We solemnly swear our writing's no good!
Disclaimer: If we owned Harry Potter, we wouldn't have to work at the shit hole we do! We wouldn't have to go to college because we would have £46 million sitting in the bank, going 'spend me, spend me'. Ron would so get more credit than he does (go Ron)! There would be no more Harry/Hermione ships, as we would refuse to write another word until those sinners had converted their evil ways. Oliver Wood would be forever in just a towel and Remus would be handcuffed to my bed ( (C.Moony just couldn't resist, sorry).
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic! Words cannot express how sorry we are for the long wait. Half of it has just been sat all lonely on the computer, with no one to read it (! We know it's our fault, we are very bad people, and we should be 'casted out and made to live as muggles!' If JK can get her act together, so can we! Thanks as ever to our wonderful reviewers. Wahoo over 200 reviews! You guys are brilliant and we love those of you who have demanded that we update. It makes us feel so special. For those of you who wanted to know where Snape was, don't panic, we haven't forgotten him. He'll be here shortly and will be just as vindictive as ever. And a special note to Alexandria. Thank you so much for your review. Of course you can be in our story. Just keep reading as we have plans for you.
***
Chapter 8- Filth, lunatics, beasts and mudbloods
It was quite late when Lily and James descended the stairs, hand in hand with Harry close behind them. Entering the common room they noticed that it was virtually empty, except for some sixth years desperately trying to get an impossible transfiguration essay finished. At first glance he missed her sitting there by the fire, but suddenly his eye caught that familiar red hair. With a small smile Harry passed his parents and headed in her direction. Ginny had been waiting for what seemed like hours. The others had decided on a trip to the kitchens, obviously getting bored of waiting. Ginny hadn't wanted to go with them for two reasons; she was sure they were going to get caught (after all she didn't know about the Marauder's map) and secondly she was worried about Harry. This would be the first fight he had ever witnessed between his parents and she was sure it was because of him and who he was. What if Lily and James broke up? They would never get married, have Harry and Voldemort may never have met his downfall. The whole of the wizarding world (and if Ginny was honest with herself more importantly Harry's existence) was at stake, it all depended on the outcome of this argument. Waiting nervously had eventually taken its toll on the young girl and she had drifted into a light slumber.
Harry's emerald eyes scanned the figure curled up in the big armchair, as she leant her head on her hand, hair falling across her cheek. And for one confusing moment Harry could have sworn he felt his heart flutter. No, he was just tired and relieved, that was all. As he stood watching her, Ginny began to stir, opening one eye then the other. Sitting up immediately, she blinked.
"Harry?" Suddenly everything came out in a huge rush. "Are you all right? Is everything OK? I was so worried because of what could have happened and it would be because of us and I'm so." Realising what she was saying and that she had an audience, Ginny stopped abruptly in embarrassment. Harry gave her a reassuring smile.
"Everything's fine, Gin." Ginny slowly looked from Harry to Lily, then to James and back to Harry again. Noticing Lily and James' clasped hands and Lily's small smile in Harry's direction, she knew that their secret was out. As if he could read her mind, Harry quickly glanced around the room before he whispered his next sentence.
"It's all right, my mum knows." It was hard to tell whose smile was the widest as Harry said the word 'mum'. Lily's eyes twinkled and it seemed as though she was very close to tears. Her emerald eyes shone as she glanced at Harry with a mixture of awe and pride. It was something to be told how much your parents loved you, but it was sure a hundred times better to see it for yourself. Here they were, seventeen years old and faced with a bombshell of being presented with their son from the future. Harry felt an odd lump in his throat at the thought they could still care this much for him, and had an odd sense that he may just burst into tears.
"Oh thank god! You're alive!" Sirius bounded into the common room, arms filled with pastries. On seeing the scene in front of him, he had dropped them on the floor (much to the dismay of Peter) and had trampled half of them into the carpet as he launched himself at Harry. Throwing his arms around the boy he began to sob and groan in dramatic wails.
"I felt so guilty for allowing mental Moody to bully you into such a dangerous mission." At this Jennifer gave an indignant cry and threw a chocolate frog at Sirius head. It missed and made a squelching noise as it hit the wall and slid down, leaving a brown, chocolate trail. Harry looked quite alarmed at the teenager draped around his neck.
"He's alive, ALIVE!" With that final word, he released the confused boy and threw himself onto the nearest couch. Then in a completely nonchalant manner, asked what he had missed.
"Nothing much." James gave his best friend a smile. "Nothing much."
***
The dim moonlight shone through the open window and a warm breeze circulated throughout the 7th year boys' dormitory. A figure sat hunched against the window frame, one leg dangling outside into the peaceful night and the other resting on the window ledge. He hadn't been able to sleep and had been sat there for what seemed like hours. A loud snort from Peter had broken his train of thought, stifling a laugh he looked around the dormitory at his sleeping dorm mates.
He liked watching others sleep, they just looked so peaceful and of course some of their strange sleeping habits could be quite amusing as well as useful blackmail material. You could tell a lot about a person when they were sleeping, they were at a point where they were the most vulnerable unable to control themselves or their emotions. He had noted over the years Peter's tendency to snort, suck his thumb and mumble about Madame Pomfrey (he guessed it was probably that whole Florence Nightingale syndrome as Peter did find himself in the hospital wing a lot). Remus was quite a peaceful sleeper except for he would occasionally growl or hum an entire song before he fell silent for the rest of the night. Then there was James, always restless, tossing and turning all night. He would often start shaking, breakout into a cold sweat and even sometimes grimace in pain but he never made a sound. Sirius had been so freaked out the first time this had happened thinking James was having a seizure, but James had woken up complaining at Sirius for making too much noise and waking him up.
He knew then that James was not an ordinary wizard, he must have seen things others couldn't even imagine, and it was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But James appeared like a rock, a pillar of strength for those around him, James was a champion. Sirius was always in awe of his best friend but worried that James seemed adamant to go through whatever this was alone. Sirius was determined to ruin that plan and he had made a promise to himself many years ago that whatever happened he would be by James' side, he would be there to fight till the end.
