Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 14. 3rd Year, Part 5. 1994.
A month passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Harry continued to spend his weekends in the Room of Requirement and his weekdays in classes and with friends. James was often in the school with a team of Aurors and every common room had an Auror posted to them at all times.
Harry and his friends used the codeword system proposed by James's months before and a new normal set in at Hogwarts.
Harry sat in the great hall for breakfast, surrounded by stares. He tried to ignore the intense looks he got from a sizable portion of the school, but they were starting to get to him.
Daphne sat opposite him on the table and sighed.
'They still haven't gotten over the Basilisk story, I'm sure. I mean, it's the same people staring at you every day.' The blonde girl said, and her eyes bored into a sixth year Ravenclaw girl who was staring at Harry.
'But the sheer number of them is growing. Why are they staring at you, Harry? I'm starting to think some of them are staring at me too.' Holly whispered from her spot beside Harry.
'I don't know. How can Longbottom stand it? He loves the attention. Is this what it's like for him?' Hannah said from beside Daphne.
Daphne batted aside Luna's fork as it went for her eggs. Then she turned her gaze toward Harry.
'This is ridiculous. It's been almost a year since the Basilisk incident, and you have done nothing impossible since then that I'm aware of?' she quirked her eyebrows at Harry, who sighed.
'I don't think I have. But it's now clear that they're all staring at me, except for the ones staring at Holly. I've also seen a few watching Susan. Something fishy is going on here.' Harry declared, and the girls nodded.
He looked over to Neville at the Gryffindor table and the Boy-Who-Lived looked more like a nervous mess every day. Harry shrugged and watched how Neville only spoke to Hermione and Ron. He wondered why he'd drifted away from the other Gryffindors of their year.
Harry shook his head. He figured it was because the others kept bugging him to save the school. Then he watched as Draco sauntered over to loom behind Hermione, the blonde boy stared at Neville and Ron.
Harry was close enough to pick out the conversation, especially as the Hall full of students seemed to hush on Draco's silent command.
'Longbottom, the school is waiting for you to save the day. What are you waiting for? You could at least die trying, right?' Draco sneered.
Neville remained silent, and Ron's face grew red as the two boys glared at Draco. Hermione shifted to the side to glare at Draco as well.
'Ever since coming to Hogwarts, you've been telling everyone how great you are. Well, now is the time to prove it.' Draco announced, and the hall was silent, all staring at the confrontation.
'Malfoy, leave him alone.' Hermione demanded; her brown eyes narrowed at the blonde boy.
Harry blinked as he noticed that not everyone in the Hall was watching the confrontation. Justin Finch-Fletchley and a surprising number of other students' gazes never left Harry's group.
'Granger, this is none of your business. I am just informing a fellow pure-blooded wizard of his duties and his honour.' Draco snapped at Hermione before he turned on the spot and left the three Gryffindors.
Ron stood, his face red with rage, but paused as Neville stood beside him, his hand on his shoulder. With a silent jerk of Neville's head, both Ron, and Hermione followed him out of the hall.
Harry met Neville's gaze for a moment as the other boy left and he looked miserable. Even though Neville wasn't his favourite person, he had to admit that he felt bad for the Boy-Who-Lived.
'I'm surprised that Draco didn't insult Hermione.' Susan muttered and Daphne scoffed, drawing confused looks from the other girls.
'Hermione is Harry's friend, and Draco is cautious of him. The pampered prince doesn't know where Harry stands and that makes him uneasy.' Daphne paused and looked around the group before meeting Harry's gaze, who smiled.
'Draco simply doesn't want to pick too many fights and risk his enemies teaming up together. Right now, Harry doesn't have any common ground with Longbottom, but if Draco attacks Harry or his friends, he could easily get outnumbered.' Daphne finished with a proud smirk at the other girls.
'You're as much of a nerd as Harry.' Holly remarked.
A tinge of pink appeared on Daphne's cheeks.
'Says the Ravenclaw.' Harry chuckled.
'We should probably get to class.' Hannah said, a warm grin on her face.
The next few weeks passed in a flurry of study, training, and worry for Harry.
March came, and the weather warmed. As a result, more and more students went outside to enjoy the sun.
They'd just finished classes for the week, and Harry walked beside Susan back to their common room.
'Hey Susan?' Harry asked, slowing down to increase the distance between him and the other Hufflepuffs returning their bags to the dorms before dinner.
