herumtreiber

Title: Unusual ending - chapter 6
Chapter: six
Author:

herumtreiber
Genre: Slash, time travel, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: R
Warnings: Sexual content
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length: 3807 words
Beta: None.
Summary: Old meets new. Harry walks all over Draco's heart, and when he realizes his mistakes he does the unforgivable so Draco takes him back. Time travel. During HBP, disregards Deathly Hallows - that means everyone's alive, except Sirius, but...

Table of contents

Chapter five

March 24th, 1997

Harry shouldered his schoolbag and burst out of the Charms classroom. When he was at the door, he turned around and lazily swished his wand to freeze the pile of books and stop Professor Flitwick from tipping over. He frowned, noting Dennis' adoring gaze.

Harry walked past the statue of the humpbacked witch, shaking his head. He could swear he saw something move, but he had no time to investigate. When he was just passing through the Trophy Room, where his life with Draco had started, he heard someone.

He smiled broadly when he saw his Dragon walking between Pansy and Blaise.

"Hi there," said Harry, stopping in front of his boyfriend and extending his hand. Draco took it and they just stood there for a moment.

Pansy said irritatedly, "Come on, kiss! We're not like your bigoted friends, Harry!"

Harry glared at her. Draco swept down and kissed him briefly, murmuring in his ear, "Remember last night?"

Harry blushed and lifted the rim of his glasses with his pinky. He didn't see Blaise nudge Pansy.

Tucking a strand of her bronze-colored hair behind her ear, she said, "Harry, can you teach me…" Pansy turned to look beseechingly at Draco, but he pretended not to see her.

"….how to catch the Quaffle?" finished she, scowling at the blond Slytherin.

"The Quaffle?" asked Harry a bit confused.

"What Pansy means…" explained Draco, turning to glare at his former girlfriend, "... is that she wants you to teach her how to catch the Snitch."

"She wants to try for the Seeker position, foolish girl," added Draco smirking, and Pansy scowled fiercely at him.

"So you want me to…."

"Show me how you catch the …. shiny thing," said Pansy, shrugging and exchanging a covert glance with Blaise.

Harry put his bag down and stepped back; he crouched and held his right hand aloft while he grabbed an imaginary broom with his left.

"You catch it like this…." said he, leaning forward.

"What if the Snitch is behind you?" asked Blaise innocently.

Harry twisted sideways and turned to the left, "You turn like…."

He twisted towards the door of the Trophy room and he didn't see Draco bend down and reach into his schoolbag.

"Ouch!" yelled Draco, taking his left hand back and nursing it.

"What do you have in that bag, a miniature hippogriff? Something bit me!"

Harry narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, "Nothing, it's just Hector, my hedgehog. What were you doing?

"Trying to steal something?" said Harry smirking.

Draco spluttered and replied, "Nothing, I just…" He blushed and Harry thought he looked cute like this. Suddenly he remembered that Remus was waiting for him and said hurriedly, "We'll talk later…

"Have to go, bye!" he waved his left hand, grabbing his schoolbag with his right.

While he was walking away, he heard Pansy scolding Draco, "Now you've done it! Have to research the answer now."

Draco grumbled, "What kind of distraction was that, Pansy?

"You don't even know what a Snitch is!" added he indignantly.

Blaise snickered and said, "C'mon, let's go to the Library."

Harry made his way to the stairs, and put his hand inside his bag, checking that his hedgehog was all right. Everyone seemed intent on startling poor Hector.

Harry arrived at the Headmaster's office and he mumbled, 'Lemon drops.' When the gargoyle didn't open up, he repeated the name of different sweets, but it didn't move an inch. He cast Tempus and looked at the time, mumbling, "Have to hurry or I won't make it in time to Snape's class. If I'm late, everyone will laugh, I can hear Ron's snickers…."

The gargoyle opened suddenly and Harry hurriedly stepped into the circular staircase, noting that Dumbledore now used Muggle sweets for his passwords.

Harry entered the circular office and saw Remus seated on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. Remus looked tired and haggard, but he seemed to have acquired a bit of a tan in Australia. His set of robes were neat, though there were two patches that appeared to be darned haphazardly. Probably Tonks hadn't mastered her mother's housekeeping spells yet, thought Harry.

The Marauder was reading intently a book and looked up when he saw Harry, a broad smile on his face. His light brown hair had more gray flecks in it, but otherwise he was the same Professor Lupin he'd met on the train in Third Year. He seemed more carefree; life in Australia must suit him.

Harry nearly bowled him over when he barreled into the Marauder.

"Whoa, Harry! Nice to see you!" said Remus softly while he hugged the Gryffindor tightly.

He sniffed Harry's hair and then he said quietly, "Harry, you smell different."

Harry backed away and said worriedly, "What d'you mean?"

"Your scent is strange. You changed your diet or something? You smell different, as if you were... older?" said Remus tentatively.

Harry was in a quandary, he didn't want to explain his time jaunt to Remus - because he would have to tell him that he had done himself in. But his Professor was very smart, and he had no doubt that the man would find the truth sooner or later - unless he was somehow distracted.

His Slytherin side came up with the perfect distraction.

He blushed and stammered convincingly, "Th... that might be because Draco and I…"

He put down his bag and scoffed his shoes on the stone floor, "…are together."

Remus gasped; looking intently at Harry, he said, "You and Malfoy's son?"

Harry continued nervously, "Actually, we've been together since October 15th. Since the beginning of the year he lay off attacking me. Draco made the first peaceful gesture and we struck a friendship."

Harry sat on Dumbledore's desk but when Remus frowned at him; he got up and plopped down on the other chair. He continued, "It grew slowly until now."

He hugged himself, suddenly unsure of his plan. What if Remus reacted like his friends did and cut him off completely? In the future he remembered, Remus hadn't known he was gay – he'd been killed before that.

