Chapter 3: A Long Talk
Harry had spent the remainder of his Saturday with Hermione in the Library. He had told her of his talk with McGonagall and Hermione was all too happy to help Harry prep for the test he would take before leaving Hogwarts for the summer. Harry had cast Notice-Me-Not charms around their table, mostly to avoid Ron, who did come looking for them twice, yet Harry shushed Hermione to keep her from calling out to the red head. This confused her a bit but she simply assumed Harry wanted to study without Ron's interference.
The weekend passed and finally the day arrived for the 'reveal' of Pettigrew. Harry went about his day exactly has he did the last time. He took all his exams, received the prophecy from Trelawney then found himself making his way to Hagrid's with Hermione and Ron. Just as before they encountered Malfoy on the way there and Harry smirked a bit when Hermione punched the blonde right in the nose. He let it all play out exactly as it had before which amused him, he looked forward to the day he got to watch her slug Ron as well.
The group made their way to the half giants cabin and stood around talking with him. Harry had to act to the best of his ability even though he knew what was about to happen. Hermione discovered 'Scabbers' and Ron was so excited while Harry had half a mind to straggle the rat right then and there. Then just like before something came flying through the window and smashed the milk jug. Harry waited for it, he knew the next one was coming for his head and he braced himself as it hit him. "Ow!" he exclaimed turning around, he spotted the Minister, Dumbledore, and the Executioner through the window, "They're coming." He said in the best surprised voice he could muster.
The trio quickly went out the back door as quietly as they could as Hagrid let Dumbledore and the others inside. They soon make their way up the slope and just as Harry expected Pettigrew was freaking out in Ron's pocket. Ron struggled to keep hold of the rat-man while Hermione begged Ron to hurry, they got to the spot where Hermione decked Malfoy and turned back watching the Executioner drop the axe but not able to actually see what he cut. Hermione began to whimper and Harry pulled her to him and hugged her gently, "Its okay." He whispered as he rubbed her back. Then it happened.
Rat-Pettigrew bit Ron causing the red head to squeal in alarm as he dropped him. Harry rolled his eyes slightly annoyed since in typical Ron fashion a touching moment was ruined. He watched as Ron chased the scurrying rat towards the Whomping Willow. Harry half hoped the tree would start whacking immediately, but just as it happened in his last life Ron caught the rat before it could get away and soon Grim-Sirius appeared and dragged Ron into the hole below the Willow. Hermione was panicking when Harry drew his wand and aimed at the tree, " Immobulus" he called out and the tree froze.
"How did you-?" Hermione began, "Never mind, we have to help Ron!" she scurried forward while Harry walked calmly behind her. They made their way through the tunnel and when they came out on the other side Hermione looked around, "I think we're in the-"
"Shrieking Shack? Definitely." He tells her as he pulls her behind him before they make their way up stairs.
They follow the sounds of Ron's whining until the reach the room. As soon as they enter Ron starts to squeal, "Harry no, he's an Animagus!"
"Yea, I know." Harry said calmly turning to Sirius. He had seen Spirit-Sirius just two days ago and he look more lively than the Sirius before him now, "Hello Sirius, I know what you want but it will have to wait." Harry flicked his wand in Sirius' direction and casted a silent Incarcerous spell. Rope quickly wrapped around Sirius binding the distraught man to keep him from moving.
Hermione mouth gaped, "How did you do that?!" she exclaimed.
"Later." He tells her.
"Wicked Harry! Now lets get out of here!" Ron squeaked. His eyes suddenly widened when Harry turned his wand on him, "What are you doing Mate?"
Harry flicks his wand and another silent Incarcerous wraps around Rat-Pettigrew. Harry flicks his wand again and a silent Stupefy splits and smacks the rat then the red head between his eyes knocking them unconscious. "HARRY?!" Hermione rushed over to Ron looking him over, "What did you just do?"
"Caught two traitors." He said flatly, "Hermione I know you have questions but I need you to remain calm I'll explain everything as soon as the other two get here."
"Other two?" The gruff voice of his tied up godfather said.
"Yes, now sit down and wait. Remus will be along in a moment." Harry said causing both Sirius' and Hermione's eyes to widen. Sure enough Remus Lupin came sneaking into the room and Harry cast a silent Expelliarmus catching the werewolf's wand, "Glad you could join us Professor." He reaches into his black messenger bag and pulls out the potion he had placed a Stasis Charm on. He removes the charm and tosses it, "Drink that can't have you wolfing out on us."
Remus' eyes were as wide as saucers, "You…you know?"
"Yes, you're a werewolf and you forgot your potion on the way here didn't you? Drink it please we're waiting for one more." Harry said.
Remus stepped aside and stood near Sirius looking at his tied up friend, "Caught by a thirteen year old? You're rusty Padfoot."
"Shut up Moony." Sirius growled back.
The group heard the shuffling of feet below them and Harry let out a sigh of relief, "Finally." He mumbled and stood.
Severus bust into the room only to be disarmed by Harry immediately, "Potter! What do you think you're doing?" he snarled.
"Quiet Severus we have matters to discuss now sit." Harry flicks his wand and the broken old chairs fix them selves. "Everyone take a seat.
Remus guided Sirius to a seat and sat him down before sitting himself. Severus sneered but did so as well spotting the unconscious Ron and the twitching unconscious rat, "What happen to Weasley?" he asks.
"I Stupefied him." Harry said flatly as he watched Hermione sit at the end beside Snape, "Alright, now before I proceed I need each of you to make an Unbreakable Vow to not repeat what I'm about to tell you." He saw Snape gape at him, "Trust me this matter will benefit you a whole lot more than you think."
Severus was reluctant but agreed. One by one the each performed the vow with the help of Remus and Severus. Afterwards Harry confiscated their wands again with a flick of his own, "Now where to begin with this explanation?" he said to himself.
"You're from the future aren't you?" Hermione blurted out. The other three whipped their heads in her direction.
Harry smiled, "Figured you notice." He said, "What gave me away?"
"You've been acting distant and annoyed with Ron for the last three days." Hermione began, "You have a sudden interest in Ancient Runes, then today you were acting as if you expected everything that happened. Then when we got here the first thing you did was tie up Sirius when you said months ago you wanted to kill him, the next thing you do is immediately knock out Ron and Scabbers calling them 'Traitors'. Then you make us wait for Professors Snape and Lupin. So my only question is how far in the future are you from?"
"Granger that's ludicrous!" Snape snaps at her.
"Oh no she hit the nail on the head Severus Snape." Harry said smiling, "So two days ago the Harry Potter from May of 1998 was dropped into the body of my thirteen year old self." Remus and Sirius were staring at him gawking, "Yes and every person in this room except Hermione and that pansy red head behind me died before that day."
"WHAT?!" Sirius and Hermione shouted together
Sirius was standing, "How? When?" he began demanding.
"Sit please." Harry says calmly, "I'm getting to it." He tells his godfather as the man sat back down slowly. "The first of us to die was actually you Sirius, and no it wasn't a death by dementors you were killed in my fifth year by your cousin Bellatrix Lestrange trying to save me and my friends who broke into the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry thinking we were saving you. A little trick Voldemort played on me gave me a vision that he caught you. We arrived only to find you not there and a Prophecy with my name on it."
Harry saw Severus get a bit pale at that, "So you know about the Prophecy."
"Yes Severus and I know you were the one who overheard it getting told to Dumbledore then rushed to tell Voldy." He saw fear creep into Severus eyes, "No I'm not angry with you. You didn't know he would target me and when you found out he was you asked Dumbledore to hide us."
"It didn't work." Snape grumbled.
"That's because a certain someone didn't want it to work and no…" Harry looks to Sirius, "It wasn't just Pettigrew…someone else was meddling, but more on that later." Harry gestures to Severus then Remus then himself, "The three of us all died on the same day. During a battle that was waged at Hogwarts. Remus you and your wife died during that battle, and no I won't tell you who she is enjoy the surprise." He smirks at a gawking Remus, "Next was you Severus, still pretending to be Voldy's right hand man you were killed by Riddle himself, and I'm fairly certain your death was orchestrated by a certain someone and I bet you know who I'm talking about."
Severus' eyes narrowed, "Dumbledore."
Harry clapped a little bit, "Give the man a prize." He says with a smirk, "I was the next to die however unlike the rest of you I walked to my death willingly."
"What the hell Harry?!" Hermione growled.
"Once again you can blame Dumbledore for that." Harry tells her, "See Voldy created a bunch of Horcruxes one of them was in my scar. Dumbledore told you." He points to Severus, "That the only way for me to get rid of it was for Voldemort to destroy it himself, in other words…he had to kill me. You passed the message along through your memories as you died. I saw you die, so did the Hermione of that time. You gave me your memories I learned a lot from them." He smiled a bit.
Severus looked away embarrassed, "I did what I thought was necessary."
"You've been protecting me in the shadows for years all the while making me hate you cause you thought you were to blame for my mothers death." Harry said flatly, "Yea you found my resemblance to my father irritating since he bullied you in school, He apologized for that just so you know."
"What?" Severus asked looking confused.
"Oh yea forgot." Harry said smacking himself in the head, "So after Voldemort killed me I found my self in a room with some fancy dress guy sitting at a desk said he was the Death, and boy was he pissed."
"You met Death?" Remus ask looking at Harry with confusion all over his face.
"Yea and like I said he was furious because apparently I wasn't supposed to die at all and it had been the seventh time I had died before I was supposed to." Harry told them.
"Wait, wait, wait…." Hermione said, "You died six other times? How?!"
"Well one was just after I turned two the Dursley's starved me to death, then I died again at six when Uncle Vernon beat me because I had a bout of accidental magic, third time was my first year apparently Quirrell managed to throw me off my broom before Hermione could set Snape's cloak on fire."
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed looking to Snape who rolled his eyes.
"I knew it was you Granger relax." Severus told her.
