A/N - I don't own Harry Potter or "Back to the Future" and I'm not making any money from this. If you watch the very end of the first "Back to the Future" movie and compare it to the beginning of that same movie then you will understand (hopefully) how time travel works in this story. I make this point because I'm almost certain I will get some rather critical reviews about that for this chapter. If you have any questions... please ask Steven Spielberg... Also the "nature versus nurture" debate still does not have a conclusive answer so it's entirely possible that "new Harry" would still be essentially the same as "old Harry". I'm letting you know my position on this now in an effort to avoid getting into any debates about the ways in which "new Harry" and "old Harry" would be different. Thank you as always to the wonderful Katia, Dementor149 & Ragavendran for their work on this chapter.
Chapter 15 - Same, Same... But Different.
`What do you think, Harry, should we take this?' Hermione was standing by the kitchen window holding the potted purple geranium that had graced its sill for the past twelve months.
`If you've got somewhere to put it, sure.' He responded.
Harry was going through the fridge and getting rid of all the food. Hermione had decided that they really did need to tie up all their loose ends in the past before leaving and Harry had agreed with her. His parents had agreed to make sure that no-one went near their house that day, so they had plenty of time to prepare themselves to leave. Harry was glad for the time they had to get used to the idea because, while he was thrilled that their plan had worked, he was finding it hard to say goodbye the life that they had made here.
`It seems stupid to take it but, I feel like I don't want to leave anything behind.'
Harry stopped what he was doing and looked at her, `Do you feel like you're loosing something really important?'
Hermione nodded a little sadly, `It's weird, we got everything that we came for...'
Harry went over to her and put his arms around her, `and even some things that we didn't know we wanted.'
Hermione laughed and playfully swatted him in the chest, `speak for yourself Mr Potter, I've always known what I wanted.'
`Really?' Harry had never known her to lie but he still couldn't quite believe it.
Hermione shrugged, `I don't like to boast, but I am fairly smart.'
Harry laughed, `I'd noticed that.'
`You know, I've been thinking, perhaps instead of taking any of this stuff with us we should just shrink it and store it under the house or somewhere. Then if we ever want it we can just come and get it.'
Harry nodded impressed, `That's a great idea.'
Harry finished cleaning out the fridge while Hermione put all of their clothes and personal possessions into the trunk that Dumbledore had packed so long ago. When that was done the two of them went from room to room shrinking down everything else and put it all inside the broom shed in the back garden.
Harry stood in their now empty living room and thought back to the time line they had left and wondered what waited for them in the time line they would return to. How much would change because his parents were now alive? Would he return to the future to find that he was universally hated as a spoiled git? Harry was nervous about the prospect but still eager to find out.
`Harry,' said Hermione thoughtfully, coming up behind him and putting her arms around his waist, `Did you ever think we'd succeed? You know, that we'd be able to save your parents and live to tell the tale?'
`No' replied Harry honestly.
`Neither did I, not really,' said Hermione with equal candour. `But now that we have, does it... does it make you feel as though you could accomplish just about anything?'
Harry shrugged, `I haven't really looked at it in that way, but, I suppose so... why? What impossible task did you want to accomplish next?'
Hermione laughed, `Well I was thinking... that perhaps we could save Dumbledore too?' Harry turned around in her arms so that they were now facing each other and looked at her incredulously. Seeing his expression she hurried on, ` Of course, it'd have to look exactly the way you remember it, or your other self mightn't leave, but there might be a way that we could make it look like he was hit with that killing curse, without him actually being hit.'
Harry shook his head sadly, `It wouldn't save him though Hermione, Dumbledore was dying anyway, he told me so himself. He said the curse that destroyed his hand had only left him with a year to live and his time was up.'
Hermione deflated at this news, `Well, I guess there's no point then.'
But Harry's mind was still working, still considering possibilities and remembering everything that had happened that night, including Snape's parting words to him. `That may not be true... Maybe Dumbledore will still die, but maybe, we can prevent Snape from having to kill him.'
Hermione looked up at him hopefully, `really?'
`Sure, I mean Snape gave me the chance to save my parents, this is the least I can do for him in return, right?'
Hermione nodded enthusiastically.
`So, what was the plan?' asked Harry.
`Well, Voldemort never meant to turn you into a Horcrux, right?' Harry nodded and Hermione continued, `So if he only thought he had six he probably still turned Nagini into a Horcrux, as soon as he could, so we still need to kill her. If we go back a few hours early...' she trailed off but Harry took over.
