Title: ???

Author: ex-LongLongHair

Author's email: twelveeyes@hotmail.com

Category: mystery, sci-fi, romance

Keywords: Harry Potter, AU

Spoilers: All books

Rating: PG-13

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

Author's Notes: Thanks to the people who bullied me into writing something of a more "serious" nature.

This world, the Silicon Valley, 2014

Melissa grinned. Hell, this was a good job – lots of money, internet, anime … it had everything except for her mother's satay and her friends. She leaned back in her chair and surveyed the air-conditioned room around her. It was furnished mostly in that ghastly office beige that no one had thought to get rid of when the 22nd generation of computers had come out. It didn't matter, though. All that mattered was the money and power that came from being Microsoft's best programmer. Why exactly Bill Gates wanted Melissa to make a completely anime Windows interface was beyond her, but then, people had said he was crazy when he originally created Windows.

The speakers directly in front of her jingled out the tune that was used to signify an incoming phone call. "Hello?" Melissa said, adjusting the microphone headset that she had on for 8 hours a day.
"Melissa? It's Sue here. I've just discovered something really important that I have to show you." Sue's voice was loud, clear and definitely excited.
"Really?" Melissa said – it might just be another one of those bothersome fractals – or even worse, a new mathematical equation.
"Yes! It's something infinitely more exciting than that new soapie on HBO!" Sue said, nearly squealing. "You've got to come at once!"
Melissa sighed and looked at her watch. It was close enough to midday to take her lunch hour and a half. "Sure. I'll be at your place in 15 minutes." She said, and hung up before Sue could reply.

Melissa was buzzed into the office building by the porter. Everyone knew who the famous programmer was from sight. She was tall, dark and very beautiful. She was also very, very smart. Not a single man in the Silicon Valley had so far managed to be invited back to her house. There were whispers that her friendship with her ex-schoolmate Sue was more than a friendship, but they were only whispers after all. Nothing could touch her. Even the police were afraid she'd put her brain to use against them. After all, with a degree in law, a license to practice anywhere in the country, a masters in electronic systems, and several honorary doctorates in various subjects including Mathematical Sciences, Melissa was not a force to be reckoned with.
As she made her way up to Sue's office on the ninth floor, heads turned as she passed, and a path opened in front of her as she walked along the corridor. Melissa glanced to the left and right of her, and shook her head. Really, these people had to realise that she was only human after all. Still, the recognition was nice while it lasted. She curled her lips in a smile as she opened the door and entered Sue's office.
Sue, most definitely Asian, got up from behind her desk and grinned as Melissa came in. "I have the proof here!" she said happily, waving a piece of paper with minute writing on it.
"The proof for what?" Melissa said, frowning slightly. There were a thousand different projects that Sue was working on, some of them quite strange.
"The proof that this isn't a universe!" Sue said again, her eyes bright. "I worked it out this morning."
Melissa tilted her head. "But…don't we?" she said, "There hasn't been proof to say otherwise." She said thoughtfully.
"Yes, but I have it now. Here. It's all there." Sue put the piece of paper down and stabbed it with her finger. "See? We must live in a multiverse. There's no other explanation for that."
Melissa peered at the paper. "Sue, your writing's too small." She said, pulling out her glasses and putting them on.
"I can't help it." Sue said, "I've always written that small."
Melissa waved her away. "I know, I know." Holding the document close to her nose, she perused it carefully, then put it down.
"Well?" Sue asked expectantly.
"Your graphics calculator has been playing up again." Melissa said, deadpan.
Sue frowned. "I didn't use a graphics calculator. Tell me what you think!" she said, staring up at Melissa.
"You're right. This is a multiverse." Melissa sighed. This was going to cause a lot of uproar in a few days time.
"Of course I'm right." Sue said, smiling.
"Well, how are you going to break it to the public, and what are your dumbass employers going to pay you for this discovery?"
Sue thought for a moment. "I don't know." She said slowly, "I was actually thinking of quitting my job here."
Melissa shrugged. "Whatever you want. Just remember that I can probably wrangle you something at Microsoft."
Sue smiled. "Thanks, Melissa."

Melissa entered her office and felt the cool blast of air. She inhaled deeply. Ah, this was the scent of power. And money. Lots of money. Sitting down in front of her computer, she put on her visor and logged in to the system. Having heard Sue's news, Melissa had been thinking. Not just thinking, but Thinking, with a capital T. The multiverse required Thinking about, not just thinking. After the scientific advances they'd made in the past 10 years, popping out of this universe and into another wouldn't be impossible. Sure, the singularity required to swap universes would be a little harder to procure, and a craft that would be able to withstand such forces would also be hard to find, but Melissa was sure she'd be able to whip something up. Why she actually wanted to visit another universe quite escaped her at the moment, but she assured herself it was all in the name of good fun, and also another first step for mankind which she herself was willing to take. After that trip to Venus in her Sue-designed spaceship, Melissa and Sue had gone on to conquer the sun. It turned out that there was nothing particularly interesting about combusting hydrogen, and thus they cut their trip short and returned to Earth for a spot of lunch.

