A/N: Hello my faithful readers! Here's my newest story, and I should warn you that it isn't like the others that I've been posting, which have been distinctly humorous and fluffy. However, I really hope that you'll give this one a chance, because I quite enjoyed writing something a little different.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry's fabulous world or anything in it.
PROLOGUE
Inhale.
He had to do it, this was the only way. The only way to get revenge. The only way to end the war, to stop the ceaseless killings. How ironic, that murder would be the weapon to end the murders . . .
He was running out of time. Soon, his enemy would realize what was going on, would turn and see him standing there with his wand raised. Now was his chance, his only chance, to end this once and for all . . .
He was filled with a sense of power. It felt so good to be in control, to know that victory was in sight at last. He had been hunting his enemy for such a very long time. It had come down to this moment . . .
He smiled to himself.
Exhale.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
CHAPTER ONE: BACK IN BLACK
Sirius Black's mind was racing.
This was it . . . The dementors were coming to Kiss him . . . any minute now, he'd be a soulless, mindless shell of a man, incapable of all thought and emotion. And for a murder he hadn't gotten the pleasure of committing yet! Pettigrew . . . Where had Pettigrew escaped to? He deserved to suffer, after all he'd put Harry through . . . Harry.
"It's — not — FAIR!" Sirius yelled at no one in particular. He tried to stand, but the heavy manacles securing him to the walls of Flitwick's office prevented him from doing so. Frustrated, alone, and (though he told himself otherwise countless times) scared, Sirius hung his head. All hope was lost.
At that moment, the door to the office let out a metallic click and swung slowly open. Sirius stared, utterly bewildered, as Albus Dumbledore stepped inside, his typical calm demeanor jarring Sirius's overhyped senses.
"Dumbledore!" exclaimed Sirius. "I—"
"I am sorry, Sirius, but you must have a little patience with me; for the time being, keep quiet. I have a lot to say and not a lot of time to—"
"But I'm innocent! You can't let them—"
"Sirius! Please, I asked you to keep quiet." When Sirius showed no sign of disobeying the Headmaster a second time, Dumbledore continued, "Now, I have a lot of important information for you, so pay attention.
"Do you know why Voldemort targeted the Potters all those years ago, Sirius? Do you know why he wanted so desperately to kill them? No? I am not surprised . . . There are very few people who know this, and I am willing to say that I believe Voldemort and I may be the only ones. I have not even told Harry yet what I am about to tell you."
Sirius looked confused. "But surely Harry—"
"He will know when he is old enough to know," said Dumbledore vaguely. "For now, concentrate on the fact that I am telling you.
"The reason that Voldemort wanted to kill Harry so badly was because he believed a certain prophesy, told to me just days before he was born, which said that someone (it didn't say who exactly, but the description matched Harry's situation and Voldemort knew it) would be his downfall. In an attempt to prevent the prophesy from ever coming true, Voldemort tried to nip the problem in the bud, before it became a real threat. He tried to kill baby Harry."
"But it didn't work."
"You are quite right," said Dumbledore with a small smile. "It didn't work."
"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Sirius.
"I have a feeling, call it a hunch if you'd like, that Lord Voldemort will return. Soon." Dumbledore replied. "This time, he will not only be trying to prevent the prophesy from being fulfilled, he is also out for revenge. That makes him even more dangerous."
"So . . . you want me to protect Harry? How can I do that if I haven't got a soul?" Sirius tried his best to sound casual, but his voice cracked at the thought of the Dementor's Kiss he was soon to receive.
Dumbledore, for some reason, merely smiled. "Don't worry about that. Your godson is growing up to become the most caring person I have ever met, he will not let you be wrongfully punished."
Now it was Sirius's turn to smile. "I've seen a bit of that side of him already, actually." he said, remembering Harry's plea for Sirius to show Wormtail some undeserved mercy. Perhaps he was less like James and more like Lily than he had originally thought . . . Sirius didn't understand exactly how a thirteen year old kid was going to save him, even if it was Harry, but he knew that Dumbledore wouldn't elaborate, so he decided to change the subject. "Could I ask one more question, Albus?"
"Of course."
"How did Voldemort even hear the prophesy? I had an uncle who worked in the Department of Mysteries, and he says that no one but the Unspeakables has been in the Hall of Prophesy for a thousand years. People don't even think such a place exists."
