Chapter 2

Harry woke naturally, and silently. Which was odd. He'd never slept in Vi's world before. He'd never really felt tired for that matter. His visits had always had a dream-like disconnection to them.

Judging by the cloth under in hands, he was pleasantly surprised to find himself in an actual bed. He had honestly expected either to be in the Hospital Wing or charmed awake bound to a chair. He could hear a conversation going on, he figured just outside his room.

"We don't know who he is, Dumbledore!"

"True, but has he done anything wrong?"

"That doesn't mean we should trust him."

"And we won't until he proves himself."

"He looks just like James. Why does he look like James?"

There was a silence.

"I don't know. We'll be sure to ask that."

With that the door opened, barely making a noise, but years keeping an ear out for his relatives had trained him well. He wanted to roll off the bed and face his captors, but refrained. He knew and trusted them, even if they didn't reciprocate, yet.

While his heart was yelling at him to leap up and hug all these people, his head noted that might not get a favourable response. Thirdly, his gut... his gut, was confused. Harry trusted his gut, it had gotten him out of more scrapes than it had got him into. Part of it was calling for secrecy, to deflect and evade and escape. The rest was clamouring to come clean and let his father figures deal with it. Suffice to say neither option appealed, he may have never turned to adults much in the past but that was no reason to deceive them now. Without a clear direction from his gut, decided to be honest but not let them deal with him like a child.

When a wand poked him in the side with a gruff, "wake up," Harry's instincts – only half faded from the last year on the run – prompted him to grab it. His hands met nothing.

Frowning, he realised someone had merely hit him with a prodding charm. He shuffled into a sitting position, hands in his lap – non-threatening but also not threatened. His act of self control was rather marred by the fact he couldn't see anything more than blurs. How could anyone say he had his mother's eyes when he was as blind as his father?

"Okay, I'm awake. May I have my glasses back?"

With a grunt, as if returning a deadly weapon, a black smear floated towards him and landed in his lap. With a nod and a muttered thank you, he donned them to look at his welcoming party.

And froze. It was one thing to hear their voices, quite another to see their faces. Dumbledore, James, Sirius and Moody. Great, all dead people. Dead people who were looking right at him.

Dead in his world at least. He knew that he hadn't even made it to two in this world, so he was willing let it go. Though, he was sure he'd heard his mother's voice as well.

Suddenly he knew it was going to be very difficult to maintain his composure.

"Is this for real? You can actually see me?" Harry immediately cursed himself for speaking without thinking.

Dumbledore twinkled, though with a small frown, "Yes, we can, my boy. Do you have a history of invisibility?"

The question was so ridiculous that Harry couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, for a few years now. It comes and goes. I get it from my father."

"Fascinating," Dumbledore replied, and knowing him, already had a half-polished guess of who Harry was. "Now I believe introductions are in order. I am Albus Dumble-"

Harry held up a hand, "Sorry. No real need. As you may have guessed, I've met you all before. You didn't see me but I was there. Before we go any further, since this is a family matter, I would request that Moody leave."

"Now see here! You're in no position to make demands, boy."

Harry just looked blandly at Moody, after seeing both Riddle and Dumbledore at their worst, the scarred ex-auror didn't really faze him.

"I'm unarmed, and it's a reasonable request. Or do you think two aurors and a battle transfiguration master are worth nothing compared to yourself?"

Moody gave a muffled scream of barely controlled rage and, at a look from Dumbledore, stomped out of the room. Harry caught a glimpse of deep red hair before Moody slammed the door shut again. Seems Lily was eavesdropping.

Dumbledore seemed to consider him for a moment before nodding and beginning to cast a series of security wards and privacy charms. Harry wondered if he'd been legilimenced, the headmaster probably had a much defter touch that Snape or Riddle. And he'd never got the proper hang of occlumency anyway.

He took the chance to properly examine James and Sirius. He generally met with Vi when she was feeling lonely, so he'd hadn't got to see his parents that much. Part of why he still found the mirror and his album so enthralling.

His first thoughts were about their ages. They looked the same age, which was a ridiculous thought, since they were. But he'd always thought of his father as the age he died, and Azkaban had aged Sirius so much. Before him stood two thirty-ish year olds, in their prime.

