The Tapestry of Time
by teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes!

If you don't like AU stories or un-betaed stories, please don't read this!
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, mentioning of abuse!Dursleys, multiple time travel

Chapter 1

Six-year-old Harry Potter was curled up on his mattress, listening to the sounds coming from the hall. 'Ouch,' he thought in desperation. 'I want my Mummy back.' He had been feeling very achy now for a few days, ever since he had done something that must have upset Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He didn't even know what the whole ruckus had been about; however, Uncle Vernon had hurt him badly and locked him into the cupboard. Petunia used to open the cupboard door twice a day, so that he could use the bathroom; however, Harry couldn't muster the energy to drag himself upstairs, even if he felt very thirsty and badly wanted to sip some water. 'Maybe I'm going to die,' he mused, wondering, 'Will I meet my parents when I die? I'd love to be together with my Mummy. I wished I had someone who loved me even if I'm a good for nothing freak.'

~ One thousand years earlier ~

The four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were gathered around the table in front of the large fireplace in Helga's and Salazar's quarters. The living room of the Potions Master and the Healer were the two couples' favourite place to enjoy the quiet of the evening after the students had finally retired to their Houses with the beginning of curfew. Opposite of the fireplace was a huge tapestry that covered the complete wall and listed all four Founders' ancestors up to Great Merlin in the past and the descendants down to one thousand years into the future. Each of them was displayed with a picture either of a face or, in case that the person was an Animagus, with the symbol of their Animagus form. Additionally, a list of their special achievements or problems was displayed next to the picture, and the information of the heirs was even updated randomly. Further information could be retrieved at wand tap. Even if they all knew the tapestry by heart, they still loved to watch it, but most frequently their eyes wandered to the bottom of the tapestry, to where the youngest descendants were displayed, especially since at one point the two lines of the Slytherin-Hufflepuff line and the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw line met, when Helga's and Salazar's many times great granddaughter Lily married Rowena's and Godric's great grandson James. Their offspring, Harry Potter, as well as his cousin Dudley were the last children displayed on the tapestry.

While Salazar told Godric about a prank potion, which he had added to his little snakes' dinner that evening, so that they would be wearing snake heads in the morning as soon as they ate anything, Helga let her eyes wander over the tapestry, reading in utmost concern the information that was given for her youngest many times great grandson, Harry Potter.

"Rowena, I believe it's time for me to travel very far into the future," she said worriedly, pointing to the picture of the water phoenix that represented Harry.

"Oh no," Rowena exclaimed upon noticing that the picture was flashing red, knowing that it meant mortal peril. "Take care, Helga."

~ One thousand years later ~

Harry slowly drifted in and out of fevered dreams, before he all of a sudden jerked awake when he felt a tingling sensation run up and down his achy body. 'What are they doing to me?' he wondered in confusion as he slowly tried to open his sore eyes just a little bit.

"Hello Harry," he heard a soft voice speak to him, just when he took in his surroundings, seeing a woman in strange clothing that looked like a long, white one-piece leaning over him.

'She must be an angel,' Harry thought and asked, "Hello, am I dead? Can you take me to my Mummy please?"

The angel smiled at him and said in a soft voice, "No Harry, you're not dead, but you're hurt badly, and I'd like to make you feel better. Will you come with me to Hogwarts? I am Helga, by the way."

"Yeah," Harry whispered, feeling too miserable to care what Hogwarts was.

"First of all, I need you to drink a few potions; otherwise, you wouldn't survive the travel," Helga said gently. She carefully steadied his back as she pulled him into a slightly sitting position, before he held a small phial to his lips, instructing him to swallow.

'I'm not allowed to have medicine, because I'm a freak,' Harry's mind screamed, but he completely lacked the energy to care what was happening, and the angel was so nice, and her soft, cold touch felt so good to his burning skin that he obediently swallowed, sighing in relief when he felt the effects after a few seconds. 'I'm feeling much better now,' he thought in surprise, looking wide-eyed at the angel in front of him.

"Harry, this will feel uncomfortable for a moment, but it'll be over soon," the angel told him, before she gently hugged him and instructed him to hold on to her tightly.

時代を示す絨緞

An instant later, Harry felt the world turn around faster and faster, and just when the world was on the verge of completely turning black, the movement stopped, and he felt himself being placed on something comfortably soft.

"Harry, I'll be back in a few minutes," the angel said in a soothing voice, placing something cold on his forehead.

"Feels good," Harry mumbled as he succumbed to the potions and drifted off into a much needed healing sleep.

Helga smiled at the sight of the boy, who was much too small and malnourished for his age and seemed like a tiny figure in Salazar's and her large bed. She quietly left the room. 'Let's see what I can do for you, sweetie,' she thought as she returned to the living room and took a close look at the tapestry, wondering, 'Is any other of our descendants still alive in this time?' She tapped the tapestry at a certain point, causing it to show three other persons. 'Tom Marvolo Riddle, Severus Snape and Dudley Dursley,' she read. 'Dursley is his cousin; he won't be of any help,' Helga thought turning to the first name on the tapestry. The information given showed that Tom was a Dark Lord and mass murderer. 'Oh right, he's the one Rowena told me about,' Helga remembered and let out a long sigh as she read the entry next to the magical lynx that displayed Severus Snape. 'He is the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin here,' she realised in delight and relief. 'He will help the little one.'

Having no idea where to find the Potions Master one thousand years into the future, Helga decided to approach the Headmaster's office, knowing that Godric's old, round office had still been at its usual place at least three hundred years before, when she had visited one of her great grandchildren in need.

Helga greeted the gargoyle, which opened immediately at her sight, and politely knocked at the door of the Headmaster's office. "Good morning, sir. I am sorry to disturb you," she said and introduced herself, "Hufflepuff" as she held her hand out for the Headmaster.

"Albus Dumbledore," the old wizard replied in a kind voice and motioned for her to take a seat, before he made himself comfortable behind his desk.

Helga unobtrusively let her eyes wander around Godric's office, noticing that Fawkes was back. 'Three hundred years ago he wasn't here,' she mused, before he was brought back to reality when Dumbledore queried, "What can I do for you, Ms. Hufflepuff?"

"I am looking for Severus Snape. He is one of the last living relatives of Harry Potter, and he needs to take the child in. I found out that Harry was abused and neglected by his relatives," Helga said in a firm voice, realising that the Headmaster did not like what she said at all, since his face turned to an angry grimace.

"Ms. Hufflepuff, I don't know where you received the information that our Professor Snape was a relative of Harry Potter," Dumbledore replied thoughtfully, absentmindedly popping a lemon drop into his mouth, a gesture that caused Helga to inwardly groan.

'How can an old wizard eat something so unhealthy?' she wondered, missing Dumbledore's next words, before he continued, "Therefore it is important that he remains with Petunia Dursley."

"Headmaster," Helga replied sternly. "I will not allow the child to remain in a household that clearly abuses and neglects him. When I came to rescue him, he asked me if he was dead and if I could take him to his mother. You have the choice, Professor. Either you introduce me to Severus Snape, so that he can become the child's guardian and care for him, or I will take little Harry with me. He is my many times great grandson, and I'm not willing to let him suffer like that."

Dumbledore stared at her in apparent surprise. "Excuse me, Ms. Hufflepuff, but who exactly are you?" he asked bluntly. "Are you in any way related to the Founder of Hogwarts, Helga Hufflepuff?"

"I am Helga Hufflepuff," Helga returned in a voice that clearly showed the Headmaster that she was getting angry.

"One moment, please," Dumbledore replied calmly and called Twinkle, his personal house-elf. "Twinkle, fetch Professors McGonagall and Snape instantly."

