An alternate dimension story, woot! I've read so many and just had to take a whack at it so here you are; I hope it doesn't end up being to cliché but we'll see.
Silver
~Chapter One~
He was floating.
As cliché as it was Harry was undoubtedly floating in a world of nothingness. There was no sound, no smell but there was a sense of touch if he apparently felt like he was floating. If he had a sense of touch, if he could feel his body then that meant he was alive.
Harry would have cursed had he been able to open his mouth. For reasons unknown he could feel his body but he had no control over it and even if he did he had a feeling that no sound would have been forthcoming regardless.
He wanted to sigh. He had fully expected to die and he can most certainly say the Killing Curse sent by one overzealous, megalomaniac Dark Lord Voldemort had indeed hit his body. He had felt the brief flash of pain before his consciousness was gone but instead of finding himself in King's Cross Station like he had when he was seventeen or finally being reunited with his parents he had awoken to this strange fathomless black world.
Well despite everything he can finally say he had succeeded in fulfilling that damned prophecy – though it wasn't much of a consolation, all his friends had fallen in battle and he was the only one left amidst a sea of strangers – he had seen Voldemort collapse before he had allowed the acid green curse to hit him square in the chest. The final Horcrux, himself, had been destroyed just mere seconds after Harry had destroyed what was left of the torn soul in the horrible snake like body.
:Are you sure about that?: Harry would have jerked violently had he been able to as the whispery hiss seemed to caress his conscience in malicious glee.
Harry felt panic ignite in his chest as he undoubtedly felt the stirring within his soul that reeked of Voldemort. Had he failed? Had all the years of fighting been for nothing? Had he wasted the last fifteen years of his life fighting only to have failed?
Harry's panicked thoughts were broken as something foreign yet somehow familiar shot across his soul and latched onto the seething darkness that was Voldemort. Harry gasped in silent pain, unaware that movement had returned to his body.
Harry twisted and thrashed, pain ricocheting across his nerves as the strangely familiar something attacked what was left of Voldemort. Harry wasn't sure, so distracted he was by the pain but it felt like it was ripping Voldemort apart and… consuming it. All the while the part of Voldemort shrieked in pain and outrage.
Suddenly sound returned to him but he wished it hadn't. Someone was screaming, it was a loud gut wrenching sound. It took him several heartbeats to realise that the screaming was coming from himself but even if he had wanted to he couldn't have shut the horrid sound off, the pain was greater than any Cruciatus.
Soon enough Harry also began to feel like he was being held down by something as he thrashed, causing him to struggle even more, trying to gain a sitting position so he could at least try to get away from what was restraining him. Instincts borne from years of war had him fighting with all he had but whatever or whoever was holding him down was immovable.
Suddenly everything stopped and Harry felt his awareness slipping away…
"Finally, I thought the brat would never be still." The voice was an irritated snark but it made Harry smile. He knew that voice and he also knew that the person it belonged to was long dead, had been since he was seventeen.
He had never had a chance to thank the man so with all his remaining strength Harry opened his mouth and whispered three words on a shaky breath.
"Thank you… Severus…" Harry then knew no more as he finally succumbed to blissful unconsciousness, entirely unaware of the abrupt stillness that had overcome the occupants of the room he currently resided in and fully expecting to finally be reunited with his parents and everyone else that had lost their lives to Voldemort's kill happy wand.
While Harry lay with a nostalgic little smile on his face the four other occupants of the room stared at his unconscious form with various levels of shock, confusion or in the case of one tall, long black haired male, utter befuddlement as he stared at the teenager like the boy had suddenly sprouted dragon wings and breathed fire.
"I'm going to assume, by the look on your face, that you have not the faintest idea what the boy means by that statement?" The black haired man turned away from the comatose boy to level a glare at the garishly dressed Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Of course not, I have never seen this child before in my life." His voice was sharp and biting, easily conveying the man's irritation about getting dragged out of his warm bed in the middle of the night to attend to some stranger that had just appeared out of nowhere in the centre of the Great Hall covered in blood and barely alive.