Hermione's face got extremely red. Harry smirked and continued, "My fourth death had apparently been in second year when I accidently looked the basilisk directly into the eyes, my fifth was apparently third year when the dementors boarded the train…I assume when they sent me back after that one and they sort pushed me to sit with Remus so he could keep them from kissing me."
"So had I not been there you would have been dead…" Remus said quietly.
"Seems so." Harry says. "The sixth was in fourth year I apparently get on the bad side of a dragon." He says, "Then the last and seventh was by Voldy. They told me they kept sending me back each time I died."
"They?" Severus asked.
"Yea, Death and his partner Fate…apparently Death is a fruit…Fate reminded me of a male Mrs. Weasley really." Harry said, "Super affectionate."
Harry could see a look on Sirius' face that was pure and utter shock. "So the Grim Reaper is gay and his partner is Fate?" Harry nodded, "Well that makes me feel silly. Ummm Harry can you take these off now?" he struggles against his bindings.
"Oh sure just don't go after the rat just yet." Harry flicked his wand and Sirius' bindings vanished, "Now back on track. They decided to send me back to my third year this time so I could fix a few mistakes…since none of you were supposed to die. It was all thanks to Dumbledore's meddling that so many people died."
"So this happened last time?" Severus asked, "You found Sirius here and me and Remus followed you in."
"Yea but last time Hermione, Ron, and I kinda all hit you with Expelliarmus at the same time knocking you out, but that was on you, you wouldn't listen to reason and kept saying you were going to have Sirius Kissed by the dementors when the real traitor is twitching over there on the floor…" he points to the unconscious rat. He then flicks his wand and the floor below the rat bends up turning into a cage, "In case he wakes up."
"He's casting silent spells…no way he's a third year…" Remus told Severus, "I'm inclined to believe his story."
"It is compelling." Severus stands, "You said your father had a apology for me…explain that."
"Yea well Death and Fate let me see them before they sent me back." Harry said, "Mom wanted me to let you use Legilimens on me to see her message." He passed the potion master his wand he gave Remus his too, "Just incase he tries anything funny." Remus nodded. Harry then turned back to Snape closing his eyes, "Go ahead." He said.
Severus lifted his wand to Harry, " Legilimens!" he said. Severus found no resistance as he entered Harry's mind the memory quickly came into view.
He saw Lily standing in a white room standing beside James. She smiled, "Hey Sev…I know we had our falling out in sixth year…but I always still worried for you…but now I'm even more worried. You have to stop blindly following Dumbledore its just going to lead you to your death literally! Stop blaming yourself for my death the only one responsible was Voldemort. Yes, you told him the part of the prophecy you heard but he chose to come after Harry…he could have chose Neville and the Longbottoms but no he chose us. So its his fault not yours now let it go already. Harry is going to need your help against not only Voldemort but also Dumbledore so stop living in the past." She had a stern look on her face.
The memory moved to the right and James Potter came in full view, "Hello Severus…I know we have our differences but seriously stop taking your grudge out on my kid would ya. Harry didn't do anything to you I did, and I'm sorry. I was a jealous ass and took my frustrations out on you. But you were no better and you know it so just bury that hatchet already. You'd be a better professor if you did." James told him.
"Exactly." Lily chimes back in causing Harry's vison to turn back to her, "Sev you're a brilliant potions master so stop being so harsh on your students and teach them properly. In Harry's sixth year he gets a hold of your old potion book and becomes the best in his year following the instructions you wrote down in the book. Teach them properly already."
"Stop being a prat and focus on what you're actually pretty good at." James added, "Well we've kept you long enough get out of Harry's head already, and teach him how to keep others out would ya."
The next thing Severus knows he is thrown out of Harry's mind, and stumbled back a bit. "Satisfied?" Harry asks with a smirk.
"Yes, I think so.." The dark haired man said as he straightened himself, "Your father said to teach you Occlumency but you already seem to have a grasp on it."
"Well you tried to teach me in my last fifth year…we weren't successful. I think the Horcrux in my head made it harder. We should give it another go now that its gone." Severus smirked a bit at Harry's comment.
"Now how bout you explain why you knocked out Mister Weasley." Remus pointed to the unconscious Ron.
"Well like you guys and my dad I had a traitor amongst me and my friends too." He looks to Ron, "According to Fate, Ronald here not only helps Dumbledore dose me with loyalty potions linked to the both of them he also helps his mother and Dumbledore dose me with a love potion linked to his sister Ginny. Then he does the same to Hermione dosing her with a love potion that's linked to him. I think the lot of you will agree that that makes him as vile as the man trying to manipulate my life."
Hermione's mouth fell open, "That's illegal!" she says.
Sirius looked to Ronald glaring, "Well they say owners take after their pets." He snarled as he flipped the phrase.
Remus and Severus were also giving the red head glares, "I assume Mister Weasley will be leaving your company hence for." Severus said.
"Definitely." Harry and Hermione said together.
Up Next: Harry and the gang re-enact the night of Pettigrew's reveal and after he and Hermione use the time turner the two of them sit down and have a quaint talk.