How to save oneself updated betaed and revised.
Disclaimer: I own nothing everything Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
AN: A big thank you to my wonderful betas Jen and Dennis. You have been a big help with reworking the story.
How to save oneself.
It was a year after the final battle and life was finally settling back to normal. Those who had survived were slowly coming out of grieving for the loss of friends and family.
Harry, the boy who lived, and the savior of the wizarding world was one of them. He had lost so many people and it was a miracle that he had come out of it alive. One year ago Voldemort had died, along with most of his followers in a bloody battle, but they had not gone alone. They had taken Professor Lupin, Ginny, Neville and Luna down with them, and they were just the ones who had made it to the final battle. There were others who had not even gotten that far, like Dumbledore who had died when he was in his sixth year at Hogwarts.
It had taken some time for everyone to get back on their feet, but they had. Harry had helped as much as he could, but it was clear that some things would never be the same again. He considered himself lucky that at least his best friends were still around. Ron had, unbelievably, come out of the whole thing uninjured. Only a few scratches as evidence that he had been there in the first place. Hermione, on the other hand, had not been that lucky. She had fallen victim to a curse that had robbed her of her vision. If Harry had to admit it, it had been quite amusing to see that her first reaction after hearing that she would never be able to see again was "HOW AM I GOING TO READ NOW!". After all Hermione would always be Hermione. It had taken Ron and himself a week too find a charm that made the book read itself out loud, which had helped her settle down.
Harry had received a letter that morning from Professor Minerva McGonagall, former Transfiguration Professor and current Headmistress of Hogwarts, she had taken over after Dumbledore died in his sixth year. The letter had contained a message which asked Harry to come and see her, it was urgent. With no plans for the day, Harry decided a trip to drop by and see her.
He had apparated to Hogsmeade and walked to the castle. The statue, which lead up to the headmistress’s office was the only thing left to block his path.
"Blibbering Humdinger," Harry said, and the Gargoyle jumped out of the way which cleared his path to the stairs.
After he knocked on the door and received an "enter" Harry made his way into the office. It always felt strange to come here after Dumbledore’s death. All those things that had been on the shelves were gone and in their place were books and things useful for transfigurations. McGonagall had obviously put her touch on the office, and the only thing that remained the same was the portrait of the former headmasters and the sorting hat, which was snoring on a shelf.
"Ah, it’s good of you to come on such short notice. Harry, I’m afraid that I’ve received some bad news," McGonagall interrupted Harry’s inspection of the office. He turned and faced her with a frown; clearly troubled Harry took in what she had said.
"What kind of problem are we talking about, because there has to be a problem for there to be bad news. Lets see, the Aurors are taking care of the few Death-Eaters that are left, and the ministry is finally working properly again, so what is going on?"
"It seems that Moody and the others have caught up to Bellatrix," Minerva began carefully studying Harry.
"That’s a good thing, right?" Harry asked, puzzled by the headmistress’s reasoning. It couldn't be a bad thing to catch one of the most dangerous Death-Eaters that got away after the battle. Thinking about Bellatrix Lestrange always made him remember the night in his fifth year when Sirius Black, his godfather, died at Bella’s hands in the Department of Mysteries. That had been one of the worst nights of his life, and it still hurt him deeply to think about it.
"Well, that in itself is a good thing but when they moved in to make the arrest she vanished."
"Vanished, how could she vanish? They had put up anti-apparition wards I presume?" Harry angrily questioned.
"Of course they had. They are professional, and you know Mad Eye’s philosophy, constant vigilance," McGonagall reassured him.
"Then how did she disappear? It’s not like its easy getting away from a bunch of Aurors, especially not Moody. How did she do it? Invisibility cloak? No she doesn't have one of those, at least to my knowledge." By this time Harry had started pacing the floor, it was one thing to evade Aurors at a distance but to do so right under their noses should be impossible. Right?
"Please calm yourself Harry. No, she didn’t have an invisibility cloak, but it looks as if she had a time-turner."
"She had a what?" Harry shouted. He couldn’t believe it! In the wizarding world they were very strict about handing out Time-Turners. Terrible things can happen when you meddle with time. There can be horrible consequences. Not to mention the possibility of going crazy, or worse, killing yourself if you were to stumble upon an earlier version of yourself. Not to say that Bella wasn’t already crazy after years in the wizarding prison Azkaban. Regardless, it’s not a good thing.
