Bubblegum Pink and Chocolate Tweed (Prequel to DCMN)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Unexpected Companions

GEORGE

Fred and George had absolutely not been listening to Tonks and Sirius when they confronted Remus. They definitely didn't stand in the doorway to the study and listen to the telling of events. And they absolutely didn't stay up all night planning a way to sneak behind them and go back in time. Absolutely not.

They also didn't come down to breakfast early to find Kingsley giving the time turner to Remus. Lastly, they didn't sneak up behind him and give nods and startle their prior professor.

"Hello Lupin-"

"-what've you got there?" They rolled their eyes at his ridiculous attempt at hiding the time turner behind his back.

"Nothi-okay fine. It's a time turner. And let me guess, you two know what it's for, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm positive-"

"-that we have no idea what you're talking about." George finished. Remus shook his head bemusedly.

"Right. And I'm the Minister." They all took a moment to replace Fudge's head with Remus'. Amid chuckles came Sirius and Tonks.

"Hello Remus, Fred, George." Tonks greeted. The boys gave a polite nod to the extravagant Metamorphagus, and Remus smiled.

"Ready?" With nods of confirmation, they went to the living room where everyone else was gathered.

As they entered, heads looked up attentively. Dumbledore rose from his seat on the faded couch next to Arthur. "Ah, I see you've got it then?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but Tonks and Remus both nodded politely. George sighed, this was going to be a long session. He idly wondered if this was how all the Order meetings were too.

As Tonks and Sirius flanked Remus, they made their way to the front of the room near the fireplace. Remus cleared his throat even though George was fairly certain he already held everyone's attention. There was a reason he was such a great teacher after all.

"Right, well good morning everyone. We have some news we'd like to share with you all. We're working on a new mission. We'll be...going back in time." At that there was a collective gasp in the room, only Dumbledore, the twins, and Kingsley knowing what was happening ahead of time.

Hermione spoke up. "But Professor, er, I mean Remus, you know what happens to wizards who meddle with time." She seemed to glance at Professor Dumbledore then Ron. Interesting.

Dumbledore answered her. "Ah, Hermione. Yes of course, you are right my dear, but Remus asked me. And as I've said, help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it. It will be given to those who deserve it."

At her surprised expression, Remus nodded. "Yes. I asked for this mission."

Molly gasped and shook her head. "Remus! Why would you do something like this?"

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "For the same reason Tonks and I have agreed to accompany him. Because it's better than sitting around here going mad waiting for something to happen so we can attempt to stop it. We can't just sit here when we know that going back in time could fix this. We can stop.. Voldemort from rising and maybe save some peoples' lives. Isn't that worth the risk? I once said I'd rather die than betray my best friends, well, I'd also rather die in an attempt to stop Voldemort and his followers. If that means traveling back in time and putting my life on the line, then so be it."

The entire room collectively stared openmouthed at Sirius. He suddenly became self-conscious. He turned to Remus. "Did I say something wrong?"

Remus shook his head with a small determined smile. "No. Not at all. You said precisely the right thing." Tonks nodded resolutely.

Molly cleared her throat, as she was one of the first to regain her voice. "Right. Well, when are you leaving?"

Tonks sighed. This was going to be the difficult part. "This afternoon. Kingsley just managed to sneak the time turner out last night. We figured we'd leave a day for erm...farewells and then be on our way." Tonks looked down, suddenly fascinated with her hands.

Arthur nodded. It made sense.

Molly suddenly couldn't control her self anymore, and compulsively threw herself into Remus' arms. Sirius snickered, and Tonks looked on with a face of adoration.

George rolled his eyes and made his way over to Sirius and saw Fred on his way as well. "Right then. So you're leaving later."

Sirius nodded tersely. "We need to go back and fix it. The sooner the better." There was truth in his words and a steely resolve that George assumed was the only thing stopping Sirius from chickening out.

"Well, you certainly don't seem too scared," Fred observed.

Tonks walked over and she shook her head. "We can't exactly look like it, can we? Your mum would never let us go," she joked.

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The day flew by, with Order members spontaneously giving farewells and then leaving. Just as Molly was shutting the door behind Dumbledore, Remus looked over at Sirius and Tonks. "It's time." He spoke resolutely.

Hermione suddenly sprang forward and wrapped her arms around each of them in turn, followed by Molly's fourth round of hugs. "Oh do be careful dears. I'll miss you so much!" She exclaimed, almost in tears.

George almost found himself in waterworks, then shook his head. He nudged Fred, who was trying and failing to stop a single tear from dripping down his cheek.

Remus moved to stand in the center of the room, beckoning Sirius and Tonks over. The Weasleys took a collective step backwards. Winding the chain around his and his companions' necks, Remus nodded to the twins.

Just as he was twisting the dial, turning it with a concentrated expression, the twins made their move. Lunging forward with linked hands, George grabbed hold of Tonks. It was as the last rotation of the time turner rang out that the unthinkable happened. Ron and Hermione had grabbed hold of Remus and Sirius.

And as the living room turned into a blur around him, one thought stayed in George's head. This was not supposed to happen.