Have you ever felt so bad?
When you're hiding in your room,
and you can hardly get out of your bed.
You've got your hands behind your back.
You've got your hands behind your back.
You've given up.
Department of Mysteries
"Well, where do you think we are?"
"Still in the Department of Mysteries of course," Severus replied sarcastically.
I shot Severus an icy glare. "Ha, ha, ha, I mean when do you think we are?" Severus snatched the time turner out of my hand and inspected it closely.
"We've gone back one year," he responded without explanation.
"And you know that how?"
"Check the bottom," he replied simply. I turned the small hourglass over in my hand and held it up so I could read what was engraved at its base.
"One turn equals one year," I read aloud. I lowered my hand and gave Severus a questioning look. "Well, how many turns should I give it."
"None, at least not until we get somewhere safe. We were lucky this time that we were not spotted but if you wish to go back any further I suggest going somewhere more remote."
"And I suppose you have somewhere in mind?"
A few seconds of silence passed before a lightbulb seemed to go off over Snape's head. Without telling me where we were going he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.
January 1, 2018 Monday 9AM
Hogsmeade
Groups of witches and wizards made their way down the snowy streets of Hogsmeade. The town was so full of excitement that no one even noticed a tall figure in a black cloak hastily pulling a shorter black cloaked figure toward The Shrieking Shack, a place that most magical folk thought to be one of the most haunted places in all of Europe.
Severus had already warned me to be silent so we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves and I was doing a pretty good job until I saw a familiar face coming straight toward us. Without thinking I threw back my hood to call out to him.
"Draco!" I yelled, surprising Severus and a few others standing near us.
I could see Draco look up and scan the crowd, searching for the person who had shouted his name. Luckily Severus grabbed me and dragged me off into an alley before I could wave.
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" Severus hissed dangerously, "Do you have any idea what could happen if we are seen."
"But, that was Draco..."
"No, that was not Draco," he interrupted icily, "Not the Draco from our time. That is Draco a year ago, January 1, 2018."
"But I...I just thought..." I stammered uselessly.
"You were not thinking, that is the problem. You're just like your father and his father before him. None of you ever think before doing anything."
"Don't talk about my father like that." I warned. Severus merely snorted in response before grabbing my hand and walking back onto the main street. "I mean it Severus," I hissed warningly, "Do not talk about my father as if you knew him because it's obvious you didn't."
Snape's steps faltered for a moment and he paused to glare at me. "I could say the same about you," he replied before moving quickly down the street, forcing me to run along beside him.
No witty response or sarcastic comment came to mnd because no matter how I looked at it, in the end, I knew he was right.
January 1, 1997 Wednesday 10PM
Number 12 Grimmauld Place
Twenty-one turns was what Severus and I finally decided on once reaching the Shrieking Shack. In 1997 the shack was as empty as it was in 2018 so it was the perfect place for a starting point. After arriving in 1997 we decided that it would be best to lay low until nightfall.
It would have been easy for me to blend in among the masses in Hogsmeade but even in 1997 Severus was rather well known so it wouldn't be safe for him. Besides that, Severus explained that the year we were now in was a rather dangerous one. Voldemort had risen in June of ninety-five so the wizarding world was on edge and suspicious of anyone or anything out of the ordinary. I probably would have had a rather hard time explaining the lightning-bolt shaped scar as well.
"What's going on in there Sev?" I asked in confusion, "It looks like some sort of party." Severus and I hid in the bushes outside of number twelve and for the past hour a steady stream of witches and wizards had entered the large house.
"If I remember correctly, the Order had some type of New Year's party," he explained, "I did not attend."
"What a surprise," I replied sarcastically.
"I had more important matters to attend to," Severus responded defensively, "There was a war going on, I had no time for party favors and chit chat."
"So what did you do that night?"
"Why do you ask?" he asked, giving me a puzzled look.
"It might come in handy if we know where you were, so we don't run into you," I explained. Snape closed his eyes in concentration, a moment later he opened them again and he appeared confused and slightly disoriented. "What is it?"
"I can't remember," he replied softly, "For some reason I can't recall anything that happened that night."
"Well it was a long time ago," I offered, "perhaps you forgot."
"Perhaps..." Severus responded slowly, but he didn't seem to be convinced. "I have a nagging feeling in the back of my mind...something happened this night, something important."
"Well there's only one way to find out," I stated, "We'll have to go inside."
"There's just one problem..."
"That would be."
"Mad-Eye Moody," Severus stated wearily.
"Moody, you mean the auror?" I questioned.
Severus nodded. "He can see through anything with that magical eye of his, even walls and invisibility cloaks."
"But if he is in there, wouldn't he have spotted us already? I didn't see him walk past."
"He may not have attended," Severus replied "Like I said, I wasn't there so I have no way of knowing if he was there or not."
"Well we can't wait out here forever," I stated while heading for the door, "Either way we'll be spotted by someone."
"Dumbledore may already know we're here," Severus said nervously as he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door.
I snatched my arm away from Severus and glared at him in frustration. "Well what do you suggest? We're not going to accomplish anything standing out here."
