Chapter Text
There must have been something on the floor, because suddenly Harry’s feet went out from under him and he landed hard on his wrists, his books spilling everywhere.
“Ow,” he said, and glanced up, expecting to see Tom looking down with his usual amused condescension.
“Hello, Harry,” said the smiling old man. “I’m Professor Dumbledore.”
“What?” Harry said. “No, you’re not, you’re…”
His twinkling blue eyes and glasses were exactly the same. Harry felt like his stomach had suddenly disappeared.
“You’re from the future,” he said.
“Quite so, Harry,” Dumbledore said.
He glanced around, stunned and cautious. He saw that he had fallen in the center of a circle traced in—ink? blood? all about him, with many runes and alchemical symbols building up the edges of the circle.
Harry got to his feet and picked up his books slowly. When he looked back up, Dumbledore was eyeing his tie with something like surprise.
“A Slytherin!” he said. “Unexpected for someone of your temperament, but admirable nonetheless. I was a Gryffindor myself.”
“What am I doing here?”
It was slowly dawning on Harry that he’d never expected to return. Everyone he was used to—the school he loved, too—were all in the past. Tom would be an old man in this time.
“We’ve been working hard to retrieve you from where the Death Eaters sent you,” Dumbledore said gently. “The Death Eaters would be the servants of Voldemort, the evil wizard who is responsible for your parents’ deaths.”
So that was how it had happened.
“I see,” Harry said slowly. A feeling of dread was rising up in the corners of his mind. “And…you’ll be keeping me here?”
Dumbledore sighed. “I’m afraid that it isn’t possible at this point. I’ve been hard at work since September to bring you back where you will be safest from all the wizards who would seek to hurt you, you see, but we haven’t yet found something that will allow you to stay here permanently. As long as you stay inside that circle, you will be here with us, but I’m sorry to say that you’ll likely have to return for now.”
“Oh.” Harry was relieved, surprisingly so.
“Do you mind if I ask, however…” Dumbledore began delicately.
“No, go ahead,” he said quickly.
“What year have you found yourself in?”
That was a simple enough question. “Nineteen thirty-nine.”
Dumbledore’s face grew pale and taught. “Listen to me, Harry,” he said quickly. “You must know—you are in grave danger.”
“Harry?”
“There is a boy in Hogwarts…” Dumbledore said, but his voice had begun to waver and the room was spinning. Harry’s stomach turned over, and he bent in two. “…your year…”
“Harry!”
Familiar hands caught him as he fell to his knees, retching, the familiar stone floor of the corridor beneath his hands.
“You vanished,” Tom said. “What happened? Where did you go?” He sounded almost angry.
Harry coughed and wiped his mouth. Tom made a disgusted face.
“I was in the future for a minute,” he said. “I’m—I’m sorry,” he added, indicating the mess.
“The future?” Tom was paler than normal. “What was happening?”
“Professor Dumbledore was there, only a lot older,” Harry said, tremors creeping up his limbs, leaving him shaking in the grip Tom still had on his back.
“I’m taking you to the Infirmary,” Tom said decisively, and pulled Harry to his feet. “Come on, we can send someone else to deal with this.” He led Harry carefully down the hallway. The world was spinning around him now, much like it had in Dumbledore’s office, and the dizziness that crept into his mind made his stomach lurch again. He must have made a noise, because he was being lowered to the floor, something soft draped over him. Someone far off was saying something, but his ears didn’t seem to quite be working right.
His mind fell in and out of darkness for a while. He thought he felt the sensation of movement for a bit, the sound of voices nearby. Someone was prodding at him for a while, poking him with needle-sharp pain all up his sides and the feeling grew stronger and stronger until suddenly it was gone entirely.
He opened his eyes to find himself in the Hospital Wing. The fearsome matron was bending over him, holding her wand like a knife.
“You’re awake finally,” she said. “It’s a good thing Mr. Riddle’s such a good friend to you, boy. Drink this.”
Harry choked down the disgusting concoction without complaint. He’d heard horror stories of all sorts about Madam Spinks. After a moment of spluttering, he registered that the blanket covering him was actually Tom’s cloak. He pulled it closer around him, still shaking with the magical aftershocks of the brief time travel.
“You’re to remain here until Professors Merrythought and Dumbledore can come examine you,” she said curtly. “If you feel like eating anything, food will be provided at lunchtime on your bedside.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry said, and sank back onto his pillow when she had left him. Someone, presumably Tom, had set his bag down beside the bed, and Harry hauled out his Transfigurations textbook with a groan. If he had to spend his day in bed, he might as well study in the meantime.
At lunch Tom showed up briefly with a roll of parchment. "Here’s everything you missed this morning,” he said, dumping the paper into Harry’s lap. “Slughorn said to tell you he hopes you improve soon.”
“Does he,” Harry said.
“Yes.” Tom reclaimed his cloak. “Are you feeling better?”
“A lot,” Harry confirmed. “I’m not nauseous at all anymore, and I haven’t popped back into the future or anything.” He paused before confessing the truth. “I don’t want to go back, I don’t think. I like it here.”
Tom said nothing, but looked somewhat pleased nonetheless.
The next words came more slowly. “I lived with my aunt and uncle. They were Muggles.”
“Mm?” Tom had a way of being encouraging without actually changing anything about his face.
“Well, I’m in no rush to get back to them is all,” Harry said. “Neither of us liked each other very much.”
“My situation is much the same,” Tom agreed. “I’m glad you wish to stay.”
“Think you’d miss me?” Harry grinned up at him.
Tom shrugged. “You are a fairly efficient researcher.”
“Thanks.” Harry let the moment hang for a minute, relishing the comfortable silence. “Don’t you have class?” he made himself ask eventually.
“Yes,” Tom agreed. “Do you have all your books? You could borrow one of mine for the afternoon.”
“I’ve got my bag,” Harry said, gesturing to the side. “Thank you, by the way. For helping.”
“Of course,” Tom said without batting an eye. It still made Harry unreasonably happy to remember that he had a friend who truly cared about him.
“Go on, then,” he admonished, and Tom made his way out to the next class.
Professor Dumbledore dropped in before dinner to apologize for taking so long to show up, and promised to come by after dinner. Harry, now very bored, wasn’t overly inclined to be forgiving, but was pleased to know the wait would soon be over. Once Dumbledore and Merrythought showed, he explained what had transpired.
Dumbledore was very amused by the description of his older self, but sobered when Harry told him about the warning that had been interrupted by the ritual failing.
“Do you remember any of the runes or symbols inscribed?” Merrythought pressed, but Harry didn’t have any specific recollection.
“As it is,” Harry said slowly. “If this happens again, I think that as long as there isn’t any specific reason why I shouldn’t, I’d like to stay here. In the past.” He checked their expressions for protest, but both looked encouraging enough. “My friends are here, after all, and my family’s all dead in the future.” The words were true but he regretted the last sentence when he saw Professor Merrythought wince.
“It is entirely up to you, barring any danger to your person,” Dumbledore agreed.
“Can I go, if that’s alright?” he asked. “I’d like to get caught up on what I missed today.”
“That seems fair enough to me,” Dumbledore said. Madam Spinks huffed from her desk nearby but didn’t protest.
“Great!” Harry sprung out of bed with a lot of enthusiasm. Dumbledore’s mustache quivered when Harry knocked a book off the bed by accident in his haste to pack up. “Thank you so much for all your help, and thank you, Madam Spinks.” He waved hastily from the door with his free hand and hurried back to the dungeons to explain to Tom everything that had happened in the future and see what he thought of it.