I need help with this paper.”

“See, this is why you don't leave it to the last minute.”

“There are other pressing issues to deal with in my life.”

“Like what, Quidditch?”

“Duh. Right?” She said, nodding at the boy. The boy nodded. The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes.

“It's a wonder you two have gotten as far as you have, what would you do if I refused to help you, or if Mum and Dad only had one kid instead of twins?”

“We don't like to think about that, because we'd be lost without you, little sister. But you know you wouldn't be so mean as to sit back and let us fail.” She looked as though she was debating about giving in. Finally, she caved.

“Fine. What do you need help with?”

“You're bloody brilliant, my friend,” The red-haired one said grinning at the boy. The three of them stayed up late into the night working on homework. These three were best friends; best friends just like their parents were the generation before them. They were preparing for N.E.W.T.s in the spring, though two of them weren't too concerned about them right now, though the raven-haired one was. Adventures weren't as numerous as in their parents' day, but they soon would embark on one that would be unlike any that anyone had experienced.

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A/n: Here's a new story, I thought I'd post it for y'all. I'm at a writer's block with my story, `The Tip of the Knife', and I'm slowly working on it. But finally this school year is over and so is my high school career. I graduate on Sunday!! So now since I don't have school to worry about, I can get more writing in. So, please review, let me know what you think of this story.

Husker_fan_2006

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2. The Second Generation Trio

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Chapter 2: The Second Generation Trio

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“You're late, Potter.”

“I'm sorry, I know, I know, it won't happen again.”

“That's what you said the last time. Do you have a watch?”

“Yes, Professor, I do.”

“Then I suggest you use it so you're not late to my class. Take your seat.” Blake Potter gave a short nod and took his seat, next to his sister, Lily Potter. He waited for the whispered lecture, but it didn't come. He looked over at her and saw she had her head tilted to the side, looking as though she hadn't noticed that her twin brother had sat next to her. She kept her eyes to the front of the class where Professor McGonagall was starting class. They didn't speak to each other all throughout class. After the bell rang, Lily launched into her lecture. She sighed and said in a quiet voice,

“What was it this time?”

“Lost track of time.”

“Bull crap.”

“Seriously, Lils, I swear.”

“And uh, what caused girl caused you to lose track of time?”

“There wasn't a girl. This time.” Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, I think the people at the hospital switched my real brother for you and gave you his appearance to cover it up. Sometimes I swear you aren't my brother, because you and I are so different.” Blake grinned.

“Yes, like we've always been taught, I'm exactly like Dad, you're exactly like Mum.” Lily sighed again.

“Speaking of our parents, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts next. Did you finish your homework?”

“Yes,” Blake said in an annoyed tone of voice.

“How about you?” Lily said to their best friend, Julia Weasley, who had just joined them.

“Finished.”

“And we didn't even have to look off of yours.”

“Very good, dear brother, because you know Mum checks for that stuff.”

“I know. We've learned not to copy down your exact answers at least in DADA. God, that was embarrassing.” Lily's eyes widened and she nodded, and so did Julia.

“Hand your papers forward, please,” Professor Hermione Potter said to her third year Gryffindor class. Blake's, Lily's and Julia's papers were on top, and while the other professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry Potter, started the class, Hermione started grading the papers. Lily just happened to glance up at her mother, when she had looked at her son and daughter's papers. Lily nudged her brother in the side and nodded towards her mother when she had Blake's attention. The look on Hermione's face told them they were in trouble, it was a look they had seen many times before. Lily nudged Julia in the side and nodded towards her mother. Julia glanced up front to her godmother and her eyes widened and she turned away, knowing she was in trouble. Hermione mouthed,

“See me after class.” Blake and Lily nodded. The class passed by slowly, and what seemed like three hours later, the bell finally rang. The three stayed after class and slowly went up to the front of the classroom where Hermione was still seated a stern look planted on her face. Lily glanced over to her father and saw he walked over and stood next to his wife, his arms crossed. He wore a stern look also, identical to his wife's. They had been married way too long.

“I've just read an interesting essay that was assigned a week ago. What was so interesting about it was that the same essay was on three different papers. And it so happens that these papers belonged to you three. And I want to know, why?” Hermione said. The three thirteen year olds didn't answer.

“Answer me.” Blake nervously cleared his throat.

“Jules and I had other stuff to do, and forgot about it until the last minute. And the simple solution was to paraphrase Lily's assignment.”

“But you didn't paraphrase the essay, it's exactly the same.”

“We ran out of time.” Hermione sighed.

“We assigned that essay to find out what all three of you know, not just what Lily knows. I would've expected better from my son and daughter. I'm very, very disappointed in you, and in you too, Julia. I would expect better from you too. All three of you will have two days worth of detention to serve, and all three of you have to do the assignment over again only I want two rolls of parchment instead of one.” Harry, who had been silent throughout this whole conversation, said,

“And if this ever happens again, we'll have to see about how your time is used. If you'd dedicate half the time you spend playing Quidditch to your homework, you'd get it all done on time.” Blake's eyes narrowed in anger.

“Thanks a lot, Dad, didn't you used to do the same thing when you were in school? And off of Mum? You and Ron used to do this all the time, and you're giving us this lecture about cheating when you're both guilty about it?”

“Blake, you're your own person. All three of you are. You don't need to follow in Ron, your mother's and my footsteps. We don't want you to be like we were in this situation.”

“It's very hypocritical of you to lecture us on this, when you're guilty of the same thing when you were our age,” Lily said. Harry and Hermione didn't say anything to what their daughter said, but Hermione did say,

“You're already late for your next class. I'll give you a pass…”

The three entered the DADA classroom and took their seats towards the middle of the class. Their father was already there, sitting at the desk at the front of the class, reading Auror reports, brow furrowed in thought and anxiety. He glanced up as his son, daughter and goddaughter came into the classroom, and smiled a hello, and went back to reading the reports. Lily looked up at her father, worried of what was making him so anxious. She glanced at her brother, who she could tell was thinking the same thing. Blake ran a hand through his messy hair and bent down to grab his books out of his bag. When he straightened back up, Lily noticed that the way he had ran his hand through his hair had caused a slight cowlick. She smiled and fixed it, but it was still messy as always. It was a Potter inheritance; his dad's hair was exactly the same way, and his father's too. If you could take nineteen years off of Harry's appearance, he and Blake could pass as identical twins. They both had the messy black hair, same facial features, and same bright green eyes. Lily had inherited her father's green eyes, and his hair color, but her hair wasn't messy, just slightly bushy like her mother's, but not too much that a brush and a little bit of straightening potion couldn't handle. But other than the color of hair and the eyes, Lily looked exactly like her mother. Both Blake and Lily were short, like their parents were growing up, but were still growing. And their best friend, and god sister, Julia, looked so much like her dad, Ron, but looked a lot like her mother too. Her eyes were blue, and she was tall and freckly. And, like every Weasley in history, she had fiery red hair. The three of them had been best friends for as long as they could remember, since they were born. They fought, laughed, cried, and but through it all, they were still friends, and little did they know that times would come that they'd need that friendship in the toughest times.

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“Lils, can't you just come back later and get this book?”

“No, I can't, Blake, now shut up and stop complaining.” Blake sighed and muttered,

“Why couldn't I have a sister like me instead?” He looked around and didn't see Julia around. He whispered,

“Jules, where are you? Jules!” He noticed the gate to the restricted section was open and a glow from a torch bobbed around as the person holding it moved down the rows.” He went over to see why Julia was in the restricted section. When he found her, she had her back to him, reading a book.

“Julia!” He whispered loudly. Julia jumped and almost dropped the book. She turned and her eyes narrowed in annoyance at her friend.

“What the hell are you trying to do, scare the crap outta me?”

“I'm sorry, what are you doing?”

“Reading, smart one, what does it look like?”

“What are you reading?”

“This.” She held up the book for Blake to read out loud.

“Illegal Time Travel for the Rebellious.” Blake looked up at Julia, who was grinning mischievously.

“Wouldn't it be bloody great to go into the future and see how we all end up?”

“It's illegal, Jules. It says so in the first word of the title.”

“So? Nothin's illegal until you get caught.”

“Lils'll never go for this.”

“Who says she has to know?” Julia looked at Blake, waiting for an answer, and Blake smiled.

“Brilliant.”

“I know I am,” Julia said, hiding the book under her robes. They came out of the restricted section to find Lily standing with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face, identical to that of her mother's.

“What are you two up to?”

“Nothing,” Blake said a little too quickly.

“Liar.”

“Seriously, Lils, we're up to nothing.”

“Uh-huh, right, Jules,” Lily said, not convinced. Julia sighed, and pulled the book out. She put her hand over the `illegal' part and showed it to Lily.

“Time Travel for the Rebellious? What's your hand covering?”

“Nothing.”

“Can I see it?”

“No. Not `til later.”

“No, can I see it now?”

“No, later, Lils.” Lily grabbed the book out of Julia's hands quickly, before she had a chance to keep it from her.

“Illegal Time Travel for the Rebellious. That makes it much better,” Lily said sarcastically as she headed back to the restricted section to put the book back. Blake and Julia held her back.

“No, Lils, think about, it wouldn't it be cool to go into the future to see where you end up?” Lily gave an unconvincing `no' as she pulled free from Blake and Julia's grip and kept walking.

“Yes it would, and you know it.”

“But it's not right, something could go wrong that we'd regret.”

“Lily! Please, stop, do something fun for once in your life! Don't hide…” Julia was cut off by Filch's voice,

“Who's in there?” Julia and Lily gasped as Blake threw the invisibility cloak over them and they stood by the door, waiting for Filch to come in, so they could sneak out. He threw the door open and hobbled inside, looking around for the intruders.

“I know you're in here, you can't hide from me.” The trio snuck out the door before it could shut and took off down the hallway, whipping the cloak off so they could run faster. As they were running, Lily said,

“Blake, Marauder's Map!” Blake pulled out the Map and said the words to make the map visible.

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” The map of the school appeared on the parchment.

“Where's Mrs. Norris?”

“On her way to the library to help Filch.”

“And Snape?”

“In his office.”

“Mum and Dad?”

“In their office.”

“Anyone else in the way to the Gryffindor Tower?”

“No.” They finally reached the Fat Lady and had to wake her up to give her the password. She raised an eyebrow in question to where they had been and why they were out of breath, but before she could say anything, Blake said,

“Wronski Feint.” The portrait hole opened, and the three of them went inside and collapsed in three of the chairs. Lily pulled her feet up close to her body and opened the book. Julia's eyes widened.

“You took it along?”

“Well, what else was I supposed to do with it? I couldn't just leave it, it'd look suspicious.”

“Like hearing voices in the library isn't?”

“It'd look more suspicious.”

“So, how do we go back in time, that is, if you're going along, Lily?”

“I'll go along. It's a potion, and it'll take a week to make.”

“Do we have all the ingredients for it?”

“No. But we can get them in Hogsmeade this weekend.”

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Saturday evening, Lily, Blake and Julia were on the Astronomy Tower brewing the potion.

“How is this going to sit here for a week without anyone finding it, Lily?”

“We'll conjure an invisibility shield around it so no one will find it.”

A week later, the potion was ready. Lily looked at the book and said,

“Ok, we need to write down the number of years we want to go ahead in time.”

“Ok, just pick a number. Just a random number.” Lily wrote nineteen on the paper and stirred it into the potion. The substance glowed a bright green color. Lily separated the potion into three goblets and gave one to Julia and Blake and kept one for her. They clinked the glasses together.

“Cheers, see you all in the future,” Julia said. They drank it all in one gulp; it tasted like freezing cold butterbeer that felt like it froze their insides. They all shivered and with the feeling of traveling by portkey, they felt hooks behind their navels and were flung in time. A wind came up the instant that they left, and the pages of the book flew back in the wind to the first page of the instructions for potion. It was titled, Time Traveling for the Rebellious, and in tiny letters it read, traveling back in time.

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3. Nineteen Years into the Past

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Chapter 3: Nineteen Years into the Past

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Blake appeared first, followed by Julia, then by Lily. Lily almost lost her balance when she landed and Blake had to hold her up to keep her from falling. They looked around and saw the Astronomy Tower didn't look much different from their day.

“Well, since it's nineteen years in the future, we will be what, thirty-six?” Blake said. The girls nodded.

“So, we probably won't be here at school. `Cept for Lily, who's probably a teacher.”

“I doubt it. What would I teach?”

“I wonder if Mum and Dad are still teaching? They'll be fifty-five.”

“Probably. They wouldn't quit.”

“How about we find out for ourselves instead of just guessing?” The three went into the castle and down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. But the teacher they found wasn't Harry or Hermione.

“Who is that?” Blake whispered, when they had glanced in, but stood against the wall next to the door. Lily looked again.

“It's Remus. But it doesn't look like him, almost, he looks younger. A lot younger than he should be.”

“Why would he be teaching again? Dad said he hasn't taught since the year after Mum, Dad and Ron were out of school.” Lily shrugged and they left the hallway, and went down to the Great Hall. One student passed them in the hallway and said without glancing closely at them,

“Hi Harry.” The three of them stopped and turned, but the kid had already turned down the corridor.

“What did he call me?”

“Why would he call you Harry?”

“He wouldn't still be here, he might have thought that he was Blake's son. Maybe you named him after Dad,” Lily said with a shrug at her brother. Blake shrugged. They entered the Great Hall, and everyone was so busy eating they didn't notice them. Lily looked at the Gryffindor table and saw a black haired boy sitting at the table, a red-haired boy at his left. Across from them was a bushy haired girl. Lily's brow furrowed in confusion.

“What the…?” She looked closer to the people at the table, and saw green eyes on the raven-haired one, and she squinted and saw on his forehead…

“Oh my God,” She whispered.

“What is it?”

“Look.” Julia and Blake looked at who Lily was pointing to.

“What about him?” Julia said.

“Look at his eyes and his forehead.” They saw the green eyes and Blake's eyes widened in surprise and Julia gasped as they saw…

“Lightening shaped scar. That definitely is not your son, Blake. We didn't go nineteen years into the future; we went nineteen years into the past. Those people are our parents.”

“Oh my God, there's my Dad. Then my Mum has to be around here somewhere.” She looked around and finally saw her future mother. She pointed at Luna Lovegood sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

“There she is.”

“Is that Mum sitting across from Dad?” Lily nodded.

“What are we going to do, Lils, they're going to recognize us.”

“Maybe not, cuz' we're from the future, and we haven't been born yet,” Julia said with a shrug.

“Julia, look at Blake, he looks exactly like our Dad. I look like Mum only with black hair and green eyes. You look a lot like your dad. They're going to see that something's not right, and find it suspicious. And they sure as hell can't find out who we are, we'll cause a time paradox and ruin the future.”

“So what do we do?”

“I have an idea, let's go.”

“Where are we going?”

“The Room of Requirement.”

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“Ok, we need to change appearance.”

“How?” Lily went to a bookshelf and pulled out a tome. It explained how to change one's appearance with a simple incantation. She opened it and searched for the spell. After a while of reading, she picked up her wand and pointed it at her brother.

“Changpeloencio!” The roots of Blake's hair slowly turned to brown and the color reached out to the ends of what was once his messy black locks. A mirror appeared on the wall, and Blake ran over to inspect his hair. While he did that, Lily already conjured up a pair of contacts for both of them. They were muggle contacts that were brown to change the color of their eyes. She took off her glasses and put them in, and following her motions, Blake put his in. Julia laughed at the looks of her friends.

“Oh my gosh, if I didn't know who you were, I wouldn't never guess that you were Harry and Hermione's kids. Lily grinned.

“Good, that was the look I was going for. Ok now, Jules, what color do you want to be? Brown, black or blonde?”

“Make me a blonde.”

“Changpeloencio!” The same thing happened to Julia's hair as it did to Blake's. Though the red hair couldn't be covered up, so Julia ended up with strawberry blonde hair rather than plain blonde. Julia made a face. Blake and Lily laughed.

“Weasley red apparently does not cover up easily.”

“Yeah. Hey, can you make me tan? I've always wanted to be darker, but having red hair just makes me burn in the sun.” Lily looked it up, and pointed her wand at her friend.

“Changfleshencio!” Julia's skin darkened a little, and kept getting darker.

“Tell me when.” Julia looked at her arms and said when she was her desired tone,

“Ok, that's good.” Lily put down her wand to stop the darkening skin.

“Lils, can you make me taller?”

“There's nothing in here for it, sorry.” From in front of the mirror, Julia said,

“Hey, my freckles are gone, thank God.”

“Ok, now that we look different, I think we need to come up with different names for ourselves, because it'll give us away if we were still Blake Potter, Julia Weasley and Lily Potter.

“I'll be Julia…Wessely.”

“Not that close.”

“Ok, Julia…Carter.”

“That's better.”

“Ok, I'll be Blake…Walker. Are you Lily Walker then?”

“I don't know, should I keep the name Lily?”

“As a precaution, I wouldn't,” Julia said, still in front of the mirror.

“Ok, I'll be Elizabeth Walker. Call me Beth.”

“Beth Walker, alright.”

“Alright, but there's one catch to this spell.”

“There always is a catch.”

“As long as our identity stays hidden, we'll stay this way unless we take the effects off ourselves. But if someone finds out who we are and tells someone else, the spell will wear off, and our true identity will be revealed. But if they know, and don't tell anyone, we're safe. So we can't slip up and tell someone, or let something slip about who we are, because someone could find out, and we'll be back to our appearances that we were born with.”

“How are we getting back to the future?”

“We have to brew the potion for going into the future, so we have to find that book in the library. It's there, I know it; the copyright on it is ages ago.”

“So we can go back in a week?”

“Right.”

“So what do we do for a week?”

“We pretend to be students at Hogwarts in this time.”

“How do we know what house we are in?”

“We have to speak to Dumbledore about this, it'd be strange to see three people walking about the school that no one knows where they came from.”

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“Can I help you?”

“Yes, sir, we're exchange students from America sent here for a week.”

“I don't remember your headmaster saying anything about it.”

“He sent a letter along with us.” Lily pulled out a letter that she had written up quick. Dumbledore slowly nodded. He looked at Lily, and she had that feeling that her thoughts were being read. She glanced down at the floor. Dumbledore folded up the parchment.

“I know when I'm being lied to.” The three of them looked at Dumbledore.

“Tell me the truth.” Lily sighed.

“Ok, we're from the future. We came back in time accidentally after brewing a potion for time travel, when we meant to go forward in time. The potion will take a week to brew, and we need a place to go while we're here. We've changed our appearances so we don't look like our parents, who are our age in this year. Please, don't tell anyone about us, it'll blow our cover.”

“You have my word. I won't tell anyone. And if you like, you can brew the potion in here.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Do you have the book?”

“No, it's in the restricted section of the library.”

“How did you get it then?”

“Um…” Lily hesitated with her answer, but Dumbledore put his hand up.

“Never mind, I don't need to know. To make it official, I think you need to put the Sorting Hat on to see what house you'll be in.” Dumbledore went for the Sorting Hat and when he came back, he held it to Blake.

“So, what is your name then?”

“My one in the future, or my pseudonym?”

“Your pseudonym. Do not tell me what it is in the future, it'll cause a paradox.”

“Blake Walker.” Blake put the sorting hat on and he heard the little voice in his ear,

“Ah, Mr. Potter, I know your secret, I can see it in your head. You're Harry Potter's son. You'll do great things in your life. I see power given to you by your father and by your mother. I believe I shall put you into Gryffindor.” After the hat shouted out the house, Blake pulled it off of his head and handed it to Julia.

“And your name?”

“Julia Carter.” Julia placed the hat on her head.

“Miss Weasley. I also know who you are; I can see it in your head. You're the oldest of Ron Weasley's five children. You'll discover true power and feelings before the end of your time here. I'll put you in Gryffindor.” Julia took the hat off her head and handed it to Lily. Lily placed it on her head.

“Ah, Miss Potter, Blake's twin. You're like your mother, Hermione; you have a quest for knowledge that you feel only books can give you. But you will realize like your mother has that there is more to life than books. You have the power of your father, and the knowledge of your mother. You'll do great things, and will stand with those who mean the most to you in times of peril. I shall put you into Gryffindor.” Lily pulled the hat off her head and handed it back to Dumbledore. He placed it on the shelf it came from and said,

“Well, you may go to your houses, and a schedule shall be given to you sometime today. What professions are you studying to be?”

“Aurors.” The three of them answered at the same time.

“Alright, you may leave, I shall call you back soon and have you brew the potion.” The three of them left, heading to the Gryffindor Tower, and when they came to the portrait hole, the Fat Lady said,

“Password?” The three looked at each other, not knowing what the password was. They were saved by someone coming and saying,

“The password is N.E.W.T.s. Dumbledore told us that you were new students. Welcome to Gryffindor.” The trio turned around to see the original trio, and looked into the faces of their future parents.

A/n: Here's the third installment to the Tricky Deals of Fate. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review!!!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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4. Our Seventeen Year Old Parents

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Chapter 4: Our Seventeen Year Old Parents

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“I'm Hermione Granger, I'm Head Girl, so if you need anything, I'll be happy to help. This is Harry Potter, the Head Boy, and Ron Weasley, one of our prefects.”

“Nice to meet you three. I'm Beth Walker, this is my brother Blake, and our friend Julia Carter.”

“Nice to meet you, come on, we'll show you around.”

“What's this `we' stuff, Hermione?”

“You're going to be nice, Ron Weasley, so you're going to help out the new students.” She turned and went into the common room. Ron turned to his other best friend.

“I swear, Harry, how have we put up with her for so long?” Harry laughed.

