Arresto Tempus
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Summary: What if Harry had a special power no one knew about, before Voldemort attacked the Potters? Completely AU! Partly OOC


Lily Potter stared in shock at the scene in front of her. A moment ago, Voldemort had pointed his wand at her casting the deadly curse. All of a sudden, however, the wand was pointing at the evil wizard, who was struck and succumbed to the curse, just before his body vanished into thin air. Looking at Harry, who had been wailing at the railing of his cot, she was horrified to see that he was now lying in his cot, completely silent and seemingly unconscious.

'Is he dead?' she wondered in shock, as she pulled her baby out of his cot, only to sink to the floor in utter relief shen she realised that her son was breathing. 'Why is he unconscious, and why did Voldemort kill himself instead of me? None of this makes any sense,' she thought in confusion.

When she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, she drew her wand, wondering if James had survived as well. However, it was not her late husband but her best friend.

"Severus," she breathed, feeling completely relieved to see him.

"Lily! Thank Merlin you're alive. Is Harry all right?" He stared at the limp baby in her arms.

"He's unconscious. I don't know what happened."

"Do you want me to watch the memory?" he offered.

"Yes please," she agreed. "Maybe, you can make sense of it." Emerald eyes locked with onyx orbs. Severus was a master of Legilimency. It did not even hurt, and a moment later, the earlier scene played in her mind.

"Something is missing here. The Dark Lord's wand changed its direction, but how?" He remained pensive for a moment, only to add, "I believe that Harry must have done something."

"Can you check his memory?" Lily suggested.

"Yes, but it's going to be difficult. Before we do anything, let me check on him." Seeing her nod, he waved his wand at the baby and cast a series of diagnostic spells. "He's completely drained his magic. Otherwise, he's fine."

"Will he be all right?" Lily gently caressed the baby's cheeks.

"He will." Severus nodded, reassuringly. "He's only asleep and will probably sleep till the morning. When he wakes up, he'll be right as rain."

Just then, they heard footsteps coming upstairs and readied their wands to point them at the intruder, only to let lower them, when they realised that the visitor was none other than Sirius Black.

"Lily and Harry, thank Merlin, you're alive. Snivellus, what are you doing here? Happy that your master killed James?" he then hissed.

"Sirius!" Lily glared at her late husband's best friend. "Behave yourself!"

"Black, the Dark Lord is not my master," Severus replied, emotionlessly, "and it was not me who betrayed Lily and James."

"It was Peter," Sirius all but growled. "I'm going to kill him."

"Sirius!" Lily rolled her eyes at the Marauder. "Harry needs his godfather here and not in Azkaban. The Aurors will take care of Peter. Please go and tell Remus, Dumbledore and especially the Aurors what has happened."

"Where are you going to go with Harry? You can't stay here. The house is going to collapse." Sirius waved his hand in the direction of the stairs.

"Lily, you can come to Hogwarts with me and stay in my guest rooms. I believe that might be the safest place for both of you right now. Who knows what the Death Eaters might do to you now that you or Harry have defeated the Dark Lord."

Lily cast Severus a grateful look. "If you're sure that you don't mind, I'll gladly accept the invitation."

"I'll take James to St. Mungo's and inform the Aurors and Dumbledore." With that, Sirius apparated away, leaving Lily to realise that not only had the Anti Apparition wards collapsed but most likely the Fidelius charm as well.

Pressing the baby into Severus' arms, Lily waved her wand around the nursery and adjoining bedroom to pack their most essential belongings into a box, which she shrank and slipped into the back pocket of her jeans.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Apparition border of Hogwarts and walked up to the castle with Baby Harry fast asleep in Severus' arms. "It's all right to cry," he said in his soft, silky voice, which as usual caused Lily to succumb to her emotions. Crying at the loss of her husband, she slowly walked beside her best friend, knowing that she and her baby were in good hands.

HP

As they crossed the entrance hall, the sounds coming from the Great Hall told them that the Halloween feast was still in progress. Relieved to find the halls were empty, they swiftly made their way to the dungeons and entered Severus' private quarters.

"This is Lily and Harry, and they'll be staying with me from now on," Severus introduced them to the painting of Salazar Slytherin, which was guarding the entrance to his private rooms.

Once inside his quarters, Severus called Cicero and introduced him to Lily as his personal house-elf.

"I didn't know you had a house-elf." Lily smiled at the creature in surprise.

"Cicero is very adept at Potions, and he often helps me in the lab," Severus explained, before he informed Cicero that Lily had been his classmate and best friend at Hogwarts and was a Potions Mistress just like him.

