AN: So yeah, this series is now back, too. I'm not going to use a regular update schedule, as I'll instead be writing whenever I get inspiration. That's also why we don't have the pairing I promised in the previous chapter. Harry/Ginny/Daphne may still happen someday, but I can't promise it. Also, this one's a little shorter than the previous two, but that's because both of those were longer than I intend these oneshots to be on average. This is closer to what the 'average' entry in the series will be.
Sweet Tooth
Pairing: Harry/fem!Pettigrew
Summary: Harry travels back in time to stop Voldemort before he can get started, however, his grandfather Charlus doesn't like that plan. Harry has never been able to enjoy a childhood, and that needs to change. Charlus, as a retired auror, can handle the war with Harry's knowledge of the future, while Harry can masquerade as James's twin and be a teen.
"What are you doing here - wait a second, you aren't James."
"I'm not," Harry agreed. "You must be Charlus Potter?"
"Yes." He looked suspicious - understandably so, considering the child in front of him looked almost identical to his own son. "What's your name, kid?"
"Harry," Harry simply said. "Uh, what I'm about to say is going to sound really weird, but I have proof."
Charlus' eyes narrowed. "And what would that be?"
"I'm a time traveler," Harry said. "I'm James's son. I'm also seventeen, and I don't know why I look this young."
"And what proof could you possibly have for that?"
"You're my grandfather," Harry said. "That means a paternity test should be silver, right? And if I'm lying, well, then it just doesn't show anything at all."
Charlus slowly drew his wand and cast the spell. When the wand tip glowed silver, he drew in a shocked breath.
"How? Why?"
"Two questions with rather long answers, I'm afraid," Harry said. "But let's get started."
Two hours had passed before Charlus was content with what Harry had told him.
"And now I want to get rid of Voldemort before he ever becomes a problem," Harry concluded. "He's only just started his rise, and I know his secrets. But with me suddenly looking eleven… it's going to be really tough."
"Harry," Charlus said. "Come sit down." He patted the seat next to his, and Harry hesitantly sat next to him, tensing slightly when Charlus put his arm around him. "I'll help with this, I promise. And so will Dorea. But I think you've been forgetting to take care of yourself. And maybe that's because you didn't have anyone to take care of you for most of your life, but I'm not just going to let it continue.
"As you said yourself, you look eleven now. I'll have to discuss this with Dorea of course, but I want to propose that we'll enter you into Hogwarts and tell people that you're James's twin."
Harry, of course, had a slew of arguments for why that was a terrible idea, but one by one, Charlus parried them all. Eventually, Harry ran out of reasons not to, and relented. Perhaps — a small, traitorous part of him thought — it would be nice to have a normal school life, with 'parents' to care for him, to write to, to be picked up by at the train station.
Of course, then there was the issue of introducing him to James. From his side, Harry had needed some time to prepare himself for meeting his father, but James hadn't had any preparation for meeting someone who looked so much like him, nor did he know why that was the case in the first place.
Eventually, however, he accepted that they couldn't tell him about Harry's past, and that no, Harry wasn't his actual twin brother, but they still wanted him to keep up that façade. After that, it wasn't long before he started drawing Harry into his activities, like flying or pulling pranks – for all that Harry had to get used to the latter.
It was only a month or two before Hogwarts started. Dumbledore had actually visited the Potters upon hearing of a surprise second registration, but was willing to accept the privacy of the Potters.
James usually took the lead, with Harry following along despite being older – perhaps, Harry figured, because he'd never really done 'child' things. That was also the case when they looked for a compartment, with James simply picking one that already had a few first-years inside. People who Harry knew, in fact.
He'd known this meeting would come in the near future, but he hadn't quite been ready for it yet, so he swallowed and remained in the background as James introduced him as his twin brother.
"I'm Lily Evans," the red-haired girl said, before turning back to the window. She looked like she'd been crying, and Harry remembered this moment – he'd seen it in Snape's memories on that fateful day.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his insides twisting upon seeing his mother so sad.
Hesitantly, Lily opened up, that her non-magical sister was jealous of her and didn't like her anymore.
Another boy joined them just then. Sirius, Harry realized.
They exchanged introductions, and Harry encouraged Lily to open up again, once shutting down an inappropriate remark on the situation from Sirius.
Just as she finished talking, the door opened once more, this time revealing the clearly poor Severus Snape. His hair being unwashed was an eternal constant, it seemed. Harry felt his lingering dislike, but tried to push it down. This was just an eleven year old boy, he reminded himself, who hadn't done any of the unforgivable things the adult Snape had done.
He hadn't joined Voldemort. He hadn't brought him the prophecy. He hadn't bullied Harry and his friends for years, abusing his position of power over them countless times. He was just an eleven year old boy without friends.
And he already knew Lily, which James seemed to dislike. Truly a one-track mind, Harry's father had.
When Houses inevitably came up, Harry at least managed to defuse the worst of the Slytherin discussion, and unlike in the memory, here Lily and Snape didn't leave in anger.
Which wasn't to say they got along well. Snape was still a prick with an unhealthy interest in the Dark Arts, that much was obvious.
Once at Hogwarts, Lily pulled Harry aside.
"Why does your brother dislike Sev so much?"
Harry thought about that for a moment.
"I don't like him much more," he admitted. "I'm just better at playing nice."
"Why?" Lily asked, confused. "He's not so bad once you get to know him, you know."
Harry sighed as he considered his answer. "You need to understand that the Wizarding World is… on edge. There are a lot of people who say that muggleborns like you should be second-class citizens at best, and there is also a lot of disagreement about the Dark Arts, and how legal they should be. There have even been a few terrorist attacks recently, and a lot of people, including our parents, are worried it's going to get worse.
