Author's Note: A couple things I wanted to point out for clarity's sake. I noted that this story is an AU, and I suppose that's obvious with Ron having gone back in time. I should also clarify that this is an AU from the end of Order of the Phoenix onward. Books Six and Seven didn't happen the way JKR wrote them, and I won't be having Horcruxes like she did. I've read a lot of Harry goes back in time and deals with the Horcruxes early and they're great stories, but I'm also a little bored with the same thing happening over and over. So I'm doing things a little differently.

A couple readers have also pointed out that my fic doesn't follow canon in the way magic works. That's going to happen sometimes. I'm not going to do a lot of it, not like I've been doing with The Search for Life and Death, but occasionally you'll find things like "magical cores" pop up, or the thing with Bill's eyes that I'll talk more about later. I know I have some people who are very true to canon in their reading who are following the story. If you're on the fence about sticking around, I hope you'll continue to hang on and see if the story can still keep your interest, but I'll understand if it's not you style and thank you for giving it a chance.

I've received a wonderful bunch of constructive criticism and it's awesome. I love it when you guys voice your ponderings and questions, and I appreciate those of you who have offered corrections where I made errors.

So, a little clarification on the AUness of the story. As to the questions about Ron promoting Snape as a decent human being: as this chapter will illustrate, that isn't what he's trying to do. Remember that despite his future knowledge, Ron is still a flawed human being. He's attempting to change the past directly, but as we all know, we can't change people – they have to do it themselves.

As for my personal views on Snape, which have been questioned, I think he's a bully. No person who attacks a child based on their views of his father, or even their past with their father, deserves to work in a job that involves young minds. His bias toward his own House is secondary to his treatment toward other students. He is cruel and makes it difficult for any student to trust that they can go to a teacher for help. However, I do agree that some (not all) of the other professors are biased against Slytherin House. Hagrid proved this in the first book, even if he wasn't a teacher, then. I think Dumbledore's own past, both with Grindelwald and with Riddle, has biased him against the House. McGonagall has proven herself in the books to be very fair among the Houses, going so far as to punish her own House harder than she would others, but some of the other professor's actions toward students have suggested that they can't remain unbiased. Quite a lot of students believe that Sytherin is evil and Hufflepuff is full of rejects, and that bias had to start somewhere. The fact that the teachers haven't put a stop to it is also telling, especially since it causes so many problems later on in the books with students attacking each other in the halls.

Ron is reacting here to his own past bias against Slytherin and those in his year. He didn't trust them even when they were fighting alongside him during the Battle of Hogwarts, and then some of them died or were badly injured. He's trying to make up for his own faults, but that can cause problems to if he doesn't pay attention to this present.

So thanks to everyone for asking questions and pondering on things in their comments. I really enjoyed reading them. If I missed anything, go ahead and ask again. I'm trying to respond to every comment, but if it's something that I think a lot of people are curious about, or have asked about, I might answer it in the Notes like this.

And just a quick apology for my late update. My godparents surprised my family with a visit last weekend. It was the first time either of them had ever been on a plane. So I spent the weekend hanging out with them. It should also be noted that I write professionally, so though I'm enjoying the break Sense of the Soul is offering me, I do have obligations with my original work. On the plus side, I'm going to try and keep a buffer so I can update chapters even when I'm busy meeting book deadlines. So here we are with chapter eleven. Thanks for enduring my long author's note, and enjoy the chapter.


Eleven

ERRORING EXPLOSIVELY


"Harry Potter. Our new… celebrity."

Ron had seriously considered casting a tripping jinx on Snape when he was stalking between the desks. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn't be able to remain anonymous. Although he had tried to learn Occlumency, Ron hadn't been able to master it. Even Harry, who continued to try learning once he left Snape's "lessons" behind him, hadn't been able to master the skill. Of the three of them, only Hermione had managed. She had managed to help them learn some of the basics leading up to Occlumency, like meditation and a means of sorting their mind. It allowed them to better organize their thoughts and remember things better, but they still had no protection from outside mental influences.

He was grateful for the skills to help him remember, otherwise this endeavour would be far more difficult than it already promised to be, but that didn't help him deal with Snape.

