It Had To Be This Way

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"Hey, listen . . . ."

Future-Quinn turned away from the red workshop door to face Quinn and gazed at his younger self for a moment and a half before he ended up sighing. Future-Quinn stepped back behind the office desk and re-seated himself on the transfigured barstool.

"Here I thought you were skirting around the topic because you understood the situation and my predicament," a wry smile curled upon his lips. "Even though I know what you're about to ask me, go ahead and say it."

Quinn smiled bitterly. He didn't want to bring this up— as future-Quinn had said, the circumstance didn't make it easier for him(future-Quinn) to answer the questions.

"Can you help me with the curse," he asked.

"Ah yes, the curse; it has been a long-long while since I've heard or thought about that," future-Quinn breathed out, his eyes taking over a faraway look. "I know you won't believe me because I wouldn't believe me, but the best thing you can do here is to help yourself— there's no running away from the curse. We both know better than anyone else that dealing with the Sin curse is the last thing we want to do . . . ever. But the reality of the situation is that the day you dove back into the Sin Vault, you made this fight a solitary one, at least in this stage of the battle."

"You really can't help me? Is the curse bad enough that even YOU can't help me? I'm confident that by your age, I would be much better than Soul magic than Mr. Alan is right now."

"I left Alan in the dust in Soul magic ages ago, kid," said future-Quinn, scoffing. "And yes, I've enough skill that I can make the Sin curse go away from your life, but I can't do it right now— it'd take some time for me to work with you to get it out of your soulscape— it's stuck in there like a parasite, growing its hold upon you.

But as it is clear here, I can't stay here for the time required."

Quinn leaned into his chair and massaged his temple. It wasn't like he didn't expect his future self able to make his problems go away.

"Give me something that will help me; anything would do."

Future-Quinn stared at Quinn for a silent moment, making Quinn feel uncomfortable, and just when Quinn was going to dismiss the question, future-Quinn spoke, "I have three things that I can tell you—

First, take care of the curse as soon as possible; there's no plus point in delaying it, and it won't give you any added value. Second is the most important one, so listen carefully— YOU are YOU; don't forget that, no matter if you're under the curse's influence or not, Quinn West will remain Quinn West . . ."

Quinn furrowed his brows. He could understand the logic behind the first point, but the second's wording was particularly vague.

". . . and finally, this might sound absolutely dreadful, but when you get rid of the curse . . . go back to the Sin Vault."

". . . What?" The single word was enough to show Quinn's reaction, and the bizarreness he was feeling was creeping up his tone.

"Yes, you're not hearing me wrong," said future-Quinn. "You need to go inside again; you'll regret if you don't go inside— the more you delay solving the curse, the more you would delay your descend into the vault, and when you find what I'm talking about, you'll lament your decision."

Quinn's gentle furrow hard turned into an angry frown twitching between his brows. He was confused and honestly regretting asking his future self because if before, he was hesitant and touchy about his upcoming bout with the curse, but now it felt like his future self had taken a syringe and injected pure chaos directly into his mind.

". . . I-I'll think about it," said Quinn, trying to move on. His hand went through his hair and sighed with a grumble, "Why did you have to say that . . . to make it up, now it is all I will be able to think about."

A wry smile appeared on future-Quinn's face. "Don't worry about it . . . It won't bother you for long."

"You say that, but I don't even know how it will turn out when I pull down my shield."

"It will come intuitively. When you're in the thick of it, you'll know what to do," said future-Quinn, and Quinn noticed that his future self once again had a look as when he(Quinn) had broached the Sin curse topic. "Even though I can't reveal it to you, I can hope that you understand that you'll be fine."

Both Quinn's matched eyes squarely, and a broad smile rose on future-Quinn's face, and he spoke a few words in a firm yet comforting tone that made Quinn's eyes widen.

"Everything is going to be fine."

". . . H-Hey, are you using some magic?" asked Quinn as he felt himself calm down.

"No, I'm not using any magic, I promise," said future-Quinn. "It's pure charisma if I do say myself."

"Stop using magic."

"Told you, I'm not using any."

The red workshop door opened, making both Quinn-s turn in unison, making Damon still at the door as the unison between his father and . . . the younger version of his father freaked him out a little.

"Good timing," said future-Quinn, standing up, "we're about to leave."

Damon breathed a sigh in relief and fully stepped out completely. His eyes automatically went to Quinn, who was staring at him.

"What?" asked Damon.

"Why did you come here?" asked Quinn. "You had a device that could've taken you anywhere in time, but you decided to come to this date; it makes me curious about your reasoning."

Damon felt two pairs of eyes on him, and he averted his eyes from both. He rubbed the back of his neck and heaved a big sigh as he revealed with closed eyes.

"Dad doesn't have many friends—"

"Hey!"

"— but those he's friends with, he's very close to— Uncle Marcus and Eddie and of course Auntie Luna, and a few more that I think dad actually considers to be his close friends . . ."

