I'm going on a trip in a bit so I wanted to get this chapter out before I became cut off from the internet for a few weeks so it's a little rushed and I'm really sorry. As evident by the so called `epilogue' I do not own Harry Potter. If I did then there'd be many, many different things. For example, Sirius, Tonks, Remus and Fred would all be alive and well and each very successful in whatever they do. Harry and Hermione being with the people they truly should be with, namely, each other and many other things I could add would have happened instead, you can look at previous disclaimers and see what could (should) have happened. I also do not own this challenge- it was created by reptilia28, blame him.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? Mum made me give him to Ginny and Ginny gave him to Looney Lovegood, dunno what she did with him." Ron answered as he walked away, missing Harry's disappointed groan.
Harry half heatedly threw the red spheres for Ron, who grew more and more cocky as he caught every poorly thrown quaffle while Hermione say in the bleachers and read a book, occasionally pausing to write something in a notebook that she had next to her or to look up and smile at Harry.
"That reserve keeper spot is as good as mine!" Ron boasted as he caught another ball, "And I bet I'll be captain too, since you won't want it, right Harry?" Ron looked at the green eyed wizard with such a pitiful expression that Harry was hard pressed not to roll his eyes.
"Ron, the spot will go to whoever McGonagall thinks is most qualified for it." Harry said noncommittally but the red head scowled anyway. Harry threw the quaffle and it started to fall before reaching Ron. The red head attempted a dive to catch it, hitting the back of the broom against the goal post. Harry winced, whoever the young Weasley had borrowed the broom from was not going to be happy at the state of the bristles.
This continued until well after dark because Ron would refuse to listen to any excuse to get away that Harry could come up with and Hermione's comment concerning the curfew was only met with,
"Oh don't nag Hermione, it's not like you can understand this stuff, right mate?" When he caught site of the look on Hermione's face after Ron said that, Harry wondered if his friend had any sense of self preservation at all.
He continued to wonder this for the next several days because, despite their obvious growing annoyance with him, the young Weasley stuck to them like a burr. Every meal, the boy was there, every class, he was always there before they could try to get someone else to sit with them. Not even claiming they were going to the library deterred him and when they did go to the library order to keep Ron from claiming that they lied, they couldn't even concentrate because he would keep a running commentary on every other person in the library and when he wasn't doing that he complained and suggested a variety of other things they could be doing, usually chess or quidditch. When Harry tried to get up at night to sneak out of the tower with Hermione, Ron, king of sleeping like the dead, somehow always managed to wake up and he would demand to know where Harry was going and then offer to go with him. When Ron started following him even to the loo, Harry was understandably alarmed.
"What is going on with him?" Hermione hissed as she and Harry walked slowly to Professor Snape's class with Ron up ahead, chattering away without noticing that he lacked an audience.
"I have no idea. This never happened last time and the quidditch practices I know Oliver has set up for reserve players should have kept him too busy to be around us much." Harry murmured back.
"Well we need to figure out home to get him off our backs or he'll figure out something's fishy and he'll want in." Hermione bit her lip, "I don't want Ron involved in a war if he doesn't have to be."
"Neither do I," Harry agreed, "we'll think of something."
"Oi!" Ron called from up ahead, "Hurry it up or Snape will take off points." Harry snorted,
"He'll take off points no matter what I do." The boy who lived pointed out but he and Hermione did walk a little faster.
They arrived in the classroom and promptly took the other two chairs at Neville's table. The pudgy boy gave them a relieved smile while Ron scowled and went to sit with Seamus and Dean.
"I didn't think that would work again." Harry said lightly, very pleased and Hermione nodded slightly, before she could say anything else, Snape stalked into the room, a scowl already in place. His eyes narrowed at the Gryffindors as he prowled towards the board and then he began to scrawl instructions. Harry gripped the table tightly, his knuckles turning white as he repeated to himself over and over again,
"Do not kill Snape, do not kill Snape, do not kill Snape, do not kill Snape, do not kill Snape, do not kill Snape." He tried to say it as quietly as possible but Hermione overheard. Her eyes darted between Harry and Snape and she pursed her lips, her mind making a new connection before she took one of Harry's clenched hands into her own. Harry tensed, momentarily startled, and then he looked at his friend.
"It will be okay." Hermione whispered to him and he smiled, relaxing fractionally, though he still wanted to just take out his wand and blast the greasy man's head into tiny pieces.
