Back to the Future
OK, people, this fic came to me (in a dream?) the other
day out of nowhere in the middle of a History lesson. It's amazing how much
Hitler can stimulate these things. This fic could end up quite long; it's one
where dear old James takes a leap forward in time. I don't want to give too
much away, so here you are …
Back to the Future (1): Back to the Future
'OK, listen up. Today, we're going to attempt the Iris
Solution. It's not easy, but I'm confident that most of you can do it.' James
Potter sat in his Tuesday morning Potions lesson; half listening to what
Professor Jackson was saying, and half staring at Lily Evans, his girlfriend.
James was in his final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. He had spent the last seven years, along with his best friends,
Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, and Lily Evans, at Hogwarts, and
they had so far been the best years of his life.
Over the years, the group had gotten much closer. In James'
second year, he had discovered a horrifying secret about Remus. He was, in
fact, a werewolf. Remus had never told his friends of his condition for fear of
rejection, but they had still found out.
And they hadn't rejected him. Far from it; they had hatched
a plan to become Animagi; wizards who could change into animals at will. They
had managed it in their fifth year; now they were Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and
Prongs. Sirius could become a dog; Peter a rat; and James a stag. After many
long and exhausting adventures, the four of them had written the Marauder's
Map, a map with every detail of the Hogwarts grounds.
'James?' James
was shaken out of his thoughts. 'James?' Jackson repeated. 'Do you think you
could stop staring at Lily long enough to listen?' James grinned.
'Hmm,' he said,
and turned back to Lily, who was smiling. 'Nope.' Jackson laughed, and
continued talking.
'Anyway, this
potion isn't too tricky. Choose a partner, all of you, and then you can take on
their eye colour, and they can take on yours.'
'Something tells
me James'll have green eyes soon,' Remus muttered to Sirius, who chuckled.
'Right, partner up,'
Jackson said. 'I don't care who you're with, as long as you can get it right.'
James immediately walked over and sat next to Lily.
'Know what?' he
wondered aloud. 'I've always wondered what it would be like to have green
eyes.'
'Very subtle,' said
Lily grinning. 'Hmm, blue eyes, eh? Suppose it could be worse.'
They got to work on their potions. Sirius had paired up with
Remus, and Peter was partnering Michelle. Frank and Sarah were also working
together. James didn't find the potion particularly difficult to brew. Sirius
finished first, and placed one of his eyebrows inside his potion, which turned
chocolate brown, the colour of his eyes. Remus finished, and his solution went
a pale blue colour. James and Lily finished at the same time, and both added an
eyebrow. Lily's solution went bright green, and James' bright blue. They both
grinned.
'After you,' said
James courteously, passing his goblet to Lily. She grimaced, and swallowed the
potion in one gulp. James took hers and followed suit. He felt a stinging,
burning sensation in his eyes, and closed them slowly. When he opened them, he
was looking into his own bright blue eyes. Except that he was looking at Lily.
'Ooh, now I
understand why you all love me,' she said. 'I have lovely eyes.'
'So do I,' said
James, laughing.
'None of your
eyes are as beautiful as mine,' said Sirius from behind them. He looked
strangely unfamiliar with Remus' pale blue eyes.
'Hmm,' said
Remus. 'So this is the world through the eyes of Sirius Black, is it?' He
suddenly looked at the teacher and screamed. 'Arrgh! Scary! Change me back!
Sirius has strange eyes.' James, Lily, Peter and Sirius laughed.
'Ooh, I look good
with brown eyes,' said Peter, observing Michelle's eye colour on his face.
'Now,' said
Jackson. 'As pretty as you all look, the effect won't last long. Actually,' he
suddenly bowed his head I thought. 'Hold on, I forgot. The length of time it
takes to change back depends on your connection with your partner. The stronger
it is, the longer it will take. Oops.'
'Ah, looks like
you'll have emerald eyes for a while, Jamesy,' said Sirius happily.