Quinn glanced at future-Quinn. Hogwarts was a contained world, but the real world was anything but. It made sense to Quinn that his future self would keep a small friend circle, knowing how many people would want to get close to him for their own selfish desires and see him as a way to accomplish those desires.

". . . and every one of them is always telling me stories about dad— even the ghosts are all praises about him, and I guess I wanted to see it for myself," said Damon; however, both Quinns could feel that there were plenty of things left unsaid.

Quinn thought maybe Damon had been compared with him and his guess seemed correct from the looks of it.

"I actually didn't want to come to this time," said Damon.

"What?" future-Quinn frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to go sometime in the future, but I made a mistake in the input and ended up at this date."

Unnoticed by anyone, future-Quinn's eyes narrowed a fraction for a brief moment before they went to normal.

Quinn intelligently didn't broach the topic that seemed to bring an awkward tone in the room and turned to his future self to directly ask, "I tried to enter his mind earlier; why was I unable to find even a single spec of an actual mind inside his body?"

"Hmm? Ah yes, that was because of runic magic that I'm still tinkering with. He has a chain around his neck with a runic cluster inscribed inside a pendant piece— as long as he doesn't remove it, his mind would remain hidden to a Legilemns. However, because I am still tinkering with it, if you kept at it, you'd have been able to find the mind." Future-Quinn turned to Damon and said in a half-warning tone, "You better not slack off on your Occlumency. That pendant isn't an ultimate defense, and it would never be."

"I am not slacking off," said Damon, rolling his eyes.

"Oh good," said Quinn, "I thought Occlumency had taken a major leap, and I was being outclassed by him— no offense, Damon."

"If you say so— err . . ." Damon looked between both Quinns, wondering how to address the younger version of his father.

"We're about to leave, so you don't have to worry about what to call him," said future-Quinn.

Quinn shrugged. He was fine as long as he wasn't called dad or father or anything on those lines.

"What about the ring foci?" asked Quinn. "Have the laws regarding wands changed in the country because they don't allow other foci in Hogwarts."

Damon shook his head, "The laws are the same. I started with a wand and still have one. The rings, I got them six months ago," he looked at future-Quinn.

"I was messing with ring foci and by pure luck was able to craft a pair of rings that act as one focus," said future-Quinn when his younger self looked at him. "I had people try them out to check the compatibility, and Damon was the one who matched the rings the best."

"You're working on magical foci; why?" asked Quinn. "Do you use them?"

"Of course not!" future-Quinn sounded deeply offended. "I don't have to use them to work with them— though, it does make things a lot harder to work on."

"Also, why would you make them glow. That was a dead give in the low light."

"I didn't add the glow," future-Quinn pointed at Damon, "that was he trying to look cool."

Quinn shook his head at Damon, "Not cool, mate."

Damon once again rolled his eyes. What do they know about being cool?

Quinn glanced at his future self and transferred his voice directly to him, barring Damon from hearing the conversation, "He has heterochromia," he said, "and I know you were trying to keep some things hidden, but that pretty much gives it out."

Quinn glanced at Damon's eyes, and the two colors were striking to each other. One was darker by its nature, while the other sparkled to the point that it was the first thing anyone would notice about Damon.

"Does it surprise you?" future-Quinn's voice came directly to Quinn's ears.

"I don't know how to feel about it. My thoughts are nowhere marriage, much less having children, and from what I know, you have at least two children," sounded Quinn. "I don't want to think about right now."

"You don't have to. There are much more important things to focus on right now."

Quinn nodded; however, his eyes remained fixed on Damon and his eyes.

"Alright, let's get going," future-Quinn clapped once. "Come on, children, say your goodbyes like good boys."

"Is he always like this?" asked Quinn to Damon.

"Unfortunately," nodded Damon.

"Kids . . . no matter what the age, are the same, they don't appreciate the good stuff," future-Quinn shook his head. He turned to Quinn, "You take care of yourself. It's about to get hectic, so take care and watch your back at all times. Also, take care of grandfather, Lia, Uncle Elliot, and Ms. Rosey," he sighed, "you already know what to do, so just be careful, okay."

Quinn nodded in appreciation.

"Now, it's time for us to leave," said future-Quinn and looked around the office, "and I don't think we should do it here— it's too crowded here, and things can get chaotic."

"We can do it in the corridor. I'll be on the lookout while you guys leave," said Quinn.

"Lead the way, young one."

Quinn walked to the office door and was about to open the door when he noticed that he couldn't hear any notice. He turned to face the two time travelers, "What happened—," only to see future-Quinn, raising a hand towards him.

"Wh—"

That was all he could get out before his vision rapidly turned back and found himself slowly falling down before he knew no more.

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Quinn West - MC(Present) - Learned a lot today.

Quinn West - MC(Future) - "Watch your back . . . ."

Damon West - Future West - User of the first Quinn-made magical focus.

FictionOnlyReader - Author - Notice the irony?

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The link is in the synopsis!