Living, Death and Undecided.
Peter sneezed.
The three kids in the middle of the room--Harry, Hermione and Ronald, Mary caught hear their names, drew up their wands like they were surrounded.
"Show yourselves!" Hermione warned with a determined look on her face. She looked dangerous, for real, like my girl could charm your head into a pumpkin real.
"Ow!" She held her head between her hands. Shit Mary knew what this was, she'd seen Alexander use Legilimency like that just a few times but it was a hard sight to forget.
Regulus shot a spell that bounced off a mirror and made the redhead kid's feet fly upward and hang him upside down. And well there wasn't much to do now but join in.
Marlene was faster though, she shot a levicorpus spell at the one with black hair.
"LADS WE'RE IN DEEP FUCKING SHIT." Alexander jumped out from behind the telescope with his hands above his head. Slowly everyone followed him out of hiding, everyone with their wand firm in their hand though. Except for Sirius, he held it loose, the prick thought he could beat anyone without even trying. Which wasn't necessarily false, he was a fantastic duellist. "Let them off." He did look at Regulus who took a second longer to comply.
The girl, Herminoe was getting her bearings back, she held her wand out to them as if she could take them all on herself. Not a Ravenclaw, clearly.
"Why does he have James' invisibility cloak?" Peter asked at the one on the floor next to them. "Or are there more than one? I thought it was like an one only sort of thing James." He kept scratching his temple, he knew something wasn't right. All of them knew it. That blasted diamond did something Mary was sure of it.
"That's Harry's cloak." Hermione covered the two boys behind her while they got on their feet. Her wand hadn't lowered. "You said James' cloak?"
"Yes. James' cloak." Peter repeated.
"Hi, I'm James." That dorky way of being friendly was dangerous, but if he was going to risk it, at least he was being dumb when they outnumbered the other people. Still, they were Hogwarts students, couldn't be that dangerous. Mary eyed their uniforms, they were clearly Hogwarts uniforms, they were different from her own, a different cut. But the room was the same, they were still at Hogwarts. Maybe they were into fashion and cut them themselves? They were cute, but they could do with a bit of a tighter waist maybe.
"You're... James." Hermione said it so slowly.
"Yes. James Potter." He waved to her. "Nice to meet you."
"Is it bloody nice?" the Ronald kid was full on freaking out. "Herminoe what is happening? This has to be a trap right?" He looked back and forth at James and Harry, who was still recovering from Marlene's spell. She had a talent to be rougher than she meant to. Let Mary tell you, you do NOT want to practice stunning spells with her, Mary was out of it for a week after that particular study session.
"Luna?" Hermione looked at Pandora, who was a little in the dark still, hiding behind Evan. "Can you tell us what's happening? This feels quite up your alley."
"Not Luna, no, Pandora." Pandora lowered Evan's arm a bit. A little bit only, she didn't leave her brother. "And I think the one who could explain isn't me."
"No, that's..." Alexander pocketed his wand, "sorry for breaking into your mind." He looked at Hermione with a wry expression on his face, like he was just electrocuted. "But just..." He didn't know where to start, he did that sometimes, overflowed with information and couldn't do a lot with it. "What year is this?"
"1995." Hermione stared as dumbfounded as the rest.
"199WHAT?" Sirius stumbled forward.
"Can you lot figure what happened or should I go ahead and explain?" Alexander was the one rubbing his temples now.
"I'd rather you just say it." Sirius answered, "Make sure I'm not going mad."
"Pandora's prophecy. It's--Merlin that bloody fucking stone sent us into the future!"
"You're from the past?!" Hermione seemed both terrified and intrigued at the same time. She pointed at James "So you are..."
"Don't say it." Harry cut Hermione off.
Alexander clasped his hands to his mouth in most god-awful eye-widening gesture Mary had every seen. He pointed at Harry like it was just-- "NO!"
"No." Harry cut him off as well.
"Bloody hell, what's going on?" Peter and Ronald shared the sentiment.
"We need to find a teacher." Lily was having a HEADACHE.
"Minnie will know what to do." Remus was a man of few words. But always the right ones.
"We're not going to McGonagall." Barty refused, he had a rocky history with her. She'd been the one who'd stopped most of his insanity.
"You call McGonagall Minnie?" Ronald was shocker more from that than the time travel.
