For a moment, Harry was too surprised by the older wizard's words to react. Then, after a moment of staring at the Headmaster, he realised the meaning of what Albus had said. Dumbledore had finally found the wizard who had sent him back in time. The Unspeakable who could answer all the questions he had and Harry would make sure Chronos answered every single one of them. He didn't care if he had to force him to do so; Harry wanted to know the full extent of what they had done to him.
Harry looked at Minerva, who was not less surprised than him. She opened her mouth to say something but then decided against it. He pulled his arms from around her waist, and they both looked back to Albus.
"Where?" Harry asked as he and Minerva started walking towards their friend at the same time. The six students, who still stood in the corner and didn't understand anything that was going on, almost forgotten.
"Headquarters," was the short reply of the older wizard, who didn't want to go more into detail with the students still present.
"What the hell is going on?" asked James, confused.
"That would be none of your business! Now go, we'll talk about the mistletoe thing after the break!" Harry quickly said as the three Professors left the classroom and left the Marauders plus Lily and Marlene behind.
"Did I just have a stroke, or what the hell did just happen?" Marlene asked her friends.
"You didn't, but that was weird." Lily agreed with her best friend.
"Yes, old Dumbledore said something about Headquarters. What Headquarters?" Sirius asked as the six of them left the classroom and went back to their Common Room. Once the Christmas break was over, they would ask Harry what this had been about and why their Professor's had a Headquarters.
"How did you find him?" Harry asked as the three hurried through the corridors up to Albus' office.
"I have to admit that Chronos proved to be difficult to catch, he avoided almost everyone I sent after him, but it turned out that once again, a wizard's ignorance was his downfall. For I asked a house-elf if he would be willing to try and find, and when possible, catch Chronos. I don't have to add that he came back with an unconscious Chronos not even twenty-four hours later." Dumbledore explained to the two.
"A house-elf?" Minerva asked surprised, she knew that house-elves possessed a powerful kind of magic, but she had never heard of one using their power to spy or catch wizards. Harry understood her surprise; if he hadn't asked the same thing of Dobby and Kreacher years ago, he would've probably been as surprised as her.
"Yes, my dear, very few wizards remember that there are almost no wards that can keep house-elves out. Even here at Hogwarts, house-elves can move around, as well as in and out of the castle, freely with their own variation of Apparition," Albus told them. With a wave of his hand, the Gargoyle guarding his office moved aside so they could quickly climb the staircase to his office.
"Has he already told you anything?" Harry asked as the doors closed behind him. But Albus shook his head.
"No, I thought you deserved to be the one to question him. After all, they meddled with your life and sent you back here," the older wizard answered, and Harry gave him a short nod, acknowledging that Dumbledore had thought of him and how important this was for Harry.
"I don't want to leave any evidence behind with which the Ministry or Voldemort might be able to trace our Headquarters. So Fawkes will take us there," he told them, and Harry and Minerva shared an equally sceptic glance. Both had seen Dumbledore travel with Fawkes before, disappearing in a whirl of flames, and weren't sure if they wanted to experience that form of travelling.
"Now, now, it's quite fun, trust me!" Albus said with a smile, which did not ease their minds in the slightest. They knew the old man well enough and his sense of 'fun things. It was indeed the fastest way to the Headquarters.
"Fawkes!" Dumbledore called, and only a moment later, the Phoenix came flying towards them. "Hold on to his talons!" he added, and the moment Minerva and Harry had gently grabbed the scaly feet of the firebird, they already vanished in raising flames. If possible, it was even worse than apparating. Not only did it feel like being forced through a tiny rubber tube, but it also felt like being flung around in all directions in said rubber tube while being surrounded by hot, but not burning, flames.
At least it only lasted as long as apparating did. After a few seconds, it was already over, and they appeared in the entrance hall of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. As they couldn't use Grimmauld Place Number 12 since Orion and Walburga Black, as well as Regulus, still lived there, they used the old home of the Dumbledore family a little offside the small village of Mould-on-the-Wold. Much like back when Sirius had been forced to live in Grimmauld Place, Harry knew that it couldn't be easy for Albus to be in the house, which held such wonderful and terrible memories alike.
Upon their arrival, both Minerva and Harry had trouble staying on their feet and keeping their food down. Albus, already accustomed to it, stood next to them like nothing happened.
