Author's Note: Hi guys! I originally intended for this to be a companion, but I like the idea of having them together as a comparison. I hope that you like my idea of who Harry could have been if his parents were alive.
It's been a while, so I apologize for any inconsistencies. I have combed through this chapter as well as I could, but it's always possible that I've missed something. Please read and enjoy!
-ForeverLily
From the end of part 1 (the other Harry's point of view)
Mean while in the burrow:
Harry rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was too early to be out of bed. He closed his eyes again.
"Wakie wakie Ronnikens and company! Mum wants you down for breakfast. Harry groaned and woke up with three red headed boys in the room. What were Ron and the twins doing in his room?
"Go away!"Ron threw a pillow at them. In response the twins assaulted him with pillows.
"Hey what are you doing in my…this isn't my room! And you!" He pointed at them. "What are you doing here?"
"Gred, I think we've broke him!"
In Your Dreams Part 2: The other Harry's point of view
The twins disappeared and Molly Weasley was there in their place. "Harry Dear, is everything alright?" Molly asked as she hurried into her youngest son's room to check on Harry. The boy just backed away from her.
"You're Mrs. Weasley? Why am I here?" He grabbed the nearest object (which happened to be a book called A History of Magic) and prepared to throw it in self defense.
She briskly walked over and grabbed the book before he could do any damage and instinctually felt his forehead. "No fever…" she murmered. "Are you feeling alright? Ron, do you have any idea what's ailing him?"
Ron rubbed the last remainders of sleep out of his eyes as he spoke. "I don't know Mum! He woke up looking really confused and scared. He always looks like that after nightmares, but now he looks REALLY confused and scared. Do you think it's some sort of dark curse Mum? Maybe Snape got to him before we left."
"Ronald Weasley, you know better than to talk about your Professor like that! I'm sure that Professor Snape did nothing of the sort! I didn't feel a fever, but perhaps he has come down with something."
"I am not sick! For the last time, I have no idea where I am or how I got here and I need to leave. I warn you, kidnapping me wasn't a brilliant idea-my Father's a policeman and he'll arrest you! I don't know what he did to upset you, but you have to let me go!"
She opened her mouth to respond when her husband walked in. "Did I hear someone talking about policemen?"
"Oh, hello Arthur dear. Harry seems to catching something. He threatened me and said that his father was one of those muggle policemen!"
"I suppose that would make sense if he is feverish, considering that he was raised by muggles. They're like aurors you know, and how they make do without magic is absolutely astonishing!"
"For the last time, I am not sick! One minute I was in my bed at Godric's Hollow and the next I'm in Ron Weasley's room!"
Suddenly both adults went rigid. "How did you hear about Godric's Hollow, Harry?" Arthur asked carefully.
The boy sighed in exasperation and ran his hands though his hair in frustration. They just weren't getting it and he didn't know what else he could possibly say. "I grew up there! Why wouldn't I know where my own family lives?"
"Lives? Harry dear, you really must be ill. I'll go fetch madam Pomfrey and she'll have you feeling better in no time."
Molly and Arthur looked at each other with concern slightly shadowed by suspicion. Had Harry been cursed? He had claimed to have dreams about You-Know-Who… "Alright then Harry, why don't you go downstairs to have breakfast? I need to have a word with Arthur, and then we'll be right down. I'm sure we can get this whole situation straightened out."
The boy just gaped at him. Either they were terrible kidnappers or something else happened to him. His heart was hammering in his chest in anticipation and dread of finding out what was to become of him.
Despite his doubts of the sincerity of the woman and the man claiming to be Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he did as he was told and went down to the table. The rest of the Weasley clan was sitting at the table. All conversation stopped the moment that he walked in and they diverted their eyes to their plates of food.
Finally Ron sat down his fork, an action which convinced him that he had been kidnapped because Ron never let anything distract him from his food.
"Are you sure you're alright? Did you have another nightmare, mate? I know sometimes I forget where I am when I wake up from one that's really bad. The one about those spiders…I still wake up thinking that I'm in the forbidden forest some nights…" What was that about? He seemed genuinely concerned for Harry.
"I think so, yeah. This is all just some dream. I'm going to wake up…right?" He said under his breath.
"Maybe we really did break him, Fred."
