Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory
-Hyperion07e
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"Hello": Speech
"Hello": Spells
'Hello': Thoughts
Chapter Six
Grown Twice Inside
A/N: Harry will be referred to as Ludwig or Luddie in normal time. In memories Older Harry will be Ludwig and younger Harry will be called Harry itself.
And let me remind you it was a pain in the ass to change the names. Well I've done it even if I'm a whole day late to post this story.
"Remember, keep your head low and your hood up until we get seated inside the restaurant," Luddie said to Harry, as they walked out of the safe house they were staying, somewhere in the United States in the equivalent to Hogsmeade.
"Any particular reason?" Harry asked as he pulled the hood of his black robes up.
"One, because it gives us a 'don't mess with these people' look," Luddie said as he waved his hand over the doorknob, sealing it so no one would be able to get in, "And two, because it would be too much of a strain to change our appearances for the amount of time that is needed."
"You know, I am a Metamorphmagus," Harry said in a slightly cold, matter of fact tone. Luddie shot him a look from under his own green robes.
"Yes, Nymphie has told me a few times that you are quite accomplished, but," Luddie said, as they reached the outskirts of the town, "You are not experienced enough to be able to hold a form for long amounts of time. We shall practice that though during the next couple days. Now, no talking until we've reached the restaurant."
Harry sighed as he followed the Unspeakable through the town. It was Easter holiday, and Dumbledore thought that it would do Harry some good to get out of Hogwarts castle. Harry frankly didn't care either way. On the one hand, he wanted to get out of a place that greatly reminded him of Hermione, but on the other hand, he would prefer to be as alone as he could be. The castle this year was going to be pretty desolate with most of the students going home to see their families, as it could be the last time they were ever seen. Even Ron was spending the holiday with his family; Harry opting to let Ron spend the time with his family without him.
The Order of the Phoenix was getting desperate, for no matter what they did, it seemed as if Voldemort was always one step ahead of them. They were beginning to consider the possibility that there was a spy in their ranks, but Dumbledore believed that Voldemort was only staying ahead of them based on luck, and that eventually that luck would turn the Order's way.
Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by running into Luddie, who had stopped in front of him.
"We're here," Luddie said with a slight smile on his face, before he opened the door and led Harry inside, while pulling off his hood. Harry noted that for some odd reason Luddie kept on staring at his own arm. It appeared as if Luddie was a frequent visitor as the waiter led the pair into an out of the way booth that could not be seen by anyone else in the establishment, but which could see every other table.
As the pair sat down, a second waiter arrived with two plates, setting them in front of them, before wishing the two a "pleasant meal" and to "alert us if you need anything."
Looking down at his plate Harry saw that it was filled with one of his favorite meals. "How?" he voiced out loud, looking at Luddie who was in the middle of biting into a strange type of sausage.
"The plate senses what you would enjoy eating the most at that particular moment and then conjures it up," Luddie replied between bites, "Although I have to remember to never think of bratwurst again while I'm here..."
Harry stared down at his plates, before shrugging his shoulders and starting to eat. He was halfway through his meal when he noticed a cloaked person approaching the booth.
"Er...Luddie?" Harry said, pointing towards the person approaching.
"Oh good! He finally gets here," Luddie said, standing up to greet the person who dropped their hood to reveal Remus Lupin, "Remus! How are you doing?"
"I've been worse," Remus replied, sitting down as a waiter put a plate in front of him that instantly filled up with various meats, "How are you doing Harry?"
"He's been an angst-y teenager," Luddie said with a small amount of mirth in his voice while Harry sent him a glare.
"I'm doing just fine Remus," Harry said in what he thought was a dangerous voice, but it only caused Luddie to laugh, "What are you doing here?"
"I have something for Mr. Waechter from Professor Dumbledore and thought I would at least stop for lunch when it was on his tab," Remus said with a small smile.
"Freeloader," Luddie mumbled under his breath. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, until the trio made to leave.
"Are you going to tip Ludwig?" Remus asked when Luddie didn't. Luddie only raised his eyebrow at Remus. Remus continued, "They do tip from where it is you're from, don't they?"
"They don't from where you come from," Luddie shot back, smirking. However, Remus had apparently thought of this.
"This is a high class place, you always tip posh places," he retorted, "Now please, enlighten me, do they tip where you come from?"
