Above the Entrance Door to the Orphanage, Harry had conjured a huge sign. The sign was dark blue with many sparkling golden stars and border that surrounded the white inscription announcing that the building was ‘HOGWARTS ORPHANAGE AND PRIMARY SCHOOL’.

“Wow, Harry, that’s gorgeous,” James stated loudly.

“Very well done,” Salazar commended his son and the others in the small group nodded their heads in agreement.

-----

Later in the evening, when Harry was alone with his father, he said pensively, “Dad, I’ve thought about something. I want to speak with the Minister of Magic and tell him that Severus re-invented the wolves cure. I don’t think Severus would do that on his own if we don’t do it for him.” Harry paused to catch his breath. “I’d like to do that before we have to return to the future.”

Salazar gave his thoughtful son a grateful look, and the edges of his mouth pulled slightly upwards. “Thank you Harry, that’s more than generous of you, son.” He looked at his son, bursting with pride. “However, Severus cannot claim that for himself. It was you who found the long lost potions recipe, and translated it.”

Harry let out an impatient groan. “Look, Dad. That’s why I don’t want to discuss this with Severus right now. Yes, I did, but let me tell you something, when I killed Voldemort, I didn’t do that on my own. Severus helped me a lot. However, he didn’t receive the Order of Merlin like I did although he earned it in just the same way. So this time, it will be the other way round. And believe me; I’m going to get him the Order of Merlin, and if you don’t help me I’ll ask Granddad or contact the Minister directly.”

Salazar sighed. “All right, Harry. I’ll speak to the Headmaster tonight and ask him to contact Minister McNeill accordingly.”

A few days later, Salazar and Harry had the opportunity to speak to the Minister at the Headmaster’s office. They told the Minister about the potion that they had found and that they would like to patent the potion in Severus’ name.

The Minister listened astonished before he replied, “Yes, I believe it would be the most reasonable way if Severus Snape would claim the patent – or you can do it in his name of course. However, in order to give him the patent, we would have to ask him to supply us with the potion whenever it’s needed, so that we can cure all werewolves as soon as possible. Of course he doesn’t have to do that for free; we will of course pay him for the potion and his time brewing it,” he added reassuringly.

“Of course, Minister. That’s no problem, and we are aware of the necessity.”

“Very well,” the Minister replied. “In that case, I would like to ask you to inform your father and your younger self accordingly. I will come back in a few days and will present the patent certificate to Severus in exchange for his sign on the declaration that he will be willing to provide the Ministry as well as St. Mungo’s with the wolves cure potion whenever the need arises. If Severus agrees to the conditions, which I assume he will, I will award him for his efforts with the Order of Merlin 2nd class.”

Harry gave the Minister a delighted smile. “Thank you so much, Minister McNeill!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “Um… Minister, um… would you please be so kind to explain the matter to Severus when you come to speak with him? I mean… if he knew in advance, he’d never agree to take the credit for himself, but you know that we really want him to, so…”

“It’s all right, Harry, I understand what you want to say, and, yes, I will explain everything to Severus. I will tell him that you arranged all of this, so hopefully he will agree.”

“He will,” Salazar spoke up. “Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation, Minister.”

“You’re welcome, and I have to thank all of you for such a valuable potion,” the Minister countered and stepped into the Floo.

-----

Only the Headmaster and his Deputy Headmistress were present when the Minister gave a stunned Severus the patent certificate and the Order of Merlin. As grateful and happy as Severus was, it upset him immensely that his older self and Harry had arranged everything secretly. He also felt that it was not right for him to receive so much money while Harry didn’t get anything.

“Oh, Severus,” Harry groaned. “When we killed Voldemort, I received the Order of Merlin and you didn’t receive anything. Plus, like I told you before, buy some children’s books for me and read them to me when I’m young and that’ll make it all up to me. Congratulations, Severus!” He pulled his future father into a light hug, noticing that the boy’s eyes were full of tears. ‘Wow, that’s a lot of emotion for my Dad,’ Harry thought, amazed.

During the next few weeks, Harry fully concentrated on translating as many the potions recipes books as possible. The Marauders also managed to finish the Marauders’ Map, and James mischievously presented a copy to Harry. “Here, Harry,” he told him, “Take this with you. Who knows if we still have our maps when you come to Hogwarts in the future? Filch may have confiscated them from all of us by the time we graduate.”

Harry chuckled. “All right, thank you, James. I can imagine that it will come in handy and, not only for playing pranks,” he replied, glancing at Sirius and pocketed the map. ‘Oh, I already know that Draco and I will be using it wisely,’ he thought, grinning. ‘I wonder if Hermione will admire the map because it’s great Charm work or if she will despise it because we could cause so much trouble with it.’