Shifting slightly in the window frame so he could see the distant Quidditch pitch, Sirius got back on his previous train of thought and the reason he was still awake at three in the morning. Sirius was more observant than everyone knew, more observant than he let on and he knew something was going on. He had nothing against Harry or Ginny in fact quite the opposite but he knew their whole situation was not quite right. Sirius had known the Potter's for years and the sudden appearance of James' long lost cousin just didn't seem to quite add up, not to mention the remarkable resemblance which cousins did not usually have. He knew the Weasleys quite well too and had never heard the mention of a Virginia or any of their family being in France. Then Harry's patronus happened to be a stag, which was more than a little weird, and now that fight between Lily and James. That was perhaps what was getting to him more than anything, Lily and James hardly ever fought and that was no ordinary lovers tiff. Lily's spontaneous outburst had not seemed so unexpected to James; he seemed to know exactly what he had done. Then when they had sent Harry up to the dormitory he had been up their ages and the three had come down like nothing had happened. But there was also what Ginny had said "Don't worry, there is a bond between those two that even death couldn't break." That statement kind of scared him and he didn't know why but what he did know was that he wasn't going to rest until he found out what the hell was going on.
***
Despite the fact that the sun had only just risen in the skyline behind Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny had occupied the table in the far-left corner of the common room for the past hour. Books and parchment littered the table as well as several pinecones with legs.
"Argh! I am never going to get this stupid spell!" Ginny threw her wand down on the table in frustration sending a dancing pinecone toppling over the edge.
"It's OK Gin, you're doing great, you're getting closer each time." Harry offered the frustrated Weasley a reassuring smile.
"Liar," Ginny returned Harry's smile with one of her own.
"No seriously. I mean the pinecone even moved that time." Harry's cheeky grin earned him a small slap from Ginny but she couldn't help a small laugh.
"It's not funny!" She tried really hard to scold him, but it was impossible to be mad at Harry and her grin shone through once more. It was the times like this that Ginny prized the most, even if it did mean embarrassing herself with her lack of Transfiguration skills. Although of course, humiliating 'wish-the-ground-would-open-up-and-swallow-you' displays in front of Harry Potter seemed to be Ginny's specialty. One thing about being sent through time and space with someone is that you can't really help but bond. Ginny had really enjoyed that side of the time travel and the fact that she could now look Harry in the eye and manage to keep most of her dinner on her plate and not on her robes. She didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere along the line she was sure that the two had become friends. Maybe it had all stemmed from Harry's incessant need to be the protector to anyone and everyone, especially if he was best friends with their already overbearing older brother. Or maybe it was the just the fact that the two had spent a large amount of time together and Harry had gotten to know the real Ginny. Since the two had landed smack-bang in the middle of the seventies (and yes, there were some pretty amusing fro's) literally all their time had been spent together. They went to breakfast together, had all the same lessons and in the time they weren't hanging out with a group of rather rowdy seventh years, the two could be seen in the far corner of the library working on every subject that the wizarding curriculum offered.
It wasn't just Ginny who enjoyed their time together. Harry missed Ron and Hermione but he was getting a chance to get to know his parents. Ginny, however, had made this transition that much easier. She was a link, a link to his past, to Ron, to Hermione, to his life at Hogwarts. Whenever one of them felt particularly home sick the other would tell an anecdote, in Ginny's case of her brothers and her childhood, while Harry usually stuck to telling her of his adventures since he had meet Ron. The listener would usually smile and laugh and the thought of being home sick might be pushed aside for a little while, because the company just made them feel lucky to be there. If Harry had know what an amazing, funny, lively girl hid behind the façade of shy Ginny Weasley, he would have forced her out of her shell a long time ago. Not only that but she was wicked smart, bordering on Hermione smart. She could speak fluent French and Spanish from a summer when her father had come home with a cassette player and several language cassettes, along with a Tom Jones album and a compilation of disco tracks. She seemed to excel at Charms, could stay awake in History of Magic and even seemed to brew potions with the precision of a Malfoy. Harry assumed that not even this talent would get a Weasley into Snape's good graces. But for all Ginny's glittering academics she really did bite the big one at Transfiguration. She had no idea why she found it so hard; maybe it was the fact that in her first lesson Colin Creevey had miss-aimed his spell and had caused his match to spark and set fire to the end of Ginny's hair. Or maybe it was the fact that during one of her more eventful Transfiguration lessons, Ginny had accidentally turned her own robes semi-transparent. It was something that Ginny didn't like to remember and was perhaps always in the back of her mind every time she attempted anything in that class.
"OK. Let's try this again?" Ginny nodded determinedly at Harry's question and concentrated on the pinecone lying on the table in front of her. 'Pinecone to mouse, pinecone to mouse, pinecone to. pinecone with a tail? Arghhh!' With a frustrated sigh, Ginny banged her head on the table. Harry was trying desperately to think of something comforting or encouraging to say, when he noticed her shoulders began to shake. Thinking she was crying, and as a typical male Harry, began to panic. That was until he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. Ginny had no idea what had possessed her but suddenly she felt the great urge to laugh. Lifting her head off the table she grinned at a visibly relieved Harry.
"I think it's safe to say I won't be taking over for Professor McGonagall. Am I hopeless at this or what?" Ginny who had her back towards the dormitory staircase did not see the figure descend the stairs. Harry did.
"I think it's about time we brought out the big guns." He gave a cheeky grin at Ginny's confused expression and called across the common room. "Da...amn James, we could really use some help here." Cringing at the near slip up, Harry moved up as James headed in their direction. Luckily the room was still relatively empty apart from a group of sixth years who were minding their own business anyway. The Head boy seemed to be without the troubles that had been surrounding him for a while, and smiled joyfully at the two fifth years.
"How may I be of service?" He plonked down on the footstool and gazed at the table littered with papers and pinecones. Without Harry and Ginny even needing to say a word, James nodded knowledgeably.
"Ah, the old pinecone to mouse transfiguration. McGonagall is giving this to you already? I didn't do it 'till sixth year." Harry then proceeded to tell him how much trouble Ginny seemed to be having. Her feeling of foolishness at such a failure was helped as James explained the difficulty with the spell due to the weak link between the two and the fact that Peter, as a seventh year, still couldn't do it. It took another half an hour before Ginny could create anything that resembled a rodent.
