Title: Diverging Reflections

Author: gildedsunshine
Genre: Drama / Angst
Main Characters: Trio / Marauders / Weasleys
Main Settings: Hogwarts (real & AU) / Godric's Hollow (AU) / Burrow (AU)
Timeframe: 6th & 7th yr / AU
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP
Rating: High T. I would rate it higher, butI don't think it is M16+. If it gets that way in later chapters, it will be changed.
Warnings: language, adult themes, angst, violence
Pairing: Nil (Canon references – James Potter/Lily Evans Potter)
Comments: Much appreciated. Any and all will be delighted in!

Summary: When Voldemort's machinations create an entirely new universe, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must deal with the other version of themselves. With the War's effects, will they be accepted by the Gryffindor-dominated world or will they simply be disappointments to their families?

Chapter One

Hogwarts, 10th-11th June 1997

It was only through an off chance that anyone noticed. Of course, they would have noticed eventually, but if it wasn't for Professor Severus Snape's particular brand of antagonism towards this group of three, it may have been some time longer. The population of Hogwarts sometimes wondered if this was so much of good thing to be thankful for, but nobody could deny the results.

If it hadn't been Professor Snape who looked up in his sixth-year Potions Class, and noticed three particular seats were empty; there wouldn't have been the removal of fifty points from Gryffindor House. A week of detentions wouldn't have been assigned to the three absent students. Then, when lunchtime came around, no one would have stalked up to the middle of the Gryffindor Table, where four seats were held open daily, and have noticed that no one sat there either.

Gryffindor House, with their universal dislike of categorisation, didn't sit in year levels, with the first-years closest to the teachers and the seventh-years nearest the door, as the Ravenclaws did. They didn't sit in social rank, like the Slytherin House, with the most influential members sitting furthest from the watchful eyes of the Professors. Yet somehow they didn't sit all together, all mixed, like the Hufflepuff House, in which it was not unusual to find a seventh-year in between a first-year and a fifth. Gryffindor House was different; the most popular students usually wound up in the middle; and the middle of the Gryffindor Table was always for their heroes.

"Longbottom!" Professor Snape had snarled, upon finding that his quarry was not there to be personally assigned detentions. "Where might be the famous Potter be?" For, typically, the missing trio was the Gryffindor Trio themselves; legendary Harry Potter, know-it-all Hermione Granger, and the faithful sidekick, Ron Weasley.

Neville Longbottom, at being addressed so sharply by the most hated Professor of Hogwarts (except by the Slytherins) and his own personal fear, had coloured and struggled for words. He was siting next to the four empty spaces in his usual seat. The events of their fifth-year, at the Ministry, had kicked his status right up to 'hero,' even if it was not in the same class as the other three. (Though, who was?) In this instance, he had found there was no answer, and had winced as he told it to the already short-tempered Professor.

"I... I don't know, Professor. I haven't seen them since Herbology yesterday." That was true, the surrounding students had thought. None of them remembered seeing the Gryffindor Trio last night or this morning either. For three such well-known students, they were always rather good at avoiding attention. Snape's eyebrows had drawn together in a rather ominous manner at Neville's confession, and the nearby students' agreements.

"Are you saying that three such esteemed," there had been so much sarcasm on the word it could have sunk, "members of your House have not been seen in nearly twenty hours, and no one found that curious?"

"Well," Neville had tried to explain; "they often go off on their own. I don't think they like being around others very much, after what happened last year and then what happened at Christmas. Most days they don't come back until curfew and then stay around the Common Room Fire until late. They are always up before anyone else, but they never show up for breakfast."

"Why was a Professor not made aware of this?"

Danger had been imminent from the tone of voice and Neville had gulped. "Well, they said not to…."

Seamus Finnegan, sitting across the table, had spoken up when Neville hadn't seemed to be able to continue. "They said they were fine, that they were working it out and they didn't want people interfering again. Dunno what the interfering was about, but we weren't gonna let them down, were we?"

Professor Snape had not dignified this show of House loyalty with a reasonable response. To avoid yelling at the ignorant children he had spun, robes flying out bat-like, and stalked up to the Head Table.

"Dumbledore! It seems we may have a problem."