-----

At the beginning of May, the orphanage started its work. Right from the beginning it was filled to half its maximum capacity. The Ministry had taken over the responsibility and dealt with the applications and with hiring teachers for the orphanage as well as for the primary school that was going to start in September. As the main financial sponsor, however, Harry had a certain amount of authority, which he didn’t intend to use at first because he wanted the fact that he was the main financial sponsor to be kept a secret. However, on the day the orphanage opened the Daily Prophet printed a large article about the orphanage that contained information about Harry being the inventor as well as the main financial sponsor of the building.

Harry was very upset. ‘All right,’ he thought, ‘if they want it like that and can’t respect that I didn’t want to be named, I’ll use my authority and interfere with them.’ He wrote a letter to Mr. Jones, the person, who was responsible for the orphanage at the Ministry, and told him to add Severus and Sirius on the list of the students, who couldn’t return home for some reason over the summer holidays. Normally, the students had to complete a lot of paperwork, but in this case, Mr. Jones just accepted the information provided by Harry.

-----

Shortly after the orphanage and primary school opened, the end of year tests started, and Harry suddenly became aware of the fact that his school year in the past was nearly finished and that he would, in two months at the latest, be returning to the future. On one hand, he was very eager to see how they had managed to change the future, but on the other hand, he became very anxious because he didn’t know what could have happened to his family or himself in the future because of the changes they had made.

On the first day after the tests were completed, Lily gave Harry a concerned glance. During the last few days, she had noticed that Harry was very quiet and seemed to be worrying about something, but she had thought it was because of the stressful week of testing. When however Harry was still not his usual self after the tests were over, she cornered him on his way from the dungeons to the Great Hall for dinner.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Lily asked softly.

“Nothing really,” Harry replied quietly. “I’m just worried if all of you will be there when I return to the future. You know, before I came here I only had Dad, but now… um… you know, because of the changes I made I hope that you both will be there, but maybe something happened to you and Dad and you’re both gone or something. Sorry, I know it’s probably stupid to worry about such things but…”

“No, Harry, it’s not stupid at all,” Lily replied softly. “But Harry, I’m sure we will be there for you. And in case something happens to one of us, you still won’t be alone. This time, you know that Severus will be your father; James will be your godfather plus someone else, maybe Sirius as he won’t be in Azkaban this time, right? Granny and Granddad will be there as well. Relax, Harry, everything will be fine.”

However, in spite of Lily’s and Salazar’s reassurances, Harry remained very restless, especially when the summer holidays started and he didn’t have classes or homework to occupy his time. Fortunately, Lily was living at the castle with her grandparents, and Severus and Sirius, who were staying at the orphanage, came to spend the whole day together with Harry and Lily in the castle, so that Harry at least didn’t have to miss his friends, except for James and Remus, who had returned home to their homes.

Nevertheless, Harry couldn’t really enjoy the weeks with his friends. Every other night, he had nightmares, seeing himself returning to the future together with his father, who vanished immediately after arriving in the Headmaster’s office, seeing his grandfather explaining to Harry and his father why Lily wasn’t alive in this timeline either. He became more and more tired with each passing day, and he was hardly able to eat, and what little he did manage to eat he was having a hard time keeping down.

Salazar made a decision after watching Harry for a couple of weeks. It was during the second week of the holidays he decided not to wait until Harry’s birthday to return to the future. He went up to the Headmaster’s office and explained to Albus and Minerva that he would like to return to the future as soon as possible, the next day.

“Yes, Salazar, as much as I hate to say it, I believe that it would be for the best. Harry can not continue like this and stay healthy.” Minerva answered immediately, who had been very worried about Harry during the last two weeks.

“All right,” the Headmaster agreed hesitantly. “Poppy will be disappointed though. She had hoped that you could brew the potions for the next school year for her, so that she didn’t have to ask the Potions Professor.”

Salazar rolled his eyes. “She can ask Severus. As he is staying at the orphanage anyway, he can come here and brew all potions she requires. Severus will be glad to have the opportunity to use the Potions classroom, and would be happy to brew anything for Poppy. Shall I speak to him about it and ask him to talk to Poppy?”

“Ah, yes, Salazar, that would be very much appreciated,” Albus said gratefully. In fact, he was a bit afraid of the strict Mediwitch, who always complained about the incompetence of the current Potions professor. “However, won’t Harry be disappointed not to have a birthday party here, together with his friends?”

Salazar raised an eyebrow. “As of right now Harry is in full panic mode. He has nightmares and he can hardly eat anything. His birthday is six weeks away and I am afraid that it will cause him further anxiety to wait much longer to take him home. Taking him home now will be the only way to stop all of the stress that he is under. Frankly speaking, I’m even thinking about just taking him back during the night when he’s asleep.”

“No, Salazar,” Minerva told him strictly. “I understand your feelings but you have to give him the opportunity to say good-bye to his friends, if you do not he will resent you for it. However, you should only tell him a short while before you leave. Do you have the potion and everything you need ready?”