'Goody,' said
James. 'I like them.'
'Hmm,' said Lily.
'I wonder what the advantages are of having blue eyes.'
'None, as far as we
can tell,' said Peter, eyeing James.
'You git,' said
James. He closed his eyes. 'I'll find you, even without any eyes.' He lunged
forwards, but Peter darted out of the way.
'James! Watch
out!' said Remus. But it was too late. James crashed into the cupboard, and his
vision went black.
***
'Right,' said Professor Snape sharply. 'Today, we're trying
out a new potion. I can't remember its name, but that doesn't matter. The
effect that the potion has is to change your partner into a person you'd most
like to see. For example, depending on your desires, you could change your
partner into your dead great-grandfather when he was fourteen. You will need –'
Seventeen-year old Harry Potter rested his arms on his desk.
Lessons with Snape were becoming nothing short of monotonous. Harry, a tall,
handsome wizard with green eyes and messy black hair, was in his final school
year at Hogwarts. Since Lord Voldemort, known only in the wizarding world as
'You-Know-Who', had risen, nearly three years ago, Harry' life had been fairly
miserable. He had come face to face with Voldemort since then, and had managed
to kill his second, Lucius Malfoy. Draco Malfoy – Harry's archrival at Hogwarts
– still didn't know that it was Harry that had killed his father. Each week,
disappearances were becoming more and more frequent – but Dumbledore was still
keeping Voldemort away from Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort had been one of the main
benefactors towards Harry's horrible childhood.
When Harry had been just fifteen months old, the Dark Lord
had murdered his parents, James and Lily Potter. Harry had survived the curse,
and all that had remained to show it had ever happened was a curious
lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. Harry's magic-detesting aunt and uncle had
brought him up, and not until the age of eleven had his life been worth living.
Hagrid, a bearded giant who lived in the grounds of Hogwarts, had rescued
Harry. Since then, Harry had lived nearly the whole year round at Hogwarts,
with his best friends Ron and Hermione.
But, in his fourth year, Lord Voldemort, aided by Harry's
parents' betrayer, Peter Pettigrew, referred to as Wormtail for his ability to
change into a rat, had risen again, and another reign of terror had started in
the magical world. Hogwarts really was one of the few safe places remaining.
Harry was determined to revenge himself against Voldemort.
He had become a bit cleverer since his first few school years, where he would
wonder blindly into danger. He was patient – he would get vengeance someday. He
had already saved the lives of his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, on
numerous occasions. He wouldn't let the Dark Lord get them as well.
Harry sighed, and glanced around the classroom. Malfoy was
pointing at him and laughing. I wonder if he'll ever grow up, Harry thought. Seamus
Finnigan and Dean Thomas, two fellow Gryffindors, were inadvertently flirting
with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, girls who shared Hermione's dorm. Ron
and Hermione themselves, next to him, were speaking in an undertone, and
Neville had fallen asleep on his desk.
'Harry,' Ron
whispered. 'Who are you going to change your partner into?' Harry thought about
this. He knew perfectly well whom he'd like his partner to change into,
but he didn't think he'd be able to stand it. Still, it would be worth seeing
the look on Snape's face to make James Potter appear in the class. Snape seemed
to have realised this, however, because he said.
'Choose partners,
all of you! Potter! You can work with Longbottom.' You git, Harry thought, now
I won't have a chance. Ron and Hermione had partnered up, and were silently
discussing something.
'So,' Harry asked
Neville when he came over. 'Know who you want me to be, Neville?'
'My dad,' said
Neville simply. Harry instantly felt sorry for him. He was the only one who
knew what had happened to Neville's parents – Dumbledore had told him towards
the end of his fourth year. Harry had spoken to Neville about it the previous
year, and now Neville knew that Harry knew the whole story.
'What about you,
Harry?' Neville asked.
