LifeLines Part 1- Realization
Author's Note: Hey everyone. My second fic, I kinda gave up on my idea before. (If you remember, I said my second fic was going to be "Where Are The Yeaterdays That Worried You So?") It would be really long, and it's hard to write. Maybe I'll go back to it, maybe. Anyway, this fic is going to be long, and I mean long,maybe 4 or 5 parts. Updates won't be as often as I'd like them, cause school starts soon. (Dumb homework.) Enjoy! I rated it PG for now, but the other parts might be PG-13. This chapter is mosty a talking chapter. kinda boring right now, but gets better later.
Disclaimer: I own the plot and the other names that aren't in Harry Potter. The HP names belong to J.K Rowling.
It was another snowy day at Hogwarts. Harry Potter got out of bed and stretched. He looked over to the bed next to him. Ron had gone downstairs already. Harry wondered what time it was. He went down to The Great Hall for breakfast. Ron was there with Hermione and they were both fighting over the copy of The Daily Prophet. "Why don't you get your own copy? You can read when I'm finished with it!" Hermione said. "Come on, let me look at it for one minute!" Ron whined. "Hi guys." Harry said, sliding down in an empty seat. Hermione tugged and the copy of The Daily Prophet got free from Ron's hands. "Hey. What's up?" Ron said. Hermione was busily reading her newspaper. She alternated reading and eating bites of toast. She flipped over to the front page. "Oh not much. I'm just tired. I stayed up late trying to finish that Potions essay." Harry said as he poured a glass of juice and started to eat a bowl of cereal. Hermione gasped and dropped a piece of toast on the floor. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." Hermione said. "Hermione what's wrong?" Ron asked. She just showed them the front page. "VOLDEMORT RISES AGAIN. MINISTRY IN PANIC" Was printed on the front page. "Listen to this: Reports are coming from all over the country side that wizards and witches have seen Dark Marks and other disturbing things that have a connection to the Dark Arts. About six muggles and 5 wizards have been killed in the last 48 hours. The Ministry of Magic has told all wizards and witches to keep on a extreme guard." Hermione read off the front page. She sighed and folded up the paper. "But my scar doesn't hurt yet." Harry said. "Yeah, but that just means he isn't around here yet. He's still alive, and he's still going to kill again." Ron said. "I wonder if Dumbledore heard yet." Hermione said. "Are you kidding? He probably was the first to hear about this." Harry said. He looked up to the High Table. Dumbledore was conversing with the other teachers and they were all nodding and whispering. Dumbledore stood up and he made sparks shoot out his wand to get everyone's attention. "Attention, everyone. Settle down, settle down. We have just heard that Lord Voldemort has risen and has killed 5 wizards already." He said grimly. Some of the students gasped. "From now on, no one is allowed to go off school grounds. Quidditch practices will take place in the school, and so will Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology classes. If anyone sees anything suspicious, come directly to one of us. For today, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology classes before Lunch will gather in here. They will be free periods, but you must stay in the Great Hall. Now, you all may go to your classes." Dumbledore said. Everyone stood up and walked back to their common rooms to get books. "Great! We have Herbology first today!" Ron said. "That's good. We just have to get our books." Hermione said. They finished eating and gathered their books up. Then they ran back down to the Great Hall and sat with their Herbology class. Professor Sprout was no where to be seen, so everyone was just chatting and hanging out. "This is really, really bad. This is horrible." Harry said. "Well, at least we know he isn't anywhere around here, right Harry?" Ron said. Hermione was scratching the back of her hand. She looked down and screamed. "What? What?" Harry said. He looked at the back of her wrist. There was a mark on the back of it. "It a sort of skull and flames." Harry said. "Well, we should get her to Dumbledore. It could mean anything." Ron said. Hermione was shaking; she was almost ready to faint. "Am I a dark witch?" She said. The three of them headed for a door. "Of course not, you would be in Slytherin right now." Ron said. "And just where are you three going?" It was Professor Sprout. "We have to get her to Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor. She has this thing on her hand." Harry explained. Hermione showed her hand. She gasped. "Oh, okay. Go right ahead and go straight to his office." She said. They ran to the office and said the password. The door swung open and they ran up the stairs. Ron knocked on the door. "Come in." Dumbledore said. They walked in. Dumbledore was talking with Professor Mconagall. "Professor, look at this!" Hermione said. She held up her shaking hand. The mark was still on her hand, and it was bright red. Drops of blood were beginning to form in the spots where the flames were. "My god." Professor McGonagall said. She scribbled a note on a piece of paper and handed it to Harry. "Quickly, go to the library and show this to Madam Pince. She will give you the book and come right back here. The book is in the restricted section, but tell her I sent you. Now go!" Harry sprinted down to the library, clutching the note.
