Tamper with Time
Written by: HoshiHikari
Disclaimer: I do not own HP! That's right, the characters still all belong to J.K Rowling As for the plot, it might have been done before, so I won't take credit for that either
Summary: Complete darkness had befallen across the entire world, wizardry and Muggle alike. The final battle between Harry and Voldemort takes an unexpected turn. Now, the remaining survivors are thrown back into time. Harry must now face a younger and stronger Voldemort, the Voldemort that is currently at the height of power. Can Harry fulfill his destiny before the entire world collapse around him and is consumed by Darkness…again?
Author Notes: "…." talk Italic thoughts/dreams /…/ Parseltongue Snake language underline text/letter/writings bold/italics lyrics from songs
Chapter 31 A new beginning (part 1)
All around him was darkness and silence. He tried to move but his body did not respond.
'Where am I?'
He tried to remember what happened last, what might have caused him to end in such a state.
As he concentrated, blurry figures and indistinct sound began to rush across his sight and ears.
'Who are those people? What is happening?'
Through the haze, he could make out something. It was red, red slits that stared straight into him. These red slits were everywhere, in all the images he could see. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to make out a form, the form of a tall, hideous, snake like man with red eyes.
Laughter suddenly hit him on all sides. Cruel, cold, laughter slammed into him, coming from the man with blood eyes.
He tried to shut his eyes, but the image remained. He tried to block the sound, but the noise only grew louder. He tried to concentrate on something else, something else, anything but that.
Then everything was gone, t he laugher, the screams, the man with the snake like eyes. Once again, darkness and silence consumed him.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" A faint voice began. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…" The voice grew louder. "And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…" As the voice continued, he realized how familiar it was. "And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…" By now the voice was right next to him. " The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
He looked around desperately, but could see no one.
"Awaken Harry James Potter, awaken!" The voice commanded. "Arise from this protective slumber and return to where you belong. Return Harry. Return!"
"Who are you?" he asked, surprised to find his voice working. "Where are you?"
"You are Harry James Potter." The voice paused. "For a time I too was Harry Potter, but I was more, I was The-Boy-Who-Lived."
"What do you mean? How can there be two Harry Potters?"
"Shall I show you? Only then will you understand."
He didn't need to respond. In a moment's time, image after image bombarded him, sound after sound entered his ears. This time, instead of blurry images, he was able to see, everything clearly, hear everything clearly, but most of all, understand it all.
"Harold Stone." He murmured softly when all was complete.
"Yes," the voice said. "I have taken that form. You survived that night on Halloween because I chose to split apart our souls, half to die and the other half, you, to survive."
"What do you want?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"To come back to word of the living."
"but"
"I will not leave you in my state as of now. As you have seen, we are one. You and I are a single soul, therefore we share a single body."
Harry's eyes widened as he saw the spirit of Harold Stone appear before him.
"Return boy, return to the world of the living and take me with you."
Harry James Potter sat up with a start. Cold sweat clung to his small frame. The nightmare he just had, remained imprinted in his mind, the first one since before he could remember. Looking around he found himself in one of the many rooms in Grimmuld Place.
Was it real? Did I dream it all? Please let it be a dream. Please let it be some joke.
Harry really didn't know what to do if it wasn't.
"Harry! You're awake!" a girl's voice said. "Thank god!"
He turned and his eyes to the sound, enlarging them at who he saw. Before he knew it, he was hugging the bushy brown haired girl tightly.
"Harry! What?"
"Hermione!" he cried out, holding her tight.
"Harry, are you alright mate?" a boy's voice said next to the girl.
Harry turned to see his other best friend there. Without even releasing Hermione, he hugged Ron as well.
He held his best friends, refusing to let them go, either because of the nightmare in which he witnessed their deaths, or because it was Harold Stone who hadn't thought he'll ever see them again.
"Harry, you're choking us." Ron managed to say, his voice breathless.
Harry unwillingly let go, let go.
"Sorry, it's just…"
"Harry! What's that!" Hermione cried out, pointing at his forehead.
"What's what?" he asked.
"That scar on your forehead, that lightening bolt scar!" Ron exclaimed, as though he just saw it.
Harry panicked. A scar on his forehead, in the shape of a lightening bolt was definitely not there the last time he saw himself in the mirror.
"Sirius shouldn't have let you go on his motorbike on your own! I told him it was dangerous." Hermione continued. "You're eleven! The moment you fell off the bike and dropped more then 300 feet, I thought, I thought…."
