Summary: Betrayed and killed by the one they considered their best friend, Harry and Hermione made a different decision when they found themselves at King's Cross station. They chose to travel in a alternate universe and create a normal life for themselves. But of course as Harry Potter doesn't do normal he finds himself in 1962 in a world in which Grindelwald escapes from Nurmerngard and continues his war against muggles and Tom Riddle is the DADA professor. Not to mention that Voldemort is not happy being left behind and follows them in this dimension with an unknown plan in mind...What kind of destiny will they carve for themselves as they prepare to start Hogwarts as first year students? Also, a new prophecy is made...
Warnings: Slash, violence, humor, some Dumbledore bashing, swearing, Grey! Harry and Hermione etc.
Pairings: LV/HP, HG/SS
"talking"
'thinking'
/mental speach/
$parseltongue$
AN/ As usually, I'll respond to some of the question asked in the reviews at the end of the chapter to, hopefully clear some things out ^-^ Also a big hug Allanah-x for being remaining a wonderful and prompt beta reader. Enjoy the chapter folks ^_^
Upon waking up Hermione felt...odd.
She cracked her eyes open, taking in the surroundings, only to find herself in a very comfortable bed. She vaguely recognized the place as Sirius' room from 12 Grimmauld Place, though it seemed to have suffered a major renovation. Gone were the spider webs and dust that used to adorn the furniture, even those awful posters being taken off the walls - honestly, what Sirius was thinking when he put those up Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine - and what was left was a magnificent room restored to its former grandeur.
Still, there was a feeling of wrongness nagging at her in the back of her mind and, dragging a hand through her silky hair, she tried to clear her sluggish thoughts.
...Wait a minute, silky hair? Her hair and 'silky' were never used in the same proposition, especially after she just woke up.
As the the haziness of her mind started to lift she noticed other strange things. Looking at her body that was clothed in black silk pajamas, she observed that it was much smaller than she remembered it to be and that there was a certain lacking in the area of her chest. Now, don't get her wrong, she wasn't by any chance a vain girl but, last time she checked, there was at least something there.
As dread filled her, she shifted slightly, the movement making her conscious of another part of her body. One that shouldn't exist. Gulping, she approached with shaky fingers, and an expression of horror firmly placed on her face, the waistband of her sweatpants and lifted it.
For a moment, time itself seemed to have stopped.
'Sweet Merlin, I'm a freaking boy!' Hermione shrieked in her mind, trying her best to calm down and NOT scream out loud too.
That was when it happened.
A rush of memories suddenly came over her and she was overwhelmed with an excruciating kind of pain. Hermione buried her head into a pillow to muffle the pained cries she gave as as she was forced to relive her life and that of Sirius Black.
Though it was over in less than a minute, for her it felt like an eternity and, without consent, her eyes started to close on their own, exhausted. Hermione struggled to keep them open though and, wary of sudden movements as her head felt like it could explode any moment now, she got out of bed. She was more than confused about what had just happened and had to figure out soon what was going on and why, exactly, was she stuck in a boy's body.
She most certainly hoped that it wasn't a permanent state or one Harry Potter was going to suffer a very painful death at her hands as she was certain it was, somehow, his fault that she ended up like this. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as being polyjuiced into a cat, she thought, warily trying to see the bright side of things, though it wasn't exactly working.
Refusing to let her thoughts stray off track with wild theories, she exited the room as quietly as she could, trying to not wake anybody in the process, and headed towards the place that never disappointed in offering answers to the questions she had - the library.
Reaching her destination, she headed straight to the section that contained books about time travel, dimension travel and other similar subjects, a section that she had totally ignored before as it contained only theories and she was too busy trying to research the horocruxes to read anything else, but in which, considering the little information she had, she knew she was most likely to find her answer.
'You better be safe wherever you are Harry,' was her last thought before she immersed herself in full 'research mode', determined to solve the mystery before the other occupants of the house were up.
HP-Chronic Hero Syndrome
Regaining consciousness on a hospital bed was such a common occurrence in his life that Hadrian didn't even bat an eyelash upon finding himself in such a state. He almost half-expected to see Madam Pomfrey bustling through the doors to start berating him for getting injured once again.
What he did not expected though was that, upon waking up, he'll be confronted with the glaring eyes of an angry Tom Riddle.
