Chapter Text
James Sirius Malfoy-Potter, 11 years old, stood before his trunk. In his hand was a device unknown to him yet. He was contemplating whether he would bring the unknown device or keep it in his room, where his Papa would surely see it. His Papa, who for sure would haunt him down from the castle of Hogwarts just to pull him back to the house and reprimand him for meddling with his Aunt Hermione's things.
Or he could bring it with him but risk the chance of causing destruction in the castle and getting the famous ire of Headmistress McGonagall and his Papa.
James sighed, his Dad's gentle yet stern voice telling him to return the thing before something worse happened, but the device looked cool in his hand. And his Dad once said, anything in his aunt Hermione's room, was a thing of beauty; they all looked cool. They were only for adults. And if James can successfully use this, then he will have something to tell his new friends in Hogwarts. He will be the most famous boy, if he's not yet, because of his surname and his parents, but James wanted to be famous in his own right.
And he reckoned, this is just the thing to push him to be that.
James' head perked up, though, when he heard the door suddenly open. With a reflex worthy of being a Quidditch champion, he carelessly threw the thing in his drawer.
His heart was beating so fast, a lie was ready in his lips, although he knew his Papa would be quick to know that something was amiss. James loves his Papa so much, but he's just so smart that he couldn't do any of his cool plans under his scrutinizing eyes. Unlike his Dad who's oblivious sometimes.
But he calmed down when he saw his brothers entering his room instead. "Oh, it's just you two."
Albus frowned at him. "Dad and Papa are looking for you. They were asking if you were ready so they could bring your trunk down."
James faced them, successfully hiding the drawer behind him, and crossed his arms at them. "Don't tell me you two are going to come." He asked by way of distracting them. "It's not like you two are going to do anything there."
"Of course! Lily too! She's downstairs with Teddy, Dad, and Papa, excitedly waiting for you. So, are you ready?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be ready, give me five more minutes."
Albus rolled his eyes and was about to go down when Scorpius, the one who obviously inherited their Papa's brain, suddenly asked. "What are you hiding there, Jamie?" Albus stopped as well and looked at James in expectation.
James laughed. "What are you talking about?" He knew he had the expression of picture-perfect confusion, but Scorpius frowned more.
"The thing you hid just before we came in."
"What thing?" Albus asked.
James shrugged. "Yes, Scorp, what thing?"
Scorpius crossed his arms. "The one inside your drawer."
Albus' eyes narrowed. "Scorp's right. There's something you're hiding there, Jamie, it's obvious. You're being defensive about it."
"Defensive? I don't—what are you two talking about? I just don't want you touching any of my things. Just go away, will you? Tell Dad and Papa I'll be ready in a few minutes."
Scorpius and Albus looked at each other before sighing. "Fine."
They were really fit to be Slytherins because just as soon as James turned his back, Albus came attacking him to give way to Scorpius, who was quick to open the drawer.
"Hey!"
Scorpius gasped when he opened the drawer. "Did you steal this from Aunt Hermione's room?"
James pushed Albus away from him. "I didn't steal it, I don't steal things! I found it in Dad's study. He probably borrowed it from Aunt Hermione, and I saw it, so," James shrugged. "Finder's keepers."
Scorpius scoffed. "You didn't find it. You nicked it from Dad's study."
"Jamie, Dad and Papa told us we shouldn't be touching any of their things. Dad will be mad at you. You should've left it at that or told Papa or Dad."
James sighed and shook his head. "You two are such rule-followers, live a little, why don't you? I will just try it and return it to Dad's study like nothing happened."
"You can't try it, Jamie. It's a time turner."
James gasped, his eyes widening, before a big smile settled on his face. Oh shit, the thing is cooler than he was thinking. He was only thinking of a two-way mirror with enhanced features. "Is it? But it looks like a mirror."
Albus peaked inside and nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't look like the one I saw in those books."
Scorpius flushed, and then he was suddenly shifty. "I just heard Aunt 'Mione and Papa talking about it, Aunt 'Mione was describing it to Papa."
James smirked. "Oh, so you're eavesdropping on Papa when he specifically told us not to."
Scorpius' eyes widened in fear. "It was an accident!"
"Hm, not really, because you obviously know a great deal about their talk," James' smirk widened when he saw Scorpius' resolve breaking, it's so easy to fool his brothers. Sometimes, he just loves being the oldest. "Don't worry, Scorp, I won't tell Papa if you won't tell on me."
"I'm sure what you did is worse than me eavesdropping."
"So you did eavesdrop."
Scorpius growled. "Give me that!"
"No, it's mine!"
"Hey! You two!"
All of them shot their arms up and touched the time turner. When they did, it suddenly glowed, and James realized that Scorpius was right when the middle portion of the mirror broke from its frame and began spinning like the time turner James knew.
"It's happening! Yes!"
"What the hell is happening?" Albus whispered.
"We're doomed!"
"This is cool! A time turner! Finally!"
They all closed their eyes when they felt a pull, and they all screamed, their emotions different from each other, when they felt a lurching inside them.
-
But just as soon as the warping started, it stopped.
When James opened his eyes, they were at King's Cross Station. He knew this because he went here last year with his parents when they accompanied Teddy. Beside him, his brothers were both groaning as they stretched their bodies to relieve the pain of the fall.
"We broke it," Albus sighed and looked forlornly at the broken time turner in his hand.
"Just take care of it for a while. We need to preserve it."
"Scorp, you're lying, it's not a time turner. It's probably just a portkey of some sort. Let's just wait for Dad and Papa, they'll be here when they realize we're gone."
"No, Jamie, look at that!"
Scorpius pointed at the newspaper, and their eyes widened when they saw the date on the Daily Prophet clasped in the wizard's hand. Tuesday, September 1, 1998. On the front page was their Dad, a younger version of him glaring at whomever captured the picture.
"Do you believe me now that we really went back in time? And do you know what that means?" Scorpius frowned at James.
"Hell yeah! We're so cool, and I have so much to say to the students at Hogwarts! They'll look at me in envy!"
"What, Jamie?! No! We got back in Dad and Papa's 8th year! And if we went back, that means-"
Scorpius was stopped when they heard a commotion and saw people going gaga over their Dad, aunt Mione, and uncle Ron, who all looked younger than they were used to. Their Dad obviously hated the attention, though, and he was shoving some of the people already. Well, at least, something hasn't changed.
"We're dead," Albus whispered.
"Dead? Don't you two see how cool this is?! We can go talk to Dad. Hey, Da-"
Scorpius pulled James away from the quick eyes and brain of Hermione. "Jamie! One rule when you go back to the past is to not let anyone know you're from the future, Aunt Hermione said. And do not meddle. It's going to change everything in our own time. If you told Dad we were his children and he got together with Papa in the end, he might do his very best to stop that from happening. Dad isn't in love with Papa yet in their 8th year, he told us that. Or he might just force it to happen for the sake of it happening, with no real feelings between them."
James, for the first time, felt anxious. Scorpius is right. If he triggered an event, just one simple event, it could have a domino effect, and his' and his brothers' existences would surely be affected. His parents might not end up together after all.
James sighed. "You're right. What should we do?"
"We need to-"
Scorpius stopped talking when they heard another commotion, this time, no praises or screams of worship were given. Instead, murmurs of disgust and glares were thrown at the newcomers. There they saw their Papa, with his head held high, with their Uncle Blaise and Aunt Pansy by his side, their attitudes unchanging.
Not until the murmurs and glares suddenly became not enough. And suddenly, a hex was thrown, and their Papa tripped and fell.
"Draco!" Pansy and Blaise cried, quick to help him.
"Papa." Scorpius and Albus whimpered from behind James, obviously distraught to see their Papa getting harmed, and they couldn't do anything about it.
"Jamie, we need to do something, let's help Papa," Scorpius sobbed when the people around them laughed at their Papa, openly mocking him. No one, aside from Blaise and Pansy, cared enough to stop the public humiliation their Papa was experiencing.
James felt his eyes water as well, seeing what his Papa had faced after the war was heartbreaking. Getting told about it was one thing, but seeing it in front of him made him regret ever going back here. He shouldn't have nicked the time turner from his Dad's study room.
But Blaise and Pansy were there for him. They pulled Draco to stand, and the three of them continued, with Pansy and Blaise sticking to Draco's side, casting a shield as well.
James saw from the side that his Dad and uncle Ron were snickering at his Papa, with his aunt Hermione only shaking her head, and that was more heartbreaking. He was used to seeing his Dad overprotective of his Papa, lashing out at anyone who dared to look at him in the wrong way or say anything bad about him. His Dad loves his Papa very much, and his uncle Ron always teased his Dad being whipped to him, to which he always answered with a proud, "I am."