"Remarkably," Albus said as he watched them stagger next to him, "I vomited across the desk of freshly elected Minister for Magic, Hector Fawley when I first travelled with Fawkes. Since he was a terrible Minister, I can't say I have regretted it that much."
"Wonderful story Albus," Minerva said as she shook her head a little to get rid of the feeling of pressure against her head, "but I think we have more urgent matters on our hands than you vomiting over desks," she added.
"Of course, follow me," he said, and they did as they were told, following him through a door to their left, which turned out to lead to the basement. Neither Harry nor Minerva had, of course, ever been there, as Order Meetings were held in the dining room. At the bottom of the stairs was a heavy-looking door; Albus drew his wand and murmured something, to which the door swung open. Inside was a room that had probably been used as a potions room, as many of the ingredients and potions themselves didn't take well to sunlight.
Now, however, the room was empty apart from a big wooden chair, on which Albert Chronos sat, unconscious, but still bound to the chair to make sure he couldn't flee, should he regain his consciousness earlier than they wanted him to. Hot anger flared up in Harry's whole body upon seeing the older wizard again.
Harry slowly walked towards the bound man, and his fists clenched in rage, he took his wand from its holster and used the tip of his wand to tilt Chronos' head back. "Rennervate," he mumbled after he pulled his wand back a little, and the red light struck Chronos in the chest, and only a second later, his eyes flew open.
"Nice to see you again, Albert," it took the Unspeakable a moment until he understood who was standing in front of him and that his hands and feet were bound to a chair.
"Fuck." was all the man said before closing his eyes again.
"That sums it up pretty good, I've wanted to talk to you again for quite a while now, but you were rather indisposed. I hope you don't mind we invited you for a little chat." Harry said and coldly, while Chronos sighed before he opened his eyes again.
"How did you manage to catch me? I thought I was doing a rather good job at staying hidden." the man asked, and Harry conjured up a chair for himself, taking a seat in front of Chronos, who only saw Albus and Minerva standing a few feet behind Harry when said wizard had sat down.
"You were actually caught by a house-elf, if that's comforting you," Harry told him, and Chronos looked like any wizard would when told they had been caught by a creature most only thought of as harmless servants.
"A house-elf?" Chronos asked, and Harry nodded. "Ha, of course, clever, that I have to grant you. That wasn't something I expected."
"Enough of the small talk. Why did you flee when Dumbledore visited you in the Department of Mysteries?"
"After you knocked me out, I wasn't so keen on meeting you again, if I'm brutally honest, sorry to hurt your feelings." the next second, Chronos groaned in pain as Harry had punched him in the face.
"What did you think I would do after what you told me? Do a happy dance? You two bastards sent me back in time without my consent, simply because both of you had a god-complex and thought you could mess with time!" Harry hissed at him angrily while he flexed his fingers.
"Alright, what do you want to know?" Albert asked, moving his jaw back and forth.
"Two months ago, on October 31st, I was almost pulled back into my old time. It was like I was stuck between times, I could see my future self, but my body was still in this time. How did that happen, and can it happen again?" Harry asked, and Chronos sat up as straight as he could.
"Really? That's interesting. What did you do?" he asked, and Harry couldn't deny that he would like to punch him again. That man was unbelievable! The only thing he cared about, even now, was his stupid experiment.
"I touched someone who already existed in his time," Harry growled.
"Ah yes, that makes sense. Good that you didn't touch your other self, or you would have been pulled back into your old time, and it would have all been for nothing." Chronos began. "I doubt it will happen again, though. I think it was because Severin and I happened to try and improve our discovery that very night. Well, that being said, it might be happening again."
"Wait a minute...you two crazy bastards continued to experiment? But how could you do that? That bloody door was destroyed when I got here."
"We've found a way to communicate before the 'door' existed, Harry. Of course, we continued; you were our biggest success so far, but what worked once could work again! We had to try to achieve that!"
"You have absolutely lost your mind! Do you have any idea what you're putting the person through that has to travel in time!? Of course, you don't because I'm the only one who has ever done it!" Harry shouted furiously and grabbed Chronos by the collar of his robe.