`We could go to the Riddle mansion and steal her. But we'd have to get her in front of the curse and get Dumbledore out of that office at exactly the right time... and even if it all worked like clockwork you don't think I'll notice that the curse doesn't actually hit him but something a few inches in front of him?'
Hermione looked a bit worried now, `I did think of that... it's a shame you were with him that whole time otherwise we could have told him what was going to happen and asked him to hide the snake inside his robes.'
Harry stared off into space for a moment before responding, `I wasn't though.'
`You weren't what?'
`I wasn't with him the whole time; I was gone for an hour. I tested the potion, remember? Dumbledore is going to be alone in his office for a whole hour, right before all of this happens.'
Hermione grinned, `Well, we've got our window of opportunity then.'
`There's still a lot that can go wrong.'
Hermione rolled her eyes but stood on tiptoe to kiss him, `isn't there always?'
Harry grinned and returned her kiss, `true,' he kissed her again more deeply this time, `you know, as soon as we leave here we're going to be pretty busy for a while,' he said breathlessly between kisses.
Hermione only moaned in response and Harry began to kiss his way down her neck.
`So, how soon did you want to leave?' he asked.
`Oh, I think we could spare a little time here.'
`Good,' then without another word Harry picked her up and walked over to the window seat where he sat down and placed her on his lap. Hermione grinned against his lips; she loved this new dimension to their relationship. There was no doubt in her mind that they had both achieved their dreams during this adventure into the past.
About an hour later the two teens at last felt ready to return to the future. Their trunk was shrunken down and sitting in Hermione's pocket, and they had the invisibility cloak out ready to go.
`So what time should we go back to?' asked Harry as he took a sip of time potion from the flask before handing it to Hermione.
She took a sip as well and swallowed before answering, `Make it nine am? Then we've got all day to get Nagini, I'm sure she'll leave the house at some point.'
Harry nodded, `Yeah, Voldemort did use her as a lookout occasionally.'
With this agreed they gripped hands and together they apparated back to the future.
They'd chosen to apparate into the Shrieking Shack, Harry's broom had been destroyed at the cave when he'd used the Fiendfyre on the inferi so they needed to get his Firebolt. They chose their moment carefully, for when they knew everyone would be in class, and stayed hidden under the invisibility cloak to avoid running into any teachers or ghosts. As soon as they retrieved the broom and made it back outside the school boundary they mounted Harry's broom, donned the invisibility cloak, and took off for the Riddle Mansion. Harry would have apparated them there but he wasn't sure he should risk side-along apparition from a broomstick; it would definitely mess up their plans if he were to accidentally splinch them. So instead they flew all the way to Little Hangleton under cover of Harry's cloak.
When they arrived they didn't touch down, or approach the mansion. They both considered it extremely likely that Voldemort had upgraded his wards significantly since 1980 and had no desire to give themselves away by triggering any of them accidentally. So instead they flew slowly and silently around the edge of the garden and the graveyard, watching for any sign of movement.
It had taken the better part of the day to fly from Hogwarts to The Riddle Mansion. Harry did some quick calculations and realised that even though they had only just arrived, they really didn't have long at all to search for the Snake before they needed to head back. Harry supposed that they could apparate from the nearby town, or make a Portkey, if the got desperate but he didn't want to do anything that could be detected by the ministry (or Voldemort's spies within the ministry) so he was really hoping it wouldn't be necessary.
`What time do we have to be back at the school?' Hermione whispered, her thoughts obviously running along the same paths as his.
`Well, Dumbledore is going to be alone in his office for an hour from ten past eight, and we want to have as much time to convince Dumbledore as possible, so we'll want to get there around that time.'
`Do we have any more Balm of Time left?' she asked next.
Harry fished the flask from the pocket of his robes and shook it, `We've only got a sip left.'
They both remained silent for a moment while they considered this and it was Harry who broke the silence.
`I don't suppose that spell we used to locate the locket would work on a snake, would it?'
He could almost feel Hermione thinking, `No, the spell is for locating objects not living beings.' She paused for a moment and now Harry had the strangest sensation that she had an idea.
`What are you thinking?'
`Oh,' she seemed startled by the question but answered anyway, `I was just thinking that there was another spell in that same book for finding people, it was supposed to be used by mothers if their children run off in a crowded mall but the author also noted it was handy for finding pets when they go missing.'
`I couldn't hurt to try, right?' Harry asked hopefully.
`I suppose not.'
Hermione cast the spell and Harry followed the direction that her wand pointed and sure enough, with the help of the spell, they were finally able to spot Nagini curled on top of a rock in the bright sunlight. Slowly Harry drew his wand from his pocket, careful not to make any sudden noises or movements that might alert the snake to their presence, and then taking careful aim he stunned it. Hermione murmured the summoning charm and as soon as the snake was underneath the invisibility cloak they were off, soaring through the sky back towards Hogwarts.