"Snape hinted several times that he knows Dark spells, and wants to learn more of them. I understand that you already knew him, and that he doesn't hold you any ill will, but I doubt I'll ever be able to get along with someone who likes the Dark Arts. And James… James hates them. Straight up."
Their talk was interrupted as Professor McGonagall told them it was time for the Sorting to start, but Lily nodded in thanks as they rejoined the rest of the first-years.
Petra Pettigrew had no right to look as cute as she did, Harry decided as he sat down next to Lily. Pettigrew sat on Lily's other side, and she was small, quite possibly the smallest girl in their year. In addition, out of all the non-muggleborns she seemed to be the first year most impressed by Hogwarts, and she was enthusiastically whispering with Lily.
James joined them quickly after, of course, with his sorting only taking seconds. Sirius and Remus were both sitting opposite them as they were getting to know each other.
It was strange, to sit between child versions of people Harry knew, or at least knew about, but at the same time they were so much younger that he almost saw them as different people entirely.
Certainly, he realized that evening, the tiny, excitable Petra was nothing like the cowardly, yet hateful woman that he'd had the displeasure to cross paths with, that had betrayed the very girl she was currently talking to.
How had it even come to that in the first place? He knew that Petra had always been a bit of a hanger-on with the other Marauders, yet she'd still been one of them. And then, well, he didn't have the faintest clue why she'd turned to Voldemort. Was there a darkness in this girl that he somehow couldn't spot, unlike Snape's obsession with the Dark Arts?
Either way, he should probably give her the benefit of the doubt, as Charlus had advised him. Perhaps, he had argued, if she was included more, was taken more seriously, she would never betray them in the first place.
Harry could only hope, because he wasn't sure he could ever fight someone this adorable and innocent.
It became clear quite quickly why Petra had ended up gravitating towards the Marauders. She got into an argument with Snape in the first Potions class, where they had been working together, assigned by Slughorn. As far as Harry could tell, the professor had done that because he didn't want Snape to 'waste' his talent by working together with the muggleborns Lily, as he'd wanted to.
The clash had ended with screaming and shouting and insults hurled from both sides – and here Harry could easily see the viciousness Petra had – but the bigger issue came a few hours later, in the common room.
Petra had been complaining to the other girls about Snape's behavior, and Lily had taken the Slytherin boy's side.
It had taken the prefects intervening to calm things down, and both girls had been taken to McGonagall, assigned detention, and lost points.
When they got back, Petra took one nasty look at the other girls, then sat down with the future Marauders and Harry.
"Are you okay?" Remus immediately asked.
"No," Petra said angrily, crossing her arms. "Can you believe that bitch actually took Snape's side?"
Harry desperately wanted to come to his mother's defense, yet at the same time he had to agree that Snape wasn't exactly a pleasant person to be around, even at this age.
"She'll get over it," James said, glancing over to where Lily had sat down with the other girls.
"How about we teach Snape a lesson?" Sirius proposed.
Harry wanted to intervene, sensing the start of the war that had spanned most of their Hogwarts years, but Petra's face immediately lit up.
"What are you thinking of?"
Before he could help it, Harry had been roped into the plans for their first targeted prank – though, he figured, he could at least try to keep it acceptable. He had no desire to let things get out of control like had happened last time, leading to the humiliation he had seen in Snape's memory and the werewolf incident, but he did feel a sort of vindication to finally get back at Snape. Not just for what had happened today, but also for the years where Snape had lashed out at him for something he hadn't been part of.
The pattern from those first days solidified itself over time. Where Snape was just as unlikable and slimy as Harry had known him, Petra was completely different from her future self. She had a temper, sure, but it was no worse than Harry's past friends, let alone Lily, who had completely exploded at James and Sirius for a prank on Snape.
In Harry's opinion, the git had deserved it for his prank on the Gryffindors, but he made sure not to voice that where Lily could hear it. And he did resolve to help Remus keep James and Sirius in check.
For most of the year, little happened, except that there were now five proto-Marauders instead of four. But of course, near the end of the year, James and Sirius figured out that Remus was a werewolf.
They didn't mind – and neither did Harry, of course – but Petra was skittish.
"It's perfectly safe," Harry argued. "He goes to the Shrieking Shack every month, and Madam Pomfrey is with him. And Dumbledore knows, as well."
James and Sirius had brushed off Petra's concerns and were now busy playing around with something – Harry wasn't sure what they were doing, but it reminded him of the Weasley twins' constant experiments.
"But what if he forgets?" Petra asked. "Or breaks out of the Shack?"
"There are multiple people to remind him," Harry said. "And now we can do so as well. And he can't just get out of the Shack. Didn't he say Dumbledore put wards around it?"
She looked skeptical.
"Think about it," Harry said. "He can't help it that he's a werewolf either, right? He's a nice, bookish guy, he's fun to talk to, we've been friends all year. Why would that suddenly change now?"
"Maybe you have a point," she conceded.
During summer, while James was out flying together with the visiting Sirius, Harry sat down with Charlus and Dorea to make concrete plans for dealing with Voldemort.
He knew the location of all the horcruxes thanks to the previous war and the horcrux hunt, though he wasn't certain if all of them were in place already. While Harry had been hesitant to allow his grandparents – people he'd always seen as civilians – into the fight, Charlus had quickly pointed out that he'd first met Dorea in the Auror corps, which Harry hadn't actually known.
Most likely, Charlus theorized, the reason he and Dorea had been dead by the time of Voldemort's defeat at the hand of whatever Lily had done was that they'd been fighting in the war and gotten killed. And perhaps that had also resulted in the destruction of Potter Manor, explaining why James and Lily had lived in a regular house in Godric's Hollow despite the Potter family's wealth.