"OK, one more time." Ginny muttered to herself before raising her wand. Saying the spell and flicking her wand, Ginny crossed her fingers on her free hand. There was a small bang and a puff of yellow smoke. As it began to clear, Ginny noted with tremendous delight, that scurrying on the tabletop was a small, slightly ragged but never the less a brown mouse. James gave a small whoop of triumph as Ginny gave a squeal of excitement.
"I did it! I did it!" Dancing around she gave James a quick excited hug, before hugging Harry. "I did it, did you see Harry? Look I finally did it!" Only once her enthusiasm for the small mouse wore off did she notice that she was still in Harry's arms and moved away with acute embarrassment. Harry, for his part, had not actually minded Ginny being in his arms and couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment as she moved away. 'That's ridiculous! Ginny's just a friend!' Harry frowned at his own trail of thought. 'It was just a friendly hug. And why am I even talking about it to myself?' Harry didn't have much time to dwell over this as a loud ruckus was heard on the stairs. It was pretty obvious who it was.
"Don't worry Moony old boy, I'll only tell the whole world!" Sirius' last few words, however, were slightly muffled as he reached the last few stairs and made a leap for freedom. Unfortunately, he had not yet learnt the technique and he slipped on the rug, ending up face first in the carpet. Remus was the next person to appear and promptly sat on Sirius in order to stop him from getting up. The common room (which had started to fill) watched in amazement. James, Harry and Ginny stared in amusement but were quite confused as no-one had ever really seen Remus this mad. Sirius' pleas for help were muffled due to his mouth full of carpet.
"What one earth is going on here?" Lily and Jennifer had just walked into the state of pandemonium and Lily had her stern 'pissed head girl' look about her. Jennifer meanwhile bent down and studied the scene before her.
"Can he breathe down there?" She asked Remus whilst cocking her head towards Sirius. In answer to the question Sirius make an 'OK' sign with his hand, signalising that he was not out of air yet. "What a pity! Hey Remus, next time sit on his head." With this parting comment, she flashed Remus a grin and headed over to the sofa, where she proceeded to act as if this scene was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Remus, why are you sitting on Sirius? What idiotic thing has he done this time?" James question earned an indignant muffled cry from Sirius, which was of course ignored. Remus only just seemed to realize the scene he was making, but at this moment he was to angry, desperate and mortified to care as much as he normally would.
"This idiot," this was accentuated with a poke to Sirius' back, "thinks it's funny to mess with someone's feelings and private thoughts!"
"Huh?"
"Padfoot cast a spell on Remus that made him spill whatever he was thinking and his deepest secrets." Peter waddled down the stairs (A/N: Pity he didn't fall and break his neck) and nonchalantly sat on the sofa next to Jennifer, who (quite rightly) rolled her eyes in disgust. "Then he came running down here to tell everyone. Looks like Remus caught up to him."
"That was low, Sirius!" Lily scolded to Sirius who just held a cupped hand to his ear like he couldn't hear very well. "If Remus promises to let you up, will you promise not to tell anyone what you heard?" There was a pause. "Sirius!"
"I promise." He managed to gasp out as he raised his head. "I was just testing out the new spell to use on our Slytherin friend. I wouldn't have told anyone anyway." Mumbling, Sirius stood up and dusted off his robes.
"Yeah, don't worry Moony. I won't tell anyone who you've got a crush on either." Peter dumbly beamed as if this made him the best friend in the world. As soon as the sentence left his mouth, Remus went from white to red.
"I'm going to breakfast!" He growled and then stormed out of the common room, leaving behind some very confused and curious people.
"So who's he got a crush on?" Lily smacked James upside the head. Breakfast was quite the somber affair to begin with. Remus was not talking to anyone, Sirius was trying to apologize but seemed to be doing a really bad job of it. Lily was scolding Peter and James for prying into Remus' secrets and everyone else were just spectators. This mood was changed, however, with an unusual announcement from Dumbledore. When the Headmaster stood the Hall quieted down almost immediately, as everyone was curious as to what an announcement on a somewhat normal day would mean. Not only that but he was a man who the students had an enormous amount of respect for (well all but some Deatheater-wannabe's in Slytherin). The old man cleared his throat and smiled fondly over the Hall at the students he loved so much.
"Before you all finish and rush eagerly to class," there were a few snickers at this, "I'm afraid that you'll have to put up the waffling of an old man. The Professors have informed me of all the hard work you all seem to be putting in this year; yes well done. And due to the recent events," Harry assumed that due to Dumbledore's expression it must have had something to do with Voldemort, "we have decided to treat you all with a Christmas ball." This news was accompanied with the incessant chattering that normally followed such an announcement. Dumbledore clapped his hands together in order to gain the attention of the hall once more. "I know you're all excited of course, but I feel I must remind you all what a privilege this is. Due to. eh. interesting results, there has not been a ball at Hogwarts since 1473 and I can assure you I expect the best behavior from all of you towards each other." Dumbledore's warm smile turned serious as he hastily glanced between two of the house tables. "Since there is a large number of you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break," he again paused in some type of reflection, "we will have this jolly event on December 24th. Partners are not compulsory and dress robes will be worn. Therefore there will be an extra Hogsmede trip next month. Anyway, I see I have wasted enough of your precious time." With a final smile at the students, the Headmaster sat down and allowed the Hall to take up it former trail of conversation. There could be heard many "What am I going to wear?", "Do you think he'll ask me?" and even the occasional moan and curses that they were going home and would miss the ball or groaning at the fact they were staying and would have to attend.
"Did you two know about this?" Remus asked Lily and James, who both shook their heads just as much surprised at the rest of the student body.
"Wahoo! Perfect opportunity to make a move on the fine-ass specimens that the female race have to offer!" Sirius was eagerly scanning the Hall and making a mental list of ball date possibilities, totally unaware that many girls were staring at him willing his eyes to land on them.
