Do all Things Happen for a Reason?

~*~

"I heard everything. There's no need to explain," Remus said, smiling at the shocked faces.

"You would have known anyway, right? I mean..." Kat trailed off and glanced over at Moony who was thinking along the same lines.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Remus said in an airy voice sitting down on the ground with the rest of them. "But no. I don't remember any of this. Coming into the future I mean."

"Maybe you were put under a Memory Charm," suggested Lily.

"Impossible," said Kat. "And even if he was he would have remembered everything the moment he saw you."

"How is it 'impossible'?" Sirius asked.

"Because werewolves are immune to Memory Charms," said Moony.

"And how did you figure that out Professor Moony?" James asked. Remus snorted and Moony took on a red tinge.

"Um...um...well, you see..." Moony was going redder with each word he spoke (or tried to speak). He looked at Remus pleadingly and Remus chuckled.

"Don't look at me! I never told them," he said amusedly.

"Never told who what? I want to know! You never told me this story before," Kat said enthusiastically.

"You were probably too young to know," said Moony. "I was scarred for life."

"Oh! Was it dirty?" she asked, her eyes dancing with mischief.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you watch those late-night muggle movies alone," said Remus.

"Technically you didn't 'let' me watch them and I wasn't alone. Sirius was with me," she said smiling at him.

"That's even worse," said everyone who was listening except Sirius.

"Hey!" he said, acting offended.

"I'll have to yell at him later about that," said Remus, obviously shocked that Sirius would let a fourteen-year-old girl watch that kind of stuff.

"Why?" Sirius asked. "I'm right here," everyone rolled there eyes.

"Not you!" said James. "I mean yes you, but...older you!"

"Oh!" he said. "Why didn't you say so?" Once again everyone rolled their eyes.

"All right, do you want to hear the story or not?" said Remus ending the previous conversation. Everyone nodded. "Well, when I was in second year I sort of got caught spying on some teachers and I saw...how shall I put this...a very interesting ...um...scene...between Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall and they tried to put a Memory Charm on me and it didn't work, so instead I was sworn to secrecy."

"No way!" said Sirius.

"Unbelievable!" said James.

"That's sick!" said Lily

"Bad mental image," Kat said.

"Ewww," Harry said, making a face.

After everyone finished making there comments Kat said to Remus, "Why were you following us anyway?" Remus' face lit up.

"Oh that! I almost forgot!" Remus pulled out his wand and conjured a steaming goblet out of thin air. "You forgot to take your potion today so I wanted to give it to you before tonight. It's a full moon, you know?" he glanced nervously up at the blue sky and handed her the goblet. She looked at it with disgust.

"Do I have to take it?" she asked. She looked like she was going to cry.

"I'm afraid so," he said with a sigh.

"What is it?" asked James.

"It's called the Wolfsbane Potion. It was discovered about five years ago. It helps to keep the werewolf safe during the full moon," said Kat, taking a sip and shuddering. "It tastes horrible though."

"How does it keep you safe?" Lily asked.

"You keep your mind when you transform and it's not as painful," said Remus, answering for Kat as she was taking another sip of the potion. Everyone was silent as Kat drank the rest of her potion.

When she was finished Harry said to her, "So you're a werewolf. But why did you move?"

Kat laughed a little, "Well, you remember my parents? They already hated me, so if you add the fact that I was a dangerous creature that supposedly didn't exist they were likely to throw me into the loony bin but they couldn't afford it. So instead they kicked me out into the streets."

"But you were only seven years old!" said James, obviously angry that anyone could treat there child like that. Kat nodded.

"Anyway, when I was in London working at The Leaky Cauldron I saw her sitting in the corner of the bar all alone and it surprised me because I thought she was a muggle," said Remus. "I walked over and asked her what was up and she told me and she's been living with me ever since."

"I thought you had to officially adopt a child before they can live with you," said Lily.

"You do," said Remus sighing. "But were having some trouble with the Ministry of Magic. Half of them seem to think that it's a bad idea to let a werewolf be a parent and the other half seem to think that I should be able to adopt her because Number 1: she's a werewolf too. And number 2: I would probably care about her a lot more then her biological parents ever would," he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's a bloody mess but I haven't let her out of my site for the past eight years."

