Unofficial Portkey Archive

The blissfully familiar sight of the Hogwarts Express greeted Harry, Lily and Sirius as they emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters. The noise of rushing parents and excited students created a cacophony of noise that was nothing short of heavenly to Harry's ears. A huge goofy smile transformed his face as he walked with Lily and Sirius towards the train. Lily's face matched his, her eyes bright and sparkling, her lips parted with wonder. She had never even witnessed a scene like this in her entire life, having been born into a world already rife with Voldemort's corruption.

'You two look like you've been hit with Cheering Charms,' Sirius teased.

'I feel like it too,' Harry said softly, taking it all in with a breath.

'It's wonderful,' Lily added.

'I guess it is,' Sirius said. 'It's funny, really. I've spent the last eleven years locked in Azkaban, but that pales in comparison to the horrors you two must have seen. Next to that, Azkaban kinda seems like a holiday.'

'Don't sell it short,' Harry argued. 'Azkaban a holiday? No, I don't think so. An extended weekend, maybe…'

Sirius laughed.

'Come on, let's get on the train!' Lily gushed enthusiastically.

Harry shook his head fondly as Lily darted away, leaving him and Sirius with their trunks.

'Let's get these on then,' Sirius said, grabbing both trunks.

'I can carry one.'

'Drag, you mean? You're not a thirty something grown man anymore Harry.'

'I know that.'

'Then don't be an idiot,' Sirius said. 'I can carry them on much faster all by myself. Besides, it's my right, you're still my godson, no matter how old you really are.'

Without further ado, the godfather and -son climbed onto the train. Sirius found an empty compartment and hefted the trunks in first. Harry put Hedwig in next. Lily came bounding up to them with a huge smile on her face, her cheeks rosy from excitement.

'Dad, come on, I think I found Uncle Ron at the end of the train.'

'Shh,' Harry hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard, but no one seemed to be paying attention.

Lily blushed. 'Sorry!'

'Just don't do it again,' Harry said.

'I won't. I promise… Harry.'

'Better… Emily.'

'It's weird, isn't it?' Lily commented.

'Very, but it's also necessary,' Harry said.

'Well, I better get going before the train sets off and I get stuck with you crazy kids,' Sirius said.

'Yeah,' Harry said, 'okay, I guess we'll see you at Christmas.'

'Don't forget to write,' Sirius said, giving Harry a quick hug.

'We won't Uncle Sirius,' Lily promised as Sirius hugged her next.

'See you,' Harry called as Sirius stepped off the train. Sirius gave a little wave and then disappeared into the crowd.

'Come on,' Lily said, immediately grabbing Harry's hand, 'this way. Quickly.'

But Harry wouldn't move. He was staring the other way, eyes transfixed. Lily followed his gaze and her hand instantly fell slack. Her mother stood only a few feet away, saying goodbye to her own parents. Tears came to her eyes.

'Mum,' choked Lily.

Hermione kissed her mother on the cheek one last time before she turned, dragging her trunk behind her. Harry was frozen. He needed to move, but the shock of seeing Hermione again, alive and happy, seemed to have paralysed him.

'Hi, sorry, can I get by please?' Hermione asked politely.

Harry squeaked, a very unmanly sound that made him blush. Hermione didn't seem to notice. She stared at Lily with concern.

'Are you okay?' Hermione asked.

'Sorry?' Lily was puzzled.

'You're crying,' Hermione pointed out.

'Oh,' Lily quickly wiped away her tears, 'yeah, I'm fine. Thanks.'

'Your welcome,' Hermione replied, frowning a little at the odd girl.

Harry cleared his throat. 'We have a compartment here. Why don't you join us?'

'Thank you,' Hermione said, accepting the offer with a small gracious smile.

'Let me get that for you,' Harry said, starting forward and reaching for her trunk.

'No, that's fine,' Hermione protested, but Harry cut her off.

'I insist,' he said.

Hermione released her trunk, becoming more mystified by the odd actions of these strangers. Harry motioned for her to precede him, pointing to the empty compartment behind them. Hermione entered somewhat hesitantly and sat down. Lily followed her in and sat down next to her. Harry went to follow them, dragging the trunk behind him, but stopped when he caught sight of Neville Longbottom standing aimlessly in the middle of the passageway.