Dumbledore's face suddenly grew sad. "I wish that you hadn't asked that, Sirius. But if you insist on knowing, I will tell you."
"Tell me . . . please."
Dumbledore sighed tiredly. He didn't immediately reply, but when he did, his voice was heavy. "Professor Snape made a very grave mistake, Sirius. You must understand that Severus did not fully comprehend the ramifications of what—"
"What has Snivellus got to do with this?!"
"Everything." Dumbledore replied, still sounding impossibly sad. "You see, Severus overheard the prophesy being told and, believing he was serving his master well, reported to Lord Voldemort. He was young and foolish and hadn't heard the whole thing—"
"He WHAT?!" Sirius yelled. "He betrayed them? He killed James . . . It was Snape, all along, not Pettigrew! Snape sent Voldemort after them – That slimy bastard!"
"Sirius, that's not how—"
"WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME?" Sirius screamed. "WHY WOULD YOU KEEP IT FROM HARRY?"
"It's in the past, Sirius, there's nothing you can do about it now. What you can do however, is make sure their son stays alive. Protect him."
"I said I'd do that, and I will," said Sirius, still breathing hard. "But first I'm going to kill Snape."
"Sirius Black," Dumbledore's voice was sharp for the first time that night. "Don't you dare jeopardize your godson's well-being for revenge! How do you think James would feel about his best friend letting his son get hurt because the former was being naïve?"
"Yeah, well thanks to Snape, I can't know what James would've thought, because he's dead." Sirius said bitterly, fighting back tears.
"But there's nothing you can do about that now, Sirius," Dumbledore responded, his face growing ever more tired. "Please, forget about Severus for now. For Harry's sake. You agree that he's more important?"
Sirius looked indignant. "Of course! How could I ever—"
"That's not what your current actions would suggest," said Dumbledore, looking seriously over the top of his half-moon spectacles, his brilliant blue eyes piercing Sirius's soul and making him suddenly guilty. "Now, I'm leaving you. Don't do anything rash once you're free. Go into hiding immediately. I shall contact you soon for a way that you can help Harry. Good luck." And without another word, he was gone, leaving nothing but a fuming young man in his wake.
"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" his godson yelled, jerking the rope that was attached to the hippogriff's enormous leather collar. Sirius was forced to hang on to the thing nearest him (which happened to be Hermione) as the beast launched itself into the air, giving no thought to the three passengers on his back. As he was hanging onto Hermione's waist for dear life, something metal, heavy and golden, fell off of her neck and flew back into his lap. It looked like a small hourglass, covered in strange symbols, buttons, and knobs. Hogwarts castle flew by beneath them, but Sirius could only focus on this one small trinket, which apparently Hermione had not noticed leave her neck.
Seconds later, Sirius recognized what it was. A Time-Turner.
He had heard of such devices existing, but the rumors were nothing more than that: rumors. Could this thing, such a small thing, really take him back in time? He thought of his childhood, of taunting Regulus . . . No, he couldn't go back and do that, regardless of how tempting it was. He thought of his glory days, with James at Hogwarts. They'd been kings! Kings of this magnificent, magical castle . . . He couldn't relive those days, either; not without wanting to wring Snape's neck, which would surely affect the future somehow, in ways that he would never be able to comprehend.
But maybe changing the future wasn't always a bad thing . . . If he picked the right event, it could even be a good thing . . .
What was it Dumbledore had said? It's in the past, Sirius, there's nothing you can do about it now. With a Time-Turner, he could actually do something about it. He could give Harry the childhood he'd always deserved . . . He could prevent Snape from ever hearing that stupid prophesy . . . He could have James back.
Sirius considered all of this in a matter of seconds. By the time he had safely stowed the Time-Turner into his jacket pocket, Buckbeak was landing on the roof of the tower. Harry was telling him to leave as quickly as he could, but Sirius didn't want to leave him. Not ever again. It was the thought of seeing him actually grow up, like a real kid this time, that finally gave Sirius the strength to leave. When it was finally time for him to get on Buckbeak and fly away over the mountains, he waved goodbye to Harry and Hermione with a genuinely light heart. It was all he could do to stop himself from crying aloud with joy at the thought of seeing James again, and so soon!
