Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling; various publishers including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books; and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: This started off as a response to a rather detailed challenge put forth by Dfnt at restrictedsection-dot-org a very long time ago. Somewhere along the line, parts of what was included in the challenge mutated slightly while other parts were dropped completely, and this is what resulted. It picks up just at the end of chapter 37 of OotP (just after Harry is told the prophecy in Dumbledore's office after the events at the Ministry of Magic).

Some elements of HBP and DH are included, and there will probably be spoilers for all seven books at some point, so if you've not read them – which, if you're reading fanfic, I'm sure you have – go and do so. I wouldn't want to ruin canon for you. One little, insignificant detail which won't be included are those ruddy horcruxes (horcruxi? horcruces? horcruci? however the fuck you spell it, y'all know what I mean) – I hate those damn things.

In case you've not figured it out yet, this is AU. It will also contain a couple of original characters (though not many), eventual mentions of femslash and/or slash (nothing graphic, if it even gets into this tale at all), 'bad language', violence, betrayals and alliances, and more, so if any of that offends, FUCK OFF.

Additional intel you might want to know: I know that Harry and Snape (and likely the other characters I'm using) will have very OOC moments. This is intentional, so please don't be too nit-picky about it. Also, this is a manipulative!Dumbledore story, which contains Weasley-bashing, so if that isn't your cup of tea, you might want to go away quietly. This will also wind up being a Harry/Gabrielle romantic pairing (it was part of the original challenge, if I recall correctly), and most of you know I don't often write romance, so you'll probably need to shout out when I write something that just doesn't work. Thanks in advance.

Now, on to the story!


Shades of Gray

Prologue: Interdimensional Courier

Harry was confused, hurt, angry, and in no small amount of uncomprehending shock. Before his discussion with the headmaster, he had just lost his godfather. To be informed immediately thereafter that he must either kill or be killed was a little much to take in, truth be told. I need somewhere to think. Harry didn't notice as his footsteps took him ever closer to the Room of Requirement. He still felt as though he wanted to either break something or strangle the headmaster. Unfortunately, neither option was viable at the moment. I get what he said about trying to give me a childhood, but damnit! He should have told me sooner! Had I known what I was really up against, I would have done more additional stuff in DADA than just learn the bloody patronus charm! He stopped short, facing a door that had suddenly appeared before him. Harry looked around and noticed where he was. I wonder what the room thinks I need? He turned the knob and stepped through the doorway.

The room was hardly bigger than a closet – maybe two meters wide and the same in length. The ceiling was low enough that Harry could stretch up and brush it with his fingertips. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all formed from uniform gray stone, cool and rough to the touch. The room was lit in a bluish hue, though Harry couldn't see any source. He closed the door behind him, At least I'm pretty sure I could scream out my frustrations in here and not be heard.

Harry jumped when the stone in the centermost part of the floor began to rise with a groaning, grating sound. "What the…?" When it reached waist-height, the stone stopped rising. The air above it shimmered, like heat waves bouncing up off of hot pavement, and then thickened to resemble fog or smoke. It flared with white light before collapsing in on itself. When it was gone, a small rectangular object was resting on the stone. It was sleek and dark gray, with rounded corners and was about eight inches long, four inches wide, and only a centimeter or so thick. "Huh…" It also had a yellow sticky-note on it that read 'Open me, Harry'.

"This isn't a good idea," Harry muttered to himself, knowing that things that suddenly appeared out of thin air without a reasonable explanation, like a nearby wand, usually portended bad news. "This is so very not a good idea," he repeated, and then, like many who came before him, he promptly ignored his own advice.

Harry reached out with a shaking hand and picked the object up. It felt cool to the touch and totally smooth. He examined the edge and saw that there was a line running around two of the shorter sides and one of the longer. There was also a small slide-catch in the middle of the longer side. He slid it to the right and carefully opened the object. He realized when he did so that he'd seen something like this advertised on the telly the previous summer; it was a palmtop computer. Dudley had wanted one, but Vernon had said that they were too expensive. It was very nearly the only time Dudley had been refused anything.

The computer made a beeping noise and the blank screen lit. It glowed blue for a moment, and then a series of letters and numbers Harry couldn't begin to understand scrolled past faster than he could read. This lasted only a second or two, and then the screen cleared with a chiming noise. The background picture was a muggle-style photograph of a rocky beach somewhere the water was crystalline blue. Harry thought it might be somewhere in Greece, or maybe the West Indies. He glimpsed several icons hovering above the photo before a program opened by itself. He nearly dropped the computer in shock when the window revealed a tiny, square picture of his mother next to a list of commands. He followed the instructions of the top command and pressed 'P' to play.

