I don't own any of the characters. All credit goes to the Epic J.K. Rowling of course and always.
Albus
I headed straight for the room of requirements and when I entered, Lil and James were there already.
"So, how did it go?"
"Interesting." I nodded.
"Interesting how?" Lil smirked.
"Dad and mum caught me together. I think Dad's onto us." I bit my lip.
"I'd be surprised if he wasn't." Lil sighed.
"What about Mum?"
"She's the reason, I didn't get into interrogation with dad. She told him to knock it off and let us be."
"Classic mum." James cackled.
"Anyway, I didn't get much. Dad's going to go back to the Ministry and Mum's going of to Grandmum Molly's. Apparently you and Teddy are staying there." I looked over at James. He simply smirked. Usually James was a pain in my arse but he'd gone solemn since what happened with us.
"What's the plan?" Lil mumbled after a while.
"Honestly, I'm lost. How in the Merlin do we get to that hut. Every time we've tried. We've been caught." James shook his head.
"My question is what's the guarantee that she will be there this time."
"Because I saw the trial Lil." James ran a hand through his head, "She mentioned she that since she was eleven, she'd been living there after her sister hid her there." James spoke, "And she was thirty one at the moment."
"So she would be there now."
"Exactly because fifteen years from now, it will happen."
"So, she's already here." Lil added up.
"Yep." James dropped his head back, "But we all know it's going to be near damn near impossible to fight her."
"Why? You're older than her right now." Lil argued.
"Yeah but she's an animagus. A black snake. A python. She will kill us without much work. And none of us can afford to fight her. We can't go in the damn morning to find her and in the dark she's a black snake."
"Plus, i have a feeling that she might not be living there alone. I mean think about it, they won't leave an important asset alone." I dropped my head.
"Oh, oh." Lily jumped to her feet and she was holding the time turner, "I know what to do!"
"Lil, put the time turner away."
"No, why don't we go back to another year and catch her when she isn't there, she probably won't be as difficult."
"Lil..."But Lily had already started turning the time turner. James and I ran for her and then suddenly, in a white light, we dropped to the floor. I grumbled getting up and seeing that we were in a hallway. Hogwarts hallway.
"Merlin, Lily, where did you bring us!" I bit out. As soon as we stood by a corner, we heard voices. James pointed a finger on his lips for us to stay quiet and we did as he looked around the corner. I bent beside him and Lily did under me. We felt James drape his invisibility cloak over us as we watched two young students standing by the pillar, looking out. One with glasses. The other with vibrant red hair. Mum and Dad. In school robes?
"It's not possessing me, Ginny." Dad spoke, "I'm just intrigued about what a brilliant student like that, had to bring to the table."
"I think Malfoy can tell you about that." Mum responded. Just then she marched past dad to the corridor near their end and I watched her pin a silver haired boy against the wall. He reminded me so much of Scorpius.
"You git!" She spat and slapped him right across the face. We stared slack jawed.
"How dare you..." he started.
"Stay away from him or I won't think twice before using my wand!" She warned. He fixed his jacket and walked away. Mum and Dad walked back into the hall but dad stopped her swivelling her to face him.
"What was that?"
"Ed...Ed followed me out to the forest when I transformed and Malfoy attacked him. He was in the hospital wing all night." Mum shook her head. Wow, Scorpius was nothing like his dad. Poor uncle Ed.
"That git. Is Ed alright now?" Dad held her hand.
"Yeah."
"And he knows? And he's okay with..."
"Strangely... yeah." Mum relaxed.
"Huh. He gets better." Dad nodded, clicking his tongue, "I need you to play seeker this Saturday."
"Why?"
"Detention. Snape." Dad sighed. Ha! Detention! And he pointed at James and I. Just then we exchanged a look and grinned.
"But it's the last game..."
"He doesn't care." Dad interrupted.
"Not a surprise." Mum exhaled a deep breath. Wow, Dad wasn't kidding when he said he majorly mistook Professor Snape.
"I've asked Dean to play chaser again." Dad added.
