Fate

Chapter 14 - A Rather Peculiar Sight

It was exactly how Sirius remembered it.

His eyes followed the small crack running up the side of the steps that James kept promising to fix, the dark blue shutters that James had painted himself ("The muggle way! No magic Lily-bear!") just because he heard Lily admire the color once, the tidy patches of flowers sitting on each window that Lily protected with her life from the Marauder's stunts, the small but growing pile of rocks and leaves that little Harry had grown fascinated with collecting...even the small inscription on the side of one of the tall pillars that held up the small roof over the porch.

Sirius stopped and reached out, touching the words as the memories flooded back to him.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Marauders to the End

He smiled slightly, having stopped completely now and vaguely hearing James talking with his younger self about something. Sirius's fingered slipped down, following the words that were written beneath.

Prongs and Lily Forever

He chuckled. James had insisted on using his Marauder name, wanting people to get really confused about why a prong and a flower wanted to be forever. He almost stopped there, but managed to look down farther.

Siri and Ari 4eva

A tear formed in his eye, finally. After the almost half hour of excruciating pain of being in this time and seeing these people and these things he had lost so long ago...the tear trailed down his face and he smiled. He had never been one for a lot of words. But she didn't care...no, she didn't.

He frowned slightly as his hands found another inscription below it and as he saw what was engraved there, the color drained out of his face and he racked his brain, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. Why hadn't either of them remembered? What hadn't Remus remembered?

He whirled around, finding Remus right behind him, giving him a small but tired grin. Sirius didn't bother to notice that 'Sirius' and James were still talking fiercely about something and that Harry seemed to be studying ever inch of the house, his eyes wide and disbelieving. Sirius' eyes were just focused on Remus.

"Emily."

Remus' face dropped and his expression mirrored Remus.

"Emily?"

Both the older Marauder's turned towards James' questioning voice. It seemed he and 'Sirius' had come to some sort of agreement for James had his hand on the door and they were just about to go in.

Sirius didn't dare glance at Remus.

"She's in Ireland right now, for her work you know," 'Sirius' said curiously, trying to gauge Remus' reaction. "But she's due home in two days."

Sirius knew Remus would have passed out if he hadn't been there to catch him quickly. He felt very foolish for brining it up, but it was going to come up sooner than later.

"Ireland..." Remus whispered, standing up again, his face still deathly white. He turned to Sirius, ignoring James, Harry and 'Sirius'' inquisitive looks.

Sirius frowned. "What?"

"She's in Ireland," Remus breathed out in disbelief.

The meaning hit Sirius instantly. Ireland. If Emily was in Ireland....She had gone to Ireland plenty of times but this time...The dates clicked into place and he realized what exactly had Remus so worried.

"Thursday...I get the owl Thursday..."

"We'll fix it Remus, we'll fix it all," Sirius said determined. He kept his arm around Remus and turned back to James and 'Sirius'.

"We'll explain later. Please. Let's hurry."

Harry came over on Remus' other side. "Remus? Are you alright?"

They three followed a very confused James and 'Sirius' into the house, Sirius throwing one last look at the engravings, his eyes resting on the bottom one.

Remus and Emily Forever

How could he have forgotten Emily? How could Remus not have remembered? How could they have just managed to come right in time? Something was going to go wrong and Sirius was scared at which thing it would be.

Turning into the house and walking in, the nagging thought that he was dreaming sprang up and he wanted to pinch himself just to be sure. He still had the slightest bit of doubt until he heard her voice and his blood stopped cold.

"Sirius!"

His heart dropped to his ankles and he turned quickly, just in time to see a tall, petite, brown haired beauty that he only ever saw in his dreams, launch herself into 'Sirius'' arms.

He gulped as he saw his younger self hold her tight and kiss the top of her head solemnly. Not many girls could make Sirius Black that serious (no pun intended)...in fact Sirius would bet money that the only girl that could was standing right there, her arms tight around her fiancé's neck.

"Really, Ari, it was just a single breech, no need to get worried," 'Sirius' said cockily. He pulled back and looked at her. "Careful, people might think you care."

Sirius sucked in a sharp breath, remembering how often he had said that phrase to her. Remus seemed to have recovered enough and was standing up straight, his arm now gripping on Sirius' shoulder, as if giving moral support. Harry on the other hand was glancing across the room and Sirius followed his eyes.

There they were. Both of them. Just as he always remembered them in his best memories. James was grinning like and idiot, teasing her to the point where he had to kiss her to shut her up. Lily, beautiful Lily, had her hands on her hips with exasperation, reaching across the table a few times to try and smack James when he said something stupid (which he often did). Sirius managed a truly happy smile as, right when he predicted, James leaned across the table and covered Lily's mouth with his, silencing her cries of outrage that they had both been gone so long.

