Second Chance at Saving Them {Harry Potter}

Taking a Step Back

This chapter had a different title, which was what the chapter question was about, but it  didn't really fit the chapter, so I changed it.

--

Everyone turned towards Sirius, whose forehead was drenched in sweat. He was completely out of breath and had to sit on the edge of one of the couches and take several deep breaths before he was able to speak.

"I think we have a problem. I was leaving Dumbledore's office after letting him know I had come to visit, which, by the way, I've been limited to only one visit a month, but anyway, I was just leaving when Snape walked up the steps to Dumbledore's office. So naturally, I listened at the door."

Ron let out a small snort at that, before attempting to cover it with a cough, knowing the situation was serious.

"Snape started talking about some book he found on time travel that he thought might pertain to their 'project' which I can only assume means you five. I don't know how much whatever book he's talking about says about your situation, given that I'm pretty sure it's the only case of it happening, but I figured better safe than sorry."

Hermione seemed to mentally hit herself, "I knew I should have just gotten rid of that book! I thought I'd hid it well enough, but I should have known-"

Ron stepped in front of her, "Come on, deep breath Hermione," She did as he said, "Alright, now, what are you talking about?"

"Sometime last year I was in the library and I saw Snape checking out some books. I'd never seen him there before so I was suspicious and I tried to look for what books he had been looking at. It looked like he had taken the entire shelf, but there was a small book on time travel that he missed, so I hid it. I had planned to go back and take it home with me, but I had forgotten about it until just now."

"If you hid it, then how did he find it?" Harry asked, knowing Hermione knew the library better than anyone and could hide just about anything there without anyone finding it.

"Madame Pince deep sweeps the library every summer, she must spend half her summer scanning every nook and cranny for a misplaced book so she can make sure her shelves are in perfect order. She must have found it then."

No one knew quite what to say until Luna spoke up. "I think we ought to stop trying to interfere so much for now. If we start acting what age we're supposed to be, Professor Dumbledore and Snape might stop being suspicious."

Sirius was the first to agree, "Luna's right. We've  had good reason to interfere up to now, what with getting rid of the Horcruxes, but they're all gone, so let's take a step back."

No one seemed happy with this suggestion, as it meant weeks, probably months of being especially careful with everything they did and said. And they all knew that even if they did that, there was no guarantee that Dumbledore and Snape would stop investigating them. The only thing they could be sure of was that they would do their best not to give them any more clues. There were as too many variables at the moment and they needed to keep those who knew the truth to a minimum.

--

As hard as it was, the five of them managed to fall into a more normal routine for kids their apparent ages. Ginny and Luna continued talking, but kept it mostly to classes they shared, and Ginny ate with her fellow first years unless the twins decided they wanted to have a family meal. Hermione spent more time in the library, to explain her high grades while Harry and Ron opted to simply tone down the strength and accuracy of their spells. Hermione argued that it would be easier to pretend to study while the boys both remained firm that they would rather spend the day doing other things, such as Quidditch practice or wizard's chess. Ron also added that if they wanted the timeline to truly get back on track, he should stay ten feet away from the library at all times.

After a few weeks of this, it grew much easier to fake it. Luna found herself reading in the library and feeding the Thestrals much more often while Harry and Ron found themselves talking with Neville whenever Hermione was in the library. Both boys noticed instantly how much Neville had changed since their first second year. He seemed much more like the Neville that Harry had taught during the DA meetings. He was much more vocal about his love of Herbology already, and Harry and Ron were both glad that the Neville they knew talked about Herbology just as much because they were able to hold lengthy conversations about something that boosted Neville's already growing confidence.

They also noticed that this confidence spread into Potions, especially when Ron pointed out that half of Potions was knowing what certain herbs did in connection with other herbs and sometimes parts of magical creatures. This lead to a drastic change in Neville's potions, as he started thinking about the properties of all the herbs included. While this certainly made Harry glad, he couldn't help but realize that if he had talked to Neville as often as he did now, Neville's worst nightmare might not have been one of his teachers.

For Harry, the worst part of not actively doing things to change the future was that he found himself thinking about what he could do to change it much more often. Whenever he did find himself thinking about it, his thoughts drifted back to all the things that had gone wrong the last time and wondering how much had been his fault directly. To counter that, he turned his thoughts to all the things that had gone right before. But this always seemed to lead to his children and the thought that he would never see them again, at least not the way he knew them. It was an ongoing mental battle and he often found himself wishing he could turn to Ginny for support, and because he couldn't do that, he turned this turmoil into determination on the quidditch pitch.

It got to the point that even Oliver told him to rest during one practice. When he got incredulous looks from the rest of the team, he quickly covered, saying he wanted to make sure his players weren't exhausted. This only elicited muttered "Since when?"s from the twins.

It took a while, but Harry eventually got this out of his system and was able to return to his normal pace. This relieved everyone else, especially Ginny who was getting ready to step in and comfort him.

The good that came of all this was that it seemed as if Dumbledore and Snape had backed off and became less invested in finding out just what was going on, which was a relief to everyone.

--

I'm an awful person. I really am. First, I don't update for months, then I give you this super short chapter. I'm really sorry, I am. I just didn't have any inspiration and school has been tough this year. But I want to say thinks for the people who have stuck by me.

As for the contest, I've gotten 3 entries, so I've decided to extend the contest. I'm extending it to Halloween. October 31st for anyone that doesn't know. So get those entries in, and pm me!

-PH

EDIT: This chapter is inexcusably short, and I'm so sorry for that. I really tried to expand it.

~PH