"Yes Lupin, they do," Luddie said with a small amount of chagrin, "But I just don't believe in tipping someone just for doing their job. You don't see me going around demanding tips now do you?"
"No one knows WHAT you do," Remus commented, as Harry silently agreed that Luddie had a point, "Besides, most of these people get by on their tips. Can't you at least give them something?"
"Hey, I've gone for many years doing what I do without a note of thanks from any person," Luddie remarked, and Harry could have sworn that he threw a quick glance in his direction.
"Would it kill you to just leave the poor person a note or two?" Remus asked as he put on they put on their cloaks.
"It just might," Luddie remarked with a small smirk.
"Will you two just shut up," Harry said as he tossed a couple of sickles onto the table, and walked away.
Later that night, Harry and Luddie were sitting at the kitchen table in the safe house. Harry was doing his holiday work, while Luddie was going over some documents that Remus had given him.
"Uh, Harry?" came the tentative voice of Luddie. Harry looked up, slightly perturbed that he was being disturbed. He didn't know why, he just didn't want to be here now. He wanted to be...he didn't know...
"HARRY."
"WHAT?!" Harry answered back, startled out of his thoughts.
"You could at least look like you wanted to be here," came Luddie's amused voice.
"Well I don't want to be here," Harry answered back hotly.
"Do you even KNOW where you want to be?" Luddie asked with an air of innocence. Harry just stared back open-mouthed at the man, wondering if he could read his thoughts. He checked his mental shields, and they still were holding strong-
"I know how you feel Harry," Luddie said, cutting off Harry's thoughts, "You just need to try to make the best of your situation."
Harry was about to retort to how that the only way Luddie would know how he felt would be if he was inside his head when Luddie pulled something out of his shirt pocket and said, "Cigar? I know you like smoking, and I figure that you might as well try the good stuff."
This shut Harry up immediately and within seconds he had taken the cigar, cut it, and had lit it with the help of Luddie. Immediately he felt himself become relaxed...almost too relaxed.
"These are just regular cigars, right?" Harry asked as he started to feel himself space out and it was at this exact moment that he noticed that Luddie wasn't smoking a cigar. In fact, he was standing over him.
"Oh, regular cigars laced with veritaserum-like substance," Luddie replied as Harry felt himself lose almost all control over his body, and more importantly his mental shields. The last thing Harry saw before the world around him turned upside down was his cigar hitting the floor with a dull 'thud.'
"Harry, how do you feel?" Luddie asked with a calm voice, holding his chin and looking directly into his eyes..
Harry tried to stop himself, but he couldn't prevent himself from saying it, "I feel horrible! I miss Sirius. I miss Hermione. I miss being able to at least pretend I didn't have a care in the world! I am sick and tired of everything! HAPPY?! Are you happy that I can't stand who I am because of what I have to do? Are you happy that I have little hope of ever defeating Voldemort? ARE YOU HAPPY?! Because I can tell you that I for one am pretty effing not! WHY ARE YOU JUST SMIRKING?! You all are just the same! You just think with a 'can do' attitude that Voldemort will be destroyed! It's not helping! I AM BLOODY MISERABLE IN MY LIFE. ARE YOU HAPPY, YOU STUCK UP PRAT?!"
Harry looked at Luddie seething. Luddie just gave Harry a knowing smile, saying, "Do we feel better now?"
Harry was about to retort that he didn't, but he stopped, as he DID feel better. Like a gigantic weight had been lifted off of his chest; like a person who had just been rescued from drowning and was taking a breath for the first time after many minutes.
"I-I...I do feel better," Harry responded, his mind seeming less cloudy, and his mental shields picking back up.
"Admitting you have a problem is the first step to fixing it," Luddie said as he put the pack of cigars into a cloak pocket, "Now, let's start working on fixing it...
Luddie walked through King's Cross station slowly pushing his cart, while taking a drag on the cigarette that he had in his mouth. It was really a disgusting habit that he had picked up after Sirius had died, and had been reinforced when Hermione had died.
"You know, Harry," he remembered Hermione telling him when she found him smoking near the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, "The only thing you're going to do is just kill yourself faster."
He also remembered his response to Hermione, which he still regretted to this day, "Hermione, can you stop rabbitting at me for once and just let me deal with things how I want to? Just because you read something in a book doesn't mean its effing true! I'm sick and tired of people trying to decide how I must feel! Why don't you lot go and shove off every once and a while?"