"We have no idea of how she could have gotten her hands on one, but she has managed it anyway. Now Harry, I’m afraid that’s not the worst of the news. It looks like she has gone back in time; twenty years back to be exact."
"Twenty years… But that is to when I was a baby!" This could not be happening to him. Voldemort was dead, and it looked like he could finally live his own life, and now this.
"Yes, we think Bellatrix is going to try to get rid of you herself, and in doing so she will save her master from falling at your hand."
Harry could only listen in shock at what McGonagall was telling him.
"You understand that this can not be allowed to happen under any circumstances. If it does, reality as we know it would disappear and Voldemort would rule once more." Minerva continued seriously.
"What can we do to stop her?"
"That’s just it Harry, from here we can do nothing."
"Nothing? You mean that we should just sit back, and hope that she is caught before she kills my younger self?" Harry yelled, outraged at the suggestion of letting Bella go free.
"Now Harry, I said that we could do nothing HERE," the headmistress clarified.
"Then where can we do something?" Harry felt confused, not understanding what his old teacher was getting at.
"Not where Harry, but when."
"When? You mean, to go back after her? But who could do that all of us are already there?" He asked, excited about the plan.
"That’s just the thing Harry, none of us, except you, and maybe Ron would be able to go back. To be honest, I would have preferred Ron, seeing as he is not as emotionally attached as you are, but unfortunately he has to stay with Hermione. That leaves you."
"You want me to go back? But it’s me she is trying to kill, besides, I thought that could make you go crazy. You know, seeing oneself?" This made no sense to him, it’s not that he didn’t want to. He would love to see his parents, Sirius and Remus again, but he didn’t feel like ending up in the loony bin for it.
"Normally that is true, but when a child is as young as you are in that time, they are unable to comprehend what is happening. Therefore, they can suffer no lasting consequences of it."
"That’s great, but what do you mean by lasting, and what about me now?"
"You might experience a slight headache at the first meeting, other than that you should be fine. As for you, well you already know that you are going to meet your younger self therefore it should be no different than in your third year."
"Ok, let’s do this," Harry jumped in, happy at the chance given to him.
"There are still a few rules that we have to go over, and I would think that you have a few people to say goodbye too?" McGonagall asked with a raised eyebrow at him.
"I can write a letter and leave it with Tonks," Harry stated, thinking about the new transfiguration teacher. Tonks had taken over after McGonagall, and Harry thought that was a good thing that helped her move on after Lupin died. Harry had tried to help her, and it was working at first. But when she found out she was pregnant, she had broken down in tears. She admitted to not wanting to be a lone mother, which Harry completely understood. On the other hand she didn’t want to give up the baby, her last connection to Remus. Now that she was settled down in Hogwarts with only a few months left of her pregnancy. Harry knew Tonks had become happier with life, and from what he had heard she made a good teacher.
After delivering his letter for the Weasley’s and Hermione to an overly emotional Tonks, and getting a hug and a kiss for luck after explaining what was going on, Harry made his way back to the Headmistress' office.
"Now Harry it’s important that you follow these rules, otherwise the consequences could be catastrophic. The first is that you can tell no one who you are. Not me, not Albus, your parents or anyone. Understood? Good, I will help disguise you by changing the color of your hair and eyes. The next rule is that you may not draw too much attention to yourself. That means that you can not tell anyone why you are there and where you’re from. Saying this Moody, the order members, and myself have decided that you can’t just run around in the past looking for Bellatrix, it would cause too much commotion. The best thing you can do is to get close to the Potters. How you do that is up to you. Now for your transformation. Come and stand in front of me, please."
Standing before her, Harry soon felt warmth around him then went to a mirror currently in the office to have a look at his new self. There before him stood a young man with the same general appearance as him, but with light blue eyes covered by his glasses and dark blond, almost brown hair that fell without a problem into the intended style. Gone were his mothers green eyes and his father’s unruly black hair. His scar was still there but from what he knew, there was no spell currently in existence that could take it away.
"It would be wise to think of a new name as yours is already taken," Minerva smiled at the astonished look on the young mans face over his new appearance.
