Disclaimer; I own nothing, and never will despite how many chapters I post.
Yay! My third Chapter, it was really faster than I expected but don't expect this pace all the time, I really have no time. Alright enjoy the chapter, it should be longer than my other two, at least I think it will be.
"Good evening," said Dumbledore every politely. "I believe Harry has told you I will be coming," Dumbledore glanced around the room and as he did so his eyes paused on Harry. He looked like any 9-year-old but his eyes were much more mature, they held horrors in his past. What had this boy been through? One event, that he probably can't even remember, can't affect a boy this much. A person's eyes were the window to his/her soul and this just proved Harry was no boy. Harry was not unobservant, he saw how Dumbledore stared as him, trying to figure something out but he didn't feel the presence of legilimency. Dumbledore was being respectful by not probing his mind.
"Hello Harry, I am professor Dumbledore, I do believe you already know this," Harry nodded weakly. "I assume you would like to speak alone?" Harry nodded again, his voice was caught in his throat, he was speaking to his dead mentor. He swallowed and cleared his throat and said: "I believe we will have to go outside since my family was not polite enough to offer a room," he said as he glared at his supposed family. The two headed outside, all seemed calm but Harry knew they weren't alone.
"Albus, I would prefer we discuss my matters in private, I do not need any other people listening to my business, especially aurors," said Harry calmly. "No matter what you do, your aura will be visible," Harry spoke to the near by bushes, and out came a lynx. The animal narrowed its eyes at the young wizard and reverted to his human form.
"Astonishing, he can see auras," muttered Kinsley. "Harry, this is Kinsley Shaklebolt, an auror," said Dumbledore as he took Kinsley's hand in a firm shake. Harry nodded, "Professor? Why is it you need an auror at your side when you meet an almost 10-year-old boy? How much harm could I really be?" asked Harry innocently.
"You didn't seem like a boy at all… there was a possibility that you were a death eater in disguise," said Dumbledore. "Well, since that is solved," said Harry and turned to Kinsley, "We thank you but we won't be requiring your services anymore." Kinsley nodded and apperated into the night.
"Hmmm, now where to start?" thought Harry out loud.
"Starting form the beginning will be good, who are you?" asked his mentor.
"Ah, the question which everyone is looking to answer," muttered Harry. "My name is Harry James Potter, son of Lily and James Potter." Dumbledore nodded motioning for him to continue. "My mother was a muggleborn, while my father came from a pureblood family with a lot of history. They both died after Voldemort stuck my home in 1981 which led me to being left at this place. That is partly the reason I have called you here." The professor raised his eyebrow in question. "I would like to live with my godfather: Sirius Black."
"My boy, but that is not an option, he is in-"
"Azkaban, oh yes I know, I just need the correct proof to free Sirius. Catching Peter will be quite the task…"
"But that is physically impossible; he was killed by Sirius, a whole street of muggles saw."
"Yes, what they think they saw was Sirius killing Peter, but what do muggles know about what magic looks like, they probably never even saw a spell leave Sirius' wand. Peter Pettigrew is responsible for everything that has happened, he is an animagus. A rat with one toe missing, and if I remember, Percy Weasley has a rat with a toe missing." Dumbledore closed his eyes, "Oh my, we have had the wrong man for 8 years. Who would have ever guessed that the cowardly Peter Pettigrew a spy for Voldemort."
"And my parent's secret keeper."
"But how do you know all this, you have been isolated from the wizarding world from the age of one. There is no way you can know about all this…" Harry sighed, he had to have an ally that could help him and since Dumbledore would piece the puzzle together soon enough, might as well have him be one of the ones he chooses.
"I am from a future I wish to change in every possible way; everything is gone so what is the point of living in a world with nothing?" Dumbledore knew there was much more to what he was saying so he decided to so what else he could find out. He tried to probe the boy's mind but within several seconds, he was thrown out of Harry mind learning nothing new.
"Professor, you will learn that I do respect my privacy and if you would like to know more, you will have to be patient just as I was once with you." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, if the future was as bad as Harry said, him being here could potentially change the future for the better.
