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 Eight - Dragons

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Harry expected a lot of things when he approached the clearing and seen there were dragons. What he didn't expect was to see the Founders (well most of them. Salazar was notoriously absent) there.

"Dragons." Rowena snorts.

"Come now, Rowena," Helga says, with a frown, gesturing at the Dragons. "Of course they're nothing like the others, but these are our own."

"I can see Rowena's point though," Godric murmurs, looking up at the roaring beasts. "After seeing the others, it's hard to see these. I keep expecting them to talk."

"Talking dragons? Now that would be a sight to see." Sirius says, which catches the Founders' attention.

They all straighten up and glance over at the pair of them. Harry thought that they might be mad, at least Professor-Godric-about him being there, but they all seem fine. Sirius had said the teachers from the other schools had already informed their students and he assumed that those here in the clearing knew that already (if Sirius did, Godric certainly would too, after all.)

"Perhaps you'll get that chance...eventually." Godric says with a smirk. He looks over at Rowena for a moment. "What do you think there chances are, Ro?"

Rowena rolls her eyes. "I'm not your Magic 8 Ball, Godric. Be sure to remember that. You don't want what happened last time to repeat, do you?"

"I never knew things could bend that way." Helga says with an innocent tone, obviously holding back a smile with difficulty.

Godric huffs, looking back at Sirius and Harry. "See what I have to deal with?" He gestures towards them with a hand, beckoning them forward. "But come, you'll get a better look up close. Don't worry, it's quite safe. We added some spells on top of those that the dragon specialists did."

He does, as does Sirius, but not without some trepidation. Very long and very wide, the dragons are agitated and thrash around a bit, but are obviously stopped by an invisible spell of some sort (as he seriously doubted the chains on them would be enough to keep them down.) After the initial surprise of seeing dragons, he's surprised by something else.

"There's only two of them?" He asks aloud, surprise coloring his tone. He didn't expect that. After all, there were six Champions total.

"Yes. The initial plan had been to get a few others that are much more common," Godric continues, gesturing for the two of them to come stand next to him, pointing at the Dragons. "And have you Champions try and get an Egg, but after some debate that was nixed and instead we're going with this. These two breeds are much more special-and infinitely more rare-after all."

"But we're not telling you what the Task will be." Sirius tells Harry, a smile on his face. "Not even the other Champions were told that. They just know that these Dragons are involved. It's up to all of you to try and figure it out. Even if you don't by the time the Task comes up, you'll still have everything you need to take on the Task, so don't worry too much; the information will just help you out."

"What kind of Dragons are they?" Harry asks them both. He had studied up on Dragons here and there but he certainly wouldn't call himself an expert. These looked different than any he could recall seeing in pictures.

Godric looks over at Sirius who shrugs. "Couldn't hurt to tell him." Sirius says. "I'm sure the other Champions know that much as well. It wouldn't automatically tell them anything, after all."

Godric nods. "They are a Catalonian Fireball and a Portuguese Long-Snout respectively."

The Catalonian Fireball was long but not very wide (in comparison to other dragons, though it was certainly wide in comparison to the people there in the clearing), with a lot of ridges going from its tail up to the top of it's head, being a muddy brown with black patches here and there. It's snout was a weird black shape, being taller than it was wide, almost giving the look of an overgrown puppy with ridges.

The other, the Portuguese Long-Snout was exactly what it said on the tin, with a long snout (longer than he can remember other dragons being, from the pictures he saw before), with light green scales and black eyes. It too had ridges, but only from the neck up, with it being slightly wider (with a longer wing span) than the Catalonian Fireball.

As he looks up at them, he can only wonder...and plan.

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He didn't think Ron could go any paler, given his complexion, but he somehow managed. He near looked the part of some of the Hogwarts ghosts.

"Dragons?" Ron squeaks.

"Yeah. You think they're big in pictures and paintings? Doesn't even begin to cover how they look in person-and these two are two of the smallest, from what I can tell." Harry says, before folding his arms and looking at Ron closely. "Also, you're not going to distract me."

"Balls."

"So? How did it go with Fleur?"

Ron blushes a bit. "She's...really pretty."

"I noticed." Harry says, drily. While he had no interest in her in that way, he still had eyes. "That still doesn't tell me how the night went."

"She's nice."

"But..." He presses, after Ron pauses, a particular tone in the redhead's voice.

"It was like hanging out with my sister." Ron says, sounding baffled. "I don't get it. She's pretty."

"Just because she's pretty doesn't mean you'd have a real attraction to her. A lot of people have superficial attractions to people but aren't really attracted to them, you know?"

"How do you know so much?" Ron asks, but he sounds more awed than angry or upset.

"I read more than you do." Harry says, with a playful push at Ron's shoulder. "Also, mum sometimes watches some Muggle tv. Some smart people out there."

Ron still looks a little forlorn from his position, so Harry speaks again.

"Cheer up! Maybe it didn't work out with Fleur, but you still made a new friend out of the situation, right?" Ron nods. "So that's something then! And I wouldn't worry about it too much; I'm sure you'll find someone soon enough!"

He looks at Ron sideways before smirking a bit. "Unless you were distracted by Hermione with Viktor or something."

Ron's eyes widen, before sputtering. "What? Ugh, no!" He reddens a bit further, looking away. He fidgets a bit with some of the blanket on his bed that he was sitting on. "Look, I thought I might have liked-er..."

Harry pulls back on the teasing. "Yeah? Now?"

Ron shakes his head. "No, Thought I might have liked her a bit last year, but looking back on it? I think it's that 'superficial attraction' stuff you were talking about. I can't see her like that anymore. Merlin, between Hermione and now Fleur, it feels like I have three sisters!"

