Chapter 9
The blinding flash and ringing subsided and the first thing Max noticed was the Victoria's voice.
"... hopeless faces. You feel, like, totally haunted by the eyes of those sad mothers and children."
"I could frame any one of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation." Jefferson spoke next making, Max look up at him in disgust.
"Jesus, this dude has some serious issues, and isn't he like 40?" Harry commented as he sat on Max's desk, still in his transparent form.
Max grunted in agreement before Jefferson spoke up again.
"Sh, sh, sh. I believe Max has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'. A dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Max... has a gift. Of course as you all know..." Jefferson yammered on and on about the lesson, Max once again suppressed the urge to groan at his 'selfie expression' joke. The same as the before, he called on Max to answer the question he had posed and she couldn't help herself.
"I'm not into 'capturing' your interest. That's kind of sick, isn't it?" she asked with a slight glare.
"Easy there, tiger. We don't want him to get nervous and run off before we can get him caught, do we?" she heard Harry say, and knew he was right. If she suddenly acted too cold and suspicious of Jefferson he could pack up and leave Arcadia Bay today and never be seen again.
"Uh... I guess someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Jefferson said with a small awkward chuckle. "Do you want to try again?"
"Okay, okay, the Daguerreian Process." Max scoffed. "Blah, blah, blah"
She noticed Victoria turn in her seat and shoot her a glare, before turning back to Jefferson.
"Let's... let's move on, hm?"
The rest of the lesson commenced with Jefferson choosing to not ask Max any more questions. The bell finally rang and the class moved to get their belongings before leaving the room, Max searched through her bag and found found the Blackwell pamphlet she had kept. Searching through it for a moment she found David Madsen's number and sent him a text.
"Mr. Madsen, you're after Rachel Amber. Mark Jefferson is guilty, his dark room is under the Prescott's farmhouse. You know the location. He's sick and dangerous. Stop him."
She pressed send before deleting the text and placing her phone back in her pocket.
"Hey, you have any idea where you'll be once things change?" Max whispered.
"No, and I don't have a phone, meaning I can't let you know either." Harry responded with a small sigh.
"Could you, perhaps come back here? I don't know what's going to happen, but I'd like it if you were here, for support."
"Of course I'll be here, I'm too invested in all of this anyway." Harry told her with a smile.
Max smiled and fished out the picture she had decided to use for the 'Everyday Heroes' Competition.
"He wanted me to enter the competition, so this time, I'll be going to San Francisco and he'll be going to prison." Max muttered as she produced her picture and headed over to Jefferson and Victoria.
As she got closer, her nose started bleeding, she wiped it away and sighed tiredly. The past, within the past... Was she pushing herself too far?
After brushing Victoria off and having her sent away from his desk she handed him her photo for the contest.
"Ah, thank you, Max. Maybe we'll be jet-setting for San Francisco this Friday." he said with a disarming smile.
"Or maybe only one of us is going." Max responded.
"Oh, don't be modest, Max. Anything can happen in a week..."
"As you're going to find out, Mr Jefferson."
Then she felt it, the time stream pulling her away from that moment as a whole bunch of events happened in the duration of the week. She had created a new timeline, which meant Harry would be out of his astral form and back in the world, Kate Marsh would have had justice and Chloe...
She quickly fished her phone out her pocket and found several texts from Chloe congratulating her on winning the competition. Max sighed in relief as she realised that Chloe was also safe.
Max blinked and found herself on a plane, sitting beside her was Principal Wells, obviously they hadn't been able to find someone else to accompany her, or maybe Wells felt compelled to go with her as some sort of redemption act.
"Ah, I don't think so, I'm hoping these airline seats get smaller so I won't have to flay at all anymore." Wells commented after the landing announcement was made on the airlines P.A system.
"How did you sleep?" Max asked with a small smile.
"Hope I wasn't snoring out loud, Max..."
"Just a bit."
It's been... a tough week at Blackwell, so I hope you'll forgive me. Between Mr. Jefferson and the Prescotts, things have been... hectic, to say the least."
"I totally get it, Principal Wells." Max responded with a nod. "Jefferson, tricked all of us."
Max and Principal Wells spoke some more about non consequential stuff before she heard the announcement that they would be landing in San Francisco soon. She once more felt the stream pulling her along before she entered a large building, and inside she saw all the entries and exhibits on display by various other artists, a small part of her felt out of place while a larger part of her, felt like this was exactly where she needed to be.
-Magic is Strange-
Harry blinked his eyes open and found himself sitting in an apartment he didn't recognise. He frowned and looked around standing and stretching his arms above his head as he headed toward the patio doors to see where he was and was greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread and a warm day's sun beating down on him.
He looked over the railing of the patio and saw cobblestone roads and people meandering through greeting each other as they did. He frowned, where the hell was he? Deciding to change, Harry made his way towards the door and opened it before freezing in shock.
"Oh, you're up, I was just coming to get you, Blaise wanted to have breakfast before we head out."
Harry blinked and blinked again. "Daphne?" he asked with a frown.
