It's Not Over Till We're Underground, Chapter One

Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me in this story are the blackwells. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling or independent Italian restaurants.

This story begins from the end of sixth year, as an alternative for the seventh book. As you read, you'll understand why it's an 'alternative'.

Harry slowly walked over to the lazy park bench, squinting in the bright light of the June sun. He sat down slowly, clutching a letter in his hand. He leaned back, and straightened the wrinkles from the letter. Harry sighed, and read the letter through again.

Dear Harry,

You don't know me, but... it'll be really important that you do. My name is Ashlen Blackwell, and it is immensely important that you and I meet. I was hoping that you and I could take a walk, and I could fill you in on everything that you need to know about my family and your safety.

My parents want you, the Weasleys, and the Grangers, to spend the summer with us. The safest place right now is with us, and my family guarantees you will be safe from any Dark Magic threats.

Could you meet me at the park bench at one o'clock tomorrow? Thanks, and stay cool until then.

Love,

Ashlen C. Blackwell.

PS. I attached this week's Daily Prophet. Hopefully, this will give you some idea of why I need to meet you tomorrow.

A wrinkled Prophet was attached, just as Ashlen had said. He needed not to search the newspaper- the article Ashlen had mentioned was on the front page.

A large picture with a huge crowd of people crowded into the frame lay under large headlines- The Blackwells; a Magical Revolution... and our Saviors?. They all looked the same- somewhat wavy hair, and handsome, long faces. The article talked about how they had been in hiding, but had come out, and told of their magical achievements. These included the ability to mold the fabric of time and space and temporary resurrection, along with powerful magics. It didn't mention, though, how to do these things; although they were great achievements, the article read that the Blackwells were the only ones who were able to do them. The article said they had given demonstrations, but it seemed shady. Personally, Harry didn't believe it, and he told Ron and Hermione about it; they said that they had received letters from a Mrs. Blackwell, which had said that they had been invited to spend the summer with them. Upon questioning further, Ron had told him that the Blackwells were the newest members of the Order of the Phoenix, and were helping with the safety of the Ministry and headquarters. Feeling a bit more secure, Harry decided he would meet this Ashlen.

Even without this letter to cloud his mind, Harry was going through some intense depression. Dumbledore's death had shaken him horribly, and he felt as if there was no hope left, and even he himself, the only chance for the wizarding world to survive, felt as if it wasn't worth it. He was angry at Snape, angry at Dumbledore, angry at himself- Snape, for murdering Dumbledore, Dumbledore for trusting Snape and weakening himself in the face of danger, and himself for having done nothing to help save Dumbledore. Dumbledore's words of Harry's 'power' echoed through his mind in the night- how would he be able to defeat Voldemort, one of the most powerful sorcerers of all time? Yes, he promised to himself, he would fight to the end, but what if it was all for nothing, and he failed? Was he ready for the horrible task Dumbledore had left him?

Ron and Hermione had begged Harry to let them accompany him to Privet Drive, and later to see his parents' graves, but he refused, feeling his depressed state increase. It was enough that they were risking their lives to help him find the Horcruxes. He knew that Ron and Hermione would try to comfort him, but right now he wanted to just think about everything.

It's all my fault... he constantly reminded himself. He knew he mustn't think that way, but the thought loomed in the back of his mind. It always was- he had let Sirius and Dumbledore die, when he could have done something, anything, to stop their deaths...

Harry carefully folded the letter in half, and glanced down at his watch. 12:56. He sat up, and looked down the road. Seeing no-one approaching, he looked to the other side. He saw someone walking about a block away, and he felt his heart pound in anticipation. His hand instinctively went to his back pocket, gripping his wand.

He carefully watched the person walk nearer, and saw it was a girl. She wore a knee length skirt, and her hair was down. His eyes scanned the silhouette of her head, attempting to make out a face, but unable from the sun's bright light. She was now a couple of feet away from the bench, and she stopped.

