Chapter 14
If Lily and James didn't know any better, they'd say that the odds of people's doppelgangers introducing themselves to them were too damn high. First, there was Harry. Then, there were the Dursleys.
Lily and James exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other.
Just a few minutes ago, they were ready to tear their hair out trying to locate the Dursleys and now... they had been invited inside the house of the very family that they had been looking for with the exact family members they needed to see.
Only these people didn't seem to know who the Dursleys were. They would look at the couple all confused before shaking their heads and offering them tea.
It was clear on their faces that they didn't know them. They didn't even appear to have seen their faces at all until today. Mr. Dursley… or Mr. Barnes left for his job soon after Lily and James were seated in their living room. To Lily, seeing the smile on his face as he waved them goodbye was a frightening experience. She never saw Vernon Dursley smile before.
Their son was upstairs. He greeted them once when they entered the house but they never saw him again. He was no doubt playing videogames in his room, judging by the loud explosions they heard. She had to assure James twice that they weren't under attack whenever somebody shouted "DIE" from upstairs. Their behavior only added to Petunia – Julie's confusion.
Lily gave a half-longing look at the woman she knew as her sister right in front of her. Everything about her screamed Petunia Dursley but her insistence that she was Julie Barnes kept her at bay.
Lily felt like everything was a joke. She desperately wanted Petunia… Julie… whoever she was, to say, "I'm just kidding. Hello, Lily!" albeit a much harsher version like, "Yes, yes, I remember you. Now get out of my house." or something like that.
"Now… you don't want tea, you don't even want water… I suppose we'll have to dive right in, won't we?" Julie Barnes said as she sat down carefully on the cushioned chair beside the sofa. Her voice had knocked Lily out of her thoughts and she decided to give her full attention to the woman.
Julie wasn't blind. She had noticed the looks the couple had given her earlier and though a part of her warned her against inviting the two inside, the pleasant and hospitable side of her ruled it out. She had to admit though, looking at the red-haired woman gave her a headache. She
didn't know why.
James cleared his throat and gestured to himself. "Hello, my name's James Potter and this is my wife, Lily."
At the mention of their names, pain erupted in Julie's skull again. She didn't show it to her guests though. She did wince for a second before returning to her polite smile. Was she getting sick?
"We're professors at your nephew's school." Lily said, adding to James' introduction.
Julie ironed out small wrinkles on her dress with the palm of her hand as she listened to their short introduction. She didn't know why but she suddenly had a strong feeling that she should kick the two out of her home. After all, they were strangers who kept insisting that she and her family were the ones they were looking for. The Davies or Duckleys or whatever they were called.
Dursley
That one word suddenly floated inside her head. It reverberated deep inside her skull and triggered a head-splitting headache. Julie's hands flew up to her head, clutching it in pain.
Lily and James looked at each other and something in their heads clicked. Harry kept having headaches too. Was it all coincidence? The couple locked eyes again and they both nodded. They needed to get to the bottom of this.
"Are you alright?" Lily asked gently as she kept her eyes on Petunia.
The Petunia look-alike put up her hand as if to tell them that she was fine and motioned for them to continue.
James looked uncertain but he complied with her silent request.
"As we've mentioned before, we're professors at your nephew's school."
Forgetting her momentary headache, Julie perked up. "Oh! Yes, yes. I guess this explains the sudden visit... I think... Um... We haven't heard much from Jerome lately. How's he doing in school?"
Lily and James exchanged confused glances. Who was Jerome?
"Er… no, not Jerome. We're talking about Harry. Your nephew Harry." James told her.
Petunia's forehead formed a crease. "I'm sorry. You must be mistaken. I don't have a nephew named Harry. My nephew's name is Jerome Mitchell."
Lily frowned at that. There was no Jerome Mitchell. Unless... A memory of the Sorting ceremony played inside her head and she gasped softly at the realization.
"Y-You... you're Jerome... Jerome Mitchell's aunt..." she said softly in realization, horror prickling inside her skin.
Julie blinked. "Of course! Who else?"
James' hand gripped his knees tightly as he addressed the woman. "But that can't be right. We have another student who claims that he's your nephew. We don't even have a Jerome Mitchell at our school."
"What do you mean there isn't a Jerome Mitchell at your school? He's been away for a month! He got his letter! What are you saying?!"
The woman was clearly distraught at the news. James winced internally. He didn't mean for it to sound like her supposed nephew had gone missing.
