hogwartsexpressed | CLOSED: The WORST Double Date to Date (for: coreofdragonheart)

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CLOSED: The WORST Double Date to Date (for: coreofdragonheart)

Harry walked into the private dining room that Hermione had requested for their use that evening. He took a moment to search and take down any eavesdropping instruments he could locate and knew Hermione would or had done the same already. He didn't want this to get out to the public if they could at all help it. He had spent most of the day putting his Aurors through their paces and had perhaps had been a bit too hard on them but honestly, it wasn't any worse than what they could possibly face outside the walls of the Ministry. It was at that time that he regretted, again, that he hadn't sought further education and training from the ICW.

Once he was content knowing he'd taken down anything that could listen in on them, he cast his own set of privacy charms around the room that would allow their guests and waiter/waitress to enter but would not be able to listen in. He turned to look at Hermione and gave her a smile. Spending the evening talking with her and having dinner had probably been one of the best nights he's had in a long time. It had infuriated him to know Ron had been an even bigger arse in regard to Hermione's parents after the war. What gave him the right?

"Are you ready," he asked, walking over to her and watching her face closely.

He'd taken the potion already today and was glad that his intelligent and beautiful best friend had found something that would work. Harry loathed that they'd been treated this way after all they'd done for the Weasley family.

Ginny would be getting off work momentarily and getting cleaned up before she made her way to the restaurant. Ron... well he didn't give a rats arse. He was looking forward to knowing just how much the man knew.

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"I would guarantee that she didn't plan on us remembering anything," Harry said, watching the quill list everything down and felt his mouth curl up in a smile. "it would make sense that she would retain her memories though," he agreed and that thought simply infuriated him even more.

"No, this isn't completely her. Considering she didn't have access to either of us before the train. This has Dumbledore written all over it. He, through Hagrid, did have access to me," he said and thought about their options. "I'd prefer there to be no tracking charms on any of our things and simply cast another that would give the illusion of the charms still in place." It wasn't completely unheard of and wouldn't be expected of two first years. "Thoughts?"

"But when will she realize? We've already changed things but she may not realize we know," she points out. "She will when we start moving on things though, and when we start changing the past. We'll need to watch for sweetening charms and set wards. She'll try it all, and if Dumbledore already is on things, we'll need to be extra careful."

She sighs, because they're not going up some angry pureblood. They're facing one of the most infamous witches, but what she knows from her research is that he's not the most powerful. Not by magic but by name and position.

"We'll work the illusion charms, set the wards for charms and hexes. On us, our things, and watch our things. We know how curses can be put on clothes and jewelry," she says, shaking her head. "We need others on our side, Harry. How do we make them believe us and follow us?"

Harry gave that some thought. "We haven't been here long. She has no reason to believe at this moment that we remember. He's always been rather lazy so I doubt he'd have tried to get in touch with her yet. And I haven't heard him try to get into the compartment yet so he probably hasn't bothered yet. The earliest I give it is late tonight when he owls her that he's been sorted and he doesn't mention his new best friends. The latest... tomorrow. We still have time," he assures her with a smile.

"It's Dumbledore that I'm more concerned about since she can't truly do anything not being at Hogwarts. He, on the other hand, can and has no qualms about meddling in our lives."

He nods in agreement to her plan. "We will work on it then during the trip. We can't be sorted into Gryffindor," he said, automatically when asked about how to make others believe them and follow them. "We'll have to be sorted into other houses this time and grow our allies. There are a few Gryffindors that I feel we need to approach though - Neville is one of them."

"If he doesn't remember, like a spell like that should work, then there's a good chance he won't realize anything is off. Not by that much." Hermione stops for a minute, eyes going wide. "Harry, what if it's the potion we were taking to counter the love spell? Is that's it, Ginny would remember."

It's hopeful thinking, not knowing how these things would even work. Even she hasn't done research on such things but logically it makes sense. If they remember, then why wouldn't she? If that is why they're remembering at least.

"And we'll know fairly quickly that we're not like he expects us to be."

