Warning: this will eventually be slash (Harry and Severus, same age due to time travel). You were warned!
Authors note: I planned this as a one shot but it got a bot long. I did try to keep it short so it won't get boring bit it is 6 chapters long. I hope you'll like it.
Time
Chapter one
A new start
Harry looks around confused. Just a moment ago they had fought death eaters and he had followed Bellatrix after she had thrown a killing curse towards Sirius. Then she uses a blasting curse on him, he falls and now this. He looks at the broken devise he had fallen into still confused to find Bellatrix gone by the time he got up from the mess he created. Sand had been blowing around him and blinded him.
He is tempted to call out to his friends but is too worried to draw the attention of the death eaters to him again. Maybe if he sneaks up on them he can attack them from behind. And they must still be somewhere. He's almost certain that he had not blacked out. Though he had not thought Bellatrix could have moved on that fast.
A door opens and a confused looking gangly man with red hair stands there. Harry points his wand at him but just for a moment before he lowers it again. Though not as far as his jaw drops.
He knows the man there and the one that follows him just now. Both men look almost as shocked as Harry does. Once more Harry glances at the broken device. The room is still full with time turner. He groans, finally figuring out why there is not one death eater or any of his friends around.
"How by Merlin did you get in here?" one of the twins asks.
Unsure what to say he shrugs "I don't think I should say that any more than when I got in and, well, I fell into that, which is probably more interesting but I also rather not tell how that happened."
"You broke the time loop." One of them points out, apparently just noticing the mess that boy is standing in.
"Yeah sorry about that." Harry grins "Though in my defence, I was pushed back by a blasting curse." Rubbing his sore rip he looks at the mess again before looking at the Prewitt twins he had seen on Moody's picture of the order. "You're Fabian and Gideon right? Molly's brothers."
"Yeah. You're okay kid? You look a little ruffled." One if the twins worries.
Harry shrugs but whines rubbing his rips again absentmindedly. "I'm fine. Just the usual. Better question, how do I get back to my time?"
Both twins look at each others before one asks "How far are we talking about. You know, I get the feeling it's not just an hour or two."
Harry snorts, and winces, that had hurt a little too. "I'm talking years. As in I think I'm not born yet years."
"What makes you think that?" one asks.
"Call it a hunch. How many kids does your sister have? Is her daughter born yet?" Harry asks.
The twins look at each other before one says "She only had two boys."
"Bill and Charlie. Yeah. I'm not born yet. I'll be in school with her youngest son. And that is not the next one. Not even the one after." Harry sighs. "Any idea what I should do?"
"How exactly do you know us?" Fabian asks.
"Moody talking about the order during the first rise of Voldemort." Harry shrugs. "Saw a picture of you. Know your younger nephew's and your niece from Hogwarts. Everyone knows Molly's twins of course. Biggest pranksters I ever saw. But really fun."
A patronus shows saying "Come to the hall of prophecies. There is a new one relating to 'the traveller of time'. Maybe you can figure out who that is."
The Prewitt twins look at each other while Harry sighs dejectedly "Why is it always me?"
The twins look at him while Harry with one hand rubs his ribcage and with the other his head.
"Come on. Lets see what it says. Maybe it helps us get you home." One of them suggest.
Upon arriving at the right prophecy the twins and their college working with prophecies discuss their stories and what they figured out so far and then decide to hear the prophecy by letting the time traveller take it and listen to it.
Harry just takes the orb when told and rubs it the way they say activates it.
A woman that he can't see clearly says "The lightning has hit to pierce the dark. From the future came the storm with time on his side. No way to return fast he reaches a true home. Leaving name and burdens along he left the magic draining darkness in the scar behind. Only his light can pierce the dark which he fought all his life."
"Well, sounds like good old Voldemort is going to lose." Harry shrugs.
All gasps while one says "Don't say his name."
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing." Harry grins "At least that's what good old Albus Dumbledore taught me."
The twins look at each other, take a step back and start talking to each other in riddles. Harry just ignores their half finished sentences that the other knows before they finished it and answers the same way making it impossible for anyone else to follow. He does listen when they say "We'll adopt you then."
"What?" Harry asks.
"You can't go home right now but need a place. You already know our sister and well, we're both asexual and this way you get our family name and a home until you get to that home with no way to reach. Whatever that means."
