Happy Inauguration Day 😋
3rd person POV:
The group had a early start, considering how late they had fallen asleep last night. Despite the chatter the boys were having, M/n didn't fully wake up until her scalp started tingling and a burning began in her eyes.
Jumping up, she looked down to realize her shining, silvery hair was now back to normal as a H/c color, and she could assume that her eyes would be back to normal as well.
Lily was already up and reapplying the charms she had used for James, Sirius, and Remus. All four of them seemed up and ready to go, and M/n grumbled at the sight.
Rubbing her eyes, she said in croaky voice, "Lily come change me so we can get going."
Lily looked over her quickly, scanning for something, but soon enough, she finally sighed in defeat.
"We were going over the names," Lily said, gesturing towards the boys. "Remember that you're R/n Clarke — if you forget just get emotional and use your charm."
"Lily Evans giving that kind of advice?" James said in a loud voice, stretching his now short body. "I thought I knew you."
Lily ignored James's comment and helped M/n stand up on the cushions.
"My back is killing me," Sirius complained, running his hand through his now blond hair. "This is your fault, M/n."
"Shut it," M/n grumbled out, clearly still tired. "I want to go see McGonagall then go the dormitories and take a long nap."
The group started off slow as the picked up the cushions and blankets, but once they heard a shriek of laughter outside the door, they began to hastily stack them up in a pile. None of them seemed too eager to have an interaction with a student.
"Are you going to be okay in the Ravenclaw dormitories by yourself?" Lily asked in concern as the group began to make their way down the corridors.
"She is any other time," James stated smartly, pushing to Lily's other side.
"I'll act like a Gryffindor for the time being," M/n yawned.
"It'll be smarter to pose as a Gryffindor," Remus explained at James and Sirius's confused looks.
"Why's that, Moony?" Sirius piped up. "Is it so you can be closer—"
"Stop using those ridiculous nicknames, Randy,"
M/n chided.
Despite looking slightly grateful for the reminder, Sirius still sent her a rebuke.
"Nobody will know about our nicknames."
"Please," Lily snorted. "Wilfred has a son, that's probably the first thing you three taught him — besides, since I would clearly know Y/n considering R/n is my best friend, I know I'd warn her to stay clear of anyone that uses those nicknames."
"Didn't seem to work," Sirius muttered.
The group of five began to climb up a set of stairs. Portraits would occasionally turn towards them, never having seen the older kids before (well, with those hair colors, heights, and eye colors). Student interaction was at a bare minimum, the current students would gawk at the strange group of people — never speaking to them. Added on to that, there weren't even that many students out, only a few who wanted an early start and breakfast.
"You know I'd have my child consider you an aunt," M/n started, but was interrupted by a wary looking Lily.
"Please don't — what if I had a child and they fell in love? That would be quite strange..."
M/n scrunched up her nose in disinterest on the topic.
"Don't worry, Lilykins, M/n/n's little girl is completely smitten with my son," James boasted, pointing a finger towards himself with a large grin.
"That's not how I saw it," M/n blinked. "You're son is completely and utterly in love with my daughter."
"Don't you two wish we had kids as well so we could be included in this conversation?" Sirius grumbled, looking towards Remus and Lily.
"Who knows, maybe Lupin or I have a child," Lily said, shrugging. "I don't think anyone would trust you with one though, Randy."
Sirius pointed to his pocket, which held the Marauder's Map, and shook his head.
"Oh, no, I don't think — not with...certain things," Remus seemed to be at a loss for words.
Every time he opened his mouth to explain a reason why he couldn't have a child, he would send a desperate look towards Sirius and James.
"Come off it, Re— Hughes" — M/n winked at him, thanking herself for her save— "Audrey and I figured out your situation years ago."
"Years?" Remus paled, fearing for her reaction.
"Audrey talked about your disappearances during fourth year and I put two-and-two together and found out—"
"We didn't say anything because we knew you probably didn't want people to know," Lily said in an apologetic tone.
Remus was saved from having to reply, because right at that moment a certain H/c haired girl with a traces of scarlet red and gold in her Hogwarts uniform came rushing down the corridor, a broomstick in hand.
"Hey!" Sirius stupidly called out to her. "Hey, Y/n!"
"Sirius," Lily hissed, gripping the back of his robes and yanking it back so that he would stop walking towards the girl.
Y/n stopped almost immediately, her cheeks flushed slightly pink as she noticed the group of five observing her closely.
"Aww, look how—"
Lily nudged Sirius in the ribs to stop him from speaking.
