A/N: Well, apparently I had to do this unless someone really messed up and presumed something else. These characters and the world belongs to JK Rowling.
Also, I finally gave my exam today, and blahhhh. I have another one in soon , so I will try to post it on time now.
Chapter 3: Why are you asking me why?
"No," he moaned.
The small figure on the ground didn't move. Its eyes blank spheres with a speck of black in them and his silent musing was interrupted by a shriek, a shriek so shrill, a shrill sound from his periphery, his periphery where a redhead stood…
"No . . ."
And now as his wife cried over the lifeless body, he wanted to get away, to run as far as possible, to run away from misery, and towards those bastards who did this….
"No . . ."
"Harry, it's all right, you're all right!"
But no, he couldn't leave her, her beautiful wife whose world has just ended. He hugged her as if the world had ended, which it must have, because his son had. They both screamed into the night, as he focused on the grip he had, his hand clenched in another cold, lifeless one…
"No . . . He can't be. . . . I should have. . . ."
"Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"
Harry finally identified the voice as he woke up, for the screech had belonged to a tiny brunette, who had her hand in her mouth, her teeth working furiously on her fingernails.
He opened his eyes, as the scene shifted, but the grip still remained and he followed the hand he held, to the face of a worried Ron Weasley.
"Alright?", Ron asked worriedly as Harry contemplated his response.
He chose the usual, which was to ask a question in return, "What happened to me?"
"Well," Ron shifted worriedly on his seat, "you fainted."
"Funnily enough, I worked that part out myself, thank you very much"
"Ha ha, I see the dementor didn't suck out the insolence, did it, scarface"
"Really, you are borrowing from Malfoy, now? What's next, you are gonna borrow his hair conditioner? Gonna be 'my father will hear about his'?"
Ron only grinned in response, and then turned serious, " Just like the last time, nearly the same, but you didn't wake up on the train, and we had to carry you to the hospital wing. You murmured and cried a lot, and this" Ron indicated Harry's hold of his hand.
"It was really serious, Harry. You missed the sorting again, but frankly from what I have heard from you two, it's a common occurrence. You also missed dinner and, at this rate, breakfast too", Hermione said as her hands finally receded from her mouth.
Harry seemed surprised that he was out for nearly half a day. It was cut short by an enquiry from Ron.
"Whom did you see?" he whispered whilst bending forward.
"James" Harry said softly as he closed his eyes and wiped the tears with his sleeves.
Ron groaned sympathetically and then he huffed with exasperation, "I thought the charm we used would prevent this. Why did it not work?"
"Add it to the list of question we need to ask our Hermione, if we see her"
"When, not if. We are going to rectify this" Ron replied confidently.
The silence between them spawned into minutes before Harry asked.
"So, you guys stayed up the whole night here? How did you even stay here all night?"
"Well, professor McGonnagal was there when we took you to the hospital wing with professor Lupin and she told us to go back to the feast but we refused to leave you here", Hermione replied sincerely. "Professor Dumbledore was really worried for you, Harry, and he let us stay here for the night"
"Yeah, right he was worried about Harry", Ron sneered," Definitely not because he is the chosen one and everything"
Harry ignored his last comment and asked Hermione, how did Ron miss dinner and still not fought with her.
Hermione snorted, " He did not miss dinner, the dinner was brought here. Sandwiches and Pumpkin Juice."
"Well, I hope he saved a couple of them for you before devouring everything else." ,Harry bantered.
Ron tried to hide his smirk as he cuffed Harry on the back of his head. "Come on, Potter. I like you enough to miss one mealtime, not two".
"Yeah, I know who you like enough to miss a thousand mealtimes", Harry replied cheekily as he was helped out of his bed by a sheepish Ron.
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast , the first thing they saw was Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be entertaining a large group of Slytherins with a very funny story.
As they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit and there was a roar of laughter.
"Ignore him," said Hermione, who was right behind Harry. "Just ignore him, it's not worth it. . . ."
"Hey, Potter!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson, with her pug-face. "Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!"
"Well, atleast, you will finally be able to get a boyfriend, then Parkinson.", Harry retorted with a grin as he walked past a stunned Pansy.
" Why is her name 'Pansy'?" Ron enquired as he sat down besides Fred. "I mean, what sort of a name is it? Why would you name your daughter, literally, a 'pansy'?"
"Well, it certainly fits her persona." Hermione replied properly as she took a seat besides him while Harry chortled.
"Really? You are contemplating about 'Pansy's while we have names like 'crabbe' and 'nott' available?", Harry continued as he picked up a piece of buttered toast and sat down besides George Weasley.
"Ah, Harry, you are not playing fair. It's their surnames. The poor blokes had no choice but to take it. If you want to talk about first names, on the other hand, the prime candidate is the blond boy christened 'Draco'", George said as he joined the conversation.
All of them laughed while Fred sighed.
"No, no, you are looking too far away. Just look behind you, Ronald. We have a lovely 'Hermione' here", Fred said as he looked ahead at an irate Hermione as she nearly bonked his head.
"My name has no problem"
"Yup, except the fact that it makes you sound like two-hundred-and-fifty-years old.", Ron chortled. "What does it mean, anyway?"
"You wouldn't get it, Ronald", Hermione replied pompously.
"Why? Did your namesake fought in goblin wars or something? Is it something really grangerous, granger?", Fred said while trying to appear serious.
They escaped her outburst as Harry redirected their attention towards the entrance, just as Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one enormous hand.
The trio approached him as he sat down at the teacher's table.
"Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed.
"All down ter you three," said Hagrid, wiping his shining face on his napkin as he looked up at them. "Can' believe it . . . great man, Dumbledore . . . came straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn said he'd had enough. . . . It's what I always wanted. . . ."
Harry gave Hagrid a hug while Hagrid wiped his face on the tablecloth.
"Well, Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five gettin' everythin' ready. . . . Hope it's okay. . . . Me, a teacher . . . hones'ly. . . ."
They wished him luck and waved him goodbye as they moved back to the house table.
The hall was starting to empty as people headed off toward their first lesson. Ron checked his course schedule. "We'd better go, look, Divination's at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there. . . ."
While some minor events had changed in this iteration of his 3rd year, Divination proved to be the same. After the usual death threats and the reprieve in Transfiguration, they found themselves in the great hall for lunch.
As they moved out for their first-ever Care of Magical Creatures class ; the sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot.
"Isn't it ironic that we still don't have a perfect inner-eye while we can not only predict the future, we know what it is and have already lived it?", Harry asked with a snort.
"Rubbish, utter rubbish. Everyone knows you can only read green tea leaves, not black", Ron said sarcastically. Then, turning to Hermione, "now, you haven't attended Arithmancy yet, have you ?"
"No, the first class was this morning, why do you ask? And even though you both know about this, it's still not right talking about this in the open", a red faced Hermione said.
Ron rolled his eyes as Harry caught on," We were just asking that because both of us have already studied it. We can help you in finishing off any work, so that we can finally discuss the...you know"
"The plan, you mean?" Hermione whispered conspiratorially.
"Yup, it's time to tell you the first phase and enact it now. We will discuss this in the Room of Requirement after dinner."
"The room of what?"
"Aw, ma chere, I sometimes forget that you still haven't discovered the wonders of Hogwarts. It will be a nice surprise." Ron said as he wrapped his hand around her shoulders.
"Aren't we getting cozy here, weasel?" Draco Malfoy drawled as he walked up to them on the path outside Hagrid's hut. "Seriously, Weasley, even for you that's a fall. Granger here? I mean-"
"Sod off, Malfoy", Harry said with a scary grin.
"Yes, or we will give you something that will make your father hear about", Ron said with an identical expression.
"How about long red hair to match his face?"
"Or maybe, a pug face, so that he and Parkinson can finally look the same"
Malfoy angrily stalked off towards the group of Slytherins, who were giving the duo angry stares.
"Well, that makes me feel right at home" Ron sighed as all of them reached their destination.
"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached.
Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. Buckbeak and the other hippogriffs weren't there yet.
"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it — make sure yeh can see — now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books —"
"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.
Ron stepped forward and interrupted. "Geez, Draco, your father is a wizard; didn't he hear about his poor heir having trouble with the difficult task of managing his….school books. Ron pouted in the end, just for the added effect as the Gryffindors chuckled.
