*All characters and places go to J.K. Rowling. Only the plot is mine even though this has been done a million times.
Chapter 1
It was a hot summer day in July of 1996. Other people this time of summer would be on holiday or would be hanging out with friends. Neither was true for Mr. Harry Potter, he was in fact, laying down in his bed, arms and legs stretched out, staring at the ceiling. His window was open which let in a nice breeze, he opened his window earlier when he let Hedwig out of her cage to go deliver a message to Ron for the fourteenth time reassuring him that he was okay. Ron wrote him a letter asking him how he was doing after Sirius' death. Hermione had also sent him a bunch of letters also asking him how he was doing in which he reassured her that he was fine.
He was, in fact, not fine; everybody lately has been sending him letters asking him the same question. Everybody from Hagrid to Tonks, but by far the award for sending him the most letters were Ron and Hermione (Next to being Remus). And Harry told them all the same thing, he was fine, after Sirius' death, Harry couldn't help but blame himself for his death. Harry rarely left his room and hasn't even left number four, Privet Drive, since he returned from Hogwarts. Of course, he hasn't told Ron or Hermione any of this because they would be even more worried than they already were. All the letters Harry received were under Hedwig's cage to keep them from flying away. He pulled out the last letter Harry received from Remus from under the cage and began reading the letter again.
Dear Harry,
How are you? I know that you probably have a gotten a lot of letters similar to mine from Ron and Hermione but I wanted to ask you personally. I've asked Ron and Hermione and they say that you say that you're doing fine which I don't believe and I think neither do Ron or Hermione. I know that you're probably blaming yourself for Sirius' death but it isn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself, you know Sirius wouldn't want that. He would want you to live a nice and happy life. Sirius loved you a lot and would be disappointed in you if you spent the rest of you life sulking and getting killed because of that, Sirius would have died for nothing. You know, James used to do the same thing when he was your age. He would think that everything is his fault and blame himself, he would sulk around and would be angry. Eventually, he would explode on someone eventually like me or Sirius. I don't want you to explode on either your Aunt or Uncle as horrible as they are you need to stay there, please. I heard Ron invited you to stay over, are you? You should, it would be nice to see you. I went to Grimmauld Place and found some of Sirius' stuff, found the mirror him and James had. So if you want to talk know that I have the other. And I hope to see you soon.
Stay sharp, constant vigilance as Moody would say,
Remus J. Lupin
P.S. I found some pictures from my old Hogwarts stuff thought you would like them.
In the letter Remus put in several non-moving pictures, one was with the Marauders, arms wrapped around each other, in what looked to be in front of the Black Lake. One in the halls with Lily kissing Remus on the cheek and Remus, who was holding the camera, was slightly blushing. Another one was with James, who was in a wig, and Sirius in dresses in what seemed like the Common Room. Harry turned the picture over to find Remus' writing, in which said, 4th Year, James and Sirius trying to sneak into the Girls Dormitory. Harry laughed aloud and turned the picture over to look at his father and godfather in dresses. In the picture, you could distinctly see the bright red lipstick on Sirius' face and could see James twirling his blonde wig hair. Another one was with Remus and a girl Harry didn't know. She had brown hair and big brown eyes and had a Ravenclaw tie, they were both smiling at the camera. In the background, you could see James, Sirius, and Peter running towards them grinning and a bit of terror in their eyes. You could also see a shadow of the one and only Filch. Harry turned the photo over and read, 6th year, current girlfriend, Ana Connelly, Sirius, James and Peter running away from Filch after exploding several toilets.
Harry smiled at the picture and looked at the next photo, it was in the Great Hall, James down on one knee with red roses in his hand while Lily's face was red and looked furiously down at him. The last picture Remus sent Harry was a picture of his parents' wedding. Lily was wearing a lovely white dress with her hair in an elegant bun. On Lily's side stood a blonde-haired woman with a blue dress that Harry recognized as a lady named Marlene McKinnon and a brunette haired lady with big blue eyes that Harry recognized as Alice Longbottom. On James' side stood Sirius with a bottle of firewhiskey in hand and next to him is Remus and then Peter. They all looked so happy in the picture, Harry smiled sadly as he knew all their the fates.
Then, Harry decided that he wanted to go out. He put on a jacket because the sun was setting and it would be rather cold. He grabbed his wand and the letter from Remus off the desk and stuffed it into his pockets. Then, he thought of the mirror Sirius had given him and decided that he wanted to see it. Harry began digging through his trunk to find the small mirror. He held it in his hands, turning it over to read the message Sirius wrote. He put the small mirror in his pocket and walked down the stairs. Harry heard the talking which came from the kitchen and knew it was some important people from Uncle Vernon's work. He could just hear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia just buttering them up.
"Oh, Mrs. Gerard, what a lovely necklace, you have? And why your hair looks fantastic!" Harry heard Aunt Petunia say in a fake sweet voice.
He opened the door quietly and snuck out. Harry doubted that aunt and uncle would notice that he was gone with the company they had downstairs. He walked towards the nearby park, the park was as empty as ever. Harry sank into the only swing that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break and was swinging slowly. The crickets were chirping loudly and the moon glowed high above him. He was using his feet to rock himself, all the while he was thinking about the past few years. He was about done losing people and who knows how many more people he could lose. Harry didn't think he could possibly take it if another person close to him died. His parents who had died to save him, Cedric who chose to stick by him and ends up getting himself killed and then Sirius. Oh, Sirius… that was like getting stabbed in the heart. Harry was angry with himself and how foolish he was to go and try to save him. He should have known better, he should have listened to Hermione.
He was rocking himself back and forth slowly, tears slowly streaming down his face. He began listening to his surroundings and then he suddenly got up, wand in hand. The chirping had stopped and all was quiet except for Harry's ragged breathing. He looked out into the tall grass searching for someone or something for the cause. Then, he thought to himself that he was just being paranoid, after everything he's gone through be wouldn't put it past himself. He turned away from the tall grass and was making his way towards the exit of the park when all of a sudden he was pushed to the ground. Harry fell face first and immediately pushed himself back onto his hands and knees. He grabbed his wand from the ground, in which he had dropped when he fell. He was going to say "Stupefy!" but all of a sudden his forehead seared with excruciating pain. He clapped a hand on his scar, his vision blurring. He looked up and saw a large group of Death Eaters in a circle around yelling this chant. Harry couldn't understand what they were saying because it seemed like it was in Latin. He couldn't say or barely could do anything he was on his knees hunched over because of the pain.
Then it stopped, the pain stopped. Harry got up, almost stumbling over, he had his wand in hand and immediately recognized where he was, in the dungeons at Hogwarts. Why was Harry at Hogwarts? Did the Death Eaters teleport him here and decided they want to play a fun match of Hide-and-Seek? Harry looked down at his hand and it was all over in blood. He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and removed it and saw blood. He groaned, Harry was so drained, he just wanted to take a nice long nap but knew he couldn't. Death Eaters could be around the corner and he had to be wary of them, even though if a Death Eater did find him, he didn't think he could fight. Harry's first step of action was to go see Dumbledore, surely he was here and would know what to do. He began hobbling his way to Dumbledore's office, holding onto the wall for support.
He began nearing the Great Hall and could hear tons of voices and possibly laughter. Harry was so confused, why are there tons of voices, that sound like children? Yeah, those were definitely children voices, then he just stumbled into the Great Hall. Everybody was eating and at first, nobody saw Harry stumble in. He looked up at the long table where all the professors where sitting and saw a tall and thin man, with long silver hair and beard but not as long as when Harry had last saw him. He was so relieved to see Dumbledore, he didn't have time to focus on everybody else. He just hobbled his way down the tables towards Dumbledore, surely he would know what was happening to him. Then, Harry heard a scream and turned around to see a Ravenclaw girl opened mouth pointing at him. Others turned to see what the Ravenclaw was screaming about and shortly after saw Harry.
