Disclaimer: I am not associated with JKRowling or any of her publishers, this is purely a fan appreciation story and I do not profit from this work (more's the pity).
Description: After the defeat of Voldemort, Harry, Emma, and Neville are given one last present from Dumbledore: The opportunity to travel in time to meet their parents. What starts off as a simple, rewarding vacation, becomes complicated as other's fall through time & old enemies rise up. Really, should Harry have expected to have a normal school year?
Author's note: This will be completely AU (all time travel stories are), but it will be canon with events that happen in Deathly Hallows. Updates will be infrequent, I have to rewrite this! I originally wrote this to follow my version of year 7, but I decided to follow Deathly Hallows, so there are a lot of things that need to be tweaked ^_^
This story is set a month after the final battle (Chapter 36 in Betrayal by Blood) so needless to say, our heroes will have a lot of issues to work out, hehehe
Chapter 1: Dumbledore's Last Surprise
Curiosity was the only feeling amongst the trio of travelers, trying to climb up through the rubble of the castle and to the headmaster's office. "I'm surprised they have got as much done as they have," Neville commented. "I mean, I know they are working around the clock, but still, a lot has already improved in just a month." He would never get the image out of his mind of the castle in ruins, the mayhem and destruction in a single night that had destroyed his home of the previous seven years.
"Magic can be good for something," Emma pointed out. "It destroyed Hogwarts and now it's rebuilding it."
"Surely it can't rebuild everything, I mean, they still have, like, stonecutters or whatever they are called that make the marble and statutes and stuff, right?" Harry asked, having never given much thought to construction in the magical world before now.
"Of course, somewhat, but why do you think we are called here?" Neville asked, getting to the question that was running through all three of their minds. Underneath it, Neville was asking Why me?
"We'll find out soon enough," Harry said as they reached the turret and the stairs leading to the headmaster's office. A makeshift guard was in place but he let them pass without question.
The three exchanged looks as Harry knocked on the door to the office. "Come in."
Harry pushed the door open and led the way in with Neville in the rear and Emma wondered if they thought they needed to flank her for protection or something. "Ah, Potter, Longbottom, O'Neill…it is good to see the three of you," McGonagall smiled. Unlike the previous seven years, it wasn't the matronly smile they usually were graced with but a genuine, I-can't-wait-to-see-your-faces smile.
"Hello Professor," Emma could feel the tingle of anticipation coming from her former head of house and how it was making her friends unconsciously more anxious.
"Are you the next Headmistress?" Harry asked.
"No, the school board is convening for such a decision, but that is not the reason I have asked you to come today. No, I fear it is something much more grand, and it is not my business for which I have summoned you."
If McGonagall was afraid she just gave away the secret she needn't have worried—the three of them had no clue what she was talking about.
"You know that the wizarding world owes the three of you—Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and so many others—a debt of gratitude. As you know, Potter, Dumbledore always had faith in you, in what it was he asked of you."
"Did he tell you?" Harry asked quickly, looking to the portrait of Dumbledore but he was not in his frame.
"No," McGonagall shook her head. "But whatever it was, I know you accomplished it and we can never repay you for it. No, I asked you here because Dumbledore had something planned for you as his own way of thanking you. The three of you."
"But why me?" Neville asked. "Dumbledore never asked anything of me, nor did I help Harry as Emma did."
"You will get far in life, Longbottom, with such humility. Don't think Dumbledore didn't know what you were doing the entire school year. He saw something in you, Longbottom, when you were a first year and stood up to your friends. And you spent an entire year standing up to the enemies of this school and the wizarding people. And this gift is exceedingly fit for the three of you."
That peaked Emma's curiosity. The three of them had fought against Voldemort in various ways, had fought in the last battle, but there had to be something else that linked the three of them together.
"This will explain it all. Dumbledore wrote this, Snape must have ensured it remained hidden from the wrong eyes, and Dumbledore's portrait instructed me where to find it." McGonagall withdrew a parchment, rolled up and tied with a red ribbon. The tips were died in gold, giving the entire piece a very Gryffindor look.
"I just have to say, I didn't think such a thing was possible, but with Albus…well, you know Dumbledore plans things and has knowledge of these matters far beyond anyone else I have met."