Harry wasn't listening. He had spotted a mirror and was staring at himself. Aside from the scar, he looked like himself. A hand unconsciously lifted and touched the scar, tracing its outline.
"At least he's alright Hermione." Ron was saying. "Harry's always been a bit clumsy and careless and doesn't excel in anything. But what can you expect, we're only eleven. Ok, maybe he's got too much pride, and very reckless, but what can you expect him to be? He's a combination of the Marauder's. Aside from that, he's normal, very normal, too normal."
"RONALD! How could you say such things, I thought you were his friend!"
"I am, I'm just pointing out the facts. You know…"
Ron didn't finish as Harry suddenly leapt back from the mirror.
"Harry?"
Harry didn't respond. Harold Stone was reflected in the mirror. He blinked a few times, and he saw himself again.
"Harry are you sure you are alright? Maybe we should get Poppy." Ron was saying.
Harry didn't get to reply as he heard footsteps on the stairs. The next thing he knew, the door flew open and in stepped Poppy, followed by Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, James and Lily.
Harry felt his throat clog as he saw each of them. He didn't know why but tears began to form. He had to blink to hold the tears back. The feelings that had been left by Stone, were now fighting to surface.
"Mr. Weasley, I said to get me when Mr. Potter woke up."
"I'm sorry but…"
"You're not Harry Potter." Moody suddenly said, flicking his wand out and pointing it at the boy. "Weasley, Granger, get away from him." He growled.
Harry stared at the man, his heart pounding in his ears. He watched as Ron and Hermione inched away from him. Instinctively as he had seen Stone do it many times in his dream, he reached his right hand beneath his pillow, the place where the other man always placed his wand while he slept, only to find nothing.
"I am Harry Potter." He said slowly. "Who else can I be?"
"For one, Harry Potter has no scar." Moody indicated Harry's forehead, bringing everyone's attention there.
Harry groaned as everyone stared at it.
"It could have been from the fall," Poppy said slowly.
"No its not" Harry said automatically before he could have even stopped himself. He looked from between the adults, at Sirius who had a look of concern, at Tonks with a look of suspicion, and then at Remus whose eyes were unreadable, and finally his parents whose eyes had lit up with hope.
"It's not?" Remus spoke up guardedly. He looked at Harry straight in the eye. "Then where did you get it?"
"I…I…Voldemort he…"
"Volde-what?" Hermione and Ron asked at once.
"What did you say Potter?" Moody asked.
"Voldemort." Harry said softly.
The adults were silent.
"Look, I don't know either. I just woke up and found it on my head. According to the dream…"
"What dream?" James asked. "Harry, what do you know about Voldemort. How did you find out such a person exist."
"I" Harry was about to answer when Remus interrupt with a cough, in which he was grateful. He didn't know how to explain what was happening.
"Alastor, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, I think James and Lily has the situation handled, why don't we step out and let them deal with Harry."
"But" Sirius interrupted.
"Come on Padfoot."
Remus pushed everyone out, shutting the door behind him.
Harry watched them go. He didn't know what to say. The minutes passed slowly, no one really knowing what do say. At last Remus came up, this time with Snape. Remus was holding a wand and a Firebolt in which he handed to Harry.
"What is he doing here?" James asked. "Remus…"
Remus ignored him.
"Harold" Remus questioned softly.
In an instant, the eyebrows on both James and Lily flew up at the name. They gave Remus a questioning look.
"Is that you? Do you identify as him?"
"I, I don't know anymore."
"Son?" Lily asked.
"Lily, let me." Remus was saying. "It's alright. You know you could trust me. We've been through it all together."
"I know, but, its still strange to me."
"What do you mean strange? You are one person."
"but we're so different. Surely you realize that." Harry said softly.
"Remus, what are you getting at?" James asked softly.
Remus turned to James and looked him in the eye. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but it never was the right time."
"Lupin," Snape warned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Severus, they are my best friends. They deserve the right to know." Lupin said slowly. "Besides, they should know what happened on Halloween, the night which you wiped off from their memories."
"No" Harry said suddenly. "Not Halloween, not Voldemort." He said shaking. "I, if they don't know."
"They don't know because I didn't want your parents to have certain expectations." Remus said. "We gave you a normal life, that's what you wanted."