"Stop the abuse, L-Audrey," he whined, rubbing at his ribs.
"Do you need something?" Y/n inquired, her eyebrows raised.
The group stared at her even closer after such a thick American accent was emitted from her lips. How did she have such an accent? Lily questioned if M/n was even her mother, but after looking back at Y/n once more, she realized it would be impossible for her not to be.
There were only a few differences between Y/n and her mother. They had the same hair color, eye color, and they were around the same height, but Lily couldn't help but notice that the girl had a different aura compared to her mother.
While the two girls had a very small amount of difference in their physical appearance — namely, the small, charming smile that Y/n had given them as she approached the group was familiar but it wasn't M/n's, and Y/n also had a slightly different bone structure then her mum — but the air around the two veelas were completely different.
Lily found soon in her friendship with M/n that she was all confidence. Despite being the only Veela to look like she did, she never appeared self conscious. M/n looked as if she constantly had a plan forming in her head, and knew exactly what she was doing. She seemed to act as if she was on a pedestal above everyone.
Though Lily didn't prefer to describe her friend that way, she couldn't deny that M/n had an air of superiority.
Y/n, on the other hand, seemed almost like the complete opposite. Though it was obvious Y/n knew that she was a pretty girl, she didn't seem conceited.
That's all that Lily considered to be the main difference — that Y/n was much more humble and opened compared to her mother.
But Lily felt as if she'd been shocked when she met Y/n's e/c eyes, instead of the devious gleam
M/n held, her eyes were grief-filled and exhausted.
"You know you don't need to call me over to ogle at me," Y/n stated, knowing her tone was coming off as harsh.
"Oh we're sorry, it's just that we've heard a lot about you," Remus lied easily.
Y/n's brows only furrowed further after the boy explained why they had called her over. She quickly scanned her eyes over the ginger boy and found his scars to be particularly familiar.
She squinted her eyes slightly...that just wouldn't make sense...
"Is that all?"
"What's today's date?" Lily asked as sweetly as she could, feeling slight sympathy for the troubled girl. "We've been traveling for a while."
"It's April twenty-second, nineteen ninety-six," Y/n replied, her exasperation slowly lowering.
Maybe they didn't read the Daily Prophet, Y/n considered thoughtfully.
"What house are you in—"
But before Sirius could ask the question with the most obvious answer (considering the scarlet and golden tie in her uniform), a lanky, ginger haired boy with freckles decorating his face yelled over at her.
"Y/n! Harry's waiting for us down at the quidditch field."
The girl suddenly grinned at the group, "Sorry, I've got to go — my friend is training me to be Seeker since he, er, got kicked off the team..."
Without another word, Y/n joined the freckled boy and the two began sprinting down the staircases, waving their hands around as they spoke to each other in an amusingly, animatedly way.
"Looks like Prongs Junior got kicked off the Gryffindor quidditch team," Sirius said almost cheerfully.
"Looks like my daughter saved the day," M/n retorted as they began upon another set of stairs.
"She didn't like to be stared at, did she?" Remus said, slowly becoming lost in deep thought.
"Doesn't seem to be much like her mother," James snorted.
"There's nothing wrong with enjoying people observe your beauty."
James and Sirius burst into a fit of sniggers as M/n strained to get that out. Lily tried to pay attention, but the sight of Y/n's haunted eyes seemed to keep finding its way into her brain.
"There's something wrong that happened with her," Lily suddenly declared.
"Maybe that's why she was so sad last night," M/n suggested, not thinking the life of a half-veela could be so hard. "And I think the bigger problem is that she nearly recognized R— Hughes."
Before anyone else could respond, they came to a halt in front of a large office door.
"Oh, Minnie," Sirius called out in a singsong tune, grinning wolfishly.
—
"So you're telling me that James, Sirius, and Remus decided to travel five years in the future, and you and M/n accidentally messed the potion up and ended up twenty years in the future?" McGonagall questioned, her lips pursed.
All five of them nodded, stomach twisted as they wait for their punishment.
"Sounds about right — great idea, Miss Evans for the charm to change everyone's appearances."
The office, which was small and warm thanks to a blazing fire, had been welcoming for the students. McGonagall conjured up five extra squishy chairs for them to sit in, though her stern expression stayed as she took in the group.
They had tried to pretend to be new students at first, but none of their stories added up and soon enough, Sirius accidentally called the professor "Minnie"which gave it all away. She wasn't nearly as angry as M/n suspected she would be, if anything she seemed more concerned for their well-being.