"Well, at least you wouldn't be so outnumbered by your brothers anymore." Harry says, with a grin.

Ron seems to take all of that in stride. "Guess so. So, mate, you uh, ever feel bothered by being an only child?"

Harry pauses at the question. It really hadn't been something anyone had asked him before, funnily enough. "No...not really? I mean, I definitely wouldn't hate it if I got a brother or sister in the future."

It's quiet for a few moments before Ron speaks again, eyes wide. "Dragons!"

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Hermione was just as shocked as Ron was about the next Task Harry would have to face, but she also catches her composure much quickly than Ron had.

"Dragons!" She whispers, though they were sufficiently far enough from other people (outside of Draco, who was currently absorbing The Wizarding Dark Ages through osmosis, if his sleeping face resting on it was any indication.) "They really think Dragons are something that you can handle?"

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean, Hermione?" Ron demands.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! I just meant, even fully grown wizards have a hard time dealing with Dragons. You know that, Ron; just look at Charlie. Look at how many it takes to be able to handle them!"

"Besides the Founders, anyhow." Harry muses. "One of them could handle a Dragon on their own."

Ron nods. "They're like super powerful. Maybe that's part of the reason why Dumbledore is so powerful too? Power comes with wisdom?"

They both stare at him. "That might be the most unintentionally smart thing you've ever said, Ronald!"

Ron squints at Hermione. "Er...thanks?"

"Anyway, I've been trying to wrack my brains with this whole thing," Harry says. "But I haven't been able to find anything on them. The Dragons, I mean. It'd help if they were the usual sort, but they aren't-"

"Why didn't you say so?" Hermione exclaims, startling Draco out of his (slightly drool filled) sleep. He glances at them all sleepily. "This changes completely what we've been trying to help you with! Do you know what kind they are?"

"What are we talking about?" Draco asks, sleep only slightly in his voice though he had just woken up. Nary a hair was out of place, despite being asleep until now. Some people were just born lucky, Harry thinks.

"Harry has to wrestle Trolls in a two out of three falls wrestling match." Ron says, surprisingly managing a straight face as he looks at Draco.

Draco raises a brow, before snorting inelegantly (his true nature often clashed with how people perceived him, when they looked at him through superficial eyes.)

"I think I suddenly remembered a much more exciting, excuse me, 'unavoidable' event I have to do that day." Draco says, eyes amused as he ducks Harry's friendly jab. "Really, though. I heard you lot talking about it before I concentrated on my reading-" He continues, ignoring Ron's snort. "What sorts of Dragons then, Potter?"

"A Catalonian Fireball and a Portuguese Long-Snout."

Hermione looks crestfallen. "But there's such little literature on them!"

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"How is the hunt going?" Sirius asks him, as they walk down one of the corridors that led to Gryffindor Tower. It felt like a long time since Sirius had walked with him anywhere. A walk, he thinks with a blush, is how he realized the extent of his feelings for Sirius.

"Not good," He says, a bit gloomily. "There's not much out there about them as is and all of it seems to be pretty vague on what they are and what they can do exactly."

"You'll think of something." Sirius assures him.

"Says the person who doesn't have to deal with Dragons." Harry grumbles.

They stop and Harry gets a glimpse of the moon, full and gleaming in the sky (Remus must be curled up in a room, after drinking Wolfsbane by now), outside a window they come to stand near.

"Moon's pretty." He murmurs.

"Yeah. Shame Moony never gets to properly enjoy it. I'm sure he's all curled up nice and warm at home though."

Harry glances at Sirius, his breath catching at the profile of the older man, who was looking out the window. The moonlight only seemed to enhance the man's natural good looks, shining on his dark hair and making his eyes gleam. Harry was always astounded that someone of Sirius' looks, his stature, his nature, could ever look at someone like Harry and see someone he wanted. Sirius could have his fill of any wizard or witch, easily. Sirius Black had always turned heads.

Sometimes it made Harry feel a bit self-conscious and a bit lacking. After all, what could someone like him, but then Sirius would look at him in such a way that it'd make Harry's heart beat faster and fill with love for the man. Sirius wasn't a fickle man when it came to something that-no pun intended-serious. At least not since accepting Harry's feelings.

"I had the same thought." Harry says softly.

Sirius turns to look over at him and now his eyes seem to gleam from within, instead of the moonlight making his gaze look all the more striking.

"You'll find what you're looking for, Harry. I believe in you. You know that, right?"

He feels his face flush with heat. "Yes." He murmurs, looking down, unable to look Sirius in the eye now.

"Yeah?" Sirius' tone turns teasing now. "You know that during the day and the night?"

"Mmhmm." He replies, flushing further, feeling his insides warm with heat as Sirius comes closer into his space. He could nearly feel Sirius' body heat (Animagi seemed to run hotter than others) from where he stood.

"What about your dreams?" Sirius asks, his voice lowering. It really, really, wasn't fair; the man all but dripped seduction from his pores. Especially so that Sirius was one hundred firm on nothing more than kissing for the forseeable future.

"I-"

Sirius moves his head down. "Do you ever dream of me, Harry?"

"Sirius." He whispers.

"Dreams are funny, aren't they?" Sirius continues in that soft tone, his mouth near Harry's ear, causing him to shiver involuntarily. "They can cause all sorts of situations, can't they?"

He's not sure which of them initiates the kiss but in an instant he finds himself kissing Sirius and very happy to be there. Sirius' mouth is wet and warm and Harry feels like he's on fire with all these feelings striking through him. The only disappointment is when Sirius pulls away (obviously trying to keep the promise he had made to himself, to not go any further with Harry.)

It strikes him then, as they mutually pull back farther, is that Sirius-through his own sly means-had just given Harry a clue about the dragons.

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I hope you all enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice