Before the Storm

“Go.” She said, not quite yelling but suddenly intense as she herded Harry back, away from the pillar and towards the tracks. “Go now, boy, or you’ll miss your train!” He looked behind his shoulder, there was a train....he hadn’t heard it approach. The doors were open and waiting, and for no good reason at all, he stepped inside. The strange little woman didn’t follow him on, she simply stood there watching him, that same incomprehensible smile on her face. “Which path will you choose?” She asked again, just before the doors closed, replacing his view of her with his own, pale reflection. Sirius was gone, and Harry's world was crumbling through his fingers. All he wanted was a little peace, just a moment to himself. Maybe it was a wish come true, maybe it was just the machinations of a strange little witch and her enchanted locket. When Harry found himself, now fifty years in the past, on his birthday, he doesn't question it too much. He simply takes the opportunities set before him. Sent back in time, he will encounter the young Tom Riddle. In this unexpected meeting, will Harry find the peace he craves, or will a new, forbidden entanglement of love and hate with Tom completely overturn history?

Before the Storm

“Go.” She said, not quite yelling but suddenly intense as she herded Harry back, away from the pillar and towards the tracks. “Go now, boy, or you’ll miss your train!” He looked behind his shoulder, there was a train....he hadn’t heard it approach. The doors were open and waiting, and for no good reason at all, he stepped inside. The strange little woman didn’t follow him on, she simply stood there watching him, that same incomprehensible smile on her face. “Which path will you choose?” She asked again, just before the doors closed, replacing his view of her with his own, pale reflection. Sirius was gone, and Harry's world was crumbling through his fingers. All he wanted was a little peace, just a moment to himself. Maybe it was a wish come true, maybe it was just the machinations of a strange little witch and her enchanted locket. When Harry found himself, now fifty years in the past, on his birthday, he doesn't question it too much. He simply takes the opportunities set before him. Sent back in time, he will encounter the young Tom Riddle. In this unexpected meeting, will Harry find the peace he craves, or will a new, forbidden entanglement of love and hate with Tom completely overturn history?

The roar of the engine startled him—it hadn’t been there a second ago. One moment, King’s Cross was empty, rain-slicked and silent; the next, steam billowed from a scarlet locomotive humming with unnatural energy. \n\nHarry staggered back as the woman in gray pushed him forward. Her eyes gleamed like moonlight on water. “Which path will you choose?” she repeated, voice echoing beyond the platform. Behind him, the train doors yawned open, revealing crimson velvet seats and the scent of old parchment. \n\nHe turned. Sirius was gone. The war had taken everyone. All he wanted was to stop running. \n\nWithout thinking, he stepped aboard. The doors sealed shut with a hiss. Through the glass, the woman mouthed something he couldn’t hear. Then she vanished. \n\nThe train lurched forward—not toward Platform Nine, but into a tunnel lined with floating clocks, each ticking backward. \n\nA note fluttered down from the luggage rack: Welcome home, Henry Potter. Your classes begin tomorrow. \n\nThe reflection in the window wasn’t his own. It was younger. Paler. Wearing round glasses. \n\nAnd smiling.