Fate

Chapter 12 - Where Are We?

The next morning was rather chaotic for Harry. He dashed all over the dorm room, trying to remember all the things that Remus and Sirius had instructed him to bring. This, of course, was rather strange behavior for him and caused his roommates to look at him curiously.

"Going somewhere, Harry?"

Harry jerked up suddenly and looked at Ron, starting to feel nauseous again.

"Yeah," he said shortly, going back to stuffing things in his small pack.

Dean, Seamus and Neville all left, glancing at Harry doubtfully, but knowing that Ron would sort things out, being best mates and all.

"Are you coming to DADA?" Ron pressed, slinging his own school bag onto his shoulder. Harry's eyes darted over to his stack of schoolbooks, none of which were coming with him.

"No."

He finished packing and zipped the bag up, slinging it onto his shoulder. When he stood up straight, he turned to see Ron still looking at him curiously.

They both stood in silence for a full minute, Harry racking his brain for ideas. He didn't want to have to explain everything to Ron, though he knew Ron deserved to hear the truth. Sirius and Remus had told him that if he wanted too, he could bring one other person with them, since the spell was strong enough for four. Harry had shook his head, not willing to put his friends lives in any more danger. But if he was going to bring someone, he knew it would most likely be Ron, not Hermione. Not even Ginny. His heart twitched at that though. He wondered if he'd run into her on his way to Dumbledore's office.

"What's going on?" Ron finally asked.

"You'll be late for class," Harry reminded him lamely.

"So will you."

Harry sighed. "I'm not going to class today."

Ron looked rather hurt. "Harry, are you going to tell me?"

Staring hard into Ron's eyes, he shook his head shortly and watched Ron's face fall slightly. But almost instantly, it hardened into a resigned expression. Ron nodded once at Harry before shouldering his pack again and taking off down the stairs.

Harry's shoulders slumped. Hopefully he wouldn't run into Hermione. He knew she wouldn't let him off that easy.

He crept down into the common room, making a hasty exit, but keeping a wary eye open for a familiar tuft of red hair.

As he walked to Dumbledore's office, he wondered why he dreaded the thought of having to face Hermione, but also dreaded the thought of not having to face Ginny.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

----

Harry had tried to stall as long as he could: tying his shoe for five minutes, going over the last minute details for more than a minute, explaining for the 50^th time his dislike of floo powder...but she still hadn't showed up.

He sighed deeply, facing the facts and turning back to Sirius and Remus who were mumbling about something, starting the fire with their wands. They both turned to him, hesitant smiles on their faces.

"Ready now?" Remus asked.

Harry just nodded once, resigning himself to the fact that she was still mad. He didn't blame her, but he did wish he would be able to see her one last time.

Just as he reached for the floo powder, the door slammed open, and there she was, panting heavily, lugging her books behind her. She stopped abruptly at seeing all three of them there and her face colored. Harry had to smile though. She came, that was what mattered.

Ginny's gaze fluttered over to Harry and they locked eyes for a moment before she finally broke the silence.

"See you soon?" It was a statement full of hope and terror at the same time and she didn't seem to care anymore that both Remus and Sirius were standing in the room with them. Though, Harry didn't care much either.

His face broke into a relieved smile. "Definitely," he said, nodding once.

She smiled hesitantly, a small tear coming to her eyes. Harry held the eye contact for just a moment more before turning towards the fire again. However right as he turned, she shot forward, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. Not arguing, Harry held onto her tight, burying himself in the smell of her hair and the way she fit so perfectly into his arms. She was shaking slightly when she pulled back but she managed to still look him in the eye again.

"Promise?"

Feeling much more daring than he ever had before, Harry reached down and answered her question with a sound kiss (conveniently forgetting the fact that Remus and Sirius were both standing together to the side of them, trying desperately to seem invisible). He reluctantly pulled away, realizing how much he was going to miss kissing her.

"It'll be alright, Gin," he said solemnly, reaching up to wipe away the one tear that had sneaked its way down her face. "I'll be right back."

"Will you?" She sounded doubtful.

He smiled. "If I don't, I give you permission to hunt me down and beat me around the head until I ask you out. Deal?"

She managed a smile. "Deal."

"Then we'll both drag Ron and Hermione together and lock them in a room again. Okay?"

"Okay."

He nodded once, letting go of her and stepping away. He threw the powder into the roaring fire and looked back at her once more. Not wanting Remus and Sirius to see, he mouthed 'I love you' quickly to her before stepping into the flames, shouting out loud, "The Department of Mysteries!" and disappearing in a whirl of flame and ash.

