HARRY POTTER
TIME TRAVELER
Summary – Harry opens a book in the Restricted Section and it transports him 21 years into the future, where he meets up with the future Ron and Hermione and their son, Eddie. Harry also meets Lily Potter, Harry's very spunky and caring future teenage daughter with a hot temper and a bit of an attitude. Harry wants to know about his future, but he feels that Ron, Hermione, Lily, and Eddie are keeping something from him; some very deep, dark secrets.
Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, or the Harry Potter world. They all belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. However, while I do not own their names, the characters and the personality traits of Lily Potter, Eddie Weasley, Daris Malfoy, Christof Nott, as well as Asher Lazard and Robyn Andrews all belong to me.
Chapter 35 – Fading:
Hermione ran as fast as she could out of her office, Ron and Remus hot on her heels, through the corridors, Entrance Hall, and out of the castle doors. Students were watching them curiously, never seeing any of the staff or professors run like that before. When the three of them reached the stairs, they saw Harry, Lily, Eddie, and Sirius passing the Great Lake. Ron reached the four of them first and immediately took Eddie from Sirius and gathered his eldest child into his own arms.
"What happened to my son?" Ron demanded to know, almost furiously. Harry sighed and adjusted Lily's weight so she was situated better in his arms. For some reason, he did not want to see or speak to any of them right now. He was too furious over the fact that everything had been kept a secret from them; that he should have heard the information that he had just learned about from them rather than his enemy. But, Harry held his ground and complied with Ron's request on what happened to Eddie.
"Voldemort tried to torture Lily with the Cruciatus Curse, but Eddie stepped in front of her took the curse," Harry explained tonelessly, almost automatically. He just wanted to get as far away from them as he could.
"Oh Merlin," whispered Hermione, as she stroked her son's hair and pressing her lips tenderly to his forehead. "Why would he do that?" Ron stopped and stared aimlessly into the air at Hermione's question. There was a long pause before he answered.
"The same reason why I would have taken the curse for you," whispered Ron, looking directly at his wife. "Eddie is falling in love with Lily, Hermione and he promised me he would take care of Lily no matter what."
"What are you saying Ron?" whispered Hermione breathlessly. "My baby is falling in love with Lily?"
"After she got hit with the Sueno Curse, I asked Ed to tell me who put the curse on her, so I could keep an eye on her," Ron continued, ignoring Hermione's question. "He said that it wasn't necessary because he wanted to be the one to take care of her."
Harry looked at his feet feeling completely ashamed, angry, and frustrated. He was ashamed and angry because he knew that his older and future self should have been the one taking care of Lily, but now he knew why it was not; he now fully understood why he was never part of Lily's life or not in the pictures at the Windum. He was probably too busy killing innocent wizards, witches, and Muggles to worry about her. Harry felt frustrated because he blamed Ron, Hermione, and Remus for the way that he had found out; how he had trusted them and how they had completely let him down. Finally, he could not contain himself any longer and Harry let his temper loose.
"Yeah," Harry said coldly. Everyone turned to look at him; Ron, Hermione, and Remus looked startled at his icy tone. "Ron and Eddie both want to be the ones to look after my daughter because her father couldn't look after her…because hee turned out to a good-for-nothing Death Eater, right?"
Ron's blue eyes widened in horror and looked as though they were going to pop out of his head. The little color that was left in his face had completely drained; even his freckles looked pale as he looked straight into Harry's eyes. It was at that moment that Ron knew that Harry had been told everything; everything that they should have told him from the beginning. Hermione let out a soft dry sob, but made no other sound; she seemed to be holding her breath as she stared at Harry, immediately pleading with her eyes for him to forgive them. Remus sighed and just looked at the floor in shame, running his hand through his graying hair and pinching his nose with his forefingers. He knew perfectly well that Harry was not going to be all pleased with them, having to hear all of it from his enemy rather than his friends.
"Voldemort told you everything, didn't he?" Remus asked quietly, still pinching his nose and rubbing the bridge of. Harry did not say anything. He simply clutched Lily closer to him, as though she would disappear if he left go and nodded.