She sighs, just thinking about it. Nodding though at that comment. "We never should have been, Harry," she says, giving him a hard look. 'I should have been Ravenclaw. I was glad to be with you and Ron but I was shocked otherwise. And you..." She gives him a small smile. "You really do look much better in green."

Harry nodded. "Agreed. There's a very good chance that he isn't even aware of anything being different other than he's not sitting with the Boy Who L- "

Just as Harry started to say it, he spotted a shadow stand in front of their compartment and attempt to open it. Hermione's spell held true though and didn't allow the door to open. He grinned and turned to look at Hermione again. "Next he'll probably go have to sit with Fred and George or find another helpless person to sit next to," he said. "I really hope that it's not Neville - that poor boy."

He considered the rest of Hermione's words and hummed. "If she is aware, because of the potion, then she'll likely get a hold of us sooner rather than later." It was hopeful thinking but either way, they would make sure they did what they could to protect the younger girl from her mother's manipulations this time around.

"No, we shouldn't have," he agreed with a wry smile. "But I didn't know any better in that life - at least as an eleven-year-old. Now, we do and we can start working on everything we were discussing back at Grimmauld Place. Our sorting is only the start. We need to start making a list of everything we want to change." He was absolutely sure that Molly Weasley did this so that she'd have a leg up. He was bloody grateful for... whoever or whatever saw fit to have them remember - for this second opportunity.

He had so many plans and ideas! It was... surprising even to him, honestly. But he wanted to get started as soon as they possibly could.

The moment she sees a shadow outside the door, Hermione goes quiet. She even reaches out for the quill, stilling it as if Ron can hear the scritch of a quill on paper through the door. After a while the shadow moves along and she only realizes then that she had been holding her breath, exhaling with a loud sigh.

"Wish we could protect Neville but we'll look out for him later," she says, gesturing for the quill to begin writing again and getting things in place for their plans.

She nods at that. "We should be aware, in case, because she might realize quickly how careful she needs to be as well so that Molly doesn't know the truth."

"We knew what they teach. Even from the upper echelons of wizarding culture they teach that Gryffindor is good, Slytherin is evil and the others are, what? Cannon fodder?" It's the way they act though.

She smiles, nodding. "I've got some ideas. We just need to find a way to stop this war before it ever happens."

"Agreed. We'll look out for him later," Harry said with a nod, watching the quill move before looking at Hermione again. "If Ginny is aware, I give it less than 24 hours before she reaches out to us somehow," he mused. "Hopefully, she'll realize how careful she has to be around her mother."

Harry nodded. "We'll just have to prove them all wrong," he said, with a smile. If there was anyone who could do it, it would be them. He had no doubt about it. "Which means, I'll take Draco's hand when he introduces himself later on."

"Agreed. If we can begin collecting the Horcruxes during breaks, then that at least won't be a hindrance later on." Harry paused and slowly smirked. "And, perhaps make a trip to the cemetery so I can pay my respects to Tom's dear old father." And by that, he meant burn whatever bones were left of Tom's "dear old father" so they couldn't be used in any sort of ritual their fourth year.

"There's so much I want to accomplish since we have this chance. I want to get Sirius out of Azkaban as soon as we can."

"I'm just thankful we contacted her before confronting Ron. It means there's a chance she knows what's going on. Though it means that maybe Ron does too," she admits, not liking that idea at all.

She nods at that. "And we'll have to get time to talk to him, or you will, without his father around and see if we can get him to our side. Maybe we can prove to him we're from the future and what we know. He may just be looking for a way out. We can only hope."

Otherwise, she's not sure what they'll do.

She snorts at that, smiling though it's a tight smile. "Sounds like a plan. Definitely have to get rid of them before he knows to go looking for them. But that is our priority. We need to get Sirius cleared, on our side, and taking over your custody so we can stay at Grimmauld Place on breaks and work on it all. I think he'll be the first to believe us."

