Unfogging the Future - Chapter 11
By: PepperjackCandy
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: You recognize it? It's J.K. Rowling's. Eleanor Weasley is my creation.

Warning: Slash ahead. If the idea of boys snogging and/or talking about romance with boys offends you, turn back now, before it's too late. And more same-sex wedding in this one.

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REGULAR TIME

Harry swayed and strong arms caught him.

"Easy, there, Harry." He heard Ron's voice say in his ear.

Ron? But Ron's on Bill's side. . . Harry realized the blackness had abated. He was standing between Ron and Hermione on a bridge. When he looked over Ron's right shoulder, he saw the Hogsmeade village church in the distance. There was a bag from Honeyduke's on the ground at his feet.

"Harry? Your robes. . ." Hermione said softly, looking at the jade-green dress robe he was wearing.

"Harry?" Ron grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

Suddenly, Harry felt himself crushed by his two best friends who were hugging him vigorously.

"It is you, isn't it, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded dumbly. "I think so." He noticed he was still wearing his dress robes from Bill and Snape's wedding. He picked up the Honeyduke's bag and began to walk towards the church.

He could hear Ron calling out his name behind him. When he didn't respond, Ron and Hermione followed him.

Harry opened the doors of the church, stepping in carefully. He could see the open sanctuary doors from where he stood, and could clearly see that the sanctuary was deserted. He stood for a moment as he realized that he really had changed timelines again, and wondered what had made the difference.

Then remembering the plans he and Draco had made, he crinkled the Honeyduke's bag. "I've got to make a stop at Honeyduke's," he told them, "and then I think I'd better get back to Hogwarts and change back into a school robe."

PARALLEL TIME

Harry felt someone grab him, stopping him in his descent towards the ground. Harry looked up and saw Draco beaming down at him in a truly unsettling way. "What are you doing, Malfoy?" He asked shortly.

"Harry?" Draco asked in a tone tinged with concern. "Are you all right?"

Harry stood upright again and looked around. He wasn't on the bridge any more - he was standing at the front of the Hogsmeade village church. He looked at Draco, breaking out in a joyful grin. "I'm home!" He whispered.

Draco smiled back, tears gathering in his silver eyes. "Yes, you are." He gathered Harry into his arms and they hugged each other tightly.

"Ahem. If you don't mind . . ." The voice of the vicar interrupted them.

"Oh. Sorry, reverend." Draco said as they hastily broke their embrace and returned to their places.

The vicar continued the ceremony, "Will you, the families and friends of Severus and William, support and uphold them in their marriage now and in the years to come?"

"We will," the assembled congregation said in unison, Harry and Draco glancing at each other and smiling as they spoke the words.

REGULAR TIME

Four pumpkin pasties protected with an EverFresh charm sat securely in Harry's pocket as they returned to Hogwarts. Along the way, he fretted silently about what Eleanor Weasley meant to his mission. If Eleanor does exist in my timeline, then everything's all right. If she doesn't, then, I guess it's down to how close she came to existing. Mrs. Weasley could have been pregnant, and lost the baby. That might not make too big a difference for Draco and me, but what if there was never an Eleanor in any way? What if she wasn't conceived in this timeline because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were having trouble? Or they were separated geographically?

"Harry?" Ron's voice broke his train of thought.

"Yeah?"

"What's the matter? You've been awfully quiet ever since we left Hogsmeade." This came from Hermione.

"Nothing's the matter." He lied. "It's just that hopping timelines like this gives one . . . a lot to think about."

"Well, if that's all it is . . ." Hermione said dubiously.

Harry nodded. "It is." Then he paused. "Ron? Can I talk to you privately for a moment?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged surprised looks. "Sure."

Ron and Harry crossed to the right-hand side of the road, leaving Hermione on the left-hand side.

"How many children are there in your family?"

Ron looked at his friend like he'd gone insane. "Seven. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, Ginny, and me."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

Harry sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."

Ron shot his friend another look of concern mixed with confusion and returned to Hermione's side.

Harry continued in his thoughts all the way back to Hogwarts. He swore at himself for believing that it would be so easy to get his answers. He swore at the ritual for exchanging him with a timeline that had such a glaringly obvious difference. He prayed that the difference wouldn't affect the outcome of what he had to do.

