Altering the events of history

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and many of the places mentioned in this story. The plot is the only thing created by me.

Here is the sequel to 'Making the future history'. It took me a while but it's finally here! Hope that everyone enjoys it. Please take the time to review. It would be nice to know that people are still reading. I have big plans for this sequel. J Also, please like me on facebook because it would be great to have Snarry conversations with you all on there. The page is: XXxElectraxXx because facebook wouldn't let me have a name that starts with a lower case letter. Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 1:- The Funeral

It was a bright day; the sky a picture-perfect azure colour and the sun blazing on the greenery of the Hogwarts grounds. It was the set up for a perfect day and still, there was a sombre air that hung among the students and staff at Hogwarts. Today was the memorial of those that had been lost in the war; some of the parents had joined their children for the day, as the loss of their friends had been too great to face alone. Harry was, at the very least, grateful to notice that Rita Skeeter had not returned, after being told by Severus of her intentions. He sat on a seat in the second row, along with the other Order members, and gazed up at the castle that he had once called his home. Only hours ago it had been host to one of the most devastating wizarding battles of all time and Harry couldn't help but notice that the main door still hung slightly to one side after the damage it had taken. He averted his eyes as his attention was stolen by a figure taking a seat in the same row as him. It was Remus looking very exhausted and mournful; Harry thought that he was probably feeling embarrassed that the whole castle had seen him after the transformation, but none of that really mattered now.

The green-eyed man watched as the first coffin, which concealed Professor Sprout, was lowered into the ground and felt the first pang of guilt stab him. Harry moved his line of vision to the floor, paying a lot more attention to the different shades in the grass rather than the other bodies that were being buried. There weren't many of them, as the majority of people were having private funerals arranged by their families, but Dumbledore mentioned all the names. Harry felt tears threaten to spill from his eyes as he listened to the number of people that had died at the hands of the Death Eaters. A familiar hand rested slightly on his thigh before long fingers intertwined with his own; he looked up at his lover's face and saw the battling emotions: sympathy, but also anger that Harry was once again blaming himself. The man took a deep breath and faced his old Headmaster as he began what was sure to be an emotional speech for everyone.

"It saddens me more than anything to have to say goodbye to so many brave and wonderful people all at once. All of the friends that we are here to remember today left us far too early and it is for this reason that I ask you all to strongly consider the paths that lay before you. The people that caused their untimely deaths were once nothing more than any of you: students that would someday have to make a choice about their future. Sadly, they made the wrong choice and as a consequence lives have been lost. Please bear in mind that the easiest and shortest paths can sometimes be the most dangerous and have the most things hidden within them. I hope that every last one of you takes this into consideration and follows a path that is long and winding; one that might exhaust you by the end but one that nonetheless has the best destination," the old man began wisely. Many of the younger students simply looked confused at his metaphorical dialogue, something that Harry himself knew he used to feel at their age when confronted with one of the Headmaster's speeches.

"Although today is a very sad day, I would like you to look at it as the end of a dark time and the means of a new beginning. It is only this that will allow our loved ones to not have died in vain and will provide us all with a better future. Remember those that we have lost as they would want to be remembered and do not let their memories be tarnished by the ways in which they died. Thank you all for being here for the memorial. I think it is best that everyone returns home for a week to be with their families and recover from the events of the war."

With that the old man stepped down and walked away, more than likely to make arrangements for the change in exams. Harry let go of Severus' hand and stood, making his way over to Remus and hoping that his lover would understand. Black eyes followed him over to Remus' seat before looking elsewhere as he sat waiting for their conversation to be over.

"How're you feeling?"

"Exhausted and ashamed."

"Don't be ashamed Remus. We wouldn't have won if it weren't for you."

"Everyone will see me as an animal now."

"You killed Nagini when we had no way of killing her. I would have died if you didn't transform."

"Don't get me wrong Harry, I'm very glad that my transformation helped and between me and you I feel even better that I killed that delusional bitch but no one is ever going to look at me as a man again."

"I don't think that's true Remus. I don't think the old prejudices will be as much of a big deal anymore. Not if last night is anything to go by."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone will have to tell you the details later on but I should have died last night and everyone thought that I had. Everyone was so happy that I was alive that they actually cheered when Severus and I kissed."

"Well that is surprising. I thought you would have to deal with a lot more problems. I suppose I was the only one then." If it was possible, the man looked even more ashamed of himself.