"Severus, there is no need to be rude." The now identified Severus grit his teeth and shot the petite red head a dirty look but did not comment any further. Said red head glared at him reprovingly before turning her attention to the smiling Albus Dumbledore who stood unaffected by his Potion Master's foul mood.
"Albus what are we going to do with him, better yet what are we going to do when he wakes up?" Albus sent the woman a warm smile before answering.
"We will have to have him questioned I'm afraid." He held up his hand when she was about to object.
"Please Lily, just listen. He showed up out of nowhere, inside Hogwarts wards with multiple wounds. I don't need to tell you that Voldemort has started to come back again, who is to know that this child is not a threat to your son, as much as I abhor the idea that a child could be capable of such, we cannot take that chance."
Lily looked like she really wanted to argue but she could not deny the Headmaster's words. Times were getting even more deadly with Voldemort attempting to rise again and she knew that monster of a man was capable of using children to get what he wanted.
"I understand Headmaster." Lily said with a gusty sigh, conveying her weariness and frustration with the steadily brewing war that would see her only son right in the middle of it. What made it worse was her son was woefully unprepared for what he would eventually have to face.
Lily and James had revealed the prophecy to Harry the previous summer before the start of his fourth year and expressed to him the importance of his position in the coming war. Needless to say their son had not taken it the way they had wanted; instead of being appropriately frightened or mad he had instead had a major ego boost that saw him being an even bigger insufferable brat than he was before.
A pinched look crossed Lily's face as she thought of her son. She loved him dearly, would die to protect him but there was no denying Harry was an arrogant bastard, no matter how hard Lily and James tried to correct Harry's behaviour it just was not possible with all the press attention and the fans worshipping the ground he walked on.
"Stop thinking so hard and get some sleep Lily." Lily jumped at the sudden voice by her elbow and turned a slight scowl to her best friend who gave her a half hearted smirk, just a small quirk at the corner of his mouth before falling again.
It was a testament to just how exhausted Severus Snape was when he didn't take the opportunity to tease her like he usually would. Lily felt her heart clench in worry for her friend's health.
"Only if you take your own advice Severus." Lily was gratified to see the spark of amusement in his dark eyes and gave a warm smile in return before leaving the Hospital Wing, following the path the Headmaster had taken only moments ago after making sure Poppy would inform him of when their unexpected guest was awake.
Severus watched Lily leave with tired eyes. He knew the coming war was having a greater impact on her then she liked to let on. Her son may be the biggest brat in history but he was still her son and it was slowly killing her to have to sit back and watch as her child's fate drew closer; not knowing if he would be the one to survive the aftermath.
A barely audible sigh left his lips as he turned and took one last look at the unconscious boy lying as still as one of the dead on white sheets. Severus wasn't sure if he was the only one to notice but the boy had a striking resemblance to Harry Potter or rather a young James Potter.
There were differences; the boy lying before him was painfully thin, his face nearly gaunt, leading Severus to suspect the child had been subjected to neglect and or abuse. His hair was only slightly neater and the deepest black Severus had seen, even blacker than his own, while James and Harry's hair was a very dark brown that it was often mistaken as black.
Also noticeable was the lack of glasses to obscure eyes he had yet to see. The boy was also alarmingly pale; again Severus suspected abuse and he was littered with scars. There was a scar on his inner right wrist that looked suspiciously like a Dark Mark crudely carved into flesh.
Severus withheld a shiver and directed his thoughts to the scar in the middle of the boy's outer right forearm. It was, Severus deduced, a stab wound of some kind but the scar was curiously round and obviously wasn't made by a knife of any sort.
There was another scar that disturbed him on the back of the boy's left hand. It was difficult to see but Severus had sharp eyes and was able to read, yes read, what the scar said. 'I must not tell lies' was written or carved rather onto the back of his hand in a clean printed script.
A Blood Quill.
