Make It Up As We Go
She stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Caldron and looked around rather disoriented. It had been the longest month of her life. Exactly one month ago, Ramsey had been your average American witch. She had finished wizarding school with above average marks and was planning on job hunting soon after graduation.
However, things took an unexpected turn when she tripped and fell on her way home. Ramsey was never exactly a graceful girl, however, this trip was spectacular. The fall ended up knocking her unconscious. Upon waking up, Ramsey faced a strange bright light that began to dim. Moving her small body to sit up, Ramsey began to see a thin figure emerge from the light. Thoroughly frightened, Ramsey froze. The figure then began to speak.
"I imagine that you are wondering what I am doing here…"
All Ramsey could do was make an inconsistent noise.
"I am here to fill you with information. You see a mistake has been made and a human such as yourself requires a guide. Now this guide must possess wisdom and power enough to help our friend Mister Harry Potter defeat the Dark Lord again. This guide must be brave and graceful. Unfortunately, this guide must also be born under certain astrological circumstances and to date you are the only one who fits the bill."
Ramsey groaned and held her face in her hands wondering how on Earth this was going to work out. The only subject she had really excelled in at school was potions. And that was due to her father's business as a potions ingredients supplier. Up until now she had never really accomplished anything spectacular on her own.
Wonderful, she thought, just fucking wonderful.
"Now because of your subpar qualifications, we will be transporting Harry Potter's memories to you as if you viewed them from outside of his being. Not only that but we will be upping your magical quotient and abilities temporarily. There is a small chance that this will remain permanent, but most likely after your mission is done you will go back to your old levels of magic and your old abilities. We will also be instilling within you the knowledge that Harry Potter needs to know in order to prevail in this new world that he finds himself in. It is your responsibility to teach it to him since we are not allowed to give him the information directly. This all falls on your shoulders. Once you have the information, we are done with this problem. Understood?"
Ramsey nodded and felt a flash of energy hit her square in the forehead. She woke up sprawled out on the sidewalk in front of her house with the sore feeling of magic coursing through her veins, new knowledge in her head, and horrific memories playing out in her mind. Staggering to her knees, she proceeded to vomit. Shaking and feeling weak, Ramsey managed to stand and finish her walk home where she promptly passed out on her couch.
xxxxx
Ramsey ignored the new information for a good two solid weeks. As the nightmares increased and the dreams intensified, Ramsey was beginning to admit that she could no longer ignore her situation. Her magic had increased to a level that was dangerous with the amount of stress she was under. Her new knowledge of dangerous spells and hexes increased the danger for her family. It was also beginning to cause questions to arise as the where she learned this new information.
Finally, one night at dinner Ramsey decided to broach the subject with her parents. She quickly explained that she planned to move to England in search of a potions apprenticeship or some other type of job to continue her education and learning. She said that she wasn't quite sure where yet, but that she was sure that she could find one. In the mean time she planned to use her savings to finance her job hunt. Of course this was complete bull. She was playing into the fact that her dad had always wanted her to pursue potions after school. She had intentions of bartending, befriending Harry Potter, doing whatever needed to be done, and then getting home ASAP. Her parents didn't need to know that.
Shocked yet supportive, her parents said nothing. Their daughter had always been one to go off on tangents and have random preoccupations for periods of time but she had never gone this far before. They were happy with her sudden spark towards the academic and didn't argue in hopes that she would continue with her potions work.
xxxxxxx
Arriving in England was disorienting. First off, Ramsey didn't want to be there. Second off, the food was horrible. Staying in Diagon Alley was what Wizarding Travel Guides of the World had suggested for Ramsey. Ramsey was wishing that it would have suggested otherwise. Being in London did have its upsides though. The shopping was wonderful, and Ramsey had been able to entertain herself people watching. However, as her funds began to dwindle Ramsey knew that she had to get busy trying to find herself a real job. One that was preferably close to Harry Potter. After reading all she could about the kid, Ramsey decided that her best bet was to acquire a job around the Hogsmeade area. How this was going to happen was yet to be determined.
