Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.

Thanks for all the great reviews! Here is the next chappie. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

AU World

Dinner was a pleasant affair. Harry hardly ate anything though as he was too busy taking in the people around him. He noticed straight away how cheery and laid back Sirius was. He was different from the Sirius in his world. Of course, losing your best friend and spending twelve years in Azkaban would harden anyone.

Harry watched the scene around him with a strange feelings blossoming inside him. He was sitting at dinner with his parents and Godfather. This was what his life was meant to be like, not being ignored by his aunt and uncle. Harry felt something hit his foot and he jerked up to see Damien looking at him with a frown. He whispered from the corner of his mouth,

"Stop staring! You're going to make it obvious something is wrong."

Harry looked away and focused on his full plate of food and tried to eat something but it was difficult as his appetite had seemingly vanished.

After dinner was over, Damien grabbed a hold of Harry and dragged him upstairs. The adults were happy to leave the two boys alone and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Upstairs, Damien locked the door to Harry's bedroom and let out a sigh.

"Oh God, I didn't think we would make it through the night. I was sure some one would pick up that you were acting strange."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to act." Harry said, genuinely sorry at nearly messing things up.

"No, no, it's okay. You did good, just watch for comments like 'Professor'." Damien replied.

Harry could feel his face heat up at his slip. He ducked his head to save himself some embarrassment.

"What was the deal with that, anyway? Is uncle Moony a Professor in your world?" Damien asked, not noticing the red blush on the other boy.

"He taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in my third year. After that he had to leave since everyone found out he was a werewolf." Harry answered, still feeling bitter resentment towards Snape, who was the one to let the secret out.

Damien looked confused.

"Why does that matter?" he asked.

"I don't know to be honest. Remus said that most parents would object to him teaching their kids, in case he attacked them on full moon. He was the best teacher we had but he was forced to resign because of his, well, his condition." Harry looked up at Damien. "So, he's an Auror in this world?"

Damien nodded his head.

"He joined the same time as dad and uncle Siri. He's been working alongside them ever since they graduated from Hogwarts."

Harry smiled at that. It was nice to know that in this world the Marauders stayed together, with the exception of Peter of course. The thought reminded Harry that he had not learnt what it was Peter had done that caused his departure. He would have to find out during his stay.

"So, who is your Defence teacher now?" Damien asked, taking a seat opposite Harry on the bed.

Harry shook his head.

"I don't know. We have a new teacher every year but no one has lasted more than a year." Harry answered.

Damien's eyebrows rose at that.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Something always happens to them. Some think the job is cursed. It sure seems that way." Harry said pulling his legs up on the bed and settling more comfortably on the 'other' Harry's bed.

"Like what?" Damien asked, intrigued by this.

"Well, the first one was Professor Quirrell. He was a good enough Professor. He only had one problem; Voldemort was sticking out the back of his head."

Damien's eyebrows disappeared underneath his bangs and he spluttered in shock.

"What?!"

"Voldemort was sharing his body, as he was without one himself." Harry explained. "Needless to say Quirrell didn't last very long. He was trying to get to the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that would help Voldemort come back. I don't even know how, but Hermione, Ron and I got involved and we stopped Voldemort before he could succeed. In our second year we got someone named Gilderoy Lockhart as our Professor." Harry waited to see if the name rang any bell to Damien. When Damien didn't show any recognition to the name, Harry continued. "He was a fraud, taking credit for others work and oblivating them afterwards. He was also let go at the end of the year, as he had oblivated himself by accident and couldn't remember anything, not even his own name."

"Oh?" Damien said and Harry could see compassion for the Professor in Damien's hazel orbs.

"Don't feel bad for him. He was trying to oblivate me and Ron because we had brought him into the Chamber of Secrets. He was planning on taking all the credit."

Damien's expression changed.

"Got what was coming to him then." Damien commented.

Harry nodded his head.

"Yeah"

"What is this Chamber of Secrets?" Damien asked with curiosity.

"It's a chamber that was build by Salazar Slytherin. It's an underground chamber, beneath Hogwarts. It was opened in my second year and Ginny as taken into it. Ron and I had gone to help get her out."