He had briefly entertained the thought that preparing Harry and Hermione especially for Snape would make class go smoother. He should have known better.

Ron sat quietly in his seat next to Neville as he listened to Snape ask Harry questions that weren't even in this year's Potions text. He grit his teeth to keep from saying something.

Despite what he had told Hermione, Harry, and Neville, Ron had no illusions that Snape was a bastard. He had been since that first Potions class all those years ago, and while he had proven himself to be on their side (or at least not on Voldemort's side), he remained a bastard until he died. It was an irrational hope that them acting differently their first class would change Snape's personality. It wasn't them that was the problem.

After the war was over, they had time to really take stock of everything. They were each called in to Gringott's a few times to deal with the reading of various Wills, and to Hogwarts a few times to help retrieve various items that shouldn't be lost. Harry came back from one such meeting having dealt with Snape's death and the three of them discussed his connection with both of Harry's parents and how he had loved Lily. That didn't make the way he had treated Harry any better. It just proved that not only did he hate James Potter, but he blamed Harry for his mother's death.

Ron supposed, since he couldn't go back and change that, nothing would ever make the man stop being an arse.

It begged the question, though: what should be done with him?

True, Snape had helped to defend the school during the Battle of Hogwarts, saving numerous students with his fighting prowess, but did that balance out his manner of teaching? Potions was a necessary NEWT for those going into numerous fields of study, but the one that stuck out the most to Ron was being an Auror. During the war, there had been strain on the Aurors from fighting two masters. Some were loyal to Fudge and had gone on to hunt down Sirius and try and disprove the existence of Voldemort, while others had helped to fight against the madman. In the end, though, even if all of the Aurors had been on their side, their numbers were severely depleted because students couldn't get into NEWT Potions. If they'd had more of an Auror presence, the war might have gone more in their favor. At least, fewer people might have died.

Snape standing against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts – one man – against an unknown number of potential Aurors on their side? It wasn't a fight at all.

Ron sighed out a breath. So that was it, then.

How in Merlin's name was he going to get rid of Snape?

"Weasley!"

Ron sat up straight in surprise, turning his attention to Snape at his shouted name. He met the cold black eyes and watched them narrow in quiet fury. He jerked his eyes away but it was too late. There was a vein in Snape's temple that throbbed in quiet fury even while his teeth shown in a cold smile.

"Dumbledore's Office. Now."

Merlin's sagging pants.


This was not how Ron had planned to spend his first Potions class. The Headmaster's office looked far different from the last time he had seen it. Knick knacks whizzed and whirred around the heavy desk like a muggle child's toy, and the walls were covered with shelves of books and a tall, ornate cupboard that he knew from Harry housed a pensieve. Frames of all different shapes and sizes covered the walls from floor to ceiling, filled with faces painted a hundred different ways. He recognized only one or two of them, the rest mysterious watchers with their eyes studying him closely. Nearby on a shelf sat the Sorting Hat, the old ratty thing studying him with folds in the fabric that worked as eyes.

"Any regrets, Mister Weasley?"

Ron was surprised the hat was speaking, though it occurred to him that of course it was able to speak out loud, it called out their Houses, after all. Still, he was accustomed to it speaking silently in his head.

"Only that I can't hide my thoughts," he said sourly. He should have known better, meeting Snape's eyes, but having his name snapped like that had triggered the reaction to come to attention. He wondered what all the man had seen. Surely enough, if he was here, although he was surprised Snape had left him here alone without Dumbledore present.

The hat chuckled. "There are other ways to hide your thoughts besides Occlumency."

Ron gave him an irritated look. "I thought you only looked at surface thoughts." He was certain Hermione had said something about that once, having found a whole chapter on the Sorting Hat in Hogwarts: A History.

"You're a special case."

A flash of light behind him had Ron turning in time to see Fawkes settle on his perch. The bird cocked his head and looked at him with a shrewd gaze, as though asking what Ron thought he was doing. For a moment, he was tempted to defend himself and he opened his mouth to snap at the bird, before he let it close again. Fawkes settled more comfortably and seemed to give him a sad look.

