A Deviation of Circumstance

by Sparkling Whimsies

Summary- AU: In a reality where Neville Longbottom is the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter is famous. He's the beloved son of Lily Potter and the famous Quidditch chaser James Potter, as well as the godson of both the famous beater Sirius Black and the world-renown novelist Remus Lupin. He's beginning to think he's seriously falling for his boyfriend, the one-and-only Draco Malfoy. After a late-night flight after a fight with Draco, Harry finds himself lost in a place where everyone's convinced his parents and godfather are dead and he's the Boy-Who-Lived. Realizing he's stuck there permanently, Harry searches for something familiar to hold on to... and decides he wants his boyfriend back.

Setting- Sixth Year

Rating - R

A/N: The words in italics at the beginning of the writing indicate which Harry I'm talking about in the passage immediately afterward, not where he is; for example, Alternate Universe Harry means AU Harry in the canon universe. I just thought I'd clarify, just in case it wasn't entirely clear. Enjoy!

Chapter Ten

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Canon Harry:

All he knew was grey fog. He swayed on unsteady legs, staring perplexedly into the twilight surrounding him. He turned in a slow circle, finding naught but the same dull landscape in every direction. When he had turned a full circle, he found himself staring into the face of someone who looked exactly like him. With a startled cry, Harry stumbled backward. His hands groped for his wand in his pockets. He felt his fingers curl around the reassuringly familiar wood and pointed his wand straight at his double. The other just stared at him dully, completely apathetic.

"Who the hell are you?" Harry snarled. The other boy didn't answer, but stood there with that disturbingly listless look. "Where am I?"

The answer he got didn't come from a source he was expecting.

"YOU ARE HERE, BETWEEN," a voice boomed, at once inside his head and all around him. Both boys clapped hands to their ears in pain at the reverberating words they felt in their very bones. "YOU ARE TWO OF ONE. RECONCILE YOUR ALTERATIONS AND PREPARE FOR YOUR HOMECOMING."

Harry groaned and levered himself up off the ground where he had fallen. He pocketed his wand to see... himself shakily stand a few feet away. Harry watched warily as the figure regained its balance and raised its head to lock gazes with him. In that look, Harry knew, in a flash of blazing insight, that this was the version of himself that he had replaced. He dropped his guard and gave the other boy a respectful nod. He received a nod of his own, and stepped forward.

"We're supposed to 'reconcile our alterations', right? We're going home, and so we're to tell each other what we've changed," Harry said, feeling remarkably calm. "I didn't do much. I tried to act as normal as possible, but Neville noticed something was up and you've got a bit of a reputation for being more snappish than usual." The other Harry just stared at him impassively. It was unnerving to see his own face so devoid of anything but a detached sort of sorrow.

"I fucked it up for you," the other said, his voice rough with the emotions not on his face. "I started something with Draco and fucked it up. You've got more friends now, in other houses, but Draco still hates me... you, now, I guess," he said. A lone tear made a glistening wet track down his face. "Good luck."

The world exploded in a flash of light, and Between was no more.

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Alternate Universe Harry:

Harry's eyes fluttered open to reveal a blurry world comprised of colors and vague shapes. Long fingers reached for glasses on the bedside table, stopping abruptly as the rush of memory inundated his drowsy mind. One choked off sob made its way into the air of the Hospital Wing.

Harry rolled over, burying his face in his pillow as harsh, silent sobs wracked his body. He was home, he could feel it. It was like a welcome he could feel in his soul. Home... home meant he didn't have to act. It meant he could see his family, his friends... Draco...

Draco had just been his boyfriend, before. He had just been a boy he had liked well enough to talk to, at least, and handsome enough. He just was. But once he'd gotten taken away by the lightning, everything had changed for him. He'd found out that he missed Draco like he missed nothing else. He missed the little smiles, the little comments and observations about anything or everything that were just so incredibly Draco. He missed the furtive caresses, and the not-so-furtive ones, and the holding hands and the snogging and just everything because they came from Draco. He had realized, once he couldn't have him anymore, just how much he needed the blonde Slytherin. How much he loved him.

Other things he had learned about himself were less beneficial. He had learned how well he could lie to his best friends. How well he could use people, manipulate them for himself. How callously he could discard someone. How hurtful he was capable of being. All he could see were the other Draco's jerky, stilted movements as he left that evening from the Room of Requirement. All he could see was the stiff, angry line of his retreating back, the tears welling up in that one silver eye that had stolen one last look before removing itself from Harry's life forever.

All he could see was the weakness he had caused such a strong person, and he hated himself for it.

And just as he grabbed his glasses and settled them on his nose to the sound of approaching footsteps, an achingly familiar face walked through the curtains around his bed. And Harry hated himself for the joy that lit up that face.

"Harry..." Draco breathed, reaching out to embrace the Gryffindor. Harry pulled back. Draco froze, and in that second Harry made a decision. Fueled by overwhelming guilt and self-loathing, Harry grabbed the glass on the bedside table, smashed it on the metal frame of the bed, and plunged a long, glittering piece of glass into his left wrist. One savage yank that took the rest of Harry's strength ripped open his forearm.

Draco looked on in utter horror.

Blood gushed from the long slash, staining the white sheets with a spreading crimson stain. Harry laid back gently into the pillows and closed his eyes.

"Madame POMFREY!" the blonde screamed.

Harry's world faded to black, and he knew no more.

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A/N: Sorry about that excerpt; for plot reasons, it had to be moved to the next chapter. I hope you like this chapter. I don't plan on killing the other Harry, if it's any consolation.