Fate

Chapter 41 - A New Past

It seemed to take the paper ages to fall in front of Harry, its graceful pages rippling through the air until it finally closed the short distance and landed on Harry's lap.

It took even longer for Harry to digest what exactly was written on the paper, and he decided to read it several times more just to make sure he still understood what each of the words meant.

His eyes scanned each and every headline on the jumbled and full newspaper front page, each line bringing more and more of the situation into focus, but then blurring it up again

DARK LORD DEFEATED

AUROR POTTER AND DoM* POTTER MURDERED

HARRY POTTER: THE BOY-WHO-LIVED

PETER PETTIGREW ARRESTED FOR ESPIANAGE

AUROR BLACK AWARDED ORDER OF MERLIN FIRST CLASS

Barely had he time to digest that information before Remus once again dropped another newspaper into his lap, covering the first and drawing Harry once again to its bold headlines.

CUSTODY BATTLE FOR BOY-WHO-LIVED

DEATH EATERS UNMASKED

PETTIGREW TO BE GIVEN DEMENTOR'S KISS

IS HARRY POTTER SAFE AT HOGWARTS?

The thoughts flying through his mind gave him no chance to even breathe, especially as Remus dropped one more newspaper into Harry's lap.

This time his eyes saw only one headline.

SIRIUS BLACK GRANTED CUSTODY OF BOY-WHO-LIVED

Moments, hours or days might have passed, for all Harry cared. He dared not take his eyes away from the words for fear of their disappearance as soon as he did.

Only when a hand laid gently on his shoulder, did Harry jump back into his surroundings and look up.

Dumbledore's office still looked exactly the same as Harry remembered, though he had no reason to believe that it should be changed in the least bit.

His eyes quickly found the person who was holding his shoulder and he looked up to see Sirius grinning hopefully down at him.

Not quite knowing what to say, Harry decided to follow his first instinct.

"You're free."

It was blunt and casual, but Harry felt the deep impact of those words as they reverberated through all who were standing in the room. Dumbledore and Remus both remained quiet, but Sirius let out a small chuckle.

"More than that, I apparently wasn't even convicted of anything."

Harry couldn't help but smile widely at Sirius' ecstatic expression. He turned his head towards Remus and Dumbledore.

"It changed...Something changed?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Quite right, Harry. It seems that even though my past self doubted times ability to be changed, I was proven wrong, and not for the first time."

Still grinning, Harry glanced back down at the paper on top, reading bits and pieces of the article that had so instantly caught his eye.

Ministry battle is over...

Black christened Harry Potters godfather at his birth...

Residence unknown...

Joint custody with Remus Lupin...

Harry read the words once...twice...his smile growing wider, he caught Remus' eye as the werewolf grinned back.

----

"Quit it!"

"No shoving!"

"Shh! We can't think!"

"Oh, like you'd be able to hear anyway!"

Ginny frowned at the whispers as the group of them stood outside of Dumbledore's office, attempting to see what had been wrong with Harry and why he had been taken to the Headmaster's office. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and she had escaped the hospital wing as quickly as possible (thought Hermione's chest still seemed to be giving her a bit of trouble, Ron had bandages on his arms and Ginny's ankle was wrapped) and taken off immediately to go find Harry. She had followed, if not for the fact that they had practically dragged her along, but more for the fact that she was just as clueless as Harry currently was, but no one seemed to be bothered explaining this different reality to her.

For it was certainly different, that much she knew.

As Ron and Hermione bickered over what the password was, she took the chance, turning to Luna.

"Luna, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Luna, who Ginny had noticed seemed a bit more outgoing than she remembered, smiled pleasantly. "Is it about The Department of Mysteries?"

"Yes..."

Luna nodded omnisciently. "I can tell you've been confused since we got back. Maybe the spell that hit you knocked a bit of your memory as well?"

Ginny nodded, relieved. "I just can't really remember a lot of what happened..."

"Maybe it's better for Harry to explain it to you. It was his idea anyway."

Ginny frowned. Well that was still the same. She tried again, hesitantly, trying to sound more like a confused friend than a paranoid girlfriend. "Why did we even go? I can't remember..."

Luna's eyes, if possible, got even bigger. "You must have been hit harder than we thought." She frowned and peered close. "Are you sure you don't need to go back to the hospital wing?"

