Lupin's True Love Returns

September 14, 1996

Veronica sat beside Remus in front of the fire. She was comfortable. Remus was beside her and Regina was getting along famously with her cousin, Harry. She even had a new boyfriend, Charlie Weasley. The X-Men were comparing notes on what all they had seen in Diagon Alley that morning. Logan was enjoying his visit with Moonlight, Chris, and Nebula, who was also known as Smokescreen. Ororo had her head together with the twins to perfect new gag items. Scott and Jean were cuddled on the couch closest to the fire while Bobby and Marie were sitting at the table reading their new potions books. Hermione was helping Harry, Alison, and Regina research inu-akumas in the books on Japan that they had found. Veronica looked up as a cold breeze passed over her skin. She looked in the direction of the breeze and saw several people standing just inside the back door of the pub. The first man she noticed wasn't wearing any shoes on his clawed feet. Of course, his puppy dog-ears just stood out on top of his head along with his silver hair and his golden eyes. His red kimono stood out next to his brother's white kimono. His brother stood right beside him. Both were wearing similar smiles as Veronica jabbed Remus in the stomach making him look over at the back door.

"Hi, Inu-Yasha, Sessho-Maru." Remus turned back to his book. Suddenly he realized what he had said. He looked at his wife climbing to her feet. "Not possible."

"Well, are you done taking care of the brats or do we have to wait all day to talk?" Inu-Yasha covered his ears as Veronica let out a loud squeal and ran across the room.

She flung herself into his arms. "Inu-Yasha! Merlin knows that I'm happy to see you!"

"Hey, Remus! Come and get your mate!" Inu-Yasha laughed as he picked Veronica up and swung her around. "It's good to see you, Veronica."

Sessho-Maru pulled Veronica away from his brother and hugged her. "I trust you remember me as well?"

"Of course, Sessho-Maru. I remember giving you an order to beat the tar out of Inu-Yasha for me the last time we met." Veronica hugged him tightly before looking behind him. "Look, Remus. Everyone's here. Miroku, Sango, Tori, Koga, even Kirara." She hugged each person in turn and knelt on the floor to let Kirara jump into her arms.

"I don't think you met everyone else that day." Sessho-Maru moved slightly to allow everyone into the pub.

Veronica shook her head slightly. "Come on in, folks. We'll get the intros over with and get you settled into some rooms."

Inu-Yasha reached for Kagome and pulled her forward. "This is my mate, Kagome." He pointed at the red head with the white pelt slung around her shoulders. "That is Ayame. She's Koga's mate. Next to her is the last of Koga's pack, Ginta and Hakkaku."

"This is my vassal, Jaken, and he is to help you with anything you wish." Sessho-Maru pointed at the little green imp.

Kagome pointed to two adults that still looked like teenagers. "Those two I believe you know from the time they were children."

Veronica clapped her hand over her mouth. "They can't be Rin or Shippo. They're too old." Veronica hugged Shippo first. "You've gotten very handsome, Shippo."

"Thank you, Lady Veronica." Shippo bent slightly and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Veronica turned to Rin and pulled her into a hug as well. "And you have gotten even more beautiful, Rin."

Rin curtsied to Veronica. "Thank you, Lady Veronica."

Obi-Wan stepped from the shadows with Anakin. Veronica flung herself into his arms and he swung her around in a circle. "Hello, Veronica."

Veronica pulled Anakin into a hug. "You've gotten so big, Annie."

Anakin blushed as he noticed all the teens watching him. "Thank-you, ma'am."

Harry stepped around Remus, who was shaking hands with Koga and talking with Sessho-Maru. "Aunt Veronica, who are these people?"

"Oh, Harry. These are some friends of Remus's and mine. We knew them at least eighteen years ago." Veronica placed a hand on Harry's arm. "Let's see. This is Lord Sessho-Maru, his wife, Lady Tori, and his vassal, Jaken. Rin is their adopted daughter." Rin smiled at Harry. "Next is Koga and his wife, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku, his packmates." Ginta grinned while Koga looked around the pub. "We also have Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker. And last but not least are Inu-Yasha, his wife, Kagome, and their friends Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. And let's not forget Kagome and Inu-Yasha's adopted son, Shippo."

"But how do you know them, Mrs. Lupin?" Marie had closed her potions nooks and moved over to Harry and Veronica.

"Maybe Remus and the others had better tell the story. After all, it happened to them." Veronica ushered everyone over to the fire.

Logan perched himself on the arm of the sofa as Veronica sat down. He leaned close to her and spoke so softly that only the demons in the room, Kurt, and Henry could hear him. "You know all this excitement isn't good for the babies."

"Knock it off, Logan, before I take your head off." Veronica jabbed Logan in his ribs.

"Wait a second." Inu-Yasha flopped onto the sofa next to Veronica. "Did he just say babies?"

"Yeah." Veronica rolled her eyes. "The moron over there..." She pointed at Remus leaning against the mantle of the fireplace. "...Got me pregnant with twins."

"I'd hate to be in your shoes, baka." Inu-Yasha laughed at the look on Remus's face. "I remember when Kagome had our first son, Qui, she about killed me when she was in labor. In fact, she threatened to cut off a certain part of my anatomy and use it as bait."

