Through Another's Eyes

By Neurotica

Ten

Harry walked through the dark dusty hallway cautiously, his eyes darting to either side of him as he went. More than once he swore the walls were actually moving slightly, as though they were breathing. It was cold here; he wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm. As he reached a staircase, he glanced left and up slightly and felt his eyes widen. Stuck to the wall was a row of shrunken house-elf heads, something he was certain Hermione would be utterly insulted by. Snickering to himself, Harry started down the stairs; every step he took caused dust to rise from the ancient carpet; the railing felt smooth and cool beneath his hand, and it occurred to him suddenly that he shouldn't be feeling things like this, not in a dream...

He didn't let this bother him for too long. The moment he reached the foot of the stairs, he turned right, walking mechanically down the long narrow hallway. Every bit of wall seemed to be filled with portraits of all sizes, each of them snoring at variable volumes; he tried to get a look at some of the portraits' subjects, but his feet seemed to be on a mission: before he knew it, he was walking down a narrow, steep staircase leading to a door that had been left slightly ajar. Harry reached out his hand to push the door open fully, surprised it hadn't made enough noise to disrupt whatever was going on behind it.

Then again, given the amount of pacing, arguing, and fists banging on the table, he wasn't surprised nobody had noticed his arrival.

Immediately, he realized he'd been here before. The first and last time had been an aerial view of the room, and he'd watched as Remus Lupin informed Sirius Black that his godson had gone missing from his relatives' home in Surrey. Then there had only been one other person in the room; now there at least a dozen, most of whom Harry knew quite well, some of whom he'd only just met in recent weeks. It was the sight of the person seated closest to the fire at the head of the table that caused Harry to rush into the room. Remus Lupin was here again, pacing the length of the table with his hands crossed behind his head, looking angry and anxious in equal measures. But Sirius was here as well, finally providing Harry with proof that his godfather was alive, even though he looked horrible. One side of his face was red and puffy and covered by some light blue paste Harry thought might be bruise balm; his left arm was in a sling and he cradled it close to his chest while his other hand was pressing against his ribs—Harry suspected one or two of them to be broken; his leg was propped up on an adjacent chair, forced straight by either a splint or a partial body-bind, or both.

But he was alive and that was what mattered to Harry right now.

Obviously, Remus Lupin felt differently. "How could you have been so stupid?" he demanded loudly, pausing in his pacing directly in front of the other wizard in order to address him. Sirius rolled the eye that wasn't swollen shut in response. "What is it you don't seem to understand about staying in the house and not attracting attention to yourself?"

"Did you really expect me to stay home and play good boy while my godson is god-knows-where?" Sirius responded croakily. "It's been too long, Remus, you all know it. If we don't find him soon..." He trailed off, averting his gaze from Remus to the table and swallowed heavily.

Tonks, her spiked pink hair looking droopy, leaned forward. "Sirius, we're all worried about Harry, but—"

Sirius lifted his head and glared at her. "Worried about him, Tonks?" he asked almost scathingly. "You've never even met him!"

"Enough, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "You should be thanking us on bended knee right now. If we hadn't gotten to you when we had, you'd be dead. Do you even realize that?"

Sirius' anger deflated slightly. "Yeah, I do realize that, and I am thankful. But you should have been out looking for Harry, not me."

"We have been, Sirius," Kingsley Shacklebolt informed him calmly. "He's nowhere to be found. We interrogated the Death Eater who was holding you in that room; we used Veritaserum." Kingsley suddenly looked reluctant, glancing between Remus and Sirius uncertainly.

Remus sighed. "Sirius, we're not going to find Harry," he said quietly. "According to everything we've found out, Harry doesn't exist anymore."

The light in Sirius' good eye seemed to dim and die completely in a matter of moments. "You're saying he's dead?"

