RON AND HERMIONE'S HOUSE, EXTERIOR

Snow is falling on a small house nestled in the trees. HARRY enters like a specter. He has cleaned himself up considerably but is still visibly worn out. He walks through the trees, looking around himself nervously. He reaches the door and knocks.

Suddenly — the mat is pulled out from under him. HARRY is flipped to the snowy ground. Before he can get to his feet, the door opens. RON appears, wand ready. His shoulders slump.

RON: Harry. You're... um... What are you doing here?

HARRY (gruffly): Thanks for laying out the welcome mat.

RON: It's one of George's. Security measure. Can't be too safe these days.

RON's expression shifts from one of curiosity to disappointment.

Do you know what you've done, Harry? The destruction you've caused? They're looking everywhere for you. The Aurors... they were here an hour ago, pressing Hermione to see if she had any knowledge of your whereabouts.

HARRY: I know. I waited for them to leave.

RON: Whatever reason you may have had in coming, I need you to go. You're not dragging us down with you.

HARRY: I trained the Aurors myself. I know what to do.

RON: Keep telling yourself that.

RON begins to close the door. HARRY fights to keep it open.

HARRY (every word rushed): Wait, Ron. Wait! A mistake has been made and we're going to right it! We're going to use a Time-Turner. We're going to bring them back.

RON: What? Keep your voice down.

HARRY: I can fix things!

A light comes on inside the house. RON sighs and stops pushing the door. He glances over his shoulder. HERMIONE hastens to the foyer. She looks upon HARRY. There is a hesitant moment. HERMIONE seems conflicted, not sure whether to hug HARRY or to punch him.

HERMIONE (speaking quickly): The reports say you were there at the invasion, but no one saw you leave. I imagined the worst. Harry, you look tired. When's the last time you slept?

He shrugs.

HARRY: It's been days.

HERMIONE: Come out of the cold. I'll put the kettle on.

HERMIONE is already walking back inside when RON stops her.

RON: Absolutely not. Who will take care of Rose and Hugo when we're thrown into Azkaban for abetting him?

HERMIONE: Ronald, you're wrong. It's Harry.

RON: You heard what he did at the Ministry! I'm not putting our family at risk for —

HERMIONE: He is family.

HARRY raises his hands in peace and takes a step back from the door.

HARRY: You have a right to be angry. You both do. I made some mistakes. (beat) Some big mistakes, in fact. I want to set those mistakes right.

HERMIONE: It may be too late for that, Harry. The goblins are in full rebellion. And once the elves got involved...

This fact is particularly hurtful for HERMIONE.

The elves wield strong magic, more powerful than any of us realized. I'm surprised by what they are willing to do to earn their freedom. But this is the wrong way. This is all wrong. People have died.

HARRY: That's precisely right. This war was never meant to happen! We are living in an alternate reality, don't you see?!

RON and HERMIONE look worriedly at one another.

RON (to HARRY): You know who used to talk that way? Amos Diggory. He was ranting to my father about Cedric... before he killed himself.

HARRY: I understand that feeling all too well, sadly. Delphi stopped me from killing myself. I thought it was the only way to destroy the Horcrux, but then she spoke in Parseltongue and I didn't understand. We fought. I couldn't kill her. Then Sirius came back and... well, she's dead now. And Professor McGonagall —

HERMIONE: Harry, slow down. You're not making any sense.

RON: No, Hermione.

RON studies HARRY.

I was right. Delphi's the Augurey, isn't she?

HARRY: Yes. The child of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort.

HERMIONE (trying to work it out): And that's how she could speak Parseltongue...

HARRY: They created her — not out of love, or desire — but with the sole purpose of being a living Horcrux. The attempt failed, however. Voldemort didn't realize that he had already made one.

HERMIONE: And you couldn't understand her... because the Horcrux is destroyed...

RON: But we already knew that.

HARRY: I didn't. Not anymore. Delphi tricked me into thinking my scar was still burning.

HERMIONE gasps.

