A Second Chance
It was the Light's last chance at winning the war and Minerva McGonagall was going to take it. In exchange for her life, Harry Potter was to be sent back to the past to change everything. Enemies beware, because Harry James Potter has a vendetta. SSHPLM
Main Relationship Focus: Harry Potter/Severus Snape/Lucius Malfoy
Genres: Action & Adventure, Angst, Drama, Humour, Romance and Suspense
Rating: M; for violence, sex and language
Length: Epic
Warning: Slash, threesomes.
Disclaimers: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Beta: Amber
IV: Diagon Alley
"You are a pathetic excuse for a Black, cousin. Aunt Walburga had to disown you to prevent our name from being further tarnished…" Bellatrix sneered, an insane glint lighting up her impossibly wide dark blue eyes. The male only released a bark of a laugh and returned the sneer.
"Oh Bella, Bella," he cried mockingly as he pranced around his opponent, "what would your precious Dark Lord say if you were to be returned bloody and in pieces?"
"You'd be the one bloody and in pieces, Cousin!" The wild-eyed Death Eater smiled and started attacking, only to cause Sirius to laugh and dodge the sickly purple curse. Then he fired back a red coloured curse, laughing mockingly, Sirius did not see the dark red rebounded curse from her black Protego.
The gaunt, ragged man with hauntingly tired blue eyes widened his orbs in surprise before reaching out for help as he slowly fell backwards, tipping his body over tantalizingly over the darkness which was named the Veil. The man's thin-lipped mouth opened and called for a final time.
"Harry…"
He reached out for his godfather and screamed when he saw Sirius disappear into the shroud of darkness in slow motion as he mentally screamed for his legs and body to obey his command to move. But the only thing he could do was to reach out feebly and watch the horrifying event happen.
"No! Sirius!"
Kyle's eyes snapped opened and he looked around, realizing that he was still in his room and he just had a nightmare. Running a tired hand through sleep mussed brown hair, he realised that it had been a few years since he had that particular dream that plagued him consistently from his fifth year until he stopped dreaming after overdosing on Dreamless Sleep. The man casted a wandless Tempus charm and silvery numbers swirled slightly before disappearing in smoky tendrils.
Five thirty-four. Great.
Kyle sighed and got out of bed, knowing from previous experience that it would be useless to try and get some more sleep. He quickly put on a simple t-shirt and sweatpants.
"Uncle Kyle!"
A raven-haired blur barrowed into the room and attached itself on Kyle's legs. The man pried his young nephew of his legs and bent down to the young boy's level. "Harry, what's wrong?"
"I thought you were a dream! I was so scared that I was dreaming…"
Kyle smiled softly and hugged the boy warmly, "It's not a dream, I'm going to take care of you now; I'm not going anywhere."
Harry sighed in relief and smiled brilliantly, "So what are we going to do today, Uncle Kyle?"
Kyle thought about for a while before smiling knowingly, "I think I have somewhere you'll like a lot."
Two hours later, after a shower and a scrumptious breakfast, the uncle and nephew pair were on board a train compartment on its way to London. He also realized that it was raining outside as droplets of water splashed against the closed glass windows of the train; the weather had cast a grey shroud around the villages that were a customary sight before the city. He looked out into the scenery for an hour, hands wrapped around his bended knees. Then he saw a handsome black dog playing with an adorable blonde girl, licking her face as she giggled happily, as he saw the scene, an unbidden thought of his godfather flashed through his mind.
Sirius…
Muggle passers-by stared a lot at the young man as he walked through the station, can't blame the crowd, for Kyle was truly stunning in his simplicity and Harry looked adorable in a Slytherin-green t-shirt that brought out his startling eyes and black jeans set. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburgers bars and cinemas and Kyle remembered coming here with Hagrid a long time ago, smiling softly at the memory, he reached the tiny, grubby-looking pub that had a Notice-Me-Not charms and wards. Then he took out his hooded cloak from his bag, spelled to be bottomless, and put in on as he walked into the bar. Passing through the magical crowd was easy once he was disguised properly.
Finally he saw the old wall, smiling as he was hit with the flashback of Hagrid counting the bricks in the wall above the dustbin.
"Three up… two across…"
Kyle took out his wand and tapped the wall three times with the point of the wooden stick, the brick he had touched quivered, wiggled and a small hole appeared, it grew wider and wider and a second later, he was facing an archway large enough for even Hagrid to pass through. Harry gasped, big eyes wide in awe.
"Welcome to," said Kyle with a smile, "Diagon Alley."
"Wow, this is amazing…"
And as the pair walked into Diagon Alley, Harry wished for more eyes. The young boy turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.