"Potter, what's wrong?" Snape asked. "You are not the Potter I remember."
"Of course not, I'm not the Boy-who-Lived, the boy who defeated Lord Voldemort. In fact, I only found out I was Harold Stone last night."
James and Lily immediately sprang up at that. "What did you say?" they cried out in shock.
"We somehow merged and the next thing I know, I'm not even acting the way I'm suppose to. Moody already noticed first thing."
"What is going on?" James asked.
Snape said nothing, he merely pointed his wand at James and Lily, muttered some words and allowed them to remember what happened that night on Halloween.
The next thing Harry knew, he was hugged tightly by both his parents.
"It wasn't a dream," James was saying. "It wasn't a dream. It really did happen. My Harry, my Harry."
"We would like it to be a dream but whatever you did see, did happen. You are Harold Stone, who was Harry Potter in disguise, who did time travel and had grown up without parents. You don't need to deny it, we are very proud of you."
"Mom, dad" Harry said softly, hugging them back. He held them close at last giving into his other self. It was just so hard to believe, he was a nobody who had suddenly turned into the savor of the world.
"I survived. I survived. I survived," was all Harry could say. Everything from what Stone showed him resurfaced once more, this time more realistic then before. He turned to face Remus and Snape. Letting go of his parents, he gave both of them a hug.
"Thank you, thank you." Was all he could say to them, "for everything, for being supportive throughout…"
"Now, that really isn't Potter, getting all touchy." Snape said, though he didn't sound angry.
"How have they been supportive, they rarely seen you in this lifetime, unless before?" Lily asked.
"Snape was Professor Swell, and I was Professor Wolfe." Remus said simply. "We were thrown into time together. However even before then we were very close knit."
"well that was really after the second war. If it makes you feel better James, I still loath all Potters, especially this one." Snape tilted his head towards Harry.
Lily smiled.
"So Harry, want to share all your adventures as your other self? The great Harry Potter who defeated Voldemort?" James teased.
Harry looked at Remus and Snape with questioning eyes.
"We never told them so that their hopes wouldn't go up above their heads." Remus said. "We protected the world from finding out who you were and you from the world so that you will get a normal life."
"But what about Voldemort?"
"He's gone for good." Snape said. "You gave Dumbledore the diary remember." He said. "Well he's made good use of it. Destroyed all the horcuxes before your third birthday. He's also learned from 'history', prevented mistakes from happening. Right now, you are on outstanding terms with the headmaster, so I suppose it's a good idea to let go of whatever grudges you might still hold against him in the past."
"Harry, your just Harry, nothing more, nothing less." Remus was saying.
Harry smiled. "I like that. I like that a lot."
Another silence passed. Harry stood up.
"Can I have my wand back, and the Firebolt?" he asked suddenly.
"Where are you going?" Lily asked.
"I'm going to fly. A lot's suddenly happened. I need time to adjust." He paused. "I've always wanted to be someone else. Someone powerful and strong, not clumsy and not normal" he paused again. "It's funny how I wanted just the opposite when I was the Boy-Who-Lived." He took a hold of the Firebolt. "I guess I've come to somewhere in between, and I like it."
He mounted his broom, made sure his wand was secured before taking off from the window.
"Will he be alright?" Lily asked. The Harry Potter they had raised was nothing like Harold Stone was, in fact almost the complete opposite. They were indeed halves waiting to be whole.
"He's almost 25, he'll be fine." Snape said.
James choked at that.
"I suppose your right." He agreed. "He's giving life a third consecutive go. I'm sure by now everything will be fine."
"Oh it will be." Remus said. "We don't have to worry about him. What we do need is to worry about Hogwarts coping with an adult stuck in a child's body."
Harry didn't know where he was flying, so he flew aimlessly, letting his broom take him. So much had occurred that he didn't really know how to deal with it. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask but didn't know who to.
"You gave Dumbledore the diary, remember."
Snape's voiced echoed through his brain. Yes, that was right. Dumbledore would be able to give him his answers.
"Maybe we'll go to Dumbledore to borrow the diary." Lily spoke up.
James nodded in agreement.
Remus and Severus shared a look.
"Well I've always wanted to know what Potter wrote in that blasted book. He even wanted the Dark Lord to write one."
James raised an eyebrow at Snape but said nothing. The group made their way silently out of the Black House.
This is part 1, part 2 is also up. Didn't let upload the entire chapter at once.