Only Time Will Tell

Only Time Will Tell

By: A. Byrnes

Chapter 1 ~ A Look Back

The hottest day of the summer had come to a close and the occupants of the houses on and around Privet Drive were relieved to feel the warm air begin to cool. The streets were deserted from all people except for one lonely figure, who was sitting on a swing in the park at Magnolia Crescent. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, watched as the sun setted and darkness fell over Little Whinging.

Sitting on the only swing that Dudley and his gang hadn't been able to destroy, Harry thought about his last week of school and all the events that led to that moment in the park. It had only been one week since the leaving feast and he could still remember everything as clearly as if it had only happened yesterday.

He remembered the vision of Sirius being tortured that he received from Lord Voldemort during his History of Magic exam. He remembered how Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville helped him make a diversion to distract Umbridge and Filch, so he could use the fireplace in Umbridge's office to contact Sirius to see if he was all right and Kreacher telling him Sirius had left the house. He was caught by Umbridge and he, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were held captive in her office by Malfoy and the Inquisitorial Squad.

When they escaped from them, they rode a bunch of thestrals to the Ministry of Magic and went to the Department of Mysteries to try and save Sirius, which turned out to be a trap. Sirius hadn't really been kidnapped and when he reached the room with the prophecies and picked up the prophecy that was labeled 'S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter,' Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters including Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, were there waiting for him. Then a battle emerged when Harry refused to give them the prophecy. Harry secretly gave the prophecy to Neville while they were away from the Death Eaters, however he accidentally dropped it and with the loud chaos of the battle, no one heard what the prophecy said.

A while later Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix arrived including Remus and Sirius. During the battle between the Order and the Death Eaters, the worst thing ever happened. Sirius was dueling Bellatrix Lestrange, who was also his cousin, and him with a curse that had knocked him over and he fell backwards into the Veil where he vanished and died. Harry felt his heartbreaking into a million pieces while watched this scene over and over again in his mind.

He remembered how he tried to go after Sirius but was held back by Remus. He could still hear Remus say "There's nothing you can do Harry... it's too late... he's dead." He remembered how angry he was and how he went after Bellatrix. He followed her into the Atrium and had a confrontation with her. He remembered how he threw the Cruciatus Curse at her even though it wasn't very powerful. He knew it wasn't very effective because she began to laugh at him when he took the curse off of her. He remembered how she tried the Accio Charm on him repeatedly because she thought he had the prophecy, even though he told her he didn't have it and that Neville broke it.

Then she started saying "Master, forgive me I tried." Harry told her that Voldemort couldn't hear her, however what he didn't realize was that he was standing right behind him. Dumbledore had arrived seconds later and began to duel with Voldemort. Dumbledore had charmed one of the statues to protect Harry, but that gave no protection to Harry because Voldemort had possessed him. He could still feel the pain he had endured when Voldemort possessed him. He could still hear Voldemort's voice come out of his own mouth telling Dumbledore to kill him and Harry. However, the love that flowed through Harry's veins given to him by his mother when she sacrificed herself, had fought Voldemort out of Harry's body.

By the time that happened, the minister of magic showed up and had seen Voldemort in the Atrium. Cornelius Fudge, who for the past year claimed that Dumbledore and Harry were attention seeking liars and that they were crazy because they claimed that Voldemort had returned, saw with his own eyes that Voldemort had in fact risen again and that Dumbledore and Harry were not crazy. When Voldemort vanished, Fudge asked what had happened, but Dumbledore said he will answer any questions he had once he sent Harry back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore made a portkey and sent Harry back to Hogwarts.

When Harry landed, he ended up in Dumbledore's office. He remembered how angry he was when he couldn't leave the Headmaster's study because the door was magically locked, so he had to stand there and wait for Dumbledore to arrive. When Dumbledore arrived, Harry was so upset that he trashed Dumbledore's office. When he had finally calmed down a bit, Dumbledore told him about the prophecy. He took out his pensive and showed the memory to Harry. He could still hear Trelawny's voice say " THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES. . . . BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES. . . . AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT. . . . AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES. . . . THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES. . . ." Harry felt like that world was on his shoulders and it felt quite heavy.

He remembered getting off the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross station and Mrs. Weasley hugging him and telling him that she will get him out of the muggles house and back with his real family soon. After the warning Moody had given to the Dursleys, the Dursleys hadn't bothered Harry with anything at all. Surprisingly enough, Aunt Petunia seemed to be acting nicely towards him, whether it was because of the warning or the fact that Harry saved Dudley last summer, Harry didn't know. He kept his subscription to the Daily Prophet. There were little attacks on muggles but nothing to extreme. Mrs. Figg told him that Voldemort could possibly be hurt from the battle at the ministry and is just recovering from it.

He received mail from Ron, Hermione, and Remus every other day. But the letters bore the same messages 'How are you?' or ' Are the muggles treating you well?' He knew that they didn't want to make him upset over the subject of Sirius' death. His replies were always 'I'm fine.' even though he wasn't fine. He was depressed. He lost the closest thing he had to a father. He felt the tears fight their way up over his eyes and this time he didn't try to stop them from falling. Once the tears started to fall from his eyes, he began to sob. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He knew the Order were still watching over him so he wasn't surprised that he was being followed. He was, however, surprised to see Remus Lupin materialize out of no where in front of him.

TBC