TBAY: Harry/Lily/James

[Michal]

No: HPFGUIDX 68153

[I've never written a TBAY before, so bear with me]

Michal strolls along the beach, staring at all the ships in the 
distance. She squints, in order to get a better sense of the wreckage 
caused by hurricane Jo. Shaking her head, she heads towards the 
docks. She notices a few people drinking tea mingled with some salty 
tears from their SAD DENIAL mugs. A young woman wearing a hat with a 
PINE tree on it chats angrily with a man eating a slice of PIE.

She only subconsciously notes these characters, as her attention 
has been caught by a small ship that managed to avoid the damage of 
the storm. As she approaches, Michal sees that the ship has a small 
sign, reading, "Please claim. No longer in use."

As Michal wanders aboard to look around, her curiosity getting the 
better of her, she sees a tiny hourglass sitting in the middle of the 
main deck. "Of course!" she says outloud, and quickly looks around, 
hoping that nobody heard her talk to herself. Once she remembers that 
she is alone on the ship, she allows her thoughts to pour out of her 
mouth freely.

"It's certainly not flawless, but it's as possible as any of the 
other ships on this bay. Harry must have talked to them before 
Voldemort came. The ministry has lots of time-turners. He could steal 
one without too much trouble. Maybe in addition to kind Hermione 
used, which goes back by hours, they also 
have 'days,' 'weeks,' 'months,' and 'years.' Rowling almost always 
mentions Halloween. What's to stop a desperate Harry (maybe mourning 
the death of yet another friend, or even Dumbledore), in his seventh 
year, from stealing a 'year' time-turner and going back to Godric's 
Hollow?

"Yes! The trip back in time begins as a matter of curiosity, maybe 
even encouraged by Dumbledore (if he is still alive that is). Harry 
goes back to find out what exactly happened that night, maybe even to 
get some important information that even Dumbledore doesn't know. He 
talks to his parents earlier that day, tells them that Pettigrew will 
betray them and that they will die that night. They do not dispute 
him, but create a plan in which Lily knows that her death will save 
Harry. James knows that his part in the plan is to hold off Voldemort 
long enough for 17-year-old-Harry to help Lily in the execution of 
her plan. Harry also tells his parents that they will be able to see 
him at least once more as shadows of themselves when he is 14. He is 
able to fill them in on what becomes of Sirius and Lupin, and they 
shed some tears over Sirius's fate (and perhaps Lupin if he is no 
longer alive at that point), and then take their places in separate 
rooms in the house.

"Harry turns time forward again, returning to Hogwarts in time for 
the Halloween feast, finally understanding what happened the night 
his parents died."

***

"NO!" shouts another voice from the back of the ship. Michal whirls 
around to see herself walking towards her, 15 minutes older. "Your 
theory has huge holes in it!"

"I know," young Michal whispers. "Tell me what you know."

"I looked it up," says old Michal. "You've forgotten that the male 
voice Harry hears in PoA sounds panicked, like he didn't know that 
Voldemort was coming, and a stumbling sound follows, as though Lily 
was in the same room with the baby Harry."

Young Michal stares into her own face, and her eyes move down to the 
chain around her throat. "But look. You didn't know 15 minutes ago 
that you would come back here to tell me these things. Sure enough, 
I'm going on my way now to look up the plausibility of my theory. The 
question is, would I have gone to look it up had you not come to 
contradict me?"

"Harry can't talk to his parents before they die," says old 
Michal. "Too many holes..." she trails off. Sighing, she pulls the 
hourglass out from under her shirt. "Well, I've done what I came here 
to do. Your theory seemed more plausible when 17-year-old-Harry could 
have yelled out the things the male voice says in 13-year-old-Harry's 
memory."

"I know," says young Michal. "It's all too complicated now. No one 
will ever come aboard this ship."

Old Michal turns over the hourglass around her neck, and vanishes.

Young Michal wanders about the ship with the hourglass she picked up 
earlier that evening, putting it around her neck. She glances at her 
watch. She has a few minutes before she has to go. In the corner of 
the deck, she sees a bucket of paint and a brush. She carries them 
outside and begins painting TIME TURNER (Time Is Manipulated Even 
Though Undermining Rationales Nullify Every Reason) on the side of 
the ship. She removes the sign indicating the ship's vacancy, breaks 
a bottle on the side of it, and sighs. Satisfied, she pulls the 
hourglass from her shirt and turns it 15 times...




OK, that's my first TBAY, and I'm sure it's awful. Also, I looked at 
all the acronyms on the list, but I can't remember if there's already 
one called TIME TURNER.

Well anyway, that was fun, even if I only half-heartedly subscribe to 
my own theory. :)

-Michal

Arthur Weasley for Minister of Magic

Weasley is our King...