"Harry, what are you doing here? You should be with your class!" Madam Pince said as he ran into the library. "McGonagall, sent me. I need a book, in the restricted section, please!" Harry said, trying to capture his breath from sprinting down the stairs. He handed her the note. "Hmmm, this seems to be in order. Come on, I'll take you to get the book." She said. Harry followed her and they went into the restricted section. She took a candle and looked for the book. Harry was still a little freaked out, after what happened before. He was really worried about the mark on Hermione's hand. They walked to the darkest part of the section, when Madam Pince stopped walking. "Ah, here we go. This is the book we're looking for." She said. The book had a cover that didn't look that old, but drops of blood spotted the cover. She handed the book to Harry. "Go back to Dumbledore's office right away." She said. "Thank you!" Harry said as he ran back to the office.
"Professor, what does this mean?" Hermione asked. Her hand was spread on the table and drops of blood were leaking onto Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore had gone downstairs for a second; he had to get something. "Well, I'm sure I saw this before. That's why I sent Harry to get that book. You see, every new aliment or mark that appears on witches or wizards has to be recorded. If it doesn't reappear in a certain amount of time, we take it off the record. This mark appeared around the time Voldemort rose to power before-" McGonagall said. "What? Am I dark witch?" Hermione asked. "Of course not, you're in Gryffindor, right? So, you can't be a dark wizard!" She said. The door banged open and Harry came in. He was gasping for air. He put the book on the desk, and fell in a chair. Dumbledore came back in also. He had a little bottle with him. "Well, it took me a while, but I convinced Severous Snape to make this for me." Dumbledore said. He sat down in the chair right across from Hermione. "What's that Dumbledore?" Ron asked. Professor McGonagall was pouring over the book, frantically flipping pages. "My dear boy, this is a potion that was once used years ago, when Voldemort was ransacking houses and killing innocent people." He replied. Ron paled. "I've found it Albus!" Professor McGonagall said. "Good work!" He said. "Now, Hermione, when did this first show up?" McGonagall asked. "Just now. I was sitting with our Herbology class and we were waiting for Professor Sprout. I was scratching the back of my hand, and then this appeared." She said. "Okay. Harry, Ron? Will you two please come over to my desk?" Dumbledore said. The two looked at each other and stood up. "Put your hands on the desk." He said. Ron and Harry obliged. Dumbledore poured a bit of the potion on the back of their hands. He rubbed it in. In a split second, two other marks appeared on their hands. On Ron's hand was a skull and a tiny heart on the side. It wasn't very big, but noticeable. On Harry's hand there was a green mark. "The Dark Mark!" Hermione said. Both of their marks were spotted with blood. "All of you, sit down." All of them sat in chairs while McGonagall was reading the book. "I'm sure you all have heard about Lord Voldemort, correct?" Dumbledore said to them. All of them nodded. "Minevera and I have reason to believe that the marks that have appeared on your hands have something to do with it. In this book, are all of the new marks that appeared during Voldemort's reign. These three marks appeared on three other witches and wizards that worked for him." He continued. "According to what we know about the dark arts, you three may have been those witches and wizards: In your past lives. The marks are turning up again, because he's at full power again." McGonagall said. "But why didn't they appear before?" Ron asked. "We really don't know." McGonagall said. She walked over and showed then the book. "In this book are the three people who possessed these marks before. And the picture of