Enter stage left
Ginny stared at her mother-in-law. The bluntness of Evans’ question completely caught her off guard, especially since she didn’t seem to upset by the fact that they’d never met; she figured it meant that Evans was knew her son would survive to live a life and have his own children. She was also beyond thankful that James Sirius was still in a body bind and unable to answer that question for her; “You know I can’t answer any questions about the future…” The 20-year-old witch huffed and crossed her arms in frustration, but she didn’t say anything else. That, in and of itself, was a victory.
Before the two witches could start arguing, James came out the backdoor. This situation was entirely too bizarre for him, he had a 12-year and 17-year-old version of his son; his future daughter-in-law and grandkids at his house right now; along with a bunch of other kids that he didn’t know or recognize (other than the infamously red Weasley hair). As he arrived next to his wife, he could recognize the combative stance – it was one he knew too well from his time at Hogwarts – and the edge to her breathing. Unless he headed this off, the two redheaded witches were going to end up in a duel and that would be good for no one. “Lils, we’ve got the redheaded kid that was splinched sorted out.” His hand went out for his wife’s arm, “but the other two have practically kicked us out of the guest room.”
“I bet they’re scheming.” Evans said while her glare remained fixed on Ginny. A tense silence settled over the backyard.
This silence continued for several stilted moments, until Ginny finally broke it. “We need to see Dumbledore, all of us…and it might be a good idea to have Poppy check out my 17-year-old brother.” When there was no immediate response, Teddy opened his mouth to agree with his Aunt but she waved him off. The two redheaded witches locked eyes and it became a battle of wills at that point.
--Inside the house—
Inside the guest bedroom of Potter Cottage, Ron groaned and tried to roll over, but the pain in his leg prevented it. Slowly he opened his eyes and immediately noticed that Hermione was hovering over him like a mother hen while Harry was sitting in the corner of the room almost catatonic. When he tried to speak, his mouth was cotton dry and the words came out as an unintelligible gargle.
At this, Hermione leapt up from her seat and quickly conjured a glass of water before handing it to the bed ridden redhead. After a few sips, he cleared his throat and his voice came out thin and raspy; “What happened and where are we?”
“Yaxley got ahold of me as I apparated out of the ministry,” Hermione whispered almost fearfully. “I managed to hex him loose once we landed at Grimmauld Place, but since we’re the Secret Keepers he’s now in on the secret. I…I…I apparated us away from the house but instead of landing in the Forest of Dean as I wanted we somehow ended up going back in time. We’re at the cottage Harry lived with his parents when he was a baby.”
“Why do I feel like a herd of Hippogriffs ran over my left leg?”
“I accidentally splinched you during the second apparition attempt.” Hermione resumed picking at her nails as she waited for the blow-up from Ron. It never came, when she looked up to read his facial reaction she saw him with a look of concern on his face as he watched Harry.
“Does that mean his parents are here?” The redhead’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yes,” Hermione hesitated before continuing. “But it’s not just them, Sirius is here too. And it’s likely we’ll see Dumbledore before we get this sorted out as well.”
“Bloody hell,” Hermione couldn’t even bring herself to correct the language. “He’s not handling this well…is he?” Hermione shook her head.
“Yah know,” Harry’s voice surprised the Hermione and Ron. “It’s not just my parents that are here. Sirius is back as well; along with a 12-year-old version of Ron and myself…oh, and an older Ginny with a mess of kids.”
“They aren’t all her’s, are they?”
“RONALD!”
“Mione, what was that for?” Ron rubbed the back of his head indignantly, “I’m a sick boy here.”
“Can you two pause your bickering for like a moment?” Harry practically hissed, “We’ve got more important things to worry about right now.” Both nodded sheepishly at him. “You’re right Hermione, we need to get to Dumbledore.”
“I’ll go talk to your parents Harry,” Hermione whispered. “It might be easier to get them to help, without too many questions about the future, if it’s not their adult son they’re talking too.” With Harry’s assenting nod, she gets up and walks downstairs and through the kitchen. The raised voices in the back yard provide help her figure out the way through the rooms. As she opened the door, Hermione immediately understood what Harry meant by “a whole mess of kids”. Two of the kids were clearly Harry’s as they had the infamously black and messy Potter hair, while two others were clearly Weasleys…the other two were a bit harder for her to place, however. “Excuse me?”
Her voice cut through the tension in the backyard; as Ginny made eye contact, a flash of annoyance crossed her features before she schooled her face into a neutral mask. Lily did not take her eyes off the other redhead as she responded, “Yes?”
“I think we should go see Professor Dumbledore,” Hermione stated with a level of forced confidence. “He can help us figure out how to get us all back to our respective times.” Other than a huff from Lily, there was no visible reaction to Hermione’s statement from those in the 1980s; as for those from the future, Ginny and the kids (minus the James, whom was still in the body bind) nodded in agreement…12-year-old Ron and Harry just looked terrified.
“I’ll floo him,” James said as he cast a wary glance at his wife. At her nod of assent he went inside, to get the Headmaster and see what they could do about the odd situation they’d found themselves in.
Rose eyed the 17-year-old version of her mother with interest, neither of her parents had talked much about their school years. And getting to see two different versions of her father, along with one of her mother, was nearly too much for her natural curiosity to resist. But a stern glare from Teddy cut her off before she could even ask the questions she wanted. Fortunately for Rose, Hermione wasn’t able to overcome her own curiosity. “So, Ginny,” at this point the elder witch fixed her glare on the younger Hermione. “Why did you seem annoyed with me when you noticed me at the back door?”
“Because I am annoyed with you…well, not you-you…but the 39-year-old you.” The blank look from the younger Hermione was the only response Ginny got.
