The first thing Harry became aware of was pressure. There was blackness all around, pushing in on him, rather like apparition only lasting far longer. He couldn't breathe, and started to panic. Maybe this had all been a trap and this was his death. Just as he began to lose consciousness, light and air began to seep back into the world. He became vaguely aware of a circle of people standing around him, wands all directed at him, and a large magic circle drawn on the ground around him.
The world suddenly sharpened into full focus and, still struggling to breathe, Harry collapsed onto a cold stone floor. He looked up blearily trying to fight for consciousness when he was met with a sight he hadn't seen in many years.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry mumbled, confused.
Then, barely registering the look of shock that crossed the Dumbledore-look-alike's face, Harry finally sunk into the blackness around his vision.
Ginevra Molly Weasley, or Ginny, as she preferred to be known, was sitting quietly in the kitchen in the Burrow nursing a cup of tea. Her parents and older brothers had gone to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix leaving her home with her sister-in-law Fleur and baby Victoria. From what she'd managed to overhear her parents saying, having borrowed some of Fred and Georges' extendable ears, this meeting was a big one. Most of the Order was meant to be there tonight. The reason why wasn't entirely clear to Ginny. It had sounded like they were recruiting more help but the wording her mother had used once seemed…odd. Molly Weasley had said Dumbledore was going to 'summon' some help.
Ginny contemplated this word as she sat quietly sipping her tea. Were they perhaps performing some kind of summoning ritual? If so, were they hoping to summon a magical creature to tame that might help with the effort against Voldemort? Or were they simply using fancy language for meeting some people who were from another country, coming to help.
Either way, Ginny didn't understand the point. Since the Boy-Who-Lived had died a few months ago, there seemed to be little hope left of anyone having the power required to take down Voldemort for good.
She sighed as her thoughts turned, as they inevitably always did back to Harry and the empty void that was now one half of her mind. Ginny had been only eleven when she had formed a soul-bond with Harry Potter as he saved her from a Basilisk and the memory of young Tom Riddle, who later became Voldemort. For a few minutes, she and Harry had shared arguably one of the most beautiful magical connections in the world, linking their minds, hearts, and souls together. And then the Basilisk venom had finished its job, and Harry had died right there in her arms. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, had done his best to try heal the wounds caused, but one fang had hit Harry deep in the shoulder, sending the venom into his heart and brain too fast for Fawkes' tears to combat.
After Harry died, Ginny was left, more alone than ever, stuck in the Chamber of Secrets with half of her soul torn away and neither the knowledge or the strength to get out. It had taken nearly an hour for the teachers and her parents to clear a rockfall out of the way to get to the Chamber where they found an inconsolable Ginny weeping over Harry's body.
Ginny tried to think back and remember when she had properly felt happy after that day. No moments seemed to stand out to her. She had become withdrawn from the world, focusing more on her school work than on people.
She tried to imagine what her life may have been like if only Harry had survived. Trying to consider a world where she hadn't met him was no better than the hell she already knew.
He would be here with her, just sitting at the table, complaining about the Order not treating them as adults. Ginny wouldn't feel incomplete, and the void in her mind would be filled with Harry.
She could even imagine what it might feel like to be able to feel Harry's presence again. It would be like a small tug, and a vague impression of... Grimmauld Place?
Ginny bolted upright out of her chair, eyes wide. She could feel Harry! He was very faint, as if some great distance separated them, but she could feel him. Ginny moved quickly into the living room, determined to floo straight to the Order's Headquarters.
Snatching a handful of powder in one shaking hand, she threw it onto the flames and quickly called out,
"12 Grimmauld Place!"
And nothing happened. Ginny cursed colourfully as she remembered they locked the floo down for this meeting.
She stepped back out of the fireplace and started pacing, agitatedly, in front of the couch waiting for her parents to return. Back and forth she paced, not seeing the rest of the room, but focusing inward with all her strength on the gossamer thin connection she could feel to Harry.
How could he be alive? Ginny had been there when he died, she'd felt him disappear from her mind. Unless... She thought back to what she'd heard about this meeting. The Order wanted to summon help. Those were their words, summon, not recruit. Did the Order somehow reanimate her soulmate? Surely, they wouldn't go so far as to use the Dark Arts required to do that. But even if they had, why reanimate Harry? It would make more sense to bring back the Boy-Who-Lived in order to bring down Voldemort, and that had been Neville Longbottom. Unless they didn't mean to bring back Harry and something went wrong.
Ginny didn't know what to think. Thoughts ricochet through her mind faster than she could keep up with as she continued to walk rapidly around the sofa.
Finally, the floo flared up again and Ginny's dad stepped through followed closely by her mum. Arthur looked up to see Ginny waiting and smiled at her.
"Hello there, firefly. Sorry the meeting took so long –"
Ginny cut him off, "Where's Harry?" demanded.
Her parents looked at her, shocked. Molly cast a quick sideways glance at Arthur before responding.
"Harry, dear? Harry who?" she said carefully.
Ginny growled.
"Harry Potter of course! I know he's at headquarters, I can feel him there. How did you bring him back? And why him? I have to see him!" she moved to push past her parents back towards the floo when her father caught her gently around the waist.
"Now, Ginny. Harry can't be at headquarters. He's still where he has been for the last seven years, in Godric's Hollow. We can go visit him tomorrow if you like, leave some fresh flowers," he said quietly.
Arthur sighed to himself as Ginny slumped in his arms and collapsed back onto the couch. He could see her trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall again. He carefully sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Arthur was at a loss about what to say to Ginny. Ever since the horrors of the Chamber in her first year, Ginny had been withdrawn and depressed. She had never shown any interest in dating, despite several boys asking her out, and had made seemingly no attempt at getting over the death of her idol and friend. Every month, she would quietly ask to be taken to his grave in Godric's Hollow where she would leave a small bouquet of flowers; different ones each time.
He had hoped that Ginny would be getting better but now this young man had shown up as a result of the ritual the Order had performed. Dumbledore had been getting desperate. With no candidates left to fulfill the Prophesy, and Voldemort getting stronger every day, Dumbledore had found an ancient ritual to summon a person from another dimension into their own. They had focused everything on getting the Boy-Who-Lived but halfway through, something seemed to change. The ritual had 'shifted', for lack of a better word, and latched onto someone it found more suitable. And that had been this Harry Potter look-alike.
Not knowing how to take this development, Dumbledore had quickly moved the young man into a secure bedroom in headquarters and asked anyone who had been attached to the young Harry Potter to leave until they were sure who they had. As always with the Order, safety came first. Even when you may have just summoned a long dead family member from another world.
A/N: Here is the look into the world Harry has now joined. This has Ginny's history, and should help to explain what happened to this world's Harry. Next chapter, we swap back to Harry again for a time.
