The time that is given us   von Gepo
                          (How love can change lives)
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                           Kapitel 1: First chapter
                           ------------------------


He had cried that night. In the dark of his room, he had remembered his wife and
his children and his friends, now perfectly aware he would never see them again.
He still remembered the day he died. He remembered going into that forest and
being killed. He remembered how he had said goodbye to everyone in his head,
knowing he left them for a reason. Knowing he would never see them again for a
reason.
But this was just completely unreasonable. Being here served no purpose. Killing
his future, himself, his children, just by existing ... maybe he should die. Let
everything take it's course. Maybe his grand-greatfather was wrong and his being
here was only an unimportant event in history. If he was to die here and now,
would everything happen how it was supposed to?
He did not know. He could not know.
But was it really important? If it came right down to it, could he kill himself?
He shuddered at the thought. No, he was here now, he had to make the best out of
it. Maybe he could change some things for the better. He nodded to himself and
stood up to flip open his calender.
22nd of July, he was supposed to drive back to Bath. Tomorrow he was to meet
some carpenters for a refurbishment of his house. After that his calender was
blank. He had no plans past his retirement. It sounded like he inhabited the
body of a life-wary man. Well, he might be, he had most likely seen a lot of
death.
Harry decided to pay Diagon Alley a visit before following his host's plan. With
the pendant, he should be able to go there, should even be able to aquire an
owl. He had to contact Dumbledore. And to be honest, he needed company to stop
himself from going crazy.

His Eastern Screech-Owl was certainly as pureblooded as an owl can be when it
came to the noises he made. Hedwig had been such a nice owl, just being at his
side through everything – most important of all: silently. This one going by
the name of Phoebus was far from silent. But he was bound to Harry and that was
the most important. And he was a cute bit of fluff, Harry had to admit. He even
settled down after an hour of driving.
Which brought up another problem Harry had not exactly thought about: Where did
one get fuel in this era? There weren't any petrol stations on the road. Harry
was not even sure they were invented yet. He leaned out of the window and asked
some people in the next town he passed. They sent him to the apothecary. He felt
a bit silly asking for petrol in an apothecary but they actually had some in
stock. Well ... after this he could write a whole new kind of road trip. It was
as surprising as the fact that this car could go up to a 100 km/h. He had
expected to be happy about reaching 30 km/h in a car from the thirties but far
from it. He had to learn a lot about this time and to erase some prejudices.
It was nearly evening when he reached Bath and felt quite stupid for having to
ask around for the location of his house. At least he had the address from his
personal identification. What he found was a mansion with a live-in cook and
maid called Margret. She immediately noticed he did not know her name but had no
problem telling him again and freely giving the information that she had been
employed for a few weeks now in which he seemed not to have been home a lot. He
tried to get more information out of her by subtly asking if there had been any
changes lately and she gave information about neighbors, the head of town as
well as some local projects. Her lack of mention regarding a wife and children
left Harry relieved. She did not even comment on the presence of an owl, she
only asked it's name and how he should be fed.
With a sudden stroke of genius Harry asked: „Were you instructed on financial
affairs and how to get the money for maintenance and food?“
„As well as my salary, of course, Sir. I go to the bank twice a week before
going to the market.“
„Splendid, why don't we go together next time? I have to reacquaint myself
with the town. I feel like I have been away for years.“
„Of course, Sir“ She actually seemed happy about that. Maybe she was lonely,
living here all by herself. „Normally I would go the day after tomorrow.“
„That goes well with my plans, I am meeting some carpenters tomorrow. Did you
have some wishes about changes in the house?“
„Oh, um ... well, there are some things which need to be repaired.“
„Can you write me a list?“
She fidgeted and said: „I'd rather show them to you, Sir.“
Oh ... maybe she was unable to write. He had not thought about that. Different
era, he should remember. He nodded and said they would do that in the morning.
At the same time he remembered he did not even know what the house looked like
in general and said: „I will only make a small inspection now.“
Good excuse for looking at everything. She seemed a bright girl, seeing as she
asked immediately if she should bring something to write for him to make a list
for tomorrow. Might even be a good idea, he did not know why his host had asked
the carpenters over and he must run out of luck sometime soon. He was lucky his
host had not already begun to set up some sort of business. Even though he might
have, Harry would never know about it.
About an hour later he knew the general layout and what he should ask of the
carpenters tomorrow. Except for some minor repairs here and there, he wanted an
owlery for Phoebus and a fireplace made completely of stone. The one he had
seemed unsafe to him and he needed a bigger one anyway if he planned on making
Floo travels – unknowing if he even could.
He ended up making a full repair tour with Margret anyway, it would have served
no purpose to do another one again tomorrow. After setting up a perch for
Phoebus and giving him some meat, Harry fell into bed and slept nearly
immediately.

The carpenters, some minor businesses, getting an overview over his bank account
and buying some things he had been unable to find in his home concluded his next
few days. He had not forgotten the importance of the letter to Dumbledore but he
had to focus on setting up a basis first.
Finally settled a week after he had woken up in 1932, he finally composed his
missile:

Dear Albus Dumbledore,

you do not know me – yet. Please spare some minutes for a story sounding like
it was written by a raving lunatic.
I cannot give you my name nor where I know you from. I can tell you however that
I come from the future, nearly a hundred years from now. I was thrown back in
time by some kind of magical accident and am unsure what to do now. I went to
the Ministry but the head Unspeakable told me there was no way to get back and
that the time I came from was most likely destroyed now just by my being here.
In my time I knew you as a wise old man who might speak in riddles sometimes but
always had good advice. So I am hoping that you can shed some more light on
this, either by telling me I might have hope left or by confirming what I was
already told. I trust in your expertise.