It was another one of his graceful landings, this time thankfully unseen by anyone else. He scrambled up quickly, grabbing the pack that had fallen off his shoulders during the trip and reaching up to wipe away the last of his tears.

Yes, she had come. Yes, he was still going. And yes...he decided that he loved her.

He didn't have much more time to think before Remus, quickly followed by Sirius came tumbling out of the fireplace, landing much more gracefully than Harry had, and proceeded to wipe the soot off their clothing. Harry looked up to see Sirius giving him a sort of wistful smile and Remus rolling his eyes.

Harry smirked. "Yes, Sirius?"

"Ignore him, Harry," Remus said quickly, leading them both out the door and into the familiar circular room with doors. As the door slammed behind them and the room started to spin, Remus turned to Harry. "He just got an old flashback of Lily and James when he saw you and Gin." Remus tilted his head a bit, examining Harry. "It is rather strange that you would end up with a redhead as well."

Harry smirked and turned to look as the doors stopped. Remus then knelt on one knee, drawing his wand and sticking it into a small hole in the ground that Harry had never noticed before. He heard Remus mumble something and suddenly the doors had labels on them!

That would really have been useful last year...Harry thought glumly as the three of them entered the door which Harry noticed was entitled "The Death Chamber".

He gulped, his eyes unable to leave the veil as soon as he saw it. Sirius must have seen his nervousness, for he put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder as they walked towards it. Surprisingly, Dumbledore was sitting on one of the stone benches, waiting for them. He smiled when they reached him and stood, handing Remus and Sirius a few things as he spoke.

"I've managed to acquire most of the items you requested, though I wasn't able to get quite enough money."

"I've got some," Harry said quickly. Dumbledore smiled, nodding his head once to Harry in thanks.

"Well," Dumbledore stated, after Remus and Sirius had loaded their bags with the new things. "Shall we go?"

Harry gulped nervously as they approached the veil. He glanced over at Sirius and saw that his Godfather was very pale, but had a determined expression on his face. Remus too looked rather peaky, but also looked firm.

"Now, as we don't want you to get separated, you will all three enter at once," Dumbledore explained. "Harry, I assume you know the light spell?"

Harry nodded, his mouth going dry.

"I'm going to be doing that part," Sirius said, taking a step up. Dumbledore nodded, then, almost reluctantly, took a step back, and motioned them forward. Taking a deep breath, Harry, Sirius and Remus went towards the veil.

As the three took one step, the ground seemed to suddenly start to shake beneath them. Harry looked around in terror, the walls seemed to be cracking around them and the veil started blowing in a very violent non-existent wind.

"Bollocks!" Sirius shouted.

"Get in! Quick!" Harry heard Dumbledore shout.

Before he knew it, Sirius and Remus had both grabbed him and all three jumped through the veil.

Harry's world went instantly dark and his blood seemed to run cold. Instinctively, he reached back and felt behind him, but, as Sirius had said, there was no veil, only a solid brick wall. Harry's mind started to panic, but suddenly, a bright jet of light burst out of Sirius' wand. Harry blinked in astonishment as terrible screams echoed through the room. He glanced toward the light and saw several pairs of large eyes clamped shut, their owners obviously the ones making the screaming noises, though Harry could not see any part of their bodies save their eyes.

These were, without a doubt, the Gitres...the Fates.

"Remus, now!"

Harry felt his world tilt slightly when Remus started muttering some words under his breath. Just as Harry felt he might tip over from the nausea, he felt someone grab him by the shoulder, tugging him sideways. As his brain registered that it was Sirius, stars began to dance in front of his eyes. It took a moment for him to realize that the stars weren't just in front of his eyes, but everywhere around them.

"Harry! Grab hold! Quick!" Sirius shouted.

Fumbling to control his arms in the total chaos around him, Harry reached around, finding some material and grabbing onto it. He finally got his head to cooperate and saw that he was clinging tightly to Remus' robes, Sirius still having a firm grip on his shoulder and his wand still pointed towards the Fates. The stars all around them seemed to swell suddenly, the light becoming brighter and brighter. He heard the Fates still shrieking in the background, their cries almost drowning out Remus' spell.

Harry opened his mouth to scream in fear, but stopped short as the stars around him exploded, blinding him, His grip tightened on Remus' robes. The Fate's shrieks were instantly silenced and Remus' voice also stopped. Harry's breath was caught in his throat. He felt that he could not shut his eyes despite how terribly bright it was all around him.