Harry and Kyle walked some more and then a low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy attracted the young boy's attention. Harry looked inquiringly at his uncle and Kyle nodded, the pair then entered the shop. There were many owls, but one caught the older man's eye: A perfect, gorgeous snow white owl with intelligent yellow eyes and a calm, quiet demeanour. Hedwig.
The young man trained his emerald orbs on its yellow eyes and walked towards her cage. The shopkeeper saw him and helpfully quipped that the owl was a female.
"Hello, girl." The owl hooted softly and tilted her head slightly to a side; Kyle smiled, surprised at finding his familiar so quickly.
"I'll take her." The shopkeeper smiled and nodded, asking for five galleons, which he quickly supplied. The cheque he obtained yesterday was only for bills higher than a hundred galleons. Soon, the owl was let out and she flew away, hooting her temporary farewell to her master. Harry didn't find anything that caught his eye so the pair went to the Magical Menagerie next. The place was a myriad of smells and Harry scrunched his nose at the unpleasantness. Kyle chuckled and waved his hand to deal with the problem; Harry smiled in thanks and started looking. The shopkeeper saw the pair and came forth with a smile.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"I'm just here with my nephew, we're just looking around. We'll let you know if we need your help, thank you." The woman smiled and nodded, leaving Kyle to follow his inquisitive nephew. The little boy walked around until he came across a tank of snakes. The snakes started hissing when the pair came closer.
§ There's someone coming! §
§ Really? Let me see! §
Kyle smiled at the younger snakes' antics. He didn't count on his nephew to reply though.
§ Hi. §
The little snakes froze and then there were more excited hissing.
§ He Speaks!!! Mother, he Speaks!!! §
Kyle could practically envision the hyperactivity if the young snakes were to be personified.
§ Alright, children. There is no reasssson why you want to scare the Speaker into leaving. Calm down. §
Kyle turned to Harry and saw that his nephew looked torn between laughing and running off. Kyle then turned his attention in the direction of the hissing that sounded wiser and female and was captivated by a beautiful female snake with entirely obsidian scales. Her eyes was an interesting bright opal and on her crown was a transparent crystal surrounded by golden etchings. It seemed to Kyle that she was made entirely out of precious jewels. She also had six little copies of her slithering animatedly around her. Kyle smiled.
§ It's alright, your children are not scaring anybody here. Perhaps my nephew here is just a little shocked, but nothing else. §
§ You Speak too? §
§ It is an honour to have found such a beautiful specimen as you §
The snake gave a pleased hiss, § It is also an honour to have met a Speaker, let alone two §
§ What species are you? I've never seen a snake like you. §
Harry was captivated by the sibilant sounds.
§ I'm an Egyptian Asp, and these are my children. §
She waved a tail over the slithering pile of young. Kyle chuckled and said.
§ They are beautiful as well. When they hit maturity, they will certainly be beautiful specimens. §
§ Thank you, praise from a Speaker is the highest of all. § If snakes could preen, Kyle suspected that this particular female would be doing so.
§ Would you like to come with me? I'll also take your children, my nephew seem rather taken with them §
Harry was stroking one of the younger ones' hood and the rest were eagerly clambering on top of one another to receive the attention.
§ Really? Really? Mother, we can go with the nice powerful Speaker? § One of the smaller snakes, its voice decidedly female, decided to speak up and Kyle smiled.
§ It would be a great honour to serve a Speaker. §
Kyle nodded, § I'll make sure that you'll have protection, food, more than sufficient space to roam and enough sunlight. §
The female snake rose to meet Harry's eyes, her hood flared beautifully and then she bowed with a serpentine elegance. § I pledge our services and loyalty to you, my lord. §
§ So do we, to the younger lord. § The five little snakes slithered beside their mother and bowed in a similar fashion in front of Harry. The young boy just stared and Kyle smiled.
"Excuse me," he waved at the shopkeeper and she came forth quickly, "I'll take the whole tank of snakes."
"Oh, Uncle Kyle, can I name the small ones? I promise I'll research on some proper names for them."
Kyle chuckled and smiled, "Sure. We'll do that when we get back alright? Right now, I have to send them back to the Manor first."
The boy nodded obediently and said his goodbye discreetly to the smaller snakes but he slipped one into his pocket when he thought his uncle wasn't watching. Kyle smirked inwardly, looks like his younger self has already some Slytherin qualities in him.
"Harry, we'll have to get you some decent robes. So next stop, Madam Malkin's." Kyle suggested and his young nephew nodded. Harry found himself in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions; where he guessed he would be getting his robes. Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch with a matronly charm. She was dressed in a purple dress robe that sparkled now and then.
