Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Pride of Portree
Chaser three: Star Trek (reboot movies)
Optional prompts: 1. (emotion) gratitude
6. [song] Shadows of the Night — Pat Benatar
15. [quote] 'It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.' — Ernie Harwell
Word count: 2959
Beta by: Shannon, Heather, Eben, my lovely sister and captain, Aethra. Thank you so much!
Author's note: Without trying to spoil anything I am going to try and draw the timeline for this story and explain the choice of characters.
This story starts in a way with Dumbledore's death. He regrets what happened and wishes to change it. Then we go to Severus' own death and he does the same. The two deaths are connected.
We jump at the end of the battle when the time travel takes place. They end up in Albus Dumbledore sixth year at Hogwarts, 1888. That makes Ariana, 13 years old.
Harry reflects in what circumstances they meet with young Dumbledore.
The older Snape conversation with his younger self takes place in their fifth year at Hogwarts.
Then we jump to the trio's first year at Hogwarts.
The Headmaster was chosen because he wanted to desperately change things and because by being killed with a Killing Curse he touched the black hole. Severus Snape used the Killing Curse, tapping into it. Harry, well...he was hit twice with the curse so he was in as well. Hermione and Ron came because of the tight connection they share with Harry.
Also I'd like to add that Snape is not so nasty because being given this chance changed him. If you were literally given the chance to change time, to fix your worst mistake...and that meant working together with others, it would change you. He got a second chance at life.
And I guess that's it. Enjoy:). I hope you like it.
'It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.' — Ernie Harwell
...
Time is fixed, they would say. Time cannot be changed, they would whisper. The past is the past, we can only move forward. But what if they were wrong?
What if you could go back? What if you could change time? What if time could be fixed, not fixed.
Time was moving, time was hurting.
Death was coming, and he didn't want to.
ENOUGH, Fate said.
...
As the Killing Curse came straight at him, blue eyes locked with dark, onyx ones, Albus Dumbledore wished for nothing more than to change things.
I'm sorry, Severus. I'm so so sorry, my child. If I had known...
Then he knew no more.
And Time screamed.
…
Severus Snape wanted nothing more but to start over as he lay bleeding on the cold, hard floor, staring into deep green eyes.
I'm sorry Lily. I'm so sorry I failed. I failed Harry…
And Death greeted him.
…
Hermione Granger was looking at the multitude of bodies around her, a feeling of numbness in her heart. How many had been lost?
She looked at the Weasleys all gathered around Fred, at George's tear stricken face—a face that would never be mistaken for his twin brother ever again—and felt tears coming back to her eyes. She felt her power evaporating, and she sunk to her knees. She had never wanted anything as much as she wanted to fix what had happened. To go back in time.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish...
And Fate sighed.
...
Nothing could be done. Harry and Ron came to her, supporting each other and taking her by the hands, guided her outside.
But she wasn't crying any longer.
"Hermione?" they both asked, shocked at the change in her demeanour.
"Ron, Harry, would you do it? If you could go back and change time, would you do it?"
The boys gaped at her. It was very sudden.
"Hermione," Harry started, "you know we would. I'd give anything to have Fred back. And Sirius. And Cedric… and—" His voice broke. "For Teddy to have his parents."
Ron nodded, eyes lost, watching the castle.
"Even if we might not be friends?"
Ron's eyes snapped towards her; desperation could be read in them. "What do you mean?"
"I mean if we could fix things. If we stopped the first war. If there was no Quirrell. If, Harry, you lived with your family. If there were no Death Eaters. Maybe it would result in us not being friends. Would you do it?"
Harry and Ron shared a look.
"Yes, we would. Firstly, the life of others… the possibility to save them… it's too important. Secondly, if anything like it happened, you'd be with us, I'm sure. After all, you're our resident genius. If one of us were to figure how to change the past, it'd be you. Plus, we're a team. Where one goes, we all go. But where did this come from?" said Ron, looking wiser than she'd ever seen him.
