Scouring Time

Chapter 2: The Events That Take Place

Ten minutes later, Blaise entered the room, carrying a serving plate with sandwiches on them. Another person was following him, who Remus assumed was Theodore. He had a thin frame, and looked a touch nervous. A little boy was at his right, and Amy immediately ran up to him.

"Well, everyone, here's your lunch. They're roast beef sandwiches, by the way. This is Theodore Nott and his son, Zack, by the way."

"Food!" exclaimed Sirius, grabbing a sandwich and stuffing it into his mouth. That was one of the only things Blaise said that went into his head.

"Sirius, didn't your parents teach you manners?" asked Remus, who was getting sick of Sirius' eating habits.

"Yes, but the lessons were so boring that I didn't remember any of them," said Sirius, after he finished eating the whole sandwich. "Regulus did great at them, though," he continued, referring to his younger brother. That just figures, thought Remus.

"Well, Blaise, Theodore, can one of you please explain what in the name of Merlin is going on here?" asked Remus, being as calm as possible at the moment.

"When we're finished eating lunch," replied Theodore, grabbing another sandwich. "This explanation is going to take a while, anyway." Remus nodded, and grabbed an additional sandwich from the pile.

After what seemed like a long time to Remus, but was only about fifteen minutes, the sandwich plate was put away, and they moved back into the living room. It wasn't that big, which made sense seeing as they were in hiding, from what Remus put together, but it worked.

Theodore opened a side drawer from under the table that Remus didn't notice, and pulled out a pensieve from the folds. "Well, I have this one memory pensieved for the four of you. We talked about this for ages, and we decided it would be easier to explain if we showed you this first. This is a memory of how we knew you were coming. We'll watch it, and answer any questions after the memory, but keep in mind that there are some things to this memory that the two of us do not understand, so we can't answer everything." The four Marauders nodded their understanding, and Theodore grabbed his wand and swirled the pensive around, until he landed on a particular memory.

"This is from the winter of 1997," explained Blaise. "It was our seventh year at Hogwarts, and Voldemort had killed The-Chosen-One two months prior, on Halloween actually, which is ironic. During this, th..."

"Who's this Chosen One that you mentioned anyway?" asked James. He and his friends had paid close attention to the war against Voldemort, and never heard of it. Maybe it was a future development in the war, thought James.

"I'll get to that part later, James, after the memory. We'll go over the history of the war, then. For now, we're going to watch this. Besides, it should appease Remus' worries over time interference. Anyway, Theodore was staying at my place, and the two of us were bored, so we flooed to a village so that we could do something. We then went to the outskirts of the village, and that's where this memory starts," explained Blaise. "Is the pensieve ready, Theo?" Theodore nodded his approval, and the six of them gathered around. Amy and Zach were still playing with a ball in the corner, oblivious to the adults.

The six adults looked around in the memory. Sure enough, there was a village of sorts in the distance, but they weren't that close to it. A younger Blaise and Theodore settled down next to a rock, bringing some food with them.

"Well, Theo, I told you visiting this village would be fun," said the younger Blaise, munching on some food. "It makes a nice change from hanging out at my manor all the time." Theodore kept quiet, his attention focused on something in the distance. He started shaking a bit. "Theo? What is it?"

"That...that wolf over there!" stuttered younger Theodore in reply. He grabbed Blaise's head and turned it in his direction, letting his eyes focus on the creature. "We should get out of here."

The Marauders turned in that direction, and saw the wolf. Its white fur seemed to be glowing, its light blue eyes focusing on the younger Blaise and Theodore. It was standing there, as if waiting for a signal before action.

"Run!" yelled Peter. "The wolf is going to eat us!"

"Peter, we're in a memory. That wolf can't do anything to you," explained Sirius. "Besides, you're a Gryffindor. A wolf isn't supposed to scare you."

"Oh. Right. I forgot about that," responded Peter, embarrassed.