"No," Mad-Eye grunted unexpectedly. "Not dead. The boy's just gone. No trace of him. Dumbledore doesn't think he's in any danger, but—"

Sirius laughed loudly and humorlessly. "Not in any danger, eh? Tell me, Mad-Eye, when was the last time someone disappeared without a bloody trace and they were in the land of sunshine and lollipops?" A couple peoples' lips twitched; Remus' eyes rolled. "As for me risking my life or my soul and you lot saving both, I'd do it again a hundred times if I thought it'd get Harry back."

"Sirius," Remus said quietly, sitting beside his friend finally. He opened his mouth to go on, but a burst of flame above the kitchen table cut him off. Several people threw themselves back in their chairs; one person Harry had originally believed to be a pile of smelly, slightly smoky rags started so much nearly an entire bottle of amber-colored liquid was thrown over his shoulder. The man muttered apologies and turned to clean the mess while the others tended to a reddish-gold feather that had appeared on the table in place of the fire burst.

"From Dumbledore," Remus muttered unnecessarily, snatching the feather up in an instant. While he held it, the man's brow furrowed deeply, his complexion paled significantly more than Harry had ever seen, and he looked utterly terrified. The others in the room seemed to pale along with him while they waited for him to announce whatever horrible thing he was experiencing. It was nearly two minutes before the feather itself burst into flame in Remus' hand, reducing it to ash. The moment Remus turned his hand over to dump the ash, it vanished itself.

"What is it, Lupin?" Mad-Eye asked when all Remus did was stare at the tabletop.

Remus took in a deep breath before looking up, his eyes darting to all the anxious people around the table, including Molly and Arthur Weasley, two witches Harry had never met, the rag man, three Aurors, and a former prisoner of Azkaban. For a moment, Harry thought Remus might have actually spotted him—his eyes rested on him as he began to speak. "The Ministry is gone," he said in little more than a whisper. "Dumbledore believes Voldemort is behind it—"

"What do you mean, gone?" Arthur Weasley asked sharply, gripping his wife's hand so tightly all the knuckles on both their hands were white. "You mean, You-Know-Who's taken over?"

Remus shook his head very slowly. "No, I mean, it's gone. Vanished. Non-existent anymore." He turned to look at Sirius' furrowed brow. "Just like Harry. And he thinks Hogwarts is next."

Harry sucked in a deep breath, his entire body arching off his bed. He sat up quickly, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes until he saw stars, then pushed the sweaty fringe off his forehead as he opened his eyes, trying to convince himself that whatever he'd just experienced hadn't been real. It had just been a nightmare, nothing more, and there was no need for panic.

Yeah? Things don't just vanish into thin air, he thought to himself.

You did, his mind shot back almost immediately.

Harry shut his eyes tightly in annoyance and began to form a retort, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. Immediately, instinctively, he reached under his pillow for his wand and pointed it at his left.

"Easy!" said a voice Harry had no trouble recognizing. His eyes followed his wand's direction and found the blurry but undeniable form of Ron Weasley backed up against a bed, his hands raised in a defensive position, warily eyeing the wand.

There's a great way to make someone want to like you, his mind told him, snickering quietly.

Sod off, Harry replied.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled to Ron, placing his wand back under his pillow.

"Is that how you always respond to nightmares?" Ron asked, lowering his hands slowly. Harry noticed he stayed against the bed where he'd leaned. "Only you might want to be a little careful; next time you might actually hurt someone."

Harry's lips twitched. "Sorry," he said again. "No, that's not usually how I respond. There's usually a bit more thrashing and yelling, actually." He spoke mechanically, still running through every detail of the dream he'd just had, making sure he had everything right before he went to Dumbledore. Could Dumbledore do anything about this? Had it already happened? What had happened?

Ron nodded, still eyeing him warily. "Right, well, Hermione sent me up. Wanted to make sure you didn't miss breakfast, so..."

Before either of them could go on, the door to the dormitory burst open and Caleb stumbled through, tripping over a pile of clothing one of the fifth year boys had left, probably for the house-elves to launder. "Harry!" the boy gasped as he approached the other two. He slid to a stop just short of Ron, forcing a brief smile onto his face. "Hey, Ron... How's it going?"

