Chapter 8

2022

As Scorpius tugged on her hand, yelling something she couldn't quite make out, Rose felt unable to move, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. For a split second, she stayed frozen, staring at James running towards them, a pair of Death Eaters close on his heels.

And then her eyes fell on Albus. She blinked.

He'd taken the cloak off!

All the noise in the corridor rushed back to her ears in an instant.

"Al!" James yelled, a few meters away from them. One of the Carrows fired a spell, missing his ginger head by an inch. "Run!"

oOo

Like a bullet, Rose ripped her hand from Scorpius' hold and ran straight to Albus, who was as still as a statue, his eyes fixed on his brother. She pushed against him, yelling in his ear to make him react.

"Al, get back! They'll think you're-"

"It's Potter!" One of the death eaters shouted, making her wince and wheel around, wand ready. "Get them!" But before she could fire a spell, James reached them, running right into the two cousins and nearly knocking her down.

"Protego!" he shouted, creating a shield around the four teens. Rose could barely make sense of what was going on anymore, her ears were ringing, and James' grip was like a vice around her wrist. She thought she heard Scorpius try to hex one of the Carrows and Al yelling at his brother to let go on his arm, but James had kicked some classroom door open and was shoving them into the empty room roughly. And then the noise stopped, and she grabbed Scorpius' neck to keep herself from collapsing. James was leaning against the heavy wooden door, breathing hard, the Carrows' yells muffled by the thick panel outside the small classroom. Al stared at his brother mutely.

"James," Rose whispered shakily, her voice sounding too loud in the tiny room. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" he replied, smirking and still managing to make a joke of the situation. "I've always wanted to see what 1998 was like!"

"1997. And how in Merlin's name did you manage to-"

"He's in here!" a voice yelled from outside, cutting her off. "Get it open!" James stiffened and glanced at his cousin.

"The shield spell won't hold them off forever, will it?"

Rose gulped. "No."

"And you wouldn't happen to know a spell that would block them from coming in, would you?"

"No." Rose repeated, letting go of Scorpius' neck slowly. James grimaced.

"That's what I thought. Damn."

"James, how did you-"

"Retreat now, questions later. Al," he glanced at his frozen brother, removing his jacket swiftly before leaning back against the door. "Could you go check how far down the ground is from this floor?"

"What?" Scorpius' gasped as Albus stayed rooted on the spot. "D'you expect us to jump out of the window or something?"

"You got a better idea, Malfoy?"

"No, there's another way!" Rose exclaimed, running to the small fireplace behind the teacher's desk. She reached inside a dirty flowerpot hanging by the wall and smiled as she drew back a fist-full of grey dust. "Yes!"

"Floo powder," Scorpius clarified uselessly as Rose pointed her wand at the base of the conduit, lighting up a couple of flames instantly.

"Where the hell do you expect us to go to by Floo, Rose?" James yelled, shoving harder against the door as vibrations from the wooden panel informed him that spells were being fired at it. He winced at a particularly intense explosion from the corridor, and Al seemed to be shaken awake and reflexively joined his brother in his struggle against the door.

"Home," he shouted so James could hear him despite the explosions. Dust and smoke were beginning to make their way into the classroom, making him want to sneeze as he leaned heavily against the wooden surface, his shoulder bumping James'. "She wants to go home."

"To the Burrow? Are you completely out of your mind?" Rose pretended not to have heard him as she muttered spells under her breath to make the flames turn green.

"Why are you here, James?" Al shouted, unable to rein his curiosity in. It's what had been puzzling him all along, the fact that, of all people, his brother had been the one to show up. Even his constant quest for glory failed to explain his presence here; this was a much too risky situation for that. So why had he come?

James turned his eyes away from Rose and towards his brother, blinking. Al met his surprised gaze, realizing that, for the very first time of his life, he didn't have to look up to do so. "Isn't it obvious?" James replied slowly, seemingly struck with the very same realization at the exact same time.

Right then, the door exploded from behind them and they were both thrown roughly to the ground. Al fell head first on the stony floor and felt his glasses break from under him, little bits of glass penetrating his cheek. Ouch. He heard Rose call out his name and then Scorpius' hands were turning him over and dragging him backwards, away from the door. The Carrows had appeared in the threshold, and then everything was blurry and everyone was firing spells at one another, Albus couldn't see a single thing except Rose's fiery hair standing directly in front of him and blocking the spells he would have been unable to dodge. He felt blindly around for whatever was left of his glasses and Alecto was screaming something about calling the Dark Lord before Rose silenced him with a flick of her wand. His cousin cried out as one Amycus' spells hit Scorpius square in the chest; James stunned the death eater and Al's fingers finally closed on the bits of glass he'd been searching for.