“This from the boyfriend?” The new students' jaws dropped. Lily looked at her brother and he mouthed, `What?' Harry said to Lily, Blake, and Julia, who quickly closed their mouths,

“Come on, Hermione and I will at least show you around, there won't be much help from Ron.”

“Exactly. I've got other things to do right now.” They all went through the portrait hole into the common room. It wouldn't change much in nineteen years. After a quick tour, everyone sort of went their separate ways, Hermione dragged Ron to the library, and Harry got out his Quidditch playbook and wrote down a few things. Julia, Lily, and Blake were in a corner, talking.

“Ok, seriously, what the hell?”

“Did either one of you know that Hermione and my Dad used to go out?” The twins shook their heads, no.

“This is bizarre. I mean, I knew Mum and Dad got together later in seventh year, but I didn't know that Mum dated Ron too.”

“So what do we do?”

“Do? There's nothing to do, if we do something, we'll mess up the future.”

“What if…?” Blake trailed off, as he had just glanced over at his Dad and saw Julia's aunt Ginny go sit by Harry and lean her head on his shoulder. He smiled and put an arm around her. Julia and Lily weren't looking at what Blake was; they had their backs to Harry and Ginny.

“Ok, did anyone know that Dad used to go out with Ginny?” Blake said in a deadpan.

“Ginny? As in my Aunt Ginny? Ginny Malfoy?” Blake nodded, and the girls turned.

“Oh my God, this is getting weird,” Lily said. “I mean, I know that our parents probably went out with other people than each other, but it's just hard to imagine them with anyone else. Where's your mother, Jules, who's she with?”

“I have no idea. From what I've understood, she didn't date much in school.”

“Anyways, Blake, what were you saying before you saw Dad and Ginny?”

“What if, since we never knew about who our parents went out with in school, that it's because of us that they're not together with who they're supposed to be with?”

“I doubt it. They were already going out before we got here.”

“But what if…there's a reason we came back in time, that we need to fix the future?” Lily laughed.

“Blake, I think you're thinking way too much into this.”

“Maybe, maybe not. What if I'm right?”

“It's doesn't logically make sense, Blake.”

“Not everything is about logic, Lils. Sometimes things are the way they are without making sense.”

“Keep an open mind, Lils, he may actually be right for once.” Blake took a pillow and threw it at his friend, who laughed when she caught it.

“You know, even if it's just a freak accident that brought us here, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Julia said, still smiling. “We have the chance to get to know our parents when they were our age. Before battles, kids, marriage, and responsibility. We get to know them as seventeen year olds. So, I say we should go meet our seventeen year old parents.”

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“Ron, I've been wondering,”

“What about?”

“About the new students.”

“What about them?”

“Did they seem…familiar to you?”

“No, why?”

“It's just…when I saw them, I felt like I've met them before, like I already know them. It sounds crazy, I know, but…it's hard to explain.”

“Yeah. Well, I'm sorry I don't see it.”

“It's alright, I didn't really expect you to; I think I'm going crazy.”

“You've always been crazy, `Mione, but I love you anyway.” Hermione smiled.

“Well, I love you too, despite your faults too.”

“What faults?”

“Honestly, Ron, I don't have the time or enough fingers and toes to list off your faults,” She said playfully. Ron shook his head and looked at his watch.

“We'd better be getting back to the Common Room, Madam Pince'll be kicking us out soon.” They gathered their books and returned to the Common room. The only person still there that could be seen by Hermione and Ron was Harry. Lily and Julia sat on the stairs out of sight, but not out of earshot of the conversations. Ron yawned and stretched.

“You know, I think I'm going to turn in. Good night.” He gave Hermione a kiss, and climbed the boys' staircase. There was a small silence until Hermione broke it saying,

“Can I ask you something?”

“Always. Just whether I answer it or not is a different story.” Hermione smiled.

“Did you notice anything weird about the new students?”

“What did you find weird?”

“Did you?”

“Kind of.”

“Didn't it feel like they looked familiar or something, like did you feel like you've met them before, or that you've known them for a long time?”

“I did. It was weird. Especially the two; the brother and sister. What are their names? Blake and Beth. When I saw them it was like déjà vu or something, that there was a point in my life where I met them, and that I'd known them for ages.”

“Ok, I told this to Ron in the library, and he didn't see it.” Harry laughed.

“Well, it is Ron, Hermione. He's not as perceptive as some people.” Hermione shrugged and nodded in agreement.

“I know, but still. Ok, this is going to bug me. I have to find out who they are, this is going to bug the bloody hell out of me if I don't.” Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Did you just say bloody hell? I think hanging with Ron is rubbing off on you.”

“Shut up, Harry. Anyways, are you going to help me?”

“I'll let you get on that, I'll stay out of your way.”

“You know, I think there's something up too. I think that Beth Walker's real first name isn't Beth.”

“What makes you think that?”

“She doesn't answer to it as quick as she would if it were her real name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, watch her, she doesn't react quick to her name. Well, anyways, I'll figure it out, I hope. I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning.”

“G'night, Hermione.”

“G'night.” Hermione climbed the stairs, but Lily and Julia had already gotten up and gone to their dorm room. They pretended to be asleep when Hermione came in to go to bed. Lily drifted off into an uneasy sleep and ended up waking to see the red glow of Hermione's alarm clock reading 3:30 A.M. She sighed and rolled onto her other side. Not getting comfortable, she turned on her lamp and took out a book and started reading. A minute later she heard someone gasp and sit up. Lily looked over the top of her book and saw that someone was Hermione. She was breathing as though she had just run a mile. She put a hand to her head like she had a headache, and glanced over to see who had the light on. Lily closed her book and sat up.

“Are you ok?”

“I'm ok, I just had the weirdest dream.”

“Like a bad dream?”

“I think so, it was so weird. I was in this fog, and saw silhouettes moving around in the fog, and heard them moving. Then there was this green glow and I heard cackling laughter. Then someone hit the ground and I woke up.” Lily's brow furrowed in thought, trying to think of what the dream would be about.

“Sounded like someone died in your dream, killed by the killing curse.”

“Who though? I don't know anyone personally who's died from it. At least, that would visit me in a dream. I know of people who have died, but I've never met them.”

“Maybe it's dread. Maybe you're dreading someone dying and you saw it in your dream.”

“There are lots of those people. How do you know so much about dreams and stuff?”

“My dad used to have these dreams that he could see what was happening at a certain time, or it was something that would happen in the future. And I decided to read about those types of dreams or premonitions or whatever they are and learned quite a bit.”

“The type of thing your dad goes through sounds like the stuff Harry goes through. He has to take Occlumency lessons to block off his mind.” Lily laughed nervously. Hermione took a close look at Lily.

“I have to ask you something.”

“What's that?”

“Have we ever met before?”

“I don't think so, I probably would've remembered it.”

“You look so familiar, like I've known you for years.”

“I think you might be thinking of someone else. I don't remember meeting you.”

“I don't know, it's just this weird feeling I have. But anyways.”

“Sorry about staying on this subject, but who do you know of that has died from the killing curse that you could've seen in your dream?”

“I know of lots of people, many have been killed by it.”

“Any of your family members, or anyone close to your family?” Hermione shook her head.

“Any friends? Classmates? Families of friends and classmates?”

“Harry's parents. They were killed when he was one, but I'm sure you knew that. Everyone in the wizarding world knows that. One of the students here, he was in seventh year when we were in fourth, his name was Cedric Diggory. He was killed by Voldemort.” Hermione glanced up to see if Lily flinched. She was somewhat taken back that she didn't. Lily figured that's what she was thinking. The daughter of the one who killed the darkest wizard of the age wouldn't flinch to hear his name. She grew up using the name, and not being afraid of it.

“Anyone else?”

“Well, Ron had an uncle that died from it, but I don't see how that has any significance to me.” A memory came to Lily, something she remembered her mother telling her a long time ago.

“When I was about seventeen, I always had these weird dreams. They started out foggy and I could only see silhouettes of people moving around. Then I always saw a green glow and heard the people fall to the ground and a cackling laughter. It was a reoccurring dream that I had every night, and then the more I dreamed about it, the more clearer the world was, and I saw what was happening, and I saw more of that night. It turned out I was dreaming about the day your grandparents died. I saw your dad's parents' last few moments on this world, I saw Voldemort kill them. I find it kind of ironic how I ended up marrying their son two years later. It was almost like there was a significance to me seeing them die.”

“Do you still have those dreams?”

“No. Not anymore. I haven't dreamt about that since I started going out with your dad.” Lily was brought out of her trance and saw that Hermione had dozed off. Lily got out of bed and covered her mother up and shut her light off and climbed back into bed, but there was no way she would be able to sleep.

A/n: Here's the fourth installment to Tricky Deals of Fate, hope you enjoyed it.

Husker-fan-2006

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5. Poking Your Nose Around Will Get You into Trouble Someday

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Chapter 5: Poking Your Nose Around Will Get You Into Trouble Someday

Disclaimer: I forgot this before; For this chapter, and the previous chapters, and all chapters to come, I do not own Harry Potter.

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“Blake, we need to talk.” Lily said when she found her brother the next morning, sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

“What is it?”

“Mum suspects us.”

“How?”

“They recognize us.”

“What? How?”

“Well, Mum and Dad recognize us, they just don't know from where. And Mum suspects that Beth isn't my real name.”

“Well, it isn't.”

“No crap, Blake.”

“How can they recognize us and not know who we are?”

“People say child/parent connections are extremely strong. I think they're recognizing the connection, but just not realizing it. To them they think they've met us before when they were younger, and it can just stay that way too.” Blake nodded.

“You know Mum though, Lils. Once she's got an idea in her head, she won't stop until she finds out about it. She'll go poking her nose around.” Lily nodded and sighed.

“I know.”

“She'll drag the other two along too. Ron doesn't know, well, he does, but he doesn't see it. Mum'll drag Dad along in finding this out.”

“You don't know that. See, the Harry of our time, the one who's married to Hermione would go along with her, but the Harry of this time, who's seventeen and going out with Ginny Weasley wouldn't necessarily go along.”

“Speaking of which, what are we going to do about these other relationships our parents are in?”

“We aren't going to do anything, this is what happened in the past, we can't mess with that, or we might screw it all up and really mess up the future to the point that we are never born.”

“What happens then, if that should happen?”

“We disappear. It's a painful process, and we'll cease to exist.”

“Ok, we won't mess with the past, unless we have to.”

“Exactly.” Brother and sister were cut short in their conversation by the trio coming to the table. Hermione smiled brightly considering how tired she was.

“Good morning!” Everyone mumbled a good morning response. No one else had got much sleep last night either. Lily didn't get to sleep until an hour before she had to get up; Blake slept fitfully because of lack of comfort of sleeping in a bed he wasn't used to; Harry dreamt about Sirius dying again, and didn't sleep much at all; Ron couldn't sleep because Harry kept him awake; Hermione kept having the weird dreams of someone dying. The only person who wasn't there with them was Julia. Ron noticed this and asked Blake and Lily,

“Where's Julia at this morning?” Ron said, after noticing that only Blake and Lily were at the table.

“Still sleeping,” Lily said. “She's not a morning person. You couldn't get her out of bed to save your life.” Harry laughed.

“Sounds like Ron.”

“Really? Isn't that weird,” Lily said with a nervous laugh.

“Well, I would get out of bed in the morning if I had a chance to get a good night's sleep. But I can't when roommates keep dreaming nightmares and keep everyone up.” Harry laughed sarcastically, and getting angry, said,

“You think I want to see Sirius die every night in my dreams? Let's see how you take it when someone close to you dies, and you watch helplessly as their life ends. How would you take it if it were your parents? Your brothers or sister? Or Hermione?” Ron put his hands up slowly and tried to calm Harry down.

“Ok, sorry, Harry,” he said slowly. “I didn't mean what I said. You know how getting little sleep makes me.” It took a few seconds of silence before Harry's expression softened, and everything was normal between them all.

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled, not meeting anyone's eyes. It was then that Julia came into the Great Hall extremely sleepy looking.

“I thought you were sleeping, Jules. It's kinda early for you, isn't it?” Blake said with a smile. If looks could kill, Lily would've been instantly dead from the glare Julia sent her.

“I know,” she said through gritted teeth. With another glare at Lily, she sat down and started buttering a piece of toast. Lily grinned.

“Morning sunshine!” she said brightly.

“Yeah, shut up.”

“What's your problem this morning?” Blake asked.

“Your sister is evil.”

“Well, I knew that already,” Blake said and he ducked a smack from his sister.

“What'd she do this time?”

“I've fashioned an alarm clock for our dear Miss Carter. She can't get up in the morning at a decent hour, so I've charmed her pillow to scream loudly at a given time to wake her up.” Everyone but Julia laughed.

“That's very clever, Beth. We should use that charm on Ron's pillow, so he can get up on time,” Hermione said, and she and Harry grinned. Ron narrowed his eyes at them.

“You do and I'll kill you both.”

“That's not very nice, Ron,” Lily said smiling.

“Anyways, off the subject of waking up in the morning,” Hermione said, “So, who's on the list for Quidditch trials tomorrow?” Harry shrugged.

“I won't know till I get down to the pitch tomorrow. But we need to replace a Chaser and two Beaters.” Ron said to the Blake, Lily and Julia,

“Play Quidditch at all?” Blake and Julia nodded.

“Yeah, Blake and I were on our house teams back at our old school.”

“What positions?”

“I played Seeker, and Julia was a Chaser.”

“You should try out for the Chaser position, Julia.”

“I'm not that good. And I don't know how much longer we'll be here. It's just a temporary thing for us here.”

“And a Seeker, Blake? Are you any good?” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Honestly Ron, there's more important things in life rather than Quidditch.”

“I know, but that's not now, this is. So, you any good Blake?”

“Define good.”

“Are you as good as Harry?”

“I don't know. I doubt it.”

“I do too, cuz' Harry's never lost a match.”

“He did once,” Everyone looked at Lily, who bit her lip at the slip up.

“How would you know?” Ron said.

“I've heard about these things, word gets around.” Nobody looked convinced.

“Um…your sister was telling us,” Julia said, coming to the rescue. Ron nodded understandingly.

“Ah, yes, she'd tell you. But anyways, how about we test you out this afternoon after Quidditch tryouts?”

“I don't have my broom,” Blake said with a shrug.

“You can use mine,” Harry said. “To make it fair that we both use the same broom so one doesn't have an advantage over the other, since a snowball in hell as better chance of surviving than we do in getting out of this since Ron's mind is set on it.”

“You sure you can handle Harry's Firebolt, Blake?” Ron said grinning.

“I'm sure I can manage.” Blake said, smiling smugly. Lily and Julia both smiled, not meeting anyone's eyes. At this point in time, Ron and Harry didn't know that Blake flew his father's broom all the time, and had an even better one of his own.

“I don't know, it's quite fast.”

“I think I can handle it.” Blake told Ron assuredly. Hermione, wanting to get off the subject of Quidditch and brooms, said,

“Anyways. What line of work do you three plan on going into after school?”

“We're all studying to be Aurors.”

“Really?” Hermione and Lily went into conversation about studies and books, while the guys and Julia went back to the subject of Quidditch. Ron and Julia did all the talking, Blake and Harry didn't say much for themselves.

“So, how do you want to do this test, Julia?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Best three outta five. The one who gets the three catches wins.”

“Agreed.”

“You sure you want to do this?”

“He's sure.”

“Are you going to let him speak?”

“You're doing the same thing.”

“Are you like his coach or something?”

“No. What difference does it make? I know what I'm doing.”

“But you're a girl.”

“So? What's your point?” Julia said icily. Ron opened his mouth to reply, but Harry put a hand up to silence him.

“Just stop there. You're starting to dig yourself a hole you won't be able to get out of.”

“It's just Julia.”

“But you're forgetting those two over there,” Harry said, nodding at Hermione and Lily who were deeply immersed in conversation.

“And I am never just Julia,” Julia said, sitting up straight and proud with a smile on her face, “I'm Julia We…Carter and I can do anything, and I can kick your butt at Quidditch anytime.”

“At Keeper? I thought you were a Chaser?”

“I am. But my dad was a keeper, and he's passed some of those skills on to me. Just like Blake's dad was a Seeker, and he's just as good as his father.”

“Was your dad any good?”

“Which one of us are you talking to?”

“Both.”

“My father's house won the House Cup the first year he played for them. Blake's dad was on the team and they got the House Cup three of the years that he was on it.”

“How many years was he on the team?”

“Seven.” Lily tuned into the conversation as soon as Julia started talking about her father and Blake's father. She jumped into the conversation by saying,

“Jules, what are you doing?”

“Nothing, just having a friendly conversation with Ron here.”

“About your dad, and my dad? Really?” She said, hoping Julia would catch the hint. Luckily, she did.

“Yeah, but it doesn't matter,” Julia said with a shrug.

“Can I talk to you alone for a minute, Jules?”

“Sure.” Lily and Julia got up from the table and went into the entrance hall. Once the doors blocked out the chatter from the Great Hall, Lily said,

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I'm sorry, I got caught up in the moment.”

“If you would've said anymore, they would've caught on to who you're talking about. You can't talk about your parents like that, they're not stupid, and they'll find out who we are if we're not careful.”

“I know, Lils, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time.” The door opened and Blake came out.

“Jules, you almost slipped up.”

“I know I did, I've already got the lecture from your sister.”

“But, oh well, it wasn't that big of one, they might not put two and two together.”

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“Ok, did anyone else find what Julia was saying a strange coincidence?”

“What about it?”

“What she said about her dad winning the house cup in his first year, so did you. And about Blake's dad, he won the House cup three of the seven years he's been on the team, and that was the same way with me, only there've only been two championships for Gryffindor since I've been on the team.”

“I don't understand what the deal is about it.”

“It's just a strange coincidence,” Harry said, ending the topic of conversation there. Hermione, however, looked thoughtful. Harry noticed this and said,

“You ok?” Hermione was brought out of her thought trance.

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Hermione,”

“What?”

“Don't go poking your nose into places it doesn't belong. It might get you into trouble someday.”

“I'm not, Harry, I'm just thinking.”

“You shouldn't have said anything, mate, you got her thinking. And that's not always a good thing.”

A/N: Here's chapter five for y'all. Hope you liked it. Please review!!

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6. Sneaking

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Chapter 6: Sneaking

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“Blake, Blake, are you ok?”

“No, I'm not, Lils. I'm disappearing. The future has been messed up all because you assured me that Mum and Dad would get together, without our help. Now it's too late.”

“I'm sorry, Blake, I didn't know.”

“I know you didn't. After I'm gone, you'll be next. We're only two minutes apart, you'll be next.” He gasped, and slowly started to disappear.

“No, Blake, you can't die.”

“I can't stop it, Lils. The future is messed up already. Mum and Dad will never get together. Bye little sister.” Lily tried to hold onto her brother, but it was hopeless. He slowly faded away. After he was gone, Lily felt a pain in her stomach that knocked her off her knees. She coughed and it was then that she woke up. Lily sat straight up in bed, trying to catch her breath. The pain her stomach had been real, she felt like she would throw up. She turned on her light and threw back the covers around her four-poster. Her mother's bed was still empty. She hadn't come back from her midnight stroll with Ron. The thought of her mother out with another guy made Lily make a face of disgust. She laid back down and stared at the ceiling, contemplating the dream she just had. It was then she realized her brother had been right. Lily and Blake would've known that their mother went out with Ron, and their father went out with Ginny. Lily and Blake always wanted to know everything about their mum and dad growing up, sometime this would've come up. But why would they be going out with these people? It wasn't like going into the past changed everything. This all happened before they arrived. It didn't make sense to her. But like Blake said, not everything has to be logical, some things just don't make sense. Maybe he was right; maybe they came back in time to fix the future. She knew what she had to do. Lily threw back her blankets went across the room to Julia's bed. She shook her awake, and quick placed a silencing charm on her because she was so loud and cross when someone woke her up. When Julia saw who it was, she calmed down though rather annoyed that her friend woke her up at three o'clock in the morning. Lily took the silencing charm off, and Julia said,

“What the hell do you want?”

“Come on, we need to talk with Blake.”

“Can't it wait till morning?”

“No, come on.” Julia groaned and covered her head with her pillow. Lily snatched the pillow from Julia's grasp and smacked her hard with it. Julia grabbed the pillow and tossed it at her friend. Then she slowly got up and followed Lily as she ran out of the dormitory and down the stairs. Once in the empty common room, Julia sat down in one of the chairs to wait for Lily go wake her brother. Lily was glad no one was in the common room as she ran up the boys' staircase, so she didn't have to answer any questions. Lily opened the door to her brother's dorm room slowly, so not to disturb anyone else's slumber. She crept quietly across the floor, stepping over objects strung out all over the floor. It was so dark in the room she didn't know which bed to find Blake in. So she took out her wand and muttered,

“Lumos.” A light appeared at the tip of her wand, giving her enough light to see where she was going. She walked over to the first bed. It was Neville Longbottom, friend of her dad's, who was a possibility for the Boy Who Lived. She crept over to the next bed. Seamus Finnigan. Another friend of her dad's, who she always thought was handsome, even though he was nineteen years older than her. Lily smiled as she remembered asking Seamus for a kiss when she was three, and he kissed her on the cheek. The next bed was Dean Thomas. Another friend. Lily didn't really know him all that well; she'd only seen him once or twice. The next bed she assumed was Ron's, as it was empty. She silently prayed that Ron wouldn't come up soon to find Lily in his dorm wandering around in the dark. She knew that the next bed was either her brother's or her dad's. She went over to it and pulled back the blanket slowly and saw it was her dad. She tried to put it back the way she found it, but Harry woke up. He strained his eyes to see who it was. He reached for his glasses and put them on.

“Beth? What are you doing here?” He whispered.