"So if you do adopt her she'll be Katrina Lupin not Katrina Smith, right?" asked Sirius. Remus nodded smiling.

"I never pictured myself raising a kid," said Moony in wonder. Everyone laughed.

"That's not fair though," Lily said. "Why shouldn't you be a parent? It's not like you're a werewolf all the time and you take that Wolfsbane stuff, don't you?"

"You know what? That's an excellent point," Remus sighed. "If only you could come to my trials."

"Don't they let you speak?" Harry asked Kat.

Kat shook her head, "They don't care what I say. They just want to do what's 'best' for me."

Just then a big black dog came running up to them, barking like an overexcited puppy. He skidded to a halt and jumped on Kat, licking her face.

"Ugh," Kat said, trying to push the dog off. (A/N: Younger Sirius will go by Padfoot now, okay?) "Get off of me, Sirius!"

Remus leaned over and pulled the dog off of her and said, "What are you so excited about, Sirius?"

The dog looked around carefully, making sure no one was watching, and then transformed into a thirty five year old Sirius Black. (A/N: He can't see the Marauders, remember? Okay, I was just making sure)

Kat sat covered in drool and said sarcastically, "Thanks for the kiss."

Sirius grinned apologetically, "Sorry about that," He turned to Remus and Harry. "Guess what?"

"What?" Remus asked dully.

"Ron and Hermione got together and -" Sirius was cut off by Remus.

"You're risking getting caught and sent back to Azkaban just to tell us that Ron and Hermione got hooked up? Are you nutters?"

"No, I'm not! Just listen to me," he said. He had a wide grin on his face. "Anyway, while they were having their snog session, Hermione apparently stepped on a certain rat and Ron recognized it and grabbed it. Now they're all up in Dumbledore's office and Snape went to get Fudge. And if everything goes alright I should be free within a matter of hours." He smirked at the shocked faces.

"Snape?" Padfoot and Moony mouthed to Lily and James.

"We'll tell you later," Lily mouthed back.

"That's great!" said Harry.

"Yeah," said Kat, still whipping drool from her face. "Now you don't have to stake out at our house all the time." But she had a good-natured grin on her face.

"Oh shut up, you," Sirius said, ruffling her already messy hair. "You know you can't live without me. Who would get you out of trouble?"

"Speaking of trouble, Sirius," Remus said. "I heard a little rumor that you let my daughter watch certain muggle movies that aren't very...er...appropriate for her age." (A/N: I know Kat isn't Remus' biological daughter but he's trying to sound threatening. Understand?)

"Um...w-where did you hear that?" he asked nervously, glancing at Kat who avoided his eyes. Remus didn't answer, making the tension between them thicker. "Alright! So I let her watch a few movies! So what? It's not like she's a baby, Remus!"

"Uh oh," Kat muttered, backing away quietly, Harry and the Marauders following.

"What's the matter?" asked Lily.

"The last time someone said that to him...let's just say he lost his temper...badly. So we better get out of here unless you want to witness a fight," she replied. The rest nodded and the Marauders led Harry and Kat back to the abandoned room in the castle.

As they walked back up to the castle Remus (younger version) was thinking about all the things he would have to go through in his adult life. He could hardly believe that he would become such an overprotective father about a girl who wasn't even his biological child. It probably was nothing compared to what Lily, James, and Sirius had to go through but it was still tuff. 'Maybe we can change the past,' he thought. 'That way James and Lily won't die and Sirius won't get sent to Azkaban. Maybe I won't have to adopt Kat,' he shook his head. 'What am I thinking? I can't do that to her, I'm all she's got. Her parents obviously hate her," he was shaken out of his thoughts by James, who - by the looks of it - was the only person in the corridor, besides him.

"Are you alright, Moony?" James asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Remus said, trying to act casual.

"Because you were in some kind of trance before and we were all trying to get through to you but nothing worked. Sirius thought you were under the Imperious Curse," said James. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing," Remus replied, once again trying to sound casual. "Where is everyone?"

