Padfoot's Weakness - HP / Marauders time travel

12: Father Knows Best

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1976

James Potter's Third Person PoV

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The first thing that crossed his mind when he read "Renley Lane/Henrietta Potter" was 'holy shit I broke the map'. But then he started putting the puzzle pieces together.

Renley was obviously not from here. She appeared out of nowhere, falling from the sky, and landed completely unharmed. She seemed to recognize the Marauders within a minute or two after awaking, and had a good reaction to them. Then she privately spoke with Dumbledore, and suddenly, she has a name. She seems to know a lot of their secrets, and gets along quite well with the Marauders and Lily.

"I'm not from here." Yeah, you don't say.

James immediately stopped in his tracks, glancing up from the Map. With a split second of hesitation, he cursed to himself and made a U-turn.

'Time to meet Henrietta.'

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1976

Renley/Henrietta's PoV

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I lazily traced the deep gashes on the walls of the Shrieking Shack, trying to clear my head. The memories of meeting Sirius for the first time flooded through my mind, along with the memory of discovering his innocence.

I perk up when I hear footsteps, eyes widening in panic. I quickly get to my feet, wand aimed at the Shrieking Shack's secret entrance. A small glow came from behind the door, signaling the intruder was using a light charm.

When the trespasser entered the Shrieking Shack, I sighed and lowered my wand. It was James.

"I'm not ready to see Sirius," I grumbled.

"That's not what I'm here about," James replied. "Who are you?"

I paused, eyes narrowing as he raised a familiar piece of parchment. The same parchment that Fred and George Weasley had given to Harry and me in our third year. The Marauders Map.

And it read my two identities in the Shrieking Shack.

"I-I--" I spluttered, eyes widening. Oh shit, what do I say? How do I explain this?

"Renley--or, Henrietta?" James frowned. "Do I call you Henrietta?"

"Um, I guess you can in private," I answered, fidgeting slightly. "If you want an explanation, it's a long story."

"Then go ahead," he shrugged, plopping down on the wooden floor. I hesitantly sat in front of him, tucking my wand back into my robes.

"Well... I'm a time traveler," I confessed. "My real name is Henrietta Potter, as you now know. Um, I'm your daughter."

Silence reigned over the Shack. James blinked in surprise, eyebrows raising, then drawing back together. "How is that possible? I've heard of time-turners, but they can only take you back by a couple hours at the most."

"It was an accident," I sighed. "I was helping someone escape Aurors, because he's innocent, but... I was hit by an unknown spell. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to four young but familiar faces."

James nodded, eyes glazed over in thought. "So... what year are you from?"

"1997," I answered.

"What's it like?" he asked almost hesitantly.

"Difficult," I admitted. "There's a huge war going on. My twin brother and I are apparently important parts of it."

"I have two kids?" James gasped. "Awesome! Wait, who do I marry?"

I chuckled at his excitement. "I don't think I should say."

"Aw, come on! You're getting my hopes up for nothing!" James pouted. "Fine. How are Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter?"

I winced. "I shouldn't say anything."

James' expression darkened. "Does something happen to them?" he queries softly.

"Yeah," I breathed out. "But I'm close to Remus and Sirius."

"Really?" His expression turned to one of shock. "Damn, it must be reallyyyy awkward falling for this Sirius."

I huffed. "Who says I've fallen for him?"

"Uh, it's pretty obvious," he chuckled. "Same Patronus, you're always staring at him when he's not looking. Not to mention you always seem to say no when he asks you on a date, but it's obvious you want to say yes."

"Ugh, well at least I have a good reason to say no," I mumbled.

"And what's that?"

"He's my godfather in the future!" I exclaimed. "How am I supposed to say yes to a date with him, when I could return to the future any day now? How will my-time Sirius react?"

James blinked. "I made him your godfather? Nice!"

I growled.

"Fine, fine. Look, I have a question. So, how does this time thing work? Was the future already affected before you came back?" he asked. I nodded. "Then how come Sirius didn't recognize you?"

"I dyed my hair before my fifth year," I responded. "Before I did, I had natural brown-black hair."

"Right," he hummed. "So did he recognize you any time before you came here?"

I bit my lip. "Well, sort of. I was in the Forbidden Forest--"

"You WHAT?"

"Shut it, Dad," I snapped. He chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "Anyways, I was walking around, and suddenly he comes over as Padfoot and... he recognizes me as Renley. But when he asks for Ren, I didn't know anything about it."

The brunet pauses, frowning thoughtfully. "So... he still loves you in 1997?"

"I think so...."

"Well there's the answer to your problems!" James beamed. "If he still loves you after however many years--"

"Fourteen."

"--after fourteen years," James corrects himself, "then he shouldn't care if you're his time traveling goddaughter. I mean, it's not like you guys are blood-related or anything."

I frowned, taking in his words. He has a point. But what if Sirius is back in 1997 and doesn't love me anymore? It's probably heartbreaking for him too.

"Okay," I sigh. "So what do I do?"

James smirked. "Walk in there like you own the place and work it."

"You are so weird," I laughed. "I'm pretty sure any other dad would have disapproved all of this."

"Then it's official: I'm the best dad ever!" the brunet proclaimed. "Now c'mon, it's about time you stopped sulking."

"I don't sulk!" I gasped dramatically. "I mope, okay?"

James snorted, leading the way out of the Shrieking Shack with me following after him.

"Oh yes, because there's totally a difference."

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