DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

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Summary: After a quick trip from 1991, he found his Aunt Mione married to someone else. HEA.

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A/N: Welcome to another Harry Potter fanfic! This includes time-travel, OOC Hermione, and a totally different timeline. Don't worry about Cedric, he will live. This is HEA.

Thank you!

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Prologue:

In which someone meddled with time.

"Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time... loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!" -Hermione, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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He opened his eyes, hoping that he would find himself in his dormitory bed and everything was just a dream.

But he didn't. He was still in a dark room - more like a cell - in Hogwarts. The cell was heavily locked; he knew because he could see the glowing blue light around the lock.

They had taken his wand, and there was no way to escape.

No one could help him.

"And the bastard ditched me," he whispered to himself bitterly. "I swear if I could just - "

But he trailed off. There was really nothing he could do. No device to escape. No wand. No family. His supposed-to-be mother, cousins, and uncles didn't know him. They had no idea who he was.

No one was worried about him.

Maybe even in the other timeline, he thought bitterly.

He felt remorseful all of a sudden. In his original timeline, he had been distancing himself from his family - even from his beloved sister - since he was sorted in the House of Snakes. Maybe, a part of him couldn't accept the fact that he wasn't in Gryffindor.

He couldn't take the gossips, the whisperings behind his back that he only had his father's eyes, but not his heart and abilities.

So he never spent time with his brother or any of his cousins. They were all in Gryffindor.

And he was in Slytherin.

He never wrote to his parents or Lily.

He never sought his godfather's help who was a Herbology professor in his original time, because he was Head of Gryffindor House as well, and he, Albus, was a Slytherin.

It was embarrassing. And perhaps, Professor Longbottom was also embarrassed that his godson was in Slytherin, he thought years ago.

The only person who ever wrote to him non-stop was Aunt Hermione. She was James's godmother by marriage, again, in his original timeline. She was a very compassionate person, despite being known for her stern demeanour, perfectionist attitude, and sharp tongue during arguments, she was the only person who wrote to him consistently, expressing her maternal love.

But in this timeline, she isn't family, he thought sadly. This community is no place for a Muggle-born like her.

And he wondered whether she was in Australia with her parents and got married to a Muggle; or she was just in London, perhaps working as a university professor.

He didn't want to think that she was truly gone.

He felt hot tears falling from his cheeks. If only he didn't turn away from his family... If only he were honest to his parents and godfather about his feelings towards being a Slytherin... If only he listened to his father, or only if he wrote back to Aunt Mione consistently and honestly... This would never happen.

He pulled his hair in desperation. He wanted to go back to his time; to his family.

He never wanted any of this. He never wanted to wake up again in a world where the toad-looking woman was the head of the school, and he and his cousins Hugo and Rose don't exist.

"Who the hell is Panju Weasley?" he scoffed.

Just as he was remembering the image of a boy who looked a lot like his Uncle Ron but with dark skin color, he heard footsteps.

He looked up and saw the face of the person he hated the most at the moment.

"Al," the other boy called him softly.

He glared at him but didn't say anything.

Scorpius knelt on the floor, avoiding the cell lock. "Look, I'm sorry," he was whispering. "I knew that something was off again when I saw Umbridge, so I had to pretend I didn't know you."

Albus continued to glare at the blonde boy outside his cell. He didn't want to believe him. Not anymore.

I ignored my family's warnings for you, risked my life for you, and this is how you treat a friend? He wanted to say those words to him, but he didn't want to waste his energy.

"Al," Scorpius whispered again, and he sounded like pleading. He reached for something inside the pockets of his robes.

Albus's eyes widened when he saw a familiar gold chain.

The time-turner.

The very same time-turner they used several times for quick trips in different timelines.

The very same time-turner which brought them here.

Scorpius extended his hand, offering him the time-turner. "Get it, you, idiot!"

He was no longer glaring but frowning.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. He must be thinking he was being stupid. "Do you really think I'd betray you?" he asked irritably.

He didn't say anything.

"Salazar... Al! Are we even friends? Get it before someone comes!" he insisted.

Albus reached for the time-turner and studied it carefully, making sure it was the same device they used.

Scorpius had another thing in his hand when he looked up: a wand. His wand.

He took the wand and looked up at Scorpius, confused. "How? What happened?" he asked, speaking for the first time. "What's this time?"

"Mate, here, You-Know-Who won, and he killed Harry Potter in 1998," explained Scorpius seriously. "The toad-looking witch isn't the Headmistress, but the Deputy Headmistress. Anyway, don't worry about her because the Headmaster wiped off her memories of you, so You-Know-Who won't hear about you."

"The Headmaster?" he asked, confused.

"Severus Snape," replied Scorpius. "Intelligent man, he is. We talked for a long time and told him what happened, where we came from. He was angry at Dumbledore after hearing everything. So he had a proposal. You have to do this, mate, and surely, Dumbledore - the younger one - will listen.

"What? Dumbledore will listen to what?" he asked, still very confused.

"Go back to the summer of 1991, Snape suggested. And give him Snape's letter and memories." He handed him a small wooden box.

He shook his head and looked at Scorpius with uncertainty.

"Do you want to save your father or no?" asked Scorpius irritably. "This timeline's even fucked up than the other one, so we have to try everything! The Time-turner won't allow us to travel back to another 2020! Remember how it works?"

"Go back to the past and then to 2020. The past, and 2020," he repeated.

"Exactly. Go!"

"Aren't you coming with me?" he asked in confusion.

Scorpius shook his head. "I'm safe here, for now, mate. You do it. Snape said it would be too much if the two of us would show up in Dumbledore's office. You can do it alone this time."

He stared at his friend for a moment. This was his only best mate. He doubted him for a few hours, but he was here, helping him, saving his arse.

"I'm never leaving without you," he rasped.

Scorpius gave him a sorrowful look. "Mate, if you stay here longer, you will be in danger. How many timelines have we been to? I was always alive and well because of my parents. You, on the other hand, were always in danger..."

He didn't move. He didn't say anything. He didn't want to leave without him.

"Mate, I don't like any of the universes we went to, not only because Voldemort was there, but because you didn't exist. I don't want to wake up to another universe without you in it, but this time, you have to do it alone. I will be fine. I will be lonely, but I will have peace of mind, knowing that you're somewhere more peaceful."

Scorpius was making sense. They had to try something different this time.

Hesitant, he took the wooden box, held it in his left hand with his wand, and wore the time-turner. "I'll kick your arse if I saw you again."

Scorpius laughed. "Feel free to do so. Good luck, mate."