Later that night, Victoire and Teddy decided they would leave again. Teddy had been healed up all well and good by the miracle work of Madam Pomfrey.
But they still felt uneasy. Dumbledore had been a failure. During their conversation after the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Teddy and Victoire had told him the exact conditions of his death. Down to the horcrux ring, the cave, the poison potion, and the spell that ultimately ended it. Dumbledore was a smart guy. He would have known how to stop that situation from happening. But he didn't. And they had been too late to do anything about it themselves.
All they could do was look for the future. Or... the past. Just slightly less in the past.
They cast the spell and they were off. They arrived in 1998 in the little, rundown bar, known as the Hogs Head. They were greeted by wands. Four wands, all pointed at their heads. They quickly raised their hands and turned to face the attackers. Two of the wands dropped quickly.
"Oh!" Hermione and Ron said immediately. The other two people were Harry and Aberforth Dumbledore. They didn't lower their wands so quickly.
"Harry, it ok, it's me Vic and Teddy." Victoire tried to assure him. This only seemed to make him more suspicious.
"How do I know?" Harry demanded. Ron tried to tell him he was being ridiculous but Hermione realized he had a point and raised her wand again. "Even if I do know it is you, how do I know you're on our side? You have only shown up just in time for someone to die. So tell me, who dies this time?"
"Over 50 people." Teddy muttered ominously. "We are here because people that we care about die. And we just want to save three of them."
Harry didn't say anything for a moment. He didn't understand.
"We're wasting precious time." Vic stated. "We must go soon."
"Go where? What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"The war ends today," Teddy said, "with a battle bigger than any you've fought before."
"Harry please," Vic begged "We're just trying to help..."
"How can I trust you? You've lied before! You weren't born in 1960!"
"No, I wasn't." Teddy said. "I was on April 18th, 1989. I grew up an orphan after only having parents for 2 weeks. After that I was raised by my maternal grandmother until her passing in 2015. After that I lived with my godfather until my disappearance in September 2015."
"What on earth are you blabbering on about, mate?" Ron demanded. He raised his wand again as well.
"We're time travellers." Teddy said "My birth name is Edward Remus Lupin, named after my maternal grandfather, who passed only weeks before my birth, and my father, who passed only weeks after. This is Vic. Full name: Victoire Appoline Weasley. Named for the victory of the Battle that took place on her date of birth and for her maternal grandmother."
"Harry, please." Vic said "We only lied because we wanted to protect you, but this is bigger than all of us!"
Slowly, and all at once, the four opposers lowered their wands. Aberforth was a little more reluctant but followed in the other three's actions.
"Where to we go from here, then. If you know how everything plays out." Harry asked in accusation.
"To Hogwarts, of course." Vic smiled. "Aberforth? If you please." With a gruff nod, the ageing man walked towards the painting of his dear younger sister.
"You know what to do." He said. Arianna smiled and turned. She walked deeper into the background of the painting. She returned after only a moment, this time with another figure in tow. Neville smiled a toothy smile as the painting swung open once Arianna had returned to her original position.
"Let's go." He held out his hand.
(A/N: Happy Tuesday to y'all. Who's ready for the Battle of Hogwarts? -Jul)