Going Back to Change the Future

A dark mist surrounded Harry, and slowly he changed from the young man he had become to the boy he had once been. The boy stared into the Mirror of Erised. Two figures, though not the ones usually expected, was staring sat the boy with caring eyes. The boy held his hand up shyly to the mirror and traced the images of a young woman and a young man.

"Ron?" He asked and got a nod and a broad grin from said man.

Tears started to pool in Harry's eyes.

"Hermione", and said woman's face lit into joy as she nodded eagerly.

"I miss you," the eleven year old Harry whispered as silent tears rolled down his cheeks.

A lone tear hit the ground and caused it to ripple like water. Then before he knew it, the Mirror of Erised was gone and he was back to the young adult he had grown to be. Harry opened his eyes, having closed them when the scene started to change, only to promptly wish he hadn't. There, in front of his face, stood a battle ground. Bodies lay scattered all over the place, and so much Dark mist littered the air. Harry began to run. He knew what he was searching for and he knew he had to find them quickly, or he would lose them. He looked left, then right, as he ran through the scattered bodies, only to halt in his tracks as the figures he was looking for appeared in front of him. One figure was a male, the other was a female, and both bodies were covered in blood. Harry took an unconscious step back at the sight of their mangled bodies. His hand flew to his mouth, in horror, and tears sprang to his eyes unbidden.

"Ron, Hermione, No. Not you!"

"Harry," Hermione's mangles body reached out to him, "Why did you let us die? Why?"

"I didn't," Harry choked.

"You could have saved us Harry," Ron's mangled body told him, "You saved everybody else, you could have saved us too."

"I tried," Harry replied weakly, "I tried, but I wasn't strong enough."

"LIAR," Mangled Hermione shouted.

"No", Harry whispered.

"TRAITOR," mangled Ron shouted.

"No," Harry whispered, "I tried. I tried so hard. I tried everything…"

"LIAR," mangled Hermione burst out again.

"You wanted us to die," mangled Ron said, "You wanted all the glory of defeating you-know-who all to yourself."

"NO!" Harry said, "I never wanted…"

"You wanted us out of the picture so that you wouldn't have to worry about sharing your fame; isn't that right, Potter," Ron asked coldly."

"No!" Harry shouted but it sounded weak in his throat.

"You should have murdered us yourself, Harry. Would you have liked that," Hermione questioned.

"No", burst from Harry's mouth loudly and as his body began to wake up, he realized that someone was shaking him awake. He fought the arms that struggled to keep him down. He kicked and punched and lashed out at the person holding him down so that he wouldn't hurt himself. Finally, his name cut through the dark mists in the nightmare and he recognized the deep velvety voice of his professor, who'd Harry had seen off to the side in his dream: cold, lifeless, and forgotten. This was not his Snape from his time, but was Severus of this time. Harry shouted a "No" that made his throat raw, and the occupant hearing it cringe at the pure agony it held. He heard his name being called again through the clearing haze. His cries faded into low whimpers.

"No… Severus… no, not you too; please not you too," he cried lowly.

"Shhh, Harry, It's alright. It is just a nightmare, I am fine… I am here," he added as an afterthought.

The words 'fine' and 'here' penetrated Harry's foggy mind and his eyes snapped open, meeting concerned onyx orbs, though if anyone would have been there to point it out he would have denied it.

"Severus," Harry choked on a sob.

"Yes, I am here."

Harry gave an audible sigh of relief.

"Severus," he whispered before the pulls of sleep took him once more.

Severus had long since laid Harry back onto the couch, though he had no desire to go back to sleep by that point. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened in Harry's time to have the boy that catatonic in sleep. He resolved that he would have to ask the boy if he wanted a straight answer and so, he found himself waiting. Three O'clock bleed into four: four into five; five into six; and six into six-thirty when Harry finally stirred. Severus watched as he looked around wildly, only to relax when he realized were, or when, he was. He got up slowly, sighing when he spotted Severus sitting in the armchair.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Severus said curtly.

"Was it a dream again?"

"Do you not remember?"

Harry thought a moment, than nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"What makes you dream like that?"

Harry shrugged, throwing back the covers and hoping off the couch.