"Yes," he answered stiffly. "He told me everything. And as much as I hate the wizard, I have to give him credit for being honest which is something that my friends were unwilling to do!"
"Harry, please…"
"Why didn't you tell me?" shouted Harry, his voice shaking. "How could you not tell me something like that? How could you lie to me all this time? How could you keep a secret that horrible and big from me? HOW? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? HOW COULD YOU LET VOLDEMORT TELL ME? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?"
"Harry, please…we didn't want to hurt you," said Hermione pleadingly with tears streaming down her face. Harry shook his head, feeling no sympathy from his friend and rolled his eyes.
"Well you didn't do a good job of that, Hermione," Harry spat bitterly, looking down at Lily, who he was still carrying…still holding on tightly. Ron merely sighed.
"You're right, Harry," whispered Ron. Harry quickly looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "There is no excuse for what we did."
"Ron, what are you saying?" said Hermione sternly. "We did it to protect him…"
"But we didn't protect him, Hermione," snapped Ron impatiently. "Harry is absolutely right!" Ron turned to look back at Harry. "You're right, Harry. We should have told you everything without question."
To Harry's immense surprise, Ron was looking at him square in the eyes as he said these words. Ron's eyes were filled with so much regret, honesty, and concern and he felt himself holding his breath.
"I don't know why we kept it a secret from you," said Ron, almost amusedly as he ran a hand through his, clearly stressed. "I mean, you were probably going to find out anyway; you never one to give up on a mystery, especially when it concerned you or someone you cared about. For Merlin's sake you wouldn't stop trying to find out about the Sorcerer's Stone even though you were threatened to be expelled! We should have told you, Harry. We should have known that you would have wanted to hear it from Hermione and me rather than some murdering, soulless psychopath!"
"But, we didn't want to hurt him," repeated Hermione quietly, more to herself than to anyone else as she continued to cry silently.
"We should have known better," said Remus, shaking his head. "We should have though it through. I mean, what would hurt him more, hearing the truth from us, his friends and family? Or hearing it from Voldemort, the man who caused all of this in the first place? His enemy?"
Nobody said anything; there was nothing to say. It had all been said and everything was out in the open. Harry stood there clutching Lily as the rest of them stood there staring at their feet ashamed. All that could be heard was the gentle moving waves and the sounds of the water of the Great Lake, which was moving from the cold winter wind. The wind was howling quietly, but due to the silence, it seemed louder than normal. Finally, Harry could not take the pregnant and awkward silence anymore.
"I'm heading inside," he said bluntly, and clearly annoyed. "It's too cold to deal with this right now. And I'm taking Lily with me." Harry started towards the castle but Remus placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Harry, we definitely need to talk about this," said Remus firmly. Harry brushed his arm off of him and stumbled under Lily's weight.
"I don't want to talk about this," snapped Harry. "I don't want to talk about any of this! You all lied to me! How do I know you won't keep more secrets from me? Not that I think there is more to keep because Voldemort was all too delighted to tell me just about everything there was to tell."
"Harry, we know you're angry, but-"
"Angry, disappointed," listed Harry, glaring at his friends. "Just stay away from me until I'm sent back to me own time. I think that would be best for everyone." He started towards the castle, turning his back on his friends.
"Harry James Potter!" shouted Sirius firmly. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, staring wide-eyed at Sirius. He had never yelled at him like that before. "Don't you dare turn your back on your friends now, do you understand me?" Nothing was said as the two of them stared at each other for the longest time and no one said anything.
"Now, this is what you'll do," started Sirius, advancing slightly on Harry; similar to how a father advances on his son when angered, but not threateningly. "You'll take Lily to the hospital wing; make sure she is alright. Then, you'll return immediately to Hermione's office where we will discuss what happened. Is that understood, Harry?"
"Sirius…"
"Do you understand, Harry?"
Harry gave a defeated sigh and shrugged his shoulders as he hoisted Lily's weight in his arms. "Yeah, yeah fine. Let me take Lily to the hospital wing, alright?"
