A Shot At Happiness

SECRETS REVEALED

The office looked exactly the same except a bit more lively with Dumbledore's and Fawkes' presence. The occupants of the portraits were not surprisingly pretending to be asleep.

After taking in their surroundings, they turned to look at Dumbledore who was eyeing them curiously.

"Mr. Longbottom, Miss Lovegood, Miss Weasley, to what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you at this late hour? Especially with a patronus' notice? " he asked.

"We apologize for intruding at this late hour, Sir. But there is an issue of utmost importance that we had to discuss with you that couldn't be kept for later," said Neville.

Noticing the serious looks on the faces of the three students in front of him, Dumbledore sat forward in his chair, leaning on his table.

"Why don't you three take a seat first?"
They did.

"Now, go on."

"Sir, this might sound, to put it bluntly, weird to you," Ginny started hesitantly. "But what we are going to tell you is the truth and we can prove it."

"You see, Sir the three of us are not from this time," said Luna.

There was a moment's silence. Then,
"I'm sorry Miss Lovegood. Did you just say that you three are not from this time?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes Sir," the answer was from all of them.

"We are from what is to be the potential future," said Ginny.

"We're time travellers," said Neville.

There was absolute silence in the office for a few seconds. Then,
"I apologize in advance if I sound rude but are you three feeling fine?" asked Dumbledore anxiously.

The three before him cracked a smile.
"We totally understand your need to enquire about our sanity, Sir. But this is the truth. We are indeed time travellers from the future," said Neville.

Seeing that Dumbledore was going to raise an objection, Ginny intervened abruptly.

"Sir, we know about the horcruxes and the prophecy."

Dumbledore stilled.

"Horcruxes?" he asked with a horror-struck expression.

"Yes Sir, horcruxes, as in more than one. Seven to be precise," said Luna.

"Oh dear Merlin!" Dumbledore breathed, still looking shocked. "I knew he created one because of last year but to create seven. Seven murders! "

"Yes Sir," said Neville quietly. They were watching their headmaster anxiously now.

Dumbledore finally seemed to pull himself out of his stupor and looked at them.

"So, if you three are indeed time travellers, how did you end up here?"he asked.

"We sent ourselves back, Sir. We performed a ritual through which we sent our memories and soul into our younger selves."

"You sent yourselves voluntarily?" he asked surprised. Then his face went grave. "Things went bad in the future, didn't they?"

"That's an understatement, Sir," said Neville wearily.

"There was a war?"

"Yes Sir," Luna answered.

"And he won?" There was no need to specify who 'he' was.

"No Sir. We did. But at the cost of the entire wizarding world. There were hardly any left alive. The three of us were lucky to have survived," said Ginny.