"That's not true, Inu-Yasha." Kagome's eyes narrowed slightly, making Inu-Yasha cringe. "You know I haven't done this in about a hundred years but today you deserve it. Sit boy!"

Inu-Yasha slammed face first into the floor. "Why'd you do that?" He struggled to get back to his feet.

"Because you made me look like a shrew." Kagome glared at her mate lying on the floor.

Inu-Yasha climbed painfully to his feet and looked at his wife. "Ashikarazu."

"You're forgiven." Kagome sat in a chair beside him. "I guess we should get this story over with."

"Right you are, Kagome." Remus sank onto the sofa next to Veronica. Charlie sat between Remus and Veronica and Regina sat next to him. "James, Lily, Sirius, Peter, Veronica, and I had just graduated. Veronica was working at Flourish and Blotts that warm day in June 1978. The rest of us decided that we were going to go visit Hagrid since we hadn't seen him since graduation. That's when we were attacked by the Trade Federation's droids."

"Trade Federation?" Marie was chewing one of her fingernails.

"Perhaps I should explain about the Trade Federation." Obi-Wan looked up from his pressed fingertips. "The Trade Federation is a group that sets up trade routes and makes sure that everywhere in the galaxy gets what they need."

"Thanks, Obi-Wan." Remus cleared his throat slightly. "Anyhow, Peter was the only one of us that managed to transform. Then again, maybe that was because his left arm was hurting before we were attacked. Sirius was the last of us to be stunned. First I fell, according to Sirius, then Lily and James. Sirius was stunned but he managed to take out several droids first."

"That's the only way we knew what was going on." Veronica rubbed Remus's arm. "Arthur, Ted Tonks, and I managed to fix one of the droids enough for us to get messages from them but not enough for it to start attacking us."

"It sounds like Uncle Sirius was trying to take as many of them with him." Regina looked up at Remus from her position in Charlie's arms. "I bet Mother was pissed when she found out what happened."

"Sirius was and Veronica was pissed." Remus shook his head slightly.

"Yeah. Pissed enough to dig my claws into that rat." Veronica growled low in her throat.

"Anyways." Remus heaved a deep sigh. "We woke up in a cell with four people and a cat from the Warring States Era of Japan. This is where Lord Sessho-Maru should take over." Remus motioned to the demon lord standing before the roaring fire.

"Thank you, my brother." Sessho-Maru looked around the gathered group. He saw Inu-Yasha sitting at Kagome's feet. "We fought the droids in our time as well. Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara were battling the droids when I arrived. I told Rin to stay hidden in the bushes while I helped our pack. Of our group, Sango was the first to succumb to the stunners. Miroku also fell. Inu-Yasha and I battled the droids with Kirara in her full form. Then she went down. Inu-Yasha and I fell at the same time. We woke in the cell moments before James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus were tossed into the cell. We tried to get out but to no avail. We bided our time."

"I was captured in the year 2000. I had gone a picnic alone and was attacked. Normally you wouldn't be able to get the drop on me but there were a lot of droids." Tori flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Meanwhile, I was also on the ship." Koga moved out from his position behind Ayame's chair. "I had seen the strange ship and investigated thinking that Kagome was in danger. I found Rin and Shippo hiding in the bushes. Together we snuck aboard and traveled with them to 1978 and 2000. When we stopped in 2000, I decided that they also needed a droid just in case, so I destroyed one for them. When we stopped for a third time, I took the kids to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I figured they would be safer there than with me. We stopped one more time and I got off on a planet called Tatooine. I didn't realize that it wasn't the last stop until after the ship left again."

"All the while, we were in a cramped little cell on a spaceship. We didn't know what was going to happen to us. Tori was thrown in and Inu-Yasha and Sessho-Maru scared her senseless." Remus smiled at the memory of Tori staring down Sessho-Maru. "In fact, Tori did the one thing that none of us thought to do. She wedged open a panel on the wall."

"Then I insulted Sessho-Maru's manhood by calling them all boys." Tori grinned at her mate. "One thing I can tell you girls is that if you're ever in a cell with a bunch of men call them boys and they'll rip the panel off the wall for you."

"That is what I did to prove to her that I was a man, not an idiotic boy." Sessho-Maru straightened a bit as the girls started to giggle. "Meanwhile the Jedi were in negotiations for the release of the planet Naboo."

"Our ship was blown up by the Trade Federation. Master Qui-Gon and I headed to the bridge to confront those in charge of the blockade. We were attacked but we managed to get into the ventilation system." Obi-Wan rose to his feet and moved to the fireplace. "We saw Tori's hand and heard her yelling for help. We cut through the grate and freed everyone in the cell."

"How did you cut them free?" Kitty set her chin on her knees, which were pulled up to her chest.

"With our lightsabers." Obi-Wan pulled the device from his belt and turned it on. "This is a Jedi's weapon. Of course our weapons can't compare with the weapons that our new allies had."