“I need to talk to my brother, and I see I got the wrong bed, sorry. Go back to sleep.” Harry pointed to Blake's bed, of course the last one left in the room.

“That's his over there.”

“Thank you, sorry I woke you up.”

“It's alright.” Harry took his glasses off and put them back on his bedside table as the glow from Lily's wand faded away and to the other side of the room to her brother's bed. She gently shook him to wake him, but he mumbled something incoherent and rolled on to his side.

“Blake, Blake, wake up,” she whispered. He mumbled again, this time Lily heard what he said.

“Go away.”

“Damnit, Blake, wake up!” she said, raising her voice a little above a whisper. Lily took Blake's pillow from under his head and smacked him with it. Blake woke up and glared at his sister.

“What the hell are you doing? Why are you up here?” he said angrily.

“Shh! Will you shut up, do you want to wake your whole dormitory?”

“What do you want?” Blake said, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“I need to talk to you. Come on, Julia's waiting in the common room.” Blake sighed and got out of bed. Brother and sister left the room, but didn't know that they were followed by the last person in the world they wanted to hear their conversation. Lily and Blake went down the stairs and sat with Julia, who was now wide-awake. Blake ran a hand through his hair as he plopped down on one of the couches and put his feet up.

“What is it, Lily?” he said sleepily. Julia put her hand up to stop Lily from answering. She sat up from her laying down position on the couch. Lily and Blake looked at her, wondering what she was doing.

“What is it?” Lily said.

“We'll talk about this later.” Blake and Lily looked at her.

“What?”

“We'll talk about this later. I have a feeling we're being watched. We need to talk about this somewhere where no one can hear us.”

“Ok. Tomorrow's Sunday. We'll go somewhere and talk about this. But not now.” They all agreed, and Blake went back up the boys' staircase, and Lily and Julia went back up the girls'. Blake collapsed back into his bed and shut his eyes; unaware that the person who heard them was lying in the next bed, and that because of his future daughter's lack of sneakiness had already been awake.

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“Hermione, you'll never guess what I heard last night.”

“What?”

“I heard Blake, Julia and Beth talking in the common room. Or rather I heard Blake, Julia and Lily talking.”

“Beth's real name is Lily?” Harry nodded.

“What else did you hear?”

“I didn't, they could tell they were being watched, and they decided to talk about it later.”

“Do you know where they're going today?”

“No.”

“We'll look around, maybe we can find them.”

“There's Quidditch tryouts today, though.”

“In the evening. Remember though, Ron challenged Blake to a test to see who's the better Seeker yesterday, you or him. So Blake has to be back for that.”

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Julia took a deep breath and sighed as she and Blake and Lily were walking out on the grounds towards the forbidden forest.

“Ah, such beautiful weather today, nice, clean, autumn air.” Lily smiled and breathed in the deep air, but pretended to breathe too deeply and started coughing. She disappeared out of sight behind a rock, and emerged once she was done making her show. Julia laughed.

“You're such a faker, Lily Potter.” Lily grinned, wrinkling her nose.

“I know, I'm not good for the theatrics, unlike my twin here.” Blake glanced at his sister, who went into mock performances of Blake's attempts to get out of class or do homework. Lily pretended to faint, falling to the ground and twitching. Julia laughed, but Blake wasn't amused.

“Can't…do my…homework…fainted…dying…” Lily said over dramatically as she clutched her chest. She conjured up a flower and held it to her chest and became perfectly still like she was dead. Blake rolled his eyes.

“I've never done that.” Julia took up the acting next.

“Oh yes, it's more like,” Julia stopped walking and clasped her hands together in front of her body and pretended to look ashamed and sad. “`I couldn't do my homework, the Whomping Willow ate it.'” Lily came out of her state of dead and laughed, rolling on the ground. Again, Blake was not amused.

“Oh come on, you remember in first year when you used that excuse.” Blake rolled his eyes again and started walking away. Julia pulled Lily to her feet and they followed him.

“Oh come on, Blake, you know we're just giving you crap.” Blake sighed.

“I know.” The three of them reached the Forbidden Forest. They went in only a little bit, just so they were out of sight of the castle. Blake, who had stolen the Marauder's Map from his father's trunk, pulled it out and said,

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” The secrets of the Marauder's Map appeared and Lily and Julia went through the checklist.

“Ok, Filch?”

“Patrolling the corridors.”

“Mrs. Norris?”

“With Filch.”

“Snape?”

“In his office.”

“Um, McGonagall?”

“Giving detention to a fifth year student in the second floor corridor.”

“Mum and Dad?”

“They and Ron are in the Common room, preparing to go look for us. Dad is going up to his dorm right now, to grab the Marauder's Map to find us. He'll be finding out pretty soon that we stole it.”

“We didn't steal it, just borrowed it,” said Julia.

“They wouldn't find us anyway even if they did have the map. It stops at the Forbidden Forest.”

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“The Map is gone.”

“What? What did you do with it?”

“I put it in my trunk, where I always keep it.”

“Is your invisibility cloak still there?” Harry nodded.

“Ok, who has access to your dorm and knows the Marauder's Map is in your trunk?”

“Nobody but you, Ron and I know it's there. Nobody but us three knows that I have it.”

“Somebody has to know. Otherwise they wouldn't have taken it…” Hermione gasped.

“I bet it was Blake, Lily and Julia.”

“Why would they take it?” Ron asked.

“Because they're up to something, they have to talk about something privately and wouldn't want anyone following them. So they probably took the Map to see if they were being followed.”

“How would they know it's in Harry's trunk though?”

“There's something strange about those three. I wouldn't put it past them to know that the Map was there.”

“What do you mean?”

“I get the feeling that they don't belong here geographically, I'm talking time wise.”

“The only way they'd be able to go back or forward in time is if they used a Time Turner, and I thought you could only go back hours with it,” Ron said.

“You can. But there's another way of time travel. It's in a book I read about, called Illegal Time Travel for the Rebellious. It's in the restricted section of the library. They could've used it and ended up here,” Hermione said.

“Ok, so then are they from the future or the past?”

“I don't know.”

“I have an idea. Summon the Marauder's Map, Harry. Let's see where they're at,” Hermione said with a mischievous grin. Harry mirrored it, and took out his wand.

“Accio Marauder's Map!”

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All of a sudden, the map went flying out of Blake's hands and zipping away.

“What the hell?” Julia said as she watched it fly away. Blake scowled.

“Damnit. Dad's probably summoning it.”

“They won't find us, don't worry.” Julia shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Ok, anyways, what were you saying last night? What revelation did your dream give you?”

“You remember how Blake said that there is a reason why we came back in time, that we had to repair the past? I'm beginning to think he's right. I think we need to be matchmakers here and get our parents together before we all regret it.”

“How?”

“I don't know, we'll think of something. But we have to do all this without being discovered.”

“I hope this works out, Lils.”

“It will.”

“It'd better, because if we're all right, all of our futures depend on this.”

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“Where are they?”

“They're not on the Marauder's Map. They must be outside the grounds. In the forest or something.”

“Let's go.” The three of them left the common room and made their way to the Forbidden Forest. Halfway there, the Map soared out of Harry's hand and went flying away in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

“Son of a…” But Hermione clamped a hand over Harry's mouth before he could finish.

--------------

Blake caught the Map, and Lily placed a charm on it so it couldn't be summoned.

“Where are they?”

“On their way down to find us. I think they know we're in the forest. We've got to get going.”

A/N: Here's chapter 6 for all of you. Hope you enjoy and please review!!!

Husker_fan_2006

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7. Battle of the Potters

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Chapter 7: Battle of the Potters

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That evening, the two trios went out to the Quidditch pitch for the battle of the Seekers. It was early evening, just before dinner. Ron and Harry brought their brooms out, and Ron borrowed his sister's broom, why Ron did bring both of them out, no one knew. Tailing behind them hovering in the air was the Quidditch trunk carrying the equipment for a Quidditch game. Once everyone was there, Ron laid out the rules.

“Ok. You'll have five chances to catch the Snitch before the other one does. I'll release the Snitch and the one to catch it first, gets a mark. The first one with three marks wins. Hermione will keep track of the score, and can you and Julia be beaters?” Julia grinned and took one of the bats Ron held out.

“Hell yeah, I'll do it. Always wanted to be a beater, but I don't have the skill for it, so I'm told.”

“Will you be the other beater, Beth?” Ron said, emphasizing Lily's pseudonym.

“I don't really think it's fair to have both of Blake's mates up there as beaters. To make it fair, maybe Hermione or you should be the other one.”

“Well, Hermione can't fly to save her life, so…”

“Gee, thanks Ron,” Hermione said sarcastically.

“Well, you can't.”

“I don't like flying, it's not that I can't.”

“Ok, ok. So, I'll be the other beater then?”

“Ok. Hermione'll keep score and I'll release the Snitch, or vise-versa.”

“Alright, it's settled. Players, mount your brooms.” The four of them got onto their brooms and Lily released the Snitch, and then the beaters.

“Go!” The four took off; Harry and Blake both in search of the Snitch, while Julia and Ron swung the Bludgers towards their friends. After a few minutes, Harry caught the Snitch, and Hermione marked it on a piece of paper she conjured. Harry brought the Snitch down to his daughter and handed it to her. Harry and Blake landed and waited for Lily to let the Snitch go again. She let it go, and they were both off again.

“Blake's a good flyer,” said Hermione.

“He takes after our dad. Our dad is a great flyer,” Lily said, her eyes still on the skies.

“What's his name?” Lily looked down, and her eyes widened slightly.

“James. James Walker,” she said after doing some quick thinking that saying the first name that came to mind. She had her back to her mother, so she didn't see Lily wince slightly at the use of the name.

“Really? How about your mother's name?” Again thinking quickly, Lily said,

“Isabelle.” She breathed a silent sigh of relief that she didn't say Lily and give herself away. So she settled on a name of a girl that Remus had told her was her grandmother's best friend, but was killed by Voldemort (A/N: In case you want to read into that story, read my Lily/James fic, called To You I Belong, please review that story if you do) Hermione didn't recognize the name, so didn't press the issue too much, though she still didn't believe Lily was telling the truth. She was going to say something else, but Blake caught the Snitch. He brought it down to his sister, and again Harry and Blake landed on the ground and waited for Lily to release the Snitch again. Hermione made the tally on her piece of paper and watched as the two Seekers took off again.

“You know, I had another dream last night,” Hermione said after a long silence.

“Really? Did anything become clearer?”

“I heard screams; and laughter as the bodies hit the ground. Do you think it's something to do with the future?” Lily shook her head.

“No, it might be with the past. Maybe you're seeing the death of someone that's already died.”

“I wish I knew who, this is starting to bother me.”

“Maybe it's a sign.”

“What kind of sign?” Lily shrugged.

“Maybe…of who you're supposed to end up with?” She shrugged again.

“Why would two people dying be a sign of who I'm going to end up with?”

“I don't know, I'm just throwing stuff out here.”

“If your theory is true, do you think it's some of Ron's relatives?”

“Do you really see yourself spending the rest of your life with Ron Weasley?”

“Not really.”

“Who do you see yourself with?”

“I don't know. I remember before I started going out with Ron, always feeling jealous of the girls Harry went out with. I used to have a silly crush on him when I was younger, but I grew out of it when I went out with Ron.”

“What's wrong with fancying Harry?”

“I'm one of his best friends. I always have been, always will be. I finally figured out there couldn't be anything more than that. People don't end up with their best friends.”

“That's not true, lots of people do. My parents did, they went to school were friends, and fell in love and got married and had Blake and me, it happens. I would think that would be the best person to be married to, is your best friend. You already know everything about him or her. You're first date together would be like skipping the first like five dates with anyone else. You don't have to spend all that time getting to know each other.” Hermione didn't say anything, just looked up at the sky at the Seeker that was her best friend.

“You still like him, don't you?” Hermione looked at Lily and shrugged.

“Maybe.”

“If you still like him, then why did you go out with Ron?”

“He asked me out, Harry never did. We just thought it was expected of us. We bickered a lot, and everyone always thought it was “sexual tension.” That it was because we loved each other.” Lily laughed.

“I'm sorry, Hermione, but fighting constantly is not true love. Or even sexual tension. Two people that fight constantly are not in love, they either hate each other or extremely annoyed with the other one.”

“I know that, I never said I believed the people that said that.”

“Seems like you did, you went out with him.” Hermione glared at Lily, who was still smiling.

“Anyways,” Hermione said, “Even if I still liked Harry, I'd never be able to go out with him, and that's part of the reason why I said yes to Ron when he asked me.”

“Why wouldn't you be able to go out with Harry?”

“He's the bloody Boy Who Lived, and I'm just a plain muggle born.”

“So? It's not like Harry is some pure blood bastard that can't stand muggle borns. I wouldn't just push the possibility of going out with Harry aside just yet. You never know what might happen.”

“Yeah right.” They were interrupted by Harry bringing the snitch down to Lily. Lily released it again, and they took off.

-------------

Twenty minutes later, it came to a tie. Both Seekers caught the Snitch twice. On the last time Lily released the Snitch, Harry caught the Snitch within minutes. Ron gave a whoop and landed his broom clapping his friend on the back. Blake and Julia landed, and Lily said to him,

“Good game.” Blake gave a half-hearted smile.

“I should've won. I've beaten him before.”

“But he was thirty-six then, he's seventeen now. He's in his prime.” Their conversation was stopped short when Harry came over and stuck his hand out.

“Good game, Blake. We're about the same in skill, you almost beat me.” Blake smiled and shook his father's hand.

“The better man won, I mean, you're the Gryffindor Seeker, you should win.”

“Are you sure you two don't want to tryout for team? You're pretty good.”

“I can't play anything but Seeker, and obviously you have one already.”

“We can always use a reserve Seeker in case something happens, God forbid, that Harry can't play. What about you, Julia, you're a pretty good Beater.” Julia glanced at Lily and shook her head.

“I don't think so. Like I said, we're not going to be here that long. And my position is Keeper or Chaser.”

“Well, we need a Chaser. If anything you can be a reserve.”

“Reserve Keeper or Chaser?”

“I don't know, try out for it.”

“Maybe I will,” Julia said with a grin.

“How about you, Beth, you a Quidditch player?” Ron said. Lily laughed.

“Oh, no, I'm not. I leave the Quidditch playing to my brother. I'd rather just sit back and watch.”

“Can you fly?”

“Oh yeah, I know how, I just don't really like to play Quidditch. I'd rather watch it.”

“You sure?”

“I'm sure.”

--------------

Everyone went back to the common room after tryouts, and Ginny ended up being the new Chaser, the temporary Beaters became permanent ones, and Julia was listed as reserve Keeper, and Blake was a reserve Seeker. After the tryouts were finished Lily, Julia, and Blake began making plans. Lily and Julia did most of the planning, but finally, a week later, they were ready to start their matchmaking.

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A/n: Here's a short chapter, I know, but I had to put in the battle of the Seekers somewhere, as I started writing the next chapter, and forgot about it. Hope you enjoyed it, please review!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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8. Matchmaker, Make Me A Match

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Chapter 8: Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

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“Ok, what couple will be our first victim?”

“Let's start with Dad and Ginny. How are we going to do this?”

“Don't worry, I have a plan,” Lily said.

“What is it?” Julia cleared her throat and tossed her hair and put her elbow on the couch arm and put her head in her hand, batting her eyelashes at Blake. Blake snorted.

“Her? She's your plan?”

“Yes, because I have charm.” Blake snorted again.

“Yes, and because she's not related to him, so it's not so icky.”

“It's icky enough flirting with your best friends' dad.”

“If all goes to plan, she won't have to flirt with him. Same thing with me, if I have to flirt with Ron, I will.” She shuddered, and Blake laughed.

“Ok, if it comes to it, how are you going to charm Ron?”

“Hey, she's just like your mum. Dad fell for the bookwormy type already, he'll do it again.” Lily clapped her hands together and said to Julia,

“Ok, Miss Weasley, Operation: break up Dad and Ginny has just begun. Go for it.” As Julia got up and walked away, Blake said,

“What is she going to do?”

“First, she's going to talk to Malfoy, get him to rekindle the secret relationship he and Ginny had going before they became public that died when she thought he didn't want her anymore and went for Dad, and then she'll feed her aunt a load of crap so she'll go to Malfoy, and voila! Dad's single.”

“And where does her “charm” come into play?”

“You know how convincing she can be. She'll do well, she wouldn't let us down.” Julia made her way down to the Great Hall where she knew Draco Malfoy would be there eating dinner. She walked over to the Slytherin table, with everyone's eyes on her. She sat down across from Malfoy and put her head on her palm. Malfoy looked up.

“Um, are you lost?”

“No,” Julia answered sweetly.

“Well, you do know this is the Slytherin table, don't you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why the hell is a Gryffindor scum such as yourself sitting at the Slytherin table?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“You've got nothing I want to hear…what's your name?”

“Julia Carter.”

“Ok, Carter, I don't care what a Mudblood lover has to say.”

Julia straightened up and said coldly, “Excuse me?”

“I've seen who you've hung out with, Weasel King, the jumped up Mudblood, and Potter,” Malfoy said, voice dripping with coldness and dislike.

“So, that doesn't mean I'm a Mudblood lover,” Then she told a lie. “I don't think they should be here in school with us purebloods.” Malfoy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“If you think that, then why are you in Gryffindor?”

“Why would I be sitting at your table if I was lying?”

“Touché. I believe you. What do you want?”

“Um…you might not want the rest of your housemates to hear about this, you might lose face in front of them, and we all know that's the worst thing that can happen, lose your dignity in front of all these inferiors,” Julia said, casting a look of disgust to everyone in the hall. Malfoy nodded and he stood up, and so did Julia. Crabbe and Goyle stood too.

“Sit down!” Malfoy barked. And like obedient lap dogs, Crabbe and Goyle sat and went back to shoveling food in their faces. Julia and Malfoy left the Great Hall and went outside for a walk on the grounds.

“Ok, what did you want?”

“Ok, I know about your little thing for the youngest Weasley.” A slight flicker of fear crossed Malfoy's face.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Carter.”

“Oh I think you do, Draco. I know that you two used to secretly date Ginny Weasley, and she left you for Harry Potter.”

“What's your point?”

“What if I could get her to meet you again?”

“She wouldn't, she thought I didn't like her anymore.”

“Trust me, Draco, I can be very persuasive, and I know she still has feelings for you, and that the reason she went out with Harry was to make you jealous, so she will come once she is informed that you are waiting for her. What do you say to that?”

“If you can pull it off…”

“Believe me, Mr. Malfoy, I can be very persuasive,” Julia said, dropping her voice to a whisper on the last word.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I'm trying to split Harry and Ginny up. She doesn't deserve a Mudblood loving fool such as him. I've found out in the few days I've been here that she's different than the other Weasleys, and she deserves better than Potter.”

“I totally agree with you, Julia. Ok, if you can arrange it, tell Ginny I'll meet her at the Astronomy Tower at nine tonight.” Julia smiled sweetly.

“I shall tell her. Good evening, Mr. Malfoy.” She gave a small nod and left. When she got back to the common room and Blake and Lily came to her asking how it went, she burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, that was so easy! All I had to do was feed him this load of muggle born hating crap and he fell for it. He said that he'll meet Ginny at the Astronomy Tower at nine.”

“What all did you say?”

“To gain his trust I told him I hated muggle borns, I hated Harry and wanted him to suffer, and I understood about losing face in front of,” She mockingly gasped, “inferiors.” Blake and Lily laughed. Julia cleared her throat.

“Oh my gosh, if I was catholic, I'd be in confession for hours telling of my many times breaking the eighth commandment. And I'm not done yet either.” Lily smiled.

“Go to it, finish your dirty work. Ginny's here right now, she's sitting with some of her classmates.” Julia spotted the Weasley red hair on one of the girls sitting in the corner by the window and went to go talk to her aunt. She cleared her throat and they all stopped talking.

“May we help you?” One of the girls said snobbishly, looking down her nose at Julia.

“Ginny, can I talk to you?” Julia said, ignoring her aunt's friends.

“Um, what about?”

“You'll find out, trust me, it's nothing bad, I just need to talk to you alone.”

“Well, what a Slytherin associator has to say to Ginny she can say to the rest of us,” A different girl said. Ginny raised her eyebrows in interest.

“What do you mean?”

“This evening at dinner, she went and sat by Draco Malfoy, and actually talked with him. If that's not a house traitor, then I don't know what is,” The first girl said with a toss of her hair.

“Oh, I could think of another way to betray your house. I'm sure Ginny could too,” Julia said, looking pointedly at Ginny.

“Is that what this is about?”

“You might say that.” Ginny got up and said to her friends,

“Sorry girls, but this is important.” The girls left the common room and set off down the hall.

“What do you want, Julia?”

“I know what you're trying to do.”

“What?”

“Going out with Harry to make Draco jealous.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about. Why would I want to make Draco Malfoy jealous?”

“Because you thought he didn't want you anymore.”

“So what if you know about that? What are you going to do about it?”

“What if I told you that Malfoy wants to meet you at the Astronomy Tower tonight at nine?”

“I'd say you're full of crap.”

“That's what I was talking to him about today.”

“Really? He says he wants to meet me?”

“Yeah.” Ginny was doing some deep thinking.

“Will you do me a favor then?”

“What?”

“Tell Harry I can't meet him tonight.”

“You tell him.”

“I can't…”

“You have to break it off yourself. I'm not your messenger.” Ginny sighed.

“You're right. I have to talk to Harry.” Julia smiled.

“Good girl.” Julia started to walk away, but Ginny called her back.

“Wait, why are you doing this?”

“Let's just say I'm setting a few things right.” With that, Julia went back to the common room, while Ginny set off to find Harry.

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“Oh my God, these people are so easily manipulated.”

“Did it work?”

“It was so easy. I should do this for a living.” Lily laughed.

“Just stick to the Auror dream first, Jules.” A few minutes later, Lily set off on beginning, Operation: break Ron and Hermione up. She found Ron sitting by himself in the common room, while Hermione was in the library, and Harry was, Lily assumed, talking to Ginny.

“Where's Hermione?” she said, sitting next to him.

“In the library. Why?”

“Oh nothing, just wondering why she wasn't with you.”

“Believe me, I can't stand the hours she spends in the library.”

“I want to ask you a question.”

“What is it?”

“When you see yourself in the future, do you see yourself with Hermione? I mean, you hate spending time in the library, Hermione loves it, you love Quidditch, and it's not among Hermione's list of favorite things. And you two fight a lot.”

“Where did all this come from?”

“Just answer the question.”

“I don't know.”

“I mean, you two do seem to fight an awful lot.”

“I know.”

“And that doesn't really describe a happy couple.”

“I know.”

“And, it seems that Hermione has more of a connection with someone else, rather than you.”

“Who?”

“Need I say names? I think you know.” Ron looked at Lily.

“Why should I believe what you say, Beth, or should I say, Lily?” Lily's eyes widened.

“I know all about your little fake name. I know your name is Lily Walker.” Inwardly, Lily breathed a sigh of relief that Ron didn't know her real last name.

“So why should I trust someone who's been lying to us for the past week?”

“I'm not trying to trick you into anything, I'm trying to help.”

“Bull crap.”

“I'm serious.” Ron looked away from Lily, ignoring her.

“Fine then, Ron. I'll leave you alone, for now.” Lily got up and walked away. She found her brother and friend sitting across the common room.

“Jules, you go talk to him. He won't talk to me about anything.”

“What makes you think he'll talk to me?”

“I don't know. Maybe you have a whole Weasley connection thing.” Julia sighed and got up. She went over to her future father and sat down. Ron was about to say something, but Julia put a hand up to stop him.

“I'm going to ask you one question, Ron Weasley, and you'd better answer it. Just one simple question is all I'm asking. Will you promise to answer me?”

“I guess.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love Hermione?” Ron shrugged.

“She's my best friend, of course I love her.”

“No, not like that. Do you love her like men and women were meant to love each other? Do you see yourself twenty years from now married to her with a house full of little bushy red heads?” Ron didn't answer.

“You promised to answer me, Ron.” Ron sighed.

“No. I don't.”

“If you don't love her, and you don't see yourself together, why are you still with her?”

“Because it's what everyone expects. I keep telling myself that it'll be different someday.”

“God, you two are so stupid. Why are you running your lives on what other people expect of you? And who says these things, I've never heard anyone around here say that you two belong together. Actually they say Hermione belongs with her other best friend.” Again, Ron didn't answer her. All of a sudden, a memory hit Julia. It was when she was eight, and her dad and grandma were talking in the kitchen.

“It always seems like Harry and Hermione are out of the loop in this family. We need to make sure they're included more.”

“I know. I wasn't in charge of making sure everyone was invited to this get-together.”

“But you see them more than the rest of us. Why do they get forgotten until the last minute all the time?” Ron rolled his eyes.

“Probably because they're not blood related to us, Mum. And they have their own Christmases to celebrate. Harry told me once that they like the little times with just thrm and the twins.”

“See, if years ago you and Hermione got married and Harry married Ginny, then we'd all be one big happy family.”

“No, it wouldn't be. Think of all the people that wouldn't be here if that had even been close to happening. Luna wouldn't be here, Jules, Seth, Noah, Cole and Ryan wouldn't be here, Draco wouldn't be here, neither would their kids, and Blake and Lily wouldn't be here either. Doesn't sound very happy to me.”

“I guess you're right. We can't have every thing we want, can we?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, I see. Let me guess, your family has a lot to say on this subject, don't they.”

“Because if you and Hermione get together, and Harry and Ginny stay together, then it'll all be one big happy family, right?”

“Do something bold for once in your life, Ron. Do the unexpected.” With that, Julia got up and left Ron alone with his thoughts. After a while, he got up and went over to where the second-generation trio was sitting.

“What's your whole purpose of this? Why are you all suddenly taking an interest in the relationships of all of us?” The three of them shrugged at the same time.

“We consider all three of you friends, and you all don't seem the happiest,” Julia said. `Actually it's because if we don't intervene, you'll be screwing up the futures of the three people in front of you,' she thought.

“And what's the point of staying in relationships that you don't really want to be in anymore? It's not fair to either one of you,” said Lily.

“You know what, you're right. Would one of you do me a favor, go to the library and tell Hermione I want to talk to her.”

“I would be happy to.” Lily said and set off for the library. When she got there, she found her mother right away, but she had her head on her folded arms on the table, sleeping. Lily hesitantly tapped her mother on the shoulder and Hermione jerked awake. She blinked a few times, looking around to see where she was and she calmed down a little when she saw she was in the library.

“Hermione?” Hermione turned to the sound of the voice, and when she saw Lily, she said,

“What's up, what do you need?” Lily noticed that Hermione didn't look herself, like she had just seen something that scared her.

“What's the matter?”

“What? Oh nothing, I just had a bad dream.”

“That reoccurring dream again?”

“Yeah. I heard the screams, and the curse. It was Voldemort killing those people, and I heard her scream.” Hermione sighed and ran her hands through her hair.

“This bothers me so much. I wish I knew what this dream was about and who I'm dreaming about.” Lily wanted to tell Hermione who she was dreaming about and why, but she knew she couldn't.

“Anyways, what did you come for?”

“Ron said he wants to talk to you.”

“Why couldn't he come talk to me himself?”

“I don't know, I was just on the way to the library for a book, and he told me to get you for him.” Hermione sighed and closed her book.

“Alright. Is he in the common room?”

“Yeah.”

“What book are you looking for?”

“Oh, it's one from the restricted section.”

“You have to have a note for it.”

“I know, I do. It's for extra research.” Hermione raised an eyebrow in question.

“Seriously, Hermione.” Hermione didn't say anything, but she had an idea what book Lily was going to get. After Hermione left, Lily went to Madam Pince and took out the note that Dumbledore gave her a couple days ago. Madam Pince was suspicious as usual, but she finally believed it wasn't a forgery, and went to go get the book. Madam Pince brought back the book, and said,

“Why do you need this book anyway?”

“For extra research.” Madam Pince handed Lily the book and Lily quickly left to avoid more questions. She brought it back to the common room and hid it upstairs in her dorm under her pillow. She came back down and saw that Hermione and Ron were talking; rather Ron was talking and Hermione was listening. Lily took a seat with her friends who were watching Ron and Hermione out of the corner of their eye. Lily crossed her fingers, hoping this plan would work.

A/n: Chapter 8 people!! This chapter took a major revamp from what it used to be, I hope you enjoyed it, please review!!!!

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9. So THAT'S Where Our Stubborness Comes From

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Chapter 9: So That's Where Our Stubbornness Came From

A/N: I apologize about the italics mess up later in the chapter, I don't know how to fix it and it's really starting to tick me off!! Sorry again!!

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“Let me guess, you've been talking to them, haven't you?”

“Them?”

“Lily, Blake, and Julia.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Ron, you actually trust them?”

“Why not? What's wrong with them?”

“There's something not right, something they're not telling us. I mean, they could be Death Eaters for all you know, and you're trusting them.”

“Ridiculous.”

“I'm serious, Ron. It could all be a plan to split us all up, and so Harry's alone when they find him.”

“Don't you think that's a little too out there, Hermione? And it's not something they told me to do. We were together for the wrong reasons, only because a few people thought that we belonged together. It's not fair to either one of us, you know I'm right.” Hermione nodded and smiled half-heartedly.

“This doesn't sound like the Ron Weasley I know, who are you and what have you done with my best friend.” Ron smiled.

“But Ron, I really don't think you should trust Lily Walker, or her brother, or Julia.”

“It's hard not to trust someone you feel you have a connection with, Hermione. I finally noticed it, when I was talking with Julia the other day about the Seeker battle. It's almost like she's family or something. You know the kind of feeling I'm talking about, Hermione, you've said you've felt it with Lily and Blake.” Again Hermione sighed.

“I know, but still, don't be so quick to trust them, don't allow them to take your life into their hands, because you never know what'll happen next.” Ron smiled.

“Stop worrying about me, Hermione. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself.” Hermione returned the smile.

“I know, but you're foolish sometimes.”

“Everyone's allowed some foolishness every once in a while, `Mione.”

“Not when it depends on life or death.”

“I don't think they're out to kill us, Hermione. I really doubt it, they're only seventeen. Give them a chance, don't just jump to conclusions.” Hermione gave Ron one last smile and headed up the girls' staircase. Harry came through the portrait hole, clearly having had one of the worst discussions of his life just prior. He came over and sat by Ron.

“What happened there?” Harry said, nodding in the direction of where Hermione had gone.

“We broke it off.”

“Oh, great day for relationships then, isn't it?”

“You and Ginny…?”

“Yeah. She said there was someone else.”

“Really? Who?”

“I promised I wouldn't tell you. You'd get pissed off.”

“I doubt that.”

“No, seriously, you would.”

“Are you mad?” Harry shook his head.

“No, I actually feel better. It just didn't seem right with Ginny, like we weren't meant to go out.”

“That's exactly the same thing with me and Hermione. We just didn't belong together.”

“Well, you know what the question is now, don't you?”

“What?”

“Who do we belong with?” Ron nodded and Harry's attention was brought to the girls' staircase as he saw Hermione come back down into the common room. She sat back down in her chair that she had just been sitting in before and said hey to Harry.

“What's up?”

“Ginny and I broke up.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. So did Ron and I.”

“Yeah, that's what he told me.”

“You know what,” Ron said. “Relationships suck. I mean, you spend a majority of your teenage years and even into your twenties looking for that right girl. And then when you think you've found her, you spend the rest of the time wondering if she was the right one in the first place.”

“That's life Ron,” Hermione said. “It's never easy.”

“We should ask Lily, Blake and Julia. Maybe they know the answer. They know what they're talking about.”

“They think they do. Do me a favor you two, don't go to them, don't trust them.”

“I think you're overreacting, Hermione.”

“I agree with Ron. You're thinking too much into this, `Mione.”

“Well, maybe, but until we find out, don't listen to any advice, and don't trust them.”

----------------------

Later that evening, Ron was sitting in the Great Hall, still eating. The trio came over to sit by him and began their dinners.

“So, how'd it go?” Julia said.

“Fine.”

“It wasn't messy or anything, not a lot of yelling or anything?”

“Nope.”

“That's good. I'm glad you're not fighting with each other now.”

“Yep.” Lily, Blake and Julia glanced worriedly at each other by Ron's lack of conversation. Ron finished eating and got up.

“See you.”

“Hey, we got a two word sentence out of him at least,” Blake said sarcastically after Ron left.

“Wonder what's with him?”

“I bet it's Hermione,” Lily said. “I think she's getting to them. Telling them not to trust us.”

“Well, if that's the case, this is going to be very difficult. It's hard to get two people together when neither one trusts you.”

“Well, we've got to keep trying. Blake, you talk to Dad. Jules, you try to talk to your dad, maybe he can help us. I'll go talk to Mum.”

--------------------

“Hey.” Ron didn't reply, he didn't even acknowledge that his future daughter was standing next to him.

“Can I sit down?” Again, no answer.

“Look, I know you don't trust me. I'm not trying to trick you, hurt you, or any other thing that you've been warned about me. I need your help.” Again Ron didn't answer Julia.

“Alright, you can just listen. It'll make it easier. You and I both know that you and Hermione don't belong together, nor do Harry and Ginny. But…what if Harry and Hermione belonged together?” Finally, Ron looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, don't they seem to share a connection that they don't have with anyone else? Don't they seem to fit better? Well?”

“I guess.” Ron shrugged. “I don't know, it's true what you've heard about me, I'm very perceptive on these things.” Julia smiled.

“Ok, just agree with me.”

“Alright.”

“And, ok, the conniving gene runs in your family right?” Ron smiled.

“Yeah.”

“Ok, want to put it to use and help us?”

“Help you with what?”

“To get Harry and Hermione together.”

------------------------

“Apparently you don't listen to Hermione anymore, Ron,” Harry said when he found his best friend in the company of the three people Hermione had warned them about. Ron shrugged.

“When have I ever?”

“That's true. What did you want?”

“I need to…or rather, we need talk to you.”

“What about?”

“Hermione.”

“What about her?”

“Well, we think…that you should go out with her.” Harry laughed.

“Then you're all insane.”

“Why's that?”

“It's…well…um…er…”

“Well? Why?” Lily said, prompting her speechless father. The trio was smiling, never having seen Harry speechless like that. Lily and Blake were finding it clearly entertaining.

“You just broke up with her, Ron. Ginny just broke up with me. It's too soon after break ups to be thinking about asking her out.”

“So what? Just go for it.”

“But it's Hermione.”

“So? What's wrong with Hermione?”

“She's my best friend.”

“So? She's my best friend too, and I went out with her.”

“Yeah, and look how that ended up.”

“It'd be different with you, Harry. You two seem to connect more, and fit together than she and I ever did.”

“I'm not going to go out with her, Ron.” Harry turned and left up the boys' staircase. Ron shook his head.

“Stubborn ass,” he muttered.

“I'm gonna go talk to him,” Blake said. “Maybe make him see reason.”

“And I'm going to go talk to Hermione. Give her a try.”

“Good luck you two. Those two are extremely stubborn. I mean seriously, if they ever get together and have kids, they'll be ten times worse. That much stubbornness from both people combined in one person can't be good.” Lily and Blake looked at each other and grinned. The twins left up opposite staircases leaving Julia with her dad.

“You know who I think might be a good match for you?” Julia said to her father.

“Who?”

“Luna Lovegood.” Ron laughed.

“Are you serious?” He laughed again, and Julia shrugged.

“Why, what's wrong with Luna?”

“She's one of the strangest people I've ever met. Why would I want to go out with her?”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. She randomly hums, she sticks her wand behind her ear for safe keeping, reads the Quibbler upside down, and is always coming up with this weird stuff all the time.” Julia then remembered something her dad told her once about her mum,

”When I was in school, your mother was one of the weirdest people I'd ever met. Mind you, she still is.”

“Then what happened?”

“She I met up with her a year later, and I realized she didn't seem as strange as I remembered, she was actually pretty cool. We went out on a few dates, and then later we got married and had you and your brothers.” Seven-year-old Julia grinned and said,

“Good.” Julia was brought back to the future, and she shrugged.

“Oh, well, I guess we could be wrong. We're allowed one mistake.”

----------------------

“Hey.” Blake stood in the doorway, talking to his father, who was sitting on his bed, leaning against some pillows, reading a book. Harry looked up when he heard Blake speak and said halfheartedly,

“Hey.”

“Mind if I join you? I want to talk with you about something.”

“Do I get three guesses as to what the topic of conversation will be?” Blake laughed shortly.

“I don't think you need three.”

“I don't care. Go ahead and talk.” Blake nodded, and went and sat cross-legged on his bed.

“They're all right you know.”

“I don't think so.”

“Why?”

“I don't want to go out with Hermione,” Harry said, looking back at what Blake now saw was his dad's favorite photo albumn.

“I think you're lying to me. You won't go out with her because you don't want her to be in danger.” Harry's gaze jerked from the album to his son.

“You want to know how I know? I could see the look on your face when you were talking with Ron. You're worried about Hermione; you're worried that something'll happen to her if you go out with her and maybe fall for her; that Voldemort'll hurt her. And what I don't understand is why you're worried about Voldemort hurting Hermione, but not about him hurting Ginny when you went out with her.” Harry finally gave in.

“Because I knew going out with Ginny wouldn't go far. I didn't want to turn her down when she asked me out, so I agreed, but I knew it wouldn't work out. She's more like a sister to me than a girlfriend. But…” Harry took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I've loved Hermione since I was fifteen. Ever since I was in the Department of Mysteries and I thought she had died. When I realized she was still alive it was then I realized I loved her, and couldn't live without her, and wouldn't want her to get hurt. Voldemort's after me, seeking to kill me, and I don't want him to kill her to get to me. So I figured if I kept telling myself she's just my best friend that I'd start to believe it, and when the time came, that Voldemort would believe it too.”

“But Hermione can take care of herself, Harry…”

“I know she can, but when Voldemort wants to kill you, there's no stopping him. One person is no match for him, except supposedly me.”

“And I know you know that no matter what, whether you're going out with her or not, she's still in danger. She's a muggle born and you know Voldemort hates muggle borns. And she's already in danger because she's your best friend.”

“I know that.”

“So, if she's already in danger, why don't you go out with her? You might as well.”

“She'd be in more danger.”

“But think about it, Harry. Have you ever heard that if you love someone you should say it, not hold it in? Because if you do, you never know when it might be too late, and you can't tell them, and they'll never know.” Harry went back to looking through his photo album, while Blake got up and left, meeting Ron on the stairs on his way up to bed.

“See ya in the morning.”

“G'night.”

---------------------------

“Please don't kill my son, take me, kill me instead. Please, have mercy.” Hermione tried making her way through the mist, trying to find the people and help them. But she heard Voldemort say,

“Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside.” The woman pleaded for mercy again, but Hermione knew she'd receive none. Hermione cringed as she heard the two words that would end the woman's life,

“Avada Kedavra.” The woman screamed, and Hermione heard her fall to the ground.

Hermione's eyes flew open and she sat up rapidly, making her daughter jump and fall to the ground in surprise. Hermione heard her mutter as she went down,

“Shit.” Hermione looked over the edge of the bed as Lily stood up again.

“Are you ok?” Hermione said a little colder than Lily would've liked to hear from her mother.

“Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern, even if it was cold,” she said sarcastically, earning a glare from Hermione.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I came to talk to you.” Lily got up and started brushing herself off.

“What do you want?”

“Well, since you're single now, the three of us and Ron think you should consider going out with Harry.”

“With Harry?”

“Yes, with Harry.”

“Why?”

“Because, we think you'd be good together.”

“I'm not going out with him.”

“Why?” Hermione sighed.

“I don't want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” Hermione snapped.

“Because isn't good enough,” Lily snapped back. Hermione glared at Lily.

“Why should I tell you anything, Lily Walker?”

“Because, I'm trying to set things right.”

“How do I know that?”

“You've got to believe me. I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help you find happiness.” Hermione snorted and laughed.

“That was a lame excuse.”

“Hermione,” Lily said, taking a deep breath so as not to start yelling at her mother, “I know you don't trust me right now. But I'm not a bad person. I'm just like you. I crave knowledge in books; I value my friends and family above anybody else. I've been described as a know-it-all; I know…I've noticed a connection between you and I, like we're supposed to be friends. I'm trying to be one to you, but I can't be if you don't trust me.”

“Why the bloody hell would I want you for a friend?” Hermione said, a laugh in her voice at the totally ludicrous answer Lily had just given her.

“Who else have you told about your reoccurring dream?” Hermione didn't answer, but Lily knew the answer.

“You obviously trust me enough to tell me about it, and I'm trying to help you figure out what it's about.” Hermione again didn't answer, she was thinking. Lily decided to quote her mother.

“You know what my mother told me once?”

“What?”

“Do not judge others before getting to know them, or else pretty soon others will do the same to you.” There was silence between the two of them.

“So, what did you dream this time?” Hermione smiled vaguely, she didn't trust Lily quite yet, but she trusted her enough with her dream.

“I heard the woman pleading with Voldemort not to kill her, to not kill her son. Then Voldemort killed her.”

“You didn't see anything?”

“No, I tried to go through the fog, but I can't reach her. I want to know who it is. And it's frustrating because I don't.”

“Someday you'll see who it is, I'm almost sure of it.” Hermione smiled half-heartedly.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah I do. You'll figure out what all this means soon.” Hermione smiled again.

“I'm not going out with Harry though.”

“Why not?” Lily said almost pleadingly.

“Because, what if I asked him and he said no? What makes you so sure he'd go out with me?”

“I don't know. But still, you'll never know unless you find out.”

“What makes you think I want to go out with him? I mean, yeah I did at one time, but what makes you think I do now?”

“He's your best friend. You just said you liked him once. And come on, it's Harry Potter. He's hot.” Lily had to force herself to not make a face of disgust. One word went through her head after she had said that last sentence.

Gross.

“If I were to go out with Harry…if I were to go out with him, it wouldn't be because he's the Boy Who Lived. It'd be because he's Harry. But I'm still not going out with him.” Lily sighed in exasperation and threw her hands up in defeat and started for the door.

“I'm not giving up on you.” Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes and Lily left the room. She went downstairs and when she saw that Blake and Julia were the only ones still in the common room, she collapsed into a chair next to them. She shuddered.

“Gross.”

“What?”

“I just told my mother that my dad was hot.” Blake and Julia laughed. Lily shuddered again. Julia shrugged.

“Well, he is at seventeen. Hell he even is at thirty-six too.” Lily and Blake made identical faces of disgust.

“Gross,” they said at the same time. Julia laughed.

“I'm a joking, guys. I don't have a secret lust for your father.”

“Good, cuz' that's just wrong.”

“But no, seriously, oh…my…God…my mother is the most stubborn person I have ever come across in all my seventeen years. Yeah, I knew she was already, but not that much.”

“Yeah, Dad's not much better. He's just as stubborn as she is.”

“Now I know where we get it from. It's just like Ron said, Harry and Hermione's kids'll be ten times as stubborn as they are.”

“Only, I think your mum and dad are ten times more stubborn, and you two are the lesser ones.”