"And because," Harry added, "we believe in our friendship. I like to believe that we would have become friends even without the troll, that we wouldn't have been awful to you all these years. Hermione, we, the three of us, are in synch, you're my sister in all but blood. I have to believe you would have been in a Voldemort-free world too. Such love cannot just disappear."
Hermione smiled bitterly. There was a stirring of something deep in her heart. But out loud, she whispered, "I just wish…"
And all three of them did. Just a chance to fix things. To make it better. To just fix it.
"Come here," Harry said and hugged his two friends. All of them closed their eyes, thinking of the fallen.
And the darkness engulfed them.
Time was no more.
...
They felt like they were falling and falling. When they opened their eyes, there was a blinding light.
And Death took over.
...
Hermione saw herself first and rolled over, jumping into a sprinting stance while the boys flipped and stood up.
And Fate smiled.
…
They looked around. It looked like Hogwarts before the war. Hogwarts on a nice summer day. And it was quiet. Too quiet.
And Time was born again.
….
"Where are we? What happened?" Harry asked, looking around.
Everything was so peaceful, but years of living in fear made him wary. He looked at Hermione, but she wasn't paying attention. She was looking at something over their heads, murmuring softly to herself. Ron turned and Harry followed, both wanting to see what she was looking at.
Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape were looking at them, equally shocked.
"Potter! Granger and Weasley! Please tell me you didn't die as well!"
"What?" Ron managed to get out.
The men came closer; the boys couldn't believe their eyes, especially Harry. Was this the next adventure?
And Death shook his head.
...
Only Hermione wasn't moving.
"It finally happened."
"What? What do you mean? Do you know why we are here?"
"You're dead, Weasley!"
"Severus…"
Dumbledore shot Hermione a knowing look. It seemed the old man had figured it out.
"You know, Muggles have global warming. Wizards have reality warming."
"What?" three voices said as one.
Hermione ignored them.
"Do you know why the Killing Curse was forbidden?" Hermione asked, looking at them.
"Because it's evil," Ron said in an obvious tone of voice.
"No, not exactly. The person who created it was—extremely so. The curse doesn't just bring darkness; it makes darkness. It tears into reality itself like a black hole that breaks reality into pieces, and time fluctuates. It kills time as it is.
"Do you know why time turners are so controlled? Because by using them, you tear at that black hole that was created by the killing curse. The wizard who created it wanted to jump through it to change the past. To rule it. But it doesn't work like that. It basically destroys everything. Death is what awaits you."
"But then why are we here?" asked Harry, gazing with an aching heart at an undestroyed Hogwarts.
"Because someone out there gave us a second chance. We all wanted to change our fate. And we're all connected. I felt it coming—the tingling in the air. I have been researching this for a long time," Hermione said, going into what the boys called 'researcher mode.'
And Fate winked.
…
"That's why you asked," Ron said.
"Yes. Harry was the key. We came because we're very close. If you hadn't wanted it, you wouldn't have come. And neither Ron nor I would have. We would have been part of the history in Professor Snape and Headmaster's minds."
"But if it destroys everything?" Harry was confused, and he could see Ron was as well.
"It creates as well. It took us to this point and fixed it. We're here now. A clear path. What we will do depends on us."
"And where we came from?" Ron was obviously thinking about his family… he'd never see them again.
"There's nothing, I'm afraid. This is where we came from. And at the same time it is not."
The two boys were baffled, and Severus Snape was doing no better, but he was not showing it. They thought that they could maybe fix things. They were all grateful for the chance, even if it meant never seeing their loved ones again. Their dream could come true.
"Where is here?" Harry finally asked.
"My… my school years," a pale Dumbledore said, shaking and watching a younger version of himself emerging from the school. "We have to move. We need a plan. We cannot be seen."
And Time smiled.
….
