Part I: Swivel Chairs [The title has nothing physically to do with the story, but it means what I want it to mean]
"Harry Potter, I think you need to listen to my lesson as well!" Said a wrinkled old lady in a floral print dress, with overly tall hair, and colorless eyes.
"Who are you?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes and waking up slowly.
"Your Science teacher. Can you tell me the element alchemists tried to use to make gold?"
"Lead." Harry said, knowing from Potions. But this wasn't Potions, or Herbology, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not to mention it, it wasn't even the castle—Hogwarts— where he went to school. It was a dingy room in the local public high—Stonewall High.
"All right. Detention on Thursday. Three fifteen."
Harry's face drained as the class sniggered. He had no idea where he was. He reached for his wand. It wasn't there!
Harry somehow made it through the rest of the class, and then gathered what he supposed must have been his books and walked out into the hall. He nearly squealed with glee when Ron walked by.
"Ron!" Ron turned, an odd, confused expression on his face.
"Well, the mighty know how to condescend. Wow." Ron sneered, gripping his books and walking on.
"What are you talking about?" Harry said, stopping dead and wondering what was happening.
"Let's think for a minute, you are the student council vice president, I am Ron Weasley. That poor kid from eight-c." Ron frowned.
"But, but…" Harry stammered, but something else caught his eye. Hermione!
"Hermione!"
A girl in a short, satin purple skirt turned, her brown hair waving gently. "Hey sweetie," she smiled, batting her eyes.
"Hermione. Wake up!" He said, wrinkling his nose.
"What?" She said, looking affronted. "Are you still taking me to the big game tonight?"
"Quidditch?" Harry asked, hoping that something familiar was still there.
"Huh? I mean football, you DO remember, right?"
"Of course, just joking." Harry blanched, wishing someone knew something about magic and Hogwarts. Hermione was grabbed by her arm by a giggling girl in a cheerleader's outfit and she waved, Harry left standing in his shock.
He nearly screeched when Draco Malfoy strode up and started talking to him. Like friends. Like best friends.
"I'm going out with Hermione?" He said, still recovering from his shock.
"Yah," Draco nodded sarcastically. "Since, like, forever!" His blonde hair bounced, and Harry noticed that he, as well as Draco, were wearing football uniforms. He suddenly had a thought and clapped a hand to his forehead. It was gone. Where was his scar??
"Which locker is mine?" He stared down the row of green lockers.
Draco smiled devilishly. "The one with all the hearts on it, maybe?" Draco sneered and pointed to one with a horde of paper hearts on it.
"Who did that?"
"Maybe the CCC."
"The CCC?"
"Cho Chang Club. Duh." Harry's eyes flew open. Draco laughed.
Harry walked down the hall in stunned silence.
"Uh… Har…" Draco said, concern for once masking his usual sneer.
"What?" He snapped, turning sharply.
"Phys. Ed…"
"Oh yah. Duh." Harry said, as if he had just made a mistake instead of not knowing at all.
~*~
The whistle blew and Harry ran to what Draco had told him was his place in line in Physical Education. The teacher counted them off into two teams and handed green pinnies to Harry's team. They played a rousing game of football; Harry somehow scored two points and tackled three people. He seemed to know what he was doing, remarkably.
"Way to go dude!!" Draco said, grabbing him in a bear hug as they trudged in to dress back out for their next class, Algebra.
Harry had a terrible time in Algebra, and it was then time to go home. Harry looked startled when someone he knew drove up. It was none other than Sirius Black.
"SIRIUS!" Harry said with a gasp and collapsed into the passenger's seat.
"Hey little dude. I suppose your starting in the game tonight?"
"Uh-I think." Harry stammered, wishing he knew as much about his life as a muggle as everyone else did.
"Well, I'll take you home and I'll pick you and your parents up for the game at five. Okay?" Sirius said as they drove down the street, that Harry didn't recognize or had ever heard of.
"My… my parents?" Harry stumbled, his words shaky and almost incoherent.
"Yah." Sirius said with a smile. Harry's mind twirled. His parents were alive??
~*~
Harry rang the doorbell with trembling fingers. It rang with a light tone and he heard footsteps. He sucked in his breath and saw the door begin to open. He could barely hold in his shock.
There stood Lily Potter. His mother. Her gently curling red hair tumbled down her shoulders, across her glittering green eyes, and he saw a baby. She was clutching a tiny baby in a few blankets. The baby wore pink and looked about a year old. His mother smiled.
"Oh good, you're home. Draco called about five minutes ago, and your game uniform is hanging on your door." Harry stealthily wiped a tear from his eye and walked past, where a large golden retriever stood wagging its tail. The baby cooed, "Sunny." Harry smiled and petted the dog before making his way up the stairs and into the room with a "Do Not Disturb-Or Else" sign on the door.
He opened the door with the same trembling hands and got his first look of his room. The walls were littered with football and rock band posters. The bed had dark blue sheets and green pillows, and a corner held an assortment of football equipment. A small computer rested on a desk in the other corner.