“Well, everything up to this point has been easy as pie. But this next step is going to be hell.”

“We're up for it though. We're their son and daughter, we know them better than everyone else here except for maybe Ron, and we have his help along with Jules.”

“Alright. Well, we've a large task ahead of us, and as soon as things start looking up for Mum and Dad, we'll brew the potion and go home.”

“Before something else gets screwed up.”

-----------------

Husker-fan-2006

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10. One Too Many Lies

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Chapter 10: One Too Many Lies

---------------

Lily flopped back in her chair and sighed in vexation and covered her face with her hands.

“Oh my gosh, this is tiring work. I've never had this much trouble with anything in my entire life!” Julia let out a sound of frustration and threw her quill across the room, hitting a first year in the head. She ignored the `hey!' that came from the kid and collapsed into a chair and put her feet up on the table. Blake was massaging his temples, eyes closed, trying to get rid of a headache. To everyone else, it looked like these three were trying to figure out a difficult assignment, but the topic that was giving them so much trouble was trying to figure out another plan to get Harry and Hermione together.

“You know, what, screw it,” Lily said after a while. “We'll brew the potion, leave everything as it is, and hope that they'll get together on their own. I'm sick of their stubbornness, I just want to go home. Back to a time where my parents are together and our lives don't depend on them getting together because it's already happened. Because they're so frickin' stubborn about stuff.” Lily got up to go get the book from her dorm. Julia, staring at the floor, said quietly, so only Lily and Blake could hear,

“What's this? Lily Potter is actually giving up? That doesn't sound like her, sounds like something her brother would do.” Lily stopped and turned back.

“Hey!” Blake said in protest.

“Shut up, Blake,” Julia said. Julia pulled Lily towards her.

“If we give up and go back now, who knows what kind of crap will be waiting for us when we go home,” she muttered in Lily's ear. “We started this; we need to finish it. We can't give up now.” After Julia was done speaking, she let go of the arm of Lily's robes, and Lily straightened up, walked back to her chair and sat down. She leaned over the table again.

“Alright, here's what we can try…”

---------------

“What school did they say they went to?”

“They said they came from a school in America.” Hermione shook her head.

“They're not from America. Not with British accents. There's only one wizarding school in America, and that's Salem Academy for Witches and Wizards. Come on, we need to go to the library.” Once the three of them had gotten to the library, Hermione immediately went to a shelf for a book. She came back with a thick book in hand thirty seconds later.

“That was fast,” said Harry.

“She spends all her time down here, Harry, she knows where all the books are by heart.” Hermione glared at Ron and sat down at one of the tables, and the other two joined them. Hermione explained what the book was for.

“This book is the history of Salem Academy for the last hundred years. It has the enrollment lists in it also, and it was published four years ago. So if those three were from where they say they are, then they'd be in third year, and on this list.” She opened the book to the enrollment pages, and flipped to the third year pages. Hermione scanned the list of C's for Carter.

“Carter, Amanda. Carter, Cole. Carter, Garrett. Carter, Kylie,” She smiled a smile that said `I knew it.' “There's no Julia Carter on this list.” She flipped to the W's.

“Walker, Ashton. No Blake Walker. Walker, David. Walker, Leslie. No Lily Walker either,” She smiled that smile again. “See, I told you they lied to us again.”

“Then where the bloody hell are they from?” Ron asked. Hermione shrugged.

“I don't know, but this is getting too extreme. I'm going to find out what's going on. Are you two with me?”

“What do you want us to do?” Harry said quietly.

“I'll do the research. You two try and get information out of them, see if they slip.”

----------------

“Abort, abort plan. Ron and Dad are coming this way.” Lily and Julia quick shuffled papers and notes around so it looked like all three of them were doing homework.

“May we help you?” Julia said sweetly once Harry and Ron had reached them.

“What are you up to?” Harry asked. It was the same kind of `What are you up to?' question that he asked his son and daughter in the future. And Lily's response was in the same way she would've answered her father when pretended not to be up to something.

“Nothing,” she said, grabbing her glass of water next to her and sipping it, not meeting Harry's eyes.

“Nothing, really?” Harry said, clearly not believing them.

“Well, we're just doing some homework,” said Blake.

“Yeah, the Potions essay is murder.”

“Snape's essays are always like that.” There was a small silence, until Julia broke it.

“Um, was there something you two needed?”

“Oh, we were going to ask you again, we forgot see, what school did you three attend before coming to Hogwarts?” Ron asked.

“Um, Salem Academy for Witches and Wizards.”

“Really? Because you don't sound like three teenagers from America. Your accents sound British.”

“We lived in England for a short amount of time before we went to school here, and it's hard not to speak this way when you live among others with this accent.”

“Hmm. And what were your parents names?”

“James and Isabelle Walker. Julia's parents are Ted and Marissa Carter.”

“Are you going to let them speak, Lily, or do you speak for them?”

“No, they can speak.”

“What year were you three born?” Julia looked down and the irises in her eyes moved back and forth quickly as she did some quick math.

“I was born in 1988, these two were born in 1987.” (A/N: To make it easier for me, I'm just setting the stories in present day, I know the years are different, but I've heard so many different years that the Harry Potter stories take place, and I'm confused, so for the sake of saving my brain some thinking, it's just in present day.) Deciding that was enough questions for now, Harry said,

“So, you're working on your Potions essay. Since we don't have ours done, we'll join you.” They both left to get their homework, and while they were gone, Julia, Blake, and Lily all looked at each other with unease.

“They suspect us.”

--------------

`Where can I go to find out stuff about those three?' Then it hit her. The Room of Requirement would give her some information; she just had to think hard enough about it. She put the books she pulled out of the shelves back and left the library, heading up to the third floor, not stopping until the door appeared to the Room of Requirement. She opened it, and it didn't give her much, but every little bits counts, she thought. A book was left open on changing appearance. How to change color of hair, how to change color of eyes, and how to change color of skin. Hermione thought for a bit, and knew she needed Lily's wand. She figured she was the one who cast the spells. She needed Harry or Ron to steal Lily's wand for her, but how would she get back there and tell them without someone realizing what she was up to? Then it came to her. She snapped her fingers.

“Dobby!” she called. And Dobby appeared. He saw who had called him and a grin broke out on his face.

“Miz Hermy! Harry Potter's great friend. The foolish one who is trying to free us house elves! Oh forgive me, Miz Hermy!!” His hands went to his ears to try and hurt himself, but Hermione grabbed them and stopped him.

“Dobby, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything Miz Hermy.”

“Go to the Gryffindor Common Room and tell Harry that I need him to steal Lily Walker's wand for me, but don't let Lily, Julia or Blake know what's going on. Do you know who those three are?” Dobby nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, yes, Dobby is wise and knows these things! And I's keeps secrets.”

“Ok. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes Miz Hermy!” He bowed and disappeared.

--------------

Dobby appeared out of nowhere in the common room a few seconds later. There was a commotion about a house elf that was not in the kitchens. When Dobby saw Harry he flung his arms around Harry's knees and hugged him.

“Harry Potter sir!”

“What are you doing here, Dobby?”

“I's come with a message, sir from Miz Hermy!”

“From Hermione?”

“Yes, that's what I said, Miz Hermy!” Harry smiled a little.

“What does she need?”

“She needs…” He stopped when he saw Lily, Julia and Blake watching. He dropped his voice to a whisper so Harry had to lean closer to hear it. While Harry was talking to Dobby, Blake leaned over to whisper in his sister's ear.

“Isn't that our house elf? The one that gets paid for what he does? Dobby?”

“I think it is.”

“Miz Hermy tells me to tells you that she needs Miz Lily's wand,” Dobby said to Harry.

“What for?”

“She not tells me, Harry Potter, sir. Just to tells you that.”

“Did she say how I'm going to steal it?”

“No, just to tells you that.” Then Dobby had a sudden idea.

“Harry Potter sir, I has an idea!”

“What is it?”

“House elves is good at sneaking and not being seen. I's could steal it for you, and bring it to Miz Hermy.”

“Where is Hermione?”

“Room of Requirement, sir.”

“Ok, Dobby, Ron and I will distract them and you steal the wand and bring it back to Hermione.” Dobby nodded and disappeared. Once he had, Harry straightened up in his chair and picked up his quill again.

“What was that all about?” Lily asked.

“Oh, nothing. Dobby's a friend.” Lily didn't like the answer she got, but didn't push the matter. She didn't realize that Dobby had reappeared and had stolen her wand that stuck out of her pocket of her robes. She would never know it was gone.

-----------

Dobby reappeared with Lily's wand in hand. He handed it to Hermione.

“Here you go, Miz Hermy. I's had to steal it, I was sneaking.” Hermione smiled and nodded.

“Well, thank you so much, Dobby.”

“Is Miss needing anything else?”

“No, thank you, Dobby.” Dobby bowed and disappeared with a `crack'. Hermione took Lily wand in her left hand, and her wand in her right and pointed her wand at Lily's.

“Prior Incantato.” A few little spells came back, and the conjuration of a flower, which Hermione thought was weird. Then a few more little spells, and finally the spells that she did to change appearance. The last one she did was one changing the color of the flesh. Probably for Julia, since she was the darkest one there. Then to change the color of hair to blonde. That would be Julia's hair. The room provided a picture of Julia, Lily, and Blake, and Hermione changed the color of Julia's hair in the picture in a reverse, so it was the original color. Red. Not just plain red. Weasley red. And blue eyes. Hermione's jaw dropped.

“It can't be,” she whispered to no one. “Then…” Hermione set the picture aside and took the one of Lily. The next thing Lily conjured were two pairs of contacts like muggle ones that would turn her eyes brown, and Hermione assumed the second pair was for Blake. She reversed the spell on the pictures of the twins and their eyes turned green. A bright green she had only seen on one person. Then the hair color, for Blake. Brown from black. After she had reversed the spell on the Blake in the picture, Hermione looked at it and gasped putting a hand to her mouth.

“Oh my God.”

A/n: Hee hee!! A cliffie for you all. I had to put one in somewhere, but I'm sure you all know what she sees. Anyways, please review!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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11. Breakaway

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Chapter 11: Breakaway

A/n: Here's a short chapter for you, a little fluffiness between two characters. And I know you're probably guessing who, but don't jump to conclusions yet. The song is by Kelly Clarkson, called Breakaway. Hence the title of the chapter.

A/n: Normally, I would use italics for lyrics of songs, but I can't figure out why when I use a lot of italics it makes the rest of my chapter in italics. So for now, the lyrics are in bold.

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The common room cleared out slowly, everyone started to go to bed. Pretty soon Julia was the only person left in the common room. She wandered around, looking for something to occupy her time. She stumbled across a wizard's equivalent to a muggle CD player that someone had left, along with his or her CDs. Julia looked through the selections, seeing what variety this person owned. Then she came across one CD that she owned. Yes, she owned muggle CDs, mostly presents from her grandfather, who was obsessed with muggle objects. Julia put the CD in the player and pushed play so the first track would play. The music started up and she turned it down low enough so no one could hear it, but loud enough so she could hear it. She began to sing along with the song, closing her eyes and pretending like she was singing in front of thousands of people.

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I just stared out my window
Dreaming of a could-be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

Trying not to reach out
But when I'd try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I pray
I could breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes `til I touch the sky
I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk

Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away
And breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes `til I touch the sky
I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk

Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Someone heard her singing, though he didn't know who it was. He got out of bed and went downstairs to the common room where he saw Julia pick up a quill and used it as a microphone. He sat down on the last step and crossed his arms across his knees and smiled as he watched her sing.

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around wild indoors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway. Julia loved that song; she always thought it fit her perfectly. She always wanted to breakaway from her large family, go out into the world and make something of herself. She turned and jumped for she had seen who was watching her. She put her hand to her chest and snapped,

“Blake James Potter, you frickin' scared the hell outta me! What are you doing down here?”

“Ok, easy with my real name here, you want people to find out who we are? And I'm sorry I scared you. I heard singing, and thought I'd go see who it was.” Julia took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Is this what you do by yourself, sing for an invisible audience?” Blake said, teasingly.

“Shut up. Don't make fun of me.”

“I'm sorry. I'm not making fun of you. You actually have a nice voice.” Julia smiled halfheartedly.

“Yeah right.” She shut the CD player off and sat down on the couch in front of the fire. Blake got up and sat beside her and turned to face her.

“No, seriously. You do, the song was pretty.”

“Thank you,” Julia said softly. She looked up at Blake, who was still looking at her. She yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and they sat looking at the dying fire. Blake put his hand below Julia's chin and tilted her head up. They both leaned in, and were inches away from a kiss, but someone cleared their throat. Julia sat up quick and they tried to look like nothing was going to happen. They looked to see who cleared their throat and saw it was Hermione, returning from wherever she was at. Both Blake and Julia blushed and stood up and Blake bid both women good night and headed for the boys' staircase. Later that night, when Julia was sure all the girls in her dorm were asleep, she went over to her best friend's bed and pulled back the curtains. She shook Lily awake, and being a light sleeper, woke up without any trouble. She turned over and rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?” she said sleepily.

“Still dark. It's two o'clock.”

“What do you want?” Julia took a seat at the foot of Lily's bed, while Lily sat up.

“You know what the weirdest thing was that just happened?” Julia whispered.

“What?”

“I almost kissed your brother.”

“You what?”

“I almost kissed your brother.”

“Why?”

“I don't know, it was just a moment thing. It was weird. We were sitting in the common room in front of the fire, and I was leaning against him, and then we just, almost kissed.”

“Why didn't you? What stopped you?” Julia leaned around the open curtain at Hermione's bed, saw she was asleep, and dropped her voice to a softer whisper.

“Your mother walked in.” Lily laughed softly. Julia laughed too.

“I guess it's the irony of it all. Even when we're back in time your mum still walks in on her son about to kiss a girl. But anyways, that's all I wanted to tell you, so go back to sleep.”

“Hey, so what is this then? Are you two…official or something or what?”

“I don't know. I'll figure it out later. I'll let you know.”

“Ok. Good night, Jules.”

“Yeah, see you in a couple hours, Lils.”

A/n: Here's a short little fluffy chapter for y'all. I had planned from the beginning that these two would have a “moment” such as Julia put it. It doesn't resolve the cliffie, but don't worry, it's in the next chapter, I promise you!! So that's what'll get you to review, cliffies!! I should put more in!! (*Gets prepared to duck flying objects thrown from readers*) Joking!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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12. The Son and Daughters of the Trio

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Chapter 12: The Son and Daughters of the Trio

A/n: Well, here it is, the moment of truth. The chapter you've been pestering me about since I left that cliffie! It sure brought in the reviews; I should use cliffies more often! Anyways, thanks so much for everyone so far that has reviewed, hope you've enjoyed it up until now, and continue to read and review for the next chapters!

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“Hermione, did you find out anything?”

“Oh yes, I found out something,” Hermione said the next day after classes when everyone was in the common room.

“Well?”

“Oh my God, Harry, look at this.” She handed the pictures to him, and he looked at them.

“Who are these people?”

“That's Julia,” She said, pointing at the picture of the red head. She pointed to the raven-haired girl,

“That's Lily, and…” Harry's eyes widened in shock when he saw the next picture.

“That's Blake.” Ron, who was looking over Harry's shoulder muttered,

“Bloody hell.”

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“What's the matter, Lils?”

“Look.” She pointed to the trio, and Julia and Blake saw they were looking at pictures.

“What about them?”

“Those aren't just normal pictures…” She gasped and stood up quickly, and Julia realized the same thing as Lily and stood up with her. Blake also stood up and followed as his sister and friend almost sprinted across the room.

“What are you doing?!” Lily screamed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked up. The second-generation trio's fears were confirmed. The pictures showed their true identity. Harry and Ron both were glaring at Lily, Blake, and Julia, while Hermione had a smug smile on her face.

“What the hell is up with this?” Harry said fiercely. Lily was going to answer, but Hermione beat her to it.

“It's quite simple. Remember when we were thinking these three were from another time period? Well, they are. From the future. You know how I know? I found that book under Lily's pillow. She dog-eared the page that gave the instructions for going back into the future.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. They are…” But Lily interrupted her.

“No! Don't say it.” Hermione ignored Lily.

“These two are your son and daughter, Harry. And Ron, Julia is your daughter, so I'm assuming by the Weasley red hair.” It was like a timer went off, the roots of Julia and Blake's hair turned back to their natural born color. Lily closed her eyes as Julia's skin lightened and her brother's hair changed slowly back to black, and again was messy like his dad's. When she opened her eyes, they were green again, and so were Blake's. It was almost creepy seeing those two with different color eyes. Not so much the color, but the brightness and the fact they were identical to Harry's eyes. Harry and Ron's jaws dropped. Harry looked at Blake.

“Oh my God, he looks just like me,” he muttered. Hermione, however, knew the spell would reverse when she revealed the effects of the spell and smiled smugly. Lily fixed a glare on her mother.

“So now you know. Yes, it's true; we're from the future. Nineteen years to be exact. And yes, Blake and I are Harry's only son and daughter, and Julia is Ron's oldest daughter. It was by accident that we arrived here, and we seem to have messed a few things up by coming into the past, and so we tried to fix them,” she said coldly. Ron cleared his throat.

“Um, Julia, who's your mother?”

“I probably shouldn't tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because there's been enough damage since Hermione can't frickin' leave things alone,” she glared at her godmother. “We've probably caused a time paradox, and the future will be messed up, all because your friend can't keep her nose out of things,” Julia said coldly.

“You can tell him, Jules, it won't make any difference now.”

“Ok. Fine. You end up marrying Luna Lovegood, and having five kids with her. I'm the oldest and the only girl, then my brother Seth, then my twin brothers, Noah and Cole, then my littlest brother Ryan.”

“I marry Luna? Was I drunk?”

“No, you love her, and were engaged for four months, or so I'm told.”

“So this is why you've taken such an interest in getting Harry and me to go out with each other.” Hermione asked Lily and Blake.

“That's right. I guess going out with your best friend doesn't seem so ludicrous after all, does it Hermione? Or rather, mother.” Lily said sarcastically. Harry looked closely at Lily, and he saw it.

“I don't know why I didn't see it before. Even without the eye color and hair color you two look like us.”

“Are there just the two of you?”

“Yes. Just the two of us.” Hermione then realized something.

“Then my reoccurring dream, you knew what that was about?” Lily nodded.

“You told me a few years ago about it. You've been dreaming about the day your mother-in-law and father-in-law died.” Hermione's jaw dropped.

“Why, though?”

“I don't know, you don't know even nineteen years from now.” Harry looked at Hermione in astonishment.

“You've been dreaming about the day my parents died?”

“I guess. I'd been having this reoccurring dream for the past two weeks, that I'd be in a fog, and hear someone screaming, pleading for mercy from Voldemort so he'd kill her instead of her…son.” Hermione trailed off, she realized it made sense that she was dreaming of when Lily and James Potter died. It was exactly like Harry had always described when the dementors got too close. She needed to sit down. The second-generation trio left their parents in the state of shock they were in and went to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had the ingredients for them ready to go. Lily mixed them together and in an hour, set it to simmer for a week with plenty of fresh air it needed to mature. They didn't go back to the common room right away, they sat on the floor of Dumbledore's office, trying to go over what just happened within the last half hour before they brewed the potion.

“I couldn't help but notice your appearance is different than the last time I saw you. Somebody discover your identity?” Lily nodded.

“You're Ron's daughter, aren't you, Julia?” Julia nodded.

“And Blake and Beth are Harry's children.” Blake nodded.

“My name isn't Beth. It's Lily.” Dumbledore nodded knowingly.

“Of course. And Blake's middle name is probably James since his first name isn't right?” Blake nodded.

“Yeah, it is.”

“I see. Why so depressed?”

“We failed to do what we set out to do.”

“What was that?”

“When we arrived in the past, things weren't the way they were supposed to be. People weren't dating the people they were supposed to be. Ron and Hermione were going out with each other, and Harry and Ginny were going out with each other. But Harry and Hermione get together this year and then two years later they get married and have Lily and me. So we tried all we could to get them together, but they're too stubborn.”

“Tell me, Blake, did you learn anything from this experience?”

“What?”

“Time is better left to run its course by itself, and never to be tampered with. Because once you do, the time continuum gets disarrayed. If you had stayed in your time, your parents would've ended up together like they should.”

“But since we came back in time, we've threatened our own existence.”

“True, but you have to sit back and watch for a while, see where things go before you take charge. Think about it. But now, I think it's time for you to go back to the Gryffindor common room. I'll call you back in a week and you can take the potion if things are the way they're supposed to be that you don't go forward in time and find out you don't exist. But let fate play with the situation a little.” Lily, Blake, and Julia got up and left Dumbledore's office. They slowly walked back to the common room, not feeling much better.

“Hey, maybe things'll turn out the way they're supposed to anyways. I mean, now your mum and dad know they'll end up together and my Dad knows he'll end up with my Mum.” Blake and Lily didn't say anything, but they both hoped Julia was right.

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A/n: Here's another short chapter, I'm sorry these are the length that they are, this just felt like a good stopping place. Hope you enjoyed. So the secret is out. Please review!!

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13. Awkward Moments

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Chapter 13: Awkward Moments

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Julia woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of someone sobbing. She rolled over, and saw her best friend in bed lying on her side, arms curled around her pillow, wiping away occasional tears. Julia threw the covers back and got out of bed, kneeling beside Lily's bed. She wiped a tear away from Lily's cheek.

“What's wrong?”

“Look at me, look at you, and look at Blake. We're all the way we looked before. We've messed up the future, so much that we're probably never going to be born.” She sniffled and wiped away more tears.

“You never know, Lils, it might turn out alright.”

