Title: Waking from Illusion
Author:bitmaxmouse
rating: pg13-hard R
warning: death, violence, some slash (SB/RL, other's I'm not sure yet)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters don't belong to me
summary: Everyone wakes up after the final battle and find themselves in an unknown place. And it turns out Harry has been keeping secrets.
~~~~~~~~
Ch.1
"Where am I?" Ron Weasley wondered as he felt himself enveloped in darkness. Then a swarm of memories hit him, a cacophony of flashes from bits of memory.
As he concentrated the disjointed pictures slowly put themselves in order and the blurred pictures started to clear...
"Good Luck Ron." Harry told him. Then they brotherly clasped each other's hands.
"Nah. You need all the luck you can get. Seeing as how you're going up against You-Kno...Voldemort." Ron finished, he knew that he should stop being afraid of saying that monster's name, it was just a bad habit.
Harry gave him a confident grin and nodded his head in approval of Ron's last minute change. As he nodded, the ponytail on his head had bobbed a little, which reminded Ron that they had all changed over time. Actually, Harry had just shown up in time, after disappearing for ten years ever since his 5th year at Hogwarts, everyone thought he was dead. But one day he just showed up at an Order meeting as they were planning their last few battles, strong and ready to fight the good fight... the good last fight.
A yell could be heard in the distance as the Aurors started to attack the Death Eaters from the air.
Harry looked over at Ron, "That's our cue."
The Order members had planned to scatter around the forest behind Voldemort and his minions so that the could circle around Dark Lord and his followers and attack at all sides.
Ron glanced over to his side and caught sight of Draco and Severus pulling out their wands and starting to walk out of the forest. At first Ron and Draco had been assigned together, but the two of them kept getting into fights. So Ron begged and switched with Harry so that he was with Harry and Draco was with Snape. Ron figured that it worked quite well, but as Snape exchanged, he shot Ron a dirty look.
Ron pulled out his wand as both he and Harry exchanged a glanced and the two of them charged...
"53067 is waking up" a unknown voice said, tearing Ron from his memory. It sounded near and yet distant with an echoing quality that was permeating through his dreamscape.
"Get the captain. He's waking up." The person repeated. Then the sound of pattering footsteps followed and disappeared out of the room.
Ron tentatively opened his bleary eyes, only to wince painfully as the florescent lights nearly blinded him.
"Hnn.... Lights." Ron rasped as his face scrounged up.
The unknown person dimmed the lights in the area and tired off the light that was directly handing over Ron's head. Ron tried again; it was better, but not much better. A few moments later his eyes started to adjust and now could see that the person was a man with dark brown hair and scholarly looking glasses.
"Wh-Where am I?" Ron asked as he pushed the heels of his hands into his forehead. His head felt stretched and scattered and the whole world seemed to be spinning too quickly on its axis.
Ron had expected the man to say 'St. Mungo's', but instead the man replied, "NeoTerr."
Ron blinked, "What's that?"
"It'll all be explained in time." The man paused to look at the clipboard in his hand, "...Ronald..."
Ron frowned, the guy was eerily cryptic, and Ron still couldn't figure out how he got here. Not really wanting to look watch the man stare at him, Ron looked away and turned his head to the left... and saw Hermione lying on the bed next to him, fast asleep. Ron's eyes widened, did everything to prevent his urge to run over to Hermione, hug her, and wake her up so that she could help him figure where they were and get out of here.
"Your friend is still in stasis. It would be best if you didn't do anything rash, like jolt her unexpectedly, it may do her more harm than good." The scientist said, as if he was reading Ron's mind.
Ron then looked over to the other side of him and saw the rest of the room, long and full of beds occupied with people. He couldn't see most of them, but he could make out Draco, who was on the other side of him and Snape who was in the next bed over. They were both unconscious and seemed to be in 'stasis'.
"What hap- " Ron started, but his was cut off by the sound of the door opening and a man walking in, in a black suit, his shoes crisply thudded on the floor as he strode over. And as he came closer, Ron realized that it was...
Harry.
At least he looked like Harry. But Harry didn't wear frightening black suits, squarish frameless glasses, and he didn't slick his hair back with gel. Well, it couldn't hurt to ask.
"Harry? Is that you mate?"
The man addressed Ron, "Hello Mr. Weasley, good to see you're awake."
Ron gaped, it sounded like Harry... but more cultured... almost Malfoy-like.
The Harry looking person turned to the doctor, "Did you run the check up?"
"Not yet sir. We were waiting for you to get here... this is unexpected..."
The Harry look alike snort in a very un-Harry sort of way, "Those morons, I told them that when we ended program 0521, it would disrupt the stasis around any of those in the vicinity."
The scientist looked perturbed, but he quickly masked his confusion and went over to Ron with some sort of utensil in his hand. Ron's eyes widened and pulled back, "What's that?"
"Calm down. It's an ear thermometer. I just put right against your ear and press a button and it measures your temperature." The scientist explained and then used the thermometer before Ron could complain.
It wasn't as horrifying as he had anticipated. But odd. Why didn't the guy just use magic like Madame Pomfrey did during checkups?
Some times passed as Ron was poked and prodded. The Harry doppelganger just stood there with his arms folded, watching with cool green eyes of indifference.
Finally, the scientist wrote down the last set of numbers after he took Ron's blood pressure. Then he gave the Harry look alike a curt nod and hurried out the door, which left him and the fake Harry in the same room.
Ron admitted that he was scared, freaked out even. He could feel a pit digging into the bottom of his stomach and filling with one ton rocks. And at the same time, cold fingers seemed to dance along his spine, making his hairs stand on end. The room, however big, suddenly seemed too small.
And it got smaller as the Harry look alike took a step closer. But then he said quietly and softly, "Calm down Ron. It's me Harry."
Suddenly the rocks disappeared, the hands left his spine, and Ron flopped down like jelly as he gave a relieved sigh, "You had me there for a minute you know?"
Harry allowed a small smirk, "Sorry, I have to maintain authority in front of the employees, you understand right?"
Ron blinked, "Employees? You work here?"
Harry gave a slow nod, "I do."
"Is that why you're all ..." Ron waved his hands at Harry's attire.
Harry looked down and stuck his hands into his pockets as he nodded, "Yeah."
Ron paused, "Wait... but... I don't... I mean, I..." Ron tried to get it out, but felt the words stuck in his mouth, but he couldn't quite explain it. Things didn't add up...
Finally Ron looked up, "Were you working here when you were gone all those years?"
Harry nodded and said slowly, "Yes I was."
"So, why am I here?"
Harry's eyes darted to the side, now he looked uncomfortable, "Um... Well Ron, I'm going to have to forgo your question for now. I don't mean to be rude or anything but I have a feeling that a few more people will also be waking up in a while. I would like to only explain the situation once. It's very complicated. "
As Ron was listening, he realized what was nagging at him in the back of his mind. It wasn't just that Harry sounded a bit too smooth and extenuated confidence that he never showed before. No, it was something else...
"Y-you sound... American."
Harry gave a stiff grin and then pressed his lips tight together, "That will be explained too."
Ron nodded mutely and looked around, "Uh... so... The last thing I remembered was...fighting in the last battle... Did we win?"
There was flicker in Harry eyes, almost like pity? But it quickly disappeared as Harry nodded, "Yes... yes Voldemort is dead and gone."
Ron gave a large grin, "We won!"
"Yes we did."
Ron quickly looked from side to side at the sleeping figures, "I can't wait for them to wake up so I can tell them! Even Snape, I bet that bastard will even manage to crack a smile."
Suddenly a loud trill caused Ron to jump. Harry held out his hand in reassurance, "It's just my cell phone, calm down."
Harry quickly pulled out a small silver square, which opened up into three bent and joined pieces, "Hello?"
Ron sat there watching as Harry paced in front of his bed.
"Yes Tom, one of them is awake. It's not like I didn't warn you beforehand. You simply didn't want to risk the resources... yes. Well now we have a problem."
Ron mentally winced, why was him waking up a problem?
Harry stopped and put a hand on the rail at the end of Ron's bed, "My estimate? They'll be up in the next ten hours. Yes. There's about forty of them."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't know why Albert didn't tell you. I'm not privy to why the both of you refuse to talk to each other."
"Look, just get down here. Yes, I will assign people to each of the rooms. Yes, I kept the hazardous ones in a different room..."
Harry snorted, "You couldn't live without me Tom, you don't even know how work the food synthesizer. See you in a few."
Harry pressed a button on the side of his phone and it returned being the shape of a small square.
Ron was looking down at his blanket, toying with the corner as he brooded. Then he finally spoke in a sarcastic tone, "I'm sorry if we're such a problem."
"I'm sorry you heard that. You're not... It's not what you think. I told you, you'll understand once I explain."
"It better be damn good explanation then."
~~~
Eventually Harry got Ron out of bed and they help Ron regain the feeling in his legs so that he could walk. Then Harry pulled out something really nifty and pressed it. Suddenly the large open space in the middle of the room, between the beds, became a large sitting area with comfortable sofas and a table with a strange machine in the middle of it.
Ron goggled, "What's that?"
"A food synthesizer. I figured you might be hungry, but lets stay with soups. You've been in bed a while. So, tell me what kind of soup you want and I'll punch in the codes."
Ron's eyes lightened, "Oh! So the house elves will make..."
"No, this is different; we don't have house elves here. It's a Muggle machine. It makes food."
Ron blinked not really comprehending, but the nagging in his stomach overtook his curiosity and he said, "Maybe some chicken soup? With crackers?"
Harry nodded and leaned forward to press the numbers that were lined across the bottom of the machine. Then a strange violet lightening danced around the center before taking on the form of bowl filled with soup and crackers lining the plate holding the soup. Harry waited for a light 'ting' and then pulled the food out of the machine.
Ron smiled and tucked in. It wasn't bad, decent, but nothing like mum's chicken soup. Ron paused and stared down his reflection in the soup, his mum has insisted on fighting along with the Order despite his father and the rest of the family's pleading. She had said that she couldn't stand by and watch her children die, not if she could prevent it...
Ron's eyes darted to the side, "My mum, is she?"
Harry, who was mulling over his own thoughts, quickly snapped out of them and looked at Ron with a raised brow, "Yes?"
"Is she okay? I mean, is she here with..."
Harry's eyes lightened a bit, understanding what Ron was implying. He pulled out a sort machine notepad device with a plastic looking pencil and touched the screen a few times with it. Then he nodded, "She's fine, she's in another room though, with... your father, Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, and some other Aurors."
Ron gave a sigh of relief, but then he remembered, "And my brothers and Ginny?"
"Bill, Charlie, and Fred are here."
Ron paled, "And the others?"
"Probably in The Project." Harry said. When suddenly he tensed, realizing that he had slipped.
"Uh, they're fine." He quickly said, trying to cover up his mistake, "They're just not in this facility."
Although Ron still caught Harry's slip, he didn't say anything about it. But it didn't stop the unease that was curling through his stomach and the distrust in his mind.
What was Harry hiding from him?
Tbc...
R&R?
Author:bitmaxmouse
rating: pg13-hard R
warning: death, violence, some slash (SB/RL, other's I'm not sure yet)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters don't belong to me
summary: Everyone wakes up after the final battle and find themselves in an unknown place. And it turns out Harry has been keeping secrets.
~~~~~~~~
Ch.1
"Where am I?" Ron Weasley wondered as he felt himself enveloped in darkness. Then a swarm of memories hit him, a cacophony of flashes from bits of memory.
As he concentrated the disjointed pictures slowly put themselves in order and the blurred pictures started to clear...
"Good Luck Ron." Harry told him. Then they brotherly clasped each other's hands.
"Nah. You need all the luck you can get. Seeing as how you're going up against You-Kno...Voldemort." Ron finished, he knew that he should stop being afraid of saying that monster's name, it was just a bad habit.
Harry gave him a confident grin and nodded his head in approval of Ron's last minute change. As he nodded, the ponytail on his head had bobbed a little, which reminded Ron that they had all changed over time. Actually, Harry had just shown up in time, after disappearing for ten years ever since his 5th year at Hogwarts, everyone thought he was dead. But one day he just showed up at an Order meeting as they were planning their last few battles, strong and ready to fight the good fight... the good last fight.
A yell could be heard in the distance as the Aurors started to attack the Death Eaters from the air.
Harry looked over at Ron, "That's our cue."
The Order members had planned to scatter around the forest behind Voldemort and his minions so that the could circle around Dark Lord and his followers and attack at all sides.
Ron glanced over to his side and caught sight of Draco and Severus pulling out their wands and starting to walk out of the forest. At first Ron and Draco had been assigned together, but the two of them kept getting into fights. So Ron begged and switched with Harry so that he was with Harry and Draco was with Snape. Ron figured that it worked quite well, but as Snape exchanged, he shot Ron a dirty look.
Ron pulled out his wand as both he and Harry exchanged a glanced and the two of them charged...
"53067 is waking up" a unknown voice said, tearing Ron from his memory. It sounded near and yet distant with an echoing quality that was permeating through his dreamscape.
"Get the captain. He's waking up." The person repeated. Then the sound of pattering footsteps followed and disappeared out of the room.
Ron tentatively opened his bleary eyes, only to wince painfully as the florescent lights nearly blinded him.
"Hnn.... Lights." Ron rasped as his face scrounged up.
The unknown person dimmed the lights in the area and tired off the light that was directly handing over Ron's head. Ron tried again; it was better, but not much better. A few moments later his eyes started to adjust and now could see that the person was a man with dark brown hair and scholarly looking glasses.
"Wh-Where am I?" Ron asked as he pushed the heels of his hands into his forehead. His head felt stretched and scattered and the whole world seemed to be spinning too quickly on its axis.
Ron had expected the man to say 'St. Mungo's', but instead the man replied, "NeoTerr."
Ron blinked, "What's that?"
"It'll all be explained in time." The man paused to look at the clipboard in his hand, "...Ronald..."
Ron frowned, the guy was eerily cryptic, and Ron still couldn't figure out how he got here. Not really wanting to look watch the man stare at him, Ron looked away and turned his head to the left... and saw Hermione lying on the bed next to him, fast asleep. Ron's eyes widened, did everything to prevent his urge to run over to Hermione, hug her, and wake her up so that she could help him figure where they were and get out of here.
"Your friend is still in stasis. It would be best if you didn't do anything rash, like jolt her unexpectedly, it may do her more harm than good." The scientist said, as if he was reading Ron's mind.
Ron then looked over to the other side of him and saw the rest of the room, long and full of beds occupied with people. He couldn't see most of them, but he could make out Draco, who was on the other side of him and Snape who was in the next bed over. They were both unconscious and seemed to be in 'stasis'.
"What hap- " Ron started, but his was cut off by the sound of the door opening and a man walking in, in a black suit, his shoes crisply thudded on the floor as he strode over. And as he came closer, Ron realized that it was...
Harry.
At least he looked like Harry. But Harry didn't wear frightening black suits, squarish frameless glasses, and he didn't slick his hair back with gel. Well, it couldn't hurt to ask.
"Harry? Is that you mate?"
The man addressed Ron, "Hello Mr. Weasley, good to see you're awake."
Ron gaped, it sounded like Harry... but more cultured... almost Malfoy-like.
The Harry looking person turned to the doctor, "Did you run the check up?"
"Not yet sir. We were waiting for you to get here... this is unexpected..."
The Harry look alike snort in a very un-Harry sort of way, "Those morons, I told them that when we ended program 0521, it would disrupt the stasis around any of those in the vicinity."
The scientist looked perturbed, but he quickly masked his confusion and went over to Ron with some sort of utensil in his hand. Ron's eyes widened and pulled back, "What's that?"
"Calm down. It's an ear thermometer. I just put right against your ear and press a button and it measures your temperature." The scientist explained and then used the thermometer before Ron could complain.
It wasn't as horrifying as he had anticipated. But odd. Why didn't the guy just use magic like Madame Pomfrey did during checkups?
Some times passed as Ron was poked and prodded. The Harry doppelganger just stood there with his arms folded, watching with cool green eyes of indifference.
Finally, the scientist wrote down the last set of numbers after he took Ron's blood pressure. Then he gave the Harry look alike a curt nod and hurried out the door, which left him and the fake Harry in the same room.
Ron admitted that he was scared, freaked out even. He could feel a pit digging into the bottom of his stomach and filling with one ton rocks. And at the same time, cold fingers seemed to dance along his spine, making his hairs stand on end. The room, however big, suddenly seemed too small.
And it got smaller as the Harry look alike took a step closer. But then he said quietly and softly, "Calm down Ron. It's me Harry."
Suddenly the rocks disappeared, the hands left his spine, and Ron flopped down like jelly as he gave a relieved sigh, "You had me there for a minute you know?"
Harry allowed a small smirk, "Sorry, I have to maintain authority in front of the employees, you understand right?"
Ron blinked, "Employees? You work here?"
Harry gave a slow nod, "I do."
"Is that why you're all ..." Ron waved his hands at Harry's attire.
Harry looked down and stuck his hands into his pockets as he nodded, "Yeah."
Ron paused, "Wait... but... I don't... I mean, I..." Ron tried to get it out, but felt the words stuck in his mouth, but he couldn't quite explain it. Things didn't add up...
Finally Ron looked up, "Were you working here when you were gone all those years?"
Harry nodded and said slowly, "Yes I was."
"So, why am I here?"
Harry's eyes darted to the side, now he looked uncomfortable, "Um... Well Ron, I'm going to have to forgo your question for now. I don't mean to be rude or anything but I have a feeling that a few more people will also be waking up in a while. I would like to only explain the situation once. It's very complicated. "
As Ron was listening, he realized what was nagging at him in the back of his mind. It wasn't just that Harry sounded a bit too smooth and extenuated confidence that he never showed before. No, it was something else...
"Y-you sound... American."
Harry gave a stiff grin and then pressed his lips tight together, "That will be explained too."
Ron nodded mutely and looked around, "Uh... so... The last thing I remembered was...fighting in the last battle... Did we win?"
There was flicker in Harry eyes, almost like pity? But it quickly disappeared as Harry nodded, "Yes... yes Voldemort is dead and gone."
Ron gave a large grin, "We won!"
"Yes we did."
Ron quickly looked from side to side at the sleeping figures, "I can't wait for them to wake up so I can tell them! Even Snape, I bet that bastard will even manage to crack a smile."
Suddenly a loud trill caused Ron to jump. Harry held out his hand in reassurance, "It's just my cell phone, calm down."
Harry quickly pulled out a small silver square, which opened up into three bent and joined pieces, "Hello?"
Ron sat there watching as Harry paced in front of his bed.
"Yes Tom, one of them is awake. It's not like I didn't warn you beforehand. You simply didn't want to risk the resources... yes. Well now we have a problem."
Ron mentally winced, why was him waking up a problem?
Harry stopped and put a hand on the rail at the end of Ron's bed, "My estimate? They'll be up in the next ten hours. Yes. There's about forty of them."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't know why Albert didn't tell you. I'm not privy to why the both of you refuse to talk to each other."
"Look, just get down here. Yes, I will assign people to each of the rooms. Yes, I kept the hazardous ones in a different room..."
Harry snorted, "You couldn't live without me Tom, you don't even know how work the food synthesizer. See you in a few."
Harry pressed a button on the side of his phone and it returned being the shape of a small square.
Ron was looking down at his blanket, toying with the corner as he brooded. Then he finally spoke in a sarcastic tone, "I'm sorry if we're such a problem."
"I'm sorry you heard that. You're not... It's not what you think. I told you, you'll understand once I explain."
"It better be damn good explanation then."
~~~
Eventually Harry got Ron out of bed and they help Ron regain the feeling in his legs so that he could walk. Then Harry pulled out something really nifty and pressed it. Suddenly the large open space in the middle of the room, between the beds, became a large sitting area with comfortable sofas and a table with a strange machine in the middle of it.
Ron goggled, "What's that?"
"A food synthesizer. I figured you might be hungry, but lets stay with soups. You've been in bed a while. So, tell me what kind of soup you want and I'll punch in the codes."
Ron's eyes lightened, "Oh! So the house elves will make..."
"No, this is different; we don't have house elves here. It's a Muggle machine. It makes food."
Ron blinked not really comprehending, but the nagging in his stomach overtook his curiosity and he said, "Maybe some chicken soup? With crackers?"
Harry nodded and leaned forward to press the numbers that were lined across the bottom of the machine. Then a strange violet lightening danced around the center before taking on the form of bowl filled with soup and crackers lining the plate holding the soup. Harry waited for a light 'ting' and then pulled the food out of the machine.
Ron smiled and tucked in. It wasn't bad, decent, but nothing like mum's chicken soup. Ron paused and stared down his reflection in the soup, his mum has insisted on fighting along with the Order despite his father and the rest of the family's pleading. She had said that she couldn't stand by and watch her children die, not if she could prevent it...
Ron's eyes darted to the side, "My mum, is she?"
Harry, who was mulling over his own thoughts, quickly snapped out of them and looked at Ron with a raised brow, "Yes?"
"Is she okay? I mean, is she here with..."
Harry's eyes lightened a bit, understanding what Ron was implying. He pulled out a sort machine notepad device with a plastic looking pencil and touched the screen a few times with it. Then he nodded, "She's fine, she's in another room though, with... your father, Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, and some other Aurors."
Ron gave a sigh of relief, but then he remembered, "And my brothers and Ginny?"
"Bill, Charlie, and Fred are here."
Ron paled, "And the others?"
"Probably in The Project." Harry said. When suddenly he tensed, realizing that he had slipped.
"Uh, they're fine." He quickly said, trying to cover up his mistake, "They're just not in this facility."
Although Ron still caught Harry's slip, he didn't say anything about it. But it didn't stop the unease that was curling through his stomach and the distrust in his mind.
What was Harry hiding from him?
Tbc...
R&R?