Whose Judgement?
The next two days consisted of the same schedule for Harry and Hermione.
First: Waking up to eat a quick breakfast.
Second: Running to the library, scanning the rows of books for anything helpful.
Third: Try to make it to class.
Fourth: Back to the library for lunch.
Fifth: Class again.
Sixth: Back to the library for the rest of the day.
Seventh: Sleep.
---
Harry plopped another book onto the desk he had stationed himself at for the last two days. Dust flew around him at impact, causing him to sneeze harshly. Hermione shushed him from the desk to his right, already engrossed into another book.
The two had already shuffled through a bookcase by day two. If you asked him, Harry wouldn’t be lying if he said he was over all the reading. The glasses he wore were to help his vision, but the more he read, the less he could see through them. Harry thought that this might have been the most reading he's ever done in his life - even when living under a staircase.
After a while of going through glossaries, the boy closed his third book of the day and turned towards his friend.
“‘Mione.” He spoke, “I think we ought to take a break.”
The girl in question barely acknowledged him, merely swatting half-heartedly at him before going back to her book.
“Hermione!” Harry yelled into the quiet room, shaking her arm.
Said girl jumped slightly. She sat still for a moment before closing her book harshly and glaring over at him.
“Harry!” She whisper-yelled. “Look at where we are right now! watch your tone.” She spat, turning to apologize to the people looking at them.
It was seven in the morning, and four kids were in the library.
Two of them were Harry and Hermione.
Harry bumped his head on the book he had been scanning, sniffing the old dust that had collected. Hermione swatted at the back of his head while he was down. After a moment of silence, Harry lifted his head back up - betrayed.
“Come on ‘Mione. There’s no one here.” He said, whispering this time.
Hermione huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. She turned back to the book in front of her, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand.
“We are losing time the less we look.” She supplied, clearing uninterested in his whining.
“I know,” Harry said softly. “-but we can’t keep digging our faces into books.”
Hermione rolled her eyes at him, pushing one book aside to pull another one closer. Harry watched her for a moment before ripping open another book, only to be pushing it away within a second.
"I can't do this!" He argued, crashing back into his desk.
“Its been two days.” she deadpanned, clearly over speaking to him.
Harry sighed dramatically at her response, sitting back up to look at her. “Two days is a long time to be reading! Even with my glasses my eyes are going blurry!” he wailed, banging his head on the book once again.
From his right he heard Hermione sigh frustratedly. Standing up and stretching, she held her hand out as an offering.
“Come on, let's go.”
---
After cleaning up their desks and writing down what books they had already gone through, Harry and Hermione finally left the library - not without Hermione grabbing a couple more books of course.
“For later,” She mumbled under her breath.
The two friends made their way back to the Dining Hall. Harry recalled early this morning having run in like a mad-man and shoving a piece of bread in his mouth before flying for the library. Of course once he arrived, Hermione was already stationed at a desk and reading a book. She had a napkin with an apple on it, all pristine and put together. Of course her hair was still wild, but everything else about her looked as if she hadn't woken up ten minutes ago, unlike Harry himself. He would always be impressed with how presentable she was, no matter the time.
Harry looked down at his mismatched socks and groaned.
Sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, Hermione dug out another book, quickly flipping over to the glossary.
“Seriously, ‘Mione?” Harry questioned.
The girl spared him a look before burying her nose back in the book. “You are out of the library. If I still want to do my research, I will. now shut up and eat.” She spoke, turning a page of the book.
Harry huffed and pressed the palm of his hand against his cheek.
---
The dining hall had begun to fill within the ten minutes they had been there. Hermione was still nose-deep in a book, while Harry was picking at another piece of bread. There wasn’t much for him to do, and he found himself growing bored.
The thoughts of home filled him, and he found himself missing Ron, unsurprisingly.
He wondered if Ron's parents were here.
Looking up from the bread, Harry glanced around the hall, taking in as many students as he could. How many of these kids would be written in a list of the fallen, along with his own parents?
Harry knew little about the first Wizarding War. Hermione knew a great deal more - of course.
All he knew about the war really, was that Voldemort had tried to kill him.
Not to mention all of the drama he heard of before arriving here.
The fated prophecy of a boy born in July, and all of the deaths that had surrounded the protection of such a boy.
Of him.