Harry flew as fast as he could but the journey was still a long one and by the time they reached Hogsmeade it had been fully dark for some time. They hurried through the tunnel from the shrieking shack and, donning the invisibility cloak first, they emerged breathless from underneath the whomping willow. Harry glanced at his watch it was five past eight, they would make it in time but only barely. They didn't have time to go through the school and possibly get delayed by a teacher or another student so they mounted the broom again and reached the open window of Dumbledore's office just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation.
`...has done it?' they heard Dumbledore ask the other Harry, `Not entirely. Would you be willing, Harry, to ease the mind of an old man? Will you attempt to jump an hour into the future? Then we will know.'
The other Harry nodded and, as they watched from their perch outside the window, he stepped up beside the cauldron, lifted the ladle to his lips, took a sip and then apparated. As soon as the other Harry had disappeared from sight they swooped into the room and Harry ripped off the invisibility cloak.
Dumbledore nearly fell out of his chair in shock, `Harry, how did you...'
But Harry did not give him time to ask any questions, `I'm not the Harry that just apparated sir, I've already been back to the past and accomplished our mission and more. I'm two years older than the boy who just left your room. I know we have an hour before the other me gets back and I need you to listen very carefully to what we are about to tell you.'
Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise but he did not interrupt.
`I know that in this time line there are many things that are different from the time line I left but the fundamentals cannot change, what sent me back to the past, rather than you, cannot change.'
`We do not know this to be true Harry... many things may be different this time around.'
`Many things are different sir, and I'm here to make sure that this is one of them.'
`But what are you here to change?'
`I'm here to change the way you die, sir.'
Dumbledore gapped at him in astonishment, `Harry... I don't understand.'
It was something that Harry had never expected the Headmaster to say and it stunned him into silence. Thankfully Hermione was there to fill the gap.
`Sir, Professor Snape is going to cast `Avada Kedavra' at you tonight. We know this will happen, and we know that, unless you trust us, you will die tonight and Professor Snape will be your murderer. We've got a plan to change this but you have to let us help.'
Dumbledore gapped at Hermione, `But, that was the plan... Professor Snape was meant to kill me.'
`He doesn't want to be your murderer, sir, and I owe it to him to make it so he doesn't have to be... if I can.'
Dumbledore looked back and forth between the two teens, the extra two years of life that they had experienced were written all over them and while this was not the Harry he knew it was also still Harry and there was no-one he trusted more.
`What is your plan then m'boy?'
Hermione laid the still stunned snake on the floor and proceeded to curl it up into a round flat disk, she then pointed her wand at it again and this time she petrified it before then handing it to Harry. Harry held the snake in front of Dumbledore's chest; it was big enough to shield it completely.
`I want you to put this down the front of your robes.'
Dumbledore gulped, `Is that Nagini?' Harry didn't answer; he only nodded and held the snake out for Dumbledore again.
`Are you certain that this is necessary?'
`It's not going to do you any harm if it's not.'
Dumbledore nodded, `very well then but please, turn away... give an old man some privacy.'
`Of course, sir,' Harry and Hermione grinned at each other as they turned away.
`Dumbledore must trust you an awful lot Harry,' Hermione whispered.
`Well, in the last time line he told me that there was no-one he trusted more... at least it doesn't look like that has changed, whatever else might have.'
Behind them they could hear Dumbledore rustling with his robes but they ignored it and Hermione reached over and squeezed his hand.
`Whatever else might have changed, you know that we haven't.'
Harry raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, `and I never want us to either.'
`Ah, young love. It warms an old man's heart to see that your time in the past has not changed your relationship with Ms Granger, Harry.'
Harry and Hermione turned to look at the old man in surprise; he was once more seated, his robes seemingly undisturbed.
`Sir, can I... it may seem an odd question but... are Hermione and I dating? In this time line, I mean.'
Dumbledore looked surprised, `Why, you have been for some time. Do you mean to say you weren't, in your original time line?'
`No, we only got together after we went to the past.'
`What an odd thing to change... in any event I suppose it will be easy enough for you to discover the details at some future moment. I believe now we must focus on the matter in hand. What should I expect?'
Harry nodded and got back to business, `right. Very soon, the dark mark will be cast and will appear right outside your office window. The other me will return shortly thereafter and you will order me to put on my invisibility cloak. Draco Malfoy will come through alone, at first, and he will disarm you. You must not try to stop him, just make sure that the other me is petrified or it will ruin everything.'
