Chapter 5: Faux Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

Louis

It was natural that everyone had fallen asleep. They had hours before the ball began, enough time to rest and then put their plans into action. Louis tried to sleep but even as his head his the pillow on the cot the Room had provided, his mind was too wound up in the events that had transpired.

He was a born worrier. He worried when he didn't get a good mark in Transfiguration. He worried when the girl he was pursuing seemed interested in another guy. And he worried when his parents and his sisters were worried.

Victoire was in a constant state of anxiety and Louis could not figure out why. For the past week, Mama had told him that she was distant and moody. That didn't fit the Victoire he knew. That sounded more like Dominique.

Of course he shouldn't have snapped at Teddy. He loved Teddy like a brother (the brother he thought he was finally going to have) but if he was the one causing Victoire's distress…well then he had to deal with Louis. The little brother with a big brother complex.

The worry seemed to perpetrate the dreams in Louis' uneasy sleep. It started with Shannon Finnegan laughing. Laughing because he was foolish enough to think she would go to the ball with him. Then the scene changed. His parents and sisters were posing for a picture. Louis tried to get their attention but their seemed to be a protective bubble around them. As hard as he tried he could not get them. They smiled for the camera; the picture perfect family.

"Oi, get up!" Dominique threw a pillow in his face and Louis jerked upwards. According to the big clock now hanging on the wall, it was 5 in the evening. We slept for a while, Louis thought as he blearily rubbed his eyes.

Everyone was in various stages of their "morning" routine. James was scarfing down a plate of pancakes, amongst other food items, that had been left for them by the house elves at Dumbledore's request. Rose and Roxanne were trying to reapply straightening potion to their bed heads. And Louis saw Teddy in the corner, preparing by a sink and mirror.

He walked over to him, wondering what his look was going to be for this event. He knew he shouldn't be talking to him, but one thing that trumped Louis' worry was his guilt.

"Hiya Teddy," he said shyly as he approached him. Teddy didn't seem to notice him. He was just staring at his reflection with a curious mix of shock, apprehension and curiosity.

"Got any plans to er, change your look. Guess that now would be a great time, considering we don't want anyone to get suspicious. It's easy for you…you can just….change. But I guess we'll all have to find a way to disguise ourselves. Scorpius looks just like his father and everyone's got the Weasley red hair…" He trailed off when he noticed that Teddy was still staring dumbfounded at his reflection. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks at this slight.

"Hey!" He jabbed his shoulder and Teddy looked at him. He obviously had no idea that he had been there talking to him the entire time.

"Oh, sorry Lou…I mean I'm sorry Louis," he said and he turned away from him, slightly embarrassed. Louis felt his chest ache. Lou was Teddy's nickname for him. He was constantly teasing him about the women he attempted to woo and his secret love for Celestina Warbeck. But that nickname, that teasing, just made Louis feel special.

He and Teddy were brothers. Al and James always thought they were closer to Teddy, and they were, but they already had each other. Teddy never had any siblings and Louis never had an older brother. His dad was the oldest of his siblings and Louis was always envious of the stories his Uncle Charlie and Uncle George told about his dad helping them out of tight spots and giving them advice. He always wished he had that. And he had, at least for a short while.

"It's fine," Louis mumbled. "Why are you staring?" he asked, puzzled as Teddy scrunched his face and stared hard at his reflection.

"I can't…I can't change…" he said desperately. For the first time Louis took the opportunity to see his appearance clearly.

His hair was just overgrown, not unlike the way Teddy usually wore it. But instead of turquoise, or the mousy brown he had taken to wearing of late, it was black. It was black it looked blue in the light shining from above the mirror. His face was still heart shaped, his nose and ears and mouth still of normal proportion. His eyes however were different. Round and amber brown they were almost the color of honey. His eye lids were also heavy and when he furrowed his brow he looked almost savage. Louis had never seen this look before.

"So you tried this look on and it stuck?" he asked. Teddy shook his head.

"No I didn't change my appearance to this at all…It was just like this after, after we…"

"We arrived in the past," Louis answered for him. Teddy nodded weakly. Louis had a sudden thought.

"What if this is your real appearance Teddy? And because of the time travel, your meatamorph abilities have stopped working," He said, excited to have worked it out. Teddy frowned.

"I've always wondered what I'd look like…I seem to have inherited a lot of my grandmum's features," he commented casually.

"Yeah, you and Scorpius look like you could be brothers. Except for the drastic difference in hair color…and eye color," Louis pointed out.

"I still think you and Scorpius look more like brothers," Teddy said, finally putting on a weak smile. Louis was relieved to see he wasn't mad at him.

"You two! Get your arses over here! We're having a meeting!" Dominique shouted.

"Speaking of relations…" Louis mumbled under his breath. Teddy laughed and they walked over to the rest of the time traveling party.