Even though Harry knew it was going to happen, he only had a split second to get Malfoy out of the reach of Buckbeak as he swiped at the blonde. He, however, didn't exactly stop the attack as he had intended to do, he only replaced the victim.
Buckbeak's large talon sliced Harry along the side of his chest and he felt the searing on the right side of his ribcage. He grimaced and sat down on one knee as Hagrid ran towards him.
Without saying a word, Hagrid took the hippogriff to the side along with the others.
He then told everyone to stay outside the paddock as he hauled off Harry to the hospital wing. Harry, however, was busy noticing the look Malfoy gave him from the ground.
When the healing matron finally pronounced him alright, Harry went outside the hospital wing to find Professor McGonagall and an old wizard walking towards him.
"Ah, Harry, all sorted I see." the long-bearded wizard asked, his blue eyes concerned.
Harry looked up and nodded at the face of Albus Dumbledore.
Seeing Dumbledore, though obviously not unexpected, brought about a barrage of emotions in Harry. He felt a series of emotions ranging from a slight upliftment of mood to a slight merriment to a murderous rage but he calmed himself down and answered all their questions. He made sure to emphasize that Hagrid-Professor Hagrid- had done nothing wrong and Harry had only saved Malfoy, who had not listened to anybody and started verbally taunting the animal.
While Dumbledore awarded him house points for bravery and saving a fellow classmate, McGonagall went to the great hall to award Draco Malfoy a week of detentions.
Harry, realized once again, that he had nearly missed another meal of the day and ran downstairs to snag a piece of Treacle tart.
"Okay, what the fuck" were the sentiments proclaimed by Ron as they met in the room of requirement after dinner. Harry had told Neville about him and Ron going out roaming in the castle and asking him to cover for them. He also asked him to join them the next time, which, unfortunately, the latter didn't seem very interested in.
"Can you explain the cryptic words you just said, Ron" Harry asked, trying to hide his face from his best mate's view.
Ron, however, saw his grin and continued, "You know what I mean, scharry. You got into the path of Buckbeak's talon swipe"
"First of all, 'scharry'? Really? If you think this is funny, man, you are in for a surprise" Harry retorted. "And second, it wasn't exactly my plan either to physically interrupt his talon swing, either"
"Really? Well, you could have fooled me-" Ron began angrily but was interrupted by a curious Hermione.
"Why did you save Malfoy, Harry? "
"It's part of our plan"
"I have got to ask you something regarding these plans." After taking their nods for their respective assent, she continued with confidence.
"I mean, both of you being from the future have an increasingly precise knowledge of whatever has happened and will happen. And you have justified your inactions by saying that changing too much will result in you losing the predictive facts, which on some level makes sense."
She continued, " But if all of you there had extensive knowledge of everyone involved, then it is not wrong to assume that you have enough materials on powerful political figures of today to blackmail them into doing whatever you want them to do, which can basically solve all the dilemmas. You can change the events however you want and make the perfect future, so why aren't you doing so?"
"Hermione, believe it or not, we had the same questions in the beginning. When we actually started planning all of this, me and Ron assumed that we can basically do whatever the fuck we wanted to because we knew every dirty little secret of anybody who is somebody in the wizarding world" Harry started.
"But like always, our Hermione brought us back to ground and explained, in painful details, what we could actually do?" Ron said with a grin
"What did she say?" she asked.
"Bloody brilliant, you found out the spell, darling" Ron said happily as he hugged Hermione. " It's perfect. I can't wait to see the look on that flobberworm's face when a 13-year-old boy blackmails him with the exact details of his *hem hem* endeavors with his undersecretary"
"Which, interestingly enough, is very apt in this context", Harry said with a smug grin.
"Are the both of you mental?" Hermione asked them with clear exasperation.
"Well, I'm surprised it took you so long, you married him, remember?"
"Shut it, Potter" Hermione said, trying to control her face.
Turning serious, she continued," Now, let us all be clear, you can't just go back and do whatever you want to, the-"
"Why? I thought you said bugger croaker's laws, we have to change stuff", Ron interrupted
"I said shut up. Listen to me, carefully, because you need to get what I'm saying. The only advantage we have is the knowledge of succeeding events. That is-"
"We know, damn it. But we if don't change events, how in the name of-"
Harry, smartly interpreted and predicted Hermione's pressure to blow off and physically restrained him from speaking. "Go on, we won't interrupt."
