A/N. This story was written for EnchantedWonders18 hosted by Marvelously Magical Fanfiction FB page. It's a companion piece to "After the Fall" — reading of which is recommended, but not strictly necessary.
Huge thanks my amazingly talented alpha/beta reader Insanity-Red.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling; The Avengers and all related characters belong to Marvel. I'm merely playing in their sandboxes.
Before the Rise
Zen-Whoberi, Silican System, Milky Way Galaxy
"I still can't believe it. I was a bloody Father Christmas!"
Harry picked up a stuffed troll with a red bow around its neck from a pile of toys, and set it back down. He and Wanda had just accidentally discovered a Room of Requirement—on an alien planet, of all places, in a mansion that belonged to them. The other them.
"You mean Deda Mraz*?" Wanda teased as she leafed through a dust-covered book she'd pulled out of a cupboard.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Right."
He wandered further into the large room filled with books, toys, furniture, and Merlin-only-knew what else.
"At least our counterparts were not evil," she said reasonably, placing the book back in the cupboard.
Harry couldn't agree more. If the other them had been evil, he and Wanda wouldn't have received the warm welcome back that they had, and would likely be in a lot of trouble. Honestly, given his luck, he was surprised things hadn't happened that way.
"Bringing joy to the children," Wanda continued, analyzing a corked bottle whose contents shimmered brightly, "to the people who suffered at the hands of Thanos . . ."
As it always happened whenever she spoke of Thanos, an almost-palpable sadness descended upon her. She quickly turned away and began walking past a large pile of toys, her fingers splayed; scarlet tendrils floated from them and all across the room.
Harry recalled the first time he'd met Wanda—just as confused as him, shaking violently from the bitter cold, with long plains of snow and ice the only things to be seen in every direction. Thankfully, Wanda's strange red mist marked her as a non-Muggle, even if not the kind of witch he was used to. Either way, it let them skip over the typical reaction of disbelief and hysterics—not to mention the possible legal trouble—when he'd used a spell to point them towards civilization.
Together they'd stumbled upon a village inhabited by thousands of tiny beings that reminded Harry of house elves. Stranger than that, the elf-creatures had greeted them with familiarity and open arms, practically jumping with glee—and squeaking about how 'the beloved masters have risen from the dead!'
Things had only gotten weirder since. Not only had they discovered that they'd somehow been transported to an alien planet populated by a race of humanoids with light-green skin, but also that he and Wanda—or doppelgangers of them, perhaps—had been playing Mr and Mrs Claus for them. It was totally surreal to see the collection of moving pictures, all populated by Harry and Wanda, dressed in things they'd never worn, helping these 'elves' they'd never seen before—kissing and acting the happy couple, as though they weren't complete strangers.
Harry had felt a split-second of panic. Had he actually gotten married and eloped with Wanda to an alien planet? Were the pictures the truth, and his memory tampered with? Magic was wonderful and all, but it opened up a lot of horrifying possibilities.
But then, he'd looked in a mirror, and seen no evidence of the passage of time that had been shown in the photos. No scars or aches of old joints, or even a light patch of skin where a ring might have rested. And age was one of the trickier things to alter with magic, so he'd settled into finding another explanation.
Wanda, who'd recently spent a lot of time with scientific types, had been the one to come up with the most likely explanation. Harry still had a hard time comprehending that parallel universes were actually real, and that he was currently in one, living out his counterpart's life. He often thought that he had to be dreaming, or hallucinating. Or mental. But that would also mean that Wanda was mental too—and chances of two people going mental at the same time, in the same way, were slim to none.
"What is this?" asked Wanda, interrupting his thoughts.
Harry looked up. "Oh, it's a Probity Probe—a type of Dark Detector. You just wave it in front of a person to detect concealment spells or hidden magical objects."
She made a disgruntled noise and placed the object back down. "Do you have a more exact idea of what we are looking for?"