"Harry, if I will go any further with you I need for you to tell me."

Harry sighed, turning to face Severus.

"I never asked for you to come with me. You decided that on your own."

"So, do you wish for me to leave?"

"Harry stiffened, and then sagged in defeat.

"No."

"Then tell me."

"War," he said simply, "I've been fighting for so long, if it's not with other wizards, it was with my muggle relatives; I never had any real time to be me. I've just been Harry Potter: the Boy-Who-Lived. Anyhow, what would you like for breakfast?

"Whatever it is you wish to make."

Harry nodded acknowledgement, and went to start breakfast. Severus sat in his seat pondering, it was not like him to worry for another's wellbeing, but he couldn't help worrying for Harry. Harry reentering the living room shattered his train of thought.

"You know I've been thinking, maybe we can go to Gringotts."

"Gringotts, for the cup you mean?"

"Yes, for Hufflepuff's Cup. I think it will be easier than searching for the Gaunt Shack."

"And how, do you propose we get into that particular vault?"

Harry thought for a moment and then his shoulders sagged when he realized that what he did in his time wouldn't work in this time: no Hermione.

"Damn it, maybe the Gaunt Shack would be easier after all. "

"Or perhaps, we could find something to destroy these things with? It would be more logical to destroy them as we go along then to wait until they are all gathered together. We do not know if they will reach to each other in the presence of one another and it would be in our best interest to not find out."

Harry nodded, "I agree, but I only know of four ways to destroy them. One is dangerous, and I don't even know if the last it will work on objects, only people."

"What, pray tell, would they be, Potter?"

"Well, a basilisk fang would destroy it, but in order to get it we would have to go back to Hogwarts. The same goes for the sword of Gryffindor, unless you know a place where they tam basilisks and create goblin made swords?"

Severus shook his head.

"I didn't think so. Hmm, there is also the fiendfyre spell, but I wouldn't want to burn anything, or anyone, else. That leaves the killing curse, but like I said, I don't know if it will work."

Severus raised his index finger to his lips in thought. Unconsciously, Harry watched the finger rest against the man's lips before Severus broke the spell by moving his finger, unaware of the scrutiny.

"Well our only option would be to go to Hogwarts, but I suppose Albus will not let us leave once we are back within the wards of the castle. So I guess we will have to gather the rest of the Horcruxes and prey for the best."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"So do you have any suggestions on where we should go from here?"

"Well," Severus said as he stood up to follow harry into the kitchen, "It seems that going to Gringotts would be the most logical choice. We don't know where the Gaunt Shack is. We will have to do research on its location. However, we also need a plan to go into Gringotts; we can't just waltz in there and demand to get into the Lestrange Vault. I'm sure that will go over well with the goblins."

Harry snorted at the mental image. He took the pan off the stove and placed another piece of bread on the fryer.

"How did you get into the vault in your time?"

"Well, I have… had; a friend named Hermione. We got captured one day and Lestrange was torturing her, some of her hair landed on Hermione's robs and she used it in the poly juice potion."

"Clever, but that would not work for obvious reasons."

"No kidding."

They sat and contemplated while eating, when they were don eating the contemplated some more, neither uttering a word as they thought of what to do next.

"Well I suppose we could just wing it. We would only have to get past the goblins and then we are home free. You can cast the imperious, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I have an idea. We go to Gringotts, and ask to gain entrance to your vault. Once we have a goblin alone imperious him, and make him open the Lestrange vault."

"That could go wrong in so many ways," Severus sighed, "But I guess that is the best we have. When do you want to go?"

"The sooner the better, I suppose. We might as well get it over with."

"I agree, however, I would like a few days to brew a few potions. We might need them."

Harry nodded agreement. Severus took his leave, but not before ordering Harry to do research on the Gaunt Shack. Harry gathered the dishes to wash, and then headed into Snape's library, grumbling about bossy Snape's.

It took three days until Severus was satisfied with his potion stock. He spent all three days in the lab, emerging only for meals and the restroom. When he finally did come out, it was Thursday afternoon. Severus walked right up to Harry and stated:

"We shall leave tomorrow afternoon. We will need sufficient time to enter and leave the bank, hopefully undetected, but I doubt that will be possible."

Harry silently agreed, and thus when Thursday afternoon came Harry and Severus found themselves in Gringotts. Severus sneered at the goblin at the front desk, who sneered back clearly unaffected by the death glare he was receiving.

"Name," the goblin Harry recognized, but couldn't pinpoint his name, all but snarled.

"Severus Snape, I wish access to my vault."

"And does Mr. Snape has his key," he asked with a malicious smile.

Severus didn't dignify the goblin with a verbal response; instead, he fetched his key from one of the many pockets inside his robe and slammed it down on the counter. The smile was wiped instantly off of the goblin's face, reminding Harry of the goblin, Griphook, his first time in the wizarding bank. The goblin got up off his seat and slammed the safety block open before beckoning the two wizards to follow him.

"Vault 112," the goblin called out as the mine train came to a stop and they exited. Harry stood guard as Severus and the goblin entered the vault.

"Imperio," Harry heard like a whisper, "Take us to Bellatrix Lestrange's vault and leave us. Mention to no one where we are."

"Of course, master," The goblin said in a monotone voice.

They re-boarded the mine car and were taken to vault 720. When the goblin opened the vault, Severus sent him on his way.

"We don't have much time. The imperious will wear off as soon as he is far enough away. We must hurry."

Quickly, both Harry and Severus made their way inside the vault. Harry was worried that he wouldn't be able to find it this time, not being a Horcrux anymore, but when he got close enough; he heard the Parseltongue emitting from the cup. Harry followed the sound to a red box and picked up Hufflepuff's cup. He drew his wand when the items in the vault started to rattle. He looked quickly to Severus and saw the man had his wand drawn in front of him and was spinning in a circle: scouting the room.

"No need for that, we have to get out of here before…"

The sound of sirens blazing cut harry off and he cursed under his breath. The items in the vault were starting to gather and rear up like a giant hand trying to snatch its prey.

"Immobulus," Severus shouted.

The gathering objects froze, but most were still flying to the mounting pile of things.

"Let's go, Potter."

Severus and Harry made a bee-line for the door only to stop dead at the sudden roar that echoed off the stone walls.

"Shite, I forgot about the bloody dragon."

"You forgot," Severus shouted incredulously, "How the bloody hell could you forget about a bloody dragon?"

"Well it's not on the top of my to-do list you bastard. Now if you don't mind, I want to get out of the bloody vault and not get eaten by a bloody dragon!"

Severus sneered for all of half a second before his attention was shifted to the door as another roar sounded. Cautiously, both made their way to the door. Harry was telling Severus how, in his time, the dragon was chained to something, but broke lose.

"How comforting," Severus sneered, but never stopped moving to the door. They moved past the threshold before movement from the left corner caught Harry eye. He turned just in time to see the tail of the Ukrainian Ironbelly heading straight for them. He tackled Severus to the ground, just as the tail came crashing into the wall.

"What in the name of Merlin," Severus started to shout only to break off. Grabbing Harry by the waist, Severus rolled as quickly as he could, with the extra wait, to the right as the Ironbelly's tail made impact with the ground.

"Know each other," Severus asked sarcastically.

"No," Harry answered honestly, causing Severus to roll his eyes.

Frustrated for having missed its prey twice, the Ironbelly emerged from the far left of the vault. Harry held his breath, but it whooshed out at the size of the dragon. It was a lot smaller than the one in his time. Surely it couldn't be as harmful? The dragon got a deep breath before in released a fierce 'roar'. Harry stiffened, having reconsidered his last thought, before being pulled out of harm's way when the dragon released fire in his direction.

"…Bloody hell!"

"Indeed. Any bright ideas Potter?"

Harry looked around quickly. His eyes fell on a box and a sudden memory occurred to him. Rushing to the box, while avoiding the fire and tail, Harry dove for the noisemakers in it. Pulling out the bell shaped object, Harry began to shake it. The Ironbelly roared in anger, before cowering back into its corner. Both Severus and Harry gave an audible sigh of relief, Harry never stopping his shaking of the noisemaker.

"Well done, thought of that all on your own?"

