Our Past, Your Future

Professor Dumbledore smiled at the students in front of him. If he didn't find the situation so funny he would have been angry. These three friends displayed one characteristic which he admired most- friendship. Sirius Black had come up with a crazy idea which would have resulted in their deaths if it had not been correctly done, yet they were willing to take this risk because of friendship. James Potter saw Sirius as the brother he never had. Sirius saw James as the replacement for his own brother who he saw as a let down. Remus, with all his intelligence, felt he had to re-pay these two close friends who knew he was a werewolf, but who did not abandon him but broke the law so his stay at Hogwarts was more enjoyable.

"I would give you a lecture, but I feel that it better come tomorrow after the shock of what has happened to you has sunk in. You will sleep in Gryffindor tower tonight. I will meet you outside the fat ladies portrait, where I will administer changes to your appearance. I am afraid Mr. Black and Mr. Potter will stick out in this time. Now I must have a word with Professor McGonagall," said Professor Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

***

James, Sirius and Remus hurried towards the fat ladies painting as fast as they could, praying that Dumbledore would hurry up, but they were cut off by a blond boy with a pale pointed face and glinting grey eyes.

"So, Scar Head, showing the newest member of your fan club the castle. Look at you, strutting around like you own the place- and they call me cocky. Saint Potter- saviour of the Philosophers stone, Basilisk slayer, Quidditch champion, tri-wizard champion, only survivor of the killing curse, parselmouth, the only student to drive off a hundred Dementors, and the person to end the Dark Lords first reign. But Potter- you won't win this time. He is far too strong. You may have survived him four times, but there won't be a fifth."

"What are you on about?" said James, confuse at this sudden outburst.

In response the boy smiled, and opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Professor Dumbledore. He promptly pointed his wand at the boy and said- 'obliviate', and the boy's eyes glazed over. Dumbledore then led them to the fat ladies portrait with no explanation.

"Don't be frightened by the changes I am about to make," he said kindly. He then waved his wand over James and Sirius. Sirius's hair became short, and changed to a mud-brown colour, his nose shortened, and his eyes became the same colour as his hair. A scar appeared on his right cheek. As for James, his hair remained the same colour, but it lay flat against his head. His eyes became light blue, his facial structure changed and, with a gasp he took of his glasses and looked around. He could obviously see without them.

"The password for the moment is 'Leaves'. Your beds are in there normal room, and while I was talking to you Professor McGonagall told the student with whom you will be sharing the room with that you are exchange students from a private school in Norway. Enjoy the stay," said Professor Dumbledore, a worried look on his face.

The first sight that greeted the three boy's eyes when they scrambled through the portrait hole was that of a tall, lanky, red head boy in a passionate kiss with a girl whose brown hair was very untidy. After about five minutes they seemed to notice the new arrivals.

"Um, hello, my name is Hermione Granger. And this is Ron Weasley," said the girl. The tall boy put up his hand by way of a greeting.

"You must be tired. We will show you around tomorrow. I will show you to the room where you will be sleeping," said Ron. He then, hurriedly bent down to kiss Hermione, before leading them to the tower bedroom. He seemed a cheerful enough sort of person. When they reached the dormitory, they were greeted by even more people. A tall, athletic Irish boy called Seamus, a muscled black boy called Dean (who was busy sticking a muggle poster onto the wall above his bed) and a cheerful boy named Neville Longbottom. Neville looked like the type of person who had lost a lot of weight in a short space of time.

"Hang on. Where's Harry and James?" said Ron.

"Well, James went to the room of requirement with Lavender. And Harry went to the Quidditch pitch with Ginny," said Neville. For some reason, he didn't seem comfortable talking about the subject of Harry and Ginny.

Ron's looked confused, then angry. "What is Harry doing with my sister down on the pitch? He was already with her for four hours this evening?"

Everyone looked reluctant to answer. Then Neville spoke for a second time- "Ginny said she wanted to talk to Harry about a very delicate matter. She said it could affect them and the war with Voldemort. She didn't tell us what is was but she was adamant that Harry come with her."

By this time Hermione had joined them. She had heard the conversations and was putting two and two together as only Hermione could. The early morning sickness, the way some foods made her feel sick... It all made sense now. But she couldn't tell Ron, he would kill Harry outright. That's if it was true.

"Ron," she said gently, "I'm sure Ginny and Harry aren't up to much. Why don't you go to bed. I'm sure they will be up in a few minutes. You know how moody Harry gets and how willing he is to talk about things after some time with Ginny. She's a smart girl and well able to look after herself. Anyway, Harry wouldn't do anything to harm her; he cares about her to much. Anyway, what she did to Malfoy last year is still fresh in his memory, I heard you two laughing about it last night."

All the time Hermione's voice was gentle. Sirius could see her work her charm on Ron. He slowly calmed down and agreed with her. Remus, James and Sirius exchanged looks. Whoever this Harry and Ginny were they seemed to be important to Ron and Hermione. Slowly, everyone climbed into bed. After a half hour, the door opened. No one moved. Everyone wanted to hear what Ginny had to say to Harry, but the dormitory remained still and silent. The moon shone through the window on a worried, but, somehow, happy, Harry Potter. For the first time in several months, he was so happy; it filled him up like a balloon deep in his chest. They could work through this- Ginny and he. Just been with her seemed right, and she was adamant that this could work.