HERMIONE (to herself): Wait — of course! That explains everything.

RON: What does?

HERMIONE: Harry, the feelings you had for her...

She pauses. RON looks stung by this. HERMIONE hesitates and continues.

The feelings you had for Delphi make sense now. And the feelings she had for you. The attraction was less physical and more... metaphysical. Harry, when Voldemort used your blood to return, part of your mother's sacrifice transferred into him. It ran through his veins — which means that it passed to his heir. The connection you felt with Delphi... it was Lily Potter's sacrifice all along. Your mother's love lived on inside of Delphi. (beat) That's what drew you to one another. That's why you were so conflicted.

HARRY: I think you could be right about that, Hermione.

He looks relieved but unconvinced.

You could also be wrong.

HARRY takes deep breaths.

I couldn't even kill her, you know. I tried. She must have been immune, having survived the Killing Curse as a child. Just like me. We were very alike in that regard.

RON: But she was defeated? How exactly?

HARRY: It was Sirius. He stepped through the veil. He grabbed ahold of her — pulled her in — to save me.

RON and HERMIONE are stunned silent. The snow continues to fall.

The Augurey is gone. Rodolphus Lestrange is dead...

RON: And Lord Blitzfanger is on my doorstep. (beat) Can you explain why you tried to overthrow the Ministry?

HARRY: I couldn't kill myself. I needed the veil, but there was no way I could've gotten into the Ministry. So I took their belief in me and used The Tempest as cover.

RON: Well, you went the wrong way about it. We could've helped you.

HARRY: I needed to be honest with myself, trust what my heart was telling me...

HERMIONE: Harry, you have one of the greatest hearts of any wizard who ever lived, and I do not believe your heart told you to do this. The Tempest manipulated you.

HARRY: It was my decision. It was the right thing to do, at the time.

RON: You almost sound convinced. Are you aware how stupid you've been?

HERMIONE: Stop. Please. You're not helping.

RON: No, Hermione. Look at him. He's off his nut. Talking about alternate realities. And — what's he doing here? Did you know? He wants us to use the Time-Turner. (to HARRY) Thought your friends were going to join you, did you?

HERMIONE (to HARRY): Is that true?

HARRY (after a pause): What if I was to tell you there was a future — a future in which my family was alive and well? Can you see? Can you see it?

HERMIONE: We can't change the past, Harry. I shouldn't have to tell you that.

He rushes the front door, startling them.

HARRY: No, we can. Professor McGonagall explained everything to me. I always survived the dementor attack in the forest. Only... I came through it the same as Al after Azkaban. I wasn't myself. Dumbledore sent me back to fix things. I used the Patronus to cast away the dementors. I survived with my wits. And seeing that the Patronus was a stag, I wondered if it was my father. That's why, when we went back the next time, I waited for him — until I realized that it had been me all along. I saved Sirius and myself a second time. That's what happened. And every time since, in a sort of never-ending cycle.

HERMIONE: We did change the past?

HARRY: Yes! Which means we can have hope. I can save Ginny. I can save Albus. I can fix all of this. Go back to the way things were. Start again. From the beginning.

HARRY is smiling so broadly, it's frightening them.

Al and Scorpius were right! All we need to do is take the child. Move her from one place to another. That's it!

RON: You want us to go back and abduct a child?

HARRY: But it's Voldemort's child — the Augurey — she is responsible for all of this. Take Delphi and throw her down a mine shaft for all I care. You're missing the point!

RON and HERMIONE don't like the sound of this.

HERMIONE: You're not in the right frame of mind, Harry.

RON: Even if we could, it's an awful idea. (beat) No, there's too many what-ifs — too many things that can go wrong —

HARRY: My family is at stake. I need your help. And we've no time to lose. This is our chance to reset the world. Haven't you realized that yet?

