Harry froze in his chair, wide-eyed, his head still down. A little movie played in his mind full of foolish little details. His teenage father asking that horrible question, "am I going to die", grimly, but calmly and he saw himself freeze. Then the door would spring open, giving the perfect distraction, and a boy, younger than the rest of them, would enter. He would have raven black hair, and a haircut like the Beatles, and his eyes would be dark. He would be holding the Marauders' Map in his one hand, the other, holding the door open, would be bearing a silver ring with a brightly coloured stone on one finger. His eyes would be blazing, and his mouth would be smiling when he'd say in a mocking tone "here you are! You shouldn't leave your treasure map lying around like this. A Slytherin might find it!" And then Sirius would shout out his brother's name, and all of the Marauders would jump on Regulus to form a pile, just like in the silly movies, or cartoons, in order to get the map back.

This little movie of his, with all its details, only lasted for a fraction of a second, and when he finally could raise his head to try to face his father, only a second had passed and he still had to answer the question. There was no way around it, no loopholes in the rules of the game, no Regulus suddenly appearing to save his sorry self.

But his mother was there, and she screamed in an incredibly shrill voice that reminded him of her relation with aunt Petunia, "Don't answer that!". The boys literally jumped, and Harry with chair and all, making a little clunk sound on the stone floor.

"Don't answer that!" she shouted again moving towards the two Potters. "Don't answer that don't answer that do not answer that!"

Harry opened his mouth but was quick to close it when Lily screamed. No words, just a hysterical scream, sending chills down Harry's back.

"Lily!" James exclaimed astonished, and Harry swore he could see the goosebumps on his arms.

"Why did you ask that question?" Lily asked incredulous. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Wha…?"

"You don't go asking questions like that!"

"But Lily…"

"No! You're insane! Don't do that to me, yourself. Us, all of us here! We don't want to know!" she said exasperated. She was breathing fast, as if she'd been running.

"But I want to know," James tried.

"No you don't!" Lily told him loudly.

"Dude, we don't really want to know that," Sirius added seriously. "Are you sure you want to know that you are going to die before the age of forty?"

James seemed to be thinking about it, upset despite himself.

"Well," he said after a while, "maybe you're right…"

"Of course I'm right!" Lily scoffed but James kept going as if uninterrupted.

"And it's not a good idea to ask that kind of question. For you sake as well as mine." They all nodded, even Harry. "But he's asking us to ask this kind of questions!" James suddenly whined, "he makes me really really curious about my future! And the future in general, me being interested in politics!"

"Everyone is "interested" in the war," Lupin said as Sirius nodded fiercely.

"I say we stop this game," Peter suggested with an air that clearly showed that he had already made up his mind. The others nodded, all wearing the same grim faces.

"I agree," Lupin said.

"This "game" should go no further," Lily said, still recovering her breath.

"I say we change this to an interrogation," James proposed and eyeing Harry who quickly shut his mouth again.

'Shit,' he thought, 'now I'm in trouble.'

The Marauders and Lily now all stood in front of him, forming a semi circle, and looking at him, each thinking his or her own. Harry stared back, a sweat drop slowly running down his temple. His hands were cold, but the itch was gone, thank Merlin. He tugged at the ropes as discreetly as he could with the lot of them watching him so closely, and found them still as tight as ever. 'Now what?' he thought. 'What will happen now?'

Peter was giving the others a sideways glance and after a while, Lily began eyeing the guys as well. James, Sirius and Lupin however, were still looking at Harry with great interest and deep in thought. Peter and Lily's eyes met in a mutual question, and Peter shook his head. Harry looked back at his dad, but didn't like staring into his father's brown eyes at all, and fearing Lupin's gaze, his eyes settled back on Peter. No one said a word, and all Harry could hear was his own heart beat. 'Is there nothing down here for distraction?' he thought, 'a clock, a rat, trickling water?' But no, nothing was there to listen to other than the teenager's breathing, which could hardly be heard, and the rustling of their clothes when Lily shifted her weight off one leg to the other. She had now completely given up on looking at Harry, and was solely looking at the Marauders with the same interest as the Marauders were watching Harry. Harry watched his mother watch his father and his friends, and then give Peter another puzzled look. She finally broke the silence.

"Guys," she said in a sing-song way, and they all looked up at her, arms still crossed.

"Wha?" was James's answer and Lily gave him a pathetic little smile.

"Don't fall asleep boys," she said, "come on, we have to decide what to do with him. What to ask him, what not to ask him, and if we are going to do it here and now or somewhere else and later."

"Somewhere else?" James asked in the same dazed voice.

"Yes, do you think it's safe to leave him here?" Lupin wondered, scaring Harry.

"Don't leave me here!" he said.

"We wouldn't leave you alone," Sirius answered, coolly.

Someone's stomach growled, and both Sirius and Lily put their hands on the front of their robes, wearing a miserable expression on their faces.

"We can still catch lunch if we hurry off now," Lupin said, but no one moved. They were not going to leave their prisoner from the future.

"Why did you come to the past?" James asked Harry again after a moment of silence.

Harry sighed inwardly, then answered that he hadn't.

"I told you, I was just walking the hallways, minding my own business when you guys appeared out of nowhere, and pushed me in here!"

"We didn't 'appear out of nowhere'!" Lily said sounding upset, "We were the ones minding our own business when you ran into us!"

"And how does running into you guys give you permission to tie me down to a bloody chair?" Harry shouted, loosing it, then feeling very guilty for shouting at his mom, and then afraid of what they might do to him if he became too angry. But he did have a right to be angry. Oh boy, did he have the right to be. Suddenly he felt more angry than afraid. But he was still very insecure around these crazy teenage wizards and witch who were holding him hostage, and in desperation he thought 'I want my mommy!'

Thank you for all the reviews! I'm sorry for how long it takes me to upload the chapters, but the reviews keep me going!

Please keep telling me what you think, tell me what parts you like most, and which parts you like the least, so that I can put more of the better parts, and as little as possible of the bad parts (except cliffhangers, of course, you're not going to get rid of them so easily ;) )