Back to the Past

By Mrs Grim

Chapter Three

Some dark magic, a whole lot of confusion, and an eerie little town

There was silence for a moment after James spoke. Everyone seemed resigned to their strange fate. They were lost in the middle of nowhere, hundreds and hundreds of years before they were even supposed to be born. How hopeless could one feel? How completely helpless?

Surprisingly, Peter was the one to speak up. "Well?" he asked, looking around at them, trying to raise one eyebrow, but both going up instead. "Well?"

No one spoke. There was a sort of guilty silence as each tried not to look at the others.

"Are you just going to sit there and wait for Slytherin to come and kill us? Are you just going to give up and let him get you? Let a Slytherin beat you?" They stirred restlessly and Snape huffed to himself, mumbling.

"Well," James started slowly, not looking up, "this is different." He raised his head and began to walk off across the seemingly infinite plain of sand. Looking around at them, he seemed to snap for a moment and began to shout. "If you haven't noticed, there's nothing here! Even if we tried, we'd probably never get out of here! It goes on forever!" He kicked at the dust irritably, frustration taking over. "If you have any idea, please let's hear them."

"Well," Remus said slowly, knowing he was the most practical of the Marauders. "There would be a chance if we knew where we were...perhaps...there has to be a clue that we're missing..." He too got up and began to walk around, crouching to examine the sand, running it through his fingers.

Dara cleared her throat, finding her voice. "It seems to me that Peter is right, however. It goes somewhanst our principles to just let this go. I think that we should at least make an effort. I mean, sitting here waiting for Slytherin to put a knife in our backs is really not an attractive thought...right?"

Snape was staring at the ground thoughtfully, his mumbling about 'bloody Gryffindors' having ceased. His face was remarkably controlled as usual, no emotion slipping out into the open. However, his eyes flickered for a moment, though he did not look up at them.

"Don't move any further," he told them suddenly, his voice sharp.

"What?" James asked, startled out of his reverie. He looked as if he was about to say something more, but was cut off.

"Don't move anywhequo; Snape told him, glancing at them only for a moment and then back down, engrossed in his studies of the surroundings.

"Why--"

"Just don't."

James shook his head, clearly not liking to take orders from Severus Snape. He kicked the dirt a few more times and then found a way to relieve his frustration. "I can't believe we had to get stuck here with him," he grumbled.

"Yeah," Peter declared, looking longingly across the plane. "And we can't even leave him in the past, either. A great opportunity wasted."

"We could," Sirius interjected hopefully. "Maybe no one would even notice. They'd probably even throw us a party when we got back if--"

Lily silenced him with a glare and then spoke. "Like it or not, he's coming. Maybe he won't be so bad. We ought to give him a chance..." she looked at their expressions and fell silent.

"Right, Lily," her best friend said a bit sardonically, "whatever you say."

They stewed in silence until it was broken by a startled yelp from somewhere in their vicinity. Lily was only able to let out a muffled cry and look around before Sirus spotted the trouble.

"It's Peter!" he exclaimed, eyes wide and pizzled. "He's gone!"

It seemed indeed that Peter was gone, although they could still hear him faintly. Dara felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, all the uneasiness she had felt seemed to be creeping up with more strength now.

Sirius started to walk towards the noise, lithe and quick, eyes alert and sharp. However, he did not get very far.

"Don't move!" Snape fairly shrieked, standing up and giving them a look of authority.

"Look, Snape, you may be here, but that does not mean that I have to listen to you."

"Look, Black," he replied in a cold, even tone, "I may not be able to stand the sight of you, but if you're killed--or the little fat boy, for that matter--we all are doomed."

"What are you talking about?" Lily yelled over to him, biting her lip in her nervousness.

"You Gryffindors really have led sheltered little lives. It's dark magic, you idiots!" Snape told them with disgust. "You wouldn't know a dark spell if it hit you in the head! It's lucky that one of us has some worldly knowledge; you'd all be dead without me by now."

They gave his statement the reverent silence that it deserved, but they'd all eat worms before they admitted that he was right. James seemed to be fighting the urge to strange Snape and Sirius looked as if he would go after him if he wouldn't likely be killed in the process.

"Well, since you know dark magic," Dara shouted at him finally, "why don't you do something?"

Snape turned around and muttered a few words under his breath that none of the others heard. In a moment, the scenery seemed to blur and it slowly faded into another very different landscape. Below their feet was not a plane of sand, but lush green grass. Where, before, there was nothing in the distance, a cliff had appeared perilously close to them; a drop to the bottom would mean certain death. Remus took a step back reflexively, reflecting on how close he had been to falling as well.

"Peter!" Lily cried, the first one to act after the spell. She rushed to the edge beside Remus, who caught her arm.

"If he's dead..." James started, but did not finish. Joining Remus and Lily, he saw that Peter was not dead, but he surely would be in a minute or so. He had been so fortunate as to grab hold of a rock jutting out a foot or so and there he clung, thirty feet down.

Fear shone on Lily's face, ever open to emotion. She looked over her shoulder to the others. "Hurry! Let's get him up! Quickly!" she implored.

Sirius put on a look of extreme concentration and conjured a thick rope; he had always been better at conjuring than the others. Luckily, there were trees in the vicinity and, tying the rope to one, they let the other end down to poor Peter who was somewhat in shock. He was, however, able to hold onto the rope long enough to be pulled to safety. He arrived, gasping for breath, at the top of the precipice.

Dara let out her breath, wiping sweat from her brow. That had been close; it had been much too close! "Thank goodness," she breathed.

"That was very lucky," a voice behind them commented. It was not, in fact, an unpleasant voice. Deep and firm, it held a certain power and refinement. "Too bad it won't do you any good now."