"I am very happy to have you here, Mistress Lily. Would you like something to drink or a snack?"

Severus nodded. "Please bring us a bottle of white wine and some snacks. Thank you."

Once the requested items appeared on the table, Severus thanked the elf and asked him to gather some other elves and add a nursery to his rooms for Harry. "And please make a connecting door to the guest room, where Lily will be staying."

While the elves worked silently and invisibly on the nursery, Severus laid Harry down on the sofa and gently covered him with a woollen blanket, before he and Lily drank a glass of wine and nibbled on some pumpkin crisps.

"Sorry for crying," Lily apologised, unable to hold back her tears.

"Lily, you have nothing to be sorry about. You were attacked tonight, and your husband was killed. You and Harry barely escaped with your lives. This must all be a great shock to you."

Lily nodded. "I'd never have suspected Peter of betraying us. Shy and quiet Peter. I still can't believe it."

"Was he your Secret Keeper?"

"Yes." Lily sighed, deeply.

"I shall send a Patronus to the headmaster and ask him to come here, as soon as he's able to leave the Halloween feast," Severus announced, and Lily watched, as he sent off his doe Patronus.

'It's still a doe, just like mine,' she thought, somehow feeling very much reassured that her best friend's Patronus had not changed in the years since she had chosen James over him.

HP

Just a few minutes later, the fireplace flared, and Albus Dumbledore emerged, followed closely by Minerva McGonagall.

"Lily!"

"Minerva," Lily replied, sobbing into her old mentor's robes.

"Severus, what happened? Is little Harry all right?"

Severus nodded. "Yes, he is only sleeping. However, he seems to have completely depleted his magic, whatever he did to save his mother's life and defeat the Dark Lord."

The headmaster thought for a moment before demanding, "Severus, please wake Harry up and let him show you the memory. It is important that we know what has happened and if Voldemort is truly dead."

"Lily, would you mind if I woke Harry and tried to find out what happened?"

Lily glared at the headmaster but nodded, knowing that Severus would not harm her baby. She carefully pulled Harry onto her lap before motioning for her friend to continue.

"Enervate."

Harry slowly opened his eyes and immediately began to cry.

"It's all right, Harry," Lily whispered, gently cradling the child against her chest.

"Harry, does your head hurt?" Severus asked in a soft voice.

Harry nodded, slowly, his lower lip beginning to quiver dangerously.

"Here, can you drink a potion for me?" Severus summoned a small phial and a teaspoon and measured out exactly one teaspoon of a pale yellow liquid and held it to the baby's mouth.

"Lick the spoon, that'll make you feel better," Lily instructed him, relieved that Harry complied without making a fuss.

"That was very well done," Severus praised the child, before he asked him to look at him. Once Harry complied, he carefully entered the baby's mind to see what had happened in Godric's Hollow earlier that evening.

Flashback – Harry's POV

Harry stood in his cot in utter horror, instinctively aware that the bad man was attacking his mummy. He saw a green curse leave the man's wand and move towards his mummy. Unaware of what he was doing, he raised both hands in the air, and everything stopped in mid-action. He wished the wand to point at the evil wizard instead of his mummy and was relieved to see it do so, before the world around him turned black.

End of flashback

Once Severus pulled out of Harry's mind, he asked again if his head was hurting, but Harry just shook his head and nestled deeper into his mother's arms, his eyes closing as he drifted back to sleep.

"This is… incredible." Severus shook his head in obvious disbelief. "Albus, would you get your Pensieve, please?"

While the headmaster fetched his Pensieve, Lily went to the nursery and put Harry into his cot, which the house-elves had already provided with his teddy bear from the box that Lily had brought with her. To her relief, Harry did not make a fuss as he often did, when she put him to bed; he just continued to sleep. Lily cast a spell on him that would alert her if he woke up or was in any kind of distress, then returned to the living room and joined Albus and Minerva in the Pensieve.

"He stopped time and turned Voldemort's wand around with accidental magic," the old wizard said in obvious disbelief, as they left the Pensieve. "That was extremely well done."

Severus shook his head. "I don't think it was accidental magic. Harry is capable of wish magic in addition to being a time mage. He is extremely powerful."

The headmaster nodded, his expression grave. "Lily, I believe that Severus is right and it would be the best for both of you to stay in the safety of Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Albus. I really appreciate it," Lily replied with a smile.

A few minutes later, the two professors left and Lily said good night to Severus. She got ready for bed before taking Harry out of his cot and putting him in her bed. 'I need you here with me, my lifesaver. I can't sleep here alone tonight,' she whispered to him before kissing him and holding him close.

tbc...?