He averted his gaze, looking at Fawkes, the phoenix. Fawkes' beady eyes looked intently at Harry, and he preened a bit – his red-golden plumage moving restlessly. The phoenix trilled softly, and the sound calmed Harry considerably. Still, he avoided looking at Remus' face, not wanting to see his disappointment.

Harry had been deathly afraid of people finding out he was gay, because the bloody Wizarding World turned against him using any excuse – like when they suspected he was a Dark Wizard just because he was a Parseltongue; or when they thought he was lying and Voldemort hadn't returned. He was telling the truth when he told Draco his reasons for not wanting to go with him to Hogsmeade that fateful day – but Harry knew he could've been more tactful.

Remus said with a small smile, "It's alright, Harry. You're still James' son, and it doesn't matter to me who you love – only that you are happy."

Remus put the book that he'd been nervously opening and closing on the table and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. He should've trusted that Remus would not desert him. He knew what it felt like to be ostracized for something that was out of one's control.

Harry was ashamed to tell Remus that he'd hardly cared for Draco at all, not enough to tell his surrogate godfather – that he treated the Slytherin like a convenient outlet for his sexual endeavors. Until the bitter facts of life forced him to travel to the past to undo his error – when he realized that he did love Draco.

Instead he said, "You were occupied with the Order, and then you married Tonks and left."

Harry grabbed a quill that was on the table and toyed with it. He looked up at Remus and asked, "By the way, had a nice time?"

Remus perked up and replied, "Yes, we had a wonderful time. It was fun; I wish I could tell Siri…"

He stopped and looked at Harry with an anguished expression; the two shared a look, remembering their beloved friend who had fallen into the Veil – after he was struck by a spell cast by his demented cousin, Bellatrix.

Sensing their dark mood, Fawkes swooped from his perch and landed on Harry's shoulder – his golden claws squeezed him gently as he briefly trilled a few notes.

Sighing, Remus told Harry he was coming back to resume his job.

"Will you teach me useful spells?" asked Harry with a hopeful expression.

Fawkes squeezed Harry one more time and then flew back to his perch. Once there, he followed their movements intently.

Remus nodded and looked at his watch, wondering where Tonks was.

"Where's the Headmaster?" asked Harry when a whirring silver contraption reminded him of the time he laid waste to Dumbledore's office.

"Rubeus told me he left hurriedly, he was looking for a ring," answered Remus.

"That reminds me," he pushed the book he'd been reading towards Harry.

Harry picked it up gingerly and read the cover, 'Ancient legends of immortality' by Felton Watson.

He looked up at Remus inquiringly.

"I told you that we were searching for artifacts in Ayers Rock," said Remus.

He took out a Wizarding photo from his pocket and continued, "Well, yesterday Tonks and I were meandering along a path; a place where tourists are not allowed. We discovered something very unsettling inside a cavern."

Remus looked towards the windows and the mountains beyond. He said meditatively, "We found an old painting of You-know-who."

"But how did you know it was him?" asked Harry skeptically.

Remus handed him the photograph. Harry took it, peering at it curiously; there was a rocky wall, where the light cast by a torch flickered and illuminated Tonks. She had pink hair and was pointing excitedly towards the left. Harry followed her waving arm and gasped when he saw a man depicted in silhouette. It was a simple drawing, but the man clearly had no nose, and he was unmistakably wearing some kind of robes, with a stick on his hand. It was next to a crudely drawn circle of a serpent eating its tail.

Trying not to show how much the photograph had shaken him, Harry shrugged and said nonchalantly, "So what? Voldemort must've gone there when he was young."

Remus said pensively, "But we have no records of him leaving Europe.

"Did you notice the circle?"

"Yeah."

"That's the Ouroboros. It's the symbol of immortality," said Remus.

Harry shuddered, thinking about the old man who allowed him to go back in time and so gave him another chance with Draco. Could he be allied with Voldemort?

Remus looked towards the Pensieve and added, "Besides, I did a magical check to find out the age of the drawings." He picked up the book and hefted it in his hand, "They're more than a thousand years old."

Harry gasped; he was going to say something when the door opened and Nymphadora Tonks strolled in. She had spiky purple hair, and her robes were slightly askew.

"Wotcher, Harry!" greeted Tonks.

She approached them walking confidently, but when she was next to the desk she stumbled and nearly toppled the whirring silver contraption, which was stopped by Harry. Tonks stood next to him and ruffled his hair.

Harry looked up at her, smiling warmly, "How are you, Tonks?"

"I'm fine, Harry"

She skipped to the other chair and put her hand on Remus' shoulder.

"Have to go now and look at that house in Hogsmeade, Remus."

Turning to Harry, she added, "I saw Ron on the way here, the poor dear didn't look too well." She grimaced and added, "He smelt like Firewhiskey. You two are in trouble, aren't you?"

Harry scrunched his face and replied, "No. Nothing we can't handle," thinking that his homophobe ex-friend was really sinking low.

Tonks touched Remus' shoulder and said, "You've told Harry the news, haven't you?"

Intrigued, Harry asked, "What news?"

Tonks smiled and patted her abdomen, "We're going to have a baby!"

Harry beamed, "Congratulations! Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We don't know yet, Tonks found out a week ago," said Remus softly.

"We're going to name him Antares," said she, beaming proudly.

"Tonks, that's a Pureblood name, let's go for something simpler," replied Remus, and then sighed. Harry suspected that this was an argument they'd already had several times.

Remus took out a parchment from the desk and the quill Harry had been toying with and hastily scribbled a note. He handed it to Harry saying, "This is for Severus. I know he can be a bit… stringent at times."

Shaking his head, Harry took the note, "If you only knew!"

Part two