"You should be dead," were the first words the arrogant bastard said once he noticed that Hadrian was awake.
"Well, sorry to disappoint then," Hadrian dead-panned . It wasn't as if he had planned to get himself in mortal danger...again. "Who were the guys that attacked and why there was an attack in the first place?" he asked trying to get as much information as possible about the current state of the wizarding world. He reckoned it was stupid thing that he didn't do this in the beginning, now that he thought about it. Considering the world from which he came, he should have known it never hurt to be prepared for every possible situation - constant vigilance and all that.
"They were, supposedly, Grindelwald's men – the Reapers," responded Riddle with a dark frown on his handsome face. "And before you ask, Mr. Fowl, Grindelwald is a powerful wizard that become a Dark Lord who fights in hopes of conquering the world and establishing wizard supremacy over muggles. His ideal society is one ruled by purity of the blood, as I have already explained what it entails, with purebloods at the top, followed by halfbloods, muggleborns and muggles as servants. As there are certain factions that oppose his ideas for different reasons, the conflict has evolved into an all-out war that you, Mr. Fowl, are now part of."
Hadrian sighed. "So let me get this straight. There is a war going on around here and you didn't think it was important enough to let me know about it? People died there, professor, and, for all I know, I could have died too."
"I'm sorry if I thought that the more delicate problems of the wizarding world should be saved for the last. How could I not see that telling about the ongoing war was the way to endear the wizarding world to you. I'm sure that once you found out you would have been really excited about joining it," Riddle replied dryly, sarcasm dripping off his words.
"Now, if you have finished your interrogation, I have a question myself. What, in the name of Slytherin, possessed you into leaving Miss Malkin's shop, where I had specifically ordered you to wait my return, and run into the middle of the battle?" asked Riddle with a deadly undertone in his voice.
"And what did you expect me to do? Hide like a coward and let a little girl die?"asked Hadrian irritated. "She was just a child!"
"Ah, you mean one like yourself?" retorted Riddle, causing Hadrian to scowl. "But I suppose you thought it was possible for you, a boy that hasn't even learned to cast his first spell, to take on trained wizards and play the hero, hmm? Alas, it seems your wish came true," continued Riddle, voice now laced with a hint of amusement as he threw a newspaper towards Hadrian.
Not knowing what Riddle meant, Hadrian caught the newspaper easily with quidditch-honed reflexes and opened it, only to gape once he read the title.
HADRIAN FOWL- the wizard's hero
"I was saved by an angel" - A. Malfoy
by Leona Skeeter
In these dangerous times the meaning of "hero"has become lost to the Wizarding World or so it was thought until yesterday, when, amidst the tragic battle that ensued in Diagon Alley in which many have lost their lives to Grindelwald's men, the wizarding world witnessed a true act of heroism.
At the same time in which many were trying to hide from the Reapers in a desperate attempt to save their own lives, one selfless young boy ran straight into the battle, to help a little girl that was trapped in the middle of the fire. Ignoring the dangers he would have to face, he dodged the spells and curses that flew at him to the best of his ability as he approached the crying child.
Upon reaching his target though, he saw as a spell was coming straight to the girl, and, in order to save the live of the one discovered later to be Aria , the five years old daughter of the Malfoy family, he was forced to jump in front of an Avada Kadevra curse.
What happened next was something that nobody expected.
The Avada Kadevra, one of the three unforgivables along with Imperius and Cruciatus, known for causing instantaneous death, was deflected, the boy becoming the first known survivor of this deadly curse. Not only that but the curse rebounded killing three of the Reapers.
After this incident the aurors arrived at the scene causing the retreat of the remaining troupes of Grindelwald after which they helped the injured to the hospital.
The boy was also transported to St. Mungos after it was proved that he was, indeed, alive; the only proof that he was just hit by the Avada Kadevra being a lightning bolt-shaped scar he had on his forehead.
The identity of the unknown savior was revealed by Tom M. Riddle, deputy headmaster and professor for Defense Against Dark Arts at Hogwarts that also fought valiantly against the Reapers, as being Hadrian Fowl, an orphaned student who was having his first trip into the wizarding world to buy the necessary items needed for his studies.
One has to wonder what kind of impression we have made to this courageous boy seeing that, on his first visit, he was met with the horrors the war brought upon our world.