the mark is next to their picture. Hermione, a witch named Cassandra Livingston had this mark. She was dead three days before the first attacks began." She said. Hermione paled, which was remarkable, seeing as how pale she was already. "Ron, you might have been someone named Stephen Richardson, he died a few days after Cassandra did. Harry, you might have been Jonathan Warner; he died the day before the first attacks were launched. We might need this information, but we will need your help. All of you." McGonagall said. "What do you mean?" Harry asked. "Well one of the things we know is that one of those three had the power to defeat Lord Voldemort. But he/she was killed before he/she could launch an attack. So, we need the three of you to go back to your past lives and find out how to defeat him." She said. "What? How can we do that? I thought you told me that wizards can't go back in time." Hermione said. "They can't, but you can go back to your past life and watch it, but not be able to affect it. This is a very dangerous task, but we really need your help. Of course, we will take all precautions, and only if you three agree to this." McGonagall said. "If we do this, is there a chance we'll die?" Ron said shakily. "Yes, a there is a chance. If you are still watching your past life, and your past self dies, you will die also. We can bring you back only by potion. If you were to just try to come back by yourself, there is a chance that your past self will die, and so will your chance for a future for yourself, the next time around." She said. "We will only do this if you agree. Understand, if this is successful, we will be able to halt the attacks and kill Voldemort once and for all." Dumbledore said.
"What would we have to do?" Hermione said. "You three will take the potion, that is in this book. The potion will warp you back to your past lives, but you will not be able to control anything there. What was done, was done. After an amount of time, or when we think your lives are in danger, we will give you another potion and you will return, with memories intact." He said. All three looked at each other. "We will give you time to think about it." McGonagall said. She scribbled three notes. "Give these to your teachers the next time you see them. You have the rest of the day off to think." She said. "Thank you." Harry said. All three went back to the Gryffindor common room.
"I'm cracking up. Tell me I was just dreaming up that conversation and now I'm awake." Hermione said. The three were sitting in chairs, away from the rest of the Gryffindors. "Nope. That was as real as real can get." Harry said. "God, this is messed up." Ron said while he was looking at his mark on his hand. "I might do it. Think about it: Voldemort could strike Hogwarts and kill all of us, just because we didn't do this." Harry said. "Yeah, but we could die." Hermione said. "And the teachers could protect the school. Or you could defeat him, like all the other times." Ron said. "I'm gonna do it. I couldn't protect my parents when Voldemort attacked them; I'm not going to stand around and watch him destroy more lives. If I die, I die trying to help out." Harry said. "You're right. If you're going to do it, so will I." Ron said. "I need more time to think about it." Hermione said. "All right, see you at dinner." Ron said. Harry and Ron left her to think.
"Excellent! You will both do it?" McGonagall said to them. Harry and Ron both went up to her and agreed to do it. "What about Hermione?" She asked. "She said she needed more time to think." Ron said. "No, I've decided. I'll do it." Hermione was standing behind them. She had just walked in. "Great. The three of you will come directly to the Hospital Wing after breakfast. I will talk to you teachers; otherwise, no one else can know about this. We need to keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone; not even close friends or relatives. You all may leave now, I'll see you tomorrow." McGonagall said.