How many of those individuals were chatting with friends at the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw table? How many were playing Quittich for the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins - if there were Slytherins protecting him.
He highly doubted that. Nobody in Slytherin liked Harry. None of them liked him more than Voldemort, that is.
Harry was stuck deep in his thoughts, only to be pulled out by obnoxious laughing.
In the blink of an eye, four boys came storming into the room, laughing like mad-men. One of them - Sirius - crashed into one of the chairs nearby. Another boy followed closely after. Peter and Remus sat on the other side, facing them.
Remus sat down calmly, putting his books on the table and neatly shuffling into the seat. Peter waited till his friend was planted in his seat before following suit.
Obviously Harry knew who the boy with glasses was, but he refused to make eye contact.
“I used to be so jealous of that, Pete!” One James Potter spoke when the laughter died down.
“I know,” Peter giggled. “You wouldn’t speak to me for two days! I had to convince you that I couldn’t climb walls to get you to believe me!”
“Did you really?” Remus said between the laughter.
“Yes!” Peter yelled. “I had to prove I couldn’t swing on trees!”
“Aw, come on Pete!” James laughed.
Over the laughter at the table, Harry shrunk into himself. He tried to hide away from the overly enthusiastic group. Not his proudest moment, he thought, but Harry would rather look a fool then mess up any timelines - and have Hermione mad at him.
Speaking of Hermione, she noticed a change in his behavior - or maybe the air surrounding them. She poked her head out of page fifty-four and looked over at the rowdy boys. Flicking her eyes over to Harry and back to the four a couple seats down, Harry watched as her eyes widened.
“Harry?” She whispered, “I think that’s your-”
“Yeah, i know.” Harry cut her off quickly, turning his face away, even more than he already had it. The grey stone looked much more interesting to him than his father.
Through all of his panic, he could feel Hermione looking at him.
“Do you think we should-” She began to speak, only to be cut off once more, surprisingly not by Harry this time. Something had flown towards them, hitting the boy in the head.
“Oi! Sorry mate!” A voice called, clearly showing no sense of sorry. A gaggle of chuckles followed, and Harry felt his face growing hot. Hermione scoffed, grabbed the paper and launching it back towards the group - throwing a quick insult in the air.
The embarrassment built up in Harry until he couldn’t take it any more, his stomach hurt and he felt like his head was going to pop right off. Barely sparing a glance at Hermione before he was flinging himself out of his seat and running as far away as he could from the dining hall - and out of the school entirely.
Standing outside, he made his trek to a nearby tree and sat down, leaning heavily against it. Taking a couple of breaths, Harry felt his chest loosen a bit. He closed his eyes and willed the bread to go back down his throat. If he threw up, he would only embarrass himself more.
A couple minutes passed before he opened his eyes again. When he looked around, He could see nothing but large patches of trees leading into the forest. The same forest with the Spider's. He wondered silently about Hagrid again.
The emotion's were stuck in his throat. He swore if he talked now, it would be anger, sadness and stress battling for the first word.
Above all he was embarrassed.
That wasn’t even the most embarrassing thing that had happened to him, but he still found his stomach growing moths at the thought of Sirius seeing him run away.
The group surely saw, didn’t they?
What would his father say to him, he wondered.
---
“You’re looking awfully green.”
That’s not what he thought they would say.
“….Hello? Are you deaf?”
Not that either.
It almost sounded as if-
Something hit his head and Harry quickly opened his eyes, snapping his neck looking over to his right. A boy stood by the tree he was sitting against, staring at him with distain clear in his eyes. The boy was pale and had dark hair, accompanied by a scowl on his face too. Harry thought of Sirius.
“I would advise you to not throw up all over this tree. It's the oldest one here.” He spoke slowly, no hint of emotion in his voice.
“I’m not going to puke,” Harry countered. “I’m just feeling a little sick.”
The boy hummed, fanning out his robes before sitting down too.
“Well, since you’re not going to throw up, I hope you don’t mind me sitting.” He said, flicking a judgmental look over towards Harry.
Harry hummed approval, watching as the boy pulling his notes over to his lap.
“..And if you want to move over to a different tree, that would be fantastic too.” He muttered, clearly grossed out by Harry’s presence.
“Hey!” Harry sassed, “I was here first! if you don’t want to have company, you should find another tree!”