"Ron never took a drink of the potion," he said, looking at her. "Unless Molly spent the precious few minutes she had before dropping them off at the station, I doubt he knows. Ginny though had the potion when we had dinner." Honestly, Harry wasn't sure which way he hoped it would go but either way, they'd make sure their real friends got through this a lot smoother than the first time around. "Besides, his own mother knows how much of a loud mouth he is. Doubt he'd be able to keep his mouth shut about any of it."

After realizing just how much Ron knew of their poisoning, Harry stopped even trying to be nice to his so-called-first best mate.

Harry nodded. "He won't have his father at Hogwarts so that should be clear for now. We'll have to make sure Crabb and Goyle stay away though," he mused. "I doubt we'll have much of an issue bringing him onto our side." He paused, thinking of her idea and hummed. "It would be a good option and if he does prove to be a good friend, then I see no harm in proving to him we're from the future."

"Agreed," Harry said with a chuckle and thought about that first year at Hogwarts. "So, what do we have in store for us - Professor Quirrel and the rather convenient trials leading to the Mirror," he said. "I vote we do not do that again, if we can at all help it."

She considers that, shaking her head. "You're right. He won't know then. She wouldn't do it. She has no way to believe my tonic spell would have done something else entirely, such as making it so that we remembered now ourselves. Like we're thirty in our eleven year old bodies. She couldn't have thought that would happen, or what would have been the point of it?"

Which again is there only defense in this. They have their memories and they know the one thing they hadn't known before. They're fighting more than one war at Hogwarts.

Her lip curls. "They're too stupid to fight their own wars. They'll do what they're told. Though we could, once we have him on our side, see if he could guide them to do what we need them to," she points out. "If they're eager to gain his favor because of his father,' she points out, and she knows that it is a possibility.

"Yes, lets avoid it. One, we should keep him from bringing in the troll. I think that would be a start. And get Fluffy on out side early."

Harry nodded in agreement with her assumption. "I bet she counted on us not knowing and simply following along with her plan like we did the first time around," he agreed and watched her with a little smile. He was very thankful that if they had to be thrown in the past that it was together and that they had their memories. It gave them a leg up and one he was going to take full advantage of.

He chuckled and sent her an amused smirk. "They will. I think one of them doesn't even want to fight in this war. The other... he probably does if only to prove to his Father that he isn't just a henchman. Depending on how the sorting goes, we can go from there."

"Absolutely," he said and took out a piece of parchment so he could start on a separate list of everything they wanted to accomplish. "Hagrid," he said suddenly, looking over at her. "What do we do about him?" He had fond memories of Hagrid but... the man was very loyal to Dumbledore and honestly, at this moment, he wasn't sure he could trust him.

"We were so busy watching out for others like Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and realizing that Dumbledore was never truly on our side, that we never thought to look for someone else working against us," she says with a sigh, leaning back against the seats with a grumpy sound. She's back in her eleven year old body but she feels older than her years before that. Too many lifetimes already lived and now about to relive this one.

"They're like Draco," she says, nodding. "They're doing this because they think it's the only chance they have, not because they want to do this. What other options did they have being raised the way they were? Maybe if we can give them another choice, they'll take it. We can hope," she says in a low voice, shaking her head.

Hermione winces, her expression pained. "We can't trust him," she says in a low voice. "Once Dumbledore learns we're off course, he'll use people like Hagrid to lure us back in and Hagrid will think he's helping us, because that's what Dumbledore tells him. We'll have to be careful."

"Growing up with the Dursley's you'd think I'd be used to people like her but...," he paused, considering his words before continuing. "But, I think that's why Dumbledore pushed them onto my path so that i'd be willing to overlook that because I'd be too grateful. Not this time." Harry was exhausted but he continued to write down everything they'd discussed before (starting with their sorting) and things they definitely had to consider now that they were faced with the reality of being back at the beginning. He too felt much older than his years before and now, reliving some of the more trying times of his life... well, he wasn't going to be their martyr this time. They'd be doing this by their own rules if he had anything to say about it.

"Exactly," he agreed with a nod. "We'll give them the choice and a chance at something different, like we will with Neville and others... but it's up to them if they take it." He won't force it onto anyone like Voldemort did.