It was the only explanation for such a scar and it made Severus' blood boil. He may not like many of the little snots he attempted to teach but he would never condone the use of such an item on a student. It was actually an illegal Dark Artefact so how and why was the teenager subjected to such punishment?
Also on his left forearm was a set of scars in the form of what Severus identified as the claw marks of a werewolf as Severus had a similar set of scars from that incident back in Hogwarts with Remus' furry side; they were four lines cutting across the skin. Severus was sure there were more scars but they were the only ones readily visible.
Severus shook his head; now was not the time to be worrying about the mysterious teenager. It was time for him to return to his quarters and get some much needed sleep; he'd worry about strange teenagers that mysteriously appeared and their scars in the morning.
Three days had passed since the arrival of the mysterious boy and he hadn't so much as twitched in that time. Madam Pomfrey was beginning to worry that he may not wake up at all; the damage done to his person was severe and it was shocking that the boy still breathed not to mention the Magical Exhaustion he was suffering.
Normally Madam Pomfrey would be unconcerned but usually there was at least minor movement of the eyes or the occasional twitch of a finger, arm or leg not this complete imitation of death. The boy was alive; her spells, his strong heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed clearly proved that but he appeared to be in a coma rather than a magically induced sleep and so she worried.
The Headmaster had popped down a time or two to check on their unexpected guest, concerned yet wary for the boy. It was Dumbledore's dearest hope that the boy lying in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing was not a supporter of Tom's, he wasn't sure if he could bear to see another child lost to the darkness but if that was indeed the case he would have to.
Weeks passed in the same manner; the boy not moving the slightest inch and yet every day his magical core was being replenished – with help from Madam Pomfrey – his physical wounds now fully healed. Madam Pomfrey took extra care of her comatose guest, he may not have been awake but she was finding herself becoming fond of the boy for reasons she could not name and she was becoming increasingly worried that he would not wake that is until the Sunday that marked an even month since his arrival.
It was imperceptible at first – the barest hint of a twitch here, the flutter of an eyelid there - but it quickly became obvious to Madam Pomfrey that he was waking up when the boy began moving full limbs. She was so happy to see him finally coming around that she nearly forgot to contact the Headmaster to inform him of the newest development.
While Madam Pomfrey was fire-calling the Headmaster Harry was slowly coming back to awareness and quickly wishing he could go back to sweet oblivion when he felt the bone deep ache of his body, from his toes to the tips of his messy hair. The irritating but to be expected side affect of using up almost all of his magic to finally kill Voldemort but then by all rights Harry should be dead.
It was with apprehension that Harry slowly blinked his eyes open, deciding to find out if he was really where his nose told him he was. Green eyes blinked at the stone ceiling above him before glancing to his right and then his left, confirming he was indeed where he thought he was.
"Well this isn't exactly how I pictured my afterlife." Harry muttered to himself with a sigh. It was obvious that he was not dead; he wasn't too sure how he felt about that though, all his friends were dead and at long last Voldemort was defeated, well hopefully he was defeated. Harry's memories of that strange void were still rather fuzzy but he did recall the horrible pain as something within him completely devoured Voldemort's soul, why the lunatic's soul was there in the first place he couldn't fathom.
"I should hope not, it would be a rather bleak afterlife to spend it in a hospital." The effect was instantaneous. Harry was out of the bed like a shot and now stood in a crouch on the opposite side of the room, green eyes flickering to every corner and shadow of the room in seconds before resting on the startled figure of Madam Pomfrey.
Time stood still for a moment as Harry blinked at the Mediwitch, his heart rate beating loudly in his ears. Another moment passed and Harry suddenly sank ungracefully to the ground with an exhausted sigh followed by a groan as he hit his head on the wall behind him.
"What do you think you are doing!? I have spent the past month healing your physical wounds and dealing with your Magical Exhaustion. I will not have you sabotaging my efforts." Harry winced as Madam Pomfrey came out of her brief moment of shock and came marching towards him with that gleam in her eye that every patient feared. "Now you get you're sorry behind back into that bed right this instant young man or so help me."