Ludwig grimaced as he remembered Hermione's tear stained face, and also the fact that later in the day, she had found out her parents had died. Ludwig sighed as he put the fag out and flicked it into a trash bin. Looking at his watch, he saw that he was about 10 minutes late for when he said he was going to meet Tonks.
'Effing cabbies,' he thought, remembering the talkative driver he had. It wasn't enough that he had to stop the cab and try to think where Luddie's accent came from; he also grilled Ludwig on the need of a raven. Shaking his head, he quickly looked around to make sure that there wasn't any muggles watching him, before pushing his cart through the barrier for Platform 9 ¾.
Entering the platform, he started looking through the throng of people trying to spot Tonks, and did after a quick search. Walking over to the only witch he knew that liked to sport Ravenclaw's colors for her hair colour, he saw that she was talking to a couple other witches.
"Guten Tag," Luddie said, startling Tonks, who jumped up in the air before turning around with a big grin on her face.
"Luddie!" Tonks exclaimed, before giving him a quick hug, and then gesturing to the other witches around her, "Luddie, these are some of my friends. You lot, this is the guy I told you about-"
"Ludwig Waechter, pleased to meet you," he interrupted in the most charming voice he could use, causing Tonks to laugh slightly. He also noticed that Tonks had quietly slipped her hand into his, but declined to say anything.
"Emily Stillmoore," said a tall witch with brown hair.
"Helen Smith," said a short witch, also with brown hair.
"Fey Murphy," said a red haired witch with an Irish accent. Harry gave each of them a nod before turning to Tonks.
"Where should I put my trunk?" he asked, gesturing behind him.
"Oh! We were just waiting for you before finding a spot on the train," Tonks said, dropping Luddie's hand and starting to gather her belongings, while everyone else did the same, with their parents who had just arrived to help their daughters. Ludwig, on an impulse seeing that Mr. or Mrs. Tonks weren't present, put Tonks' trunk on top of his own so he would carry both.
"Don't worry about it, I'm a big boy," he said with a small wink, causing Tonks to laugh a little. He didn't want Tonks' natural clumsiness to cause her to injure herself carrying the trunk, and hoping that his own didn't kick in. Tonks grabbed Luddie's empty bird cage (which was empty because Edgar was currently sitting on Luddie's shoulder), and started leading him to a compartment on the train.
"Where's your mum?" Luddie asked as Tonks led him through the train.
"Oh, Dad was sick this morning so she didn't want to leave him alone for long, so she just dropped me off here," Tonks said, turning her head briefly before running into someone. Luddie, seeing Fey off to the side, quickly put the two trunks down in the compartment, before turning to help Tonks up. He needn't had, seeing she was already on her feet, and staring down a boy that was the same height as she was with black hair and a sneer on his face.
"Ewan," Tonks said with a cold tone in her voice.
"Nymphadora," Ewan ground out, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.
"Who was that?" Luddie asked when everyone was settled in the compartment, with Tonks having a look on her face that would turn most to stone.
"Ewan McConolougue, Slytherin prefect, and world-class prick," Tonks said, looking out the window.
"Also known as this dear girl's ex-boyfriend," Helen supplied, while Tonks gave her an incensed look. Luddie merely raised his eyebrow before commenting.
"I take it there was a...how do you say it? 'A bad split'?"
Tonks snorted, while Helen rolled her eyes and explained for her, "Tonks caught Ewan cheating on her, and proceeded to give the prat a 'kick-start' so to speak-"
"She kicked the tosser in the bullocks," Fey interrupted, causing Luddie to laugh, before being quickly silenced by a glare from Tonks.
"So, yes, an unbelievably bad breakup Ludwig, happy?" Tonks half-snarled at Luddie, who held up his hands in protest.
"Hey, I was just asking, and I was curious, seeing what happened in the hallway-"
"And curiosity killed the cat, don't you know?" Tonks shot back, very sarcastically. Ludwig decided to let the subject drop, and Tonks was silent for most of the train ride, stewing in the corner of the compartment while he talked to Emily, Helen, and Fey about mostly 'safe' topics such as school, 'tips' for the teachers, and the general news of the day. This also served to help Luddie further immerse himself in the time period so he would not reveal himself as being too out of place.
He also thought to himself how Tonks seemed pretty disturbed about meeting the boy, and how she had taken so readily to him? Was she just using him to help get herself over that 'Slytherin tosser' as Fey referred to him as? He would have to ask her later about that...
