Chapter 3: Through the looking glass

Harry paced what used to be the Gryffindor common room in frustration.

'Why am I still here?' He thought angrily. 'It's been a miserable year and I am no closer to killing that monster and avenging my loved ones. I might as well face it. I should have died with them instead of thinking that I could ever get the upper hand on Voldemort.'

"Potter!" Draco's voice sounded from the other side of the portrait hole. "Potter, you in there?"

"Yes Malfoy." Harry sighed.

"Well get a move on will you? You know how he hates to be kept waiting." Draco drawled.

"Be right there." Harry said as he turned to the stairs of the boy's dormitory.

As he climbed, Harry's thoughts returned. 'So why don't I just end it all then? Why stay when I can never seem to get him alone to kill him?' He entered his room and grabbed his wand and cloak then headed back down to the portrait and as he climbed out his final thoughts on the matter was. 'Alright then I'll do it tonight.'

Harry followed Draco to what used to be the great hall. Harry had not realized he had forgotten to shield his thoughts, or had simply not cared to. Either way Voldemort had heard his thoughts and as the two young men entered the great hall he thought quickly, not wanting to lose his most prized possession to a silly thing as death.

"Ah, Harry my boy." Voldemort smiled evilly. "Harry, I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition master?" Harry looked at the snake like eyes in shock.

"Yes Harry." Voldemort's smile continued. "Harry, how would you like to be free of all of this?"

Harry's face went from shock to understanding. He knew from that moment that Voldemort had been hearing his thoughts. No matter though, he would play along and still carry out his plans this evening.

"Free master?" Harry looked at Voldemort in suspicion. "What would the master want for my freedom?"

"It's simple my dear boy. Just carry out you're final assignment without a problem and I will set you free."

With this every death eater's face contorted into rage and shock. Murmurs of "Surely the master is joking." Could be heard around the room.

"Silence!" Voldemort shouted. "That is my terms Harry, do you agree to them?"

"Very well master." Harry bowed. "I shall complete this task for you."

"And in turn I shall grant you freedom." Voldemort gave a slight nod of his head.

Harry turned and walked out of the great hall, Draco following behind him.

"Master, you do not truly intend to set young Potter free do you?" Lucius asked in surprise.

"No Lucius. I am merely trying to prevent young Potter from doing anything drastic." Voldemort sighed. "And if you honestly believed I would set him free then you truly are a fool."

Lucius nodded. "I see master. Brilliant plan if I might say so."

"You may." Voldemort smiled to himself.

R

As the sun rose two men stepped out onto Raleigh street. With a nudge from the blonde man to the left, the two men made their way towards the house at the end of the street.

"Do you really think the master will set you free?" The blonde asked his companion.

"No, I don't believe he will ever set me free." The man shook his head.

"Then why did you accept the offer?" The blonde inquired.

"I have to make him believe don't I?" The other man stopped walking and looked at the blonde. "I can't have him thinking I don't trust him now can I?"

"Ahh." The blonde nodded. "But then why did he offer this in the first place."

"Because he wants to keep me from doing something drastic and thinks that this will do it." The man scoffed.

"Oh." The blonde said with understanding. "Well what would you say if I told you there was another way to get out of this miserable life?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well Father raided a muggle home last month and brought back this odd contraption saying that it was a time machine. I have since brewed some polyjuice potion and had been intending to go back and stop myself from becoming a death eater but if you could stop the dark lord fully then I wouldn't need to worry now would I?" The blonde man cocked an eyebrow at him. "So, we can do this tonight and stop this madness once and for all."

"Why would you help me?" The other man asked skeptically.

"I'm not just helping you." The blonde snorted. "I'm helping me."

"Very well. When do you want to do this?" The other man asked.

"Tonight. Meet me at the Malfoy manor at sundown and bring your invisibility cloak." The blonde whispered.

The other man looked at the blonde in surprise. "How did you?"

