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 reached the Great Hall, Harry was very curious what the surprise would be that Severus had spoken about. As soon as he entered the Great Hall, realisation set in. Instead of the four big House tables, there were now five. He happily glanced at Severus and whispered, "So we're able to sit and eat together. How cool is that?"
They walked over to the Merlin table, where Lily and Remus were already sitting and had reserved two seats next to them. Just when they made themselves comfortable in their seats, Dumbledore began to speak.
"Dear students, dear colleagues, welcome back to Hogwarts. I particularly want to greet the students who will start the New Year in our new house, the Merlin House. Your seventh-year prefects Remus Lupin and Harry Pane will take you to your common room directly after dinner. Please follow them and make yourself comfortable in your new home. And now tuck in everybody."
Amelia Bones, who was sitting opposite Harry, asked him, "Do you know where it is? Have you already been there?"
Harry nodded and Severus added, "He's the one who discovered the long-lost house back in September."
"Really?" Amelia asked excitedly. "Oh, you must tell me everything about it."
The students enjoyed dinner very much; it was easy to discuss everything with only fifteen people at the table. But all too soon, dinner was finished and they had to walk over to Merlin House. When they arrived in front of Tori's portrait, Harry introduced his housemates to Tori, told them his name and asked what they wanted to choose as a password. Amelia suggested 'Novelitas', and Harry told Tori this was the new password.
Tori said, #All right. I'm happy to have you here. Thanks for bringing my house back to life again!#
Harry accompanied the students into the common room, showed them the dormitories and explained that Lily and Severus as head girl and head boy were living in an apartment not far from the hospital wing, where he had also stayed until the Christmas holidays. Therefore, Amelia, Remus and Harry would be the only prefects currently staying in Merlin house. It was already near curfew when Lily and Severus walked back to their own rooms and Harry and Remus climbed up to the seventh-year boys' dormitory.
The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Life in Merlin was not much different from what it had been in Gryffindor, at least not for Harry. He was very busy with classes, Potions tutoring, Quidditch practice with the Gryffindor team and with the Hogwarts team as well as his lessons with Dumbledore. He also had to help Severus, who was taking over more and more of Slughorn's responsibilities of brewing for the hospital wing.
HP
Saturday was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Harry was looking forward to it very much. 'I've barely ever been able to go to Hogsmeade with my friends before, especially not just for fun,' he thought. He was well aware that the next day was Valentines Day and tried hard not to think of Ginny. 'Maybe I should buy something for Mum,' he thought, forcing all thoughts of Ginny from his mind.
On their way into town, James came over to Harry and whispered in his ear, "Harry, you have to help me. I want to buy a Valentines present for Lily, but I don't have a clue what to get her."
Harry frowned. "I'm sorry, James, but I don't know her as well as you do, and I don't have an idea what to buy for her either. Maybe just have a look around Hogsmeade and search for something."
When they arrived at Hogsmeade, James asked them, "Can we please separate for about an hour? I have to buy something on my own."
Lily frowned and said, "Yes, but as you know nobody is allowed to go on his own – therefore always two people together please."
The others agreed immediately, and James pulled Sirius away quickly, while Severus apologized to Lily, "I am sorry, Lily, would you mind going with Remus today? There's something that I have to do together with Harry."
Remus grinned at Lily and said, "All right, Lily, let's have a date today and make them all jealous."
Harry and Severus chuckled and separated from the others, after they had agreed to meet an hour later at the Three Broomsticks. Severus pulled Harry along the street and into a small shop a few steps off the main street. Harry looked at the shop in surprise. 'I didn't know that there was this shop,' he thought, confused. It was a jeweller's, and Severus seemed to be quite sure what he wanted. Harry watched in amusement, while Severus looked at a shelf, argued with the shop keeper and finally called Harry, "Harry, come and tell me what you think. I want to buy something for Lily; do you see the necklace and these earrings over there?"
Harry was stunned – the pieces at which Severus pointed were just beautiful. The earrings and the necklace were made of the same material and in the same colour, gold with light blue and green animals, obviously matching pieces, although the necklace consisted of a pattern with three snakes, which were moving their heads around, while the earrings had the forms of two beautiful owls. "Severus," he breathed, "they're absolutely beautiful."
Severus glanced at him questioningly. "Which is better? Should I give her the necklace or the earrings?"
Harry thought for a moment and suggested, "How about you give her the necklace and I buy the earrings for her?"
Severus scowled. "You?" he asked, doubtfully.
Harry chuckled and commented, "Is there any rule that you cannot buy a Valentines present for your mother?"
With this, Severus relaxed and finally agreed. "All right, yes; she is your mother; I forgot for a moment. That's a good idea then, if you don't mind."
Ten minutes later the two boys were wandering around the bookshop, each carrying a small box in their robe pockets.