Damien blinked at him.

"You…you rescued Ginny?" he asked with barely hidden mirth.

"Yeah, why?" Harry asked with a frown.

"No, it's nothing. Please go on." Damien said, not wanting to say how similar some things were between the two Harrys.

"Third year was the best, Remus came and we actually learnt something. His teachings came in very handy when I was attacked by Dementors. The Patronus charm Remus taught me saved my life, not to mention a few others as well." Harry continued.

"You learned the Patronus charm in your third year?" Damien asked, wide eyed.

"Yeah, but it was only me. I was targeted by the Dementors more than the rest so Remus taught me it during private Defence lessons." Harry replied.

"And what about last year? who was your Professor?" Damien asked, engrossed in Harry's excitement filled life.

It took Harry a moment or two to gather his nerves. Last year was probably the worst, as the end resulted in the death of Cedric and the rebirth of Voldemort.

"Last year, we had Mad-Eye Moody, or I should say, a Death Eater disguised as Moody." Harry told the events of his last year to a wide eyed Damien, going through the re-account of how Bartemis Crouch fooled everyone by polyjuicing into the Auror Moody. Harry told him everything about how he had helped him get through the tournament just so he would be delivered right to Voldemort.

By the end of it Damien was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, wondering what he should say. Finally he managed to speak.

"Merlin, Harry! You've had quite a life at Hogwarts."

Harry looked at the other boy with a regretful expression.

"I would happily swap it. I would do anything for a peaceful life. A life with no Voldemort and no life threatening adventures. I would rather live with a family and do normal things, like the Harry of this dimension." He added.

Damien fought to hide his reaction. With a firmly controlled voice he answered.

"Yeah, sure."

xxx

Lily finished clearing the table and distractedly started on the dishes. Her mind was on Harry and how strangely he had been acting. First when she caught he and Damien sneaking back inside after training. Harry was just staring at her as if he had never seen her before. She knew he had been upset about something. She had caught sight of tears in his eyes but like always, he acted like nothing was wrong. And tonight at dinner, he hardly ate anything. He was too busy staring at Sirius and Remus and she even caught him looking at Tonks with a confused expression.

Damien kept whispering to him as well about something. Being their mother, she could tell something was wrong. They seemed…different with one another. The usual antics of her two sons were missing today. Instead they seemed distant. Harry was certainly quieter and the way he kept smiling at her, it was unnerving to say the least.

Lily looked up as the door behind her opened. She looked around to find Remus come inside.

"Okay, Remus?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, I thought I would keep you company." Remus said this while flicking the kettle on.

"And make tea for everyone in the process." Lily laughed.

"I do make a rather good cup." Remus said as if that explained his strange desire to make everyone a cup of tea after a meal.

Lily shook her head and went back to finishing her chore.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Remus asked as he set out the mugs.

"It's nothing…probably." She added quietly. She looked at Remus and saw the concern in his eyes. "I don't know if it's just me or what but, Harry seemed a little different to me."

Lily was both relieved and concerned when Remus nodded his head in understanding.

"I know what you mean. I noticed that too." He said.

"You did?" Lily asked.

Remus told her about the 'Professor' comment.

"…and I know that Damien said they were just joking but that's the thing. Harry never jokes around about things like that. And you should have seen the colour drain from Harry's face when he said the comment. He wasn't smirking or being sarcastic. He was genuinely shocked that the word had slipped past his lips. He looked to Damien to do the explaining, that's what I found the strangest thing of all." Remus finished.

Lily nodded her head.

"I know, I noticed that too. Harry's expressions are different. There is no sarcasm in his words and he seems, I don't know, younger to me. Just in his expressions and the way he speaks, it's as if he's lost his confidence." Lily sounded saddened by the end of that.

"I think his mind is still preoccupied with Rodolphus and everything that happened. I mean it's only been a few weeks. And with all of you leaving in two days time, he's probably starting to regret being here alone. That would explain his sudden change in moods." Remus offered.

