Time Paradox Revolution

by: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros and people who aren't me. The Obsidian Trilogy is property of Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for sexual content, language, violence, etc.

Pairings: Sirius/Harry, James/Lily, Godric/Salazar, etc.

Setting: Post-Deathly Hallows, then pre-Sorcerers/Philosopher's Stone (currently we're going through Harry's Fourth Year).

Summary: He had lived. The boy into the man. The future appeared pretty as a rose and hid its true self, its thorns, well. He had one chance; and so he gave up everything he had to change everything he knew.

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Chapter Thirty Six - Open

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The first thing he thinks upon seeing them is Oh shit and Well I lived a pretty good life up until now.

He stands frozen next to Harry-too close; surely they had to know-watching their approach. He doesn't feel any lingering cold from the water or anything else; all he feels is apprehension mixed with happiness that doesn't fade at even seeing two of his best friends approaching. Because even as something as small as this, at being near him, Harry made him happy.

"Lily, James," He croaks. "I-"

Lily holds up a hand and they come to stand in front of Harry and himself. It was the quietness that was getting to him. They hadn't said a word yet. Lily rubs at her son's head, smiling at him. At-to Sirius' utter shock-them both.

"I'm so proud of you!" Lily tells Harry. "You should have seen your father's face when you came back first!"

"And your mum's when you activated that Rune." James says to Harry. "You made it yourself, right?"

Harry nods, a bit hesitantly.

"One of your professors-Coraggio-was beside himself when he saw that!" James continues excitedly. "Kept saying stuff like 'protigy' and things like that."

"As you can see, your father was excited as well," Lily says with a laugh.

"I don't-" Sirius starts, swallowing against his dry throat. They turn to look at him.

"Sirius," Lily says gently. "Don't you remember what the letter said?"

His eyes widen.

"I wasn't-wasn't sure you remembered." He says quietly. "And even so, that was a long time ago and the circumstances weren't quite-"

"Siri," James says seriously. "There's no one more in this world we'd trust with Harry than you. I, no we, know the kind of man you are. I trust you. We both do. And we know that he did as well. And he does now."

He knew James was referring both to Future Harry as well as Harry himself.

"What letter?" Harry asks suddenly.

His eyes widen and he sees the surprise on Lily and James' face as well. They had never brought up Future Harry-or anything relating to him-in front of Harry himself. It had been such a delicate subject that none of them had been sure if they should ever say anything about it.

"What letter?" Harry repeats, at their continued silence.

He shakes his head. "Harry, it's-" He glances over at Lily and James. "It's-"

"We'll talk about it. Later," Lily says. "I promise."

"But for now," James says, clapping his son on the shoulder. "You gotta go get your score from the judges!"

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His parents make their way back to their seats as he heads to get his score, with Sirius still with him. It...he marvelled at the situation as much as he was a bit confused by it. His parents hadn't been angry with him or with Sirius about them, together. They hadn't seem surprised at all by it,

And...a letter? What sort of letter could cause them to be so sure of something between Harry and Sirius. Something which they couldn't have known about. He knew Sirius hadn't told them; he looked much too surprised at seeing them there, so it was obviously he hadn't told them about his and Harry's relationship as of yet (which he couldn't blame him for as, on the surface, it might look wrong to others, given Sirius being his godfather and Harry's age, despite Harry being much more mature for his age than most others of the same age as he) yet they knew, somehow, about their being together.

There was obviously a lot of stuff that was not being said, at least to Harry, within Harry's vicinity, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He knew there were some things he still wasn't privy to-officially, anyhow. He'd be lying if he didn't say he hadn't easedropped a time or two on the Order's meetings. Or when it was times when it was just his parents and Sirius or Remus there (sometimes Salazar and Rowena as well.)

A lot of it he had understood, even when he was even younger, but there had always been an underlying theme that he hadn't understood. A few times they had referred to him, not him as in Harry himself but they would say the word him. He hadn't understood what they meant or who they referred to, other than the fact that the person was obviously someone whom they liked, or at least wasn't a bad person. It definitely wasn't like when they referred to Them, but it still left Harry confused as to who they were talking about. He wasn't someone they had ever brought up around him.

He does his best to shake off all the thoughts swirling around in his head and focus on the judges as they were putting out the scores. They go from the last place-Cerise-until they get to him, first place.

