Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of J.K. Rowling's characters etc.
A/N- Hey hey! Thank you so much for the reviews! Sorry I'm so late with this chapter. I skipped thanksgiving weekend...mostly because I had no idea what to write...well, here's chapter 5! (finally) It's kind of a darker chapter than what I usually write (Well, in the first half anyways). I tried to put a bit more detail into it as well. Enjoy!
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Chapter 5
Rapid Hope Loss
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"I can't believe you said that to my Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher," Harry complained the next morning. "Bloody hell! He hates me enough already, James!"
James chuckled and grabbed some toast. Harry had brought him some food from the Great Hall for breakfast. This was when James told Harry all about the night before. Needless to say, Harry wasn't impressed. James was about to speak in his own defense when Hermione interrupted. She always brought James some pumpkin juice in the morning. He figured that since she was Harry's girlfriend, she was trying to get on his good side.
"You two had better start thinking about more important matters," Hermione said. She turned to Harry before continuing. "Unless you already have a brilliant plan for saving your Dad."
Harry leaned over and grabbed a piece of toast off of James' plate. "Well," he said with his mouth full of toast. "All we have to do is get Dad to convince Sirius not to switch secret keeping with Peter, or he could just stop being friends with Peter once he gets back. Then Peter will never have the chance to sell my parents out to Voldemort."
Hermione thought about this for a minute. "By the way, James, have you checked the time turner lately? The hex might be wearing off soon."
James took the turner out from under his pillow and tried to turn the hourglass inside. The hourglass only moved slightly before quickly spinning back to it's original position. "It's loosening up a bit, but at this rate it won't be working again for at least another month." James sighed and leaned against the wall beneath the window. "I've never been away from Lily for this long before..."
They remained quiet for a moment before Hermione spoke up again. "But Harry... what about your scar? You Know Who will never have given you some of his powers if he never gets to ...well... do away with your parents."
Harry thought about this. Well, if I never got Voldemort's powers, then I wouldn't have been able to get into the chamber of secrets. Plus, my mother would never have cast that enchantment on me that keeps Voldemort from touching me, so I wouldn't have been able to beat Quirrell. Plus, Voldemort cast the Avada Kedevra curse on me when I was a baby, so I would have died and never would have even gone to Hogwarts. So by now Voldemort would probably be ruling the entire wizarding world and the muggle world. But then that just leaves one thing...
"How on earth am I supposed to get my scar, the enchantment from my mother, and keep both her and James from getting killed?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, we'd better figure something out. I want to be alive to raise my own son with my wife." said James as Harry traced his fingers over the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He noticed that the fake magic scar that Hermione gave to James had finally worn off. James was smiling grimly.
Hermione stared off into space. "I could check the library for some ideas, but I doubt that books are going to be much use here."
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It was a Saturday, so Harry had apparition lessons with the other 6 years. It was another pointless class and Harry achieved nothing except bruises from spinning and falling over so many times. Nobody else seemed to have gotten much better either. Susan Bones was terrified to try to apparate again in case she lost her other leg. Once class was over Harry returned to the dormitories feeling very miserable. He had more to worry about than apparition lessons. He found James, Hermione, and Ron in the bedroom.
Hermione smiled when she saw him. "Hello Harry. Ron and I are going to go to the library today to look up old enchantments. We think that there might be a way to save Lily without having her die." Harry nodded as she and Ron left the dormitory and started down the stairs of Gryffindor tower.
Harry sat down on his bed and looked to James. "Got any ideas?"
"Just a few," James replied. "And they're not very good ones."
"Let's hear them then. Maybe we can build off of them." Harry suggested.
"Okay then," James agreed. "Well, perhaps we could find some way to clone Lily and have the clone enchant you. Do you know any cloning spells?"
"I don't think there is such a thing James," Harry laughed. "We're lucky that magic hasn't gotten that far yet or else we might be facing fifteen hundred Voldemorts instead of just one."
"Point." James sighed. "Well, what if someone who really cares about you takes a Polyjuice Potion to look like Lily and then they die for you?"
"That's a terrible thing to do to someone. Besides, I don't want anyone else I care about to die." James stretched out on his bed. "Are those the only ideas?"
"Unfortunately. You got any better ones?"
"None that can keep the two of you alive." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Maybe Hermione and Ron will figure something out in the library. It seems to be our best chance for now."
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The day was completely wasted for all 4 Gryffindors. James and Harry weren't able to come up with any plans that were even remotely possible without having someone die. Hermione and Ron didn't have much luck either. Apparently, the enchantment that was used on Harry could only be used if the caster is dying.
"Sorry Harry," said Ron once they had all met up again after dinner.
Harry sighed. "We have to keep looking. I'm not going to let either of my parents die now that I have the power to stop it."