"Well, it'd be fun to celebrate a rightful win with him." Mum nodded. I watched Lily look at them cheekily, "Dumbledore asked me to help you instead of him, if it ever came to a point like that ahead of us." Mum spoke after a pause. I calculated the timeline with this.
"Almost sounds like..." Dad started.
"Like he knows he's a target." Mum finished for him.
"I really need to get that memory fast."
They laced fingers together and started walking in the opposite direction. Just then, Dad kissed mum's hand and ran off. I moved back and pulled James and Lily.
"We just travelled back ten years."
"You mean, this is dad's last year at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah. I mean, Mum mentioned that they got together the year Dumbledore passed. They are together right now. Dumbledore' s alive. This has to be dad's sixth year. We have to go back to where we were before." I hissed and James snatched the time turner from Lil.
"I'm sorry." She pouted but she was still smiling.
James worked on the time turner and when he nodded, Lil held onto the chain and so did I and suddenly, we were outside the corridor again.
"Well, the hour seems about right." James looked around, "Try the Room of Requirement."
I looked around and waited for it and the door appeared. James went in first and Lil later. When I entered, I released a sigh of breath at the sight of our bags. We were in the right time line again.
"That was probably the most riskiest, time wasting, stupidest thing we've ever done." James ran fingers through his hair.
"I wouldn't say it was a waste." Lil bit her lip down.
I grinned.
"Hmm. I suppose not."
"How?" James looked between us confused.
"It's fun to watch your parents fall in love, isn't it?" Lily spoke dreamily.
"Ew." James grimaced and sat on the couch, "Anyway, we now have to figure out, how we attack a black snake without getting bit to death." James huffed.
"I think we are overthinking this. We have to do this, no matter what James." I sighed.
"Yeah, well, unlike you Albus, I'm in no mood of getting anymore of my family killed." James hissed, got up and left the room.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I picked up my bag and ran out after him. Lil followed me out. We stood face to face in the corridor.
"It means that if it hadn't been for you, she wouldn't be there to kill him in the first damned place!"
"Ja-" Lil started but seemed to realize we were in the open, "Jackson!" She hissed.
"Oh, yeah. If you hadn't been such a bloody coward, Mum would be alive by now! But you hid! You let her die alone!" I spat.
"Al, stop!" I could hear Lily's voice growing heavy.
"I hid because she told me to protect you! I can't believe she wanted me to protect you of all people, the person responsible for her and dad's death!"
"Please, stop it." Lil sobbed.
"You are the oldest. You were supposed to stand for her. But you were always busy being such a reckless bloody jokester."
James pulled out his wand.
"Don't you dare blame me for your own mistakes." He spoke in a threat. I pulled mine out.
"I speak what is the truth." I hissed.
"Hey! Hey! What in the Merlin is going on here?" We heard a yell and Dad was running between us. Surprisingly, Mum was right behind him.
Lil broke down and ran into Dad. She wrapped strong arms around him and sobbed in his chest.
"Stop them. Please." She cried.
Harry
I'd just given up on searching for the Porters and headed out of the office, thinking to go home, when I found Ginny standing in my classroom.
"Hey, I thought you went home."
"I did. The kids slept so I thought I'd come see you here."
"Barnsite tell you I wasn't at work."
"Eddie." She snickered.
"Okay. Come on, let's go then." I snickered, raising an arm and she chained hers through mine. As we headed out the class, I watched her admire the corridors, the ancient hallways, the arches. Even I was lost in the memories. Suddenly a small memory of Ron and I running around the corridors, looking for Hermione and the troll in our first came to mind and I snickered. We were an impulsive group. The hidden corners in the walls brought a heat in my face, reminding me how Ginny and I'd stolen so many moments in these corners. We just turned into a corridor when we heard yelling at the end of it.
"Oh, yeah. If you hadn't been such a bloody coward, Mum would be alive by now! But you hid! You let her die alone!" We watched Al yell. Him and Jackson stood facing each other with Jillian staring between them.
"Al, stop it!" Jillian called out. All three seemed oblivious of us walking quietly to them, listening in to their war.