"Yes ma'am." Harry really didn't need to be told twice, he had once been foolish enough to ignore the threat she left hanging in the air and he had regretted doing so fiercely.
Harry quick scrambled up from the ground and promptly deposited his person on the bed, pulling the sheets up to his chest for good measure. Say what you want about the woman but Madam Pomfrey was downright scary when it came to her patients.
"Good." Madam Pomfrey nodded in satisfaction.
Harry really tried to stop himself from saying anything, he truly did but despite having faced fifteen years of war and in that time learnt to curb his impulsiveness there were still times when it decided to show itself and it was usually at the most inopportune or downright stupid times. Unfortunately now was one of the stupid times.
"You know you really shouldn't bully your patients." As soon as the words had left his mouth Harry's eyes widened in alarm and he dived under the covers of the bed casting a wordless and wandless stick charm to the edges for good measure and proceeded to shake in fear.
"I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me!" Harry's voice was muffled but it was audible and it snapped Madam Pomfrey out of her stunned disbelief.
"Why you little ingrate!" Harry's flinch did not go unnoticed by the incensed Mediwitch, who wasn't as irked as she should have been by such a comment and his reaction now was just far too funny for her to remain angry. It was not to be forgotten though that this boy just appeared out of nowhere and could end up being an enemy so Madam Pomfrey was sure to remain vigilant.
"Now, now Poppy I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Madam Pomfrey had barely begun to turn when the sheets covering the sole occupant of the Hospital Wing were suddenly flung aside and once again the boy was on the opposite side of the room, only this time there was a steely look in the exhausted green eyes and a steady wand aimed at the Headmaster who had just entered the Hospital Wing.
Silence once again descended upon the Hospital Wing as the injured boy stared down the Headmaster of Hogwarts who stared back evenly but he had yet to pull out his wand. Madam Pomfrey stared between the two of them in uncertainty, she did not want to believe that the child could be an enemy but by his reaction to the Headmaster's arrival was unnervingly hinting at just that.
Albus Dumbledore observed the youth before him, taking note of the steely eyes that had seen too much blood shed but he also saw the determined glint of a warrior in those green eyes, green eyes alarmingly like Lily Potter's eyes. He stood in a ready stance, prepared to combat any attack that came his way; without a doubt this child was no stranger to battle and that worried him but it would not do to make assumptions so steady as she goes.
"I'm glad to see you awake, you gave us quite a scare showing up how you did and in such horrible shape. I do hope you are feeling better now Mr…" Albus kept his voice welcoming and smiled at the boy who stared back at him and waited for a reply to his implied question.
"You're dead." The voice was flat and devoid of emotion and it spoke the last two words Albus had ever expected let alone said with such blatant certainty.
"Come again?"
"Albus Dumbledore is dead. I saw his death with my own eyes." Harry's eyes had turned hard and glared at the person who dared to parade around as Albus Dumbledore. "Who are you?" Harry accompanied that question with a raise of his wand and a surge of magic but he did not attack yet.
"I assure you young man that I am Albus Wulfic Perceval Brian Dumbledore and very much alive." Harry noticed that he still did not go for his wand, an act that was so disturbingly Dumbledore that Harry's heart ached.
"Just knowing his full name doesn't prove anything." Harry shot back with a snarl, it hurt so much to see the image of the man who had do so much for him, even as he did wrong by him. "If you're really Albus Dumbledore then you wouldn't be looking at me like a complete stranger unless under the affects of a memory charm so answer me this. How did Arianna die?"
Fifteen years of war proved to be beneficial as Harry barely managed to dodge the curse that shot at his head. Harry cursed softly as he hit his elbow hard on the ground as he dived behind a bed but he was quick to ignore the pain and held his wand ready, devising several courses of action to take but before he could decide on one the Dumbledore imposter spoke.
"How do you know of Arianna?" The voice was cold and it made Harry shiver, he had never heard Dumbledore speak like that.