Neither moved, waiting for the other. The girl moved first, and hesitantly sat down next to him, wrapping her hands in her lap. He could see her face now; she was beautiful, with lightly tanned skin covered in pale freckles, soft flowing eyebrows, large hazel eyes, a handsome nose, and plump peachy lips. She turned her head toward him, and smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," he replied. He was almost... entranced by her beauty, forgetting everything else for a second. He blinked, staring into the hazel depths of her eyes.

"So... do you wanna go for that walk?" She asked quietly. She stared back at him, and bit her lip, furrowing her brow.

"Sure, Ashlen," Harry replied, standing up slowly.

Ashlen smiled briefly, and stood up after him. "Call me Ashley... Ashlen's too... I don't know, but I don't like it all that much," She walked next to him slowly, smiling at her name. Harry looked down her body, taking in her wardrobe; she wore a simple white tee-shirt, big and bulky but bright blue wooden pearls, a flowing silky skirt of a blue and green flower pattern, and a pair of light blue flats. She wore big blue pearl earrings, and kept the dirty blonde bangs out of her eyes with a light green barrette. He looked back down at her face, and noticed vaguely how the bright light lit up her face.

"Where do you want to go? I don't really know this neighborhood," he began to hear her accent, which was American. He shrugged, and looked down at his feet. "I'm hungry, I haven't had lunch yet. Do you want to go get some lunch?" He nodded, and looked up again.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked her as they walked towards the nearby outlet.

"Did you get my Daily Prophet?" she asked him.

"Yeah- the entire 'Blackwell magical powers' sounded a bit far off, though..." He replied.

"It wasn't." Harry stopped in his tracks, and turned to her sharply.

"Are you serious? How do I know you aren't lying?" Ashley rolled her eyes, and looked around on the ground. She spotted what she was looking for- a dead and rotting bird. She beckoned Harry closer, and bent down towards the bird.

Ashley put her face close to the bird, whispered some strange words, and blew softly on the bird. As she stood up, Harry watched in amazement as the body got bigger, the rotting skin disappeared, and wings grew in its place. Soon, a small bird was lazily waving its wings, and once hopping around for a bit, flew off into the park.

"Wow... so you guys can really do all those things?" Harry was amazed almost beyond words.

"Yeah," she answered. "That's why we want you to live with us during the summer, while you prepare for everything you have to do. There's an alternate universe, not much different from this one, but there isn't any magic... Voldemort doesn't know about it, so there's nowhere safer you can stay." He stared at her, surprised she used Vodermort's name. He turned forward again, and nodded.

"All right. When will we go pick up Ron and Hermione?"

"Well, my brother is gonna pick us up back at the bench at two-thirty," she replied as they walked slowly into the commercial streets of Privet Drive. "That place looks nice, "she said, pointing to a small Italian restaurant. "Wanna eat there?"

Harry nodded, holding the door of the restaurant open for her. Ashley smiled briefly at him, and followed a waiter to a small table near the window. He handed them menus, and left to handle the other customers.

"What do you want to eat? It's my treat," Ashley said, smiling warmly at him.

Harry glanced down at the leather menu. "Maybe... some spaghetti? With the lobster sauce... and prawns."

"Sounds great. Are you really hungry?" she asked, flipping to the back of the menu to look at the drinks.

"Not much, I ate a little before," he replied, setting down the menu.

"Well, why don't we order the spaghetti, an entree, and drinks for each of us? The dishes seem really big here, we could share the spaghetti," Ashley told him, glancing over to the surrounding tables.

Harry nodded, and leaned back in the chair. The waiter rushed over again, and took their orders. He left them alone again, and an empty silence filled the space between them. Harry looked out the window as Ashley played with the fringe of her skirt.

Suddenly, a worrying thought popped into Harry's head. "Wait- I was warned that Death Eaters had surveillance on my house, but there's a two-block safety bubble around my house... were not in the safe places anymore, what if we're attacked?"

"Don't worry about that! The Death Eaters that were supposed to be watching you are currently unconscious, and when they wake up, they will remember that you never left your house, as you've done for the past week. When you're with me, you've got nothing to worry about." Ashley smiled. Somewhat reassured, Harry looked out the window for any signs of Death Eaters.

He noticed a young girl pulling the arm of an old man, probably her grandfather, who was laughing as she led him to the nearby toy store. Harry looked at the expression of joy in the grandfather's face, and was painfully reminded of the expression on Dumbledore's face when he had finally gotten the Slughorn's memory. Harry bit his lip, and tore his sight away from the two happy people.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Ashley asked, leaning over the table to examine him more closely.

Harry looked up at her, and nodded, gulping. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

Ashley frowned, and asked him again, "Are you really?"

Harry gulped again, and looked out the window. "I just miss Dumbledore, that's all. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Ashley sighed, and leaned her chin on her hand. "Can I tell you a story?"

Harry looked at her, confused. "Sure, I guess."

Ashley smiled, and shuffled her chair closer to the table. "Well, I used to know this guy. His name was David, and he was the best friend everyone dreams of having but only a few people ever actually meet. He was so nice, and... he just knew how to make you feel better, you know? Well, we knew each other since we were, like, negative four years old, and we were best friends forever. When we were fifteen, I kinda had a crush on him, so I told him. It turned out he'd been crushing on me since we were thirteen, and we... kind of hit it off. We went out, and the transition from best friends to couple wasn't so large, so not much really changed. But, after a few months, we sort of stopped doing couple stuff, so we decided to just go back to being best friends. Being in that sort of a relationship, especially after dating him, just made this... bond between us, and I was so attached to him. But then, one day..." Ashley paused, and Harry saw a small tear beginning to form at the edge of her eye.

"One day... or night, really... I had this horrible nightmare... I can't remember what it was, but it upset me so much to the point that only David could make me feel okay again. I called his house, but the phone didn't even ring. Then I called his cell phone, but... he didn't answer, which was totally unlike him. He never turns off his cell phone, and his ring tone is the loudest, most obnoxious thing ever, so I was really worried that something had happened. I woke up my mom, and she drove me to his house. When we got there, the door was broken, and the house was a mess. I ran up to his room, and there he was... dead. I-I couldn't move, and my mom somehow dragged me back home, and I just started to cry." At this point, a silent tear was slipping from Ashley's eyes, and she wiped them off with her napkin.

The waiter rushed over to them again, bringing their food. He set down the spaghetti, the stromboli bits Ashley had ordered, and two plates. Ashley picked up her utensils, and served some of the spaghetti onto her plate. She stared down at her food, twirling some spaghetti pointlessly, and continued with her story: "I was really depressed for a couple of weeks. We tried therapy, but it didn't help at all. I think I was actually able to accept David's death, and be able to move on, when I saw this little boy in the park. He was running around a little girl in crazy circles, just like how David would sometimes to cheer me up. The little boy also had the same skin color as David, and I'll tell you, David had the most beautiful skin you could ever imagine. When it was a really gorgeous day out, with the sun in the sky, David's skin would gleam like shined copper, and it was always so soft. When I saw that little boy, and how much he reminded me of David, I sort of realized that... well, you can always see a little bit of the people you love in the world around you. Like you, Harry-" She said, smiling softly. Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Your nose looks just like how David's did. Well, except for the skin color, but otherwise, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart." She grinned, and twirled some spaghetti in her fork. She brought it up to her mouth, and shoved the large bunch into her mouth. "Mmm- this is really good."

Harry twirled some spaghetti, and ate some for himself. "Yeah, it really is. Thanks for the story. I don't really know why you told it to me, though..."

Ashley snorted, and grinned. "Well, you can figure that out for yourself. Meanwhile, you better eat faster, or I'm gonna eat it all by myself, and that is going to do nothing for my thighs." Harry laughed, and bit into a stromboli bit.

"So-" he said, his mouth full of the delicious Italian cuisine. "Are we actually supposed to spend an hour and a half eating Italian food?"

