A/N: After digging up the old drabbles I published yesterday, I suddenly had the urge to write Part 2 of Doppelgangers, in which Dumbledore must deal with the enlightened versions of Harry and Hermione. This was a ton of fun to write and is dedicated to Kiwi on the Harmony discord. Hopefully I've continued my streak.
Dumbledore did his best to process the scene that he had just left at the Ministry. The ten death eaters, huddled up in a corner, scared and confused, had apparently been obliviated to the point that they couldn't remember their own names, let alone the concept of magic. It appeared that Lockhart was about to have several new people to force his autograph on in the Long Term Medical Maladies Ward. Whoever had altered their memories had been very blunt, very thorough, and quite permanent. The students seemed as confused about what had happened as well. They had been engaged in a battle, only to have the battle suddenly and inexplicably end. He did not have the time to perform proper examinations, but it appeared at first glance that the students had their memories slightly modified as well. Most of the students at least.
He peered over his half moon spectacles at the three people in front of him and found himself, inexplicably, at a loss for words. His original intention was to have this conversation only with Harry, but the boy had been resolute in his insistence that Hermione and Sirius be present as well. So it would be that the trio would hear his confession of all the mistakes that had been preying on his conscience. He took a breath and began his speech.
"It is time for me to-"
"It isn't necessary to explain what happened tonight…or about the prophecy," Harry interrupted, causing Sirius' eyes to nearly bulge out of his head.
"Harry, don't you think-"
"It's all right, Sirius," Harry continued. "There was an incident in the time room, and we took a trip to the future. Twenty two-"
"Twenty one actually," Hermione interrupted.
"Right, Sorry. Twenty one years. Anyway, we spent a month with our future selves before coming back. They came back with us along with a few of their friends, that's how we handled the Death Eaters. But from here on out it's up to us."
"If they were foolish enough to delve into the past, then I fear they have doomed themselves to never return to their own future. Any slight miscalculation-"
"They invented something called a dimensional tether. It allowed them a direct path back, but we're getting off topic," Hermione interjected before nodding at Harry to continue.
"They explained everything that happened and provided us with a better plan."
"Better plan?" Sirius muttered in confusion.
"We can end it much sooner and prevent needless deaths, like yours," Harry offered before looking at him once again, "and yours as well, Professor."
Things were going decidedly different than what he had planned. "Time can be very unpredictable, and I fear that what you believe you experienced are merely false memories that have been planted in your consciousness."
Harry grinned. "Old Harry predicted you would say something like that."
He moved to speak again but was stopped by young Hermione.
"They said you were a good person, but you keep too many secrets. And that you lie through obfuscation and omission to get people to do what you want. That you would continue to tell us just enough to go down the path you've decided on."
Harry took over. It was clear that they had been coached on what to say. "We know everything: the Horcruxes, the Hallows, that I was a Horcrux…"
"Hang on," Sirius interrupted. "What are you talking about? And what is a Horcrux?"
"We'll explain all of that later, I promise," Hermione answered, before turning her attention back to him.
"All we need to know is whether you are going to listen and help us with our plan, or are you going to try and stop us?"
He looked at the pair of students as he pondered what they had shared…noticing for the first time that their bodies looked a bit bulkier than normal, suggesting that they were wearing some sort of armor underneath their robes. And they were much less worse for wear than the friends that had accompanied them to the Ministry. Everything seemed to be pointing toward the fact that they were telling the truth.
"If what you say is true, then yes. My only goal is to defeat Voldemort."
Hermione nodded before tapping the binder she was holding. The binder sprung to life and opened to a specific page. Hermione took several seconds to read through the selected page before continuing. "Will you give Harry the Sword of Gryffindor?"
Seeing as he had no real control of where and when the sword chose to reappear, he nodded his agreement. She tapped the binder again, causing it to flip several pages further.
"And the Elder Wand?"
This was too much. "I am not sure what you were told, but to do so would be a risk to-"
"Yes or no," Harry interrupted. Old Harry and Hermione seemed to think it would make things much simpler and eliminate a ton of contingencies if you handed it over immediately, but we have plans for either scenario."
"Either scenario?" Sirius asked.
"Old Harry and Hermione said Professor Dumbledore would help, but might put qualifiers on what he would and would not be willing to do. The sooner we can get that sorted, the sooner we can get to destroying Horcruxes."
"How many has he-"
His question was interrupted once more. "Yes or no. Will you give Harry the Elder Wand now?"
Apparently his days of giving speeches was at an end. They had a binder after all. He nodded tiredly.