Ron glanced between Harry and Caleb rather uncertainly. "Fine, Caleb," he replied. "Er, I'll just leave you two alone, then. See you at breakfast." He left the dormitory quite quickly, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry," Caleb said, sitting on the end of Harry's bed. "Did I interrupt?"

Harry shook his head, reaching over to his bedside table for his glasses. "No," he muttered, getting out of bed and looking for his clothes. "He was just waking me for breakfast." As he pulled his shirt over his head, he wondered if Dumbledore would mind him approaching him at the staff table; he probably wouldn't if Harry told him just enough that he realized it was important. "Caleb, I can't really talk right now, I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"You heard, then!" Caleb said, jumping off the bed.

Harry stopped, wondering how Caleb could possibly know what he'd seen in his dream. Then he realized it wasn't possible and the anxious look on the boy's face had been caused by something else. "Heard what?" he asked cautiously.

"About Sirius," Caleb said, his own brow furrowing. "You don't know..."

"What happened to Sirius?" Harry asked urgently. "Is he alright?"

Caleb sighed and sat back down on the bed. "Not really," he sighed. "You remember my two-way playing cards? The ones that I was trying to charm to make it so I could see and hear things not really meant for my ears." Harry nodded that he remembered. "Well, I accidentally left one in the kitchen at home. Mum and Dad obviously hadn't found it yet. Anyway, I finally got all the charms right—Hermione helped me." Harry's eyes shot up in surprise that Hermione Granger would get involved in something so underhand as spying on one's parents. "I didn't tell her exactly what I was going to use the charm for, so if you wouldn't mind keeping it to yourself, I'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah, sure," Harry said dismissively. "So the charms worked..."

"Yes," Caleb answered. "I was able to activate them and see what was going on back home last night."

"And what was that?"

"Dad was telling Mum and Remus that he'd just arrested Sirius."

Harry stared at his brother. "What?" he asked blankly.

Caleb nodded. "That's not even the worst of it. Sirius is being charged with murdering Hermione's aunt and kidnapping Piper. And it couldn't have been him! Why would he do that?"

Harry backed up and sat on the edge of his bed, his dream or vision or whatever on the very brink of being forgotten as his mind whirled around this new information. It sounded vaguely like something he'd heard before, perhaps not in this context, but certainly the same circumstances: Sirius Black wrongfully accused of murder and betrayal, while nobody, least of all his best friends believed in his innocence. Harry had never thought James Potter would be among those to believe the worst of Sirius, let alone responsible for his arrest, but he supposed there was only so much one man could take before his views on reality finally slanted just enough for him to distrust those closest to him. Harry looked up at Caleb, realizing the question asked hadn't been rhetorical, and the younger boy was waiting for an answer. He shook his head. "He wouldn't," he said quietly. "It's a setup, I'm sure of it."

Caleb's brow furrowed. "A setup? By who? Can we fix it?"

"I don't know," Harry responded honestly. He met Caleb's eyes, finding the younger boy looking deeply troubled and just as clueless.

Remus exited the bookshop, locking it behind him and headed down the road towards the Ministry-designated Apparition spot for Hogsmeade. Business at the shop that day had been slow, which suited him perfectly fine, since his mind had been stuck elsewhere for several days now. He'd received a message from Lily, telling him James hadn't been home much since Sirius' arrest; she wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, whether he was helping Sirius or whether he'd just shut himself up in his office at Auror headquarters, losing himself in guilt for doing what he had to his best friend. Remus himself wasn't sure how to feel about these recent developments. On one hand, he was still mourning the loss of Helen and wanted to see justice delivered to whomever had murdered her. On the other hand, apparently that justice was being delivered to Sirius, who had never shown any tendency towards murdering innocent people-Remus wasn't naive enough to think his friend hadn't used fatal magic in life-threatening situations. There was no other way to survive in a war when the enemy was constantly bombarding them with the same tactics after all...