Harry nodded. "You took the words right out of my mouth," he agreed. "Out of everyone at Hogwarts, we'll have to be the most careful with him. Dumbledore and Ron will be simpler to anticipate because their motives are their own. Hagrid... will do what Dumbledore tells him because he owes the most gratitude to him."

Harry paused and exhaled a breath.

"We may also need to try and reach out to Remus as well and beat Dumbledore to the punch." It did hurt to talk about this one but it needed to be said and if he was wrong, then great. "Like Hagrid, I think Remus feels a tremendous loyalty to Dumbledore for allowing a werewolf to be at the school and so he will go along with Dumbledore's plans even if they're not correct." Or what his parents would want for their son.

"But they were obvious and loud and she wasn't. She was sweet and helpful and friendly. She's well looked upon by any but the purebloods. She wasn't a threat in the way we've seen with anyone. It's why we never considered she was another threat in our life."

And that's the thing. They had so many threats presented to them that they never stopped to think about how many others there might be. Especially when her goal was love and marriage and not killing them and destroying them.

"What do you think we can do to try and make them believe us? I mean, I'm a muggle born and while you're Harry Potter, the boy that lived, what do you think we can use to get them to believe us?"

She's thinking about things they could know, could show them, to make them believe. She pauses and then adds. "What about McGonnagal? Do you think she would be on our side?"

Because having a teacher on their side would help, though she nods at Remus.

"We should contact him to go with us to get Sirius. He'd want to be there, and we'll need help while Sirius settles and gets back to being himself," she points out. "I don't think Remus will side with him if we have Sirius."

Harry nodded, agreeing with Hermione's assessment. "I wonder who else we might've missed," he muttered and continued jotting down the list of things they wanted to fix or change.

He paused and considered the question for a moment. "I think we need to be ourselves - not ourselves as we were then but as who we are now." Only, they'd have to tone it down a little bit, obviously. "Once we're sorted into our correct houses, we need to make an effort of befriending students in the different houses, not just our own. We could start a study group," he paused. "We didn't have anything like that in Gryffindor and obviously my studies weren't my focus. It could be a good first step at least."

Harry thought of McGonagall and smiled. "Yeah, I think she'd be on our side. We'll have to make sure she's not under any compulsions though before she'll believe us. We should be upfront with her - she'd be a very handy person to have on our side. We should really try to meet with her as soon as we can." Though, they may have a harder time since they weren't going to be in her house this time around.

"Agreed. We should just be careful," he said, looking at her. "Do you remember what he said that night? He truly thought Sirius was guilty... everyone did." Except, he was sure, Dumbledore. He'd known. "So we'll have to convince him that Sirius was innocent." He didn't want to be too cynical but he wasn't exactly sure how deep Remus' loyalty to Dumbledore went.

"Everyone has motives. We just considered only the deadly ones, the ones where they were following the Dark Lord. It was the biggest threat, so it was all we looked at. We know now the other things we need to look at. And do what we can to protect ourselves. That has to come first and foremost."

Otherwise they could end up in worse circumstances and they both know it.

"A study group would be brilliant, and we can start the things we taught in the DA earlier, get people prepared in case things do go bad. I can't live through all of them dying again," she whispers, shaking her head. "I still haven't recovered from the Great Hall covered in bodies. I just can't do that again."

Even as she says it, she moves to sit closer to Harry, leaning in and resting her head on his shoulder.

"We'll find a way to talk to McGonnagal, even outside of her house, and then... If we can get Peter to confess, Remus would have to believe him. If nothing else it keeps him away from being on Dumbledore's side. Maybe."

"At least with Him we know what to expect," Harry said. "We know how to anticipate anything he may throw at us this time around. We can afford to watch everything else now," he said in agreement.

Harry nodded. "Exactly," he said and wrapped his arm around her when she sat down next to him. "I haven't either," he admitted softly and pressed a kiss to her head. "I refuse to see so many die this time around. Especially since we know so much more now compared to then."

