Time Keeps on Slipping - Chapter 2

AN: No smut in this chapter. Worldbuilding & exposition.

Once both were dressed, Luna led Harry through the Ministry Halls. They took a roundabout route, much of which he didn't recognize, and managed to avoid seeing more than one other person. Even then, they were facing the other way focused on their work.

They made it to the Ministers office without an issue. Each time it seemed as though they were going to be spotted, something would happen. A witch needed to sneeze when they stepped out of the lift, the motion pulling her attention away from them. The auror guarding the hall to Hermione's office yawned right as they walked by. Her secretary, an older Pansy Parkinson of all people, spilled her inkpot as was too busy cleaning it up to see them enter.

Harry stared at Luna as they came to a stop in the empty office. She smiled at him and took a seat on a nearby couch. The only other chair available was behind the desk. Everything else was taken by stacks of paperwork.

Hermione wasn't here, but it was clearly hers. Books and scrolls were stacked on every possible surface. The rear window was blocked out by a couple of hanging charts that had numerous notes in her handwriting.

A couple of framed pictures on the desk caught his eye. He stepped closer to take a look. One was of her, Ron, and him getting off the Hogwarts Express. Considering they weren't looking at the camera, he guessed it was taken by Colin Creevey. The other photo was her in a wedding dress next to her husband.

"Ron!" Harry looked over to at Luna. "She married Ron?"

Luna nodded. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. He leaned against the desk, shifting his focus to the ceiling rather than the room around him. This made no sense.

When did my ever make sense? She and Ron were constantly yelling at each other. Even their 'harmless' arguments could get quite loud. Sure, Hermione was annoyed with Ron and Lavender slobbering over each other all the time, but it wasn't jealousy. Right? Fuck, was it jealousy? How did I miss that? Constant nightmares, teaching DA, and dodging Umbridge did take a lot of brainpower.

Harry took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt.

"Who else is married?" Harry asked after a moment.

"Fred and Angelina. George and Alicia. Neville and Hannah." She paused. "Fleur and Bill. Tonks and Remus. Percy and Audrey. Draco and Astoria."

"Wait." Harry held up a hand. "Wait. Fred and Angelina? I thought she was dating George."

"Not everyone marries their school sweetheart, Harry." Luna replied. "Angelina, Alicia, and Katie went pro. Fred and George focused on their shop. Alicia got hurt, while in recovery she got close to Fred."

"And Fleur married Bill… as in Bill Weasley? Ron and Ginny's older brother." Harry asked.

Luna nodded.

"Didn't see that one coming." Harry muttered. "Guess Tonks finally got Moony to give her a chance."

Luna shrugged. Somehow, she managed to shove a stack of papers off the couch while keeping them completely intact. She patted the spot.

"Who's Astoria?" Harry sat next to her.

"Astoria Greengrass." Luna replied snuggling up to his side. "Little sister to Daphne Greengrass."

"The name sounds familiar." Harry shook his head as he leaned back on the couch. "What happened to Sirius? Hermione said he was exonerated. Where is he now?"

"He's an auror." Luna ran a hand through his hair. "Never married. No kids. Lives alone."

"That's not good." Harry closed his eyes.

"He'll either try to kill you or hug you." Luna said helpfully. "Possibly both."

"Why would he try to kill me?" Harry squeaked.

"He blames himself for you dying." Luna continued to run her fingers through his hair. "He could think you were some type of shade sent to kill him. Sirius has made plenty of enemies."

Harry leaned into her touch. A moment later he found himself resting his head in her lap.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Harry asked as his eyes started to drift close.

The evening was catching up with him. He had rushed out to the Department of Mysteries after a long day of class, then there was the running battle, and now this time travel business. Sex with Luna was amazing, but sleep was calling.

Harry was vaguely aware of something approaching.

"Luna." Hermione yelped when she stormed into the office. "What are you doing here?"

Luna shushed her. "Harry's tired."

"Why did you bring…" She motioned to Harry. "It here."

"You wanted Harry's results." Luna shifted a little to offer Hermione a sheet of parchment, but kept him in her lap.

Hermione read through the readout. She shook her head.

"The wand matches." Hermione muttered. "Last spell cast fifteen years ago. Blood sample matches." She paused. "Luna, why is his sperm count listed?"