“Yes.” Salazar sighed. “The potion is ready, and we just have to pack our trunks, which is a matter of two spells.”

“Salazar, when exactly do you believe you will arrive in the future?” Dumbledore asked.

“We left to come here the evening of Harry’s birthday after his first year. Therefore, I’ve timed the potion so that we should arrive back in the future on the following day. I don’t know what time it will be though,” he added. He remained pensive for a moment. “Albus, I shall inform Poppy and Harry’s friends that we will leave tomorrow afternoon; could you please tell anyone else whom it might concern?”

“Of course, Salazar, I will inform our colleagues.”

Salazar excused himself and went to see Poppy to tell her the news. The Mediwitch threw him a slightly sad glance and sighed. “I will miss both of you, Salazar, even if I know that your younger self is still here and that I’m going to meet Harry again in a few years. Nevertheless, I think that you are doing the right thing returning now instead of staying for another six weeks. It would surely harm Harry if the stress he is bringing upon himself was to continue for that long.”

Poppy gave Salazar a piercing glance. “Salazar, are you all right? You are worried too, aren’t you?”

Salazar let out a small laugh before he sighed and replied, “Oh, Poppy. You know, coming here was easier as I knew exactly what to expect. This time, we don’t know who will be there, if we’re all alright, or what will happen during the next eighteen years. I hope so much that Lily, Harry, and I are peacefully living together here in the castle, but we’ll only know when we arrive. The thought isn’t really comforting; therefore I can understand Harry is feeling all too well.”

Poppy sighed. “I can understand your worries, but everything will turn out all right. Not only for Harry but also for you, it’s better to return to the future as soon as possible, for both of you.”

-----

Salazar thanked his friend and returned to his quarters, where Lily and Severus were talking animatedly, while Harry had obviously fallen asleep during the conversation. Salazar joined his younger self and his future wife and told them about his decision to depart the next day.

“I’m very sad because I’ll miss both of you very much,” Lily said immediately, and Salazar noticed that tears were welling up in her eyes. “However, I also know that it would be the best for Harry as he really seems to be suffering.”

“I will miss both of you as well,” Severus confessed. “But of course you have to do what is best for Harry and for yourself, and I can only imagine that you are both very worried about what the future will be like. Are you going to tell Harry in advance, or are you planning to surprise him tomorrow?”

“Do you think Harry would even close one eye for a second if I told him today?” Salazar asked, raising an eyebrow. “I will tell him ten minutes before lunch, so that he has just enough time to pack his belongings, and after having lunch together with everyone here, we will leave.”

Lily and Severus decided to send two owls to James and Remus, inviting them for lunch for the next day. They tried to behave as normally as possible in order not to alert Harry to the fact that something was going to happen soon.

-----

As Salazar had told Lily and Severus, shortly before lunchtime he entered his son’s room, where Harry, Lily, Severus, and Sirius were talking and laughing together. He sat down on an empty chair and told Harry, “Now, Harry, do you know the Spell to pack your luggage all at once into your trunk?”

Harry threw him a confused look. “No, Dad. Why?”

Salazar sighed. “We’re going back to the future immediately following lunch, son.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he threw his father an unbelieving look. “No! You’re joking, aren’t you? We’re leaving in six weeks or so, right?” he asked pleadingly.

“Harry,” Salazar spoke in a very calm, soft voice. “I’ve been watching you for awhile now, and it is not healthy being so upset constantly. I believe that the best thing for us to do is bring our time travel in the past to an end as soon as possible, so that you can return to thinking about other things, instead of being worried about what may have happened when we return.” He waved his wand around the room, quickly casting a Spell, and Harry watched nervously as his belongings piled into his open trunk.

In a trance-like state, Harry followed his father and his friends down to the Great Hall, astonished to see Remus and James there as well. Lunch was a relatively quiet affair. Although his friends, especially James and Sirius, tried their best to entertain the others, their laughter was not contagious enough to infect Harry, and everyone watched Harry worriedly.

Seeing that Harry was only pushing around his food and everyone else had finished eating, Salazar turned to his son, who was sitting next to him. “All right,” he said and pulled three phials out of his robe pocket. “I don’t know if you remember from last year, Harry; this is the bonding potion. We drink this in order to stay together until we arrive in the future in case something goes wrong with the potion and we arrive at a very different time than we are supposed to. In that case, you will still arrive next to me.” He let Harry drink half of the potion before he gulped down the rest of it. Then both of them took one of the remaining phials, said ‘good bye’ to Minerva, Albus, Poppy, Severus, Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius before they stood up from the table. They both stepped back and downed the remaining potions.

Severus pulled Harry into a fierce hug, but everything about them turned and turned and Harry felt sick immediately. After a seemingly endless journey finally came to a stop, Harry felt himself stumble to the floor and get sick over himself before everything turned black.