Work Text:
Before, Or an Old After
The three of them stared for too long. All the details, burned into their memory, bla bla angsty stuff.
A few scenes later, they were finished doing vague work on what the writer needs to happen to set the story up.
The three nodded to themselves, and with a sigh, Harry looked at the others, and said, "see you back in first year."
After, Or A New Before
Ron
He sat back, staring at the desk before him, and the letter upon it. He glanced over at the array of instruments, then at the portraits, and hummed to himself, thoughtfully daring himself to speak it, but holding back from doing so just in case someone was to actually hear him.
Then he looked up at Fawkes, on the perch that Dumbledore had long before placed, except, not so long before than before.
Then back at the mirror he had conjured and placed on the desk, next to the letter.
"Bugger." He spoke, and heard not his own voice.
In the background, he heard as the portraits, of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts, whispered about what had gotten to Dumbledore recently. Ron just sighed and wondered just how they bungled things so badly that he at least, didn't end up in his young body, but in the body of Dumbledore.
At least it was the right time period.... though off by just under a decade.
A decade.
He looked at the instruments, knowledge from his host filtering in. Danger was absent. No injuries, but young harry potter was not happy, very hungry, very thirsty and... needs a wipe? oh. He's still a toddler that isn't potty-trained.
He honestly wasn't sure what to do... Recovery from the (first) downfall of Voldemort was ongoing, and... oh, the trial of Lucius Malfoy was coming up, and he really wanted to make sure the man didn't bribe his way out this time (and perhaps be his first plan for getting Sirius out of jail, depending). Aside from that.... no clue. No idea what so bloody ever, as to where to go aside from rely on the memories and knowledge of Dumbledore that were, he was grateful for, accessible with a little bit of thought, in order to, well, be the 'Chief Warlock', 'Head Mugwump' as well as Headmaster of Hogwarts.
In other words, Ron was in way over his head, but atleast he had Dumbledores' head to do it with.
Fawkes perked up, and sang something. He wasn't sure its meaning, but there was a note of... amusement.
"You know, don't you."
Fawkes snorted in laughter, then disappeared for a bit in a flash of flame.
"Bloody bird."
Hermione
Two weeks. Two weeks, she'd been here, struggling with and relying on her hosts' memories of how to be mother. This was... unexpected. Also, really damn disturbing. And she had no clue how it could have succeeded yet failed at the same time. The babe - toddler, really, given the age - in her arms was still fussy, but at least dealing with this alone was... actually, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the situation.
They had missed the time target by almost a decade. It was the summer period, Hogwarts was no longer in session. both Ron and Harry would be two, and Harry was nine months into his decade-long stint in, as the three of them at various points had called it, 'durszkaban.' Though, for herself, only mentally. If she had it right, Ginny was just a year old, The twins were four, Percy six, Charlie 11 and about to start Hogwarts, and Bill fourteen. Her younger self was soon to turn three.
And here she was, in the wrong body, of a woman who is a mother. Married... to 'the wrong sort'.
She had absolutely no idea how to handle it. Given that her host body was that of Narcissa Malfoy. At least the memories she'd accidentally triggered showed that Lucius was not around, on account of having been arrested and charged for being a terrorist... and was awaiting trial in Azkaban.
She didn't know whether to laugh at that, or wonder if this was a slightly different history because there had been no record of such when she'd done her research on/for Sirius in third year... though she wouldn't put it past Lucius and Narcissa to have modified the records in that timeline.
And.. well.. she was not going to sleep with Lucius.
The toddler in her arms quieted down as young Draco fell asleep from the rocking of the arms, and Hermione couldn't help a little bit of her vindictive side wonder were a camera was.
God she hoped she could get out of this situation and soon...
Harry
He had counted every sunrise and sunset, and gotten to two weeks, before he was dragged from the cell.
He was allowed access to muggle methods to clean up for the hearing. trial.
That wasn't his first indication, but rather just confirmation that he was indeed in the body of one Lucius Malfoy. And not the well-kept Lucius he had first met in the summer between first and second year of hogwarts.
He got the date, and wasn't that surprised. He'd known from his hosts' memories, that Lucius had been arrested before the halloween, but trial -due to everything he'd done as a member of the inner circle - had been delayed significantly, compared to, well, everyone else.
He was not surprised that Lucius time at Azkaban, for that had been where he'd been, was in the more-patrolled section. It had taken him almost everything to wandlessly summon the mist of a patronus around himself, almost like a shield.
He just wished it had been in the same section as Sirius.
At the trial, he witnessed something that Lucius' memories had revealed to have never happened before... Narcissa - 'Oh god I'm married to Draco's Mum' was the thought that hit him a few times in various tones - was nervous, with hidden fearfull looks at him, then around him.