"Is there anymore that you can tell me?" asked Dumbledore. Harry thought about it for a second and then shook his head. "We will discuss more once the time is right, I don't want to change anything too fast. Let us free an innocent man first and then we shall continue from there. I think that will conclude our meeting tonight," said Harry, who paused for a moment after ward. "Actually I believe let us get most of this matter settled tonight, let us head to the Weasley's House." Harry disapperated before Dumbledore could get another word in, he felt the familiar coldness and darkness that came with apperation engulf him. He opened his eyes to see that he was now standing on the hill very close to the burrow and just then, his Professor appeared beside him staring. Harry just ignored this, he had just apperated being the age of only 9, with no license but Harry knew he could just blame it on accidental magic. The people at the ministry were too much of a bunch of idiots to tell accidental and real magic apart anyway.
"Harry, are you positive this is the rat animagus?"
"There is no doubt in my mind," said Harry with a twinkle in his eye that could match Dumbledore's. He approached the door and knocked three times. He stood silently beside his mentor as a slightly younger Mrs. Weasley opened the door,
"Oh hello dear, are you lost?" she spoke to Harry, he subconsciously made sure his hair was covering his scar.
"Ah Good evening Molly," said Dumbledore.
"Oh, Albus, goodness, you did give me quite the scare," said Mrs. Weasley.
"May we come in? We have some things to discuss." Molly lead them to the living room and as Harry walked in, he noticed there was no magic in view, they might have thought he was a muggle. "Let us start with the most important first, for this we will need young Percy and his rat, I think the name is Scabbers? Said Dumbledore slowly and looked to Harry for confirmation on the name.
"Do I get an explanation?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "I'm Sorry Mrs." Answered Harry this time. Molly looked at the boy and back at Albus who nodded to make sure Molly followed instructions. She then nodded in agreement and went upstairs.
"Albus, I do believe Remus should be here to see this rather unusual event." Dumbledore agreed without a second thought and disappeared to go and find Remus. Molly had decided to come down that moment, "Percy will be down in a minute. Oh, Albus left," said Mrs. Weasley to no one in particular. She was rather nervous but why she didn't know. The young boy seemed to make her uneasy, he even seemed familiar but she was positive they had never met before. His eyes met hers but they both quickly looked away, despite the brief meeting Molly noticed something unusual. The boy's eyes were far too mature for his age, he appeared to be the age of her youngest son. This was no boy, she thought, or at least its one with an unimaginable past.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back," said Harry rather quickly seeing the uneasiness in her eyes. He thought he saw Molly's eyes wander to his forehead so he distracted himself and turned away from her eyes.
"Are you hungry dear? You look so underfed; you really must get some weight on those limbs." He was about to protest when he looked at his arms and realized that he no longer had the muscular body from his future. He sighed in defeat and let Mrs. Weasley feed him. After about half an hour which Harry spent savouring the sandwich, Dumbledore returned with not only Remus but with ministry officials and the minister himself, Cornelius Fudge. Harry sneered at the man's presence, he never had any respect for the man, especially since he was the one that kept Sirius locked up.
"What is the meaning of this?" Asked and infuriated Fudge.
"We are here to clear the name of one Sirius Orion Black," said Dumbledore calmly.
"That's preposterous! There were over a dozen muggle witnesses that said Black blew up Peter, God bless his brave soul," trailed off Fudge. Harry choked on the last bit of the sandwich he had. Percy, after about 45 minutes had finally come down the stairs with the rat clutched in his hands. As soon as the rat saw everyone within the room, he began to squirm. Dumbledore saw this and levitated the rat onto the table which was surrounded by many people.
"What has this rat have to do with anything? I thought there was evidence on Black," screeched Fudge in a very bird-like manner.
"This rat has everything to do with Black because the rat is Peter Pettigrew," a stunned silenced passed through the room. There was even someone who fainted toward the back. Dumbledore than raised his wand at the now squealing rat and said a verbal incantation loud and clear. "Novo" and the whole room gasped as they saw not a rat on the table, but a small man.