'Er, I don't know,' Harry lied. Ron and
Hermione looked at him. He felt himself go red, but they soon looked away.
***
'James,' said
someone from above him. 'Are you all right?' James opened his eyes, and found
himself face-to-face with a blue-eyed Lily. He had a splitting pain on his
forehead. She grinned.
'We ought to call
you Harry,' she said. 'He's my cousin, and he's got the same colour eyes as
me.'
'Ow,' James said,
getting up and rubbing his forehead. 'I'll bear that in mind. What happened?'
'The cupboard
fell on you,' said Sirius simply from beside him. James laughed suddenly.
'What?' said
Remus.
'Well,' said
James, still chuckling. 'It sounds like something from a Muggle comic. Still,
it hurts more than that.' He clutched his head again.
'Ouch,' said
Peter. 'You've got a nasty little scar there.' He passed James a mirror, and
James noticed a small scar, that looked a little like a bolt of lightning, on
his forehead. Madam Pomfrey suddenly bustled out of her office.
'Ah, you're
awake,' she said. 'Good. Now, that shouldn't be too hard to heal.' She suddenly
turned to Sirius and the others and started muttering to them. James couldn't
hear, but he didn't particularly mind.
'OK,' said
Sirius, when she finished talking to them. 'So, it's on a thin chain, you say?'
Madam Pomfrey nodded and then returned to her office.
'What was that
about?' James asked.
'She's lost
something really valuable in here,' said Remus, staring at James with Sirius'
glittering brown eyes. 'She wants us to find it. Gives us an excuse to stay
with you, I suppose.'
***
Professor Snape checked his watch.
'Right,' he said.
'You should all have finished by now. Put your potions into the goblets
provided and give them to your partners. Longbottom,' he said, eyes glittering,
'the illustrious Mr. Potter can try your potion first.' Harry gulped, but Snape
was watching him. There was nothing to be done. Bracing himself, he reached out
and swallowed his goblet of potion in one gulp. It felt just as it had when he
had taken Polyjuice potion in his second year, but it was hurting more. His
vision was becoming blurred, and the dungeon was spinning. With one last
fleeting look at Neville, he fell over and hit the stone floor, hard.
***
'Where's Frank?'
James asked Remus, whilst Remus lifted up the sheets of one of the empty beds.
'Over there,'
said Remus, motioning to a bed with curtains around it. 'He got hit with some
nasty potion, so Pomfrey got the curtains out.' James nodded.
'Are you having any luck?' he asked Lily,
who was at that moment upturning chairs in front of him.
'Nope,' she said.
'I don't think it's in here.'
'Well, keep
looking,' came a voice from the door. It was Madam Pomfrey. 'Here you are,
Potter. This medicine should stop your headache. I'll get rid of that scar
later.'
'Thanks,' said
James, setting down the potion, as Madam Pomfrey left for her office. Sirius
followed her, and emerged a few minutes later, looking relieved.
'She says we can have
a break,' he said. He turned to Peter, Remus and Lily. 'Shall we go up to
Gryffindor Tower for a bit? We'll come and see you later, Jay. Or should I say
Harry?' he asked, looking at Lily, grinning.
'Harry's fine,'
James replied. 'I may try and get some sleep, anyway.' His four friends left,
leaving James alone with an unconscious Frank Longbottom. He decided he might
as well get some sleep. He rolled over and lay down, but then he felt something
uncomfortable underneath his sheet. He sat up, and pulled out a small hourglass
on a fine golden chain.
***
'Harry,' said a
familiar voice from above him. Harry knew that voice – it was Sirius'. But
Sirius couldn't be here, could he? He was still on the run from the Ministry.
Although, in his last letter, he had explained that he was staying undercover
with Remus Lupin in Hogsmeade. Harry opened his eyes, and almost screamed.
He was in the hospital wing, in a bed surrounded by
curtains, and Sirius Black was standing in front of him, but he was seventeen
years old. He blinked. This had to be a dream – it couldn't be Sirius.