"Due to an oversight in Madam Pomfrey's records, we will be working on an extremely simple potion." he paused and turned slightly to sneer, "Those of you with even a modicum of intelligence should be able to brew it to acceptable standards." The greasy man finished writing instructions on the board and turned fully towards them. He looked over the class and then snapped,
"Well? What are you waiting for?" The class stared at him dumbly. Harry didn't dare move half because he didn't want to give the bat a chance to get near him and half because he was afraid his tenuous control would snap and he would try to murder the traitorous snake.
"Can you read what the board says?" whispered a worried sounding Neville. The other two Gryffindors looked at the board and Harry growled when they realized that Snape had apparently made his handwriting deliberately atrocious to a point that the young wizard wondered if the bat had used some sort of charm to keep anyone from actually being able to read it.
A quick glance at the rest of the class made Harry suspect that Snape had warned the Slytherin students what they would be brewing ahead of time since they were the only ones who were actually working. The Gryffindors were still attempting to decipher whatever it was that Snape had scribbled on the board. Harry wracked his memory for what potion they brewed the first time around but his mind was blank. He looked over to Hermione and blinked as he realized that she had already opened her potions book and had begun setting out ingredients.
"What are we making?" Harry hissed to her and she looked up from her ingredients, a faint tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks,
"I'm not sure just yet," Hermione confessed, "but the Slytherins have pomegranate seeds out so I was checking to see how many healing potions use them in combination with lacewing flies. So far I'm down to three options." She continued to flip through her potions text and she glanced over at the Slytherins table. Harry felt somewhat relieved when she grinned.
"Let's get started on our pepper up potion then." She announced as loudly as she could without alerting Snape. She was easily overheard by Dean who then told Lavender who in turn somehow managed to spread the word to all of the Gryffindors in a few seconds.
"How'd you guess?" Harry asked a few minutes later while he crushed the blue rose petals. Hermione smiled slightly,
"Logic. I saw the pomegranate seeds and the lacewing flies on the Slytherins' tables. Snape told us that the potions are for Madam Pomfrey which means that they're healing potions. When Malfoy got out the chili peppers then I knew."
They spent several minutes brewing silently, except for the occasional whisper from Hermione to Neville to make sure that the clumsy boy did not mess up his potion. Snape skulked along in between the aisles and finally stopped at Harry's table and immediately Hermione stopped saying anything.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for cheating." snapped the potions master and Harry's fragile control snapped. He concentrated hard on the greasy man and watching with some satisfaction as he froze in place. The man's sallow skin quickly took on a red tinge that was rapidly becoming blue as he struggled to breathe.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed at him and she shoved him just enough to break his concentration. Immediately Snape was gasping for air, one hand going to his throat as if attempting to make sure that it continued to take in the life giving element.
When he finally regained what passed for a proper color for him, he turned to the trio of Gryffindors, his eyes burning. Immediately Harry and Hermione averted their gazes and paid attention to their potions.
"Potter!" Snape bellowed, stalking back towards their table. On hooked hand slammed down on the desk and Neville began to shake almost violently with nervousness at his greatest fear being so close.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you Potter!" Snape hissed at the green eyes Gryffindor but Harry kept his gaze firmly on his potion, gritting his teeth as he tried to regain his control before he committed murder.
"I said look at me Potter!" Snape growled, grabbing Harry's arm and causing the boy to involuntarily look up into the potion master's dark eyes. Harry mentally braced himself, trying desperately to hide every memory of the future, every thought involving Mina and what she had done.
He saw a bright flash of light and felt himself fly away from Snape and everything went dark.
"Harry? Harry!" he heard a voice calling to him and he slowly tried to open his eyes. Dark dots danced in front of his eyes and he blinked, trying to clear his vision. He saw a blur of brown in front of him.
"Hello Hermione," Harry gasped when the brown blur grabbed him in a tight hug. The blur that was his best female friend hugged him tighter for a moment before releasing him. He reached for his glasses, which Hermione handed to him when she realized what he was trying to do. When he could see Hermione asked,
"Harry, what on earth happened?" Harry looked at the worried expression on his friend's face and shrugged.
"I have no idea." He replied honestly, "I'm not even sure what happened." Harry confessed.
"Professor Snape made you look at him and then you were both flying across the room." Hermione answered, "Professor Snape is still unconscious." The clever witch gestured to another part of the hospital wing where Harry could see Professor Snape's feet, the rest of him was obscured.
"You're awake, good," Madam Pomfrey said as she suddenly appeared by the two Gryffindors. She gave a pointed look to Hermione, who ignored it in favor of moving her chair a fraction closer to Harry.
"Where's Ron?" Harry asked, surprised that the red headed boy who had been all but glued to him the past few days wasn't there.
"Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let more than one visitor in." Hermione explained and Madam Pomfrey cut in,
"And now that he's awake and you've been assured that he will be alright Miss Granger, you need to get to class." The formidable nurse said in a pushy tone and Harry was pleased and rather surprised when Hermione ignored her and even moved so she was another fraction closer. The brunette witch opened her mouth to continue speaking but she was again interrupted, but this time it was by Professor Dumbledore.
"I'm glad to see you are awake, Harry." The old man said kindly, a twinkle in his eyes. Harry fought the desire to stiffen at the Headmaster's sudden arrival. A part of him was happy that he now had a chance to talk to Dumbledore without raising Ron, or anyone else's, suspicions. But another tiny part of him was shouting, trying to remind him of something important and that was the part that made him want to get far, far away from the headmaster and the potential questions.
"Miss Granger, I think Madam Pomfrey is correct, you should get to class." Dumbledore said and for a flash Harry thought he saw Hermione scowl. The young witch smiled thinly, gathered her things and then left without another word. Dumbledore then turned to Harry.
"Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey cut in, "He's only just woken up. I'd like to do a full diagnostic and I'd prefer to do it without you giving him any added stress." The mediwitch said pointedly. Dumbledore only smiled slightly,
"I believe that it's better if Harry and I speak about what happened now, while the memory is still fresh." The aged man replied and Harry saw the conflicting emotions of obedience and disapproval flit across Madam Pomfrey face but in the end she gave in.
"Five minutes." She growled and stalked away, probably to check on Professor Snape. Dumbledore turned to Harry, the smile still on his face.
"Well now, my dear boy, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle slightly brighter.
"A little lightheaded professor," Harry answered truthfully, trying to figure out what he should do. He knew he couldn't handle changing things by himself and even with Hermione's help there was still so much to do, so many things that depended on one event or the other that might be completely messed up if he did something wrong. After all he had been through, he knew that Dumbledore's advice would be a huge help. But on the other hand, there was just something that made him reluctant to say anything about his experience with time travel.
Dumbledore looked at him carefully, and Harry couldn't help but feel somewhat unnerved by the man's twinkling eyes. How did he do that anyway? And did it ever stop?
"So Harry, do you have any idea what happened?" the headmaster asked and Harry shook his head,
"I have no clue. One minute Snape-"
"Professor Snape." Dumbledore interrupted. Harry shrugged and went on,
"He was yelling at me for no reason. He grabbed my arm and next thing I knew, everything went dark and now I'm in the hospital wing." The boy-with-too-many-hyphens finished.
Dumbledore looked at him carefully, a frown forming on his face, and Harry squirmed under the scrutiny.
"Harry, is there something you aren't telling me?" Dumbledore questioned, his gaze sharp and Harry sat up straight. He ignored the voice in him that said this was a bad idea.
"Yes sir, there is something that I need to tell you but," he looked around and noted that Madam Pomfrey was still uncomfortable close, "I'd rather that you're the only one I tell about this." He finished in a whisper. Dumbledore nodded and turned slightly to face Madam Pomfrey.
"Poppy, I believe Pomona wished to speak to you concerning the angelica roots that you needed." He said and the nurse gave the headmaster a sharp look and frowned but then she nodded,
"Fine," she all but glared at the two of them, "but I will be back in five minutes." She growled and then left the two of them alone, except for the unconscious Snape.
"Now what is it you need to tell me Harry?" Dumbledore asked and Harry looked at him and took a deep breath.
He told Dumbledore everything. He told him about Sirius's innocence, Peter's animagus form, the diary, Snape's betrayal, the fake horcrux, being given another chance, the tri wizard tournament, Umbridge, and Voldemort's return. He didn't mention Hermione's knowledge of these things or the bracelet or how he got the second chance since he didn't really consider either of them very important details.
For a moment, Dumbledore seemed shocked. He stood there, his mouth hanging open and Harry wondered if, perhaps, he should have just mentioned the diary or something small to start with.
Dumbledore blinked and seemed to come back to his senses. He frowned and stroked his beard,
"This is all very serious Harry." He began, "but what you say is impossible." The headmaster told him and Harry stared at the old man with wide eyes. He didn't believe? Harry felt his stomach drop.
"However, if what you say is true," Dumbledore went on and Harry felt his hopes rise, "then I earnestly advise you to do nothing." Harry stared at the headmaster,
"But you died!" Harry yelped and Dumbledore smiled slightly,
"But if I did not die then you do no know the consequences. Messing with time is a very dangerous thing Harry." Dumbledore said in a grandfatherly voice. Before Harry knew what happened, Dumbledore had his wand out, pointed at Harry's forehead.
"I'm afraid I cannot risk your actions changing anything," Dumbledore said, his voice still kind, "I'm sorry my dear boy but oblivate."
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