The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

PROLOGUE

Albus Dumbledore's cerulean eyes moved slowly from left to right and back to left, watching as the boy in front of him paced.

"You- You said you'd keep her safe..."

"And she is safe," Dumbledore answers kindly. "All I am asking of you is to have faith, not in me, but in Margaret."

The boy shook his head wildly, dark curls flying everywhere.

"She's reckless! She's always been reckless! You said she would be safe. Almost falling into that damn Veil is not safe!"

"I am aware that her way of saving Sirius was risky. Though effective, it caused a lot more damage to her," Dumbledore says calmly, sadness swirling in the depths of blue. "Alas, it is the present we must focus on. Both Margaret and Sirius are alive and recovered from the unfortunate events of that night-"

"You've told me a thousand times not to mess with time," the boy grits out dangerously, swamp-green eyes briefly flashing silver. "But you let her save Sirius Black."

"Most unfortunately, Black needed saving," Servers Snape hisses with every bit of contempt. "And Miss Xenakis's hero factor rivals even that of Mister Potter's."

"That makes no difference! You let her save Sirius! I could have saved Cedric Diggory!"

"Keep your voice down," Snape snarls.

The boy shouts even louder, "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!"

"Severus, why don't you leave us to chat?" Dumbledore offers. He did not look up at Snape and instead stared critically at his entwined fingers.

Snape's eye twitched. Then without a word, he swept to the door, wrenched it open and disappeared beyond it.

For a moment, all remained silent and still. Even Fawkes the Phoenix did not move. Then, Dumbledore sighed.

"I never meant for this to happen," he begins solemnly. "I never meant to keep you both apart for so long..."

"Then let me see her," he pleads, a single tear trailing down his cheek. "Let me be there for her- I- I can't take it any longer! I can help! I can help her change the future... I can help-" he choked back a sob "-from the... other side..."

If there was anyone in the world who understood his anguish, it was Dumbledore. The old wizard knew every bit of the pain he was going through for he had been through it himself.

"Take a seat," Dumbledore tells him softly, gesturing at the chair.

The boy shook his head, clutching his left arm so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"Please... take a seat," Dumbledore repeats, glancing at him worriedly.

His swamp green eyes were wide and he was trembling with each short breath he took. He leaned on one of the spindle tables, his knees nearly giving away as he buried his shaking hands in his hair and tugged at the locks to feel pain somewhere other than the one twisting mercilessly in his heart.

"I- I need to see her. I need to see that she's okay," he breathes. The sudden panic at the thought that she could have died that night made his chest constrict, tears blurring his vision.

"I believe she will be boarding the Hogwarts Express soon," Dumbledore tells him slowly.

"You're going to say no," he grits out, already knowing. He had heard this answer for a year now, and he was tired of it. Tired of waiting, tired of hoping, tired of lying.