"Yeah...? You okay there, Potter? You look like you've seen a ghost." she told him with a small laugh.
"I- I just... what's the day today?"
"Friday." she told him with another frown. "Are you okay? You've been here since Monday, can't really use Jetlag as an excuse."
"Right, sorry!" Harry replied shaking his head clear. "I was just... I had a bad dream, guess I'm still disorientated."
"Well, then, get your bearings, Blaise is waiting." she told him as she headed down the hallway.
After a little while Harry found himself in the Hotel's lobby with a chatty Daphne beside him, when they were interrupted.
"Potter, finally. I thought you were going to skip out on our plans."
Harry looked up and saw a tanned man getting up from one of the couches in the lobby and approached him, he stuck out his hand and Harry reacted in kind, their hands met in the middle and there were a few shakes.
"Good, to see you again, of course, Daph wouldn't stop nagging me about you joining us today." he said in a mock whisper while shooting his... wife, a smirk.
"And as always, I got my way. Besides, you know you'd never get anything done if I didn't." she responded with her own smirk.
"And that's exactly why I'm glad you're here." Zabini said, finishing their small amount of banter with a light kiss on her lips.
"Now then, shall we? I've made reservations."
Harry nodded and followed the two out of the apartment and finally got to look around the buildings, everything was in a language he couldn't quite read, but he heard the dialogue between a few people; definitely Italian, so Scilly? Maybe? Last he'd heard... back in his own timeline, that's where Daphne and Blaise had been staying.
As the three continued to walk down the road, Harry having to every now and again answer a question by Daphne or Blaise, he began to wander, this had happened before but with different results obviously.
Last time, he had been with Ginny, in New York and now he was in Scilly with Daphne and her husband. Chronologically the New York and Ginny thing was on Wednesday? If he wasn't mistaken, so that meant that that event should have happened first, but if what Daphne said was true, he had been here for almost five days now, which meant, that this was a different reality altogether. Fuck...
Okay, relax, he had to first figure a way out of this current predicament and head over to Blackwell, though, he didn't know how much he was pushing it, going that far. It would be an international apparation going that far, he could end up with more than just a splinching.
"Harry, are you listening?"
He shook himself out of his thoughts and turned back to the couple.
"Sorry, just lost in thought, what were you saying?"
"You've been really strange today, Potter. What's wrong? Met a girl?" Zabini asked with a small quirk of his brow and smirk.
"Of course not, just I've had a bit on my mind lately. Anyway, are we close to the restaurant?"
Daphne frowned slightly before Blaise informed them that they had just arrived. They were standing outside a magical restaurant with the food floating between the tables on silver platters, while a collection of brass instruments softly played themselves somewhere near the building. When they were shown inside and led to a table, Blaise excused himself.
"I didn't realise I even needed the bathroom, if you'll excuse me?" he said as he pulled Daphne's chair out and gave a small kiss on her cheek. Once he was out of hearing distance, Daphne immediately turned on Harry.
"Okay, we're alone now, just what's going on with you?" she asked with a frown.
"It's honestly, a long and unbelievable story..."
"You said the same thing about Malfoy being a Death Eater in sixth year and I believed you then. Harry what's going on?"
Harry sighed, and before he knew it, he had retold her about everything he had been going through, especially this long week.
"A fae, ability to rewind time, and alternate realities?" she asked with a look of wonder. "How? How do you always find yourself in these situations?" she asked with a small chuckle.
"It was just supposed to be a recon mission. Anyway, so in essence, I'm not the Harry you know, well, I mean, I assume everything that happened in Hogwarts remained the same, but I'm not the same Harry who arrived here on Monday." he told her with a sad smile.
Daphne responded with a smile of her own.
"I had a feeling, you were completely different than you were yesterday. I don't know if Blaise noticed, but I definitely did."
"Speaking of, Daph, are you... you know? Are you happy?" he asked seriously.
Daphne had a serene look before responding.
"Yeah, I am. It took a little while for Blaise and I to be completely comfortable around each other in the beginning, but, he's amazing, patient and genuinely caring. I've grown to love him, and I know he feels the same for me. I mean, out of all of our options, we were lucky to end up together. So, yes, Harry, I am very happy."
Harry smiled and sagged in relief.
"Good, now, I've got to go."
"Trading one Golden Trio for another, huh?"
"No one could replace Ron or Hermione." he told her with a small smile.
"I know, just teasing."
"Oh, Potter? Something wrong?" Blaise asked as he returned to the table.
"Oh, err, something's come up, and unfortunately I have to go." he told Blaise with a smile.
"That's rather unfortunate. Well, I do hope you'll come by again soon, it was lovely to have you with us this week. And I know Daphne would not mind having you over again soon."
Harry blinked, it would appear he and Blaise were rather good friends in this reality. He assumed it had to do with Daphne.
"Thank you, Blaise. I'll remember that and let you know when I'm back in town."
"And bring that Victoria girl with you next time." Daphne said with a small smile.
"Victoria? Potter, you dog, so there is someone."
