Memories
Chapter One - All Was Well
Placing his arm around Ginny's waist, Harry glanced one more time at the last cars of the Hogwarts Express making their way out of the station. A smile pursed his lips as he reminisced on days gone by and the life he now enjoyed. It was something that only 19 years earlier seemed on the verge of being lost forever, until he defeated Voldemort and the curse on his world had finally been lifted. Everything had worked out well despite the losses during the war and he had 19 years of great memories to reflect on: his family, his friends, and simply living a normal wizard's life.
He looked over at the couple still standing at the edge of the platform where his niece Rose had recently boarded the train on her way to the school along with James and Albus. He saw Ron leaning over talking to Hugo, explaining something to him about the train or possibly Hogwarts itself. Harry wasn't sure. As he gazed at them, Hermione turned and looked right at him, their eyes locking for a moment before she smiled at him with that same expression of warmth and support he had come to rely on over the years. She was a good friend and for many years now a part of his family.
Harry couldn't imagine it being any other way.
He watched her turn back to her husband and son. Ron put his arm around Hugo and the three of them walked toward the platform exit. The tall, lanky red head threw a smile and nod at Harry, who returned the same and then waved to Hugo. The three Weasleys disappeared through the brick wall into the muggle section of Kings Cross.
Harry felt a tug around his own waist now and turning, he saw that beautiful smile on Ginny's face, gleaming at him as she then reached up and kissed him softly on the cheek.
"Let's go home," she spoke softly, her eyes piercing his with deep affection.
He nodded at her with a smile and taking Lily's hand in his, the three headed toward the exit of Platform 9 3/4. They had nearly reached the archway over the barrier when a voice chimed at them from behind.
"Excuse me, sir."
The three stopped and turned to look at the person addressing Harry. He was a thin-looking teenager wearing a beige uniform with red cuffs on both sleeves and the bottom of his pants legs. He also wore an old-fashioned driver's cap that covered his entire head down to his ear lobes, allowing tufts of brown hair to jut out on either side. He held a brown, paper-wrapped box in one hand and a clipboard with a very worn quill in the other. Harry instantly recognized his uniform as that of a courier with Biggs & Ivey, the wizard delivery service that was well known for its handling of parcels too important or sensitive for owls to carry. Handling many of the Ministry's most important documents, some top secret, Biggs & Ivey had a reputation for being one of the most reliable and discreet package delivery services in all wizardom. In fact, Harry had used them himself from time to time in his work, so the sight of the courier in the telltale uniform drew forth the most serious attention.
"Are you Harry Potter?" the young man now asked, squinting his eyes slightly, as though unsure of the identity of the man with the faded, lightning shaped scar.
"Yes…I am," Harry replied, glancing at Ginny who now displayed a look of curiosity at the person standing before them.
The teenager's face changed to one of seriousness as he stuffed the package under one arm and raised the clipboard in his hand, checking it over with an air of professionalism.
"I have a parcel for you, sir," he spoke without glancing upward at the couple.
Harry again looked at Ginny whose expression revealed the same puzzlement on his own face. A parcel? Here in the middle of Kings Cross station? What was so important that someone would have something delivered to him here? Why didn't they just send it to his home or work address? Harry watched the young man intently now, wondering if this whole episode was a mistake or perhaps a practical joke from one of his co-workers at the Ministry.
"If you would, sir, sign your name here," the courier now intoned, shifting parallel with Harry while extending the clipboard and quill toward him.
Harry perused the parchment on the clipboard and seeing his name written in a fine calligraphic style, took the quill and placed his signature in not so neat handwriting next to the name on the parchment. He then handed the clipboard back to the young man who intently scanned the signature as though he could detect forgery with a single glance.
'Definitely Biggs & Ivey,' Harry thought to himself.
He and Ginny then watched the courier tuck the clipboard under his arm again and move in front of the couple, bringing out the parcel with both hands. Harry, expecting the boy to hand the parcel to him, was instead surprised to find him standing perfectly still, not intending to release the package yet for some reason. The young man then turned his head and looked over at the opposite wall. Harry followed his gaze and found that he was staring at the large clock hanging on the brick wall behind the tracks.
'What is he waiting for?' Harry wondered as he saw the large hand of the clock almost converge on fifteen after eleven.