After the discovery of their lengthy disappearance, things were put into actions with all due haste, as if to make up for the delay. The Weasleys were notified, and all showed up within the hour, a red-haired storm, angry and impatient that one true brother and two 'adopted' siblings were missing. After the deaths of the Grangers, Hermione's parents, the Weasleys had adopted her in all bar name, as they had already done for Harry. Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George joined with the Order's taskforce, while Percy and Arthur helped coordinate the Ministry's Aurors and the Order Members.

For they were all helping, the Ministry, and the Order. The members of Order of the Phoenix were there in most part, as they knew Harry, Hermione, and Ron and cared for the three talented youngsters. The Ministry's motives were not so pure, as they realised how bad it would look, for them to appear to have helped search for the missing Boy-Who-Lived and his two friends. Especially when one was another Weasley, and the other, a Muggle-born.

However, despite all best efforts, the Trio's location reminded unknown. Mundungus Fletcher had his ear to the 'underground,' yet the only news was of their disappearance, and, well, they already knew that. Tonks and Charlie questioned the students, and all they could discover was that a group of fourth-year Hufflepuffs had seen them walk down to the lake after their last class – Herbology – yesterday. Several students saw them sitting under a tree there, apparently studying, yet there was no hint of their presence there, there was none of their things nor any spell residue. No one saw the three Gryffindors return to Castle at dark, but no one knew if they were already gone by then or not.

Malicious whispers started about Hogwarts, that perhaps they had run off. Perhaps Harry couldn't take the stress of being a Hero. Perhaps they had run away to London. Perhaps they were just playing a prank and hiding. Perhaps they had run off to marry… Perhaps…

The people, who mattered, knew what probably had happened though; they were just at a loss, to figure out how. The Weasleys, the Professors, and the majority of the Order knew it must have been Death Eaters, and that made them fear for Harry, Hermione, and Ron's safety. For them to be taken directly from Hogwarts Grounds meant that quite a bit of both planning and power had gone into the abduction. For no trace to remain meant that they must have caught the Trio by surprise, which was not all that an easy thing to do.

It was on the second day that the Ministry and Order searchers discovered they were not the only ones to be hunting. After telling the students all was under control they all had done their best to act like normal – Professors attending classes, Ministry workers their posts, and a silence being imposed on the newspapers. No word of this was supposed to be allowed beyond official channels, though they expected, in the way of secrets, for rumours to sneak out, particularly from students' letters home. However, this was underestimating the intelligence of a rather smart bunch.

The DA had continued this year. In addition, it was still a secret – sort of. Reverting the name back to Defence Association, rather than Dumbledore's Army, the students (those who had not graduated) had continued to study under Harry's tutelage, Ron's encouragement, and Hermione's lesson plans. At the beginning of the school year, Harry had decided to increase the DA. Using character references from the existing members and a well-charmed parchment, other students had been invited into the group.

Instead of just relying on the threat of a jinx if the secrets of the group were told, Hermione had increased the charms, with Harry supplying the power. They now included several warning charms, a silencing charm, and for extreme cases, a modified Obliviate. When informed of what they were going to sign, people tended to blink a bit, then look at Hermione very warily. When they were told all the power had come from Harry, all at one time, they tended to decide not to try his patience.

While this expansion had increased the risk of broken security, the charms had quickly proved that they would work. A second-year Ravenclaw had been unable to keep silence about how she had learnt a Summoning Charm when questioned by her cousin. When she had opened her mouth to begin with, she was astonished to turn orange. When this did not dissuade her, she found herself talking at many times her normal speed, due to a well-placed Voice Hyper-Activity charm. A nifty Disorient Jinx followed this, and the Ravenclaw wandered away. Theodore Nott never got an answer out of his cousin.

For all those whose loyalty was not absolute, who had been weeded out throughout the year, there were still many others in the DA, nearly seventy-five members, who believed in Harry. They knew that their leaders would not have disappeared without good reason, and using the camouflage of being 'just-another-student' had questioned their peers much more closely than the Order had managed. It was they who discovered, quite by accident, where the Trio were. It didn't do them much good, as it was not a very good or helpful location to be in, and by unanimous vote, decided the information should go to the adults. Choosing representatives, they headed out, aiming to find the Weasley Twins, who were part of the original DA, and therefore could be trusted to take them seriously.