With that, McGonagall gave them one last smile and left the three of them. "That's it?" Neville asked. "Go on, read it," he told Harry.
Harry slid the tie off and unrolled the parchment. "Harry, Emma, and Neville," he began.
Emma nudged Neville to keep him quiet; he still didn't understand why he should be included in any gift from Dumbledore.
"I fear I won't be there in person to explain the workings of this, but I trust Miss O'Neill is well acquainted with
the workings of this spell. I know I have placed a great burden on you, Harry,
and I believe wholeheartedly you have come out the victor and a stronger man than I ever was.
"Emma, I may never fully understand the choices you have made, but realize that
you have been truly lucky in this life with the gifts you have been given.
I don't just refer to the burdens placed on you, what nature and your
mother's choice gave you. But the choice you and Draco made, the
foolish, outstanding choice the two of you made. The choice so few will
ever get the opportunity to make which makes you much luckier than I.
"With Harry gone, some feared that the school would fall to chaos and cow
to the dictatorial whims of the Carrows. Not even Snape could protect everyone
and fight the Carrows, creating an even playing field, waiting for the
time of Harry's victory. I knew, Neville, that you would rise to the challenge and be the
beacon the school needed in its darkest hour. The forgotten one, the choice that wasn't,
but I knew you had your parents spirit and that the students would have
a leader to guide them in their darkest hour.
"It is for all these reasons I wish to repay you with giving you the gift you
may never have: meeting your parents. I rather imagine you are all
perplexed and befuddled with this. It is in no means the same manner
Miss O'Neill means to save Cedric Diggory, although the means for achieving it will be vastly similar.
"The spell will send the three of you back in time to your parents seventh year.
The spell acts as a time turner in loop—you will be sent back in time, living and experiencing the year. All that happens will be real to you. At the end of the year you will
return to this time but you're parents and everyone in that year, everyone you encounter, will not
have experience. The spell is self-contained and in such a way you experience
the past without changing it. Everything—the people, the reactions, the feelings—will be
real, the people, your parents will be the real people."
"How is that even possible?" Harry interrupted, looking at Emma.
"What do you know of this?" Neville asked, wondering what Dumbledore meant when he said Emma had experience with the spell. What did this spell have to do with Cedric?
Emma snatched the parchment and read the last paragraph with Dumbledore's instructions. "Standing before the desk, wands touching the parchment at the same time," she muttered. Emma walked up and used her wand to lift the rug on the floor.
There was the same pentagram and insignia she had drawn in The Den, back in her bedroom at Lupin's and Tonks' house. "This is amazing," Emma marveled, rereading the parchment.
"What is it?" Neville asked. He was too afraid to believe it could really happen, just to have his hopes dashed. To know his parents—to be able to talk to them and have a real conversation, it was too good to be true. He never told anyone how much he wanted to have his parents really see him when they looked at him.
"What did you do to save Cedric? Something else besides deals?" Harry asked, concerned.
"No. I mean, I had to plan how to do it, how to save Cedric without changing the events between our fourth year and now. I wasn't even sure if I could save Cedric. So I…" she had never planned on telling Harry this, how she had thought of saving her mother and his parents, and then discarding the ideas. How could she justify that?
"Dumbledore left me a book on advance Theory. There was a spell that was similar to a time turner. It allows the castor to go back and see what happens if you change an event or make a different choice. A sort of 'what-if' spell. So I saw what would happen if I saved someone. Cedric…Cedric's death wasn't necessary to defeating Voldemort, but it was necessary for you to think he had died because it was a crucial part to your development. So I used it to see how I could save Cedric while making everyone believe Cedric had in fact died. I discovered I needed to be in two places at once. It took a lot of coordination."
"So how will this spell work?" Neville asked, each second passing making him more hopeful, more courageous that this could happen.
"We need to do it together," Emma said. She pointed to the floor. "We all need to be inside this, it acts as a boundary—everyone inside will be sent together to the same place and time."
"So you are saying we can actually do this?" Harry was even more hesitant than Neville to give into hope.
"I don't see why Dumbledore would tell us we could do it, and then not do it. You two just need to stand here together and touch the parchment at the same time so you don't get separated from each other."
"Us? Why aren't you coming?" Harry asked.
"Because my mother will be there," Emma shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. It was getting more difficult to keep her emotions in check, she had to consciously make sure she wasn't projecting onto people.