The boy flicked his robes again and spared Harry a glance.
“I’ll have you know that this is my study spot! But since you’re much to slow to understand, I’ll spell it out for you.” The boy said. He then held up a book and pointed at the title. Harry watched as he flipped open another book full of notes and shook it in Harry’s face.
Harry scoffed again and flicked the book away.
“You’re studying potions of all things? I’d have thought someone as clever as you seem to be would need more lessons in civil studies.”
Harry muttered, turning away from the boy.
Said boy scoffed and flicked his hair before turning to his notes. Clearly, he wanted nothing to do with Harry.
---
About fifteen minutes had passed before the quiet was interrupted again.
That seemed to be happening a lot today.
“Oi! Well if it isn’t Snape!” A voice rang out in the distance, causing Harry to jolt up from his slumped position against the tree.
At his right, he saw a quickly approaching Sirius Black, followed along by none other than his own father.
This felt like something out of a nightmare.
“Aw! Does Snape have company?” His father mocked, raising his wand at Snape.
“Potter, Black, to what do I owe this horrific pleasure?” Snape countered, putting his notes aside.
“We heard what you said Snape. You green nosed coward!” Sirius snarled, anger written in the arching of his eyebrows.
All Harry could do was watch quietly as Snape scowled back, standing up off of the ground and dusting his robes.
“Everything I said about you is true, dog.” Snape said, disinterested.
Sirius scoffed and raised his wand, getting in the other boys’ face.
“You really think you’re some powerful wizard, don’t you? Well let me tell you what I think you are. I think you’re nothing but a rotten death eater ass kisser, who likes to hide behind flashy insults and indifference.” Sirius countered, voice full of distain.
Harry watched as Snape gritted his teeth, clearly agitated.
“You must think you’re so special yourself, Sirius. Just because you’re a Gryffindor, I assume. It’s just a shame that you’re nothing but a dirty little pansy boy. You bring shame to the noble house of Black - at least your father thinks so.” Snape spat.
Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, he had been disarmed and one James Potter had Snape in the air, shaking him.
Sirius tried to lunge at Snape, but with the boy in the air, he backed off. Both James and Sirius started started laughing as Snape tried to break free from the spell, only to be rotated upside down. Harry stood aside, equal parts astonished and horrified.
Just when he thought of moving, someone cut off his dying words.
“Let him go!” A voice shouted from Harry’s left. Suddenly Hermione was there, nose scrunched and wand pointed out.
“Let him go or I’ll report you to the Headmaster!” She spoke, holding her stance now in front of Harry.
Upon hearing her threat, Sirius pointed his wand at the girl. His face a display of anger as he walked closer to the two. Harry made eye contact with Sirius, and he watched as recognition flashed in his eyes.
After a moment, Sirius turned towards his friend.
“Come on James,” Sirius spoke coldy. “Let’s leave these morons.”
James looked at the two of them and scoffed before letting Snape fall flat on his head.
“I wouldn’t want to be here any longer anyways.” James replied. “Snivellus has got friends.”
With that, the two stormed off. Harry watched as they left - watching as Sirius threw a look over his shoulder, staring at Harry again before turning back to James.
Hermione didn’t turn around until James and Sirius were far from the tree. Once she did, she smacked Harry’s shoulder.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” she spoke, voice full of agitation.
Harry rubbed his shoulder and apologized under his breath. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked over to Snape. Harry watched as her eyes bugged out of her head. Snape was collecting himself and his belongings from off the ground. When he finished cleaning himself, he threw a hateful glare at the two of them.
“What are you looking at, fuzzball!” He sneered.
Hermione scoffed and crinkled her brow. “I’ll have you know that I just saved you!” She retorted. “If it weren’t for me then you would still be dangling over a tree!”
Snape ignored her words patted his robes off once more before turning and leaving the two. Harry watched him walk away, still speechless from what he just witnessed.
“You are so dead!” Hermione spat.
---
“I can't believe you just talked to Snape!” Hermione exclaimed, now back in the Gryffindor common room.
“Well, it's not like I can believe it either ‘mione.” Harry commented quietly from where he sat on the couch. The girl was pacing in front of him again, just like when they got in this mess.
“Not to mention your father was there too!” She rushed, “Do you think we messed up the timeline?”
Harry shook his head, looking at the slightly cleaner carpet.
