this is a bit of a different style than i usually write in, but i wanted to try it

this bitch is 17,474 words

Harry really wanted to have a normal day.

God, did he want to have a normal day.

He deserved a normal day. Not even four months ago, he had fought in a war, and even with extensive therapy, he was still trying to cope with everything.

And yet here he stood, looking Tom Riddle right in the eyes, four months after he had killed him.

Back up. Reverse. Rewind. We're gonna take this back to exactly an hour before Harry found himself looking at Tom Riddle right in the middle of the Great Hall.

"Yes, Hermione, I'm fine."

Hermione scowled. "I was checking up on you, Harry. It's what friends do."

"You were there, Hermione, and you're still in therapy. He was in the middle of it, he's obviously not doing great," Ron muttered.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Nobody asked you."

"Well that's a twist, isn't it?" Ron asked sarcastically. "Because usually it's you giving your input when nobody wants it!"

"I wish you two would go back to when you used to snog each other," Harry mumbled.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Hermione said, voice rising. "Because Ron's 'not ready for a relationship'!"

"My brother died in front of me, forgive me if I'm not in the right headspace for a relationship-"

"I wanted to be there for you, and you pushed me away!"

"I wanted to be alone!"

"That's not healthy! I read that-"

"Trauma isn't as easy as words on a page, Hermione!"

"It could be, if you would just let me help!"

Harry huffed irritably. "Would you two shut up!?"

"Why don't you just leave, then!" Ron shouted.

"Oh, like you did in the forest?" Harry shot back.

"I apologized, like, eighty times!"

"You only apologized twice," Hermione added.

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, do you ever shut up?"

Harry didn't wait for the answer to that question. Instead, he shoved open the compartment door and slammed it behind him as he stepped out, searching for a different compartment.

It didn't take long to find Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Ginny was asleep on Neville's shoulder. Luna was watching her with soft eyes, and Neville had an arm lightly wrapped around the redhead's shoulders, his other hand holding Luna's.

"Hello," Harry murmured.

Luna nodded silently. Harry missed her voice.

"Any Nargles near me?" he asked, trying to keep the mood light.

Luna didn't seem to hear him, her eyes moving from Ginny to the window.

Neville's fingers were unconsciously twisting and untwisting in Ginny's long hair. "What are Hermione and Ron doing?"

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!" Ron's voice could be heard shouting. A compartment door slammed.

"Chatting," Harry answered helpfully. Neville raised his eyebrows. Harry noticed a pile of chewing gum wrappers in his lap.

"What're those?" he asked, attempting to maintain some sort of conversation.

"I visited my parents a lot," Neville replied, voice suddenly flat. "I was working with Hannah on making a potion to counteract the effects of the Cruciatus that destroyed their minds."

"Any progress?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows in hope.

"No."

"So what're the wrappers for?"

"Don't you remember when I took you to see them?" Neville's voice was dull, lifeless. "Mum gives me gum wrappers every time I go."

Before Harry could respond to that, Ron shoved open the compartment door and pushed Harry aside to sit down. "You couldn't even stay to back me up?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of your arguments, Ron," Harry bit out.

"Well you certainly didn't seem to mind bringing up the forest!"

Harry sighed irritably and left the compartment, unable to deal with Ron.

He passed another compartment and froze when he heard a familiar voice.

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"Oh, Draco! I hear footsteps! Maybe the trolley woman has come to bring us sweets! Do you want anything?"

"No thanks, Pans. Not hungry."

The compartment door swung open and Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and Gregory Goyle stared at Harry. After a moment, there was a shuffling noise and all three of them moved to the side as Malfoy stood in the center, staring Harry down.

Since when is he taller than me?

You and I both know Draco hit a growth spurt in the third year and got taller than Harry. Remember the POA movie scene where he saunters up to Harry and there's unresolved sexual tension? He was looking d o w n. Draco has been taller than Harry for five years now, mate. Harry has only just realized this, because usually they're not this close to each other without being distracted by throwing punches or curses.

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either."

Harry clenched his fists. "Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."

"Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna cut me open again?" Malfoy's eyes were challenging, cold. Something was missing in his irises, something that had been there when he had whispered "I can't be sure" a year ago.

"I didn't know what that spell did. And I saved your damn life in the Room of Requirement, and at the trial. You should be thanking me."

"I didn't ask for your damn help, Potter, and I sure as hell won't thank you for it."

Zabini reached out and put one hand on Malfoy's elbow, tugging him back a bit. "He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone."

Malfoy looked Harry up and down once before backing up, sighing. Whatever fire was in his eyes disappeared, and he nodded once. Parkinson scowled at Harry before slamming the compartment door shut.

Harry continued down the train until he reached an empty compartment, and stayed there until the train reached Hogwarts.

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

The hat shouted whatever useless house Ophelia was in, but Harry just stared dully at the table. Hermione and Ron were silent, angry at each other and Harry.

"And finally, we have an exchange student from Durmstrang. He's transferred here for his last year. Everyone, please welcome Tom Riddle."

Harry's head snapped up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny, Ron, and Hermione look up as well.

Harry really wanted to have a normal day.

God, did he want to have a normal day.

He deserved a normal day. Not even four months ago, he had fought in a war, and even with extensive therapy, he was still trying to cope with everything.

And yet here he stood, looking Tom Riddle right in the eyes, four months after he had killed him.

"Thank you," Tom said kindly.

It couldn't be possible. It wasn't possible.

And yet Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord fucking Voldemort himself, was standing in the Great Hall, looking just like he did when he was in the Chamber of Secrets. When he was sixteen.

When Harry had killed a piece of him for the first time.

Ginny immediately gasped, loud and horrified, and stumbled out of her chair, pointing at Tom with a shaking hand, her mouth moving but unable to form words. Ron scrambled back to hold his sister to his chest. Hermione stood and pointed her wand at Tom. Harry felt sick.

"What the-" Tom stared at them in shock. "Erm- hello to you all too?"

"What the fuck- how are you-" Harry was choking on his own words, panic rising up. I killed you. I killed you and you should be dead, how are you back, why are you back?

Tom only blinked, frowning slightly.

"Ms. Granger, put down your wand at once!" McGonagall cried, horrified. "This is no way to treat a new student!"

"That's Tom fucking Riddle!" Ron yelped, arms tightening around his shaking sister. "That's Lord shitting Voldemort himself and you want her to put her fucking wand down? Are you batshit?"

McGonagall stared at Ron for a long moment before sighing heavily.

"I understand you children have been through a great ordeal," she said slowly. "And I know the aftermath of such a thing can be... devastating, to say the least. But you all were there. You saw him die. Lord Voldemort is gone."

"Tom fucking Riddle!" Ron repeated louder. "You think it's a bloody coincidence that he has the same bloody name?"

"I've seen the fucker myself," Ginny said, finally finding her voice (something Harry truly wished he could do right now). "Professor- please- I don't know how or why or what the fuck- but that's Tom Riddle, that's- that's V-" she broke off into a shaking gasp, tightening her grip on Ron's robes, face white.

Professor McGonagall twisted her hands together. "Children, you know Lord Voldemort's body was destroyed in 1981. Someone can bear a striking resemblance-"

"And have the same name?" Hermione spat, not moving her wand. "I don't think so."

Tom blinked in a way that would seem innocent if he hadn't killed people. "I- I don't understand what's happening."

"You fucker!" Ron shouted. "You know exactly what the fuck-"

"Students, please!" McGonagall cried. "I can't understand your distress, I've never seen what Lord Voldemort looked like when he had his human body, when he was a student, and I didn't even know his birth name before now, and if I had, I would have requested he be transferred to another school, given your trauma, but Lord Voldemort is dead. I can't begin to understand how-"

"Are you bloody serious?" Ron yelled.

"Please escort your sister out, Mr. Weasley, take her to Madame Pomfrey. Mr. Riddle, please come up to the seat. Ms. Granger, please put your wand away and sit down. Mr. Potter, you sit down too, please."

Harry's hands shook at he returned to his seat.

"I killed him," he murmured. "It was all for nothing, how is he back, how is this happening?"

Hermione laid a comforting hand on his arm, but she looked like she had even less answers than he did.

Tom sat on the stool, and the hat rested on his head. Slowly, he turned his head and looked right at Harry, and Harry could swear mirth was dancing in his eyes.

The hat sat on his head for a long time, in which Tom seemed to be fighting with it, and finally, it gave its answer.

"Gryffindor!"

Tom looked triumphant, and Harry felt his heart sink. Hermione looked like she was going to vomit. The rest of the Gryffindor eighth years looked similar.

Tom sat right across from Harry.

Harry was going to pass out, he was sure of it.

"Hi," Tom said, extending his hand with a smile. "I'm Tom. You must be Harry Potter, right?"

Harry rose a trembling hand, unsure of why he was doing so, and shook Tom's.

His head and chest immediately lit up with pain, and Harry clenched his teeth together, certain he was crushing Tom's hand.

"Uh, ow- Harry- ow, you're hurting me!"

"Fuck," Harry hissed, drawing his hand back as though burnt while clapping the other one to his forehead.

"Is that not enough proof?" Hermione cried. McGonagall looked worried.

"Here!" Tom cried, handing Harry a glass of water. "You look awful!"

Harry, desperate for anything to stop the fire he hadn't felt in months, drank the whole glass as fast as he could.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked, eyes wide, although they held no true concern.

"Fuck off," Harry hissed, clutching his head as another spike of pain went through it. Why was his chest burning? "Fuck off, you're not fooling fucking anyone-"

"Harry," Hermione whispered. "Harry, is there anything I can do?"

Harry could only shake his head. "Get him away from me. Now, please, away."

Hermione shoved Tom off the bench, and he fell with an undignified shout. "Sit somewhere else before I slit your fucking throat, Riddle."

"Why do you all hate me?" Tom asked softly, moving to sit at the end of the table, where the surrounding Gryffindors scooted away. Harry relaxed as the burn subsided to a slight tingling.

It was only when food appeared on the tables that Harry wondered where Tom had gotten the water glass from.

*

"What're ya doin' Dean?" Harry asked tiredly as they sat in the Gryffindor common room.

"Drawing," Dean sighed. "Don't wanna go to bed. Not when I know that psycho's in our school, in our dorm."

"I know," Harry sighed, looking around at the common room. Tom had gone up to bed, but every other Gryffindor boy had stayed out of the boys' dorm, instead sleeping in shifts in the common room and watching over each other. They were too on edge to sleep anywhere near Tom. "Whatcha drawing?"

"Cat," Dean replied simply, shading the picture Harry couldn't see. "Seamus fell asleep and he was supposed to be my model, so I drew something random instead."

Harry nodded, yawning. "Sounds like something I would do."

"Draw a cat?"

"No, fall asleep in the middle of modeling." Harry gave Dean a lopsided grin and the boy gave him a wide one in response.

"You should go to sleep. I'm staying up for a while, I'll wake you when I go to sleep, I won't be finished for another few hours, maybe two or three in the morning. You look like you could use it- just lay on Seamus, he's a great pillow."

"How the fuck do you know that?" Harry muttered, already standing. Dean flushed.

"Shut up and sleep, Harry."

Harry, for once in his life, did as he was told.

