Title: HP and the Time Turner

Disclaimer: see first chapter, I'm out of witty sayings

Chapter 3: The Past Comes to Life

Harry couldn't believe how much the Muggle world had changed in fourteen years. Their cars were different, their clothes were different and their hair styles were certainly… unique. Harry looked around the crowded London street, at how oblivious these Muggles were, and suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was a time when Voldemort was at the height of power. In a few days, he, being one year old would bring him his demise. But, he had to focus on the task at hand. "How much time do we have, Hermione?" he asked.

            "Twenty-four hours." She replied glumily. "It sounds like a lot of time, but it isn't really. Yep, twenty-four hours for everything over ten years," she gave a nervous laugh.

            "WHOA!" Ron gasped, pushing Harry behind a huge telephone pole. "Your parents at twelve o'clock!"

Ron had remembered Harry's parents from his scrapbook that Hagrid had given him. Harry peeked out from behind the telephone pole, and saw them…

His mother was more beautiful than pictures did her justice. Her long red haired flowed around her, and her emerald eyes sparkled in the sun. She was holding him as an infant, pointing at a cat that was saulking by and talking excitedly to him. The man standing next to him had unruly black hair like his and was taking a picture of his mum and him.

            "Wave, Harry!" Lily exclaimed and kissed Harry's small hand.

Harry stared at the camera. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" he screeched.

            "You want daddy, huh?" Lily cooed and kissed his cheek. "Okay, you can go to daddy."

            "C'mon, sport!" James said excitedly and took him from Lily. Then, the three of them walked off toward The Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione had tears in her eyes when she turned to Harry, and Ron was speechless. He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

Harry slid down to the ground.

            "Harry…" Hermione said, her voice breaking.

            "Let's go," Harry said, climbing to his feet angrily. If he stayed there any longer, he would have exploded. His parents had loved him so much. They had loved each other. And Voldemort took it all away, all of it away with the flick of his wand. When Harry thought of the life he could have had with his parents, it was almost too much to bear.

Hermione and Ron hurried to keep up with him.

They hurried down to the Leaky Cauldron. They found Black sitting outside, talking with the Potters, and… and Pettigrew.

Hot rage boiled inside Harry once again. If he killed Pettigrew now, then Sirius would be their secret keeper again, and maybe, just maybe, his parents would be safe. Hermione and Ron jumped in front of Harry. Harry withdrew his wand.

            "What are you doing?!" Hermione demanded.

            "I'm going to kill Pettigrew now." Harry said flatly.

            "No, Harry!" Hermione whispered. "It's not right!"

            "Is any of this right?!" Harry shouted. "My parents taken from me! Do you think it's right that I had to suffer for eleven years with the Dursleys?!"

            "We can't talk about this here and now," Ron said. "C'mon," he grabbed Harry and Hermione and drug them a few blocks away.

They had attracted the attention of Black, and  Muggles were starting to stop and stare at them.

            "Harry, what has gotten into you?!" Hermione demanded.

            "Nothing," he replied irritably. "It just makes a lot of sense."

            "We're saving an innocent man, Harry," she said. "we're not here to re-write history."

            "But we already are," Harry said. "We can save my parents as well… my innocent parents. Forget Pettigrew. By me killing Voldemort now, I can have the life I always dreamed of, the life I should have had."

            "Is that why you're doing this?" she asked. "For you?"

            "You don't understand, Herm." Harry answered. "It's not just for me. Think of all the lives we would be saving."

Ron shook his head. "I have to agree with Hermione on this one. So much changed because you vanquished Voldemort. People learned to live again."

            "Exactly," Hermione chimed in.

            "But if I kill Voldemort NOW… then my parents won't die, Hagrid won't get expelled, Diggory will still be alive…"

            "This is crazy!" Hermione cried, her voice breaking. "Harry, you don't even know if you have enough power to kill him!!!! We're not sure if anyone does!!!!"

            "But I can try," Harry said. "It's a lot better than me being a baby and not knowing my fingers from my toes and just draining all of his power."

            "Don't do it," Ron said. "I know things aren't fair, Harry, but it's life. I'm poor… that's not fair. Do you think I like that? But I live with it--- I've learned to live with it."

            "You wouldn't be YOU," Hermione said, tears spilling out of her eyes. "You might never meet me, or Ron. You might never come to Hogwarts. And I couldn't stand that. I couldn't stand not being with you. Because I love YOU," she drew in a shuddering sob. "Not because you sent Voldemort away. Not because you have a flashy scar. Because you're YOU, Harry. THIS Harry… the Harry that exists with us. How do you know that this just isn't something that's supposed to happen? If you do this, everything will change."

Harry stared at her, open mouthed. Hermione loved him.

            "But change for the better," Harry replied.

            "You don't know that!!!" she said. "God, Harry, it's not that easy! I really wish that with a flick of your wand, all the evil would disappear, but it won't! Who knows that if Voldemort dies today, another evil being, more sinister than him won't rise?"

            "Are you willing to die for this?" Ron asked.