"I hid because she told me to protect you! I can't believe she wanted me to protect you of all people, the person responsible for her and dad's death!" Jackson yelled out. Ginny's hand tightened on my bicep.
"Please, stop it." Jillian sobbed. For some reason, my heart ached for that girl. She seemed torn between her brothers.
"You are the oldest. You were supposed to stand for her. But you were always busy being such a reckless bloody jokester." Al shook his head.
"Don't you dare blame for your own mistakes." Jackson threatened pulling out his wand.
"Oh, no." Ginny whispered and we started walking faster.
"I speak what is the truth." Al pulled out his wand too and I took a jog with Ginny beside me.
"Hey! Hey! What in the Merlin is going on here?" I stood between them. Al and Jackson's wands started lowering but what took me back was when Jillian tackled me with an arm around my waist and a strong hug.
"Stop them, please." She mumbled in my chest.
"What is wrong with the two of you?" It was Ginny who walked in, "Is this how you repay your parents?"
"It's his bloody fault." Jackson cried, "If it weren't for him, they would've never come for them!"
"I didn't mean to. Okay. I never meant to. As much as you say that I hated dad. I never did! I just wanted to be my own person and him to love that! Not what he wished I would be! I didn't mean for him die! I never meant for mum to die!" Al exclaimed in hurt. Ginny gulped, looking back at me.
"Hey. Hey." She looked around, "It was none of your fault. It was a sick monster's fault who sought it to hurt your family. You can't blame each other. Imagine how much it would hurt to see their sacrifice going to waste."
"Stop saying sacrifice!" Jackson yelled at her, "My Mum deserved the world! She was only stuck in a situation she was never meant to be in!" He choked and looked at Al, who wiped his face clean. He walked to Jillian, "Come on, Jillian. I'm sorry, come on." He squeezed her shoulder. She looked up from my chest to my face. It pleaded for help. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to do something? She turned to Jackson, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked away with Al behind them, holding his and Jillian's bags. As they disappeared, Ginny and I could only watch. When Ginny turned around, there were tears in her eyes. I felt my own heart ache. Why did it feel like I was supposed to do something for these three?
Lily
Holding Dad, like that, felt complete. He even held me. He even hugged me back. I felt like his princess again. His special witch. He had a calm in his eyes when I looked up. He grinned at me slightly to stop me from crying but I couldn't stop. I missed that embrace. He was always beside me. He loved me so much because he said that I was his daughter and his only. It was like that in our family. James, Teddy and Albus were completely on mum's side while dad and I on the other. When we were out of their sight, we went back into the room of Requirements. James and Al sat on the couches and looked at me.
"Please don't be mad." I mumbled.
"We're not, Lil." Al shook his head and I sat on the couch beside him, wrapping myself up in the throw. My lips still trembled and more sobbing broke out. I didn't want to cry this much but really how long had we had to grieve for Mum and Dad. I couldn't get their bodies out of my head. I couldn't get Mum's pleading out of my head. I couldn't forget Dad lost at the sight of mum's body and losing his own life at end as well. Because of them, we were alive but really what were we left with. We had so many loving aunts and uncles and godparents but we wanted nothing more than mum and dad. After losing them, we realized that despite the daily arguments or the misbehaving from us, they were our everything.
"You know, he hugged me back." I finally spoke. Al's head snapped up, looking at me.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He smiled at me and hugged me back. I never thought I'd ever have that again." I sniffed.
"We will Lil. We will." James looked at the two of us with a stern eye, "And for that..."
"We need their help." Al added and I gasped.
"What?"
"I think he will be onto us till he settles and we can't have him going back to his aurors and digging up on us. Once that starts, we won't know who to fix and we might mess the timeline beyond repair. We are here to eliminate something that isn't supposed to be here in the first place and we will obliviate them when it's done but we can't risk more people knowing."
"James' right." James added.
"I can't believe this." I shook my head.
"What?"
"You're actually agreeing." I shook my head and Albus hit me with a cushion.
We laughed and then crouched together. Another night in the room of requirements, giving each other comfort and hope that soon, we would get our parents and set every world right.
Next morning, after we got ready, we sat together, planning our day out.