Susan slowed alongside him and cocked her head, curiosity dancing in her chocolate eyes.
'Can you stay with me after dinner?' he asked, earning a raised eyebrow.
'Am I finally going to know where you disappear to on the weekends?' she asked, her lips fighting to not grin at him.
Harry rubbed the back of his head and nodded.
'Sorry it's taken so long.' He admitted, and she beamed at him, she leapt to wrap him in a hug.
'Okay, lets drop off our bags and head down to dinner with Hannah.' Susan grinned, and her eyes sparkled.
After dinner, the two bid Hannah farewell, drawing a smirk from the blonde girl, and both Susan and Harry rolled their eyes at her.
Together, they used their maps to get up to the seventh floor without notice.
'Hey Harry, why aren't we using your invisibility cloak your dad gave you?' Susan asked and Harry paused, pointing at James Potter on the map who was roaming the dungeons.
'Dad is using it; I figure his need for it is a little greater than ours.' Harry replied, and Susan nodded.
Susan looked around the dark corridor, a frown on her face.
'We're almost there.' Harry said with a grin and continued along the corridor before stopping in front of the portrait on Barnabus the Barmy.
Susan gave him an odd look.
'Harry?' she asked, and Harry smirked.
'Do you think you can get back here on your own?' he asked, and she nodded, confusion evident in her eyes.
'Watch closely.' Harry said as he walked back and forth three times and a door appeared in the wall.
Harry opened the door and held it for Susan to enter. She blinked and walked into the room. She stared around the room in surprise and her gaze roamed the muggle exercise machines, the target dummies, and a large desk covered with books.
Harry grinned and pulled a shrunken trunk out of his pocket and placed it on the nearby table.
'This, Susan, is the Room of Requirement. To my knowledge, nobody else knows about this room and I've used it ever since the first weekend of our first year.' Harry announced and Susan stopped her examination of the room and stared at him.
'This is where you run off to every weekend?' she asked.
'Yep, and it gets better. This room can mess with time, so that four hours in here is one hour outside in the real world. I've used this extra time to train and work on my projects.' Harry said and Susan blinked before she gasped.
'That's why you hit your growth spurt early, you're older than us.' She whispered.
Susan stared at him for a moment.
'How much older are you now?' she asked, her voice cold.
Harry shrugged.
'I'm probably somewhere around fifteen, maybe sixteen by now.' He admitted, and she paled.
Her eyes narrowed into slits.
'Is it worth it? Giving up your life, the extra years of solitude?' she asked, her voice as cold as ice.
Harry nodded without hesitation.
'Anything is worth protecting my family.' He declared and her glare softened, and she threw herself at him in a hug.
'Thank you.' She whispered into his chest.
Harry held her in a tight embrace and with a thought, a couch appeared behind them, and he guided them into it. He held her close for a few minutes before pulling away from her with a grin.
'I have something to show you.' He said, and she frowned.
'What, this room isn't enough?' she asked as he stood and walked over to his desk, where he'd placed his shrunken trunk.
With a tap of his wand, the trunk grew and popped open. He pulled out a shining silver bracelet and re-joined her on the couch.
The bracelet was made of silver rope with a simple clasp. Harry handed it to her, and she took it and held it up to inspect the piece of jewellery. She looked at him in confusion.
'Why are you giving me this?' she asked, and he grinned.
He handed her a silver charm, shaped like a dog holding a bone.
'May I?' he asked, and she nodded.
He attached the charm to the bracelet before he attached it to her wrist.
'I enchanted the charm to resist any mental intrusions. I tested it with a few potions, and it worked. But I haven't had the chance to test it on anything more powerful than that, it's hard to cast mind altering spells on myself after all.' He explained, and Susan stared at him.
'But at least, it should help to protect against compulsions and other similar things.' He finished, and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a crushing hug.
'Thank you for thinking of this Harry.' She whispered into his ear.
Harry held her tight to him.
'It's not complete yet. There are still some things I'm trying to sort out, but well, because of everything that is happening, something is better than nothing.' He admitted, and she pulled back and looked into his eyes.
'You better be giving these to the others as well.' She declared, and Harry stood, offering her a hand to help her up.
He led her to the trunk and pointed inside.
Inside the trunk lay six more bracelets. Each with a different silver charm attached.
Susan giggled.
'So, the beach ball is for Hannah, right? She does love the beach.' Susan said, and Harry grinned.
'Yeah, the snake is for Daphne. Luna has a Platypus. Apparently her father is crazy about them now.' Harry said and Susan laughed.