"Peter, you traitor," whispered Remus as he lunged toward Peter but was restrained by some aurors.
"Remus, my dear friend, Black is after me, help me, he wants to kill me," said Peter as his eyes darted all over the place as he looked for a way to escape. Fortunately, he did not find one.
"LIAR," Yelled Remus, "You betrayed Lily and James after they did so much for you." Tears of bitterness ran down his face.
"But… but the Dark Lord was after me, he was going to kill me!"
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED, DIED LIKE THEY WOULD HAVE FOR YOU," roared Lupin. Aurors bonded Peter as they waited for someone to return with the veriteserum. They managed to keep the two former friends away from each other although it was quite a difficult task since Remus wanted to rip Peter apart. Harry watched as the scene unfolded. There wasn't anything he could do here, in front of all these people. Molly approached him again from behind and watched as he jumped, "Are you still hungry dear?"
"No, I'm alright Mrs. Weasley, thank you," he said very politely.
"I don't believe I got your name," said Mrs. Weasley. She watched him as he was reluctant to give it up. "Don't worry, I don't bite." Harry shrugged, "My name is Harry Potter, pleased to meet you," he stuck out a hand to be polite.
Their introduction was cut short as a man with a bottle came in and quickly forced Peter to drink it. Fudge stepped forward and began asking the questions that should have been asked to Sirius close to 8 years ago.
"Were you the Potter's secret keeper in place of Black and did you betray them?"
"Yes," said Peter in a monotone voice.
"Did you blow up the street full of muggles and left Black to take the blame?"
"Yes"
"Are all charges against Black your doing?" Peter stumbled over his words but the word that everyone was waiting for came out of his mouth,
"Yes."
"Black will be cleared of all charges with this new evidence," said Fudge in a state of disbelief, he couldn't believe they had the wrong man for 8 years. Fudge and all the officials, along with Peter, disapperated leaving the once crowded kitchen quite empty apart from Dumbledore, Remus, Molly, Percy and himself. Molly could not believe that the boy that stood before her was the famed Harry Potter, she had expected him to be pampered but the multiple bruises proved otherwise.
Percy did not make a single sound as he disappeared upstairs, Harry felt sorry for him. He remembered when Ron found out Scabbers was Peter.
Remus had no idea how to approach Harry but finally just put it out there. "Harry Potter, it has been almost 8 years since I last saw you," he said with a beaming smile. "Remus Lupin, your father was one of my best friends while we were still in school, along with that pathetic excuse for a friend," Harry knew Remus was referring to Peter. "I better go, my kind aren't welcome everywhere," he said with a slight smile toward Molly. Harry knew that he was referring to the fact that he was a werewolf. Even in the future werewolves weren't as accepted as Harry hoped they would be. "I have invaded your home long enough, thank you."
"Nonsense Remus, you are welcome here any time," said Molly with a smile.
"Good night, Molly, Albus, Harry," and with a blink of an eye, he was gone.
"Albus," said Harry, "I thank you for your help tonight, I promise everything will be explained in due time."
"I trust you, my boy, and I have no doubt that you will answer some of the questions that are in my mind," said Dumbledore with a twinkle present in his eye.
"Albus, why don't you leave the boy here, he could start getting used to magic, after all it must have been quite a shock for him." Harry smiled at Molly's concern.
"I have a boy his age, Ronald, and a girl a year younger, Ginerva, although she does prefer Ginny. It would be good for him to be in such an environment.
"I suppose there is no harm in letting him stay here until Sirius is released."
Harry nodded, he didn't know how all of this would affect everything but he hoped everything would play out for the better.
After everything calmed down at 10pm, Mrs. Weasley called down Ron to introduce him to his new room mate.
"Mum, what was all that noise, Fred and George even came to my room asking about it," said Ron before realizing there was someone else in the room.