Hermione sat down next to Harry and grabbed his hand. "At least after this is over, you might not ever have to see the Dursleys again." Harry looked at her with a questioning expression. "Remember? James only died because he was at the house when You Know Who came..." She trailed off, but Harry picked up what she was saying. It didn't seem to reassure James though.
"I would never leave Lily to die alone," He said. There was no emotion in his face except for the fear in his hazel eyes. "We will find a way to save her."
That was it. They would have to conjure a plan to save Lily. No excuses. Unfortunately, none of them could think of anything better than the Polyjuice Potion idea. Their time was slowly staring to run out. By the end of May, the time turner was almost back to normal, and James would have to go back as soon as possible or else Harry could disappear from Hogwarts and never have been born.
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The weather was starting to become warmer and warmer as June arrived. It stopped raining as much and students spent a lot of time outside when they weren't doing work or revising for exams, OWLs, and NEWTs.
On one Sunday, it was particularily warm. The grey mist that had sprung up during the last summer still hung about, but it seemed to have subsided a bit as Harry and James wandered down to sit by the lake. James was disguised to look like Ron by using a polyjuice potion that Hermione had made for him a month before.
James felt great to be out of the dormitory for the first time in months. He and Harry talked and laughed. They hadn't been watching out for Malfoy very much in the recent weeks, but they had better things to worry about. This didn't change the fact that Harry was still very curious as to where Draco had been going though. Later on in the day, the two teens decided that Harry should find Hermione and help her look up enchantments in the library.
Harry walked through the silent aisles of books. He couldn't see how Hermione could spend such long periods of time in such a boring place. He saw a few students actually sleeping with their noses in their books; including his best friend's little sister, Ginny Weasley.
Harry finally found Hermione at the far side of the library. She wasn't hard to spot and Harry wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. She was hunched over a towering pile of books and Harry could only see the top of her bushy brown hair. He came over and sat down next to her noticing the grin she had on her face as she read through a rather large book. She didn't seem to notice him as he tapped her on the shoulder.
He leaned over and lifted the book to see the title Advanced Potion Making Volume 3: Poisons and Antidotes. He looked a the book on the table in front of him. The Unforgivable Curses. He noticed that it had a book mark near the end.
"Are you sure you're not a Death Eater?" Harry joked.
Hermione snapped out of her trance and looked up at him. "Oh, hey Harry," She was still grinning broadly. "I think I've stumbled onto something that you might find interesting." She winked and reached for the book of unforgivable curses. She opened it to the bookmarked page and pointed.
"The Avada Kedevra Curse," Harry read quietly. "So what?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Read it," she instructed.
He did as he was told. The first paragraph told about the origins of the curse. The next was about what it did when it was cast on someone. I didn't think they would need a whole paragraph just to say "It kills them". He thought to himself and rolled his eyes. What's the point of this anyways? I know all about the curse. I don't see why Hermione...
Something at the bottom of the page caught his eye. He read through it.
"NOTE: The curse will only fail if the victim is already dying from a different and unrelated ailment. This can include any of the following:
1. Disease/Cancer
2. Life threatening wounds
3. Poisons
4..."
Harry looked back at the book that Hermione was already holding, then back at the book in his own hands. His eye's grew wide. "You aren't thinking of making my Dad do what I think you're thinking of making my Dad do, are you?" he asked her.
Hermione blinked. "Could you repeat that please? In English this time, if you don't mind."
"You think that we should poison my Mum? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? What if she dies before Voldemort even gets there? What about if it works? How would she be cured? What if-" Harry would have continued rambling on like that for hours if Hermione hadn't interrupted.
"Harry...Harry, I...Will you please listen to me!" Harry finally shut his mouth but his face was becoming a deep hue of red. "Now then," she continued. I found a poison in this book," she turned the book for Harry to see and pointed at a passage labeled The Hanging Man Poison. "This poison will keep the victim alive for 24 hours. They will feel no pain, and won't even know that they've been poisoned. There's also an antidote for the poison. It has to be given to the subject within the last 6 hours. Once they take the antidote, then they'll be completely cured."
Harry's face returned to it's original colour, but he was still very upset. "I am not going to have my Mum poisoned, Hermione. There has to be another way."
"Harry, be reasonable! This is the safest way we have to save both of your parents!"
He frowned. "Is there any chance that the killing curse will still work?"
"Everything should go perfectly as long as she's given the potion at the right time."
"Will the curse still work, Hermione?"
She bit her lip. It wasn't a good idea to get someone like Harry upset. "There's a very low chance that the potion will backfire. It has to be made by an expert."
Harry continued to glower. "We should talk it over with James," He suggested after a minute or two. He absolutely hated the idea of putting his mother in danger like this, but if James gave it the okay, then he would have to accept it.
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A/N- Ta da! Chapter 5:D
I think I'm getting better at writing!
Remember kids, keep sending reviews or I'll "stab your eyes out with a flaming stick" (quoted from Merissa :P)