Of course, they also ended up talking about Harry's classmates.
"Snape's always been a git," he said. "But at least now I can do something about it if he's insulting me again."
"Do try not to let it escalate," Dorea cautioned. "I don't want to hear that something happened that is as bad as those memories you've seen."
"They're his memories, though," Harry argued. "I've never seen any memories from Sirius or Remus. Of course they're going to be biased to make Snape look good and James look bad."
He found it hard to think of James as his father these days, even if he was thinking about his pre-time travel life.
"I know," Dorea said. "And I know James, and from what you told me, he was still that person as an adult, so I don't doubt that a lot of terrible things Snape had done were left out. But perhaps he doesn't need to become a death eater in the first place, right? After all, he's friends with Lily, as you told me."
Harry grumbled. "I guess. Doesn't mean I have to like him, though. And he enjoys the Dark Arts far too much."
Charlus gave him a reassuring pat on his leg. "You should write us more. We can give you advice on how to handle these situations."
"And what about the girl?" Dorea asked. "Petra, right? James didn't mention her much, but from the few letters you sent I got the idea you get along far better with her."
"I do," Harry said. "She's nice, not like I'd expected at all. The way I knew her, she was always bitter and hateful. I can hardly believe they're the same person."
"And how are things in the group?" Dorea asked. "As I said, James didn't mention her often."
Harry shrugged. "I feel like James and Sirius mostly spend time together, and Remus, Petra and I follow along most of the time. Remus kind of falls in between, really. They do help Remus and Petra out with homework though. And even me sometimes, I usually know the actual spells, but I've forgotten a lot of the theory."
"You didn't make anyone suspicious with your skills?" Charlus asked teasingly.
"Most teachers think I'm a quick learner," Harry said. "I find it hard to miscast spells in class, but that's also the only situation in which I have to cast them in the first place, and I think the essays are giving me enough trouble that they just think I'm a smart student like James, Sirius or Lily. Or even Remus."
"Have you considered that Petra might've felt ignored, last time around?" Dorea asked.
Harry considered that, thinking back to the conversation about Remus's fluffy little problem, but also other occasions throughout the year.
"Perhaps," he said slowly. "There have been a few times where I drew her into a conversation or listened to her when James and Sirius didn't. They're a bit… exuberant, at times."
Charlus chuckled. "That's my son. But you're all friends, aren't you?"
"I think so," Harry said. "I definitely think they like Petra, they're just on a different wavelength."
Dorea smiled. "I think things will turn out just fine with Petra."
Harry nodded. "I hope so. She's sweet."
It was early in second year that Sirius came up with the idea of the four of them becoming animagi to accompany Remus during his transformations.
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Petra said. "What if we mess it up?"
"It'll be fine," Sirius said. "I got my entire family library, I'm pretty sure James does as well, and we can look things up in the library here at Hogwarts as well. Right, James?"
"Yeah, I think we can do it, even if it might take a while. You worry too much, Petra."
Remus joined Petra's protests, but was quickly waved off, and Harry carefully positioned himself as cautiously optimistic, encouraging the doubters while trying to convince them that this could turn out great.
Half an hour later, James and Sirius were discussing how to get started on the project while Remus was doing homework with Lily. That left Harry reading a book until Petra sat down next to him.
"Harry?"
He put his book away.
"Do you… do you really think this is a good idea?"
He chuckled. "I'll admit, I think it's kind of crazy. But you know what? I think James and Sirius are just crazy enough to pull it off. Are you worried?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "What if they mess things up and we end up like, half human half fish, or something? Or perhaps we even lose our ability to think. That can happen with human transformation as well, can't it?"
Harry hesitated before putting his arm around her shoulder.
"I'll go over all their calculations, and I'm sure Remus will too. And you can also do that. If we don't understand something, we don't let them do anything with it, until we do. But can you imagine how nice it would be for Remus, if we could be with him during the full moon? If we could stop him from hurting himself and keep him company while he's in pain?"
She leaned against Harry. He'd come to know her as someone who frequently initiated physical contact, which was why he'd felt confident to put his arm around her in the first place.
"But what if he escapes? We'd have to get through the wards to get to him in the first place, and if we can get through, so can he."
"If we're not sure we can do that safely, I promise I won't let them break the wards," Harry said. "Clear?"
She nodded.
"And Harry? Thanks for listening to me."
Despite Harry's best attempts, the prank war between the Marauders – who now had their name – and Snape and his fellow Slytherins was slowly heating up.
So one evening, while Lily was doing homework at a table on her own, he went and sat next to her.
She finished writing, then looked up.
"What do you want?"
Harry had gotten used to seeing the younger version of his mother, but sometimes it was still strange. He wondered if she'd ever realized their eyes were the same.
They weren't on the greatest terms, but he did occasionally exchange some words with her, as did Remus. Petra still hated her, as far as Harry was aware.
"I think both James and Sirius and Snape are starting to take things too far," he said.
"And?"
"And they're not going to hold back by themselves, so I figured we should probably work together to get them to."
"I'm not Sev's minder."
"And I'm not James's minder. Yet here I am."
Lily fell silent, and Harry gave her the opportunity to consider it.
"Maybe you have a point," she said slowly. "But why do you care? I thought you hated Sev as well."
Harry snorted. "He's the most annoying prick this school has ever seen. But that doesn't mean I want this to turn from a prank war into an actual war."
"You're exaggerating."
"Am I?" Harry asked. "I've seen both Snape and James use spells that we haven't covered in class yet, for both of them I'm pretty sure the only reason they know them is because they're researching spells to use on the other."
"James started it," Lily said.
"I honestly don't remember how it started," Harry said. "But James isn't the one who is courting bigots."
Lily seemed to be working up a rant, but Harry held up his hand.
"Nevermind, it's not relevant, and I probably shouldn't have brought it up. What's important is that we stop one of them from killing the other before graduation."
Lily deflated. "Fine. So, what do we do?"
By the summer after second year, Charlus and Dorea had – without getting cursed or otherwise harmed – managed to take care of the ring and the locket horcruxes, all in all making good progress.
And while the Marauders and Snape still mutually hated each other and sneered when they crossed paths in the castle, the situation wasn't growing worse anymore, exactly. As a bonus, Harry was now on better terms with his mother, and occasionally spent some time speaking to her, finally allowing him to get to know her.
"Are you going to try out?" Petra asked. All Marauders were visiting today, and James, Sirius and Remus were already in the air, passing a quaffle back and forth.
"Probably," Harry said. "I bet I'd make a good seeker. You want to join them?"
Petra hesitated.
She didn't like flying, Harry knew. Even though she wasn't bad at it.
"What is it?"
She looked down.
Harry stepped up to her and raised her chin so she'd meet his eyes.
"You can tell me."
"I don't like heights," she said in a small voice.
Harry thought about that for a second, glancing up at the three laughing Marauders.
"Are you going to fly without me now?"
Had they done this the last time around, he wondered. When he hadn't been here, would they just have left Petra on the ground, scared to join them?
"No, I'm not," Harry said. "Would it help if you joined me on my broom? I could keep my hands around you, that way you can't fall off, and you don't need to think about steering and the like."
She hesitated.
"If you don't want that, we'll find something else to do, and I'm sure they'll come find us at some point."
"We can try it."
Harry nodded and sat down on his broom, sinking it slightly lower to make it easier for the small girl to mount. Had she even had a teenage growth spurt? Or was that still coming, perhaps? Usually girls had their growth spurts earlier than boys did.
Petra sat down on the broom and immediately leaned against Harry's chest. He put his arms around her, grabbing the handle with both hands.
"Fly slowly, please."
"Don't worry," Harry said as he left the ground. He chuckled into her neck. "And no snitch-hunting, I guess."
"Yeah," Petra said, glancing down. "I'd prefer you keep your arms on the broom to catch me if needed."
"Don't look down too much," Harry suggested. "That can make it scarier."
Carefully, he joined the other boys. At first, they were surprised – Sirius even teased them about looking like a couple, which made both of them blush and then got him a brief dressing-down from Petra, but upon Harry's request they respected Petra's fear of heights.
It took a while, but after about half an hour, Petra even felt comfortable enough to pass around the quaffle – Harry still had to keep his hands on the broom for her, though – so they started a casual two versus two game.
By the end of the afternoon, when they landed and dismounted, Petra gave Harry a tight hug.
"Thanks."
He grinned. "No problem. It was fun, wasn't it?"
She nodded. "I think this is the first time I enjoyed myself while sitting on a broom."
"Then we'll have to do it again sometime."
It was still extremely strange to Harry to simply go to school, talk to friends, do homework and play games, without any teachers from hell, dark lords attacking the school, monsters roaming the corridors, or whatever fate had decided to throw at him that particular year. But he couldn't deny that he enjoyed his third year with the Marauders as much as the first two.
He didn't even feel like there was an age difference between them. Hadn't felt that way for some time, in fact. When he mentioned that to his Charlus and Dorea – who he actually called his parents on occasion now, even to people who knew that wasn't true – they suggested that it was because he'd never been able to be a child the first time around.
It seemed a little weird to Harry, but either way he was enjoying it.
No significant escalation of the prank war took place thanks to his and Lily's continuous efforts – they'd also recruited Remus, actually – and most of their third year was rather quiet.
The only highlight was that Harry and James had made the Gryffindor quidditch team as seeker and chaser respectively and had immediately gone on to win the cup.
Charlus and Dorea, meanwhile, had told Dumbledore about the horcruxes and their ongoing hunt for them, and that had allowed the three adults to take care of the diadem and the cup that had resided in the vault.
A major raid on Malfoy Manor would have to be carefully orchestrated, Charlus confided to Harry, but they were working on how to handle it. Once the diary was gone, Voldemort should be mortal.
But early in fourth year, something else happened.
James and Sirius might not have figured out everything regarding the animagus process yet, but they had managed to brew a potion that revealed everyone's forms.
"I'm a dog," Sirius said proudly after they'd returned from the potion-induced dreamstate. "A big, black one." He grinned. "I'm going to haunt some graveyards, I bet people will mistake me for a grim."
James laughed.
"And you?" Sirius asked.
"I'm a stag," he said. "I guess a stag and a big dog should already go quite a ways to keeping Remus's furry little problem in check, right?"
Sirius agreed with him, then turned to Harry and Petra. "What about you two?"
"I'm a hawk," Harry said.
Petra squeaked, drawing a few chuckles. She looked at Harry warily for a moment, but he smiled at her. "And you?"
"I'm a… a rat," she said, hesitantly.
"Is that what caused your reaction?" Harry teased.
She blushed. "I… I guess?"
"Hey, what's got you feeling so down?" he asked, turning serious.
She hung her head. "I'd hoped… I mean, you all have these cool, big forms, and then I'm a stupid rat."
Harry moved seats to sit next to her and put his arm on her shoulders.
"I mean," she continued, "stags are associated with nobility. And rats? With treachery. And a bunch of other negative associations."
"Rats are also very smart animals," Harry said. "Clever, resourceful. And besides, so long as they take care of themselves, they're very cute, too."
Petra blushed.
"Well, you two continue flirting, we'll get started on our homework," Sirius said.
Petra spluttered something unintelligible.
"Ignore him," Harry said. "He's just fishing for a reaction."
It was strange, he figured as he reflected on the Marauder dynamics. While he was friends with all of them, Petra was quite possibly the one he was the closest to. Even though he knew her history.
But this girl… there was no way, he figured, that this girl would ever betray them. And he thought he understood what Charlus and Dorea were getting at. A lot of the time, James and Sirius had some wild idea and immediately got started on it. Remus had enough presence to follow along and join in, but Petra was more hesitant. And if he thought back to that time they went flying, or the concerns she raised with the animagus project, it led to her sometimes being forgotten.
Not out of any kind of malice by James and Sirius, but rather because they didn't see how different Petra was. That she wouldn't volunteer her ideas or doubts like they did, unless she was asked.
Even then, he wasn't sure how she'd turned to Voldemort. Remus, in Harry's past life, had thought it was because she always followed the biggest bully. But Harry didn't think it was that simple. However, he didn't have a clue what it was either.
During the summer before fifth year, while James was visiting Remus, Harry had a small party with his parents – no, grandparents – to celebrate a successful raid on Malfoy Manor in which Mad-Eye Moody had found the diary on Dumbledore's instructions. It had subsequently been destroyed, meaning Voldemort was now mortal.
The bad news was that over the last few months, the war had started in earnest. Death eater raids had increased, and the aurors were often scrambling to try and keep up. And despite the horcruxes being gone, Voldemort was still an extremely formidable opponent. The last time around, he hadn't even needed his horcruxes until 1981.
In November of fifth year, however, they finally completed the last step in the process to become animagi, and found themselves prowling through the forbidden forest.
Harry circled overhead in his hawk form, his eyes able to see clearly even in the dark of night, and occasionally landed on one branch or another while observing. James and Sirius were playing around like pups outside for the first time, getting used to their bodies.
Suddenly, they got the idea of going for a race, and Harry barely had time to screech at them before they left the much smaller Petra behind, unable to keep up. He angrily lifted off his branch, at first wanting to follow, however Petra's squeak reached his ears and he turned around, instead diving down and carefully grabbing her in his talons.
She squeaked once more, but quickly stopped struggling in his claws. If Harry had been able to, he'd have laughed at the way she managed to voice her disagreement and resignation to the situation when all she could do to communicate was modulate her squeaks.
Using his exceptional senses, Harry managed to follow the other Marauders and catch up to them, letting out several angry screeches. Eventually, they got the message and stopped fooling around, and he landed close to them, making sure to put Petra on the ground without harming her.
Harry was the first to return to his human form.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Don't leave Petra behind like that!"
Sirius shifted back. "But you were with her. And besides, she's here now."
"And did you think of that?" Harry asked, moments before he was assaulted by a now-human Petra that started pounding his chest with her fists.
She was still just as small as she had been, even compared to Harry, who wasn't that tall. He put his hands in front of himself to defend himself.
"Don't – ever – do – that – again." Every word was punctuated by a fist.
Then, Petra suddenly pulled him into an embrace, and he awkwardly put his hands around her.
"And thanks for not leaving me alone."
Harry hugged her close and gave Sirius – and James, who had also transformed back – another glare. "The only reason Petra is here is because I picked her up and carried her here. While she's afraid of heights, if you remember."
Finally, the two had the grace to look ashamed.
Petra was shaking like a leaf in Harry's arms.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"I will be," she said.
"Perhaps you two need to apologize," Harry told the other Marauders.
Petra hadn't become Wormtail this time around. Harry had sensed her unease when James suggested the name and gotten her to voice it, and eventually Harry had suggested Sweet Tooth, referencing her sweet disposition and the teeth of her animal form, while Harry had received the name Watcher.
It was a week after their first time running with Remus that an uncharacteristically timid and nervous Petra approached Harry late in the evening in the almost deserted common room.
"Harry… I…" she stuttered.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Is everything alright?"
"I, um, I wanted to ask… well. Do you maybe want to be…" she trailed off again, but Harry was starting to get suspicious.
However, that didn't mean he had a clue how to handle the situation.
After considering several courses of action in the awkward silence, he stood from his chair and stepped up to the girl. She was so very cute, even more now that she was looking this nervous, a trepid air around her that was reminiscent of her animagus form.
"I think I know what you want to ask," Harry said.
She turned a bright scarlet, seemingly losing all ability to speak.
"So?" she eventually squeaked out.
Harry put his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. "Yes, I'd love to be your boyfriend."
She squealed in joy and hugged him as tight as she could, and Harry found himself chuckling at her excitement even as he kissed the crown of her head.
He sat back down on his chair, Petra in his lap. His girlfriend. His so very cute and lovely girlfriend.
And how the fuck had that happened? How had he come to love the girl who, in another life, had betrayed his parents – and, through it, him – so much that he didn't even have to think when she nervously approached him?
They went to bed very late that night, unwilling to let go of one another's presence. It was mostly cuddling, really, not what Harry thought of when he imagined a relationship – even with Ginny, which he'd very much considered a real thing, there had been much more kissing than this evening with Petra. They'd only exchanged one or two chaste kisses on the mouth. But the hugs were just amazing.
It had taken James and Sirius some getting used to Harry and Petra being a couple, as they were very much used to treating them as friends and, implicitly, not relationship material.