When Sirius had effectively steered Buckbeak towards a large looking cave half-hidden in the very center of a grouping of mountains, it was nearly three o'clock in the morning. But Sirius wasn't tired. Buckbeak landed at the cave's mouth, and his human passenger leapt from his back before the hippogriff's feet had completely touched the rocky ground. Sirius immediately pulled the Time-Turner from his pocket and examined it more closely.
To his great relief, Sirius discovered that the device had not one, not two, but three tiny knobs on the side; one was labeled with a miniscule "H" another with a "D", and the third with a "Y": hours, days, and years. Sirius looked at Buckbeak, who seemed sniffing around the cave, searching for a rat to eat.
"Thanks for the help, mate," Sirius said softly, stroking the hippogriffs smooth beak. "I appreciate it. You're pretty clever, you can feed yourself, right?"
When the hippogriff did not reply, but merely continued sniffing around the cave floor, Sirius patted him once on the flank and left the cave, clutching the Time-Turner to his chest protectively.
Once outside in the open air, standing on a ledge that overlooked all of Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts Castle's vast outline in the distance ahead, Sirius clicked the knob that indicated "years". He took a deep breath and, thinking of James, turned the hourglass within fourteen times.
Almost immediately, the world around him began to shift and move. The sun rose with colossal speed. The village below went through each season so fast he could hardly see the changes. One second Hogsmeade was covered in white, fluffy snow, the next it was muddy, then dusty and hot, now ablaze with orange and red, and before he knew it the cycle had begun again. Tiny people came and went along the streets, children grew up before his eyes, so quickly they were impossible to follow. Hogwarts alone remained the same.
Just as suddenly as all the activity had started, it stopped.
June 6, 1980. Dumbledore had said that he'd heard the prophesy just before Harry was born . . . Would that be enough time to stop Snape?
Sirius looked behind him. Buckbeak was gone, so it must have worked. He changed into his Animagus form (it would make walking down the mountain faster and easier ) and began his descent into Hogsmeade.
Sirius waited in the Hog's Head every night for a month and a half for Dumbledore to show up with his newest Hogwarts employee. The Headmaster visited the little pub often, especially on the quieter nights, so it wasn't exactly difficult to keep track of when the time was right. Even better, he never entered with company. The only exception occurred in mid-July, when Dumbledore sat down at his usual table in the back, ordered his typical gillywater, but instead of taking out the latest installment of Transfiguration Today, he sat twiddling his thumbs, as though waiting for someone. Sirius, in his heavy disguise, watched carefully as a shabby young woman joined him. She was draped in innumerable shawls, bangles, and beads, and gave the automatic impression of an enormous insect. Dumbledore stood, shook her hand, made some polite small talk, and invited her to a private parlor upstairs. This is it, thought Sirius excitedly. Now all he had to do was keep an eye out for Snape . . .
It was easier than Sirius thought it would be. Snape, as a boy just out of Hogwarts was not very adept at disguising himself; he obviously lacked the experience necessary to do it properly, and Sirius recognized him instantly. Maybe that could have been attributed to the fact that Sirius had glared at Snape's bat-like movements for seven years, but Sirius liked to think it was because Snape was just an idiot that he was recognized so easily.
One thing was certain: what Snape was doing was completely intentional. Dumbledore can bleat feebly about Snape "not understanding the ramifications" or blah blah blah, thought Sirius savagely, but this is a guy who's here for one purpose: to find out information and use it against those I love.This thought made it very easy for Sirius to intercept the greasy young man, subtly curse him into a state of unconsciousness which, in the unusually crowded pub, could easily be mistaken for a drunken stupor, and quietly leave before anyone could ask any questions. Snape would be out like a light for hours, which gave Dumbledore plenty of time to hear the prophesy and get out, without Snape ever having heard it. Grinning to himself as he walked down Hogsmeade's High Street, Sirius inwardly congratulated himself on a job well done. Now all he had to do was go into hiding until his time-travelling self could catch up to his current self. He slung the rucksack he'd stolen from home over one shoulder, gave the outline of Hogwarts one last, fleeting look, and Disapparated on the spot. He'd find himself a nice, quiet place in Switzerland or something, anywhere far away. But he'd be back in fourteen years.
A/N: I promise things will get more interesting from here on out. What did you think so far? Leave a review and let me know!
Be on the lookout for chapter two soon... This entire story has been written in advance, so it's safe to say that I'll be updating very regularly. Every week, I'd say, unless something extremely unexpected happens. Thanks for reading! xoxo