Susan leaned to look closer at the other two charms.
'Ginny gets the broom and Hermione the book, right?' She asked, and Harry nodded.
Susan looked from the bracelets to Harry.
'Holly already has hers, doesn't she?' Susan asked, and Harry laughed.
'Her pendant is going to run out of space soon. I've been adding enchantments to it on a semi-regular basis all year.' Harry admitted, and the redhead smiled before turning to Harry and she sighed, her gaze fell to the floor.
'What about Fleur?' she asked, and Harry smiled.
'Fleur already has hers, or at least she will when Hedwig wakes her up to deliver it to her.' Harry explained, and Susan gave a small nod and a smile.
The two sat on the couch for the next few hours, as Harry told Susan about everything that he'd done in the Room, how to use the machines and the dummies in the corner. But eventually, Susan gave a loud yawn.
'Harry, I'm going to go to bed. But I just want you to know that I'm proud of you for doing all of this for your family.' She said and paused for a moment before she leant up to kiss his cheek.
'I know now where I stand, and I'll always be your sister. I'll always help you however you need.' She said, and Harry wiped a tear from her eye and pulled her in for a tight hug.
'If you ever need me for anything on the weekend, you now know where to find me. I'll drop everything to help.' He said, and she gave him a watery smile and nodded.
'Good night, Harry.' She whispered and left the room.
Harry watched the door for a moment before he activated the map and watched her walk down the seventh-floor corridor at what seemed like a snail's pace because of the Room's effects on time.
He sat down at his desk and opened his notebook to his plans for his bracelets and got to work, he kept the map activated and he looked at it every few minutes.
Long into the night, Harry used the map to keep an eye on his friends and family as he worked.
On Monday morning, after his morning run, Harry sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. Soon after he sat down, Holly and Susan stepped into the Hall, Luna, and Hannah alongside them. The four girls came and sat with Harry, and Holly and Susan both shared a grin with Harry.
A few minutes later, Daphne joined them, followed minutes later by Ginny.
Once all the girls were present, Harry handed a box to Susan, who sat beside him and passed it along to Hannah. He then passed a box to Holly, who sat on his other side. She handed the box to Ginny. Harry handed a box over the table to Daphne, then another to Luna, who sat beside her.
The girls looked down at the boxes in their hands before they each met Harry's gaze with quizzical expressions.
He grinned.
'Open them up.' Harry urged, and Daphne, who sat opposite him, opened hers first.
She took out a note and read it aloud.
'Stay calm, I'll explain later? Really, Harry?' she scoffed and moved to look inside the box.
Behind her on the Gryffindor table, Hermione received a box via a school owl.
Daphne looked at the silver charm bracelet in her hands before she looked up and met Harry's eyes.
He put a finger to his lips in the universal sign for quiet.
He quickly finished breakfast before he left the great hall. The girls followed behind him. Behind them walked Hermione, much to the sullen expressions of Neville and Ron.
Harry led the group into the same classroom that James had taken them to earlier in the year.
Once everyone was in the room, Harry cast a handful of privacy charms at the door, causing Daphne and Hermione to raise their eyebrows at him in surprise.
'I'm sure you are all interested in knowing about these charm bracelets.' He started and chuckled at the impatient scowls most of his audience sent him.
'Okay, okay, with no further ado, behold, your charm bracelets. They will protect you from outside influences, like potions and spells, but the protection from spells hasn't been fully tested yet.' Harry admitted.
'They're still a work in progress, but something is better than nothing at least.' He said.
Five voices asked questions at once, and Harry held up his hands in surrender. He patted the air, motioning for them to calm, while Susan and Holly smirked at the other girls.
'Harry enchanted these himself. This is one of the projects he's been working on in his free time.' Susan announced, and the group turned from Susan to Harry.
'Harry's been working on these to keep us all safe, while dad has been working on keeping everyone else safe.' Holly grinned as she reached up on her toes to ruffle Harry's already messy black hair.
Hermione held out the bracelet toward Harry with a sad expression.
'I'm sorry, Harry, but it's too much. I can't accept this.' She said, earning scowls from the other girls.
Harry closed her hand around hers, closing it around the bracelet.
'I'm only doing what I can to protect my friends and family.' Harry said with a small smile.
The bell rung, signalling the start of the class.
'We should probably get to classes.' Harry grinned and sped out of the room before anyone else could say anything.