"Isn't that the point?" Neville asked. "You can meet your mother, just like Harry and I can meet our parents."
"I don't need to," Emma hedged, not sure how to explain to Neville.
"Em…" Harry pleaded. "I want you there, too. You deserve it just as much as us. I'll help in any way I can."
Emma shook her head, not sure how to explain she was terrified what it would be like to be with her mother, the mother that dominated so much of who she was. These memories were already in her head, what would it be like if she was there while her mother was living them?
What if she mentally snapped and her mother took over?
Harry gripped her shoulders. "I know. I know, I can only imagine what you're afraid off. Trust me, Em. I wouldn't do anything, let anything happen to you."
"You look just like James," Emma pointed out.
"Then I'll magick my hair and become a Weasley again," Harry grinned.
"Please Emma?" Neville asked. "It won't be the same if you aren't there. We'll be back before anyone even knows we've gone it sounds like."
Emma looked between the two of them. She wanted so desperately to go, but it seemed like it was doomed to end badly.
Taking a deep breath, Emma nodded. She stepped into the diagram with Harry and Neville.
"I am very happy you are all going together," Dumbledore's voice startled them and they turned to see him back in his frame. "Ah, I was watching the rebuilding of the herbology building 3. I have a particular fondness for the gardens in 3 and I am pleased to report Sprout will be back to tending it very soon," he announced, bemused.
"You knew we were here," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, but this decision had to be entirely on your own. I did not wish for my presence or McGonagall's to sway your decision."
"How do you even know they are working on greenhouse 3?" Emma wondered.
"Really, that's what you are asking?" Neville wondered.
"There aren't any portraits there," Emma pointed out.
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes dancing behind his half-moon frames. "No, but there is a portrait that looks through a window that overlooks the greenhouse. And there is no longer a stain glass window to hinder my view."
"How do we explain all this?" Harry asked.
"I trust you have years of experience fabricating tales, Mr. Potter. I trust between the three of you, your imaginations will be able to come up with something sufficient."
The door opened to reveal McGonagall. "I believe you have one last passenger," she announced, Pippin darting straight for Emma and rubbing against her leg, purring.
Emma scooped him up, thankful more than she could express (verbally or emotionally). Suddenly it didn't seem as daunting if she had at least Pippin with her. She had handled the drama of the school for years with him, she could handle one more.
Emma held Pippin tight with one arm as they made a triangle around the parchment. Harry held the parchment and on a count of three, they tapped their wands to the paper.
The sensation was familiar to Emma—a yanking at the navel as she flew backwards, cool, moist air beating against her as she fell through some sort of wind vortex. Then things changed from the hundreds of time she had cast the spell before: she seemed to fall for a long time through the cyclone and the moisture in the air grew thicker. The moisture began to liquefy and paste to her skin and she had an image from the telly of green goo being dumped on unsuspecting people.
Suddenly, it felt as if she had fallen into a vat of fat only to pass through with a loud slurp sound and hit the marble floor.
All three of them took a moment to orient themselves. Emma looked up and saw the high arc ceiling above her. Pippin, who had been clawed to her, promptly detached himself and stretched. She had no doubt she had claw marks on her stomach.
"Everyone alright?" Harry asked.
"By alright you mean bruised and suffering from wind burn, then yup, I'm alright," Neville pulled himself to his feet. That's when he got a good look at himself. "Blimey!"
Emma looked at him and didn't realize what she was looking at at first. "Well, that's new," Emma drawled. She looked down and saw that, like Neville, she and Harry had changed.
"Why would Dumbledore have us change into these?" Harry wondered.
The three dusted themselves off as they saw they were wearing travelling cloaks that had the ministry insignia bestowed to them at the awards ceremony. The coat of arms that signified they were Order of Mage, first Class.
"You know, just once I wanted to have a normal school year," Harry sighed.
"And you thought it would be the one you had to travel back in time to go to?" Emma smirked.
"It was promising, up until now," Harry smiled.
The three of them stared at the closed double doors leading to the Great Hall. "When do you think we arrived?" Neville asked, butterflies dueling in his stomach.
Harry pressed his ear to the door. "I think that's the sorting hat giving his speech. Although, he is talking about house unity which sounds vaguely familiar."