Sirius looked over to Harry and saw that there were a few tears in his Godson's eyes as he watched his parents kiss. But Harry turned away suddenly, blinking the tears away and looking back at Sirius. His bottom lip was trembling, but Sirius saw the silent thanks that burned in them. Ever since the incident with Snape's pensive in his third year, Harry had always been a bit apprehensive about his parent's relationship and his father's behavior. Sirius could see that just letting Harry see this small moment put all his fears to rest.

"Can you go now?"

He turned once again to his younger self and his fiancé. 'Sirius' was speaking in low tones and looking at Arianna solemnly. Ari's forehead was furrowed and her eyes studied 'Sirius' face. She really was just as Sirius remembered her. Her rich brown hair hung in loose curls around her lightly tanned face. Blue eyes that he had never been tired of looking into were still bright and kind. She was tall, but still about 2 inches shorter than 'Sirius'. In fact, looking over towards his younger self, Sirius was slightly surprised to see he hadn't grown any taller, but he shrugged it off.

"What happened? Did someone get through the wards?"

Her voice was like music. Sirius closed his eyes, relishing in hearing it again. He never thought he would ever hear that voice again. He opened them to find her staring right at him and his heart gripped in fear. Would she recognize him? What would she think?

She frowned uncertainly. "Sirius? Who are they?"

'Sirius' turned to look at the time travelers, smiling slightly. "They're the ones that got through the wards. But they're alright," he said quickly, as both Lily and Arianna gasped in surprise. It seemed James and Lily had both turned to their conversation as well as Harry and Remus. "They're here to help us."

"We need to get to Hogwarts to see Remus and Dumbledore," James added, leaving Lily's side and going over to the fireplace. "They're still there right?"

"Yes, but, James, shouldn't we let Remus sleep? I mean, he's still very weak-"

"Who are you?"

Sirius looked back to see that Arianna was still staring at him and her eyes had not left his face since she first looked at him. She had a calculating expression on, and Sirius wondered vaguely if she really did recognize him. But if his own self couldn't recognize him, how would Arianna?

"Me?" He breathed out, almost unable to talk and feeling very stupid that he had no better reply.

"I recognize you..." she cocked her head to one side. "Have we met before? Are you part of the Order?"

"Ah, you could say that..." Sirius said uneasily, but he was spared any more by 'Sirius' tugging Arianna towards the fireplace.

"I'll explain everything at Hogwarts Ari. Come on," 'Sirius' said quickly. James had already lit the fire and was pulling Lily over.

"Wait, what about Harry, James?"

Apparently unable to contain himself anymore, Harry let out a half gasp half cry. Luckily Lily and Arianna didn't seem to notice though. James turned back to his wife his eyes wide with realization.

"Is he napping still?"

"Yes, and I have no desire to wake him up. He had a nightmare last night and he's tired."

"So are you, love," James said quickly, reaching forward and planting a small kiss on Lily's forehead. "Just go grab him in his blankets and bring him. We won't be long."

Lily frowned. "Why can't we just call someone to tend him for a bit? He needs his rest James."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Well, Peter offered yester-"

"No!" Sirius, Remus and Harry all said at the same time. Harry's eyes were wide with fear, Remus had reached over and gripped Harry's arm and Sirius' arm was reached out towards his old friends, pure panic on his face, as if he wanted to take Harry himself.

James and Lily turned to them, astonished. James looked more concerned than Lily, though. She frowned at them and then turned back to James.

"James, what is going on? Who are these three?"

"Love, please, one more time, trust me," James begged. "Just go up and quickly grab Harry. Everything will be explained soon."

Still looking quite suspicious, Lily hurried up the stairs and returned moments later with her arms wrapped protectively around a small bundle of blankets leaning against her, a tuft of black hair peaking out from them. Sirius glanced over at Harry and saw him looking at the baby with rapt fascination. Of course 'Harry' wasn't quite a baby anymore. Just over a year, Sirius calculated in his head.

"Right," James nodded, giving Lily and Harry a once over before turning back to the time travelers. "Let's go."

"We'll go first," Remus said quickly and Sirius readily agreed with him. Reaching out, Sirius grabbed Harry's arm, snapping him out of his stare and dragging him towards the fireplace.

"I hate floo powder," Harry grumbled, taking off his glasses and putting them into his pocket.

"Get used to it, kiddo," Sirius said with a smile.