Fred and George Weasley were walking the Charms corridors, holding a particular piece of parchment, when Fred noticed they had company. He elbowed his twin, and cleared map, turning to face a group of four students. They both raised an identical eyebrow, and waited for an explanation as to why four students, one from each House, were standing there. All four blinked at the solemn looks on the notoriously mischievous Weasley Twins' faces, exchanging glances, they realised just how bad the situation was.

"We've got news," Neville spoke. "You need to hear this."

The Order and the Ministry were working out of a set of rooms located on the fifth floor of Hogwarts. A direct Floo connection had been set up with the Base of Operations at the Ministry, and only the Base of Operations, open all hours. There was a meeting in process, between all factions of the search; lead by Dumbledore, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and Auror Dawlish, the Head Auror personally assigned to the search by the Minister. Around an oval table sat those two leaders, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Aurors Tonks, Shacklebolt, and a few others who weren't in the Order. To say the least, all were startled when the door slammed open, revealing the Weasley twins and four unidentified figures behind them.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Head Auror spluttered. "You can't just charge in here like that, who do…." He was stopped when Dumbledore called them to enter the room, and to gently close the door behind them, as there was a dreadful draft. Fred and George entered the room, and the four unknowns entered behind, when the light revealed their identities, there was an instant uproar.

"Mr. Longbottom, what do you think you are doing?"
"Miss Lovegood, why are you here?"
"Miss Bones, why on earth…?"
"Mr. Meliflua, what is the meaning of this interruption?"
"Fred! George!"

Silence was restored when Dumbledore stood, holding his hand out, It was a measure of all's respect, when the room fell instantly silent, as if a Silencing Charm had been placed on all of it's occupants. (Or, perhaps, looking at Molly Weasley's face, one had…)

"I trust there is a reason for this hasty entrance, boys? You were checking the second floor, correct?"

Fred nodded, while his twin agreed. "Yeah, that's right. These four approached us, and they have news of Ronniekins and Hermione and Harry."

When it didn't appear there were any more objections, by the attention immediately fixed on the four students, Fred and George stepped over to the back of the room, near to the Fireplace. Neville had been voted leader of this little expedition, so he stepped forward.

"Well, we were looking too, you know, they're our friends and all, and we learnt something from Crabbe that is interesting. Normally we wouldn't trust any they said, it probably not being right, I mean, why would he tell us anything correct or helpful, but it's been backed up, and we believe it is correct…." Neville cut himself short, realising he was babbling.

"They're at Malfoy Manor." Luna Lovegood said in her dreamy, to-the-point way. The Ravenclaw representative of the group blinked at the reception her blunt words received.

"But, there's no way…."
"Been there…."
"No sign of them…."
"How did you know this…."

"Mr Lucius Malfoy is an upstanding member of the community. Why would he abduct three students?" Auror Dawlish obviously wasn't up on the news. He got scathing looks.

"Oh yes," Neville exploded, "Upstanding indeed, when, he was arrested for Death Eater activity just last year. But of course he got off, he's got money…."

"He was cleared, as it was obvious, he regretted his actions under the Imperious Curse. Minister Fudge himself was assured of his innocence, and heartfelt sorrow for his actions against the trespassers at the Ministry." Dawlish narrowed his eyes in an ugly expression. "Longbottom, and Lovegood, right? You were a part of that group of trespassers, correct?"

Susan Bones, the representative of Hufflepuff House, stepped in front of her friends, chin held high. "I am Miss Susan Bones, Auror, my aunt is Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I say that Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater, and you are blind. Harry, Ron and Hermione are there at his Manor, and something should be done about it."

"Quite right, Miss Bones," Arthur Weasley interrupted Susan's speech. "But Malfoy Manor has been searched. No trace of any of them was found. You may have been tricked."

The as-yet-silent other representative spoke up. "Did you check beneath the Dining Room Floor?" All attention was immediately fixed on the seventh-year in Slytherin colours.

"And who might you be, then?" The question came from multiple people simultaneously.

"Phin Meliflua. Seventh-year Slytherin Prefect."

"Meliflua, eh? You wouldn't happen to be cousin to the Blacks and Malfoys, would you? Why would you be telling us this?" Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody asked suspiciously.

"Just because I'm related, doesn't mean I agree with them. Isn't that right, Auror Tonks?"

The currently green-haired Metamorphmagus looked at him, then laughed. "Wotcher, Phin. How's things been then?"

Impatient, George interrupted. "Well, these pleasantries are all well and good, but maybe we could get off the interrogation, and onto the rescue here?"

