Title: Could Have Been
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Remus
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 1,033
Summary: Voldemort goes after Neville instead of Harry on that fateful night.
Notes:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: History of Magic – Write about any historic Harry Potter event (any era) with its outcome changed.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Scavenger Hunt – Spell Use – Avada Kedavra

The Treasure Hunt Challenge: Prompt Used – The Map of Ninety nine, asks you to use the word "lost", nine times in the story you write.

"No, not Neville!" Alice stood firmly in front of her son's crib, ready to defend him until her dying breath. She knew her husband was already lost to her, so it was up to her to save Neville. Unfortunately for her, she would soon join her husband in the afterlife and forever be lost to Neville.

Voldemort smirked cruelly. "Avada Kedavra," he intoned.

With a beam of green light, her eyes lost their brightness as she dropped to the floor.

Voldemort looked at the crib where the baby was squalling and letting his misery be known to all that cared. "What a pathetic little thing. Already, you have lost your parents, forever to be alone in the world. Well, don't worry. You'll soon be lost to the world as well." he said. He rolled his eyes at how simple it truly was. He raised his wand, and once again shot out the Killing Curse. He wasn't expecting it to bounce off of the wailing baby and head straight back towards him. His last thought, before he lost his consciousness, was, 'What went wrong?'

Harry looked around. He knew how to get onto the platform, but he was still nervous. He didn't think Sirius and Remus would play a nasty trick like that on him, but he wouldn't hold it against the Marauders. And it was even more suspicious that they told him to go on ahead of them, and they'd meet him on the train.

A girl came up to him. "Hi, you look lost."

Harry nodded at the girl, noticing how curly her hair was. "I'm not exactly lost. I know how to get on the platform. I'm just not sure if I trust the sources of information completely."

"I read about it in a book. It's between Platforms 3 and 4. All you have to do is run though the wall separating the two."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, her brown curls flying around her. "Watch. I'll go first." She grabbed the cart that held her trunk and ran at the wall.

Before his eyes, the girl disappeared. He blinked. Swallowing nervously, and knowing that obviously Remus and Sirius had been telling the truth, he made sure Hedwig was secure. He didn't want her to become lost in the shuffle. He then closed his eyes and braced himself. Blindly grabbing his cart, he ran and ran. Harry cringed, half-expecting to run into the wall. When no pain was forthcoming, he carefully opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw.

There were so many people walking around. Some wore funny clothes or hats. Others looked relatively normal. He saw a huge redhead family standing with another boy, one who didn't look like he belonged to the family. His mind clicked on the information Sirius had told him once upon a time.

The girl noticed where his gaze was. "That's Neville Longbottom. He's the boy-who-lived, the Wizarding world's hero."

"I know." Harry said.

She looked at him. "I think he's pretty amazing. He was only a baby when he stopped You-Know-Who"

Harry shrugged. "I'm just glad You-Know-Who is gone. I think that's one wizard that caused enough pain to last a lifetime."

She frowns. "What did he do to you?"

He shook his head. "What's your name?" he asked, wanting to move on from this line of questioning.

"Hermione Granger. What's yours?"

"Harry Potter."

Her eyes widened. "I read about you in the same book that I read about Neville. Your parents were tortured and –" She stopped at his look of pain. "Oh. And that's what he did to you. It happened the same night Neville's parents were killed."

Harry nodded. "I've always thought about how Neville's and my positions could have easily swapped. If You-Know-Who went after me, and the Lestranges went after Neville, who knows what would have changed."

"Have you ever seen your parents? I mean, where they are, it has to be pretty scary."

"For a long time, my uncles wouldn't let me see them. They thought I was too young and wouldn't be able to handle seeing how bad it was in person. Knowing and seeing is two different things. I was able to talk them into letting me visit when I got my Hogwarts acceptance letter. I told them that if I was old enough to go away to school, I was old enough to see my parents." He paused, remembering the day he visited. "It was scary, and my mum and dad didn't seem to realize I was there. I'm glad I saw them, though."

She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Want to get on the train?"

He opened his mouth but was interrupted by Remus and Sirius. "Let us help you, kids."

Harry smiled at his godfather and honorary godfather. "Siri, Remi, this is Hermione."

She shyly waved.

"Hello, Hermione. It's nice to meet you. Sirius and I will get your trunks on the train. Follow us, kids."

Harry and Hermione ended up behind Neville and one of the redheads. They were laughing about something.

Harry found a compartment and pulled Hermione in. They watched as their trunks went up above them.

"Make trouble, kid," Sirius said gruffly.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Behave yourself," he warned. "Owl us tomorrow and let us know what house you're in."

"He'll be a Gryffindor of course. Both James and Lily were. And he was raised by two Gryffindors."

Harry caught the flash of pain across both of their faces when Sirius mentioned his parents. Although he missed them, he didn't have any memories, so he didn't think his pain was any match for his guardians'.

"I promise I'll be a Gryffindor." He hugged both of them and watched as they exited the train. He sat across from Hermione.

She smiled slightly. "I'm hoping to be either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

"Well, if you're in Gryffindor, we'll be together."

"That would be nice," she agreed.

They sat back and waited for the train to get moving. It looked like he made a friend already. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. He was sure it would be a fun year.