Ashley smiled, and took a sip of water. "My parents weren't sure of how long it would take for you to feel comfortable with their request for you to spend the summer with us, but lucky for me, you weren't. Here I came, ready to flirt with you until you finally gave in," Harry laughed, and watched her take another giant bite of her stromboli bit. "And David always said I'm a horrible flirt when I do it on purpose. But then again, people always complain that I'm always... like, flirting unconsciously with everybody." She shrugged, and piled more spaghetti onto her plate.

"They're right, you know," Harry replied, in a much better mood. Ashley looked up at him, a quizzical expression on her face. He raised his eyebrow at her, and bit into his stromboli again. They both cracked up, laughing into their spaghetti and Harry almost chocking on his stromboli. The neighboring table stared at them, fearing for their sanity. Ashley wiped a tear from her eye again, and chuckling, said, "You are possible even worse than I am, Harry."

He grinned, and wiped some lobster sauce from his lip.

"I guess we could just walk around until two thirty, or go check out the stores around here. What do you want for dessert?" She asked him again, picking up the dessert menu. "How does gelato sound?"

"Sounds good... The chocolate one looks delicious," Harry replied, picking up his own copy. Ashley signaled to the waiter, who instantly came over to them. "May we please have a chocolate gelato and a mango gelato?" The waiter nodded, picked up their plates, and went back into the kitchen.

Ashley straightened her skirt, and sipped some water. "So, what is there to do around here? I'm a bit of a city girl, and I'm not well acquainted with the suburbs of Britain."

Harry shrugged, and said, "Not much; Dudley bullies all the younger kids, and I just walk around pointlessly until school starts."

The waiter returned with their desserts, and gave them both small silver spoons and paper umbrellas. Harry watched Ashley take a giant spoonful of the ice cream, and ate it all at once. "This is just delicious. Did you know gelato has about twice as much sugar as normal ice cream?"

Harry smiled, and took a spoon of his own ice cream. "I think there's a thrift store down the block."

"We should totally go," Ashley said, taking another giant spoonful of her ice cream. "But we have to leave, like, fifteen minutes early to get your luggage and any other crap you have to bring with you." Harry grinned, and nodded.

"How long will it take for us to get to your house?" he asked, taking another spoonful; he noted sadly that he had only a few left of his gelato.

"An hour or so, it's a bit far," Ashley said, finishing her ice cream.

"Where do you live?" Harry asked, eating the last of his ice cream.

"Well, we have an apartment in New York City, a vacation house in north France, and another house in Florida. That's, of course, not counting all the houses everybody in family owns. Like, my older sister works a lot in London, so she has the house there, and we go over sometimes, and my older brother lives with his family in Massachusetts. Our family's pretty big, so we have to accommodate for all of us. A couple of my sisters, brothers, and I go to school in the city, so we live there during the school year, but spend the summer in Florida. During the holidays, we go France, depending on who's around. This summer, we'll all be in Florida. It's gonna rock, Harry. A lot of people don't really like the US or Americans all that much, but it does have gorgeous landscapes and sunsets," Ashley stopped, the waiter returning with the paycheck. Ashley gave him a twenty pound note, and ignoring his comments of returning her change, grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out onto the street.

"During the summer, we'll… y'know, train and whatever, start researching Horcruxes, and –"

"What?" Harry said, stopping suddenly. Ashley turned to him, puzzled. "I never told you anything about Horcruxes. How do you know about them?"

Ashley sighed, and pulled Harry down onto a bus bench. "There is an explanation for that, but it's every long, and I don't want to deny my mother the opportunity of telling you herself. Basically, in this alternate universe we'll be spending the summer at, there's this lady, and she wrote these books, which are pretty much your story. Her name's JK Rowling, and she wrote, what are referred to in that world, as the Harry Potter Series. She's written seven books, documenting your seven years at Hogwarts. The books pretty much cover your life as a wizard, and your fights against Voldemort. The titles of the books are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire, the Order of the Phoenix, the Half-Blood Prince, and the Deathly Hallows. That's why I know about Horcruxes." Ashley finished, and waited for his reaction.