"It doesn't seem to be doing anything to us, though," replied younger Blaise. "We should just keep sitting here. I heard that if you stand still, they tend not to notice you. I think we should test that theory, Theo."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to apparate as opposed to staying here, and hoping it doesn't notice us?" asked Theodore in response. Blaise was about to reply when a female voice made its way to them.

"It's okay, young ones. I mean you no harm," stated the wolf. Younger Blaise, Theo, and the Marauders froze in shock over the fact that the wolf could speak.

"That thing can talk?" asked an outraged Sirius. "How?"

"It's not really talking," explained older Theodore. "It's using its telepathic powers to communicate with us in a way that we can understand. For now, just listen. If you talk, you're going to miss the good part." At that remark, Sirius' mouth clamped shut, and he turned to listen to the conversation between the three of them.

"I am Shea, Master of Earth, and a messenger of sorts between our people and the rest of my kind. We...we have a request to ask of the two of you. We normally wouldn't do this, but we're running out of options," explained Shea.

"And I suppose this request involves us and traveling to the future," said James.

"You can ask, but we might not be able to help," replied younger Blaise. Younger Theodore was still convinced that Shea might want to eat them. He was a practical, logical thinker after all.

"You two can help us and the world more than you can ever know," replied Shea, turning back to them. "I have chosen you two for a reason, because out of everyone involved, you are the best for the job. You both don't like the way the war turned out, you both would do anything to change the outcome, and, most importantly, Theodore, how much do you know about your girlfriend's mother?" asked Shea, appearing to be deep in thought.

"Not much. I really didn't like Millicent that much," replied Theodore, frowning. He was wondering what the point of this question was. He didn't even like Millicent. She was always annoying him, but their parents just had to betroth the two of them together. Thankfully, he was able to get rid of her once they went into hiding.

"I didn't mean her, young one," replied Shea. "I was talking about Luna, and her mother. Do you know what her mother was working on before she died, Theodore?" Theodore frowned when Shea mentioned Luna. He loved her, and didn't even realize it until she died. He always hoped that she would survive the war, and have a good future, but that wouldn't happen now.

Luna Lovegood was killed in the final battle at Hogwarts, the day that Voldemort killed Harry. They weren't the only victims either. Many Order Members, Death Eaters, and Hogwarts students had lost their lives that day. That was the turning point in Theodore's life.

"No. Luna wasn't aware of it either. All we knew was that it was some kind of experiment that could make a breakthrough if it worked," replied Theodore, frowning. He had no idea where Shea was going with this.

"Time travel, Theodore. Time travel. Time-turners were invented a few years back at the time, but they had limitations. They could only go back, and even then, one hour per turn. Time, young ones, is not met to be messed with, and Luna's mother did not intend to do so. She has a gift, one that she passed onto her daughter. She can see things that others cannot, and she sensed, for lack of a better word, that an improvement would need to be found to save the world, so she worked on it," explained Shea.

"What does this have to do with us?" asked Theodore, taking this all in.

"Everything. The war has not gone how we have planned. Normally, we go along with it when it happens, but The Chosen One has fallen, and the last hope is lost. There is nothing else that we can do now to stop The Dark Lord. He cannot be defeated now. A dark reign of terror is starting, and the world will be covered in his shadows," explained Shea.

"But," began Theodore, "how can he not be able to be defeated? And how can we end this if that is the case?" He was very confused, and barely even knew who this wolf was.

"That is not your concern, young one. There was a time when he could be killed, but that time is now past. That is the key to ending this, if you two decide to help. We, my friends and I, are entities of a sort. I suppose we could be called higher powers in a way. But, despite that, we are limited in what we can do and say. We are not immune to the laws of the universe, despite what the muggles say. But, The-Chosen-One has left us a key, a way to defeat The Dark Lord," continued Shea.

"What kind of key?" asked Blaise, very curious about the conversation.