Hadrian Fowl, on the other hand, seemed to have came across as a polite and well mannered young man to those that made his acquaintance.
"He is destined for greatness" declared Ollivander, a well-known and respected wandmaker whose prediction are known to came true. "One of the most polite and beautiful boys I have ever met. He was like a prince," commented Miss Malkin, the owner of the newly-opened shop "Robes for All Occasions" in which Hadrian bought his clothes.
Later on, upon being asked about what happened Aria, the girl that Hadrian risked his life for, said that she was "saved by an angel". As it is, we can confidently state that the only ones that might have something against the young hero are the Reapers who might have found their own angel of death in the person of Hadrian Fowl.
We, at Daily Prophet wish to congratulate this young man for his heroic deeds and we hope that his recovery will be fast.
All the wizarding world is watching out for you and your evolution among our world. May only good things happen to you Hadrian Fowl and may all the wizard and witches follow your example.
Hadrian Fowl- is he really muggleborn?'- see page 3
'Surviving the killing curse- theories, possible causes and effects'- see page 5
'Can we let our hero live in an orphanage?- offers of adoption for young Hadrian'- see page 6
Words seemed to have left Hadrian after he read the article, as he impersonated a fish for a few moments, opening and closing his mouth without making a sound. Riddle found the sight quite funny.
"So, tell me Hadrian, are you happy with your new celebrity status now?" taunted the professor, amused if a little confused by Hadrian's reaction. One would think he would be more excited after becoming famous. Though he had to admit that the boy proved to be quite an enigma.
"...My words can't explain how stupid and ironic I find this whole affair," finally responded Hadrian as he put the paper down and started to massage his temples in a fruitless attempt to calm his building headache. 'Just what I needed, fame' , Hadrian thought, spitting the world fame as if it was a vile thing.
Riddle raised an eyebrow as he lounged in a chair adopting a relaxed position. "Really now? I would have thought that you'll love having adoring fans. Please, do tell why exactly do you feel that way."
"That, for example," Hadrian exploded, annoyance and frustration warring in his voice. "I have 'adoring fans' as you put it. People who hadn't even heard of me until today are already picturing me as a freaking prince on a white horse ready to save the day. They made me appear as a savior when , as you well know, all I really did was push a girl out of the way of a killing curse."
"Oh, don't forget the measly act of being the first one in history to survive said killing curse," pointed out an amused Riddle in a 'helpful' manner.
"Don't even get me started with that one," he moaned in frustration. "I didn't even know what the name of the spell that hit me was until I read that article," Hadrian said, trying to keep up the appearance of a novice in the magical field, "and I'm sure that I didn't do anything that could have caused the curse to be, as they put it, deflected. The point is, I don't know what happened but I'm sure it had nothing to do with my looks or personality. So, you see, people don't really adore me but their own belief that I'm someone with special powers ready to save them at a moments notice." Hadrian paused trying to catch his breath. Who would have known that venting felt so ...liberating!
"That's right", said Hadrian suddenly, with the air of someone that just realized something important, "Do you have any idea about what could have caused the curse to be deflected?" If there was one thing Hadrian could be certain about, it was that Riddle would be, no matter the universe, a genius and so he had to have thought of at least some possible explanations.
"Oh? I have several actually," Riddle responded easily but did not elaborate further. "Do you mind sharing?" asked Hadrian, annoyance palpable in his voice, after a few moments spent in silence in which he waited for Riddle to continue..
"Well, one of them was that you survived the Killing curse because Death was terrified of having to listen to you on a daily basis," said Riddle seeming to be thoroughly enjoying the boy's annoyance.
"Ha, bloody ha. That was really funny," said Hadrian, glowering.
"Thank you. I thought it was was quite amusing myself," replied Riddle, making Hadrian scowl. "You don't have to worry though, there is an entire team of healers, unspeakables and magical specialists that are trying to solve that mystery. As it is, it will be several days till you'll be out of this place as they have to run some test on you, now that you're awake and seeing the circumstances that got you here, so you better get used to the view."
"Well," sighed Hadrian making himself more comfortable in bed and trying to see the silver lining of this black cloud, "at least there isn't any prophecy proclaiming me as the only hope the world has for salvation..." Hadrian trailed off, seeing that Riddle suddenly put on a calm expression. A very, very calm expression. Then a smile appeared on his face.
