Author’s Note: Now, before we get onto Chapter 17, I’m going to need to give you a small insert of Chapter 15, for you to fully understand Chapter 17. Understand? Good.
*Before Potions started*
What was that all about? Lily thought, furrowing her brows. Well, if anyone can solve this, it’d be me. But for now, we need to get to Potions… oh, where are you James?
A rat scurried around her feet, and then quickly dashed into a hole in the wall. Lily sighed. Now, she also had rats to worry about as well as James. Turning the opposite direction, Lily set off in a jog to find Potter.
-
Peter Pettigrew couldn’t believe it. Here he was, at Hogwarts, trying to spy on Dumbledore and Harry Potter. At first, he cowered in the corners as Wormtail, just praying no one would realize it was poor, dead Peter Pettigrew. Eventually, he discovered that no one paid attention to the rat scampering close to the wall. Good.
In order for Potter not to see him on the map, he’d hide in the Forbidden Forest mainly after dinner, till morning. His plan was flawless.
But so far, he’d found out nothing for Voldemort. Well, until she ran by. The girl that looked like Lily. Was it really her? Could it be?
No. Lily was dead.
But then again, he had been declared deceased too.
Well, he couldn’t just keep running around her feet, could he? Peter ran into a hole in the wall, mind racing. She had looked at him as he fled, with those electric green eyes. There was no mistaking them. Lily Potter was at Hogwarts, somehow.
He should tell Voldemort right away… but what would it hurt, just to check it out? Maybe it was another girl that just happened to look like Lily.
In his heart, Peter knew it was impossible. But he had to find out why. Sitting down in the small area, Peter began to plan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sirius Black ran until his sides ached and his body forced him to stop. Leaning against a nearby tree, he panted, trying to catch his breath. Well, those people weren’t chasing him anymore- that was good.
He looked around the area, trying to decide where he was. Most likely a restaurant- he could hear the strains of music coming from the building. An Elton John song... oh, what was it called? It had been a while since he’d heard it.
Now he remembered. Bennie and the Jets… that song always reminded him of the time in his 6th year, when James had been gone.
He remembered tearing through the library, looking for the book… and how a scruffy looking Remus had to lead him to a chair and make his sleep deprived self catch a rest. He remembered looking through a book for the spell… what was the spell?
What was the book?
Why didn’t he remember?
Sirius frowned, trying to recall anything. But the only thing that came to mind was… nothing.
He would have tried to puzzle it out further if a couple hadn’t walked by, laughing loudly. He’d have to run again…
Sighing, Sirius began to sprint again, off to wherever he was bound to go. Only this time, one could hear him, unlike his last, silent, journey.
He was singing Bennie and the Jets.
And, I regret to say, singing as badly as he did when he was 16.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Good. The Gryffindor 6th years had left… and now to deal with the Weasley twins. Remus turned toward the two brothers, each wearing equally large grins. He was going to get them out of here if it were the last thing he did.
“Fred, George-”
“How may I be of service, Mr. Moony?” asked George, pretending to bow.
“Your mighty Marauderness?” Fred proclaimed, flourishing his arms.
Oh God. This might be harder than it looked.
“I’m very touched that you admire my friends and I… but what we were the Marauders a very long time ago. And I have classes to teach.”
“Professor, we’re not leaving,” said Fred. “You have so much to teach us! Like how’d you turn in the Slytherin common room into a swimming pool?”
“And turn McGonagall’s hair red,” reminded George.
Remus sighed tiredly and massaged his temples. He was regretting James ever showed that video to the Great Hall.
Finally, he thought of something. Yes, it wasn’t the best idea… in the matter of fact; he knew he was going to regret it. But right now, he needed them to leave.
For his sanity.
“Do you know how Madam Pince has always had a bit of a… phobia about dogs?” he asked, watching the twins. They nodded, looking eager.
“I’m sure she’d be happy to tell you a story about an encounter she had with one. Well, a certain dog called Snuffles, but she wouldn’t know that.”
Fred and George’s grins widened even further, if possible. In addition to Remus having to explain that he was indeed, Moony, he confessed that Sirius, James and Peter were also the part of the group dubbed the Marauders. So they knew exactly what he was talking about.
In an instant, they were gone. And Remus silently prayed for Hogwarts as he went back to his paperwork.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“It’s not here,” Sirius yelled, slamming the hundredth dusty book they’d pored over onto the table. He was incredibly tired… but he had to keep working. He had to find the spell James used.
Remus sighed and closed his worn out eyes as Sirius dove ferociously into the books. This was sounding strangely reminiscent of when they were in Charms…
“We’ve still got a lot of books to look over,” Peter reminded him. “It could be in there.” But Sirius just grunted in annoyance and tossed more books out of their rightful shelves.
“I’m hungry,” announced Peter, standing up. “Do you have any food?”
Sirius glared at him, eyes narrowed. “We’re looking for James’s charm right now, not food. Food! Food! Who can think of food in a time like this…? Is he mad? James is lost and you’re looking for food! Well, I’ll tell you something, food isn’t important, we have to keep reading, we have to keep reading... just keep reading and reading and reading…” Sirius’s unusually fast spoken speech was slowing down almost alarmingly as began to sway back and forth, repeating the same sentence over and over.
Remus knew Sirius couldn’t handle a night without sleep. He had to crash sometime.
“Come on, Sirius, sit down over here. I’ll look for the Charms book,” he encouraged him, leading the almost delusional Marauder toward his seat. Sirius mumbled incoherently as he slipped into the chair and his eyes closed shut.
Well, that took care of one thing. Sighing, Remus turned around, only to see Peter digging through Sirius’s bag.