*

When Harry awoke, it wasn't to the dark common room, Dean standing over him, as he had expected. It was to the familiar interior of his favorite compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

"Oh, thank fucking Merlin," Harry breathed, falling back against his seat. "Thank fucking Jesus Christ, thank Allah, thank Athena, thank every fucking deity there is. Fucking nightmares, fuck."

Still, his heart was still racing. He was filled with a sense of déjà vu from his dream, but shook it off, waiting for Hermione and Ron to show up to tell them about his dream.

Then again, maybe he shouldn't. Something like that would definitely concern Hermione and freak out Ron. Maybe Harry should keep it to himself.

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late," Hermione's voice snapped, and Harry felt another sickening wave of déjà vu.

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented as he sat down. "Sleep alright?"

"The usual."

"Are you doing okay?" Hermione instantly went into overbearing-mother-mode. "You should take some of those pills Healer Travis recommended, he said-"

"Yes, Hermione, I'm fine," Harry replied irritably before it struck him in the face that he had had this exact conversation in his dream.

Did he really know his friends that well?

Hermione scowled. "I was checking up on you, Harry. It's what friends do."

"You were there, Hermione, and you're still in therapy. He was in the middle of it, he's obviously not doing great," Ron muttered.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Nobody asked you."

"Well that's a twist, isn't it?" Ron asked sarcastically. "Because usually it's you giving your input when nobody wants it!"

"I wish you two would go back to when you used to snog each other," Harry mumbled, waiting to see if they would respond the same way.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Hermione said, sure enough, voice raising. "Because Ron's 'not ready for a relationship'!"

"My brother died in front of me, forgive me if I'm not in the right headspace for a relationship-"

"I wanted to be there for you, and you pushed me away!"

"I wanted to be alone!"

"That's not healthy! I read that-"

"Trauma isn't as easy as words on a page, Hermione!"

"It could be, if you would just let me help!"

Harry huffed irritably and wondered why everything was so fucking weird. "Would you two shut up!?"

"Why don't you just leave, then!" Ron shouted.

"Oh, like you did in the forest?" Harry shot back. He knew how this ended, how it had ended in the nightmare, but he really couldn't come up with a different response.

"I apologized, like, eighty times!"

"You only apologized twice," Hermione added.

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, do you ever shut up?"

Harry, much like he had in his nightmare, gave up on this argument and left, knowing exactly which compartment to go to.

Sure enough, Neville, Ginny, and Luna sat inside, Ginny asleep on Neville's shoulder, Luna silently watching her, Neville holding Luna's hand.

"Hello," Harry murmured.

Luna nodded silently, and Harry recited his next part like lines in a play. "Any Nargles near me?"

Luna, once again, didn't seem to hear him, her eyes moving from Ginny to the window.

Neville's fingers unconsciously twisted and untwisted in Ginny's hair. "What are Hermione and Ron doing?"

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!" Ron's voice could be heard shouting. A compartment door slammed. Harry felt shaken. How could he have dreamt all of this?

"Chatting." Neville raised his eyebrows. Harry noticed a pile of chewing gum wrappers in his lap. Oh, for God's sake, really? There's no way I could have known that.

"What're those?" he asked, praying for a different answer.

"I visited my parents a lot," Neville replied, voice suddenly flat. "I was working with Hannah on making a potion to counteract the effects of the Cruciatus that destroyed their minds."

"Any progress?" Harry asked hopefully. Please say yes, please let me be wrong-

"No."

"And your mum gives you gum wrappers every time you go," Harry whispered miserably. Neville nodded. Ron, right on cue, shoved open the compartment door and pushed Harry aside to sit down.

"You couldn't even stay to back me up?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of your arguments, Ron." Harry's voice was flat. It sounded like a play, a badly acted one in which Harry knew his lines but not their significance.

"Well you certainly didn't seem to mind bringing up the forest!"

Now's when I left and saw Malfoy. Harry stood and left the compartment, walking determinedly. There's no way I know Malfoy, Parkinson, or Zabini well enough to know what they would say. He stood in front of the compartment and felt ice fill his veins when he heard a familiar voice.

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"Oh, Draco! I hear footsteps! Maybe the trolley woman has come to bring us sweets! Do you want anything?"

"No thanks, Pans. Not hungry."

The compartment door swung open and Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and Gregory Goyle stared at Harry. After a moment, there was a shuffling noise and all three of them moved to the side as Malfoy stood in the center, staring Harry down.

No fucking way.

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either."

Harry clenched his fists. "Shut the fuck up, Malfoy." Please. Please say something else. Anything else.

"Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna cut me open again?" Malfoy's eyes were challenging, cold. His eyes were still missing something that he tried to cover with anger, and Harry was almost certain he was going to throw up.

"I didn't know what that spell did. And I saved your damn life in the Room of Requirement, and at the trial. You should be thanking me."

"I didn't ask for your damn help, Potter, and I sure as hell won't thank you for it."

Zabini reached out and put one hand on Malfoy's elbow, tugging him back a bit. "He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone."

Malfoy looked Harry up and down once before backing up, sighing. Whatever fire was in his eyes disappeared, and he nodded once. Parkinson scowled at Harry before slamming the compartment door shut.

Feeling sick, confused, and afraid, Harry continued down the train until he reached an empty compartment, and stayed there until the train reached Hogwarts.

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

Oh no fucking way. How could I have known her name? There's no fucking way I could have known that. What the fuck is going on?

Oh no. Harry's eyes went wide as he looked around. Now was the part where Tom showed up.

"Alright! And now that our Sorting Ceremony is complete, let the feast begin!" McGonagall cried, her eyes just a bit too bright, trying to cover up a bit too much pain, and the food appeared.

For the first time since boarding the train, Harry relaxed. Tom hadn't shown up. A weird dream, and oddly specific, but thankfully not entirely true.

"Shut up, Ron, she's plenty pretty!" Hermione hissed as Ophelia sat down at their table, Ron making a snide comment about her hair. "Besides, you'd think with all the comments you get about your hair, you'd lay off someone else's!"

"What do you mean, all the comments I get about my hair-"

Harry kind of wished Voldemort was back. At least then, Hermione and Ron were on the same side.

It was only then that he realized Dean wasn't eating, instead scratching away in his notebook.

"Whatcha drawing?" Harry asked as he poured some apple juice.

"Cat," Dean mumbled, and Harry's blood went cold.

"Wh-why?"

"I dunno. Seamus is modeling for me later, and I'm not hungry, so I'm drawing in the meantime."

"Mm," Harry replied, wishing he hadn't asked anything at all.

Time skip brought to you by Harry's ignorance.

Sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room near midnight was chillingly similar to his dream and made Harry feel a little sick, so instead he decided to go out for a walk. Hermione and Ron had both given him odd looks as he stepped out, but neither of them said anything, too busy trying to maintain the frosty silence between them.

And so Harry stepped out and walked alone throughout the silent halls of Hogwarts.

Well, alone until he saw him.

Standing at the end of the hall was Tom Riddle.

Harry gasped and took a step forward, and Tom dashed around the corner, out of Harry's view.

Harry sprinted to the end of the corridor, only to immediately collide with someone.

"Fuck, I'm sorry-" the voice cut off as Malfoy stared at Harry. "Oh. It's you. Fuck, Potter, what on Earth were you doing running around that corner?"

What were you doing apologizing for someone else running into you? "Did you see someone come down here?" The corridor was completely empty, save for him and Malfoy.

"Yeah." Malfoy gave him a strange look. "Ran right past me, just like you did." He turned and blinked in surprise. "Huh. Must have gone down another corridor. Disappeared fast. What's your hurry, anyway?" He scowled and stood up, brushing off imaginary dust. He had a bruise on his cheek. He must have hit the ground harder than I did.

"He's- that's-" Harry shook his head. "Never mind. What are you doing out?"

Malfoy immediately stiffened. "None of your business."

Harry frowned. "Fine, psycho." He stood up as well, ignoring the urge to brush himself off as Malfoy had done. "I don't care anyway."

Malfoy sneered and pushed past him to walk down the corridor Harry had just come from.

Harry stood there, confused, for a moment, before continuing his trek down the now-empty corridor, glancing down each hallways branching off and frowning as he saw nothing.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Shit," Harry swore as he saw the large clock above one of the hallways. 11:59. Eighth Year curfew was midnight.

He turned around to run back to the common room, tripped, and everything went black.

*

Gasping, Harry sat up and looked around.

What in the FUCK?

He was in the Hogwarts Express again. His compartment.

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late," Hermione's voice snapped, and Harry's stomach dropped.

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented as he sat down. "Sleep alright?"

"You-" Harry stared at them in shock.

"Are you doing okay?" Hermione asked, worried. "You should take some of those pills Healer Travis recommended, he said-"

"What's today?" Harry blurted out.

"Well I figure it's September first, or we're on the train at the wrong time," Ron tried to joke, but he couldn't seem to be able to smile through it.

"And you-" Harry turned to face Hermione, wide-eyed. "You want to know if I'm taking pills because-"

Hermione scowled. "I was checking up on you, Harry. It's what friends do."

"You were there, Hermione, and you're still in therapy. He was in the middle of it, he's obviously not doing great," Ron muttered.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Nobody asked you."

"Well that's a twist, isn't it?" Ron asked sarcastically. "Because usually it's you giving your input when nobody wants it!"

"Shut up. Shut up!" Harry shouted. "What's going on here?"

"Hermione's still upset that I didn't want to date her after the war!" Ron snapped.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Hermione said, voice rising. "Because Ron's 'not ready for a relationship'!"

"My brother died in front of me, forgive me if I'm not in the right headspace for a relationship-"

"I wanted to be there for you, and you pushed me away!"

"I wanted to be alone!"

"That's not healthy! I read that-"

"Trauma isn't as easy as words on a page, Hermione!"

"It could be, if you would just let me help!"

"Would you two shut up!?" Harry screamed. "What the fuck-"

"Why don't you just leave, then!" Ron shouted.

"Ron-"

"Like you did in the forest?" Hermione shot back at him before Harry would have.

"I apologized, like, eighty times!"

"You only apologized twice."

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, do you ever shut up?"

Harry, shaking and confused, threw the door to the compartment open and ran to Neville's.

And once again, Neville, Ginny, and Luna sat inside, Ginny asleep on Neville's shoulder, Luna silently watching her, Neville holding Luna's hand.

"You-" Harry couldn't breathe. "You're-"

Luna looked at him serenely and tilted her head. Neville looked concerned. Ginny didn't wake up.

"Are you alright? Where are Hermione and Ron?" Neville asked, fingers threading through Ginny's hair.

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!" Ron's voice could be heard shouting. A compartment door slammed.

Harry felt dizzy. "Luna- Luna you know about weird things- explain déjà vu to me. Please."

Luna only looked at him with sad eyes.

"Today is yesterday," Harry gasped, clutching his hair.

"Harry-" Neville frowned at him. "Do you want to sit down? You're not making a bit of sense."

"I did all of this yesterday," Harry insisted. "And the day before, but Voldemort was there- I mean, he was Tom Riddle, but-"

"Harry," Neville interjected softly. "We all get nightmares."