"You will have to win it from me for its-"
"Accio Wand," Harry incanted sending the wand flying out of his hands.
"We can work on the enchantments to hide its markings after we get back from Grimmauld and our other stops," Hermione mumbled as she tapped the binder once again, drawing a nod from Harry.
"Why do we need to go there?"
"Patience, Sirius. We're almost there," Harry replied. "So, the sword?"
Ah yes, the mythical sword he'd just agreed to hand over. "May I?" he asked gesturing toward the Elder Wand. "Regrettably, I've left my other wand in my private quarters."
Harry handed him the wand and he did his best not to think about how foreign and off it now felt, quickly tapping the portrait behind him, causing it to instantly swing open, revealing the fabled sword. He handed the wand and sword over, waiting for the pair to continue.
"One final question for now," Hermione continued, "Is there a way to terminate Professor Snape and still allow him to spy for us?"
"That is not a simple yes or no question," he replied. "I must think through the ramifications-"
"How much time will that take? We would like to secure other instruction for Defence if he is to remain at Hogwarts."
"I thought he taught Potions?" Sirius asked.
"He teaches Defence next year," Hermione supplied. "Professor Dumbledore is planning on asking a-", she paused to check the binder," Mr. Slughorn to teach Potions. Incidentally that technically is no longer necessary, as we have seen the memory you were trying to retrieve. But he was an excellent Potions professor and both of our older selves would much prefer him to teach us instead of Professor Snape.
He fought the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. They really were from the future, and had a binder chock full of instructions to end Voldemort. As odd as it was to be the one receiving instructions, the relief he felt at the war ending with far less bloodshed was a wonderful balm for his ego.
"Anyway," Harry interrupted, "how much time will it take for you to decide on a strategy for Professor Snape?"
"Two weeks," he declared, his mind boggling at the onslaught of information he'd been bombarded with over the last few minutes.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "That seems reasonable," Harry said, drawing a nod of agreement from Hermione. "And it may not matter, because if everything goes according to plan, we'll have everything sorted by the end of the summer."
"I must assure you that Severus' loyalties truly do lie with our cause. I cannot divulge how I-"
"We know," the pair interrupted once again.
He suddenly remembered a throwaway comment from before. "You said earlier that Harry was a Horcrux."
Hermione nodded eagerly. "My older self said that her biggest regret in life was Harry having to sacrifice himself. It took her ten years of research but she devised another solution."
"She put in all that effort on the off chance that you would somehow encounter her in the future?" he asked, dumbfounded at the woman's dedication. "She…you…must care for Harry very much."
For the first time since they'd started talking he had rendered the pair speechless, their embarrassment temporarily distracting them from their plan. It appeared that love truly was the power he knew not, just in a slightly different form than he had hypothesized.
"Will someone tell me what a fucking Horcrux is?" Sirius demanded.
His first instinct was to provide an explanation but stopped himself, gesturing toward his two pupils. "We'll explain when get to Grimmauld," Hermione informed as she tapped her binder once again, causing a parchment to fly into her hands. "And we have some do's and don'ts you need to start following when dealing with Kreacher immediately."
Sirius made a face. "What does that wrinkled menace have to do with anything?"
Hermione rolled her eyes as she thrust the parchment into his hands. "Just read this. Kreacher is about to become your biggest fan in a few minutes and you need to take full advantage of it."
"What does that even-" Sirius began asking before stopping myself. "Never mind, you'll explain when we get to Grimmauld."
Three hours later he found himself back in his office, savoring a glass of mead and attempting to absorb how much had transpired. Not only had they destroyed three Horcruxes and laid ruin to a potentially troublesome vanishing cabinet, Harry had united the Deathly Hallows. But despite the late hour, he had promised Miss Granger that he would complete one more task before retiring for the evening.
It was imperative that Severus convince Draco Malfoy to initiate a transfer to Durmstrang immediately. Given the pair's plan to lay ruin to Malfoy Manor and its inhabitants before the beginning of next term, and the binder's quite permanent solution to deal with Draco's return to Hogwarts, it was in the boy's best interest to be as far away from Harry and Hermione as possible. His promise to the pair not to reveal their trip to the future to Severus would make the task more difficult, but it was necessary in order to ensure the Malfoy scion would continue breathing into the fall. The fact that his father had been permanently lobotomized would more than likely serve as a tremendous motivator for his relocation as well.
"Severus," he called after tossing a bit of powder into the fireplace, "I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to speak with me. There has been a slight change in plans…"