"We'll see you in a bit, Harry," said Sirius firmly as Ron lifted his own son in his arms.
"Fine, whatever," said Harry bitterly as he turned around and carried his daughter safely to the hospital wing.
Madame Parks placed Lily in one of the beds and Harry did not leave her beside until the school nurse confirmed that she was going to be just fine. Ron did the same for Eddie and did not say a word to Harry during their visit in the hospital wing, honoring their agreement. They would not exchange a word with Harry until they reached Hermione's office.
After Madame Parks assured Harry and Ron that the two teenagers were just weak and needed some much needed rest, the two of them strolled out of the hospital wing, down the corridors, and towards Hermione's office without a single word to each other.
When they reached the doors to Hermione's office and entered, they saw Hermione sitting at her desk, nursing her head with a cup of tea rested at her other hand as she fingered the handle of the cup. Sirius was pacing around the room, talking in hushed whispers as Remus took Snape's previous place and was staring out the window, looking at the grounds. They all turned when they saw Harry and Ron enter.
"Harry," gasped Hermione as she stood from her desk. Harry noticed that her eyes were red and puffy and her face was blotchy. She had clearly been distressed over the whole ordeal but Harry could not bring himself to care at the moment.
"I'm here," he said quietly. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Harry…"
"I know you all are sorry for not telling me," interrupted Harry, holding his hand up to silence the four adults. "And I will be able to forgive you with time. I love you all…I can't stay mad at you for long. And I know that deep down you were doing it to protect me. I just need some time to take this all in. After all, how can I not forgive you? You all forgave me…and if you can forgive me after what I did…"
"Stop!" said Ron firmly, looking directly at Harry. "Harry, don't you dare blame yourself and don't you dare apologize for anything."
"How could you ask me not to blame myself?" asked Harry impatiently. "I abandoned Lily…tortured all of you…helped Voldemort become more powerful…denied who I was…and I…I killed the one person who I saw myself truly falling for…"
"Ginny?" asked Hermione knowingly through a choked sob. Harry looked down at his shoes and nodded helplessly. It was at that moment that Ron realized that no one would truly be able to comfort Harry, except him. He strode forward with the robes billowing around him and he bent down slightly so that he was eye level with Harry. Emerald green met royal blue and neither set of eyes wavered.
"You-" Ron paused, taking a shaking breath before he placed his hands firmly on Harry's shoulders. "Harry, you can't blame yourself because you didn't do any of those things, at least not yet anyway. There is no reason to apologize…not now…"
"I know, Ron," whispered Harry. "But that thought doesn't make me hate myself any less. I know I didn't do any of those things yet but it doesn't explain why I feel so guilty."
"Maybe it's because you realize how much you're going to miss out on?" suggested Remus, standing behind Ron and looking at Harry affectionately.
"What do you mean?"
"Lily…Ginny…" said Sirius softly, "and the life that you could have shared with both of them. You've always loved Ginny and now you've come to realize that your daughter is a special girl. Now you know what you've done; how you barely have any part in her life, you can't seem to comprehend the decisions that you have made in your past…future…whatever. You've seen both sides of the situation and you can't wrap your head around on what you actually decided." With that, Sirius lost his words and looked down at his hands before rubbing his face with them.
"Harry," started Remus in a comforting voice, "we partly can understand why you became a Death Eater. We know you did it to protect Lily and we all know that Lily was the most important person in the world to you. We just know that you were capable of more…capable of finding other ways to protect her…but we do understand why you made your choices."
"I know," whispered Harry, stuffing his hands deep within his pockets. "I should have done something….anything. I failed Lily…Ginny…I failed all of you…" Harry felt Ron grab his shoulders much more firmly and turned him so that he directly faced him, once again, looking him square in the eye.
"Harry, I don't want you apologizing for anything that you have done in the past...well...you're future, okay?" Ron said with a serious and somber look on his face. In all the years that he had known Ron, Harry had never seen him look that serious.
