What a Curious Meeting

"James?" Sirius said quietly, "James, man what are you doing?"

James put down a photo of Harry smiling with a large owl perched on his shoulder and punched Sirius in the arm. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm inspecting Harry!"

"Errrr. Why?"

"Because maybe I'll be able to figure out who I did it," James looked at Sirius conspiratorially and gave a few winks, "with. Maybe it was that Bones girl, you know the one who lived down the street from you," James hypothesized while gesturing what he considered to be said girl's ample chest.

Sirius shook his head. "Doubt it. Sorry man, but you just aren't that suave. Hey, for all we know, you know you just picked some random gorilla muggle off the street and mated with her in a really boring way that Playboy wouldn't print."

James hit Sirius in the head, rising to his feet in anger. "Sirius! Stop talking about my future wife like that!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Wife?"

James shrugged his shoulders, looking off to the side to look back into the kitchen where Harry was making lunch. "I dunno. It just doesn't seem right to not go all in with the relationship, you know?"

"Man," Sirius sighed, "we are living in an age of a potentially great revolution, open your eyes."

"Yeah," James added sulking, "but will we ever get back there?"

"I dunno," Sirius admitted, looking at his feet. "But before we go, we have to write down some of the Quidditch World Cup victories. Think of all the money we could scam out of Ludo!"

"Sirius," James added, sitting down as Harry came in, "you're an evil genius."

Harry gave them both a look that attempted to hide his interest with disgust. "If you guys destroy the definition of reality with some prank, you're really going to regret it wallowing in non-existence."

James ducked under him and grabbed a sandwich from the tray in Harry's hand. "Jeez, you sound like my father!"

"..." Harry opened up his mouth attempting to speak, thought better of it, sat down and shoved a sandwich in his mouth.

"That came out wrong," Sirius amended for his friend. Harry snorted and went back to his sandwich, smiling slightly.

"Harry?" a voice called from the kitchen, "you left your door open, so I thought I could come in."

Harry looked at his sandwich in confusion, his black eyebrows knotting together and creasing, wrinkling his scar. His eyes widened and he stood up and jumped over the table, vaulting to the doorway. "Professor Lupin!" he said in surprise as the man walked in, "I completely forget you were coming!"

Sirius and James looked at each other in confusion, dropped their sandwiches and turned around to look at the two men.

"Really Harry, I'm not your teacher any more! Well," Remus said as he took note of two heads bobbling up from large-backed chairs, "I daresay that you were preoccupied with your guests. It's really no problem, I'll just...erg!" he said in physical surprise as his face suddenly turned pale and sweaty. "James?" The boy's head had slipped around the side of the chair.

Nodding his head in resignation, Harry added, "and Sirius too."

The two boys looked at the adults' faces. "Err. Do we know him?"

Harry looked at Remus and noted the looks of confusion and hurt that spread across his face. Harry scratched the bottom of his nose and thought quietly for a moment.

"I think," he began with an air of knowledge that he hoped he could carry, "these two haven't met you yet, Remus." There, he had said "Remus", trying out the word. It felt odd. "They have just come from Kings Cross station on September 1, 1969."

Remus nodded. "Yes, they would be there, but that doesn't make any sense..."

"At 10:30 in the morning. They have yet to board the train." At this point, Harry had turned to Remus and was completely ignoring the two boys.

"Ah. Well, then that's quite a time paradox. What a pity, I would have liked for different circumstances..." He sighed gently, then an idea seemed to pass over his eyes and his head shot up. "Harry, are you sure it is wise to be talking like this in front of these two?"

Harry gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "They're a lost cause anyway. Come into the kitchen, I'd like to talk to you in private."

Remus' eyes lingered on the two boys before he followed Harry into the kitchen.

Harry closed the French door to the kitchen and let out a large sigh. "I can't stand another minute of this."

"I don't think you're realizing the point here. You are able to meet your father, an amazing person. So what if he is young? Essentially, he is still the man that died for you, because he loved you."

"It's just not right. It's not fair for anyone to become attached to these people. It doesn't honor either of their memories to replace them with these children. People change as they grow up and that's not my father."

Remus sighed in frustration, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Harry, you were always very determined as a child, and now you have become a proud and confident adult. But you still let your stubbornness blind you. You may not choose to take this opportunity, but I am."

"Fine," Harry sniffed, looking down his nose. "Soon enough you'll find their immaturity grating on your sanity."

Remus shrugged. "It's a sacrifice I'll have to make." He went over to the French doors and turned the knob, ready to push it open.

"Wait!" Harry called, "I can't let you go out there alone!" Remus gave him an appraising smile and they went back into the parlor.

~*~

Harry was a shorter man, standing only a few inches taller than the eleven year old Sirius, though, to be fair, Sirius was a bit tall for his age. Harry had messy black hair that fell to ears and then stopped, as if someone had messily cut it under a bowl. Harry had once been told that the look made him look edgy, but Hermione was just trying to be polite. He had a straight, long nose and wide nostrils that flared when someone mentioned his fame or when he couldn't get out of his bill because of his celebrity. His face was narrow and slightly feminine, and every morning Harry religiously shaved. His cheeks were full as were his lips, which were often chapped. His face had a natural shine and his eyes seemed to take up his whole forehead, except for his large eyebrows that moved effortlessly with Harry's full range of expressions.

Sirius was a taller boy, big and broad like a barrel. He had shaggy black hair which he had to defend every four months so that his mother wouldn't cut it off. He liked that he could look through it while glaring. The boy had a large, square face and small features. He had a round, curved nose and an open mouth. His gray eyes were already framed by small creases, and his eyebrows were tamed and even, waggling as he talked.

James was a shorter boy. He had a full, long face covered in a sprinkling of brown freckles. He had dark black eyes and thick black eyebrows, his most striking feature. When his hair was wet and not controlled by the conservative hairstyle that his mother demanded of him, his eyes seemed to meld into his hair. He had prickled pink shallow cheeks, broad lips and a skinny tongue, which he whipped about in his mouth as he spoke. His nose was straight and seemed to move as his mouth turned up or down. His shoulders curved and his upper arms were strong.