'Hey,' Harry called, 'we have room over here, if you want.'

Neville's chubby face smiled, dimpling his cheeks. He hurried over with his trunk, one arm clutching Trevor the toad to his chest. Harry dragged Hermione's trunk in first and pushed it under her seat. Neville followed him in and with Harry's help they shoved his trunk into the far corner. Harry straightened up and brushed his hair back with one hand. Neville stared in shock at the lightning shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

'You're Harry Potter,' gasped Neville.

'Are you really?' Hermione asked with her interest peaked.

'Yeah, I am,' Harry said, having expected this moment.

'Wow,' Neville said. 'Amazing.'

'Not really,' Harry said. 'Believe me.' This last was said with much self-deprecation.

'But you defeated You-Know-Who when you were just a baby!' Neville argued.

Harry remained silent. Lily spoke for him. 'He doesn't like to talk about it.'

Neville's face softened. 'Oh, right. Sorry.'

'What are your names?' Lily asked, playing dumb.

'I'm Hermione Granger.'

'Neville Longbottom,' Neville added.

'Emily Tucker,' Lily said, using her false name.

'Nice to meet you,' Neville said, offering a chubby hand. Lily shook it gladly. She had always liked her Uncle Neville.

'Do you two know each other?' Hermione asked, looking back and forth between Harry and Lily.

'Yup,' Lily replied, 'we live near each other.'

'You're Muggleborn then?' Neville asked.

Lily nodded.

'What's it like?' Neville was genuinely interested. He'd never met a Muggleborn before today.

'Nothing special,' Lily replied evasively.

As Neville continued to ask Lily questions and Hermione listened in, Harry studied the eleven-year-old version of his wife. The simple sight of her had near rendered him speechless, but now that he had got over his shock, he drank in her presence. She was just as lovely as he remembered. He was a bit unnerved by his reaction to her, as he found her just as pretty as he had when last he saw her, lying next to him in bed with her hair all dishevelled from sleep. Hermione caught him looking.

'Do I have something on my face?'

'No,' Harry replied quickly, 'I just… erm…' He trailed off stupidly, unable to think of a good enough reason for him to be staring so avidly at her. He didn't think marvelling at her beauty would go over that well.

'So where are you from, Hermione?' Lily came to the rescue. Harry gave her a grateful smile and eased back into his seat, for the first time really realising how difficult the next few years of his life were going to be.

The train had left Kings Cross station far behind when Harry suddenly got up and went to leave the compartment. 'I'm going for a walk,' he informed the others, meeting Lily's eyes. She nodded, understanding what he was really going to do.

Harry was going to find Ron.

He left the compartment behind and started down the corridor when all of sudden he found himself face to face with Draco Malfoy. Harry was not surprised to find the platinum haired Malfoy was flanked by his thug friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Malfoy eyed him up and down, eyes lingering on his forehead.

'You're him, aren't you?' Malfoy drawled. 'You're Harry Potter.'

'I am,' Harry replied. 'And you are?'

'Oh, I'm Draco Malfoy, your new best friend.'

'Really?' Harry couldn't contain his smile.

'What's so funny?' Malfoy shot back defensively.

'Nothing,' Harry replied. 'I'm actually busy right now though. Do you mind?' He motioned down the corridor.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. 'You best be careful Potter. You don't want to make me your enemy, do you?'

Harry remained silent, regarding Malfoy impassively.

'Look, you'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others. Trust me, you don't want to make friends with the wrong sort.'

Malfoy offered his hand. Harry examined it closely, and then stiffly shook the hand. When Malfoy made to let go, Harry tightened his grip, meeting Malfoy's eyes. He squeezed. Malfoy narrowed his eyes, but showed no sign of backing down. Harry finally released the hand and stepped past Malfoy and his cronies.

'I'll keep that in mind,' Harry said, moving away.

Malfoy watched him go curiously. Crabbe and Goyle just looked confused.