"Why shouldn't I apologize?" asked Harry bitterly, his gaze not wavering from Ron's.
"Because you have no right to feel guilty about something that you haven't done yet," said Ron firmly and reassuringly.
"But, Ron, I did do those things…I did make those decisions…"
"No, not yet you haven't. Since you haven't done those things yet, you have no reason to apologize," explained Ron, and in order to try and comfort Harry, he managed a grin. Harry nodded and smiled slightly, feeling like a great big burden had been taken off his chest and shoulders.
They had forgiven him, particularly Ron and Sirius. And he too had forgiven them for keeping secrets.
Harry felt free again.
"So, are you two feeling alright?" Harry asked in concern as he pulled up a chair between Lily and Eddie's bed.
"I suppose it depends on your definition of 'okay,'" said Lily with a sarcastic smile. Harry rolled his eyes, grinning as Eddie chuckled. It had been a long three days after returning to Hogwarts before Lily woke up. Eddie had awoken three hours after their big return. Madame Parks insisted on keeping the two and having no visitors until they had both recovered all of their strength back. This was the first time that Harry was given the chance to visit them and that was on the insistence of Hermione; Madame Parks' boss.
"Seriously though, how are you two?" asked Harry again. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes at Harry's persistence.
"I'm feeling pretty good," said Eddie simply. "I'm a little anxious for Madame Parks to let me out so I can get on with my life." Harry nodded with a smile before turning his glance towards Lily.
"And you?"
"I feel tired, a little weak, but I'll be fine," said Lily smiling. "Trust me; I've felt a lot worse. But, I think the real question, Harry, is how are you doing?"
"I'm fine," answered Harry quickly; too quickly. "Why?"
"I'm not an idiot, Harry," said Lily somberly. "I know what happened; I know what Voldemort told you. I was there, remember? And I know you probably feel guilty about it. Eddie just kept turning his head and looking from Lily to Harry, Lily then back to Harry; his face etched with concern and worry.
"Well, Lily you just know me so well," said Harry sarcastically. "Please, tell me, what else do I feel?" Lily simply grinned, despite his sarcasm.
"Well, you are my father after all," she said chuckling. "We do have the same genes, the same habits, and whatnot." Harry shook his head and grinned.
"I suppose I'm alright," said Harry honestly. "I'm still coming to terms with it all. I guess a part of me still can't believe it."
"Yeah, I know," she said, patting his hand gently and comfortingly. "I just don't want you to think any less of yourself, Harry. I mean, when you worked as an Auror, you did a lot of good things too."
"Really?"
"Well, sure!" said Lily brightly, patting his hand gently. "C'mon Harry, you didn't become one of the most famous Aurors for nothing."
"That doesn't make any sense," muttered Harry, running a hand through his already messy hair. Lily and Eddie looked at each other with raised eyebrows and confused looks on their own faces.
"What doesn't make sense?" asked Eddie slowly, almost carefully.
"First I'm told that I become a good for nothing, rotten Death Eater," said Harry dryly and bitterly. "Now you're telling me that I become a powerful and famous Auror; the most famous Auror. How is it possible that I could have done so many good things when I also performed so many bad ones as well? C'mon Lily, I was either bad or good. I become one or the other, take your pick!"
"Harry, you listen to me and you listen to me good," said Lily firmly, tightly grasping his hand in her own. "That night in the graveyard, you only heard Voldemort's side of the story."
"But, you told me that it was all true."
"And, unfortunately it was," said Lily, nodding and looking down at their clasped hands. "But you have to know that Voldemort was only out to hurt you…to weaken you that night. I know you have to know that, Harry. Voldemort was not about to tell you about all of the Death Eaters that you locked in Azkaban before you turned into a Death Eater. You did a lot of good for this world, Harry; more than you'll ever know. I mean for Merlin's sake, Harry, look at all that you did during your years at Hogwarts."
Harry just stared at the wall, deep in thought, allowing all of the information that Lily was giving to him to sink in. Then, slowly, very slowly, he took a deep, shaking breath and a small, but genuine smile formed on his face. He turned to look at Lily and was pleased to see that she was smiling back at him.
