Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/10040660. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Major_Character_Death, Underage, Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence Category: M/M, F/M, Multi Fandom: Harry_Potter_-_J._K._Rowling Relationship: Arthur_Weasley/Molly_Weasley, Fred_Weasley/George_Weasley/Other(s), Draco Malfoy/Harry_Potter Character: Bellatrix_Black_Lestrange, Draco_Malfoy, Albus_Dumbledore, Fred_Weasley, George_Weasley, Harry_Potter, James_Potter, Lily_Evans_Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Luna_Lovegood, Minerva_McGonagall, Molly_Weasley, Narcissa_Black Malfoy, Neville_Longbottom, Other(s), Pansy_Parkinson, Petunia_Evans Dursley, Arthur_Weasley, Blaise_Zabini, Kingsley_Shacklebolt, Original Character Additional Tags: Explicit_Language, Heterosexual_Sex, Slash_sex, Sexual_Content, Threesome, Voyeurism, Action/Adventure, Angst, Tragedy, Humor, Parody, Romance Collections: HPFandom Stats: Published: 2009-01-17 Completed: 2009-05-30 Chapters: 3/3 Words: 3597 ****** Backward's Method ****** by Emerald Rain [archived by HPFandom_archivist] Summary What will the Wizarding World do when their two year old savior dies in a fire. Mourn. What will Raphael Prince a.k.a. Harry Potter do when he attands Hogwarts? Cause havoc. Notes Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at HP_Fandom, which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on HP_Fandom_collection profile. ***** Sweet and Innocent ***** A/N: This chappy is from Lily's point of view as will be a few of the following ones, but it will switch to either Harry's p.o.v. or third person omnipotent following Harry soon. If anything weird happens to the text please just tell me. I work from a Mac and sometimes my chapter updates can get a bit screwy (Fanfiction.net won't let me upload my stories with parragraph indentations. It drives me crazy.) Disclaimer- I in no way own Harry Potter (I do however have Draco Malfoy locked in my attic. He's much more fun than the Weasley's goul.) Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and I am not she if I were she Siruis wouldn't have died. Thank you. Chapter 1: Sweet and Innocent. Lily came down the stairs and smiled at the scene before her. Little Harry was so cute as he and James sat on the floor making little clouds of steam. Harry was so sweet and innocent and as much as Lily hated it Harry was probably not going to remain sweet and innocent for long. Voldemort was coming. But luckily for Harry Lily was not sweet nor innocent. No, Lily was smart. She was so smart that at times she thought she had no peer other than Albus Dumbledore and during those particular times Albus usually agreed with her. This meant that when she had been told Voldemort wanted to kill her newborn son she had had no reservations about looking through every book she could find, both dark and light, till she’d found a spell she thought might work, which, at her best friend Alice’s suggestion, had been followed by another spell to make sure it had. “I promise,” she whispered. Her eyes going soft as she looked at her Harry, she vowed, wouldn’t be left on his own. Harry would be loved and cared for even after his parents were gone. James was still deluding himself that they were going to die here in this hidden house in Godric’s hollow before they even saw their boy grow up and he thought that if they died they should trust their friends to take care of little Harry. With Sirus as a Godfather, Frank and Alice Longbottom of honorary aunt and uncle, and Albus Dumbledore himself watching over the child, what could go wrong? As much as Lily loved James, sometimes she thought he was an idiot. Something can always go wrong. That was Lily’s last thought before Voldemort crashed through the door. ‘Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,’ she thought, as she raced up stairs. there was, of course, no where to go, but Lily wanted Harry safe in his crib before she completed the spell. It was a fairly easy spell compared to some of the ones she’d down before; no complicated incantations or finicky wand movements. All she had to do was die. Hard to fuck that on up. She took the little bracelet around her wrist and with a sad look at her baby boy activated the first rune carved in to the soft gold’s shining surface. “It’s not the going forward that will be hard,” Alice had said some months ago. “It’s the getting back. For forward all you have to do is move a little faster than you normal, but backwards, seventeen years Lily. You have to make sure your backwards method is perfect or there won’t be anything to go forward for.”   One Year Later   There was no pleasant way to put it. Lily’s house was a wreck. The roof was caved in the furniture, which no one had bothered to move, was rotting from being exposed to the elements. She started to walk away from the house and just as she reached the edge of the property a sign popped out of the ground and nearly whacked her on the head. “The Potter House,” was written on the sign in large gold lettering. The sign told the story of what happened on halloween night exactly one year ago. Lily walked down the cobbled road toward town. She needed a Daily Prophet before she went to see Dumbledore. She never went to see Albus unless she was sure she knew as much if not more than him about whatever topic she needed to see him on. Albus would run right over you if you weren’t your own advocate. Lily found a shop with a whole stack of ‘anniversary papers’, as the prophet had chose to dub them. The headline read “The Triumph of Harry Potter; A Review of The Defeat of You-Know-Who.” by Herbert Lockhound   ‘One Year ago on Halloween night Voldemort came to the house of Lily and James Po-blah blah blah blah blah’. (She knew this part.) A the end was the statement she had been looking for. ‘Harry Potter had survived and is now living a quiet, peaceful life with his relatives in an undisclosed location.’   