Your future friend who will for now go by the name of
Grenmore Horten

Harry sighed after sending the letter via Phoebus. He knew what the answer would
be, he had already accepted he would never see Ginny or his kids again but it
hurt so much that he clung to hope. Even though he rationally knew that his
great-grandfather had told him the truth. Still it was best to confirm the
information. A lot of lives depended on it and he would not give them up without
second thought.
It would be nice to have a photo to remember them by. Or his wedding band.
Anything. He felt like a child again, clinging to a memory, no, an idea of
people that loved him. Before he had any pictures of his parents, before he had
his friends, before ... before he knew he had magic. The one feeling he
remembered from that time was the feeling of isolation. Having no home, no
roots, the feeling of being utterly alone, not only missing the living but also
the dead.
He remembered how it was to be having no one.
He cried again that night.

Dear Grenmore Horten,

as you already expected, I can only offer you my condolences. I conferred with
every book I could find on the topic but time travel except for the limited
version by using a time turner is not invented yet. What you experienced might
still happen, but as you were told, I also fear there is a high chance that it
will not. I can see that you are trying your best to keep a low profile so that
you will not change the future and I think it takes a courageous man to make
that decision. Deciding to do nothing is sometimes harder than to take chances.
I hope you could tell me more but I completely understand that that might ruin
your chance to preserve the future you are trying to save.

Your friend now and then,
Albus Dumbledore

The note left Harry smiling sadly. He had been prepared to read the words but it
changed nothing in their capacity to hurt him. He closed his eyes, savouring the
pain for a moment before he sighed and imagined the pain leaving with his sigh.
It was a technique he had learned as an Auror and it helped sometimes.
This time it did.
He had to make a decision here and now. Would he keep his low profile or would
he actively change the future? The first would not insure that his future would
happen. And while he wanted Ginny and their children back, they would not be
theirs anymore. His life as Harry Potter was over. He was Grenmore Horten and
would be forever more. Right when he did not wish it anymore, his childhood
dream came true: He was completely normal.
If he wanted to. He could lead a completely normal life.
Or he could decide to change the future. He could decide to tell it all, to save
all the lives of the people who died under Voldemort, he could make them ... he
could have them take this burden from him to kill the one that would terrorise
them all.
He could take the way of the coward and have some Aurors kill a still innocent
child. Harry gave a humorless laugh. No, he could not. He would never, ever tell
them, exactly because they would kill an innocent child.
Only over his dead body.

Dear Albus,

thank you for your kind words. As you have deducted correctly I am a Gryffindor
and thereby chronically unable to take the easy way out. I have decided I cannot
stand by and let everything happen because there will be another war coming and
it will take even more lifes than the one with Grindelwald. I know about him and
you, by the way. I also know you lied about killing him but as I understand your
reasons, I cannot find fault in it. I am unable to kill the uprising menace as
well. It leaves me with the same problem you faced back then: What shall I do? I
know who he is, where he is, what he will become. Killing him now and thereby
saving everyone is an option but not one I can take. I do not know how to solve
this dilemma.

Yours truly,
Grenmore

Grenmore Horten. He was beginning to accept the name. Everyone in this city knew
him, he seemed to be friends with the current head of town and he was a
respected member of society. He had enough money to last him a while, so he
could decide on what to do. He also seemed to have invested in some businesses,
since he had a small income from different sources. Not enough to live this
lifestyle and pay Margret on but enough to get him by if he absolutely had to.
The question now was what kind of job he could and should do. He still wanted to
blend in, so it had to be something a rich, successful and influential man would
do. Politics? Maybe some job with the police like he did before? Or he could
open a business himself. There was a war coming, maybe he could specialise in
uniforms and later change to suits. He did not want to produce weapons, so
uniforms were quite a good idea. He should make some inquiries about what he
would have to do.
He was outlining his future business when Dumbledore's reply arrived:

Dear Grenmore,

I am unsettled and elated about what you know. We seem to have been quite good
friends if I told you about all of that. Everything regarding Grindelwald is my
best kept secret in this era. As you might know, I am and will most likely
always be in love with him and I pray you do not have to face that as well. I
was unable to save my lover from becoming a foe of mankind, I could only save
him from death and until this day I am not sure he would not rather be dead than
forever imprisoned. If I had the opportunity to go back in time, I would try to
change his mind, to show him the error in his ways and save the life we had.
Even if we fought, I was happy back then. I don't know if you ever saw a good
side of the one you had to oppose. If not, then please believe that he has one.
No one is born evil, it is only what the world makes us into. And even if some
are more prone to doing evil deeds than others, being born with a mind able to
hurt others does not mean that one absolutely has to do it. If you find yourself
in a position able to change him before he falls to darkness, I urge you to do
so. Even if you fail, trying is the most noble thing you can do. And most likely
the only thing your mind will allow you if you are the man I think you are.

Yours truly,
Albus

Change him before he falls into darkness. Well, but how? Right now, he was only
a six-year-old- oh. Oh … he was a six-year-old orphan. An orphan. Harry could
have slapped himself. Of course the boy was an orphan. He detested the place he
lived in, he had no friends there and somewhere in his later years he began
using magic to terrorise other children. Really, Harry should know what that was
like. Living somewhere where no one wanted you, where no one would befriend you,
where to only good you could get was seeing someone else more miserable than you
were yourself. The solution to that was easy.
He would give Tom a home.

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