"The unreachable thing was my time. At least not quickly. I guess that home means your place then." Harry sighs. "Hogwarts was the closest thing to a home I ever had but even that sucked big time on occasion. You know killing a thousand year old Basilisk and all, wait, that thing is still alive in this time! And it's at Hogwarts."
"A Basilisk, at Hogwarts?" the college asks.
Harry nods "In the chamber of secrets. I went down there when I was in my second year and killed it with the sword of Gryffindor that came from the sorting hat. Fawkes brought it to me and he blinded the damn snake and cried on the wound where a Basilisk tooth had gotten stuck." He lifts his sleeve to show the scar.
"And where is the entrance?" one of the twins asks.
"A girls bathroom. The one where Myrtle died and where her ghost is still moaning around so much that my friends and I, which includes one of your future nephews, could brew polijuce potion to infiltrate the Slytherin's to find the so called heir. Didn't know it was one of Voldemort's old diaries that was wickedly good spelled and with which he could sort of possess your niece and make her do his bidding without her remembering anything."
"Why wasn't our time there that interesting?" Both complain.
Harry snorts "The snake was okayish. As was that teacher that was possessed by Voldemort and tried to kill me, you know after Voldy lost his body which I guess he hasn't yet. But, I think I was feed up with the excitement when about a hundred Dementors were after me but definitely when that demented horntail was hunting me while I was on my broom, though that too was kind of cool. But don't let me get started about Voldemort kidnapping me and an older student and me barely escaping with my life and the other student's dead body to make sure they don't do god knows what with said body. Bad enough I had to watch him die just because I failed to protect him. Now that I think about it, I think I'm not really upset to be gone. I'll miss my friends but I'll see them again eventually right. And maybe this way I can protect everyone better and not fail anyone."
The three grown ups stare open mouthed at the teenager that still occasionally rubs his ribs and forehead.
"I'll take you to a healer. You're covered in scratches from the time loop you fell in and you clearly hurt your ribs and head." One twin says.
"I'm not crazy though." Harry grumbles angrily.
"I didn't says." The man answers.
The other adds "We believe every word you said, but you are rubbing your head and chest like both hurts."
Harry looks doubtful and the twins look at each other for a moment before one says "Will you give us a chance and live with us? We're not interested in relationships. Never were. Neither of us. But we both would like to have a child and we usually share everything."
The other adds "And we'd like to give you a nice home. Like Molly does for her two little ones."
Harry grins a little. Knowing that it won't be two for long and thinking to have that kind of home is nice but he can't help to add "To have it remotely like Molly's will get, you'll need to adopt a few more kids. "
"Mind being our guinea pig to see how we do as dad's?" one grins.
The other grinningly adds "I know I'll rock this but I'm worried my brother will mess it up."
"More like the other way around." The first grins .
Both look at him questioningly. Harry just shrugs saying "I guess that is okay." Thinking that if he gets shipped of to an aunt when they die he'll at least have a nice home with Molly and Arthur.
After talking with the other unspeakable they decide to officially name Harry as a research project to add him there and claim origins as classified. If anything goes wrong and people look into it too much and find out the truth they'll claim to study how it goes with Harry while aging in the wrong time and changing things to see what happens since it's possible time will change enough that the he isn't born or won't return. They hope nothing will happen but can't be sure and they are curious and want to watch that too. But mostly they want a child, though, since both want to work too, a somewhat self-sufficient teen is ideal.
During that talk Harry finds out what year it is, that they change his birthday fitting to the different month he arrived in and that they'll have him join Hogwarts probably a week late since it started that day. To Harry's shock he calculates that he'll be in the same year as his parents and has redo his OWL year. But at least he has official papers that name him Harry Prewitt and that he's adopted with classified parentage.
After that is sorted they take him to St. Mungos who are shocked to see that he had been hit with a great deal of very bad curses, and find plenty of signs for child abuse like malnourished during prolonged times in his childhood along with old untreated fractures. To Harry's relieve they find no dark residue on his lighting bold scar. But the scar on his hand does have some minor dark magic residue but they can fix it to the point that the compulsion to avoid lying is gone, he'll just have to live with the scar.