"It is said that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes," began Shea. That happened to young Harry, and he saw what happened. Emotions can come from them, and they did with him. His main, primary thought was that he failed his mission, and that all his friends would die, because of his failure. But most importantly, there was a desire that the war never had to come to this, what it is now. Not the most pleasant train of thought, but it was enough to form a powerful burst of magic. We...after debating what to do, we directed the magic to find people that could defeat The Dark Lord while it is still possible, and bring them to you. That is where you two come in."

"Us? What can we do to help?" asked Theodore, immediately. If the future was changed, if Voldemort never had a chance to become Emperor, then maybe Luna could be saved.

"Luna's mother left some notes concerning her time travel research. They are located in Gringotts vault #432," explained Shea. She closed her eyes, held out her paw, and a gold Gringotts key materialized in her paw. Theodore hesitated, but took it. "Here's the key. Theodore, you're a smart boy. You're an avid reader as well, and never hesitated to read anything. I want you to put that knowledge to use, and continue from where Luna's mother left off. You've read books on time-turners, other time travel theories through the ages, and even muggle literature on the subject. Now, I want you to put it to use. Blaise can assist you, but you will be the primary asset, due to your existing knowledge on the subject, and your sharp mind. Be ready for guests from the past anytime soon. May the magic help you through this." A silver mist engulfed Shea at that moment and when it disappeared, the wolf was gone.

"It looks like we have a mission, then," said Theodore hesitantly, staring at the key. "Why us, though? I mean, we're Slytherins! This should be something for a Ravenclaw. I even have the dark mark for crying out loud! But, either way, I'm honored. We have work to do, Blaise."

At that moment, the memory clouded over, and the six people exited the pensieve, and emerged back into the living room. Sirius immediately rounded onto Theodore.

"You're a Death Eater!" yelled Sirius. "I should have known! What are you going to do now? Torture us for going against your Dark Order?"

"Former Death Eater," interrupted Theodore, before Sirius could rant even more. He pulled up his left sleeve to reveal the black skull with a serpent protruding from it. "Yes, I was and I do have the mark. It's permanent. I quit after...certain events happened, but you don't merely resign from the Dark Order. That's why Emperor Lord Voldemort wants me dead...for betraying him," explained Theodore. "I'm staying here now with Blaise, under the fidelius charm. Blaise is the secret keeper of this place, but the magic Shea sent apparently disrupted it, allowing you entrance."

"What happened?" asked a curious Remus. "Why did you quit? And I suppose we're the ones that this Shea mentioned would come?" Remus was always curious about things, and wanted to understand as much of the situation as possible.

"Well, you heard Shea mention Luna Lovegood, correct?" asked Theodore. The Marauders nodded. "Good. Well, I met her when I was little. My parents were out in Diagon Alley one day, and I, being a curious little boy, wandered off from them. They were too busy to notice that I snuck away until I was gone. I ran into Luna during that time, and she was a great person. Our parents found us a little while later, talking. My father was very angry with me, and forbid me from seeing her, and wandering off again. I didn't understand why he did that. After all, he always thought that me socializing with his friend's children was good. Anyway, I wrote out a letter and tied it to my father's owl. It was cryptic, but in a way that Luna could understand."

"We kept on sending letters, signing them with codenames, all when my parents talked about blood supremacy and Voldemort. I listened to them, for lack of a better example, something I now regret. When I grew older, I was let out by myself, and took that opportunity to visit Luna. Her parents were nice, and didn't tell my parents what I was up to. I was there the day that her mother died, from an accident in her lab. That's why I can see Thestrals."

"A year later, I got my Hogwarts letter, and was sorted into Slytherin. I met Blaise here, and we became very close. My parents wanted me to get along with Draco Malfoy, but I didn't like him much. As a result, I had to deal with him, but usually just hung out with Blaise. Thankfully, Blaise here has a neutral family with the war, so he didn't have to deal with parents like mine. I wrote to Luna during that year, telling her all about the teachers, and the school."