"Your gum wrappers," Harry said desperately. "You were visiting your parents over summer- with- with Hannah! And you're trying to find a potion to- to- um- counteract the Cruciatus! And she gave you the gum wrappers, and-"

"Harry," Neville said gently. "Just sit down."

"I can't," Harry realized. "This is the part where Ron comes in, and I leave and run into Malfoy."

"Pardon?" Neville asked, but right on cue, Ron opened the door.

"You couldn't even stay to back me up?" he hissed irritably. Luna sat up and stared at him. Neville looked wildly confused.

"I have to go," Harry whispered. "I have to talk to Malfoy, this is the part where I talk to Malfoy-"

"Harry, what the fu-"

Harry slammed the door shut behind him and headed straight for the compartment.

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"Oh, Draco! I hear footsteps! Maybe the trolley woman has come to bring us sweets! Do you want anything?"

"No thanks, Pans. Not hungry."

The compartment door swung open and Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and Gregory Goyle stared at Harry. After a moment, there was a shuffling noise and all three of them moved to the side as Malfoy stood in the center, staring Harry down.

"I'm not the trolley woman," Harry croaked.

"I can see that," Parkinson snapped.

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either," Malfoy jeered.

Harry looked him in the eyes. "Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."

"Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna-"

"-cut me open again?" Harry interjected. Malfoy's eyes widened. He took a step back.

"Did you just fucking threaten him, Potter?" Zabini spat. "The war is over, you need to-"

"I knew he was going to say it," Harry whispered miserably. "I lived this day yesterday."

The three of them stared at him.

"Potter, have you gone mad?" Parkinson asked. "Has the war finally-"

"Pansy," Goyle muttered softly, and Harry was shocked. He hadn't spoken last time.

"Malfoy," Harry said desperately. "I didn't know what that spell did. And I saved your damn life in the Room of Requirement, and at the trial. You should be thanking me."

Malfoy reared back. "I didn't ask for your damn help, Potter, and I sure as-"

"-hell won't thank you for it," Harry finished. "Please, for the love of God, you have to believe me, I went through this day already."

Malfoy looked horrified, Parkinson irritated, Goyle concerned, and Zabini confused. Zabini opened his mouth to say something, but Goyle cut him off.

"Draco," Goyle said softly. "Were you going to say that?"

"Yes," Malfoy whispered. "Say something else. Do it again."

Harry turned to Zabini. "You were gonna reach out. grab his elbow and pull him back. You said- um- you said 'He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone.' Those were your exact words."

Zabini's eyes widened. "Okay," he croaked. "Alright. So something's weird about you. Did your friend Granger make some sort of fortune-telling spell? Did you talk with Trelawney before you got on the train and now you think you're a-"

"No!" Harry shouted, frustrated. "This is the third time I've lived today, and I keep seeing Voldemort and-"

At the mention of Voldemort, all four of the Slytherins backed up. With one final, terrified look at Harry, Parkinson slammed the compartment door shut.

"Maybe we should try to figure out what's wrong with him," Goyle's voice came quietly.

"Not a fucking chance," Parkinson snapped. "This is probably some sort of hoax by the Gryffindors. Lord knows we'll have to get used to those."

Shaking and afraid, Harry curled up on the seat in the empty compartment he had gone in the last two days and stared out at the countryside until he fell asleep.

*

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

This time Harry heard as the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!" and watched Ophelia Yaxley slide off the seat and head toward the table.

"Alright! And now that our Sorting Ceremony is complete, let the feast begin!" McGonagall cried, her eyes just a bit too bright, trying to cover up a bit too much pain, and the food appeared.

"Shut up, Ron, she's plenty pretty!" Hermione hissed as Ophelia sat down at their table, Ron making a snide comment about her hair. "Besides, you'd think with all the comments you get about your hair, you'd lay off someone else's!"

"What do you mean, all the comments I get about my hair-"

"Hi," Harry mumbled to Ophelia. She looked up, startled. "Welcome to Gryffindor House. Happy first day."

She blinked several time, eyes wide. "Er... Thanks! Say, you're Harry-"

"Yeah. Harry." Harry stuck out his hand. "Just Harry."

She paused and nodded, taking his hand. "I'm Ophelia. Just Ophelia."

"Yaxley?" Ron finally said, turning away from his argument from Hermione and only just now starting to realize Ophelia's last name. "As in-"

"-Death Eater and genocidal maniac Corban Yaxley and his wife, the mentally unstable Kayra Yaxley?" Ophelia cut in smoothly. "Yes. Those would be my parents. Or, I suppose, they were."

"Sorry," Harry muttered, pulling his hand back.

"For talking loud enough for him to hear, for shaking my hand, or for the death of my parents?" Ophelia asked. "Because none of those are things I blame you for or am particularly upset about."

"Then I suppose none of them," Harry replied, allowing himself a tiny smile, which Ophelia returned. He reached for a glass to pour himself some water, and immediately, he felt his heart stop beating.

The water.

The fucking water.

It hadn't been a fucking nightmare.

Harry felt his breathing stop, feeling choked in his throat. It wasn't a nightmare. Tom Riddle had been right here, and he had poisoned Harry.

"Harry?" Ophelia said, confused, and Hermione and Ron turned toward him, alarmed.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall cried, and Harry, overwhelmed and unable to breathe, passed out.

*

"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Glad to see you awake."

Harry slowly blinked. "Where am I?"

"Hospital Wing. Fainted during dinner, poor thing. Don't worry, it's just you and one other student here, and I'll be out of your hair." Madame Pomfrey combed his hair back and sighed. "I can't imagine what you're going through, dear boy, but you should know I have a doctorate in medicine and Muggle psychology. If you need someone to talk to, I'm always here for you."

Harry nodded, feeling his throat choke up again. "Thank you, Madame Pomfrey."

She clicked her tongue, and after a moment's pause staring at him with tears welling in her eyes, she kissed his forehead in a display of motherly affection she had never shown in the last seven years and shut the curtain around his bed, rushing off to someone else.

"And how are you feeling, Mr. Malfoy?" he heard her say softly, and Malfoy's voice responded too quietly for Harry to hear.

"Alright, well, your curfew's in five minutes. Stay here for a moment, and then you can run along to bed," Madame Pomfrey said, and there was the swish of a curtain and the sound of her heels clacking on the floor. "Good night boys!" The door shut.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"Potter."

"Why are you here?"

A pause. "None of your business."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, you said that yesterday," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Say, what time is it?"

"Five to midnight. Goodbye."

"Wait." Harry was overcome with a feeling of panic. "Midnight?"

"Yes, Potter, you know, the middle of the night? Don't worry about your curfew, I'm sure your little stunt in the Great Hall will earn you leniency." The sneer in Malfoy's voice was clear.

"Malfoy, I have to be awake at midnight."

"Good for you. Goodbye."

"Malfoy," Harry gasped, his voice desperate and hoarse. "Stay with me. Please."

A long pause, and then the curtain to Harry's bed swung open to reveal Malfoy staring at him incredulously. "What?"

"Please," Harry whispered. "I told you- I'm reliving the same day, and I don't know why, but I think it restarts at midnight, and maybe if I stay awake, I can see tomorrow."

Malfoy slowly, carefully, sat at the very edge of Harry's bed. The moonlight caught his face through the window, and Harry could see the bruise on his jaw clearly. So it was there before we ran into each other.

"Say what you're saying is true," Malfoy started quietly. "And I'm not saying it is- you sound certifiably insane and if nothing happens I'll be pissed with you- but say what you're saying is true. Who's to say that if you fall asleep tomorrow at midnight that tomorrow won't restart? Who's to say that if you fall asleep at a different time, today won't restart?"

"I don't know," Harry whispered miserably. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't drag you into this- but I don't know what's happening and I'm scared and you're the only person around."

Malfoy was quiet for a moment.

"You knew what I was going to say before I said it," he finally said.

"Yeah. I told you, it was the third time you were gonna say it."

"And you said-" Malfoy winced. "You said You-Know-Who is involved?"

"Sort of. I'm not sure. I don't know how... but- yeah."

There was another moment of silence. Then-

"You have a minute before you get your answer." Malfoy glanced at the clock on the far wall. "Potter-" He stopped himself, frowning.

"Yes?"

"I'm a reasonable individual. If today- if it does restart... well, I almost believed you on the train. It would have only taken another push and I would have. If you- if you're really going through the same day over and over again... I'll help you. Just explain it sooner, and don't pass out in the Great Hall this time." Malfoy almost smiled.

Harry was stunned. "Thank you," he breathed.

Malfoy nodded slowly. "Say... did you see me in the hospital yesterday- well, today, but last time- too?"

"No. You were walking down the hall and I ran into you. I guess you were going to your dorm."

Malfoy chewed his lip. "When I was about to leave- a minute ago. I wasn't... going to my dorm. I was-"

And Harry was on the train.

"No," he whispered. "No."

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented as he sat down. "Sleep alright?"

"Yeah," Harry murmured. "Excuse me."

"Mate, we're sorry for being late- we stopped to talk to Neville for a bit, and my trunk for kind of-" Ron called after him as the compartment door slid shut.

Harry knew exactly where he was walking to this time.

"-it wasn't fucking fun, Pansy. It was hard work! It was fucking exhausting, and I was stressed the whole time and damn terrified of my father and the freak living in our house and struggling with this bloody mark-"

"I'm sorry for implying, Draco."

A sigh. "No, no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

Another voice, this time Zabini's. "'s weird, though, isn't it? Like the idea of one. The space-time thingie whatever-the-fuck, and you can basically teleport people?"

"It's not teleporting," Goyle's voice replied. "More like transferring."

"How the fuck do you know that?"

"I know things!"

"But like- people were in one place, and then another. So it can teleport people, it can freeze time-"

"It doesn't teleport people!" Goyle shouted.

"And it doesn't freeze time!" Malfoy added.

"Pansy, for Merlin's sake, were you even listening?" Zabini sighed.

"Not particularly. Sounds weird anyway."

"Whatever. You're boring," Zabini scoffed. "Draco, can you explain it?"

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in time, but not really. Like time passes... differently? Flows through it at certain intervals. Strange, really. I dunno."

Both confused and not giving a shit what they were talking about, Harry yanked the door open. "Malfoy."

Goyle immediately moved to stand in front of Malfoy, and Parkinson and Zabini scowled at Harry. Malfoy stood, tall enough to see Harry over Goyle's broad shoulder.

"What do you want, Potter? Did the-"

"-Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either," Harry recited.

Malfoy stared at him. "Greg."

Goyle moved to the side, and Malfoy stepped forward, staring down at Harry. "How did you-"

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."

Malfoy immediately changed his posture, glaring. "Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna-"

"-cut me open again?" Harry interjected. Malfoy's eyes widened. He took a step back.

"Did you just fucking threaten him, Potter?" Zabini spat. "The-"

"-war is over, you need to blah blah blah," Harry finished irritably. Zabini looked horrified. "Listen, I'm not explaining this shit again. This is the fourth time I've lived through today, and I'm sick and fucking tired of it. Parkinson-" he turned to look at her as she opened her mouth. "No, I haven't gone mad and the war hasn't finally gotten to me. Yeah, I know. Stunned look. Exciting! I don't give a shit. Look, Malfoy, I talked to you yesterday-"

"You most certainly did not-"

"I mean yesterday as in today, but later. I told you. This is the fourth time I've lived through today. Anyways, I talked to you and you told me you almost believed me on the train, you just needed a push. This is your push. I've lived September first three times over, and every time it ends at midnight and I return to today at noon. You offered to help me, and I need to take you up on it, or I'm gonna go insane."

