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!
When Harry and Severus returned to the common room from Christmas dinner, Harry suddenly noticed just how quiet the normally lively room was and could not help thinking of Ginny, Ron and Hermione. 'I wonder what they're doing right now?' he mused, only to realize, 'No, that's stupid; they're not even alive.' With this thought, he felt homesick for the first time in his life.
Severus observed his best friend in concern. "I know that it's late, but I'd like to go and brew a potion," he finally spoke up in an attempt to distract Harry. "Would you care to join me?"
Brewing a potion was about the last thing which Harry wanted to do on Christmas day, but the thought of remaining alone in the much too quiet Gryffindor tower was not overly attractive either, and Harry hesitantly decided to join his friend in the Potions classroom.
Severus gathered the necessary ingredients, placing them on the table in front of Harry, before he queried, "Harry, would you mind helping me to prepare these?"
Harry shrugged and obediently began to cut and crunch the ingredients according to Severus' instructions, musing, 'I'd love to see the future Professor Snape's face if he knew that I'm brewing potions at eleven p.m. on Christmas day.'
Severus, who was closely watching his friend, grinned inwardly. He had efficiently managed to distract Harry from whatever had been bothering him before. An hour later, the potion was finished and bottled, and Severus cleaned their work space with a flick of his wand.
"Very well, Harry, shall we return to the dormitory?" Severus finally suggested, and they quietly made their way back to Gryffindor.
However, the nearer they came to the common room, the more Harry's feelings from earlier returned, and by the time they reached the dormitory, his eyes were filling with tears again.
HP
Severus shot his friend a knowing glance, handed him a phial of the potion, which they had just brewed, and motioned him to drink up, shaking his head in exasperation when Harry downed the potion without even questioning what it was.
'He can't have recognized it, because it's a new mutation of the calming draught which I just invented last week,' he mused. 'Well, at least it helped,' he realized, glancing at his much calmer friend.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked gently, eying the other boy in concern.
"Sorry Severus, I'm fine," Harry replied in a soft voice. "It's just so quiet here, and all of a sudden, I had to think about my friends in the future, and when I thought about what they might be doing right now, I realized that they don't even exist at this time. I think I'll just go to bed. Thank you for trying to distract me and for the potion. It really helped."
With that, Harry went to bed, completely ignoring the knock that could be heard at the door. An instant later, his great grandmother entered the room, wearing a very upset expression.
"Where have you been after curfew tonight?" she queried, sounding very angry, as she eyed the boys in disdain.
"I'm sorry Professor," Severus replied, waving the teacher over to his side of the room. "Harry was homesick, and I thought it would be the best to distract him and brew a calming draught for him at the same time. Therefore, we made a short excursion to the Potions classroom and brewed my newest invention, which seems to be quite efficient, considering that he drifted off to sleep within seconds," he explained, smirking.
Harry did not hear anything of the conversation. He was fast asleep, dreaming of Christmas at Hogwarts with phoenixes and snakes doing snowball fights versus cats and other animals.
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The second week of the holidays passed very fast, and in no time, the other students came back. As much as Harry had enjoyed the quiet time together with Severus, during which he learned a lot about the brewing of potions, he was happy to see his parents again. Not only classes as well as all the tutoring and extra classes began again, but also Quidditch practice, which Harry especially enjoyed, since he had not been allowed to fly after the near-fatal Quidditch match against Slytherin in December. Of course, he had secretly been flying as Icicle, but roaming the Quidditch pitch on a broom was just different from flying as a bird.
The next match involving Gryffindor was against Ravenclaw, and since it was scheduled for the beginning of May, the team had a lot of time to practise. However, James was determined to win the Quidditch cup at any cost.
"I don't care if it's dark and cold. I want Gryffindor to receive the Quidditch cup at the end of the school year, so hurry up everyone. Or don't you want to win?" James shouted at the team members one evening, when it had been continuously snowing for hours and the Quidditch players felt as if their limbs were going to freeze.
"James," Harry hesitantly spoke up, addressing his father. "The match against Ravenclaw will be in May, so I don't think we really need so much practice in the snow." 'As much as I love to fly, I don't want to catch a cold again because of playing Quidditch in the snow for hours,' he mused, sighing in relief when James reluctantly released them.
The rest of the team nodded their agreement, casting Harry grateful looks.
"Yes Prongs," Sirius agreed. "Let's head inside and warm up!"
"Thanks Harry," Frank whispered when they entered the changing rooms.
"No problem," Harry replied, mischievously. "I had to leave anyway, because my private lesson with Dumbledore is going to begin in fifteen minutes."
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Every Sunday afternoon, Harry and Severus met in the Potions classroom to search for a potion that would send Harry back to the future. Harry had spoken with his great grandparents, who promised that they would not force him to return to the future as soon as the potion was ready, but that he could remain in the past until the end of the school year. When the other students would leave for the summer holidays, he was going to return to the future for another sixth year, provided that they had already found a way to send him back.
So far, they had not made as much as the slightest progress. Harry managed to stay relatively relaxed, knowing that they still had several months and that the best Potions Master of this time and his own time was working on it. In the worst case, he would just be stuck here as friend of his parents and future teachers. Things could definitely be worse.
One Sunday, as soon as Harry entered the classroom, Severus said eagerly, "Harry, I thought about something."
Harry looked at his friend in amusement. His friend, whom normally nothing could unsettle, seemed to be quite excited.
"So far, I only thought of fluid potions, but perhaps we could try to make a powder like Floo powder to be used in a fireplace," Severus explained, pensively.
"Wow, that's a great idea. Do you think it'll work though?" Harry queried, eyeing his friend in surprise.