"She came in a year later, and was sorted into Ravenclaw. We then had the habit of talking in secret passages after curfew. It was rather fun, but the turning point came during my sixth year when my father made me take the Dark Mark. I didn't know what to think, but my father wanted me to take it, so it had to be the right thing to do. During seventh year, Luna's sixth year, The Dark Lord attacked Hogwarts. Many, including Luna, were killed, others sent to St. Mungos with little to no hope of recovering. It was a disaster, and that's when his Reign of Terror started. But...when Luna died, I realized something. I had feelings for her, really deep feelings. I think it was love, and he killed her. Not only that, but The Dark Lord killed a lot more people, and his reign was...not something that I liked. I had no choice, but to quit," finished Theodore, staring at the Marauders. "That's the short version of my long story."

"Sorry about Luna," said James. "She seemed like a good person. I'm sure you two would have been happy together if she lived through the war."

"It would of never happened," said Theodore. "I was betrothed to Millicent Bulstrode, and I didn't like her much. Besides, I'm sure Luna didn't feel the same way."

"So, this time travel?" asked Remus, getting back on-topic. "Did you manage to finish what her mother started? I would assume yes since this thing," he fingered the dragon, "took us here, but I feel that I had to ask. I guess this would also mean that we can hear the future, and change it how we want. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Yes, you are," replied Blaise. "That is correct. Theodore here has recently finished his masterpiece too with my help, and it is a brilliant piece of work. We've took it on a few practice runs just to test it, and it worked for us. We didn't actually do anything, though, as we didn't want to interfere. That's your job. But, before you leave, we need to share your futures with you. Or, more accurately, your futures in this timeline. Remember, the future can be changed anytime, especially with what Theodore has come up with. You should change them along with the Emperor's defeat, if you so desire. Truly, you are the ones in charge of not only your own fates, but the fates of everyone."

"Our futures?" asked Sirius, suddenly very interested in the conversation. "What happens to us? Do I get married and have little Padfoots?"

"Do I finally marry Lily Evans, have a child, and live happily ever after?" asked James, needing to know the answer. He loved Lily, after all.

"James, there is no way in this timeline that Lily would go out with you, let alone marry you," explained Remus. "You're getting your hopes up. So, what happens to Peter and me? I have a feeling that this is going to be very bad news."

"It is," replied Theodore. "Very bad, but with Voldemort out there, it's to be expected. Keep in mind though that Blaise and I are Slytherins. Most of this happened with and around Gryffindors, and they would know more than we do. But, as those certain Gryffindors are now dead, we're the best ones to explain. The Order of the Phoenix might know more, but as we have no way to contact them, and as I don't think Shea would want us to tell, it's now up to us."

"Well, I suppose we have to hear our bad fates," said Remus, resigning himself to hear the worst.

"First off, James, I'll start with good news for you. You do end up marrying Lily Evans, and..." began Theodore, but he was cut-off from a shout by James.

"I do?" he asked, in complete disbelief. Theodore and Blaise nodded. "Whoa. I never actually thought that would happen, despite asking about it." He paused, sucking it in, but suddenly stood up, and began jumping around the room. "Yes! Yes! Yes! She married me! Lily married me!"

"Congratulations, Prongs, but you can celebrate your victory later," said Sirius. "I want to hear more, and where I come into this!" he exclaimed, excited. James, however, ignored Sirius, and Blaise was forced to cast a silencing charm on James to keep him quiet.

"James and Lily married early, and had a son in 1980. They named him Harry James Potter, but when he was only..." Theodore continued on, but Sirius interrupted him once more.

"We have a prongs let?" asked Sirius. "That's awesome! Hear that James, we have a mini Marauder on our hands." James, however, appeared not to hear, and was still silently celebrating his victory.

"Can we just get through with this?" asked Theodore. "Anyway, on Halloween, when Harry was just a year old, The Dark Lord attacked their home. Nobody knows why he decided to attack, but he did. He killed James and Lily, and tried to kill Harry for some reason. However, something went wrong that night. Nobody knows how or why, but when Voldemort flung the killing curse at Harry, he somehow survived, and disintegrated Voldemort's body in the process. Harry was left with a lightning bolt scar, because of the attack."