"No, no, I'm just fine," Ginny said hastily, backing away from the girl's penetrating stare. "I'll talk with Harry."

After giving her one last confusing look, Luna looked away, but not before Ginny heard her say quietly, "Just don't mention you-know-who..."

Possibly more confused than when she had started asking questions, but not willing to get into another round of confusing conversations with Luna, Ginny slowly lowered herself to the ground, taking the pressure off her still swollen ankle and trying to decide exactly what she was supposed to do next.

----

"I remember," Harry started, not really looking at anyone or anything as they had all taken their seats to reflect on the moment.

Sirius looked up suddenly, confused. "What?"

Harry looked over to Sirius, deep in thought, but happy. "When my head started to hurt in the hospital wing...those were memories." He was nodding slightly, as if convincing himself. "Those were memories."

Glancing over at Remus, Sirius knew that the werewolf was thinking the same thing. They both received new memories as well, many of them being the same memories that Harry was currently remembering. He turned back to Harry who was smiling slightly, staring off into nothing.

"I remember my seventh birthday..." Harry's quiet voice filled the room. "You got me a broomstick," he turned quickly to Sirius, "and Moony," his head whipped around to look at Remus, "Remus, you got me that Quidditch poster I had always wanted...and a stash of chocolate for the times when I fell off the broom."

Everyone chuckled at that memory, no one daring, or remotely wanting to stop the young man from remembering the childhood that he had longed for since before he could remember.

"Merlin..." Harry held a hand up to his head, shaking it a bit. "This is too weird."

He looked back up at the adults, specifically at Dumbledore. "What happened? How did it change?"

Dumbledore seemed to think about it for a moment, a small grin on his face that Sirius often recognized from his own school days when Dumbledore knew something that no one else did.

"It's quite a puzzle, Harry, yes, quite a puzzle." Leaning forward, Dumbledore looked Harry directly in the eye. "And I doubt we shall ever know exactly why and what happened. Why, to do that we would have to go ask the Gitres ourselves, which is quite impossible at the moment, as the veil is currently blocked by a large piece of stone which no one quite remembers how it got there."

"The earthquake...from when we left?"

"Quite right, Harry."

"But it wasn't there last night..." Sirius saw Harry frown as he tried to remember the previous night, or, as he didn't realize it, two nights ago.

"Do you remember Lord Voldemort showing up this time, Harry?"

Harry frowned again and Sirius could tell that he was confused by his own answer of "No."

"Do you recall ever going into the Death Chamber?"

Once again, Harry looked as if he didn't understand his own answer. "No."

"Harry," Sirius interrupted and his Godson turned to him. "You were up fighting Death Eaters till the last one was finally taken into custody when the Auror's showed up. You passed out from exhaustion and slept nearly two days in the hospital wing."

Harry digested that information without so much as batting an eye. Sirius started to realize how much closer his and Harry's relationship was in this new timeline. It seemed as if Harry trusted him explicitly, simply because he knew no reason not to and, as he was starting to remember, it was what he had always done.

"The death Eaters were all captured? Even Bellatrix? Malfoy?"

"Every one of them." They all turned back to Dumbledore. "In fact, the fighting did carry over into the Death Chamber, though you did not have the opportunity to join us in that particular room. But I think that both Sirius and Remus will agree with me that the stone was indeed blocking the veil."

"So there really wasn't anything to worry about," Harry finished. "Sirius wasn't going to die last night. That was changed even before I convinced him not to chase after Bellatrix."

"But even I still don't understand," Remus said after a moment. "How did the stone get in front of the veil?"

Dumbledore smiled gently. "Well I believe I remember now the exact day it ended up there. It caused quite a ruckus for the Ministry as they tried to explain it, not as if they could explain much in that Department anyways. But I believe it was the same day that four young men came in late for an Order meeting at Hogwarts. Also the same day that my spies uncovered Voldemort's plan to go after the Potters themselves, not the Longbottoms."

Sirius and Remus both clearly remembered that day now, though it was still a bit foggy and uncertain.

"So it was when we left," Harry guessed. "Just like when we went into the future the first time, the veil was blocked behind us."

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed."

----

Ginny was getting quite annoyed by the time they finally figured out the password and didn't even feel relieved as they ascended the winding staircase. In, fact, her stomach was churning uncomfortably as they got closer and closer. It only got worse as they began hearing voices.

"But I still don't understand how," Harry's voice said. "How did this happen?"