"I think you're already insane," Malfoy whispered, but he looked unconvinced by his own words.

"You don't. You really don't. Later today, you're gonna get a bruise on your jaw. I don't know how, I don't know why. You never told me. But you get a bruise on your jaw, and then we run into each other. Literally. Well, one time it was literally. The other time was in the Hospital Wing- irrelevant. Please." Harry finally finished talking, meeting Malfoy's eyes with a pleading look. "Today is my fourth September first, and if I have to do this much longer, I'm going to cry."

Malfoy bit his look, looking a bit concerned, but also confused. Harry sighed irritably.

"Fine. I don't know how you get the bruise. It's sometime after dinner. But... just meet me after, okay? That'll be your proof. Please."

Parkinson slammed the compartment door shut.

Harry could only pray that Malfoy would believe him.

*

"Ophelia Yaxley," Harry mumbled at the same time McGonagall called the girl up. "Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor!"

"Damn, Harry!" Seamus cried, handing Harry a Galleon. "You've guessed every single one! I'm almost broke now!"

Harry shrugged, pouring the coins back on the table. "Just a bit of fun. You can have them back, I don't need them."

Seamus didn't complain, scooping his Galleons toward himself.

"Hi, Ophelia," Harry said brightly, sticking out his hand. "I'm Harry. Just Harry."

She tilted her head, flashing him a grin and shaking his hand. "I'm Ophelia. Just Ophelia."

"Yaxley?" Ron interrupted. "As in-"

"Ron!" Harry hissed. "Someone's parents being Death Eaters doesn't make them a bad person. Shut your mouth."

Ron's mouth snapped shut, and he glared at Harry before turning to talk to Ginny, who was sketching out some sort of map. Harry wondered how he hadn't seen her do that before.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ron asked with faux lightness to his voice.

"Making a map of the library," Ginny mumbled. "I got most of it done on the train, I'm just color-coding it now. I was sending letters back and forth with Madame Pince over the summer, and she's refused to grant me access to the Restricted Section, so I stole Harry's Marauder's Map, but it only had a rough outline, so I had to ask a bunch of Ravenclaws, who seemed way too happy and knowledgeable about the subject."

"Maybe you should have been a Ravenclaw," Neville muttered, eyes wide. "Why do you wanna break into the library so bad?"

Ginny flushed. "Luna wants a book that she can't find, and I know we've got it in there. It's about a covered-up conspiracy about some vampires from years back or whatever, I dunno. But she really likes conspiracy theories, and I wanted to steal it for her birthday. I felt bad, she spent her birthday in the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor and never got a present, so I wanted to get her a belated one."

"That's sweet," Neville replied, looking impressed.

"I can be sweet sometimes," Ginny grumbled. "And 'sides, she's our girlfriend. Wanna treat her."

Harry wondered if he would ever find a love so strong that he would steal for them.

*

It was only two hours after dinner when there was a knock on the door to the Gryffindor Common Room.

The students paused, staring.

"Probably a first year who forgot the password," Ron mumbled. Various mutters of agreement ran through the room, but no one moved. Harry was thinking exactly what they were thinking; five years ago, Sirius Black had broke into the dorms, and maybe none of them were past that yet.

Nevertheless, Harry stood, albeit a little shakily, and went to open the portrait for the student.

What he didn't expect was to see a bleeding Draco Malfoy on the other side of the portrait.

"You were right," he said hoarsely. "What now?"

"Fuck," Harry muttered, pulling the other boy through. Malfoy was shaking and weak, and Harry pulled the blonde's arm over his shoulder to steady him as he helped him through the portrait hole.

"Harry, what the bloody hell are you doing, helping Malfoy?" Ron cried.

"Ron! Don't you see he's hurt? Do you want Harry to leave him there?"

"How many times has he injured Harry and left him there? Or did you not remember what he told us about the train sixth year?"

"Both of you, shut up," Harry muttered. "I'm taking him up to my room. You don't have to talk to him, don't worry."

"Why are you not more worried?"

Harry didn't answer, too busy helping Malfoy up the stairs and thanking every deity he could think of that the eighth years had private rooms.

Finally, he reached the room with the gold Harry Potter engraved on the door, pushing it open and shoving Malfoy toward his bed before turning around to lock and silence the door.

When he finished this, he rounded on Malfoy, who had pushed himself into an upright position on Harry's bed. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"Why don't you tell me, Oh Great Predictor," Malfoy grumbled, wincing. "I'm sure you already know, you know bloody everything."

"You never told me what happened to you before, you prat. What the fuck-"

"Not important." Malfoy winced again. "Now, based on my brilliant deductive skills, I assume that all the times you saw me before, I had already been to the Hospital Wing, because I was going to do that before I remembered what you said."

"Fuck, you still should have-" Harry sighed, pinching his nose. "You should have at least gotten your ribs fixed, they've got to be broken or something, with the way you keep wincing."

"Doesn't matter."

"Doesn't-"

"Look," Malfoy cut him off sharply. "If what you're saying is true- if you're reliving the same day over and over again- it wouldn't matter if I died today, because I'd just be back tomorrow."

"But you're still suffering now-"

"I've had to suffer through broken ribs without healing them before, Potter, I can do it again," Malfoy bit out. "Just fucking tell me what to do and why you needed me of all people."

"Actually, the fact that it was you was purely coincidental."

Malfoy's left eye twitched. "I beg your fucking pardon."

Harry went through the whole past three days in as deep of detail as he could remember. When he got to the part with Tom Riddle, Malfoy visible recoiled, but said nothing until Harry was done talking.

"So the water... the first day..." Malfoy frowned for a moment. "He gave you a potion... but what kind of potion makes you relive the same day over and over again?"

"Fuck if I know. You're the Potions prodigy, aren't you?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

Harry raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry."

Malfoy frowned. "I'd have to research more-" He looked up apologetically. "-but it might take days. And..."

"You won't remember this tomorrow," Harry finished, sighing.

"Can you take things with you?"

Harry's head snapped up. "Pardon?"

"Can you... bring things back? Like a note, or a pen, or anything from this timeline."

Harry frowned. "I don't know."

Malfoy sighed. "I'm going to write something down. You're not going to look at it. When you come back tomorrow, you're going to hand it to that Draco, folded up, and explain as much as you can after he- I- he reads it."

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Something only I know about," Malfoy mumbled, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment. "Potter, I'm serious, don't-"

"I'm not going to open it," Harry sighed. "I swear." He took the small piece of paper and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans. "Thank you."

"For what?" Malfoy asked, bewildered. "I haven't done anything yet-"

"For believing me." Suddenly, Harry felt very small, like a vulnerable child. "I just- I was really- God, this sounds dumb, but I was scared, alright? I don't know what's going on, and-"

"Hey." Malfoy's voice was softer than Harry had ever heard it. "Any reasonable person would be terrified in your position. You had the bravery to hold yourself together and ask for help, not to mention from the person you hate the most. That takes a lot of-"

"I don't hate you," Harry replied simply. "I didn't particularly like you, but after- after everything, I don't have the energy for hate. And now- well, you're the only person I've been able to tell about all of this, and you behaved fairly calmly. I can't hate you, not after that."

They sat in silence for a little while.

"The abandoned classroom on the fifth floor," Malfoy said suddenly.

Harry looked at him, startled. "What?"

"You said you ran into me on the second day, and on the third I told you I wasn't going to my dorm... Firstly, you're an idiot. Why would I be walking to my dorm? The Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons. Dumbass."

"Hey-!"

"-but anyways, I wasn't going to my dorm. I would have been going to the abandoned classroom on the fifth floor." Malfoy looked down at his shoes, a flush rising on his cheeks.

"Why?"

"I- I'm trying something. I was working on it over the summer. A potion."

"What kind of potion?"

Malfoy bit his lip, looking down for a moment. "I don't know if I want to say. It's not a matter I want spread around-"

"I'm bisexual."

Malfoy's head snapped up. "Pardon?"

"There ya go. You've got a little secret about me. You're the only one who knows. Now you know I won't go around telling people about your potion, because you could just as easily go around and out me."

"I would never out anyone-"

"But it's about the power. The vulnerability. I'm giving you power over me, and you can choose to balance the playing field, or you can leave."

Malfoy stared at him for a minute, before laughing softly, shaking his head. "No wonder you're a bloody Gryffindor. Fine." He breathed in shakily, before continuing in one long rush of air. "I'm trying to brew a potion to counteract the effects of Aunt Bella's curse on Longbottom's parents because I'd like to right at least one wrong done by my family and I know he's been trying over the summer to help them and I know it's not working and I just want to help but I can't and it hasn't been working no matter how hard I try." He inhaled sharply, the sentence taking all the breath out of him.

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "You're serious?"

"No, I'm Draco," Malfoy replied dryly, and Harry was laughing before he could even think about it too much. "Yes, I'm serious, you prat."

Harry couldn't look Malfoy right in the eye, so instead he looked at the dried cut on his eyebrow as he spoke. "When I get all this figured out and my life isn't a repeating time loop, I want to help you."

"You're atrocious at Potions."

"Only when Snape taught. When I had a good teacher, I was good. Remember sixth year? I had a textbook with better instructions, and I aced it."

Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "Wow. I had no idea."

Harry sighed. "You just made your- your eyebrow is bleeding again."

"Fuck," Malfoy muttered. "I'm gonna get blood on your bed-"

"That's what you're worried about? We should get you to Pomfrey, we've talked long enough. Besides, it's eleven-forty. You may as well not spend your last half hour in pain."

Malfoy nodded, leaning against Harry and throwing his arm over his shoulders again. "I think my rib is cracked, not broken."

"Shut up." Harry shoved his door open and helped Malfoy down the stairs amidst the stares of his fellow classmates.

"Harry..." Hermione said in a warning tone. "He looks like he needs-"

"I know, I know, I'm taking him to Pomfrey now," Harry sighed.

"Need any help?" Dean offered. Seamus shot him a look.

"I'm okay," Harry replied. "He's like a stick."

"I resent that," Malfoy grumbled. "I am much more beautiful than a measly stick."

Ron snorted, and immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, looking horrified that he had laughed at something Malfoy had said.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "Regardless of Malfoy's stick-ness, I've got him. You guys should get some sleep."

Seamus raised his eyebrows. "Blimey, Harry, it's not even midnight yet!"

"Don't I know it," Harry muttered. Malfoy snorted softly. "Whatever. Night, guys." He tried not to think about the fact that technically, those would be his last words to this timeline of his friends.

He and Malfoy, with a bit of difficulty that made Seamus laugh and Dean lightly smack him to shut him up, finally got out of the portrait hole and headed toward the Hospital Wing together.

"I'm technically gonna die tonight," Malfoy murmured softly. "And just be reborn again. Nothing I do right now matters."

He looked up at Harry with something in his eyes that Harry couldn't identify.

"I mean-" Harry scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe for you, but I'll still remember everything."

"Right." Malfoy's eyes dimmed slightly, and they continued walking.