"Well, I think the whole thing sucks! All you are going to have is girls flicking their hair and gossiping, trying to get a guy's attention more than they usually do. Which probably won't work anyway and then you have to go around hearing about everyone's date, when you yourself have none, because despite what Dumbledore says dates are compulsory if you don't want to be a wall flower for the entire duration!" Jennifer appeared to have finished her rant and Harry had to silently agree with her. The last ball he went to was bad enough, thank you very much. Sirius stopped his scouting of the local 'talent' and his mutterings of "possibility. nope. maybe." to look at Jennifer with a smirk.
"Oh come on, Moody. You're just upset that most guys don't put psychotic, unhinged, gobby, aggressive girls at the top of their 'who to invite list'." Jennifer glared at Sirius and was about to defend herself, but someone else got there first.
"Come on, Padfoot. She's not psychotic, just because she doesn't take any of your crap. And plus some guys like a strong, independent woman who is not afraid to give her own opinion. You're just upset because she can beat you up." Jennifer wasn't the only one starring at Remus in surprise of his defending her. Lily's surprise soon changed into a knowing smile and watched as Remus turned about four different shades of red. Sirius was about to open his mouth, possibly to say something that could cause Remus to turn another different shade, when he suddenly stopped. Harry was quite alarmed at the evil smirk and wondered who Sirius was looking at. Before he had a chance to turn around he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh look its Potty and his famous tag-alongs!" That tone of such unbridled disdain could only belong to one man. Harry spun around and his eyes landed on seventeen year old Severus Snape, looking as vindictive as ever. His appearance surprised Harry as he had completely forgotten that Snape was at Hogwarts at this time, his memory was not helped by the fact that this was the first time he had set eyes on him since their journey to the past. The Snape in this time, though much younger, was still recognizable from the greasy hair (although it was shorter), to hooked nose and the sour expression that seemed to be reserved especially for a Potter.
"Severus, how nice to see you. It's been awhile and back to your normal colour I see." Sirius' light and cheery response may have been believable if it was not for the fact that he was clutching his butter knife so tight his fingers were turning white. This comment managed to make Snape's expression turn even more sour if possible.
"You all think you're so perfect and that you have some right to rule the school. I'll get you back for that little prank, Potter." He spat out the 'Potter' as if it was a curse and the icy glare bestowed on James looked as though he was to blame for all the troubles of the world. Severus Snape would be damned if he let that bunch of cretin's get away with causing him to flash the colours of Gryffindor! It was so humiliating for a Slytherin to be so degraded, especially when the teachers couldn't reverse it. That old fool Dumbledore telling him he had to let it run its course until the colour faded! Faded! That could have been months. And to think they wanted him to still carry on as usual; there was no way! It was all Potter's fault he had spent the last two weeks locked up in dormitory, having to copy the abysmal notes of that prat Avery and eating whatever crap his house mates would bring back for him. Then he had heard that not only did he have to deal with the Marauder's, the bane of his existence, but that there was another Potter transferred from Beauxbatons, who happened to be the spitting image of 'Mr bloody perfect'. If Snape hadn't had such a detest for all Potter's he may have felt sorry for the kid.
"Be careful Black, you're showing your true colours again." Severus spat at Sirius as he noticed him still clutching hard to his knife. Sirius' eyes darkened as Snape mouthed 'murderer' and was only just stopped from diving over the table by Peter grabbing his robes (A/N: the only honorable thing the worm will probably ever do). Deciding to ignore the fact that Sirius was grinding his teeth so loud and the only reason he was still alive was that Remus had now joined Peter in restraining Sirius, Snape turned his attention back to his favourite target.
"Why is it that filth always procreates at an annoyingly fast speed?" His glare moved from James to Harry, who glared back with so much hatred for what he had said to Sirius. "Well, you obvious followed your cousin in ghastly looks, suppose you got his manners and arrogance too. Maybe your parents should have drowned you at birth." This was the final straw for James, shaking with anger he stood until he was eye to eye with Snape.
"I'm warning you Snake. You say one more thing about my family and yours will be scraping you off the ceiling and taking you home in a matchbox!" A blazing James Potter was quite an intimidating sight, but Snape was not backing down, there was no way he would let James win. Sensing this Lily and Jennifer automatically tried to pull James back down.
"James, leave it. He's not worth it." Lily whispered through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, Potter. Why don't you listen to your girlfriend before you get hurt." Snape gave him one last disdainful look before turning his attention elsewhere. "What are you looking at beast?" He noticed Remus' hateful look and the fact that Sirius began to struggle once again under his restraint. Ignoring this his focus moved to Ginny. As soon as his eyes landed on her she felt her body go cold. With a smirk he leant over her.
"Well, well you're a pretty little thing." Harry began to tense in the seat next to her. "I'll give you some advice. You better dump this lot before it's too late. Who knows where hanging around filth, lunatics, beast and mudbloods will get you." This last sentence was like a breaking point and it was unclear who moved first. The next thing anyone knew was that James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Snape and a couple of his cronies were in the middle of a brawl. The Hall was filled with screaming and shouting and so much confusion. Ginny and Lily were watching on in shock, not noticing as Peter hid under the table. Jennifer, meanwhile, was yelling a long list of profanities and trying to pull her friends away. Of course every now and then she would get a good kick in at Snape, but it was such pandemonium no one really knew who they were attacking. Suddenly a resounding boom filled the entire Hall.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone stopped still to see Dumbledore wand raised, eyes filled with fire. "My office, NOW!"
***
Fan fic managed!
A/N: If you review (you know, it's the sign of a very intelligent person) then we will not be forced to be nice to Peter. Reviews mean he is being tortured by interesting and various methods. Hey, even though flames are quite stupid (unless sent to a H/Hr shipper for their awful, obscene and offensive choice of ship) because you know the whole 'fan-fiction' part, we will accept them and toast the worm. But come on, where is the fun in just burning when it's only one of the basic torture methods.
