Molly appeared in a remarkably similar version of the Burrow’s kitchen she had just left. A trained eye might notice subtle differences: fewer hands on the clock, different curtains at the window, the absence of certain photos that had been decorating the shelves. Nothing significant, though.

There was a slight movement by the sink: a cup seemed to move on its own several inches to the right. Harry and Ginny , under the Cloak. Molly herself moved to the far corner of the room by the stairs and watched Lily and James, who were standing in the middle of the floor glaring at each other.

“Now look what you did, James!”

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything!”

“You fell into Daddy’s bowl!”

“Did not!”

“Did too! I saw you!”

“Well, nothing happened, we’re still here, right?”

The sound of the twins fighting was not loud enough to be heard over the din of at least ten voices apparently engaged in some kind of celebration outside. Still Disillusioned, Molly quickly Apparated one foot to the left, purposely making as loud a pop as possible. In the yard, silence fell like a blanket.

In the kitchen, Lily and James started at the sound, looking around for the person that should have just appeared, but not seeing anyone. Just then, Lily screamed.

“James!!!! Where’s Daddy’s bowl thing? It’s gone! You made it disappear!”

“Wicked! I can do wandless magic!”

“Don’t be daft, James. You must have broken it!”

“I didn’t! I didn’t break it! I barely touched it!”

“I’m telling! You’re gonna get in trouble!”

Lily looked up at the faces that had begun cautiously appearing in the doorway of the Burrow.

“Grandpa!!! I didn’t do it! James did! Grandma told us not to touch it but he wouldn’t listen!”

Arthur, not the most talkative of the Weasleys on normal occasions, was stunned into silence at the sight and sound of two unfamiliar, and yet strangely familiar, children clamoring around him. He looked up as everyone who had been enjoying a Weasley family dinner outside crowded into the Burrow’s kitchen to see what was going on: his wife, Ron, Harry and Hermione, just finished with their fourth year at Hogwarts, Ginny, just finished with her third, Fred and George, about to start their final year at school, Bill and his new girlfriend Fleur Delacour, Remus Lupin, and even Sirius, who had snuck out of Grimmauld Place for the evening. Most of the assembled group seemed too surprised to do anything but stare, but Lupin, Bill and Harry all looked at each other and slowly drew their wands, watching.

Mrs. Weasley had been staring the hardest at the two children, a look something between confusion, pride, maternal love, and a bit of horror on her face. Apparently it was too much, because she suddenly shook her head and fell over. It was probably a good thing she was temporarily unconscious, as what happened next was enough to have earned her a good fortnight in St. Mungo’s.

“Daddy!!! James did it! Not me! He never listens and now he lost your bowl-thingy you put your brains in and Grandma told him not to touch it and he did anyway and plus he ate both our Chocolate Frogs and then he didn’t want your card and it’s all his fault!”

The beautiful little red-head with bright green eyes said this all very fast while running up to Harry and throwing her arms around his waist, looking up at him anxiously.

Almost simultaneously, the little boy started jumping up and down and screaming himself.

“I didn’t do it! I swear! I didn’t do it! It’s her fault, she pushed me outside and made me break Grandpa’s valcumme swiper and then she took the last chocolate biscuit and wouldn’t give me the extra Frog and I did listen to Grandma, I did, I did, I did!” He looked wildly at the assembled group and ran up to Ginny.

“Mum! She started it! Really she did! And . . . and look! You told her not to wear her white pinnie and she did anyway and now it has chocolate all over it! Remember?? Mum???”

BANG!

A sound like a small bomb went off in the kitchen and both children were suddenly silenced. Black ropes snaked out of Lupin’s wand, wrapping firmly around the girl and the boy so they could not move.

Under the Invisibility Cloak, Ginny gasped .

“Harry, what is he doing? They aren’t supposed to be hurt!”

Harry grabbed Ginny’s arm to keep her still.

“Shhh . I’m sure it’s fine. Give them a second.”

Behind Lupin, Bill had his own wand trained firmly on the two children, who were apparently still yelling, but without making a sound. They didn’t look particularly scared.

Molly had been revived and now turned on Lupin. “Remus! What did you do to those poor children?”

Remus looked serious. “We can’t be sure they are children, Molly. They could be Death Eaters in disguise.”

Harry, his wand dangling in his hand, finally seemed to get over his shock enough to choke out, “One . . . one of them called me dad! I’m not a dad!” He looked at Ginny, as if seeing her for the first time. “And she’s not a mum!!”

Under the cloak, Ginny smirked. “Real quick on the uptake, aren’t you Potter?”

“Hush !” whispered Harry. “I don’t see you saying anything at all.”

Arthur had found his voice as well. “I really can’t see the Death Eaters sending two children to do their dirty work. They don’t even seem to have wands.” He pointed his own at the pair and said “Expelliarmus,” but nothing happened. “See? Unarmed.” He turned to Lupin. “I think it’s safe to let them go so we can ask who they are.”