"Because you care about me, not because you were just being prejudiced. I think it's time we forgot about that and any other issues that have come up. We need to move on now and you need to stop letting the fact that you're a werewolf dominate your life. It's a problem one night a month, not every day of the year."

"You're right Harry, I'm being stupid. Who knows what will happen when the new ministry is brought into action. I might even be able to get a job."

"Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what? Funnily enough I didn't really hear about many things when I was running around the forest."

"Kingsley is going to be the new Minister. I don't think you finding a job will be a problem."

Remus smiled at the news and for once was filled with hope that he could live like everyone else and actually earn the money to support his new-born son. He thanked Harry for talking to him and left him to go back to Severus, giving the other man a courteous nod at a distance before heading to his wife's burial at her parents' house. Harry accepted a comforting squeeze of the shoulder from his partner before turning to leave alone with everyone else. To his surprise, Severus accompanied him.

"Are you coming back with me?"

"Well as everyone has been ordered to spend the next week away from the castle, I thought that I might as well join you. This is assuming that I am welcome."

"I like it when you make assumptions." Harry smiled at him and flooed back to Grimmauld Place, followed by the man that would be occupying his house for the next week. He felt happy knowing that they would be living together again, even if it was only for a short amount of time; all those months apart with him pretending to be a Death Eater were almost too much to handle.

"How long do we have?" Severus asked him.

"About an hour or so," Harry answered, feeling the pain settle in as he pictured Tonks' coffin being lowered into the ground like the others he had seen that day at Hogwarts. Severus said nothing, noticing the tone in his voice and knowing how quick he was to blame himself for everything; instead he kissed him on the forehead before leaving the room to get them some toast before the next burial.

Harry took this time to sit down in his living room and think about what he was going to do with Severus for the next week. They were a lot less restricted now that the war was over and there was no one hunting for their blood. He supposed it was going to take him a while to get over the aftermath of the war but he knew that he would have everyone else's support. He didn't really know how to react with the Weasleys now that they had lost Percy though; should he just go over uninvited like he usually would? Or was that maybe a bit too much? He knew he was being stupid: none of them blamed him for anything but that didn't mean that he didn't blame himself. He realised that the main question was whether he could ignore his guilt and face them. They were his family after all.

It was at that moment when things had started to seem slightly more positive that they once again became a hundred times worse, as they always did. An owl pecked at the living room window and Harry opened it, wondering who he would be receiving a letter from this close to the end of the war. It was a letter with a smallish package attached to it and so with confusion on his face, he tore open the envelope to reveal the short note within in.

Harry and Severus,

Firstly, I give my apologies for what you are about to read. I can assure you that it was out of my control. Rita Skeeter was clever enough to publish the latest Daily Prophet edition when there was no Minister for Magic and therefore, no one to stop her. She has published a 'war edition' newspaper, which as I'm sure you can guess is mainly full of complete rubbish. I can guarantee that Skeeter has now lost her job and will not be posting anything else for us. There will be a retraction written about the articles tomorrow but unfortunately people are still likely to read this issue.

My apologies,

Kingsley

Angry already, Harry tore open the package and glared at the 'war edition' of the Prophet and saw his own body being clutched by a distraught Severus, who then proceeded to shout in the photographer's face. He was soon joined by Dumbledore, who looked sterner than Harry had ever seen him before. Preparing himself with a deep breath, he began to read what was bound to be the most ridiculous front page article he had ever seen.

TERRIBLE TRIO

Reporters were stunned in the early hours of this morning to arrive on the scene of the Battle of Hogwarts. Not only were we distraught at the loss of so many lives, particularly those that had only joined Hogwarts this year but also the sight of our hero, Harry Potter, supposedly dead in the arms of his Death Eater lover, Severus Snape. I, along with my team, had gone to the scene to report the death of the most evil wizard since Grindelwald and was shocked to discover such a scandal. It was upon the discovery of Harry Potter's body that we uncovered this frightful news and only hours later did we hear that he had in fact been alive the entire time. Now of course we had always been supporting Harry Potter in his quest to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named but this obsessive need to kill him single-handedly seems now to be his way of becoming the next Dark Wizard.

Severus Snape had been a loyal servant of You-Know-Who since anyone can remember and it is disturbing to consider how his sordid relationship with our supposed saviour began. Perhaps it was an attempt for Harry Potter to get inside information on the side that he was planning to take over and lead with the help of his right-hand man. The rest of us of course, would prefer not to think of what other actions that man has been performing with his right-hand or even his left for that matter! As my mother once used to say, a Dark Wizard never changes his broomstick!