"That's impossible!" exclaimed Remus, in shock. "Nobody has ever survived the killing curse. Ever. It's not supposed to be possible." Everything he ever heard or read about that curse said that. It was very commonly used during their war too, and nobody ever survived. Not even one victim.

"We know, but, somehow, Harry survived. He...well, we don't know too much about his childhood. We only know that he was placed with some muggle relatives, so that he could be raised away from his fame, or so Albus Dumbledore has told the papers," explained Theodore.

"What!" exclaimed Remus. "How can he do that!" Everybody in the room turned to stare at Remus, not expecting an outburst like that.

"Listen, Remus," said Sirius, "I agree with you. A wizard shouldn't have to grow up with muggles. Wizards have magic, and they don't." James finally calmed down, and Blaise decided to remove the silencing charm. He immediately sat up.

"What Sirius said," replied James. "Besides, Remus, you're the one that's supposed to like muggles and their technology. You and Peter. What made you change your mind?" Remus sighed, not sure what to say. He wished this wasn't true, but they were the only muggle relatives that Harry would have, and that was not a good sign. Not good at all.

"Nothing, James. Muggles do have amazing technology, and there's nothing wrong with growing up with muggles. If anything, it's normally a good thing, because the child can be exposed to both cultures. Not with young Harry, though," said Remus. "I don't know how to tell you this, James, but you're not related to any muggles right?"

"Nope. My family is only wizards. Lily is a muggleborn, so Harry was sent to some of her relatives, logically," said James, piecing it together.

"Yes," said Remus, glad they came to the same conclusion. "Lily and I talk about things a lot. Yes, James, I have the honor of being the only Marauder that she'll talk to civilly. Her parents died a few years back, leaving her only living muggle relative as Petunia Evans, her 'sister" He sighed. "Poor Harry."

"Why? We knew who raised Harry, and Lily's sister can't be that bad," said Peter.

"She is," said Remus. "Lily told me about how much Petunia hated magic. She calls it freaky and abnormal and treats Lily horribly because of it. I would hate to think about what she would do to Harry. Lily even said that she and Petunia used to be really close, before the whole magic thing. I think Harry had a really ugly childhood."

"Well," said James, "if we defeat Voldemort before he kills us, then we can save Harry from Lily's evil sister." Nods went through the room.

"That's true," said Remus, "and as a last resort, rescue him from there. Continue, Theodore."

"The rest of what happened because of that night is...not good," began Theodore.

"Even worse than Harry being raised by her?" asked Remus.

"Even worse," confirmed Theodore. "Now, I don't know too much over what really happened next. Most of what I do know comes from my death eater connections. Sirius and Peter confronted one another the day after the incident, and twelve muggles were killed that day. Peter...you somehow faked your death, and managed to escape the scene. Sirius...I really don't know how to tell you this, but you were sent to Azkaban for murdering those muggles and Peter."

"What!" exclaimed Sirius in shock. "But I can't go to Azkaban. Unless I really did kill those muggles, but I don't know if I did or not. But, why would you fake your death, rodent?"

"I don't know, Sirius," replied a trembling Peter. "This is the future, though."

"It's because future Peter was actually a Death Eater," said Blaise. "I would assume that Sirius figured it out after they were murdered, and went after him."

"You're a Death Eater!" yelled Sirius in shock, rounding up on Peter. Peter squirmed and immediately ran behind Remus. He crouched down, and lay his head down against the floor, shaking.

"Yeah. I can understand Nott there, and Malfoy," began James. "I can even see Snivellus becoming one, despite being a half-blood. Sneaky Slytherin, he is. But, I would never suspect you of being a Death Eater, Peter! Why did you betray us that way?"

"I..." began a nervous Peter, "I...don't know. This is something that happened in the future. I don't know what my future self was thinking, Sirius, James, Remus. But...I would never do that, but my future self did, so I guess I would do that. But, I didn't yet, and I...can try not to."