"Have any of you interacted with students that could..alter the future?" McGonagall inquired after a moment of silence.
James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and M/n exchanged careful looks. They had definitely interacted with the worst possible student they could've spoken to — besides Harry, of course.
"Last night we saw—"
James interrupted Lily, his expression solemn.
"We didn't see anyone last night because students aren't allowed to be out in the corridors after ten, right everyone?"
There was an almost immediate reaction from the group.
"Nope, didn't see anyone."
"The halls were completely deserted."
"Lily must've been imagining things."
A small sigh left McGonagall's lips as she took in the obvious lies from Sirius, Remus, and M/n.
"Well did you see anyone today?"
There was an awkward silence as everyone decided on what truth to tell. Then finally Remus spoke up, looking around shiftily.
"Well, we uh — we saw M/n's daughter — Y/n."
McGonagall continued to look toward Lupin, as if expecting him to say something else.
"Sirius called her over," Lily stated, shooting him a dirty look.
McGonagall pressed her fingers against her temple as she contemplated on what to do.
"We'll be here for two weeks," James piped up. "If that'll be any help."
"Look," McGonagall started, finally coming to a conclusion. "I'll conjure up some beds in the Gryffindor fifth year dormitories — hope you're fine with pretending to be a Gryffindor for this short amount of time, Miss L/n — you'll stay there for your time being, attend classes, do not pull pranks, and try to be as inconspicuous as possible."
"But Professor, we're in the sixth year," Lily said, not looking too keen on having to go back to the fifth year.
"Yes, well, I think there are two students who should spend some time with their parents," said McGonagall, her pointed eyes zeroing in on M/n and James. "But you must not reveal your identity."
"Why ever do you think we'd do something as stupid as that?" Sirius grinned, sharing a look with James's
"I suppose you and Mr. Potter would find humor in the affect of you revealing your identities."
A sudden knock interrupted their cozy conversation, and almost at once, McGonagall sent one last warning look toward the group of students and then called out, "Come in."
"Oh, who do we have here?" came a sickly sweet voice.
James found the most horrendous-looking person he'd ever seen standing in the doorway of McGonagall's office. In all pink, she stood tutting at the sight of the students. James had the creeping feeling of laughter bubbling up inside once he realized she had the familiarity of a toad.
"Just some new students, Dolores," McGonagall said, almost testily. "Randy Wilson, Wilfred Robinson, Audrey Walker, Darren Hughes, and R/n Clarke."
The group waved toward the unidentified lady, some smiling, but Sirius, only being who everyone expected him to be, whistled.
The lady tutted, and her expression hardened.
"Young sir, I am the current headmistress of Hogwarts any behavior of that kind shall be punishable" — she turned back to McGonagall— "Now have they been sorted yet?"
"All Gryffindor—"
"How...peculiar...that does remind me of why I came here in the first place—"
"Pray tell why," McGonagall said in an uninterested tone.
M/n and Lily shared an ever so slightly amused look, meanwhile Sirius and James began sniggering from the look on the lady's face.
"Your ever so meddlesome student, Miss L/n" —
M/n jumped up at the name, causing the lady to look at her with a nasty expression— "tried to let Mr. Potter have a go on her broomstick...do I need to remind you that Mr. Potter has a lifelong ban?"
McGonagall waved a hand in the air, as if she didn't expect anything less out of Y/n.
"Go on, Dolores, I'll have a talking with her and all will be good."
"Oh no, Minerva, I've already dealt with her," M/n's stomach twisted at the wicked gleam in the pink toad's eye as she spoke of punishment.
"She'll have detention with me for a week, and of course Draco Malfoy, who caught her, took away one hundred-fifty points from Gryffindor."
"Very well, Dolores."
The lady looked around the room once more, her eye twitching in disgust slightly when she wandered onto the view of Sirius stretched out across the chair. She tutted before exiting the room and slamming the door shut behind her.
"Who's that wretched woman?" M/n inquired, a scowl on her face.
"Dolores Umbridge" — McGonagall looked towards James, Sirius, and Remus— "you three stay clear of her, I'm sure if she found out who you really were we'd get in big trouble."
"Why'd Harry get kicked off the Quidditch team?" James asked eagerly, looking excited at the fact that his son was — or was formerly on the house team.
McGonagall's eyes flitted over Lily before casting an eye towards the door.
"No reason for you to worry, Potter — you five go back to the dormitories and get ready for classes."
"Where's our timetables?" Lily asked.
