The Changed Timeline
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Time travel!
'Ah, Mr. Potter, what's your name now? Mr. Pane? I know you; I've sorted you before, and even after that we've talked several times. Each of these times, I told you that you could be great in Slytherin, but you always preferred Gryffindor. Will you let me sort you into Slytherin this time?'
Harry frowned. 'I believe that I could do well in Slytherin, but as you probably know, my parents are in the same year as I am. Although I've never known them, I know that at least my father would despise me if I was in Slytherin,' he explained. 'So, in order to get to know my parents this time, I'd really appreciate it if you could sort me into Gryffindor once more.'
The Hat let out a long sigh and replied, 'All right then, I'll once more listen to your opinion, but I can promise you that the next time I get to sort you, you'll end up in a different house! So, this time it'll be' "GRYFFINDOR!"
'Thank you, Sopho,' Harry thought back in relief, before he pulled the Hat off his head and handed it back to Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Pane, that took quite a bit time. Were you talking to the Hat, or did it just need that much time to decide?" Dumbledore asked with apparent curiosity.
'Hmm, what should I tell him?' Harry thought and finally replied, "Yes, we had some kind of discussion." Seeing that everyone looked at him in apparent disbelief, Harry let out a deep sigh and told the professors about his earlier conversation with the Hat.
McGonagall frowned. "I didn't know that students were able to talk Sopho into sorting them into a special house, Albus. Do you think that's normal?" she queried, glancing at Dumbledore.
"I don't know Minerva, but I'm going to have a little talk with Sopho later on," the Headmaster answered, calmingly.
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"Very well, Harry, you will share your classes and even your dormitory with your parents," Dumbledore said, turning back to Harry.
"And with my godfather Sirius and my honorary godfather Remus. They're in Gryffindor as well, aren't they?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Yes, they are. Do you think you'll be able not to reveal yourself to either of them?" Dumbledore queried, smiling at the excited boy.
Harry frowned and replied in a small voice, "I can't promise that I'll succeed, but I give you my word that I'll do my best."
"That has to suffice, my boy, but please do try your best, and if you encounter any problems, come to speak with Minerva or myself. And now let's head down to the Great Hall for breakfast," the headmaster said and ushered them out of his office.
When they arrived at the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall escorted Harry to the Gryffindor table and introduced him to Lily Evans and Remus Lupin, the sixth-year prefects. While Harry made himself comfortable between them, feeling relieved that they kindly made space for him, Dumbledore addressed the students.
"Good morning students. Today, we have a new student in our sixth year. His name is Harry Pane; he comes from a small private wizarding school in Germany, and he has already been sorted into Gryffindor. Please give him a friendly welcome to Hogwarts."
Harry suddenly heard Sirius' excited voice out of all the others. "Look Prongs; he looks like a twin brother of you."
Harry was so glad to see Sirius alive and happy that he cast a huge smile in his direction, before he turned his eyes to look at his sixteen-year old father in amazement. He badly wanted to speak with his mother next to him; however, he did not know what to say, so he instead addressed Remus on his other side and enquired, "Are you all sixth years?"
Remus laughed and began to introduce his friends. "Yes, the one over there with the dirty laugh is Sirius Black; the one, who resembles you so much, is James Potter, our Quidditch captain. The boy next to me is Peter Pettigrew. Like our head of house said, the girl next to you is Lily Evans, and sitting beside her is her friend Alice. I'm Remus Lupin. All of us are in our sixth year."
"Thanks for the introduction, Remus," Harry replied gratefully.
"By the way, Harry, do you play Quidditch?" Remus asked with interest.
"Yes, in my old school I've been playing Seeker from first year onwards."
"Are you any good?" James, who had heard the conversation, asked, looking excited.
'Wow, that's my father's voice,' Harry thought happily. "In my five years, I've only lost one game and that was because someone had placed Dementors around our school," Harry answered, absentmindedly taking another piece of bacon.
"That sounds good. As we're only in need of a Seeker, I don't want to hold tryouts this year. If you're interested, meet me on the Quidditch pitch after dinner tonight," James told him, causing Harry to smile, happily.
"Thank you, I'd like that very much. Professor McGonagall is going to accompany me to Hogsmeade today, so that I can buy a broom." Harry beamed with excitement. 'I'd love to play in my Dad's Quidditch team,' he thought, eagerly. He almost choked on his pumpkin juice, when Lily addressed him.
"When you're finished with your breakfast, I'll take you to Professor McGonagall's office, because you need to get your timetable from her, and you probably won't find the way on your own."
"Thanks. Err... I'm sorry to bother you," Harry stammered.
"That's no problem, Harry. Our first class is Transfiguration anyway, and the classroom is just next to her office. If you have any problems, be it finding your way to a class or anything, just ask Remus or me; we'll always help you," Lily offered in a soft voice.
"Thank you, Lily," Harry replied, noticing, terrified, that he could not help blushing.
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After dinner, Remus, Sirius and Lily accompanied Harry to the Quidditch pitch. James and Harry played five Seeker-against-Seeker scrimmages, and Harry noticed soon that his father was a good flyer, but not nearly as good as himself. Everyone let out a loud gasp when Harry suddenly tumbled downwards, heading straight towards the ground.
Two meters before hitting the ground, Harry pulled straight up to where he had spotted the Snitch just before his dive, causing James, who had followed him, to nearly hit the ground. Finally, out of the five Seeker-against-Seeker scrimmages, Harry won five. Sirius and Remus were delighted.
"Wow James, exactly what you need," Sirius said, teasingly.
"Yes, that's true," James answered, ignoring the tease. "I really need a good Seeker. Congratulations Harry, you're on the team. Quidditch practice is every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after dinner."
Harry was happier than he could remember having been any time before. 'My main task in my own time, the demise of Voldemort, is fulfilled, and until I can find a way to go home, with the help of a younger and hopefully friendlier Severus Snape than the greasy git, I can as well enjoy my time in the past,' he thought. 'I'll take the chance to get to know my parents and the younger versions of Severus and Remus.'
The first class on the next day was Potions. With a slightly queasy feeling, remembering his last Potions class, Harry descended the stairs to the dungeons together with Lily, Remus and Peter. When they entered the classroom, he saw that Severus was sitting alone in the first row. He quickly slipped into the seat next to him, unaware of the fact that Lily, Remus, and Peter looked at each other in disbelief, wondering why he would sit next to a Slytherin instead of sticking to them.
"Hello Severus. As I told you, I'm really, really bad at Potions. Can we still sit together?" he addressed the boy in a whisper.
Severus smirked, and a small smile stole itself onto his face. "Hello Harry. Of course we can, and maybe I can help you. As you probably know, Potions is my favourite subject."
"Oh well, I think I can believe that. In my time, you're the best Potions Master in Britain. But that's not the reason why I want to sit with you. I'd like to get to know you better," Harry replied in a barely audible voice.
"That's all right, Harry. Yesterday, I was wondering where you were. I thought, once sorted into Gryffindor you might have forgotten me."
"Of course not," Harry replied, urgently. "I was just really busy. In the morning, I had to go to Hogsmeade to buy my school supplies, and in the evening, I had Quidditch tryouts."
"You play Quidditch?" Severus asked with apparent interest.
"I'm the new Seeker of the Gryffindor team," Harry beamed, feeling very happy and proud to be on his father's team. "Do you play Quidditch?"
"I'm Chaser on the Slytherin team," Severus answered, but then the door of the classroom shut and Professor Slughorn approached the front of the classroom, leaving them unable to continue their conversation.
Harry and Severus worked together on the potion, and the Slytherin was appalled at his lack of skills.
"No," Severus suddenly hissed, reaching for Harry's arm. "It says counter clockwise – can't you read?" The Slyhterin glared at Harry in apparent disbelief.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, quietly. "I told you that I'm bad at Potions. Your future self always calls me a 'dunderhead'."