Harry smiled with no room to spare. He flopped on the bed. He glanced around, to where a jar stood on the shelf, with lots of little folded notes in it. He grabbed it and turned it upside down, littering the bed with notes. On top was one from Hermione.
Harry,
Love ya. Not much else to say. See you at the game Tuesday. Love. CU
Love, Hermione
It was Thursday, so Harry realized it was a few days old. He spent a few minutes exploring before pulling on his football pants and pads.
"Harry!! Dinner!" His mother shouted. Harry gulped and galloped down the staircase to the sunny kitchen. There was a ring on the doorbell and Harry froze. His father was home. "Harry, let your dad in!" Lily called, and Harry walked shakily to the door.
He threw the door open and once more stood in shock. A tall man with untidy black hair, blue eyes, and glasses smiled at him. "Hello Harry."
"Dad." Harry stammered, feeling a fuzzy feeling in his stomach. He choked back tears as his father walked in, set his briefcase down and hugged Lily and the baby, that Harry still didn't know the name of. His mother sat a steaming plate of mashed potatoes and gravy on the table and they all sat down, the baby in its high chair.
They said grace and dug into dinner. Soon, they all packed up for the game. Harry grabbed his helmet when Sirius honked from outside and walked shakily out to his van.
They stopped by to pick up Draco, who kept going over football plays, and then drove to Stonewall.
Three girls ran up to the van in cheerleading uniforms when they pulled up; Hermione, Cho, and the girl who had grabbed Hermione in the hall. Harry smiled. Maybe life wasn't that bad after all.
Draco grabbed the brown haired cheerleader by the waist and gave her a piggyback ride away, Cho stormed away, and Harry and Hermione wandered over to the field.
"So, who's gonna win tonight?" Hermione asked, smiling a lovey-dovey smile at him.
"Us!" Harry cheered, having no clue what his team was called. Wasn't it the Stonewall Broncos or Raiders or something?
"Broncos all the way!" Hermione cheered, waving a pom-pom and jumping excitedly. Harry and Hermione paused at the edge of the field. Hermione stood on tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek before rushing off to the cheerleading squad.
"Harry! Here now!" Called Dean Thomas, now in football uniform and not very magical looking. Colin Creevey was balancing a large tray of water glasses with the help of Neville Longbottom. Boy was this world nutty.
Someone (who looked like Dumbledore without a beard, and hair dyed a strange color brown) escorted a black-haired woman in a dress suit onto the field. She grabbed a microphone and addressed the school.
"Tonight, at our homecoming game, the Broncos are going to beat the tails off the visiting Smeltings Smugglers!! Come on Broncos do your stuff!" Harry laughed out loud as none other than Minerva McGonagall handed Dumbledore back the microphone.
"A few words; Go, fight, win, rock!" Called the clean-shaven Dumbledore. Harry smiled and trotted onto the field with the team. Dumbledore announced a few more words.
"Our student council vice-president and football co-captain would like to say a few words." He grabbed Harry's arms and stuffed the mike in his hands. Harry froze.
"Uh… I… know we can beat the Smugglers hands down! So get out their and support the Broncos tonight!!" Harry tossed the mike to Draco who succeeded in getting a tumultuous applause when he stepped down..
Harry's team, the Stonewall Broncos, won over Smeltings by nearly twenty points. This was the first time in the history of the two schools that Stonewall had beaten the Smeltings Smugglers. Harry was carried off the field for scoring three touchdowns, including the winning goal.
Maybe this life wasn't so bad after all. Harry's mind wandered as he sat on a couch at Draco's house, eating pizza and partying. He had found out that Draco always had a party when they won. Slowly his eyes closed and he dozed off. Maybe he didn't have Ron, but his parents were alive, he had a sister, and everyone seemed okay. Except one person.
Sirius. He seemed downright depressed. Maybe his age was catching up with him. Maybe it was just the lack of anyone except the Potters in his life. Then Harry remembered something.
Lupin! Harry nearly jumped up at the thought. Hermione looked at him strange from the other end of the couch. He blushed and got up, trotting off to find Draco.
"Uhh… Draco." He said, watching the blonde haired teenager chug a root beer.
"Say wha?" Draco said, feeling a little woozy from all of that cold drink.
"I need to go. I…" Draco frowned but pointed to the door, then smiled from the sensation of having eighteen ounces of caffienated soda running down his throat. "Sorry, Drac. I just have something I need to do."
Harry walked out, but someone followed him. He turned around, almost angry. "Hermione. What are you doing?"
"You've changed."
"Great time to tell me. You don't think I've noticed?" Hermione's lip trembled. She turned around.
"Oh great—Look, I'm sorry, but it just feels like my whole life has turned upside down. You wouldn't believe me if I told you though."
Hermione still stood there, her back turned, crying softly. "Oh yah. You got abducted by aliens. I know what you're doing, Harry Potter. You're cheating on me."
"What?!" He said, totally confused.
"Probably with Cho or one of her zombies. That's why you've acted so uncomfortable around me. You're going to dump me."
"Hermione, I wouldn't do either of those. Get a grip. I'm just having some personal problems. Just give me a few days."