'Sirius?' he
asked weakly.
'Don't be a prat,
Harry. It's me, Ron. This is who Hermione wanted to see.' Harry almost laughed
out loud with relief.
'God, I thought
I'd gone back in time or something. Hey, why are you looking at me like that?
And where's Hermione?'
'So that's
what Neville's dad looked like when he was younger,' Ron replied, looking at
Harry.
'What?' said
Harry blankly. 'The potion – it worked?'
'Yeah, but it was
really powerful. That's why you got knocked out. You'll be Frank Longbottom for
a while now.' Harry stood up, and looked into a mirror. Staring back at him was
a handsome seventeen-year-old. He looked somewhat similar to Cedric Diggory.
Harry suddenly chided himself for remembering Cedric. It was still painful. He
looked back to Ron. Sirius had looked mischievous when he was younger, that was
for sure. He still had the same glittering brown eyes, but the difference was
incredible. He looked – innocent. Harry supposed that most of Sirius' age came
from his imprisonment in Azkaban. The difference was striking.
'Where's
Hermione?' Harry asked. 'Who's she?' Ron bit his lip, and pulled back the
curtain.
'Well,' he said.
'No offence or anything, but –' He was suddenly interrupted by a fairly tall,
beautiful girl entering the hospital wing. She had dark red hair, and bright
green eyes – the same as Harry's. He almost fainted.
'Mum?' he said
weakly. 'You wanted to see my mum?' He gaped at Ron, who went furiously red.
'I, er –' he
stuttered. Lily Evans shook her head.
'I'm sorry,
Harry,' she said softly. Harry said nothing. He just gaped, open mouthed, at
the girl standing in front of him. He'd always heard people talk about how
pretty his mother was, but he'd never expected her to look like this.
'I just,' he said
slowly. 'I need to be alone,' he said. 'Come back later.' Sirius and Lily
looked sadly at him, before Sirius muttered something to Lily, and they both
left the infirmary. They both wanted to see my dad's friends, Harry thought,
and I could have made Neville my dad. He wanted to cry, but couldn't find any
tears. Harry had only cried once in the last seven years, and that had been
when Cedric died. He wiped away a stray tear and sat, for a few minutes, lost
in thought, before he rested his head onto the pillow and fell back into a deep
sleep.
***
James bit his lip. What was this thing? It looked similar to
Lily's necklace. Suddenly, before he knew what he was doing, he had put it on.
He stared at it for a few seconds. Should he tell Madam Pomfrey? Some distant
part of his mind told him to spin the hourglass.
'Why?' James
thought.
'Do it!' said the
distant voice.
'How much?' James
asked.
'Use a rotation
charm,' his mind answered. James straightened up, and took his wand out of his
pocket. He stared at the little hourglass for a moment, and then said softly 'Volvor!'
The small hourglass began to spin. It span faster and faster and faster. James
was just speculating that it looked like a Muggle RPM counter, when the ward
around him suddenly disappeared. He was thrown headfirst into what seemed like
a spinning vortex. He assumed he was just dreaming, when suddenly the hospital
wing came back into focus. He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief. He was
all right. The hourglass was still around his neck, and he could see Frank
still sleeping soundly through a small gap in the curtains. He could see Madam
Pomfrey still in her office, but she hadn't noticed him.
'Harry!' came a
voice from the door. James looked up to see Lily entering the ward. He looked
at her strangely, but then remembered what she had said before.
'Hi, Lil',' he
said, smiling. She looked at him strangely, but then overlooked it.
'Are you feeling
better?' she asked.
'Fine,' said
James, grinning. Then, before she could stop him, he grabbed her and kissed her
passionately. He pulled back to see Lily just staring at him, dumbfounded. He
was about to ask what the matter was when she turned and ran out of the hospital
wing. James gaped. What was wrong with her? he wondered. He suddenly
jumped down from his bed and went to have a look how Frank was. He seemed all
right – there was just a cut on his head. He had just replaced the curtains
when Sirius' voice echoed from behind him.