Harry soon disappeared into the flames, Remus next. Sirius stopped before going and turned back to James. "See you there?"

James nodded. "We'll be right behind you."

The nervous feeling creeping back into him, Sirius turned towards the fire and stepped in, shouting "Hogwarts!" and was swallowed in a mirage of colors and sounds until he finally landed hard on the ground. He scrambled out of the fireplace and was given a hand by Remus who pulled him out just in time to keep from getting hit by 'Sirius' who came out next. Looking around, Sirius saw that they had come into the Great Hall which was completely empty, due to the time of year with no school going on.

Arianna, Lily (still holding Harry) and James soon joined them and the six of them started the trek towards the hospital wing, a very uncomfortable silence stretched between them. As they started climbing the stairs, Lily and Arianna had entered into a soft conversation with each other and 'Sirius' made his way next to Sirius.

It was still weird for Sirius to be near his younger self. He racked his brain trying to think of what he was like at that age, but it seemed that most of the happy memories were chased away by Azkaban and all that were left were depressing and things he never wanted to remember.

"What happened to her?" 'Sirius' said softly, making Sirius suck in a sharp breath, knowing his counterpart's exact meaning.

"She died," Sirius answered shortly.

"Soon?" 'Sirius'' voice lowered.

Sirius only nodded and continued to climb the stairs. He watched his younger self glance desperately over at Arianna and then back at him.

"How did it happen?" the younger Marauder said. "I see how you look at her, you're in pain every time you do...was it Voldemort?"

Sirius had been trying to keep the tears at bay, but the memories floated back up, and with them came the tears. 'Sirius' face fell.

"No, it wasn't Voldemort," Sirius said quickly. But he left it at that. 'Sirius' seemed to get the hint and floated back to his fiancé's side, though he kept shooting worried glanced towards Sirius the whole way up.

Finally reaching the hospital wing, James and 'Sirius; entered first with Lily and Arianna by their sides. The time travelers, with a little more trepidation, followed.

'Remus Lupin' lay on the bed before them, breathing evenly, his white face in great contrast with the cuts and bruises that seemed to cover every inch of his body. Sirius saw James and 'Sirius'' downcast faces and his memories sprang up of that night. It had been terrible, ever worse than the first few months when Moony was still getting used to having the new animals and scents around and all four of them came back with bruises and gashes. On this night, Remus had almost committed a crime, committed a crime punishable by imprisonment for life, committed a crime that he would never even remember committing. All because his three best friends were trying to help him and they had screwed up and become careless.

Of course, Remus had never put it that way. He always put the blame on himself and silenced any of them who tried to take the blame away.

And there he was. The skinny twenty year old who had been cursed for life by a simple mistake made when he was a boy.

Sirius looked over at Remus who seemed to be taking the situation quite well, though there was an unusual amount of pity in his eyes for his younger self.

"No Wolfsbane..." Remus murmured, his eyes still locked on 'Remus'.

Sirius nodded in agreement. The days without Wolfsbane had been practically the same for him, but for Remus they were as different as nigh and day and Sirius could tell that his friend was probably remembering the pain from those experiences.

"Remus? Hey, Moony, wake up sleepyhead," 'Sirius' said with as much cheerfulness as he could managed, leaning over the bed and shaking 'Remus' slightly.

'Remus'' eyes flickered open quickly, smiling slightly when he saw James and 'Sirius'.

"Shut it you," 'Remus' tried to reach up to smack 'Sirius' but he dodged. 'Sirius' and James tried to keep smiling, but both their faces couldn't seem to handle it.

"How are you feeling, Moony?" James asked.

"Bloody brilliant," 'Remus' said sarcastically.

Sirius watched their interaction with reminiscence in his eyes and could see Remus doing the same. He remembered vaguely how much more enjoyable his memories were when Peter hadn't been around. The three true Marauders talked quietly for a few minutes and Sirius, Remus and Harry, unwilling to interrupt, turned to one another.

"It's gone okay so far," Sirius said quietly.

"Okay?" Remus whispered in disbelief. "Sirius, James tried to kill you."

"And he would have," Harry added curiously. "You two never told me who a good aim he had."

"Well, he was an Auror, wasn't he?" Sirius answered. "But I wasn't talking about that. At least they believed us."

"It took them quite a while though," Remus mused. "You'd think we'd look more familiar."

"I guess 12 years in Azkaban and getting grey hair before you're thirty changed us a lot," Sirius said with a slight smirk. "Good Merlin I was a cocky kid."

"I remember you just like that, Sirius," Remus said with a grin. "And these were some of your better years." He turned to Harry. "He and James had the most inflated egos I had ever seen."