Dumbledore was also not nearly as guarded as he'd have expected, witnessing the chief warlock look upon him with barely hidden hatred was... well... hard.
Then came the veritaserum... which as the doseage was applied, he wondered about since, Lucius did not know how to defeat it, therefore how did Lucius get free in the other timeline?
"Are you Lucius Abraxas Malfoy?"
"No"
He was in a sudden panic... but... as fast as he could, added, "That is not my middle name."
It was true...
Honestly, he had no idea if Lucius even had a middle name... and on cue the hosts' memories revealed the truth to him - Lucius didn't, though the death eater had used one - Abraxas- a few times as a sort of tradition inherited from Abraxas Malfoy.
Luckily... they didn't ask what his name actually was.
There was a sudden hush in the gallery. Dumbledore appeared confused... as did Narcissa.
"Do you bear the mark of V-" The man asking the questions seemed to hesitate, unable to say the name.
He answered anyway. "I do."
"So you are a Death Eater." It was not asked as a question... but he heard it as, due to the potion.
And as the potion compelled truth. And as it pertained to himself... "No."
The questions came. Worded just enough that answering as Harry didn't mean revealing he was not Lucius. "no." "no. "Yes." "I was." "no." "Twelve." "Imperius is not the only method of mind control." "No. "I am unaware of how Voldemort was able to manipulate me." Among, well, a lot more than that.
By end of the trial, he'd somehow - somehow - convinced all but Dumbledore (and Narcissa, who just seemed more confused than anything) that he hadn't been imperius'd as he actually is strong enough in will to remove it, that Voldemort had tried it but must have resorted to other means to gain control, that perhaps it had been his family's political and economic positions and aspirations as to why he'd go to such lengths...
By the end, he was wrung out, from trying to make sure not to accidentally out himself, whilst still feeling the effects of the Dementors.
But, a not-guilty verdict was reached, and he was released into the 'custody' of his wife, who was looking at him with barely contained revulsion.
Revulsion and disgust that changed when he idly commented that those questions revealed that he hadn't actually believed the rhetoric... and was perhaps only giving the ideology 'lip service', and then her response was that she had been having similar thoughts... and hastily added about how Voldemort had basically caused the loss of so many pureblood families anyway, that to survive Magical society will need the influx of 'new blood' from muggleborns more than ever.
He was tired beyond anything he had known except the night of a hundred dementors... and just huffed and said 'I need sleep, I haven't felt this bad since I encountered those hundred dementors in my third year."
"... HARRY?!
"What?"
"... What?"
They stared, then Harry asked, in muted horror, amusement and amazement, "Hermione?"
"Harry... you're.. and I'm... OH fuck me."
He was tired. That was his excuse for what he replied with. "Maybe tomorrow, tonight I just need some sleep and would appreciate the company."
Hermione sighed as Dumbledore - or rather, Ron - made the old headmaster look like he was having a fit, from the roar of laughter that had been going non-stop since realising everything else on top of what she had revealed.
Harry, as Lucius, had been making strides in 'rehabing' the Malfoy name, whilst she had... gotten to grips with being a mother. Harry had found that funny but helped a little. Mainly, he was having more trouble getting used to being married to Hermione, technically. from the point of view of taking on the legal identities of their hosts.
Ron was also laughing that the reason why Harry and Ron now knew the other was their 'best mate', happened to now show Hermione's last name as not being 'granger' for that same reason, though not 'malfoy'.
Harry merely looked between the remade Mauraders map and his 'wife' with amusement, hope and other emotions.
A few hours ago, Harry, as Lucius, had arrived at Hogwarts as he had taken on a position with the board of governors. He had been trying to not react, but dumbldore, or rather, Ron trying to be Dumbledore, was failing at hiding his own feelings. The concern then when, during the meeting, the instruments that they both knew were tuned to Harry indicated harm had just occured to the younger local counterpart, well, that got them both concerned enough for Harry to offer to 'join in' in case one needed to care for 'young potter', and of course, he'd slipped because Ron-as-Dumbledore, hadn't revealed it had been tuned to Harry... then intentionally did so when told 'but you dont know where he is', with 'number four privet drive'.
He'd firecalled Hermione, to ask her to come with and she'd just chuckled at them, arrived at the house...
And now, here they were, young Harry in the care of Madame Pomphrey in the hospital wing, and Hermione, who had been 'watching' on her remade versionof the map, revealed that she had known and wanted to firecall the headmaster to 'say hello' since seeing 'Harry Potter' meeting with 'Ron Weasley' with no 'Dumbledore' in sight of the office, or in the school. And then looked at it again to show them once she had, after rescuing the younger harry, revealed to Ron, and seen her own name as 'Hermione Potter'... right alongside 'unborn Potter'