“Hey, isn’t this that book James always used to read? Well, to get Sirius angry… you remember,” Peter said waving the book Remus had found in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Actually, now that Peter mentioned it, Remus had seen James reading it a couple of times. More for mocking Sirius and his lovely book than for real reading, Remus had to add.
Why had he forgotten that…? Oh. Most likely because the day this was happening, he had been suffering from headaches and before transformation distraction. Suddenly, it hit him.
James had read this book.
Hadn't it been a book of Charms?
And hadn’t James used a charm to make Lily and himself disappear?
Remus was looking at the book in a whole new light.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lily decided that she couldn’t stand James. Here she was, leaving him alone for one minute, and he’d already gotten in trouble. It was like having a two year old on the loose. From that moment on, their shoulders were nearly glued together. There was no way she was letting him out of her sight.
“YES! We have Moony next!” James cheered, pumping his arms in the air.
“Remus will be a good teacher- unlike you would,” she shot back, unable to stop herself. James let his eyes droop sadly, looking a bit like Sirius.
“Do you really think I’d be that bad?” he asked, sounding offended.
Lily probably would have answered yes if they hadn’t reached the door to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She turned around on James, eyes narrowed. “If you blow up Remus or anyone else, I’ll…”
“I wouldn’t blow up Remus!” protested James. “I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise- for Moony.” Lily sighed, and pushed open the door, praying James would live up to that. Well, she could dream, couldn’t she?
Remus was at the front of the room, looking over some papers. Well, Lily guessed this meant that Snape was back to normal. Otherwise, he would still be attempting to help a certain Potions Master return to the ordinary.
So they were the first ones there… good. Running through the hallways did help get them there faster.
Remus looked up and smiled at the two. Lily had noticed that his eyes always seemed a bit sorrowful, the premature lines on his face and the gray hairs already mixing in with his brown, and couldn’t help but wonder, what happened? She didn’t say a word, though- she’d leave that until later. Something was wrong here, in the future…
“Hey, Professor Moony!” greeted James, smiling widely as he slapped his hands down on the shoulders of Remus, interrupting Lily from her thoughts. The professor winced, but Lily wasn’t sure if it was at the pressure of James’s hands or the nickname.
“Please, refer to me as Professor Lupin during the lesson, James,” he contradicted quietly, but then grinned. “Call me whatever you like after that.”
“Will do,” James agreed, and sat down in a seat.
Lily figured this was the time to ask a question, now that no one was there to interrupt them. “Remus,” she asked, trying to seem as casual as possible, “who’s Harry Potter?”
Remus’s head snapped up. His eyes seemed extremely scrutinizing as they looked at her face, as if trying to see something. “Why do you ask?”
Lily took a breath. She was going to have to tell him sometime. “Because, when I was speaking with Ron, he’d just mentioned…”
The future Remus nodded his head, as if encouraging her to go on. His dark brown eyes stared directly into hers, just as his younger self had always done. For some reason, this gave her a bit of reassurance. She wasn’t sure if what she was about to say was wise, but she was going to ask it anyway.
“Why-”
“Professor Lupin!” shouted Hannah Abbott excitedly, entering the room. “You’re back!”
After much confusion, and people declaring they’d thought Umbridge was back, Remus had them calmed down and started the lesson. Lily wished she could have finished her question, but it could wait.
The lesson was enjoyable, until they had to pair up. Obviously, she and James were together in fear of someone figuring out their secret. But, much to her surprise, James was actually sticking to his promise and took the practice seriously. So, James could be solemn if he felt like it.
As the matter of fact, he was actually being… nice. She’d never really realized how cute his smile was… Wait! She couldn’t be saying that! She was NOT attracted to James.
Meanwhile, James blasted the pillow out of the air, craving to knock it into that Abbott girl. No! No pranks… he had to remember that…
James saw the Flinch-Fletchy boy coming towards him. Well, at least it was some company. Lily didn’t seem overly excited to be partnered up with him.
“Hey! Your name’s James… Sirius James, right?” James nodded, wondering what the boy was getting to.
“Well, what I was going to say in Potions, is that you look a lot like Harry Potter. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard that before.”
“No, actually, I haven’t. But thanks… I think… anyway…” replied James as Justin turned away.
“Do you know what the heck that kid was talking about?” James asked to Lily, after Justin was out of range. She seemed to be deep in thought, though, brows furrowed.
So this did have something to do with Harry! Lily knew it! Well, all she had were a few clues… Harry looked like James; Ron didn’t want Harry to see them… but why not?
Suddenly, it hit her. Why hadn’t it before? Could Harry be James’s son? They look the same… Ron didn’t want Harry to see herself, most likely because James was with her… Everything fits! She felt like doubling over and laughing at the sheer absurdity of it.
“What?” James asked, looking concerned. “What is it?”
Lily didn’t answer. She couldn’t tell James yet… she wanted to be sure her hunch was correct. She also wondered who the mother was, but she knew she’d never figure that out… unless she asked someone who already knew. Well. Lily was going to ask Remus a few questions before James and she left this classroom.
Finally, class was over. As the students filed out, she came to Remus’s desk and sat down in the chair. “Remus, what does Harry Potter have to do with us?” Lily asked, looking him straight in the eye.
For a moment, she expected him to deny Harry Potter had anything to do with James, but instead he sighed.
“I should have known you’d piece things together, Lily… all right. I suppose I do have some explaining to do." Remus looked utterly distracted, but finally gave in and stared her straight in the eye. "How to start..."
Author’s Note: Yay! Cliff hanger! I love those… *laughs at faces of readers who are currently moaning about the cliffie* The next update will be sooner, I promise. My writer’s block is completely gone. I hope to (main words, hope to) finish this before the Half Blood Prince comes out… but then again… alright. The last author’s note was almost a full page long, so I’ll leave this one nice and short. Look for the next update soon!