Severus motioned for me to follow him around to the side of the house. We stopped directly underneath a second floor window and Snape pulled out his wand. I backed away instinctively.
"That was my bedroom when I was forced to stay the night. I will levitate us up to the window," he explained, "Once we are there I will need you to open the lock."
I gave him a questioning look. "And you expect me to do this how?"
"With magic of course. I expect you can handle a simple Alohamora."
"But I don't even have a wand!" I exclaimed in disblief.
"So you'll do it wandlessly," he replied nonchalantly, "With the amount of magical power you possess I'm sure you'll have no trouble."
Before I could argue any further Snape pulled me to him and slipped a hand around my waist. I clung tightly to his robes as we floated up to the window. We hovered directly in front of it and Severus nodded at me to open the window.
My hand shook nervously as I pointed my left index finger at the lock. "Alohamora," I whispered shakily.
The window began to shake and twitch as my magic seemed to pour out of my finger. The lock exploded in a shower of tiny metal slivers and the window shattered. Snape's concentration faltered for a moment and we fell a few inches before he regained his composure and levitated us through the window, carefully avoiding the shards of glass still hanging from the frame.
"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," I apologized pitifully.
"Shush foolish child," Severus chided as he continued to hold me close. My body shook against his and he slowly ran a hand up and down my back until I calmed down. I looked up at him to thank him and apologize again, but an odd sound coming from the room next door stopped me.
It took me awhile to realize that what I was hearing was the sound of someone crying. I pushed past Severus and made my way across the darkened room until I had my ear pressed up against the wall. The cries still sounded muffled.
"Can you hear that?" I asked. Severus nodded in reply and moved up to stand next to me.
"A silencing charm," he stated knowingly, "Someone has put a very powerful silencing charm around the room but it still isn't blocking out the noise completely."
"Who do you think it is?" I questioned curiously. Severus shifted nervously and moved toward the door. "Sev, who is it? Who's bedroom is next door?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"We have to go to him," I stated stubbornly, "We have to Sev, we can't just leave him over there alone...crying."
"We are not even supposed to exist in this time," he snapped, "We can do nothing for him."
"Well I at least want to see him," I replied. I walked to the door and was about to open it when there was a commotion out in the hall.
I pulled my hand away from the doorknob quickly but did not back away. Severus walked over and pulled two odd shaped items from his pocket. They looked like earplugs with long strings attached.
"What..." Severus pushed one of the earplugs into my hand and shoved the other one into right ear. I watched in fascination as the string stretched and made its way underneath the door and out into the hallway.
I followed his lead and placed the other plug into my own ear. The string stretched just as his had done and I started slightly when I could hear the sound of footsteps.
"You cannot just leave him in there alone," a familiar icy voice stated. I gave Severus a questioning look and he nodded in reply. "The boy will destroy himself."
"I assure you he will be fine Severus," a second voice replied. It was Dumbledore. "He is just a bit lonely and upset due to the fact that he will not be seeing his friends this year."
"Which is something I still fail to understand," Past Severus responded coldly, "He is a child Albus, a child needs friends." I raised my brow questioningly at Snape. He gave me a stern glare which told me that I shouldn't even ask.
"Harry is going through a rough time right now," Dumbledore explained calmly, "The fewer distractions in his life, the better he will fare in the long run."
"You can't truly believe that!" Past Severus exclaimed. A few seconds of silence passed and I glanced at Sev nervously, wondering if we should find a place to hide just in case Past Severus decided to open the door just so he could slam it in Dumbledore's face.
"There are other reasons..." Dumbledore stated, his voice trailing off warily.
"Other reasons?"
"Harry is a very powerful young man," explained Dumbledore, "He holds within him an ancient power that even Merlin himself would not be able to match."
"An ancient power?" Past Severus asked in confusion.
"A power passed down from his mother," Dumbledore continued, "It is also responsible for his connection to Tom Riddle."
"But I thought the connection was due to the killing curse," Past Severus stammered out.
"Not all is as it seems," the old wizard stated ominously. A loud wail followed by a crash drew our attention away from the door. "I think young Harry might do well with a calming potion and perhaps some dreamless sleep."
"You cannot keep feeding him potions to keep him quiet," Past Severus responded angrily. Another crash sounded from the room next door and Past Severus let out a loud sigh. "I have a few bottles of Dreamless Sleep left in my stores back at Hogwarts. I will fetch them immediately."
"Thank you Severus," Dumbledore replied genially, "I'm sure Harry will be very grateful." Severus let out a loud derisive snort in response. Luckily Past Severus covered the noise with a derisive snort of his own.
A soft swishing of robes signalled that the two wizards had moved on down the hall. We waited to hear their footfalls on the stairway before slowly opening the door and stepping into the hallway. Without a second thought, I made my way to the bedroom next door.
"That bastard," I hissed softly, "He knew, he knew about everything Severus."
Severus gave me a puzzled look. "Why would he keep silent about it? What would he have to gain? He truly seemed surprised when you mentioned the connection between Harry and Voldemort through their muggle relatives."