"What? Know about the invisibility cloak?" The blonde asked amused. "I figured it out after that trip to Hogsmead when your head appeared out of nowhere."

"Ah. Well then, lets get this done and over with shall we?" The other man started once again towards the house at the end of the street.

As they approached the home they brought out their wands.

"Right, you take the upstairs and I'll take the downstairs." The blonde stated as he blew the door in. "No one gets out alive."

The other man nodded and they charged into the home. The man climbed the stairs and could hear the screams of women just before the spells were casted. The man searched all the doors upstairs until he reached the final one. Just as he was about to open this door, the blonde man shouted.

"You almost done up there?"

"Nearly." He shouted back.

He then turned back to the door just as it opened to reveal a very familiar man.

"Harry?" Neville looked at Harry, a smile forming his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Neville." Harry hissed. "Look Neville you have to get out of here."

"Why Harry? What's going on?" Neville asked in surprise.

Just then Harry heard a cooing sound and looked down at Neville's arms to see a baby, not more than a year old cradled in his arms.

"Look Neville, you have to get yourself and that baby out of here now or I'll have to kill you and so help me Neville I don't want to." Harry said frantically.

"Get a move on will you!" Came the shout from downstairs.

"It's true then." Neville gasped. "You're a death eater."

Harry hung his head.

"Oh Harry, I didn't want to believe it. Not you." Neville shook his head.

Harry raised his wand and pointed it at Neville. "I'm really sorry Neville."

As Neville grabbed for his own wand Harry shouted "Avada Kedavra." And Neville's body hit the ground, still cradling the baby.

The baby stared around wide eyed and tears started to form in her eyes. Harry picked her up and aparated quickly out of the house. He then placed her into the bushes and aparated back into the house. He then climbed down the stairs and looked sourly at Draco.

"Why didn't you tell me who lived here?" He thundered.

"Had I told you, would you have done any of this?" Draco eyed him.

"No." Harry whispered, tears running down his face.

"And you would have disobeyed the master which would have caused your death." Draco stated. "That's why I didn't tell you Potter."

"Well, it's done so cast the dark mark and lets get out of here." Harry growled.

Draco nodded and casted the spell. Then they aparated out of the house and back to Hogwarts.

R

Harry sat under his invisibility cloak and waited outside the Malfoy manor. He had almost given up hope when he heard Draco's voice.

"Potter you here?"

"Yes Draco." He whispered. "I'm right here."

"Good, follow me and keep that bloody cloak of yours on until I say otherwise." Draco stated as he entered the manor and held the door open long enough for Harry to slip inside.

He then went down a series of long corridor's and then a long flight of stairs and stopped in front of a very odd looking contraption. It looked to Harry as if someone had taken a bathtub and placed a chair into it then fitted it with a bunch of dials and wheels.

"So this is it then?" Harry said from under the cloak.

"Yes. Funny looking isn't it?" Draco chuckled. "Anyway here's the polyjuice potion I brewed, the hair has already been added and it's ready to go."

"Thanks." Harry said as he took the large and heavy bag from Draco and placed it into the machine.

"Well, you had better get going before were spotted here Potter." Draco stated with a hint of urgency.

Harry climbed into the machine and started to remove the cloak.

"Better not Harry, you'll be arriving in the past and you don't want anyone to recognize you." Draco told him.

Harry nodded and set the dials on the machine to August 29th 1977. Just as he was about to throw the igniting lever into gear they heard a slam of a door and footsteps running toward the basement. Draco looked at Harry with panic and mouthed the words 'Go now!' to him.

Harry thrusted the lever forward and watched as light surrounded him. At that moment Lucius bolted down the stairs and backhanded Draco with such force that it knocked him backwards. This was the last thing Harry saw before the manor disappeared before his eyes. A moment later it reappeared but all of the contraptions were now gone and the basement was empty. Harry quickly placed a spell of invisibility onto the machine and aparated out of the manor. Had he stayed just a moment longer he would have had a rather nasty encounter with the manor's master.