"Hogwarts, dear?" Harry smiled shyly and Kyle sniggered inwardly before answering for his nephew.
"Not for another two years, Mam." His nephew nodded shyly and Madam Malkin cooed, "Such a sweet child."
In the back of the shop, a boy was standing on a footstool while a redheaded witch pinned up his long robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to the young boy with a pale effeminate face, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.
"Hello," said the boy pleasantly. Kyle didn't need anymore clues to figure out exactly who was in front of him. Draco Malfoy.
Memories of a past romance flitted through his mind before he broke off with the blond young man, claiming that it was getting too dangerous. Draco ended up marrying his best friend, Ronald Weasley but towards the end of his experience in the other timeline…
Kyle shook his head slightly to bring himself back to reality. The blond boy gave his nephew a small smile and introduced himself.
"My name's Draco Malfoy, pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you, my name's Harry Potter."
The blond boy froze and then whispered, "Harry Potter?"
Harry turned to his uncle, unsure about the other boy's reaction to his name. Kyle frowned slightly, thinking that he would have to start on educating his nephew soon. The tall man then turned to smile at his nephew, "It's okay."
"Yeah, I'm Harry Potter and I hope we can be friends."
Draco looked absolutely dumbfounded and Harry beamed. The young pureblood then recovered and nodded in what he had hoped to be a polite fashion but Kyle could see the barely contained excitement in the bright grey eyes.
"Friends sound good to me."
Harry beamed again.
Madam Malkin also chose that moment to clap her hands and announced that she just finishing fitting his robes. Harry hopped off the stool after Madam Malkin vanished the robes and returned with four replicates of the original fitted one. Harry had an entire wardrobe ordered which was his uncle's doing and now with black robes lined with silver, Harry looked the very picture of a young lordling and Lucius Malfoy chose the very same moment to enter the shop.
"Father."
"Draco."
The stately blond man then turned sharp grey eyes to the boy beside his son, he quirked an eyebrow and gave his heir a pointed stare. The young blond boy quickly introduced his new friend.
"Father, this is Harry Potter."
Kyle watched the elder Malfoy carefully; the man's grip on his cane tightened and his pupils dilated. Other than that, the man looked nonchalant but what Kyle saw revealed to him the impact of seeing the defeater of his Lord in front of him.
"And his uncle."
Kyle saw this as his cue to make himself known to the Wizarding World. Lucius turned, wrenching his eyes away reluctantly from the nine year-old raven-haired boy with brilliant green eyes.
"Kyle Peverell, a pleasure, Lord Malfoy."
The man made sure that the blond man could see his lordship ring; and Lucius did. The man nodded and replied, "Likewise, Lord Peverell."
Kyle brought Harry close to him as he smiled politely, "I'm afraid we will have to excuse ourselves, it's been a pleasure meeting you and your heir. I hope that Harry and Draco would have another opportunity to see each other; please expect an owl."
Lucius inclined his head and it didn't escape Kyle that he found the other man attractive. He would be blind and stupid to think otherwise. The uncle and nephew pair quickly made their way out of the shop.
"Come on Harry, it's time to gather more of your supplies," Harry nodded and walked to his uncle, but not before turning back around to wave goodbye to his newfound friend and his uncle. Kyle turned slightly and saw a distinctively calculative glint in the older Slytherin's metallic eyes.
They paid a hundred and fifty galleons for the clothing and next came shopping for Harry's wand. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
A tinkling bell ran somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place; empty except for a single spindly chair which Kyle sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a rather eccentric place, swallowing quite an abundance of questions that popped into his mind, the young boy looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For a curious, unknown reason, the back of Harry's neck prickled and tingled. The very silence and dust in the old, ancient ship seem to hint at some secret magic.
"Good afternoon," said a soft, silvery voice. Harry jumped and spun around to see who the strange voice belonged to. An old man was standing before them; his wide, pale eyes shining like full moons through the gloom of the shop. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw the black gleaming head of the little stowaway in his nephew's pocket, peeking out and tasting the air with a sinewy tongue.
§ Wow. §
Kyle settled for a wry grin and returned his attentions to his nephew and the shop before them.
"Hello." Harry bowed slightly, he had a feeling that this man before him held a strange but tremendous power within him and that alone commanded respect. At the bow, the man smiled softly and nodded.
"Yes, I didn't think I'd be seeing you this soon, Harry Potter." The curious silvery eyes bored into Harry's viridian, the young boy held the weighted gaze with slight apprehension. Kyle smiled.