Hermione only glared as she began again," Okay, let me just lay it out for you twats." Taking a deep breath in,
"Our timeline is like a river or a stream, flowing continuously. It's easy to throw rocks and, minimally, change the direction of the flow, but it always reverts back. The heavier rocks you throw, the more it impacts the flow, but it, eventually, does go back to the earlier path, up to a point.
The rocks are the actions of time travelers. The more drastic change the action results in, the harder it will be to do the action. It's not just what you can do, it's more like if you try to kill Harry in the timeline, you won't be able to. Like your curse will miss or it will be weak or someone will come in between or a thousand things which we can't plan for or compensate for. Now, the metaphor was a bit dark, but it shows us the obvious solution. We can't throw large enough rocks, -
"-but we can throw enough small ones over time to maneuver it", Harry completed, understanding.
"Merlin, never thought I would miss the horcruxes", Ron muttered darkly.
"So, what's the plan, then?", Ron continued
"We need to prevent events from turning as they did in our case. This isn't just because of Voldemort's infiltration into the ministry of magic. It also deals with how the major players in the game were treated", Hermione replied. "Everything fell apart because the ideas that followed Voldemort were not gone, but we now know, we know who supported him, directly and indirectly. We need to be smart. We need a group , an army to be exact, maybe, I don't exactly-"
"Yeah? You and whose fucking army?"
"I think what Hermione means is that we need to widen our reach. The other houses and more people. Give people who never had a choice, the choice they want to have", Harry intercepted.
"Fucking hell, I preferred the locket"
"Wow, this is really-" , Hermione began.
"Confusing? ",Ron piped up
"Interesting", Hermione corrected. "That's why you saved Malfoy, isn't it?". She was weirdly turning red.
"Draco never got the choice. He was forced-" Harry began
"Bullshit", exclaimed Hermione and even Ron was shocked. He had always thought teenage Hermione was incapable of cursing. "He always had a choice. He has ridiculed me ever since we set foot at Hogwarts-"
"Hermione-"
"Don't 'Hermione' me , Ronald. He wanted me dead last year. How can you even dare to blame his actions and intentions on someone else?"
"You don't know Draco Malfoy, Hermione." ,Harry said.
"AND WHOSE FAULT HAS THAT BEEN? His pureblood ideals and-"
"Hermione, it was the only thing he knew. Since his childhood. His parents, his family, they only taught him that-"
"How is it any different from what you went through Harry? " Hermione was now nearly breaking down." You were abused by them. Don't deny it, I never confronted you because I knew that it was your secret to tell. You were treated as ...scum and …..yet you have never treated anyone else li-like that….. He called me a 'mudblood'...You know that before I was petrified, when i was in the libr-rary….there were small kids there huddled together...scared...what if they had gone before me without realizing that it was….people could have died-"
"His father did that, not him"
"HE SURE AS HELL DIDN'T CARE. HE WANTED IT TO HAPPEN. TO CLEAN UP….DIRTY BLOOD...IS THAT ALL I AM TO YOU,HARRY-"
"No, No.."
"DIRTY MUDB-"
She broke down at that and fell on the floor. Ron quickly gathered her up in his arms.
"Hey, it's alright, everything is fine, it's fine." He gave Harry a look and he threw the invisibility cloak on, giving Hermione her 'privacy'.
"Hermione" He looked into her watery brown eyes." I hated him for a long time due to this. That bloody ferret vilified my family as blood traitors but that was due to the choices we made but with you, it was your lineage and that was wrong…so wrong. I hated him so much, it was difficult to understand and forgive him. Harry did, but I hated him. Even you at some point forgave him but I couldn't...for a long time. I am still not sure where I stand... But you are strong, Hermione. The most perfect and brave and smart and strong…. Please try to forgive him. You are much more brave than me. Please do it so that we can save the fucking world and ride into the sunset. Like we deserved to do."
She gave a watery smile at the end and nodded as she hugged him back and Ron hid his face in her bushy brown hair.
After what seemed a long time, or maybe none at all, Hermione stopped crying. Ron conjured a handkerchief for her and wiped her face with it.