The picture of his mother jerked erratically for a moment before it smoothed out. The video was of her face only, but one of her hands reached up and tucked an errant lock of hair behind an ear just as she smiled and said, "Hello, Harry. I hope this message finds you well." She shook her head a little, "Strike that. I hope this message finds you, period." She smiled again. "There's so much I need to tell you, I don't know quite where to begin. My world and yours are bound to be different…"

Sighing, Harry's mother closed her eyes for a moment. "I suppose I should start with the basics. My name is Lily – no doubt you know that already – Evans. That's right, Evans, not Potter. I'm from… How to describe this in a way you would understand, particularly since I've no clue what you know of science…? Um… Put most simply, I'm from an alternate universe – the world next door, temporally speaking. I don't know if that's clear or not, but it's true. Hopefully, my other gifts will soon be making an appearance and we'll be able to speak to one another.

"Like I said, I'm Lily Evans. I am a technomage working for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Interdimensional Threats – it's a sub-unit of the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic. Simply put, I'm an Unspeakable. I work on ways of taking the good parts of muggle technology and altering them to work for and with magic. For example, this computer runs solely on magic, has no memory limit, and is light years ahead of its muggle counterparts in terms of sheer computing power. Furthermore, now that you have activated it, only you will be able to turn it on – it recognizes your aura, and if you've any knowledge of the basics of magic, you'll know that an aura is more individualized than a fingerprint.

"Inside this wonderful little contraption, I've made sure to provide you with a complete library of reference manuals," Lily smiled again, "everything from Quidditch Basics for Beginners to Advanced Dueling Concepts and Practices for the Dark Lord in You. I even made sure there were plenty of fictional works included as everyone needs time off every now and again; you should check out the works by J. K. Rowling soon, she's an author from a different universe than either of ours. I think you'd find her stories interesting, to say the least.

"Now," Lily frowned, "for the bad news. Situated as our universes are in the fabric of space-time, we – that is, my department – have studied your world extensively. Unfortunately, we cannot directly alter things there, other than sending non-living magical objects through; and even then, it's hit-and-miss. What we have been able to uncover is disturbing. I have some warnings for you that I strenuously encourage you to heed:

"Firstly, do not trust Albus Dumbledore. I cannot stress this enough: Do not, for any reason, trust this man. We haven't been able to uncover everything of relevance as of yet, but what we have found is more than enough for this warning. The strings he pulls are much closer to you than you realize. He has several spells in place that serve to control most of the people with whom you have contact. We don't yet have a full list of these people, but we do know that the following people are sure to be reporting anything related to you directly to him: Ronald and Ginevra Weasley, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid, and Draco Malfoy. Do not blame these people for their situation, Harry. It is doubtful they are aware of what Dumbledore has done, nor does our research indicate that these people even remember their interactions with Dumbledore beyond those which the man has no reason to remove.

"Secondly, you must go to Gringotts as soon as possible. There are several pieces of important information you need at the bank, and my partner has said that our next… hmm… 'care package' will arrive in your personal vault sometime within the next few hours.

"Third and lastly, our research has shown that there are several spells present on your person at all times. Unfortunately, we are unable to fully determine what they are, as cross-dimensional interference is causing havoc with our instruments. My partner, Harvey, thinks its because of your world's current proximity to Hailey's Comet." Lily grinned again, "But I think it's more to do with your personal proximity to Hogwarts.

"If Harvey's calculations are correct, and you do manage to receive all our little gifts, I'll be talking with you soon. I know you probably have questions – I promise to do my best in answering them. For now though, remember my warnings and be careful." The video stuttered to a final freeze-frame, with Lily smiling directly at Harry through the camera, and the program popped up a window that read 'Play again? y/n'.

At some point during the video, Harry had backed to the nearest wall and slid down it. Now sitting on the floor, he did the only thing he could. He pressed 'Y' and watched it again.


A/N2: I've got approximately 30K words written for this. Maybe posting it and getting some feedback will kick my muse in the ass enough that I can finally finish this one. Personally, I'm getting sick of it languishing on my hard drive.

*sings off-key* Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeee...