Turning Time (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

A New Beginning, pt. 1

Harry arrived at King’s Cross feeling unusually cheerful, more so than he had in a long time. There were no particularly horrible memories connected to this place, so he was at peace walking through the station. The air was still a little cool from the morning, and a few lazy clouds drifted through the sky. Even the people walking around seemed especially happy. Instead of walking with their heads down and looking judgmentally at his two owls, they held their heads high and regarded his birds with pleasant interest.

This time Harry knew exactly where to go and what to do. He pushed his cart along, just passing the ninth platform. He saw only a few Hogwarts students, none he could recognize, but then again it was only half past ten. Harry had wanted to come early to wait for Snape and Lily, to ensure that they would be able to be in the same compartment. 

He stopped right next to the brick wall between platforms nine and ten and leaned against it casually. He slid through into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, where a scarlet train was waiting for passengers. The station wasn’t that crowded yet, but there were still a considerable amount of people bustling about. Birds screeched, cats meowed, and luggage carts squeaked noisily. Voices rose above the collection of sounds, happy when reunited with friends, sad when family was left behind.

Harry quickly scanned the crowd but saw no sign of Severus. From what he remembered from Snape’s memories, Lily and Severus should arrive around the same time. He moved away from the entrance and waited. After only another five minutes, The Evans family appeared through the brick wall. Harry wondered vaguely how Muggles could go through the barrier. It must be that they could only go to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters if they knew of its existence, or that only Muggles who were part of a family with a magical person could enter. 

Lily spotted Harry and waved, grinning. Petunia looked at Harry with an eyebrow raised, and whispered unsubtly to her sister, no doubt about him. Lily stopped to listen, then waved him over. Harry’s grandparents (Mr. and Mrs. Evans) also stopped. 

“Jacob, these are my parents, and my big sister, Petunia!” Harry, or Jacob, smiled pleasantly at them. When he met Petunia’s eyes, she blushed and looked away looking flustered. Interesting, Harry thought in surprise. Why so flustered? Especially after how she’s treated other people with magical abilities, namely my mum and I. It was clear that she must see Jacob as attractive, or something. 

It was a lot easier to read the emotions of younger kids than those his own age, which was proving to be an advantage. 

“Nice to meet you,” Harry/Jacob said politely. Petunia was still watching him, but he pretended not notice. Lily’s parents were obviously transfixed by him, most likely because they had only met the official that visited their home to tell them about the wizarding world.

“Now, how did you two meet?”

Mr. Evans had directed the question to Lily, but Harry was a more experienced liar, so he invented, “We just talked a little bit at Diagon Alley. I saw her at the flower shop.” It wasn’t too far from the truth, but her parents seemed very protective, and he wanted it to seem like it wasn’t a big deal. If they knew Severus, and approved of Lily’s friendship with him, then maybe he wouldn’t have had to lie, but he was still a stranger. Her spending time with two strange boys was probably not as acceptable as one passerby. But they didn’t know about her friendship with the Severus…at least it didn’t seem like they did. 

Speaking of Severus—Harry glanced over and saw that he had just entered the platform. Lily seemed to notice this, also, but didn’t wave. Eileen seemed to have made a better attempt to look presentable than when Harry had last seen her, but compared to those around her she still looked hastily thrown together. Harry felt his stomach twist as he realized her long sleeves and high collar, despite the summer weather, must be concealing bruises. Severus met Harry’s eye and the corner of his mouth twitched up briefly. Harry returned the gesture, hoping the memory charm had worked, that Snape hadn’t suffered Tobias’ fury because of his actions.