"Okay. Tell me what I wouldn't believe."
"You are not being helpful. I can't tell you that. I'm not sure if it was even real."
Harry stormed off and Hermione continued to cry. It made Harry's heart wrench, but he knew that his life at Hogwarts wasn't a dream. But how could his life be like this. And his parents were alive. That couldn't be right. All those years at the Dursley's…
Harry was mixed up, but as he walked briskly through the wind, his jacket pulled up around his shoulders, he felt an odd sensation. He looked up, only to see a man walking his dog. A big black dog. Shaggy, big black dog. Harry jogged up, just to get a better look.
The man was tall, not abnormally, not even enough to stand out; he had sandy brown hair with hints of gray. The man turned to Harry, smiling with brown eyes twinkling.
"Remus!" Harry nearly shouted, hugging his parent's friend.
"Harry. How'd the game go?"
"We won, but I'm just wondering. Do you know any magic?"
"Well, I do know a few card tricks, but no, not much." Harry grimaced, standing wobbily in place. He said goodnight to Remus and wandered down the street, not knowing what on earth to do.
Here he was, in a life parallel to his, which if not for small feelings in the back of his mind, he would be perfectly happy in. But there was magic, Sirius's depression, and a missing piece. How and why was he here, and did he want to go back?
Harry kicked an old soda can into the gutter and nearly screamed when a person appeared, in the middle of the street, in long, billowing navy robes, carefully flicking her wand.
She smiled, her hair blowing around her face from a wind she created. She stared at him with blue eyes, flittering like jewels.
Harry knew he had to say something. "Are… are you??" He began, but soon stopped because he was trembling too hard.
"Yes, Harry. I sent you here."
"Why?" He managed, his eyes watering from the wind she had made.
"Because it is what you want, right?" She frowned, staring into his eyes.
"I guess so, but it's like, not my life." Harry was barely stringing his words together.
"Why not, I thought it was perfect--Your life how it would have been if magic didn't exist."
"But it does. And that's where I belong!"
"What about James, and Lily?"
"What will happen to them?" Harry blubbered, his mind swirling.
"They won't remember a thing, neither will you if you go back."
Harry turned, seeing what should have been the street Draco lived on swirling with views of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. He couldn't think straight.
The woman walked towards him, even though her feet didn't touch the ground.
"No more James. No more Lily. No more Selina (Harry's baby sister). And no more of this life, a life many would consider perfect."
"It's not perfect! What about Sirius?"
A strange, pained expression clouded her face. Harry had the strange feeling he had struck a chord with the witch. "Sirius." She muttered and walked past him, giving Harry a very icy sensation. Harry followed, and the tall woman turned back to him, a malicious spark in her eyes. "I think he knows what you do." She said, giving Harry the creeps.
"About…" but she cut him off with a wave of her hand, silencing him with a charm.
"Harry. Think about it. If you really want to go back… it is reversible."
Harry stood dumbfounded and he reached into his pocket and…
"Harry! Wake up! Party's over." It was Draco, shaking his shoulder and munching on the last of the potato chips.
"Wah? Where am I?"
"My house, denso. Wake up. It's like one in the morning!"
"Then why can't I sleep?"
"'Cause we have something to do." Draco smiled maliciously, spewing chips from his mouth.
"What?" Harry murmured, rolling over on the couch. He realized someone was there. "Hermione!" He screeched, jumping up. She stared.
"Harry, I think you need some major help, dude." Draco muttered, wide-eyed and staring. Hermione goggled, as Harry stood, wishing he was any place put there.
"I have got one heck of a problem." Harry screeched. "This is not where I belong! I belong back at Hogwarts with Ron and Dumbledore and Snape and Quidditch and everything my life is about! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?"
Hermione fainted. Draco collapsed into a sofa.
"He's gone. Call out the white coats. This dude has lost it."
Harry stood, shocked by his own words, and numbly walked out the front door, and wandered to his house.
Draco jogged up behind him. "What were you talking about back there? Are you on drugs or something?"
"If I was, then I could stop. But, I'm not, and the only thing I have to go on is a dream. And my memory. But here I am, I'm not in my world, I'm in what some witch who's invading my dreams thinks is perfect and she was in a dream."
"Cho's in your dreams?"
"What?!" Harry screamed, turning to Draco.
"Well, the only WITCH I know…"
"Draco, I don't give an ever-loving penny about Cho. This has nothing to do with Cho, or you, or Hermione, or my love life, or drugs, or anything like that. If I told you, you really would have to call out the Funny Farmers. Maybe I'm hallucinating or something, but this is just too much. I have to go find Sirius."
"Well, the insane group together."
"What are you talking about?! How can you even claim to know me?"
"I've been your friend since forever. I've known you since I was born!"
"Not where I'm from. In my life, you're my worst enemy. Bad guy."
"You don't like me any more?" Draco's lip trembled. An odd, angry expression began to cloud his dark eyes. "Got to popular for me? Think that you don't want to hang with me? Well I'll tell you something, Harry Potter. If that's the way you think, then I don't know anything about you. Goodbye." Draco turned on his heel and marched away, tears rolling down his pale cheeks.
