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!
Severus calmed down a little and gave Harry a small nod, averting his eyes to the floor.
"Is it from your father?" Harry enquired, gently.
Severus glanced at Harry in surprise, before he nodded again.
"Does he want you to take the Dark Mark?" his friend guessed.
Severus let out a long sigh. "He wants me to come home for Christmas, so that my uncle can take me to the Dark Lord in order to get marked," he admitted, sounding extremely annoyed. "He's crazy; my father is a muggle; I can't understand why he wants me to do what my uncle wants."
"All right Severus, it's okay," Harry replied in a soothing voice. "I'm going to help you. You don't want to take the Dark Mark, right?" he asked, reassuringly.
"Of course not, but you don't know my father; he is going to kill me, if I don't obey," Severus said quietly.
"All right then, Severus, we have two possibilities," Harry replied, thoughtfully. "You can stay here over the holidays instead of going home, so that you can avoid taking the Dark Mark. I know that Professor Dumbledore will protect you, and so will I. The other possibility would be to take the Dark Mark and to work for Dumbledore as a spy, which is what you did in the future. We should talk to Dumbledore, because you'll need him in any case. Let's go to see him."
"You can't go anywhere Harry," Severus replied sternly, seemingly consoled by his friend's words.
"Oh, not that again," Harry groaned. "I don't care, because we have really important things to discuss. Pomfrey's not in sight, is she?"
"No, but she told me that you still have a concussion and will have to stay in bed for a few more days. So, the only way to talk to Dumbledore is to get him here," Severus contradicted in a firm voice.
"Then get him, or get the dragon and I'll ask her to get him if you prefer that," Harry replied impatiently.
Severus did not have to consider what Harry could have meant, because just at this moment Madam Pomfrey came over to give Harry his potions.
"Madam Pomfrey, could you please call Professor Dumbledore for us? We have to speak to him, and it's really very urgent," Harry immediately asked the healer.
"I'll do that, Harry, but first of all you need to take these potions," Madam Pomfrey replied in a no-nonsense voice.
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Five minutes later, Dumbledore strode into the hospital wing. Hurrying over to Harry's bedside, he asked, "Harry, what happened?"
Harry quickly cast a Silencing spell around the three of them, causing Severus to frown, knowing that Harry was not allowed to do any magic at the moment. Ignoring Severus' protest, Harry began to explain the problem to his great grandfather. "In my time, Severus was a Death Eater for a few years, before he came to you and was given the chance to work as a spy. However, this time, he talked about it before taking the Dark Mark, so I think that he has the choice between spying and hiding from his father and his uncle. What do you think would be best, Professor?"
Dumbledore's face became very serious, and the twinkle vanished from his eyes, before he replied thoughtfully, "Severus, my boy, I believe that Harry is right. We have two choices, and both seem reasonable. I will protect you in any case from Voldemort as well as from your father or uncle if necessary and so will Harry; I'm sure. You have to think about which one you prefer. I suggest that you consider it for a day and we meet here again tomorrow after classes to speak about the matter. Maybe you let Harry tell you a few things which he knows about your work as a spy. It could possibly help with your decision."
Severus sighed but seemed much calmer now. "Thank you so much, Professor and Harry; I really appreciate your help. I feel as if the two of you were my family; you care much more about me than anyone ever has. Thank you," he said in a small voice, averting his eyes to the floor.
"You're very welcome Severus. I could say the same to both of you as well," Harry replied, smiling.
"You both are like grandsons to me anyway, my dear boys. So I will see you here again tomorrow," the headmaster said gently and took his leave.
"No Granddad, please wait," Harry quickly called the headmaster back. "I want to leave here. Can't you do something for me? Tell the dragon to let me go, because I'm really fine now and want to go back to my classes," Harry begged his great grandfather, casting him a pleading look.
Dumbledore chuckled. "I know that you'd like that, but I also know how protective Minerva and Poppy are of you and that they'd have my head if I tried to get you out of here even two hours earlier than Poppy deems you fit. Therefore, I'm very sorry but you'll have to wait. Apart from that, Poppy is giving me a daily update on your condition, and therefore I know that you're still not fine at all. Look, I'll leave some lemon drops here for you, my boy"
Harry groaned, shooting his great grandfather a desperate look, before he eyed the sweets on his night table with an expression of disgust.
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Early in the morning, Lily came to see him alone. "Oh Harry, good that you're awake. I tried to see you several times yesterday, but you were always asleep. I need to talk to you," she said, urgently, sounding desperate.