HP
Harry and Severus decided to give Lily their gifts at breakfast. She was very surprised to receive a present not only from Severus but also from her son, and she was stunned when she saw the beautiful jewelleries, which above all were perfectly matched. She hugged both of them and said, "Thank you very much. You really shouldn't have spent so much money buying things for me though. These are beautiful."
Severus fastened the necklace around her neck, Lily put her earrings on, and everyone at Merlin table admired them.
Just before breakfast was finished, James came over to Lily, handed her a present and said, "Happy Valentines day to the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts."
Everyone in the Great Hall turned their heads to see what was happening at Merlin table.
Lily flushed deeply, thanked James and opened the present, which contained a pretty scarf, which by chance matched the colours of her jewellery as if it had been bought together as well. The background was gold, and in the foreground, light blue animals were moving around green trees and plants. Lily carefully put the scarf around her neck, seeming absolutely amazed by the gifts.
HP
In the afternoon when Harry was assisting Severus with his potions brewing, they heard a cry in front of the door of the Potions classroom. They rushed out to see Professor Slughorn lying on the floor gripping his arm and a big snake sliding around him. Harry immediately began to question the snake, "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Have you bitten our professor?"
"I am Nagini, and I am very pleasssed that you ssspeak my language. I need a new owner, because my own one isss dead."
"Nagini? Voldemort's pet?" Harry enquired, looking at the snake, wide-eyed.
"Yesss. I wasss told to bite everyone here in thisss cassstle, but I couldn't get in ssso far," Nagini admitted.
"Who told you thisss?"
"My old owner."
"But he'sss dead now, so would you be willing to listen to me?" Harry suggested, not really expecting the snake to agree.
However, Nagini moved the front of her body up and down in apparent agreement. "Yesss, I would appreciate that. I'm hungry and I need a warm place," she explained.
"Do you promise not to bite anyone?" Harry asked, sternly.
"Yes," Nagini promised, and Harry had the impression as if she sounded sincere.
"May I heal our professor first?"
"All right," the large serpent agreed.
Harry instructed Severus to let Nagini into the Potions classroom, lit the fire and give her some rats to eat, before he knelt down next to the Potions teacher and gripped his arm with both hands to let his magic flow through to the teacher's arm. 'It's probably already too late to just try to heal the wound with my phoenix tears,' he thought in concern.
In the meantime, Severus had locked Nagini into the Potions classroom and cared for her as Harry had told him. When he left the classroom, he saw what Harry was doing and that he was slowly losing consciousness, while the professor seemed to be all right. He quickly pulled Harry's hands away from the professor and steadied his friend for a moment, when Professor Slughorn slowly got up, his face white from shock.
Severus then turned to the teacher and enquired, "Professor, are you all right? I'd like to take both of you to the hospital wing in any case. Do you think you can walk?"
"Yes, Severus, I'm all right. I can't remember though. What happened? The snake bit me, didn't it?" Slughorn asked, pensively.
"Yes sir," Severus confirmed and explained that Harry had already tried to heal him. "Can you walk?" he asked, calmly.
"Yes Severus. Let's go," the professor replied, confidently.
Severus put an arm around Harry, and they made their way to the hospital wing, where Severus told Pomfrey the whole story.
She ushered Slughorn to a bed and checked on the teacher several times before putting her wand away. "Harry really seems to be a Natural Healer," she then commented in apparent disbelief. "He's completely healed you, Professor. You're free to go."
"Professor, would you mind informing Professor Dumbledore that Nagini is still in the Potions classroom? I'd prefer to stay here with Harry," Severus asked the teacher.
"Yes, of course. Thank you, Severus," Slughorn replied and went to see the headmaster.
Pomfrey stepped over to the where Severus had put Harry. Waving her wand over the boy, she let out a relieved sigh. "He has depleted his magic a little, but it's not so bad this time. I think that he's just tired and will sleep for a while. He just can't do anything normally, can he?"
Severus smirked. "But at least he had a reason to do what he did, and I'm very glad he did so, because the snake is big and very alive, and I don't know how to harvest her venom in order to make an antidote," he explained, sincerely. He made himself comfortable on the edge of Harry's bed and decided to stay with his friend as long as he was allowed to do so.
HP
Half an hour later, Dumbledore arrived and asked, "How is our life saver? Still asleep? Professor Slughorn has told me everything, and I've contacted the ministry about the snake. They've already sent a few Aurors to collect her. So this problem is already gotten rid of, thanks to Harry's and your fast handling of the situation. If both of you hadn't acted as quickly as you did, several people here in the castle could have been killed by the snake. Thank you very much my boy. One hundred points to Slythe… oh, no! Two hundred points to Merlin for averting great danger from Hogwarts and saving a teacher's life."
Severus blushed at the unexpected praise and replied, "Thank you, Headmaster."