"Not good enough, rodent," replied Sirius. "I can't believe that we ever trusted you. Actually, I can't even believe that you were a Marauder. You had no right to get involved in our group. If I had a knife, or knew how to do the killing curse, you'd be dead now. But, as it is, I suppose we can choke you." Peter immediately gulped once more and started shaking again.

"Sirius!" yelled Remus. "Stop being so harsh on Peter! Look at this." Remus grabbed Peter's left arm, and rolled up the sleeve. Sure enough, it was completely devoid of the dark mark. "Whatever happened in the future, what we ended up doing, how many lives were destroyed, it hasn't happened yet. At least it hasn't in our time, in 1976. We're here to change the future, Sirius, James, to change this war-torn world for the better. Peter is our friend, at least my friend, you two haven't really been too nice to poor Peter, you know. He hasn't done what his future self has accomplished yet. Just give him a chance. Besides I have a feeling that Peter is going to come in useful on our mission," finished up Remus.

"Oh. Fine," said Sirius, in defeat. He wanted to argue more, but knew that doing so with the werewolf would not be a good idea. Besides, he didn't have the dark mark yet. That much was true. "I don't know why you like Peter so much, Remus, but fine. I'll let him live, but only because you like him. Peter, you better behave yourself on our trip to change the timeline."

"I...I will, Sirius," replied a still-nervous Peter.

"Good," finished up Sirius. "That settles that. So, I'm rotting in Azkaban with Dementors for something I didn't do, James is dead, and Peter betrayed us. What about Remus?"

"Remus," began Theodore, "comes in later, but he's still alive at this point." Remus shivered at that implication, but stayed silent. "Relax, Remus. Out of everyone, you did the best. Anyway, Harry Potter went to Hogwarts, and was sorted into Gryffindor. We were in the same year, actually. He made friends with a Ron Weasley and a Hermione Granger. There were...rumors around the school our first year concerning Harry and The Dark Lord. You know how the Hogwarts rumors are like, so we don't know what to make of it. Second year, on Halloween, the Chamber of Secrets was opened."

"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" asked James.

"I remember reading about it once," admitted Remus. "Only I don't remember what the book said."

"Remus not knowing about something?" asked Sirius in shock. "Can the world as we know it be coming to an end?"

"Doesn't the Chamber have something to do with Slytherin?" asked Peter, daring to speak. He was still afraid of Sirius and James.

"Yes," said Blaise, nodding. "Legend says that Salazar Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets, and placed a monster in it. This monster's mission was to purge the school of everyone who, according to Slytherin, weren't fit to practice magic, the muggleborns. Thankfully, nobody died that year, the victims were only petrified. Again, there was a rumor around the school that Harry found the chamber and killed the monster. As exaggerated as those rumors are, I tend to believe this one, as they were talking about closing the school before that rumor surfaced."

"My son found the chamber and killed the monster?" asked James in shock. "Whoa! I really do have a cool son. I wish I didn't die, or I would have told him that. Go, Harry!"

"Battling a monster in Slytherin's Chamber is dangerous, James!" exclaimed Remus. "But I suppose going against Voldemort and killing him is dangerous as well, so we can't talk."

"Anyway, third year, Sirius here escaped from Azkaban," began Theodore.

"I did? Go future self! How did I manage that?" he asked, curiously.

"We don't know," said Theodore, "but you did.”You were even on the muggle news, Sirius. Dementors were put around the school to try and catch you, though. It was horrible. Oh and Remus, you were our defense professor that year."

"Please tell me that I didn't bore you all to death like Professor Binns," said Remus, groaning.

"No. You were actually the best defense professor we ever had. But, considering everyone we got stuck with, I guess it doesn't mean that much," said Theodore.

"So, the defense position is still cursed?" asked Sirius. Blaise nodded. "Whoa! Who did you guys have your first two years?"

"First year was Professor Quirrel. He was a joke, and wore a turban that smelled of garlic. He stuttered all the time, and his lessons weren't impressive. Second year was Professor Lockhart. He's famous for things he did, but I'm not sure if I believe he did half of those things. All his lessons were just acting out some of the things he did," explained Blaise.