"Hey James, what happened to you?" a Hufflepuff boy asked. Harry turned toward him confused, why did he just call him his father's name? The Hufflepuff looked his age but he didn't recognize him.
In fact, he didn't recognize like any of them. Until he looked over at the Gryffindor table. He saw basically a mirror image of himself, they both were about the same height, had messy black hair and the only difference was his copy had hazel eyes. Harry immediately recognized him as his father. He was in disbelief, his mouth was open as he stared at his father. Next to him was a guy who had also had messy black hair but it was longer, a bit grown out but he had lively grey eyes, Sirius, Harry just wanted to hug him and say he knew he wasn't dead. Across the table from them, he saw Remus and Peter. He turned away from them, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Did he travel back in time? Did the Death Eaters send him back? He didn't understand why they would do that but honestly, at that moment, he didn't really care. Harry looked up at the long table, all the professors were looking at him, he was also sure that everybody was looking at him now.
He didn't know quite what to do, he asked, "Professor Dumbledore, can I speak with you?Privately?" he added.
When nothing happened and everybody was staring at him suspiciously. Harry thought of what he would think in this situation. Some unknown stranger walking into Hogwarts bloody and dirty in which he could very well be a Death Eater in disguise for all they knew. So, he placed his wand nicely on the ground in front of him and put his hands up, showing that he was surrendering himself. With a quick flick of her wand, Professor McGonagall had caught Harry's wand in her hand. Dumbledore whispered something to McGonagall she nodded and rose from her seat making her way toward Harry. She immobilized Harry and lifted him up with her wand which Harry was grateful because he didn't think he could make it to Dumbledore's office walking.
"Cauldron Cakes," said McGonagall to the gargoyle. The wall opened up and a moving staircase was revealed.
Once they arrived in Dumbledore's office, McGonagall placed Harry down on a chair and mobilized him once again. She stood opposite him staring at him fiercely which Harry felt like he was going to melt with her intense stare. He did all he could to not look into her eyes and instead looked around the familiar room. The circular office looked just as it always did; the delicate silver instruments stood on small tables, puffing smoke and whirring. Portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses were in their frames also looking down at him curiously. Dumbledore's magnificent phoenix, Fawkes, seemed to be the only thing missing currently but there was still his perch behind the door.
Five minutes passed in silence in which Harry just observed the room he was in, mentally comparing and contrasting things he had seen in his lifetime and in this current one. Then, the door opened revealing Dumbledore; he walked to his desk and sat in the chair across from Harry.
"Nice to see you again, Professor," said Harry, as he nodded to show his greeting. Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes looked at him, examining him.
"You've met me before? I'm sorry to say, dear boy, but I don't quite remember you. What's your name?" asked Dumbledore.
"Uh…" Harry didn't know if he could answer the question, he didn't want to mess anything up. So, he decided to avoid the question and ask one of his own. "Professor, do you believe in time travel?"
Dumbledore's was looking at him curiously, then took a few moments to respond. "Yes, I believe in time travel. Although there are few records of it, I believe it can be done. Why do you ask?"
Harry bit his bottom lip, thinking of what to say. Thinking whether he could trust Dumbledore. Then thought to himself, if he couldn't trust Dumbledore who can he trust? He thought of his next words carefully and then said, "What if I were to say that I might've gone back in time?" Dumbledore rose an eyebrow at him while McGonagall eyes and her mouth was wide open.
"I would ask, how could you have accomplished that when the last record of time travel was 800 years ago," said Dumbledore, barely showing any signs of surprise.
"I don't know, sir," Harry replied, looking to him for help.
"So is that what you're implying? That you're a time traveler and you went back in time?" asked Dumbledore, raising in eyebrow and looking to him to confirm.
Harry nodded, "Now I need help getting back and I was hoping you would help me, sir,"
"How did you get here, dear boy? And what you mean you don't know?" questioned Dumbledore.