"You see the leaders of the Trade Federation were really stupid because instead of putting our weapons in a cell halfway across the ship, they put them in the next cell. Tori had seen them when they threw her into the cell." Remus shook his head. "I'm still amazed by it."

"Then what happened?" Alison leaned forward slightly.

"We went to the hangers and snuck aboard the ships that were headed down to the planet." Obi-Wan shook his head. "We each had a partner. Sango even gave Kirara to Master Qui-Gon."

"Yeah. We each learned a bit about our new companions. We even found out that Sirius and Miroku are of like minds." Sango leaned back in her seat and watched Kirara move among the teens sitting on the floor.

"Sango, didn't anyone tell you that Sirius is dead?" Obi-Wan turned his saddened eyes toward his friend.

The teens covered their ears as the new adults started yelling about it. Veronica climbed to her feet and whistled. "We'll discuss that later. Right now we're telling about your adventures on Naboo." She sank back onto the sofa.

"Veronica's right. We'll talk about Sirius, James, and Lily later." Obi-Wan gave everyone a weak smile. "Where were we?"

"You were all on separate chips and heading down to Naboo." Jean laid her head on Scott's shoulder.

"Yes. We made down to the planet and got back into a group again. Master Qui-Gon had managed to save one of the locals. Jar Jar took us to the Gungan city underwater." Obi-Wan glanced at Tori for a moment.

"That's right. I thought it looked like a giant bubble bath." Tori nodded slightly. "We went before the Gungan high council and they gave a vehicle to get to the city of Theed. We went through something called the planet core. We lost power at one point. Sirius took advantage of the dark and grabbed Sango and kissed her."

"Sounds like Sirius." Veronica rolled her shoulders slightly, making Remus start to rub them.

"Yeah. Sango hit him. We got the Theed and had to find Queen Amidala. She had been captured so the lot of us snuck along the balcony above the street she was walking along. We jumped and took out all the droids. We managed to talk the Queen into going to Coruscant to talk to the Senate." Tori rolled her eyes slightly. "Not that they helped her."

"We had to land on Tatooine because the hyperdrive on the Queen's ship went out. That's when we met up with Koga." Sessho-Maru's golden eyes narrowed at the ookami-akuma slightly. "We also met Anakin. He volunteered to race in a podrace for us so that we could get the parts needed."

"Qui-Gon managed to free Anakin after the race. When we were finished on Tatooine we started for home but not before a Sith Lord attacked Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan shook his head. "The Jedi Council still hasn't figured out if it was the master or the apprentice that was killed on Naboo."

"The Queen talked to the Senate but decided to return to Naboo on her own. The Gungans helped us defeat the droid army." Inu-Yasha grinned slightly. "Most of us helped with that battle."

"James and Sirius went with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to fight the Sith Lord. Qui-Gon died before Obi-Wan or even James and Sirius could get to him." Tori wiped a tear from her cheek. "We lost a great man that day.

"I managed to defeat the Sith Lord. Now I'm training Anakin as Mater Qui-Gon wanted me to do." Obi-Wan laid a hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"So what about James, Lily, and Sirius? Where are they?" Tori pulled her feet under her.

"James and Lily died on Halloween Night 1981. Voldemort killed them. Harry was the only survivor." Remus patted Harry's shoulder. "Sirius fell behind the Death Veil this past June. He was battling his cousin Bellatrix."

"What about you, Veronica? You haven't been around for a while, have you?" Inu-Yasha looked over at Veronica, rubbing her stomach.

"No, I haven't. I had my memory erased not long after your return to Earth. I spent the next eighteen years teaching at various schools and making new allies." Veronica motioned around the room. "The people that are sitting around here are part of a group known as the X-Men. All of them have special gifts and powers. There's Logan, Scott, Jean, Ororo, Marie, Bobby, Kitty, Alison, Piotr, Shiro, Rahne, Sam, Danielle, Roberto, Alex, Lorna, Henry, Moonlight, Chris, Nebula, and Kurt." She laid a hand on Regina's shoulder. "And this is our daughter, Evelyn Regina Rose. Everyone calls her Regina. Harry is James and Lily's son and he takes care of Sirius's son, Leo." She tickled Leo under his chin. "Ron, Ginny, Bill, Fred, George, and Charlie all belong to Molly and Arthur Weasley. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, and Michael Corner go to school with Harry. And last but certainly not least we have Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fleur Delacour, who happens to be engaged to Bill."

"And if you know what's good for you, you won't call me Nymphadora." Tonks glared at everyone that was new in the room.

"I guess my next question is going to be, what are the lot of you doing here?" Remus looked over at Sessho-Maru.

"We decided that we are going to help with the defeat of Voldemort." Sessho-Maru bowed slightly.

"Oh goody. We've got more teachers to torture the Slytherins with." Veronica clapped her hands together. "I guess Sessho-Maru and Inu-Yasha can teach the kids about weapons."

"We'll figure it out later. Now we'd better eat all that food that Tom's laid out and head on up to bed. We're going to have some explaining to do for Albus tomorrow." Remus climbed to his feet and led the way to the table.

Veronica looked around at everyone getting to know each other and smiled. This year was going to be very interesting with the teachers that they now had.