"You're welcome my boy. Now, shall we go down to dinner?" Dumbledore suggested. Hearing the sigh coming from his student, he added, "I don't think Harry will wake up anytime today, but we can ask Madam Pomfrey."
"Knowing him as well as I do, he won't wake up until at least tomorrow morning," Pomfrey confirmed. "I'll stay here of course, but you can put your mind at rest and go to dinner Severus; he will sleep, and when he wakes up, he'll be tired but fine."
HP
As Madam Pomfrey had prognosted, Harry remained fast asleep until the morning. On Sunday morning, when Lily was sitting at the edge of his bed and Severus in a chair next to him, he stirred, blinked several times and finally managed to open his eyes. 'What happened?' he wondered, when his mother's voice brought him back to reality.
"Hello Harry, are you all right?" Lily asked in a soft voice. "Good to see you awake again!"
"Hi mum," he mumbled tiredly, "what happened?"
"Harry, do you remember Nagini? You talked to her, and then you saved Slughorn's life," Severus informed him, causing a memory from far away to pop up in front of Harry's mind.
"Is he all right?" he asked, urgently.
Lily laughed. Harry was so tired that he had slurred the words so that they were barely understandable.
"Yes Harry, Slughorn is all right. You have saved his life. And the snake has been taken away by the ministry," Severus said, smiling at Harry, who was already slowly drifting away again.
When he woke up later, Poppy checked on him and decided he would probably be well enough to attend classes the next day but wouldn't be allowed to do magic for at least one week. "This also means no flying, no Quidditch, and no transforming into birds or whatever, is that very clear Harry?"
Harry groaned but nodded reluctantly. In the evening, when Harry was much more alert, Poppy and the headmaster came together to talk to him, which he realized when Pomfrey sat on the edge of his bed and Dumbledore took the chair which Severus always used. 'Oh no,' he thought in annoyance. 'What did I do now?' In spite of not feeling guilty in the slightest, he shifted uncomfortably.
"My dear boy", Dumbledore spoke up. "First of all, I have to thank you for saving a teacher's life and for saving Hogwarts from a great danger. Thank you very much."
Harry shrugged. "Harry", Dumbledore continued, "how did you even get the idea to try if it would work as it did?"
Harry thought for a moment and replied, "I was quite sure that it would work. It was already too late to heal his wound just by phoenix tears, so I had to heal him with my magic. I don't know; I just knew what to do." He noticed the curious look on both faces, but he could not really understand what was such a big deal.
Now Poppy took over. "Did you already have experience with this kind of healing?" she enquired. "I know that you healed Sirius before in the same way, but I mean before that."
Harry let out a long sigh. "Well, as I've told you before, my relatives never took me to a healer or a doctor. So, when I had any broken bones, my leg or ribs for example, I had to heal them just with my hands trying to send all my magic just to the point of the body that was hurt."
Poppy cast him a look of pure amazement. "This kind of healing that you did is normally impossible," she explained and continued, "Only Natural Healers have this healing power, and they're very rare. There hasn't been a Natural Healer for more than 200 years."
Harry groaned. "So I'm a Natural Healer? Does it matter? No one has to know about it, so everything is fine, isn't it?" he asked in annoyance, giving the adults a pleading look.
Dumbledore and Pomfrey looked at him with understanding but displeased expressions.
"Harry", Dumbledore was the first to reply. "I can understand you very well my boy, and I'm sure Poppy can as well, but we think that it seems that you indeed are a Natural Healer. And as it's dangerous for you to deplete your magic as completely as you already did two or three times during this school year alone, we think that you have to be taught how to control your magic when you try to heal someone. Of course, as none of us is a Natural Healer, we can't perfectly teach you, but we think that we'll still be able to help you a little. That's also the reason why Poppy has already begun to teach you a little about healing. I suggest that Poppy should teach you on two or even three evenings per week if possible, if necessary after Quidditch practice, in order for you to learn to use your healing abilities in a much safer fashion for the sake of your own health."
Harry sighed. 'What else is abnormal?' he thought, feeling thoroughly annoyed. 'Most of my abilities, be it Parseltongue, wandless magic, wish magic or whatever aren't normal, and now Natural Healing as well?' He was so tired of everything. Sighing again, he just lay down and closed his eyes.
Poppy put a hand on his shoulder. "Harry? It's all right, you know. It's a great ability, and you don't have to talk about it to anyone if you don't want to. Just think about it, and remember that Albus and I only want to help you. All right?"
Harry blinked slowly and mumbled, "All right. Thank you, Madam, Pomfrey, Granddad."
Suddenly McGonagall came rushing into the room. "Albus, you have to come to your office immediately. Floo there from Poppy's office. They seem to have a problem with the snake at the ministry and require your immediate assistance."
tbc...
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