"Oh shut up, at least I stopped the damn thing! Let's get out of here."

No sooner did they start to move toward the exit, the Ironbelly, now knowing that it would not be fell pain, lashed its tail out. Not noticing until the Dragon's tail was too close; Harry caught it in the middle. Harry flew away from the exit, hitting the stone wall adjacent to it. He hit the wall hard, the noise maker flying from his hands, but got up with nothing but a groan and a wince, after all, its tail was nothing compared to that of a Hungarian Horntail. Severus was shouting at him to get up, but the ringing in Harry's ears was making it hard to hear correctly, so when Severus': "Get up and run you bloody idiot," finally got through, the Ironbelly was already closer than Harry would have liked. Stiffly, Harry watched the Ironbelly approach. What could he do? How in the world could he fight a dragon? This was not the Triwizard Tournament, and his broom, even if he did have it, would definitely not help him now. He was saved from making a decision when a spell shot at the Ironbelly, causing it to roar in rage and turn it advanced toward the caster: Severus Snape. Snape shot spell after spell at the dragon, each one bouncing off and into some part of the stone wall. Harry shook the cobwebs out of his head and looked up just in time to see Severus dive in the opposite direction Harry, avoiding fire and teeth all in one go. Harry was near panic. He knew he had to help some way, but didn't know what to do. Finally he just aimed his wand at the dragon and shouted:

"…Fiendfyre!"

The spell hit the dragon and immediately burst into flames. The dragon roared in pain, or distraction, neither Harry nor Severus was sure which. Harry spotted a door off to the left in the corner where the dragon hid originally. It was marked 'Emergency exit'. Harry rolled his eyes heaven-ward before calling out to Severus while simultaneously making a mad dash to the door. Severus caught on and trailed him. They made it through the door, just as the dragon's fire combined with the fiendfyre spell, causing the whole room to go up in flame. Outside, Severus pulled Harry to his side and tried to apperate, but they were still under Gringotts wards, so the trekked slowly, being cautious not to set off alarms. They made near the edge before Harry stumbled over something tiny. He clutched at his midsection as pain flared there but it was soon forgotten when the tiny object popped out of the ground: making noise. Soon a bunch of tiny objects were seen lifting themselves out of the ground and they were making a lot of noise. Severus cursed when he realized they were the sirens and he hastily grabbed Harry's hand and yanked on it as he made a scramble for the end of the words. When the made it through the words, Severus grabbed Harry by the waist, without thinking, and apperated; just in time to avoid the army of Gringotts police.

Landing hard in a place he was not familiar with, Severus Snape was cursing hard. Hastily pulling vials out of his pocket and scrambling to his knees in front of Harry. He took out a potion from one of his pockets and quickly uncorked it. He poured a measured amount onto Harry's should all the while muttering:

"Way to go, bloody Potter, survive the bloody dragon and get bloody splinched."

Harry, of course, did not answer as he lay writhing on the ground as the potion took effect. Harry went still and Severus breathed a sigh of audible relief before he carefully gathered Harry into his arms. He noted the Harry still flinched, even unconscious, at the pain in his midsection, but decided that could wait until they found shelter. (He also noted that Harry was far too light for hiss age, but decided to keep curiosity for another time.) Looking around, Severus saw what looked like a hut hidden in the trees. Its' walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime. Severus walked to it cautiously, wondering how they got here when he was focused on his home at Spinner's End. Severus reached the door, noting that it looked deserted, and dangerous. Not having a better choice, Severus brushed the dust and moss from the nameplate attached to the front of the door, uncovering the words, "Gaunt Shack", in bright red writing. Severus' eyes widened when he realized that this boy, man really, in his arms somehow overpowered his apperation and brought them to the one place Severus knew nothing about. Sighing, and cursing the unconscious boy, Severus walked into the Gaunt Shack, bracing himself.

To be continued

And there you have it folks, part 6 up and running. I didn't ask anyone to beta this chapter, so all mistakes are my own. I believe I have got a majority of them if they are there, which they most likely are.. I have already started working on 7 so I will hopefully have it ready by next week; no promises though!

Until Next Time

YetAnotherJanewayFan