Today was like any other day at the supermarket for Asher Prince. He stood at the checkout stand scanning everyone's items and bagging them. As he handed his current customer her receipt, Asher saw a face he did not recognize. He remembered every face that had walked into this supermarket. She must be new, he said to himself.
Asher sneaked a peak at the woman who had caught his eye. She is a true beauty. Her wavy brown hair fell lightly on her shoulders. They bounced with each step she took. Her brown eyes were lively, but he could see they bear a hint of sadness she tried hard to hide. She had a beautiful body shaped like a supermodel. She walked around with a gentle smile as she talked to her children. Then Asher started to count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven kids! How she managed to take care of so many, he had no idea. His father had trouble taking care of just him and his brother.
His heart leaped with joy as she made her way to his line. This was a good chance to hit on her. Asher wondered if she was married, but did not see a ring on her hand. Time to find out. "Hello, miss, did you find everything all right?" He noticed the seven children were staring at him curiously. Two of the children, a boy and a girl, hid behind the woman.
"Yes I did," she answered quickly as she scrimmaged through her purse.
"Are you babysitting?" Asher asked as he pushed milk past the scanner.
"No, unfortunately I'm not. These are all mine," she responded as she pulled out her credit card.
"Wow, that's quite a feat. How do you manage?" The woman looked up at Asher and stared into his green and hazel eyes. She suddenly went white, dropped her purse and fell backwards into a stand behind her. "Miss, are you alright?" Asher asked as he leaped over the counter to aid the woman.
She had ignored him and rampaged through her purse. Then, she took out a pair of broken glasses and placed them on Asher. "Harry?" she whispered before fainting.
Asher caught the woman and pulled her close. Then, two of her children walked over and tugged his shirt and said, "Daddy, please help aunty." The two had emerald green eyes that were exactly the same shade as his left eye.
Asher looked around and noticed that everyone in the supermarket was now staring his way. The last remark by the two children just made matters worse. He could hear their murmurs so he lifted the woman into his arms and walked out of the store. Behind him, the seven children followed closely as did the eyes of the people in the store. Oh how he hated when things go terribly wrong.
Asher arrived in his home ten minutes after the commotion in the store. He carried the woman into his home and lay her down on the couch. He turned to the children and said, "Can you stay here and watch over mommy until I return?" They all nodded in response.
Asher left for the kitchen and prepared refreshments and snacks for the children. When he returned, he found the woman partially awake. "Are you alright?" he asked as he sat himself down next to her. "You gave me quite a scare back at the grocery store." He had purposely left out the part about all the staring.
She was staring at him as if she had seen a ghost again. "Harry?" she asked once more.
"I'm sorry; you have mistaken me for someone else. I am Asher Prince, please to be of your acquaintance." Asher held out his hand for her to shake, but she did not take it.
"You sound exactly like him. You looked exactly like him. Except for your hazel right eye." She clasped her hand to her mouth as she sobbed. Tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks. "I was told James Potter's eyes were hazel. You're Harry Potter!" Then she looked at his forehead. "Where's your scar?"
Asher just looked at the woman as she sobbed. This had happened before. Many times. So he continued the routine his father had given him. "I am not Harry Potter. I wish I were. It would make your tears go away. I would also hate to lie to you."
Suddenly, the front door burst open and a man shouted, "ASHER PRINCE WHAT THE—" he stopped when he saw the sobbing woman Asher held in his arms and the seven children around her. "Oh."
The woman looked up and saw the man. He had long black hair, black eyes, and a face she would never forget. "SEVERUS SNAPE!" She screamed as she drew her wand at the man.
"Hello, Miss Granger. I am terribly sorry for your losses." He gave a bow. "You can drop the act, Asher. I doubt you will be able to fool her like the others."
"What are you doing here, Snape," she hissed with a spiteful glare.
"This is my—" the older man began, but was cut short.
"Hey, Asher!" another voice called out from the kitchen. "What did you do to get the whole town—" He, too, stopped short when he entered the living room and saw the guest.
The woman leaped from Asher's arms, grabbed the third many by the collar and slammed him against him wall. She pushed the tip of her wand against his throat and whispered, "Why aren't you dead, Draco Malfoy?" Asher moved to restrain the woman, but Severus stopped him. "Why are you and Snape still alive while everyone else died? And why did you not come back to us, Harry?"
"Because I am dead, Hermione. I've been dead for five years now." She turned towards Asher and found that he had not spoken a word. She suddenly noticed another figure standing next to her. He had black hair and a pair of emerald green eyes. There was a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. "Calm down and let them explain everything. Also, Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape are dead." Hermione released her grip on the silver haired man and took her seat next to her children. She was calm once more and her tears had dried. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Goodbye." The man disappeared leaving the four adults and seven children alone.
"Well, I suppose we should start from the beginning," Severus started. "Yes, as you had suspected, they were Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy and I was Severus Snape. However we cast our names away a long time ago."
"Wait," Draco said, interrupting Severus. "There is one last thing I wish to do as Draco Malfoy." From his pocket, he took out a small box and handed it to Hermione. "It's a pensieve. It holds the memories of Ron's last moments."
They watched as Hermione cried when she watched the memory held in the pensieve. They three had seen it before. It was addressed to all of them. When the memory ended, Severus continued their tale.
Hermione could not believe the tale at first. The shock that Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter (or rather Franklin Prince, Benicio Black and Asher Prince respectively) were still alive had made her mind foggy. "So you're saying that the three of you were taken out of time, trained with the Founders and returned here with all your ages changed?"
"That sounds about right," Benicio responded. "As for how we live, Frank saved me, Asher spared Frank and I saved Asher. In that order."
It was hard to believe. Sev—Franklin and Benicio hated Asher and vice versa, yet now they lived together as a family. Franklin Prince is the father and Asher Prince and Benicio Black are his adopted sons.
"I know this is hard to believe, Hermione, but this is the truth," Franklin said.
All three of them had changed drastically in the five years they were gone. Well, it was five years for Hermione. Frank once had oily hair and always held a disgusted look on his face. He had cut it short which gave him a younger look. He never smiled before let alone laughed. Perhaps Severus Snape had died. Frank is now a kind and gentle man who cared very much for his family. He held two jobs, one at the post office, which he worked during the day, and a second at a local bar, which he owned.
Benicio still had his silver hair and eyes, but he grew stockier. When he left the house, he changed his hair black and put on black contacts to hide his silver eyes. He was no longer the same scrawny little prat who walked around as if he owned everything. However, he was still arrogant. Just not so much as before when he was Draco Malfoy.
And last, Asher. He had remained quite throughout the whole discussion. The only time he spoke was when they talked about their time with the Founders. Asher had little recollection as his time as Harry Potter. It was amazing that he lived without a scratch. Five years ago, when they returned to the Riddle House, they found Harry's burnt body lying in the ruins. Apparently, that had been a fake body Ben created to make it look like Harry died. Then again, Harry did die. His soul had been connected to Voldemort's and when Voldemort died, Harry's was taken along. Hermione looked at Asher wondering how much of Harry remained.
"I was told that my soul was split into two parts. One was Harry Potter. I am the other half. Harry was offered to live again, but he chose to leave this place," Asher said to Hermione answering the question in the back of her mind.
"Legilimensy!" She shouted realizing how Asher knew. "I thought you lost your ability to do magic!"
"Almost all of it. I'm not sure exactly how I was able to retain Legilimensy or Occlumensy, but I did. It's a nice skill to have when you are trying to become a lawyer," he answered with a smile. "The only other magic I have left is to summon the souls of the dead. I can only do that once or twice a day."
"I suppose you are wondering who you wish to see, are you not?" Frank asked looking at Hermione. She nodded, but still did not trust Frank or Ben. They had betrayed her once and had always been her enemy. She had to stay cautious.
"You will worry yourself to death, Hermione, if you keep thinking they are enemies," Asher said. He had read her mind once more. How he did it without her knowing blew her mind. "The founders would never tell me that secret. They had the same abilities as well. I suppose they did not want someone to abuse this power."
"You don't have to decide who you want to see more, Hermione." This time it was Ben who spoke. "Now that you are here with the children, it means it is about time the eleven of us left. You will see everyone who has passed away."
"What do you mean?" she asked in fear. She pulled her children close and away from the three men. Their cold and serious looks only made matters worse.
"Today is when this world ends," the three answered in unison.