A slow, sinking sensation began to dawn in the pit of Hadrian's stomach.
"Of course there isn't such a thing, Mr. Fowl." Riddle said with that bright smile. A bright smile that practically screamed 'I'm lying but what can you do about it?' to Hadrian.
"You've got to be kidding me!" he groaned, sinking lower in the fluffy pillows as if trying to hide from the sudden revelation. "But of course there is one. It was a foolish act on my part to expect that this new life will hold an resemblance of normality. I must have lost my senses to hope for some peace and quiet considering that this is me we're talking about," Hadrian continued to mutter even as he started to dose off. Riddle, thinking he was talking about the life at the orphanage, couldn't help but empathize, to a certain point, with the boy .
"Now, now, Mr. Fowl, you shouldn't let your imagination run wild now, should you?" asked Riddle, though one could see his eyes glittering in amusement.
"You shouldn't lie, professor. Imagine my reaction when I find out that there is one after all," said Hadrian, reminiscing about fifth year while he closed his eyes, already knowing that this was a losing battle and that he wouldn't find anything, even if he continued to probe for information. He was but a child in their eyes so, in conclusion, should be shielded from the truth. 'Like that helps,' Hadrian thought, scoffing. But still, he wasn't completely in the dark. This time he would make sure to do things differently, make allies and learn everything he could get his hands on. This time he would be prepared to face everything life and fate might throw at him in spite.
$You are a most entertaining person, Mr. Fowl$, Hadrian heard Riddle saying and replied with a muttered, $Glad to be of help$, as he succumbed to sleep, not noticing either the fact that he slipped into parseltongue nor the shock he left at his slip. If he had, he would have cursed his stupidity and banged his head on the first flat surface he found. As it was, he only slept on peacefully in blissful ignorance.
If only he knew...
HP-Chronic Hero Syndrome
Walburga Black was feeling unsettled as she prepared for bed. Even though she might not show it in a conventional way she deeply cared for her children and, thus, was very worried about Sirius who had been acting strange these days. He was quieter, starting to spend all his time locked in the library and he had not even once raised his voice in the defense of muggles.
Not that she was complaining. Far from it actually, she was quite glad that her son and heir had finally realized the vileness of those filthy muggles and started to take his responsibilities as a Black scion more seriously.
Though, she couldn't help but be suspicious of this sudden change in comportment, not knowing what caused it. There was also the incident that happened at breakfast this morning, when Sirius practically snatched the newspaper from Orion's hands so that he could read the article about that Hadrian whatever child that was declared a hero.
She had to admit that even she was intrigued by that article and was certain that the boy was an orphaned pureblood that, through a cruel twist of fate, happened to land with those miserable muggles. There was no other possible explanation, seeing that no mudblood would be capable of surviving the killing curse.
After reading the article, Sirius seemed to be more cheerful and Regulus confessed that he heard him muttering something along the lines of 'it could be him' before, once again, he locked himself in the library. A small smile curved her lips, remembering Regulus' fear that Sirius might be preparing some kind of grand prank at his expense and starting to act weird so that he would drop his guard.
Walburga didn't know what to make of this new Sirius but decided to let the matter drop for now and think more about it in the morning. She was too tired for solving mysteries and it wasn't as if it was something bad about the way Sirius acted.
Just as she was about to fall into slumber a powerful noise was heard and the house started to shake. Bewildered and panicked, thinking that the house was under attack, Walburga jumped out of bed and headed straight to her children's bedrooms. "Kretcher!" she bellowed as she continued on her way and sure enough, the next second, a small creature with a long, thin nose, large, bat-like ears and huge bulging eyes appeared and started to jog alongside her.
"With what can Kretcher be of service, milady?" the house-elf asked, worship thick in his squeaky voice.
"Tell me what's causing this ruckus," Walburga ordered as she climbed the stair to her sons' floor. She hoped that they were safe because if anything happened to them there would be hell to pay.
"The origin comes from master's Sirius room, milady", Kretcher promptly answered, glad to be of help to his mistress. As they approached Sirius room the shaking got more pronounced and they could see strange lights coming from under the door .
Regulus was already outside, banging on the closed door, screaming to his brother to open up but no answer came to his pleas.