‘I don’t believe so.” He supplemented.
Hermione spared him an unimpressed look.
“I mean,” He elaborated. “I didn’t even talk to him. They kinda just dangled Snape by the foot?” Harry finished lamely.
Hermione groaned and sunk into the couch cushions, pushing her overgrown bangs out of her eyes. The girl was always a nervous ball of energy, but now she just looked tired. Harry felt the familiar guilt of getting them here claw its way up his throat. Placing a hand of Hermione's Shoulder, he tried to lend some comfort.
After a minute of silence passed, Hermione tilted her head to look at him.
“I feel like we messed something up, I just don’t know what.” She quietly muttered.
Harry nodded, unable to speak. He watched the fireplace with growing nerves in his stomach. If he had eaten recently, he thinks he would have thrown it all up.
Hermione had been telling him for the last couple of days about the butterfly effect. If they even attempted something small in this year, it could drastically change whatever happens in the future. Fears of changing Harry’s fate - even though he desperately wanted too - scared him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione sit up and turned to get a better look at him.
“Do you think we should go to Dumbledore?” She questioned.
Harry shook his head, already growing a headache from the idea.
“I don’t think Dumbledore will be of much help.” He answered.
“I guess that just leaves one thing,” She spoke. “I’ll do more studying.”
Standing up, she grabbed books off of the nearest surface and headed for the door.
Harry waved to her, watching her leave quickly and quietly.
---
Walking down the empty halls of Hogwarts, Harry still couldn’t find it in himself to feel better. He slipped into quiet classroom after quiet classroom, retrieving work forms for the day he had missed. When we went into the classroom for his defense course, he noticed the absence of the teacher. Only one person sat at a table, writing furiously in a book.
Harry found himself at a stand-still. He recognized the person immediately, already feeling sick again. Approaching cautiously, he knocked lightly on the nearest table to get the persons’ attention.
Snape turned around quickly, laying his eyes on Harry. Upon realizing who it was, he turned back to his work, not without rolling his eyes of course.
Harry would’ve been okay avoiding Snape if you asked him. After today, he would be okay with avoiding everyone.
So why did he feel so guilty seeing Snape again?
Not even eight hours had passed since the ordeal, and yet he's already seen Snape twice.
“If you’re looking for the professor, he’s not here.” Snape said, voice dripping with frustration.
Harry nodded at the response. Upon realizing Snape couldn’t see him, he threw a quiet “Okay,” in the air before turning around.
At least that’s what he planned to do, but his mouth betrayed him.
“What are you doing in here?” Harry questioned, rather loudly considering they were the only two in the room.
Snape didn’t turn back at the question - only continuing to write.
“Why do you want to know?” He spat instead, flicking to the next page.
Silence filled the air. Harry took a deep breath before walking closer to the seat Snape was in. He stood over at the desk next to his young professor, still cautious of the man. For some reason, he still felt a little scared of him, like the professor he knows will pop out to tell him that his father was a horrible man and his mother was too good for him.
After today though, Harry wasn't sure about anything anymore.
On one hand, this Snape had nothing against Harry - at least not yet. One the other, this Snape was also not a professor, so if he wanted to attack Harry, he full well could’ve.
“Well,” Harry swallowed thickly, finding his voice. “I want to know if you’re okay, really. Those kids’-”
“Its none of your business!” Snape spat out, jumping out of his seat and slamming his hands on the desk. He was glaring angrily at Harry now.
Snape looked younger than he did before. There was less stress on his face, but he still had that haunted look in his eye - like he had seen too much for a person his age.
Harry backed up slightly, bumping into the desk he stood beside. He watched as Snape began packing up his things, throwing papers into books aggressively.
Frustration grew in his stomach at Snape’s anger. It seemed to be something he could never escape, even when Snape had no reason to hate him.
Harry barked out a dry comment, raising his voice an octave.“I know that! I just don’t understand what their problem was! Or yours, for that matter.”
He watched as Snape paused his stacking of books and looked at Harry again, studying him.
Seconds passed before Snape Finally saw what he needed too. He grabbed his books and made for the exit as quickly as he could. Just before he walked out the door, he turned back to Harry.
“You look like him.” Snape snarled once more before turning and leaving Harry alone in the dark.
Not even in the seventies could he escape Snape’s judgement.