"You wanted every test." Luna replied as though it was completely obvious.

"You have his sex listed as 'enthusiastic'." Hermione sighed.

Luna nodded.

"Luna." Hermione trudged over to stand in front of the slumbering young man. "It's really him."

Luna nodded again.

"Only you, Harry." Hermione shook her head. "Only you."

Luna nodded once more.

"What do we do now?" Hermione muttered.

"I don't know." Luna answered helpfully. "You're the Minister."

~ § ~ § ~ § ~

Harry woke up to the familiar sound of Ron and Hermione talking nearby. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but they weren't arguing. That was a nice change. Fred, or George spoke up. Voices overlapped after.

He had to be at the Burrow. Or maybe Grimmauld Place. That meant they survived the Ministry. It was so stupid of him to fall for the trap. That spell knocked him for a loop though. Hermione being the Minister of Magic, sex with Luna, time travel, Ron and Hermione getting married, sex with Luna, Sirius winning the war in one night, sex with Luna. It was crazy.

Harry squinted his eyes as the door opened. He didn't have his glasses, the person that slipped inside was a amorphous blob until they got closer. The familiar bushy hair made him smile.

"Are you awake?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Harry mumbled. "Is everyone ok? I must have blacked out once Bellatrix hit me."

"Mm-Hm." Hermione answered.

"Thank Merlin. You don't have to say it. I know, my saving people thing, almost got me killed. Again." Harry sighed. "I just couldn't lose him. I should have known it was a trap."

Hermione didn’t say anything.

"I don't know what spell was, but I had a crazy dream." Harry chuckled. "You were the Minister of Magic and were married to Ron."

"Why is that so crazy?" Hermione asked quickly.

There was something about her voice. Harry pushed himself up to sitting. He realized that he didn't have a shirt on. Madam Pomphrey probably took it off to check him over. Hermione let out a small sound.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked as he searched for his glasses.

"You don't have a shirt on." She whispered quickly.

"You've seen it before." Harry chuckled.

"When?" She sounded scandalized.

"The Second Task." Harry replied. "Swimming at the Burrow. That one time you walked in on me getting out of the shower."

She gasped.

"Oh, yeah, we don't mention that." Harry laughed. "Where are my glasses?"

"Uh." Hermione moved closer.

Harry froze. There were many things he just knew. The weight of the snitch in his hand. How his magic flowed when he held his wand. How Hermione smelled. This was not her. Harry tried to get a sense of the room. The lights were off, he didn't have his glasses, and he had no idea where his wand was. He could practically hear Moody bellowing 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE'.

"I just want to say." Harry said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" The false Hermione paused her search.

Harry kicked out at the back of her knees. She tumbled to the ground. He pounced on her, searching for her wand. It was in her back pocket, of course it was. He grabbed it, hit her with a stunner, and rushed over to the door.

He cursed under his breath as he heard the conversation nearby stop. Time was running out. He couldn't just rush out into the hall. Harry flicked on the light. His glasses were on a nightstand on the other side of the bed from where he had thought. Once he had his them, he took a closer look at the girl on the floor had the same build as Hermione. She could have passed for her, except for the bright red hair.

"Damn it, Harry." He grumbled to himself.

He scooped her up and set her on the bed. She wasn't wearing Death Eater robes. From the looks of her, she was around his age. Probably some Death Eaters daughter they were going to use to soften him up. That didn't mean she deserved rough treatment.

Once that was done, he scanned the room. It wasn't anything special. Nothing more than a bed and a nightstand for furnishing. There were no windows. The only way in, or out, was the one door.

Harry turned back to the door. He rolled his shoulders to loosen up his muscles. Charging into the unknown was a plan he was all too familiar with. The trick to doing something stupid was to move fast, cause chaos, and avoid getting trapped.

The footsteps were getting closer. They didn't sound like they were in a rush. Harry covered the girl with the blanket and flicked off the lights. Hopefully, that would buy him a moment or two. He pressed himself against the wall behind the door.

It swung open just as he settled in place. There were two of them. These spoke in hushed whispers, slowly approaching the bed. Harry stunned the one in the back as he jumped through the door. He heard the other person yell in shock.

Harry didn't stop. His rushed forward, scanning the area. Years of dodging bullies and searching for a snitch honed his spatial awareness. He was running down the hallway of a nice house. It wasn't a manor, the decorations were homey, and there weren't any post looking portraits. This was the third floor. He had just sprinted by the stairs. There had been a group of people coming up.