Severus rolled his eyes. "Of course it'll work," he replied, smirking. "The only tiny problem is that we still have to invent the powder. Don't forget that, before you make yourself too excited."
"Oh, right," Harry replied dully. "Do you have any idea how Floo powder is made at all?"
Severus nodded. "Of course I've researched that. Floo powder is made of fairy dust and essence of whirlwind, and these are both ingredients, which you can find at any apothecary."
Harry eyed his friend in respect. 'He's really brilliant,' he thought in amazement.
"I already sent an owl to the apothecary at Hogsmeade, and the ingredients should arrive any time now," Severus continued, peering into the cauldron, where a lime green potion was simmering.
"Will an owl be able to find you here in the dungeons though?" Harry asked, curiously.
Severus smirked, pointing to a small flap at the very upper part of the wall. "Do you know what this flap is for?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow in clear amusement.
"No." Harry shook his head, curiously turning his gaze upwards.
"Behind this flap is a channel in the wall, leading straight to the owlery. Actually, there's a whole system of channels behind the walls. Each room in the dungeon is connected to the main channel, so that we can receive mail everywhere in the dungeons," Severus explained, patiently.
"Wow, what a cool system," Harry said, feeling very impressed. 'I never thought about how people were able to get their mail down here, but it's a brilliant system.' Turning his eyes back to his friend, he asked, "So what are we going to do now?"
"I'm not exactly sure how to proceed," Severus replied, pensively. "Of course we have to do a few tests concerning the interactions of Floo powder and other ingredients, but we must also do a lot of research in the library."
"And I'd probably be more efficient in the library than here," Harry added, smirking.
"Probably yes," Severus admitted. "However, I have to do some research as well, and I'll also need your help with the potions, because we'll have to run lots of tests."
"How will we be able to test if it works?" Harry enquired, curiously.
"That won't be a problem. We can use rats and use the Potions classroom's fireplace to send them from today to tomorrow. That's about the easiest part of our project."
Harry eyed his friend in awe. 'He is incredible, and he never ceases to surprise me,' he thought.
"Harry, you need to be creative; otherwise you won't be able to invent anything," Severus sneered, apparently having noticed his admiring look.
Harry chuckled. "I'm not planning on inventing anything. That's what I have you for," he replied, smirking.
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During the next weeks, the two friends spent every free minute in the library. Unfortunately, they were so engrossed in their research that Harry began to miss meals again, much to the displeasure of this great grandmother, who dragged him to the hospital wing each night for his nutrient potion.
"Can't I just get the potion with my breakfast? I hate having to go to the dragon, and it's such a waste of time. I need the time for my homework and my studies. You know that my research with Severus takes a lot of time," he told his head of house in absolute annoyance.
"No Harry," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "You know exactly when the meal times are, and you're supposed to observe them. I'd prefer having you here for another year than sending you back even thinner and unhealthier than you were before. I expect you to improve your behaviour."
Harry sighed and averted his eyes to the floor, knowing that he was not able to promise anything.
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One day, Lily looked at Harry in concern and enquired, "What is it that you're researching all the time? You barely spend any time in the common room anymore."
"Ah, Severus and I are doing a special project for Potions, and for that we have to research the interactions of Floo powder with other possible potions ingredients," Harry replied quickly.
The Marauders eyed him in disbelief. "And why, please, should that be more interesting than playing pranks on the Slytherins with us?" Sirius queried.
Harry chuckled, thinking 'Only Sirius can ask such a question.' But he resolved to spend more time with the Gryffindors during the next months. 'Maybe I can get them to do some research as well. As far as I know, the Marauders' Map was made in the Marauders' sixth year, but so far, I haven't seen or heard anything about it, and since Peter isn't here anymore, maybe they'll need help this time.'
"If you want to do some research as well, how about producing a map of Hogwarts that shows every person in the castle? It would be great for playing pranks if you could see exactly where people were and who was nearby," he suggested to his friends.
"Harry," James pulled him into an embrace. "That's the best idea which you've ever had. Absolutely cool."
"But unfortunately, your help will be required as well," Remus added, wearing a mischievous smile.
"Yes, I was afraid of that," Harry replied, grinning. "We'll probably have to make use of my abilities to flash anywhere, as well as of Lily's abilities to fly."
"How about we ask Severus for help as well? As a snake, he'll be able to reach places we'd never have access to," Lily suggested.
"Oh, I don't think he'll have time for it, because he seems to be even busier than me with the Potions research," Harry countered in a weak attempt to keep Lily closer to James than to Severus.
"You could ask him anyway. But when and where could we meet with him?" James enquired. "We don't want the whole castle to know about it."
"We could meet every Wednesday after Quidditch practice as well as every Saturday night after dinner in the Room of Requirement," Harry suggested, promising to speak with Severus the next day.
As Harry could have imagined, Severus was eager to help with the map, and so the six students started working on examining the castle's passages two nights a week. Fortunately, his great grandmother had finally deemed him able to control his magic, so that he did not need their private lessons anymore. 'Thank Merlin,' Harry thought, sighing in relief. 'Otherwise, I'd have problems finding time for my normal homework.'
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Several weeks later, when Harry slipped into the empty seat next to Severus right before the beginning of their Charms class, he noticed that Severus seemed very frustrated.
"Severus, what's wrong?" he whispered, glad that Professor Flitwick had not entered the classroom yet.
Severus let out a long sigh. "Over the last few weeks, I did a lot of tests concerning the interaction of Floo powder with various plants and herbs. Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that it's not possible to mix them. All the potions, which I tried to brew with a combination of the essence of whirlwind and some kind of plant or herb, exploded at some stage of the brewing process," he finally replied, thoughtfully running a hand through his silky hair.
tbc...
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