“Just a second,” muttered Lupin. He pointed his wand again. “Accio Portkeys!”

Again, nothing happened.

“Well, I guess they aren’t planning a quick escape either.” He flicked his wand to raise the silencing spell.

“. . . and Mummy promised to take me to see the Harpies and now she probably won’t and it’s all your fault James!”

“Is not! It was an accident!”

The two children had apparently continued their argument through the silencing spell. They didn’t even seem to notice that they were still bound, and after another second, Lupin shrugged and banished the ropes.

“Okay, you two,” he said loudly, when no one else seemed to know what to say. “We have some questions for you both.”

The children finally looked up at the assembled crowd staring silently at them. Almost as one, they both launched back into their accusations of each other, whining, and cajoling, but after a second, James stopped in surprise, cocking his head at two identical faces in the corner.

“Uncle George!” he cried. “Why are there two of you?”

Under the cloak, Harry swore. “I didn’t think of that!”

George was confused. “What do you mean, two of me? This is Fred.”

James and Lily’s eyes grew wide. “You’re a ghost!!!!”

Now Fred was confused. “What do you mean, I’m a ghost?” He turned to his brother. “How far have we gotten on those daydream charms?”

“Not this far,” answered George.

“Wait!” yelled Hermione, breaking into the fray. “Stop!!! Don’t say anything else!! Don’t you get it??”

Ginny snorted . “We should have guessed she would figure it out first. If it wasn’t for her, this group would be here all night, treating our kids like junior Death Eaters.”

“No, Hermione, we obviously don’t get it," said Ron rather peevishly. "Let me guess, though. There's something written about the sudden appearance of twitchy midgets in Hogwarts, A History.”

“Who added that part?” whispered Harry. “I don’t remember Ron being that obnoxious unless she provoked him.”

“I think it was Hermione,” Ginny whispered back. “She was rather upset with him last week about that whole painting their bedroom fiasco.”

“No, Ronald. Honestly.” Hermione looked at the children. “Professor Lupin, can you set a spell so they can’t hear what we are saying?”

Lupin waved his wand at a plate of cookies sitting on the counter so that it floated over to the table in front of Lily and James. The two grinned and dove right in, not even seeming to notice the buzzing sound that suddenly filled their ears.

Lupin smiled apologetically. “I figured I would give them something to do. Now, why don’t you tell everyone what’s going on, Hermione?” He gave her a pointed look that said he had already figured it out.

“Okay. I think . . . no, I’m almost positive, that those two children have arrived here by traveling from some time in the future.” She took a deep breath. “And, I think they actually might be Harry and Ginny’s children.” She looked at both of them, a somewhat hesitant look on her face.

“What?!?!?! ” Both Harry and Ginny yelled simultaneously.

“All right, Harry! Good job!” cried Sirius, as Lupin gave him a look.

“It can’t . . . they can’t . .. I swear I didn’t . . .” Harry was looking wildly around, first at the children, then at Ginny, and then at her brothers and father.

“Mr. Weasley . . . Bill, Fred, George, you’ve got to believe me. I swear, I never touched her. Really!” He turned to Ron. “Ron, I promise, I didn’t do anything! She’s just a kid — she’s like my little sister, really!”

“Hey!” Ginny had finally found her voice. “I am not a kid, I’m only a year younger than you, Harry! And no one’s saying we’ve done anything now . I think what Hermione means is that eventually, in the future, you and I . . .”

The implications of what she was stating must have finally hit her because Ginny suddenly trailed off and looked at Harry with a horrified expression, her face turning beet red. It had been a couple of years since her crush on him had sent her flying out of the room whenever Harry spoke to her, but obviously the thought of being intimate enough with him to produce children was still quite embarrassing.

“What are we going to do?” Ron spoke urgently. “I mean, can’t time travel totally mess up things in the future?”

“Exactly,” said Hermione tersely. “Their being here could interfere with their own existence, not to mention telling us things about our futures that we are not meant to know.”

“And they are too young to know how to keep their mouths shut,” interrupted Molly. “The little dears. Oh Ginny, she looks just like you! With Harry’s eyes! And he is just a perfect miniature Harry!” Another minute and it was clear she was going to swoop down on her future grandchildren and start hugging.

“Not helping, Mum!” said Ginny through tight lips. “Can’t we keep them out of the way until we figure out how to send them back? You know, before they say anything they shouldn’t.”

“They’ve said things already,” said Harry quietly. “Did you hear? Something about my Chocolate Frog card and Fred being a ghost.”

Silence, as everyone tried very hard not to look at Fred.

He broke the tension himself. “Well then, you definitely know what this means, don’t you?” He waggled his eyebrows at George and then the rest of the family. “I need to make a will and go find a girl to snog!” He grinned and bounded up the stairs to his room, talking under his breath. “I wonder what Angelina’s doing this summer? . . .”