What didn't make sense was 'why' Sirius would attack Helen. The chances of the Imperius Curse having been placed upon him were high, but even if that were the case, could Remus ever look Sirius in the eyes again without being reminded who it was that had taken Helen from him? It made him slightly ill to even think it, but Remus had a feeling that no matter what the ruling, his friendship with Sirius would be permanently damaged.

As he walked, lost in his thoughts, Remus got the feeling of being watched. Surreptitiously as possible, he glanced into the window of Zonko's Joke Shop, easily blocking out the sight of regurgitating wizard hats to catch the reflection behind him. He didn't see anybody in the path, but the feeling didn't pass. He casually slipped a hand in his pocket, wrapping his hand around his wand, then quickly ducked into an alleyway between the Three Broomsticks and Gladrags. He could see footprints slowing down and instinctively reached out an arm, grasping something solid, and pulled it into the alleyway with him. His wand raised, he removed the invisibility cloak before the person under it had the chance to retrieve their own wand, and nearly stunned Harry where he'd been pushed against the brick wall.

"What are you doing here?" Remus demanded after several moments of shock. he immediately released Harry's jacket and cloak, lowering his wand. "How the hell did you get out here? No one can leave the school grounds after sundown." Just to make sure he wasn't delusional about where he thought Harry had begun following him, Remus quickly glanced around the brick wall back towards his shop. Had it been his friends, he'd known where they would have come from, but Honeyduke's was in the other direction and the shop had been closed for hours already.

Harry had the decency to look sheepish, if not a little startled by Remus' uncharacteristic behavior. "Er, I don't suppose you'd be willing to overlook that for the moment, would you?" he asked anxiously.

Not in the mood for the normal joking and teasing, Remus crossed his arms and fixed Harry with his best stern expression, the only one that worked on James and Sirius when they were being particularly annoying. "No, I wouldn't," he said coolly. "I'm sorry, Harry, but right now isn't the best time for a chat. I'm tired and just want to go home. I'll walk you back to the castle and we'll talk later in the week."

"It can't wait," Harry said imploringly, grabbing the sleeve of Remus' jacket as he made to leave the alley. "It's about Sirius."

Remus stopped, closed his eyes tightly, and sighed deeply. He was definitely not in the mood for this conversation. "Who told you?" he asked dryly. Last he'd heard, Lily had decided Harry and Caleb need not know what happened between James and Sirius until there was actually something to tell.

Harry's eyes darted around and he shifted uncomfortably. "I can't tell you that," he muttered. Remus raised an eyebrow. "Just... Can we talk? Please?"

Tempted though he was to drag Harry back up to the school and pull Caleb aside by his ear to remind him eavesdropping was illegal, as were whatever charms he used to do it—going from experience, it was highly probable charming some sort of Muggle object wasn't entirely off the cards either—Remus found he didn't have the energy to do more than nod and led Harry back towards the bookshop. "Keep under the cloak," Remus advised, reopening the door to the shop and ushering Harry in. "Wouldn't do us any favors letting someone catch a glimpse of you, then inform the Headmaster."

Remus quickly cast privacy spells around the windows, relocking the doors for extra security. "In here," he said once certain it was safe from prying eyes. He held open the door to the shop's backroom and felt the rustle of the Invisibility Cloak as Harry entered past him. "You can take that off now." He sat down and watched as Harry materialized again, neatly folding the cloak in his lap as he sat as well. "What is it you want to say?"

Harry took a deep breath, averting his eyes only for a split-second before meeting Remus' again. "Sirius didn't do anything wrong," he said imploringly. "There has to be another explanation!"

Remus deflated slightly. "Harry," he said quietly. "Much as I would like that to be true, right now the evidence says differently—"

But the boy only rolled his eyes and slid off his stool, turning to pace a little. "Evidence doesn't always mean truth," he said firmly. "Look, I told you about the Sirius where I'm from. Everyone thought he betrayed my parents, handed them over to Voldemort, that he killed those Muggles in London—and Peter. But he didn't—"

"I know," Remus said quickly, knowing what Harry was about to say next. He was about to say it had been Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed them—Remus still had difficulty imagining that... "But Harry, Sirius can't tell us where he was that night or what he was doing. And even if we were to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he'd been framed, why would the Death Eaters go to such lengths for him? I'm not saying Sirius hasn't landed himself of the Death Eaters' most hated list, but there are a lot of other people around they'd like to get their hands on before him."

Harry sighed and sat back down. "I don't know why they would frame him," he said quietly. "I just know there has to be more to this than everyone thinks. Can't you just talk to him?"

Eyes closing of their own accord and fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, Remus wondered why he was surprised at the question. If he was honest with himself, he'd known this was exactly where Harry would take this conversation since he opened his mouth. He thought about making excuses, telling Harry he just wasn't ready to deal with Sirius so soon after the recent revelations. He knew, though, Harry would see straight through any excuses he came up with. The similarities between this situation and what had happened to Sirius in Harry's world hadn't escaped Remus' notice; he'd forced himself not to think about it largely because if he did, he knew he'd begin questioning everything.

Not that that wouldn't appeal to him—he'd happily believe Sirius was innocent if someone managed to present incontrovertible evidence. But there was still so much to digest; everything had happened so quickly there hadn't been time to sit back and think it through.

Looking at Harry's imploring eyes, Remus knew that the more time that went on and questions weren't posed, the worse it would end for Sirius in the long run. Doubt and mistrust had a way of slowly seeping into the brain, building up resistance against everything else until there was no other option than to believe exactly what one had been told. He could only imagine how his counterpart from Harry's world had felt when he'd been told what Sirius had done to Lily and James, and to Peter. It was a crushing feeling, having your world crumble all around you—all the grief and misery you felt somehow managed to focus itself into anger. Remus didn't want to feel any of that. He didn't want to lose Sirius, not after everything they'd been through. There was only one thing for it...

With a heavy sigh, Remus met Harry's eyes again. "I'll talk to him," he promised hoarsely. Harry relaxed in relief. "You're right, we shouldn't just believe what we're told. I'm not saying I'm fully on Sirius' side just yet, but I am willing to hear his side of things. Problem is, he says he doesn't remember anything, Harry. Unless by some miracle he gets his memory back, we've got no other choice but to believe him guilty."

Harry seemed, for now at least, willing to accept this. "Thanks," he said with a smile.

Remus was surprised to find himself able to return the expression. "Right," he said swiftly after several silent moments. "We should get you back to the school, unless there was something else you wanted to discuss..." He raised an eyebrow at Harry's suddenly hesitant expression. "What?"

Harry swallowed deeply and started to smile again. "Nothing," he said quietly. "You're right, I should get back. Caleb's waiting for me anyway."

Nodding slowly, still highly suspicious, Remus gestured for Harry to get back under the Invisibility Cloak and to follow him out of the shop. During their walk back to the castle, Remus placed a privacy spell around them, determined to find out what Harry hadn't said back at the bookshop. "Why don't you just tell me what else is bothering you?" he asked the boy mildly. "I'm far too tired to wonder and worry about it tonight..."

Harry sucked in a breath, obviously having thought he had escaped questioning. "Sure it's safe?" he finally said from Remus' left.

"Perfectly," Remus told him. "What's on your mind?"

"I had another one of those dreams," Harry finally began slowly. "The ones where I get glimpses into my old world and get a chance to see what's going on there."

Remus' curiosity was instantly piqued. Excepting the one he'd had the night Piper was taken, Harry hadn't discussed any of these new visions, and Remus felt he could use a distraction for the moment. "And what was going on?"

"I'm not really sure. Though my Sirius had definitely been captured; you were chewing him out for leaving wherever it is he's hiding out," Harry said. Remus' brow furrowed a little as he worked through Harry's words, having a little trouble being told he was doing something he knew without a doubt he hadn't been. "He was hurt, but not killed. He was really annoyed you lot had decided to search for him rather than me..."