"He gave a few talks about that during our parents years, too. Vold…" she wasn't sure if you could say his name now, "Voldemort is beginning to come to power but the war hasn't gotten bad, yet."
"So we're at the beginning of the school year, Dumbledore seemed sure it would send us to our parents seventh years, so…" Adrenaline pumping, Harry raised his wand and flicked his wrist.
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The doors burst open and the students all jumped, some to their feet, others trying to get a look without putting themselves potentially in danger.
Dumbledore, like all the other professors, had come to his feet but he merely watched the trio.
The students watched as two dark haired boys and one blonde girl walked calmly towards the head table. The students all muttered on just who would have the audacity to burst into the school, and just who were they anyways? All the students took the train and Hogwarts never had guests, not like this.
"Who do you think they are?" Lily asked.
"Did you see their cloak?" Emily asked. "It had the mage insignia."
"There hasn't been a mage for decades, maybe centuries," Lupin added.
"How do you even know what a Mage insignia looks like?" Sirius asked.
"My mum's uncle's grandfather was awarded Mage," Emily said proudly. It was the non-Potter side of her family, one of the few bragging rights that she didn't share with James.
The three strangers walked down the middle of the Great Hall towards the head table. Dumbledore had stood up when the doors burst open.
"Doesn't that one remind you of someone" James asked.
"Which one? The one that looks as if he could be your brother?" Sirius said.
"Yeah, he is kinda cute," Lily said.
"Hey!" James said. It wasn't a good sign that now, when Lily was starting to pay attention to him as a person and NOT yell at him every other minute, she was finding other boys attractive. At least, not good for James Potter. "Wait a minute, he looks like me," he pointed out.
Lily gave him a look that clearly said 'duh.'
By now Harry, Neville, and Emma were half way up to the teacher table and were at the middle of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. They couldn't help but notice that that was where the marauders, Lily, Emily, Alice and Frank were also sitting.
They walked past, Neville and Harry not looking at their parents, but Emma felt a presence and made eye contact with a dark haired girl who was sitting at the Slytherin table. This girl– who Emma didn't recognize from her mother's memories– felt the same feeling and also looked up and made eye contact.
Immediately they glared at each other as Emma walked past and Emma couldn't help but think that if this was a muggle vampire movie they would be snarling and hissing their fangs at each other.
As they approached the head table, Dumbledore, who was standing but had not spoken yet, finally said, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
They finally reached the head table, which seemed like a really long walk to the three of them with every pair of eyes on them. Neville and Emma were not use to being in the spotlight, and Harry, who was, still didn't like it.
When they approached the table, it was Harry who spoke. "We would like to speak with you, Headmaster Dumbledore." He purposely made eye contact, and whatever it was that Dumbledore had seen, must have made think they weren't evil death eaters.
"Follow me, then." This seemed to shock even the staff who thought he would at least question them a little more to get more information before granting them an audience.
As soon as Dumbledore and the three strangers were out of the hall, it busted into a buzz of noise. Everyone was talking and eating at once, only now instead of catching up on how everyone's summer had been, everyone was talking about the three strangers.
"I wonder who they are, I have never seen them before," Peter Pettigrew said.
"Thanks for stating the obvious wormtail," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.
"Dumbledore seemed to trust them, that is a good sign, right?" Alice asked.
"Of course it is," Frank said reassuringly.
"Yeah, he wouldn't see them if he didn't think they were okay," Lupin added
"What was that all about, though, with Diane? I mean, the Slytherin slut and that girl just gave each other the evil eye," Sirius wondered.
"It was all very strange, how they saw each other and picked each other out of a crowd, right?" James nodded.
As the trio followed Dumbledore out the back of the hall and towards the Headmaster's office, they shared a look. "Maybe it was a bit dramatic, our entrance," Emma whispered.
"You think?" Harry said. He had been thinking about Moody's entrance and at the time it just felt right.
"It was interesting. It got their attention" Neville said.
"What was that all about? With that girl?" Harry asked. Neville was also curious.
"I'll explain later," Emma said as they reached the familiar statue that lead to Dumbledore's office. They quickly filed into his office, taking seats around his desk.
"Now, perhaps you should explain to me who you are, and what you are doing here." Dumbledore said as he sat down.