Suddenly, there was a soft noise, and they both looked up to see Tom fucking Riddle staring at them from the end of the hallway.

"Who is-" Malfoy stopped when he saw the look on Harry's face. "Oh God. Oh God, that's-"

Harry could only nod. "My wand is in my room," he whispered.

Malfoy moved slightly as Tom dashed away down another corridor, and handed Harry his wand. "It works for you. Go."

"But what if he comes back for you-"

"It won't matter. I come back tomorrow, remember?" Despite his reassurances, Malfoy looked terrified. "Potter, go."

Harry grabbed the wand and let go of Malfoy. The other boy stumbled a bit, but remained upright as Harry bolted to the end of the corridor, watching Tom run just a bit ahead of him.

Despite knowing he was wasting time and that Malfoy wouldn't remember this, Harry paused and turned back to him.

"Thank you," he breathed. "I'll bring your wand back."

And he ran.

It didn't take long to catch up to Tom. Harry was a fast runner (years of practice) and was fuelled by pure adrenaline and fear (neither of which he was sure Voldemort could feel). He reached near the end of a corridor, marked by a T, but he didn't have to choose a path to run down, because Tom was standing at the end of it.

Harry pointed Malfoy's wand at Tom without hesitation. "I will kill you with this thing again. Time and time again, Tom, until you're dead for good."

Tom only grinned. "Good luck with that."

He reached for his chest instead of his waist, where his wand should have been, and winked at Harry as he pulled out a long, gold chain, at the end of which-

Harry froze.

And Tom spun the Time-Turner as the clock struck twelve.

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late," Hermione's voice snapped.

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented as he sat down. "Sleep alright?"

Harry ignored him, instead reaching in his pocket.

Malfoy's wand and the note were gone.

He leaned back in his seat, staring blankly at the seat Ron was sliding into now.

He had failed.

*

"What are Hermione and Ron doing?"

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!"

"I visited my parents a lot. I was working with Hannah on making a potion to counteract the effects of the Cruciatus that destroyed their minds."

"You couldn't even stay to back me up?"

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"Oh, Draco! I hear footsteps! Maybe the trolley woman has come to bring us sweets! Do you want anything?"

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either."

"Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna cut me open again?"

"He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone."

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

"Alright! And now that our Sorting Ceremony is complete, let the feast begin!"

"Besides, you'd think with all the comments you get about your hair, you'd lay off someone else's!"

"I dunno. Seamus is modelling for me later, and I'm not hungry, so I'm drawing in the meantime."

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-"

"I visited my parents a lot. I was working with Hannah on making a potion to counteract the effects of the Cruciatus that destroyed their minds."

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either."

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"I knew I could fit it-"

"What are Hermione and Ron doing?"

"Besides, you'd think with all the comments you get about your hair, you'd lay off someone else's!"

"You look like shit, mate. Sleep alright?"

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!"

"He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone."

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented for the twenty-seventh time in a row. "Sleep alright?"

"The usual," Harry replied, his response robotic.

"Are you doing okay? You should take some of those pills Healer Travis recommended, he said-"

"Yes, Hermione, I'm fine."

"I was checking up on you, Harry. It's what friends do."

"You were there, Hermione, and you're still in therapy. He was in the middle of it, he's obviously not doing great."

"Shut up, Ron. Nobody asked you."

"Well that's a twist, isn't it? Because usually it's you giving your input when nobody wants it!"

"I wish you two would go back to when you used to snog each other."

"Well, we can't have that, can we? Because Ron's 'not ready for a relationship'!"

"My brother died in front of me, forgive me if I'm not in the right headspace for a relationship-"

"I wanted to be there for you, and you pushed me away!"

"I wanted to be alone!"

"That's not healthy! I read that-"

"Trauma isn't as easy as words on a page, Hermione!"

"It could be, if you would just let me help!"

"Kindly shut up."

"Why don't you just leave, then!"

"Like you did in the forest?"

"I apologized, like, eighty times!"

"You only apologized twice."

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, do you ever shut up?"

"Hello. Any Nargles near me?"

"What are Hermione and Ron doing?"

"-well you're a frizzy-haired bitch with no sense of when to stop talking!"

"Chatting. What're those?"

"I visited my parents a lot. I was working with Hannah on making a potion to counteract the effects of the Cruciatus that destroyed their minds."

"Any progress?"

"No."

"So what're the wrappers for?"

"Don't you remember when I took you to see them? Mum gives me gum wrappers every time I go."

"You couldn't even stay to back me up?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of your arguments, Ron."

"Well you certainly didn't seem to mind bringing up the forest!"

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in-"

"Oh, Draco! I hear footsteps! Maybe the trolley woman has come to bring us sweets! Do you want anything?"

"No thanks, Pans. Not hungry."

"What do you want, Potter? Did the Mudblood and the ginger get tired of you and kick you out? We don't want you here, either."

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."

"Who's gonna make me? You? Are you gonna cut me open again?"

"I didn't know what that spell did. And I saved your damn life in the Room of Requirement, and at the trial. You should be thanking me."

"I didn't ask for your damn help, Potter, and I sure as hell won't thank you for it."

"He's not worth it, Draco. Leave it alone."

"Yaxley, Ophelia!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Alright! And now that our Sorting Ceremony is complete, let the feast begin!"

"Shut up, Ron, she's plenty pretty! Besides, you'd think with all the comments you get about your hair, you'd lay off someone else's!"

"What do you mean, all the comments I get about my hair-"

"Hi. Welcome to Gryffindor House. Happy first day."

"Er... Thanks! Say, you're Harry-"

"Yeah. Harry. Just Harry."

"I'm Ophelia. Just Ophelia."

"Yaxley? As in-"

"-Death Eater and genocidal maniac Corban Yaxley and his wife, the mentally unstable Kayra Yaxley? Yes. Those would be my parents. Or, I suppose, they were."

"Sorry."

"For talking loud enough for him to hear, for shaking my hand, or for the death of my parents? Because none of those are things I blame you for or am particularly upset about."

"Then I suppose none of them."

"What're you drawing?"

"Cat."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Seamus is modeling for me later, and I'm not hungry, so I'm drawing in the meantime."

"Goodnight, guys."

"Night, Harry! See you in the morning!"

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

It was like a script, and Harry could recite everything word for word. Twenty-eight times now, he had lived through September first, 1998. Twenty-eight times he had listened to Hermione and Ron bicker, twenty-eight times he had listened to Neville talk about his parents, twenty-eight times he had heard Malfoy mock him, twenty-eight times he had seen Ophelia Yaxley and the rest of her year be sorted, twenty-eight times he had asked Dean about his drawing, twenty-eight times he had heard someone say 'see you in the morning!' without knowing just how untrue that was.

He had accepted it now. He would cycle through today until he was old and gray and died.

He had also deeply considered the death thing. He wondered if he died, if it would stop this hellish nightmare, but he was too afraid to try that. He'd give it another twenty-eight days before he tried to jump off the Astronomy Tower.

And then he saw Tom Riddle for the third time.

This time, it wasn't midnight, not yet. It was half-past ten, and Harry had been wandering through the hallways, wondering if in the time of his imprisonment if he'd be able to memorize the entire layout of Hogwarts, when he saw him.

Tom was in the middle of the corridor, eyes flicking around when he caught sight of Harry and lit up.

"Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. "What an... honor." He grinned. "How are you enjoying your... time?"

Harry slowly blinked. Once. Twice. "Fuck off, Tom."

"Well, isn't that rude."

"I can safely say I don't give a fuck," Harry replied easily. "This is day twenty-eight, and I still have not a clue what you've done to me."

Tom spread his arms, a wide grin on his (infuriatingly handsome) face. "Well, you should have simply asked! I'm nothing if not polite."

"Avada Kedavra."

Tom dodged the curse easily, grinning. "It wouldn't matter if it hit me, Harry. I've got another Horcrux. It won't kill me."

"Avada Kedavra."

Tom's grin faded as he dodged the curse a little less neatly this time. "Stop it, I just told you-"

"Avada Kedavra," Harry repeated roughly, angrily. "Twenty-eight days of the same exact thing, over and over. It's enough to make a person go insane, Tom. Do I look insane? I'm starting to feel a bit so."

Tom's easy smile came back. "Ah, dear Harry. Just listen a moment! You know how I so love to talk. Take a seat."

Harry lifted his wand higher.

"Alright. Very well. Well, as you know, in May, you destroyed my body. My new body, that is. The Killing Curse will do that; it makes a body completely uninhabitable... well, except for you." Tom sniffed. "Did it scar the second time?"

"No." Yes.

"Well, my more recent body was destroyed, but my soul, however fragmented, was still alive. So I flew away to some dirty Muggle town and inhabited a host. And I thought: what host would be able to contain me indefinitely?

"And then I had it. You see, a direct Killing Curse will ruin a body, but a rebounded one will simply shatter it. It can, with the right materials, be pieced together. And so, I went out to the remains of what was once the lovely abode of Lily and James Potter, and sure enough, my fragile original body was in the rubble.

"And so I collected it, and I performed a... spell, of sorts on my body. It took quite a bit of dark magic, and I had to go find that blasted basilisk tooth you used to kill the memory of my teenage body, but I eventually pieced it together. And since it was the memory of my teenage body that worked as the glue, that's what I got back." Tom spread his arms, glancing down at his body. "I'm sixteen again."

"And the potion? The Time-Turner? How are you alive? What's the last Horcrux?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"Patience, dear boy, isn't that what Albus always used to say? Let's start with the Time-Turner. The thing with Time-Turners... you have to bring another living being with you when you go back. For your dear Mudblood friend, as Wormtail informed me, in her third year, she would bring her cat back when she used the Time-Turner for classes, and she brought you when you both went for Sirius Black. With Time-Turners, you can either be holding the being next to you when you go back, physically connected, or-" Tom held up an empty glass vial. "-you can give them the Time-Memory potion. They go back to where they were like everyone else, but they keep their memories of the previous days."

"And that's what you did to me."

"Indeed. But, to be absolutely fair, you took the drink from me, and drank it. It really was your own fault."

"You-"

"I wanted it to be you, you know? It could have been anyone, I could have chosen anyone. I wanted it to be you, to suffer through the same thing every day, the tediousness of it all. Unfortunately, Time-Turners now only go back a maximum of 12 hours and take 12 hours before they can be used again, so I just relive the same 12 hours over and over whilst trying to go back and find my Horcrux."

"How do you have-"

"I believe it happened the same night my soul was shattered in Godric's Hollow. It shattered, and stuck itself to you- and someone else."

"You have another living Horcrux," Harry breathed.

"Don't feel overshadowed, Harry. You will always be my least favorite of my Horcruxes."

"I think this one's gonna be your least favorite when I find and destroy it."

"You and what power?" Tom mocked. "You return to the same spot every day at noon, ride a train for seven hours, and then you arrive here with a maximum of five hours to search. I start each new day where I ended it, because I have the Time-Turner."

"How do you know it's here?"

"I can sense it. I can feel it... calling to me."

Harry swallowed. "I'll stop you."

"You couldn't before." Tom spread his arms with a grin. "But I wish you the best of luck in our Easter egg hunt."

"Very Muggle thing to know, Tom."