Something just seemed to click and Ron exclaimed. "Do you think that maybe You Know Who did something and that's why you're so confused?"
"You Know Who?" Who was You Know Who?
Ron took a huge bite of eggs and nodded. "Yeah, mayfee …" he said with his mouth full.
"That's disgusting Ron!" Ginny made a face. "Can't you be civilized?"
"I am civilized!" Ron belched, and then blushed a shade of red nearly has bright as his hair.
Ginny turned to face Harry. "What if he's right? This isn't good- You're clearly not yourself."
"And he can't be an imposter. Everyone knows that his parents are dead. That's why he's the boy who lived!" One of the twins said.
"The Chosen one." The other twin chimed in.
"Honestly Ronald, you really should know better." A twin said in what sounded like an imitation of Hermione, although Harry had no idea if he even knew Hermione.
"They have a point." Ginny nodded in agreement and put down her fork. "They'd have to be mad to think we'd never suspect anything. That leaves Voldemort and illness. Illness seems more likely because his scar isn't hurting!"
"How did you know about his scar hurting?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Who hasn't noticed? When he suddenly starts rubbing his head right around where his scar is and starts hissing in pain people are bound to notice, especially since he said that he saw Dad the night he was attacked. That's how he saved him." What were they talking about?
"What scar? The only scar I've got is from that time I went sledding with Hermione and ran into a tree."
Nobody else had a chance to say anything because Molly and Arthur Weasley walked in. "Alright children, that's enough. Harry is unwell and we need to get to Madam Pomphrey as soon as possible." Arthur announced.
"Why not St. Mungos?" A twin asked.
"We trust Madam Pomphrey to be more discreet."
"I'm coming too! He's my best mate. I can't let him go alone!" The worried parents communicated wordlessly through stares and finally gave in.
"Oh, very well then. You two," Mrs. Weasley looked straight at the twins, "Try to stay out of trouble until we're back."
"Come on Harry dear. We'll be flooing there." Did he hear that right? "Have you forgotten? I know that the muggle's house was probably never connected to the floo network. Just take a handful and say Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry Headmaster's Office."
Unbelievable, that sounded like something out of one of his stories. Even so, did as they said and nearly had a panic attack when he found himself somewhere other the Weasley's house.
The office was filled all sorts of bobbles and knickknacks and portraits that he could swear moved. It was disorganized with books stacked haphazardly and random items on nearly every surface, but it was probably the most fascinating place he had ever been in.
"Ah, hello there Mr. Potter . Molly, Arthur, how are you?"
"Of course we're worried about Harry, but otherwise we're fine. We are about to take him to Madam Pomphrey, but we would like to have a word with you first."
"Ah yes, please have a seat my dear boy. Lemon drop?" Harry shook his head no. He had always hated lemondrops. He thought they reminded him of furniture polish. "Very well then, please have a seat. We have much to discuss, and not nearly enough time-but I fear that nearly always seems to be the case."
"Now Harry, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
"Well…" He didn't know what else to say.
So instead it was Mrs. Weasley that spoke, "We think he's sick Albus. When he woke up he didn't know where he was-he had even forgotten about his scar!"
"And professor, he thinks he's a muggle! He said his dad is one of those…um…what was it Dad. Polyzmen?" Ron chimed in.
"Police men," Arthur corrected. "They're like aurors."
"I see. Harry, what is the last thing you remember?"
"I was in my bed at Godric's Hollow. When I woke up I was in Ron Weasley's bedroom! We were friends, but not best friends or anything, so I've never slept over at his house."
Ron winced. Did he think that they were best friends? He seemed to recall Ron having other friends. There was Ernie, and Seamus, and Neville-he seemed to be pretty close to them. So why would he need to imagine that he had a closer friendship with Harry?
"I see…" the headmaster seemed to be considering what everyone had said. "Harry, do you know your parents."
Was he serious? Of course he knew his parents. "Yeah…they're my mum and dad, of course I know them."
"Can you please tell me something about them?" Why would that matter? It didn't help anyway.
"My mom is a Pharmacologists-"
"Could please explain exactly what that is?"