"I was ambushed by Death Eaters and they were saying some sort of chant. My head was throbbing then all of a sudden I show up here, at Hogwarts,"
Dumbledore was quiet for a moment looking down at his hands in deep concentration. He looked up and asked, "What's your name?"
"Er… I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you. You know, like it might mess up the future and all..."
"No it's all right, we will take precautionary measures to make sure nothing will happen," said Dumbledore firmly.
Harry was still hesitant, then said, "Harry Potter. My name is Harry Potter." Dumbledore's expression stayed the same while McGonagall opened again, she closed it when she realized this and then raised an eyebrow.
"Are you in some way connected to James Potter? His son perhaps?" questioned McGonagall.
"Yeah, James Potter is my dad. Lily Evans is my mum," They both seemed to process this information because they went quiet. "Are they together yet?" Harry decided to ask.
"No, they're still bickering like an old married couple," McGonagall replied, Harry, smiled. "But I bet you're parents are worried. Where they with you when the attack happened?"
Harry looked at his feet, "I like to think to so," he muttered.
"What was that?" McGonagall asked.
"They're…" Harry couldn't seem to say the words allowed. There seemed to be a lump in his throat that prevented them from muttering those words. "They're no longer with us in my time, not anymore," McGonagall seemed to comprehend immediately and gave him a sad smile. He felt there eyes burning into him as he looked at his feet.
"Well Mr. Potter, I do have an idea on how to get you back to your time but I need to research some more. So it looks like Mr. Potter that you're going to stay here for a bit. Which house would you like to be put into?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry looked up at Dumbledore and looked him in the eyes, "Gryffindor," he replied.
"Ah, so you're a Gryffindor?" McGonagall asked.
"I'm a Gryffindor through and through. Like my parents," said Harry, smiling. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall smiled at him.
"What year, are you?" Dumbledore asked.
"Going into my sixth year," he replied.
"Just like your parents, this is their sixth year too,"
"I have a question, Professor. Why did you believe me so easily? I could easily be a Death Eater in disguise. So why do you believe I'm James and Lily Potter's son?" said Harry, not able to comprehend how they trusted him so easily.
Dumbledore just stared at him in silence with a small smile on his lips, "Well Harry, apart from the fact that you look really similar to James and the only thing really different is your eyes. You-"
"I have my mother's eyes, I know." Harry cut him off, which was sort of rude of him to do so but Dumbledore just smiled.
"Yes, you do have you mother's brilliant green eyes and you could just morph yourself to be a combination of the both but it's more of the personality that just seems so spot on to be anybody else. I know, I just met you today and I should hardly judge you base on our first encounter but that's what I'm doing. The dramatic entrance you made in the Great Hall today was something I could imagine James or Sirius doing. Then, the way you back down would be something Lily would do. James and Sirius are too upfront about things they wouldn't back down which is something admirable about them but could very easily get them killed-" Harry looked down at his feet again, and began hitting his foot against the table. "-Just from this encounter I see that you got James' boldness and Lily's sensible or would you say practical side. Like for instance, right now you're hitting your foot against the table which is something James does all the time. Right, Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore looked to her, she nodded with a small smile. "Or I could very well be wrong and you could be a highly trained Death Eater, who you study both Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans' habits. But otherwise, I'm pretty confident about who you say you are. Minerva would you please take Mr. Potter here to Madam Pomfrey please,"
Professor McGonagall had lifted Harry up with her wand to the Hospital Wing in which he encountered a very young-looking Madam Pomfrey. While Madam Pomfrey treated him to his wounds, Harry thought about everything Dumbledore had said. He was still thinking about when Madam Pomfrey told him to take a Sleeping Potion. Harry smiled as he thought of everything Dumbledore had said and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Hi! So this is my first chapter of this story and I hope you like it! I know this first chapter is slow but I promise the next chapter will be better! I am not the best of writers and would be more than welcome if you would give me a few pointers and stuff I could work on. I am an American writer so I don't know all the British vocabulary so sorry about that but I will try my best. Please Review if you would like to see this story continue! :)