Finally, they were home. Hogwarts. And even though Harry had only left the castle a few hours earlier, he knew he'd never been so happy to see it in his life.

"Hermione, you go on up to the common room. We'll catch up later." Ron said as he walked towards Harry.

Harry braced himself for scathing words from his friend for his previous questions. Instead, Ron looked at Harry sadly, and said, "My parents have eight children. I have an elder sister named Eleanor, that no-one ever talks about anymore. She was born between Charlie and Percy. Please don't ever mention her again."

Suddenly, the clouds above Harry opened and he could hear choirs of angels singing. He could have kissed Ron, but settled instead for hugging him. "Ron! That's the best news I've heard in days!" He said as he released his friend and together they walked into the castle.

PARALLEL TIME

It had been an eventful day, between hopping back home -- for Harry was certain that he was home now -- the wedding, and the festivities afterwards.

Harry needed some time and space to come to grips with everything that had happened in the previous days, so kissing Draco on the cheek, he whispered, "I'll be right back," into his ear and left the Great Hall.

He walked down the hallway, the cacophony of the wedding feast fading into the background, but he came to a halt when he heard an almost-familiar woman's voice calling him. "Harry! Harry Potter!"

He turned. It was Eleanor Weasley, looking like some kind of Muggle romance novel heroine in a purple robe, her red hair falling around her shoulders in ringlets. In a few short strides, she had caught up to him.

"So what was that all about?"

"I just needed some fresh air." He protested.

"Not that. That." She pointed to his Hogwarts school robe. "You *were* wearing the same dress robe as the other attendants, then suddenly, you're wearing that."

She started to pace around him as she thought. "Then what was it you said when you collapsed? 'I'm home'?"

Harry became increasingly uncomfortable under Eleanor's scrutiny. "What do you want, Eleanor?" He asked shortly.

She shrugged. "I'm just wondering what happened, and if you're likely to do that sort of thing again."

"Nothing happened, and even if it did, it wouldn't happen again." He responded in a tone daring her to prove him wrong.

Charlie emerged then. "El! Mum and Dad are looking for you!"

"Coming, Charlie!" Eleanor called out. "You play your cards close to your vest. I like that. You would have made a fine Slytherin." She winked at him and went to join her brother.

Harry watched her go and continued his walk up towards the Gryffindor Tower. I wonder what she's up to? Well, she's a Slytherin. Who knows what she's up to. And anyhow, together Draco and I defeated Voldemort. We can certainly handle Eleanor Weasley. Or anything else that life throws us.

But that's just it. I got half my answer, that I'm useless without him. But what about him? Does he need me like I need him?


As he went through the portrait hole, he passed Neville who greeted him, but Harry was too caught up in his own thoughts for it to register.

Soon he was standing outside the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dorm. He opened the door and walked to his bed. Everything looked just like he'd left it. Sighing, he threw himself onto his bed, and heard a crinkling sound as his head hit the pillow.

He felt under the pillow and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. Unrolling it he read, in his own handwriting:

Harry --

By the time you find this, I'll have returned to my own timeline. I hope. I think I have my own answer, which is that I need Draco Malfoy by my side to defeat Voldemort.

I don't know what your question was, but I want you to take this into account. Draco Malfoy loves you with everything he has. He would do anything, give up everything for you.

He wants and deserves a permanent commitment from you, and if you aren't interested, then feel free to send him over to my timeline. I won't turn him away.

Harry


Harry sat for a minute, tracing the line Draco Malfoy loves you with everything he has for a minute. This letter was his answer. And it was an answer that filled him with an inexpressible joy.

Smiling, Harry stood and walked to his trunk, taking out a small jewel box. He flipped open the lid and checked to see that the emerald ring inside was still there. Then, a smile on his face and a spring in his step, he headed for the Great Hall.

He had to have a private talk with Draco, and it looked like Hogsmeade would be seeing another Hogwarts wedding within the next year.

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A/N: Wedding ceremony language lifted wholesale from Here. I know that the 1662 Book of Common Prayer would be a whole lot more authentic, but I like the whole sort of postmodern "support and uphold" thing, which is notably missing from the 1662 version. ;-)

Also, for some reason, Eleanor is coming out looking like Amy Irving with red hair. ::shrugging::