"Wow, that was neat", she said in a tone, trying to hide her surprise.
"Always the tone of surprise" Ron muttered wryly.
Harry coughed to betray his presence as he took off the cloak.
" I am sorry" they said at the same time and grinned at each other. Harry knew that it was far from over and that Hermione was still not convinced.
"It's not just that. I should have been more careful and patient in explaining everything. I just forgot that-"
"I am still 13?"
"Yeah, that. Also, it felt weird, you know, Have you been feeling weird, Ron?"
"Now, that is one type of question that our friendship should have not encountered. What d'you mean weird? Or, stop, I don't want to know, just change the bloody topic."
"I think I know what you are talking about," Hermione said.
Both of them, red- faced, looked towards her.
"I think I know, I'm not sure but-"
"Just speak, will you?" Ron interrupted her ramblings, amused.
"I think it is more along the lines of you both adjusting to your 13 year old selves. This isn't a replacement, it is more of a merger of consciousness. I went to the library to search and, even though I did not find the spell, which I didn't expect it to, I found several writings which theorize and predict what the result would be. What exactly do you feel?"
"I don't know how to elaborate," Harry said, clearly embarrassed now.
Hermione caught on but continued relentlessly," What I mean is that, most probably, and judging by your responses, or the lack thereof, you are actually becoming 13 years old."
"What?!"
"I mean that physically, you are definitely 13 while mentally, you are, to some degree, more mature than one, but still 13. The memories that you have are more along the lines of stories, rather than life experiences, i guess, I'm really not sure"
"So, you mean, we are hormonal teenagers again? Well, that bloody explains it, doesn't it" Ron said.
"It makes sense, actually. We are going to live and exist in this timeline, right? So, we being a grown up in a child's body forever..uhm...will probably not work out." said Harry
"Yup, weird. Still, let's just move on from this alright", Ron expressed sharply.
"Right, but wait a second. If they aren't exactly life experiences now, how did I do the pavlov feint on a broomstick yesterday?"
"More like muscle memory, at this point maybe. Again, I'm not sure, but you would still have to practice and do everything again. You know, all the training and stuff…"
"Bugger" muttered Ron." and here I thought I was good in kissing now"
Hermione went pink.
Draco got up from his bed and composed himself. It felt weird, having some sort of debt to saint potter, of all people. Something felt different about him, he thought.
"Even Weasley isn't doing something" he muttered aloud.
"Maybe, his dumpy mother finally taught the bastard to respect his betters," Nott said from the dark of the door. "Anyway, Draco, I think it's time we take our legacies forward"
"Legacies?"
"Yeah, if potter wants to save people and everything, shouldn't we give him the opportunity" Nott grinned evilly. "Maybe getting that giant oaf fired, or better, maiming the mudblood. That will get savior to act all fucking humbled"
"Maiming?" Draco might have hated her but this seemed a lot excessive. "You are doing this because of what happened in the class today?"
Nott nodded, saying "It opened my eyes. How people think that a mudblood's spawn is a god. When the dark lord returns, potter will be in with his family again, six feet under the ground."
'Oh god, what is he getting at...' thought Draco.
Nott continued, truly looking creepy now "And as for her, well we can do a lot more than maiming if you want. Goyle had some ideas too"
A/N Well, I hope you liked this chapter. If you really like it, maybe the idea I have of this fic truly makes sense, because someone did message me to just rush through the story without setting up something else. Do let me know your opinions, it keeps me going. Reviews, I want them!
reviews reviews xD
George: Thanks, mate. Appreciate it.
espressowho: Wow, thanks a lot! please keep reviewing and we have a deal. I have some great ideas for Hermione and [spoiler sort of] RON. this concept is gonna make the whole story loopy at some point xD. I really look forward to seeing your reaction. loved the reader's tip but damn, it's tough to envision zese accents.
Saniya: Thank you. I love Hermione too (makes sed noises)
Sugargayeehhh: Wow, that's some compliment. It means a lot, a lot xD. Do follow this and thank you but I'm just a boy who writes, and lastly don't you?
Gonna try and update another one of these in a week, please review and pm your thoughts and opinions. It rescues me from the monotony of life.