***

Next morning, James got a shock when he met Harry. It was like looking in the mirror, but with deliberate mistakes. Harry's eyes were green, not hazel, he was about an inch shorter, and his nose was not as long, but other than that they were identical.

"Hi, I'm Harry," he said, a broad smile on his face, extending his hand.

"I'm William Locklane," answered James taking Harry's outstretched Hand. William Locklane was the assumed name he was going under. Sirius was now called Ian Burke while Remus was Robert Kennedy.

"Harry," said a voice from a bed beside the window. The voice carried a strong American accent.

"Yeah, James" answered Harry.

"What time is breakfast at?"

"It began ten minutes ago," said Harry with a smile.

In response, and to James Potters shock, a figure identical to Sirius jumped out of the bed. He hurriedly said hello, shock James's hand, and bolted down-stairs.

Ten minutes later Harry walked into the hall with the 'new' students. James Black was sitting in front of the biggest pile of food that any of them had ever seen- even bigger than Ron's, if that was possible. He ate relentlessly. At the top table Professor Dumbledore saw this and couldn't help but make the comparison between father and son. James Black acted in the same way as his father, even though he never met him. Dumbledore didn't know why but he had a sense of foreboding about this incident. Ever since it had occurred there had been constant rain and thunder except for one half hour period the night before. The wind was Gail force. Something in nature had been disturbed. Something serious was going to occur.

***

Not even Dumbledore knew how serious the events which had unfolded were. Such a breach of the fabrics of time and space had to be rectified. That's where the figure comes into this tale. Hagrid saw him going towards the castle- a figure of medium stature, dresses in a long black overcoat and wool cap. Hagrid couldn't make out his face, but that didn't matter. The figure could change his facial features as easily as Dumbledore had changed those of James Potter. This figure had many names- the Grim Reaper and the Angel of Death (from the fact he dealt with people when their time on Earth was over) and in olden days he was considered the god of fertility (due to the fact he dealt with the beginning of a person's time on Earth). In truth he was none of these things. True, he dealt with people and the length of time they spent in this life, but he just saw that they were born and died at the right time. He knew the consequences of each and every choice a person has in life- he knew the answers to the famous 'What If?' questions and he had the power to show people the outcomes of these questions. Harry Potter was one person this figure was eager to meet. If he could see the answer the question 'What if my parents never had died?' he would have the power he needed to eliminate Voldemort. It was imperative that he defeated him for the future where Voldemort reigned was terrifying. But first, Mr. H. Potter would have to meet Mr. J. Potter.

***

"Come on, we are going to be late for our first class, and you don't want to be late for Defence against the Dark Arts" said Hermione, placing her hands on her hips. Ron shook his head in disgust and looked at the new boys, William Locklane, Ian Burke and Robert Kennedy with an expression which clearly said 'This is normal for her'. He then fell back to where Harry was explaining to James that it was normal for the Hogwarts stairs to move about, and telling him how there came to be a piece of swamp underneath one particular window. Soon all three boys were engrossed in a conversation about Quidditch. Both Sirius and James listened closely- Ron had clearly asked Harry how he was going to fill up the empty spaces on the team. Remus could see James and Sirius exchange looks. Their faces light up and evil grins came to their already energetic features. They were definitely going to apply.

Ahead of them Draco Malfoy was sneaking looks at Harry over his shoulders. His forehead was creased in concentration as if he was trying to remember something long forgotten- to him, something which had happened the night before. Suddenly a shadow crossed over Draco. Startled Draco looked around, but the nearest people were Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, a clear twenty feet away and deep in conversation. Outside there was a deep roll of thunder and through the window in front of him, Draco could see the lightening fork slice the sky. The light from it reflected on the highly polished floor and sent bright light through the corridor. In that light, everyone saw, clearly, a figure standing in front of the window. It was a massive shape, dwarfing Grabb and Goyle. But it was gone a second later. No one moved. They stood frozen, startled by what they had seen. Then it was gone. Everyone stood frozen for a moment until a cry of joy rang out. Colin Creevy came round the corner holding his camera tightly.

"Did you see that lightening strike?" he said breathlessly, before heading off.

Draco was the first to recover from the shock of seeing Colin Creevy in such a happy mood- he was acting as if nothing had happened. He smiled ruefully, and then started walking to class. 'God' he thought 'why are all the Gryffindor boys going through growth spurts, Creevy is the same height as me.' He thought nothing more of it after that, and like everyone else, he didn't notice the figure in the corner, who was smiling at the startled expressions of everyone's face.

***

Harry, Ron and James took three seats down the back of the room with Hermione sitting at the table in front of them. The three new boys found a table near the front of the room, right in front of Dean and Seamus. Just as they sat down Olivia Black entered the room wearing robes of midnight blue, which hung close to her perfect figure. She looked young enough to have graduated from Hogwarts only the year before, which explained the startled looks she was getting.

"Good morning class. My name is Olivia Black. Just so we start of on the right foot- I don't like to be called Professor, unless of course we are been inspected. You may call me Olivia. Today, at the headmaster's request, we will be examining Dementors, their effects on people and the only known repellant, the Patronus Charm."

No one said anything about this strange introduction. Instead they shoot quizzled looks at each other. The three new boys, William, Ian and Robert, however were looking at Olivia with shock on their faces, and James was looking horrified at having his mother teaching him.

"Mr. Potter, I believe that you can produce an excellent Patronus. Would you care to show us?"

With shaky legs, Harry went up to the top of the class. This was going to be a LONG double period.

***

(To be continued)