"Neville Thomas," the name just slipped past his lips. Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas had been two of his friends that didn’t make it through the war, and this seemed like a good way to honor them.
Minerva nodded her head and held out a time-turner to Harry.
"What you need to do is turn it twenty and a half spins, which should give you enough time to get close to the Potter before Bellatrix and Voldemort show up. When you need to get back you have to talk to Dumbledore as the turner only sends someone backwards and not forwards in time. Take care Harry and good luck." With those words McGonagall watched as her former student vanished before her eyes. Now there was nothing to do but wait and hope. "May faith be with you Harry."
Chapter 1: St Mungo’s
When the pulling sensation from the time-turner stopped, Harry noticed the ground quickly coming up to meet him. This did so not happen the last time I used a time-turner. That was the only thought he had before he felt the cold, unforgiving ground under his body.
"Ooffhh," he moaned as all the air was pressed out of his lungs. Pain started flaring up in one of his legs, and he could absently feel something trickle down his face. Black spots had started to appear in his line of vision and just before he gave in to the darkness he heard someone nearby call out.
"Hurry! Someone just fell out of the sky! He must have lost control of his broom. We need to get him to St Mungo’s, his going unconscious."
The next thing Harry became aware of was a very bright light that made his head hurt.
"Ah, I see that you are finally awake sir. We were beginning to think that your fall had caused you a serious head injury," a rumbling voice came from above him.
"Wh…where am I," he managed to croak out becoming aware of how dry his throat was.
"You are at St, Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries young man. That was some fall you took off your broom," came the response from a man in lime green robes who then handed him a glass of water.
"Broom? What broom?" Harry asked as he gulped down the water.
"What broom? Young man, are you feeling quiet all right? Almost ten people in Diagon Alley saw you falling straight out of the sky. You must have lost control of your broom. I’m afraid to say that it has yet to be found, but that might be for the best. It seems that you can’t handle it anyway," reprimanded the healer.
"I can too handle my broom," cried Harry in anger. Who was this man to tell him that he couldn’t handle a broom when he hadn’t even been on one in the first place?
"Now, now I meant no offence, but it’s very dangerous and it’s a miracle that you got out with just the injuries that you have. With a fall from that height you should have been dead."
"What injuries do I have?"
"You have broken your right leg severely in two places, which means I’m afraid that it will take a bit of time to heal. You have also damaged three ribs and it would be best if you stayed put for a few days while they mend. You also had some cuts and scrapes on you that we have taken care of, the worst of which was a cut bleeding on you forehead where you hit the ground. All in all nothing that a week of rest can’t take care of."
"So I can go," Questioned Harry with relief. He didn’t have time to be cooped up here when Bellatrix was on the loose.
"Well, it would help us a lot to find out your name since no one knows who you are. Then we would be able to contact your parents or a family member," explained the healer.
"Neville Thomas," he mumbled the name as decided earlier in McGonagall’s office.
"Good, good. Where do you live? I will contact your home immediately as they must be worried. You have been here for about a day now and they are probably looking for you."
This Harry had not expected. What was he supposed to say? I don’t live anywhere? No then they would think that he was homeless and that would lead to a bunch of other problems. That he had just arrived? No he had nowhere to go after this and they would still want to know where his family was. Then it came to him out of the blue and before he had a chance to think it over it slipped out of his mouth.
"I don’t know."
"What do you mean that you don’t know Neville?"
"I can’t remember."
"I guess that you hit your head a bit harder then we expected. What is the last thing that you remember before waking up here?"
"Falling, I can’t remember much after that. I know that I’m a wizard and that I have a wand and my name, oh and that I’m twenty years old," rambled Harry.
"This is not good. Some memory loss can be expected after one hits his head, but I hadn’t guessed it would be so extensive," reasoned the healer.
"I don’t mean to be a bother," whispered Harry starting to feel guilty about doing this.
"No don’t worry this is not your fault and it certainly isn’t a bother this is what we are here for, to help those who are in need. I must ask, can you remember any spells or anything like that?"
"No, not really, I do know what a TV is and how to use a washing machine and what electricity is."