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, and all titles such, nodded. "Well, suggestions?"

It was during this all so interesting and all together so successful meeting that another group of DA students was patrolling. 'Patrolling' was an invention of Harry's, in which a group of students casually walked about the school, keeping an eye on things. It was strictly voluntary, and only open to the elder years. All the same, many were involved. No one wanted to disappoint Harry, initially because of the realisation of his power, and lately because of their acceptance of him and the loyalty they gave to him as their 'leader'.

Originally planned to be Patrols made of students from different Houses, they instead turned out to be groups of friends, as to keep the Patrols looking more normal. Having a Gryffindor walk around with a Slytherin was still not normal. This particular group of DA Patrollers was solely of Hufflepuffs, with Zacharias Smith, though still at odds with Ron Weasley on occasion, now an integral member of the DA, leading. He was walking backwards, having to duck away from multiple swats directed at his head. Breaking into a jog, he attempted to get further away out of reach, but without actually falling into the lake, that currently was impossible.

"I can't believe you told him that! Sue is never going to forgive you." Blond Hannah Abbott was the owner of the hand, lecturing Zacharias about the lack of loyalty involved when you let it slip who a Housemate had a crush on.

"Well, we don't have to tell her, do we?" Zacharias attempted to reason, though was only met with sarcastic stares from the other four, Hannah, Megan Jones, Ernie Macmillan, and Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"Face it mate," Justin said cheerfully, "you're doomed."

"Brilliant," Zacharias muttered, "it was an accident, I didn't…" A dark, rather large figure was emerging from the Forbidden Forest, and caught Zacharias's eyes over his friends' shoulders. All jokes were immediately put aside. "Wands," he snapped, the five Hufflepuffs beginning to walk in the direction of the Forest.

All pulled out their wands, holding them by their sides, unobtrusively. They didn't want to threaten, but this was an unidentifiable figure from the Forbidden Forest. The figure was quite broad and as they neared, Megan gave a shocked gasp, for it was not just one figure, but three; and those three figures were the Gryffindor Trio.

Dropping their wands back into pockets, Hannah, Megan, and Justin made to run towards the three, who had collapsed not far from the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest. Zacharias reached out and grabbed them back.

"Wait!" He hissed. "We need to check they are who they look like they are!" His Patrol nodded. "Megan, you're the fastest, you run back and tell someone - a teacher! If they are them, we'll need help, they look hurt, and if they're not, we'll need backup…." Megan threw one last look at the collapsed people, and turned, sprinting back to Hogwarts.

Only one of the three sat up when the Hufflepuffs approached, the other two looked unconscious. It looked like Hermione Granger for sure, if Hermione's bushy hair was usually full of blood, dirt, and sticks. She had a trickle of blood from the corner of the mouth, and a large black eye was forming around one of her scared brown eyes.

"Zach! Hannah! Is that you, Ernie? Are we back?" She gasped breathlessly, more blood running down her chin with each word. "You've got to help me!"

"What did we do for secrecy?" Zacharias asked, wanting to help the hurt students, but knowing that it was his responsibility to find out if they were really Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

"What did we what?" Hermione asked, eyelids fluttering in exhaustion. "Oh, the DA! You're on Patrol! We signed a parchment, hexed by Harry. Colour Charms, Voice Charms, Disorient Jinx, Silencio..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes rolled back, Justin leapt forward just in time to catch her from falling onto Ron.

"You satisfied?" He snapped at Zacharias. "Can we help them now or not?"

"Yeah… yeah," Zacharias breathed, both he and Ernie looked frozen by shock. Hannah had been taken Healing Lessons from Madam Pomfrey, and was already leaning over them, running diagnostic spells.

"She's got broken ribs, and it looks like nerve damage of some sort. I can't do anything for them. Ron's got a compound fracture in his leg, and, oh Merlin…" Hannah was trying to help but her training didn't extent much beyond mild sickness and small cuts. It certainly didn't go into broken bones, concussion, and deep slashes. "Look at Harry's back! Oh no, what do I do? I don't know what to do! Help me," she ordered Zacharias and Ernie.

"What can we do?"

"Um, try to stop the bleeding from Harry's cuts, use your robes, put pressure on them. Zacharias! Get help! Now! I think they're dying…."

Thanks for reading, now please review, and tell me what you think.

Smiles, gs