Both Gideon and Fabian are livid about the treatment Harry must have suffered and one disappears for an hour only to return and nod to his brother. After that the other is gone for an hour and back barely in time to go home with them. To Harry's shock there is a Banner with 'Welcome home Harry Prewitt' and two gifts are on the table next to a huge cake that also has 'Welcome Harry' written on it. One of the twins says "I got you a gift and the cake and talked to our sister to invite her and her family for lunch tomorrow to meet her nephew."
"I got the other gift the decorations and talked to Professor Dumbledore. You can start school on Monday and will be sorted right before lessons start. We'll bring you there after breakfast." The other says and Harry notices that some sweets are on the table too while looking at the confetti that is part of the decorations.
Harry opens the gift with wholes in the paper first and finds a snow owl that looks almost like Hedwig. But it's male so he has to think of a new name, already deciding to get Hedwig during the summer of 1991. It is nice to have a friend to keep him company until then. He calls him Snuffles to remind him of his godfather. He wonders if Sirius is worried about him in his time just to remember that he can't be worried about it yet. Sirius is probably at Grimmould place with his horrid mother. The real one, not a portrait.
After that he opens the very big lumpy present just to find another present inside and so on, all with a bow to hide the shape of a broom he sees even before ripping away the last layer to find what must be a nimbus. It already is similar to his old nimbus 2000 but he quickly sees the writing to say it's a Nimbus 1500. "Thanks both of you." Harry says.
"Want to try it? It's the best racing broom money can buy!" Fabian suggests.
"Yeah I know. The Nimbus 2000 is going to be really wicked though. I outflew another seeker on a nimbus 2001 with it so it's pretty good even against the one after it. But it's still nothing compared to the Firebold which I god from my godfather who had escaped from Azkaban." Harry says "He was innocent though."
Both stare and the one says "Well, we can promise to get you one once it's out."
"Thanks. But with a bit of luck I'll be old enough to get it myself. The Firebold won't be out until 1993" Harry sighs "But it's really good when out flying a dragon."
"Please try and stay away from Dragons." Gideon asks.
"Or we both will get grey hair from worry." Fabian says.
"At least than you'd look wise." Harry cheekily replies surprising the two guys who after that surprise chuckle.
They have some dinner before they eat cake for dessert and than they show Harry his new room and promise him to buy more clothing and decorations for his room along with school books the next day or the one after. Depending on how long his new Aunt Molly stays.
The next day Harry is very nervous. He knows Molly of course and knows how nice she is. But last time he was the boy who lived and best friend of her youngest son. This time he is the one that somehow got both of her brothers to adopt him on very short notice while she knows next to nothing about him. All the two said was that they met him through their classified work and couldn't send him to his prior home and that they cared about him.
Now Harry just hopes that the fact that they supposedly care will be enough.
Molly and Arthur arrive a little late. Arthur holding Bill's hand and Molly with Charlie on her hip. Harry wants to hide behind the twins but tries to stay put while she just looks at him. He doesn't dare to look at her face though. Not until he hears her voice asks "Come here my dear and let your Aunt hug you."
She squeezes him while Fabian cautions. "Be careful though. He had two broken ribs and a few they had to rebreak and set yesterday along with a few other old breaks. One was in his wrist and must have hurt every time he wrote anything. Don't squeeze too hard. It might still hurt him."
"I'm fine." Harry quickly mumbles not caring about anything else than that Molly gives him a chance.
Harry is a little worried to still blow it though. Too used that things go bad eventually. And he does feel funny since he woke up. Not bed really, just different. And a few times he felt like he almost used magic by accident and much to easily. He wonders if he really did get stronger from not fighting whatever Voldemort had left in his scar that according to the prophecy didn't come through time with him.
They eat lunch with Molly and the kids and to make it easier to talk for the grown ups Harry tries to distract Charlie so the little guy won't interrupt them. He's still very small. Harry uses his knife and fork like they are legs with a bit of tissue around like a dress to let it dance around. Charlie, wo sits between Molly and Harry watches fascinated. Bill wo is between his father and Fabian on Molly's other side watches just as curiously.
After a while when everyone has finished eating Harry looks at Gideon asking "I still have some chocolate frogs from yesterday, may I share some with Bill and Charlie for dessert?"