While they were waiting for the Gryffindor and Slytherin Heads to arrive, Dumbledore poured the Founder a cup of tea, unaware of the fact that Helga eyed him with suspicion. 'I'm sure the tea is laced with Veritaserum,' Helga thought, 'because he doesn't believe who I am, but I don't care.' With an indifferent expression, she slowly drank her tea, unable to verify or deny her suspicion, because of the different taste the tea had in this time.

時代を示す絨緞

When the two professors arrived and Dumbledore introduced her as Helga Hufflepuff, she could immediate sense someone try to enter her mind. "I suggest that whoever just tried to use Legilimency on me, takes a lesson with my husband, Salazar Slytherin. He is a Master of Legilimency, and you wouldn't even notice if he entered your mind," she said calmly, wishing that she had brought her husband or at least one of her best friends, because she was the one who normally tried to avoid conversations that were not completely harmonic. 'I'm really bad at leading discussions with others that are not solely concerning my healing area, but I just have to fight for little Harry,' she thought in determination, before she once again explained the reason for her visit.

"I am related to Harry Potter?" Snape queried, quirking an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

"Yes, you are my many times great grandson, just like Harry," Helga replied gently. "The two of you are cousins through Harry's mother's side."

"Do you have any kind of proof?" Snape asked, glancing at the Headmaster.

"Of course," Helga said. "In Salazar's and my quarters is a huge tapestry, the Tapestry of Time, which contains each of our descendants. As my great grandson, you are very welcome to visit and see for yourself. I need to return and check on little Harry anyway."

"Your quarters?" Dumbledore enquired with apparent interest. "Where might they be?"

Helga smirked. "I am very sorry, Headmaster, but our quarters are charmed to only be visible and accessible to my descendants and their wedded ones," she said apologetically, casting Severus a questioning look.

"Thank you very much, Professor," Severus said in determination; "however, even if related, I am not able to take Potter in."

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "I am sorry, Severus, but I must ask that you become Harry's new guardian." Ignoring Snape's gasp, he continued, "Professor Hufflepuff already took him away from his relatives and is threatening to take him with her to the past if you don't agree."

"Professor Hufflepuff," McGonagall suddenly began to speak, "Would it perhaps be possible if I became the boy's guardian? I was his parents' Head of House and a good friend of his mother after her graduation."

"Thank you very much for offering; however, I'd prefer that little Harry grew up with a blood relative, especially since he has been abused so badly," Helga replied in a gentle but firm voice.

時代を示す絨緞

When Harry woke up, he was alone and still lying on the soft, comfortable bed. 'Nothing hurts anymore,' he thought in disbelief. 'Perhaps I am dead, even if the angel said I wasn't.' He slowly let his eyes wander around the room that was decorated with antique looking furniture, until his gaze fell on the small bookshelf. 'Books,' he thought in absolute delight. He loved books; however, he had never owned one, and if he tried to borrow one of Dudleys', he had been punished badly. Hastily glancing around to confirm that he was still alone, he crouched in front of the shelf, pulling a small, burgundy coloured book out. He carefully felt the soft leather cover of the book, and a small smile began to play on his lips. Unfortunately, he was not able to decipher the letters on the first pages in the book, but as he turned the pages, he found out that they slowly changed into readable text later in the book. 'Hogwarts Through the Ages' was written on top of every page. 'Maybe that's the book's title, but what do the numbers mean?' he wondered, looking at the bottom of the pages that displayed numbers like '1156', '1247', and '1338' in confusion. 'Books are the best,' he mused. 'Everyone loves books.' Harry was still smiling when he finally returned to the bed, not wanting to upset the kind angel, who had rescued him from the Dursleys.

時代を示す絨緞

By the time Helga led Severus into her bedroom, Harry was not in the bed let alone asleep anymore.

"Where is the boy?" Severus snarled. "Do you have any proof that he was here?"

"Watch your tone, young man," Helga responded in a stern voice, completely neglecting the fact that Severus was about the same age as herself. 'Well, he is undeniably related to Salazar,' she thought, inwardly grinning as she looked at the empty bed in disbelief. "The book," she said, pointing to the book that was lying on the pillow. "He must have been reading a book, before he left."

Helga's eyes narrowed as she took a closer look at the book, which had a wine red leather cover with a pattern of a water phoenix covering the front. Of course that was nothing all too special; however, the phoenix looked exactly like Harry's image on the tapestry, even the eyes had the special emerald colour of Harry's, and they moved slowly until they met her own. She hesitantly reached for the book and opened it, feeling under her hands how the pages slightly wriggled as if they were tickly. 'Is that possible?' she wondered in confusion, absentmindedly caressing one of the empty pages of the book.

"Excuse me, Madam, but I have other things to do," Severus drawled, quirking an eyebrow at the Founder.

Deciding to not share her suspicions for the time being, Helga apologized profusely and promised to send a house-elf to Severus as soon as Harry returned.

"Very well. Please inform Cicero, my personal house-elf," Severus instructed the witch.

Helga carefully laid the book back onto the pillow and accompanied Severus out of her quarters, before she once again approached her bedroom and waved her wand over the book, carefully as not to frighten the child. 'It is Harry,' she realised and slid her wand back into her robe pocket, before she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Harry," she addressed the book in a gentle voice. "You're a very powerful wizard. I have never seen nor heard of anyone, who is capable of changing into objects. Congratulations, my boy. You did that extremely well."

To Helga's surprise and amusement, the upper right corner of the book slightly moved into the shape of a cat's ear so as if it was intensely listening to her words, only to change back to normal as soon as she quietened.

'Very impressive,' Helga thought to herself but refrained herself from commending the child even more. "Now will you change back into your human form?" she asked in a soft voice. "The wizard, who was here with me an instant ago, is Professor Snape, your uncle."

It was as if the book flinched back at her last word, and Helga hurried to explain, "He is not like your Muggle uncle. He is a wizard, and he knows who you are. I brought him here, because I want him to become your guardian and raise you here at Hogwarts, where you can grow up together with many other magical children; however, you need to be in your human form in order to speak with him."

The book remained quiet. 'Oh well; how would he be able to communicate with me if he was a book?' Helga mused in exasperation, giving the book an expectant look.

時代を示す絨緞

'The nice lady brought me here, and so far no one hurt me here,' Harry thought. 'I really should try to change back.' He wished himself to be back to his normal human form, hoping that it worked, and an instant later, the small boy was lying on the bed. He quickly sat up and shyly looked at the older witch as he said in a barely audible voice, "I'm sorry, Madam. I don't know how I did that. I was just admiring the book on the shelf over there."

Helga followed his eyes to the burgundy red book on the shelf and smiled warmly at the child. "Like I said earlier, you did that very well. You'll probably be able to transform into other objects as well. However, you must be very careful that you don't hurt yourself, and you mustn't do that too often, because it affords a lot of magic, and you won't feel well if you use too much magic at once."

"All right," Harry agreed in a small voice, shyly averting his eyes to the floor.

"Now, are you up to meeting Professor Snape?" Helga asked kindly and, seeing Harry hesitantly nod, called Cicero. She introduced Harry to Cicero and explained that he was Professor Snape's house-elf, noticing that Harry stared at the small elf with interest.

A few minutes later, the portrait that was guarding the quarters informed them that Professor Snape wanted to visit. "Let him in," Helga replied gently, noticing from the corner of her eyes how Harry unobtrusively tried to move a little bit away from the edge of the bed. "It's all right, sweetie; Professor Snape won't hurt you," Helga said in a soft voice, just when Severus entered the room.

'The devil!' was Harry's first thought as he envisioned the man, who was completely clothed in black, just like the devil had looked in the story, which they had read at school a few months ago. However, he relaxed somewhat when the tall wizard addressed him in a baritone voice that held no malice.

"Potter," the man acknowledged his presence and stared down at him.

"Hello, sir," Harry replied shyly, not daring to ask if the man was the devil. Instead, he looked questioningly at the angel.

"Harry," Helga spoke up in a soft voice, "Professor Snape has agreed to become your guardian. He is the Potions professor here at Hogwarts." Ignoring the grim expression the Potions Master was wearing, she turned to her colleague and offered, "Professor, since both of you are Salazar's and my descendants, feel free to live in our quarters together with Harry."

"No thank you." Severus slightly inclined his head. "I prefer to remain in my own quarters, and the house-elves will easily be able to add another room."

"I will ask the house-elves to connect your living room with my guest room, which will be Harry's room from now on," Helga replied in an equally firm voice. "Professor, if you don't mind, I'd like to take both of you to my own time for a few days, so that the two of you can get to know each other, away from your duties here at Hogwarts in this time."

The Potions Master raised an eyebrow. "How will I be able to teach my classes tomorrow morning?" he queried, glancing at the Founder.

Helga chuckled as she explained, "That won't be a problem. I will show you how to use the Tapestry of Time for travelling."

'Time travel?' Severus thought in disbelief. 'If she really is who she seems to be, it must be possible. But travelling one thousand years into the past together with Potter's offspring? Am I delirious?' he wondered, unobtrusively letting his right hand wander into his robe pocket to pinch his leg. 'Ouch; I must be awake,' he realised. 'Oh well, I'll trust the Founder for the time being. Meeting Salazar Slytherin would be a real treat.' He glanced at the boy, who was looking from one to the other in apparent anxiousness. Severus sighed as he slowly spoke up.

"Please allow me to finish the school year first. The summer holidays are going to commence in a week's time, and until then I will be able to look after the child," he said in his soft, baritone voice, so as not to frighten the boy.

"Very well," Helga replied gently, apparently relieved that the Potions Master had made his decision. She motioned for Severus and Harry to follow her into the living room, grinning when the two wizards looked at the huge tapestry in obvious amazement.

"This is an enormous piece of magic," Severus said with appreciation. "I never knew that something like this existed."

Helga smiled. "No one except for our family and that of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaws knows. Roxana Ravenclaw, who is the older sister of my colleague, Rowena Ravenclaw, charmed it for Salazar's and my wedding. She is a Charms Mistress. Unfortunately, she refuses to teach at Hogwarts."

'I am related to all these people?' Severus mused. 'I can't believe it.' His eyes wandered to the entry right next to the image of the lynx, his own Animagus form. 'Lily,' he thought, still unable to believe that they were related, even if through a connection far into the past. He was brought back to reality when Helga spoke up again.

"You merely have to tap your wand at a person, whose time you want to travel to, and have to think of a date, as accurate as possible," the Founder explained. "Let me warn you though. The time travel is very strenuous and affords a huge amount of magic, depending on the distance of course. The farther you travel back or forth, the more magic you need. Therefore, Harry will not be able to travel on his own yet."

"So what date would I have to choose to travel into your time?" Severus asked with interest.

Helga remained thoughtful for an instant, before she replied, "Well, I came here from the third of December, 996. However, I suggest that you choose a date during the following summer, so that my colleagues and I will have more time for you than we'd have in the middle of the school year."

The two adults agreed that Severus and Harry should travel to the first of June, 997, which would be exactly nine hundred and ninety years in the past. Before she left, Helga spoke with Harry in a quiet voice to make sure the boy understood that he was going to meet her again in a week's time.

Severus observed in amazement how the Founder tapped her wand at her own picture, mumbled something that sounded like a date, and vanished instantly. 'This is really interesting,' he thought, before he cleared his mind and turned to the boy, realising that once again Harry had vanished from the sight.

'Oh no; becoming the guardian of such a troublemaker is exactly what I needed,' he thought in annoyance, groaning as he realised that he should have asked Helga where the child had been hiding earlier.

tbc...