Harry Potter's fake death is rumoured to be in connection with that of Albus Dumbledore, also alive, but last year allegedly killed by none other than Severus Snape himself. I ask you, if Potter and Dumbledore really have been fighting for the light this entire time, then why would they feel the need to lie to us? Death is something that has affected us all in one way or another and these men have purposefully lied about it. The sickening lessons that Albus Dumbledore must be teaching his students at Hogwarts worry us even more. It appears that after years of battling it, Albus Dumbledore has finally cracked.

I, for one, am determined to find out the connection between these three men and the reason for their numerous atrocious lies. Have we been putting our faith in the wrong people all along?

See more:

Harry Potter: The next Dark Wizard p3

20 reasons to not trust Albus Dumbledore p6

Scandals of Severus Snape p10

Death Eater trials to be set p12

List of victims of the battle p15

Harry's eyes burned through the paper in his hand and if he had any less control over his magic, it would be in flames in front of him. How could that disgusting human being write such a horrible article when the main fear of the Wizarding World had come to an end? People were supposed to be celebrating! Not wondering who to be scared of next and what was going to happen to them if Harry decided to take Voldemort's place.

The scene would almost have been comical if it weren't for the situation: Severus walked into the room with a plate full of toast in each hand and as he bit into his first slice, he noticed his partner shaking slightly and glaring angrily at what looked like the Prophet. Being Severus, he would usually have made an inappropriate sarcastic comment about the look on Harry's face but he knew what could be in that article and what could be going through his lover's head. He slowly walked up to the other man and took the paper from his hands, almost scared to read the thing himself, seeing that he'd had horrible articles written about him before so he supposed it couldn't get any worse. He was wrong.

"CAN YOU BELIEVE THE FUCKING CHEEK OF THAT WOMAN?" boomed Harry when he saw that Severus had finished reading. He didn't know how best to respond, as he didn't want to make Harry angrier but he didn't want the man to think that he didn't care.

"After this many years, we finally defeat Voldemort and someone still has to spread shit and make it look bad. HOW THE FUCK IS KILLING A DARK WIZARD BAD? Only she could do this. No other reporter would ever have been able to twist this many things."

He knew it should be the least of his concerns right now after everything that was said in the article but Severus still couldn't help studying the picture on the front page. It wasn't the anger and violence that he was showing that disturbed him but the emotion that he was showing when he thought Harry to be dead. Admittedly, at the time it didn't seem like the worst thing, considering that he thought his Harry was dead but now, looking back on it, he realised that all the people in the Great Hall had seen his true colours and now, the world could see it on the cover of the newspaper. It wasn't a bad thing for people to know that he had feelings he guessed but he had spent this many years pretending to feel nothing and now all that hard work had gone to shambles.

"Severus, are you actually going to say anything or are you just going to stare at it as if it might disappear if you look hard enough?" Harry spat.

"Not everyone in the world feels the need to shout whenever the occasion occurs. I'm just as angry as you are but that doesn't mean that I have to show it so obviously."

"Oh because you weren't showing your emotions obviously here then?" he challenged.

"Don't you dare throw that in my face! I thought you were dead. How exactly did you expect me to react?"

"That is exactly how I expect you to react but maybe you should do it more often! That's what humans do Severus! They express emotion! We're not all fucking robots!" Severus stormed off upstairs, worried about what he might say to Harry if he stayed around him any longer. The hurt rippled through his entire body and he could hardly believe that Harry, the only person that he had ever expressed himself to fully, thought him to be a robot or something that lacked any emotion. All the moments that they had shared should have proved otherwise and although he knew that he still found it difficult after all these years, he had tried his best to open up to his lover and clearly that was all to no avail.

Too angry to even consider going after him, Harry apparated to Ted and Andromeda's house early, knowing that all things taken into account, his argument with Severus was nothing in comparison to what else was happening today. He appeared outside the house with a pop and knocked on the door, waiting to be invited in and looking sombre. The toast that Severus had made for the two of them lay forgotten on the living room table.

"Harry, you're early," Remus said upon answering the door.

"I'm sorry. I hope that's not a problem."

"Of course it isn't. I'm glad you're here," he smiled grimly at him before leading him into the house, where he was met by Tonks' grieving parents. Teddy lay asleep in a nearby Moses basket, snoring gently, too young to realise the cold and horrid atmosphere surrounding all the adults. The time passed unbearably slowly until more people arrived; there were very few people coming to the funeral, as Tonks' family wanted it to be a small and private occasion.

"Harry, I forgot to ask; Ted, Andromeda and I are going to be making speeches in the funeral and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind being in charge of Teddy for us throughout it? If you don't want to then I understand and I'm sure someone else will."

"Remus, of course I will. I'm his Godfather and I should be the one looking after him when you need me to." He smiled reassuringly and gained a slight grin in return before the turquoise-haired sleeping baby was passed to him. Harry looked down at his unconscious Godson and made his way out into the back garden, taking a seat next to Ron and Hermione, who were holding hands, most likely to stop Hermione crying. He stroked Teddy's face as other people began to sit around them, including Severus much to his surprise. He assumed that the man wouldn't be coming after the argument that they had had but he sat himself in the spare seat on the other side of Harry. Neither of them could exchange a single word as the funeral speeches had begun and everyone else was silent. Harry wanted to apologise but he felt that what had happened between the two of them was just as much Severus' fault as it was his and his stubbornness got in the way.

Unlike Hermione, Harry managed to stay strong throughout the majority of the service but found his usual twinge of guilt and slight heartache as Remus took the stand and began his speech.

"I never thought that I would be here and having to do this, especially so soon after my first child was born. Throughout Dora's pregnancy, we both constantly worried about how we would be as parents and whether we would be able to do right by our child. Of course, I always told her that she would be a perfect mother and we all know that would have been the case. This is the worst part about her death: the fact that she never got to prove what an amazing mother she would have been, but I will spend the rest of my life making sure that Teddy knows what a great woman she was and how much she loved him."

Harry lowered his head, watching his tear drops falling onto Teddy's blanket and absorbing themselves into the material. A strong but caring arm wrapped itself around him and he was pulled onto his lover's shoulder, allowing himself to bury his head in the black robes while silently crying. Severus tightened his grip around his lover, trying to protect him from his own thoughts about himself and those that had died. Mrs Weasley took Teddy from him as his sobbing became more uncontrolled and sat back down with him in her arms. Harry used the new freedom to his advantage and snuggled up closer to Severus, who kissed his partner's head in exchange. He didn't let go of Harry until Remus had said his last words and Tonks' coffin was being lowered into the ground before them. Harry forced himself to look up at this part to pay his last respects; guilt and pain swam through the emerald eyes as he saw the last part of the coffin covered with earth.

Nothing was said between Harry and Severus about their argument, as they had both realised that it was nothing in comparison to the pain that some people were experiencing that day. After a few short conversations with his friends, Harry was eager to leave, unwilling to stay in such a depressing atmosphere whilst feeling as if he had caused it himself. He handed Teddy back to Remus, giving his godson a tight squeeze before doing so and made his final apologies to the other man for his loss. He looked around at Tonks' parents sobbing in the back of the garden near where their daughter had been buried and closed his eyes on the scene, apparating back home.

He felt slightly woozy from the apparition, which he supposed was due to the amount of emotions that he was feeling all at once. Severus appeared next to him a second later and Harry was pulled into the tightest hug that he had ever had. He let more tears fall soak into his lover's robes, not holding back this time. Severus simply allowed him his moment of weakness and said nothing, holding onto his waist tightly, as he felt his shoulders become damp from the tears. It took several minutes for Harry to compose himself once more and when he did, he was glad that Severus had chosen not to say anything to him. They definitely didn't need another argument on such a depressing day.

"Harry, the people who were lost in the war will never be forgotten but you can't blame yourself for their deaths. They were all on your side willingly and they knew what they were doing. No one, particularly Nymphadora, would have wanted you to feel like this and they would have wanted you to move on and enjoy life." He really was trying not to take the wrong tone with his partner, knowing that at this particular moment in time, he needed someone that was understanding. Severus had chosen not to act as he usually would and shout at the man for even considering blaming himself. This was the first time that he had ever thought twice before speaking and he supposed being in a relationship, he was now going to have to do it more often. He wasn't entirely sure whether he thought that to be a good or a bad thing.

"I know that. I just can't stop thinking about how things could have been different."

"Yes they could have been different but in an awful way. You nearly died in the final battle and then no one would have had any hope for the future. It would have been dominated by evil and selfishness. Maybe you should be thinking about in what ways things have changed for the better rather than the worse."

"I love you Severus," he replied, burying his head in the taller man's chest once more.

"I know Harry. I love you too."