"I don't know, Remus. Wouldn't he just get moodier if that was the case?" Lily asked.

Remus smiled sadly at Lily.

"That's the thing Lily, we don't know. Sometimes we forget that we only met Harry two years ago and he's only been with us for a year. What is normal for him and what's not is unknown to us."

Lily nodded her head, Remus was right. Maybe Harry was acting like this because they all were leaving for Hogwarts and he was going to be here alone. Maybe Harry was taking everything in about his family with such interest because he knew he was not going to be with them for much longer.

Unknown to Lily, her last thoughts couldn't have been any more accurate.

xxx

While the adults drank tea in the living room, on the upper level Harry and Damien continued to share stories.

"Dad taught Defence last year. He really enjoyed it and I think it's safe to say that the students liked him as well. Dad's pretty famous in Hogwarts, being a Marauder and everything so he was well received." Damien laughed.

Harry smiled, his dad in Hogwarts, teaching his favourite subject, that was a comforting thought.

"Who taught the class before dad?" Harry asked, silently loving the way the word rolled off his tongue.

Damien grew a little subdued before answering.

"It used to be Professor Snape." He replied.

Harry shot up straight on the bed.

"Snape?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah" Damien replied quietly.

"Back in my world, he's been after the job for years. Professor Dumbledore won't give him the position though." Harry relayed.

"Well, in this world, Professor Snape taught the Defence class for years. He was actually very good as well. Hardly anyone failed in his class." Damien added.

"So what happened to him? Why did he leave?" Harry asked.

Damien shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

"He…he died, last year."

Harry had never liked Snape, not one bit. His cruel taunts in Potions and his clear dislike for him made it easy for Harry to hate him. Even so, the news of the greasy haired Professor's death made Harry suck in a breath and his heart to skip a beat.

"Oh, that's…that's terrible." Harry said in a thin voice.

"Yeah, he wasn't the most loved Professor of Hogwarts or anything, but he did help us out, at a time when he really needed him." Damien remembered how the spy Death Eater had risked his life to save Harry.

"Snape helped you? I thought he hated dad, at least he did in my world." Harry said.

"Dad and he never got on. They fought all the time when they were at Hogwarts. But both of them were part of the Order so they learned to get along." Damien explained.

Harry looked confused again.

"Order?"

"The Order of the Phoenix. You know, the secret group formed by Professor Dumbledore to fight against Voldemort?" Damien said, not believing that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have started a similar group in the other world.

Harry shook his head.

"I've never heard of it." he said uneasily.

Both boys looked at each other in discomfort.

"Maybe, your dimension didn't have one." Damien offered weakly.

Harry nodded his head but he had a feeling that his Headmaster would definitely have done something like that. It was such a 'Dumbledore' type of thing to do.

The silence stretched out between the two boys. Finally Harry spoke, to change the topic.

"I wonder how Harry is getting on." Harry said, feeling it strange to say his own name like that.

Damien nodded once before suddenly standing up and reaching into his pocket.

"How could I have forgotten about this!?" he exclaimed as he pulled out his phone.

Harry perked up and watched Damien pull out the phone. This was going to be interesting. If such a connection could be made between two worlds, it would be an amazing.

Damien shared a half excited and half nervous look with Harry before pressing the 'call' button on his phone. He brought the phone to his ear and gave a triumphant cry as he heard the ringing tone. His phone was attempting to connect to its partner phone, which was in a different world altogether.

--

Canon World

Harry observed the large room with a disdainful expression. Everything was covered with either a flowery pattern or pink lace. He eyed the large bed with the flowery bedspread and shuddered with disgust. He turned to look at the two very afraid looking adults next to the door.

"It's needs redecorating, but it'll do." he said before taking out his wand.

He heard two muffled gasps behind him and turned to smirk at them.

"Quiet now, unless both of you want the cupboard." He taunted, enjoying the look of fear it presented in both adults.

Petunia looked to Vernon and the largely obese man opened his mouth but then closed it again. It was difficult for him not to retaliate. A part of him wasn't accepting that his nephew was ordering him around. The other part of him was telling him to shut up and not repeat the last half hour of his life.