Another surprise in the field of relationships wasn't all that far behind. With both Harry and Remus being on good terms with Lily, it had become more natural for her to interact with the Marauders. And sure, Harry had known that had happened the last time around, and he had seen it happen, had enjoyed her occasionally sitting with them and talking to them.
It had been enough of a surprise that she was on speaking terms with James and Sirius at this point in time – still before Snape's worst memory from Harry's old life. Even Petra had made up with Lily, on Harry's request.
But Harry was completely flabbergasted when, one morning in March, he entered the common room to ready himself for breakfast and found his parents from another life – they didn't feel like his parents anymore, not like Charlus and Dorea did – sharing a couch and snogging.
When Harry cleared his throat, he got two very guilty looks.
"So when did this happen?" he asked. "I thought you didn't like James?"
"He's gotten better," Lily said defensively. "And he promised he'd stop with mean pranks."
"Well, I'm glad for you two," Harry said.
"You don't mind?" Lily asked. "I was a bit worried that, well… we've been on good terms for much longer than me and James, and you are twins."
Harry blinked in confusion. "You know I'm together with Petra, right?"
"I guess," Lily said. "I was still a little worried though. I'm not sure if James ever even looked at another girl than me." She laughed.
"I'm not sure about that either," Harry admitted. He looked around. The common room was relatively quiet. "But perhaps there's something you should know if you're going to be together with James anyway. The other guys and Petra already know this, but despite what we've told people, I'm not actually James's twin."
"You're not?" Lily asked, surprised. "Then again, I did wonder why you two had different eyes. But still, you're so alike. You are related, right?"
"I can't say," Harry said. "It's very secret. Only mom and dad – that is, Charlus and Dorea – know. Not even James knows who my real parents are. But I figured you should at least know that this secret exists."
She nodded. "So only the others from your group know?"
"Dumbledore also knows," Harry said. "Unlike mom and dad, he doesn't know the truth."
"But you know it?"
"I do, yes. I only met mom, dad and James a few months before we went to Hogwarts."
"I won't tell anyone," Lily promised.
Charlus and Dorea had been retired, but after learning of the looming threat of Voldemort, they had picked up their auror training again, complementing it with techniques not usually taught. Now, with the war gaining steam, it allowed them to be very effective fighters – likely far more effective than they had been the last time around, Harry figured.
A week after James and Lily got together, the latter had a rather explosive confrontation with Snape, over it, ending with her breaking off all contact and Snape having to get rid of several embarrassing jinxes and hexes. Privately, Harry felt both satisfied and vindicated.
Little else of note happened in fifth year. Harry and Petra enjoyed time together, James and Lily enjoyed time together, sometimes they spent their day with all six of them. As four of them were also among the best students in their year, cramming for OWLs felt like a breeze.
When Harry and James arrived home for the summer, Charlus and Dorea surprised them with the news that several important death eaters had been caught. Apparently, Harry sharing the names of men and women he knew to be death eaters in his time had had more effect than he'd expected, and the Ministry under Bagnold was, to his surprise, taking a tougher stance than Scrimgeour had managed during Harry's sixth year.
It wasn't great, but Charlus said that he believed they would win the war eventually, while Harry knew that the last time around, Voldemort had had the upper hand.
One thing that happened like last time around was Sirius running away from home. Harry had forgotten all about that bit of history, so he was just as surprised as the others when the teenager arrived at Potter Manor.
However, that gave them even more excuses to invite over Remus, Petra and Lily, spending much of the summer together.
Harry had even gotten to see his girlfriend naked, though he would deny that to everyone, mostly because she'd feel embarrassed if people knew about what they got up to together.
And she had, rather surprisingly, proposed to play chase in their animagus forms, though he hadn't received permission to lift her off the ground. It was a side of Petra that he hadn't expected, but he enjoyed it anyway.
"You did what?" Lily demanded.
James shuffled awkwardly. "We, uh, became animagi."
"Do you realize how dangerous that is?"
"We did our research," James said defensively. "We took three years for it, Sirius and I figured everything out, and then Remus, Harry and Petra looked at everything we'd done and made sure everything was correct."
Harry patiently waited in the background while Lily continued berating James, though he could see – and James likely could, too – that she was doing it mostly because she felt she should.
Eventually, the big question was asked.
"So what are your forms?"
"I'm a stag," James said. "Sirius is a big, black dog."
"And I'm a hawk," Harry added. "Petra is a rat, and I believe you already know why Remus can't become an animagus." He thought for a moment. "Do you want to become an animagus too?"
"Huh," James said, finding his voice before Lily could. "I hadn't even thought of that. Do you? We can help you with the process, we know how it works. You'll be an animagus in no time!"
"I guess I can look into it, at least," Lily said. She pointed her finger at James. "I'm not letting you bully me into it though. If I decide I don't want to take the risk, you're not going to push me."
James gave a mock bow. "As you wish, m'lady."
"You are incorrigible," Lily berated before giving him a kiss.
"I'm a lion!" Lily told them enthusiastically, a few months into their sixth year.
"Wow!" Sirius said. "I'll be honest, I'm a little jealous."
"That's my Lily-flower," James said. "A true Gryffindor, noble and powerful."
"And don't you forget it," she said smugly.
The only one who didn't look happy, Harry realized, was Petra.
"Are you okay, Sweet Tooth?"
She hesitated, then stood and pulled Harry along, out of the common room and into a nearby empty classroom.
"It's not fair!" she exclaimed as soon as Harry closed the door. "You get to be stags and hawks and even a lion, and I'm a stupid little rat!" She kicked some rubble halfway through the room.
Harry stepped up to her and grabbed her in an embrace. "No, you're not. You're my cute, adorable, rat, and I wouldn't trade you for the world." He bent down to kiss her, and after a few seconds, she melted into it, letting him show his love for her.