"While the judges applaud the way she used the Bubble Head Charm," Ludo Bagman says, his voice amplified by the Sonorus spell so the whole of the stadium can hear him. "But the extended time she took my cost her some points! Let's see!"

Madame Maxime is first up, twisting her wand into the air to show the number six. It was obvious, by the look on her face, that she was disappointed by someone whom was obviously one of her best students. Next is Karkaroff who apparently is either not a fan of Beauxbatons or Cerise herself as he only gives her a five. Dumbledore follows with a quick seven, Bagman a six, and Mr. Crouch a six for a total of thirty points.

It goes quicker after that, with Aleksandar next, getting a score of thirty eight. Fleur is fourth and gets a quite respectable forty points. Krum is third and besides Karkaroff's obviously biased score of ten to him, the rest of Krum's score are well deserved and he gets a total of forty one points. Next is Cedric, who came out second after Harry (with Draco, no less, and there was no doubt he was going to talk to Draco about it. And Cedric, come to that) getting a really good score of forty two.

Next is his turn and he finds himself sweating a bit. He knew he got out first, but even that didn't guarantee he'd get a great score; he hadn't seen what the others had done so they could have done much better things than he did. He's concentrating so hard on awaiting the results that he's startled to feel a hand grip his, making him jump slightly. He turns to look at Sirius who keeps his eyes forward, obviously awaiting the judges as well.

"Don't worry too much," Sirius murmurs, eyes still looking ahead. "Relax. You did amazing, Harry."

The touch makes him flush a bit, but Sirius' words have the desired effect that the older man was obviously looking for and Harry finds himself relaxing. He moves to look at the judges, keeping his grip in Sirius'. Madame Maxime is up first and he is shocked to see her score of nine. She looks surprisingly impressed with him. And from there it continues, Dumbledore's, Bagman's, and Mr. Crouch's scores of nine as well make it to where he doesn't even get upset over the fact that Karkaroff only gives him a score of six. He had forty two points. He was tied with Cedric!

He feels another squeeze to his hand and looks up to see Sirius looking at him with a wide smile and soft eyes. The handsomeness of the man never failed to make his heart squeeze up. He had eyes that obviously seen many things, yet he still had this youthful energy about him that went with his young looks.

"Told you." Sirius murmurs.

Harry smiles.

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"And with that, the first Task of the Triwizard Tournament is over!" Bagman exclaims. "The scores as of now are thus; tied for first place are Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, of Hogwarts! In second place is Viktor Krum of Durmstrang! In third, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons! In fourth, Aleksandar Bogdan of Durmstrang! And finally, in fifth place, Adelaide Cerise of Beauxbatons!"

"But as with the nature of the Tournament itself, anything can happen! Now listen closely Champions! You will be having a bit of downtime until your next Task, which will be on the twenty fourth of February, but that doesn't mean you should rest on your laurels! Keep preparing!"

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Sirius leaves him after that, having to go and talk with some of the other professors and he finds himself enveloped by a big hug from his mother and father.

"We'll see you soon, okay?" Lily says. "We already both got the time to make each of your other tasks. We're so, so, proud of you, Harry."

"Then you're...you're not mad?" He asks, blinking his eyes rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

"No." James says. He shrugs a bit, smiling. "It's not like it was a surprise to us, after all."

It obviously wasn't, which surprised Harry, but he knew now wasn't the time to try and get answers about that. He'd wait until another time, when they all had more time to talk.

"But uh," James continues, coughing a bit. "Is this the time to uh, talk about...things?"

It only takes seconds for Harry to get the implication and he flushes scarlet.

"James!" Lily scolds.

James shrugs helplessly. "What? I don't...I'm not good with these sorts of things, okay!" He squeaks. "My own dad, Merlin bless, wasn't exactly the most open about talking about those sorts of things. I want you to know you can come to me with anything you ever want to talk about, Harry."

"Even if you're terrible at it?" Harry asks, blush starting to leave his face with a smile replacing it.

"Oi! I'm trying!"

They all have a bit of a laugh at that, before it turns serious once more. James clasps Harry's shoulders.

"All we want for you Harry, all we have ever wanted for you," His father says seriously. "Is for you to be happy. He makes you happy, doesn't he?"

He nods, a bit uncertainly (not at his feelings for Sirius or vice versa, but in talking with his parents about it.)