As everyone was getting off the train, and Ludwig was making sure he had everything in his trunk before he walked off the train, he felt a hand tentatively touch his back and a soft whispered, "Luddie?"
Immediately knowing that it was Tonks that was behind him, he spun around, "Yes Dora?"
"Sorry for the way I acted, that pest just brought up a slew of bad memories," Tonks said, looking down at her feet, before looking up at Luddie's face. Ludwig looked back at her for a second, and then let a smile break out on his face.
"Don't worry about it" he said, putting his arm around Tonks' shoulders and leading her off the train and towards the Thestral-drawn carriages. Luddie noted that Tonks leaned into his embrace while they walked, and all thoughts of asking Tonks about if she was using him were tossed out the window.
He also noticed that a few stares were sent his way, quite possibly due to the fact that he was an "exchange student." He had read one time while idly turning the pages of Hogwarts: a History that exchange students that weren't part of only a temporary exchange (like the Tri-Wizard Tournament) and intended to finish their education at Hogwarts were a rare occurrence due the highly competitive natures of the magical schools the world over.
Luddie looked up at the school, and one thought went through his head, 'Here we go again...'
"...I would also like to introduce to you, Ludwig Waechter, who comes to us from a private German school to finish up his education," came the voice of Professor Flitwick, who was giving the Ravenclaws his own 'Welcome' speech. Harry stood up to be recognized as Flitwick continued on, "Ludwig, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself so we can get to know you better?"
Luddie looked over the crowd as he stood before his new house. He had no doubt that he would be judged greatly by this speech and could feel the back of his neck becoming red. He stumbled over a start before his eye was caught by Tonks' smiling face. Getting a grin on his own face, he righted himself mentally, and begun his introduction.
"Well, you know my name, so why don't I just skip over that?" Luddie said, causing a few people to chuckle before he continued on, "I guess you could say I do fairly well in school, seeing that I did pretty decent on the OWLs. Er...I suppose my favorite subject is Defense Against the Dark Arts and I hope to one day become an Auror."
"What sort of hobbies do you have mate?" asked an Irish sixth year by the name of Riley Duggan, who Ludwig was sharing a dorm with.
"Well, I do enjoy Quidditch, both watching and playing, and I like to exercise," he responded, before adding on, "I also like to read spell books and learn new spells."
The rest of the night went on like this, with the crowd dispersing after most of the pertinent questions were asked of Luddie and mainly those in the sixth and seventh years staying to talk with him. Near midnight, the whole group of students agreed it was high time to go to bed to be ready for the first day of classes. After saying goodnight to Tonks, who had sat next to him after they had moved to the couches of the common room, he followed his new dorm mates up to his dorm room.
As he tried to clear his mind before falling asleep he noticed that he couldn't get one thing out of his head. It appeared as if Nymphadora Tonks had taken a firm hold in his mind and was not letting go...
School, over the next month, progressed much like it had when Luddie was back in 'his time,' except there wasn't the constant threat of a dark lord looming over him and the school. He was even able to receive some of the top marks of his year seeing that he already had taken most of the sixth year curriculum. In fact, Ludwig would say the first month of the year was slightly dull if anything. The only trouble he ever got in was when the occasional teacher caught him smoking atop one of the towers, but even then, they didn't make a big deal about it. He was the legal age after all, and he was hardly disrupting anybody else.
'I guess this is how school is supposed to go,' Luddie mused to himself one day during a break in classes when he was in the library researching a topic for a potions essay. Even potions, usually his most hated subject, was different. This was most likely due to the fact Snape did not know who Ludwig was in all actuality, and that he wasn't a Gryffindor.
Even his first Hogsmeade visit wasn't hectic, although it was slightly nerve-racking. He had accompanied Tonks, but it wasn't an 'official date;' they more or less just hung out with each other exclusively. It was becoming sort of a sore point to Luddie, as he himself didn't know what he felt for Tonks, but the more he waited and the more he didn't say anything about his feelings to Tonks, the greater they became.
About a week before the Christmas holiday, Ludwig received a letter from a regal-looking owl at breakfast. Opening it up, he noticed that it was from Patrick, the Unspeakable that had helped get him settled in this time.
Ludwig-
Happy holidays to you. We here in the Department of Mysteries (oh, don't worry about others seeing this, it's charmed so that only you can read it...on second thought burn this as soon as you get a chance) would like to inform you that you are doing extremely well in school, and if you continue like you are, we will have no issues with admitting you into full Unspeakable training.
Secondly, knowing that you do not have a family to speak of, I would like to invite you spend the upcoming holiday with myself, wife, and daughters. Do not think of yourself as putting a burden upon my family as my wife is anxious to meet you after I told her about you and how I am your 'mentor' so to speak for the Unspeakable program.
Let me know by return owl if you would like to come. If so, I will meet you at Platform 9 3/4 when the Hogwarts Express drops you off.
- P. O'Shannon, Unspeakable 3rd class
Smiling, Luddie quickly wrote a reply, before heading up to the owlery to send the note back with Edgar. Walking back from the tower, he quickly made it to his first class, which was NEWT Transfiguration, making it to class just in time.
Sliding into his seat next to Tonks, he saw her looking at him oddly.
"What?" Luddie asked, with a small smirk.
"You're looking awfully bubbly this morning," Tonks remarked, the pair of them whispering so McGonagall couldn't hear them. Luddie paused for a second considering how he should answer her question.
"I'm spending the holiday with my family," he answered back, with a big grin on his face.
One week later found Ludwig and Tonks sitting together on the Hogwarts Express, surprisingly the only two out of the group of their friends that were going home that Christmas holiday.
"Did you get all of your presents?" Tonks asked, leaning against Luddie's shoulder as he read the latest issue of Dueling Weekly.
"Of course," Luddie responded, thinking to the present that he had bought for Tonks that was residing in his trunk.
"Even one for Adrian?" Tonks asked, looking at him with a slight smirk. Ludwig scowled in response. Adrian Dickinson was one of the most annoying people he ever had the displeasure of meeting. A real stickler for the rules, he reminded him of what Percy Weasley, who Luddie actually had met a couple weeks into the school year in the library, had become.
"Mind if I smoke?" Luddie asked after a few minutes, pulling a cigar out of his pocket.
"Being from a pure-blooded family you sure do have a lot of muggle tendencies," Tonks remarked, motioning for him to go ahead as he shrugged his shoulders.
"My family is not the Malfoys 'Dora," Luddie remarked, casting a spell on the brown stick to prevent the smoke from stinking up the compartment.
"Oh before I forget," Tonks said, still laying on Luddie's shoulder, "Would you like to come over for dinner on Boxing Day? Mum said you could bring your family if you wanted."
"That'd be great, I'll be there at least," Ludwig said, thinking that Patrick and his family probably wouldn't want to come.
"Wicked," Tonks said, closing her eyes to take a nap until the train arrived at the station.
After bidding Tonks goodbye until Boxing Day, Ludwig started to look around for Patrick. After a few moments he noticed him lurking in the shadows by the exit to the platform. Putting his trunk on the trolley he walked over to him.
"Merry Christmas," Patrick said with a small smile, pulling his bowler over his eye, reminding him of Mad-Eye Moody, "Who was the young girl you were with?"
"Nymphadora Tonks," Ludwig replied as Patrick led him off the platform and towards the parking lot.
"You've been doing really well in school," Patrick commented as he led Luddie out of the station to a green car that blended into its surroundings really well.
"Well this is technically the second time I've taken the classes," he replied as he helped Patrick lift his trunk into the boot of the car.
"Even so," Patrick said as he walked around to the driver's side door, "You are in the top three of your class in every subject. That should carry over to next year as well seeing you'll have such an understanding of the basics in every subject."
After a few moments of driving Patrick pulled the car into a side street, before hitting a button on the dashboard. Instantly, the car had appeared in front of a modest, though slightly upscale, wizarding house.
"Welcome to the O'Shannon family home," Patrick said as three figures appeared in the door.
"Patrick is that you?" came the voice of a woman, while two smaller figures ran at Patrick.
"Daddy!" they both shouted, jumping into Patrick's arms.
"Ludwig, these are my two daughters," Patrick said with a smile, setting the kids down.
"I'm Gwen!" said the one with red hair.
"I'm Stacy!" said the other one, a blonde.
"They're both 6," Patrick said, as a woman, obviously his wife approached, "and this is my wife Helen."
"I'm Ludwig," Luddie said, holding out his hand to Helen.
"It's nice to meet you, Patrick has told me a lot about you," Helen said, before, "Oh no! I forgot to get the ham at the store! I'll be back in a minute then!"
With that, Helen Apparated away, presumably to the store.
"Why don't you come on in and I'll show you to your room?" Patrick said a moment after his wife left.
"That'd be nice," Ludwig replied, taking his trunk out of the car.
"Gwendolyn! Stacy! Come help me show Ludwig to his room!" Patrick called after his daughters, leading the troupe into the house.
The first part of the holiday passed rather quietly. Luddie spent most of the days either finishing his school work, playing with Gwen and Stacy, or helping Helen around the house while Patrick was at work. Gwen and Stacy really liked him, and were always trying to get him to play with them. At night, when Patrick got home, he talked about the Unspeakable profession with him, and played chess with him.
On Christmas, he got presents from the Tonks' (a black cloak sewn by Mrs. Tonks herself), one from Tonks (a pair of really nice gloves to go along with the cloak that he remembered one time admiring during a Hogsmeade weekend), and an assortment of various wizarding candies and a book on apparition techniques from Patrick and his family. He looked at the wrapped package that was sitting on his trunk that held Tonks' present. He had planned on giving it to her the next day when he went to her house for dinner, and had sent her a note that said that.
When he gave her the present he also planned on telling her what he felt for her. With the time that he had to himself over the past few days, he had come to fully realize what he felt for the young woman. He had really fallen for her over the months he had been in this time, and he felt like he lost himself every time he talked to her. The only problem he was having was he was wondering when Tonks' future fiancé was going to make an appearance. Hadn't Tonks said that they had been together since their sixth year?
'I'll just have to worry about that later,' Luddie thought to himself.
He spent most of Christmas day with Patrick and his family, and even played with the girls a little bit. He was quickly becoming like an older brother to them, and he found he generally enjoyed himself with Patrick's family as a whole. Although he did keep himself occupied the entire day, his mind was almost always on Tonks when it wasn't on anything else. He could not help but feel anxious for the next day to roll around.
When he woke up on Boxing Day he saw Edgar on the bedside table picking at something with his beak.
"Wha' are you doin' Edgar?" Ludwig said, still very tired.
"Something is off with your necklace," Edgar responded, still picking at the necklace.
Confused, Harry sat up more and reined in his focus, "What do you mean 'something is off'?"
"It's been glowing on and off for the last half hour," Edgar responded, picking the necklace up and flinging it at Harry. It landed in his lap, and Luddie noticed that it was pulsing red. Grabbing his wand from the bedside table, he held the necklace up in one hand and then prodded it with his wand. When it pulled away, the pulsing had stopped, and Luddie could also see that something was now attached to the end of his wand. Something that looked very familiar.
Bringing it closer to his face as he turned the lights on in the room, he noticed that it was a thin white thread, and recognition instantly dawned on him. It was a memory for use in pensieve. Luddie quickly went over to his trunk where he pulled out the pensieve he barely ever thought of using, and deposited the memory. Looking at Edgar one last time, he took a deep breath and dropped into the bowl.
Looking around, Ludwig saw that he was in a very plain room. The walls were all a deep blue, and the carpeted floor was the same blue color. Ludwig then noticed a chair, and saw that someone was sitting at it.
Luddie was sitting at it.
"Welcome Harry," Luddie said, paused for a second, and then continued, "I suppose you're wondering how that memory suddenly appeared in that necklace I gave you?"
Harry felt himself nod, even though he knew that the vision he was seeing was only a memory, and Luddie couldn't react to it.
"Well, it's quite simple. I put it in that necklace before I gave it to you, and it's been in there the entire time," Luddie continued, "I just charmed the necklace to activate on this exact date of December the 26th, nineteen eighty eight."
Harry felt his jaw start to fall open. This experience had started to cross into the bizarre.
"Oh, why did I pick today's date? Sorry can't say," Luddie went on, standing up, and starting to pace in front of Harry and the chair, "But there is much, much more I can tell you. So please, take a seat."
Luddie waved a hand and a chair appeared behind Harry, who was too shocked for it to even register that a memory was interacting with him and took a seat.
"Where to begin?" Luddie said, looking up as he continued to pace back and forth, "Harry, I know for a fact, right now, that tonight you're going to Nymphadora Tonks' house. You also plan on confessing your love for her. Well, that's a good thing, you wouldn't want the timeline messed up would you? Oh, yes, I know about the timeline. I know all about the timeline. I know about your missing memories, and how you drive yourself crazy everyday hoping you won't screw the timeline up and make the world implode. How do I know all this you're wondering?"
