The Thursday Before Now
~Prologue~
The Confession of Lucius Malfoy
Before his death, he had confessed to me that he believed his greatest crime of all, was losing her and that their engagement had been real, their love real. Years had passed since that day in his mind, but I sat, listened to the confession of his past even though it pained me to do so, listened as if I cared, which I did not.
I am not a fan of Lucius Malfoy, there are few that are. However it was the least I could do as a Ministry official and after the death of his wife and his son had been only days ago. I had no way of knowing that our last hour talking would also be his very last alive.
I remember the conversation between him and me clearly. At 1:00 a.m. that very night as I was leaving the Ministry, locking the office door, I was to stop by the Burrow for Ginny, pick up a package from her mother and then head for home. I received an owl of urgency the instant I hit the lights. The letter dropped at my feet at 1:05 a.m. It was from Lucius Malfoy and he wanted to see me.
The war had left scars. The Malfoy's and I had made our amends but they would never be the sort you invited to supper.
1:45. Lucius greeted me a short ways from the manor and took me into his home at 2:00 a.m.
As I walked up the pathway I notice a window to the second level of the manor that had been left strangely open, one of the shutters creaking loosely. I asked him of it and he stated it was likely one of his servant elves.
We sat and talked awhile over a cup of tea. I listen to him as one under a spell. It was not the voice of a man fearing an assignation upon his door, but more of a man giving his final confession and willing ready for his fate. Not only that, but his voice was soft as he spoke. He used words aimed to move the heart, stir the soul. But his confession was not for the years married to his late wife. No, instead it was for the truth of a girl he knew once upon a time, like a long awaiting speech aim to give her the glory he felt she so rightfully deserved.
Hello, my name is Harry Potter and I am not speaking of the ordinary condition of things that shall and have passed, but of the events we must change and of the damaged done to history. The price will be much greater when this Thursday intervenes and this document has been written in Paris on Thursday the 21st, quite in time to correct the fate soon to fall. But if the records that I've found are as accurate as they appear to be, it is almost next to impossible to believe, and I can only hope that it explains to you the need for imposing our dearest friend for such a dangerous mission.
It may also occasion some surprise that it should remain for the Ministries best interest that these records I am sending you were not destroyed in all these years. But there is little time to understand why or how. Just as I departed the manor and arrived at our home safely I received a second owl at 3:00 a.m., this one from Authur. The date upon it marked a one day later, Friday the 22th.
As I reread the instruction provided to me the one thing I understood was that time was of the essence and that the future remained uncertain. Perhaps it is too late to reverse the crimes that are being committed but we have to try. In Arthur's letter it states the time of Lucius Malfoy's death, 2:59 a.m., Thursday, the hour I left.
I am entrusting to you all disclosed information I have obtained from Arthur and I will contact you later for further instructions.
-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•*:*•-:¦:-•:*'''''*:•-:¦:-
Harry sealed the letter addressed to himself. With it he enclosed Arthur's letter as well, but instructed the other Harry to follow the instruction provided in his letter only.
The Letter from Arthur:
…all our efforts have failed. Nothing seems to alter this most vile act of murder, therefore if it can't be undone here or in their future, it is clear that we must follow the killer back through time in hopes of stopping him and his plan to murder them before their final year.
It's undeniable Harry, that Stan wishes to alter the fall of Tom Riddle.
Harry, they will be young the hour you will send them the help they will need to survive this and I've already spoken to Miss Granger, she's departing with Miss Lovegood as we speak. She is very aware of her purpose; to a certain degree. It will be better that way, for her; Hermione as you know has a flair for thinking far too deeply. She and Luna will arrive the summer just before the seventh year.
The Minister and his selectors, have captured the third, but there appears to be one more still at large, there were four very dangerous versions of Stan at the most. Today only one remains alive. It is the original Stan and he is a dangerous man Harry, do not take him lightly, he has allies working with him.
This case is one of the Ministry's most top secret cases. All the damage that could be done, most likely has been done. And the possibility of a different Thursday before now shows little evidence for success. Something must change this fate or we all will have failed and we all face grave danger should he succeed.
I suppose it will serve a greater purpose to release too you the files the Ministry holds of Lucius and of her.
It's safe to finally clarify and reveal the concealed secrecy and hidden truth of who they once were.
Harry, I pray you do not misunderstand what I am about to reveal to you. The ways of time are inscrutable; we are all instruments within it. You are a trustworthy friend, a great Auror and a noble man to your job. Lucius is a man of bitterness, forged by what I believe was an injustice done unto him. In my actions I am going against Kingsley's order. You must not reveal to either of them what I will provide for you. I have it in my heart to believe that Lucius is a man that bears a very great and pure love that could save them all if we handle the mission with great care.
My warning to you ends here and it ends now, destroy this letter and go to the ninth floor. I have left instruction for a night janitor to leave a spare key for you beneath the trash bin outside the first door on the right, the bright red one. You can't miss it, go inside to the lavatory located in the back, go to the toilet, slide it over. It will be difficult to understand at first but I have taken the liberty of removing a very special file from the Department of Mysteries, it will explain everything. Take the smallest brown package to Hermione she knows what to do.