"It's just unfair," she moaned after they parted. "I feel like, like… the spare! James is always the popular twin – I know, you're not really twins, but you do feel like that – and he gets the beautiful, smart girl, who even gets to be a lion animagus and here I am, small, with a chest like a washboard and a rat animagus form, the back-up for the less popular twin."
Harry felt a little wrong-footed, but held her close into an embrace, allowing her to let it all out.
"I shouldn't have said that," she said. "I make it sound like you're a worse version than James."
"Do you regret asking me to be your boyfriend instead of James?" Harry asked as he led her to a chair. He was pretty confident what the answer was going to be – and if he were honest to himself, he would've been afraid to ask the question otherwise.
"No," Petra replied immediately, vehemently. "You're amazing. I like James, but not in the way I like you."
Harry sat down and pulled her onto his lap, his arms around her.
"We got together before James and Lily did," he reminded her. "Petra, I wouldn't have said yes if I had wanted another girl. And Lily… don't get me wrong, I like her, but only as a friend. Never anything else."
She put her head in his neck.
"And look at it from the other side," Harry continued. "Lily will scare the shit out of anyone who sees her. They might even attack her, or call the authorities. She also can't really hide. You, meanwhile, can go almost anywhere without being noticed, and even if they do see you, at worst they might try to kick you, but you're smart enough to stay out of range.
"Besides, if you were a lion I wouldn't be able to chase you. As for your height, I wouldn't have it any other way, pipsqueak."
"I'm not even five feet," she complained.
"And you're my four feet something ball of fluff." Harry turned her head so she was facing him. "Stop putting yourself down. I like you just the way you are. If you were five feet ten, or a tiger animagus, or fill in whatever you're thinking of, you wouldn't be you. I don't want that. I want you."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he kissed her once more, his hands rubbing her back.
After their kiss, he pulled her close, shushing her when she tried to speak. Part of him was considering telling her about the future, that if he could love her despite what she'd done the previous time around, nothing she'd do this time would be a problem for him.
But another part of him thought that wasn't the way to go. She was clearly feeling rather insecure right now, and hearing that a different version of her had betrayed her friends could cause a lot of unforeseen issues.
So instead, he showed his love through the physical contact they had. And he'd probably ask Lily to keep tabs on Petra, she could use another friend to share her insecurities with, and Harry didn't doubt Lily was willing to help. It was a good thing the two had made up after their rocky first few years.
That summer, Harry and James came home to surprising news – Charlus had, with some associates, figured out where Voldemort was hiding, still using Harry's information, and they were planning a surprise attack with Charlus, Dorea, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody and several other competent fighters.
Harry felt certain that this hadn't happened the previous time around – he'd have known about that – and his hope was rewarded two weeks later. The attack had been successful, and with only two casualties, neither of them people Harry was familiar with, Voldemort had been defeated. For good.
"It feels weird," Harry said, when he had a private conversation with the man and woman he'd come to see as his parents. "Voldemort has been defeated, and I didn't even do anything for it. I always felt like it was my responsibility, I guess. Even before I learned of that prophecy."
Charlus gave him a reassuring slap on the shoulder. "This is what life is like when there's adults to take care of your issues, Harry. I'm glad we've been able to be here for you. And your knowledge has been invaluable for the war effort. It could've gotten much, much worse otherwise."
A while later, Dorea asked the other pressing question.
"With Voldemort gone, will you tell your friends about your time travel now?"
"I'll do so at some point," Harry said. "But with, you know, what happened with Petra the first time around. Well, I definitely want to tell her first, and then I'll ask her if she's okay with everyone hearing the full story or not. That should be her choice, I think."
Charlus smiled. "You're really committed to her, aren't you?"
Harry nodded. "I love her. Even if part of me thinks I'm maybe too young to know what that is at age seventeen."
"But are you really seventeen?" Charlus asked.
Harry paused.
"I… didn't even think about that. I definitely don't feel like… twenty-four, I think?" He shuddered. "That sounds so old. I'm a Hogwarts student, not an adult who's been working for several years. Honestly, I haven't thought about that in a very long time."
It turned out Harry found it more difficult than he'd thought to tell Petra about the alternate future. In the end, he decided to keep it to himself a while longer, and wait until they were in the familiar location of Hogwarts, where they both felt at home, before he took her aside and led her to the Room of Requirement.
He'd shown the Room to the Marauders in fifth year, claiming he'd just discovered it, so unlike last time they had incorporated it in the Map. Of which a backup copy existed, on Harry's suggestion. Lily had been added and credited as the sixth creator – on the condition the rude jokes were removed – under the name of Fluffy, which had certainly given Harry a laugh.
The Room opened to a cozy, comfortable living room and Harry sat down on the couch, pulling Petra on his lap.
"So what's going on with the secrecy?" Petra asked.
Harry put his arms around her. "You know that I'm not James's twin, right?"
"Yeah."
"I thought it was about time I told you where I do come from."
"I guess James already knows?"
"He doesn't," Harry said. "I decided that it'd be best that I'd tell you first, and then we'd see how we go about telling the others."
"Why?"
"You'll see," Harry said, pulling her closer. "Before I get started though, I want you to know that I love you, Sweet Tooth, and nothing about what I'm going to tell you changes that. You're my little pipsqueak and I'm not letting you go."
She blushed, but then sobered up. "Do you think I might want to, after what you tell me?" she asked hesitantly.
"I'm worried you're going to try to convince yourself that you don't deserve me," Harry said. "And I'm not letting that happen."
"Okay," she said uncertainly.