Harry couldn't comprehend what she had just said. "What do you mean… my story?"

Ashley frowned, and said, "You don't believe me? Fine-" she reached into a handbag she'd just gotten out from nowhere, and shoved a large book into his hands.

Harry looked down at the cover in shocked surprise. The cover was green and purple, with an old man with a long beard and a black haired bespectacled boy leaning over a large bowl. Above them, in curved letters, read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry flipped open the book to the middle, and began to read.

Pointing his wand at nothing in particular, he gave it an upward flick and said Levicorpus! inside his head.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
There was a flash of light and the room was full of voices: Everyone had woken up as Ron had let out a yell. Harry sent Advanced Potion-Making flying in panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle.
"Sorry!" yelled Harry, as Dean and Seamus roared with laughter, and Neville picked himself up from the floor, having fallen out of bed. "Hang on- I'll let you down-"
He groped for the potion book and riffled through it in a panic, trying to find the right page; at last he located it and deciphered one cramped word underneath the spell: Praying that this was the counter-jinx, Harry thought Liberacorpus! with all his might.
There was another flash of light, and Ron fell in a heap onto his mattress.
"Sorry," repeated Harry weakly, while Dean and Seamus continued to roar with laughter.
"Tomorrow," said Ron in a muffled voice, "I'd rather you set the alarm clock."

Harry slammed the book shut, and shut his eyes. He'd never mentioned that moment to anyone, never talked about it to Ron or anyone else, the teasing from Seamus and Dean enough to keep them quiet. He'd told Hermione about the spell, but Ron made him swear to not mention that moment to her.

"Fine-" he managed to croak. "I believe you." He pushed the book back into her hands, and covered his face with his hands.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ashley asked. "You know, the books are really popular."

Harry groaned, and sat up again. "That's exactly it, Ashley- it's as if… my privacy's been invaded. I mean, my life is a published book!"

Ashley laughed, and stood up. "Don't worry about it, Harry. The only people you'll ever have to meet that have read the books are my family, and that's to your advantage."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked as they walked toward the thrift store.

"Well, we have a complete account to refer to during all your time at Hogwarts and all the battles you fought against Voldemort. So if there was ever any crucial information you might have forgotten, we'll know it all."

Harry considered this and shrugged. "I'll need time to get used to the idea, but I guess that's very helpful. Oh, well." Harry looked down at his watch. "It's a quarter till two."

Ashley nodded. "Plenty of time to shop. Where's that cute little thrift store?"

Harry pointed down the block. Ashley stood up again, and led the way. He followed her into the small store, which smelled strongly of incense. Ashley headed straight for the jewelry rack, and pulled out some large decorated hoops.

"What do you think?" she smiled, holding the earrings to her ears. Harry shrugged, and stepped closer to the rack. Ashley picked up another pair, and these had elephants on them. "These are so cute, aren't they?" She grinned.

Half an hour and three pairs of earrings, two scarves, and a pair of slippers later, Harry was nervously leading Ashley back to his uncle's house. He wasn't sure of how the Dursleys would react to her- even he'd been quite wrong-footed when he'd first met her. In fact, he still felt very wrong-footed around her.

He led her up the pathway, and reached to ring the doorbell. The Durleys didn't trust him with a key, so he always had to ring in. Ashley stopped him suddenly, and reaching into her handbag, pulled out: a bottle of hand sanitizer, eyeliner, a small mirror, a comb, and lip gloss. She carefully applied the eyeliner and lip gloss, brushed her hair briefly, and vigorously rubbed hand sanitizer on her arms. She put it all away, and nodded. Harry rang the doorbell, and waited for someone to answer the door.

He could hear heavy footsteps, and the lock opening. The door opened, and Dudley stood there. He wore a brief expression of disgust when he first saw Harry, which swiftly changed to surprise when he saw Ashley. Harry laughed a bit in his mind, remembering his own reaction when he'd first seen Ashley. He walked into the house, pushing Dudley, who hadn't moved, aside. Ashley swiftly followed him into the hall, and as he began to go up the stairs.