"But you didn't have to be the last one, Harry! You know that before this, when wizards travelled further back in time than a couple of hours, the whole time got messed up! But it seems like nothing of that sorts has happened so far! Your old timeline is still intact. Don't you know how amazing this is? We might have found a functioning and safe way to travel through time! Don't you realise that?"
"But you don't know! You don't know what might happen if I start changing things! Because I can't even fucking sleep without thinking that it might change the damn future too much and causes our whole world to blow up!" Harry screamed at him.
"Can you tell me what I can change and what not? Do you know what it is like to talk to people who you know are going to die? They are human beings with stories and hopes and dreams! And I know that in a month or year or four, they are going to be murdered! That they will die in fear and begging for their life. Do you want to know what it's like to know that maybe I could save them, but in return, hundreds of others could die? It's fucking torture!" hatred, rage and despair pulsed through Harry's veins in waves, and he felt his magic whirling around him, saw how the light above their heads began to flicker.
"Harry," Minerva's voice was faint and sounded far away, even though he could feel her hand on his arm a second later. Her touch and comforting presence were enough to calm Harry down again; he sat back and released his grip on Chronos.
"I'm sorry-" he began, but Minerva interrupted him.
"Don't be, I just don't want you to do something you might regret later," she replied and continued to stay close to him while Harry turned back to the Unspeakable.
"Yes, you're right. I can't tell you whom you can save or not. I can tell you that history has to repeat itself somewhat similar, if you had the possibility to murder You-Know-Who next week, I can tell you that it will backfire. But if you change the way things go here and there, there could be a better outcome in the end." Chronos said astonishingly calm, despite the fact that one of the most powerful wizards alive sat in front of him, who was also dangerously close to losing his temper, which would ultimately result in Chronos getting hurt.
"Or we could all die in the end," Harry said bitterly.
"That's also a possibility...but at least you have a choice. You could also lean back and let everything happen the same way, grab some gold and leave the country. It's entirely your choice Harry."
"Great... that's fucking great…" Harry murmured and buried his face inside his hands. Minerva's hand squeezed his shoulders, and Harry couldn't tell her how much her mere presence meant to him. The slight touch was enough to keep him calm and gave him so much strength, which he really needed right now, or he couldn't guarantee anything.
"There is also one other possibility," Chronos began, looking at his hands rather than at the people in front of him.
"Really? That would be?" Harry asked, with no emotion in his voice. What other possibility was there? He certainly couldn't come up with one.
"You could go back to your own time," Albert said seriously, and Harry frowned at him. What? How could he go back?
"You told me that was impossible when I arrived," Harry said, fixing the wizard in front of him with a glare.
"I did. But I lied to you." Harry's fists clenched once more.
"What do you mean? Tell me the fucking truth. Now." he wasn't screaming anymore. His voice was low but cold and still full of anger. Minerva thought that Harry sounded way more dangerous than when he shouted, and for the first time, she felt that there might be another wizard Voldemort had to fear besides Albus.
"We knew you wouldn't stay here for one minute if you knew there was a way back. But we just had to know if our experiment was working, we had to! So when you arrived, I stunned you and hid the door through which you came. It wasn't destroyed; what you saw was just a normal door I blasted apart." Chronos confessed, and for a while, nobody said a word. Harry couldn't wrap his head around the fact how someone could be this way.
"Where is it?" Harry asked after a few minutes of silence.
"At my home, hidden in a secret room only I can open. In fact, Severin and I planned to meet today, he wanted to come through the portal today."
"When?"
"What time is it?"
"Almost five o'clock," Minerva answered him, and the Unspeakable nodded slowly.
"He planned to arrive at five," Chronos told them, and Harry turned back to look at Albus, who, to his surprise, hasn't said anything yet and had watched the scene unfold before him rather coldly. But he was equally shocked by what Chronos and Severin had done as the other two.
"Can Fawkes take us there?" Harry asked him, and Dumbledore nodded.
"Of course. Fawkes!" Albus called, and a second later, the bird arrived in a burst of flames. Harry stood and pushed his chair away before looking at Minerva, but before he could even say one word, she had already drawn her wand and pointed it at Chronos.
"Don't you dare to move one muscle, I'd be thrilled to curse you right now," Minerva hissed at Chronos while Harry, also on guard should Albert be stupid enough to try something now, released the other wizard's hands from the chair, only to tie them up again a moment later.
"Let's go, and if you want to live, you better shut up and don't say another word," Harry warned Chronos when he heaved him out of the chair and dragged him towards Albus because the wizard was about to open his mouth to ask about the Phoenix. Since the Headmaster knew where Chronos lived, they didn't need the information from the Unspeakable.
The second time was not at all better or more pleasant than the first time. Chronos even puked all over the floor of the hallway they had arrived in, and if Harry wasn't entirely mistaken, Dumbledore looked strangely bemused by that. Minerva let the vomit disappear with a disgusted look on her face and a flick of her wand.
"What the hell was that?" Chronos gasped, a mix between shock and surprise on his face.
"Phoenix apparition," Harry answered brusquely. "Where is the door?" he immediately asked back.
"Upstairs, it's hidden behind the wall of the study... I'll take you there." Harry raised his wand once more and pointed it at Chronos while the man leads them up the stairs and into a room to their left. Harry walked close behind him while Minerva and Dumbledore followed them. Once inside the study, Chronos walked over to the wall to their right and pressed his right hand against the wall-panelling. Upon his touch, two yards of the wall seemed to be melting away and revealed the door behind it.
"Are there any other wards around it?" Harry asked and watched Chronos intently, looking out for the slightest indication that he was lying or not telling them everything. But it seemed like Chronos finally realised that it was wiser to tell them the truth now.
"No, that was about it, nobody knew, so there was no reason for me to put any other wards around it," Chronos said, and in the next second, he already laid on the ground unconscious. Harry continued to stare at the wizard by his feet, and he had never felt this kind of hatred towards a person who was not a Death Eater. Chronos and Severin had not only used him as their guinea pig, but they had also continued with their experiment regardless of the chaos they caused, all the lives they jeopardised. How could they possibly know that the consequences of their actions were not of a catastrophic degree?
"Harry?" he didn't hear Minerva call his name at first and only startled out of his stupor when she laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I was just-" Harry didn't finish the sentence, "What did you say?" he asked her instead, and when he looked at her, he could see the worry in her eyes.
"What is your plan once Severin gets here? If he gets here." the dark-haired witch said, her hand sliding down his arm to his hand, and Harry took her smaller, softer hand in his.
"Once he gets here, we will remove their memories and destroy the doors," he told her calmly. Minerva stared at him and opened her mouth to say something when suddenly, agonising pain erupted through his head. Harry pressed his hands to his head and panted, almost falling to his knees, if not for Minerva supporting him. He was sure his head was going to explode.
"Harry! Harry, what's wrong?" she asked, worry and fear mixed in her voice, and she looked at Dumbledore, who had drawn his wand, thinking that maybe Chronos had lied and there had been another protection around the door. But before he could even take one step towards them, the door opened with a deafening 'Bang' a blinding bright light filled the room, so Minerva and Albus also had to squeeze their eyes shut and turn away from the door.
Only a few moments later, it was over, and without the light, it almost looked like it was night. When the light was gone, so was the excruciating pain in Harry's head. All three of them looked to their right to see a wizard lying unconscious by the door. Harry knew immediately that it was Severin, even though his eyesight was still a bit blurred.
He began to stir, but with a wave of Albus' wand, he slipped back into unconsciousness.
"Harry, are you alright?" Minerva asked instantly when she turned her attention back on Harry, who straightened his back and rubbed his head in which the pain was slowly dying away.
"Yeah, I'm fine...though I won't complain if I never have to feel that again," he murmured and blinked a couple of times to get rid of the blur. Now they had the two Unspeakables at their mercy. Like Albus had read his mind, he conjured up two chairs and proceeded to tie the two one them.
"Thanks, Albus," Harry said as he stared at the two wizards.
"Harry, what did you mean earlier?" Minerva asked and gently made him look at her.
"Exactly what I told you. I'll ask them how to destroy the door and this connection to the past, then we're going to send Severin back after altering his memory. Then we'll destroy them and alter Chronos memory as well." Harry explained to her, and to his surprise, he saw tears shimmering in her eyes, but before he could ask her what was wrong, she already began to speak.
"Harry... don't you realise that you could go back?" she asked him, and for a moment, Harry was a bit dumbstruck by her words. Go back? But of course. He glanced at the door behind Minerva, but immediately his eyes were drawn to the woman he loved. No, he could not go back.