"Good to know she's still around." It made Sirius more relaxed, and Mary got it. She was strict but she was the best teacher they'd ever had.
"No. Who's the current head of Slytherin?" Regulus had that inquisitive look that Alexander had fawned over constantly to Mary.
"Snape? You think Snape will help?" Ronald was opinionated enough for Mary to catch everything from his tone, and Ronald did NOT like Snape. But more to the point SNAPE was head of Slytherin!
"Snivellus is Head of Slytherin?!" Sirius was full-on flabbergasted.
"Merlin the war had to be awful for him to be the best thing left." Evan was a second from puking.
"I mean we all will die according to Pandora's visions. Well, died, now?" Alexander's was still trying to map out everything in his head, you could see him trying to order the information in the air with his hands.
"We're going to McGonagall." Regulus declared, "We'll deal with Snivellus disgracing our house later." There were two people that held them all together, Alexander and their love for him, and Snivellus and their collective hate for him. The latter was the one everyone felt stronger about.
"It's open." McGonagall called from inside her office. The castle hadn't changed at least. Sirius thought to himself, a few new portraits he didn't recognize, the broom closets where he and Remus would sometimes sneak to were still in the same place, and Remus was still next to him, so it was all alright by him.
His parents were hopefully dead now, so that was a relief as well. But he didn't have much back in his time, so he wasn't all that torn up now that he'd been able to walk it off. He had his friends with him, even Regulus' bunch was with them, mixed feelings on that, but he was glad he still had Regulus. Not too fond of having heard that he had? Would have? Sworn allegiance to the Dark Lord. But he betrayed him later, so it was, something? He hadn't got the grasp of the time travelling yet.
"Minnie I'm so glad to see you!" Sirius was first to rush to her desk. She was the closest he had to a mother figure, she and Effie Potter--Hopefully she was still alive, had to be, who would've taken care of James' kid from the prophecy then? She had to still be around surely. He'd love to meet that little bugger. He wasn't over James and Lily getting together either, but they seemed to be avoiding that, and there was quite a lot going on at the moment to get there.
McGonagall paled.
Full on paled.
Everyone got inside and they closed the door. Her eyes darted around. Unable to stop.
She could've turned into a ghost right there.
She was on the borderline of fainting.
Her face went through every emotion known to men, women, in-between, outside, pseudo-human, half-human, non-human and some more.
"What... is the meaning of this?" She stared at Hermione, Ronald and Harry. "It's always you three. Mr. Potter I expect an explanation."
"Well," It was James, but she kept looking at the Harry boy, which was odd, but what about this situation wasn't. "It stared a week ago? Maybe a few years and a week ago probably." James was on the same place on the prophecy front. "Pandora had a vision, and then Regulus found a diamond, and then it did something magic and... well." Harry seemed on the verge of tears and vomit, Sirius couldn't read him well, but something wanted to come out of the boy.
McGonagall took off her hat and her glasses. She cleaned her glasses. She put them back on. Gave a deep, deep, deep, breath. "Merlin's sake, I should've retired after the first war." This was to herself. But also FIRST WAR? What does that even mean."Let me make sure I've seen everyone," she pointed at them, one by one, "James Potter." He nodded and gave his best dimpled smile to their favourite teacher. "Peter Pettigrew." Hermione and Ronald glared at him like he'd murdered their family, jeepers. "Sirius Black." Sirius smiled for her as well, it annoyed her most when she was telling him off, and this felt awfully close to that. Harry was the one to look at him flabbergasted now. What did he do? Sirius had been well behaved lately, since he started using his free time to do... "Remus Lupin." The three of them looked like the floor beneath them was falling apart. "Lily Evans." Harry was on the verge of fainting as well.
"Oh dear," McGonagall noticed as well, "Better to get him to Madame Pomfrey, I will take this all from here. Mrs. Granger, Mr. Weasley. Please." They heeded her words, this was probably much harsher for them that for the newfound time traveling troupe.
"Mrs. McKinnon. Mrs. Macdonald. Mrs. Meadowes and... oh Merlin, Mrs. Love--Rosier." If more than a decade had past and she got even the students that weren't from her house, Sirius was impressed at the witches' memory, then again, "Mr. Rosier. Mr. Crouch. Mr. Black. Mr. Wilde.", they hadn't been the best behaved bunch.