Harry changed everything in the room, absolutely everything. The flowery pattern on the walls melted to a deep royal blue colour and the bedspread changed to emerald green. The flowers in vases disappeared altogether as did the some twenty framed pictures of a whale of a boy, sometimes known as Dudley.

Petunia squeaked her disapproval and earned a glare.

"Something you want to say, aunt Petunia?" Harry asked.

"Why are you taking over our bedroom? What is the matter with your room?" she bravely asked.

"Other than the fact that its less of a room and more like a large closet, nothing." Harry answered.

"Look here, bo-Harry" Vernon quickly corrected and lowered his voice. "You have to understand. If you take over our room, where are we supposed to sleep?" he asked.

"Hmm, lets see." Harry mocked. "Don't know, don't care." He said before lifting his wand to finish his redecorating.

Vernon and Petunia were still standing next to the door, watching in morbid horror as their 'pleasant' looking room was changed by Harry's 'freaky, unnatural' methods.

"There, all better." Harry said, taking stock of his surroundings.

He turned to see Petunia looking like someone had died, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't cry, aunt Petunia. This would never have happened if you had given me a proper bedroom right from the beginning. As it happens, I get to choose what room I want and I want this one." Harry said this as he jumped on the bed and lay quite comfortably on the silk bedspread.

"What's happened to you? You were never like this?" Petunia sobbed as she saw the cruel smirk on his face.

Harry put his hands behind his head and smirked widely at her.

"Harry grew up." he said before flicking the door to close on them.

xxx

It was just as Harry had closed the door on his aunt and uncle that he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. He smiled to himself as he realised that his spell had worked. He quickly pulled the phone out and answered it.

Damien's voice rang on the other end.

"Hello? Harry, is that you?"

Harry smiled; he couldn't believe he was talking to Damien who was in another dimension.

"No, it's the local pizza delivery guy. What's the matter with you?" Harry asked, earning a laugh in response.

"I can't believe this! We're actually talking to each other but we're in two different worlds! How is this possible?" Damien's excited voice asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Harry asked.

"No, not really." Damien answered.

Harry lay on his comfortable bed, a hand tucked under his head while the other held the phone to his ear.

"How did it go? Did everything work out alright?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, it was fine. No one is suspicious or anything." Damien answered.

"Good" Harry responded. He really wanted everything to go smoothly for the other Harry. He deserved it.

"Um, Harry. The other Harry is asking if everything went okay with aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon." Damien asked curiosity in his voice as well.

Harry smiled again.

"They don't know what hit them. Literally!" Harry laughed.

"Harry, what did you do? You better not do something…"

"Relax, Damy. They're still breathing, be thankful for that." Harry teased.

"Harry, that's mum's sister!" Damien said, sounding appalled.

"I know, but it seems she may have forgotten that fact. I just reminded her." Harry stated simply.

"Are they not suspicious by your behaviour? Or better yet your appearance?" Damien asked.

"I told them it was due to a potion I made. I figured that would be the best since in two days time when we change back, Harry can just tell them the potion wore off."

Before Harry could say anymore, a tapping at the window distracted him. He looked to the large window and saw an incredibly beautiful snowy owl, sitting on the ledge, hooting at him.

"Hold on, Damy." Harry said as he got off the bed and went to the window.

He opened the window and let the owl jump inside. There was a letter tied to its foot but the owl wasn't holding its foot out for him. Harry could read the questioning gaze of the bird as it stared at him, tilting its snowy head to the side as it tried to figure him out.

"Damy, ask Harry of he owns a pet owl."

Harry could hear the question being asked by Damien.

"Yeah, Harry says it's a white owl." Damien relayed back to him.

"What's her name?" Harry asked, keeping eye contact with the bird.

"Hedwig" Damien replied after repeating the question.

"Alright, listen Damy, I'll talk to you later. Take care of things and don't let anyone get suspicious." Harry instructed.

"You could just say, 'Damien, make the world orbit in the other direction!" he snapped playfully.