Severus rolled his eyes. "If you always brew potions like this, I can well imagine that. However, I'll try to help you to improve your infantile attempts before you go back. I'm willing to give you tutoring lessons every evening when we don't have Quidditch practice if you wish," he offered.
"Thank you, Severus," Harry immediately agreed. "I hate Potions, but maybe it'll be fun to brew without a Potions Master breathing into my neck and scaring the wits out of me."
Professor Slughorn interrupted them. "Did you encounter any problems, Mr. Snape, Mr. Pane?"
"No, Professor, everything is all right," Severus answered quickly in order not to attract more attention.
"Then maybe it would be better to concentrate on your brewing," Slughorn said in a slightly reprimanding voice.
"Yes of course. Sorry Professor, it was my fault," Harry mumbled.
Due to Severus' talent, they managed to brew the potion flawlessly in spite of their discussions and agreed to meet in the Potions classroom for Harry's tutoring every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening as well as on Sunday afternoon. To his great surprise, Harry had enjoyed the Potions class, and even if Severus was a bit snarky, he was still very friendly and helpful. 'Maybe I'll be able to prevent him from becoming the greasy git, which he was in the future,' Harry thought as he followed Lily and Remus out of the classroom.
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Quidditch practice was a lot of fun. Although his Nimbus 11 was much slower than the Firebolt, which he had owned in the future, he noticed that he was able to fly just a little faster than his father, whose flying abilities Sirius had always praised so much in the future. However, James apparently did not mind at all; he seemed to be just glad to have found such a promising Seeker for his team.
One day, Harry overheard Sirius and James talking in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"James, I don't trust him. I don't know why; it's just a feeling. First of all, why does he look like you? Is he related to you? He can't be using Polyjuice Potion, can he?" Sirius asked.
James let out a snort. "Why should anyone want to look like me?" he asked in disbelief. "I'd change my hair into anyone else's if I could. But it's obvious that he must be related to me; I mean, the Potters are a big old family, so why not? I don't care. In fact, I like the boy; he's friendly and nice to everyone. What exactly is your problem with him?"
"As I said, I don't know," Sirius replied, sighing. "Something just seems strange with him; that's all. Did you notice that he's observing you, me, Remus and even Lily strangely, differently from the way one normally looks at people? I can't say that his behaviour is cause for trust."
"He watches Lily? What's that? Are you sure?" James seemed to wake up, suddenly becoming interested in Sirius' arguments.
"No James, not in that way. I didn't mean to imply that. It's all right. Calm down," Sirius said, groaning in annoyance.
At that point, they left Harry's hearing range. After listening to this conversation, Harry was even more self-conscious in his interactions with the Marauders and Lily, not wanting to give himself away or give the Marauders any reason to not trust him.
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One day, Harry entered the library and saw Lily sitting alone at a table, her eyes swimming in tears. So far, he had not spoken much with his mother, because he was still uncertain how to interact with her, but he could not simply ignore her and hesitantly took the seat next to her.
"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked in soft voice.
"It's nothing Harry; I'm fine," Lily reassured him, giving Harry a small smile.
"Lily, you don't look fine. Why don't you tell me what's wrong? Maybe I can help you," he asked, hesitantly.
His mother let out a long sigh. "It's just that I'm having problems with Potions class. I messed up all the potions we had so far this year. But please don't tell anybody about it, especially not James and his friends. They'd only laugh about me. In fact, I've always been good at Potions, but this year, I'm really having problems," Lily confided.
"Oh, I only understand too well. I've always had problems with Potions. But now Severus is tutoring me a few times a week. Would you perhaps like to join us?"
"Severus Snape?" Lily asked in surprise. "He wouldn't help me. He is a Slytherin, and he even called me a 'Mudblood' once, just because I'm muggleborn. I'm really sad about it, because until a year ago we've always been good friends. But there's nothing that I can do about it."
"I think that's only the bad influence of some pureblood Slytherins. Severus is not so bad," Harry countered. "I've become friends with him, and I think that he's already changed a bit since I first arrived here a month ago. I can ask him if you want. I'm going to meet him tonight anyway."
