Lion Heart³ | James Potter

epilogue

13th of May, Tuesday, 1997

(The Dog Days Are Over//Florence + The Machine)

Marly patted her chest where she'd just rebuttoned her shirt, looking around in confusion. She fixed her tie under the collar as she glanced to Harry for help.

"I had a bra," she mumbled, lifting a pillow off of Harry's bed. Harry put his glasses back on and looked around the messy floor of his dorm with her, not seeing anything. "Good luck with that," he snorted as she kneeled on the floor to feel under his bed. 

As she stood, she tripped over Dean's quidditch gear and knocked something hard off the floor. She lifted the robes, seeing a floorboard had come loose. "Why have I never seen this before?" she said excitedly, tossing Dean's gear aside kneeling on the floor again, pulling the floorboard away completely. Harry furrowed his brows, joining her side.

"Why have I never seen that before?" She swatted his hand away as she pulled out a photograph covered in dust, a piled of paper under it. She blew on the picture on top, freezing completely as she saw the image smiling back at her. 

Her dads standing beside their three best friends in the snow-covered veranda she immediately as the back-deck as Potter Mansion. "That's my mum," Harry whispered almost inaudibly, watching in delight as Andrea Potter jumped onto Remus Lupin's back, Sirius on top of her, knocking them all into the snow on the ground. 

Marly squeezed his knee. "This was probably their dorm. Back in the day." Harry looked around the wall he'd had as his second-home for the past six years, picturing his dad and his closest friends all running around in here, doing too much tomfoolery for McGonagall's liking, his mother joining in.

Marly passed the picture to him and pulled out the other pieces of paper in the hidden hole. She scoffed under her breath as she recognised her father's writing on a very yellowed post-it note.

You're eyes are sapphires
Your teeth are pearls
Your skin is gold
Your hair is silk
I love it when you turn into the beast.

"Gross," Marly shuddered as she realised who the poem was about. Harry sniggered, reading it himself and earning a very hard punch to the arm. It wasn't always her fault, Marly would defend, though. She didn't know her own strength most of the time. "I can't believe they lived here. All of them. That's just amaz-"

"HELP!" Marly quickly put everything back where they found it as the door to the dorm burst open, Ron storming inside and trying to slam the door shut before Hermione could follow him. Which he failed to do. "Get back here you toerag! It's not a toy!" she yelled, shoving the door open and storming after Ron, who dived in behind Marly and used her as a human shield.

"I don't think it's a toy! Which is why I need it. Slughorn's gonna fail me, I can't handle it. I need to fix that pop quiz!" 

Marly caught on as she saw the Time-Turner dangling from Ron's hand. She sent him an impressed smile before turning back to Hermione in front of them. 

The Gryffindor girl crossed her arms, a look on her face only McGonagall could outdo. Marly stepped aside, giving Hermione accsess to Ron. Just as the shorter girl stormed forward, Marly turned, catching the Time-Turner Ron tossed her. "Would you two quit it!"

"Sorry, Granger! Can't here you!" Marly laughed, jumping onto Seamus' bed to dodge her, tossing the Time-Turner back to Ron. 

"Honestly, how old are you?!" she grumbled, trying to reach Ron's hand as he stretched to his full height, holding the Time-Turner out of her reach. Marly, the only friend who was close to Ron's height, grabbed the Time-Turner back, trying to see what they needed to do to get back in time.