"I love you, Lily," he said, smiling. "I don't know what I ever did to deserve a daughter as wonderful as you." Lily's smile widened.
"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome," said Lily. Harry could not help but roll his eyes and chuckle. "I love you too."
Harry stuffed a Chocolate Frog in his mouth and chewed, savoring the sweet taste of the chocolate linger over his taste buds; he even let out a content moan as he chewed on the candy. Lily gave her future father a look as Eddie and Asher did also stuffed pieces of candy into their mouth. Robby made a noise of disgust.
"One of these days you three are going to choke on a piece of candy and I'm not saving any of you," said Lily. "I'm just going to laugh and say, 'I told you so!'" Harry swallowed his chocolate and smiled.
"When is Madame Parks going to let you get out of there?" asked Asher, through a mouthful of chocolate, gesturing the hospital wing around them. Lily and Eddie were not going to be released until the following morning.
"When Madame Parks gets over the fact that we're not oversized babies," said Eddie in an annoyed voice, spitting out a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean that before mumbling, "Ah, mushrooms, disgusting…"
Everyone laughed as Lily nibbled on Licorice Wand, commenting on Eddie's lack of etiquette when all of the sudden, she flickered. Eddie looked at his friend and did a double take, clearly startled and stared hard at her. It happened again; Lily faded; her body seemed to slowly incinerate, then return back to normal. Eddie and Harry were the only ones to notice and gave each other worried and horrified looks.
"Lils, are you feeling okay?" asked Eddie worriedly. Lily looked at him curiously, looking confused and unnerved. Apparently, she had not felt a thing.
"Erm, yeah. Why?" she asked slowly. Eddie merely shrugged, but did not take his chestnut eyes off of her.
"No reason. I just thought-"
Eddie was interrupted because at that moment Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius, and Snape walked in, all looking very grave; well except for Snape because he always looked grave and depressed. Harry was startled to see that Hermione's eyes were bloodshot and puffy indicating that she certainly had been crying. It made him even more anxious when he noted how pale Ron was, as was Remus. Sirius seemed to be walking in a daze; just spacing out. Harry could not help but notice how much he looked like he had when he first escaped Azkaban.
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked the adults in concern. He must have noticed how distressed all of the adults looked as well.
"Asher, Robyn, would you mind returning to the Gryffindor Common Room?" Hermione commanded in a sincere tone, gesturing towards the door. "We need to speak to these three alone."
Asher, who knew exactly what was going on, looked at the adults in concern, but did not say anything and simply nodded. He dragged a complaining Robyn out of the hospital wing, who was whining on how Harry got to stay with Lily and Eddie and they had to leave. Nobody noticed Lily flicker again. When Asher and Robyn were safely out of earshot all four adults turned and looked at the three teenagers looking completely crestfallen and grave.
"Harry, we have a bit of a situation" said Ron slowly, as he spoke in a monotone voice. Harry watched him carefully as he sat at the edge of Eddie's bed. "Snape can't seem to come up with a potion to send you back to your time." Harry's eyes widened in horror as he felt like his stomach squirm and disappear completely from his body. He could not think; he could not even breathe. The only thing that he could seem to comprehend was Lily and Eddie's gasps beside him.
"Harry, we've been through every book in the library and we can't find anything," said Hermione through choked sobs. "There is no spell for time travel."
"According to our studies, the only way to time-travel is through the use of a Time-Turner, and since you didn't use a Time-Turner…" Remus' voice trailed off and he once again buried his face in his hands.
Harry began to inwardly panic and his brow broke out in sweat. Surprisingly, he was not worried about himself anymore. "What about Lily?" he asked desperately. "If…if I never go back, she'll never be born!"
"You don't think we've thought of that already, Harry?" whispered Ron, looking at the floor. Sirius let out a frustrated scream and turned and punched the wall as hard as he could, causing his hand to go right through it and creating a hole in the wall. Blood began pouring from his knuckles, but it was nothing compared to the pain that he was feeling inside. He had realized that tot only would he be losing Lily, but he would be losing Harry too!