The end of the hall was quickly approaching. It was a straight shot that ended in a window. He really didn't want to have to jump through it. For one, he wasn't wearing a shirt and he was not looking forward to pulling glass out of his skin. He slid to a stop. His heart was thundering in his chest.

He spun around. There wasn't anything he could use for cover, or even to hide behind. His cloak, where was it? If they had his wand then it only made sense that they would have taken everything else he had on him.

"Come on, Harry." He muttered to himself. "Think."

Option one, jump out the window. No, thank you. Option two, fight. How many people were on the stairs? Had they revived the people in the room? Option three, find out what was behind the doors on either side of the hall. It wasn't perfect, he'd be trapped, but he was already trapped.

"Option three." He mumbled.

Harry turned to the door on his left, leaving his right hand open in case he needed to cast something. It opened easily. He rushed inside and froze. A boy, probably his age or a bit younger, stared back at him. He was the spitting image of Ron, but better looking. The kid has Hermione's eyes and wasn't nearly as gangly as Ron.

"Bloody hell, you're him. You're really him!" The kid gawked.

Harry stumbled back a step, hitting the door. His head was spinning. He slid down to sit on the floor.

"Where…" Harry cleared his throat. "Where am I?"

"My house." The kid replied. "Holy shit, Harry Potter is in my house. In my room."

"Who are you?" Harry could hear people searching for him.

"Hugo." The kid said. "Hugo Weasley. You knew my parents."

"Ron and Hermione." Harry offered.

The kid, Hugo, nodded. Harry let out a chuckle. It deepened into a laugh and grew into a full-on cackle. The entire situation was driving him mad. He couldn't stop. His cheeks were starting to hurt, and it was getting harder to breathe.

"Are you ok, mate?" Hugo asked, the excitement replaced with worry.

"I'm fine. Just fucking grand." Harry pushed himself to his feet. "Hugo Weasley. Ron and Hermione's kid."

Hugo nodded. His eyes dropped to the wand Harry was holding.

"By chance." Harry felt the mad laughter fighting to burst free once more. "Do you have a sister?"

"Yeah. Rose." Hugo tensed. "That's her wand."

Harry couldn't stop the little giggle that escaped his mouth. He held it up. Hugo flinched.

"Too slow." Harry shook his head. He pointed the wand at Hugo. "Stunned." He made the motion. "Disarmed." Another wand movement. "And bound." He finished it off.

Harry took a step forward; Hugo took a step back. He opened the door and walked back out into the hall. A pack of mostly familiar faces turned to face him. The stared at him, they stared back. Luna, Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Hermione, and a dazed looking girl that had to be Rose stood nearby.

"You've got a nice house." Harry said awkwardly. "I expected more bookshelves."

"There's a library on the second floor." Hermione replied.

Harry nodded.

"Am I going crazy?" Harry felt dizzy. "Dead? No. My feet hurt to be dead. I've been dead before. Phoenix tears aren't nearly as fast acting as Basilisk Venom. Nice floors. Hardwood?"

"Enchanted oak." Ron answered. "Keeps it from scuffing and easier to clean."

"What are you doing?!" Molly yelled.

She rushed over to Harry, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"You're back, you dear boy, you're back." She cried as she held him.

Harry patted her on the back.

"This is real?" He asked.

Molly pulled back. She looked him in the eyes and nodded. Harry shifted his attention to the girl.

"Sorry." Harry said, he was wobbling on his feet. The only thing keeping him upright was Molly. "Did I hurt you? Here's your wand. It works great."

Rose shuffled through the group. She took the wand and mumbled thanks.

"Let's get you some food." Molly continued to hug him. "I forgot how skinny you are."

Harry let her lead him down the stairs. He leaned on her most of the way. His eyes roamed the house as they traveled through it. Happy scenes in picture frames stared at him as he passed on by. He watched as Ron and Hermione aged through the photos. They had lived an entire life that he had missed.

There was another group of people already in the kitchen. Percy and a woman Harry didn't recognize were among a gaggle of gingers that marked them as further Weasleys. They all were around his age, maybe a year older or younger. There were five of them, four of which were girls. Three of the group had darker skin, telling him that they were Angelina or Alicia's kids.