"So…how are we going to do this?" Rose asked in a prompt, businesslike tone. Hugo rolled his eyes at his sister and Lily hit him over the head with a pillow. She giggled as he tried to remove the feathers from his bushy brown hair.

"Well I say we go for the obvious approach," James said standing up. He cleared his throat unnecessarily and then said in cheery, grating tone, "'Ello future dad and future mum! My name is James Sirius Potter but you fine mates can call me James. I'm seventeen years old and a sixth year Gryffindor. My hobbies include playing Quidditch with dad, receiving hugs from mum, teaching my stupendous brother Algernon how to duel and reading Witch Weekly with my darling sister Lily."

James plopped down on a cushion while everyone else just stared at him. Louis chuckled under his breath and he swore he caught Scorpius sniggering as well. Teddy looked from him to Scorpius and mouthed "brothers"

"Are you ever going to learn my name properly?" Al asked though he was grinning broadly, evidently amused by James' "introduction"

"Never," James replied happily. Al shook his head. Well, at least Scorpius wouldn't forget his name, Louis thought.

"That would probably be the worst plan of attack," Rose said seriously.

"Really? Just introducing ourselves and then spewing off a bunch of useless facts sounds like the perfect way to meet our teenage parents," Lucy deadpanned. Rose sniffed and Scorpius intervened.

"I think Rose just wants us to figure out how we're going to cast the return spell."

"I assume we'll have to bring them here," Molly said.

"Why do you say that?" Teddy asked.

"Because this is where the magic is dwelling. The spell is just waiting for the key, the last bit of the puzzle for it to return us back. And that includes a "reunion" of sorts." She replied.

"So if we're not going to tell them the truth, then how in Merlin's name are we going to get them in here?" Freddie asked.

They all thought for a moment. Louis concentrated. He assumed the best plan would be to disguise themselves. All of the sudden he saw a wardrobe in the corner of his eye. A large sturdy oak had appeared in the room at his thoughts. He walked toward it and opened it.

"Ok so I think if we take turns using my invisibility cloak…."

"James why do you have dad's cloak!"

"I thought it might be useful to have dear sister."

"Would you shut up with the "dear sister." I'm right sick of it."

"Me too."

"Well you don't have to live with him Hugo!"

"Yeah but Rose is no picnic…"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Now you've got Scorpius upset. Better watch your trousers…"

"Freddie that was one time!"

"Yeah well I didn't much appreciate walking around in my pants all day!"

"Wait, when was this?"

"When you were in France this summer…"

"Don't give Dom the whole bloody story Roxanne!"

"I could do whatever I want thank you very…"

"Besides you did bring it up Freddie…"

"Oh shut up Hugo…"

"Yeah really Hugo…"

"James you're the one who started this!"

"Well technically it was Lily's fault…"

"HOW is this my fault…."

"Wait, Hugo what did you say about me…"

"It was nothing Rose…"

"Al why are you sticking up for him?"

"Well they're both my cousins…"

"Why are you being so protective of Rose…"

"Look Scorpius has got a crush…"

"I do not…"

"SHUT UP!" Louis yelled. Everyone stopped talking. For a second he couldn't hear himself think over the cacophony of voices echoing in the room.

"I think I've found something."

Al

"I look ridiculous."

"You always look ridiculous"

Al and Scorpius took turns in the large square mirror, admiring their new looks. Al scratched at the woolen collar on his neck and pulled at the heavy red robes he had procured from the cabinet. Scorpius was frowning as he examined the pale silk blue lining of his navy robes.

"I think I'm going to melt in these," Al coughed.

"Yeah, well I'd trade any day. There's absolutely no warmth in these French made robes," Scorpius shivered.

Al silently thought that there was no way Scorpius could pass for anything other than a Beauxbatons student. He said his father once considered sending him to Durmstrang but Al didn't believe it. Sometimes he and James played a game to see who could come up with the most outlandish lie. He was usually pretty terrible at topping James' outrageous remarks so he liked to practice with Scorpius. If Durmstrang was the best he could come up with, then Al knew he was up against an easy opponent.

"Well you can't so just deal with it." Rose said sniffily. Al had seen her sneak up behind them. She had secured her hair into a brunette wig, ensured with a sticking charm guaranteed to last a few hours. She twirled in her silvery blue robes.

"Veel, how zoo I look?" she put on her best snooty accent. Scorpius muttered something under his breath. Rose didn't catch it but Al thought he heard "gorgeous."

"You need to work on your accent," Now Dominique had joined them. She like the rest of the girls were stylishly dressed in their French designed robes. With her new blonde wig Al thought she looked incredibly like her sister and her mother.