Harry chose to become a teacher after finishing his studies, while Ron went to study Muggles after coming back from the tour with young Albus and Elphias. Severus Snape took a world tour, searching for rare potion ingredients. They decided to meet every few years. They were together in this. Through the shadows of the night, they had seen the light. Hand in hand, they would survive and fix things. Together.
With Albus posing as Hermione, Harry, and Ron's grandfather, they befriended a young Albus and avoided meeting Gellert Grindelwald. Albus was grateful that one of his biggest mistakes was corrected.
And Death cheered.
…
Ariana lived. When Harry first met her, the thirteen years old girl had touched him, and he'd decided to put all his energy in trying to help her. She believed herself a freak, and by Merlin, he knew how that felt more than anyone. He studied to become a teacher at Hogwarts, and in his free time, he and Hermione helped Ariana feel normal again.
Harry and Ariana fell in love. The Boy Who Lived had someone who knew just Harry. It was a welcome change. And she really loved him. Hermione had told them they could never go back, that there was nothing to go back to, so he had to learn to let go of what could have been with Ginny.
It had been weird to adjust to the 'family' dynamic, but it had been nice. The older Dumbledore, still posing as their grandfather, and Snape had somehow gotten them false documents with their 'new' identities. Harry had never asked how they had managed that, but he was grateful. They all had a new life. They had said goodbye to their old lives, true, but this new life was a start, a new hello.
It had also been weird to meet the young Dumbledore. And quite fun. Hermione had successfully beaten him as the best student in school, but it had taught him humility. And now, their friend Albus was grateful too.
A few year earlier...
"Excellent, Miss Granger. Outstanding. Albus, it seems you got some competition here," said the Transfiguration professor.
…
"How did you master the spell so fast?" Albus had gone against his pride to ask Hermione Granger, one of the new students, and apparently a genius, something about Transfiguration. He couldn't understand how and why she was so good, even in other classes like Defense Against the Dark Arts. She and her two 'brothers' were brilliant. He'd never met anyone who could surpass him, or even match him.
They looked at him normally. They didn't expect him to know everything. It was as if they knew already he didn't.
When his mother died, they were there for him. They were friends. Harry and Hermione stayed to look after Ari, and he went on a world tour with Elphias. Ron decided to come with them, and they explored the Muggle world too.
He was so grateful for his friends. Their grandfather had helped also. It was a new adventure. And he was glad he wasn't alone. He had friends to hold his hand. It was alright.
Now he had new friends, a new family.
After Ariana had gotten progressively better with friends to hold her hand and someone to understand her, and after Albus had come back from the tour, Hermione decided to join Severus in his research. They knew time was precious, and soon they would have to take up arms once more to fight Grindelwald, but until then, they lived. And they were grateful for it.
And Fate nodded.
….
During the world tour, Ron had met a lovely Muggle, Allie, and it had been love at first sight. Allie was a British girl from London. She'd said goodbye to her family and hello to adventure. She didn't want to become a housewife. So she ran.
Upon coming back, they had remained in touch until Ron, encouraged by Harry, asked her out.
"Mate, if I mustered the courage to ask out Dumbledore's sister, who just happens to be the sister of our headmaster and has a total of three brothers, then you can too."
And that had been a start on the road of marriage.
Severus Snape had welcomed Hermione into his research. She was brilliant, and he was grateful she was up to the challenge. She was one of the few who understood him and one of the four who knew his real past. They had each other's back. After a few years working together on new potions and researching ingredients, somehow, along the way, the two 'new' friends became something more.
They returned home to discover two things: Ron was engaged and their Albus was dying from old age.
The two of them had talked with Harry and Ron and had decided to marry soon so their headmaster, who was now really just like their grandfather, could be there. They had decided to only tell Ariana and Allie who they really were, and the young women had sworn not to tell anyone.
And Time agreed.
...
Their weddings were beautiful and touching. Albus Dumbledore could die happy now. His sister was alive and well, Severus was happy, and he and Harry had forgiven him. Ron and Hermione were happy too. It was a good time.