Adjusting her headset, she accessed her private files. In here were the theories and algorithms that had allowed Sue and herself to travel to places that the general public thought impossible. Microsoft had not yet got hold of them, and Melissa was thankful for that. Not quite leading two lives, yet not leading just one either, Melissa was living life a little on the edge. Technically, anything stored on this computer wasn't effectively hers, but belonged to Microsoft. Thankfully they hadn't found out about it yet, and she didn't plan that they would any time soon.
After going through the ones concerning gravitational pull, Einstein's theory of relativity, and that unnamed one that Sue had worked out one night while she was watching Charmed, Melissa contacted her associates working for BHP, and ordered an off-planet construction of a large Buckminsterfullerene cylinder, and several large solar-powered motors. Melissa then emailed her friends at Apple and requested a G3000 with blueberry cover to be delivered to Sue's flat.
It never occurred to her that she might be doing something wrong.

***

The Potter World Mark II, Godric's Hollow, 1994

Harry awoke with a start, flat on his back and breathing hard. His sheets were soaked with his sweat, and there was a burning pain on his forehead. Why he had a headache was beyond him – he'd never had one like that before. Nightmares, yes. But burning pains on his forehead? It was strange, very strange. He was all of fourteen years old. Harry paused. No, it couldn't be cancer. He tried to remember the contents of the dream that had caused his pain, but the images were fading now…there was just some green light, and some mathematical symbols which he hadn't learnt any time during his 9 years of schooling. He sighed and slid out of his four-poster bed, then padded to his parents' room, where the light was shining out from underneath the door.
He listened for a moment, and hearing murmuring noises, he turned the doorknob. Opening the door slowly and carefully so that it wouldn't squeak, he craned his head around it, looking before he spoke. Sweeping his eyes around the room, he saw the candles burning low in their holders, the dresser at which his mother sat at, her hairbrush on the table with a few red hairs caught in it, her chair, with her nightgown and his father's dressing gown thrown over the back of it, and then his dad's bedside table. On the bed, another four-poster with heavy dark green velvet hangings,  he saw his parents. His mother was sitting on his father, her head thrown back with her curly red hair hanging down her back, her neck long and pale. His father was – Harry's eyes widened as he realised what they were doing, and he quickly shut the door, not caring very much about the noise he made. That was scarier than any nightmare…the fact that they were still going at it like mad rabbits after all these years…he was fourteen, after all. Harry shook his head to try and rid it of the images he had just seen.
On his way back to his room, he stopped in to look on his little brother, a year younger than him. Edward was sleeping peacefully; his messy black hair mussed even more by his deep sleep. Harry sighed. Why was it him that had to have the strange dreams, the visions, and worst of all, the girl problems?
Edward had Ginny. That was for sure – they'd played together since they were knee high to a tadpole. There weren't any other female Weasleys of an age to him, otherwise, well, he'd have asked her out a while ago. Hermione was a good friend, but she was going out with Ron. Sometimes Harry felt that she was too smart for him, anyway. There was Cho, of course…she was pretty. But Harry didn't really know what she was like, he had no classes with her, as she was one year above him. He hadn't really spoken to her either… but she was always a possibility. What's more, he had heard from his father that they were going to have a ball at Hogwarts this year…and Harry wanted to have a date.
Sitting on the end of his bed, he stared out of one of the windows in his bedroom and looked at the stars. There was Sirius – not his godfather, but – wait…no, that was Sirius there on the lawn! Harry jumped off his bed and thundered downstairs, not caring who woke up because of the noise. Landing at the bottom of the stairs with a thud, Harry ran to the front door and unlatched it.
"Sirius!" he yelled, his face split by a large smile, "What're you doing here at this time of night?" he asked, waving his godfather in and taking a small suitcase that Sirius was holding (as custom and his father dictates), promptly dropping it as it was too heavy for his scrawny arms yet.
Sirius smiled grimly and took his suitcase back. "I'm here to see your parents, Harry." He looked pointedly at Harry's pyjamas. "I see you weren't asleep yet. Are they?" Sirius peered up the stairs as he said this, to see if they were already coming down.
Harry turned a deep shade of red. "Uh…well…" he said hesitantly.
His parents' bedroom door which was just off the landing swung open. Lily, hair in disarray and eyes glowing, smiled sweetly at Sirius and Harry down below as she belted her velvet wrapper and glided down the staircase.
"Hello, Sirius." She said, "Welcome back." Then, turning on Harry, "What are you doing up, young man? You should be in bed now."
Harry shrugged. "I had another one of those nightmares, mum. I couldn't go back to sleep, and I just saw Sirius outside…" he trailed off and started to climb the stairs.
Lily gave him a hug. "That's okay, muffin. Just hop back in bed now."
Harry nodded and blushed as he ran back upstairs and threw himself into bed.
Sirius looked Lily up and down. "Well. I see you've been keeping yourself busy. Still beautiful as ever, though." He smiled at his best friend's wife.
Lily fluttered her eyelashes and smiled sideways at him. "Why, thank you." She said demurely, laying a hand on his arm.
The door of Harry's parents' bedroom swung open again, and James came out. "Hello, Sirius, old chap!" he said jollily, "How has Scotland found you?"
"Not too bad." Sirius said, "Although Dumbledore does have some matters that he'd like to discuss with you."
"Oh?" James said, raising an eyebrow as he cleaned his glasses on his blue dressing gown.
"Yes. Riddle's made some suggestions, and Dumbledore wants to consult you on the best way to have them put into action. He mentioned something about an exchange program, among other things." Sirius yawned. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm not very alert. D'you mind if I take a bed tonight and tell you all tomorrow?"
Lily smiled. "Of course not, Sirius. Come on, I'll take you up to the cream room. You've always had that one."
Sirius nodded. "Thanks." He said, as Lily led him up the stairs to the room he usually occupied.
That night, everyone slept well. Everyone bar Harry, that is.
Harry sighed and rolled over again. He'd just seen too many strange things today. That morning he saw his brother turn his eyelids inside out. His father had immediately stopped him, but those blood vessels…and then tonight, he'd had that dream. The details were becoming fuzzier by the second, but the memory of the burning pain on his forehead was still sharp. After that, his parents on the bed…just thinking about it brought back bad images. And finally, Sirius turning up unexpected, just as he'd seen the star he was named after in the night sky. Harry pondered some more. Finally, he felt the haze of sleep come upon him…and then he was drifting…

