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Author: Rosebeth Story: Four in Time Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 5 Words: 20,326
Moments later the elf returned and led them back through the dimly lit hallways and upstairs. They were shown to two rooms that were almost identical. The girls' room was done in a pale rose color. Centered on the far wall was a large bed with lots of pillows and blankets, framing the bed were windows similar to those in Gryffindor's study. Opposite the foot of the bed were two oversized chairs. Along the same wall as the door was a room screen that provided a private dressing area and a table with a washbasin, soap and several towels. Laid out on the bed were nightclothes and dressing gowns. The boys' room was a mirror image, except that the bedding and furniture were done in deep reds. They were told they would be summoned for breakfast and left alone. Harry and James sat in the chairs in their room facing each other. "Alright, Harry you wanted to talk." "I do. It's just a matter of knowing how to tell you without revealing too much information." There was a knock at the door and Lily poked her head in. "Can we come in?" "Of course," James answered while standing and offering his hand. Lily and Ginny came in the room and closed the door behind them. The two couples curled up on the chairs. A silence settled in around them for a few minutes. "Harry?" Ginny asked softly. "Hmm." She was nervous about her question, but the curiosity was just getting the best of her. She squeezed his hand and he turned to face her. "Harry, I have to know. What did you mean by a promise of marriage?" Harry groaned. "Well, Ginny," Harry paused. "Over the Christmas break I asked your father for his blessing to marry you." Ginny and Lily giggled. "Oh, Harry that's so sweet." "You know, Lils, I spoke to your father too." James said coming to Harry's defense. The girls stopped giggling. "Don't you think we're kind of young? I mean I still have a year of school left." "Ginny, I talked to your father, but I have no intention of proposing unless I survive everything that's going on." "Harry," Lily started, "why are you waiting? I understand that you would want to wait until Ginny finishes school, but . . ." "But how could I do that to her? Get myself killed after proposing marriage!?" "Harry." Ginny said softly while gently putting her hand on his face and turning him to look at her. "Gin." "No, Harry. Me." Harry closed his eyes. "After all this time I'm surprised you still don't understand. If you die then my heart will break and a piece of me will die too. But Harry, this will happen whether I'm your wife, fiancee, girlfriend or even if you decided to end things and never speak to me again. If I were to die then you would feel the same, wouldn't you?" Harry opened his eyes and locked his gaze with Ginny's deep brown ones. He hung his head and nodded. She gave him a soft kiss on his forehead. In an attempt to lighten the mood, "So, Harry, do my brothers know of this?" "Ron does." "Just Ron?" "How many brothers do you have Ginny?" James asked. "Six. All older." James laughed a strong hearty laugh. "Oh, Harry, you really are a Gryffindor aren't you?" he asked still laughing. "So, why only Ron?" "Well, you know your brothers." "Don't tell me the Great Harry Potter is afraid of my brothers." Ginny laughed. "Ginny!" She didn't understand why he just yelled at her. She gave him a puzzled expression to which he answered by looking straight at her and widening his eyes. She paused and replayed the conversation in her head. "Oh, not again. I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms and around her and held her tightly. "What did you do that you are the Great Harry Potter?" "I didn't do anything, you did. All I can say is that you'll know when you do it." The four sat silently for a few minutes before James snickered. "Six older brothers." James just started laughing in earnest again. "I'm glad you're finding this so funny." Harry said clearly annoyed, and James stopped laughing. "So how did you two get here?" Lily started, "Well, we were. . ." **** Lily and James, as head girl and boy, were required to assist with patrols, looking for students out of bounds. This task had been made much simpler with the use of the Marauder's Map. They could easily find who was out and would spend the rest of their time together talking. It was during these evenings where they formed a friendship and later fell in love. On Monday, April 24, 1978 James and Lily had been patrolling the castle halls since ten o'clock. It was a quiet night, as no one else was out. James was ready to quit for the night at eleven, but Lily insisted they finish their shift at midnight. "Come on Lils, I'm really tired and no one is out." "Sorry James, but you set this schedule. You should have looked at the lunar charts first." James said nothing. What could he say, she was right. He had spent the entire previous night out with Remus, Peter and Sirius because of the full moon. To make matters worse they had to endure the morning of double potions with the Slytherins. They walked aimlessly about the castle in a comfortable silence. After a bit, James reached out and took Lily's hand. She looked at him and smiled. It was nearly midnight, and they were almost to the kitchens when to James' displeasure they found someone wondering the halls. Peeves. James hung his head and muttered something Lily couldn't make out. He pulled her hand and tried to lead her quickly back to Gryffindor tower. "Oh, Potter you Rotter where are your freaky friends, Loony Lupin and the Nasty Black?" Peeves screamed as loud as he could. They quickened their pace attempting to get away from Peeves. Luck was not with them, and Peeves continued his taunt. "Potter, Potter you and your nasty friends are evil tricksters!" "Run Lily!" James shouted and they took off at a full run. It was a good thing they did because just then Peeves threw his first dungbomb. They ran straight for Gryffindor tower, with Peeves closely following while taunting him and throwing dungbombs. At the one armed suit of armor, James pulled Lily left instead of right and took her away from the tower. They ran on not quite sure of where they were but didn't want to stop with Peeves right on their heels. "Oh, Potter you Rotter! You nasty trickster!" After several minutes of running, they came across a tapestry of a griffin. They pulled it away from the wall finding a door behind it. Without hesitation they flung open the door and went through. ***** "The next thing we heard was you asking if we were alright." Lily finished. Harry laughed. It wasn't his intention to laugh, and he certainly didn't want to be rude to the parents he had just met. He couldn't help it. He laughed so hard that tears ran down his face and his sides ached. Ginny had to stand up. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Harry!" He looked at her and then at his parents' shocked expressions and calmed himself down. He held his hand out to Ginny, who took it and rejoined him on the chair. Taking a deep breath he turned to his parents. "I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to lose control like that, but I just couldn't help it." "What was so amazing?" James asked trying to sound parental. "Peeves actually." Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulder and held her tight against him. "In my second year, Peeves taunted me with a similar rhyme. I'm just glad he didn't make it up for me." He looked at Ginny, and she smiled warmly at him. "Oh, no." James laughed. "I wasn't the first Potter to be taunted by Peeves, and you probably won't be the last." Harry felt saddened by this. What if he was the last Potter? He said nothing and hoped that his sadness didn't appear on his face. Ginny leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. He flushed red, and his parents laughed. "Actually there are some other parts of your story that sound very similar." A/N: The disclaimer from the prologue still applies. My continued thanks to Cliodne for her awesome beta work and to all my readers and reviewers. Also, I checked the calendar. There was a full moon on April 23, 1978 and the days of the week are correct.
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