"You weren't there, okay?"

The phoenix trilled a song that was probably meant to be comforting. Harry had told them once that Fawkes' singing always made him feel better, like things would work out in the end. Ron wished it worked the same way with him. He could use a little hope.

Ron didn't notice the door behind the desk until it opened, allowing Albus Dumbledore to step into the room. Ron thought about his second year, when the Headmaster had stepped into the room where Snape had taken them, uttering a quiet "Why would you do this?" He desperately hoped this wouldn't be a repeat of that.

Dumbledore didn't have that disappointed look on his face. In fact, his blue eyes were twinkling merrily when he turned to him and Ron felt his shoulders relax. Fawkes trilled a soft note and Dumbledore gave the phoenix a fond look.

"Not an auspicious first class, Mister Weasley."

"No, sir."

Dumbledore waved at a chair in front of the desk while he sat in his own. "Lemon drop?"

Ron helped himself to the bowl of sour yellow candies sitting on the desk while Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.

"Professor Snape told me something interesting happened in your Potions class this morning."

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore didn't say anything and Ron blanched. What was he supposed to say? I was thinking about getting Snape fired and he read my mind? Yeah, that would go over really well, but surely Snape had already said that he caught Ron's thoughts, so Dumbledore already knew what had happened. But how could he explain away his desire to get rid of Snape? And what if he had seen more than that? What if he had seen what Ron remembered from the war?

Oh. Oh, of course.

"I had a vision, sir."

"Yes. Professor Snape informed me that you sent him the vision."

Sent him the vision? His confusion must have shown on his face, for Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and took on a professorial air. "I spoke with your father a moment ago and he explained that he didn't have any family who would be able to give advice concerning this gift of yours, so I wanted to explain some things that may be confusing you."

Everything, Ron thought weakly. Everything is confusing me.

"Over the years, different seers have shared their visions with others in various ways. Some seers, like Professor Trelawney, the Divination professor, go into trances and share the knowledge of their visions as a prophecy, sacrificing their own knowledge of the vision in the process. Others, like the soothsayer who attempted to assist Julius Caesar, are aware of the visions that they have had peripherally and are able to share brief warnings against one thing or another. In your case, it seems that your visions manifest themselves as full-color moments, as though you are living them, or have lived them." Ron nodded slowly. "Likewise, you are able to share them so that another person can view them just as you have. It was rather jarring for Professor Snape this morning, especially as I did not warn any of the professors of this possibility. I'm afraid I'm going to have to now."

Ron swallowed. So all of the teachers would be told that he was a Seer? It was weird enough that Dumbledore thought that was true, but not all of his professors? Part of him wanted to scream. Another part, however, admitted that it was a good cover. If he had any slip-ups, they could be explained away by "a vision." And if he wasn't going to get into trouble for wanting Snape gone because of another supposed vision, all the better.

He wasn't sure what to say, so he simply nodded that he understood.

"Good," Dumbledore said. "I wanted to make you aware before I informed anyone else. I can't promise that they won't approach you about it, but I'm going to try and curb some of the… enthusiasm some of them might have." Ron thought of Professor Trelawney and blanched. Right.

"Now, back to your sharing of your vision." Dumbledore was frowning now. "As much as I had wanted to leave you to learning how to handle your gift on your own, that's not going to be possible now. It's too dangerous for you to be around others while unable to control your gift."

It was like cold water had been dumped down his back. Ron felt his spine freeze at the thought. "You're expelling me?"

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "What? No, dear boy, no, of course not. It's hardly your fault you have this gift." Ron breathed a sigh of relief and slumped in his chair. "But I will need to set you up with someone who can help you control your gift."

Ron's shoulders tensed. "I… I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm afraid it's the only choice if you wanted to stay at Hogwarts, Mister Weasley. I would be loathe to let you leave our halls without graduating. We have had generations of Weasleys come through those doors. The fact of the matter is that the gift of Sight is dangerous to those who do not have it. Your ability to share it by sending it directly into someone's mind, as you did with Professor Snape this morning, could seriously injure someone."

Ron felt his face reddening in anger. If only Snape could keep his stupid nose out of everyone's business and stop going around reading people's minds, this never would have been an issue. "Why?" he snapped furiously.