Harry was back in Hogwarts, back for the school year. But which school year? He looked down as his feet, tracing patterns in the stone as a voice droned on. Harry looked up again. It was Professor Riddle, a kind of…mentor. A tutor, of sorts. It was said that he was the first in the history of Hogwarts, and that was saying something. He wasn't one of the normal staff who was on the faculty…he didn't teach a specific subject – instead he excelled at all. Some said his talent was wasted, tutoring students and basically overseeing the running of Hogwarts. Others said that he should have been made Headmaster several years ago. The truth was that Dumbledore had offered Riddle the running of the school, but Riddle had declined, saying he preferred to be able to come and go as he pleased. The students all loved him, and the teachers – not just the female ones, had a crush on him. There were rumours that he kept a seventh year girl as his lover, others felt that it was not just girls that he kept. A particularly strong romantic whisper was the one that said he loved a princess, and vowed never to love again. The equally strong counter-whisper said that all girls were silly bints and should never open their mouths in public. Riddle did not, as such, love anyone yet. He himself said that he put all his time and energy into the betterment of Hogwarts, and did not have time for such follies. Harry went through the latest rumours as Professor Riddle talked on. He seemed to be saying something about saving the world, and to do what the gods had ordained for him. Harry shrugged. What the gods wanted him to do wasn't his problem – he figured that they'd get their way one way or another. Professor Riddle's voice broke through his reverie again.
"When the time comes, Mr Potter, you will have to do the unimaginable. Remember, what is unimaginable does not have to be imagined. You will face hard times, but you will get through them to see a better day."
Harry nodded slowly. "Yes, sir." He said, as he slowly turned around and walked out of the room. Almost immediately he bumped into Cho.
"Oh!" he said, "Sorry!" as he bent down to pick up her books which she had dropped.
Cho smiled at him. "That's okay, Harry."
Harry blushed. "D-d'you want to go out with me?" he said, a little quickly.
Cho beamed. "Of course, Harry. But why go out when we can stay in?" with a mischievous smile on her face, she led him to a deserted corridor, where there was an empty broom cupboard.
Harry turned red. "Uh, Cho?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"What're we doing here? Isn't it against the rules?" he asked, a little flustered.
Cho smiled at him again. "Harry, do you think rules really matter?"
"Well…"
Cho pulled him into the open cupboard. "Just as long as you know what you're doing is right." She whispered against his ear.
Harry shivered. "Yes, I know that already, but why are we in a broom cupboard?" he asked.
"Because." Cho grinned in the darkness, "I wanted to show you this." She moved closer to him, her hot breath on his cheek.
Harry's mind raced for a moment before he came to a conclusion. "Oh." He said, "Oh! I get it! You-"
"Shh." Cho said, putting a finger against his lips, "No talking." She bent down to kiss him, and in the distance he heard a bell ringing. "Damn!" she swore, "That's the fire drill bell. Trust Filch to have one now." She grumbled, picking up her bag and exiting the cupboard. "So sorry, Harry." She smiled regretfully at him, "Maybe next time."
Harry was left standing in the cupboard, slightly stunned. The bell kept on ringing. Next time? There was going to be a next time…

Harry woke up, this time with a satisfied smile on his face. Cho had dragged him into a broom cupboard and was going to snog him…when the fire bell rang. Harry frowned. He could still hear it now. What the hell was it? Reaching out with his right hand, he found his alarm clock on his bedside table, vibrating and making a ringing noise. That would be it. He slapped it hard, and it stopped. Harry sighed.

"Ah, well." He muttered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Time to get up." He said to himself, pulling some clothes out of his walk in wardrobe and dressing himself quickly, not bothering to comb his hair.

***