"What happened to them, due to the curse?" asked Sirius, curious.

"Quirrel was killed. Nobody knows how or why," said Blaise. "Lockhart somehow had his memory wiped and is recovering in St. Mungos. Well, he was until Voldemort took over, and decided to kill Lockhart, and the other patients that weren't loyal to him."

"Poor professors," said Remus. "This really is a bad future, and I have a feeling that it gets even worse."

"It does," said Theodore. "On Halloween, a rumor went around the school that Sirius broke into the Gryffindor common room, and attacked Ron Weasley. Again, I don't know how true it is, especially since I can't think of a reason for Sirius to do that, but you never know. At the end of the year, Professor Snape somehow..." Theodore, however, was interrupted.

"Professor Snape! Professor? How did Snivellus ever become a professor?" asked Sirius. "Remus, please tell me that you pranked him during Harry's third year."

"I would be horrified if my future self did that," replied Remus.

"You're no fun, Remus," replied Sirius in defeat.

"Yes, Professor Snape is a professor," said Theodore. "He taught potions there. Anyway, Professor Snape somehow caught Sirius. They were going to administer the dementor's kiss, but he somehow escaped before that could happen. Nobody knows how you escaped, Sirius, but you did."

"Go future self! Go future self!" exclaimed Sirius. "I'm really starting to like my future self. Not only did he escape Azkaban, which is supposed to be impossible, but he escaped getting kissed."

"Fourth year, this is where things start to get very insane," said Theodore.

"You mean they weren't insane before?" asked Remus. "I'm scared now."

"Well, more insane than the previous years, then," corrected Theodore.

"What happened to Remus?" asked Sirius.

"Professor Snape told the Slytherins about your problem, to put it lightly. You resigned after that," said Blaise. "Considering what happened to the other defense professors, you got lucky."

"Yeah. I guess I did," said Remus, not liking the fact that his 'furry little problem' was common knowledge. Well, it couldn't be helped, except if the future was changed.

"Fourth year, the triwizard tournament was held. Yes, Remus, it hasn't been held in years, but they added a few safety precautions, such as an age limit of seventeen," explained Theodore. "The champions were Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts, Victor Krum for Durmstrang, and Fleur Delacour for Beuxbatons. Only, something weird happened, and Harry's name came out of the goblet of fire as well," explained Theodore. "Even Dumbledore was shocked!"

"My son really is awesome," said James. "He managed to enter anyway, and tricked the Goblet! He even went so far as to make a new category to put his name in. That's the Marauder spirit."

"James," began Remus, "I honestly don't think that a fourth year could trick an ancient magical artifact like that."

"Yeah. Harry said that he didn't put his name in," said Theodore. "Obviously, not everyone believed him, and wanted to know how he did it. Mad-Eye Moody, the defense professor, was convinced that somebody entered him in an attempt to get him killed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the third and final task."

"What happened then?" asked Peter, not sure if he wanted to know.

"When he reemerged from the maze, he was clutching the dead body of Cedric Diggory. He told the whole school that Lord Voldemort was back." Everybody flinched. "It's just a name! Dumbledore told us later that Diggory was killed by Voldemort. Mad-eye Moody rushed Harry into his office, and it turned out that he was actually a Death Eater under polyjuice, or so Dumbledore told us," continued Theodore.

"Fifth year...that was bad. All summer, The Daily Prophet printed articles calling Harry an attention-seeking liar, and the Ministry was denying Voldemort's return," said Blaise. "He was called into the Ministry for using underage magic, but he somehow got off. Our defense professor that year was Professor Umbridge, a ministry employee that wanted to keep the school under ministry control. That year was horrible. She even managed to get Dumbledore kicked out, and become headmistress later in the year."

"Near the end of the year," continued Theodore, "Harry took some of his friends to the Ministry. Luna said that she went with Harry, and that they were trying to save you, Sirius. Luna said it was a trap, though, for Voldemort to obtain something. What, we don't know, but two people lost their lives that day. Sirius and Headmaster Dumbledore both died in there. It was a sad day, but that did cause the Ministry to admit to Voldemort's return."