"I will..." McGonagall was blank. "I don't know what I'll do." She said, and immediately stood up. "I suppose the more sensible action is to take you to the headmaster."
Another scouring across the castle later, they found themselves in Dumbledore's office. It wasn't a new sight for anyone, honestly. They'd all been there once too many times. Regulus didn't enjoyed it, ever. He felt that even if Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards of the age, he was one tacky wizard.
But for once he appreciated his mess of an office, it had enough stuff to distract him from the ramifications of the time traveling. And how Pandora's vision said he was going to join the Death Eaters and then betray them. And how his friends were all dying horrible deaths. And how his Alexander was going to be murdered by Evan. And how his brother was going to be murdered by Bellatrix, their cousin. That last one wasn't as surprising, the woman was truly mad and off any pills.
"A prophecy, you say." Dumbledore was aloof in his way, the dramatic fuck, he acted like he cared about his students but his war was the only thing on his mind. Regulus knew, he had heard the whispers about the war, he wasn't an idiot, just a teenager.
Pandora repeated the prophecy for him. And he seemed further intrigued.
"We could relocate them to the Order's Headquarters."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" McGonagall had this bottled up. Even Regulus was wide-eyed. "You've already costed them a horrible death once, Albus. I've kept quiet long enough." What? So they died already. It wasn't just time travel then? If not they would've been cut from point A to point B. If they had died, then they had already died, so it had to be some sort of duplication? Where they stayed on the timeline AND appeared again later on.
"Minerva you must understand the war--"
"No." She waged her finger once and once only. "They're staying in the castle. What year are you in?" Sixth for Sirius and his class, Fifth for Regulus and his.
"What war?!" Remus could've bit Dumbledore's head off. It was moments like this that reminded Regulus why Lupin was the only one of his brother's friends he respected.
"The same one. Young Mr. Lupin." Minerva said. "I suppose we'll have to let you all into a History of Magic class." She looked at Dumbledore. "And we'll have to contact Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black as well. They should know, probably." So Sirius and Lupin are still alive? How does that even work? If Pandora had their visions in order, then it should be them and Peter, perhaps Barty.
"The war isn't over?!" Remus' bite didn't let go. "The war you were training us all for is still going on?" He was going for Dumbledore.
"It's more complicated than that." Dumbledore walked to the front of his desk and leaned on it closer to everyone, a shit attempt at empathy, "About fifteen years ago. James Potter and Lily Evans gave their lives to protect their baby, who was subject of a prophecy saying he would defeat Voldemort..." He was omitting Regulus could tell. James and Lily were blushing a new shade of red by the moment. They hadn't had the time to talk about it, but it was a lot to talk about, finding out they would have a baby together, and sacrificed themselves for the war or said baby, or both? And, oh Merlin, they didn't even know what happened to the baby, he could very well still be alive and would be about what? Fifteen? Regulus couldn't be more glad to be into boys, at least a baby wasn't going to factor into his future. He wouldn't mind one with the right person, but, well no time for that.
"...still, at the time we didn't know he had Horocruxes, we do now thanks to the late Regulus Black. But his followers kept scheming in the dark. And last term, they brought him back, with the help of the late Bartemius Crouch Jr." What. Does. That. Even. Bloody. MEAN. Regulus was getting tired of Dubledore's cryptic speech. Really fucking tired. AND HOW DID BARTY STAY A DEATH EATER AFTER VOLDEMORT KILLED HALF HIS FRIENDS.
Barty seemed to be thinking the same. Sure, Regulus knew Barty was definitely capable of murder, especially if it would piss off his father. It was the motivation behind three quarters of his actions. But if Pandora's vision was right and he was sentenced by his father, that meant the old fuck was still alive. And that Barty's death was recent.
"So the war is what? Just revived or something?" Mary winced like it was just inconceivable.
"I'm afraid so." McGonagall said, much more convincing in her disappointment in it then Dumbledore. Now everyone was quiet. You couldn't be much else in this situation, surely. Regulus couldn't think of an option. "Where am I supposed to put them?" McGonagall asked Dumbledore.
"You must be familiar by now, that the castle provides for those in need every time." Dumbledore was being a cryptic asshole again, deplorable. "I suspect you may find your rooms where they once were."