Harry laughed as he disconnected the call and turned his attention to the bird. The snowy owl had its amber eyes fixed on Harry.

"Hedwig" Harry started. "Is that letter for me?"

Hedwig hooted in what seemed to be 'no!' and hoped away from Harry.

The raven haired boy laughed as he watched the bird 'glare' at him.

"You're one intelligent bird, aren't you?" he mused. "You're right, the letter is certainly not for me, but I'm still Harry Potter so you should deliver your letter to me." Harry said as he gently reached for the letter.

Hedwig seemed to be confused. It was tilting its head in a bid to look at Harry more carefully and hoping away from his outstretched hand. Harry knew that the bird had recognised that the boy before her was not her master but at the same time, he felt like Harry Potter. That was what was confusing her.

"If you think I'm going to explain myself to you, then you're mistaken." Harry said, feeling quite silly talking to a bird. "Just know that I am Harry Potter, as far as you are concerned. Any mail for Harry Potter should come to me, so hand over the letter!"

Hedwig scrutinised Harry one last time before holding its leg out. Harry untied the envelope and freed the bird from its weight.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he said as he brushed the bird's head in a gentle patting manner.

Hedwig waited until Harry stopped patting her head before moving forward and biting his finger, hard.

"Ow! You bloody bird!" Harry cried as he pulled his bloodied finger away from her.

Hedwig took off and flew out of the window, hooting at him. Harry shook his head, her actions were clear to understand. She knew he wasn't her Harry but since the magical bird could pick up his aura and knew he was Harry Potter she was going to deliver mail to him, but she wasn't happy about it and showed this by biting him.

Harry saw his name printed in neat writing and knew, before opening the letter that it was from Hermione. The other Harry had told him and Damien that he was best friends with Ron and Hermione.

Harry lay back on his bed and opened the letter, curious to see what the Hermione of this world had to say.

xxx

"I'm telling you, he's not Harry!"

"Vernon! Shh, he'll hear you!"

Vernon ducked his massive shoulders and glanced behind, dreading to see the 'impostor' glaring at him. He relaxed when he saw that no one was behind him. It was just him and Petunia in the kitchen. Dudley had shot out of the house as soon as Harry had released him from the wall. He still wasn't back yet.

"Petunia, dear, can't you see that the boy upstairs isn't Harry. He could never speak to us and do, do what he did! He doesn't have the guts!" Vernon said, shuddering at the memory of being in that horrid cupboard.

"Vernon, it is Harry. You know what he said about making that….that thing, that potion thing! It's obviously changed him, his appearance and his behaviour." Petunia said, furiously scrubbing the spotless pan. Vernon was sitting at the table, talking quietly with her.

"How can you be certain?" Vernon asked, his beady eyes set on his skinny wife.

Petunia stopped her scrubbing and debated whether she should tell her husband the truth. She decided to get it over with.

"The night he was left on her doorstep. The letter that accompanied him said that 'precautions' were taken to ensure his safety and ours. I know exactly what these 'precautions' are, they were explained clearly. They will keep him safe and if someone was to ever take Harry away from here against his will or if someone took his place, the alarms would go off and those, those people would come, the ones who left him here. If the boy upstairs isn't Harry, I doubt he would even be able to set foot in here."

Vernon's eyes were wide with fear and disgust. He looked around the kitchen, eyeing the walls like they were infected with a gruesome disease.

"Why did you never mention this letter?" Vernon asked.

"You were upset as it was with the appearance of the boy. I didn't want to add to your misery." Petunia said sadly.

Vernon knew that there wasn't much he could do now about the letter. Getting upset with Petunia was pointless.

"It's okay, dear. There isn't anything that can be done about that now." He told her.

Petunia sniffed back her tears and continued to scrub the poor pan.

"What should we do now?" Vernon asked, feeling despair at the thought of another month with the aggressive teen.

"First thing is first." Petunia replied, wiping her hands dry, a determined look on her horse like face.

"We have to sort out where we're going to sleep."

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Just a note to explain; the chapters will always start with cannon Harry in my AU world. My Harry in cannon world will follow after that.

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