Harry collapsed to the ground and buried his head in his hands. "I don't know anymore."

            "It's okay," Hermione sobbed, sitting down next to him and putting a hand on his arm. "Your present is with us, and you'll never be alone anymore."

            "But I'm supposed to kill him," Harry said.

            "That may be true, but not today," Ron sighed, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Not today."

Harry climbed wearily to his feet. "Let's go get Sirius."

Hermione broke down completely, and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck.

The trio poked their heads around the corner. They could see The Leaky Cauldron from where they were. Black and Pettigrew were still outside talking with the Potters. Baby Harry was being very fussy.

            "Ah, he's cranky," Lily said, switching him to her other arm. "He wants a nap."

            "Why don't you take him home, Lil?" James asked. "Pettigrew here still thinks he can beat me at Quidditch."

            "Alright," Lily said, bouncing Harry up and down. "We'll see you at home." She smiled. "Say 'bye, daddy!'"

Baby Harry cried louder.

            "Bye, son," James said and kissed him. Then, he turned to Lily and kissed her. "See you later."

            "Don't be too long," Lily said and vanished inside the Leaky Cauldron.

            "C'mon then, Potter," Pettigrew smirked.

            "Coming," James said. "Sirius, do you want to tag along?"

            "Nah," Sirius said. "Pettigrew and I have a Wizard Chess match later on. Think I'll go get some sleep till then, rest up."

            "You'll need it," Pettigrew replied.

He and James too vanished inside the Leaky Cauldron.

            "The Wizard Chess match," Ron said. "That's probably when the incident will take place. We better get him now."

            "Yeah," Hermione replied, checking her watch. "We only have twenty hours left."

            "Uhm, Hermione, when we left Hogwarts, we were in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Harry said. "Does that mean…?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. For everything to go right, for us to return to our normal time, we have to be there."

            "Oh bloody hell!" Ron cried. "Hermione, why didn't you tell us this in the first place?"

            "Because!" Hermione cried. "We couldn't have done it any place else… we couldn't just appear out of thin air like in The Leaky Cauldron or something! Or in the Great Hall or London… it would attract way too much attention!"

            "Alright, we'll deal with that later," Harry said. "Let's grab Sirius."

The three walked over to Sirius Black, who was gathering his things.

            "Uhm… uh, Mr. Black?" Harry asked.

Sirius wheeled around and stared at the three teenagers, all in black robes.

            "Hogwarts students, eh?" he asked. "What are you doing out here? Best get to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade,"

            "Actually, we're here to talk to you," Hermione said.

            "Talk to me?" Sirius asked and raised a brow. "Whatever for?"

            "Look, it seems rather complicated now, but Pettigrew…" she replied.

            "Oh!" Sirius laughed. "Heard about how good he is at Wizard Chess, eh? Came to give me a few pointers?"

            "Pettigrew is going to murder thirteen Muggles later on in this very spot and you'll get blamed," Harry said.

            "What!?" Sirius boomed. "Look, kids, I don't know where you come up with your stories, but…"

            "You'll be thrown into Azkaban!" Ron said.

            "We know all about you!" Hermione yelled. "That you're an…" she looked both ways to make sure no Muggle was close to hearing them. "that you're an Animagi."

            "I have to get on home now, excuse me," Sirius said and started walking away from them.

            "I'M HARRY POTTER!" Harry shouted after him.

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to the dark haired boy. "What did you say?"

            "I'm Harry Potter," Harry replied. "Fifteen years in the future."

Sirius ran up to him and peered at him. "Son of… no, this is ridiculous."

            "You're my Godfather," Harry said.

            "Harry Potter is a baby. I have pictures, I can prove it." Sirius said.

Hermione dug into her robes and pulled out the small hourglass. "We traveled back in time fourteen years to clear your name."

            "Put that away!" Sirius hissed.

            "Listen, a lot of stuff happens today!" Ron said. "We know you're not the Potter's secret keeper anymore, Pettigrew is. We also know that he's an unregistered Animagi. Now later tonight, Harry's parents will be killed, and when Voldemort…"

            "SHHHH!" Sirius hissed. "You don't go saying the Dark Lord's name on a crowded London street!"

            "When You-Know-Who kills Harry's parents and tries to kill him, he'll lose all of his powers, and leave Harry with this scar," Hermione finished, and lifted Harry's bangs up so Sirius could see.

            "Exactly," Harry said. "And when you meet Pettigrew back here, he'll kill thirteen Muggles and you'll get blamed and thrown into Azkaban."

            "This is ludicrous," Sirius said.

            "LOOK at him!" Hermione cried, grabbing Harry's face. "You can't tell me that this isn't James Potter's son!!!"

Sirius peered at Harry once again. "Okay, okay. Don't ask me why, but I believe you."

Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned. Stage 1 of their plan was complete.

            "Come to my place," Sirius said. "We can talk more there."

The three followed Sirius inside the Leaky Cauldron and into Hogsmeade. Nineteen hours from now, Sirius would be a free man. Or so they hoped.

End of chapter 3!! Review, review! Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 1!!!!