HERMIONE: Ron's right, Harry, this is a bad idea. There have been about a hundred books written on the adverse effects of time travel. I've always ignored them. It was a point of pride, to be honest. Nevertheless, if what you're saying is true, then so is Professor Croaker's law — the furthest someone can go back in time without the possibility of serious harm to the traveler or time itself is five hours. You're suggesting we go back years.

HARRY: We'll be more careful. Whatever Croaker says, trust me, trust us. We'll get it right this time.

HERMIONE: Harry, you know we love you. But you can't be trusted to make the right decisions anymore. The smallest moment, the smallest change, it would create ripples. This effects everything. The moment we step into the past, the future is unpredictable. Some small thing could result in Rose and Hugo...

HERMIONE briefly closes her eyes.

I can't even put the thought into words.

HARRY: Please. I want us to save my family. I need you. I need my friends. You said it yourself, Ron. There's no stronger force in this world than the three of us when we put our heads together. Let's go back — fix it.

RON: Sorry, mate. We won't be a part of this.

HARRY (exasperated): I can't do this without you! Or maybe I can do it without you — but I want you there. Because I want us to do this together. Set things right together.

HARRY reveals the Time-Turner.

Ron, Hermione... I'm going to do this. I need to do this. And you know as well as I do, I'll entirely mess it up if you don't come with me.

HERMIONE: You're blind. That's what love does. I was a child when I used time travel to my benefit. I'm not going to risk messing with it as an adult.

HARRY gets in their faces. He is losing patience in his desperation.

HARRY: Listen, I know what we need. I've thought it through. You have potion stores here. Maybe the proper materials. She's at Malfoy Manor, I know when. We need to find a way into the house. Of course, we'll be there to cause harm, so that will stop us from getting past the front door. Defensive magic. We need to find some way to bypass the charm. Probably Polyjuice Potion. I can be Lucius —

HERMIONE: Harry...

HARRY: — Hermione, you can be Narcissa —

HERMIONE: Harry!

HARRY: — Ron, you can be Draco. You'll have fun with that, I'm sure...

HERMIONE: HARRY!

She collects herself.

Polyjuice Potion takes months to brew. Percy put a ban in place months ago. Most of the elements are on the Restricted Register.  They're impossible to find. Especially Boomslang skin... you'd have better luck hunting one down and skinning it yourself.

HARRY: So, we steal the potion from someone in the past or something. The details don't matter.

HERMIONE: Are you mental? The details have never mattered more! If we were to take a brewed Polyjuice from someone before they  had a chance to use it, that would prevent them from whatever schemes they were set to enact. Which means we would be directly affecting the past and, therefore, the future. Who knows what chaos this would cause when we return. You haven't thought this through, Harry. In fact, you've still got the Time-Turner...

HARRY: Yes, but...

HERMIONE (to RON): We need to destroy it.

RON (to HERMIONE): Stupefy. They were originally destroyed using Stupefy...

HARRY: No... No... You can't...

He backs away, gripping the Time-Turner like a child with a baby blanket.

RON: This is the right decision, Harry. Hand it over.

HARRY: Things need fixing, Ron. I have nowhere else to turn. I can't be seen in public. There are posters of me everywhere.

HERMIONE: Which is why it might be best to turn yourself in. If you're worried, I'll come with you.

HERMIONE steps away from the door. RON watches HARRY vigilantly.

We'll face this together. Let me get my coat.

HARRY: Hogwarts! We can go to Hogwarts. They have all sorts of ingredients there... Remember?

RON: You don't think they're looking for you at Hogwarts? They're looking everywhere. You will be found eventually, Harry. I have hope in that, actually. Because someone will eventually remove you from the Time-Turner.

HARRY: I'll find a way to get them back. Even if I have to build a Time-Turner myself.

RON holds his wand on HARRY.

Ron, what are you doing?

RON: I'm... I don't know. I'm afraid of what you'll do.

HARRY backs away in long strides.

Harry, don't... don't make me...

RON aims his wand at HARRY. Then he looks down. He can't go through with it. HARRY exits at a run as HERMIONE returns. RON and HERMIONE stand at the doorway, looking out.