"So, first the biggest reveal. Why do I look so similar to James, if I'm not his twin? It's because I'm a time traveler. I'm not James's brother, I'm his son."
She gasped. "How? And… isn't that weird with, I mean, wouldn't you know me and Remus and Sirius as older people then?"
"Kind of, but some things also changed," Harry said. "You might've guessed this already, but Lily is my mother, as you can see from the eyes. You know how Voldemort was defeated this summer?"
She nodded.
"That was, in part, thanks to the knowledge I had from the future. I had fought him all throughout school, but eventually there was no choice but for me to travel back in time and try to defeat him before he got started. Something that we still don't understand happened, and it made me look like an eleven year old when I was supposed to be eighteen.
"To be honest, I actually feel like I'm seventeen right now – the age I look, not the age I'm supposed to have. It's probably because I've been around you all for such a long time."
She giggled. "You were always the more mature one."
Harry snorted. "You don't know half of it. I've been conspiring with Lily since second year to keep the prank war with Snape within bounds. I'd only really seen Snape's side of the story last time around, and with how much of a prick he is that isn't exactly an unbiased view, but it was bad. James and Lily also didn't get together until seventh year, the first time around.
"Anyway, Voldemort. His war got a lot worse the first time around, and he was actually winning it. The Marauders joined Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix straight out of Hogwarts, and in 1980, James and Lily had me.
"Before I continue, I want to stress, Petra, that you are not the person you were last time around, and you shouldn't feel guilty for things you never did."
"What did I do?" she asked with a mixture of curiosity, trepidation and fear.
"The other you," Harry stressed," betrayed James and Lily – and me – to Voldemort." Harry wanted to continue talking, but Petra gasped and tried to pull away from him.
Instead, however, Harry kept his arms around her and drew her closer, kissing her wherever he could.
"I don't hold you responsible in any way, Sweet Tooth," he soothed her. "You're my little pipsqueak and nothing you can do will change that. I love you far too much to push you away for something you could have done, but never did."
She was sobbing into his neck, her head buried into her favorite spot. "But why?" she asked. "Why did I do that?"
"You didn't," Harry repeated. "Another version of you did, but that's not the same thing. I've wondered about it myself, obviously. I've also talked about it with Charlus and Dorea, and we think it was because of various factors working together. You always kind of followed James and Sirius, but without me, there was no one to make sure you were having fun and didn't feel lost. Think of when we went flying, or when you felt bad about your animagus form.
"Then there's you and Lily. I don't know how your relationship was last time around, but I had to push you both for you to really make up. And lastly… mom and dad couldn't really say anything for sure about this, but I've been thinking that perhaps, you had a crush on James instead, and that he took it as a joke. I imagine that could've made you feel incredibly bad."
Harry met Petra's eyes, wet with tears, and her lip was wobbling slightly.
He rubbed her back. "I love you, Sweet Tooth."
"What's… what's really scary," she confessed slowly, like she had to force out every word, "is that I can see it. I can…" she broke down in tears, and Harry hugged her close once more, placing her head on his shoulder.
"Shh, it's alright, pipsqueak. It didn't happen. You're friends with me, with the boys, with Lily, and Voldemort is gone. And you're the loveliest girl I've ever met, before or after the time travel."
Harry let her cry her heart out while holding her, reminding her both nonverbally and, on occasion, verbally that he loved her.
Eventually, the tears dried up and Petra composed herself. "What… was I like? Was I still around?"
"Nothing like how I know you now," Harry said. "You're a completely different person. The old Petra that I remember from before the time travel was jealous and hostile. You're neither. You're loving, passionate, excitable and, I will admit, at times adorably nervous."
"I'm sorry."
"No," Harry said. "You're not apologizing for that. It's those moments of vulnerability that I love the most about you. One of my favorite memories, and I didn't even have a crush on you at the time, is when we flew together. That wouldn't have happened otherwise, would it? And what about Sweet Tooth? The chases?"
They tightened their embrace, but soon after came the obvious next question.
"What happened?"
"Voldemort killed my parents, but didn't manage to kill me," Harry said. "That's what my scar comes from. Lily did something that protected me from his curse. Sirius tried to chase the other you down – let's call her Wormtail – but she framed him for the betrayal, and he was sent to Azkaban.
"Wormtail had faked her own death in the process and went to live with a wizarding family, posing as a pet rat. When I was at Hogwarts, Sirius escaped and started to hunt her. Eventually, the tale came out, but she managed to escape and we had no proof. Wormtail then went and found Voldemort, who was still alive in a weak form, and brought him back. Over time, the second war got worse and worse, and even though we killed Voldemort eventually, the price was just too high. That's why we figured out a way to send me back in time."
Harry nuzzled her neck and cheeks. What a lovely girlfriend he had.
"And I'm glad that I went back this far, and not just to my first year at Hogwarts or something, because then I'd never have found you."
"How can you want to be with me?"
Harry thought about that. But in their chat, he realized he'd found the answer he hadn't previously been able to vocalize to Charlus and Dorea, or even himself. "Because you're not Wormtail. You're Sweet Tooth."
"What now?" Sweet Tooth asked.
"Now, I'm going to ask you whether or not you want the others to know about Wormtail's role in events. I want to tell them where I'm from, but we could lie and say that Wormtail died in the war. We also don't have to tell them immediately, we can prepare for a while. I've been preparing to tell you for two months, too, before I finally got around to it."
"I think I want the others to know," Sweet Tooth said. "But not yet. Give it a few weeks, as you said."
"Then that's what we'll do," Harry decided. "And during those weeks, I'm not letting you out of my sight, just so that you know. I love you, Sweet Tooth."
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