"Of course dear boy. That's very nice of you to share." Gideon smiles while Harry goes to get them. He even helps Charlie unwrap it and to catch the frog again after it got away. Charlie doesn't want to eat it though seemingly thinking it's alive so Harry just leaves his own one to play with Charlie's one on the table. Before asking if they can get up.
Fabian grins "Of course but remember that we didn't go toy shopping yet."
"Everything can be a toy with some imagination. We can turn my almost empty closet into a dragons lair and Bill and Charlie could be dragons." Harry grins looking at Charlie and Bill asking "If you want to play Dragons with me that is."
Both boys seem very happy about the idea and happily go with the older cousin, no longer scared of him at all.
Little do they know that Harry's new fathers look after him worriedly.
"Why so worried?" Molly asks once the kids are away. "He seems to be good with kids. You should think of adopting some more if you find some orphans."
"No way." Fabian says.
"We will not add a single more person to his responsibilities if we can." Gideon agrees.
"We do think he'd like having siblings and he can always play with your kids." Fabian sighs "We can't stop him from caring too much about them anyway."
"But he once saw an older child die and guess what he said." Gideon says "Harry said he had to watch him die because he himself failed to protect the older boy. Like it was his job to protect an older boy instead of the other way around."
"Bad enough he'd risk his life not even caring he'd survive for all of us and his little cousins." Fabian sighs.
"But alone with us we want him able to just relax and maybe to care a smidgeon about himself every once in a while." Gideon ads.
Molly looks surprised at them but then says "Well, he certainly is a very good kid. But he needs to eat more. He barely ate as much as Bill did."
"The healer said it will take time and gave us nutrient potions for him to drink before bed." Fabian replies.
Gideon goes on saying "He was starved too often for his stomach to be used to normal portions and he was starved at intervals which psychologically makes him probably fear it to happen again too much to let himself get used to a lot of food."
"Poor boy. His life must have been very hard." Molly sighs.
"I bet more than we now. We knew he had it tough when we took him to Mungos yesterday. But we never would have guessed at the amount of old wounds. He was tortured magically and physically. He's been under the crucio even and exposed to multiple dementors." Fabian sighs.
"Non of that at his so called home. We know next to nothing about that. All he said is that he can't get back and isn't sad about it since it never really was a home. The amount of violence he must have been through though makes that understandable. If we were in his place we wouldn't want to go back there if we could and certainly wouldn't send him even if we could." Gideon sighs.
From there they talk about many different things including the fight against this new dark lord and wonder how much longer Eugenia Jenkins can keep hold of the ministry. All of the males even consider quitting just to be save.
In the meantime Bill and Charlie have a great time. They had been scared of the big boy they hadn't known when they came. But he was a lot of fun and played with them unlike most big boys that treated them like annoying babies. Harry was different. He build a great dragon lair for them and lets them run around after them. They get to jump on his bed and climbing up a shelf and 'fall' down, he catches them with his magic which makes them feel wonderfully warm. He even lets them wrestle him to the ground and tickle him.
They both climb around on top of Harry every chance they get until their uncle Fabian or Gideon, they never know which one is which, comes in with their mother who says "Time to go home boys."
"Harry too?" Bill asks.
"Harry is at home here." Molly explains.
"No!" little Charlie complains and joins his Brother who is on Harry's stomach by jumping onto Harry's chest.
They hear a cracking sound and both grown ups grab one of the little boys to pull them off Harry. "Harry, are you okay?" Fabian asks.
"Don't ask him stupid questions. Charlie just broke his rib again. It must hurt. Hold still Harry I'll fix you right up." Molly says.
"I'm fine." Harry mumbles "Don't worry."
"Yeah he said he's making that sound because we crack him up with all the fun we're having." Bill explains making Harry blush.
"I'll be the judge of that." Molly says and casts a few spells at her new nephew.
"And? What's the verdict? Do we need to go to Mungo's again?" Fabian asks.
"Five broken ribs. I could fix them but Harry dear you need to be careful for a few days. I'm sure the healer said the same yesterday." Molly says.
"Did we hurt Harry?" Bill asks worriedly.
"I'm fine. That's what I get for wrestling two wild dragons right?" Harry winks at the worried boy.