"Humph, you are clearly a muggle born. I don’t like giving over wizards to the muggle doctors; they have no idea of how to take care of this kind of thing. You will have to stay here with us for a few days while your bones mend and maybe under that time your memory will start coming back. Don’t you worry Neville; I will talk with some of the other healers and see what we can do for you. In the mean time get some sleep you need it, and don’t force your memories it will not help any. I will see you tomorrow. Good night," and with that the healer walked away mumbling to himself about unexpected memory losses.
Harry sank back into his pillow with a grunt as it jarred his injured ribs. Well at least he had taken care of his housing for the moment. This would give him time to think over how he was going to approach his parents, but now all he wanted to do was sleep so he closed his eyes and once again welcomed the darkness.
TBC…
Please review.
Chapter 2: Hello Mum!
When Harry woke up again it was light out. He knew this because the sun shone thru the window right in his eyes. Groaning he turned over trying to escape the sun rays but to no avail. Yawning and rubbing his eyes he blinked, adjusting to the light. In his newly awoken state it took him a few seconds to remember that he wasn’t at his flat that he had gotten at the end of the war, but actually in a bed at the hospital in the past, all because of Bellatrix bloody Lestrange. How he hated that woman who had taken his beloved godfather away from him.
If there was one thing he hated more than hospitals it was Bellatrix, misses insanity herself. Now not only did he have to deal with her but now he was in the freaking hospital too.
Sitting up in his bed Harry decided that once he got out of here he was never coming back, come hell or high water he would rather take all the pain in the world than spend another minute in a boring old hospital.
With that in mind Harry pushed his legs off the bed and prepared to stand up. Taking a deep breath he pushed himself to his feet holding on to the bed for support and let out a sharp gasp as pain flowed over him. Most of his broken bones might be healing, but his ribs and head still hurt like hell. Feeling his head start spinning and knowing that if he didn't sit down now he would end up on the floor Harry slowly lowered himself down on the bed again.
"What do you think that you are doing out of bed, young man?" came a voice from behind him making him snap his head around so fast that his neck hurt, and his head spun faster. Standing there was an elderly woman and taking a look at her uniform it was clear that she was a nurse.
"I wanted to stretch my legs," lied Harry knowing that telling the nurse that he wanted to get out of the hospital would only get him scolded at best and restrained to the bed at worst.
"There will be none of that now dear, back to bed you go," coaxed the nurse.
"But it’s so boring here," whined Harry.
"I think you have had enough excitement for awhile, so back to bed you go. Now, now no more whining," was her chastised response.
Obediently he sank back under the covers knowing by experience that complaining would get him nowhere.
"You don’t happen to be related to Madam Pomfrey are you?" he asked.
"Why yes. She is my niece."
Hearing that Harry thought that she must have been older then he first thought, before he remembered that he was in the past and Madam Pomfrey was younger then he remembered too.
"It’s strange that you should ask that. Didn't the healer say that you had amnesia?"
"Well, I ah I," stammered Harry not knowing what to say. Damn he had messed up. What would happen now?
"I don’t know why I said that it just popped out," he blurted.
The nurse looked at him strangely. "Well dear, it might be your memory coming back slowly. If anything else reminds you of something tell someone, alright dear."
"Let me think if you know Poppy your probably from Hogwarts. Dose that sound familiar to you?"
"No, not really. Why would I be from somewhere that is called up after a pig with warts? Can pigs even get warts?"
"No dear, Hogwarts as in the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"You mean magic is real. Lady I think it’s you that’s hurt your head not me! Are you sure that you’re qualified for this job?"
"Oh dear! You best wait here love while I talk to the healer," whispered the nurse and hurriedly left the room.
^^^^^^^^^^^
Hurrying down a corridor the nurse nearly ran into a young redheaded woman.
"Lily, it’s good to see you. What brings you down here? I hope nothing’s wrong with little Harry?"
"Oh no, everything is fine with Harry its James that has brought me here. Well the prank that Sirius pulled on James making him spout pink fur with dog like ears. Turns out that reversing the spell was harder than casting it," laughed Lily.
"I see so while you are here with your husband who is looking after Harry? Not Sirius I hope. It would not do well to let that man corrupt that sweet boy."
"Nah, Remus is looking after him. Sirius is down with James trying to vanish the tail and green spots that James hexed him with as revenge. Now what caused you to come running down here like the house is on fire?"