"She, erm, works with medicine, and my dad is is a police officer. He loves sports and apparently had a mischievous streak-that was why Mum wouldn't date him until they were both seventeen. She told me once that she loved Dad because he was so different from anyone else she knew, although she never would have known if she hadn't agreed to go on a date because of Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus."
Why was Harry here in this strange office answer basic questions about his parents? It was all so overwhelming.
While Harry was sitting in his seat completely overwhelmed, Albus Dumbledore was starting at the boy, puzzled. The boy's eyes told Albus that he was telling the truth. It wasn't a trick, or a pitiful attempt at impersonation. He genuinely seemed to believe that his parents were alive and that he was a muggle. How curious…what was even stranger was that the facts did match. His parents did indeed live in Godric's Hollow, his father was the wizarding equivalent of an auror and he could only assume that his mother was some sort of healer or the equivalent of some sort of Potion Master. These were details that to his recollection, nobody had ever told the boy. There was one thing he asked that may help him to come to a more solid conclusion.
"May I ask a question that you may find odd."
Harry stared at him for a moment. Did he not consider those questions odd? "Okay."
"What does the entrance to your house in Godric's Hollow look like on the inside?"
"The floors are a dark hard wood and the walls in the entrance were red with gold trim, although the floors used to be marble. Dad told me once that his ancestors had built the entrance that way it was too impress visitors and to show off their money."
After a long period of eye contact with the Headmaster, the headmaster spoke, this time with a conclusion that wasn't nearly as shocking as it should have been. "I believe myself to be a well read man, and I have come across many strange things in my reading. About 30 years ago a man wrote a book discussing the possibility of dimension travel. When you come to be my age you will find that nothing is impossible, and I believe that you are living proof that his theories are correct."
"So you're saying that he is Harry, but isn't?" Ron exclaimed. "But dimension travel can't be possible! If it was, wouldn't loads more people have done it?"
"Mr. Weasley, perhaps there are no records because dimension travel is not to be taken lightly."
Ron had the grace to look embarrassed and was uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes.
Unconsciously, Harry ran his fingers through his hair. Although it was highly unlikely, he supposed that science hadn't ruled out the possibility. Hermione was liked to say that unless something is proven otherwise, it's not impossible because there's always more to discover. Maybe he wasn't all that great with science, but he usually trusted Hermione's judgment and he knew exactly what she would say about this. Besides, those people looked exactly like his classmate Ron's family. Sure, it would be coincidence if just one of them looked like a Weasley, but all nine Weasley's were just too much. "That does make sense, considering that I didn't wake up where I fell to sleep and everyone seems to have such different memories from me…"
"That is only to be expected my dear boy."
"So then Mr-erm-Professor, what do think has happened to the other me?"
"It would only be logical to assume that he is where you came from."
Molly and Arthur Weasleygasped, and Molly hesitantly asked, "Do mean that he's with…with…his parents?"
"I believe so."
"That's wonderful news, Albus. This means that he is safe and has a once in life time opportunity!" Arthur exclaimed with genuine joy. Just who were these people to Harry's other self? It was clear that they were just more than the mere acquaintances that they were to Harry.
"What do you mean once in a life time? Where are my parents?"
"Albus," Mrs. Weasley started.
"Yes my dear?"
"Perhaps we should have someone who he is a bit more familiar with tell him."
They shared a hesitant, meaningful look that told Harry that the news couldn't be good. Were they sick? Had one of them been in an accident. Dread gnawed at his stomache as he considered those possibilities. If something bad had happened to them, what had happened to Uncle Sirius? To Uncle Remus? "What's happened to Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius?"
"Perhaps you're right, let me fire call headquarters."
All in all it was a very startling experience involving a talking head forming in the fire place. The head sounded exactly like his uncle Remus. He seemed pleased at the prospect of company. Harry wondered if that would change when he found out who Harry was.
Getting to this 'headquarters' ended up involving some form of teleportation that they called side along apparation. It wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded, it turned out, because he felt like his insides were sucked through a narrow tube. He hated the sensation, but had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he experienced the sensation..
They apparated a street a way and then they showed Harry an address. "Memorize this."
They showed up at the door and were asked questions about their identity. Why were these people so paranoid?
"It is I, Albus Dumbledore."
"And I, Molly Weasley.
"How do we know that you are Albus Dumbledore?" Uncle Remus' voice asked.