“This is going to give me a headache.” Teddy muttered under his breath. “Two different Uncle Rons and three different Uncle Harrys, plus a younger Aunt Hermione…what have you done James.”
“That is a perfectly valid question.” Came a soft, but firm voice from behind Hermione, “What have you done James?” Albus Dumbledore confidently strode into the backyard wearing bright purple robes that made his grey hair stand out.
“Oi!” James Fleamont Potter called out, “It wasn’t me this time, I swear.” Sirius snorted in response which earned a glare from his best mate. Albus’s eyes twinkled madly.
“This time he’s right Albus,” Ginny sighed softly and gestured at her son who was still face down in the grass. “It was my eldest who is responsible for the mess we’ve found ourselves in. And we’re all hoping you can help us sort this out with as little damage to the timeline as possible.” Ginny’s words were cut off from a baby wailing upstairs, Sirius quickly waved James and Lily off before he headed inside to collect his godson.
“I take it your eldest is the one in a fully body bind Mrs. -?”
“Potter, but you can call me Ginny.”
“I see, do we know eachother from where you’re from.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Ah,” the witches’ cold tone caught him off guard. “Well, James if you could please get our other time traveling guest from your guest room then we can get started on figuring out what happened and how we could, potentially, send everyone back to where they belong.” James headed off to the guest room and a few minutes later came out with 17-year-old Harry and Ron trailing behind him. Shortly after that Sirius emerged with a very fussy baby Harry. “Could you take the body bind off your son, Ginny? I’d like to hear what happened from him.”
Ginny nodded and promptly removed the body bind on James after she delivered stern words of warning to him in a whisper. “Ah, excellent.” Albus clapped his hands together before popping a sherbet lemon in his mouth, “Let’s start with introductions. My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. And you are?” He gestured at the 12-year-old Ron.
“Ron Weasley…”
“Second year, Ron Weasley.” The older Ron stated, “And I’m a 17-year-old Ron Weasley.”
“RONALD!” Hermione screeched as she slapped his shoulder, “Don’t interrupt that’s rude.”
“Sorry.” The Potter kids snickered at the familiar argument. At this Dumbledore gestured to the 12-year-old Harry.
“Harry Potter,” After a hesitant glance at the older version of himself he clarified. “A 12-year-old Harry Potter.”
“Bloody hell,” This time it was Sirius who interrupted, which earned a swat from Lily before she took baby Harry out of his hands. Albus then gestured to Ginny.
“Ginny Potter, nee Weasley.” 12-year-old Ron’s jaw dropped comically wide. “Oh, just you wait Ron. You’re in for even more of a shock once we get through the kids.”
Next up, was the recently un-body binded James. “James Sirius Potter, the best of the Potter kids.”
“More like worst,” there was a series of snickers from the children. “Albus Potter, by the way.” Dumbledore raised his eye towards 17-year-old Harry in surprise as he stood dumbfounded that his second son was named after his mentor.
“He’s a right troublemaker that one is,” The redheaded girl chimed in. “Lily Luna Potter and I’ve got my Daddy wrapped right around my finger.” She grinned cheekily at both the 12-year-old version of her father and his 17-year-old self. Both responded with a Weasley-esque blush.
“Bloody hell Potter,” 17-year-old Ron interrupted again. “How many kids did you have with my sister?” He warily eyed the other two.
“Only three, so far Ron.” Ginny said warningly, “But if you don’t cut it out, when I get home, I’ll jump my husband and make a fourth.”
“MUM!” Her three kids look absolutely revolted at the idea. Hermione had to stifle a giggle as Albus coughed into his hand. After a few moments, Dumbledore gestured towards the kid with turquoise hair and nodded.
“Teddy…” He made eye contact with Ginny who sighed and nodded. “Teddy Lupin.” This stunned the two Marauders into silence, Evans squealed in delight. She had told Remus time and time again that he’d find someone to settle down with and raise a family; but he’d never believed her. It seemed like in the future he had. Teddy stood their awkwardly, his surprise at Evans reaction forced his hair to a familiar Potter black – as it tended to do when he was nervous or surprised. Before anyone else could speak, they went to the next redheaded kid…the boy this time.
“I’m Hugo Granger-Weasley.” At this, both Rons and the 17-year-old Hermione blushed a bright red while the 17-year-old Harry started to laugh uncontrollably.
“Bloody hell,” He stuttered out between laughs. “So these two gits finally figure it out then?”
“Language Harry.” Lily chastised the adult sized version of the infant in her arms.
“Sorry, Mum.” Well that felt weird to say. Harry cringed as the sentence left his mouth while Ron and Hermione squeezed his shoulder in a comforting manner.
“What do you mean, ‘figure it out?” This was the bushy haired girl, “Oh, I’m Rose Granger-Weasley.”
“Oh, it’s just that they’ve been dancing around each other since our fourth year.” Harry responded dryly, “I was beginning to wonder if they’d ever get it together.”
“Well, should we let those two introduce themselves?” Lily cut in before the conversation could get even more off track.
“Right…”
“Wait, I already introduced myself. I’m the 17-year-old version of that git over there.” Ron gestured to his preteen self.
“Language Ronald!” This was followed by another slap, “I’m Hermione Granger.” She eyed her two future kids with a mixture of trepidation and awe. The girl looked a lot like her, while the boy was the spitting image of his father. It amazed her that Ron would end up feeling the same way about her as she felt about him and that they’d have a family together.
“And I’m Harry Potter…a 17-year-old Harry Potter.”
“Well, that much was bloody obvious.”
“Padfoot.” James growled out at his best mate.
“Well, now that that’s been taken care of, why don’t you explain what happened.” Dumbledore conjured up a squishy purple armchair next to the lawn chairs that James and Sirius had conjured shortly after the kids originally appeared. He then helped himself to a cup of tea as James Sirius began to tell his side of the story.