"Harry, this is Mr. Ollivander, who is one of the finest wandmaker in the Wizarding World." Ollivander accepted the compliment with a nod.
"We're here to get this young man here a wand." Ollivander nodded and give Harry a long look before asking a question.
"Which one is your wand arm?"
"Er – I am can write with both hands." A glint of interest entered the wandmaker's eyes as he considered. Harry acquired that particular skill when he had to do homework after breaking his right wrist - Dudley shoved him and he felt face-first, fracturing his wrist when he landed painfully on the right one.
"Hmm… interesting indeed…. It's been a long time since I've meet an ambidextrous buyer." He pulled out a long tape measure with silver markers out of his pocket and then measured Harry from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor and essentially everything else one could think of. As the measuring tape did its work, Ollivander launched into a little introduction of his craft.
"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get as good results with another wizard's wand." Harry nodded.
"Is it because no two wizards or witches' magical core are the same? Because each wand is tailor-made to conduct that particular magical substance, so if in another's hand, the conduction will not be as smooth because the wand is not suited well enough?" Ollivander nodded and smiled mysteriously, turned to Kyle and said.
"My, Lord Peverell," The wandmaker's opal orbs twinkled knowingly, "You've certainly picked an intelligent one, perhaps, one day, my young friend, I'll find some time to sit down with you and educate you in the finer workings of wand making in future." Harry's green eyes gleamed with enthusiasm as the young boy nodded fervently. Kyle and Ollivander shared a chuckle before the wand boxes came flying into the room. Harry stared at the many boxes encircling him in midair with wonderment and admiration. The boxes circled him for another minute before one started to glow.
Ollivander plucked the box out of midair and opened it. Ollivander smiled secretively again and then bent down to show the content of the ebony box to young Harry, who leaned in excitedly to see what his wand was like.
"Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather. Nice and supple." Harry felt a sudden warmth in his fingers and he raised the wand slightly above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold spark shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light onto the walls. Ollivander smiled and nodded.
"Interesting but curious…" Harry's curiosity rose and he asked.
"What's so curious?"
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather, just another. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand too when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar." Harry nodded solemnly.
"Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great." The young boy shivered from the intensity the soft voice carried while a speculative glint entered Kyle's green eyes.
He paid five galleons for the wand and Kyle led his young nephew into deeper into Diagon Alley, here Harry saw several boys just about a few years older than himself pressing their noses against a window with broomsticks in it. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleen and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potions bottles… It was packed with people and very noisy as the passersby chatted and others bargained.
"I remember coming here as a teenager and it's still one of my favourite places." Kyle smiled in reminiscence; Harry nodded and eagerly followed his guide.
The pair flitted through the streets, pressed their faces against windows, laughed at the display pranks at Zonko's and at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Harry got some weird concoction of fourteen different flavours while Kyle settled for his favourite cookies and cream. Kyle didn't mind feeling like a kid again; in fact, he relished in it and enjoyed himself on a day out with his nephew. Harry seemed to be enjoying himself, judging from the sparkling green eyes and brilliant smile as his mouth was smeared with multi-coloured ice-cream.
Then they finally found themselves looking through shelves of wondrous candies and chocolates at Honeydukes. Harry stared; the boy hadn't seen such a collection of sweets before.
"Wow, this is awesome!"
"Harry," Kyle smiled wryly, "Go get yourself some candy."
The young boy's eyes widened and brightened as he asked tentatively, "Really?" His uncle merely chuckled and nodded, green eyes equally bright with mirth. It took the young boy half-an hour to decide on his eventual stash of candies. There were mostly chocolates and some interesting candy but Harry didn't go all out; Kyle saw that his nephew didn't take everything he saw on the shelves and there was a modest amount of sweets.
The man smiled inwardly, his nephew was definitely well on his way growing up. When they exited the candy store, Kyle informed Harry that they were returning to the Manor. Harry didn't protest and merely acquiesced.
"Okay."
Kyle nodded; thanking the deities above that his younger self wasn't too much of a fussy child. Then the young boy surprised his older self with a small smile, saying.
"Thank you, Uncle Kyle. This is the best day I ever had."
TBC...
Coming Up Next: Finding Remus
Alright, the light bits will come to an end soon. The gritty and darker aspects of this tale will be surfacing soon (It's rated M for a reason) - Kyle has made contact with Lucius and there will be dealings between the two. A little corporate war will be waged (not between these two fine gentlemen) and a little more about the corruption and lousy bureaucracy in the Ministry will be revealed later.
Hope everyone liked this chapter!
For all the Remus lovers out there, he'll be making an appearance very soon!
For those of you who haven't voted in my poll - go vote!
Cheers,
Lex.