"No, but whatever we need will be in here," replied Harry with a sigh, eyeing the Vanishing Cabinet and a pile of broken furniture. "Like I said, the Room of Requirement only appears—"
" —when a person is in great need of it," Wanda finished. "Yes, you have said."
"And when the Room showed up for us, it was just as we were discussing a way to stop Thanos."
Wanda sighed, but something like determination settled and solidified behind her eyes. "Which means that something to save half of the universe will be in here."
She closed her eyes, and the scarlet tendrils coming out of her hands whirled and intensified.
"I sense something," she said, abruptly opening her eyes and starting in the direction of a large statue of a unicorn.
"What is it?" Harry set a rubber duck down and followed her.
"Something familiar," said Wanda, stopping in front of another cupboard filled with jewellery. "Like an Infinity Stone."
She pulled out a small, silvery-green drawstring pouch. It was hung on a long string, evidently intended to be worn around the neck.
"That's a mokeskin pouch!" Harry said. "I have one exactly like it back home."
And then, seeing the questioning look on Wanda's face, he explained, "They're rare. Basically, you can hide anything in them, and no one but the owner can get it out."
As if to test his words, Wanda attempted to empty the bag—but all of her attempts, with and without the use of her powers, failed miserably.
"It's brilliant, really," said Harry, chuckling. "I can't think of a better place to hide something I wouldn't want anyone getting their hands on.
"I'm curious, though," he continued, holding a hand out, "if I'd be able to retrieve its contents. If the other me is the one who used this, it's possible."
As it turned out, he could. Inside it was an object that resembled a Time-Turner—but instead of an hourglass in its center, there was a green gem.
"That's the Time Stone!" Wanda exclaimed.
A brief silence settled between them as they both stared at the object.
Wanda was the first to break the silence, already reaching for the gem. "I have to destroy it!"
"What? No!"
She whipped around to face him, her eyes flaring red. "It's the only way to make sure Thanos in this universe can't do what he did in mine—and yours."
"Let's not be so hasty," said Harry, quickly putting the Time-Turner and the Stone back inside the pouch. "Sure, we could destroy it and prevent further death right now. But it's the Time Stone! We might be able to reverse what he's done back home!"
"But we don't know how to use it!" she hissed. "We don't know how to get back. We don't even know if we're . . ."
She trailed off as the Room began to change all around them. The large room, filled with all kinds of things, morphed into a much smaller room with a single, tall shape in the center. It was covered with a large, white sheet.
"—from the same universe," Wanda finished at a murmur, suspiciously eyeing the object in front of them.
She took a step closer and attempted to use her powers to determine the nature of the object.
"What do you feel?" asked Harry.
"I don't—I don't know. Something."
Well, that's helpful, Harry thought.
With no other ideas, he gave a sigh, then flicked his wand to remove the sheet. He wasn't entirely sure exactly what he'd expected to see underneath, but this was not it. It was a tall mirror, encased in rock. An oddly familiar mirror.
"Interesting," he said contemplatively.
"You know what this is?" Wanda asked.
"Not really," he replied. "But Hermione and I found one just like it in an ancient tomb in Egypt shortly before I found myself on this planet."
"Do you think it's like a doorway? Can it take us back?" she asked intensely.
"Well, given the nature of the Room and Requirement and the fact that it began changing to this the moment you said 'We don't know how to get back' . . . That's as good a guess as any."
Wanda crept closer to the mirror, finding a small table beside it—on it was a small device that resembled a TV remote. She exchanged a look with Harry, and when he merely shrugged, she gingerly picked it up. It glowed at her touch, and at the same time, the mirror began to glow as well. Suddenly, it no longer showed their reflections, but something else entirely—a room that looked like a science lab. Wanda tapped the device with her free hand, and the image changed again, this time showing them a moonlit garden.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Wanda, completely focused on the shifting images.