Dumbledore nodded, `I see, but you said it was Professor Snape who kills me, am I to gather then that young Mr Malfoy does not?'
`That's right, just keep him talking. Ask him all about how he managed to get the Death Eaters into the school and praise him as though you're proud of him, he won't have the heart to do it. After a bit the other Death Eaters will arrive and then, lastly, Snape will. You'll have time for a little chat with the other Death Eaters first but they won't have the guts to kill you either. When Snape arrives, plead with him.'
Dumbledore took a deep breath, as though to steady his nerves and Harry reflected quickly that it felt very odd to be telling Dumbledore what to do.
`When the curse hits you, you will fly out the window and it will probably hurt. But, don't worry I'll be out there on my broom and I will catch you. Then Hermione and I will take you to the hospital wing before heading back up to your office to let Ron know that we're back.'
`It sounds a very thorough plan, Harry.'
Harry grinned in response to this praise from his mentor.
`Unfortunately,' continued Dumbledore, `we don't have the luxury of any further time for discussion, I believe the time is now nigh to put your excellent plan into place.' Dumbledore pointed out the window and there, hanging like a ghoulish banner in the night sky, was the dark mark.
Harry and Hermione quickly mounted the broom, threw the invisibility cloak over themselves and flew out the window. Their departure took place precisely on time as, no sooner had they cleared the window ledge, then the other Harry popped back into existence. Harry took in the scene and then frowned.
`Does Dumbledore look sicker now than he did a minute ago?' whispered Harry.
Hermione nodded, `Do you think it's the Horcrux that's doing it?' she whispered back.
Harry shrugged, neither of them had ever kept one of the nasty things on their person for any length of time and so had no idea of what the effects might be, `I hope not.'
They watched the scene before them play out and Harry was surprised by how very little of it changed. Draco expressed himself exactly the way Harry remembered, though he didn't think it was necessarily a good thing that Draco Malfoy was exactly the same as in the previous time stream.
`How long does this go on for?' Hermione asked, `of course this is all very interesting, but, I'm getting tired of being on this broom.'
Harry nodded, `We've got a bit of time yet, I should set you down anyway, I'll have to catch Dumbledore in a bit and I don't think this broom will cope with three passengers.' Harry then descended to the base of the tower and set her down there out of sight before resuming his position outside the tower window. The other Death Eaters had now entered the room and were taunting Dumbledore, who continued to get weaker and slide further down the desk. Harry watched it all guiltily; he'd thought their plan would save the Headmaster but what if it actually caused his demise?
Then Snape entered and the scene changed again, now Dumbledore was pleading and the pleading seemed entirely too genuine. Harry hoped, with every fibre of his being, that Dumbledore was only a very good actor and not genuinely in trouble there. Harry didn't think he could live with himself if Dumbledore died as a result of his own misguided attempts to save him.
Then, just as Harry remembered it, Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
`Avada Kedavra!'
A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Dumbledore was blasted into the air and for a split second he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, out of the window.
As soon as Dumbledore was out of the window, Harry sprang into action and dived after him. His invisibility cloak flapped behind him but Harry did not care. His every thought, his every fibre, was directed towards one goal. He had to catch Dumbledore. Like a giant bird of prey he swooped after his quarry, and caught him mere meters from the ground, pulling up just in time to avoid impact with the earth.
Harry flew over to where Hermione stood in the shadow of the tower. She hurried over and helped him lay Dumbledore on the ground.
`Is he okay?' she asked Harry first, then she anxiously peered into Dumbledore's face. `Professor, are you okay?'
The Professor groaned and pulled the now limp snake out through the neckline of his robes, `I will not say that I am perfectly well, Ms Granger, because that would be a horrendous lie. But I am, without a doubt, better than I might otherwise have been.'
The Headmaster then collapsed, unconscious, in Harry's arms.
Harry looked at Hermione in shock, `We have to get him to the hospital wing. Do you think the Death Eaters are out of the castle yet?'
Hermione walked to the edge of the tower and looked around it to the front doors, they flew open with a bang and the Death Eaters came sprinting out, heading across the lawns towards the gate not sparing a glance back.
Harry gathered the headmaster in his arms and headed towards the hospital wing, he really hoped that Madame Pomfrey would be able to help the Professor. Thankfully it seemed that all the order members who had been fighting were still on the upper levels near Dumbledore's office because they made it all the way to the hospital wing without being stopped. They deposited the Headmaster onto one of the beds and left him in the fussing care of Madame Pomfrey. She let them go easily enough, being too concerned about the Headmaster to worry about them. Harry hoped his luck would hold and they'd be able to avoid everyone on the way back as well. They planned to fly up once they got outside and avoid most people that way. He knew they would have to confront the future that they had created soon but he was hoping they'd at least be able to talk to Ron first and have an idea of what they were facing first.
