living with them, ginny weasley & the marauders

twenty four

chapter twenty four; clip clop this bitch updated her shitty book after a whole ass year

Clip clop. Clip clop. Clip clop.

Marlene's heels echoed loudly on the cold, concrete paving of the empty Hogwarts halls. The rhythm of her footsteps were considerably faster than usual, and her pace began to increase with her heart rate.

Clip clop. Clip clop. Clip clop.

At this point, she had almost broken into a run.

Clip clop. Clip clop. Clip —

"Marlene!" Ginny's voice sounded from behind, with a slightly annoyed tone.

Marlene stopped abruptly in her tracks and spun around quickly. She hadn't seemed to realise that she was holding her breath, nor did she realise that she had left Ginny a good 20 feet behind.

"Sorry," she sighed, closing her eyes softly as she exhaled a great deal of tension that had been built up inside her. Opening them again to reveal her anxious hazel speckled eyes, she added, "I was just...thinking."

"It's okay, I get it," Ginny nodded sympathetically, as they began to walk again. "I've been thinking a lot lately too. The last three days especially."

"Since you moved to Hogwarts?" Marlene asked.

It seemed like a genuine, down-to-earth conversation, but Ginny knew that Marlene was just trying to pry out as much information as possible. As mad as Ginny was about it, she didn't really mind. She knew that Marlene was just curious, and in all honestly, she would have probably done the same thing in her situation. If anything, Ginny was just frustrated at herself.

"Yeah, I guess," Ginny shrugged vaguely. "I can't believe it's only been three days. I didn't expect to be here this long, nor did I expect any one find out why."

"Well, bad luck for you, because we're here and there's no turning back."

Knowing that this was true, Ginny sighed. "Cockroach clusters."

She turned her back to the stone gargoyle, letting Marlene go up first. Ginny took a moment to centre her thoughts and regain her composure before taking a deep breath and trudging up the stairs behind Marlene.

Marlene was so eager to get inside that she almost forgot to knock on the Headmaster's door until Ginny pulled her up and reminded her. "Oh, yeah, right," Marlene mumbled, raising her fist and making a loud, echoing bang on the wood in front of her.

"Enter!" They heard Dumbledore boom from the other side.

Marlene stomped in eagerly, with no regard for manners. "Sir, I want to know the truth."

"Ah, Miss McKinnon, take a seat," Dumbledore said calmly.

"With all due respect, professor, I don't appreciate being lied to," Marlene looked directly at Ginny as she said this, and then turned back to face her Headmaster. "And I would like to know everything, with no reservations. Why is Ginny lying about her identity, and who is she?"

"Miss McKinnon, while I do appreciate your curiosity and desire to be in the know, you must understand that we cannot tell you everything, and what we speak about in this room, remains between the three of us. Under no circumstances are you allowed to repeat any of this information," Dumbledore said sternly. "We are trusting you. Do we have your word?"

"Yes, sir. I swear."

"Very well then," Dumbledore nodded. "Miss Weasley is the daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley-"

"But don't they only have sons? Who are very young? I don't think it's possible for them to have a daughter as old as Ginny," Marlene expressed her thoughts out loud.

"That's where it gets complicated," Ginny intervened. "You see, I time travelled from the future."

Marlene began to laugh. "You're kidding me, right? You said this wasn't a joke to you—"

"— and it's not, I swear!" Ginny exclaimed. "Ask Professor Dumbledore."

Before Marlene could say anything, Dumbledore spoke up. "It is true, what she's saying. I found it difficult to comprehend myself, but it is not impossible."

"How would that have even have happened?" Marlene asked in disbelief.

"I had a time turner around my neck while I was changing my boyfriend's godson, and the little rascal took my wand," Ginny explained. "I have no idea what he did, but the next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital wing and accidentally kissing James."

Marlene put her fingers on her temples and closed her eyes as if her head was about to explode. "I have so many questions right now," She declared. "First of all, why would you kiss James if you have a boyfriend?"

"It was an accident!" Ginny repeated for what felt like the billionth time. "They pretty much look identical!"

"People don't just look identical! Unless it was one of his relatives?" Marlene paused for a second, realisation dawning on her. "Wait, was it his . . . Galloping Gargoyles! Is your boyfriend James' son?"

Ginny turned her head to look at Dumbledore for permission to tell her. When he nodded, she turned back to Marlene. "Yes, I'm dating James' son," Ginny confessed.

"Oh my Merlin. Wait, who's his wife?" Marlene began to blurt out whatever came to her mind. "Is it Lily? Do they get married and have a family?"

Dumbledore nodded once more, and Ginny sighed. "Yes, but you can't tell anyone, especially not them!"

"I want to know more about that, and believe me, I'll ask you later, but I also really want to know about your boyfriend's godson. Is that who you were talking to McGonagall about?" Marlene spitballed her thoughts. "And what's he got to do with Remus."

"Teddy is Mr Lupin's son," Dumbledore interrupted. "He is only young, so I have asked professor McGonagall to take care of him for the time being, while Ginny attends all of her classes."

"Oh my gosh, who did Remus marry?" Marlene enquired enthusiastically.

"I think it's best to leave a little mystery, don't you?" Dumbledore replied.

"No," Marlene deadpanned. "I want to know. Also, what happens to me in the future? If you know James and Lily, surely you know me."

Ginny hesitated. She had finally remembered why the name 'Marlene McKinnon' sounded so familiar. She had been one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix that Harry had mentioned from the picture that Sirius had given him. Marlene and the rest of her family had been killed by Voldemort himself. Most of the people that Ginny had befriended in the last two days had already died in her time line.

And that's when in hit her that she was sitting in a room with two dead people, and she had no idea how she was going to tell them.