"I dunno," he replied with a slight smirk. "Can't you read my mind?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know that I can't."
She tapped the remote several more times, watching the different scenes flash by. "You said you found a mirror like this in a tomb?" At Harry's nod, she continued, "Would you recognize that place if you saw it here?"
"I think so," said Harry. "But like you said, my home may or may not be your home."
"I'll go with you for now. Maybe this brilliant friend of yours will know how to help me get back."
Harry smiled. "I bet you she would."
If she's still back home, he added to himself, his smile slipping away. There's no guarantee that Hermione wasn't sucked into another universe too.
He couldn't tell how long they stood there—searching for the right place, switching from one view to another as if they were flicking through TV channels—until finally, something caught his attention.
"Stop!" he said urgently.
Wanda froze, her thumb poised over the device. Harry pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and stepped closer, squinting at the image the mirror was showing them. It was a brightly-lit room, and in the center was a table covered in parchment, paper, and electronic devices. Around the table stood three people: a man in a long, dark-red leather trench coat, another man with a red cloak that seemingly moved of its own accord every now and again, and a woman. He could only see her back, but he would recognize that mane of curly, brown hair anywhere.
"Hermione," he whispered.
Yes, but is this my Hermione? a small voice said in the back of his mind.
Harry felt a headache forming. This parallel universe thing was becoming a bit much.
I'm an Auror, not a bloody physicist! he thought with a grimace.
"Is that her?" Wanda prompted. "Your friend?"
He and Wanda could see what was happening on the other side, but there was no audio. Still, from their body language, Harry could tell that the three were in the middle of a heated discussion—or an argument.
"It looks that way, but . . ." he trailed off, when the man in a red cloak caught Harry's eye and all discussion around the table on the other side immediately ceased.
'Hermione' turned around, her expression changing from surprise to happiness to uncertainty in record time. In an instant, she was in front of the mirror and waving her wand at it. Before Harry knew what was happening, she'd walked through it and thrown her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"Harry!" She pulled away, her voice trembling slightly. "I can't believe it's really you."
"Er . . ."
"Oh, right! I reckon you've already figured out the whole thing with parallel universes and are currently uncertain whether I'm really your best friend—or an alternate version of her. There's a spell I could teach you, but for now . . ."
She took a deep breath and began speaking very fast. "Your favourite colour is red. You like to sleep with the windows open, but you rarely do, because you're still paranoid—though you'd never admit to it. Your favourite food is treacle tart. You never take sugar in your tea, and like your coffee black. You always double knot your shoelaces. Your latest scar is located on your left forearm, and you got it when you were working on the Terrell case. Your favorite book—"
Harry stepped forward and returned the hug, cutting her off mid-sentence—if he hadn't been convinced by her knowledge of him, the sheer amount of words she'd just spewed without taking a breath would have done it. "It really is you."
Then, not wanting to be rude, he turned to Wanda to introduce her. "Hermione, this is—"
"Wanda Maximoff," finished Hermione, giving the other woman a small nod. "I met your counterpart in the universe I originally found myself in after . . . It doesn't matter." She held out a hand and smiled. "Pleasure."
Wanda shook it. "Likewise."
"I imagine you two have a lot of questions," Hermione said.
That had to be the understatement of the year!
"Why don't we go to the other side, and I'll explain everything?" suggested Hermione.
Then she grinned. "We've got the universe to save."
"You know me," Harry said wryly. "Never could turn down saving people."
A/N. *Deda Mraz is Santa Claus in Serbia. I imagined that Sokovia, just like any other Eastern European country, would have a different name for Santa. But because it's a fully fictional location in the MCU, it became rather tricky to figure out exactly what that might be. According to the MCU Wiki, Sokovia borders Czech Republic and Slovenia, and uses Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. So I picked a Serbian name for Santa (for no particular reason) and rolled with it :)
As mentioned in "After the Fall," Quantum Mirror was borrowed from Stargate: SG-1.