Tom's smile faded, and he backed away smoothly. "Lovely chatting as always, Harry."

"Avada Kedavra."

This time, it hit Tom in the arm, and a shudder went through him before he smiled at Harry.

"I told you. It won't work."

And then he was gone.

Harry stood in the same place until his day started again.

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal an exasperated Hermione and an irritated Ron. "Hello, Harry."

"You look like shit, mate," Ron commented as he sat down. "Sleep alright?"

"Hermione," Harry blurted out. "You were the top Potions student. What's a Time-Memory potion?"

Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea. I wasn't top student in Potions. Potions and Defense were the only two classes I wasn't top student in. You were top student in Defense, and Malfoy was top student in Potions."

"Thank you," Harry breathed, wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you doing okay?" Hermione looked worried. "You should-"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted. "For the first time since the war, I think I'm gonna be okay, but I have to do something, okay? I love you." He darted forward and kissed her cheek. "You and Ron should talk," he added before dashing away.

He stumbled over his feet as he rushed to Malfoy's compartment, out of breath when he slid the door open.

"I need your help."

Malfoy looked up, startled. Parkinson and Zabini stiffened, and Goyle straightened into the posture Harry had learned over the course of twenty-eight days meant that he was ready to defend Malfoy at a moment's notice.

"And what makes you think I'd-"

"Help me? You have before."

Malfoy frowned. "I told you at the trial, Potter, what I did back at the Manor was-"

"Not then. I'll explain later. I need to talk to you privately."

"And why can't you say it in front of my friends?"

"Because I don't know if they know about it or not."

Instantly, Malfoy's eyes went wide and terrified, and he quickly stood up. "I don't- how did you-"

"Can we please talk in private?"

Malfoy nodded and swallowed, following Harry silently until they reached the same empty compartment Harry had frequently gone to after leaving the other ones.

"You're trying to brew a potion to help Neville's parents," Harry muttered.

Malfoy immediately relaxed. "Oh. I thought you-" He shook his head. "Never mind. How do you know that?"

Harry, once again, explained his situation and what had happened the first few days before he allowed himself to be swept up in the repetitive spiral, as well as what Tom Riddle had said yesterday.

"A Time-Memory potion," Malfoy murmured. "I can't say I've heard of it."

"But it has to exist, he has to have gotten it from somewhere-"

"It's not in the library, I've read every Potions book there," Malfoy sighed. "Look, Potter, sorry and all, but I really can't help-"

"What about the Restricted Section?"

Malfoy froze. "Oh, Merlin, I hadn't thought about that."

"Ginny has a map," Harry muttered. "A map, she made it on the train and colored it at Hogwarts, which means-" he stood up. "She's got the map on her right now."

"Potter-"

"Stay here!" Harry exclaimed, dashing toward Neville's compartment. "Hello Neville, Luna." He dropped into the seat next to Ginny on the other side of Neville. "How are y'all?"

Neville blinked. "Erm. As well as can be expected, I suppose."

"Wonderful. Any idea where Ginny's luggage is? I lent her one of my textbooks, and I wanted to read it on the ride."

"Which one? I'm sure I can-"

"No, it's fine, she was meaning to give it back anyways."

"Let's wake her up and ask-"

"No! She needs her sleep. I just need to know where her bag is, I can get it."

Neville gave Harry a strange look. "You alright, Harry?"

"Never better. Where is it?"

"Uh, down a couple rows that way, three I think," Neville replied, pointing to his right. Harry nodded and stepped out of the compartment, letting the door shut and walking down to the indicated area, pulling a familiar black bag with a stitched G on it out and rummaging through.

"Fuck," he hissed. It must have been on Ginny, not in her bag. This would be harder than he thought.

He sighed and waited ten minutes before returning to the compartment. "Hey, Nev- oh."

Neville was gone. Ginny was still asleep, and Luna, sitting across from her, was as well.

Thank fuck. Harry pulled at Ginny's pockets, trying to find the map. It had to be here somewhere-

And then he looked up and saw Luna holding it with raised eyebrows.

"Thank you," he said lightly, reaching for it, but she pulled it back, frowning. Harry sighed. "You want to know why I want it, don't you?"

Nod.

Harry sighed again. "I've been reliving the same day twenty-eight times, and-"

Luna held out the map.

Harry stared at her, stunned. "I hadn't even finished."

She shook her head, map still held in her outstretched hand. Harry gently took it.

"Thank you, Luna."

She nodded, looking concerned. She rested her hand on his, solemn eyes searching his. She appeared sad for whatever she found there, and let go of his hand with a soft sigh.

Harry found himself almost wanting to stay, to comfort Luna in some way, but dragged himself away from the compartment and, when he gathered his thoughts again, rushed back to the compartment he had left Malfoy in. Thankfully, the boy was still there, looking a bit frazzled.

"Okay," Harry murmured, spreading the map across the table. "Right here is the library." He pushed his finger against a marked spot on the map, shaded green.

"And this is the entrance to the Restricted Section," Malfoy added, lightly tapping the square shaded red, Ginny's handwriting scribbling out entrance underneath his finger. "They've upped the security measures on it since fourth year, I think, and again after the war. They've got 24-7 guards outside and I couldn't tell you the password."

"I don't know how Ginny thought she was going to get in," Harry sighed desolately. "I don't know how I'm going to get in."

"We," Malfoy said slowly, dragging his finger from its spot over to a different section of red right near the marking that said Pince's desk, "are going through here."

Harry squinted, and, sure enough, right next to the marking of Madame Pince's desk was a little square marked backup entrance.

"Ravenclaws scare me," he muttered. "Alright, how do we get over there without Pince seeing?"

Malfoy stared at him like he was an idiot. "The same way you've evaded rules for eight years, Potter. We're going to take your Invisibility Cloak."

Harry shook his head. "I haven't touched it since the war."

"Get over it, because we need that to get in," Malfoy sighed, rolling his eyes.

"The last time I used that cloak, I died," Harry snapped, shutting the map irritably.

Malfoy's mouth fell a bit, forming a little 'o' as his eyes dropped. "Right. Sorry about that."

Harry sighed, guilt filling his head. "You're fine. I just- I don't know if I can use it again without-"

Malfoy filled in where he had stopped. "Without thinking about it?"

Harry only nodded wordlessly.

"It's worth a try," Malfoy offered.

Harry only sighed and nodded a bit. "Yeah."

Malfoy took the map from him and studied it for the rest of the ride.

*

Despite his feelings about it, Harry's Invisibility Cloak remained in the bottom of his bag, and that was where Malfoy pulled it out of after dinner.

"Alright," he said quietly, pushing his shoulders back against the wall in the hallway that he was leaning against. "Wanna try?"

Harry tightened his jaw and nodded, outstretching his hand. His fingers brushed Malfoy's as the other boy passed him the clothing, and he tried to ignore the immediate flush he could feel clouding his cheeks at the feeling.

The flush disappeared into a pale face as he draped the Cloak over himself.

He was alone and frozen, Malfoy's eyes seeing right through him like everyone else's had during the war, he had died with this thing, was the scar on his chest burning or was his chest burning because he wasn't breathing?

And suddenly more light filtered through as Malfoy's hand found the bottom of the Cloak and lifted it, slipping underneath with him as Hermione and Ron had so many times before.

"Cozy in here," he quipped with something akin to a grin, and nudged Harry. "You alright? You're paler than me."

Harry nodded shakily, trying to steady his breathing.

"Your hands are shaking," Malfoy murmured, reaching out to hold one. He didn't say anything else, but he didn't remove his hand either, instead interlacing their fingers to cease some of the trembling. He then tugged lightly, grinning as Harry gave him a slightly stunned look, and started walking toward the library.

"Have you ever been in the Restricted Section?" the blonde asked quietly as they walked, lightly swinging their joined hands.

"Twice. I snuck in once in first year, and got a note fourth year. But apparently restrictions have gone up since then."

Malfoy nodded. "They put 24-7 guards after fourth year, and after the war they built up walls instead of that rope, and added a password to it."

"Oh goody," Harry muttered sarcastically. trying to ignore the feeling of the Cloak around him, constricting him.

Malfoy stopped outside of the library, turning to look at Harry carefully. "You're sure about this?"

"Nope."

"Perfect." Malfoy pushed the door open, flinching as a cat darted out the door and past them into the hallway.

The library was always creepy at night. Dead silent and empty, it was weirdly dark despite the candles, and only Madame Pince was visible, reading a book at her desk.

"How do we open the door without her noticing?" Harry whispered, noting the large black door behind the woman.

Malfoy paused, thinking, before a mischievous grin crossed his face and he grabbed a pen off of one of the tables. He quietly cast a spell and it shifted into a miniature- thing? It looked like a tiny Muggle Frisbee, but with little skittering legs. Malfoy's grin was wicked at he let it onto the floor, and they watched Madame Pince head shoot up as the skittering object rushed across the room.

"What is that?" Harry hissed as Madame Pince rushed after the noise and the two boys approached the door.

Malfoy turned the knob, still grinning. "Distraction Spell. Learned it when I was young when I didn't want to go to bed and I was hiding from my parents."

Harry barely had a second to imagine a tiny Malfoy giggling in the Manor as Narcissa rushed around the house, chasing after a tiny Frisbee with legs before Draco tugged him into the room and shut the door behind them.

It was eerily silent without the skittering of the Distraction Spell as background noise anymore. Draco let go of Harry's hand as he pulled off the Cloak, and Harry found himself missing the comfort.

"Time-Memory Potion..," the blonde murmured, eyes scanning the short shelves with concentration. "Malevolence Potions... Mandrake Usage... Men in Wizarding History... Memory Magic! There we go! Let's see... Undoing Memory Damage... Creating New Memories... where is it... Time-Memory Potion! C'mere."

Harry scrambled over to where Draco had sat on the floor, reading over his shoulder in the vague light of Malfoy's Lumos as Malfoy read out loud.

"'Time-Memory potions were created in 1884 by Krevlin Brestole as a loophole for the rule of Time-Turners; one could only be used so long as another person was in physical contact. While the rule was created to make sure a partner would be there to ensure everything in the usage of the Time-Turner went smoothly, Brestole deemed the physical touch factor to be unnecessary, and created a potion that would allow the drinker to be brought with the user of the Time-Turner whenever the Time-Turner was used. The only complication that he couldn't change in the potion was that the recipient always returned to the place they had been at the time the Time-Turner changed to, just like everyone else, but with their memories intact.'"

"What's the spell to undo it?" Harry asked, straining to look at the paragraphs below.

"It will probably be a potion. Potions and spells are usually used respectively to undo each other. Very rarely are spells used to undo potions, and vice versa," Draco explained, but turned to the book again, seeming to want the same answer of how to undo the potion. "Ingredients... Brestole's death... there we go. 'Time-Memory potions are irreversible without the death of the owner, or the destruction of the Time-Turner, which is why they were outlawed in 1896.' Shit."

Harry felt his heart sink. "So I've got to kill Voldemort, which means I have to find his Horcrux before he does."

Draco shook his head. "You've got to stop enlisting my help then. You waste time every day explaining it to me, when you could be searching the castle instead. You need to look into everything everyone says, find out who the living Horcrux is."