"Ronald, this is Harry. He will be staying her with us until his Godfather is able to pick him up." Harry stared at the tall thin red head, he had forgotten how awkward Ron had looked when he was younger. He smiled at Ron who didn't seem to be pleased about being kept up. He grumbled things under his breath as he led Harry to his room. Mrs. Weasley lent him a pair of Ron's old PJs for the night even though Harry insisted he could sleep in his clothes. When the war had gone into full attack mode, Harry slept in his clothes, weapons and all concealed beneath a layer of clothing or a disillusioning charm. It wasn't the most comfortable but it kept him ready at all times.
"So what do you think about the Chudley Canons?" asked Harry as casually as he could.
"That team is BLOODY BRILLIANT!" said Ron enthusiastically. He seemed to have woken up right away. "Here you can look at all of my posters," said Ron as he seized Harry by the wrist and dragged him up the stairs. He opened the door to his room to reveal at least half the bedroom covered in posters of quidditch players. They were all in orange supporting the words Chudley Canons above each player.
"They've been my favourite team I was 4, what about you?"
"I've never had a preference but on the international stage I've always enjoyed watching the Irish." He wasn't exactly lying, he had seem them, just they weren't the same team they were now.
"Are you joking? England has the best team we've seen in years." Harry laughed, only Ron could think that someone was joking when their opinions did not match.
"By the way, I'm Ron Weasley, Number one fan of the Chudley Canons. They aren't doing that well but there is always next year."
"Harry Potter." Ron's eye's widened to the size of bludgers and managed to stutter out, "Do-do-you have it?" "Have what?" "The scar!" exclaimed Ron.
"Oh," Harry said as he lifted his bangs up to reveal a clearly defined lightning scar. At that moment, the door flew open and a red headed girl stood at the door in her night gown. 'Ginny' thought Harry. "Ron," she winced and blushed when she realized he wasn't alone in the room. His scar wasn't covered completely by his bangs and this made Ginny blush more once she realized who he was. She shut the door quickly and steps on the stairs made it known that she ran back to her room.
"Sorry about Ginny, she gets nightmares and usually sleeps in the extra bed," said Ron motioning to the bed Harry now occupied, Harry felt bad. "It's okay," said Harry not really listening to Ron, his mind was on the red head that should have been his future wife. He sighed and thought, 'At least she's still alive here and maybe everything will work out this time." He wished to hold her in his arms again but he was only a 9 year old in this world. An 18-year-old in a 9 year-olds body.
"Something wrong mate?"
"No, nothing, just thinking about tonight's events. I'm exhausted, good night Ron," said Harry rather quickly.
"Good night Harry."
He was running down the familiar dirt road leading to the Burrow, there was smoke in the distance and a good amount of it too. Harry knew what had happened but he kept running hoping that the out come would be different this time. The sweat collected on his forehead as the burrow came into view. Engulfed in flames that spat ambers into the dark night, above the building was the well known skull with a snake. He turned to the woods near by to hopefully find some survivors but he remembered the scream that was caught in his throat everytime he turned onto that road. There, hanging from the large tree were the bodies of Molly and Arthur Weasley, throats slashed and their clothes covered in blood. On their faces was the scream that never left their throats, Harry collapsed staring at the bodies, underneath were these words written in smeared, fresh blood, "Blood traitors will always get what they have coming."
Harry woke up in a cold sweat; it wasn't possible to still have these dreams. These things never happened here, they were alive and well. Harry sat up catching his breath, wiping the sweat that formed on his brow. Harry assumed that these dreams followed him because it was he who found the bodies and having a second family ripped away from him was engraved into his very existence, his very soul. Every death had become a burden for him to bear, he always blamed himself even though others said there was no way he could have prevented what was going to happen. Harry slowly regained his composure as his breathing slowed, he wanted to get to Godric's Hollow as soon as he could, so that no one would see him this weak. The fact that he was a child once again did not help. It looked at the clock to discover it was still the middle of the night, 4am, he did not have to be up for at least another 4 hours but his mind would not sub come to the slumber. He decided that he would get back into shape; Harry got up and started to run. He ran away from the memories, or the future that lay ahead, he swore to himself he would never let that happen again. Never.
Well another chapter up! This is a lot faster than expected; hopefully the next one will be up soon can't guarantee it since I have like 5-6 projects in school right now :S. And one word… REVIEW!