The man's reaction to the mention of Arianna though didn't appear to be faked, even the most accomplished actor would have hesitated at least a second before acting but the man had acted immediately and without thought. He couldn't really be Dumbledore though, he had seen him die, fall of the edge of the Astronomy tower, had seen his broken body and had attended his funeral but no one but Dumbledore, his brother and Gellert Grindelwald knew of the circumstances behind Arianna's death, not including himself who had learnt of it from Aberforth.
"Answer my question and I may just tell you." Harry needed the man to answer, to be sure he hadn't gone made or that this was a trick by the Death Eaters intent on revenge for their master's downfall.
"I don't believe you are in any position to be making demands." Dumbledore was furious, furious enough that Madam Pomfrey wisely said nothing as the Headmaster attacked her patient for fear of enticing the man's wrath herself.
"I've been in worse situations before so don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot demand." Harry's voice had gone frosty and in a moment of defiance – to prove to the imposter he wasn't afraid of him – stood up from behind the bed and glared at the man, easily deflecting the spell that was sent his way with and advanced shield that shimmered around him.
Harry then had to promptly do a double take. The man before him with Dumbledore's face held in his right hand a wand that should no longer exist.
"No, no, no, no that's impossible!" The sudden exclamation and the wild light that had appeared in the boy's eyes made Albus pause in confusion. "I threw it away, I broke it, there is no way that the Elder Wand still exists!"
For it was the Elder wand that was grasped in the old man's hand, the same wand he had snapped in half when he was seventeen, after what he thought was the final death of Voldemort and threw away to never be seen again and yet there it was, the magic that was radiating from it as familiar to him as his Holly and Phoenix feather wand.
Before anything was said, before Dumbledore could even process what Harry had said there was a sudden surge of magic in the air. Tendrils of multicoloured magic began to weave and swirl around Harry's shoulders, his defensive shield shattering as a weight settled across his shoulders, making him jump.
Harry looked down at himself and saw that parts of his body were alternating between disappearing and reappearing as a fierce wind blew around him. It was his invisibility cloak, but he had lost it years ago.
Albus watched with wide, shocked blue eyes as the boy who knew of Arianna was surrounded by magic so powerful it surpassed his own. It took all of Albus' will not to react more than the widening of his eyes as the boy was suddenly clothed in and invisibility cloak.
Albus was unable to suppress a gasp as he watched the magic that had surrounded the boy's right hand created a ring of silver with a single stone as black as obsidian, a mark he was very familiar with engraved in its surface but that was nothing compared to the shock of watching the wild magic engulf the boy's other hand a wand he knew very well appearing in the trembling hand.
For his part Harry's mind had short circuited and his green eyes were wide as he watched all three Deathly Hallows return to him. Harry did notice however that the wand Dumbledore was holding was still the Elder Wand but it was now missing something, the something that made it the legendary unbeatable wand, though the wand remained as powerful as always, it was just no longer a Hallow for Harry now held it in his left hand.
"The Deathly Hallows." Harry barely heard the breathy words but years of war had honed all his senses. Harry's eyes flicked up to meet the man that Harry's subconscious was now sure was Albus Dumbledore, just not the one he knew. The man's eyes were wide with awe, his anger forgotten in the wake of this new discovery.
"Who are you?" A part of Harry found the man's shock to be amusing, having never before seen Albus Dumbledore lose his cool that was not prompted by and megalomaniac's potion. The rest of Harry was slowly processing the reality before him.
This man was Albus Dumbledore, different to the one he knew but Albus Dumbledore all the same and he was alive but he had no idea who Harry was. The Deathly Hallows had returned to him, even the wand he broke and the stone he had dropped and now he was in some place where Dumbledore was still alive. A hope whispered across his consciousness, could the others be alive as well? But that was a question for later for no though it was time to lock away his raging thoughts and learn everything he could about his situation but first things first, Dumbledore's question.
"I am Harry Potter."
So what do you think?