Lily felt an overwhelming sense of success and relief till she truly processed what the article had said. Harry had no relatives, well except for Tuna-face, but no one would ever leave a magic child with Lily’s awful sister. Lily was content with this answer for about two seconds. Lily was extremely capable of believing the worst of people and so at the end of her two seconds of contentment she apparated to Privet Drive, Surrey. It was an ugly street in Lily’s opinion, certainly not as bad as Spinner’s End where she and Tuna grew up but painfully suburban all the same. Lily changed in to her animagus form, her bracelet resizing instantly to fit the thinner legs of a doe. Lily, the russet coated doe sat outside in the bushes of Number Four’s garden. She waited patiently as Tuna-face, dressed as a witch (That is really hypocritical, Lily thought idly,) Tuna’s husband the Walrus, dressed as king Henry the VIII, and their son Dudley, dressed as a prize winning pumpkin (probably the only costume that fit, Lily thought as she looked at the portly boy,) left to go to a Halloween party. Lily snuck in to the house, changed back in to a woman, and began searching the house for Harry. She heard crying from inside the downstairs pantry. ‘Please God, no,’ she thought. Her heart broke when she opened the door to find her half-starved, crying baby sitting alone on a pile of old towels. She took her child in her arms where he immediately stopped crying. Lily could see just looking at him that little Harry was starved not just for food but for human contact. “I’ll take you somewhere safe,” she told him, before pulling out her wand and setting Number Four Privet Drive on fire. With a pop Lily and Harry Potter disappeared from the burning house where, later that night, Harry would be declared deceased and mourned by the entire wizarding world. It turned out Lily wouldn’t be seeing Dumbledore tonight like she thought she would. ***** Flying Pink Elephants ***** Author's notes: Harry becomes Raphael and gets a new family from the deal, Lily cries, and Severus screams. =============================================================================== A/N: Hi, again! Thanks everyone who reviewed and everyone who read! I am giving a cyber cookie to SilverLion who caught one of the stupidest fanfiction typos I have ever made, and told me so I could correct it before most people got a chance to read it and thought I was an idiot who can't count. And thank you Kat Denton for giving me a heads up about it formatting wrong! There is a place for you in fanfiction heaven. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter J.K. Rowling does. If I did own Harry Potter I think it's fairly obvious that Lily wouldn't have died.ENJOY! Chapter 2- Flying Pink Elephants Lily Potter appeared with a pop and Severus Snape screamed. “You’re dead,” he said, his voice a few octaves higher than normal. Lily smiled and winked. “That’s the plan,” she said happily. Lily had been plotting her own death for a while and the idea was no longer morbid to her although, she supposed Severus must be looking at the situation from a very different perspective. Again Severus screamed. The second scream is what heralded Eleanora Prince charging into the room. Now in a normal household Eleanora’s married name would be Snape, but Severus had told Ella, in no uncertain terms, before they were married that she would be taking the last name Prince because he didn’t want anything related to his dirty, filthy father to be a part of someone as beautiful and wonderful as Eleanora. “What’s wrong? Is it Voldemort,” She asked frantically but her words had no effect on a shocked Severus. “Hi, Ella,” voiced Lily with a little wave of the hand not holding Harry up. “Hi, Lily,” Ella’s voice failed her after that and she sat next to Severus rather than search for something else to say. Lily sat in a wing-back chair that faced the the sofa Ella and Severus sat on. Little two-year old Harry cuddled into her arms and fell asleep. Lily ached as she held his warm body. She ached as she thought of the years she would never have with him. And yet Lily felt triumphant that she would save this beautiful creature. That it was her life that would twice over give him life. The salon they sat in had a fireplace with a warm sweet smelling fire burning in it. The wing back chair Lily and Harry were in was so comfortable it put Lily in danger of joining her Harry in sleep. This was not the old run down Spinner’s End house that Severus had inherited from his father but rather the The Prince Castle where he and Ella lived during the school breaks. “I’m cheating time,” Lily began. “I’ve decided to steal 16 days. This bracelet,” she held up the magical jewelry. “Has sixteen runes. Each, when activated, will accelerate me through time and space to halloween night exactly one year