"You don't think..." Harry felt sick. "You don't think I could be the Horcrux twice, do you?"

Draco shook his head again. "I don't think so. Someone else- somehow, was in there when your parents died. And now they're here."

Harry shook his head. "That's insane. Everyone here is the same age as me or younger. They couldn't have had the capability to be there."

Draco bit his lip. "Unless it's a professor."

Harry's heart sank. "Oh Merlin... you think?"

Draco only shrugged, looking as disturbed as Harry felt about it.

"I know one thing for sure," the blonde said slowly. "You need to find out who it is soon, before him. Or we're all dead."

*

"-hadn't tried to fit your trunk in that stupidly small space, we wouldn't be so late."

"I knew I could fit it-"

"-there was a perfectly fine open space two steps down-"

"-but I fit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" the compartment door slid open to reveal Hermione and Ron, as it had twenty-nine times before. "Hello, Harry."

Harry ignored her and ducked under her arm, rushing instinctively to Draco's compartment, before freezing outside of it.

"No, it wasn't fucking fun, Pansy. It was hard work! It was fucking exhausting, and I was stressed the whole time and damn terrified of my father and the freak living in our house and struggling with this bloody mark-"

"I'm sorry for implying, Draco."

A sigh. "No, no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

"'s weird, though, isn't it? Like the idea of one. The space-time thingie whatever-the-fuck, and you can basically teleport people?"

"It's not teleporting. More like transferring."

"How the fuck do you know that?"

"I know things!"

"But like- people were in one place, and then another. So it can teleport people, it can freeze time-"

"It doesn't teleport people!"

"And it doesn't freeze time!"

"Pansy, for Merlin's sake, were you even listening?"

"Not particularly. Sounds weird anyway."

"Whatever. You're boring. Draco, can you explain it?"

"It's like a wormhole, of sorts. I don't know, time almost doesn't exist in it. It's like a pause in time, but not really. Like time passes... differently? Flows through it at certain intervals. Strange, really. I dunno."

Harry threw open the door, meeting the shocked eyes of the Slytherins.

"What-" he gasped, "-what are you talking about?"

Draco sneered. "What do you care, P-"

"Please," Harry whispered, staring at him. "Please. I need to know."

Draco frowned, scanning him for a moment before huffing slightly. "You were there sixth year, Potter. Figure it out."

Sixth year... Draco disappearing all the time... Harry sneaking around to follow him... Draco disappearing off the map... Draco letting the Death Eaters in through-

"The Vanishing Cabinet," Harry breathed. "You're talking about the Vanishing Cabinet."

Draco shrugged and glared at him. "Was there a question you wanted to ask, or were you just going to barge in here and annoy us?"

"Is it still in the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked.

Draco paled considerably, even more so than his usual shade, and was near-white when he responded, "I don't know. I haven't been near there."

Right. Harry immediately felt awful. "Sorry."

Draco frowned at him. "Why are you acting so strange? Why do you need to know so badly?"

"Can I speak with you privately?"

Draco reared back in shock, but recovered quickly. "And why can't you say it in front of my friends?"

"Because I don't know if they know about it or not."

Instantly, Draco's eyes went wide and terrified, and he quickly stood up. "I don't- how did you-"

"Can we please talk in private?"

Draco nodded and swallowed, following Harry silently until they reached the compartment that he was starting to deem as theirs.

"You're trying to brew a potion to help Neville's parents," Harry sighed, knowing how this part of the conversation went.

Draco immediately relaxed. "Oh. I thought you-" He shook his head. "Never mind. How do you know that?"

"You told me. Twenty-five days ago."

Draco stared at him. "You're insane."

"Listen to me, and listen to me carefully. Tom Riddle- Voldemort- he's alive. He has one final living Horcrux that was in my house when my parents were killed. It's in Hogwarts somewhere, and he has a Time-Turner that he uses every twelve hours to look for it. I'm attached to him via a Time-Memory Potion. You won't remember this, but yesterday we researched it together. Every day he restarts, I restart in the same place, this train, at noon exactly. This is the thirtieth September first I've gone through, and you've helped me through several of them. I need your help again."

He took a breath after speaking and folded his hands in his lap, allowing Draco to process his words.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" Draco said slowly.

"How would I know that you're researching a potion to help Neville's parents? You told me on September first number four. On September first number twenty-nine, which was yesterday for me, you told me you used Distraction Spells when you were younger because you didn't want to go to bed yet. These aren't things I could know, Draco. You told me."

Draco froze and stared at him again.

"Since when do you call me Draco?"

Harry paused. He racked his brain for the exact moment something had switched and he stopped calling Draco by his last name, but he couldn't remember. "I don't know. Sometime in the last thirty days, I suppose."

Draco blinked slowly, and waited a full thirty seconds before speaking. "What do you need my help with?"

*

They were outside the Room of Requirement. Draco was breathing quickly. His eyes were wide, and Harry noted that the other boy's hands were shaking.

"Hey," he muttered, reaching out and grabbing the blonde's hand. "You helped me get over my fear yesterday. I'm here for you. Are you ready?"

Draco stared at their hands for a long moment before nodding, cheeks flushed.

Harry closed his eyes and thought, I need the Vanishing Cabinet. After a pause, he opened them.

He didn't know why he was surprised to see the door. Maybe a part of him thought the room was destroyed. But the door stood, simple as ever, waiting for him and Draco to enter.

He didn't ask Draco if he was ready a second time, instead just reaching for the door and pushing it open.

Inside was a very clean, very empty room. Standing alone in the center of the room was the Vanishing Cabinet.

Draco let out a shaky breath. "There it is."

Harry grinned. "Perfect."

"It's not midnight yet," Draco reminded him. "We haven't even had dinner yet, there's no point in waiting here until midnight."

"Right," Harry agreed. "We can go, and meet back here at 11:55?" When Draco nodded in agreement, he went to walk out, before pausing. "Draco."

Draco frowned. "Still not used to you calling me that."

"Could I try to help you with your potion tonight?"

Draco hesitated, studying him for a moment. "I suppose. It's the abandoned-"

"-classroom on the fifth floor. I know."

Draco huffed. "Of course you do."

*

Harry knew the drill. Hermione and Ron were whisper-arguing with each other. Ginny was sketching out her map of the Restricted Section. Ophelia was anxiously looking around at her fellow first-years. Dean was sketching in his book.

"Whatcha drawing?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"Cat," Dean mumbled in response.

Harry nodded, and Ophelia glanced over at the lull in their conversation. She leaned forward slightly, eyes catching the drawing, and gasped sharply. "Where did you see that cat?"

Dean frowned. "It was wandering around by the entrance when we were coming in."

"That's my cat!" Ophelia cried. "He ran off when the train doors opened, I thought I lost him! Oh thank goodness he's in the castle, I'm sure I'll find him soon."

Harry looked up to ask to see the drawing, but his eyes caught on Draco as the blonde stood to leave the room. Grey eyes met his momentarily before darting away, and Draco slipped out of the room.

Harry took two more bites of his food before standing quickly. "I'm tired," he announced to no one in particular, and darted away.

He was halfway up the stairs to the third floor when he heard someone talking up ahead. He slowed down immediately, creeping up the stairs as he listened to the person talking.

"-can't just come back to school and act like everything's fine, Malfoy."

"I just want to graduate, same as you." Harry's eyes widened at Draco's voice. "I'm not here for trouble."

"Were you here for trouble the last six years I was here?" That voice sounded a lot like Aderen McLaggen, Cormac McLaggen's annoying younger brother. He was just a year younger than Harry, but almost twice as tall, and just as mean as his older brother.

Sure enough, Harry reached the top of the stairs and saw Aderen standing over Draco, who was sitting up against a wall, hugging his ribs. With a start, Harry realized Aderen was the reason for Draco being in such bad condition on the night of September first.

Draco didn't have the bruise on his face yet, which meant Aderen wasn't planning to be done.

Harry, however, had different plans. He stood up straight at the top of the stairs, glaring at Aderen.

"Leave him alone, McLaggen."

Aderen spun around, eyes wide and surprised. "Potter? Why would you care what happens to this Slytherin scum?"

"He happens to be my friend," Harry said, hardly believing the words as he said them. "And I don't take kindly to people attacking my friends."

"Friend?" Aderen said in disbelief. "Not a chance. You hate him."

Harry shrugged, walking forward. "Times change. People change."

"He doesn't," Aderen spat, pointing his wand at Draco.

"Okay. I can see this isn't working," Harry said slowly, sighing. "I suppose we'll just have to- Stupefy!"

The boy flew backwards, hitting the wall with a nasty crunch, and slumping down against the floor.

Draco stood shakily, hand still pressed to his stomach. "Thank you, Potter."

"You looked worse the last few times he got to you," Harry replied easily, and Draco paled a bit. "Are your ribs cracked yet?"

Draco shook his head. "Don't think so. Just bruised."

"C'mon." Harry tugged the blonde after him, and the pair rushed up to the abandoned classroom that had been their original destination.

In the middle of the room was a large cauldron, completely empty, and about a hundred books surrounding it.

"How long have you been doing this?" Harry asked in amazement.

"I was rebuilding the castle over the summer," Draco admitted, sitting next to the cauldron. "I came here on my breaks."

He sighed as he ran a hand over the cauldron's edge. "I haven't been able to find a potion strong enough to undo the Cruciatus' effects."

"Why would you use a potion?" Harry asked curiously. "I thought you would use a spell to undo a spell."

"There's no spell to undo the Unforgivables," Draco explained. "I had a chance with a potion."

Harry's mind was racing. "What about a memory spell?"

Draco frowned. "What?"

"What if..." Harry paced around Draco in circles, unable to keep his racing mind in a still body. "What if you don't have to undo the Cruciatus itself, but the memory damage that came with it?"

Draco's eyes were starting to widen. "How would I do that?"

"You and I broke into the Restricted Section yesterday," Harry said slowly. "We were looking for the Time-Memory Potion in a book about memory magic. One of the chapters we skipped over was undoing memory damage. That could be it, right?"

Draco jumped up, throwing his arms around Harry suddenly, laughing out loud. He pulled away just as quickly, cheeks red.

"Sorry," he breathed, looking absolutely alight. "It could work, holy shit. I'd never considered it. How did we get into the Restricted Section?"

Ten minutes later, the pair were pushing open the door to the library, stepping out of the way as the cat from last time shot past them, Draco setting up his Distraction Spell, and the two of them sneaking into the Restricted Section as Pince chased the toy.

Harry showed Draco the book, and while the blonde studied the spells, harry wandered around, glancing at the books he was surrounded by. His eyes caught on one in particular, and he grabbed it off of the shelf, reading the synopsis on the back.

"Luna wants a book that she can't find, and I know we've got it in there. It's about a covered-up conspiracy about some vampires from years back."

This must have been the book Ginny was trying to steal. Harry put it back, making a mental note of where it was so he could grab it when this was all over.

"I've got it!" Draco exclaimed, and Harry rushed over. "Well, I think I do, it's the best chance I've got. I'm not entirely sure it'll work, but Merlin, it's the best chance I've got."

Harry grinned. "Now all we've got to do is kill Voldemort again, and you'll be able to help Neville's parents."