McGonagall searched through a small basket on her desk, before she finally came up with five identical timetables.
"You have History of Magic first," McGonagall said. "Remember not to go digging for information."
—
The five sixth-years, turned fifth-years, hurried up a set of stairs, determined to make their way to the Gryffindor common room to take a short nap before they made their way to breakfast.
"We still have three hours before our first class,"Remus gasped out as they strided quickly down the corridor.
"Then why are we hurrying?" Lily suddenly stopped.
"I want some type of information about what's going on," M/n said, stopping only to grab Lily's arm and hurry up once more.
"And we're going to ask our dorm mates about my son," James called out with a wave of the hand.
"But McGonagall said not to go digging for information," Lily complained. "We could alter the future."
"Do you really want to look like a complete idiot out of the loop?" Sirius questioned.
"We won't find out too much information," Remus supplied.
"And I want to know about my daughter," M/n added, looking slightly guilty for going against her best friend.
"But M—"
M/n mind reeled when she thought of the possibilities of what could have changed from nineteen seventy-six to nineteen ninety-six.
Maybe she was a famous, rich business woman. Or maybe she traveled the world, though she quickly doubted either of these things once she realized how much work Y/n already seemed to be.
"Lily, you know how much girls gossip — this will be the easiest way to gain information."
Lily hesitated before nodding firmly.
The rest of the trip to the Gryffindor tower was almost completely silent. Each member of the group was lost in complete thought of what they had already learned.
"Dammit," Sirius cussed out once they had reached the Fat Lady and realized they didn't have the password.
The Fat Lady pursed her lips, staring at the group in disdain.
"No password, no entrance."
Lily looked over the portrait. The fat lady looked completely the same as she had back in nineteen seventy-six, except a slight crack attracted her eyes on the golden frame.
"Look, we're new—"
The Fat Lady turned her head the other way, high in the air.
"No password, no entrance," she repeated haughtily.
Lily and M/n exchanged a small look, their brows furrowed in frustration.
James finally stepped forward, placing the tip of his wand on the portrait as if he were trying to threaten it. Before he could mutter any sort of spell, the doorway jumped open and a petite girl with flaming red hair jumped out of the entrance way.
She looked around the group, her warm, brown eyes trailing from person to person before she finally settled on James, who was about to slip into the common room.
"Who are you?" The freckled girl asked, and Lily had the slight suspicion that she and the boy from earlier might be related.
"We're new," M/n explained, scrutinizing the pretty girl. "We didn't know you needed a password, and that's what we've been waiting."
"Oh, well I'm Ginny Weasley," the girl explained. "I'm in the fourth year — what year are you lot in?"
"We're in the fifth year," Remus answered. "I'm Darren Hughes."
The rest of the group went around introducing themselves with their false identities, and it went well until M/n piped up once more.
"I'm R/n Clark," she grinned, holding her hand out.
The girl's — Ginny's eyes swiveled from M/n's outstretched hand to her face.
"Are you really? You look quite like Y/—"
Lily interrupted the girl with a loud yawn, stretching her arms wide around her.
"My Audreykins must be exhausted," James supplied, looking towards Lily with eyes filled with adoration.
"We've been traveling all night," Lily glared.
How could James be pretentious enough to call her pet names when he knew he had a child with another woman, she bitterly thought.
"Right, well I'll leave you to that — the password is Silveratios by the way."
Ginny gave a single, friendly wave before setting path down the staircase that led away from the Gryffindor landing.
Once the group of five climbed through the portrait hole and entered the familiar, cozy common room (at least to most, seeing that M/n didn't often come to this common room). There were still squishy chairs near a the fireplace, small portraits of previously famous Gryffindors adorned the walls, and very few students were actually in the room.
"We're going to ask around about Harry," Remus muttered, leaning near Lily and M/n.
"And mainly find out who his mother is," Sirius added, wiggling his eyebrows.
"S—Randy," Lily hissed. "Don't ask that kind of stuff?"
"Why?" James inquired. "Aren't you going to ask who Y/n's father is — we'll probably be doing that as well and then terrorize the poor bloke once we return home."
"You will not, Potter," M/n stated, placing a hand on her hip.
Lily, flushing angrily, gripped onto M/n's arm, who was glaring at the three boys, and the two girls stomped up the stairwell towards the girls' dormitories.
"We're not going to pry that much," Lily called out as the figures of James, Sirius, and Remus slowly grew smaller as she went further from then.
—
Starting to get toward the good stuff...😌