And Death embraced him.
…
Allie came up with the idea to adopt young Tom one day. And so they did. The boy grew up loved with brothers, sisters, and cousins; he was a sweet boy, very intelligent and lovely. None of the four saw the Dark Lord; they just saw Tom.
Tom couldn't have been more different. Hermione had started the work of generations. A Muggleborn was the brightest witch in generations. Her and Severus' children along with Ron and Harry's kids—all of whom were half-bloods— were extraordinary talented and bright. And, he, a half-Muggle and Slytherin himself had continued it. Muggleborns were no longer seen as less, not when there was such evidence against it. Slytherin changed for the better. Of course, it had helped that after he came back from his years-long research, Severus once again took the mantle of Head of House, thus giving them the necessary guidance.
Slytherin escaped its bad reputation after centuries of 'darkness.'
And Fate couldn't be more happy.
….
Severus Snape was not bullied at school, and the teachers had helped with his home life. Being a Slytherin was no shame, and he and the Marauders became good friends. But still, some things cannot be changed, some things you cannot escape. So when Lily Evans went out with James Potter for the first time, younger Severus went up, near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and cried. Lily had been gentle in letting him down, but he'd wished it hadn't been tonight. Or any other night. James was his friend, but it still hurt.
His older self found him, knowing he'd be there.
"Professor Snape!" the young boy jumped, his tear-stricken face visible in the moonlight.
"Mr. Snape," the older man retorted.
Severus had found it weird to go to Hogwarts and find out that a teacher shared his name, and they were totally unrelated. But now, it was just natural.
"Your friends were worried when you failed to come back to the dormitory tonight. What are you doing here, Mr. Snape? Is it perhaps connected to Miss Evans and Mr. Potter's recent date?"
And the boy cracked.
"Yes," he whispered, not wanting to look at his Head of House. Was he that obvious?
"Mr. Snape, it may sound impossible, but Miss Evans is not the only girl out there. I know, because I have been there myself." Severus thought about his own Hogwarts years and how Hermione had changed his view of love. And he smiled.
"This has happened to you?" the teenager asked, surprised. The Snapes were a relationship goal; it was hard to imagine them not together at some point.
"Yes. It was a lifetime ago, but I know exactly how you feel. But time heals."
And Time thought truer words had never been spoken.
…
Harry James Potter was born four years later. He grew up with his loving parents and made lots of friends.
He, Draco, Neville, and Ron were like brothers. They hadn't seen any death, and they had not felt any sorrow. Lily and James Potter hadn't been taken before their time.
And Death smiled.
….
Hermione Jean Granger joined Gryffindor on the first of September, 1991, along with Harry, Ron, and Neville. Some things never changed. Ron didn't think she was a nightmare; he thought she was awesome, resembling the Charms and Potions genius Hermione Snape.
Severus, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were still alive. The past they escaped no longer haunted them. They were grateful for it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione missed their families sometimes; it was natural. But they had said their goodbyes and had said hello to their new life. So many lives had been saved; how could they regret it?
They knew their time would come soon, but as they looked at the first years, all friends, they thanked whoever gave them that chance.
And Fate felt right. Everything was right.
….
So you see, time could be changed. Time wasn't fixed. They were wrong, whoever they are. Time was alive and moving. Time was born anew.
Time healed and brought on a new adventure.
And Death stopped.
Finally, Fate said.
...
The night is dark, time is moving fast
you can cry, it's finally done
Take my hand, we're in this together
we got nobody else
Death embraced us
Fate aided us
All our wishes, all our dreams
how grateful we are, they've come to greet us
We've said goodbye to the shadows we've lived in, to the cold word outside
And now the hands of time are standing still,
Waiting for us to say hello to this brand new life, full of warmth, full of light...
Our new adventure is starting tonight,
Death left us
And Fate smiled.
…
The end.