But it was not to be.
They made it as far as the entrance hall before he thought he heard a young girl calling his name. He stopped and listened, he heard it again, louder this time.
`Ponger!'
Harry looked at Hermione, `Ponger?' he asked.
`It means smelly' Hermione offered helpfully.
Harry half turned and saw a young girl with dark red hair at the far end of the hall hurrying towards them, `She can't be calling me, can she?'
Hermione shrugged, `anything's possible.'
`Come on, she must have me confused with someone else.' Harry took Hermione's hand and turned away again, Hermione looked sceptical but allowed herself to be led away. The young girl was undeterred and continued to hurry after them and call out.
`Pongs!'
Harry and Hermione kept walking.
`Harry!'
They stopped abruptly in their tracks and turned to face the young girl who was now only a few yards away and breathing heavily.
`Why didn't you stop!' she demanded.
Harry looked at the young girl, amazed, he'd never seen her before in his life and most kids her age at Hogwarts were terrified of him.
`Where you calling to me?' He asked incredulously.
`Well, der! Who else do you know called Pongs?'
`No-one, I didn't even know I was called Pongs.'
`Don't be stupid,' the young girl admonished, `it's been your nickname ever since you got gastro when you were five years old. I might have been only a baby at the time, but Uncle Sirius is always telling that story. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about just `cause your girlfriend is here.'
Harry swallowed, this girl clearly knew him quite well, perhaps in this time-line Professor Lupin had married and she was his daughter. He'd have to pump Ron for information as soon as he saw the red-head, in the mean-time he had to get away from this girl as quickly as possible.
`Was there something you wanted?'
`I want to know what you're up to!' she demanded stamping her foot, `You never let me in on the fun stuff, I want to know why there are two of you on my map!' she pulled out a piece of parchment. The parchment wasn't old, so it clearly wasn't the original, but aside from that it was a perfect copy of the Marauders map. Harry moved to snatch it from her but she yanked it out of his grasp.
`Where did you get that?' He demanded, but the little girl was not cowed by his temper.
`It's not yours stupid, it's the copy that Dad, Uncle Lupin and Uncle Sirius made for me! As if I'd bother stealing your crummy old map when I've got my own new one that was made especially for me.'
Harry's heart sang at the implication that Sirius was still alive even as his panic at her other implication began to set in. He tried to breathe deeply and calm himself. She was his sister, she had to be.
`What were you trying to show us?' asked Hermione, clearly seeing Harry's distress.
The young girl brought forth her map again, this time watching Harry carefully as though he might make another grab for it. Harry studied it intently and noted several things very quickly. Firstly, none of the secret passages into Hogsmeade were marked on this map. Secondly, there were still currently two dots marked Harry Potter in the castle, and finally (and most importantly) the young girl in front of him was named Jasmine Potter.
Jasmine pointed to the dots in Dumbledore's office labelled Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and then to the dots showing that they were also now in the entrance hall.
`How can you be in two places at once?'
Harry rubbed his forehead and tried to calmly address his sister, `Jasmine, I really don't have time for this...'
`What have I done wrong now?' asked Jasmine, now looking distraught.
Harry shook his head in bewilderment, `What?'
`You only call me Jasmine when your really angry at me, what did I do wrong? I was only trying to help. I heard you, when you came into the common room earlier... I heard you tell Ron and Hermione what to do. I thought I could help too, since I've got a map as well... But you never... You never want me too.'
The little thing looked like she was near tears and Harry, desperate to get moving again and desperate not to make his little sister cry the first time he met her, reached out and touched her shoulder.
`I'm sorry, Jazz,' He said using a shorter version of her name hopefully, `I'm not angry, I swear... it's just been a really rough day and ... I promise I'll explain everything later. Okay?'
She nodded and began to shuffle away, she still looked so downcast that Harry couldn't resist calling out to her.
`Hey, Jazz!'
She stopped and looked back at him.
`When I graduate you can have my map, okay? It's got some secret tunnels into Hogsmeade on it that yours doesn't'
She smiled brightly, `Thanks, Pongs!'
`Please don't call me that!' But she paid him no attention and just skipped away.
Harry turned back to Hermione; feeling giddily happy, with a massive grin on his face, `Come on,' he said taking her by the hand, `let's go save the world.'
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