"Oh, is that all we have to do?" Draco teased, a light in his eyes that hadn't been there before. He softened a bit, still smiling. "Seriously, Harry, thank you."

Harry shrugged, grinning and trying to ignore the flutter in his stomach that came from the use of his first name. "We should get to the Room now. It's 11:50."

"Shit," Draco hissed, standing quickly and grabbing Harry's hand, pulling the laughing Gryffindor with him as he rushed to the Room of Requirement.

They stood in front of the Vanishing Cabinet, and suddenly Harry's stomach was full of butterflies.

"What if it doesn't work?" he whispered. "I- you've been here for the whole thing, willing or not. I don't know if I can do this without you."

"You won't have to," Draco said warmly, pulling him into the Cabinet and shutting the door.

Dark.

It was dark, and it was small, and Harry couldn't breathe, he was in the cupboard again, he was eleven years old and he was never truly going to escape, and-

"Harry," came a warm voice. "Breathe. You're alright, claustrophobia is perfectly normal. You're safe, you're just in a cabinet in a room, okay? You're with me."

Just a cabinet. Harry nodded, briefly forgetting that Draco couldn't see him, and let out a shaky breath. "Right. Sorry."

"Don't be. Do you know how long-" Draco cut off with a strangled gasp, and Harry quickly realized why.

There was a strange tugging feeling in his stomach, as though it was trying to drag him away. It felt oddly similar to Apparation, but without the actual movement.

And then it was over.

"I think that means the day has restarted," Draco said slowly. "The Time-Turner was fighting the Vanishing Cabinet and trying to take us back where we should be."

Harry pushed open the door carefully. The Room looked the same.

"I need a window," he said, and just like that, a small square of glass appeared against one of the walls.

Outside was bright sunlight, and for just a half of a second, Harry hoped it was September second.

"Do you think-"

"It's still the first," Draco said, shaking his head.

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

Draco pointed down at the ground. "There are no people outside. No owls flying. No Thestrals in their stables. They're waiting for the students across the lake. The train is seven hours away. We've been taken to the same point in time you usually are, except we're here."

"And you have your memories," Harry added with a slight grin, and Draco gave him one back, dropping his head a bit.

"I do indeed," he said quietly, a small smile playing at his lips. "Which means your plan works."

Harry laughed brightly. "Fuck you, Tom!" he shouted in delight, spinning on his heel. Draco laughed softly as he watched him.

"Fuck, I'm not crazy," Harry breathed, slowing his spin a bit and running his hands through his hair. "I was a bit afraid that I had made it all up."

"Can confirm it's not made up," Draco said, nudging his shoulder and grinning. "C'mon. Let's spy on the professors and try and see if they're being weird."

Harry dropped his hands and followed after the blonde.

*

Seven hours of watching the professors had done nothing for the pair, and they now sat at their respective tables for dinner. Harry was a bit irritated over the situation, but his irritation was dulled by the knowledge that Draco was here with him.

It was strange, he thought, looking across the room at the blonde as he smiled at something Pansy said. Just yesterday, technically, he had hated the blonde, and now he found himself noticing strange little details like the twin freckles under his left eye, and the softness of his lips.

Bisexuality was not a new concept to Harry, but a crush on Draco Malfoy was, and while surprising, it also felt a bit inevitable.

He glanced up at Dean sketching.

"Whatcha drawing?" he asked lightly.

"A cat."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Seamus is modeling for me later, and I'm not hungry, so I'm drawing in the meantime."

Harry nodded, and then studied Dean for a moment he hadn't bothered to waste before. "Wait a minute."

Dean froze. "Yes?"

"Why is Seamus modeling for you?" Harry thought back to when Dean had called Seamus a good pillow and Harry had asked him how he knew that. Dean's cheeks were the same color now that they were then. Dark skin didn't show a blush as well, but it was still visible.

"He enjoys it," Dean said carefully, eyes protected.

Harry lowered his voice a bit. "You're dating him, aren't you?"

Dean swallowed slowly. "You can't tell anyone."

Harry only found himself smiling a bit. "I'm happy for you, Dean. Both of you."

Dean relaxed, nodding a bit and giving Harry a shy grin.

Ophelia leaned over, her eyes going wide as she saw the drawing. "Where did you see that cat?"

Dean frowned, turning to her. "It was wandering around by the entrance when we were waiting to come in."

"That's my cat!" Ophelia cried. "He ran off when the train doors opened, I thought I lost him! Oh, thank goodness he's in the castle, I'm sure I'll find him soon.

"I'll let you know if I see him," Harry commented casually. "Lemme see the drawing, Dean."

Dean turned it around, and Harry gasped as his scar burned.

Green light, a woman screaming, a cat darting away from the crib, a- wait.

A cat?

Harry was frozen. His baby pictures. That's where he had seen the cat before. It sat in the background of his photos, flicking its tail as it watched him fly on a tiny broom, and-

Harry couldn't breathe.

The cat was his.

The cat had been in the house when his parents were killed.

He stood up abruptly. startling those around him, and rushed over to the Slytherin table.

"Draco," he hissed. "The cat, the fucking cat that Ophelia owns, it's in the castle, it was my parents' cat."

Draco's eyes were wide. "The cat in the library," he breathed, and both of them shot out of the Great Hall, leaving their friends behind, confused and alarmed.

They were in front of the library doors in seconds, and when Draco threw open the door, the cat shot out as it had twice before, only this time, Harry grabbed it.

"I need you to hold it," he said, shoving it into Draco's arms and holding out his wand.

Draco flinched, drawing the cat away. "You're going to kill it?"

"I'm going to kill the Horcrux. It won't kill the host. It didn't kill me."

Draco nodded slowly, holding the cat in front of him and closing his eyes.

Harry couldn't believe the amount of trust the other boy put in him. Closing his eyes, holding the target, knowing fully well that Harry was going to aim a Killing Curse right at it.

God, Harry really liked this boy.

"Hold still," Harry breathed, and Draco went deadly still. "Avada Kedavra!"

The cat immediately went limp, and Draco's eyes flew open, wide and terrified.

After a moment, the cat shifted a bit, and its wide yellow eyes opened calmly, not even afraid of the person who had just hit it with a Killing Curse.

"Look," Draco said, laughing a little. "It has a scar."

Sure enough, burned into the cat's fur was a spiderweb of lightning.

"Looks like mine," Harry commented easily, and Draco glanced at his forehead doubtfully. "Not that one," he added, still grinning, and lifted his shirt to show the matching spiderweb of lightning strikes across his chest.

Draco's face immediately flushed as Harry laughed, dropping his shirt back down, but they both froze as a horrible scream rang through the air.

Harry met Draco's eye for half a second before they were both sprinting in the direction of the noise.

They had to scramble up a flight of stairs and down an empty hallway, but they suddenly found themselves face-to-face with Tom Riddle.

"You found it," he hissed spitefully. "You- you-"

He made a frustrated, desperate sort of noise and tried to spin his Time-Turner. It was stuck, however, and he made another frustrated noise.

"Four more hours until it works," Harry said coldly. "You won't have that long."

Draco raised his wand and brought it down in a shower of green, and Voldemort was dead once again, for good.

Harry breathed out shakily. "Holy shit. Holy shit. It's over."

Draco nodded. "It's over." He pulled out the Time-Turner from Voldemort's hand, and placed it on the ground. Harry crushed it under his foot, and Voldemort's body disappeared into sand.

"Fuck," Harry said softly, a smile slowly growing across his face. "Fuck, we did it."

"You did it, I just-" Draco began, but he was cut off as Harry tugged him forward and kissed him.

"We," Harry breathed, inches away from Draco's flushed, stunned face. "We did it. I could not have done this without you."

Draco blinked slowly. "Does that mean you're going to kiss me again."

Harry laughed loudly and did just that.

*

September second came without much fanfare except for the beating of Harry's heart as he opened his eyes in his dorm instead of that god-forsaken train. His heart soared at the realization, and only slightly sank when he realized he never unpacked his things. He decided to leave that for September third, and decided to finish a few tasks that he still needed to do.

Ginny was at lunch with her girlfriend and boyfriend when Harry slipped up behind her and handed her a bag. She caught the name of the book inside of it and stared at him with wide eyes, but he only held a finger up to his lips and rushed off.

Hermione and Ron were bickering a few feet away when Harry sat down across from them, beaming.

"Hey guys!" he said brightly. They paused in their arguing and stared at him. "Mind if Draco joins us?"

"What?!" Hermione said loudly as Ron shouted "Draco?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Draco murmured, kissing the top of Harry's head and grinning as he sat down.

Ron and Hermione's eyes flicked back and forth between them disbelievingly.

"You hate each other," Hermione said slowly.

"Nah, just needed to work on communication," Harry said simply. "Not unlike you two."

Hermione's mouth had fallen open.

"You two are nothing like us-" Ron began, but Harry cut him off.

"Constantly at each other's throats," he said simply.

"One significantly smarter than the other," Draco added, stealing a piece of Harry's bacon and grinning when the other smacked him on the back of the head.

"Unwilling to listen to the other's side," the Gryffindor finished, pulling his hand away from Draco. "Until we did. And look at us now."

Hermione was still staring. Ron was frowning contemplatively. Harry took that as his cue to stand and leave, Draco their joined hands. Dean gave him a wink, and Harry grinned back as they exited the Great Hall.

Dinner came without much excitement, except for Ophelia's shout when Harry walked in holding her cat, and the hug that she gave him immediately after before hugging her cat.

September third was met with Draco approaching Neville with shaking hands, Harry standing supportively behind him.

Draco carefully explained the spell and the possibility of it working, and Neville's eyes got wider and wider until he threw his arms around the boy, much to the blonde's surprise.

"I'm not sure it will work," the boy said carefully, but Neville only smiled brightly as he pulled back.

"You're trying. That's what matters to me."

Which left them in the Spell Damage Wing of St. Mungo's, in front of Alice and Frank Longbottom. Draco was performing a complicated spell, and Neville was holding Luna and Ginny's hands so tightly that Harry was worried about their blood flow.

Draco finished his spell carefully, backing away and grabbing Harry's hand.

The five teenagers stood in terrified silence, waiting for something to happen.

Alice leaned forward and handed Neville a crane made of gum wrappers.

"Neville," she croaked out in a voice that was rarely used, and Neville let out a stuttering gasp, falling back into his girlfriends' strong arms.

"Neville?" Frank asked, looking around at the ceiling before slowly lowering his eyes and squinting at Harry. "Where?"

Harry silently pointed at the shocked boy, and Frank's face lit up.

"My son," he whispered, his voice hoarse, and Neville sobbed loudly.

"It might take time," Draco said slowly. "And I don't know how well it will work. This might be the extent of what it can do."

"I don't care," Neville sobbed, hugging Draco and then Harry tightly. "Thank you, Merlin, thank you."

He hugged his parents tightly, and Harry and Draco stepped out of the room.

"I don't know what I would do if I was in his situation," the blonde whispered. "I couldn't imagine."

Harry only shook his head. "Don't. You have your mom at the manor. Visitation for your father will open eventually."

"You know my mom still loves him?" Draco said quietly. "After everything, she loves him. Do you think we'll ever be that much in love?"

Harry grinned at the blonde, pulling him closer. "Who knows? We have all the time in the world."