Behind them stood Salazar Slytherin. He looked a little like his portraits at Hogwarts, but he was much younger, probably in his late twenties. He didn't have as many scars, but the look of loathing and that supercilious smile were the same.

"Clever, very clever. I wouldn't have expected Gryffindors to know dark magic." He surveyed them for a moment; then he looked mildly surprised as he saw Snape.

"I'm not a Gryffindor," Snape said stiffly, spitting the word as if it were some fatal disease.

Slytherin looked almost sad for a moment, but it passed quickly. "I am sorry that you have to be caught up on this, but so be it." He raised his wand, a supercilious smile lingering on his lips before he opened his mouth. But before he could so much as start the spell, Snape had his wand out in a flash, shouting a few words, almost unrecognizable with the force in his voice. There was a flash of yellow light and smoke.

Peter shied away from Snape in horror, surveying the spot where Slytherin had stood as the rest of them were. He was gone. "Wh-what did you d to him?!"

"Nothing much," Snape replied as if he had merely knocked a book off of a desk. "He simply made the mistake of underestimating us because he has a bloated ego. He'll be back soon enough, though, so I suggest we go." He set the example, walking several feet ahead of them.

The others reluctantly started to move away from the cliff, finding it hard to glance at Snape or to talk amongst each other. Beyond them now was a dirt road, forests and hills were visible in the distance. There was a sense of solitude in the air, however, and Lily found herself almost relaxing for a moment.

"I meant we should be in somewhat of a hurry," Snape announced, looking back at them. "on't want to be in the vicinity when he comes back, which could be any second now."

They promptly picked up their feet and ran like never before. Although James half-expected to turn and see a senile and murderous Salazaar Slytherin, nothing and no one followed them. Soon, they slowed to a walk once more and took in the scenery. Ahead, there was a village looking warm and inviting, but terribly old fashioned.

"This is just great!" Sirius was complaining, as they entered the little town. "This is the old country! No color photographs, high-tech broomsticks--or joke shops! No joke shops! How people survived here I'll never understand..." Only Sirius would have had the gall to complain about something like that when being chased by a homicidal madman.

"We could always teach them a thing or two," James suggested slyly, his tricky nature coming out oncemore. "Let them in on some good pranks." He and Sirius exchanged devious looks.

Lily and Dara looked at each other at the same time and seeing their identical exasperated looks, they promptly burst out laughing.

The boys looked hurt.

"This is a serious matter," Remus told them, though he was grinning. "We have a chance to improve their lives--"

"You can 'improve lives' when we know that we can keep ours," Lily told him with finality. "Let's find somewhere to stay for the night; it's getting dark." She shivered a little and looked at them. "Do any of you have money?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, digging into his pockets and removing several objects which he squinted at before shrugging. "I think."

"Me too," James offered, digging into his own pockets and being rewarded with the tinkle of coins. "I hope that they'll accept this money."

"Wizarding money has always been the same, James," Lily informed him. "You should pay attention in History of Magic," she scolded with a little smile.

"Lily, I see you snoring through that class all the time! The only reason you know all of that is 'cause you stole Binn's notes!"

Lily turned red and coughed. "I didn't steal them, I--borrowed them. You're just jealous that you didn't think of it first." She gave him a triumphant smile and proceeded to walk to the door of a little inn. "You guys wait here. No, you may not go wandering and getting us all caught! Wait for Dara and me here."

"Lily--" Dara started once they were inside. "I don't think that this is a place that I'd like to spend the night.

The small room was dark mahogany and had the insignias of snakes crawling over the walls. It was actually an attractive enough pattern, but also strangely eerie; t

"This gives me the creeps, alright," Lily whispered, leaning closer to her friend.

Then a door off to the side slid open with an ominous creak.

~(*)~

Meanwhile, the boys were, of course, getting into trouble. They had wandered off down the deserted street and were kicking a few rocks about and peering into windows.

Snape had absolutely refused to go with . He stood, tapping his foot, by the entrance to the inn while wondering what deity he had so offended that he was sentenced to this terrible fate.

"No, no!" Snape could hear in the distance. "Use a long 'a' in the spell. Yes, yes! That's called a prank. Yes, I know it's gross, but you can really wreak havoc with that one! No! No, wait...there's other ones..."

Scowling darkly, Snape tuned them out as best he could. Just then, there was a faint prick between his shoulder blades. He froze.

"Don't move," the voice said. Snape didn't need to have that warning verbalized to comply with it.

~(*)~

"What a weird town!" James said, voice a little softer than usual. The silence around them was disturbing.

"It gives me the creeps," Sirius told them plainly, looking over his shoulder for the third time that minute. "We've only seen one other person besides ourselves."

"And you scared him off too," Remus pointed out.

"I did not--"

"Yes, you did."

"I did," Sirius grinned impishly. "But he looked as if he wanted to leave anyway. What is up with this town?"

"It's definitely eerie in a strange way...what's it called anyhow?" Peter asked.

No one knew.

"I don't like it here," James announced, running a hand through his already scraggly hair. "Let's go and see what the girls are up to."

They walked back, wondering why all the buildings looked, well, the same.

"This is it, isn't it?" Sirius asked peering at the door. "It looks like it."

"It is," James affirmed, not sure if he should go in or wait for them. Lily had said to wait and it was not a good idea to disobey her when she spoke like that.

"Guys," Remus said softly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Remus. Unless I'm going blind this is the same door!" James said impatiently, struggling with opening the door while knowing he should stay away from it.

"James, there is something wrong about this town! Did you see the houses we passed? All dark and quiet. Each one was dark green or black. And look at this inn!" They followed his pointing finger and looked for the first time at the sign declaring its name.

"It's called the Basilisks' Nest," Remus said flatly, looking at them.

They glanced at the door for a second and then threw it open and rushed inside.