I considered his explanation before nodding in agreement. "You're right, he did seem surprised and I doubt he's ever surprised by anything. I can't believe he would have forgotten though."
While Severus stood in the hallway contemplating, I was heading toward my father's bedroom door. I reached toward the knob but my hand was pushed back by an invisible force.
"I'm certain Dumbledore placed a ward there to keep everyone out," Severus stated knowingly.
"Or to keep someone in," I growled as I reached for the knob once again.
There was a soft ripping sound as I pushed through the wards on the door. My magic crackled and sparked around me, reminding me of electricity. The hairs on my arms stood up and my muscles twitched.
"What in the world?" Snape stammered questioningly.
I nearly fell to the floor as the wards finally gave out and allowed me through. Instead I fell into the door, effectively turning the knob and pushing the door open at almost the same time.
The room was dark and cold. I could see my breath in the air as I made my way into the middle of the room, following the childlike cries of my father. Severus finally entered the room and lit his wand. My eyes widened in surprise as I took stock of the destruction and disorder that surrounded me.
The place was a disaster area. Something that looked as if it used to be a bed sat in the corner of the room. The mattress had been torn to shreds and nothing was left of the pillows. A nightstand lay crushed next to the remnants of the bedframe. My father sat in the opposite corner of the room, his back against the wall with his head in his hands. I don't think he even noticed that anyone had entered and he continued to wail continuously. But the most shocking thing about the room was what was written on the walls, or should I say, what was burned into the walls.
"I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness."
"Enkidu, my friend.""How can I stay silent, how can I be still!
My friend whom I love has turned to clay."
"Mountains crushing, falling"
"Everything will turn to ash, Everything turns to ash in my hands"
"Lightning marks me, makes me a man formed, a man created"
I glanced at Severus and noticed his attention was on my father, who had finally stopped wailing and was now sobbing quietly. "Severus," I whispered, "Are you seeing this?"
"Seeing what?"
"The writing on the walls," I questioned, "Do you see it?"
Severus scanned the walls and shook his head. "I only see a mixture of odd symbols, it looks like some ancient language."
"I can read it," I stated as I ran a hand over one of the words, "I can read everything it says." An idea hit me and I hurriedly pulled off my backpack. After rummaging through it for a few seconds I pulled out my camera and began snapping pictures of each wall.
"What in the world are you doing?" Severus asked in confusion.
"Taking pictures so I can look at these again later," I replied and Snape nodded in understanding.
Severus and I were so engrossed in conversation that we barely noticed a small voice call out from the corner of the room. "Who are you?" my father asked without raising his head. Severus and I both froze instantly. I gave Snape a questioning look and he merely shrugged in response.
"Who are you?" I asked, giving Severus a "help me" look.
The response wasn't what I expected. "Death," was the simple answer.
"What do you mean death? No one can be death," I stated assuredly. The boy shuddered slightly and shook his head.
"Death in eternal life," he replied ominously, "Destined to live as the world lives and die as the world dies."
"What in the world are you saying?" Severus blurted out.
The sound of Snape's voice must have triggered some kind of memory because my father suddenly shrunk back further into the wall and began to whine pitifully. He threw his hands out defensively and curled up as much as physically possible.
"No more," he whimpered, "Please no more."
"No more what?" I asked.
"Potions," he hissed in response, "I want to dream, I don't want to sleep, please…I don't know who I am anymore…"
"My God Severus, what in the world did you do to him?"
"They were only simple calming potions and dreamless sleep potions," Severus replied defensively, "Nothing that could physically harm him."
"What about emotionally?" I asked angrily, "How often did you and Dumbledore drug him until he didn't know where he was anymore? How often did you force those potions of yours down his throat? Did you hold his nose until he swallowed…did you…well did you?"
"ENOUGH!" Severus yelled angrily. My eyes widened in surprise and I quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs told us all we needed to know.
"Shit…" I hissed tightly, "Now what?" I scanned the room for any route of escape but could find none. So I grabbed Severus by the arm and ran toward the bedroom door. We reached the doorway just as Dumbledore and Past Severus reached the top of the stairs, both with their wands held out in front of them. I looked over to see that my Severus had done the same thing.
Dumbledore and Past Severus stopped a few feet away and looked on in confusion as Severus and I made our way down the hall toward them. "You know what to do," Severus whispered calmly. I nodded in response and lifted my arm until my left hand was leveled directly at Dumbledore while Severus aimed at his younger twin.
Before either of them could get a handle as to what was going on Severus and I were standing less than a foot away.
"Obliviate!"
dSz
dSz
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter: Sev and Jenny do a bit more digging in the past but they better be careful, time travel can be dangerous...
To Ms. Lippy: How are they going to go back to the future if the time turner won't take you to any point in the future? My response: Severus and Jenny can't go into their future but they can go back to their present which is what Sev tries to explain to Jenny when he says that they can only return to the point in time where they started.
I usually don't like time travel in stories because it's so far fetched but I thought that adding the stipulation that they can only view the past and not the future would help because the pastcan bestudiedwhile the future is always unknown.