Harry nodded his again, just staring at Luddie in shock.
"It's quite simple really," Luddie said, stopping and looking straight at Harry, "I am you. Here, let me clear something up for you."
Harry looked mystified as the memory-Luddie held his wand up to Harry's forehead. Suddenly, Harry felt a rush of understanding dawn upon him. His name. What he looked like. It was all forming perfectly in his mind...He looked back up at Luddie-no, HIMSELF- and saw that Luddie had a smile on his face.
"Yes, I am what you become," Luddie said, taking a seat in his chair, "That's how I knew everything about you, could sense your every move. It's because I myself had done them. I still can't tell you WHY we were sent back into the past because I still do not truthfully know. All I know is that you need to know now not to worry about messing with the timeline. You'll know what to do. Just like this little experience. You learn how to make it in a few years, so make sure that you do."
Luddie looked at his watch for a second, before looking back up at Harry, "It's amazing how fast time seems to move in these surreal experiences, but in about 20 seconds Gwen is going to come looking for where her 'brother' is, and she shouldn't find you in that damn bowl. Just remember something Harry. Always keep you're loved ones close. You have no idea how much they mean to us."
With that, the memory faded, and Ludwig found himself once again standing in front of the veil. Seconds later, a knock came from his door. Turning around he saw that it was indeed Gwen.
"Wake up sleepy!" Gwen shouted, running at Ludwig, who caught her. He laughed as he set her down, and followed her out of the room, with thoughts of the 'conversation with himself' and the night going through his head.
Later that night Luddie found himself on the front porch of Tonks' house, looking into the street.
"How do you like your gloves?" Tonks asked, leaning against Harry from warmth, even though the pair of them were surrounded by a blanket that covered both of them.
"They're grand," Ludwig replied, before turning to face her, "Want your present now?"
"Oh, you got a present for little ole me?" Tonks said with the most childish voice she could. Luddie laughed and just clapped his hand, causing the present to appear in Tonks' lap. He didn't know where he got the ability to suddenly do this type of magic, he just knew that he was able to do strange things since that morning.
"Oh Luddie," Tonks breathed as she unwrapped the present and pulled out a bracelet that he had spent close to 70 Galleons on. Luddie just smiled as he took it from her and put it on. When he was done, however, he kept his hands on Tonks'.
"'Dora, I've been thinking about this for a while," Luddie started, thinking to himself that it was all or nothing, "And I must say that I have fallen for you, in a way that poets write about. Please, will you give me the pleasure of going out with me?"
A huge smile, one that stretched from ear to ear spread out on Tonks' face.
"Of course I will!" Tonks said, throwing her arms around Luddie's neck, causing him to hug her back. Loosening up for a second, Luddie and Tonks slowly tilted their heads towards each other, before capturing each others lips in a totally loving kiss.
Later that night, as Luddie was preparing to go back to Patrick's home, he and Tonks stood in front of the fireplace.
"I'm going to miss you even more now," Tonks said, as they stood in front of each other, holding hands.
"Same here," Ludwig whispered back, before enveloping her in a loving embrace. After a few minutes, the pair separated, and stood facing each other again.
"Remember, it's only a little over a week," Ludwig said, trying to convince himself that it wasn't going to be as long as it seemed. Leaning down, he kissed Tonks on the lips.
"Until then," Ludwig breathed, throwing the powder into the fire, and leaving Tonks' home, feeling longing creep into his heart almost the minute he started to spin.
When he arrived, he noticed that almost all of the lights were off in the house, so he waved his hand, and instantly the lights in the room reacted to his hand. Staring at his hand, Harry started to feel very lightheaded. He felt as if his mind was overloading, as if it was imploding upon itself.
The last thing he saw as he was passing out was a mass of swirling colors in front of his face, and the feet of four other people...
End Chapter
Slvrfox: Sorry for that. I've changed it in this chapter. Thanks for the opinion.
DoraTonksPotter: Yes, Ted Tonks is a muggleborn but in this story he is a muggle. I don't know why. This is just reposting. Sorry.
Soulofarthur: I will keep that in mind. What I meant is that this story is just a reposting. The original was written by Tradiferis.
Oberon Black: Sorry for that. I will change the names from this chapter onwards.
Thank you for the reviews. Hoping for more...