Harry stared. There was no turning back. He had to find that witch.
Part II: Lost Dreams
Harry felt as if this life was falling apart. First Hermione thought he was nutters, Draco had gotten mad over a misunderstanding, and Ron and he were totally distant. He walked to school, moping, and his head down, his hair uncombed.
He walked in silently to his locker. He looked at his hand where the combination was written and opened it, grabbing the two books he needed and tossing his homework in. He trudged down the long hall of the Stonewall 9th grade hall and into a dreary science lab room.
Harry took his seat, flipping his book open and beginning to read the chapter. The teacher stared at him for a few moments, then went back to grading yesterday's spelling tests.
This is how his day went. Boring and dreary. Draco avoided him like the plague and Hermione cast him sidelong glances from her locker, three lockers down.
He was walking to Algebra when he was stopped by a woman in red glasses, a striped dress, and overly-high shoes.
"Yah?" He muttered, staring at his sneakers as the woman began to talk.
"Harry Potter, you are to report to the counselor's office at 11:30, five minutes from now."
"Okay." Harry said, scraping his shoes on the floor and making long black scud marks.
He knocked twice on the door of the counselor's office and she opened the door, smiling.
Harry took a step back nervously. The woman was short, with brown hair and blue eyes that didn't suit her at all.
"Hey Harry. Long time no see."
"Uh-yah." Harry said listlessly, trying not to catch her gaze.
"I see here that they say you've flipped. Turned over a dead leaf as so to say."
"I'm having some problems." Harry muttered.
"Well, that's what I'm here for. Spill."
Harry froze. How could he tell this woman about his life?
"Umm… I'm like…"
"From another world." She finished, but Harry was shocked to see a totally serious look on her face.
"What?" Harry said, looking up suddenly.
"A magical fantasy world. You know I actually took a class on how to deal with those kind of people." She smiled, and Harry realized they weren't on the same level.
"Oh. Basically." Harry looked down, wishing she only knew.
"Good, finally I can use all that training."
"I'm from a wizard's school."
"Been reading too much of those Larry Totter books, have you?"
"What?" Harry said, looking up in shock. "Larry Totter?"
"You know, the best-selling books on some kid who goes to a Wizarding school called Pigzits. Plays some sport on brooms called Kuidditch."
Harry's mind spun. Larry Totter? It was almost sick humor. He wondered how anyone could have the nerve to do something that obvious. He got up, shaking a finger at the woman.
"I don't know who or why this is happening, but if it is you, stop it. If it isn't, then you are crazy and the world is out to get me!!" Harry screamed, then slammed the door behind him, and ran from the school.
He finally collapsed when he had wandered into a field full of tall grass and scattered trees. He lay in the grass, invisible to anyone but a plane. A long, green snake slithered by. Harry had an idea.
"Hello." He said, carefully using parseltounge. The snake turned and slithered towards him.
"Say man, you speak."
"Yes." Harry said, staring into the snake's yellowish eyes.
"Whatcha want?" The snake coiled up, and Harry backed away nervously.
"I want to go home. Do you know how I can get there?"
"Say, I don't know, you don't live over there?" He jabbed his tail towards the subdivision Harry lived in.
"Not really, I live in a world with magic and everything I know. But I don't know if I want to go back. It just won't feel right. I'll feel like I'm murdering my parents all over again and being selfish and not caring. But it's not real, and I want to be back in my life where I know that I am Harry Potter and that I am a wizard and that no one can change that. And I want my scar back and my owl and everything." He began to cry, his eyes cloudy.
The snake whipped forward, it's body sprouted arms and legs and soon, standing before him was that witch from his dream.
"Oh crime. Get away from me!" Harry screeched. She reached out and grabbed him around the neck, but Harry looked down and realized it wasn't her grip, but magic holding him up. He choked and she dropped him, he landed hard and scrambled to his feet.
"Harry, Harry. You really need to understand. Just live this life and it will be perfect, and perfect trade. Magic for your parents. I don't find it so hard."
"I want my life back." All of a sudden, an idea popped into his head. "If you can make this life, why can't you give me magic and my parents?"
"Because, if they didn't die, you wouldn't be here. If they had given you to Voldemort, saving themselves, you would probably be dead."
"Probably?" Harry stammered.
"You might have been able to save yourself."
"How?"
"A child of magic blood like yours can only be killed by true darkness. No one knows if Voldemort was purely evil. He might have still had good in him. But maybe…"
Harry stood dumbfounded. He had picked up on a bit of a trend; he always got the shocking news. She drew her wand, carefully murmuring the spell to change him back to his real life.
Harry's head spun and he heard a voice, "HARRY NO!" He spun around, seeing two people he knew very well running towards him.
"Ron? Hermione?" He said, wrinkling his brow as he saw them in robes, holding wands. They grabbed his arms, just as the spell hit Harry. They were blown backwards and Harry was yanked by the force of the spell. His body sizzled by the force of the charm, he screamed in terror. And then it was dark.
Part III: Light.
Harry sat up, seeing the hangings on his bed; in their familiar crimson hue. He gently rubbed a hand on his forehead. He felt the coarse, jagged scar across his forehead. He got up, walking nervously towards Ron's bed.
Ron looked up, over the top of a comic book. "Lo?" Harry smiled and shook his head and walked off. Ron shrugged and went back to reading the comic.
He entered the common room, but only one person was there. Harry cringed, she looked angry and he tapped her on her shoulder. She spun around, glaring at him.
"Have fun?" She said, staring into his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Back at Stonewall… Being Mr. Perfect and coming back here."
"You remember?"
"Get a clue, Harry. It wasn't Hermione Granger, head cheerleader that saved you. It was me and Ron. Ron the wizard. Hermione the wizard. And Malfoy. Ick. You and him all chummy."
"Look, Herm. I had to come back. It's just not right. I mean, how many more people would have died before Voldemort finally fell from power?"
"No one Harry!! If Voldemort even existed he was like a gangster or something!! Nothing to do with you! No magic!! Only guns! And…" She broke off, frowning.
Harry slumped. Did he make the right decision? Or did he take all that for granted, a perfect life, his sister, and his parents?
Harry fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. He woke up, staring at the top of his bed and feeling a cold sweat on his cheeks.
Hermione walked over, muttering her usual "Tisk, tisk," as he watched her.
"What time is it?" Harry gasped, tossing the bed covers off and standing up.
"Hullo, put some more clothes on." Harry grimaced and looked down. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts. His face drained and he pulled the blanket around him, scowling as he traunced over to his bureau for some clothes.
"You were asleep for a while, Har."
"How long?"
"Three days."
"THREE DAYS?!" Harry screeched, dropping the blanket.
"Yah, Dumbledore said you were in shock or something. Madam Pomfrey didn't know what to do with you so she sent you here."
Ron galloped in, waving a magazine. "I've found out who she is!!" He screeched, shoving the magazine under Hermione's nose.
"Ron… do you know what this means?!"
"That she's gonna kill…" They both looked up from the magazine with a terror-struck look on their faces. They settled on his face, staring at him like a dead body.
"What? Who's gonna kill me?"
Ron flipped the page back and showed it to Harry. The tall blonde woman was in an article entitled, "Unfinished Business."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry gawked, scanning the article.
Aimee Riddle, heir to Voldemort's powers… Is she out to finish the deed that destroyed her father?… Powers exceedingly terrible… no wand needed… Spark of evil…
Harry feel back onto Ron's bed, mind spinning. He thought he was back, but now he couldn't think straight. That woman wanted to kill him? But she said that she did it for him to make his life better, why would she kill him after going to all the trouble to make his life "perfect?"
"Harry? Are you okay?"
"No. Just a minute, how did I get to the muggle world? I thought I just fell asleep…"
"Oh, you don't know." Hermione said.
"Sprout was lecturing on dandelion extract…" Ron started.
"And this woman came in. She batted an arm and Sprout went flying."
"Broke the green house."
"She didn't even carry a wand. She just blew everyone around until she had you cowering in a corner." Hermione whispered.
"She started screaming this spell and this bolt of yellow lightning hit you."
"It was like everything caught on fire but you and you started convulsing."
Ron added, "We thought she was going to kill you!"
"And then you were gone."
"We wandered around for days and finally Dumbledore helped us get to your muggle world and it was like just the moment she undid the curse. We got sent back too."
Harry walked around in circles. "So, my parents are gone? The baby, Selina, and all of that?"
"Well, we have a new student. Her name is Mandy."
"Where'd she come from?"
"We don't know. She just appeared. And all the teachers seem to think she has been here forever."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered down to dinner where Mandy was sitting with Draco, smiling and throwing crackers at him.
"Mandy." Harry said, recognizing the brown-haired cheerleader from his experience.
Mandy looked up, smiling broadly. She handed him a cracker. Harry nibbled on the corner and watched her. She finally looked up, a little suspicious.
"Earth to Harry!" She said, laughing.
"Who are you?"
"Mandy Nancy Morgan. Also known as M'n'M." If it wasn't such a serious situation, Harry might have laughed.
"No. Where did you come from?"
"Neverworld." She smacked on a cracker and threw a second one at Draco.
"The dark arts place?" Harry stammered.
"Yup, that's the one."
"But, how?"
"The question is Harry, how old am I? You honestly think I am a crazy teenager?"
"Well it sure looks that way."
"Magic is a magic does"
"So you aren't Mandy N. Morgan?"
"I wouldn't go that far. No, at the moment, I am, but soon I won't be."
"Then who will you be?" Harry asked, getting impatient with this girl, eh… woman…'s riddles.
"Melissa Black."
"Is that who you were born?" Harry said, trying to cut through all of her silliness.
"Yes." She said simply, taking time to throw another cracker.
"STOP THROWING CRACKERS!" Harry yelled, getting very impatient.
"Well, you don't have to scream. Temper, temper."
Harry drew his wand, sending blue sparks at the girl. She gasped and turned into a tall, black haired woman, with large blue eyes and tight leather clothes.
"Oh well," Harry stammered. "Hello, eh… Melissa."
"Call me Mel."
"Ok, Mel. What are you doing here?"
"Helping my mom."
"Who is your mom?"
"Riddle."
"Aimee Riddle?"
"The one and only."
"But your name is Black."
"That's my dad's name."
"Who's your dad?"
"Sirius Black."
"SIRIUS?"
"Yup."
"But, how, why? WHAT?" Harry felt very confused now, thoughts of suicide drifted through his mind. He knew he couldn't really do that, but this was just too much. "Why is everything so freaking connected?!" Harry screeched, turning many people's heads, if they weren't already.
Harry flailed his arms, completely mad at everything, everyone, and his life. He felt like just screaming some Dark Arts spell and killing everyone, including him. This was crazy. Crazy. Crazy! He glared and sat down, trying to clear his mind of crazy thoughts and concentrated. He looked up at Mel and then to Hermione, then to Ron.
Hermione uttered a few words through her shock. "Harry, I think someone has forgotten to tell you something. Maybe…"
"Actually," Mel piped in, "Someone has. Someone you'd never expect would have anything more to do with you than…" She turned silently, glancing swiftly over the occupants of the Great Hall. "Her!" She pointed a thin finger straight at Professor McGonagall, who looked up in shock and looked the other way. "Hey aunty!"
McGonagall walked over, head low, muttering something that Harry couldn't quite understand but picked up on the words "Mel," "Sirius," and "destiny."
"Uh… now I'm more confused than ever. What on earth would you have to do with this?"
"As you've heard before, Harry, everything."
"Everything?"
"I mean, Sirius and Aimee, your parents, the map, the cloak, the charm, the murderer. I am connected to everything. I'm telling you a lot of what Aimee should be telling you, but I have a sick feeling she's been a bit brain-washed by her, ahem… crowd."
Harry looked up suddenly, staring into the eyes of his professor.
"Well, to put a novel into a paragraph, you know your father's crowd… Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Aimee. Well, you haven't heard about Aimee. She and James had been school friends before Hogwarts, they both came to school the same time. She and Remus were friends for a while, then boom. They got to a state of loathing each other. Couldn't stand to say the other's name. Icy, er… Aimee and Sirius, Sirius is my brother, became quite close and… never mind, you don't need to know all that. Shortly after they left school, Melissa was born, and then you about four years later. Then Voldemort decided that you were too much of a risk to his empire, so he set out to destroy you and your parents, and you know that story. And well, Aimee got into the dark arts crowd. I really didn't expect that she would ever… She was too much of a, well… I'm not sure what the word is but something like good, too nice. I really think she has something else in mind. Now Mel. Take the stage."
"Um. My mom wrote something to dad, that he never got, saying "It isn't what it seems." Whatever that means."
"It's very simple. She's doing something in Neverworld that isn't evil, but in league with… Cricket! She's in league with Cricket!"
"Cricket?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"How many people are involved with this stupid thing?!" Ron complained. "I mean, first there is Harry then his parents, then Remus and Sirius and Aimee and Peter and Voldemort and Mel and McGonagall and all this and now Cricket whoever that is!"
"Yah," Harry said, shifting his gaze to Mel and McGonagall. "What's up with this?"
"Well think about it Harry. If you had to write the story of your life, how many characters would be in it, not counting this whole fiasco?"
"Well, me, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Malfoy, Snape, Lockhart, Dumbledore, Fred, George, Ginny, Percy, the Dursleys," Harry broke off, realizing she was right.
Part IV: Too Much…
McGonagall was gone for several days. Dumbledore taught Transfiguration for her, and class was unusually exciting. Neville accidentally turned all the desks to toad-stools and Dumbledore brought them back, only this time they were painted a strange color purple.
Finally McGonagall returned, with her a tall blonde man with sparkly green eyes.
"Harry, meet Orion deChancey, or Cricket. Dumbledore's most trusted spy."
"Hello, sir." Harry said, not meeting either's gaze.
"Harry, I know you think that Aimee is out to kill you, but she really isn't. She won't let me tell you."
"Does she know you're here?"
"Yes."
Harry was getting awfully sick of this whole story and turned to Minerva who slumped slightly.
"So who is he?"
"Well, he went to school with your parents, not friends, not enemies. He and his sister, Polaris, are part of a group of peoples called Gamma Angels. They aren't human, but only just so. To give them justice they are much more advanced. And they can fly."
"Wow." Harry muttered, getting sick of talking to these people. Mel cut in.
"Cricket, where's mom?"
"She went with Polaris to Gamma."
"Oh, when's she coming back?"
"When she decides it's time to bring them back…"
"The Pot—" she quickly broke off.
"MY PARENTS?" Harry shouted.
"Uh… no…" Mel tried to cover up.
"Good one, Mel!" Cricket snapped.
"Harry, we can bring your parents back."
"But it won't be easy."
"Lots of magic."
"Only Sirius can do it."
"Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Well, I mean he had to have…"
"Err…" Mel stopped. "Let's put it this way. He needed Icy before he could be the one to break the curse."
"Are they still alive?"
"Your parents? Sort of. They can be brought back only by someone of the blood of Voldemort. And that happened with Sirius and Icy."
"Wait! Who's Icy?" Harry butted in.
"Oh, that's Aimee's name. What Sirius and James called her."
"So what happened?"
"They had Mel. Through that he was part of Voldemort's blood." Harry was confused, but listened anyway.
"Look Harry! When two people do it magically with the intent to have a child, their "blood" is combined. That creates a child, in our case, Mel. Didn't your parents ever---"
"No actually, they're dead." Harry said sarcastically. "But I do know about the birds and the bees."
"Good. Then you understand?"
"So Sirius is now of Voldemort's blood line and so he can unlock the spell. Icy can't do it because she's a female and she isn't a… well… pure. Good gosh, she had a child. So she can't do it. So only Sirius can." Cricket snapped. Harry was beginning not to like him.
"But Sirius isn't ahem…pure either!"
"He's male."
"That's biased." Mel said blankly.
"Get over it."
Part V: Gamma Power!!
Cricket and Mel went off to plot and plan, leaving Harry, Hermione, and Ron together.
"I feel numb." Harry said simply.
"These Gamma Angels," Hermione began, "Are legendary for their magical power. Many times they are accepted as humans and they come from a parallel dimension called Gamma. People who are directly involved in Dark Arts are given horrific gold rings called delta- bands around their upper right arm. They don't come off unless you repent to the head Gamma Angel."
"Who's that?"
"Right now I believe either Aquarius or Virgo is head honcho. But I hear Marlo has waged war against the Gamma Angels. Marlo controls the skull-demons of Constellus."
"Where did you learn all this?"
"Advanced Astronomy. You should take it."
"Whatever, so who is this Orion and Polaris?"
"Orion is Dumbledore's spy as you know, Polaris is married to Aquarius."
"So helpful. Okay…"
Ron decided to pitch in his two cents. "I know. Aimee Riddle has a delta-band so she went to Gamma and got the help of Polaris and Orion, her school friends, and something happened."
"How do you know something happened?"
"She was with Cricket and she met Lucius Malfoy. She said so. That's why Cricket looks like a car crash victim." Ron continued, piecing together his thoughts.
"So she went with Lucius, but Cricket didn't like that and so he beat Lucius up and it fits!"
"She's in Neverworld since she can't bring the Potters back any other way." Hermione added.
"Why not?"
"The potion, and the spells, and the amount of magical power. Snape couldn't do this one."
"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked.
"I have no idea…" Ron said.
"Stupid! He's in Gamma." Hermione cut in.
"Icy's in Neverworld, Sirius's in Gamma, the Gamma Duo are at Hogwarts."
"Why don't they all go to the same place?"
"Party here, tommorow, at 6. We invite out favorite four."
"PAR---TY!!!" Ron yelled...
Harry, Hermione, and Ron went off to make plans.
They were stopped short by a spectacle that the "Gamma Duo" was putting on.
"GAMMA POWER!!"
"ACTIVATE!"
Polaris had Draco Malfoy cornered against a wall. Orion was aiming at his chest, holding a glittering weapon.
"Don't kill Draco!!" Harry screeched, running forward and grabbing at Polaris' wings. He was sent flying backwards without even denting Polaris's attack.
Draco huddled down, hugging his knees and whimpering. Polaris screamed to Harry. "He is the one who attacked Orion. For that he must die!"
"NO!" Harry screeched. "That was his dad!"
Polaris lowered her bow. "This is not that fiendish Lucius?"
"No. That's Draco." Harry said, panting to catch his breath.
"Oh. Get away infidel." She sneered, kicking Draco as he ran to Snape.
"CUT IT OUT!" Came a voice Harry vaguely remembered. "Stop!"
Harry spun around. Two people stood there, both in tight black clothes, holding their wands ready.
Sirius and Aimee stepped forward, causing Orion and Polaris to land and stare in shock.
Sirius looked to Harry. "Harry, Mel. Here now."
Harry and Mel walked forwards, heads bowed. Sirius grabbed Mel's shirt and tossed her to Aimee. Harry looked up, expecting a harsh word, but Sirius looked past him to the Gamma Angels.
"Polaris, Orion, we have to go. I'm afraid Voldemort has taken shape."
"As what?"
"He has joined forces with Marlo of Constellus and has taken a body. I think it is his original one."
Harry gasped and Mel wept into her mother's shoulder.
"Shall we go?" Aimee said, taking Harry's hand. Harry pulled it away. He didn't trust her yet.
"Yes. Better fight him now rather than later." Harry muttered, but ran back to his dorm for three things that might help him. The Invisibility Cloak, his wand, and a book of spells. Hermione stopped him at the door.
"If you don't come back, I want you to know I love you." She said, crying softly.
"I'll come back, and I love you too, Herm. Just stay safe."
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and stumbled down the stair well to where the party was waiting.
Part VI: Apology Accepted
Harry Potter stepped forward, brandishing his only weapon, his wand. His other two possessions were merely for self defense.
Aimee held hands with Sirius, as they walked forward onto Voldemort's chosen battlefield, a desert stretch in Egypt. Sirius's hair whipped around his face and they stood to face the dark lord.
Orion and Polaris hovered quietly, shaking slightly from fear. Mel stood below them, wishing she had more than her wand to protect her. It would be a hard fight.
A boy, not a day older than sixteen, walked forward across the sands. Harry remembered him well, it was Tom Riddle. The boy walked forward until he was less than a foot from Aimee's face. It was barely a ghost, just a twinkling image of what he had been.
This was to be Voldemort's final battle. He wanted to show the group just what had happened to him.
The next ghostly hologram was another boy, with spikey brown hair and a dark black cloak. He was hit with what must have been a spell, and he doubled over, his nose dribbling with blood. Then the image of Dumbledore, along with his voice appeared.
"I'm so sorry Tom. I…" The other boy died, with Tom crying over his body.
"That's Greg." Mel said blankly, confusing Harry.
"Greg Wald. Better known as Grindelwald. Dumbledore killed him in a duel between Tom and himself. Greg was Tom's best friend." Polaris added.
Tom looked up from the body, an odd reddish glow beginning in his eyes. He slammed a fist into Dumbledore's nose. Dumbledore apparated, and dissapeared.
Harry cried out. "But…"
It soon showed Tom and a girl, with purplish hair, kissing. Harry had an urge to look away. The image of Tom Riddle way crying.
"Mom…" Aimee started, her words dropping off.
Polaris explained again. "Celestina Warbeck, bride of Voldemort, mother of Scott and Aimee. She was a successful singer in the late eighties."
The next image showed a tiny baby boy being blown to bits by Voldemort. Aimee again murmered a name. "Scott…"
"Killed by Voldemort in '65."
Then a tall, skinny man stepped forward, not a hologram, but the true Tom Riddle. Harry had a sudden mental image of Darth Vader before taking a nervous step back. This would be his fifth encounter with the dark lord. Would it be his last?
Riddle was extremely close to them. He extended his arm to shake Harry's hand. Harry took it, his scar erupting with pain.
Tom said, "So now we fight. Wands only, I'll take on all of you. But Polaris."
Polaris sat down in the air, hovering angrily.
"Why not?"
"It's a known fact that no wizard can take on two Gammas, and I'm only here to kill you, Harry."
Harry nodded, and drew his wand, Polaris counted 20 paces and they flipped around, Harry yelling "Marslavius." A protection spell. But Riddle hadn't thrown a curse.
Tom grasped his wand tightly and raised both arms, chanting a spell. Crackling green lightning erupted from the heavens, Harry crouched down from fear. Riddle seemed to gather the energy and threw it flaming towards Harry. The protection spell died and Harry screamed. Harry threw a hand at it, as if to bat it away. Amazingly it deflected.
"Huh?" Tom gasped, staring at Harry. Harry waved his arms, tapped his wand in the air and yelled, "ERADICUS!" Riddle was blown backwards and Aimee rushed forward. She waved her arms.
"Blood-drenched Arrow!" Her line of defense was unlike any Harry had ever heard of before.
"Wow. She's a magi." Harry spun around, confused.
Polaris took another chance to explain things. "A magi is a wizard with power basically flowing out their ears. They can perform special spells with no wand. Most wizards wouldn't stand a chance."
Riddle's arm was pierced by a blood dripping arrow. He fell over, using his good arm to shoot a curse towards Aimee. Harry hunkered behind Orion, feeling scared.
"Harry!" Aimee called, "Yell True Love!" Harry stepped forward, yelling the spell.
The air was pierced with energy. Harry's hair stood up and something materialized in front of him. The image of a stag and a tiger wipped forward, knocking straight into Riddle. For a moment, Riddle stood, then collapsed, his body convulsing.
Harry rushed forward, dropping to his knees.
"Harry." The dark lord muttered.
"What?!"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I just wanted to…" but he died before he could utter that last sentence. A tear rolled down his cheek, unwillingly. The stag and the tiger slowly became human forms, as Sirius yelled a long, complicated spell.
Then the forms collapsed, as two people lying in the grass.
"JAMES!!" Sirius screamed rushing forward to one of the people.
"LILY!" Aimee called, dropping to her knees in front of the woman.
The two sat up, both smiling. "Harry." They said in unison, throwing their arms around him. Harry sniffled, knowing in his heart it was his parents.
From a distance her could see the light show appear again. A glittering stallion and a stately falcon stood, then turned back into two humans.
Polaris smiled, rushing forward to the two boys, both around sixteen.
"Tom! Greg!" She hugged them both, and the two boys smiled.
Several more people emerged, soon introduced to him as the "McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewitts." Professor Quirell stepped forward, missing his absurd turban. More appeared.
"His victims have been released." Aimee smiled. "Including him."
Harry reached to his forehead and felt something missing. His scar.
THE END