"Mother!" he exclaimed, happy to see her and now certain that everything would be solved. His mother always managed to make things right again.
"What happened?" Walburga asked her younger child. She blasted the door open and entered Sirius' room only to find her son unconscious in the middle of what seemed to appear like a ritual circle with his stuff flying all around the place.
"I don't know," answered a panicked Regulus. "I heard Sirius scream and then there was this earthquake and all those strange lights...mother, what happened to Sirius?" he finished in in a distressed voice.
"I don't know child, but be sure that I'll find out," answered Walburga, her worried creased face full of determination as she made, with a swish of her wand, the floating objects drop down. Just then Kretcher approached her with a piece of parchment in his bony hands."From master Sirius for you, milady," the house-elf said as a means of explanation and, as soon as those words left his lips, the parchment was snatched by Walburga who started to read it fervently.
At the end of the letter Walburga's whole face was blackened by fury and contorted with rage.
"Kretcher! Go and call a healer from St. Mungos!" she snarled at the house elf that, more than afraid for his life after seeing her face, disappeared with a 'pop' before she even finished the words. Walburga then turned her face toward the unconscious form of Sirius and, with a loving expression that contrasted with the earlier one she wore, caressed his silky hair whispering warmly, "Everything will be alright now, my heir."
She never notice the small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips...
…TBC ...
AN/ Hi there ^-^ As you can all see I'm back with another chapter and... GOSH! I think I died and gone to heaven! My words can't properly explain the shock and happiness of seeing the number of reviews I received. I can't believe my story is so well liked but I must say that if it wasn't for the wonderful suggestion I got from all of you who sacrificed precious time in order to write them, I don't think I'll have managed this feat.
As it is, now it is the time to answer some questions and, before I start I have to announce that the last part of this chapter doesn't contain a ritual to transform Hermione/Sirius into a girl. He WILL remain a boy don't worry!
Now let's see.
About the ROMANTIC part of this story, I'm sorry to say but it won't manifest itself soon. Both Hadrian and Sirus are just ELEVEN years old so no naughty adventures for now. Also I have been asked about the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald and I decided to keep it like in canon- an onesided romance on Dumbledore's part. Also, the view wizarding world has on male/male relations will be revealed soon enough once I reunite Hadrian and Hermione. BUT, don't despair folks as I'll be sure to put lots of innuendos in the story though there will be no actual action, hehe.^-6
About the GRINDELWALD issue, I'll say this once - he is NOT crazy, he was framed but not by Dumbles or Tom but by another party which will be revealed at a later date. Also I have some little twist prepared for you guys involving Tom and Grindelwald...bet I made curious now didn't I? *evil grin*
Also the HOLLOWS are a part of this story, an important one at that . Don't forget that in canon they were Grindelwald's obsession and the fact that Harry became Master of death is what gave him and Hermione the power to travel in this dimension - process will be explained in the future too.
BABY VOLDEMORT doesn't exist. He is the horcrux that makes possible the connection between real Voldemort and Harry and, also, without it, he wouldn't be able to speak parseltongue.
About the TIMELINE- I didn't had a special reason in choosing 1962 but I think it is a good year as it allows me to put all the characters I like from the canon and that might been to old for Hogwarts in the original timeline, mixed together. Don't forget this is AU so I'm allowed to play with time hehe. But I'll be sure to post, after the first chapter involving Hogwarts, a list with this universe important dates and also the birthdays of all characters that will appear in this story.
And FINALLY the DRACO issue. Some of the readers asked me to bring Draco in this universe but, to be frank, I don't know how I'll manage that. I mean, dodn't get wrong, I understand the advantages of having a pureblood raised boy like Draco helping Hadrian and Sirius along the way but I don't know what explanation to give for his presence here. I you have a logical way of how I could land him here tell me and he'll be brought asap in the story ^-^
Oh, and I'll be rewriting the prophecy but I'll post the improved one at the same time with the next chapter.
SPECIAL THANKS to: Zana, Natasha, Michael, Lena, Jasmine, Olezhka, Poppy, Nicky and many others who, unfortunately, I can't recall right now but that are just as appreciated.
Hope you liked the chapter and that youi'll continue to give me your comments and advices. You know how much I love reviews ^_^
Next time: parties, politics and reunions
Ja ne ^-^