PS. We have a completely random question for you. Do you think it's better to be on a favourite author's list or favourite stories list? Because we seem to make more favourite author lists than story. Wouldn't you think that means people would like your story well enough to make it a favourite? *Shrugs*
Disclaimer: If we owned Harry Potter, we wouldn't have to work at the shit hole we do! We wouldn't have to go to college because we would have £46 million sitting in the bank, going 'spend me, spend me'. Ron would so get more credit than he does (go Ron)! There would be no more Harry/Hermione ships, as we would refuse to write another word until those sinners had converted their evil ways. Oliver Wood would be forever in just a towel and Remus would be handcuffed to my bed ( (C.Moony just couldn't resist, sorry).
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic! Words cannot express how sorry we are for the long wait. Half of it has just been sat all lonely on the computer, with no one to read it (! We know it's our fault, we are very bad people, and we should be 'casted out and made to live as muggles!' If JK can get her act together, so can we! Thanks as ever to our wonderful reviewers. Wahoo over 200 reviews! You guys are brilliant and we love those of you who have demanded that we update. It makes us feel so special. For those of you who wanted to know where Snape was, don't panic, we haven't forgotten him. He'll be here shortly and will be just as vindictive as ever. And a special note to Alexandria. Thank you so much for your review. Of course you can be in our story. Just keep reading as we have plans for you.
***
Chapter 8- Filth, lunatics, beasts and mudbloods
It was quite late when Lily and James descended the stairs, hand in hand with Harry close behind them. Entering the common room they noticed that it was virtually empty, except for some sixth years desperately trying to get an impossible transfiguration essay finished. At first glance he missed her sitting there by the fire, but suddenly his eye caught that familiar red hair. With a small smile Harry passed his parents and headed in her direction. Ginny had been waiting for what seemed like hours. The others had decided on a trip to the kitchens, obviously getting bored of waiting. Ginny hadn't wanted to go with them for two reasons; she was sure they were going to get caught (after all she didn't know about the Marauder's map) and secondly she was worried about Harry. This would be the first fight he had ever witnessed between his parents and she was sure it was because of him and who he was. What if Lily and James broke up? They would never get married, have Harry and Voldemort may never have met his downfall. The whole of the wizarding world (and if Ginny was honest with herself more importantly Harry's existence) was at stake, it all depended on the outcome of this argument. Waiting nervously had eventually taken its toll on the young girl and she had drifted into a light slumber.
Harry's emerald eyes scanned the figure curled up in the big armchair, as she leant her head on her hand, hair falling across her cheek. And for one confusing moment Harry could have sworn he felt his heart flutter. No, he was just tired and relieved, that was all. As he stood watching her, Ginny began to stir, opening one eye then the other. Sitting up immediately, she blinked.
"Harry?" Suddenly everything came out in a huge rush. "Are you all right? Is everything OK? I was so worried because of what could have happened and it would be because of us and I'm so." Realising what she was saying and that she had an audience, Ginny stopped abruptly in embarrassment. Harry gave her a reassuring smile.
"Everything's fine, Gin." Ginny slowly looked from Harry to Lily, then to James and back to Harry again. Noticing Lily and James' clasped hands and Lily's small smile in Harry's direction, she knew that their secret was out. As if he could read her mind, Harry quickly glanced around the room before he whispered his next sentence.
"It's all right, my mum knows." It was hard to tell whose smile was the widest as Harry said the word 'mum'. Lily's eyes twinkled and it seemed as though she was very close to tears. Her emerald eyes shone as she glanced at Harry with a mixture of awe and pride. It was something to be told how much your parents loved you, but it was sure a hundred times better to see it for yourself. Here they were, seventeen years old and faced with a bombshell of being presented with their son from the future. Harry felt an odd lump in his throat at the thought they could still care this much for him, and had an odd sense that he may just burst into tears.
"Oh thank god! You're alive!" Sirius bounded into the common room, arms filled with pastries. On seeing the scene in front of him, he had dropped them on the floor (much to the dismay of Peter) and had trampled half of them into the carpet as he launched himself at Harry. Throwing his arms around the boy he began to sob and groan in dramatic wails.
"I felt so guilty for allowing mental Moody to bully you into such a dangerous mission." At this Jennifer gave an indignant cry and threw a chocolate frog at Sirius head. It missed and made a squelching noise as it hit the wall and slid down, leaving a brown, chocolate trail. Harry looked quite alarmed at the teenager draped around his neck.
"He's alive, ALIVE!" With that final word, he released the confused boy and threw himself onto the nearest couch. Then in a completely nonchalant manner, asked what he had missed.
"Nothing much." James gave his best friend a smile. "Nothing much."
***
The dim moonlight shone through the open window and a warm breeze circulated throughout the 7th year boys' dormitory. A figure sat hunched against the window frame, one leg dangling outside into the peaceful night and the other resting on the window ledge. He hadn't been able to sleep and had been sat there for what seemed like hours. A loud snort from Peter had broken his train of thought, stifling a laugh he looked around the dormitory at his sleeping dorm mates.
He liked watching others sleep, they just looked so peaceful and of course some of their strange sleeping habits could be quite amusing as well as useful blackmail material. You could tell a lot about a person when they were sleeping, they were at a point where they were the most vulnerable unable to control themselves or their emotions. He had noted over the years Peter's tendency to snort, suck his thumb and mumble about Madame Pomfrey (he guessed it was probably that whole Florence Nightingale syndrome as Peter did find himself in the hospital wing a lot). Remus was quite a peaceful sleeper except for he would occasionally growl or hum an entire song before he fell silent for the rest of the night. Then there was James, always restless, tossing and turning all night. He would often start shaking, breakout into a cold sweat and even sometimes grimace in pain but he never made a sound. Sirius had been so freaked out the first time this had happened thinking James was having a seizure, but James had woken up complaining at Sirius for making too much noise and waking him up.
He knew then that James was not an ordinary wizard, he must have seen things others couldn't even imagine, and it was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But James appeared like a rock, a pillar of strength for those around him, James was a champion. Sirius was always in awe of his best friend but worried that James seemed adamant to go through whatever this was alone. Sirius was determined to ruin that plan and he had made a promise to himself many years ago that whatever happened he would be by James' side, he would be there to fight till the end.