“Better go help him,” George muttered. As he mounted the stairs, he turned back for a moment. “I . . . I know you can’t ask them too much, but . . . if there’s a way to find out . . . when, well, you know . . .” He didn’t say anything else, but disappeared after his brother.

“Fred seems awfully content about his upcoming demise, don’t you think?” asked Harry.

“George put in memories for both of them. I think that’s how he likes to remember Fred, you know?”

Harry squeezed Ginny’s hand. “I do know. Now let’s hope they figure out what to do with the kids soon. I want to win my bet and get out of here.”

“In your dreams, Potter.”

“Well, yes, we kind of are.”

Lupin was speaking again. “ . . . something about a ‘bowl-thingy’, did anyone else hear that?”

“I did,” said Harry. “The girl said something about her dad . ..” Harry swallowed hard. “I mean, me, I guess, putting his brains in it . . . Do you think she meant a Pensieve?”

“A what?” Ron and Hermione both looked confused, but the adults were all nodding.

“A place to store memories,” explained Sirius. “You can remove them temporarily from your head and put them in the Pensieve — a magical stone basin— to review, or to show others.” He shook his head at Lupin. “They can’t be talking about a Pensieve. Viewers can’t interact with the memories, only observe them.”

“Maybe not now, but it could be possible in the future.” George and Fred had reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, both looking serious, but rather interested in the discussion.

“It’s similar in theory to a product . . . I mean, an experiment of ours,” said Fred. “We’re working on creating an interactive daydream spell — pick the scene and say the incantation and you will enter a ‘top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average student school lesson and virtually undetectable.’” Fred’s voice had taken on an announcer-like quality and Molly looked at him and George suspiciously. They smiled back at her, the picture of innocence.

“Exactly,” said George, picking up the thread of his twin’s speech. “It shouldn’t be much more difficult to incorporate real memories with the interactive charm. The applications could be quite interesting, don’t you think?” He looked quizzically at Fred, who gave him a thoughtful nod.

“George really was quite brilliant to figure all that out on his own after Fred died, ” whispered Harry. “Even if it did take him over ten years.”

“It would have definitely been quicker with Fred to help,” agreed Ginny. “But I think working on it went along way towards helping him recover.”

“So, if the kids did get here through a Pensieve, does that mean we are all just someone’s memories?” Ginny asked, frowning a bit.

“It would seem so,” said Lupin. “Although, given the modifications that would have to have been made to the Pensieve, I can’t say for certain. And it’s certainly hard to believe from this end. I mean, I think we all feel pretty real. The question is, who let a couple of young children get inside a memory-filled Pensieve in the first place? It seems kind of irresponsible to me.”

Under the cloak, Harry had to put his hand over Ginny’s mouth .

“Hmmph,” said Molly. “No one let them into the Pensieve.” She looked pointedly at everyone in the room. “If what you are all saying is true, then those two adorable children are half-Weasley. And, if I’m not mistaken, they are half-Weasley twins . Obviously, they found their way into the Pensieve themselves. I would expect nothing less from a couple of my grandchildren.” She looked at Harry and Ginny and smiled. “I’m sure you are both doing the best you can with them.”

Harry looked horrified. Ginny groaned. “Mum!”

“So how long do you think they’re stuck here?” Ron asked.

“As long as the memory lasts, I suppose,” replied Lupin. “And we have no idea how long that will be.”

“Well then, it’s clear what we have to do,” said Molly briskly. “Take off the charm, Remus. They’ve just about finished the cookies and will be looking for their parents soon. That means you two,” she said, nodding at Harry and Ginny.

“What?”

“I think that’s right,” said Hermione suddenly. It was clear that she had been thinking about the problem ever since the Pensieve had been explained to her. “They can’t hurt the future because we are all just memories of things that have already happened. But we can’t let them know that, it could upset them, or even have long-lasting emotional consequences for when they return to their time.”

Harry snorted. “Not likely,” he muttered to Ginny. “If only they knew that these are the same twins that got hold of some Floo powder and managed to get themselves to half the stores in Diagon Alley before they were found, no one would be so concerned about any ‘long-lasting emotional consequences.’ I would be more worried about the twins’ effect on the rest of them — and they’re only memories.”

“That ’s the point of this, remember?” said Ginny. “Let’s see how much they can act up.”

“So, what exactly does this mean for me and Ginny?” Harry was clearly trying to get his head around everything.

“It means you have to pretend to be their parents,” said Lupin.

“Convincing ly,” added Hermione.

“Lovingly,” inserted Molly.

“Firmly,” stated Fred.

“Authoritatively,” nodded George.

“This, I’ve got to see,” smirked Ron. “Ouch, Hermione, that was my foot!”

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they found Ginny, who looked as nervous as he did. She shrugged at him. “What choice do we have? It’s not like we’re going to remember this anyway.”

“No,” said Harry. “But they will. And I guess some older selves of us will too.” They stared at each other for a long minute. The unspoken lay between them: their future.