"I told them I would talk to you, so they went to the room," said James. "So tell me what's wrong. Kat was really worried about you. She seemed to think she had done or said something wrong," James obviously new he had touched a nerve when he said Kat's name because what Remus said next made James almost speechless with shock.

"You know what, James? I don't really give a damn about Kat! And if we do change the past I'm going to make sure I don't have anything to do with her!" Remus didn't really mean this but he was stressed and didn't have anyone else to take his anger out on. But what James and Remus didn't hear was a muffled sob and two pairs of feet running in the other direction.

"Remus! How can you say that?" asked James, incredulously. Obviously Remus must have realized what he said because a look of utter shock washed over his face.

"I-I-," he stuttered, trying to think of why he had said it. He looked at the floor and muttered, "I guess it's like I said before: I never pictured myself raising a kid. It seems really hard and I-I'm scared, I guess," James could see tears forming in Remus' eyes now. "I-I didn't mean what I said about not caring about her, it's just - I just don't know."

"Everything's hard, Remus ," James said, shaking his friend by the shoulders slightly. "But we have to keep going and as we get older everything will become easier. Now come on, everybody's probably worried you've committed suicide or something."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Remus Replied, letting some tears slip down his face.

They walked back to the room in silence. When they opened the hidden door they came face to face with Lily, who looked very worried.

"Have you seen Kat and Harry?" she blurted out nervously.

"No," said James slowly. "I thought they were in here with you two?"

"They were," she said sounding like she was going to cry. "But you two had been gone for, like, ten minutes. So Sirius said he would go and look for you, and Harry and Kat went with him. But when he got back Harry and Kat weren't with him and neither were you two. He didn't even answer me when I asked where they went."

Remus walked over to Sirius as James was comforting Lily and asked, "What happened, Sirius?" Sirius seemed to snap out of a daze and when he noticed Remus he glared at him.

"We were looking for you," Sirius said, still glaring at him. By now Lily and James were listening as well. "Kat was worried. We heard you talking and she got a bit upset about what you said and ran off. Harry ran after her." Remus sat down on the chair next to Sirius and put his head in his hands.

"Oh no," he sobbed into his arms. He didn't care who was watching, he felt extremely guilty. He had never meant any of what he said and on top of it all, it felt like his heart was ripping in half. He knew now that he loved and cared about her (not in a boyfriend type way, in a fatherly way), and that he always would, no matter how old he was. Just then the door opened again and in walked (older) Remus and -

"Sirius?" asked James in a stunned voice.

"Oh my God," Sirius whispered, almost close to tears. "Remus wasn't lying, I thought he had gone nutters." (A/N: Padfoot=younger & Sirius=older. The same goes for Moony and Remus, okay?)

"No," said Lily, walking over. "He wasn't lying."

"See? I told you so," said Remus, smirking at him.

"I don't remember coming into the future when I was a kid though," he replied, looking confused and tearful at the same time.

"Someone probably messed with time," said Padfoot, walking into the light and speaking for the first time since Moony had asked what happened.

"Obviously," said James.

"Wait, how did you get into the future anyway?" asked Remus. Lily and James looked over at Padfoot.

"Sirius was the one with the time-turner," said Lily.

"A man gave it to me," Padfoot said. "He sounded really familiar, like a voice I hear every day, but somehow it sounded different too."

"What did he say to you?" asked Remus.

"He was telling me about how he always went time-traveling to the future and how much fun it was. He said he didn't need the time-turner any more and he wanted to leave it in the right hands. That's why he was giving it to me. He also said the first time you go into the future you should turn the hour glass twenty times."

Sirius frowned in confusion, "What did he look like?"

"Don't know," replied Padfoot. "He was wearing a black cloak."

"What was his shape, then?" Remus asked.

"Short," said Padfoot firmly. "Definitely short. And a bit bulky," he paused for a moment thinking. Then, "Oh yeah! I remember know! His right hand was glowing, like the moon!"

"W-what?" Sirius gasped. Remus had stopped pacing and just looked pure shocked.

"Yeah," said Padfoot casually. "It was glowing. It was really weird."

Sirius started to laugh, "The little rat! He set you up! And now Voldemort knows you're here! He's going to try and - " then Sirius broke off and put his head in his arms and started to weep uncontrollably. James took a tentative step forward and placed a hand on his best friends shoulder.