"Well, no more dragon wrestling for a week young man!" Molly insists "And next time come and tell someone when you're hurt."
"It wasn't that bad, and my Aunt, I mean the one I used to live with, always told me not to wine and that no one likes wining boys." Harry mumbles "And it really didn't hurt badly. I'm not going to come running for every little booboo."
Molly sighs "Well I'm not that despicable aunt. And you are too used to pain. I want you to tell my brothers about every little booboo. Especially if you call broken ribs a booboo."
"Yes Miss Weasley." Harry mumbles.
"That's Auntie Molly to you!" Molly says. "Now boys time to go home."
"Froggi." Charlie remembers.
"Yes you can have your frog from earlier." Molly says.
They return to the others where the chocolate frogs no longer move. "Froggi?" Charlie pokes the frog and then cries "Froggi."
Harry, who still feels funny but less than before he used some magic to protect Bill and Charlie from falling during their rough housing. So he decides to want his magic to change the chocolate frog into a real one. Preferably one very loyal to Charlie. Just like when Bill was the first to fall, and every time after, he just had to want something and let go of his magic instead of trying to keep it from acting up. It's almost as that time with Marge. He was angry and wanted to stop her from saying such things and his magic had broken out of him. It just has never been that hard to hold his magic in as it was since the time travel.
The frog changes and Charlie cheers saying "Mummy, froggi fine."
"I ate my frog." Bill pouts.
Harry takes the one he had left along with Charlie's and changes it too. Just with loyalty to Bill. "Here take mine."
Bill smiles holding up the frog he takes from Harry "Look dad. I have a frog too."
"You're not supposed to use magic outside of school. Don't you know?" Fabian asks.
Harry just grins cheekily asking "How could I. I was homeschooled, or did you forget?"
Fabian just grins and shakes his head. They had gone with that excuse for a lack of school papers. He wasn't enrolled in any school until Gideon went to Hogwarts the day before.
"You know now." Gideon just grins at their cheeky little brat and starts to like the tough kid even more. Despite everything he had been through, be it the abusive home, dementors, Basilisk, dragons or apparently possessed teachers, nothing had been able to break that kid yet. And both brothers believe everything seeing as the hospital had confirmed his proximity to a lot of dementors at some point and the last time he saw at least one was less than a year ago. They also had confirmed that he had a wound caused by a rather big Basilisk tooth but it was fully healed by phoenix tears. Just like Harry had said. Meaning he had plenty of material to pull from to brag but he hadn't bragged. He had complained a little about what bad things had happened and named them shortly. He never seemed to expect praise or an awed reaction to doing that and not at all disappointed not to be praised or such. He also had not mentioned anything about it again.
Harry just grins saying "Okay, next time I'll try not to get caught."
All three man chuckle while Molly complains "This is not funny. He could hurt himself if he does something wrong or drain his magic too much. Luckily he seems fine but two complicated transformations at his age without a wand and wordlessly are very draining." She turns to Harry "I know you meant well doing this for my boys but they too need to learn that sometimes they can't get what they want and it seems you need to learn to mind your own health instead of risking it for others."
Harry actually looks confused saying "But aren't I supposed to protect my family with my life."
Molly sighs "Many would do that yes. But only in a life or death situation. Not a bit of whining because of a chocolate frog. And even in a life or death situation, you are allowed to mind your own life. I don't want you to die either. And Fabian and Gideon would never be able to look at me the same way if they thought you risked your life for my boys. You're their son now too. So leave the life risking stuff to grown ups. You just tell us if you think it necessary."
"No." Harry flat out refuses. "I will not let anyone else die and certainly not let you risk your life in my place."
"Yes you will. If you know what's good for you. Because otherwise you make me watch a child risk himself to protect me. And that is not acceptable. How do you think I'd feel if you died?" Molly tries to reason with the boy. "And I'm older and know much more magic than you do."
Harry frowns but then sighs. "If you keep arguing about this you'll never get home. Because I'm sorry if I hurt you with it. But I just can't lose anyone else and life isn't that great for me anyway."
"I'm sure it will be good now, with my brothers as your parents." Molly insists.
"For a while maybe." Harry shrugs. "Good things never last though. Not for me anyway. But don't worry, I m good in getting out if trouble. Got a lot of practice.