from the Halloween I left.” “Why just 16 days. Why not stay here for Harry’s whole life?” Ella asked curiously. The idea of spending anytime at all away from sweet adorable Harry seemed blasphemous to Ella, who so badly wanted children of her own. Lily smile was bitter sweet and proud when it came over her face. “That’s the genius of the plan. See, going forward is easy; your body just has to sped up. The faster your body moves the less time there is between event A (Voldemort attacking Godric’s Hollow) and event B (Halloween one-year later,) because time is relative. “It’s the going back that’s hard. There is no precedent for traveling back in time several years. I’m not even sure something like that is possible. As to why sixteen days, Ella. What is the maximum amount of days a time turner can travel back?” “20 days, but I still don’t understand.” Ella shoved her strawberry blonde hair away from her face in frustration. “If you didn’t discover a way to travel back through years to time, then how are you going to save Harry.” “It was Alice who figured it out,” Lily said. “And I’m convinced she was drunk at the time because it is such a simple brilliant Idea, what Alice called the Backwards Method. If I went forward through time and spent one day in each year of Harry’s childhood, then when I used the time turner I would be traveling back days not years.” “Why 16 and not 20,” was the first thing Severus said since accusing Lily of being dead. His big, black soulful eyes bore into Lily’s heart and made her feel guilty. “He’ll be grown up, Severus. 17 years old and able to take care of himself.” “And until then?” Ella asked. Lily smiled. She knew she was about to make Ella very happy. “I was wondering how you and Severus would feel about adopting a child. Maybe a little boy.” Ella hoped up with a squeal and hugged Lily. Her jostling almost woke Harry, who mumbled something about flying pink elephants. “What do you want us to call him?” She asked Lily. “Raphael, “ was the whispered reply. “The healer,” Ella qualified, and Lily nodded. Lily hefted her baby in her arms and passed him to Ella. “I think I need to go see Dumbledore about leaving Harry with Tuna-face,” she said. “He’s busy,” enlightened Severus. “He’s preparing for the big Deatheater trial tomorrow.” “Who’s on trial,” asked Lily curiously. “Those four who tortured Alice and Frank,” Ella said without thinking. “Alice and Frank?” Lily whispered her voice cracking on the end and tears forming in her eyes. Alice was her best friend. Severus, recognizing the expression on Lily’s face, said, “St. Mungo’s Permeant Spell Damage Ward.” Lily nodded and kissed Harry the top of his messy black hair. The last thing she saw before she popped away was the sad look in Ella’s seafoam green eyes, and she thanked Merlin that Harry looked like he could be Severus and Ella’s child. ***** Innocence and Guilt ***** Author's notes: Story Summary: What will the Wizarding World do when their two year old savior dies in a fire. Mourn. What will Raphael Prince a.k.a. Harry Potter do when he attands Hogwarts? Cause havoc. Chapter Summary: In which Lily discovers that not even she is omnipotent, and Harry discovers that even though they smell weird, hospitals have their perks. =============================================================================== A/N I'm sorry this has taken so long. I'm in a very challenging academic program (called IB), extremely involved in my school's Drama department (congratulate me. I was just elected historian.) I am in the process of editing a full length novel, and I am attempting to get accepted into NYU, which means I've got to study and get my SAT scores above my miserable 1380. There is not a great deal of free time in my life. As it stands i should have spent tonight studying for my finals instead of writing this. So with that rant and a click of the magical submit button I present you with the third chapter of Backwards Method and a promise that school is out in a week and i will probably finish this entire story during the course of the summer. Chapter Three: Innocence and Guilt In the Language of Flowers a white rose represents innocent love. “Alice,” Lily whispered as she entered St. Mungo’s permanent spell damage ward. The room was dark and quiet as all the occupants slept. Lily was thankful that the back entrance that St. Mungo’s had built during the war exclusively for aurors remained open. She had been able to slip in without anyone noticing that a supposedly dead woman was walking around the building. She could just imagine the hubbub if the ghost of Lily Potter was seen haunting the hospital. Lily walked steadily toward the back of the ward where she found Frank, awake and starring at a Daily Prophet he was clearly too impaired to read, with Alice lightly dozing beside him. They were a heart wrenching sight compared to Lily’s last memory of them happy and whole, Frank chatting with James about the latest broomstick model, Alice smiling and laughing as she and Lily watched Harry and Neville play together. It had all crumbled to pieces and now the four friends were just a shadow of their previous selves. “Alice,” said Lily to the semi-sleeping woman. “No, no,” said Alice as she woke up. “You have to put the frog in the kettle dear, else wise when it boils the frog won’t croak and the were-tigers will come for you.” It was not a secret code. Lily wanted it