Luckily for Ramsey, her father was hot on the trail of job hunting too. So it was of little surprise to Ramsey when she received a letter from a business partner of her father's to come have dinner with him and his family at their manner. Putting on her best robes and making herself look presentable Ramsey hoped that this would lead to a job and wasn't just a get together she would have to suffer through. Throwing the floo powder in the fire, she yelled, "Malfoy Manor" and was gone.
xxxxxxxx
After much forced conversation at dinner, Harry was finally in the safety of his bed. He knew that he was acting odd and that his friends had noticed the sudden change of behavior. Quite frankly, he did not care. He would figure out tomorrow how to act like his fifteen year old self again. For now, he had bigger fish to fry. He had to figure out how not to botch up the future and get over his intense anger of having to relive everything all over again. Taking a deep breath, Harry snuggled down into the comforter of his four poster bed and pretended to sleep. After what seemed like hours everyone else was finally in bed asleep. When he was sure that no one would be up, Harry took his chance and grabbed his invisibility cloak, wand, and the Marauder's Map and was gone.
Harry walked quietly down the long halls of Hogwarts careful to avoid all teachers. Heading to the seventh floor was not an easy task tonight.
Trust the professors to patrol the halls the first night back, Harry thought bitterly as he barely missed yet another run in between professors.
Finally Harry made it to the seventh floor corridor that he desired and was once again in the Room of Requirements. Sighing a huge sigh of relief, Harry took off his cloak. Setting his things on a table, Harry then proceeded to look around the room. This time the room had walls completely covered with chalkboards and large stacks of parchment with many quills and ink canisters. Knowing what he had to do first, Harry set to sketching off a timeline of detrimental points throughout his Hogwarts career. Harry figured that if at least these events happened then things would not change too much overall. After about a few hours of work and a growling stomach, Harry had sketched out only his fifth year on the board. The frustration overtook Harry's senses and he flung an ink well at the board. It shattered nicely. So satisfying was its shattering, Harry proceeded to chunk another and yet another ink well at the board screaming obscenities all the while. Harry plopped down on the floor panting and utterly defeated. The absurdness of the situation took hold of him.
Die or relive your life. Had I known, would I have chosen to die? Did she purposefully send me back this far or was there some kind of glitch. Surely it was a glitch, maybe they made another mistake and will notice it and fix it. Maybe, maybe… Harry continued to ponder ways out of his current situation. It looked as if he was going to have to live it out one day at a time. Maybe I should just concentrate on one big event at a time. So the first thing that must happen is that Dumbledore's Army must be created again. And after that I must have a vision about Mr. Wesley. How on earth can I guarantee another vision about Mr. Wesley… Cold panic started to sink in again as Harry tried to figure out how to guarantee the future would be comparable to his past. Sighing and standing up, Harry headed out of the Room of Requirements and back to his dorm.
xxxxxxx
The next day at breakfast was not a pleasant one. Ron was silently sulking when Harry sat down at the table. Harry decided that it was in his best interest to ignore the problem as long as possible until he could figure out the correct response to have. Unfortunately, Ron decided to voice his concerns.
"What's wrong Harry? It seems like since yesterday at dinner you've been, well, you've been acting strangely. And I know that you left last night without telling me, mate. Where'd you go that's such a secret?" Hermione gave Harry a meaningful look as Ron stared waiting on a reply.
Harry mentally sighed. Thinking quickly, Harry decided that the best alternative to telling the whole truth was to stick to the truth as much as possible. It always made lying easier in the long run.
"I-I guess being back here is just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. After everything that's happened, I er- I guess I just needed some time to think last night. That's all." Harry felt like his answer satisfied his friends questioning looks, but he knew that he was in trouble if he could not get his act together. He would not be able to spend the rest of his years alluding to Cedric's death as the reason for his abnormal behavior. After taking another bite of his eggs, Harry changed the subject to Quidditch and was pleased by a relatively normal conversation.
xxxxxx
Thankfully, the rest of the day was relatively normal. Harry even managed to receive detention from Umbridge in a similar manner to the first time around. However, things took on a new dynamic when Harry entered double potions with the Slytherins. The lesson was the same as before, and Harry felt comfortable brewing the Draught of Peace but there was a new face in the potions classroom. While she was not introduced, Harry did catch sight of a short woman with long brown hair and black robes. As Harry had been excepting more of the same, this woman caught his eye. No one else seemed to notice this new face as they slaved away over their potions. Harry took particular interest in her job. She seemed to be organizing ingredients into Snape's supply cabinet. She seemed as if she was an assistant of some kind.
Since when did Snape every have anyone helping him? Wondered Harry. Since when would Snape allow anyone to help him? This new mystery continued to plague Harry throughout the rest of the lesson.
Much to his relief the rest of potions passed without incident. Harry and Ron even managed to complete their potion as near to perfection as circumstances would allow. Leaving the classroom, Harry was able to catch one more glimpse of the mystery woman and then left wondering if she was going to play any kind of role in his new predicament.