"I'm so nervous right now. What did we agree to do?!?" Hermione said at dinner. They were all eating a lot, after missing lunch. "I just keep thinking that it's for the greater good of the wizarding world. We could be the ones to stop Lord Voldemort once and for all." Ron said with a mouth full of baked potatoes. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. I trust Dumbledore." Harry said. "He won't let us die on him, I know it." "I think it's kind of cool, we get to see us before we were really us. I bet you were still brainy in your past life." Ron said. "And I bet you were still a pain in the neck." Hermione retorted. Harry just rolled his eyes. He was glad that this wasn't going to change his friend's personalities. "But why us? None of us has really had any signs that we used to be dark wizards, right? I haven't." Hermione said. "Hermione, just enjoy the night. You don't need to think about all this now. Goof off. Hang out. Just have fun. You might not be able to do this for a long time. Don't be brainy for once." Harry said. "Yeah, just be a regular kid." Ron said. "You're right. I think I'll go for a broomstick ride, just for kicks." Hermione said getting up. "Yeah, let's go!" Ron said. The three looked at each other for a second. Then they ran out of the Great Hall.
Harry was in his pajamas, just sitting in his bed and thinking. Ron had run off somewhere before, but he didn't Harry where. Harry was thinking about his parents and he was sort of preying. He was just nervous about tomorrow. He was contemplating everything in his life. He had gone to visit Hagrid before he came up, just to say hello. But Harry really just wanted to see him before tomorrow. In fact, the three of them were running around, wrapping up loose ends, just in case something happened. Hermione was writing a long letter to her parents; last time Harry checked it was a foot and a half long, and she writes really small. Harry spent a bit of time with the other Weasly brothers also. The door opened and Ron came in. "Hey, where did you run off to?" Harry said. "I wrote a letter to my parents, just saying hello." Ron said. "Trying to tie everything up before tomorrow?" Harry said. "Yeah, just in case, you know, something happens." He said. "I know, Hermione is doing the same thing. But nothing will happen." Harry said. "Yeah, nothing will happen." Harry said. "Well, good night." Ron said. "Good night." Harry said. He thought he would never get to sleep, but he fell asleep immediately.
"Good, all of you are here." McGonagall said to the three when they walked into the Hospital Wing. It was right after breakfast; they would be getting their books right now. No one ate a thing at breakfast, they were too nervous. Professor McGonagall led the three to a room near the back of the Hospital Wing. They walked into the room and there were three beds; two gently simmering cauldrons were next to the window. Standing next to the cauldrons was Albus Dumbledore. "Hello Ron, Hermione, Harry. Just sit on the beds and we'll explain what will happen." Dumbledore said. The three climbed on the beds and sat. Hermione was shaking like mad. Ron was kinda pale, and Harry was worried, but he didn't show it. "All right, I'm sure you have all done things you needed to do? Does anyone want to do something before we begin?" Dumbledore said. They shook their heads. "Okay, when we give the potion, all of you will be in a very deep sleep. Your pulse will slow down, and your breathing will as well. You'll still be alive, of course, but your spirit will travel back in time, and will go into your past self. You will not be able to control the body, you will just see out the eyes, hear out of the ears and etc. The only way to return to the present is for one of us to give you another potion. If you try to escape otherwise, you might injure your past self, and if you die in the past, you will die in the present as well. When you return to the present, you will have all the memories intact. Don't be scared when you're past self dies, you can't be hurt. Does anyone have any questions?" Professor McGonagall said. "What will you tell our parents?" Hermione said. "If you're parents don't ask, don't tell them. If the Ministry hears about this, they could shut down Hogwarts, because this is very dangerous and the Ministry doesn't really approve." She said. "Ready?" Dumbledore said. They nodded. Dumbledore filled three wineglasses with the potion, it shimmered sliver. He handed one to each of them. "Toast. Good luck to all of you. For your past, present and future alike." Dumbledore said. "To our past, present and future alike." Harry, Hermione and Ron echoed. They drank. It was sweet and warm. They were all drowsy instantly. They lied down on the beds. Their eyes closed and their heartbeats slowed down. Their minds will filling with a slivery fog, and theirs spirit left them. Hermione opened her eyes, and whispered "My past, present and future alike." Her eyes closed again. The three were all asleep, their spirits gone. "Do you think they'll be okay?" McGonagall asked. "They are fighters, I know they'll be okay." He said.