"Having her on our side and sharing what we know with her could help us grab Peter," he admitted after some consideration. "Then we wouldn't have to sneak in and grab him," which was admittedly where his mind was going. He simply wasn't sure how much she'd believe them, especially if they weren't in her house after the sorting later that evening.

"We'll have to start as soon as we can to form that study group and form friendships with our classmates."

He's not wrong. They need McGonagal on their side, and they need to get some of the other students on their side. Even with all of the knowledge they have now, they know they can't do this on their own and it's going to go take a lot.

She just wishes she felt better about the surety of having all they're going to need to do this.

-----

"Mister Potter. Miss Granger. How can I help you?"

Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk, working on scrolls. She settles her glasses as she sets down the quill.

Harry shared a look with Hermione before walking closer to Professor McGonagall's desk and taking a seat in one of the chairs. "Professor, thank you for agreeing to speak with us," he started.

He scanned the room quickly, knowing they'd need to be sure there weren't any listening devices. He trusted her but he didn't put it past Dumbledore to listen in on his professors.

"Forgive us, Professor but are we safe to speak freely," he hedged, knowing as it stood, they shouldn't be aware of... well all the things they knew about the school and magic. They could run the same spell they used in the carriage but he didn't dare do it yet.

Professor McGonnagall frowns slightly at that question, glancing at the door and then lifting her wand. There's a shimmer of magic and then she gives a nod.

"It's only us then, but what has you so worried, Mr Potter?" She glances to Hermione, arching a brow.

"Professor, if we told you there had been an enchantment on us, would you be able to sense it?"

She nods. "Though it's not common for test for such thing on students. Especially first years."

Harry watched as she sealed off the room and relaxed a little bit in the chair. "Thank you, Professor," he said and glanced at Hermione before returning his attention back to McGonagall.

"We understand. Professor, we'd like for you to test us, please," Harry said, hoping that she'd be able to sense it despite how much time had past since arriving. Their upcoming months... hell, school years truly could be a lot easier if they had her support and she believed them. First, they had to prove it to her. Somehow.

Edited 2020-10-11 23:18 (UTC)

McGonagall looked between the students as she straightened in her seat. Drawing up her wand, she considers her spell and then casts a charm over the two students.

She blinks, head canting. Not a single word though as her ward moves once more, and the spell falls over them. She rises from her seat, moving around to Harry. She takes his chin in her hand and stares into his eyes.

"What manner of madness is this? Who cast such a thing? What is going on here?"

Harry stared into her eyes, not flinching away. "It's a long story. How much time do you have," he asked, knowing her time was precious. Especially considering the Weasley twins and the youngest menace who, from what he could tell, wasn't doing any better than he had the first go around. Worse, actually since he didn't have himself or Hermione around.

"This is where it's very important to know if there are any portraits who may be listening." He had become rather paranoid over the years but considering what they'd gone through, he felt it was justified.

McGonaggal glances around, wand in hand and giving a quick symbol. There was a pop and a woosh as the air around them nearly solidifies.

"Nothing but the three of us now, Mr Potter. There is a charm that seems to be like a time turner. I can't detect that, but something major is off. Try and find a way to make it quick as you can, but tell me what is going on."

Harry studied it silently before finally nodding and reached out to take Hermione's hand in his, giving it a squeeze. He didn't really care how it appeared at this point, he only hoped she'd believe them.

"You have to swear that you will not tell anyone else what we are about to tell you, Professor. As much as we respect you, my first priority is making sure we're safe." He paused and watched her closely before starting to explain the situation they found themselves in.

"Hermione and I are from the future, from 2017 in fact. We'd just found out that Ron Weasley and Molly Weasley were dosing us with some variation of a love and loyalty potion resulting in Hermione marrying Ron and myself marrying Ginny Weasley. Once we'd taken the counter potion, thanks to Hermione and her team, we confronted Ron and Ginny and found out the entire story. Within hours, we found ourselves in our eleven year old bodies again. We believe Molly Weasley had everything to do with it."

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