"Minerva, I'm not going back I-" Harry began, but she interrupted him.
"No, please think about it, seriously think about it. They made you think you had to do this, that there was no other way, but there is! You could have your old life back, Harry, everything would be the same! No war, no Voldemort. You'd have your friends back, your family, and you wouldn't be forced to watch people die in the wars that will come. You could have back the peace you so deserved after everything you have been through," Minerva said, cupping his face in her warm hands as the tears ran down her cheeks. She was willing to give this all up, give them up, her own happiness, for him. And Harry could see how much it pained her to say this.
"You're wrong. Nothing would be the same. I wouldn't be the same. Not without you, I only found you now, and I'm not willing to give this up for a simpler life without you, Minerva. I would be back there and not only think about you day and night but also about everyone I could've saved if only I had been braver. I know I would, that's just who I am, it's my saving people thing. It only stopped after the war because I had no choice, but now I do. I have the chance, this single chance to do things differently, and if I'm only able to save some- hell if I'm able to save one of the wonderful people I watched die...then I have to try." Harry said and then laid his own hands on her cheeks and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. Before he could continue, though, Minerva spoke up again.
"Harry you...if you destroy the only way back...maybe one day you'll regret it, who knows what's going to happen and I don't think I can watch you go through that, knowing there was a chance you could live in peace, only because I couldn't let you go. You don't have to do this, Harry; you could find somebody else in the future-" now it was Harry interrupting her.
"But I want you. I only want you because, most of all, I don't want to live a single day of my life without you again. I can't. Minerva, I love you more than I ever loved someone before. I can't go back to that lonely life. I'd might have my friends back, but I would be missing a piece of my soul. You're not the reason I am doing this, but you are the sole reason I can do this." and he did not care that Albus was watching or listening, nor did he care that two unconscious wizards sat next to them. Harry leaned down and kissed her.
Minerva kissed him back, and her hands came to lay around his neck while his own wandered down her body to wrap around her and pull her close against him. It was not like they were snogging or that it was a very passionate kiss in the literal sense, but both of them put so many feelings into that one simple kiss, that they knew they would never forget it. They knew how much they meant to each other; for the first, they really understood that there would be nobody else they could ever love this way, and this simple kiss changed their relationship by its core.
When they broke apart, Harry leaned down, so their foreheads were touching. "I love you, only you, and nothing is ever going to change that," Harry murmured.
"I love you too, only you," Minerva whispered back.
After a few moments, the two came down from their moment and looked at Albus, who had teared up himself when he saw this unique kind of love between them.
"I'm sorry, Albus, this turned out more emotional than-" Harry began, but Albus held up his hand to stop him.
"Please, don't ever apologise for your love again, never. You both deserve this so much, and I am really happy for you," he told them, and Minerva quickly wiped away the last traces of her tears.
"Still, I think it might be best if we continue," she said, and the two men nodded. With a last peck to the lips, Harry turned back to Chronos and Severin.
"Rennervate," Chronos quickly woke up again and groaned in annoyance while it took Severin a few more moments to wake up again.
"Why did you have to tie me up again?" Chronos asked, and Harry shook his head slightly.
"Because we were sure as hell don't have reason to trust you one bit. I'd suggest you better start being thankful you're still alive because, for a moment, that was a very tempting possibility."
"W-what happened? Harry?" Severin asked once he came around.
"Hello again, you bastard," Harry said, and for a second, he debated whether or not to give Severin a piece of his mind or actually punch him like Chronos, but then again, he wouldn't remember any of it, so where was the point? He wanted this to be over with now, he never wanted to see either of them again, and he better start before the two could come around and come up with a plan to stop them or anything.
"You still owe me a few answers. So if this door gets destroyed or damaged, will I be forced back to my old time or simply vanish?" since Chronos was more awake than Severin, he answered.
"No, not that we know of...if something like that was to happen, there simply would not be a way back ever again."
"There is no other, I don't know, door that could make this possible? No other way to travel through time? You don't have plans for another one?" Harry continued to ask them, and Chronos shook his head.
"No, no, and no. This is the only way so far; nothing else like it exists. Now would you please untie me again! I told you the truth, and I showed you the door and everything else." Chronos said.
