DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER
A/N: This is my third/fourth return to the Harry Potter fandom. SEND HELP.
The room wasn't a room, it was a mess of colors and shapes before it properly unfolded before Harry's eyes.
"What - " Harry quickly shut his eyes. Everything hurt. His head was throbbing painfully and his body felt like lead. "What happened?"
"Last night was wicked." He could practically hear the grin on Ron's face. "Seamus smuggled in some firewhiskey, we all got smashed."
The memories were rushing in. Seamus came in with a suspicious bag to celebrate them for their O.W.L results. Harry was wary of course, but he took a few shots anyways, and with peer pressure and tipsyness, he eventually drunk himself into oblivion.
"Merlin." As much as James was lenient (maybe a bit more than lenient), he doubted that bloody firewhiskey won't test his patience.
Oh. And his older brother was Head Boy, which was great.
"I'm dead." Harry muttered. He took thr courage to finally open his eyes. The room was lit, almost unnaturally, through the window. He was definitely hungover. "I'm bloody dead."
"Oh, c'mon. I had Percy as a brother and I'm still alive and breathing, aren't I?" Ron had a blank look on his face. He looked like he was daydreaming. Hangovers weren't kind to anyone.
"It would be a relief if Henry wasn't just a year older than me." Harry groaned. "Not to mention that he's almost a bloodhound. He knows how we think."
"Hurry up, then." Ron rolled out of bed. "If you get rid of the stench of firewhiskey before Henry's awake, you might be able to save your arse."
"It's afternoon." Seamus snorted. "Good luck, Harry."
"He's in Ravenclaw, Harry. Is anyone forgetting that?" Dean said, a touch of irritation coloring his tone. "Now, all of you shut up and wake me up in a couple of hours."
Harry stared at Dean carefully. There was something tugging at the corners of his mind, something almost like deja vu came over Harry.
"Is that - Is that Harry? What's up with him?"
"I don't know - I don't know either, he -"
"I'm not daft, you know."
Harry's hangover hit him again. The lights were too bright and dazzling, he felt like he was about to fall on his butt, and he everything was a little unfocused.
"Unlike you, who manages to get his head stuck in the clouds in the most inopportune of times."
"Oh shut it." Harry grabbed his hair and tried to feel stable.
He faintly heard a sigh before he was smacked on the head, and everything managed to be clearer.
Rose, a girl with a thick head of fiery red hair and bright brown - also known as his Gryffindor sister managed to catch him right before he was able to go shower.
"What do you want?"
Rose sniffed the air around Harry.
Rose was a mischievous little girl who was a true Marauder. With their father's upbringing, along with their uncle's help, she had undeniable wits which she used irresponsibly.
She was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
"Oh, cut it." Harry pushed Rose away. She smirked, a gleam in her eye.
"That's definitely the smell of firewhiskey." She said cockily, placing a hand on her hip. "Professor McGonagall's not going to be pleased. Imagine if this gets to Henry... and oh! Mum and Dad!"
"How do you even know what firewhiskey smells like?" Harry said, appalled. Rose, for all her wits, was a fifteen year old girl. She shouldn't be even near those drinks.
"I've been to the Three Broomsticks, Harry. I don't need to be an expert to know how it smells like." Rose waved a hand. "That's not the point, anyway."
"What do you want?" Harry groaned.
"Your Invisibility Cloak." Rose said. "For a whole week."
"Done." Harry somehow felt like he just sold himself to the devil. "What do you want it for?"
"None of your business." Rose shrugged.
"It is my business." Harry said firmly. "Fred and George might be out of Hogwarts but Merlin knows that you and your friends are terrifying as it is." Rose grinned. "That's - That's not a compliment, Rose. If they catch you, I'm getting dragged into it."
"Please, they'll never catch me." Rose said proudly. Harry rolled his eyes.
All of the Potter family had to break a few important rules, one way or another, but Rose was horrible at escaping.
"Fine, fine. I'll just say I stole it from you." Rose was the one who rolled her eyes this time. "Get a shower, you stink."
"You two look horrible." Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone. She raised an eyebrow, studying them intently.
"We feel horrible." Ron grumbled, digging into his food. "You reckon that we overdid it Harry?"
"You think?" Harry snorted.
"Did what?" Another threat to the Gryffindor secret was Hermione. Sure, they were the best of friends but she was not afraid to call them out when it's needed.
"Quidditch practice." Harry quickly supplied. "Ron and I - erm, we snuck out of our rooms to practice for Quidditch. We have a match upcoming, remember?"
"Yeah! Yeah." Ron laughed. "We barely got sleep."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, studying both of them intently.
"I suppose all of Seamus and Neville went to the said practice too?" Hermione said, her tone accusatory. "Seamus looks horrible and Neville hasn't even gone down yet."
"Neville?" Harry blinked. Dean was the one who didn't want to go downstairs. He looked at the table, Neville and Dean were absent. "Oi, where's Dean?"
"Dean - ?"
"Harry, Harry you have to wake up! Hermione, she's, she's - "
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
"Wake him up, Luna! He isn't moving!"
Another hit of nausea hit Harry. The world started spinning and his whole body ached yet again.
He blinked. Once. Twice. Everything was becoming clear again.
"Who's Dean?" Ron blinked owlishly at him.
Dean. Dean. The name was vaguely familiar but Harry can't remember anyone named Dean for the life of him. Something was tugging at his brain, but he paid it no mind.
"What?" Harry asked. "What are you talking about?"
"What are you talking about?" Ron snorted. "You're still hungover, mate."
"Hungover?!" Hermione said in complete disbelief. "Did you two drink?"
Harry glared at Ron. Ron snorted.
Neville was wrong. It wasn't Rose he needed to watch out for, it was Hermione.
"Tell me it's just butterbeer." Hermione sighed, pinching her nose. "Merlin's beard, tell me it's just butterbeer."
"Talk to Ron, he pressured me." Harry said, still glaring at Ron. "I'll be off now."
"Harry!" Ron pleaded.
Harry merely stared at him, unimpressed. He left his seat, off to find some peace and quiet. He was gaining distance from them, but he can still hear Ron's voice.
"Hermione, you see - "
"HERMIONE!"
Another stab of pain pierced Harry's head. He gritted his teeth, what is up with him today? Where did he hear that...
"Ηarry!" Amongst the crowd, Harry saw a hand waving at him. It was Ginny. Instantly, like a spell, he felt his heart lighten.
It was unexplainable, but he felt a rush of emotion. Merlin, he loved her so much. He immediately ran to her and hugged her tight, inhaling her scent.
Ginny laughed softly, but leaned into him nonetheless. The moment was quickly over, and they pulled away from each other.
"What is up with you, Harry?" Ginny smiled, a soft little thing. "We saw each other yesterday."
"I don't know." Harry laughed. Merlin, he felt absolutely elated. "I'm happy you're here with me."
"Try to keep the love thing to a minimum, yeah?" Henry's face popped out of nowhere. Glasses perched perfectly on top of his face, brown eyes and black hair, Harry and Henry looked alike. Except that Harry was lankier and taller while Henry was a bit more toned. "You're making a scene."
Harry's ears lit up bright red. Henry laughed, almost an echo of Sirius' laugh.
"Also, Rose told me something." Henry's eyes lit up mischievously. "I won't tell Mom and Dad, but leave some for me next time, yeah?"
"Shove off." Harry muttered, pushing him away half-heartedly. He was cursing out Rose, who already had the Invisiblity Cloak.
"Is that any way to treat someone who's doing you a favor?" Henry raised both of his eyebrows. Harry glared at him. He laughed. "Alright, I'm going. Seriously, don't get caught next time."
Henry disappeared into the crowd. Ginny laughed, wrapping an arm around Harry.
"What's that about?" Ginny said. Harry sighed.
"Seamus sneaked in some firewhiskey last night. Rose found out, she told me that she won't spill if I give her my Invisibility Cloak." Harry said resignedly.
"And you gave it to her?" Ginny snorted.
"It was a moment of poor judgement." Harry groaned. "I should have known she was going to tell Henry either way."
Ginny laughed, a lilting sound that was music to Harry's ears. He didn't know where they were going, his feet had a mind of it's own.
"Never trust little sisters, Harry." She smiled. "It might be the worst decision you'll ever make if you want to save yourself."
"Speaking from experience?" Harry said, amused.
"You bet." Ginny winked.
"I wonder what would have happened if you joined in Rose's little group." Harry mused. The Raiders, the successors of Marauders, were composed of four people. Rose Potter, Helena Mydener, Colin Creevey and Sarah Joursen.
"Pranking is not my thing." Ginny smiled. "A few pranks here and there would be nice, but Mum would have a heart attack if I turned out like Fred and George."
Harry chortled at the thought. Ginny had a rebellious streak, yes, but she wasn't on Fred and George's level yet. Frankly, that would be terrifying.
"The Owlery?" Ginny asked. Harry's feet lead him to the Owlery. Huh. "Are you going to tell Aunt Lily and Uncle James something?"