Even with Harry joining them at the table there was plenty of space. It looked to be able to comfortably seat at least seven more people. Probably another ten if they squeezed in.

"Make some room." Molly ordered. "Make some room."

Harry sat between a couple of the girls with darker complexions.

"Hi." He said numbly. "I'm Harry."

"We know." One of the girls said in awe.

"Roxie." Molly chided. "Be nice."

"I am Gram." Roxie, the girl on his left said. "It's not every day you meet someone who came back from the dead."

Harry snorted. Everyone was staring at him. He looked down at himself, trying to figure out why.

"I don't have a shirt on." Harry stated flatly.

"Oh, dear." Molly said. "I completely forgot in the mess of things."

"I don't mind." The girl on his right said.

"Really, Harri?" The lone boy at the table rolled his eyes.

"Harri?" Harry turned to face her.

"Harriet." She smiled at him. "I'm named after you." She motioned to the boy. "That's James. He's named after you too. I'm older so I got Harriet."

"Huh." Harry looked around the table again.

The two lighter skinned girls were the youngest of the bunch. They also looked like clones of Ginny.

"Twins?" He asked looking at them.

They nodded.

"Roxane?" He pointed to the girl on his left. "Harriet." The girl on his left. "James." He motioned to the boy. "You two?"

"Molly." The one across from him said.
"Lucy." The one beside James said.

"Rose and Hugo are upstairs." Harry continued. "That's all of you?"

"No." James answered quickly. "There's Victoire, Dominique, and Louis. They aren't here though."

"Bill and Fleur's children." Molly said as she put a plate of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and toast in front of him. "They'll be here this evening. Those goblins work Bill to the bone."

"Aunt Fleur too." Lucy said.

Molly either didn't hear or ignored the comment.

"Tonks and Teddy should be here soon too." Roxie added.

"Teddy?" Harry asked.

"Tonks' son." Roxie replied.

"Where's Remus?" Harry asked.

That led to a round of shrugs. Molly muttered something. Percy and the woman hadn't taken their eyes off of him. He wondered when they had patched things up. Last he recalled; Percy was a Ministry stooge that picked his job over his family.

"Harry." Hermione spoke softly.

He turned to see her standing in the doorway.

"Are you up to talk once you've eaten?" She asked.

Harry nodded.

"I'll get you a shirt." Hermione scoffed.

Harry put his focus on eating. He was starving. Not only that, but it also gave him some time to think. There was a lot to process. This was real. He had also knocked out Hermione's daughter and probably stunned Ron when they came to check on him. Their son, Hugo, didn't get hit with a spell, but the kid was plenty shaken up. This was not how he thought the day would go.

Waking up in the future was never something he had expected. All things considered; it wasn't too outlandish. Being hunted by a Dark Lord and his cult, fighting a basilisk, winning an international tournament, and banishing a horde of dementors was just as improbable.

Am I still The Boy Who Lived? Everyone thought I was dead. Coming back now will get them talking again. I wonder what happened to Rita Skeeter.

"Is Sirius coming over too?" Harry asked.

"He's out on assignment." Percy spoke up.

Harry shrugged. The room was quiet aside from Molly zooming around the kitchen and him eating. It was awkward, but he had no idea what to talk about. Everyone seemed happy and healthy.

"Are you all Gryffindors?" Harry asked.

That brought a round of laughter.

"Rose, James, and me are." Roxie answered. "Harri. Harriet, I mean, James, and Lucy are in Hufflepuff. Molly is the odd one out in Ravenclaw."

"Do Fleur and Bill's kids go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yeah." James said loudly. "The Weasley clan is like half the student body."

"Not even close, genius." Molly rolled her eyes. "We account for one-sixteenth of the school population."

"Vic graduated last year." Roxie steered the conversation back to the topic. "Dominique is in Ravenclaw with Molly. Louis is in Gryffindor with us."

"Are you going to school in the fall?" Lucy asked.

Harry looked down at his plate. He cocked his head to the side as he tried to figure out what he was going to do here.

"I… don't know." Harry said slowly. "Nice to meet you all."

Harry pushed his chair away from the table and fled. Hermione stood at the bottom of the stairs holding a shirt. He noticed the Cannons logo. Harry chuckled. She shrugged as she offered it to him.