Sirius reached over to smack him but stopped short as a voice spoke up behind them.

"Well, this is a rather peculiar sight."

The three time travelers stood up straight quickly, turning to see Albus Dumbledore looking at them in surprise. None of them had ever seen him speechless but he was rather close to that point. It seemed he was recognizing them more than anyone had yet.

"Headmaster!" James called out, leaving 'Remus'' side and rushing up to the aging wizard, Sirius following close behind.

"James, my dear boy, you of all people should know by now that I prefer Albus," Dumbledore said kindly. "Headmaster makes me feel old."

Harry snickered but only Remus and Sirius seemed to notice, for James just continued. "Sorry, Albus, but we came to see you. I hope you didn't mind that we used the new floo network between Godric's Hollow and Hogwarts, but this was an emergency of some sort."

"Nonsense, James, that is what it's for," Dumbledore said, still smiling and it seemed he had gotten enough of a grip on the situation that his twinkle was back in his eyes. "Perhaps we should all sit down and we can talk about it."

No one moved for a full fifteen seconds. Lily and Arianna were still over by Remus' bed looking even more curiously at the time travelers. James, 'Sirius', Sirius, Remus and Harry were all staring at one another, trying to decided who would make the first move.

They were interrupted by another voice.

"James? Are you here?"

Sirius felt the blood rush into his head as he heard the voice and he let out a snarl, reaching for his wand. Remus quickly laid a hand on his arm, ever the calm one. Harry, though, was quicker than either of them.

Peter Pettigrew walked into the room, a shorter boy than the other Marauders and stockier. His blond hair was a little messy and his watery blue eyes flickered around the room nervously as he stopped short and saw everyone. In one quick move, Harry rushed toward him, pinning him to the wall, his phoenix core wand pointed right at his throat, ignoring the up cry that rose around him.

"Wait!"

"What's he doing?"

"No, Harry!"

What the-"

"Peter!"

"You."

Harry's deadly low voice made everyone's outcry stop suddenly and Sirius stopped struggling against Remus' hold on him, holding his breath for what Harry would do next. No one moved again, but everyone saw the complete hate that welled up in Harry's eyes as he looked upon Peter. James and 'Sirius' seemed quite torn between wanting to help their friend and glaring at him at the same time. 'Remus', Lily and Arianna all were looking on horrified.

Thankfully no one seemed to notice Remus' slip of the tongue when he had shouted out Harry's name.

"You killed them. You betrayed them."

Harry's voice was still low and menacing and his wand dug deeper into Peter's throat as the rat animagus looked at his attacker in terror.

"You're already planning it, aren't you?" Harry continued. "You probably have his mark already..."

'Remus', Lily, Arianna, James and 'Sirius' all gasped aloud as Peter's face went ghostly white and he started struggling even harder. No one seemed to know what to say. Sirius had a good right to just let Harry have his way with Peter; it would take care of one of their problems quick. Remus, however, didn't feel the need.

"Harry, not now."

It wasn't hard to miss the blatant way Remus said Harry's real name and three eyes looked over at the time-travelers with wide eyes.

Harry, however, got Remus' point and managed to tear his wand away from Peter's throat, being sure to shove him harshly onto the ground before walking away, barely containing his anger as he reached Sirius and Remus. Remus laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and Sirius slung an arm up around him.

Peter was gasping and wheezing on the floor, but no one seemed to care. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the time travelers and even James and 'Sirius' were sending them questioning glances.

"What did you call him?" Arianna's voice broke the silence.

Sirius turned to her with a resigned expression, realizing that she had already figured it out. He opened his mouth to reply, but Harry cut him off.

"My name is Harry James Potter, son of Lily Evans Potter and James Richard Potter."

Harry stood tall as he spoke, his eyes searching everyone's faces as if daring them to contradict him. Lily gasped and grasped 'Harry' closer to her, a few tears springing into her eyes. She looked towards James who gave the slightest of nods. There was silence after that and no one said anything, so Sirius stepped up.

"And I am Harry's Godfather, Sirius Orion Black."

He looked right at Arianna as she gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. 'Remus', who was lying on the bed, was looking at him with a thoughtful expression so like him in these types of situations. Peter, who was in the process of getting up, stumbled again and looked towards them with wide eyes.

"And I am Remus John Lupin."

All the eyes flickered to Remus as he spoke and his younger self looked the slightest bit worried as he looked at him, but took it better than James and 'Sirius' had.

"We are from the future," Sirius continued, moving his gaze from Arianna to Lily and to 'Sirius' and James. "We have a lot to talk about."