He didn't sound upset, but there was something in his voice that was different.

He sounded confused.

Ginny was right there with him.

"And how come only we remember?" Sirius' voice questioned. "I mean I would understand if it was just me, Harry and Remus, but you and Ginny Weasley remember as well, Albus..."

It got quiet, so Ron stepped up to the door.

"Wait," Hermione whispered before Ron lifted his hand to knock. Everyone turned to her and she colored a bit. "I just, well...I think Ginny should go in first."

Everyone's gaze shifted to Ginny who frowned. "What? Why?"

"Hermione's right, Gin," Ron scowled. "I know you want to let him be for a while and all, but you're the only one he listens to when he gets like this."

Ginny could not possibly get any more confused.

"When he gets like what? And what does that mean, I'm the only one? He listens to you two more than he looks at me!" She was getting fed up with this ambiguous Alternate Universe. Her mind raced as she tried to remember what hers and Harry's relationship consisted of in her fourth year. But right as she did, her head started to hurt violently, pounding inside her skull like it was be slammed with brinks.

"Ow...ow!" She couldn't help but bring her hands up, holding her head and leaning against the wall for support.

"Gin? Ginny, what's wrong?" Ron was at her side instantly, helping to hold her upright. "You didn't get hit in the head, did you?"

"No," Ginny hissed through the pain, "No, this is something different."

Having no idea how it was happening, the pain gradually brought images and sounds into Ginny's mind. She blinked quite a few times, trying to wash them away as they overwhelmed her sight, millions flashing through in only a few moments.

And just like that, it was over.

She held her breath, careful not to exhale as she was afraid it would bring the pain back. Finally, the necessity of air forced her to and she also opened her eyes, lowering her arms and looking back at everyone.

"Ginny?" Hermione said tensely. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...yeah, sorry," Ron stepped back from her, all of them giving her concerned looks as she blinked several times, taking a few deep breaths as she looked around, her eyes not really focusing on everything. "I just...I..."

And then she remembered. And it didn't hurt.

They were friends...she and Harry....not just friends...best friends. More so than Ron and Hermione.

"Bloody hell..." She whispered.

Quickly she stepped up to Dumbledore's door, everyone else backing away at once, and without even knocking, she pushed the door open, stepping inside.

----

Harry turned quickly as the door creaked open, Ginny stepping quickly in and shutting it behind her. Harry vaugly saw the outlines of others behind the door, but was too interested in Ginny to really care. He jumped out of his seat, meeting her halfway across the room and scooping her into a hug, both of them holding each other like their lives depended on it.

No tears, no words...not even a kiss. A simple hug between best friends.

They pulled back, smiling, both too relieved to see one another alive and well that for the moment they didn't even realize how much their relationship had changed.

"You remember everything?" Harry asked.

"Well, yes," she responded hesitantly, "but something...weird, just happened to me outside the door." She frowned, trying to think. "I was just trying to remember what had happened in fifth year, and I got this bloody awful headache..."

"You've gotten new memories as well, Gin," Harry said quickly "It happened to me, too when I was in the hospital wing and trying to remember who everyone was and trying to figure out what was different. I started thinking about the past and my head started to hurt and then-"

"Then you remembered a past," Ginny finished, "but it was a new past."

Harry grinned. "It changed, Gin. We did it after all."

Harry saw Ginny trying to smile, but at the same time she was looking at him with pity. "But, Harry...your parents...they're still-"

"-Dead, I know," Harry waved the comment off, having had enough time now to come to terms with that fact and was too excited. Quickly, he placed both hands on Ginny's shoulders and turned her towards where Sirius and Remus were, having a small conversation between themselves which stopped when they saw Ginny and Harry turn to them.

"Ginny, I'd like you to meet my completely crime-free Godfather, Sirius Black, as well as my Uncle Remus."

Ginny's eyes went wide for a moment with surprise, but she recovered quickly, breaking out into a smile and, to the surprise of everyone in the room, rushed up to give Sirius a hug.

Harry had to chuckle as she pulled back, coloring a bit, both Sirius and Remus chuckling at her antics.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so-Oh Harry!" She rushed back to him, hugging him again quickly. "You have a family! You have a family, Harry!"

He couldn't find words to say as he held her tightly in his arms, his Godfather and Uncle standing by him and the memory of his parents shining through the past.

----