"No there isn't, Daphne's just having a laugh. Well, I'd better head out. I'll see you both soon." he told them, giving Blaise one more handshake and Daphne a hug before he turned and left the restaurant, feeling a weight he hadn't known he'd had on chest lift.
Once he made it out to the street he closed his eyes and focussed, he thought of Blackwell Academy, more specifically, he thought of the alleyway Johnson had taken him to the first day he arrived. This was going to be a big jump, he hoped he could clear it. Pooling as much magic as he could Harry turned and apparated leaving behind a massive crack sound. He was in the tube for longer than usual, feeling himself being uncomfortably squeezed for an extended amount of time.
He was sure he was breaking some international laws by doing this, he was sure he needed to register the fact that he was entering the country with the appropriate law enforcement, but he didn't have time for-
He landed heavily and immediately felt himself being pushed over by a large force, and a sense of wet and cold smacked against his face and body. Looking around, he saw finally saw what was going on. A storm, a massive storm, some might call it a storm that rivalled logic and reason; a magical storm. They hadn't changed anything, fucking around with time, for this long... it caused this. He immediately thought of the reason he was here and once more apparated to Chloe's house.
The roof had been completely torn off, and a section of the house was missing, he rushed in and looked around, occasionally calling out for Chloe, hoping the girl would respond. When he was sure he had gone through the entire house he stopped and thought, where could she be?
He was stumped for a moment, feeling the stings of the rain as it whipped at his skin and then he felt it, a small pull. He turned and saw a small butterfly. Blue and glowing – as if it had light glowing from within it – fluttering around him in extreme effort to combat the winds trying to push it away. He glanced at it and captured the small creature in his hands, providing a small amount of protection for it. He opened his palms slightly to look at it and was momentarily stunned.
"You're not a butterfly..." he muttered obviously. "You're the fae, the one Rachel trained... Hold on, do you know where Chloe is?"
The small magical creature batted it's wings a bit before Harry felt himself being pulled, not unlike apparation, but much less straining to the body and he landed on uneven ground.
"Max! Max, you were right man! There's a tornado, it's coming!"
He turned and saw her, striking blue hair, much like the fae he now carried; Chloe Price stood on the beach directly in front of the FUCKING TORNADO which was tearing it's way towards the bay.
He rushed over, still clutching the fae, since it had helped him, and something told him that letting it go now, would be a mistake.
"Chloe! Chloe, we have to get out of here!" he cried out over the howling winds.
"What?! Who are you?!" she yelled back.
"I'm a friend! Where's Max?!"
"Didn't you hear?! She's in San Francisco! She won some photography thing!"
Harry nodded and motioned with his head away from the beach.
"Come on, we have to get out of this things wa-"
He didn't get to finish as he felt something slam into him and send him flying away from where Chloe had been standing. He landed heavily on the pathway along the beach, some 100 meters away from where he had been previously standing. He didn't know what hit him, but he knew it hurt like hell, and that he now couldn't breathe and felt a warm pool of blood seeping from a wound somewhere on his side. He looked at his clutched hands.
"At least, you're alright. You should get out of here before-"
But he didn't get to finish as the fae gripped onto his shirt and crawled into his jacket before digging itself into his jacket pocket.
"Or you know, do that."
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
He looked up and saw Chloe rushing towards him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. But you should go, get somewhere safe, Max needs you to be safe, you need to get to the light house, if I'm not mistaken, it should be out of the way."
"What? No! What about you?!"
"I'm right behind you! But you gotta go! Now!" he told her firmly.
Chloe looked stubborn like she was about to refuse when he felt it, the pull. Max was rewinding... No, no, no! They had fucked with time too much! This was the climax of it all, of all the disregard for the laws of time and space, they couldn't stretch it any further!
But it was too late, before he knew it, he was gasping for air as he saw Max, staring at a collection of her pictures on a wall, and a camera flash behind her.
"Oh, my head..." Harry heard Max say in a small groan. "Sorry, San Francisco, Chloe comes first." she muttered as she grabbed the polaroid picture and ripped it.
"Max... this is too much, we have to sto-"
The time stream once more took over as he saw events from before readjust in his eyes and eventually found himself sitting at one of the tables at the Two Whales Diner. He looked around and saw many more people littered the building, and Joyce moved around providing what looked like First Aid to those who looked like they needed it most.
"Hey, have you heard from, Max? I can't get through to her."
He looked up and saw Warren sitting across from him, tapping away at his phone frantically.
"No, no I haven't." Just as he answered, he felt it. The necklace he had given Max triggered, it seemed as though this was the closest reality to the original if Max had that.
"I've got to go to the bathroom." Harry announced, making Warren look up at him surprised.
"Okay...?"
Harry rushed off to the toilets and focussed on Max's call. His reserves were running low, but he figured he could apparate at least one last time before he wouldn't be able to do any magic for a while. He was about to turn when he heard several pops from the room he had just left.
"We're looking for Harry Potter! Where is he?!"
"Shit, fuck, balls and cock! Not now!" He quickly apparated to Max's location hoping that they could finally put this all to rest, or he and Max both were going to be in some serious trouble.