"Reparo," he muttered, Rose gasping behind him as she crouched over Scorpius' unconscious form. He put his glasses on and blinked wildly around him, taking the scene in.

Amycus was laying on the ground, much like Scorpius, the two of them unconscious; Rose was attempting to revive him with a spell Al had never heard before; James had Alecto silenced, disarmed and backed up against one of the classroom's corners, but his gaze was on his brother.

"You okay?" he asked Al as he got up shakily.

"Fine," Al replied, rubbing at his cheek where the glass had cut him before wincing and pulling his hand back. "But Scorp-"

"He'll be alright." James punched Amycus hard in the gut and then stepped away from the wheezing, folded in half and now harmless death eater. Crossing the room, he crouched beside Scorpius' head, Al imitating him. "Only stunned. You okay, Rose?"

The girl nodded, tears trailing her cheeks, nervously running her fingers in her wild hair. "Scorpius, he's-"

"Fine," James finished. "He's perfectly fine. Or he will be, anyway. Just let me remember the spell – Al, are you bleeding?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Stupid glasses. It's nothing." He almost added "don't worry", before remembering that James wasn't in the habit of worrying about anyone but himself. Still, feeling uneasy under his brother's unreadable gaze, Al got up and walked over to the door, looking out into the doorway. Miraculously, the corridor was still empty. How in Merlin's name had the ruckus not alerted the entire castle was beyond him, but he wasn't about to risk ruining the situation. Silently, he closed what was left of the door and cast a Muffliato spell. Inside the classroom, the others were arguing again, Scorpius' eyes still closed.

"I know that, but it's the only way we can get out of here!" Rose was whispering, her arms around Scorpius' neck, who was starting to stir.

"No, it isn't. I know how to get us all back home. I just have to speak to Teddy's dad-"

"You're a bit too late for that, mate-"

"Well, then, to anyone who knows the Minister of Magic, then-"

Al was about to ask him what his grand plan was when a flicker of movement on his right caught his attention; before he could even blink, Alecto drew his arm back and hurled an enormous glass tank right at him.

As the heavy object soared in the air, Al had the time to think about three things; firstly, that learning magic for six years had been quite a waste of time, now that he realized that he didn't know a single spell able to stop the projectile from shattering his skull. Second, that if James really was here, it was ultimate proof that he did care. And third, that it would have been really appropriate to move out of the tank's way when he still had time to do so. Damn.

And then he was shoved hard on his knees and while the pain he'd been bracing himself for did not come, the sound of breaking glass and Rose's scream did, and James collapsed on top him, unconscious.

"Stupefy! Stupefy!" Rose shrieked as Al turned James over on his back, his stomach heaving at the sight of his bleeding face, his half-closed lids and gaping mouth.

"No," he mumbled, grabbing his brother's shoulder and desperately trying to shake him awake. "James James James wake up, c'mon, please, please-"

And then Rose and Scorpius were kneeling beside him, prying his fingers away.

"Do something!" he yelled at his cousin, who only shook her head. "Rose, fix this!"

"I can't, I don't know how, I don't know what to do…" she sobbed, her hands pressed to her trembling lips. Al could barely hear her with the way his ears were ringing.

"James, c'mon, please, wake up, please…" he kept repeating, struggling to grab his brother's arm despite Scorp's grip on his shoulder, holding him back. "Please, please wake up-"

Rose had grabbed his hand and was saying something he couldn't understand. One single thought kept running around non-stop in his head, muting everything else. You caused this, Alecto was aiming for you, he shoved you out of the way, he does care, this is all your fault…

"Can't you make his bleeding stop or something?" he pleaded with his crying cousin.

She shook her head again, biting her lip, eyes fixed on James' unrecognizable face. "I don't know how, I don't know how, I'm sorry-"

"Maybe McGonagall or Lupin… or Snape…" Scorpius started hesitantly.

"Yes," Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, Snape will know what to do. Al, c'mon, he'll know you're a Potter just by taking one look at your eyes-"

"No, I'm staying here."

"But-"

"We just have to convince Snape to come in here," Scorpius cut Rose's protest off. "He'll see Al and then help James. I'll come with you," he added when she started to speak again. "but we should probably hurry."

"Stay here. We'll be back in a second," Rose murmured, and then the two friends took off and Al was left to stare numbly at his brother's bleeding face, feeling desperately useless, as the door shut itself silently behind them.

"James?" he tried again hesitantly, rolling up the invisibility cloak and sticking it under his brother's head like a pillow. "Rose and Scorpius went to get help. You're gonna be okay."