"More than anything. I want to become the kind of person who can stand at his side-without anyone making any comments or looks about it. I want to be a good person in my own right."

"You already are, honey." Lily says. "We can see that already. And you just have even more to learn from here. You should have heard G-your professor talk about how much of a prodigy you were at Runes already. You're his prized student."

He blushes a bit at that, at the praise both from his parents and from Professor Coraggio. He had known that the man had been happy at Harry's progress at Runes, but he hadn't been sure what he would have thought about Harry's use of them during the Task. It made him want to talk to the Professor himself and see what the man thought of the Rune Harry had crafted.

"We've got to go for now, but Owl us if you need anything Harry." James says. "Or if you just want to talk with us."

"But if you're both so busy-"

"Harry, nothing is more important to us than you are." Lily says, stroking his head with a smile. "You're our child. Owl us if you need anything, okay?"

He nods, feeling his throat tightening up. He hadn't known just how much having their acceptance would really mean to him, because he hadn't expected to have it. He was the luckiest person in the world, to have such understanding and wonderful parents. He gives them both another tight hug and they're off, waving as the scheduled Portkey whisks them off (Dumbledore had allowed certain areas of the grounds, at certain times, after the Task to allow parents and guardians to leave, so they could go much quicker than they would have otherwise (otherwise they'd have to head all the way out of the boundaries of Hogwarts to Disapparate or use Portkeys and that was quite a distance.)

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It's a big flurry of activity in the Great Hall during dinner and he finds himself surrounded and greeted by a lot of well wishers and admirers. It was all a bit overwhelming, if he was to be honest. He was just Harry, after all; he wasn't used to a lot of eyes on him or for so many to know him.

It wasn't a bad feeling, just unusual. It takes quite awhile to get away from everyone, but eventually he finally manages to get away, begging for a bit of air and heads over to the Slytherin table. Many of the Slytherin's outright gape at him for a Gryffindor walking so calmly over to their table, but he ignores them. His eyes are for Draco. Draco looks up from where he too was surrounded with people, eyebrow raised,

Harry jerks his head, gesturing to the large doors leading out of the Great Hall. Draco nods and heads up, waving his hand a bit at a few of the people who protest. They make their way out and he finds himself walking with Draco a bit down one of the wider hallways, finding an empty classroom. He closes the door behind them both, before looking at Draco. The other boy takes a seat on the edge of the Professor's desk, booted feet crossed.

"So," Harry starts.

"So!" Draco says, with a smirk.

Harry rolls his eyes, making his way to sit on one of the desks near Draco.

"You and Cedric?" He asks. "When did that happen? I didn't even know the two of you knew each oth-" He stops, when something hits him. "That's why you were near that part of the library that day, weren't you? Because he was there."

He hadn't put two and two together then, because he didn't realize that there was anything there to begin with. He hadn't any reason to believe there was; despite the Diggory's being in pretty good standing in the Wizarding community, it wasn't like the Malfoy's generally interacted with them. It had been a bit of a 'scandal' (so Draco had said, with a roll of his eyes) when the Malfoy's had started interacting with Harry's family, the Potter's. It hadn't stopped Narcissa or Lucius from doing so, however. They had, according to Draco, been much more willing to show more of their 'true colors' as Voldemort was no longer around.

"And our boy hits a homerun." Draco murmurs, before speaking up more. He shrugs elegantly. "Wasn't exactly trying to hide it from you, if that's what you're worrying or wondering about. I just wanted to..." He glances away. "Wanted to enjoy it without any outsiders thoughts on it first, you know?"

"Draco, I'd never make fun of you for who you like or blab about it or anything. I mean, I told you who I love, right? Well," Harry says, wryly. "You told me who I loved, really. And we-" He looks down, swallowing a bit, clasping his hands a bit tightly. "We're together, Sirius and I."

"Really?" Draco doesn't sound disgusted or angry; he merely sounds intrigued. And a bit happy. Harry looks up to see him smiling a bit at him. "Good on you! About time! I thought you were going to pine over him without letting him know how you felt until you were like eighty or something!"

Harry laughs.

"As for me and Cedric?" Draco continues, hands spread behind him as he glances up at the ceiling. "We met during the Cup and hit it off. Honestly? We hit it off much better than I expected. I mean a person would have to be dead not to notice how handsome he is, but there is actually much more there than I ever would have expected."