"Oh lord, I had almost forgotten. Lily could you do me a favor," pleaded Peggy Pomfrey.
"Of course. What can I do?"
"There is a young man in room 0098 and he has amnesia and I just told him about magic." Lily gasped. "He didn’t believe me of course but he must be terribly confused. Could you keep him company while I talk to the healer and contact Hogwarts to see if they lost one of their older students?"
"I would love to Peggy. It’s much better than having to listen to the two dunderheads bicker about whose fault it was landing them in the hospital."
"Wonderful. He is a nice young man and should give you no trouble, just don’t mention magic."
"Don’t worry Peggy I can handle this, you just go and do what you must." Lily told the nurse ushering her away towards the healers.
^^^^^^^^^^^
Harry in the mean time was feeling guilty for making the nurse believe that she had told someone that didn't remember about magic, which is against the law. Hopefully nothing would come of it seeing as he acted like he didn’t believe her. Really what could he have done? If he had told her he knew what she was talking about there would have been lots of questions he wouldn’t have been able to answer. Well it didn’t matter now as his first priority was to find Bellatrix and to save himself from her. Wow that sounded weird. In the entire world he was probably the only one that had to travel through time too keep his baby self safe so he could continue to exist. If the Weasely twins ever heard this he would never live it down, like Ron having to dance with McGonagall under the Tri Wizard Tournament.
A knock on the door brought Harry from his musings. The nurse couldn’t already be back could she, God he hoped not that was a conversation that he would rather avoid as long as possible. Why would she knock on the door, she didn’t the first time so it could be the healer, well he better get it over and done with.
"Come in!"
The person who walked into the room was the last person that Harry had expected to see, and all he could think was thank god it wasn’t the healer.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Hi I’m Lily, Peggy asked me to keep you company while she spoke to the healers," Lily introduced herself to the light brown haired, blue-eyed boy on the bed.
"Neville Thomas. Who is Peggy?" asked Harry.
"Oh your nurse is Peggy Pomfrey."
"Oh! What brings you here," said Harry, a bit uncomfortable but very happy about having his mother so close after so many years. She really was very pretty with red hair and his emerald eyes, Harry had to stop himself from jumping up and hugging her while crying his eyes out on her shoulder.
"My husband and his best friend got into an argument which resulted in some unexpected results."
"Shouldn’t you be down there with them then?"
"No, I’ve had quite enough of them for now. They have only themselves to blame, and it’s not like it’s the first time it’s happened either."
"Oh."
"Yeah, so why are you in here?"
"I don’t remember but the healer from last night said something about a falling off of a broom, not that I can understand why I would have been on a broom or how I could have hit my head bad enough to have lost my memory. I mean its not like it can fly or something?"
"So I take it that you don’t like hospitals?"
"No I hate them or at least I’m starting to."
"You remind me a bit about my husband he can never be still for very long. How about I tell you something about myself to pass the time?"
"I would love it if you would." Harry jumped at the chance to learn more about his mother while Lily figured he was desperate enough to listen to anything.
So that’s how they passed the time. Lily telling Harry about how she grew up going to a boarding school got married to a man who acted like he was constantly on a sugar high, and having the most lovely little baby boy. When the healer showed up Lily had promised that she would come over with Harry to visit him again, before going to collect her husband and his best friend.
Chapter 3: Hey, I know you!!
His mother, he had gotten to meet his mother for the first time he could remember. Oh he remembered things, little things like the smell of vanilla and the sound of musical laughter, but nothing like this. She was more beautiful then he could have imagined. Ok so it was his mother and he might be a bit biased, but who cared? In his eyes, she looked like an angel.
How he wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to know what it felt like to be in her arms, to feel a mother’s love. The mother who had, or maybe that should be would give her life for his. Mrs. Weasley had always been nice, but just once he wished he could have known what it was like to have a mother.
A few years ago Ron and himself hade gotten into an argument over something, and in the end Ron had confessed that at times, he was jealous over all the attention that Harry received. Harry on the other hand had explained that he would gladly give it up any day to have a family like Ron’s. That had shut Ron up pretty quickly and they had never mentioned it again, but at times Harry could swear that Ron would send his mother to Harry when he saw his friend feeling down.