"Siri," he said, and for some reason it made Sirius jump and look at James in astonishment.

"W-what did you just call me?" he asked, as if not believing his ears.

"Siri," said James slowly. " That's what I always call you. Besides Padfoot, I mean."

Sirius still had tears in his eyes, "No one's called me that in fourteen years." James felt his throat tightening and before he knew what he was doing he pulled Sirius into a tight embrace. (A/N: Just a question: Has anybody seen Lilo and Stitch yet? I did. God, I was crying so hard I should have brought a box of tissues. Still, it's a great movie.) When they pulled apart Sirius' tears had dried.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" asked Lily.

"For suggesting that you guys should use peter," he replied, guiltily. "I should have just taken the job like I was supposed to," he looked at the floor. "I'm a cowered."

"You are not a cowered, Sirius Black!" said Lily shrilly, making Moony look up from his sulking and come sit in the light where everyone could see him.

"Yeah," said Padfoot. "I'm not a cowered!" everyone laughed.

"How were you supposed to know he was a traitor?" asked James.

"Yeah," said Padfoot again. "How was I supposed to know he was a traitor?"

"Was I really that crazy?" asked Sirius, seriously.

"Yup," said Remus. "It really took you this long to catch on?"

"No," he replied slowly. "I realized it after I pulled that prank on Snape in sixth year."

"Really?" asked Remus. "No wonder you let up on the pranks after that."

"Sirius Black let up on pranks? I don't believe it!" said Lily, a look of shock on her face.

"Me either! What did I do?" Padfoot asked interestedly.

"I thought it would be a bit funny to tell Snape to prod the knot on the Whomping Willow on the full moon if he was so desperate to know where Remus went every month," Sirius said. The others (minus Remus) looked shocked. "I must admit it was funny...until I realized what I had done. So I told Jessi and she told James. James yelled at me for about 2 minutes before he ran down to the Whomping Willow and pulled Snape out," he turned to James. "Snape's been in your debt ever since. That's why he's so bitter." Jessi was Sirius' girlfriend in school.

"What ever happened to Jessi, Sirius?" asked Remus. "She sort of just disappeared after you were sent to Azkaban."

"I-I was told that she was in a muggle plane w-when it crashed," said Sirius, his voice shaking slightly. "T-there were n-no survivors," everyone looked shocked again. "That's what the guards at my cell told me anyway. I don't believe it. I think they just told me that to shut me up."

"Were you married?" asked Lily. Sirius nodded.

"I proposed to her at graduation in front of the entire school," he replied, his eyes glazed over as if remembering some wonderful memory.

"I remember that. Boy, was she embarrassed!" said Remus, chuckling. Remus looked around the room for the first time. "Hey, where are Kat and Harry?" Instantly Lily, James, and Padfoot glared at Moony. "Okay, what did I do?"

"You - I mean your younger self - sort of said something, and Kat got a bit upset and ran off and Harry ran after her," Padfoot explained once again.

"What did you say?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"I said something awful. I shouldn't have said it and didn't mean it," said Moony, sulking again.

"I don't think I want to know," said Remus carefully. Remus suddenly looked at his watch and said, "Snape should be here with Fudge by now."

"Oh yeah!" Sirius said, his eyes starting to dance with delight. "They're going to give him Veritaserum, right?"

"They had better," said Remus darkly. "Or I'll shove it down his throat myself."

James laughed, "I don't think you have to go to that level."

"We should look for Kat and Harry. We'll see you guys later," said Lily, as Sirius transformed and Remus opened the door and went through. When Sirius and Remus had gone James turned to Lily.

"I'm sure Kat and Harry are fine," he said slowly. "So why are we looking for them?"

"Well, you heard what Sirius said," she said, wringing her hands nervously. "Voldemort knows were here, and if he does he might try to get Harry to make us come after him and that's where he'll trap us."

"You know, she may have a point," said Remus (younger), walking over to join his friends.

"Well then let's go find them!" exclaimed Sirius (younger), in a valiant voice. And they all went looking for Kat and Harry, all the while oblivious to the scene unfolding in Dumbledore's office.