"I know what you mean!" Harry says. "He's rather witty, from what I can tell. And smart."

Draco nods, looking back at Harry. "He is. He actually had an alternate strategy for the First Task, he said, but decided to save it potentially for one of the later Tasks." He smirks, wagging a finger at Harry. "Not that I'm going to tell you what that is, so don't even try asking!"

He mock glares at Harry, making Harry roll his eyes at him. It's quiet for a bit.

"But yes," Draco says, finally. "He's important to me."

"Like Sirius is to me?" He dares to ask him.

Draco smiles now, a much softer one than he would show to almost anyone; a sign of how close he and Harry were.

"What do you think?"

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"Ahh, there you are Harry!"

He stops from where he had been walking at (he and Draco had made their separate ways outside the door, making their way back to their respective Common Rooms) and turns to see Professor Coraggio making his way over to him. He appeared to be holding some sort of letter in one of his hands.

"Oh, hi Professor." He says, trying not to let on how excited he was to see him. His parents had said the Professor had been happy with his progress and what he did during the Task, but they could have just have been nice to him.

"Glad I caught you before you got to your common room. I wanted to congratulate you on how you did on the Task; that was an amazing use of a Rune, Harry!"

Harry flushes with pleasure at that.

"T-thank you," He stammers. "I worked really hard on it."

That seems to stop Coraggio cold. "You worked on that yourself?"

Harry nods, a bit confused.

"I had no idea!" He says excitedly. "I had thought you had worked on an existing Rune, which even then would have been rather amazing, given your age and the difficulty of using a Rune like that." He looks at Harry closer. "You really made the Rune?"

Harry nods again. Coraggio's face smoothes with obvious pleasure.

"I told your parents you were the best in my class, you know." Coraggio says conversationally, which makes Harry flush again. "Honestly, Harry, you have true skill with Runes. I can only hope you'll continue your journey with them."

"I will!" He's quick to reassure the Professor. "I find them so...fascinating, Professor. I love creating them and seeing what effects can be made from them."

Coraggio smiles, ruffling Harry's hair a bit. "I'm glad to hear that! I can already tell not many will be in my classes by the year's end, so it makes me happy to hear that my prized student will be continuing. But!" He continues. "I didn't just come to give you congratulations, I meant to give you this."

He hands the envelope over to Harry. The seal on the back of it, green and with an elaborate seal let Harry know immediately who it was from. Salazar.

"I was in the Owlery earlier and your owl-Hedwig, wasn't it?-had just come in with that. Thought it'd be quicker to hand you the letter myself." He smiles again, but for some reason his smile turns to one of sadness now, for a reason Harry can't fathom. "Seems like whoever your friend is, they have lovely penmanship."

Harry nods. "They do. Thank you, Professor."

The Professor nods. "Anytime, Harry. Make sure to go straight to your Commons, alright?"

With that, the Professor takes his leave. Harry watches him for a moment, brows furrowed. Could he...but no, he couldn't. Could he? He shakes his head and turns his attention to the letter. He opens it quickly and takes out the letter. As the Professor had said, the penmanship was quite lovely (though the words were sometimes quite acerbic, as was Salazar's nature. But that was something Harry actually quite liked about him; he had never treated Harry as a lesser person due to his age or due to the fact that Salazar was, well, a Founder. Instead he had always been forthright and honest with him, which Harry could appreciate it. Especially so, when apparently his parents and Sirius had held something back from him.)

Harry,

I heard how your first Task went. I applaud your use of Runic magic, as it is both a difficult branch to use as well as one that I am certain none of the others thought to use. I expect you to continue this wave of thoughtfulness in whatever your next Task might be. The Triwizard Tournament is never an easy one, but I know that you can use your abilities to their fullest and come out triumphant.

I apologize that I cannot be there in person to help with any advice or to simply see your progress personally, but for my own personal reasons, I cannot come to Hogwarts. It's too painful, you see. Though that is all I will currently say on the matter.

All the best,

Salazar

Harry frowns down at the letter for a long moment, then looks back where Professor Coraggio had left from, then back down to the letter again.

No...it couldn't be. Could it?

He rushes back to the Gryffindor Common Room now.

He had a letter to write!

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice