She smiled as she looked on him, a hand going to her waist. "Ah. I understand. Well, Harry, since I owe you a life debt, I'm going to start paying it off now. First, you have to understand that while you are able to go back into the past, your actual physical body is in the present. That means you are not here in any manner other than magical. Oh, you can feel and sense and kiss and all that, but your body is somewhere else. You are in essence a waking dream. That means you have a body you can change and not be a metamorphmagus to do it."
Harry thought about it for a moment. "Huh?"
"Think about it, Harry. All it takes is will power, and a strong desire to change something. Most magic is like that. Concentrate on becoming an adult again. You can do since I've already seen the outcome. Give it a shot."
Harry thought about it for a moment. If he was a waking dream, he could look like anything. "Hold on, let me try something." Harry concentrated and slowly he began to age and grow. Soon, he was back to his old self before the advent of chapter 2. He opened his eyes and an 18-year-old man smiled at to pleased looking woman in front of him. Harry went from looking up to her to now looking down to her from his 5'9" frame.
Safire smiled and said, "Now that's the man I remember. How about you and me heading to the back room for a few hours of relaxation? At least let me show you my appreciation for saving my life two years ago."
She grabbed his hand and began to pull him into the back room. "But I haven't done that."
She smiled as she moved the blanket separating the front from the back of the cottage. "Then it'll give you some motivation to go back further and do it."
Safire took his unresisting hand in hers and took him into the back room.
There was something relaxing about her, Harry could sense as he entered the room that contained a bed and not much else. Or at least not much else that he bothered to notice. He looked in Safire's eyes just before they kissed.
He did not think about his past loves at all for the next several hours.
...
Uptime, present day
"Harry?" Edward asked as he walked into the room. Nothing. His friend wasn't there either.
Frowning, Edward made his way back to the common room and spoke with Pam and Susan. "He's not there either. I don't know where he is; this isn't like him."
"Maybe he's inspecting the castle for his thesis," Susan suggested.
"Maybe," Pam acknowledged. "But I'm sure he would have told us first if that's what he was going to do."
"True," Edward said, thinking. "But I have a feeling that's not the case. Hey, Saul, have you seen Harry recently?"
"Get lost, Gallandro. Potter's a pest and so are you."
"How rude," Pam sniffed.
"Cedric? Have you seen Harry recently?" Susan asked another older student.
"Last I saw him was after dinner. He was headed for the library."
"The library closed an hour ago," Edward commented mostly to himself, trying to think where his friend was.
"To students, yes," Susan said, "but not to an apprentice. Maybe he's still there?"
"Let's go find out," Pam said.
"It's nearly curfew guys," Cedric pointed out.
"We'll run," Pam said with a smile leaving the Hufflepuff common area.
Cedric simply smiled at their antics. Firsties… was he ever that small?
Saul on the other hand went to alert a prefect that firsties were going to be out past curfew and that they needed to be taught a lesson. Teach that Potter to keep a better eye on his friends at least. Get him in trouble will he…
Five minutes later an out of breath trio of Hufflepuffs stood outside the library. The chime they heard indicated it was now curfew and they were outside of where they should be. Edward grinned and said, "Ah well, in for a sickle, in for a galleon." He then opened the door to the library.
It didn't take long for them to find their friend. He was standing next to the Restricted Section gate looking down at the book in his hands.
"Harry?" Pam said as she approached the unmoving boy.
The three Hufflepuffs looked at one another with worry in their eyes. Hesitantly, Susan reached out and touched his sleeve. "Harry? You okay?"
No answer. No movement.
....
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