Blinking a few times in confusion, I finally got off the bed and ran downstairs to open the door to the house as I was told. But the moment I did so, my eyes widened in surprise when I saw the person behind it.
"Hey, Kiddo!"
"Sirius!" I gasped and then leaped forward, hugging him. I quickly pulled away, staring at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited, of course." He winked at me, making me chuckle. I still couldn't believe he was here.
"Hello, brother." Turning around, we saw my dad walking down the stairs and into the living room.
But before Sirius could greet him, our attention was caught by the sound of footsteps coming downstairs.
"Who was it?" We heard my mother's voice say.
But the moment she stepped down and saw Sirius standing by the door, her eyes widened in shock, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"S-sirius?" she said in a hollow voice after a few seconds of staring at him, frozen on the spot.
"Surprise!" said Sirius, grinning handsomely.
"But — how — when —" she then turned to face my dad, but then looked at me in horror.
By what Dad had told me, my mother knew about the Wizarding world and about Sirius. But of course she still thought I was unaware of the whole thing. But then again, she still had no idea that I was sent to the past either.
"It's okay, Mum. I know," I said, but she went even paler at those words.
"I'll explain everything to you tomorrow, Lisa, I promise," said Dad, smiling. "But we have a guest now. It's rude to keep him waiting."
"My thoughts exactly!" said Sirius cheerfully, walking in and looking around with amusement.
"I — I'll go set the dinner table," Mum muttered, going to the kitchen to cope with her shock alone and probably to try and calm herself down.
"It's a good place you've got here, Reg," said Sirius, gazing around the house. "Never knew you had it in you."
When we were in the dining room for dinner, none of us really said anything as we ate our food. Mum was still trying to get over her shock and seemed at loss for words. But what seemed to surprise her more than Sirius showing up out of nowhere, was how I knew all about him.
"So, Sirius," she started, clearing her throat to break the awkward silence, "what are you up to these days? I don't think I've seen you in... years."
"Oh, I'm an Auror," said Sirius, smiling proudly. But when he caught her staring at him in confusion, he said, "It's like Muggle police or investigators, only cooler." He chuckled at his own joke before clearing his throat. "So how about you two?"
"Well, I'm an art collector, and Roger here is a businessman," said Mum.
"Lisa, honey," Dad started quietly, leaning toward her, "Lexi knows my real name."
"What!?" Mum shook her head as if this was all a dream, but then turned to glare at Dad. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to tell her!?"
"I-I'll explain everything later," said Dad, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He looked slightly scared of Mum at the moment, but I didn't really blame him, yet I was sniggering all the same.
Mum sighed, getting up to her feet. "I'll go bring the dessert." And with that, she went back to the kitchen, again to probably try to calm her messed up thoughts.
"I've got you something, by the way," said Sirius, grabbing my attention. He then dug into his coat's inner pocket and to my surprise, took out a necklace.
It was the same necklace that he had given to me on my fifteenth birthday. The one that my mother had given him years ago, when they were kids. I had given it to Fred for safe-keeping before passing the portal.
"Woah! Thank you!" I said, looking down at it as I held it in my hand.
"Oh, and something else..." with that, he took out my own wand out of his coat, handing it to me. I took it from him with the broadest smile on my face.
"I've got to admit," Dad started, grinning, "I was kinda disappointed when I heard you weren't in my Hogwarts House. I always thought you were the perfect fit for a Slytherin."
"Oh, please," Sirius scoffed smugly, "she's a Gryffindor all through and through."
"Okay, not to break your weird brother bond," I said, shaking my head, "but can someone explain what's going on here? What are you really doing here, Sirius? Up until last year, you and Dad hadn't even seen each other, as far as I can remember!"
My father and Sirius shared a look before they finally turned to face me.
"I sent Sirius an owl a few hours ago, asking him to meet up. It truly had been a long time," Dad explained, but then he grinned, saying, "And in the response letter, he told me a little about what you've been up to all those years..."
I blushed, knowing that Sirius had probably told my dad in the letter that Fred and I were dating. But then I shook my head, having more important matters to discuss.
"How did you manage to send me back in time, anyway?" I asked him curiously.
"Time is a curious thing, Lexi... very complex and difficult to understand... but I already knew that time works like a cycle, and that a small change in time can change every ultimate timeline. So if I wanted to save Sirius, I had to send you back in time. So throughout the last week, I had gone away to research on how to open a portal to the past."
"Yeah, I remember you saying that you were going on a business trip," I muttered in disbelief.
"It wasn't an easy task, that much I can tell you," said Regulus. "But I finally managed to open the portal on September first, and send you back in time through the barrier between platform 9 and 10, in King's Cross station."
"But what were the chances that Kiara would suggest a trip to King's Cross station?" I said, only to see that the two men suddenly shifted in their seats awkwardly.
"It — it wasn't really luck," said Sirius. "Regulus Confunded her the previous night to make her think it was her idea to suggest the trip, and he made her challenge you to run toward the wall. The portal was magical, meaning that it would've attracted you toward it if only someone gave you the motivation."
I felt like my head was going to burst from its ache any moment now. I felt confused. There was still many things that didn't make any sense.
But then it suddenly hit me.
"Yes, now I understand!" I blurted out. "J.K Rowling wrote the books off what she had seen in my head with her Legilimency powers! Because when she looked into my mind, she saw that in order to have the most success in the future, she had to write the story the original way! This all makes sense now!"
But then I fell silent, smiling as I realized something. If this was a time-loop and events kept repeating themselves the same way in different timelines, this could only mean one thing...
"Fred and the others were never meant to die," I whispered, mostly to myself. "None of this was a mistake."