Harry found Ron in a familiar compartment - the one in which he and Ron had shared on their very first trip to Hogwarts. Ron was alone, munching grumpily on his corned beef sandwiches. Harry rapped the door with his knuckles as he entered.

'Hey, mind if I sit?' Harry asked.

'Go ahead,' Ron replied, indicting the seat opposite him.

'Chocolate Frog?' Harry offered, taking the seat.

Ron tossed his sandwich aside eagerly, readily accepting Harry's generosity the way children do. 'You bet. Thanks.' He ripped open the package and tossed the whole Frog into his mouth, closing his eyes in pleasure.

Harry smiled happily and asked, 'what house do you think you'll be in?'

'Dunno,' Ron said, 'but I hope I'm in Gryffindor. I probably will be. My Mum and Dad were, and all my brothers too. As long as I'm not in Slytherin, I'll be okay. What about you? What house do you think you'll be in?'

'Gryffindor. My Godfather told me not to worry about the Sorting. He said the hat won't put you anywhere you don't want to be.'

'The hat?'

'Yeah,' Harry said, playing dumb, 'don't you know? All you have to do for the Sorting is put on a hat and it then shouts out what house you'll be in. That's it.'

'Oh, right, yeah, I knew that,' Ron said, grinning somewhat cockily. Harry tried hard to suppress his smile. Ron was acting tough in front of him and trying not to show how terrified he'd been of having to wrestle a troll.

'So what's your favourite Quidditch team?' Ron asked.

'I don't have one really,' Harry replied honestly. 'I only just found out I was a wizard a few months ago.'

'You're Muggleborn then?'

'Not exactly,' Harry said.

'Then what?'

'My parent's were murdered by Voldemort when I was only a baby and I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for most of my life until a few months ago when my Godfather Sirius was released from Azkaban.'

Ron's eyes had gone very wide. Harry stared back at him frankly. 'You mean? You're…'

'Harry Potter,' Harry said, offering his hand. 'Nice to meet you.'

'Wow,' Ron said. 'Do you really have a scar?'

Harry showed him.

'Wow,' Ron repeated.

'It's really not a big deal,' Harry said, 'so don't go all idolizing me. I'm just a kid like you. All I did was lie in my crib and probably cry while he murdered my parents. I have no idea what happened that night.'

'You don't remember?'

'I try not to,' Harry said coolly.

'Sorry.' Ron lowered his head.

'All I do remember is a flash of green light and then pain,' Harry offered, 'that's it, nothing special. So are we past all that now? Can we be equals? Friends?'

'Yeah,' Ron said quickly. 'I'm Ron Weasley.'

'I was actually sitting with some friends of mine earlier,' Harry said, 'do you want to go join them?'

'Alright, why not.'

And so Ron returned with Harry to the compartment he shared with Lily, Hermione and Neville. The rest of the journey was spent in companionable conversation, except for the times when Hermione annoyed Ron with her mothering, know-it-all nature. At these times, Lily looked with puzzlement over at Harry, who gave her a smile and wink to ease her confusion. In her early life, her Mother and Uncle Ron shared a comfortable friendship, so seeing the two clearly not getting along was a shock to her.

As the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, Lily pulled Harry aside and whispered, 'don't Mum and Uncle Ron like each other?'

'They will,' Harry said, giving her another encouraging smile, 'don't worry about it. It just might take a while for them to warm to each other. It was like this last time. Actually, I didn't really get along with your Mum when we first met.'

'You didn't?'

'Nope, but I soon realised that she was a good person, and we became best friends, and then… well, you know the rest.'

'Oh,' was all Lily said, obviously thinking hard about all Harry had said. He left her to it and followed Ron and the others out onto the platform. He soon heard Hagrid's booming voice calling out for first years and went over to say hello.

''Lo there, Harry,' Hagrid said with a beam in his bushy beard. 'Come on then. Firs'-years! Firs-years over here! This way. Follow me.'

Hagrid led them down to the boats, across the lake, into the underground harbour and finally up to the huge castle door. Once inside, they where ushered into the room across from the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall. She gave them an eerily familiar speech (in fact, much of what was happening was eerily familiar to Harry, it was almost exactly like last time - almost) and then left them alone in the room for a few minutes. Finally, after the ghosts of Hogwarts had scared most of the first year students near to death, Professor McGonagall returned to lead them into the Great Hall for the Sorting.