"That explains why Lily is fading," gasped Eddie in realization. Everyone jumped, startled by Eddie's comment; all, except for Harry, who had already noticed that Lily was beginning to fade.
"Fading? What do you mean, 'fading?'" croaked Sirius before cursing loudly. They all turned their gazes on Lily and watched her for a long time. It seemed like hours before she flickered again then returned to normal.
"What's happening?" she asked in a trembling whisper.
"You…you're…you're beginning to fade in and out of this world," gasped Hermione as she grabbed a hold of her husband to keep her feet from giving out underneath her. Lily looked at her hands and watched as they flickered in and out again. She began trembling before pulling the pillow to her chest and rocking back and forth. There was no doubt that Lily was scared out of her mind.
Eddie watched as Lily flickered again and immediately felt sick. That was the only way to describe it; he felt deathly ill. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to cry; part of him wanted to sink through the floor and disappear. But, right now it was not the time to think about how he was feeling; it was Lily's state and emotional well-being was the more important thing right now. He saw how distressed Lily looked and immediately climbed out of his bed and into Lily's as he embraced her tightly, bringing her head to his chest. Lily seemed to be in a daze to notice as Eddie patted her hair gently, resting his cheek on her head.
Everyone stared at the couple sitting on Lily's bed and they all could not help but feel like they had failed Harry; failed to protect not only his daughter, but him as well. Harry stared at Lily with a combination of determination and helplessness etched on to his good natured features. Deep down, he was not worried about himself in the slightest. As much as he wanted to go back to return to his life; back to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny…he was much more concerned for Lily's well-being. All that mattered to Harry was to get back to his time so that Lily would be able to survive.
"There has to be a way," said Harry firmly, his voice shaking. There was an extreme emotion echoing from his voice that no one in the room could place. "There just has to be. I'm not going to let Lily's life just slip between all of our fingers!"
"Look, Potter," snapped Snape impatiently, "we've done everything we could. There is not one potion or book-"
"Book!" Lily cried out, breaking from Eddie's embrace. She looked at her future father frantically. "The book! Harry, didn't you say that you opened a book in the Restricted Sectoin and somehow landed here, in this time?"
"Yeah, yeah I did. Why?"
"Hmmm…" Lily murmured deep in thought, ignoring Harry's question. Sirius and Harry both cringed when she flickered again, only because it took a lot longer for her to return back to normal. Hermione gasped when she saw this and buried her face into Ron's shoulder. Lily ignored everyone and started to scratch her chin in careful thought.
After a very long pause, Hermione regained her composure and took a seat at the edge of her goddaughter's bed, grasped her hand, and looked her square in the eye.
"As of right now, Lily, there is nothing we can do," whispered Hermione, using her other hand to place a stray lock of hair behind Lily's ear. "But, I assure you that we will keep trying. We're not going to give up and lose you that easily." She placed a gentle kiss on Lily's forehead before gesturing for everyone to follow her out of the hospital wing. Everyone, including Harry, obeyed. Both Lily and Eddie watched them leave with their heads hanging down in both shame and depression. When they were all out of earshot, Lily turned to Eddie with a bright and hopeful look on her face.
"I have an idea!" Lily blurted out to Eddie, clearly not noticing that she flickered again. Eddie felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Why didn't you tell my parents and Sirius?" asked Eddie, looking at his friend disbelievingly. "They could help." To his immense surprise, Lily was shaking her head slowly, as though he did not understand.
"They wouldn't approve of my plan," answered Lily, still shaking her head. "Neither would Harry. This has to stay between you and me, Ed."
"Well, then let's put it into action soon," said Eddie, watching Lily as she slowly began to fade. "It doesn't look like you have much time…"
A note from the Jitterbelle. Dundundun! It looks like Lily is fading and I wonder what will happen? This is another revised chapter so please feel free to enjoy and review! It is greatly appreciated!
Coming in Chapter 36 - Lily's plan...