"Now that is just the four of us, and we have our privacy, would you mind sharing your story with us, my boy?" Dumbledore asked from a fluffy wing-back he'd conjured at some point while Harry was reminiscing.

"Well, if this wasn't the first time I'd seen you like this I'd think I was crazy, dead or under a forceful illusion by the Death Nibblers. But it isn't, so I don't. Though this is the first time you've seen me, or I've slept here actually." Harry fiddled with his sheets for a second. His gut had settled since choosing this course, though not happily. "I believe I've travelled from an alternate universe, that moves at double speed to here. I've been visiting since I my eighth birthday, almost ten years ago for me, but I think only five for you." He took a deep breath, then looking at Dumbledore (rather than James or Sirius, whose reactions he couldn't bear to watch), said simply, "My name is Harry James Potter."

Utter silence. Dumbledore gave Harry a little nod, whether to say he believed him or had already deduced it, he wasn't sure.

"Liar! Don't you dare use that name."

Unsurprisingly, it was Sirius who broke the silence.

Harry looked past the wand glowing between his eyes, at the face of his ersatz-godfather. He saw a war of emotions – grief and anger most prominent, but just a sparkle of what he thought was hope.

"It is what my parents named me, Padfoot."

Before Harry could try and further defuse Padfoot's anger, James drew himself as confident as Malfoy and spoke.

"I, James Adrian Potter, Head of the Potter Clan, command you, who claim to be Harry James Potter and my clansman, to answer my questions truthfully, until I release you. So mote it be."

As James spoke a foreign warmth encased Harry, then poured through him. Down his spine, under his hard-won occlumency shields – however weak they were – making his blood tingle. So engrossed in the feelings he almost missed the soft golden light linking him and James.

"What the hell was that?"

James' bearing slipped for a second, "Me invoking the Potter family magics, didn't your father teach you anything?"

"No, he was murdered before I turned two," Harry replied before he could help himself. Okay, password activated veritaserum, was that even possible? Well his gut was right about one thing, he wouldn't be lying apparently.

After that revelation, James' façade shattered, revealing nothing so much as horror.

"By who?"

"Tom Riddle," seeing no recognition, Harry clarified, "Voldemort."

That seemed to knock everyone back on track.

"Who was your father."

"James Potter."

James frowned, obviously not getting the answers he wanted. "And your mother?"

"Lily Potter nee Evans."

"What is your name?"

"As I said, Harry James Potter." Seemed whatever spell James had cast, unlike veritaserum, still allowed Harry a little attitude with his answers.

"Who are your siblings?"

The magic swirled inside, as Harry thought about who were his siblings. Violet, definitely – did that make Leo his too? Hermione and Ron, yes; Neville and Luna? The Weasleys?

"Not sure. Violet, Hermione and Ron at least." More puzzled looks but a thoughtful frown from Albus.

"How did you find Violet?"

"I heard her calling me for help, so I apparated to her. Felt really odd though. Appeared above Violet, got a hex in before apparating the two of us out of there."

"Why did you rescue Violet?"

The look James received for that question communicated quite a lot, but whatever magics that had been invoked required a verbal response.

"Because my sister called when she was in danger."

"James," Dumbledore interrupted, "I believe you should release your invocation. You've proven he is who he says he is, you're coming close to abusing you powers. You know the risks of forcing out secrets this way."

James closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up to rub at the bridge of his nose, a habit Harry never knew they shared.

"You're right. But three more questions. Did you come from an alternate universe?"

"I believe so."

"How long have you been visiting this world?"

"Since my eighth and Vi's sixth birthdays, I think it what we both made our birthday wishes for."

All three gave him weird looks, but then again, only Luna had ever agreed that there might be some truth to the idea of birthday wishes.

"Do you mean any harm to the Potter Clan?"

"No."

James smiled grimly, "Well then. I release you from my questioning. So mote it be."

The tingle in his blood dulled and the warmth cooled as the golden light retracted into James. Strangely, Harry felt himself missing it.

The silence stretched, until once again Sirius broke it.

"So now what?"