Albus Potter and the Journey Through Time

A Night Out in Muggle London

Hey guys! I'm so, so sorry about the long wait, but Albus Potter and the Journey Through Time is finally back! I'm so thankful for everyone's patience. I hope you enjoy this new chapter I cooked up. It feels good to be back. Really, REALLY good.

Also, my Google Doc for this story has reached OVER 100 pages. Wow.

Two long, fun-filled months had passed.

During those two months, Albus and James were always hard at work with all their subjects, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration (Sirius's best subjects). Sirius was a skilled dueler before he was wrongfully arrested, so he was definitely overqualified to teach the boys good defensive spells and dueling tactics. Looking at Sirius's skills and comparing them with Snape's, Albus reckoned that Snape would've made a great Auror, had he not been drawn to the Dark. The brothers also helped Sirius to repair his relationship with Kreacher. Now, instead of maggots, they were being served things like steak and kidney pie or chicken roast. If they were lucky, they were even served baked or grilled fish. Sirius even gave Kreacher some Indian recipes he found in the Muggle world one day to spice up the variety of their food (Albus chuckled when he saw that exchange; it seemed that the British Muggles weren't the only ones obsessed with vindaloo). The house was also cleaner and less dusty, and all the cobwebs and grime were gone. Every Sunday, they received visits from Snape for the purpose of noting down the boys' progress. He also reported his own progress with the Time-Turner. So far, Snape wasn't making much, and that worried the boys to no end. After sensing the brothers' worry, Sirius (after obviously swallowing his pride) told them that Snape was trying, and he had a good feeling that the spy would succeed.

"He did go around inventing curses, and he was quite the Potions prodigy, if I'm not mistaken. He also hung around your grandmother quite a bit, and she was a Charms prodigy," Sirius said. While James looked confused, Albus simply smiled. "As much as it pains me to say this, I think Snape can do it," he added. Hearing these words made Albus grin widely. There is hope for Sirius yet, he thought. I'll be able to get him to put his grudge to the side soon enough.

Sirius, taking the boys' situation seriously, set up a bedtime for his wards (to the boys' mutual, wholehearted dismay) soon after Snape's first visit. He explained to them that, for certain periods of time, Remus Lupin would come to stay, and he couldn't risk his friend finding out about the time travelers. At this, James and Albus paled, but Sirius assured them laughingly that Remus was usually away on werewolf missions, so they wouldn't have to worry.

"But then why the bedtime?" Albus asked inquisitively. "Wouldn't it be unnecessary if Mr. Lupin was away for so long?"

Sirius smiled, told him that it was okay to refer to his friend as "Remus," and complimented the Slytherin's Ravenclaw thinking. Then, he answered that it was better to instill a habit than have an irregular schedule. James laughed at Sirius's comment about his brother and ribbed Albus about how he was actually right about his inner Ravenclaw; Albus blushed furiously. Sirius ended their discussion by saying that he expected the boys to go up at 9:45 and be asleep by 10:00, since Remus would usually return from his missions by 10:30 or 11:00. The boys snickered at Snape's reaction during his subsequent visit after he learned of the Animagus's sense of responsibility, but they were oblivious to the fact that Snape actually saw Sirius as a man-child. What they weren't oblivious to was that, overall, Sirius proved himself to be a pretty fun, decent guy to be around. The boys also knew that, when the time came, Sirius would be there to protect them, no matter what.

Sirius also went ahead and told the boys about his friends, the Marauders. Sirius explained that they never really referred to themselves as such, but it just kind of stuck with other people after they named their special map, the Marauder's Map. He also regretfully told the brothers about how the friends grew apart after they graduated: James and Albus's grandparents married and lived off of their grandfather's parents' inheritance. Sirius lived with the original James since the former's family disowned him and he had nowhere else to go. Remus found it difficult to hold down a job due to his lycanthropy status, and he could never hold down a job for more than a month. Sirius said that he didn't really know what happened to Peter, but all four of them eventually ended up joining the Order of the Phoenix. The boys also learned how Sirius even came to suspect his old friend since he was a werewolf, and no one really knew that it was Peter who defected until it was far too late, in 1994. The boys each gave Sirius a tight hug after that tearful tale. Albus hugged his great-godfather harder as he remembered Snape's tragic story.