Harry cast her a surprised look, before he replied, "What's the problem? You can just wake me up. Since I'm not allowed to do any school work, I don't do anything else but sleep the whole day. What's wrong?"
"Madam Pomfrey didn't allow me to wake you up. I think something's wrong with Severus," Lily blurted out. "Yesterday, he received a letter at breakfast, and later I saw him run around with red eyes as if he had cried. And he came to me during dinner and asked me to postpone our Potions tutoring until Thursday. He never did that before, even when you were in the hospital wing."
Harry inwardly groaned, realising how well Lily was observing Severus. "Lily, you're right. Severus has a problem with his father," he admitted. "He talked to me about it, and we have informed Dumbledore about the problem. He's going to help us. I can't tell you anything more, because it's not my secret, and he probably won't either, at least not at the moment, because he's very upset about the matter. Please believe me that he'll be fine and that it has nothing to do with you. I'm sure that he'll tell you when he's ready."
Severus came and spent lunchtime with Harry to discuss his older self's spying activities in the future, and the two friends talked until Madam Pomfrey came and told Severus that he had to run to be on time for his afternoon classes.
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When Harry woke up the next time, his great grandfather and Severus were sitting next to his bed, engaged in a lively discussion. Harry sat up, jumping into the conversation. "I've thought about something. If Severus decides to do the spying, he'll have to learn Occlumency, before he goes to see Voldemort for the first time. That's absolutely necessary."
"Oh, hello Harry. I didn't notice that you were awake," Severus replied, smiling.
"How are you Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry shrugged. 'Don't ask me if you don't believe me anyway,' he thought, but didn't voice it. Instead, he merely said, "Fine, of course, sir. Severus, you know what Occlumency is, don't you?"
"I know what it is, but I'm not able to do it. I'll have to learn," Severus replied, solemnly.
"I can try to help you," Harry offered, inwardly grinning. "You actually taught me Occlumency during my fifth year and Legilimency during the summer holidays just last summer, but it was horrible and I'm not very good at it. But we can try if you decide on the spying thing."
"Harry, I believe that would be good," Dumbledore replied pensively. "But since we only have a little more than two weeks until the beginning of the holidays, I think that it would be wise to teach Severus immediately, commencing tonight, without waiting for his decision whether to take the mark or not."
"That sounds very reasonable, sir. Would you be willing to do that, Harry? And are you able to teach me in your condition?" Severus asked, eagerly.
Harry glared at him. "Of course I can teach you, why not? Let's do it every evening after dinner. This week is perfect, as I don't have Quidditch practice or any lessons in the evenings."
Severus smirked. "Don't worry, you won't have any Quidditch practice next week either, and Potions tutoring can wait as well. You've already improved greatly."
"No Quidditch practice? Why not?" Harry asked in a slightly upset voice.
Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "Can you imagine that Poppy is going to let you play Quidditch so soon after what happened on Saturday? She told me that you're grounded for at least a month."
Harry's face fell in disappointment. 'It wasn't my fault that I was hit by a Bludger now, was it?' he thought angrily.
Finally, Dumbledore stood and excused himself. "All right, Severus, you will train with Harry every evening, and in addition, I shall teach you on Sunday morning after breakfast. You still have two weeks to decide what you're going to do. Harry, Minerva and I will come to see you after curfew. Try to behave yourself," he added, chuckling.
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"All right Severus. Let's begin right away. Are you ready?" Harry asked, giving his friend a sharp look.
Severus nodded. "Yes please."
"In that case, try to clear your mind of everything," Harry instructed him. "I always think of ice and water. I have an image in my mind of water flowing over an icy landscape with an ice phoenix flying above it, and I put this image in front of everything else and just try to lock it there, so that no one can remove it to look behind it. Now try and tell me when you're ready; then I can try to cast the Legilimency spell."
After a few minutes, Severus gave him a short nod to show that he was ready. Harry pulled his wand from under his pillow, pointed it at Severus and thought 'Legilimens'. A lot of scenes passed in front of his eyes; Severus and him talking and laughing, Severus and Lily during their Animagus studies, Severus as a small boy being pulled by the ear by a man, who had to be his father, Severus as a small boy again, being shouted at by his father for making a potion. All of a sudden, the pictures stopped and Harry got a glance at a golden cauldron with a potion bubbling in it. He then cancelled the connection and let himself fall back into his pillows.
"Severus, that was very good. You managed to stop me from getting behind this picture," he breathed. "A nice picture by the way. For the first time, it was incredibly good."