Sometimes he wondered what James and Lily’s reactions would be if they were to meet him. Sirius and Remus had said that his parents would have been proud of him and maybe they would? Deep in his heart Harry knew there would always be a doubt that he was nothing but a big disappointment to them. He was nothing like his father would have expected of him, honestly he couldn’t remember ever pulling a prank and he might have broken many rules but not for the sake of innocent fun, it had always been a matter of great importance.
Neither was he studious like his mother, his grades were average at best. Ok, he might have excelled at defense but he was nowhere near Head Boy potential, so many expectations that he couldn’t live up to.
On the other hand they might have loved him anyway. He was their son after all, and one hell of a seeker not to mention that he had in the end gotten rid of Voldemort. Not that it mattered anyway he would never, could never tell them so they would never find out.
Why was he thinking of this anyhow? Chances were that he would never see any of them again. If he did his job right he wouldn’t, even if his mother, yes his mother, had said that she would stop by sometime. Why should she? He had met her for the first time yesterday and if he was her he wouldn’t feel the need to check on someone he didn’t really know. That is, if she remembered him to begin with.
He had better not think about it. Build up his hope only to get it torn down again. Yeah he better not think about it, just go to bed and try to sleep and when he would wake up find a way out of this hell that was called a hospital. It was already driving him crazy to be confined to his bed, how he had hated it when Madam Pomfrey did it and he still hated it to this very day,’ with that last thought Harry went to sleep.
When Harry next opened his eyes he was met with a pair so like his own that he could almost swear that he was looking at himself. Maybe he was having on of those out of body experiences that muggles talked about. Wait a minute he was looking at himself! With a yell of surprise he backed up on his bed so fast that he hit his head on the wall behind him. In response to this he was awarded with a happy giggle from his clone who was sitting on a chair beside the bed.
“You think that’s funny do you?” he asked the still giggling baby next to him, not getting an answer except for more giggling.
“Great just bloody great, I’m talking to a baby and expect him to talk back to me I must be going crazy. No wait, its worse I’m already crazy as speaking to oneself is the first sign of madness. Then I must truly be in deep shit since I’m actually expecting an answer from my baby self. Merlin” Harry groaned. Under his rant Harry (the older one) had climbed out of the bed and was now pacing on the floor back and forth under the watchful eyes of his younger self. He was about to start once more when a panicked cry stopped him.
“Harry, where are you?” Someone was calling him, well maybe not him him but his baby self.
“Did you run away from your, eh my I mean, our mother little one,” he asked. As a reply he got another giggle, and his mini self held his arms out in the universal sign for pick me up. Without thinking about it Harry did as asked.
“How did you manage that anyway? You, I eh we can’t be more the about a year old right? So how did you get away from mom and then in to my room and up on the chair without anyone noticing a thing?” This time baby Harry just looked at him with wide innocent eyes. Weird, that looks kind of like the look Fred and George use when they aretrying to get out of trouble with Mrs. Weasley. I probably learned that from dad or Sirius. Now I’m starting to understand what Remus meant when he said that I always had a knack for getting into trouble. I thought he meant since I started Hogwarts but it seems like I’ve had that ability longer than even I imagined.
“Yeah right don’t ask don’t, I get it, but don’t think for one second that I believe that you are innocent in this,” he mumbled. Could this day get any stranger? Maybe it was best not to ask that question. He did have his younger self in his arms who was being raised with the marauders as closest family.’
“Let’s go find mom then shall we, Harry,” to which he was rewarded with a large smile and a nod from the toddler.
TBC
Please review.
Hey.
As you can see I have updated and revised How to save oneself with the help of my wonderful new betas.
In other news summer is coming up (Yeh) and I will be going home at the end of the week. That's both good and bad news. I will have time to work on my fictions but I wont have a computer for the first weeks as it broke down the first day I was home for easter vacation. My schedule for the summer looks kind of like this:
1. Work
2. Enjoy the summer
3. Study for a very important test (Urgh)
4. Spend time with family
5. Get my friends to visit (the joy of living on an island)
6. Go to the movies (HP5 and Simpsons)
7. Read books (HP and AB)
8. Read fictions
9. Catch up on missed TV (SGA)
10. Update fictions
I wish everyone a lovely summer until next time.