Shifting slightly in the window frame so he could see the distant Quidditch pitch, Sirius got back on his previous train of thought and the reason he was still awake at three in the morning. Sirius was more observant than everyone knew, more observant than he let on and he knew something was going on. He had nothing against Harry or Ginny in fact quite the opposite but he knew their whole situation was not quite right. Sirius had known the Potter's for years and the sudden appearance of James' long lost cousin just didn't seem to quite add up, not to mention the remarkable resemblance which cousins did not usually have. He knew the Weasleys quite well too and had never heard the mention of a Virginia or any of their family being in France. Then Harry's patronus happened to be a stag, which was more than a little weird, and now that fight between Lily and James. That was perhaps what was getting to him more than anything, Lily and James hardly ever fought and that was no ordinary lovers tiff. Lily's spontaneous outburst had not seemed so unexpected to James; he seemed to know exactly what he had done. Then when they had sent Harry up to the dormitory he had been up their ages and the three had come down like nothing had happened. But there was also what Ginny had said "Don't worry, there is a bond between those two that even death couldn't break." That statement kind of scared him and he didn't know why but what he did know was that he wasn't going to rest until he found out what the hell was going on.
***
Despite the fact that the sun had only just risen in the skyline behind Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny had occupied the table in the far-left corner of the common room for the past hour. Books and parchment littered the table as well as several pinecones with legs.
"Argh! I am never going to get this stupid spell!" Ginny threw her wand down on the table in frustration sending a dancing pinecone toppling over the edge.
"It's OK Gin, you're doing great, you're getting closer each time." Harry offered the frustrated Weasley a reassuring smile.
"Liar," Ginny returned Harry's smile with one of her own.
"No seriously. I mean the pinecone even moved that time." Harry's cheeky grin earned him a small slap from Ginny but she couldn't help a small laugh.
"It's not funny!" She tried really hard to scold him, but it was impossible to be mad at Harry and her grin shone through once more. It was the times like this that Ginny prized the most, even if it did mean embarrassing herself with her lack of Transfiguration skills. Although of course, humiliating 'wish-the-ground-would-open-up-and-swallow-you' displays in front of Harry Potter seemed to be Ginny's specialty. One thing about being sent through time and space with someone is that you can't really help but bond. Ginny had really enjoyed that side of the time travel and the fact that she could now look Harry in the eye and manage to keep most of her dinner on her plate and not on her robes. She didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere along the line she was sure that the two had become friends. Maybe it had all stemmed from Harry's incessant need to be the protector to anyone and everyone, especially if he was best friends with their already overbearing older brother. Or maybe it was the just the fact that the two had spent a large amount of time together and Harry had gotten to know the real Ginny. Since the two had landed smack-bang in the middle of the seventies (and yes, there were some pretty amusing fro's) literally all their time had been spent together. They went to breakfast together, had all the same lessons and in the time they weren't hanging out with a group of rather rowdy seventh years, the two could be seen in the far corner of the library working on every subject that the wizarding curriculum offered.
It wasn't just Ginny who enjoyed their time together. Harry missed Ron and Hermione but he was getting a chance to get to know his parents. Ginny, however, had made this transition that much easier. She was a link, a link to his past, to Ron, to Hermione, to his life at Hogwarts. Whenever one of them felt particularly home sick the other would tell an anecdote, in Ginny's case of her brothers and her childhood, while Harry usually stuck to telling her of his adventures since he had meet Ron. The listener would usually smile and laugh and the thought of being home sick might be pushed aside for a little while, because the company just made them feel lucky to be there. If Harry had know what an amazing, funny, lively girl hid behind the façade of shy Ginny Weasley, he would have forced her out of her shell a long time ago. Not only that but she was wicked smart, bordering on Hermione smart. She could speak fluent French and Spanish from a summer when her father had come home with a cassette player and several language cassettes, along with a Tom Jones album and a compilation of disco tracks. She seemed to excel at Charms, could stay awake in History of Magic and even seemed to brew potions with the precision of a Malfoy. Harry assumed that not even this talent would get a Weasley into Snape's good graces. But for all Ginny's glittering academics she really did bite the big one at Transfiguration. She had no idea why she found it so hard; maybe it was the fact that in her first lesson Colin Creevey had miss-aimed his spell and had caused his match to spark and set fire to the end of Ginny's hair. Or maybe it was the fact that during one of her more eventful Transfiguration lessons, Ginny had accidentally turned her own robes semi-transparent. It was something that Ginny didn't like to remember and was perhaps always in the back of her mind every time she attempted anything in that class.
"OK. Let's try this again?" Ginny nodded determinedly at Harry's question and concentrated on the pinecone lying on the table in front of her. 'Pinecone to mouse, pinecone to mouse, pinecone to. pinecone with a tail? Arghhh!' With a frustrated sigh, Ginny banged her head on the table. Harry was trying desperately to think of something comforting or encouraging to say, when he noticed her shoulders began to shake. Thinking she was crying, and as a typical male Harry, began to panic. That was until he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. Ginny had no idea what had possessed her but suddenly she felt the great urge to laugh. Lifting her head off the table she grinned at a visibly relieved Harry.
"I think it's safe to say I won't be taking over for Professor McGonagall. Am I hopeless at this or what?" Ginny who had her back towards the dormitory staircase did not see the figure descend the stairs. Harry did.
"I think it's about time we brought out the big guns." He gave a cheeky grin at Ginny's confused expression and called across the common room. "Da...amn James, we could really use some help here." Cringing at the near slip up, Harry moved up as James headed in their direction. Luckily the room was still relatively empty apart from a group of sixth years who were minding their own business anyway. The Head boy seemed to be without the troubles that had been surrounding him for a while, and smiled joyfully at the two fifth years.
"How may I be of service?" He plonked down on the footstool and gazed at the table littered with papers and pinecones. Without Harry and Ginny even needing to say a word, James nodded knowledgeably.
"Ah, the old pinecone to mouse transfiguration. McGonagall is giving this to you already? I didn't do it 'till sixth year." Harry then proceeded to tell him how much trouble Ginny seemed to be having. Her feeling of foolishness at such a failure was helped as James explained the difficulty with the spell due to the weak link between the two and the fact that Peter, as a seventh year, still couldn't do it. It took another half an hour before Ginny could create anything that resembled a rodent.
