Changing the Past by PEMDAS
Chapter Notes: In this chapter, Harry gets his comeuppance at long last...but that's as far as I'm going to describe my longest chapter yet. Enjoy!
“Ron! Hermione!” Harry exclaimed, rushing forward to hug them both. “I’m so glad you...what’s the matter?” Neither friend had returned his hug; they just stared stonily at him.
“We missed you too, Harry,” Hermione said when he pulled away. “It’s just...”
“You screwed things up bad, mate,” Ron said, frowning slightly.
“Screwed things up...? What do you mean?” Harry asked, looking from Ron to Hermione. Everything about their appearances indicated that something bad had happened. “What? Did a few bad things happen in the future I should know about?”
“A few things?” Hermione said quietly, then exploding at him. “A few things?!”
“What she means is,” Ron cut in, “is that you pretty much killed yourself in the future, and doomed the wizarding world to fall into Voldemort’s hands.”
“Killed myself?” Harry said curiously.
“Not literally,” Hermione said, still angry, but trying to calm down. “You, erm...well, we need to show you.”
“I told you; I’m not going back,” Harry said, crossing his arms. “Besides, Lily’s pregnant, I need to live up to my mistake...”
Hermione then exploded at him again. “IF YOU WANT TO LIVE UP TO YOUR MISTAKES, THEN COME SEE WHAT MISTAKES YOU MADE!” she screamed. Madam Pomphrey then cut off their conversation by coming out to the corridor and telling them to shoo, so they talked while walking. Harry had trouble keeping up with Hermione’s furious stride.
“There’s too many things to explain,” Ron said. “We need to show you. If you want, you can come back later, but at least come see what you’ve done.”
“Fine!” Harry spat. “But I’m coming back...maybe to fix things, maybe not. Should I, you know, wipe some memories before we go...?”
Hermione ignored him, but instead pulled Harry’s album from her pocket. Harry reached out to take it, but she slapped his hand away. “You may not want to look at this just yet,” she warned. She then instructed him and Ron to place a hand on the album, to which they obliged. “If we could go back to August 3, 1997, to show Harry what he’s done, it’d be perfect,” she muttered, and the earthquake started, carrying Harry away to the future at last.
A few seconds later, they landed in front of an apartment complex in downtown London, which Harry didn’t recognize. “Where are we?” he asked, looking around. It looked to be about eight or nine at night.
“James and Sirius’ apartment,” Hermione replied quietly, walking towards the building.
“Ha! I knew they’d survive!” Harry said, smiling. But then he realized she’d said “James and Sirius”...not “James and Lily” or just “Sirius”. “What happened?” he asked nervously.
“After the little incident with you and Lily way back when, and when you made her think it was James...and yes, we know about that...James tried to get together with Lily again,” Hermione replied. “Apparently, she didn’t agree, because you wound up married with her.”
“Oh,” Harry said quietly. “But how did you know about...erm...me and Lily?”
“All we’ve been doing these past few days is figure out what stuff changed...research, visiting people’s homes, the works,” Ron replied. “We found tons of stuff, too.”
When they reached the front door, Hermione pressed the buzzer, and said into the speaker, “I’d like to visit James Potter and Sirius Black. Tell them it’s Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger,” she said. The operator of the building unlocked the door after a few seconds, and they entered the lobby.
As they rode the elevator, Ron and Hermione explained some more. “James and Sirius moved in here together after they left Hogwarts,” Hermione said. “Oh, don’t worry...just as roommates,” she added quickly when she saw his horrified face. “They’ve lived here ever since, doing different jobs at the Ministry and basically just sleeping here, doing everything else away from home. They should be here, though; work is long over.”
“How do you know they’ll let three strangers into their apartment?” Harry asked.
“We’ve visited before,” Ron said. “You hadn’t wiped their memories clean of everything that involved us in 1976, so they remembered us.”
Sure enough, when they knocked on the front door, Sirius answered. “Oh...hello, Hermione,” he said tiredly when he saw her. “Hello, Ron. And...who’s this?”
“This is Harry from the past,” Hermione said, and Sirius’ eyes grew wide.
“James, get out here,” he called back into the room. “There’s someone here you should see.”
James then came out of one of the two bedrooms, yawning. “Hey, Ron and Hermione,” he said, and then he saw Harry. He, unlike Sirius, knew Harry’s face well...the face of the man that had robbed him of his future wife. “You!” he snarled, then charged straight for Harry maniacally. Harry instinctively drew his wand and cast a Shield Charm about himself, which knocked James back. Sirius jumped forward and grabbed James’ arms, holding him back.
“If I had my wand, Harry...” James growled menacingly.
“But you don’t,” Sirius warned. “I’m sure Harry’s here for a reason, and we should at least let him talk.”
James glared at Harry for a few seconds, then yanked his arms from Sirius’ grasp. He furiously walked into the kitchen, pouring himself a drink, and then walking back into the entryway. “Talk,” he said angrily to Harry, taking a swig of his drink.
Harry cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sorry about what happened,” he said. “Ron and Hermione came and got me right after Lily’s pregnancy test in 1977, so I haven’t married her yet. I don’t know all the details, and I don’t think Ron and Hermione do, either...so can you tell me?”
James nodded. “Worse year of my life, seventh year,” he sighed, taking another swig. “Lily pregnant with my kid, and everyone knew it was me, too...I don’t know who snitched. Maybe you, or maybe even Lily...Remus and Sirius wouldn’t. Anyway, after the baby was born right around Christmas, I tried to talk Lily into marrying me, saying it was the right thing to do, but she wouldn’t listen. She hung around you all the time, once saying you were her “best friend”, and then you two went off and eloped after graduation. I haven’t seen Lily since. Not that I want to.”
“Where is she now?” he asked.
“We’ll show you later,” Hermione cut in. “I think that’s all we needed to know. Thanks James.”
“Just know that I’m going to try to fix things, so you and Lily wind up married again,” Harry told James. “Oh, and just so you know, that kid wasn’t yours. It was mine. I had to wipe your memory, so you thought it was you that slept with Lily that night.”
James stared blankly at him for a minute. “That does it,” he said furiously. “OUT!”
Harry, Ron and Hermione were then shooed out of the apartment by an irritated James, while Sirius looked on. When they had reached the street again, Harry rounded on his friends.
“What was the point of that?” he asked angrily. “He kicked us out! Are you mental?”
“We needed to show you,” Hermione explained. “Grab my arm; we’re going to Apparate to Lily’s house.”
Normally, Harry would protest, since he was of-age and knew how to Apparate, but he grabbed Hermione’s arm, not wanting to argue with her. She spun around, taking herself and Harry away, while Ron followed on his own.
They reappeared outside of a small cottage on the outskirts of a small town Harry didn’t know. “This is Lily’s house,” Hermione explained, then put emphasis on the last part. “Lily Lupin.”
Harry blanched. “She married Remus?” he asked incredulously. “Why? I thought she married me!”
“Erm, she did,” Ron said, “but it’s really, really complicated. We’ll explain inside.”
Hermione nodded agreement, and rang the doorbell. The door was answered by a girl that looked to be about their age. “Who are you?” she asked curiously.
“We’re friends of your mum’s,” Hermione answered. “May we talk to her?”
“Yeah, just a sec,” the girl said. “MOM! SOME PEOPLE ARE HERE TO SEE YOU!” she yelled into the house. A minute later, an adult Lily walked into the entryway.
“Oh, Ron, Hermione, how are you?” she asked, smiling. Apparently, Ron and Hermione had spoken to her, as well. Then she saw Harry. She, like James, seemed to recognize him, for she started sobbing and ran forward to hug him.
“I haven’t seen you in years!” she sobbed. “At any age! What is going on?”
“We went back to the past to get him,” Ron explained. “We brought him here to show him all he’s done.”
“Well, I can’t believe this at all,” Lily said, wiping her eyes. “Last I saw you, you had just fallen asleep...”
“What happened?” Harry demanded. “Where was I? Did I die, or what?”
“You disappeared,” Lily said. “On Halloween, almost eighteen years ago. I have no idea why, and no one knew where you were, and...oh, I was so afraid!”
“I think I know why,” Hermione cut in. “It’s complicated, though. See, you were born on July 31, 1980...”
“No, really?” Harry said sarcastically. Hermione glared at him, and he fell silent again.
“As I was saying,” she went on, “that means you were conceived on about Halloween in 1979.”
“Which makes sense, actually,” Ron cut in, amused. “Halloween, just back from a party, one too many drinks...”
“Ron, now’s not the time!” Hermione said, blushing. Lily was still pondering Hermione’s statement.
“Halloween 1979...that’s the day he disappeared!” Lily cut in, surprised. “So you’re saying...?”
“Yes,” Hermione said, nodding. “Exactly. Harry disappeared because, if he wasn’t conceived by you and James, he wouldn’t exist anymore, and he’d just...disappear. Just like that.”
“So you’re saying,” Harry said slowly, “if I don’t fix the past...I’ll disappear forever?”
“Yeah,” Ron said, nodding. “That’s why we went back...to warn you...just as soon as we’d figured it out.”
“Where’s Remus?” Hermione asked just then, looking around the house for him.
“It’s full moon,” Lily said shortly, and no one pressed the matter any further.
“So, that’s all,” Hermione said, nodding to Lily. “Thanks for letting us into the house, Lily.”
“Not at all,” Lily said. “Just to see you again, Harry, has been...” But she became to choked up to continue, so they just bade her farewell and left the house.
“Was that girl my kid?” Harry asked as soon as the door shut behind them.
“Yeah,” Hermione replied, “but not your first-born. She was actually conceived, as I understand it, right before you disappeared...your second-born. Your first-born is off living by himself now. He’ll be twenty in December.”
“Oh,” Harry said. “Where to next?” He almost didn’t want to know what he’d find at their next location, but he felt he needed to know. Without bothering to respond, Hermione grabbed his arm without warning and turned on the spot, Apparating away.
They reappeared in a place that Harry at least recognized: Hogsmeade. “Oh, Hogsmeade!” he exclaimed, looking around. Wait...something wasn’t quite right. “What happened to it?”
The place was a mess. The shops were all empty, and a thick layer of dust covered the entire place. It looked as though no one had been there for years. “It’ll be obvious once we show you the castle,” Ron said, frowning at the sight of the dilapidated road. They walked down the street a ways, then turned the corner, and Hogwarts castle opened up before him, far up on a hilltop. Harry gasped.
The castle had undergone massive renovations. The most obvious was a huge Dark Mark branded into the side, permanently ablaze for all to see for miles around (except Muggles, of course). In the very center of the castle, a massive column shot upwards, leading to a tower with a single room atop it. A light was on in the window...the only one in the castle. Harry was at a loss for words, so Hermione began explaining.
“This took the longest to figure out,” she said. “It took Ron and me a full day to get the full history. First of all, when you killed Snape, there was no one on Voldemort’s side to hear the prophecy and tell him about it. So Voldemort never tried to go after you...or rather, Neville, since you didn’t exist anymore...and he didn’t lose his power. He...well, he killed Dumbledore, Harry.”
“What?!” Harry exclaimed. “Why? How?”
“Dumbledore still got the prophecy from Trelawney, and since you weren’t around anymore, Neville was the only boy that fit the prophecy. He died protecting Neville when he tried to stop Voldemort from getting the Sorcerer’s Stone in his first year.”
“Whoa, whoa, back up there,” Harry said, now really confused. “First of all, why did he go after the Stone if he had Horcruxes? And since when was Neville brave enough to do something like that?”
“You put Bellatrix in jail,” Ron reminded Harry. “His parents never got tortured, so he grew up with them, not his Gran. He picked up some things from them, I suppose; they were Aurors, you know.”
“As for the Stone,” Hermione said, “Voldemort hadn’t created all of his Horcruxes yet. He was only at two, as far as we can tell, because you saved some of the people he’d killed to make his later ones. I think those were the diary and the ring. Anyway, when he heard that the Sorcerer’s Stone was at Hogwarts, he raided the school, and Neville nearly died protecting it. Dumbledore showed up and sacrificed himself to save Neville. Thank goodness Voldemort didn’t know about the prophecy, because if he did, he would’ve killed Neville right after Dumbledore fell.”
“You mean he didn’t?” Harry asked, incredulous. “That’s not like Voldemort, showing mercy.”
“Sure it was!” Hermione said. “He gave your mum the chance to live, didn’t he, that night she died? He also gave Neville the choice to step aside and give him the Stone, and when he refused, he was almost killed, until Dumbledore showed up.”
“He probably let him live to get a little revenge, I think,” Ron cut in. “You know, like, ‘I’ll let you stick around and show you how much you ruined the wizarding world by refusing me’...that sort of thing.”
“After he got the Stone, Voldemort took over the school and the Ministry,” Hermione went on. “He made it law that any wizard or witch born in Great Britain must go to Hogwarts...that way, no parents could transfer their kid to another school if they didn’t want Voldemort teaching them.”
“But can you imagine going to school there?” Ron said, giving a long exhale as he looked up to the school. “Voldemort as Headmaster, and learning the Dark Arts?”
“Voldemort’s here?” Harry asked, then understood; this new massive tower was Voldemort’s “office”; his headquarters. “But why isn’t my scar hurting?” Harry asked. His forehead hadn’t prickled in the presence of Voldemort.
Hermione and Ron exchanged looks. “We noticed a long time ago, Harry,” Hermione said, drawing her wand. She conjured a handheld mirror. “We didn’t want to tell you, because...well, you were too wrapped up in the past to pay attention to us much.” She handed the mirror to Harry, who took it and stared into it. His eyes widened when he saw his reflection.
His scar was gone.
Author’s Note: The end! Yes, that’s it, the end of the story...you can review now. I’m serious. Okay, don’t scream at me just yet...there’s more. I am now officially announcing my biggest secret about this fic: it will have a sequel. It will be called Changing the Future, and as you read this, it may already be in the queue.
So thank you so much for reading, and please review below! I hope to see you at the sequel!