"Thank you, Harry; that would be nice," Lily said gratefully, wiping an errand tear from her cheek.
"No problem, Lily. I'd love to study together," Harry replied, smiling.
Harry spoke with Severus about Lily that evening, and they agreed to extend their evening sessions to Lily, but to keep their Sunday afternoons private to give Harry the opportunity to talk about the future and to have a chance to start their research about how to send Harry back. Professor Dumbledore had already spoken to Severus, and Severus knew that he would have to be obliviated, before Harry would return to the future. He would remember Harry as a very good friend, whom he would meet again in the future, but nothing more.
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In the evening before the October full moon, Harry noticed that the Marauders were very excited. Only now, he suddenly remembered Remus' condition along with the fact that he was not supposed to know about it. In September, he had not thought about it and had not even noticed that the Marauders had left their dormitory during the night. 'Maybe at that time, just a week after coming to the past, I was too preoccupied with other things to notice anything,' he thought, wondering how he could have completely forgotten about Remus' furry problem.
Suddenly, a different idea pressed itself to the front of his mind. 'I must speak with Severus as soon as possible,' he thought, looking at his wrist watch. 'It's still half an hour until curfew, and maybe Severus is still in the Potions classroom. I'll go and see if I can talk to him,' he decided. Throwing his robe over his pyjamas, he left the dormitory and ran to the dungeons as fast as he could. From under the door of the Potions classroom, he could see light. 'I just hope it's Severus. How can I explain to the Professor or, even worse, to any other Slytherin what I'm doing down in the dungeons just before curfew?' he thought, feeling slightly anxious at the idea of meeting anyone else but his friend. However, he was lucky. When he summoned all his courage and slightly opened the door, he could see Severus brewing a potion.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Severus queried, quirking an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Sorry to disturb you, but I've something very important to tell you," Harry admitted, only to add, "and it mustn't be overheard by anyone."
"All right, that's not a problem. Close the door properly," Severus instructed him and put his potion under a stasis charm, before he waved his wand to magically lock the door before casting a silencing spell around them. "Now, what's wrong?" he asked, looking at Harry in clear expectation.
Harry hesitated for a moment, before he began to speak. "I don't know how to tell you about it, so I'll just spit it out. I only know from the future that I must tell you this, okay? So, you can't speak to anyone about it; is that clear?"
"Of course Harry; you know that I'd never tell anyone about what you tell me," Severus reassured him, looking straight into Harry's green eyes.
Harry averted his eyes to the floor, suddenly feeling very stupid. "Yes, of course, I know that. I'm sorry. Anyway, what I have to tell you is that Remus is a werewolf. The fact as such is not a problem, but in the future, I was told that you had noticed something about him and were trying to find out what his problem was. He always spends the night of the full moon in the Shrieking Shack, and what I heard was that Sirius told you that if you wanted to know about Remus' secret, you should go to the Shrieking Shack during the full moon. You did as you were told, and James only saved you in the last minute before the werewolf would have killed you. I don't want that to happen again, so I just had to tell you…" He slowly trailed off.
After a moment, Harry finally looked up to face his friend. Severus did not react at all, clearly shocked by the revelation. Finally, he managed to form words. "Thank you, Harry. I really appreciate what you've done for me. That would have been a shock for life," he said in a soft voice.
"Yeah, well, I think so. Your future self is still suffering from it. Now I've changed the future, although I shouldn't have done that," Harry said solemnly. He looked at his watch, seeing that it was already thirty minutes after curfew. "Are you sure that you're okay, Severus? If you are, then we should return to our dormitories. It's late."
"It's all right. I have to clean up here, but that is not a problem. You have to walk quite a way though, so you better leave. Good night Harry and once again thank you. I really appreciate it very much."
"Good night Severus. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry replied and ran back to Gryffindor tower, when all of a sudden, a stern voice penetrated his ears.
"Mr. Pane, what are you doing out of your dormitory after curfew?"
tbc...
Thank you very much for your kind comments on the previous chapter!