"OK, one more time." Ginny muttered to herself before raising her wand. Saying the spell and flicking her wand, Ginny crossed her fingers on her free hand. There was a small bang and a puff of yellow smoke. As it began to clear, Ginny noted with tremendous delight, that scurrying on the tabletop was a small, slightly ragged but never the less a brown mouse. James gave a small whoop of triumph as Ginny gave a squeal of excitement.
"I did it! I did it!" Dancing around she gave James a quick excited hug, before hugging Harry. "I did it, did you see Harry? Look I finally did it!" Only once her enthusiasm for the small mouse wore off did she notice that she was still in Harry's arms and moved away with acute embarrassment. Harry, for his part, had not actually minded Ginny being in his arms and couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment as she moved away. 'That's ridiculous! Ginny's just a friend!' Harry frowned at his own trail of thought. 'It was just a friendly hug. And why am I even talking about it to myself?' Harry didn't have much time to dwell over this as a loud ruckus was heard on the stairs. It was pretty obvious who it was.
"Don't worry Moony old boy, I'll only tell the whole world!" Sirius' last few words, however, were slightly muffled as he reached the last few stairs and made a leap for freedom. Unfortunately, he had not yet learnt the technique and he slipped on the rug, ending up face first in the carpet. Remus was the next person to appear and promptly sat on Sirius in order to stop him from getting up. The common room (which had started to fill) watched in amazement. James, Harry and Ginny stared in amusement but were quite confused as no-one had ever really seen Remus this mad. Sirius' pleas for help were muffled due to his mouth full of carpet.
"What one earth is going on here?" Lily and Jennifer had just walked into the state of pandemonium and Lily had her stern 'pissed head girl' look about her. Jennifer meanwhile bent down and studied the scene before her.
"Can he breathe down there?" She asked Remus whilst cocking her head towards Sirius. In answer to the question Sirius make an 'OK' sign with his hand, signalising that he was not out of air yet. "What a pity! Hey Remus, next time sit on his head." With this parting comment, she flashed Remus a grin and headed over to the sofa, where she proceeded to act as if this scene was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Remus, why are you sitting on Sirius? What idiotic thing has he done this time?" James question earned an indignant muffled cry from Sirius, which was of course ignored. Remus only just seemed to realize the scene he was making, but at this moment he was to angry, desperate and mortified to care as much as he normally would.
"This idiot," this was accentuated with a poke to Sirius' back, "thinks it's funny to mess with someone's feelings and private thoughts!"
"Huh?"
"Padfoot cast a spell on Remus that made him spill whatever he was thinking and his deepest secrets." Peter waddled down the stairs (A/N: Pity he didn't fall and break his neck) and nonchalantly sat on the sofa next to Jennifer, who (quite rightly) rolled her eyes in disgust. "Then he came running down here to tell everyone. Looks like Remus caught up to him."
"That was low, Sirius!" Lily scolded to Sirius who just held a cupped hand to his ear like he couldn't hear very well. "If Remus promises to let you up, will you promise not to tell anyone what you heard?" There was a pause. "Sirius!"
"I promise." He managed to gasp out as he raised his head. "I was just testing out the new spell to use on our Slytherin friend. I wouldn't have told anyone anyway." Mumbling, Sirius stood up and dusted off his robes.
"Yeah, don't worry Moony. I won't tell anyone who you've got a crush on either." Peter dumbly beamed as if this made him the best friend in the world. As soon as the sentence left his mouth, Remus went from white to red.
"I'm going to breakfast!" He growled and then stormed out of the common room, leaving behind some very confused and curious people.
"So who's he got a crush on?" Lily smacked James upside the head. Breakfast was quite the somber affair to begin with. Remus was not talking to anyone, Sirius was trying to apologize but seemed to be doing a really bad job of it. Lily was scolding Peter and James for prying into Remus' secrets and everyone else were just spectators. This mood was changed, however, with an unusual announcement from Dumbledore. When the Headmaster stood the Hall quieted down almost immediately, as everyone was curious as to what an announcement on a somewhat normal day would mean. Not only that but he was a man who the students had an enormous amount of respect for (well all but some Deatheater-wannabe's in Slytherin). The old man cleared his throat and smiled fondly over the Hall at the students he loved so much.
"Before you all finish and rush eagerly to class," there were a few snickers at this, "I'm afraid that you'll have to put up the waffling of an old man. The Professors have informed me of all the hard work you all seem to be putting in this year; yes well done. And due to the recent events," Harry assumed that due to Dumbledore's expression it must have had something to do with Voldemort, "we have decided to treat you all with a Christmas ball." This news was accompanied with the incessant chattering that normally followed such an announcement. Dumbledore clapped his hands together in order to gain the attention of the hall once more. "I know you're all excited of course, but I feel I must remind you all what a privilege this is. Due to. eh. interesting results, there has not been a ball at Hogwarts since 1473 and I can assure you I expect the best behavior from all of you towards each other." Dumbledore's warm smile turned serious as he hastily glanced between two of the house tables. "Since there is a large number of you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break," he again paused in some type of reflection, "we will have this jolly event on December 24th. Partners are not compulsory and dress robes will be worn. Therefore there will be an extra Hogsmede trip next month. Anyway, I see I have wasted enough of your precious time." With a final smile at the students, the Headmaster sat down and allowed the Hall to take up it former trail of conversation. There could be heard many "What am I going to wear?", "Do you think he'll ask me?" and even the occasional moan and curses that they were going home and would miss the ball or groaning at the fact they were staying and would have to attend.
"Did you two know about this?" Remus asked Lily and James, who both shook their heads just as much surprised at the rest of the student body.
"Wahoo! Perfect opportunity to make a move on the fine-ass specimens that the female race have to offer!" Sirius was eagerly scanning the Hall and making a mental list of ball date possibilities, totally unaware that many girls were staring at him willing his eyes to land on them.