"Thank you Harry, but I let you see a lot of memories. That wasn't good at all," Severus replied, sighing.
"No, Severus, for the first time it was excellent," Harry disagreed. "You seem to be a natural at Occlumency. No wonder Dumbledore asked you to teach me last year. It took me months to get as far as you got in one try. Are you ready to try again?"
Severus nodded affirmatively. Harry tried once more "Leglimens." Again, he was shown several pictures, this time all of them from Severus' childhood, before he came to the golden cauldron and had to end the connection.
"Very good," Harry commended his friend. "Let's try once more. You can't let me see any memories."
"Wait, Harry. This is very tiring," Severus said, slowly massaging his temples with his forefingers.
"I know that," Harry grinned. "But if you think my pace is fast, then maybe I should show you a few of my memories of how Occlumency lessons could be…" He smirked. "Legilimens."
They tried a few times more, but it was always the same. After seeing a few memories, Harry ended up in front of the cauldron. Finally, they had to stop, because Madam Pomfrey came and brought dinner for them.
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On the next day, they practised after dinner. Severus was getting better, although Harry was still able to watch two or three memories each time before getting to the cauldron. They tried again and again, before Dumbledore joined them to see how they were getting along, and Harry was glad to be able to stop their practice since he did not feel really well. The Occlumency lesson had been very tiring even for him.
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After curfew, McGonagall came alone to see Harry, just when Madam Pomfrey had left the room for a few minutes. "Hello Harry, how are you?"
"Hi Granny, I'm fine. How did you get around the dragon?" Harry asked, grinning.
"I believe that immediately," his great grandmother replied, letting out a snort. "May I ask you about the Occlumency lessons?"
Harry sighed. "Severus is extremely talented. Yesterday, I always managed to watch about five or six memories, and then I ended up in front of a cauldron, which I couldn't get behind. Today, I could only see about two memories, before I was stuck with the cauldron. After one or two more practice sessions, he'll probably be all right. But grandfather has to train him as well, because he's much better than me, and Voldemort is told to be extremely good at Legilimency."
At this moment, Pomfrey came back and frowned. "What are you doing here Minerva? Harry is ill and needs his rest."
"Yes, I know that and I'm not doing anything except for talking to him as long as he is fine with that, the Gryffindor head replied, crisply.
Pomfrey let out a sigh. "Very well. You have five minutes to talk; afterwards please pour this dreamless sleep potion into your grandson and let him sleep Min."
"All right Poppy, good night."
"Um… Grandmother, I have thought about something," Harry spoke up as soon as he realised that the healer had retreated to her office. Seeing that McGonagall gave him an enquiring look, he continued, "In fact, I'd like to tell Grandfather at the same time, but well, I can as well speak with him tomorrow. I told you how I killed Voldemort, didn't I?"
"Yes Harry, you've told us," Minerva replied, looking fondly at her great grandson.
"All right then. So, what I thought is that I could do the same thing now. I have to try to establish the link from my side, because Tom still doesn't know about the connection, but that shouldn't be a problem. If I vanquished him now, Severus wouldn't have this difficult decision to make, and a lot of lives could be saved, for example those of my parents. I've come to the point where I've stopped caring if I'm changing the future. Does that make sense? Anyway, I think I'd like to try to kill him now."
"Do you think you could do that any time?" Minerva asked, her voice laced with disbelief and concern.
Harry sighed, tiredly. "Yes I think so. I couldn't do it today, because I'm not really well yet. It'll afford a lot of power as well as strong magic; so I'll have to wait a few days. On the other hand, I can't wait to see him gone."
Minerva laughed. "Harry, I don't know what to say about that. Of course, it would be great if he was gone, and I'd appreciate it very much. Everyone would be happy about it. However, I don't want anything to happen to you," she added in apparent concern.
"I know," Harry replied, calmly. "Therefore, I'd ask grandfather to stay here with me, while I try to attack Tom. Grandfather is very good at Legilimency, and if I encountered any real problems, he could use Legilimency on me and help me. He also could just try to wake me up, or even Madam Pomfrey could do that. But the last time I was able to do it, so why shouldn't I be able to do it now?"
"Harry we'll discuss this tomorrow with your grandfather," McGonagall said firmly. "You must sleep now. Try to rest and remember the earlier you get well the earlier you can have a go at it, provided that Albus agrees with it of course. Good night, my boy." She made Harry drink the dreamless sleep potion, gave him a kiss on the forehead and only had to wait a minute, before Harry succumbed to the potion and was fast asleep.
tbc...
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