Rather than become angry as Ron probably deserved, Dumbledore spoke calmly. Kindly, even. "What was your vision about?"

Ron breathed evenly, trying to employ the meditation techniques Hermione had taught him in lieu of learning Occlumency. What was he even doing? He felt like things were spinning out of control and he'd only been at Hogwarts for a day. A single day! How could he hope to go through seven years of this? He'd planned on staying in the background, quietly shifting things so the future turned out better, and here he was in Dumbledore's office on his first day of school, discussing his apparent ability to see the future! Which he was going to share with all of the professors! Which, of course, meant it would leak to the entire school population, because this was Hogwarts and nothing stayed a secret here.

Why hadn't they found a way for Hermione to come back? She'd have been so much better at this than he was. He didn't know what he was doing or how to deal with this. Sure, it'd be fine to have someone come and help him learn to "control his gift," up until the point they realized that he wasn't a Seer. And then what? Did they demand he tell them about how he knew the things he knew? Pick apart his brain with Leglimency until he was a drooling mess locked up in St. Mungo's? Or would they deem his knowledge too dangerous and simply Obliviate him? What then? They'd end up with the same dark, cold future that he had traveled back from.

It took him a moment to realize that Fawkes was sitting on the arm of his chair, crooning a song. He looked at the bird to find it watching him closely, black eyes more intelligent than they had any right to be.

He heard Dumbledore sigh. "Mister Weasley, I promise you that the person I choose to help you learn control will be someone I trust."

Someone like Snape? Ron wondered, because Dumbledore trusted him. "If I told you I didn't have the Sight, would you believe me?" He'd never been so tempted to tell Dumbledore he was wrong. Never wanted so badly to explain everything and let someone else deal with it. Even during the war, when things have been hard and it'd been the three of them against what seemed the entire world, he hadn't wanted to give up the responsibility to someone else so badly. Then again, at that point, he'd had two people helping him. He was in this one alone.

"No, Mister Weasley. I'm afraid that won't work."

Ron simply nodded, reaching a hand up to run it over Fawkes' feathers. Things had been so much easier when he was just Harry Potter's best friend. No one special. Just Ron.

"Who will it be?" he asked quietly, still running a hand down Fawkes' back. The phoenix's feathers were warm to the touch. They reminded Ron of sitting around a fire out the Burrow, roasting the marshmallows Hermione had introduced them too and laughing. It had been a brief moment of peace between attacks and he cherished the memory of it. That's all it would ever be now. Just a memory.

"There are a few Seers I know that I will contact, but one in particular that I'm hoping will be willing to come to Hogwarts. Finding him could be a challenge, however, so it might be some time before I can have someone here. In the meantime." He rose from his desk and walked over to one of the bookshelves along the wall, pulling a small book from where it was hidden between what looked like two language dictionaries. He turned and handed it to Ron. "Your schoolwork comes first, of course, but I think you'll find this interesting."

It was just small enough to fit in Ron's back pocket, so that's where he put it, careful not to knock Fawkes from where he was perched.

"Now, I better let you go so you can make it to your next class on time. I believe you have History of Magic and you wouldn't want to miss it. The past is just as important as the future, after all."

Fawkes trilled a final note and returned to his perch in a flurry of warm feathers. Ron stood up from the chair and turned to Dumbledore. "Sir, what about Sn—Professor Snape?"

"I've informed him of your gift and your lack of control, so there will be no repercussions for what happened in class."

"No, I mean…"

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Regardless of what you may have seen, I cannot release someone from my employ based on a vision." Ron opened his mouth to argue but Dumbledore shook his head. "I cannot judge someone based on events that have not happened yet, or may never happen. Were that the way of things, there would be far fewer of us here today." He turned and walked back behind his desk. "I will talk to you more when I have more information on a possible tutor for you. Have a good History of Magic class, Mister Weasley."

Ron nodded, not surprised but still disappointed. "Thank you, sir." He turned and left the office, heading toward Binns' classroom, still wondering not only how he was going to get rid of Snape, but how he was going to handle the man until he did.