to be. She wanted there to be a method to the madness, so that she knew in some small way there was still an Alice in there some where. There was not an Alice still down in there somewhere. “Drooble’s,” asked Alice, holding out the gum. Lily took the gum, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. “I remember when we used to use Drooble’s wrappers to communicate. Lily took a pen from the bedside table and drew a simplistic water lily design on the white side of the wrapper. She placed it in Alice’s hand. “I’m sorry,” Lily whispered, pressing a kiss to Alice’s temples. Lily reached past Alice to clasp Frank’s arm. “You too; I’m so sorry.” As Lily left the ward, she held her eyes widely and flared her nose, attempting to stave off the inevitable tears. She left the hospital and apparated to an out of the way Scottish forest. She needed to be in a place that would be safe to reappear in a year’s time. She crumpled to the ground and cried. She cried for her husband, her friends, her child, and herself. Lily hated war. even though she had out smarted Voldemort and would be able to not only watch her child grow, but to return and save his life, she did not feel like the victor. Lily felt like a victim. She stared in to the cloudless night sky and vowed that her Harry would not be a victim, whatever that took. She fell asleep amongst the trees. She slept for the first time since Halloween night a year ago. She slept knowing all the horrible things that had happened and suspecting many of the horrible things that had yet to come to pass. When Lily woke the next day in the late afternoon, she would press the second ruin on her golden bracelet and travel forward in time to meet her three year old son. ~The day after Lily brought Harry to Severus and Ella~ “Gran! Flower,” The sweet faced brunette told his Grandmother as they exited the permanent damage ward of St. Mungo’s and entered into the lift. For a moment The Longbottom Matriarch thought her grandson was referring to the bouquet of white roses held by a blond child, who was about Neville’s age and also in the life. She realized she was mistaken, when she noticed the gum wrapper her grandson was waving in front of her face. It did, indeed, have a flower drawn on it. Augusta Longbottom could have sworn she had seen that same lily picture before. The lift chimed signaling that they’d reached their floor. Neville and Augusta left the lift quickly. It would be a very long time before she thought of the lily drawing again. The blond child traveled on. The worry in his big, gray, eyes was a product of his destination. His mother was on the floor of St. Mungo’s reserved for medical problems that had nothing to do with magic. It was the floor where checkups were performed and broken bones were healed. His mother was there because she had miscarried, again. His mother had always had trouble baring children and repeatedly told him, that he was her miracle. Of ten pregnancies, Draco was the only child his mother had ever birthed. Though Draco didn’t really understand why, he knew this made his mother unhappy. He had brought her roses to make her feel better. The lift chimed and Draco exited. He dutifully followed the route to his mother’s room. He was guided by a spell his father had cast, which manifested as a glowing blue orb and served two purposes. Firstly, the orb led Draco to the room, so he would get lost. Secondly, the orb monitored Draco and protected him from harm.   On the way to his mother’s room, he passed a healer speaking sternly to a woman with strawberry blonde hair and a mutinous expression. “I know he’s suffered from neglect,” whispered the blond woman fiercely. “That’s why I took him form his other relatives. That’s why I brought him here.” Draco walked past them with out a thought. He did not know what neglect meant and frankly they weren’t that interesting. There was,. however, something he found interesting in a room a little further down the hall. The door was ajar and inside Draco could see a little raven haired boy looking lost and forlorn. “Hi,” said Draco, walking into the room. “Hi,” said the boy, looking up at Draco. The raven haired boy’s emerald eyes were rimmed in red from crying. “Pretty green,” said Draco, pointing to the other boy’s eyes. “Thanks,” the boy said. Coming to a sudden decision, Draco walked over to the boy and pulled a single white rose from his mother’s bouquet. Draco handed the rose to the sad, little boy. “Feel better,” Draco commanded. Draco always got what he wanted. The boy gave him a watery smile. “I’m Raphael.” “The healer,” Draco affirmed with a smile. His mother had told him the story before. Narcissa had told him that of God’s archangel’s, only three were named: Michael, the warrior, Gabriel, the messenger, and Raphael, the healer. Somehow the name of an angel suited the haunted young boy. “I’m Draco,” He told Raphael, kissing him on his chubby little cheek, like he kissed his mother an father. The blue orb, which had been patiently hovering by the door waiting to continue it’s journey, made a slightly annoyed sound. It had not prevented the interaction, because it did not deem a two-year old to be a threat, but it was getting bored of waiting. “Goodbye, Raphael,” Draco called as he left. “Goodbye, Draco,” Harry said, just as the last strands of blond hair disappeared from view. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!