James hid his Dad from his brothers' sight before they came, attacking their Dad for not doing anything to help their Papa and revealing their secret. James needed to be their oldest, most mature brother. He needed to fix this, it's all because of him that they're all in this predicament.
"Look, we need to go to Hogwarts, we can ask for help there. Until then, Scorpius is right, no one should recognize us, so," James pulled his wand from his sleeve and cast the one spell he knew by heart, a modification charm.
He made their hair brown, turning his nose longer and his chin a bit wider, softening Scorpius' face to remove the Malfoy features, and turning Albus' eyes blue so no one would associate him with the famous emerald green eyes of their Dad.
"There. We're so different. I can't recognize you two anymore, but it has to happen. No one can recognize us until we get help from someone."
"Where did you learn this, Jamie? This is so cool!" Albus sniffed and happily touched his newly straightened brown hair.
"Yeah? From Teddy. He taught it to me, I was thinking of using it when I do my pranks in Hogwarts, just don't tell anyone about it, alright? Now, let's go!"
-
They all settled into a compartment.
"Jamie, I'm so scared. Do you think Papa is okay?" Scorpius still had a frown and was still shivering from the scene they all saw.
"You two, come here, look," James slung his arms around his brothers. "I'm sorry this happened. I regret ever touching that thing, and yes, I should've listened to Scorp, but I thought of what it could bring me, but seeing Papa there," James gritted his teeth, he wanted to hex everyone who laughed at his Papa, including his Dad and uncle Ron. "Maybe we're here for a reason? Maybe we're here to protect Papa, right?"
Scorpius nodded. "Maybe." He sheepishly smiled when his stomach grumbled. "I'm hungry. I should've eaten something. Papa told me to eat something, I miss Papa."
"Don't worry. I'll buy something when we see the trolley witch. Teddy told me all the candies she sells."
When the trolley witch strolled by their compartment, James spent the galleons his parents gave him for this reason. And soon after, they were distracted at the varieties of sweet candies laid before them.
"Look!" Albus excitedly shouted, shoving his chocolate frog card at James' face. "I got Dad! He looked irritated, though."
"He's always irritated when his picture gets taken, unless it's for our family picture, because Papa is the one insisting on it."
"Dad loves Papa so much, he's willing to do everything for him, and for us as well."
They all smiled at each other, but soon fell when they realized that they were years away from those parents who were in love with each other.
"How do you think Papa is faring?" Albus asked, a worried furrow visible on his face.
"We can go check if you want."
Before they found their Papa, they found their Dad first, only three compartments away from where they were sitting, and what welcomed them stunned them. Their aunt Ginny was in there, looking cozy beside their Dad. Their Dad had an arm wrapped around her waist, and she was leaning on his shoulder, kissing his cheek from time to time.
"That's not Dad," Scorpius murmured, more to himself, his voice heavy and laced with disappointment. "It's weird, I know they had a history, but I can't take Dad doing that thing he's supposed to be doing with Papa. And Aunt Ginny should be kissing Aunt Cho instead. It's weird. I don't want to think that Dad is cheating because he's not, but..."
Albus sighed. "I hate this. I hate this place. I don't want to be here anymore. I don't like this Dad. I want to see Papa."
"Sorry, Al," James felt shitty. When they saw their Dad leaning in, about to snog their aunt Ginny, James clasped his brothers' shoulders and pulled them away. "Okay, come here, let's go."
Before leaving, James saw Harry looking at them with his eyes narrowed.
At the end of the hallway, they finally saw their Papa's compartment, he's with his best friends, who were both talking, but their Papa was quiet.
At the reflection of the window where their Papa was fixated, James and his familiar silver eyes met. The door abruptly opened, stopping Blaise and Pansy's talk. And their Papa was looking at them with neither familiarity nor the familiar love in his eyes. They looked dull and hopeless—not the gorgeous eyes their Dad loved describing.
"Who are you, and what are you staring at?"
"We-"
Scorpius entered the compartment despite the lack of invitation and smiled at their Papa. He had his hands fisted to his side, desperately preventing himself from hugging their Papa. "Uhm, we're sorry to intrude like this, but we saw what happened at the station-"
Their Papa scoffed and rolled his eyes at him. Scorpius backed away a little. James clasped a hand on Scorpius' shoulder, silently telling him this isn't their Papa. "What? Came here to gloat as well? Mock me? Came to finish the job? Can't say I will be hurt by hexes from little first year students, but it will certainly embarrass me so much. Go on, finish the job."
