The danger of knowledge
Albus Dumbledore was pale, as he locked eyes with Ginny. Her hand was on her mouth and he began to see the traces of scratches forming around her fingernails; her mind was obviously attempting to find a way to backtrack what she just said without doing anymore damage to the timeline. But it was obvious from the look on the trio’s faces that it was not be, also Lily Evans Potter seemed like she was about to hex them all into oblivion if she didn’t get answers soon. The Headmaster was attempting to wrap his head around the way that Tom could have turned the young man in front of him into a Horcrux, but he was coming up blank. Unfortunately, his studies around this particular path of the Dark Arts were woefully incomplete. To his side, Minerva looked confused.
James was worried about his best mate, who was still on the floor sobbing, but he also wanted to know what the hell exactly was a horcrux. He caught his wife’s eye and nodded at her before he got down on the floor to comfort Sirius. All he could make out was. “I’ve failed” over and over again. Before he could attempt to comfort his friend, they were interrupted by the shaky voice of the older Harry; “When do I find out?” Ginny shook her head as the color continued to drain from her face, “Gin, be honest with me…please.”
“At the final battle.” She whispered morosely.
“I wish I could say I was surprised,” Harry softly smiled at her. “I never really expected to survive in the end.” The 17-year-old looked at his 12-year-old clone, they both nodded. After Dumbledor refused to tell them why Voldemort had attempted to kill him as a baby, post Philosopher’s Stone, it was clear that their chances of survival were negligible. Hearing their dad, and uncle, talk about this was too much for the next generation and they started to sob.
Teddy looked at his godfather in horror. The idea of losing him terrified the Auror trainee, but the look on Hermione’s face confirmed that that’s what it would take for Voldemort to be defeated. But there was a woefully incomplete thought that floated in the back of his mind as he tried to wrap his head around the information, Evans had decided enough was enough. “What the hell is a horcrux?”
“Incredibly dark magic,” Sirius started to get his breathing under control. “It’s a vessel for a piece of someone’s soul that tethers them to this plain of existence, even if their body is destroyed.”
“How do we get it out of Dad?” This came from a worried Albus Severus.
“I have to die.” The two matching sets of emerald eyes met, both filled with grief.
“But…” Lily-Lu spoke up, “Voldemort has been defeated…a-a-and we saw Dad right before we left for Aunt Hermione’s.” Ginny realized the situation had spun out of her control, and she desperately needed to get a grip on the information flow. She was worried about the timeline. Even if they obliviated everyone, the spell couldn’t overcome what the heart felt; for example, if they were informed that Wormtail was the traitor, the newfound hatred they’d have for him would stay even if they couldn’t remember why and that would send the timeline off in a dramatic direction. One look at the fabled Headmaster told Ginny that this thought had also crossed his mind.
Once she’d gotten herself under control, the mother of three pulled the her children (along with her niece and nephew) into the neighboring bedroom. Ted refused to leave the room, which irked his godmother to no end. But he was as stubborn as his mum and dad put together, and he needed to know what the next steps were at this point. He was well aware of the damage already done at this point to the timeline…but he was too worried about his godfather to give a single fuck.
Sirius watched the group retreat out of the corner of his eye as he focused on the 12-year-old and 17-year-old versions of his godson. He finally took stock of both Harry’s and what he saw did not make him happy. But worried him most was the acceptance he saw on both of their faces, especially the 12-year-old’s. The thought that someone that young knew that they were likely to die and accepted it troubled the Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. He didn’t give a rip at this point; they were going to do whatever it took to save his godson from the pain and suffering he’d endure…consequences be damned.
Evans, unnoticed by the other occupants in the room, had gone to cuddle her baby boy. Like her husband’s best mate she also didn’t care about the future timeline as she would do anything to give her son the life she wanted for him. Even if it poisoned her relationship with her future daughter-in-law.
When she entered back into the common room, her husband walked over towards her and wrapped his arm around her waist as he bent down to kiss their soundly sleeping son. They locked eyes then proceeded to have a silent conversation with each other; neither of them noticed Ginny slip back into the room. “The kids are scared now, Harry.” She whispered softly, “I’m not looking forward to the conversation we have to have with them when we get back to our time.”
“How the hell is Harry still alive in our time?” Ron blurted out. Hermione responded with a swift smack to the back of his head. “Bloody hell ‘Mione!”
Ginny desperately looked at Hermione for help, but there was none to come. She was too worried about her brother to even think about the damage to the timeline an answer about his survival would cause. It was hard for her to focus, she kept flittering back to a cold voice that echoed off of the castle’s walls while she stood over her dead brother’s body. The only person that noticed the building panic attack was the 12-year-old version of her husband, he leaned over to the younger Ron and whispered in his ear before they both walked up to her and tried to comfort her. At this, her panic began to subside and her focus came back to the group that was desperately watching her and hoping for an encouraging word.
“I really can’t say anyth-“ Evans and Black both attempted to cut her off and it came out as gibberish. They were both silenced by a wave of McGonagall’s wand, the Transfiguration Professor nodded at Ginny to encourage her to go on. “Even if we obliviate your memories, the feelings of what you’ve learned will stay and they could critically alter the timeline.” She locked eyes with her mother-in-law, “If that were to happen the best case scenario would be me and Harry not getting married which means your grandkids would cease to exist.”
“What’s the worst case?” This came from 12-year-old Ron.
“Voldemort wins...” Hermione whispered softly, here eyes focused on the floor.