“Yeah right. I doubt it.”

“Well, like I said, they know they're going to end up together now, so maybe it'll be different.”

“Yeah right, they probably would refuse to, just to be spiteful and ruin our lives, kill us all.”

“They would never…ok, maybe they would, but you never know.”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, you never know, it's like your mum always says, you shouldn't give up, even if it looks hopeless, because even in bleak situations there's still hope.” Lily gave a short laugh.

“I never want to take my mother's advice ever again.”

“Why?”

“Because you know what I figured out today?”

“What?”

“My mother's a bitch.” Julia smiled.

“Well we knew that already, though she's more so now than we knew as her daughter and goddaughter.” Lily mirrored her friend's smile.

“I mean, I always figured she was that way to us sometimes because she's just a mum, mums are just that way. But Dad always told me that when they were younger, that my mother was kind to everyone, with the exception of a few people. She was strong and stubborn, and brilliant. I never thought he might be lying to me.”

“Your dad wasn't lying, Lils, your mum is a nice person, some of the time. But judging from what we've seen of her since we've been here, yeah, she is a bitch.”

“Tell me the truth, Jules. People say I'm just like her, am I a bitch too?” Julia grinned teasingly.

“Do you really want the truth?” Lily sighed.

“Gee, thanks, Jules.”

“I'm joking, Lils. You're not a bitch, and you're not your mother. You're Lily Potter, not Hermione. Because the other half of your DNA belongs to your father and he's a nice guy. A strict dad to his two children sometimes, but still a nice guy,” Lily smiled. “But you'll never be your mother, because you're too much like both of your parents. But, I think the reason why Hermione's been this way is because she knew there was something different about us, she knew we weren't telling the truth, and she didn't know whether we were dangerous or not. She didn't trust us, and she was afraid that if we were dangerous that we'd hurt the people close to her. So, deep down, she is a caring person. To everyone but us in this time period.” Lily nodded slowly.

“But you know what I've noticed in the time we've been here, Lils?”

“What?”

“Your dad is whipped.” Lily laughed.

“I mean, your mum and dad aren't even going out yet, and she's got him whipped.” Lily laughed again.

“But see, my Dad's stayin' strong. She hasn't corrupted him yet,” Julia shook her fist slightly. Lily rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, but your mum has him whipped. Worse than how my mum has my dad whipped. You just don't see it yet.” Both girls laughed.

“Do you feel better now?”

“A little. Thanks.” Julia nodded and stood up to go back to her bed. She glanced over at Hermione's bed and saw she was still awake. The smile on Julia's face turned into a cold glare.

“Yeah, we're talking about you. Got a problem?” A glare was all the answer Julia got from Hermione. Julia didn't say anything more and crawled back into bed.

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The next morning the Gryffindor Common Room was split into two groups. Actually, it was the entire Gryffindor house against Lily, Blake, and Julia. It was a Saturday, so no one had any classes, and everyone hung around the common room all day. Midway through the day, Julia commented,

“This is going to be a long week.” Sometime in the day, Julia acquired a wizard's chess set, and challenged Blake to a game. Blake, like his dad, wasn't very good at the game, while Julia, who took after her dad when it came to wizard's chess, was an excellent chess player. Blake knew before he started that he lost, but he didn't care.

“Knight to F-6.” Julia scanned the board, and smiled smugly.

“Queen to F-6.” Lily closed her book and sat next to her brother, looking over his shoulder. She saw a play and whispered it in Blake's ear. Trying not to grin, he said,

“Bishop to F-6.” Julia watched in horror as Blake's bishop took her queen.

“That's cheating!”

“How?”

“You had Lily tell you what to do.”

“So, you're a better chess player than he is, so it's only fair that two equally average chess players take on a above average chess player.” Even with her queen taken, and with Lily helping Blake, Julia still won the match. She sat back smugly in her chair and put her hands behind her head and crossed her legs.

“Come on, Blake, give me a challenge.”

“You know you'll always beat me, Jules. You know that there's no one that can give you a good challenge in chess except your dad, and there's no way in hell he'll agree to play chess with you.”

“I hate this seclusion from the rest of the house, it's eerily creepy.” Both Blake and Lily were confused by Julia's choice of words.

“Um, Jules, eerily and creepy are pretty much the same thing.”

“Whatever, I'm not one of those professors who teach grammar and stuff.”

“English teachers?”

“Yeah, those. Anyways, I hate this. Why did your mother have to go rat us out?”

“That's mum for you, that's why.”

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“Tell me again why we're avoiding them?” Harry said.

“Because, you heard Hermione tell you who they are, they're our kids.”

“So? So they're from the future, and so they're our kids,” Harry said. “It's not like we won't meet them sooner or later.”

“Harry, they lied to us about who they were, and it's weird to see my son and daughter two years before they're even born,” Hermione said.

“So what? They're our kids, Hermione, our flesh and blood, and here we're treating them like they're contagious with some deadly disease or something.”

“What are you suggesting then, Harry?”

“At least let's go talk with them, instead of isolating them from everyone.”

“I agree with Harry. This common room is eerily creepy today.”

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Blake yawned. And since yawns are contagious, Julia yawned, and then Lily yawned. They all laughed.

“Don't do that again, Blake,” Julia said. Lily pulled out one of the books she got from the library. Blake groaned when he saw it.

“Hogwarts, A History again? You've read it already, twice.”

“So what? It's an interesting read. How many times have you read Dad's copy of Quidditch Through the Ages?” Blake didn't answer her.

“See? There's nothing wrong with reading a book more than once.”

“But there's over fifteen hundred pages in that book, Quidditch Through the Ages only has three hundred.”

“So what? Just because you don't have the patience to read this book, doesn't mean I can't read it.”

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“Well, I'm going down to the library, anyone want to join me?” Neither Harry nor Ron answered her. She sighed and left the common room.

“What the hell is yours and Hermione's problem?” Ron said, closing his book.

“What?”

“You two know you're going to end up with each other, why don't you ask her out?”

“I don't know.” Harry said, running his hand through his hair.

“What more proof do you need that you'll marry her? There's two people over there that Hermione has already pointed out are your son and daughter. Your son and daughter with Hermione. Blake looks exactly like you, and Lily has your eyes and hair color and she looks almost exactly like Hermione.”

“Look, Ron, I have time. If we're supposed to be together, I'll have time. I don't have to do it now, I can maybe ask her out after Voldemort's gone or something, then she'll be safe.”

“You don't know that. What if something happens between now and then that she meets someone else and it's too late? Then you've screwed up the future and…”

“Screwed up the future for who? Not for me, not for Hermione, but them. The only ones who will endure anyone screwing up the future is them. They can wait.”

“You don't know that either. What if you never make it back? What if having a wife and kids gives you something to fight for and it helps you make it back to them? If you wait till afterwards, you might not make it back alive.”

“Gee, that's a really comforting thought, Ron.”

“I'm serious Harry.”

“Here, let's go talk to them.” Harry got up and walked across the room to the future trio, Ron following close behind.

A/n: Here's another short chapter. I'm sorry about the chapter lengths, I know they should be longer, but look at it this way; shorter chapters mean shorter times between updates. Also reviews help too to shorten the days between updates. So please review!!!

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14. Tales of the Future

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Chapter 14: Tales of the Future

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“Um, are you lost? This is exile part of the common room. Unless you want to ruin how your peers think of you, you'd better leave ASAP,” Julia said once Ron and Harry reached the table, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Harry sighed.

“Julia, how long do you know me in the future?”

“All my life.”

“Then you would know that I don't give a damn about what other people think of me. People have been doing it for years, and I'm used to it.”

“Yes, but I didn't know that, I only know the thirty-six year old Harry Potter, the one in my time, I don't know the seventeen year old one.”

“Anyways, Lily, Blake, I need to ask you something.”

“What?” Lily and Blake said at the same time.

“Has Voldemort been defeated by time you're seventeen?” Lily and Blake nodded. It was strange to see three people who didn't flinch at the sound of Voldemort's name.

“Was it before or after you were born?”

“After,” They said in unison again.

“How old were you when he was defeated?”

“Eight,” They said, again in unison.

“You were eight?” They nodded again.

“I remember that day like it was yesterday,” Lily said. “I remember trying so hard to figure out why Daddy had to leave, and why he might not come back. But you didn't go by yourself, Mum went with, and so did Ron. We stayed with Luna for two weeks, waiting for news and dreading what the news would be. But thankfully, all three of you came back. You never talked about it, no one ever spoke of it; no one but the people who were there knew what had happened.”

“So there's ten more years of all this?” Lily nodded.

“It can't wait that long, mate,” Ron said to Harry.

“What can't wait?” Julia asked.

“Nothing.”

“I want you to do something for me, Lily,” Harry said.

“And that is?”

“Explain these dreams Hermione's been having.”

“I've pretty much told you everything. Anything else you want to know, you have to talk to her about. I've told you all I know.”

“But she must have told you in the future.”

“Yes, she told me that she used to have them, but not too much about them. I mean, how else do you tell your daughter that stuff? She told you, but that's understandable, since you are her husband.”

“I see.”

“Tell me this, this is going to sound like a totally random question but I am going somewhere with it, ok, Lily, you're obviously named after Harry's mother. Blake, are you any way named after his dad?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, my middle name is James.”

“Blake James Potter, and Lily…”

“Anne.”

“Anne Potter. And Julia…?”

“Hope.”

“Hope?”

“Yeah. For my mother's aunt that died a month before I was born, her name was Hope.”

“Julia Hope Weasley.”

“Yes.”

“All those names have an interesting ring to them, don't they? Especially Lily and Blake's.” Ron said pointedly at Harry who gave him an annoyed look.

“And how are you tying that in that I should go out with Hermione?”

“Only Hermione would name her son with you Blake and give her daughter with you the middle name Anne.”

“Why would only Hermione do that?”

“Those are her parents' names. When Hermione said that they were your kids, it made sense, I figured that Blake's middle name was James and Lily's was Anne, because then they'd be named after both sets of parents. So they live on through their grandchildren since they're gone. Admit it, Harry, that would be a very Hermione thing to do, wouldn't it?” Without giving Harry a chance to reply, Ron was launching more questions to the trio.

“What do we do in the future? Like what are our jobs?”

“You're all Aurors.”

“Really?”

“Really. But Harry and Hermione are also teachers. They teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“Along with Auror duties?”

“Yep, that's why you both teach, just in case one of you can't be there for classes.”

“How long have we been there?”

“Since the year before we started school, so going on eight years.”

“What Auror duties do we have if Voldemort is gone?”

“Death Eaters trying to avenge their master's death. To take their anger out on the man who killed him.”

Ron dropped his voice to barely above a whisper and said, “Are we part of the Order?”

“Think about it, Ron, do you even have to ask that, would Harry Potter and his best friends be in the Order of the Phoenix?”

“Ok, stupid question.” Ron and Harry pulled up chairs for themselves and sat down.

“So, do the three of us still stay close friends after we get out of school?”

“Yeah. Harry and Hermione are my godparents, and you and Luna are Lily and Blake's godparents.”

“And you're one of the people we consider uncles, and Luna's like an aunt to us, since we don't have any blood aunts and uncles.”

“Who else do you consider aunts and uncles?”

“Well, let's see, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Angelina, Alicia, Fleur, um…Ginny, Draco…” Lily trailed off, and clapped a hand over her mouth. Julia, Blake and Harry all gave her wide-eyed looks because she had spilled who Ginny's secret boyfriend was.

“What? Malfoy is considered an uncle to you?” Ron said. Lily didn't answer, nor nod or shake her head.

“Why?” Ron said slowly.

“Um…I can't tell you.”

“You'd better, you just said that the foulest, evil, student in this school is considered part of your family. And your implying that he's married to Ginny.” The trio didn't make eye contact with Ron. But Harry figured out what he thought was true.

“Oh my God, Ginny ends up with Draco Malfoy? I thought it'd just be a fling or something.”

“You know about this?” Ron said, rounding on Harry.

“Yeah, that's who she left me for.”

“Why the hell would he marry my sister, he hates our family.”

“He changes. It's all a thing leading up to the defeat of Voldemort. It starts this year. He reformed almost ten years before the battle, denied the Dark Mark against his father's wishes, and I think even ended up killing Lucius in the end.”

“No way, Draco Malfoy? The same Malfoy that lives in his father's image, that can't wait to receive the Dark Mark?”

“That's the same Malfoy.”

“That's impossible.”

“Nothing's impossible. And believe me, he does change. Just give him a chance when the opportunity comes up,” Lily said.

“Speaking of opportunity…” Ron said, looking pointedly at Harry.

“Just shut up Ron.”

“He's right though, you know,” Julia said.

“I know he is, and I hate it when he's right.” Ron grinned.

“Does that mean you're going to go for it?”

“Can we drop the subject please?” The five of them talked a little longer, all the while Harry was thinking. The more he talked with Lily and Blake, the more he liked them and the more he realized how much they were like himself and Hermione. At times it was almost like talking to himself and Hermione. Then he thought about Hermione in the library. He did love her, but didn't want her to be hurt. Then he thought of what Blake had said to him before, “Have you ever heard that if you love someone you should say it, not hold it in? Because if you do, you never know when it might be too late, and you can't tell them, and they'll never know.”

Harry said to Lily, Julia, Blake and Ron, “I have an idea, and I need all of your help.”

A/n: Here's chapter 14 peoples! Hope you enjoyed, please review!!

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15. Path of Roses

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Chapter 15: Paths of Roses and Revealed Secrets

A/n: Harry and Hermione fluff to come in this chapter!!

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“What's this idea of yours? And how can we help?” Lily said, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

“You three are a conniving bunch, aren't you?”

“Why, Harry, you know us so well,” Lily said, pretending to be flattered.

“Well, apparently I should, you're my kids.” Lily and Blake looked at each other and grinned.

“Anyways, here's what I'm thinking…”

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Hermione again had fallen asleep in the library. She woke up and was about to close her book, but something out of the ordinary on her table was there. A rose, with a note attached, was lying on her papers. She opened the note; she didn't recognize the neat handwriting that formed the words on the paper.

Follow the path of roses. The next one is where the little creatures work, where the subjects that S.P.E.W helps are.

The kitchens. Intrigued, Hermione gathered her books and went down to the kitchens. She tickled the pear and the portrait opened up. She went inside and immediately five house elves came up to her, asking her what she would like to eat. But they saw who she was and slowly backed away, afraid she was going to start going on about house elf rights. But she felt a tug at her robes on her left side. Dobby and Winky were standing next to her, and Winky smiled and handed her the next rose and the note. In the same tidy handwriting, it read,

Your next place to stop is the place where the food from where you are goes. Where all the activities are.

Hermione thought a little bit. Where all the food goes from the kitchens? Ron's stomach? She thought in confusion. Her gaze fell on the four tables in the kitchen. Then it hit her. The Great Hall. She bid the house elves farewell, and went to the Great Hall. It was empty, but on the Gryffindor table was the next rose and note, and next to them was a small plate of her favorite cookies; Oreos. Hermione opened the slip of paper and read,

After a snack, to the Marauder's class you go. Beware of boggarts and hinky-punks and vampires as you go.

That was simple. The Marauder's class. The only true one left was Remus. He taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione took a few cookies along and went to the DADA classroom. On the desk where she sat every class was the next rose and note.

Your task is nearly through, just two more roses to go. Your next rose is where the battle of houses takes place. Where your future son takes after his father.

Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion. The battle of the houses could be anywhere. Where her future son takes after his father. Blake was her future son, and Harry's his father. Then it came to her. The Quidditch Pitch. Hermione walked the long way to the Pitch, noticing that the sun had gone down and the last ounce of light fell across the grounds. Hermione had no idea where to look for the next rose, especially when it was dark, until she saw the second-generation trio sitting in the stands, talking. Their voices and laughter echoed off from the empty field. They had lit their wands, three wand tips shone brightly in the night sky. She climbed up the stairs to them, and when she got there, they stopped talking and stared at her. She didn't say anything, just narrowed her eyes at them. Her daughter handed her the next rose and note. Hermione took it from her.

“Let me guess, you all had something to do with this,” she said coldly. The three of them shrugged.

“Dunno,” Julia said. Nobody said anything, and Hermione didn't open the note.

“Well, are you going to read the note, see what it's about?” Blake said, prompting Hermione. Hermione opened the note and read…

Hate to do this to you, it's a long walk I know, but your last rose is waiting for you where the constellations are found. It's a starry bright night; the harvest moon has bathed the world in light.

Hermione looked up at the sky, the moon was just starting to rise. By time she reached the Astronomy Tower, it'd be fully up. She turned to the trio.

“Let me guess, this is all some plan you've concocted to get Harry and me together?”

“Dunno. But one thing I do know that the idea for this had nothing to do with us.” Hermione gave them all an annoyed look for their refusal to divulge any more information.

“Hermione,”

“What?” Lily smiled.

“Go on.” Hermione took all her roses and notes and left the Quidditch Pitch, entered the castle and made her way up to the Astronomy Tower. When she got there, she found Harry sitting on the ledge.

“Harry? What are you…?” Hermione trailed off as Harry had stood up and walked over to her, stopping right in front of her, a smile on his face as he handed her the last rose.

“What's this all about?” Harry didn't answer her; he just leaned in and brushed a light kiss on her lips. Never in her life did she ever expect to feel Harry's lips on her own. It set off sparks and fireworks in her body, reaching to all areas of her body all the way down to her toes. Hermione slowly opened her eyes as he broke the kiss.

“That. That's what all this was about.” Harry took the roses from Hermione's hand and set them on the ground and took her hands in both of his.

“I want to tell you something. Something I've wanted to tell you since the end of fifth year.”

“What is it?” Hermione said, barely raising her voice above a whisper.

“I love you. I've loved you since that night in the Department of Mysteries. Ever since that moment when I thought you were dead, I realized I couldn't live without you.” Hermione smiled, but didn't say anything, tears starting to form in her eyes. After a minute of waiting for her to respond, Harry started getting worried.

“Hermione? Um, now would be a good time to say something.”

“Why?” Hermione whispered. “Why do you love me?”

“Love doesn't have to make sense, `Mione. It just happens.”

“It does have to make sense in this situation, it's you and me. You could have any girl in this school, why would you love me?”

“You've always been there for me through everything, you've stood by me no matter what. You're beautiful, smart, and I don't want any of the other girls in this school. They see me as the tragic hero they all feel sorry for. You see me as Harry James Potter, not the Boy Who Lived.” Hermione's tears were starting to run down her face and Harry wiped them away.

“Why are you crying?”

“Why do you have to be so wonderful?” Hermione tearfully responded. Harry laughed.

“I'm sorry. Would you rather I be mean?” Hermione shook her head, and Harry wiped more tears from her cheeks and kissed her again. This time it was a longer kiss, and Hermione ended up breaking it.

“You're not just doing this because of Lily and Blake are you?”

“No. I told you, I've loved you since fifth year, two years before they showed up.” Hermione smiled through her tears, and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. Harry planted a kiss in her hair.

“Would you dance with me, Hermione?” Hermione took her head off of Harry's shoulder and looked at him.

“There's no music.”

“So what? We can still dance, even though there's no music.” They started swaying, dancing to the unheard music. Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder again, and smiled when she heard a song come out of nowhere.

It was no accident me finding you
Someone had a hand in it
Long before we ever knew
Now I just can't believe you're in my life
Heaven's smilin' down on me
As I look at you tonight

I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars
He sure knew what he was doin'
When he joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the keeper of the stars

Soft moonlight on your face oh how you shine
It takes my breath away
Just to look into your eyes
I know I don't deserve a treasure like you
There really are no words
To show my gratitude

So I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars
He sure knew what he was doin'
When he joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the keeper of the stars

It was no accident me finding you
Someone had a hand in it
Long before we ever knew.

(A/n: The Keeper of the Stars by Tracy Byrd)

Hermione again took her head off of Harry's shoulder and looked at him.

“I love you too,” She said softly. They both smiled and kissed again.

--------------

“I wonder how it's going.”

“My guess, pretty well.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It's just a guess.” Lily rolled her eyes at her brother. After Hermione had left for the Astronomy Tower, the trio had left and joined Ron in the common room, waiting for Harry and Hermione to return.

“Are we sure we want to wait for them to come back? I mean, it could be a while.” Lily shot her godfather a dirty look.

“Are you implying what I think you're implying?”

“Probably.”

“Then that is something I didn't really need to know about.” Ron laughed.

“What is he implying?” Blake asked.

“He's implying that Harry and Hermione'll be out all night long…” Julia waited for Blake to catch her drift, but he wasn't. “at the Astronomy Tower…” Nothing. “the most romantic place in the school that sees all the action…” Still nothing. Julia sighed exasperatedly. “Having sex, Blake. Do I need to spell the word out for you too?” Everyone laughed but Blake, who made a face of disgust.

“I didn't need to know about that.” Ron laughed.

“Honestly, if you two thought nothing like that ever happened, how do you think you got here?”

“It's not like we don't know that that ever happened, it's just we don't need to know or think about it.” Again, Ron laughed.

“No, but I know those two, they aren't that kind of people that…yeah…right now at least.”

Blake asked Julia as a new question came to mind, “How do you know about the action the Astronomy Tower gets, Jules?”

“Everybody knows about that,” Julia said somewhat nervously.

“But it's not a widely talked about thing. Only the people who've been up there with other people talk about it. Would you have known about it from experience?”

“I…may have, a year ago or so.”

“Seriously? With who?”

“Um…Will…Finnigan.” Both Ron and Blake's jaws dropped.

“Is that Seamus's son by any chance?” Ron said. Julia nodded, blushing. Lily sighed.