"Well, I think the whole thing sucks! All you are going to have is girls flicking their hair and gossiping, trying to get a guy's attention more than they usually do. Which probably won't work anyway and then you have to go around hearing about everyone's date, when you yourself have none, because despite what Dumbledore says dates are compulsory if you don't want to be a wall flower for the entire duration!" Jennifer appeared to have finished her rant and Harry had to silently agree with her. The last ball he went to was bad enough, thank you very much. Sirius stopped his scouting of the local 'talent' and his mutterings of "possibility. nope. maybe." to look at Jennifer with a smirk.
"Oh come on, Moody. You're just upset that most guys don't put psychotic, unhinged, gobby, aggressive girls at the top of their 'who to invite list'." Jennifer glared at Sirius and was about to defend herself, but someone else got there first.
"Come on, Padfoot. She's not psychotic, just because she doesn't take any of your crap. And plus some guys like a strong, independent woman who is not afraid to give her own opinion. You're just upset because she can beat you up." Jennifer wasn't the only one starring at Remus in surprise of his defending her. Lily's surprise soon changed into a knowing smile and watched as Remus turned about four different shades of red. Sirius was about to open his mouth, possibly to say something that could cause Remus to turn another different shade, when he suddenly stopped. Harry was quite alarmed at the evil smirk and wondered who Sirius was looking at. Before he had a chance to turn around he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh look its Potty and his famous tag-alongs!" That tone of such unbridled disdain could only belong to one man. Harry spun around and his eyes landed on seventeen year old Severus Snape, looking as vindictive as ever. His appearance surprised Harry as he had completely forgotten that Snape was at Hogwarts at this time, his memory was not helped by the fact that this was the first time he had set eyes on him since their journey to the past. The Snape in this time, though much younger, was still recognizable from the greasy hair (although it was shorter), to hooked nose and the sour expression that seemed to be reserved especially for a Potter.
"Severus, how nice to see you. It's been awhile and back to your normal colour I see." Sirius' light and cheery response may have been believable if it was not for the fact that he was clutching his butter knife so tight his fingers were turning white. This comment managed to make Snape's expression turn even more sour if possible.
"You all think you're so perfect and that you have some right to rule the school. I'll get you back for that little prank, Potter." He spat out the 'Potter' as if it was a curse and the icy glare bestowed on James looked as though he was to blame for all the troubles of the world. Severus Snape would be damned if he let that bunch of cretin's get away with causing him to flash the colours of Gryffindor! It was so humiliating for a Slytherin to be so degraded, especially when the teachers couldn't reverse it. That old fool Dumbledore telling him he had to let it run its course until the colour faded! Faded! That could have been months. And to think they wanted him to still carry on as usual; there was no way! It was all Potter's fault he had spent the last two weeks locked up in dormitory, having to copy the abysmal notes of that prat Avery and eating whatever crap his house mates would bring back for him. Then he had heard that not only did he have to deal with the Marauder's, the bane of his existence, but that there was another Potter transferred from Beauxbatons, who happened to be the spitting image of 'Mr bloody perfect'. If Snape hadn't had such a detest for all Potter's he may have felt sorry for the kid.
"Be careful Black, you're showing your true colours again." Severus spat at Sirius as he noticed him still clutching hard to his knife. Sirius' eyes darkened as Snape mouthed 'murderer' and was only just stopped from diving over the table by Peter grabbing his robes (A/N: the only honorable thing the worm will probably ever do). Deciding to ignore the fact that Sirius was grinding his teeth so loud and the only reason he was still alive was that Remus had now joined Peter in restraining Sirius, Snape turned his attention back to his favourite target.
"Why is it that filth always procreates at an annoyingly fast speed?" His glare moved from James to Harry, who glared back with so much hatred for what he had said to Sirius. "Well, you obvious followed your cousin in ghastly looks, suppose you got his manners and arrogance too. Maybe your parents should have drowned you at birth." This was the final straw for James, shaking with anger he stood until he was eye to eye with Snape.
"I'm warning you Snake. You say one more thing about my family and yours will be scraping you off the ceiling and taking you home in a matchbox!" A blazing James Potter was quite an intimidating sight, but Snape was not backing down, there was no way he would let James win. Sensing this Lily and Jennifer automatically tried to pull James back down.
"James, leave it. He's not worth it." Lily whispered through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, Potter. Why don't you listen to your girlfriend before you get hurt." Snape gave him one last disdainful look before turning his attention elsewhere. "What are you looking at beast?" He noticed Remus' hateful look and the fact that Sirius began to struggle once again under his restraint. Ignoring this his focus moved to Ginny. As soon as his eyes landed on her she felt her body go cold. With a smirk he leant over her.
"Well, well you're a pretty little thing." Harry began to tense in the seat next to her. "I'll give you some advice. You better dump this lot before it's too late. Who knows where hanging around filth, lunatics, beast and mudbloods will get you." This last sentence was like a breaking point and it was unclear who moved first. The next thing anyone knew was that James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Snape and a couple of his cronies were in the middle of a brawl. The Hall was filled with screaming and shouting and so much confusion. Ginny and Lily were watching on in shock, not noticing as Peter hid under the table. Jennifer, meanwhile, was yelling a long list of profanities and trying to pull her friends away. Of course every now and then she would get a good kick in at Snape, but it was such pandemonium no one really knew who they were attacking. Suddenly a resounding boom filled the entire Hall.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone stopped still to see Dumbledore wand raised, eyes filled with fire. "My office, NOW!"
***
Fan fic managed!
A/N: If you review (you know, it's the sign of a very intelligent person) then we will not be forced to be nice to Peter. Reviews mean he is being tortured by interesting and various methods. Hey, even though flames are quite stupid (unless sent to a H/Hr shipper for their awful, obscene and offensive choice of ship) because you know the whole 'fan-fiction' part, we will accept them and toast the worm. But come on, where is the fun in just burning when it's only one of the basic torture methods.
PS. We have a completely random question for you. Do you think it's better to be on a favourite author's list or favourite stories list? Because we seem to make more favourite author lists than story. Wouldn't you think that means people would like your story well enough to make it a favourite? *Shrugs*