"Yeah - " Words, so many words suddenly spilled in Harry's mind. He had a sudden longing - a longing so strong that he simply can't ignore. "Yeah, I wanna say something. Besides, Mum and Dad expect a reply by now."
"You should have written the letter before you got here." Ginny's face scrunched into a frown. The floor was entirely covered in straw, owl droppings, and the regurgitated skeletons of mice and voles. "Filch is horrible at cleaning this place."
Harry sighed and nodded. Still, he took the spare paper at the side and an emergency quill that's placed for times like these.
Dear Mum and Dad.
Hello there! Everything's fine, there's nothing much to report. As far as I know, Rose hasn't gotten herself into detention and that's good. Henry, well. Henry's being himself as usual. And me, well, I'm fine.
How are you doing? I felt like I haven't seen you or heard you in years. I almost wish that you would send a Howler, just kidding. I really, really miss you. You have lead me in times I needed someone. You were there when I needed you to be.
I love both of you so much.
"Harry, Harry, are you alright?" Ginny broke him out of his reverie. "You're crying."
He was crying. He was overcome with such a strong sense of emotion that he couldn't explain.
Was it the letter? He looked at his letter, and as if punched, he realized that he and his Mum wrote g's the exact same way. The last time that he saw his Mum's handwriting is when he was at Grimmauld Place.
But he recieved a letter from his parents only days ago. He felt odd. Something felt so wrong, he felt out of place. There was a feeling of wrongness wedged in his stomach and chest. Flashes, suddenly came into Harry's mind, unexplainable flashes came into Harry's mind. As quick as it came, he quickly forgot what the flashes contained.
Harry let out a cry and looked outside. There was the Astronomy Tower in sight.
Suddenly, he wasn't in the Owlery. He was trapped in a Body-Bind Curse, wrapped in an Invisibility Cloak as he watched Dumbledore fall off. Snape was pointing his wand at him.
And he was in the Owlery again, hot, burning tears falling into his cheeks. His heart was pounding, pounding, pounding.
"Ginny." He said. She looked at him worriedly. Only that there's something wrong. An image came into his mind, Ginny, older, a face more haunted.
"There's something wrong." He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. His heart, head, body was pounding, pounding, pounding and everything hurts. He felt a light touch. "Leave me alone!"
And the world was falling apart. Literally. His breaths came in short, hurried and scared because this wasn't the truth, wasn't the truth, wasn't the truth -
Everything hurt. His body felt like lead and his head won't stop pounding. He felt like vomiting but his stomach was empty.
The room was blurry, and Harry knew he wouldn't be able to stay conscious for long. He knew this place, knew why he was here but it was tucked away in the depths of his mind.
A girl with sky blue eyes and platinum blonde hair was staring at him, worried. So was -
"Dean!" Harry gasped. "Dean, you're real, you're real - "
"Of course I am." Dean said, anxious. "Are you alright?"
"Who am I?" Harry breathed, desperate. He can't stay but he needed something to hold onto, because he needed, needed to return here. "Quickly!"
"You're Harry James Potter." The girl said quickly. "I'm Luna Lovegood and you have been trapped here by Snatchers and they brought you to the Malfoys - "
"You're being hunted by You-Know-Who -" Harry knew who Dean was talking about, but it stubbornly hid itself from Harry's conscious mind. "- and you're seventeen and trying to defeat him - "
"Harry? Harry!" Ron, more gaunt and weary looking quickly cut in. "Are you already awake? What happened - "
There was a scream. Not from the room, the voice was distant.
"Hermione!" Ron choked. "She's being tortured!"
He was falling back again. He wanted to stay but he was falling back in.
"You can defeat the Imperius Curse!" Ron said desperately. "You have to snap out of it!"
"Tell me something, something real!" Harry cried. "I can't fall back in there... I can't..."
Another scream. More tortured, more alarming managed to tattoo itself into Harry's mind.
"HERMIONE'S GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP!" Ron was tearing up.
Everything was going black again. He was desperately trying to hold on to everything. Ron shouting at him, Dean was shaking Harry and Luna was shouting at him that he wasn't helping.
And everything was black.
"Harry, Harry are you alright?" He woke up to his Mum's voice. She was there, in front of him as he was nestled comfortably in the soft linens of the Infirmary bed.
Harry choked. Right in front of him were his parents, staring at him. All other thoughts forgotten, Harry sat up and hugged them both, tears slipping out of his eyes. In their arms, he felt safe. He felt like he was in a soft haven, where nothing can hurt him.
"You had a Quidditch accident, Harry." That was his Dad's voice. It was gentle and caring. "But if you act like that, maybe you should get into more accidents, hm?"
Harry laughed. He missed this. He absolutely loved this moment - him, his Dad, his Mum, his family.
"James!" His Mum chided. "Harry, are you alright?"
Harry pulled away, wiping away his tears. Merlin's beard, he was so emotional for no decent reason. He choked out another laugh.
"I had too much Healing Potions." Harry explained. He was still drinking in the sight of his parents staring at him, full of worry, full of love. He can't help the smile that stretched on his face. "Have I told you how much I love you?"
"Of course you do." His Mum said, a peaceful tone enveloping her voice.
The Infirmary door opened, his siblings, Henry and Rose burst into the door, their expressions in a varying state of worry and amusement.
"Harry, that was absolutely wicked - "
"You were so high up the ground and be thankful that Professor got you - "
"The way you swerved in to catch the Snitch at the very last moment - "
"It was absolutely terrifying how you still value the Snitch over your own life - "
Harry laughed. It was absolutely amusing how Henry and Rose were speaking so animatedly. Hands were being waved in the air, their expressions were so exaggerated.
Then he noticed Rose's Gryffindor tie.
"Where are - Where are Ron and Hermione?" He asked.
"Ron and Hermione?" Rose stopped rambling, and she looked utterly confused. "I think your potion was too strong, Harry. There are no Ron and Hermione."
Harry felt his stomach plummet. There was something wrong.
"Dean." He didn't know why he was so insistent on then being real, but he held onto it. "Dean Thomas, my classmate, where is he?"
"I don't know any Dean Thomas, Harry." Henry shrugged. "And I've been looking after you and Rose my whole life."
Harry felt dread climb up him, twisting and travelling through his veins. Just like that, the moment of content and bliss was over, and his head was in pain, like it was stabbed by a million knives.
"You're making a mistake." He gasped. An image unfolded in his brain, a girl with dreamy eyes and an eccentric attitude. "Luna Lovegood. Ginny's friend."
"Ginny?" His Mum asked.
"My girlfriend!" Harry wailed. They can deny everyone else's existence but Ginny, Ginny, Ginny - "Ginny Weasley, my girlfriend!"
"Harry, Cho Chang is your girlfriend." His Dad chided softly. He looked anxious, like Harry was spouting nothing but nonsense. But he was telling the truth. "Go back to sleep, you had too much Healing Potions."
Harry laughed hollowly. No. He stared at the image in front of him. His Mum, Dad, Rose and Henry was staring at him, in varying states of worry. In another moment of dread, he realized how wrong this image is.
His parents were dead before he can even know them. He was raised by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, alongside Dudley, his cousin.
And he and Cho Chang broke up back when he was fifteen. Ginny wasn't his girlfriend either, they broke up because he needed to fight Voldemort, he was in a war. He had already dropped out of Hogwarts.
He was crying now. Everything was coming back to him.
"This isn't real." They were all coming out of focus now. The pain, throbbing, pulsing, aching was all coming back to him. "This isn't real and you aren't my parents. I don't have any siblings."
"What are you talking about?" His Mum said anxiously. "We're right here, Harry."
And Harry felt absolutely sick. He had been talking to these impostors, these disgraces to his parents' memory and even lavished in the illusion.
"You aren't real." Harry sobbed. "This is an illusion and I have to get out."
Lily and James managed to give him one last crestfallen but proud look before everything started to fall apart. Pain was bursting out of everywhere, and it was like he was being wrenched out of his body -
Harry woke up to Dean still shaking him, red in the face. He was still in pain, and he was nursing a nearly unbearable headache.
"I'm awake, Dean!" He screamed in his face. Dean let him go and he fell to the ground. Ron was crying, crying and shouting Hermione's name.
Harry wanted to do the same. Moments earlier, it was like he was in front of his parents. It was like he was in a perfect life where everything was normal.
But this was the truth. He was not a normal student, he was waging a war against an all-powerful dark force.
And earlier, he was hit by this spell, he couldn't make out the words but all that mattered is that he fell unconscious and hallucinated.
What felt worse is that everything still felt real. He didn't know when the spell's effects would wear off, but everything still felt real.
A part of him wished that he didn't force himself awake. He would be with his family and loved ones, tucked away from this mess.
But he needed to be here. He needed to fight. Against all odds.
Thank you for reading! I hope the "plot twist" wasn't too obvious.
ALSO ITS SO HARD TO FORMAT ON MOBILE T_T