'It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.' Harry's heart gave a fond little leap when he heard Hermione's whispered comment.

The first years formed a line in front of the rest of the Hall and Professor McGonagall placed the stool and the hat down before them. The Sorting Hat opened its mouth and began its song, exactly as it had the first time around, word for word. Harry cast one look back at the table behind him and met Dumbledore's eyes. The old wizard gave a barely perceptible nod. Harry looked back at the hat as it concluded its song. The nod was all that he was looking for - confirmation that his request had been fulfilled. Now he could only wait and see if the hat complied.

Professor McGonagall stepped up and brandished the scroll with the names of all the first years. 'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Abbott, Hannah.'

Everything was going as expected so far. Hermione and Neville had already taken their seats at the Gryffindor table when Professor McGonagall called Draco Malfoy's name. Malfoy swaggered confidently up to the stool, picked up the hat and sat down. He put the hat on his head. Harry waited expectantly. This was already something different. The first time around the hat had barely touched the pale boys head before it called out Slytherin. Harry saw Malfoy's hands gripping his robes as he waited. Then, the hat opened its mouth and declared: 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The entire Great Hall fell silent. Most in attendance knew the significance of this pronouncement and those that didn't quickly realised something unexpected had happened by the looks and silence that had descended on the room. Malfoy stood up abruptly and tore the hat off his head, rounding on Professor McGonagall.

'What?' he roared and threw the hat at her feet. 'What's the meaning of this? Me? Draco Malfoy in Gryffindor? I don't think so! It's faulty! It must be.'

'The hat is not faulty,' Professor McGonagall said stiffly, bending to pick it up. 'Take your seat Mr Malfoy.'

Malfoy stared at her with incredulity. 'No, I'm not a Gryffindor, I'm a Slytherin!'

'Take your seat now Mr Malfoy,' Professor McGonagall repeated. 'You are a Gryffindor and there's no undoing it. Sit!'

'My father will get to the bottom of this,' Malfoy growled angrily, stalking over to the very end of the Gryffindor table and uneasily taking a seat, separate from everyone else, as he wished to declare himself. Despite this, many at the Slytherin table gave him dark looks, seeing his placement as some sort of betrayal. He was already tainted, as far as they were concerned.

Finally, it was Harry's turn. His name brought about the same reaction as last time, but he ignored all the whispered comments and staring as he approached the stool and the hat. He took his seat and donned the frayed thinking cap. It immediately began quietly speaking into his ear:

'Ah,' the hat said, 'so this is the source of that rather unusual request. Interesting. Travelling back in time in order to change the future. I hope you understand the damage you have done to that boy's life. Then again, I can see all too clearly why you did it. You bring unsettling news with you, but a promise of hope at the same time. Interesting indeed. So, shall it be Gryffindor again? Of course, I wish you good luck. GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers and vigorous clapping as Harry got up and went to join Hermione and Neville.

'Tucker, Emily!' Professor McGonagall called out and Lily eagerly went and put on the hat. Lily sat on the stool for a while, and Harry had a pretty good idea what the hat was saying to her, before it declared to the hall: 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Lily sat down next to him and gave him a hug.

'Wouldn't it be amazing if Ron becomes a Gryffindor as well?' Neville asked, chubby face split with a wide smile.

'It sure would,' Harry said, sharing a grin with Lily.

The hat made Neville's comment a reality and Ron rushed over to join them, taking the seat next to Lily.

As Dumbledore began his speech, Lily leaned close and whispered to Harry, 'how come the hat knew about the future?'

'I suspect its because it can see into peoples heads and hearts, into their very souls, so it knows everything about whoever wears it. When I put the hat on, it instantly became aware that this wasn't the first time for me. In a sense, I suppose it absorbed all of my knowledge.'

'Must be one smart hat,' Lily observed.

Harry laughed and the two turned their attention back onto Dumbledore. Harry settled back into his seat and closed his eyes.

He was back at Hogwarts again.