But as quickly as it had started, everything was gone. The light disappeared, leaving pitch black behind. Harry still couldn't gather the thoughts to breath. Sirius' hand squeezed his shoulder once, making him a bit more relaxed, but not completely.

The change then happened so suddenly that Harry was sure he had blinked and missed it.

The light exploded out from them, but then it immediately was sucked away again, only this time, pitch black wasn't all around them.

They were standing in a lightly wooded area, birds chirping around them and sunlight falling through the canopy above them. Harry didn't dare let go of Remus, but Sirius lifted a shaky hand off of Harry's shoulder. Glancing around them, Harry frowned, trying to figure out what had happened and where or when they were. All he could see, however, were woods, and they were woods that he was almost sure he didn't recognize.

Almost sure.

"Where are we?" Harry finally whispered. "Did it work?"

"Blimey, Remus, you're good," Sirius breathed out.

Harry turned to ask his Godfather what he was talking about, but stopped short at seeing both Sirius and Remus transfixed on something in the distance. He followed their gaze till his eyes rested on a large house in the distance.

He squinted, trying to get a better look.

"I've seen that house before," Harry stated, searching his memory.

Sirius and Remus both turned around, grinning like idiots.

"I should hope so," Sirius said cockily.

Harry still was confused.

"Harry," he turned to Remus' kind voice, "That is Godric's Hollow."

Harry's jaw dropped, his breath stopping again. It had worked...they were here...

"Are we in the right time?" Sirius said tensely, glancing around as if the current year was written in the trees around them.

They were saved from having to figure it out themselves by a harsh but firm voice shouting something in the foliage in front of them.

"Stupify!"

A jet of red light flashed towards them and Sirius managed to tackle Harry out of the way, the spell smacking into a tree behind them. Remus ducked down, joining Sirius and Harry behind a large tree, all three of their hearts beating wildly.

Motioning Harry and Remus to stay covered, Sirius peaked his head around the tree, squinting into the distance to try and see who their attacker was. Another stunner whipped right out at him, and if it wasn't for Harry pulling him back, it would have hit Sirius right in the face.

"That's some bloody good aim," Remus muttered.

"If that's who I think it is, he's got better aim than that," Sirius said, slightly pale. "Doesn't seem like he wants to kill us."

"You know who that is?" Harry whispered with wide eyes.

"Well, I-"

Sirius was cut off by the voice again, this time speaking rather than shouting out a spell.

"I'm sick of you bloody Death Eaters! You can tell your master that my answer is still no!"

Harry was surprised to see the blood drain out of Remus' face as they heard the voice. But before he could ask, another voice joined them.

"And if Bella's there tell her that I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the wedding!"

"Bollocks!" Sirius hissed, and this time Harry knew why.

"That's you!" he whispered with wide eyes towards his Godfather.

"We're never going to get past them!" Remus whispered angrily.

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not," Sirius mussed.

"Well whatever it is, it's true and we're running out of options."

Remus stopped short, and they all three heard the rustlings behind the tree.

There was complete silence for a full 15 seconds and Harry put a hand to his chest, fearing his pounding heart would give them away.

Suddenly, in one quick motion, all three whipped their wands out, coming face to face with two people who had just jumped out in front of them.

Harry felt his knees start to shake and the blood drain from his face as his eyes focused on the men in front of him.

There, alive and well, though rather pissed off at the moment, was a 20-something-year-old James Potter. Without a doubt, Harry knew it was him. His untidy black hair fell into his eyes just slightly, with round glasses on his nose and light hazel eyes. Harry could see instantly why people compared him to his dad. But he also saw the distinct differences in the shape of the face, Harry's nose was also slightly smaller, and his cheekbones were more pronounced than James'. But, almost creepily, Harry felt like he was staring into a mirror.

On his right stood a much younger Sirius Black, glaring at them despite his earlier joking voice. It took a moment longer for Harry to recognize him. His black hair was longer than James' and fell more into his eyes, giving him a very handsome aura around him, his grey eyes burning and his wand, ironically, pointed at his much older counterpart.

He heard both Remus and Sirius gasp beside him and saw that Sirius' wand arm was shaking slightly as they five men stared one another down.

James Potter was the first to speak. His voice came out in a deadly whisper that gave Harry the sense of a man who wasn't intimidated by anyone or anything.

"Who in bloody Merlin are you?"