"My favorite jam is Rasberry."
"And how do we know that you're Molly Weasley?" Uncle Sirius' voice asked.
"Before the term started we had a discussion about whether or Harry should be inducted into," she lowered her voice, "into the order."
"Come in!" They opened the door, but Harry found himself unable to move. Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus looked so different. They looked so worn. Wrinkles lined their faces and both had the same shadows rimming their eyes and and wrinkles beginning to surface. Suddenly Harry didn't want to know about what had happened to his other self. If it was bad enough to age them that badly it must have been terrifying.
"Hello Harry, what'd you do to convince them to let you leave school?" His Uncle Remus whispered in a rather loud stage whisper. "It must have been good."
"Um…"
He eyed Harry with concern. "Are you alright Harry? You look different."
Mrs. Weasley put both hands on Harry's shoulders, trying to comfort him. Harry welcomed it because he needed the reassurance. "Hello Remus. Perhaps you'd best sit down…" And then turned towards Ron, "Ronald Dear, perhaps we should give them some privacy. You'll firecall us when your visit is over?"
"Of course. Thank you Molly." She nodded and affectionately ruffled Harry's hear. "Don't worry, everything will be fine, you'll see." And then they were out the door.
He looked at him questioningly and listened with wide eyes as they told his story.
"My name is Harry James Potter, but I…" how do you go about telling your uncle that you're not really his nephew? "I'm not from here. I'm…it's complicated."
"Take your time Harry,"Uncle Remus said kindly.
Harry took a deep breath, "I'm really Harry Potter, but I'm not YOUR Harry Potter. Professor Dumbledore says that I'm from another universe, one where Mum and Dad are alive and this magic stuff doesn't exist."
They looked positively flabbergasted. "That isn't possible. Dimension travel is impossible. If you can't even travel through time for more than a few hours, how on Earth could you have ended up in another dimension? I think it's far more likely that your memory has been tampered with," Remus pointed out. For some reason it really hurt that his uncle didn't believe him. Logically he knew that this wasn't his uncle. He wasn't a moron or anything, but it was hard to separate the face, no matt how worn, from that of his uncle Remus.
"You have to believe me! Uncle Remus, please, just tell me what it would take for you to believe me!"
Suddenly a look dawned on his Uncle's face. It was one that he knew well-this one meant that he had an idea. "You said that you live with your father and mother, so tell me about your life."
"My father inherited Godric's Hollow from his parents a year before I was born. Mum was Pregnant and thought that it would be nice to raise her children in the same place that Dad grew up, so they moved when they found out that Mum was pregnant. They rushed the work on the house so that it would be ready before I was born. They changed the entrance from marble to hardwood and fixed it up a little bit." If the headmaster thought that the descripton of the house was important, they probably would too. "The general theme of the house is red and gold, unless you count the bedrooms, which we decorated however we wanted. Dad said that he didn't want to change anything too much." He stopped to see their reactions. When he saw their stunned silence he decided to continue. "Dad is a police officer and mum is a pharmacist, so they kind of balance each other out. They always say that's why they make such good parents."
"What did they do?"
Did magical people really know this little about normal people? Harry was frustrated because he felt like he had to repeat the same conversation that he had with headmaster, only with more explanations. "Dad arrests criminals and Mom makes medicine. He's the sort of person who can't sit still for long and likes to dive in head first, so he was the one who taught me how to play basketball and took me skydiving once."
"Sky diving? I can't imagine that Lily liked that much." Remus laughed. "She always hated that heights and was very overprotective of you as baby. It took some convincing for her to let your ride the toy broom Sirius you for your first birthday."
A sudden rush of homesickness hit Harry like a baseball to the head. "Yeah, she didn't speak to dad for the rest of the day." He ran his fingers though his hair in a decidedly James like fashion (that was what his Uncle Remus always said). "Dad was great about doing stuff like that, but mum gives the best advice. Dad's personality is different from mine, so sometimes his suggestions don't work like Mum's do."
"Yeah?" For some reason his Uncle Remus seemed to be enchanted by the story. Perhaps that wasn't quite right, but his eyes shone with something that he couldn't quite identify. Was it longing? He took a closer look him and realized that he didn't just look worn. He looked bone tired and his clothes, though clean, looked old and faded-the Uncle Remus that he knew would never be seen out in public in these clothes! It was clear that time hadn't been kind to him. This realization made it easier to separate Uncle Remus from, well, this Remus.