"I'm sorry, but that's something I can't do. Your experiment ends today." Harry told them, and Chronos needed a moment before he understood.
"No! You can't do that!" he screamed and fought against his ties for the first time. "We did it! This is our life work-"
"Your life work almost ruin my life!" Harry screamed back, "Be thankful I don't end your life!" he then raised his wand again and was rarely as determined as he was right now.
"Obliviate," he watched as Chronos face went blank as Harry erased the memory of the door and everything that came with it.
"No! What the hell are you doing, Harry? Did you lose your fucking mind?" Severin shouted, but it was useless. A moment later, Harry lifted his charm and sent Chronos back into unconsciousness with a stunner. A second later, he turned towards Severin. "No, Harry! Something like this will never happen ever again, what Chronos and I did-"
"Is one of the most despicable things I have ever seen. So I will make sure you can never do something like that again. Obliviate," with that also Severin's memory of the door and the time travel was gone, but it didn't end here. While they could see to it that nobody in this timeline found out, they couldn't do so in the future.
"Imperio," Harry said with his wand pointed at Severin. "When you go back, you will destroy all your paperwork or any evidence of your plan to find a way to travel in time. You will make sure nobody attempts to do so in the future." Harry told Severin and planted the idea deep in the mind of the other wizard.
Harry then untied them both. He grabbed Severin and walked towards the door with him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and pushed Severin through. As expected, the excruciating pain was back, even worse than before, and Harry fell to his knees, almost passing out from the pain as the blinding white light filled the room again.
Minerva was by his side again and helped him up once the pain had lessened so much he could at least move again.
"Thanks," Harry mumbled once he stood again, and Minerva gave him a small smile. Then she looked at the door and back at Harry.
"Do you really want to do this, Harry?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yes, it's the only way, Mina," Harry answered and took her hand in his as he stepped back. "If they were wrong and I'm forced from this time or- or die...then I want you to know how much I love you and that I would have loved to spend the rest of my life with you or at least as long as we could with those bloody wars," Harry whispered as he pointed the wand at the door. He could feel Minerva's fingers tightening around his like she could prevent anything of that from happening if only she held onto him.
"Bombarda." the door exploded into shreds, and Harry, Minerva and Albus ducked so they wouldn't get hurt by the bits and pieces flying around. For a moment, they waited, holding their breaths, Minerva looked closely at Harry, but he did not vanish or die screaming in anguish. Nothing happened, though.
More than relieved, Minerva threw herself in Harry's arms, who pulled her as close as possible to him, feeling equally relieved that he apparently really changes timelines. And though he knew there was no going back now, he didn't regret his decision in the slightest.
"Well, I believe something like this won't ever happen again, and that's probably for the better. You did the right thing, Harry, and you have my most utter respect for what you did," Albus said before he let the pieces of the door vanish into nothing with a wave of his wand and the whole study was cleaned up, so once they were gone nothing would indicate there were ever there in the first place. Chronos was also lifted from the chair Harry had conjured up and placed in his chair behind the desk.
"Let's go...I don't want to be in the presence of this man any longer." Harry said with a glare towards Chronos while he laid his arm around Minerva.
"Of course," Dumbledore answered. "Fawkes." one the Phoenix had materialised, Harry and Minerva walked up to them, and the three held onto the bird's feet again. Before they could vanish, though, Dumbledore pointed his wand at Chronos for the last time and woke him up.
Before Chronos had even managed to open his eyes, the three disappeared in whirling flames.
When he did wake up again, Albert felt very strange, and it took him a second to realise he was in his study. 'Huh, I must have fallen asleep again while working', and the world, as well as Albert Chronos himself, would never know what he and a future colleague of his had accomplished.
Hello you wonderful people!
You lot actually made me cry! I never expected that so many of you were still around and enjoying the story! Thank you so, so much! And thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and kind words; they mean so much to me!
As a little thank you for you guys, I neglected my sleep a little to write this new chapter for you. I really hope you liked the chapter, and I'd like to find out what you thought of it!
Again, thank you very much! As always these days, I hope you and your families are all healthy; take care of each other, guys!
Patti
PS Can I just say that, as for this story, that Not With Haste by Mumford and Sons gives me such Harry/Minerva vibes. Hence the title :)