"Who is it, Dudley?" called Uncle Vernon. Harry heard more heavy footsteps, and silently cursing, put on an innocent face as his uncle and aunt walked into the hall as well. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze in the hall, staring at Ashley. Ashley merely smiled, waiting for Harry to speak.

"This is Ashley," Harry blurted out. "She's my- my-"

"Girlfriend," Ashley finished swiftly, and Harry could swear he saw a shadow of a blink. Catching on, he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm spending the rest of the summer with her at her vacation house," he said, leaning on the wall. Ashley went up a step and reached for his hand, leaning closer to him, and he caught it, swinging it lightly. "It doesn't bother you that I'll be leaving earlier, does it?"

Although still watching Ashley, Uncle Vernon nodded. "You do understand that you won't be returning again?"

"Of course," he replied. Uncle Vernon nodded, and turned around, returning to the living room. Harry turned on his heel, and swiftly went up the stairs. He felt Ashley right behind him, and once entering his own bedroom, began to laugh.

Ashley joined him, but she covered her mouth, trying to snuffle the laugh. "That was really funny. The looks on their faces- classic!" Harry laughed, and sat down on the bed.

She wiped a small tear from her cheek, still grinning widely. "Let's pack, so we can get out of here faster- I don't think I could pull of this entire 'my girlfriend's vacation house' much longer…" Harry grinned and kicked open his trunk.

Ashley grabbed a pile of robes, and shoved them into the trunk while Harry dug his books out from the loose floorboard under his bed. He placed them in the left side, and swiftly beginning to fold up his pants. Ashley stood up, and said, "Why are we even folding? This is much faster-" she began to point to different clothes, which began to fold themselves.

In a few minutes, all of Harry's possessions had been folded and shoved into his trunk. "Are you allowed to use magic?" he asked her as he erected the large trunk.

"Well, it's not the same magic that you do, 'cause us Blackwells don't need to use wands. I can't really explain it, but you won't get in trouble for it, our magic can't be traced or detected." Ashley picked up Hedwig's cage, and as if on queue, Hedwig flew into the bedroom. Ashley grinned, and held out her arm. Hedwig jumped on, and let Ashley place her into her cage. She carefully closed the door of the cage, and slowly carried the cage towards the door. "Let's go."

Harry nodded, and began to drag his monumentally heavy trunk towards the stairs. Ashley picked up the other end, and they carefully went down the stairs. "Goodbye!" Harry cried out to the house, relieved to finally be leaving the place that had given him nothing but painful memories. Before he could leave, however, Ashley stopped him.

"This is the last time you'll be seeing them in a long time, Harry. Give them a proper good-bye." Harry sighed, and walked into the living room.

The Dursleys sat there, very quiet. They'd obviously either been waiting for him to leave or were still getting over Ashley's uninvited appearance.

"Well... good-bye," Harry said. Uncle Vernon nodded, and Aunt Petunia watched him through wide eyes.

"Good-bye," they both answered. Harry nodded, and made to leave the room.

"Wait," he heard Dudley say. Harry turned, surprised to hear Dudley. "Thanks for... everything. Saving my life, I mean."

Harry blinked. "Anytime," Dudley nodded, and looked away. Feeling uncomfortable, Harry finally headed to the door, Ashley waiting patiently.

Ashley smiled, and they slowly walked back to the park bench. Harry was pondering Dudley's strangely kind farewell, until Ashley flipped her cellphone out again, interrupting his thoughts. "We've got five minutes before two thirty. Andy's always early, so we shouldn't have to wait long."

"Who's Andy?" Harry asked, adjusting his suitcase between his legs.

"He's one of my older brothers. I've got a lot of siblings." Ashley smiled, looking down the road.

"Really, how many-?" he was interrupted, for Ashley had just jumped from the bench, a black SUV with flames approaching them. Ashley walked up to it, and opened the back door.