“He's hot. He looks like his dad,” she said dreamily, very much like Luna Lovegood would. Everyone looked at Lily, who blushed.

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” Julia laughed.

“I thought it was just a two week thing?” Blake said, his attention back to Julia.

“It was,” Julia said rolling her eyes. Lily glanced at Ron, who had his eyes narrowed, looking as though he was about to go into a father-type mode.

“Then why did you…?” Blake didn't finish, for his sister interrupted him.

“Blake James Potter, if you have a brain in your head, you'll drop the subject right now.” Blake didn't say anymore.

“Yes, it was just a two week thing, we broke it off because I knew someone else liked him, and I set him up with her.”

“Really?”

“Yep, it wasn't even two days later where he had moved on to your sister…” Julia trailed off and clapped a hand to her mouth.

“Julia!” Lily said, shocked. Blake looked at his sister taken aback.

“Lily? You know about the Astronomy Tower from experience too?” Lily went really red and didn't meet her brother's eyes.

“Maybe.” Ron grinned.

“Hmm, I'll have to mentally note this down to tell Harry and Hermione in nineteen years.” Lily went, if possible, even redder. Julia smiled apologetically.

“Oh, Lils, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let out who your secret boyfriend is.” Lily looked at her friend again in surprise, for she had just let something else slip. Julia clapped a hand over her mouth again.

“Oh, shit, I said too much.”

“You're still going out with him?”

Lily ignored her brother's question and said to Julia, “What part of, `ok, I'm going to tell you, but make sure Blake doesn't know', don't you understand? He's just as bad as Dad when it comes to be overprotective.”

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But if it makes you feel any better, Lils, Blake's just playing dumb, he knows about the Astronomy Tower from experience too.” Blake's jaw dropped.

“You bitch.”

“Really? With who?” Julia glanced at Blake and grinned.

“With Olivia Davies.” Then she said to Ron, “That would be Cho Chang's oldest daughter.” Ron lit his bottom lip to hold back laughter.

“Ok, I see Harry and Hermione may not be the type of people to check out the Astronomy Tower for it's uses, but their son and daughter sure are.” Lily pointed at him.

“Ok, if I ever hear that you told them about this in the future, so help me God I will hunt you down and hurt you.” She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Ron.

“And I can do it too. See, the skills of both my parents have been passed on to me, and I'm not afraid to use them.”

“Ok, I'll try to keep it a secret.”

“You'd better.”

----------------------

Twenty minutes later, Harry and Hermione came back to the common room. They joined their friend who was still sitting with his future daughter and godchildren. Ron smiled mischievously.

“So? How'd it go?” Harry grinned.

“Pretty well.”

“Well, what happened?”

“Ron! I'm not one to kiss and tell.” Ron snorted with laughter.

“Alright,” he said sarcastically.

“You know, you three, Harry told me about you helping him with this tonight and that it was all his idea, not yours, and I'm sorry for the way I've treated you lately,” Hermione said to the trio. “It was wrong of me to do so, I'm sorry.”

“It's alright, I can kind of see your point about the whole matter. It's a pretty inconceivable idea to see your kids from the future, and our whole stories about who we were weren't the most believable in the world. We didn't really think them through.” Hermione smiled and shook her head.

“So what all did you do for that path of roses stuff?”

“Nothing, like we told you.”

“Liars.”

“Ok. Well, it was mostly Lily, but it was Julia's idea for the path of roses thing, Lily wrote the notes, Harry and I told her what to write,” Blake said.

“I figured that was the reason why it was actually legible handwriting.”

“And then Ron and I helped put the notes in the places. Oh, and by the way,” Julia said. “If you keep falling asleep in the library, wouldn't that be a sign you've been spending too much time there?” Hermione laughed and chose not to answer.

“Well, the path of roses thing was a very good romantic idea.”

Julia said overdramatically, “Ah, yes, I know, I'm a genius.”

“I said it was a good idea, not that you were a genius.” Next Julia pretended to be hurt.

“I'm wounded, Hermione, you've hurt me.” Hermione laughed.

“Your ego is about as bad as Ron's is, my dear.”

“See, Jules, she agrees with me too, it must run in the family,” Lily said. Julia rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You all don't know what you're talking about. I am brilliant.” Everyone but Julia laughed.

“Like I said, you all don't know what you're talking about.”

-----------------

A/n: -Sigh- lots of H/Hr fluff in this chapter, though I have to say I got the idea from another story I read called Red Roses in December. It's on harrypotterfanfiction.com, but I can't remember who it's by. It's a Lily/James fic, and it's pretty good. I recommend it if you're interested. Anyways, the author used the path of roses thing, and I'm sorry but I borrowed it. Anyways, please review!!!!

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16. Love is in the Air

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Chapter 16: Love is in the Air

-----------------

“So, Harry, what made you change your mind about going for Hermione?”

“It was what Blake told me.” Julia sat up in surprise.

“Wait, wait, wait. Blake gives romantic advice?” she said, shocked.

“And good romantic advice?” Lily asked. She looked at her best friend with a worried look on her face.

“Jules, I'm scared.”

“I know, I'm scared too.” They clutched each other's hands in mock fear. Blake rolled his eyes, a very Hermione thing to do. He cleared his throat and gave them an annoyed look.

“When you're finished.” Everyone but Blake laughed and Lily and Julia let go of each other's hands.

“What did he say to you?”

“He told me that if you love someone, you should tell them, because if you hold it in, you'll never know when it's too late.” Julia sighed like she in love.

“Aww, Blake, when did you get so romantically smart?” Blake shrugged.

“Yeah, where did you hear that from?” Lily asked. Blake smiled.

“My Dad told me.” Everyone looked at Harry.

“Well, that's ironic,” Ron said.

“What time is it?” Hermione said through a yawn. Lily looked at her watch.

“Midnight.”

“Oh my gosh, no wonder I'm so tired. I'm going to go to bed, see you all in the morning.” Everyone bid her good night, and she gave Harry a kiss and stood up and went up the girls' staircase to bed.

“I think that's a good idea,” Ron said. “I'm turning in too.”

“K, see you in the morning.” Ron got up and stretched.

“I have no idea why I'm so tired.”

“Stress.” Ron yawned and pointed at Harry.

“That's it. Well, good night everyone.”

“Good night,” They all replied. The remaining bunch stayed up and talked for a while, then finally turned in for the night.

-----------------

The next morning, the six were walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Halfway down the stairs, Ron stopped and put his arms out, stopping the other five. His arm was a little high on Hermione, and she slapped his arm away and glared at him. Ron wasn't paying attention; he was staring at the foot of the stairs.

“What is it?” Harry asked. Ron didn't answer, but everyone followed his gaze to the foot of the stairs and they saw Ginny and Malfoy standing there talking. Malfoy leaned in and gave Ginny a kiss, and Ron's jaw dropped. You could see the rage forming on his face, and he ran down the stairs, the other five running after him to stop him from murdering Malfoy on the spot.

“MALFOY!! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SISTER!!!” Ginny and Malfoy jumped apart, and Malfoy stood his ground as Ron came sprinting down the stairs. Before Ron could reach him or for his wand, Harry and Blake had caught up with him and held him back.

“So, I see you two have gone public,” Julia said, a little out of breath after chasing her father down the stairs.

“Yes, is there something wrong with it?” Ginny asked.

“Apparently to Ron there is.” The original trio's jaws dropped in shock. It was the first time Malfoy referred to Ron by his first name, instead of Weasel King or Weasley.

“What the hell are you doing with my sister?”

“Ron, we told you about this,” Blake said, still trying to restrain Ron. “We told you this would happen, and not to overreact.”

“Yeah? Well, how would you feel if your worst enemy was going out with Lily?”

“Give him a chance, Ron, he is really a great guy once you get to know him,” Ginny said. Finally, Ron got to the point where he didn't have to be restrained. Harry and Blake let go of him, but the cold glare on Ron's face wouldn't disappear so easily. Malfoy looked at Blake, then at Lily, then at Julia.

“So it's true. You three are from the future.” He looked at Julia.

“And you were lying to me that day.”

“About what?”

“About the pureblood ramblings. Because there's never been a Weasley known to man that hated muggle borns. And you're Ron's daughter, there's no way you could hate them.”

“I had to say something to gain your trust or to get you to talk to me. And what happened to being concerned with dignity?”

“I've already lost my dignity, I have a Death Eater for a father, and I don't call him family.” Again, the original trio's jaws dropped.

“Oh my God, they were right about you,” Hermione said in awe.

“Yes, Hermione, you are looking at the new and improved Draco Malfoy.” Hermione was taken aback.

“Oh my God, I can't believe you actually know what my first name is, Malfoy.” The three still looked skeptical.

“Can you three learn to trust him?” Ginny pleaded. “I know it'll take time to do so, but could you at least try? Cuz' I plan on keeping him around for a while.” Ron's eyes darted to his sister and narrowed.

“We'll try,” Harry said slowly.

-------------------

“Where are you going?”

“Borrowed Harry's broom, gonna go for a little ride, wanna join me?”

“Sure.” Julia put her book aside and got up and followed Blake out the portrait hole. They went outside to the Quidditch Pitch, where the sun was on its way down, and the moon was getting ready to take its place. The grass was wet with evening dew, and glittered in the light. By time Julia and Blake reached the pitch, their shoes were soaked, and little blades of grass clung to their feet and jeans. Blake climbed onto his dad's broom, and Julia climbed on in front of him. Blake slid his hands on either side of Julia and clutched the broom; Julia's hands were farther up the broom.

“Ready?” Blake said. Julia nodded, and Blake kicked off of the ground and they soared high into the air, around the stands, and over the forest. Julia closed her eyes and let the wind blow on her face, and her hair fluttering behind her. She took her hands off the broom and held them straight out at her sides like she was flying. She grinned and screamed,

“Woo hoo!” Blake laughed.

“Wanna hear a cheesy cliché line from a muggle movie?” Julia said, grinning. She took a deep breath and yelled, “I'm the queen of the world!!”

“Queen? It's king, babe.”

“Yeah, I know, but I'm not a guy.” Blake laughed and stopped the broom. Julia turned slightly around and put her arm around Blake so she could keep herself turned and see him better. She pointed out towards the west, where the red, orange and gold sun was setting into the horizon. It reflected off the clouds, turning them a purple-orangish color. There was just a slight breeze now that they had stopped, and it blew the chilly autumn air in their faces.

“Wow, that is just beautiful,” Julia said breathlessly. “In all my years being here at Hogwarts, this is one of the things I love most.” Blake took his hands off the broom and wrapped them around Julia's waist. He looked at her, her eyes shining at the sunset, and the color of the sun reflecting in her bright blue eyes, and shining in her hair. He smiled.

“You're beautiful.” Julia took her eyes off the sunset and looked at her friend.

“What?”

“I said you're beautiful.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes, I do. It's almost better that Mum let our secret out, I think you're prettier with your red hair than blonde.”

“That's sweet, Blake. I like you better with your natural look than before.” Blake laughed.

“I look like my Dad.”

“No, you don't, you look like Blake Potter,” Julia then went into matter-of-fact mode, which proved that she spent too much time with Lily. “This is just like I told your sister, only she was talking about your mother. But you, are not your father. You only have half of his DNA, the other half belongs to your mother. And you don't look exactly like Harry. There's a little Hermione in you too.” Blake smiled.

“Since when did you become the philosophical one? I thought that was Lily's department?”

“She's starting to rub off on me.” They both laughed and stared into each other's eyes, and slowly leaned in to kiss. It was a light feathery kiss, and was over as soon as it started. It was that kiss that should've happened that one night before Hermione caught them. Then they kissed again, this time the feathery feeling and innocence left it, leaving desire and want. They floated in the air, snogging for what felt like hours. Finally, they stopped and Julia took her arm from around Blake and turned so her back was to him again and leaned against him, not being able to wipe the smile off her face. Blake still had his arms wrapped around her, and they stayed like that, watching the sun go down. Once it had gone down and the colors that remain had diminished, it started to get chilly so they headed back for the ground.

“You know Lils is going to ask me about this, cuz' this smile I can't get off my face is going to give me away,” Julia said on the way back. Blake laughed.

“I know the feeling.”

“Yeah, but you've got your dad and my dad to deal with, I only have your sister.”

“And my mother.”

“Oh yeah, and her too.” They landed and Julia got off the broom first, then Blake. They kissed again, and went back to the castle, preparing for the questions and jokes that would come from the sunset flight.

----------------

Lily had changed for bed and came back downstairs in her bathrobe and pjs. Earlier, someone had gone down to the kitchens earlier and grabbed mugs, kettles, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows and brought them up to the common room. The kettles had been bewitched to stay hot until the last drop of water was poured from them, and the spoons were self-stirring. Lily poured herself a mug of water, and obeying the rule of three and a half scoops her dad had taught here when she was a little girl, put the mix in the mug, and the spoon started stirring. Once it stopped to signal everything was stirred in, she dropped a marshmallow in. She walked to the window to look out at the sunset, and saw someone flying in the air. She saw black hair and red hair, and since she hadn't seen her brother and best friend all evening, knew it was them. She saw Julia stick her arms out like she was flying and they both laughed. She smiled as she watched them, and soon was joined by Harry, who had also changed for bed a while ago, and had a mug of hot chocolate in hand.

“Always a rule for the best hot chocolate, three and a half scoops,” he said, motioning at the mug. Lily smiled.

“I know. I've been taught well.” Harry smiled and took a sip from his mug.

“So what's goin' on out there?”

“There's a couple out there flying a broom over the Forbidden Forest. It looks like a Firebolt too, and one of them has black hair and the other has red.” Harry nodded knowingly.

“Ah, I see, and what are they doing?” Lily glanced up as she took a sip of hot chocolate. She swallowed and smiled.

“Kissing.” Harry glanced up at them too, and smiled.

“Have those two always gone out?”

“Nope, never have. This is just something that's happened since we've been here.”

“Blake said he wanted to borrow my Firebolt for a ride, I didn't know that's what he wanted it for. To go take Julia up in the air to go snog.”

“You never know with Blake, he's full of surprises sometimes,” She heaved a sigh. “But, I've known him my whole life, we've been inseparable for pretty much all of our seventeen years, and I know he probably didn't plan it.”

“They actually seem to belong together.” Lily laughed.

“What?”

“Nothing it's just if this goes back to the future with us,” She pointed up at the couple on their way back to the ground, “You sure as hell wouldn't say that.”

“Why?”

“It's a dad thing, I think. Ron definitely wouldn't say it; he's very protective of his only daughter.” Harry laughed and nodded in understanding.

“What are you laughing about, you're not much better.”

“Really? How bad?”

“I don't get to date much because a lot of the guys I fancy are scared of you.” Harry laughed again.

“Why?”

“Because you're Harry Potter, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. If they hurt his little girl, God help `em. And of course, she's a Daddy's girl too.”

“So I'm a good dad then?” Lily smiled and nodded.

“The best.” Harry looked around for Blake and Julia on the grounds and didn't see them, but heard them come in the portrait hole. Lily giggled.

“Oh, must go. Sisterly duty here, to give my brother hell.” Lily walked over to her brother and best friend.

“You know, it's the weirdest thing,” she said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “I just saw two people up on a broom a little while ago.”

“So?” Julia said, not being able to hold back her grin.

“And you'll never guess what they were doing.”

“What's that?” Blake asked.

“Snogging.” Blake pretended to be shocked.

“No way!”

“I know! And then it's weird, cuz' one of them had black hair and the other had red, and here you two come back the same time they left, and you both look like you've been flying, judging by your hair, and also that you both have silly grins on your face that totally give you away.” Julia sighed dramatically.

“We've been caught,” she said to Blake. Blake groaned.

“And now we must endure all the crap that comes from her too.” Lily giggled and bounced on her heels.

“Actually, I wasn't going to give you that much crap, I could see it coming ever since Jules told me about that night in the common room, and I can say that it fits,” Lily said seriously.

“Really?”

“Yeah. My best friend and my brother. Can't get much better than that, right?” With that Lily left them, and sat next to Harry and Hermione. Ron sat across from them in front of the fire. Blake and Julia sat on the remaining couch in front of the fire. A cart with hot chocolate ingredients rolled over to them and they each took a cup and poured hot water in them. Julia scooped three scoops into hers and then into Blake's. Before the spoon started stirring, Blake scooped another half scoop into the mug. Julia smiled as she remembered.

“Ah, yes, Harry's three and a half scoop rule. I forgot.” Harry grinned.

“That's the best way to drink it.” Everyone smiled and Harry pulled Hermione closer to him.

Lily looked around at the couples and said to Ron, “Don't you feel like the odd ones out?”

“I'm beginning to, now that these two are going out,” he said, nodding at Blake and Julia.

“Maybe you should go ask Luna to join ya.”

“No thanks, not yet. My reputation can't handle that.”

Julia said before taking a sip of her cocoa, “What's the matter, Lils, miss Will?”

Lily bit her bottom lip in anxiety. Her fears were confirmed when Harry asked, “Who's Will?” Ron grinned.

“Oh, I've been told this already, Will Finnigan, Seamus's son, your daughter's boyfriend in the future.” Lily's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide.

“You promised you wouldn't tell them!”

“In the future, not now.”

“Why did you swear him to secrecy? Why don't you want us to know?” Hermione said.

“Because Lils doesn't want anyone to know about her little thing with William Finnigan,” Julia said.

“Why not?” Ron laughed.

“Because nineteen years into the future, Harry Potter the dad is very protective of his only daughter.”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn't talk, cuz' Ron Weasley the dad isn't much better either. Especially since she's the only girl out of five kids.”

“Yep. But I can take care of myself. My dad apparently doesn't think so.” Julia said, looking pointedly at Ron.

“Well, at least my dad knows I can take care of myself,” Lily said.

“Yeah right. You, take care of yourself? Uh-huh.” Blake said.

“Seriously, I can, I'm a Potter, of course I can take care of myself.”

“Also part Granger too,” Julia said.

“Ah yes, that too.”

“You know, Harry, your kids have to at the top of the class in school, with who their parents are, I'd be very surprised if they weren't.”

“Well, Lily is, she's a know-it-all bookworm. Julia and I are towards the top, within the top five or so, but if it weren't for Lily to come bail us out, we'd S.O.L.”

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and said sarcastically, “Hmm, sounds familiar, doesn't it?”

“Of course, we are the new trio,” Lily said. “And according to Remus, the Marauder havoc wrecking gene skips a generation, so we're the new Marauders too.”

“Though we don't call ourselves that,” Blake said. Hermione groaned.

“Oh, I can see the owls from McGonagall piling through the window already.” The second-generation trio grinned. Lily looked around. Things were finally looking up; this was the most fun she'd had since they came into the past. Sitting here with her future parents, who were together, and her future godfather, and her brother and best friend, well, she thought, it can't get much better than this.

A/n: Kind of a crappy way to end the chapter, but I didn't know what else to add to it. There's only two more chapters left!!! Please review!!! TTYL

Husker-fan-2006

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17. Preparing for the Future and Goodbye

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Chapter 17: Preparing for the Future and Goodbye

A/n: Second to last chapter y'all, hope you enjoyed this story of mine!! Please review when you're done!!

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“Hey, got some good news,” Lily said to her brother and his new girlfriend.

“What's the good news?” Julia said.

“I just spoke to Dumbledore, the potion is ready; we can leave today if we want to.”

“Really?” Blake and Julia didn't look as enthused as Lily thought they would, but in a way, she felt the same way. Lily sighed sadly.

“We have to go back. We can't stay here forever. We'd probably really screw the future up if we did.”

“I know, but here we've finally got to know our parents without them being mean and now we have to leave,” Julia said.

“Jules, we have to go.”

“I know, I know.”

“It'll just be hard to say goodbye,” Blake said sadly. Lily and Julia nodded.

“Well, I suppose…no time like the present. Let's get it over with and go home. You're right Lils, we do need to go. I miss everyone.” Julia stood and turned to leave, but stopped when the twins didn't get up with her.

“Are you coming?”

“Yeah, just a second, I have to Blake. You go ahead.” Julia nodded and left.

“What's up?” Blake asked.

“Blake, they can't remember this ever happening.”

“I know.”

“And I think, that we need to put some of that combination Potter-Granger power to use.”

----------------

“You know what I heard today?” Ron said to his best friend and his new girlfriend.

“Jules, Lils and Blake are planning on leaving for home soon. They could leave today if they wanted.”

“Well, they have to, they can't stay here forever. They'll mess up time too much if they stay,” Hermione said.

“I know, but it's sad, we get to know our kids and then they have to leave.”

“We'll meet them sooner or later, Ron, it's not like we'll never see them again.”

“Hermione's right, Ron, what's even better is that we get to know them for seventeen years, we get to watch them grow, and raise them in whatever weird way we see fit.”

“You know, I just realized,” Ron said. “You're right, Harry, what their personalities are like, is all because of us.” Hermione smiled.

“And I can't wait till two years later when we get to start raising them,” she looked at Harry, “It gives you something to look forward to in dark times.”

----------------

“So, we heard you're leaving.” Lily looked at Blake and Julia then back at her godfather.

“Wow, nothing can be kept on the down low here, can it?” Blake shrugged.

“Guess not.”

“But yeah, we're planning on leaving soon. We need to get back home. We miss everyone there.”

“Yeah, like Mum and Dad,” Julia said, making everyone smile.

“And I mean like the mum and dad I've always known, not my dad as a seventeen-year-old, you all know what I mean,” Julia said, then a sudden idea came to her.

“Hey, ok, Blake got to fly against his dad, there's something, Ron, you and I have to do before I leave.” Lily and Blake smiled; they knew what she was talking about.

“What's that?”

---------------------

“Queen to E-5.” Ron cringed as his daughter's queen took his bishop. Julia smiled smugly as her queen broke the bishop in half. Ron studied the board for a while.

“Rook to G-7.” (A/N: By the way, I'm just throwing out numbers and letters on the chess board, I've only played chess like three times in my entire life, so bear with me all you chess players out there) Ron's rook took Julia's bishop. She made a face and studied her next move. The game went on for hours, each one equally skilled at chess. The match went on for so long that Hermione pulled out her homework, Lily and Blake sat away from everyone and were talking about what looked like a very important subject, and Harry was beginning to get bored with watching the game and joined Hermione with homework. Finally all conversation ceased when Julia triumphantly squealed,

“Queen to D-3!” Ron's eyes widened in horror as Julia's queen moved across the board and stopped in front of Ron's king, making it unmovable without being taken.

“Checkmate!” Julia squealed again and bounced in her chair in a victory dance. Blake and Lily grinned, and Harry and Hermione laughed, looking for Ron's reaction.

“Ron, I think you've finally met your match at chess,” Hermione said.

“I think that's the first time he's ever lost a match too,” Harry said. Ron stuck his hand out to his daughter across the table.

“Good game,” he said quietly.

“You've taught me well,” she said shaking his hand.

-------------------

“So, do you really have to go now?”

“Yeah I think so. We need to get home, get back into the class mode again. Well, classes that important.”

“Don't worry everyone, we'll see each other again, just in a different time, and you three will all be nineteen years older,” Julia said.

“Gee thanks, that's a comforting thought,” Hermione said with a smile.

“I know we're just full of those.”

“So, anything we need to know for the future?” Harry said.

“Well…” Lily tried to think of words of wisdom to give Harry. She hadn't planned on any of this, because they wouldn't remember it anyway. But to humor Harry, she glanced at Hermione, then back at Harry, finally thinking of short words of wisdom.

“Love your wife. Love your children. Defeat Voldemort, save the world. Be a good teacher and Auror.” Harry smiled and nodded.

“Sounds doable.”

“How about for me?” Ron asked.

“Finish school, become an Auror, make your mother proud,” Julia said. “Love Luna, give her a chance, and love your children, but don't be too tough on your oldest when she brings her boyfriend home,” Julia finished, leaning against Blake. Ron smiled.

“I'll try. Any words of wisdom for Hermione here?”

“Love your husband. Love your children. Become a good Auror and teacher. Accept the fact that your son isn't like you and doesn't like reading books constantly. That's your daughter's personality, your son is more like his father; obsessed with Quidditch and flying,” Blake said.

“I'm not obsessed with Quidditch,” Harry said.

“Right, Harry,” Lily said.

“I'm not. There are more important things in life.” Lily nodded in agreement.

“I agree with you. There's more imperative things to worry about than the House Cup, especially for you soon.” Blake and Lily glanced at each other and nodded.

“Well, I think we're ready to go soon, so we'll go have some lunch and say goodbye.” The six of them went down to the Great Hall, had some dinner, and said goodbye to Ginny and Malfoy, all the Gryffindors, and finally the original trio. The second-generation hugged each one of the original trio members, and then Blake and Lily glanced at each other again. They nodded slightly and pulled out their wands. Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at them questioningly.

“What are you doing?” Hermione said slowly.

“I'm sorry, but we have to place a memory charm on the whole school. We can't have you remembering us.” The trio all had worried looks on their faces.

“You said nothing about a memory charm,” Harry said.

“How do you even know how to do one?” Hermione said.

“We've been reading up on it.”

“You can't place a memory charm on the whole school, two people can't do it alone.”

“Ron, you forget, they're the son and daughter of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. There's more power in one of them alone than the rest of us could acquire in a lifetime,” Julia said. Lily and Blake pointed their wands at the trio sadly.

“I'm sorry,” Lily said shakily. They waved their wands over their heads and pointed them into the air, and in a tone that was deeper and more mystical than their normal ones, they said loudly in sync,

“OBLIVIATE!” A clear jet rippled across the Great Hall and into the school. Everyone's eyes were dazed and confused. Before they could register who was standing in front of them, the second-generation trio left.

“You two better hope to God that you just erased the memory of us, not their entire memory, that was one hell of a powerful spell you cast,” Julia said on their way to Dumbledore's office.

“Trust me, Jules, we only erased the last few weeks.”

“Ok, why again did we have to do that?” Julia asked.

“Because we weren't supposed to go back in time, we've already messed up the future, even if it's just a little thing. But we learned that time is not meant to be messed with, that we shouldn't have come back, that people aren't meant to know their children before they even know they have any or even know who their married to, and that people aren't supposed to know their parents at their age. That's what the whole purpose of time is for. To pass by, generation by generation and never going back. So we had to cast a memory charm on them so they forgot us and to right the wrongs we did.”

“But what if they're back with the people they were with when we got here?”

“Just trust us on this one, Jules, we knew what we were doing,” Blake said. They reached Dumbledore's office and spoke the password. They climbed the stairs to his office and knocked on the door.

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“Come in.” Blake turned the doorknob and the trio came inside. Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled.

“You're ready to go home I see. And you've cast the memory charm, Miss Potter?”

“Yes.”

“Did it work?”

“I think so, I hope so.”

“I'm sure it did. Miss Weasley, I can see it in your eyes that you are confused about something.”

“How do you know who we are? The whole school had the memory charm placed on them.” Lily answered her.

“More of that Potter/Granger power, Jules, we could choose who to cast the charm on, like you and Professor Dumbledore.” Julia nodded slowly.

“I guess that makes sense, a little. But, of course, I'll never understand that whole power thing in the prophecy.” Lily smiled and nodded, the lines of the prophecy about her brother and her going through her head.

“AS THE ELEVENTH MONTH DIES, TWO WILL BE BORN TO THE ONE WHO WILL DEFEAT THE DARK LORD, AND THE POWER PASSED TO THROUGH THEM FROM BOTH PARENTS WILL BE BEYOND ANYONE'S DREAMS. COMBINED SPELLS WILL BE TEN TIMES AS POWERFUL, AND THEY WILL BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THEIR FATHER AND MOTHER THEMSELVES.” The third true prophecy that Professor Trelawney made, saying that the son and daughter born to Harry Potter would be more powerful than he, and that was saying something. Lily divided the potion between the three of them, and added the date they wanted to go back to. They bid Dumbledore farewell and drank the potion. Their insides felt chilled and they were lurched forward into time. They were going back.

A/n: Well, second to last chapter everyone, hope you've enjoyed this story; I've had fun writing it. Please review!!!

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18. Things that Never Die

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Chapter 18: Things That'll Never Die

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They were jerked through time, and when they reached the destination, they stumbled and almost fell. They looked around at where they were and saw it was an empty Dumbledore's office. A note lie on his desk that said two words, `Welcome back.' Julia, Blake and Lily all looked at each other.

“Does that mean it worked?” Julia said. Blake shrugged.

“I think so, but I'm not so convinced.”

“Neither am I,” Lily agreed.

“Ok, then where do we need to go to see if we're in the right time?” Lily headed for the door, her brother and friend behind her. They went up the stairs and didn't stop walking until they were outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Lily looked around the corner. A black-haired man with glasses was sitting at his desk with his head bent over his work. There was no visible way to tell who it was. Lily leaned back and faced her brother and friend.

“Is it Mum or Dad there or both?”

“I think it's Dad, but I can't see his face, we could be too far into the future.”

“Are you serious? Lily, what did you do?”

“I didn't write the date on the piece of paper, Jules did.”

“What I put the date in, December 21st, 2024.” Looks of horror appeared on Lily and Blake's face.

“Jules, you were only supposed to put how many years we wanted to go into the future, not the year.”

“What?”

“You were supposed to write nineteen on the paper. We might have gone two thousand and twenty-four years into the future.”

“No, but you already said that your dad was there at the desk, so maybe we went to the right year.”

“Lily thinks it's Dad, Jules, it might not be, who knows, they might have started this generational thing that a Potter always teaches DADA.”

“Blake I think you're overreacting, who knows maybe that potion reads the dates too, since she wrote the month and day we wanted to go to.”

“I hope so.” All three of them stood in the doorway, looking at the man at the desk. Lily put her fist up to her mouth and cleared it. The man looked up, and silent sighs of relief went through the three as they saw the lightening shaped scar on his forehead and recognized him as Harry Potter. Harry smiled.

“Morning you three. You're up early.” Lily looked at her watch and saw it read 5:30 in the morning.

“So it is. Well, you know how that is, when you wake up, it's hard to get back to sleep, so Jules had to wake the rest of us up.”

“I did not.” The three of them walked up to the desk.

“What are you up to this morning, Dad?” Blake asked.

“Auror work. You know, I'll be so glad when we can get all these Death Eaters in Azkaban where they belong. Then maybe I can sleep at night without worrying that one of them won't break in in the middle of the night and avenge his master by killing all four of us during the summer.” Harry ran a hand through his hair and started reading again.

“Well, it's only happened once, like a long time ago,” Lily said. “We were like, what, nine?”

“Once is too many, Lils.” Lily and Blake looked at each other, remembering that night when a Death Eater, trying to avenge the death of his master by killing his defeater and his wife and children. Lily and Blake couldn't sleep that night, something felt funny and they just couldn't sleep. They went downstairs to warm up a couple glasses of warm milk; they heard that worked. When they reached the last step, Blake put a hand out to stop his sister behind him.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“I heard something, someone's here.”

“What?!” She whispered in surprise. Lily and Blake looked around the corner into the living room and saw a man in a black mask walking around the room, occasionally stumbling over things in the dark. He didn't see them, nor heard them as they ran back up the stairs up to their parents' room. They opened the door and ran to their parents' bed.

“Mum, Dad, wake up.” Hermione woke up first.

“What is it you two,” she said sleepily. “What are you doing up still?”

“Someone's downstairs.”

“What? I think you two are hearing things, come on, go back to bed.”

“No, seriously, we saw him. He was tall with a black mask on his face.” Hermione sighed and was about to throw back the blankets when she heard something fall downstairs. She jumped at the noise and finally believed her son and daughter. She turned and shook her husband awake.

“Harry, wake up. Harry.”

Harry's voice was muffled from his pillow as he said sleepily, “What?”

“Wake up, someone's downstairs.”

“Who is?”

“I don't know, but Lily and Blake described him, and I think it might be Death Eater.” Harry, now wide-awake, sat up fast and grabbed his glasses and wand and threw back the blankets. Lily handed her wand to her mother as she crawled out of bed and put on her robe. Harry had also put on his robe too, and was already out the door on his way downstairs.

Hermione said at the door, “You two stay in here, if anything happens to us, try and floo to Ron and Luna's. Do you understand?” Lily and Blake nodded. Hermione closed the door behind her and the twins heard her walk down the stairs. They couldn't hear much, just muffled voices and crashing around. After what seemed like hours, the twins heard someone come up the stairs and they hid in the closet for fear that it was the Death Eater coming up the stairs. They heard the door open and heard their mother's voice say,

“Lily? Blake? Where are you?” They opened the closet door and ran to Hermione and hugged her tight. Tears were coming down Lily's face.

“Are you alright? Is Dad alright?”

“We're both fine, Dad is on his way to the Ministry right now to haul the Death Eater off.”

“Is he dead?”

“No, just stunned by a powerful stunning spell. Come on, let's go downstairs, I'll make you some hot chocolate.” The three of them went downstairs and the twins sat down at the table while their mother made their mugs of cocoa. An hour later, Harry apparated back and immediately Lily ran to him and hugged him. He picked her up and held onto her.

Harry said comfortingly, “Everything's ok now, Lily. Don't worry.”

“No more of this?”

“No more.” Husband and wife shared a worried glance, which made their son worry too and doubt that this would be the last of the attempted attacks.

“Well, I've got some things to get done before we leave today, so why don't you three go have some breakfast and make sure you're packed?” The trio nodded and instead of going down to the Great Hall, went up to the common room. They sat in the chairs that it seemed like just a few hours ago they were sitting in with their seventeen-year-old parents. They were silent for a while, until Blake broke the silence.

“I remember that day. When the Death Eater broke in.”

“So do I.”

“The day after I thought Mum and Dad would split up.”

“It was just a conversation, Blake. It wasn't a fight, they wouldn't have split up over a conversation like that.”

“I know that. But then it seemed like they would. I was nine, Lils.”

“Hermione, why did you marry me?” Hermione set the knife down she was using to chop tomatoes and turned to her husband.

“What kind of a question is that?”

“Just answer it.”

“Because I love you, that's why.”

“But why though?”

“Why wouldn't I?”

“If you hadn't married me, you wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of Death Eaters killing you in your sleep, or killing your children.” Hermione sighed and came over and sat down on her husband's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“That's what this is about, Harry?”

“You'd be safer without me.”

“I don't care how much safer I'd be, I love you, and I'm not leaving you. No matter what happens, or what I'm at risk to. I've stuck by you through everything, even through the battle against Voldemort, and if that was bad, then anything a Death Eater would try would be unproblematic.”

“But if Lily and Blake hadn't seen him then he could've killed us all.”

“Harry, just because you were destined to defeat Voldemort, doesn't mean you were destined to be alone. You deserve happiness in your life now that he's gone.”

“It's not really a great thing for my family to have to keep watch out for Death Eaters.”

“No, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you're there for us, to protect us from those Death Eaters.”

“For the moment.” He looked away, and Hermione sighed.

“Harry, look at me. Look at me,” he finally turned his gaze back to her, and she said firmly, “I'm not leaving you. Not ever. You're too good of a husband and father to let go, and I love you too much. You can't get rid of me that easily,” Hermione said with a smile. Harry gave a feeble smile.

“We'll be fine, Harry. Lily, Blake, and I are better off with than without you.”

“So, Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter, when will you enlighten dear Professors Potter of your relationship?”

“Soon.”

“And if you tell, we'll tell about you and Will.”

“Speaking of which, I must go find young Mr. Finnigan, have a little chat with him about dating my little sister.”

“Don't, please, Blake,” Lily pleaded.

“I won't talk with him if you don't say anything.”

“Alright. I promise. But you have to tell them sometime, if it gets serious, you can't just go off and get married without them knowing about it.”

“Duh. And it's not that serious right now.” Lily looked at her watch.

“Well, we'd better get packed.” The other two nodded and all three went to their respective rooms.

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“All packed?”

“Yep. All packed.” Blake cast a spell on all the trunks to shrink them so they'd fit into their pockets. They stepped off the Hogwarts grounds.

“Are we stopping at home first, Harry, or are we going to my Grandpa and Grandma's right away?”

“You're supposed to stop at home first, but we're going to go straight to your Grandpa and Grandma's. Ok, so you know where you'll all apparating to?” They all nodded.

“Ok, let's go.” All five of them apparated and the Potters arrived in the foyer of the Weasley home, where they were greeted with hugs and kisses from Molly.

“It's so good to see you all again, it's been a while. Harry, Hermione, why don't you bring your children over more often?” Harry laughed.

“I think you have enough grandchildren of your own to worry about that you need two more.”

“Nonsense, Harry, a woman can never have too many grandchildren. So are you hungry?” Hermione smiled sweetly.

“No, we're fine thanks, Molly, we ate before we left.”

“Oh, Hermione, you ought to know better by now that you never eat before you come here.”

“Yes, I know, but since we did, we have to make sure and save room in our stomachs for the excellent dinner you have for us once everyone gets here, so we shouldn't eat anymore.” Mrs. Weasley blushed slightly and gave Harry another hug.

“You flatter me more than Ron does, Harry.”

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That evening, almost the entire Weasley clan was gathered together for dinner. Molly and Arthur of course were there, along with Bill, Fleur and their four children, Percy, Penelope, and their six children, Fred and Angelina and their six children, George, Alicia, and their six children, with a seventh on the way, Ron and Lavender and their five children, and Ginny and Draco with their four children, and the four who technically weren't Weasleys, but were still part of the family, the Potters. They all were congregated out in the garden, which had been enchanted to keep warm and dry while they ate. During the main course, Fred asked all his older nieces and nephews,

“Alright, what's the latest gossip at Hogwarts? Who's causing trouble and everything?”

“Honestly Fred, do you even have to ask that? You know your sons and George's sons are causing trouble again,” Angelina said.

“No, I think lately they've been outdone,” said Harry. Fred's eyes widened in surprise.

“By who? They'd better be Weasleys.” Hermione sighed.

“Fred, you shouldn't condone mischief to your sons and daughters and nieces and nephews, it makes everything worse for us teachers.”

“That's what's so good about it, Professor Potter. But no, who's gone and outdone my sons?”

“Well, one of them is a Weasley, the other two aren't though,” Julia said.

“Which is kind of ironic and sad that the son and daughter of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers are the top mischief makers along with Julia,” Percy's son Philip said with an air of one who thinks he is better than everyone else, being Head Boy gave him that aspect of personality. “I would have expected better from Uncle Ron's daughter.” Bill snorted.

“Well, apparently you don't know your Uncle Ron very well, Phil.”

Just to spite Philip, Lily shook her brother's hand and said brightly, “Heck yes, we've surpassed Fred's sons in the mischief making!”

“Next stop, passing Fred and George.”

“Hey, you'll never pass us up, you three. We're impassable,” George said.

“Oh that'd be just what this school needs is more of Fred and George type antics,” Hermione said sarcastically. Everyone but Molly, Percy, Penelope, and Percy and Penelope's children laughed at the statement.

“Ok, enough about the mischief making, who's going out with who now?” George said after the laughter had died down. Questions went around the table to the Weasley offspring, and answers were given back. Lily raised an eyebrow at her brother and best friend, and a mischievous smile snaked its way onto her face. Julia glared back at her friend, and their gazes were broken when they heard George ask,

“So how about the second generation trio? Who are you all going out with?” Neither one answered right away.

“No one? I'm finding that hard to believe. Jules, nobody?” Lily grinned innocently and coughed. Through her cough you could hear, “Blake.” Julia and Blake's eyes widened in surprise. Fred grinned.

“What? Did I hear that right? Blake? As in Harry's son Blake?” Lily nodded as Julia fixed a glare on her. Fred laughed.

“Oh this is great.”

Ron cleared his throat and said, “How long as this been going on?”

“A few days,” Julia answered somewhat nervously, still glaring at Lily. She pulled her gaze from Lily to her father, who looked at Harry. They looked at each other for a moment, while the entire table hung in silence.

“Well?” Ron said.

“Well what?”

“What do you think of this?” Harry shrugged.

“What about it?”

“Your son and my daughter are going out, and you have nothing to say about it?”

“What is there to say about it? So they're going out, so what? They're seventeen now, they're adults.” Ron turned to Lily,

“Please tell me Lils that you're going out with one of the Weasleys, cuz' I wanna see the look on your Dad's face when he finds that out.”

“No, I'm not going out with one of the Weasleys boys.”

“No, she's going out with a Finnigan though.” Lily glared at Julia.

“Hey, I promised, if you don't tell, I won't tell, and you told, so I told.”

“Finnigan? Will Finnigan? Seamus's oldest son?” Harry said. Lily nodded silently. Harry looked around the table and smiled.

“When does second term start again?”

“Dad, don't. Please.”

“How long have you two been going out?”

“A few months.”

“A few months?”

“Yes, and I didn't say anything because I knew you'd be all Dadlike about it.” Draco laughed.

“Lils, that happens when guys have daughters.”

“But Will Finnigan? Seriously?” Harry said.

Hermione sighed and said dreamily, “Ah Lils I don't blame you, he looks a lot like his dad.” Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw her husband looking at her. She glanced at him and then looked at the people around the table.

“Did I say that out loud?” Everyone nodded, having a hard time keeping from laughing. Hermione turned in her chair to face her husband.

“I love you.” Harry looked away and shook his head and everyone laughed. Blake leaned over and kissed Julia on the cheek and she smiled. George saw it and pointed at Blake.

“Hey, no PDA at the dinner table.” Blake leaned back and put his hands up in surrender.

“Sorry.”

“You've got some nerve, Blake; kissing Ron Weasley's only daughter in front of him,” Bill said. Blake grinned.

“What can I say? I'm a Potter, I take risks even if it's a danger to my life.” Everyone laughed in agreement.

Ron said to Harry, “If your son is anything like you romantically, I might have to hurt him.”

“If you hurt my son, I'll hurt you.” Hermione said,

“And if you hurt my son or my husband, Mr. Weasley, I'll hurt you too, worse.”

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That night, after everyone was in bed for the night, Lily got up from her bed and weaved her way through the many beds full of her adoptive cousins and to the desk in the corner. She pulled out her wand and whispered, “Accio journal!” Her journal came silently flying to her, and she caught it. Grabbing a quill and ink and sitting down, she opened the book and flipped to where she left off. She wrote about the successes and failures of the time travel trip, and wrote about the widely known relationships out in the open now. She concluded her entry with,

“In all the things I've learned from this, these things'll never die: Love; Her mum and dad, and her and Will, and Julia and Blake, and Luna and Ron just to name a few. Hopes and dreams; Her hopes and dreams for the future, to become an Auror, get married and have a family. Family; The dinner tonight gathering with the entire Weasley family, and the four of them; Harry, Hermione, and Lily and Blake. Friends; Julia Hope Weasley, Blake James Potter, and Lily Anne Potter, the second-generation trio. The past; Her parents as seventeen year olds, growing up, learning lessons of life…and those tricky deals of fate.

A/n: Hey hey!! Here's the last chapter to Those Tricky Deals of Fate. Hope you enjoyed it; I know I enjoyed writing it!! The sequel should be up soon, I'm not going to give an exact date but soon, so look for Fate's Never Ending Cycle!! Anyways, please review!!! TTYL everyone, love ya lots!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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