They had agreed that the girls would pretend to be from Beauxbatons and the boys (save for Scorpius and Louis) would be Durmstrang students. Lily begged to be a Durmstrang student but Teddy pointed out that the school had very little women, and that most of them were brutish. She pouted as she put on her own wig. The room had provided them with the traditional formal wear for both schools as well as wigs. Just enough for all of the red-heads to use for it would be way too obvious that they were Weasleys.

Al noticed how strikingly similar he and James looked when they both share the same hair color. He still had the distinguishing mark though, the Lily Evans eyes. He had tried to do a simple color change charm on them but he only got them to look like a blend of hazel and green. Rose scolded him for using a spell in such a sensitive place but Al knew he would be singled out if his teenage father saw them.

The last thing Al wanted was to be singled out. No, all he wanted was to find his parents and get back home to his real parents. James and Lily were so excited to see their dad, the famous Harry Potter, in action but they had nothing to hide. They were the Gryffindors; he was the Slytherin.

Al was proud to be a Slytherin. Sure he may be the only one in his family who wasn't a Gryffindor, but Rose was a Ravenclaw and Roxanne was in Hufflepuff. Somehow though, he knew that being in Slytherin made him different. What surprised him was how little his family seemed to say on the matter. He could tell when he was first sorted that his Grandad was a bit disappointed and Uncle Ron seemed nervous around him, as though careful not to badmouth Slytherins. It was ok though because he had his mum. He had heard her tell her brothers and parents that he was still the same child and that his house wasn't important. They certainly didn't want to get on her bad side and Al was grateful that his mother was so fiercely accepting of him. She even tried to make small talk with other Slytherin mums on Platform 9 3/4 although she only managed to maintain a good relationship with Scorpius' mum.

Yes, his mum was protective and his father was proud of him, proud of what he had accomplished at Hogwarts. He was a seeker, just like him and even though he didn't play for his team, his dad gave him advice and practiced with him as often as he could. James said it was giving Slytherin an unfair advantage but Al just said that it wasn't his fault Gryffindor hadn't won the cup while he was captain. His older brother may tease him but Al found that James was just a very good actor; he could be very supportive if he wanted to. And Lily was always happy to have Al as the older brother she could look to for advice; his house made absolutely no difference to her.

But now they were in the past and this Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter were not Al's parents. They're living in the time when Gryffindors and Slytherins could never be friends and a family of Gryffindors could not accept their Slytherin son. So Al had no desire to introduce himself like James had mockingly suggested because he couldn't bear to see the judgment from this Harry and Ginny. He knew that they had never like Scorpius' father and that had colored their attitude towards Slytherins. Al just didn't want them to hate him, cast him out as the son they loved least.

"Ah Alekssander you make a fine Bulgarian!" James said thumping him hard on the back. Al rubbed his shoulder.

"That's actually not a bad cover name," he said thoughtfully.

"See? There's a method to the madness," James said cheekily. Al rolled hi eyes. As he sauntered off, Al wondered what it would be like to be James. The cool older brother, the one everyone at school wanted to be. Well, at least he didn't have a girlfriend; Al had him there.

Alice wasn't really his girlfriend though, unless you separated the words. He liked her well enough but found that they might just be suited as friends. She was constantly complaining about James and asking him how he put up with him. If he had a better sense of intuition he might have thought she was obsessed with James. Thought them together might be as disastrous as pairing Rose and Scorpius.

"So you ready for this?" Scorpius asked. Al could tell his best friend was a little nervous.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he answered truthfully. And the insanity begins….now.

Remus

Meanwhile, a little ways away from Hogwarts, Remus Lupin was exiting the Three Broomsticks, bracing himself against the chilly wind. He had just enjoyed a nice Christmas tea in the company of the Hogsmeade locals. He chuckled as he remembered the story Irving Ilsen had told him about the flubberworm and the hiccupping witch.

He passed by the empty store fronts and headed toward the end of the road. In the snow he saw footprints slowly decreasing until only his remained in the fresh ice. Remus smiled as he saw another set of tracks at the very end of the street.

"Hello Snuffles," he said to the large black dog. The dog nodded his head and the walked along the path, up to the cave that the dog had now made his home. When they were secure the dog quickly transformed.

"Happy Christmas!" Sirius said in gruff yet cheery voice. The two men embraced and then settled themselves on the stone floor.

"So these are your new haunts?" Remus asked. He rubbed his shoulders for warmth. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, gets a bit chilly. I usually like to start a fire." He walked over to the wood but Lupin stopped him.

"I've got a better idea," Remus said with a grin.

"It better be a bloody Christmas miracle," Sirius teased. Remus stood up.

"I'm sure you'd prefer a change of scenery," he said.

"Lead the way Moony."

A/N – Sorry this took so long to update. I've been SUPER busy. This is another set up chapter (which means expect interactions next chappie!) Also, it's the last of the character POVs. What does that mean? Well….you'll see. I want to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed the story/faved it/story altered it. I really appreciate the support! :D