Harriet Potter 1

Twists and turns

When Snape opened his door Harriet was almost completely unintelligible "He's gone. Sirius is dead and it's all my fault."

Tears streamed endlessly from her emerald eyes as Snape pulled her against his chest, stifling her howls of pain.

"It's all my fault" she repeated "if I hadn't gone to the ministry he would still be alive."

After a lifetime of blaming himself, Severus knew that it would be futile to tell her otherwise. That it would just make her feel lied to. The thought of Harriet living with that burden weighed heavily on him.

He didn't tell her it was okay, or that she wasn't to blame. He knew her too well for that. "Tell me about him."

Harriet's sobs slowed as she considered his request. "He was the best God-daddy I could ever have asked for" she hiccupped.

Snape did not let his surprise at the unusual endearment show on his face as he continued to stroke her back.

Harriet talked about Sirius for hours, her love for the man, his childhood nemesis, bleeding through her words.

When she eventually left to return to the Gryffindor common room, an unexpected ache yawned in his chest. He would do anything to take away her pain, her feelings of guilt, anything.

If only he had been there, at the ministry fight, he could have- but perhaps he could.

Taking a seat on his bed, Snape opened his bedside drawer before retrieving a golden necklace from its depths. 

"Don't do it" a dark voice snarled.

Snape glanced up to see a dark figure who had not been there a moment before, standing in his bedroom doorway, dirty, bleeding, and hunched over in pain.

Snape took in the figure with interest, noting the figure's blurred edges. He flicked his wand at the figure who hissed in irritation.

"I'm not an apparition you imbecile, can't you see I'm bleeding?"

"Then why" Snape asked calmly "are you flickering?"

The figure pulled a time turner from the front of his robes, raising it to the light. Half of the golden grains within it had turned black. "That's why I'm here, to warn you. You damaged it" the figure accused. "It's unstable now."

Snape frowned before ill-naturedly flicking his wand at the figure again. "Episky."

He examined the damaged time turner with a scowl. "It rather sounds to me as though You are the one that damaged it."

The figure narrowed his eyes "In case it has slipped your notice, we are the same person."

"And yet" Snape replied silkily "only one of us is currently holding an undamaged time turner, and it certainly isn't you."

Snape's future self pinched the bridge of his nose in apparent irritation. "I don't have time for this. It could stop working at any moment. when you save Black from that veil-"

"So you succeeded then?" He asked quietly.

"Black is alive, but the cost-" his future self once more flickered out momentarily. "-need the time turner undamaged for the war. Too much relies on it."

"But Harriet-"

The face of his future self darkened. "Our affection for Harriet is only putting her into more danger. She would be safer if-" and the figure flickered out of being again.

After waiting a few moments, Snape realised that he would not return.

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Snape paused a moment outside the door to Dumbledore's office. It was a terrible idea and had the potential to destroy everything. Then the image of Harriet's tear stained face rose unbidden to his mind and his heart sank. There was nothing for it, it had to be done.

Severus knocked once sharply before entering the headmaster's office.

Snape grimaced. If all went according to plan, Dumbledore would have no recollection of this conversation. All the same, he would need to inform the headmaster, just in case.

He spoke without preamble as he strode to Dumbledore's desk "I'm going back to the fight at the ministry."

Dumbledore shook his head sagely "Severus, you mustn't. Terrible things happen to wizards that meddle with time."

"Is that why you sent Potter and Granger to do it instead of yourself a couple of years ago?" Snape replied irritably. Merlin, he was starting to sound like Harriet.

Unsurprisingly, Dumbledore ignored this jab. "Severus, I am sorry but I simply cannot allow it, the risk is too high-"

Snape cut Dumbledore off before he could complete his sentence, "frankly, Albus, I don't give a damn."

Dumbledore's brows creased "but Severus, what are you planning to do?"

Snape took out the golden necklace from beneath his robes and started to twist its hourglass shaped pendant.

"I'm going to save Harriet's God-daddy."

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