A Twist In Time - A Harry Potter Next Gen Fanfiction

Nine.

"And just how do we get home?" James asked.

"We hope to Merlin that your mother finds my note and remains calm long enough to follow the instructions I left her." Harry said matter of factly.

"So we're stuck here for at least another week then." James rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest.

"Let's not forget, it's your fault we ended up here in the first place." Albus glared at James.

"No, it's Lily's fault!" James argued.

"Is not! You shouldn't have stolen Dad's bag in the first place!" Albus retorted.

"Boys!" Harry said sternly.

Harry flinched at his future self's commanding voice. Clearly, his confidence had grown over the years.

"Well it is his fault!" Albus exclaimed, pointing at James. "If he hadn't stolen your bag and took the time turner, Lily wouldn't have knocked it out his hand and broke it!"

"That's very true, and I'll be dealing with James, but right now isn't the time to be arguing about who's to blame." Harry said calmly.

James shrunk in his seat. He was used to hearing his mother yell at him, but he hated when he was punished by his father.

"I'm sorry, Dad." James said quietly.

"It's not me you want to be apologising to, son." Harry said seriously. "Just wait until your mother gets hold of you."

James sank even further into his seat. Having one parent scold him was bad enough, but two was just downright awful for James. Especially when he'd done something as serious as this. Right now, James actually hoped his mother took a few days to get here.

"This is just weird." Ron muttered. His ears went bright red as he realised he'd said it out loud.

"How do you think poor Harry feels, watching himself be a parent!" Sirius chuckled.

Both Harry's blushed at Sirius' comment.

"Well, I suppose it's time for me to answer your questions." Harry said, lowering Lily to the floor and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I have one." Said Sirius eagerly.

"Go on." Harry said cautiously.

"What made you decide to give Albus that ridiculous middle name?" Sirius exclaimed. "No offence, Al."

"None taken." Albus mumbled.

"Well?" Sirius looked at Harry with an accusing stare.

"Al's name came from a man who saved my life for years without me even knowing about it." Harry said without hesitation.

"Snape saved your life?" Sirius asked, not quite believing Harry.

"Yes. He risked his own life many times and had to face some really difficult situations in order to help me defeat Voldemort." Harry said.

"Like what?" Harry asked. Harry looked at him, debating whether to tell him.

"Look, I'm not going into detail." Harry kept his eyes on his younger self as he spoke. "But trust me. Snape might feel like the enemy right now, but he's not. He will even do something next year that makes you think he's been on the other side the whole time, but it's all part of Dumbledore's plan."

"That's not helpful at all." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Maybe not. But my son is named after a hero." Harry said.

No one seemed to dare question Harry any further on Albus' name. Even though Sirius still wasn't happy about it, he remained quiet on the subject.

"Can you tell us how you defeat You-Know-Who?" Hermione asked gingerly.

"A lot of sacrifices, a lot of tough challenges, and an awful lot of help from you and Ron." Harry smiled.

"Quite the vague storyteller, aren't you, Harry?" Remus smirked.

Harry nodded his head. "I have to be careful what I tell you. Who knows what we're messing up just by being here."

The questions about the future continued, and Harry answered them all as well as he could. After an hour, Mrs Weasley suggested a break and scurried off into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Various other people started to drift away from the table and dispersed around the house. Soon, the only ones left were the two Harry's and Ginny. Apparently, they'd had some sort of silent agreement to ask the same question.

Harry took the opportunity to take a seat. Harry and Ginny glanced awkwardly at each other.

"I know this must be really weird for you both." Harry smiled.

"Just a bit." Ginny nodded.

"Is there anything you guys wanted to ask? I noticed you were quiet back there." Harry asked, settling in his seat.

"Well, actually, yes, there is." Ginny said.

"Go ahead."

"Well, we were talking to Vicky earlier this morning, and she mentioned something about Lily being born early. She said that's why everyone is so protective over her." Ginny said.

Harry sighed and rubbed his neck again. "Yeah, that was quite a rough time for us."

"Would you mind telling us what happened?" Ginny asked, feeling braver. "It's just that, when she told us, we both got this weird feeling. Like we needed to be protect Lily, you know?."

"Parental instinct." Harry smiled. He looked over at Harry. "It's strong, isn't it?"

Harry nodded.

"It never goes away. It only gets stronger." Harry told them.

"So, what happened to Lily?" Harry asked.

"Before I tell you, I should probably warn you that this story involves something bad happening to you too." Harry said, looking at Ginny.

Ginny nodded for him to continue despite feeling more anxious.

"Well, I assume you know what I do for a living?"

"You're head Auror, right?" Ginny said.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Well, when.. you.. were six and a half months pregnant, there was an incident at work that escalated. Some really bad wizards wanted to hurt me for taking down their crime organisation. Most of them were caught and put in Azkaban. One, however, slipped through the cracks and managed to get away. It haunted me for weeks. I was working nonstop to find him, but nothing. Until one night, when he broke into my house."

"What happened?" Ginny asked nervously. "Did he attack you?"

Harry shook his head slowly. "No, he didn't attack me. He did something worse than that. He attacked Ginny. You.. Well, future you.. Was tortured under the crutiatus curse."

Ginny's eyes went wide, and she felt Harry hold her hand under the table.

"I wasn't quick enough, and I paid greatly for that mistake. Lily was born four hours later. At first, we didn't think either of you were going to make it. It was a really hard time for me. But, you recovered shortly after. Then we didn't think Lily was going to make it. But she's very much her mother's daughter. She's a fighter." Harry smiled fondly.

"She's a wonderful little girl." Ginny smiled softly.

"She is." Harry nodded. "They're all great in their own way."

Harry looked as though he wanted to say something, but he was suddenly silenced by a voice more terrifying than he'd ever heard before.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER YOU ABSOLUTE ARSE!"

"Shit." Harry whispered.