It's Christmas Time Again: A Time-Traveling TMS Holiday Extravaganza

Christmas Holiday, 2012 (Part Four)

"What do you mean you still haven't been able to fix it?" I asked, incredulous. "It's either been fixed or it hasn't- it's in the past, yeah?" My brain was spinning nearly as fast as my fingers were flying over the tamagotchi buttons.

Dierks Bell had dropped bombshells on my brain, it felt like, in rapid fire. So much stuff at once that I could barely get my mind to wrap about it, to comprehend it properly. I swore to myself in that in that instant to never do that to anyone else.

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Transcript of Text Message sent between H G Martin & Declan Alectric during the dictation of this paragraph:

H G Martin: UMMMMM deccy?????

H G Martin: can we talk???

Declan Alectric: Yes ✨darling✨?

H G Martin: "I swore to myself in that instant to never do that to anyone else."???????

H G Martin: You're "never going to do that to someone else"??? Really??? Mr. Knocks on my door at 7:30 AM then shows up at my work? You who info dumps like it's an Olympic sport and drags me back in time over a cup of coffee on my lunch break?

Declan Alectric: WHAT? I was WAY more delicate about it than Dierks was.

H G Martin: You were about as delicate as an iron mallet to the head, my dude.

Declan Alectric: now who's being ✨dramatic✨?? 🧐🙄🫵🏻

H G Martin: You're such a pain in the ass Declan. You and your✨ EMOJIS✨

Declan Alectric: 😘💋🍑

H G Martin: you wish

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"Well," Dierks said, "I assume that somewhere in time Ottalie and Alphard are still working to try at fixing it. I hope at least. I came to the now expecting to find it fixed already. But instead, I've found you."

I stared at Dierks with a raised eyebrow. "Is that... bad?"

"Well no, not inherently. But the things we were fixing still happened. The people we were trying to save are all still dead, and it still fell to Harry to fight Voldemort. Everything is still broken. The blood of Calchus lives on... somehow."

"Well... how - how did things get so mixed up from that one meeting onward? What needs fixing?" I asked... and I started to hope, started to see a smidgeon of what I hoped might have to be changed.

Who was dead they were trying to save besides James Potter?

Could my parents possibly be among the people who would be alive if things had been turned right?

My palms moistened with the rise of nervous hope.

"The plan was simple. Take the time turners, travel to London, to a place a couple blocks from the location of the meeting, and turn our dials back three days. We'd stop the meeting by sealing the doors and contacting aurors to the location before hand, guaranteeing they caught Riddle and as many of his close knit followers as possible upon their arrival for the rally. We'd make our way back to the castle, simply living out the time until we'd left our present and return to the hospital wing, where Alphard would be waiting with news of our success. It seemed incredibly easy, and there didn't seem to be any possibility of a negative result from any of what we planned to alter. If Riddle was captured by the aurors, if this rally was stopped, then there would be no uprising, no murders, no dark lord."

I nodded slowly. It didn't sound too complicated - though I could see where a lot could have gone wrong...

"We made it to London just fine, a couple days after the New Year. But when we turned time, I found myself there in London three days past alone."