Once, when he was ten, during summer holidays, Roxy had fallen off her broom while playing Quidditch with Fred and her dad and cracked her head on the ground. He remembered how Aunt Angelina had cried all the way to St Mungo's, how the entire family – somehow, everyone had been here – had paced for hours in the waiting room to hear how the patient was, and how Aunt Persephone, who was a Healer, had kept talking to Rox when she was lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding, waiting for help to arrive.

"The important thing is to keep speaking," she'd explained to Albus later. "It's the only way to let them know you're here."

"But how do you know they can hear us?" Al had asked.

"I don't. But it's worth a shot, isn't it? If they can hear us… at least they know they're not alone in this."

"Snape is coming; remember, the slimy git who actually turned out to be one of the good guys? He's a potions master; he'll know what to do… Just hang on, alright?", Al said now, trying hard to follow her advice. "We'll make sure no scars are left on your face – I know how much you value it." He tried to laugh but his throat was too dry. Merlin, couldn't James at least nod or smirk to let him know he was conscious? "You're going to be okay, James. Just imagine how mad Lils would be if you didn't wake up; she'd hate you forever for being dumb enough to come here after us in the first place. Thanks for that, by the way. And for pushing me out of the way when… you know. Didn't know you cared. I appreciate it." Al swallowed loudly, wishing the blood would stop flowing from James' head. "You'll be okay. You've got to be. Hang in there, Jamie. Don't give up. Merlin, what's taking them so long? Man, I wish Dad were here, he'd know what to do. Remember when-"

"Would you shut up for a second?" James spoke up, eyes still closed, making Al jump.

"James! Are you alright?" he gasped, grabbing his brother's arm and leaning closer to hear his faint whispers.

"I've got a massive headache and your endless rambling isn't helping at all." James opened his eyes slowly and raised a hand to his face, wincing. "What the hell happened and what's this gooey thing covering my face? "

"You took a glass tank to the face, remember? And that would be your blood." James got really pale and shut his eyes again. "But you'll be okay, Rose and Scorp will be here with Snape right away-"

"No, Al, shut up for a minute," James gritted his teeth. "You've got to go now. If Snape comes, he'll never let you leave and you have to get to the Burrow, fast."

"What?"

"I have a plan, so listen up. See, to get back home, you've got to make sure that Goyle is never set free from Azkaban in 2022; that way, he'll never send you guys here, okay? So you've got to get to the Minister of Magic and tell him-"

"James, there is no Minister right now-"

"I mean ours, Kingsley! He was a part of the Order, remember? That's how dad met him." he opened his eyes and grabbed his brother's sleeve, tugging on it as if to emphasize his point. "Al, this is crucial. Find him and make sure he never sets Goyle free."

"But how?"

"Tell him the truth, make him understand how dangerous setting Goyle free would be-"

"But wouldn't that make me reveal the future? If I say Goyle ends up in Azkaban, he'll understand the good guys win the war! And I thought we weren't supposed to-"

"But if Goyle is never set free, none of us will come here at all! It's like a loop, see? A time loop. If Goyle stays in jail, we don't come here at all and Kingsley never learns anything about the future. Man, my head hurts…"

Al straightened up slowly. Ok, so the plan made sense, but it was also far-fetched as hell. Plus, leaving Rose, Scorpius and James alone here didn't exactly feel right…

"But what about you guys?"

"If you manage to convince Kingsley, everything will be deleted. None of us will even be here in the first place." James glanced at him. "Please tell me your tiny pea of a brain understands the logic behind this, Severus."

"Right, I'm going," Al muttered, getting to his feet and walking over to the fireplace. "Stay put, ok? Scorp and Rose should be back soon."

"And I really wanted to go for a jog right this minute. Oh, Albus, what a downfall!" James drawled, his brother gritting his teeth, trying to remind himself that strangling the red headed boy would in no way help his condition

"Hey, Al?" James called over as he reached into the flowerpot for some Floo powder.

"Yeah?" Al turned back to look at him.

"You're kind of covered in blood."

"Huh," Al muttered, looking down at the front of his shirt, which was indeed soaked and bloody. "Shit."

"Take my jacket," James managed a small grin, his freckles much too visible against his pale skin, and motioned to where he'd thrown the piece of clothing a couple of minutes ago. Al grabbed it from the floor and buttoned it up to hide the gory mess that his favourite grey shirt had become.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry about the stuff I said yesterday." James said awkwardly. Al nodded slowly, stepping into the green flames that Rose had lighted what felt like hours ago.

"See you in twenty five years, Al. Be careful," James added as Al threw the grey dust at his feet and a man with greasy black hair threw the door open.

"The Burrow!"