"Harry...", Ginny spoke in a sense of confusion while taking Lily's hand.
Harry turned to her and shrugged. He didn't understand any more than she did. He then turned back to the young man and was about to insist on taking the parcel when the courier nodded his head at the clock and then promptly handed the package to him. As he took it, Harry looked at the clock once more to see that it was now 11:15 precisely.
"Good day, sir," the teenager rapped out with professionalism. But before Harry could respond, the courier abruptly marched toward the exit and disappeared through the brick wall into the muggle section of Kings Cross.
Now Ginny and Lily moved in front of Harry to look at the package in his hands. On top of the parcel was an address written directly onto the paper:
Mr. Harry Potter
Platform 9 3/4
Kings Cross Station
London
There were no other markings to indicate the sender of the package or reveal its contents. Harry frowned.
"That's odd," he stated with a sense of cautious interest, "who would send a package to me addressed like this?"
Ginny's face now showed marked concern as she shook her head.
"I don't like this, Harry," she spoke, "I don't think you should open it."
Harry gazed at the parcel in thought.
"It can't hurt, Ginny. You know we're protected in this part of the station," Harry answered, "besides, it was sent by Biggs & Ivey. They're not cheap and they only accept the most reputable clients. They'd never ship dangerous goods anyway."
The redhead stepped a little closer to her husband, feeling a bit more at ease because of his words. Harry then tore off the wrapping as Lily smiled and eagerly watched, as though he was opening a birthday present. With the wrapping discarded, Harry now held a brown wooden box in his hands. He slowly opened the hinged lid as Ginny and Lily both leaned in to see what the box contained.
Inside was straw. Harry reached into this and found an object underneath. He pulled it out and shook the straw from both it and his hands. When he had the object completely out of the box, the man's brow furrowed in puzzlement.
It was a muggle camera – an old, single lens reflex to be precise.
"What is it, dad?" Lily anxiously asked, having never seen such an item in her life.
"Is that…?" Ginny queried.
"Yes," Harry replied, "it's a camera. Uncle Vernon had one similar to this."
The couple looked at one another with puzzled expressions.
"Why would someone send this to you here, Harry?"
He shook his head.
"I have no idea."
Ginny then reached into the box.
"There's something else in here."
She retrieved a small envelope with 'Harry' written on its face. Ginny handed the envelope to her husband in exchange for the camera and Lily stepped up on her toes to get a closer look at the odd muggle device. Harry set the box on the platform, opened the envelope, and began reading.
Dear Harry,
It's been many years since you and I crossed paths. And I see you are doing well these days. Congratulations. As for me, it's taken all this time to recover, and though I've made great progress, they tell me I will never completely recover, unfortunately. However, during my rehabilitation, I decided to undertake a new occupation in life: you.
At this, Ginny's expression grew worried, and Harry grimaced. He continued.
I have studied and examined your life, Harry, to the smallest possible details. And in the process, an epiphany occurred to me, something which you yourself seem oblivious to. It's taken a lot of work, but I finally found the one pivotal event in your life that changed everything. And through my hard work, I now possess the power to alter that event. I want you to know that I've never forgotten what happened between us all those years ago, my friend, and to pay you back for it, I have enclosed this small gift.
You took everything from me, Harry Potter. And now I'm going to take everything from you.
Good luck in your new world, my friend.
Ginny gasped as Harry read the last two statements. She placed a hand on his arm.
"Harry, you need to report this to the Ministry!"
Harry's brow furrowed as he threw a look at Ginny.
"Hand me the camera," he stated. She gave it to him, and he pulled out his wand.
"Luminos Obscurio!" Harry uttered and a white light left the tip of his wand and enveloped the camera.
But after a moment, nothing happened, and the light faded. Harry was puzzled.
"Huh. There's no dark magic attached to it," he informed Ginny.
Very curious, he turned the camera over in his hand to examine it. When he turned it to where the lens pointed straight at him, however, the flash suddenly went off, briefly blinding him.
"Harry!" Ginny cried out while grasping his arm.
The wizard blinked several times, trying to help his eyes recover from the blinding flash.
"It's okay, Ginny. It was just the…"
Harry suddenly cried out in pain, dropping the camera and falling to his knees. Putting his hands to his head, it felt as though his brain was on fire, the pain surging throughout his skull and then down his spine.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Ginny yelled out and nearly everyone on the platform stopped to gaze at the commotion. A nearby attendant who was conversing with the parents of a Hogwarts student, immediately ran over to the couple. Lily had grabbed her mother's leg with both arms and was in tears, watching her father reel from the intense pain in his head.
"DADDY!" she cried out.
The porter leaned over and placed his hand on Harry's back.
"Are you okay, sir? What can I do for you?" he uttered.
For a moment, Harry thought he might be recovering from whatever spell hit him – the fiery pain subsided and was replaced by a cool sensation in his head. But any thought of relief was quickly discarded when the cooling turned to freezing, as though his brain was congealing into a solid block of ice. He cried out in pain once more, as it felt like he was having the worst headache of all time. Ginny knelt down by him to try to console her husband, her teary-eyed face filled with panic.
Harry, breathing heavily while attempting to cope with the intense pain, turned and looked at her and Lily, both staring back at him.
And a moment later, he blacked out…
~HP~
Harry awoke with a start and found himself lying on a concrete floor.
His vision was blurred at first, but slowly came back in focus as he now became aware of his surroundings. Looking down at the smooth concrete, he realized he was lying on a station platform. Around him, people were passing by, some gazing down at the strange fellow lying on the floor and in their way. After sitting up and glancing around, he realized that he was no longer on Platform 9 ¾. Instead, he saw the sign indicating Platform 9 to his right and 10 on his left. Then his eyes diverted to the brick wall barrier in between – the entry point into the magical section of Kings Cross.
'What happened? How did I get here?' he wondered in confusion.
Harry slowly rose from the floor and felt a slight ache in his head, a fading remnant of the incredible pain he experienced after looking into the camera. The wizard stood now and tried to process both his whereabouts and how he managed to end up back in the muggle section. He then became aware that people moving about the station seemed afraid for some reason, many of them looking down at the ground or glancing around the station nervously. Those waiting for trains appeared impatient, as though some impending doom would come upon them if they couldn't depart the station soon. This behavior was odd. Harry couldn't remember seeing the muggle section of Kings Cross so…gloomy and muted.
But shortly after, he thought of Ginny and Lily.
Where were they?!
The man gazed at the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 and headed straight for it, hoping his wife and daughter were still on the other side. Without hesitation, he marched straight at it. But as soon as he reached the wall, he felt the hard impact on his skull of running into solid brick.
Placing a hand on his forehead, Harry staggered backwards in shock, staring at the wall. In complete confusion now, he moved back to it and ran his hands over its surface, both high and low. To his astonishment, the magical barrier had somehow been sealed – he could not go through!
A few muggle travelers passed by and stared at him with furrowed brows, as though they thought him to be a complete nutter. But Harry disregarded this while turning to look for any sign of his family.
"GINNY! LILY!" he shouted among the throng of passengers moving about. But he only received more stares as people avoided going anywhere near this crazed lunatic in their midst. Harry was frantic now, moving up and down the platform, then into the station hall, desperately looking for his wife and child. But after several frustrating minutes, he found nothing. The panic really set in now as Harry tried to figure out what was going on. But this was quickly replaced by astonishment as he happened to glance up at a large billboard hanging above the busy station entranceway.
Wide-eyed with disbelief, Harry saw his own face plastered in the center of the billboard with a look of fright while wearing some obvious bruises under one eye and on his forehead. Utterly puzzled, the wizard moved closer to read the words on the billboard below his sorry-looking visage. When he finished reading them, his mind reeled with shock.
ATTENTION ALL MUGGLE CITIZENS!
Be wary of Citizen Potter, the Coward-Who-Lived.
At all times, minimise interaction with him and do not give him aid under threat of penalty, per the request of the Ministry of Magic.
He is to be shunned and avoided.
Report any suspicious behaviour from this dangerous outcast to your local constables of the office of Magical Law Enforcement.
By order of the British Prime Minister and Lord Voldemort.
Harry stared slack-jawed at the sign. What had occurred in this strange reality, or whatever one might call it, suddenly dawned on the man.
Voldemort won the war.
Harry Potter…had failed.