"No, no, that's not what we wanted to do. We're sorry it happened to you."
"I don't want your pity! Go away!"
"Draco." Pansy softly chided, looking at Scorpius in apology.
"Shut up, Pansy. We don't even know these kids. The audacity of them to come here and remind me of what happened."
Scorpius nibbled on his lower lip, while James and Lily were closer to their Dad, the blonde always favored their Papa over their Dad, and so did Albus, so James knew how much the twins were having a hard time getting treated like this from their usually gentle-loving Papa.
"You don't deserve what they did to you, uhm... Draco," James cut off, subtly moving Scorpius and Albus behind him. "It was plain cruel, what they did. No one deserved that."
"I deserved it," Draco sighed. "You don't know all the things I did, just ask everyone around."
James didn't fail to see how their younger version of Papa gripped his covered forearm, where he knew his dark mark was. Even until the present, his Papa was always sensitive about it and always calmed down when his Dad caressed the mark.
"We know what you did, and we believed in you, just like Harry. He spoke for you in your trial, didn't he?"
"I should've known you three were fans of the saviour. Who are you, anyway? And why are you so concerned with me?"
"We're no one," Albus chewed on his lower lip, thinking of the right things to say. "But we're all excited to go to Hogwarts, but then earlier, we saw what they did, and, it was," Albus puffed his cheeks, and James knew he was stopping himself from cursing, despite knowing this isn't their real Papa. "Evil. It was trash what they did, and we just wanted you to know that. We're siblings, by the way," Albus said in his desperation to continue talking to their Papa.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "What? You three are siblings, all going to Hogwarts as first years? What? But you don't look like you're triplets."
"Yes, we're not. But we are twins," Albus pointed at Scorpius.
"Who are your parents? The Weasleys? Your mother must be so fertile, just imagine having 3 small kids under the age of 2, I couldn't."
James had to hide his smirk when he remembered when their grand-mére told them the story of the time when his Papa found out he was pregnant again, with James not even a year old yet. She said he was so mad at their Dad. She also said that his Papa was distraught at first at the prospect of having 3 small kids, all under the age of 2, but it only lasted for a day, and soon after, he was back to being an excited parent, and his Dad couldn't be happier.
"Our parents are just very much in love."
When Draco only scoffed and went back to staring at the window, Scorpius perked up again. "We two are gunning to be Slytherins just like, uhm, our mother told us, we're fitted to be Slytherins and we are hoping to see you there... Draco."
"You know, kid, you shouldn't be, you don't know how angry all the students are at us, it doesn't matter if you two are innocent. Just hope you're in Gryffindor, the house of the Saviour."
James puffed up his chest at the mention of his House, he knew he would be in there, his parents told him. "I will be in Gryffindor, but I don't see anything wrong with Slytherins or in any of the houses. Our... mother always told us that the Slytherin house is elegant, and I know it will be an honor for my brothers to be in that house."
"Whatever."
Draco went back to sulking and threw a silencing charm around himself.
Pansy smiled in apology. "You three were obviously brought up better than us, whoever raised you, they must be the best, especially your mother. Thank you for your concern."
James looked at Draco who wasn't looking at any of them anymore. "They are. Well, we'll see you there. Bye."
-
It was Hagrid who welcomed the first year students.
"Hagrid!" The three of them came running forward and hugged the gentle giant, who hugged them as well, although Hagrid looked confused.
"Do I know you three?"
James shook his head. "No, but we heard you from our parents, our Dad said you were the best Professor he had in Care of Magical Creatures," His Papa obviously didn't share the same idea and was adamant to contradict their Dad. "And they also told us all the things you did for Hogwarts, especially during the war."
Hagrid proudly smiled at that, and he puffed up his chest. "Well, that's nice to hear. Who are your parents, by the way? And why aren't you dressed yet?"
"We... well, you see, it's a long story, but our parents, they're... uhm gone, and we don't have any money, so we don't have any uniform, but we really wanted to come here in Hogwarts to study, we promised our parets, you see." James sighed at a frowning Hagrid.
He just knew Hagrid had a big heart for orphaned kids.
"What?! That can't be! Okay, we'll go to Headmistress McGonagall, she'll know what to do."