"After that incident, The Daily Prophet ran some articles claiming that there was a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries concerning Harry, and that Harry was The-Chosen-One destined to defeat Voldemort. There was no supporting evidence, though. Sixth year was pretty quiet. Professor McGonagall became headmistress; Professor Snape got the defense job. The Death Eaters attacked Hogsmeade, but nothing too major happened then. That was the year my father forced me to take the dark mark, but since Voldemort and my father didn't tell us too much, even I don't know why he kept so quiet."

"During our seventh year, Voldemort attacked the school on Halloween. Draco Malfoy managed to find a way to sneak him in. He said that it had something to do with vanishing cabinets, an odd room on the seventh floor, and a shop in Knockturn. That was the day when Voldemort killed Harry, and many others, including Luna. So many lost their lives, more than I know, and it would take forever to list. That was the turning point of the war, and from there, Voldemort had no problem taking over the ministry, and ruling Britain, now all of Europe. Most have given up hope now, accepting his rule, convinced that it's better with Voldemort in power than Scrimegeour. Others despise him, but pretend to be okay with it, knowing that there's no hope. Then, there's his Death Eaters, led by Lieutenant Draco Malfoy, Voldemort's most loyal servants. Lastly, The Order of the Phoenix continues to fight against Voldemort, though they haven't had much luck with that."

"Why don't you guys join the Order?" asked Remus. It was clear to him that they were against Voldemort, and wanted his reign ended. They would make good candidates.

"You can't simply go up to The Order's headquarters, and ask to join them," explained Blaise. "Nobody, not even Voldemort, knows where it is. It's rumored to be under the fidelius charm. Second, we don't know who any Order members are. After assassinations on Order members by Voldemort, they keep their identities concealed from the public, to make them harder to track down. Third, even if we could contact them, do you honestly expect that they would believe a former Slytherin death eater, and his Slytherin buddy?" asked Blaise, posing the question as a response.

"It would depend on this Order's viewpoints," stated Remus, in thought.

"Yeah. But, if you guys are willing to do this, we won't have to worry about Voldemort anymore," said Theodore. "Please...save us, save our past and your future. It's...the only way to stop Voldemort now. The timeline has apparently run off its intended course."

"Let's do it!" exclaimed Sirius at once. "I don't want to die, and this world sucks!"

"I'm with Sirius," said James. "Let's kick Voldemort's butt before he can inflict this damage."

"Guys," said Remus, hesitatingly, "we're just four wizards who haven't even finished school yet. Do you honestly think that we would stand a chance against Voldemort? He'd kill us instantly."

"Maybe," said Sirius, "but I can't just sit back in 1976 doing nothing to stop him."

"That's what you've been doing ever since he came to power," said Remus.

"Yeah, we have," continued James, "but this is different. Before, we always assumed that Dumbledore would defeat him, like with Grindelwald. Now, we know that's not the case, and that he'll take over Europe, maybe even eventually the whole world. We...we can't just sit back, die, and watch this happen. It will be even more painful knowing that we could have done something to prevent this, but chose not to act. Please, Remus."

"Yeah, Remus," said Peter, "we have to stop him."

"Oh, fine," said Remus. "We can try to stop this, but there's going to be a few rules during our adventure." Groans immediately came from around the room.

"Rules? But why do we need rules?" asked Sirius. "Rules are for losers."

"The rules are to make sure that you behave yourselves," said Remus. "First off, we are not going to change anything without planning it out first. We don't want to rush into this. Don't go changing anything without asking me. Second, this mission is staying pertinent to Voldemort, meaning that you're not going to change something not relating to that. Understand?"

"Yes, Remus," replied Peter.

"Understood, boss," replied James.

"I got it, but I don't like this," said Sirius.

"Well, since that's now settled, how about seeing my creation?" asked Theodore. Four eager heads nodded their agreement to that idea.