A Future Threatened

A Future Threatened

by Winnie Matthews

* * *

Chapter Six

"Stars and galaxies!" Susannah breathed, her heart racing in her chest. Her cousin was staring at her with a look of incredulity on his face. But his disbelief was nothing next to hers. "Jeremy? What--what are you doing here?" In the past, she added silently.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Jeremy said with a smile. The door barged open and Harry bolted in, drawing his wand out, followed by Ron and Hermione. "And it looks like you've been doing a good job. Got right where you wanted to, didn't you?"

Harry looked at her. "Susannah, what's he talking about?" he wanted to know. "And who is he, anyway?"

"He looks like Ron," Hermione said, looking uncertainly between Ron and the newcomer. "A great deal like him, as a matter of fact."

Erupting in laughter, Jeremy shook his head. "Well, there would be a reason for that, wouldn't it, Mother?" he said in a voice that reminded Susannah vaguely of their Uncle Percy. "I'm his son from the future."

"Jeremy, don't!" Susannah gasped, but it was too late; the damage was done. Ron gaped at the young man and Hermione clamped her hand over her mouth. Harry glanced towards Susannah, whose green eyes were wide with horror.

"My son?" Ron said in amazement and looked in Susannah's direction accusingly. "You never mentioned to me that I had a son in the future. And with Hermione, too," he added, looking shyly towards her. "I suppose that we're married, too?" he asked quickly.

Jeremy snorted. "No, Mum's just married to a Death Eater and I'm your illegitimate son from her affairs," he said sarcastically as he rolled his brown eyes towards the ceiling. "Of course you're married to her, Dad!"

Susannah glared at her cousin. "Is there any point in reminding you about future consequences?" she wanted to know and Jeremy shook his head, smirking. "Well, to repeat my previous question: why are you here? You weren't supposed to come back. Did your mum send you?"

"Hardly," Jeremy said calmly. "In fact, she'd probably die of humiliation if she knew that I was here, Susie."

"Don't call me that," Susannah muttered as Jeremy pulled out his wand. "What are you doing?!"

"Carrying out my orders," Jeremy said coldly. "Stupefy!" Red light exploded from his wand and Susannah just barely reacted in time to throw up a Shield Charm. The spell rocketed off of the shield and hit a shelf opposite.

"Not bad," Jeremy said calmly, as if this didn't matter. Harry pointed his own wand at Jeremy. Ron and Hermione didn't move; it seemed as though they couldn't strike a blow to the boy. Not surprising, considering they had just found out that he was their son. "'Course, you were always best at Defence, weren't you, Susannah?"

"Impedimenta!" Susannah yelled and Jeremy was blasted off of his feet, thrown against the wall and fell silently to the floor, unconscious. Ron let out a strangled cry and Hermione whimpered. "Traitor," Susannah whispered, trying not to let go of any of her own feelings.

"Come on, let's find the locket," Harry said, moving swiftly through the shop. Susannah followed him and so did Hermione, reluctantly, but Ron remained where he was, looking intently down at the still form of his and Hermione's future son.

"Ron?" Hermione said, looking back at him, but Susannah tugged on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Let him be," she said softly and Hermione slowly followed Susannah and Harry through the shop. Susannah snorted and both of them looked at her, startled. "Well," she said, looking at Hermione, "there's the answer to your question that you asked. Of how I knew you in the future."

"Because of Jeremy?" Hermione asked and Susannah nodded miserably. "So, you two were friends?"

"Was he the friend you told me about?" Harry wanted to know as they stepped into the basement after Susannah nodded in answer to Hermione's question. "The one that started the Resistance with you? You never did tell me his name."

"No," Susannah said softly, "he wasn't the friend. But he was in the Resistance, along with so many of the students at Hogwarts. The faculty, too." She shook her head in disbelief. "What is happening in the future that made Jeremy turn?" she wanted to know.

"Maybe he's not the one who turned," Ron said scathingly, appearing at the head of the stairs. Three pairs of questioning eyes turned to look at him in confusion. "Maybe you're not the person that you say you are, Ames--"

Ron was cut off from accusing Susannah by a series of spell being shot at them. Susannah threw up a Shield Charm again to stop herself from getting hurt, but Harry wasn't so lucky. He was hit by a Stunning Spell and thrown against the room, hitting the wall opposite.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, rushing to her friend's side. Susannah shouted, "NO!" all the while having the peculiar sense of her insides going cold. She had felt this feeling before, though not for a long time. Not since they had created the spell to vanquish them . . .

No, she thought in horror. Not them. Not here, not now. I can't deal with them now. I have to help Dad.

But there they were, gliding towards Harry and Hermione from where they were. Ron let out a cry, crouching down on the stairs, clutching his head as if he heard something painful. Susannah herself was swept into another time, when she had felt more fear in her than she had ever felt before . . .

The Death Eaters were all crowding around her, menacing smiles appearing on their faces. Voldemort was holding her twin brother, Sirius, at wandpoint, but his hazel eyes were focused upon her, all of his love radiating from his eyes at her.

Love Susie, he said silently, in the way that they had of talking to each other, mind-to-mind. He was the one person who could ever call her by that name.

Love Siri, she said, talking back to him. Little did she know that it would be the last time that she would ever see him alive again . . . . Green light exploded from Voldemort's wand and Susannah screamed for her brother, but it was too late . . .

"Sirius . . ." Susannah whispered, tears pouring down her face. She couldn't do this; she didn't have the strength to fight, too keep going . . . why couldn't she have just let it go?

All of a sudden, her brother's face appeared in her mind's eyes, giving her his strength. Don't be afraid, Susie, he whispered, his voice in her ear. You're Harry Potter's daughter, through and through. Use the gifts that he gave you.

With her brother beside her, Susannah felt warmth spread throughout her body, to her fingers and toes. "Expecto Patronum!" she whispered, yanking out her wand. A flicker of silver mist appeared from it, attracting the dementors. She concentrated all of her thoughts on her beloved brother's face. "Expecto Patronum!" she screamed.

All at once, silver mist appeared throughout the room, repelling the dementors. Hermione was looking around at her, surprise written on her face, but Susannah wasn't aware of her watching.

Hermione couldn't believe her eyes when the future girl cast the Patronus Charm, but it was even more astounding when the spell took the shape of the stag, the exact same shape that Harry's did. This clue, along with Susannah's resemblance to Harry, finally made Hermione understand what she had refused to accept all along.

Susannah Ames was Harry's daughter from the future.