Remus smiled very slightly; it was exactly like Sirius to be annoyed that someone had wasted any time on him when those he loved were in as much, if not worse, danger. It was rather comforting to hear that world's Sirius and this one at least had that in common. The smile faded the moment Harry went on.

"They know I'm not anywhere to be found now," Harry said in a low tone. "I don't know how, whether they did a load of tracking spells or something, but they know that much."

Remus nodded. He'd known the other world would exhaust every available resource to find the missing boy, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it would feel like to discover everything they'd done had been for nothing...

"But something else is going on too..."

Horror mounted as Harry explained what he'd been told about the other Ministry of Magic, how it had just disappeared from the world. He started to tell Harry something like that just wasn't possible, but reminded himself that only two months ago he hadn't believed it possible that alternate realities actually existed. There was no real response Remus could think of that might set Harry's mind at ease. With a sideways glance to where he knew the invisible boy to be walking, Remus wondered whether Harry was actually seeking comfort or if he just wanted to hear someone else's thoughts on the matter; he settled on the latter, hoping he hadn't judged the situation inaccurately.

"It sounds to me like the two worlds are merging," Remus said after a few minutes deliberation on how much to disclose. "There have been several reports on an upsurge of magic since you're arrival. People have been monitoring it, of course, in case it gets out of hand and something needs to be done to stop it. Nobody can explain it, obviously; not that anybody would actually believe what we believe about the source."

"But if the worlds are merging, what happens to the people there? Do they get shoved here, into their counterparts like I was?"

"I honestly don't know," Remus said, shaking his head. "If that were to happen, would that apply to everyone in that world, not just the ones you're connected with? And what would that even mean for any of us?"

A conversation he'd had with James, Lily, and Sirius a few weeks back popped back into his head suddenly. They'd been discussing the reason for Harry being shoved so unceremoniously into their lives, uprooting everything else. It had been unanimously that Voldemort had probably been behind it, and if it were so, it certainly hadn't been done to give Harry a holiday from his normal life. If Voldemort and his counterpart from Harry's world were forced to merge, what did that mean for the wizarding world? Regardless of whether the other Voldemort had only regained power a few months ago, he still had power, and that power would merge with this world's Voldemort...

We thought we were having a tough time gaining the upper hand before, Sirius had remarked dryly. What are the chances we might actually survive with two of them in one body?

Before it had all been hypothetical, their thoughts posed in a half-joking way. Harry's new vision forced them into reality, and as was always the case, reality was far more horrifying than anything they could have come up with. Rather than display just how horrifying a turn his mind had taken in front of Harry, Remus changed the subject. By the time they reached the Hogwarts gates and Remus had hailed Tonks to take Harry up to the castle, he had little idea what they'd actually discussed. Luckily, Tonks didn't question why Harry was off school grounds, nor why Remus was walking him back; she did, however, shoot Remus a look that clearly said she'd seen on his face what he'd tried to hide from Harry. Remus shook his head minutely, which only served to deepen her furrowed brow.

When he found himself in the sitting room of his flat without any recollection of Apparating, Remus decided a drink or two was in order before working out his next plan. There wasn't much he could do tonight about Voldemort and alternate realities being forced into theirs; there would be an Order member the next night, so he could bring it up to Dumbledore then. He could, however, do something about fulfilling his promise to Harry in regards to Sirius. At the very thought, Remus poured himself another drink and gulped it down in seconds.

It wasn't until he'd drained his bottle of firewhiskey that he felt himself ready to face whatever the discussion with Sirius would bring. He took a few very deep breaths, made sure he wouldn't splinch himself on the journey to London, and Disapparated.

AN: I'm pretty sure I'm all out of excuses in terms of updating this story, so I'll just save it... Anyway, for those of you who haven't given up on me, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm currently working on getting my plot lines for this story a little more organized to make writing a little easier. Hopefully it'll work. Please review.