"Yeah. Mum was ecstatic when she met Hermione. She said something about her being a good influence on me. For the first month she made all of her best snacks and tried to do as many fun things with Hermione possible to convince her to stick around. I was pretty mad," Harry smiled, "But Hermione and I had a good laugh about it later. Dad still brings it up to get a rise out of her sometimes."
"I believe you." Remus finally said. "Wizard or muggle, our personalities don't change, only our ability. Your description of Godric's Hollow is spot on and it is clear that you truly know Lily and James Potter. Muggle or not, I can't imagine them being any other way."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that you believe me, can you please tell me what happened here?" He said more desperately than he would have liked. Begging for information was not how he pictured this meeting going.
"You may want to sit down while I go and fetch us some tea," Remus said kindly. "I'm afraid that you may not like what you hear."
Harry inhaled the comforting aroma of the hot tea and slowly sipped it with more appreciated that he had ever had in the past. Tea reminded him of warmth and comfort.
"Where do I begin? I suppose I should start with your parents…" He said thoughtfully, "Your mother and father were both magical, although your father was born to two magical parents and your mother was born into a non magical family. Among wizards that made their marriage controversial among some groups."
"I don't understand…"
"There are some people in the wizarding world who believe that anyone with muggle blood is inferior. I think your mother may have compared them to a group called the Nazis?"
Harry nodded. That didn't sound too far off the mark.
"This attitude was perpetuated by a war. As children we were safe because we attended Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Who was the war with?"
"It was between us and followers of someone who calls themselves Lord Voldemort, who believes that the only people worth living are those who come from a long line of Wizards.
Your parents got married young because that's we all did-we lived for the moment because that was all we had. You were born on July 31 and soon after your parents went into hiding because of a prophecy. I don't know the prophecy in it's entirety, but the Dark Lord believed that it made you threat to him. He attacked you and your parents on Halloween and they died trying to defend you. Somehow you survived and the dark lord was temporarily defeated. Sirius, your godfather, was so livid so went after the one who gave away your parent's location and ended up being blamed for the crime and you were sent to live with your Aunt and Uncle until you started Hogwarts. You were targeted by dark wizards and have suffered so much. You are far to young to have seen the things you've seen." Remus said regretfully. "I'm glad that you at least have Hermione and the Weasleys to support you."
"What do you mean?"
"You've faced the Dark Lord, watched a fellow student's murder, and your godfather was lured out of hiding and killed." Horror washed through Harry and suddenly, he could feel goosebumps forming up and down his arm. His parents were dead. His godfather was dead. They were beginning a war with him on some Dark Lord's most wanted list. Traveling to a new dimension could have been a cool experience, but this place seemed like a dark, hellish shadow of his home. Nothing was right there. Nobody that he cared about except for Hermione and Remus were alive. He really just wanted to go home.
Remus seemed to realize how upset Harry was feeling because he patted his knee. "Now, enough of this. Tell me about you."
"Um…Dad always says that I got the best traits from him and Mum. I look like Dad and play basketball like him, but I like to read, especially fantasy. I know Hermione back home-she's my best friend! We met because we both didn't have someone to sit with in the seventh grade because she had just moved there and my best friend had moved away. She saw me doing homework and came over to ask if I needed help. We've been friends ever since. She's really smart, but she can be too!" He figured that Remus would want to know about the Weasleys, since he apparently was good friends with them. "I know Ron, but we're not close. We'll talk sometimes in class, but that's it. I don't like the way that he treats Hermione."
A wistful smile played across Remus' lips. "In many ways you resemble your father, and yet you're so different. He valued loyalty more than anything else and it's clear that you do too, although he probably would have made the poor boy's life hell."
Talking about his parents only made him miss them more. Suddenly it struck him, what if he couldn't go back? "Will I ever see them again?"
"Harry, we don't exactly know how this happened, but I promise that we will find a way to send you back."
"Promise?" Suddenly Harry felt like a four year old who just wanted his mum. He wished that she could make everything alright like she seemed to do when he was little.
"Promise." Remus assured him.