'Harry,' said
Sirius. 'You OK?' James nodded. He remembered that Lily had told Sirius to call
him 'Harry' as well.
'Fine,' James
replied. 'Fancy going down to the kitchens?' Sirius nodded, and the two of them
made their way down there.
'Snape's still
being a git,' Sirius said suddenly, as they were walking back towards
Gryffindor Tower.
'Isn't he
always?' James asked. 'Slimy bastard.' Sirius grinned. 'Hey, where's Remus?'
'Dunno. In a
Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, I suppose. Why?'
'Something I
wanted to ask him. What room's he in?'
'Try the third
floor,' Sirius suggested. 'I'll see you later.'
'See you later,
mate,' James said, clapping Sirius on the back. Sirius walked off, smiling.
On his way down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class,
he met Lily.
'Hi Lil',' he
said. 'Are you still upset with me?' Lily looked furious. Before he could do
anything, she had slapped him across the face.
'You had no right
doing that, Harry Potter!' she said furiously, her face inches from his.
'All right, I'm
sorry,' he said, holding her arms. 'And can you drop the whole 'Harry' charade,
please? My name is James. I'll see you in a bit; I've got to talk to Remus, who
Sirius tells me is in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Bye.' He had already
rounded the corridor by the time realisation crossed Hermione's face.
'Oh no,' she said
softly, and bolted off in the direction of the hospital wing.
Hermione skidded to a halt outside the infirmary and darted
inside. She spotted that the curtains were still drawn around where Harry had
been lying. She slowly approached the bed. She closed her eyes, and drew back
the curtains. Frank Longbottom was still lying there, breathing slowly.
Hermione gasped.
'Oh my God.'
*
James wasn't quite sure what had been wrong with Lily
before, but he supposed she might still be upset about – last month's antics.
He turned a corner, and came to the door of the room where Remus was. He was
just approaching it, when –
'Potter! What are
you doing?' It was Professor McGonagall. James couldn't place it, but she
looked – older, somehow.
'Sorry,
Professor,' he said. 'I just wanted to ask Remus something.'
'You can talk to
him later, Potter. Now, get back to Gryffindor Tower. It's not safe for
students to wander the school alone these days, especially you.' James
shrugged, but agreed to return to the common room.
James was almost back at Gryffindor Tower when Lily came
running up from behind him.
'Hi Lil',' he
said cheerfully. 'Still happy with me?'
'Sorry about before, Ha – James,' she said.
'I was, er, upset.'
'Never mind,' he
said, putting an arm around her and stroking her hair. 'I still love you.' Oh
my God, Hermione thought, he thinks I'm Harry's mum! Well, I
suppose I should play along, but – kissing Harry's dad
– this is weird.
'James,' she
asked suddenly. 'Why are your eyes green, exactly?'
'Oh! Yours have
changed back,' he said, noticing this for the first time. 'What, don't you
remember our little eye-colour swapping experiment earlier?' Hermione thought
fast.
'Of course I
did,' she said. 'I just thought yours would have changed by now.' James
shrugged, but turned to look back at Hermione and stared.
'Hey,' he said.
'What's going on? Your hair's changing colour.' Hermione gasped. 'Oh, it must
have been Malf – Snape. I'll see you later, James!' And she sped off towards
the hospital wing before James could even say her name.
*Cackle* A good place to end, wouldn't you say? I don't
care how many reviews I get for this; I'm carrying it on even if I only get one
hit. Still, reviewing would be kind. Also, I'm trying not to give away too much
about what'll happen in my MWPP story. That's why this is set in the time of
HRH. The next chapter will be fun … you'll see. Note: To all the people that have read BU, Professor Jackson here
is not necessarily the same person.
Ciao