"Mr. Potter, there must be some sort of mistake! Jerome's been there for the past month!"
James looked to his wife for help. He didn't know how to comfort the distraught Petunia look-alike in front of him. Lily grimaced. She didn't know how to either.
Still, if she was a tiny bit like her sister, then she guessed she should do what she had done when they were younger. At least, it was easier to deal with it this way. She didn't know what to do with Julie Barnes.
"Okay, Tuney- er, I mean, Julie." Lily took a deep breath. 'Merlin, help me.' "You have to work with us on this one."
She eyed the woman in front of her, willing her to calm down enough to cooperate. Julie, though clearly still very upset, forced herself to listen to the people in front of her.
Lily made sure Julie was still breathing before trying to explain their bizarre situation.
"You see, um... Julie, a month ago, when term started, none of our students were named Jerome Mitchell. We did, however, have one student named Harry Potter, who had your name as his guardian. Your address was written on his file."
Julie frowned. "I don't know any Harry Potters. There must have been some sort of mishap in your filing system. You can't have missed him. Jerome Mitchell. Dark hair. Green eyes. Wears round glasses? He even has this peculiar scar on his forehead. Maybe you could add that to his description when you assemble a search party or..."
Lily sucked in a breath at her description.
It fit Harry perfectly.
"Mrs. Durs- Barnes, I don't want to alarm you or anything like that... but the person you are describing is Harry Potter, the student we've known for six months now."
Julie shook her head. "No! There must be a mistake! You can't- My nephew-"
Julie stopped midsentence and she grasped her head in pain. Lily pulled back, afraid that she had done something wrong.
"Lily? Lily what in merlin's beard is going on?" James hissed at her ear.
Lily winced as Julie yelped in pain and doubled over on her seat.
"Petu – J-Julie, are you alright?" Lily asked, slowly going over to aid the woman.
Julie leaned away from her, almost as if she was afraid to be touched by Lily. "I'm fine. I don't need help!" she told them, her tone getting a bit harsh.
For a moment, she sounded like Petunia Dursley, the one who despised her sister for her magical talents. Lily was surprised when she heard her in that tone. She would recognize that voice, that harsh tone, anywhere.
Julie stood up and tried to walk to the kitchen, muttering about painkillers. Lily and James kept their eyes trained on her. The woman didn't get very far. She stopped at the doorway leading to the kitchen and she ended up clutching the doorframe for support. Even from the short distance between them, they could tell the pain she was experiencing was unbearable.
"Petunia…" Lily tried as she slowly walked towards the woman clutching her head in pain.
Julie took a half-step back and turned away from the couple. "No, no, stay back… I'm not… oww… I'm not P-Petun-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence. The pain multiplied ten times over. Lily couldn't get another word out when Julie let out an agonized scream. Her hands flew up to her head and her knees buckled, giving in to the pain she was experiencing.
James and Lily exchanged equal looks of horror before quickly helping the woman. Petunia or not, they couldn't let anyone suffer that much pain. However, before they even tried examining Julie, loud footsteps thundered down the stairs and they were met with Dudley– or Will's - shocked face.
"What're you doing to my mum?" he asked angrily as he waddled down the last few flights of stairs. "What're you doing? Get your hands off her!"
James glanced at Lily quickly, contemplating their next course of action.
"Dudley-"
"I don't know anyone called Dudley! Get away from my mum!"
Lily winced at Dudley's reaction. "I mean… Will, it's Will, right? We're just trying to help her. She just suddenly collapsed."
"Liar! What did you do to her?!" the boy screamed at them.
James cursed under his breath. "This is going nowhere!"
Before Lily could stop him, he took out his wand and cast a Stunning Spell on Dudley or Will... whatever the hell his name was and did the same to his mother.
Lily glared at her husband and smacked him. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! WHAT THE HELL, JAMES?!"
James looked incredulously at her. "What are you talking about? If I hadn't done that, we would've had a big problem on our hands!"
"We could've talked to them!"
James rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, because that was going over soooo well."
Lily smacked him again. "You wizards and your magic! Honestly! Not everything can be solved by a simple flick of your wand!"
"Well, what do you want me to do? Stand there and wave at that fat kid who looked like he was ready to flatten us? It's done, Lils! We knocked them out. With any luck, they'll forget about this encounter when they wake up."
Lily groaned in exasperation. "You just don't get it, do you?! We could've gotten answers from them if you just let me talk to them! What are we supposed to do now that they're out cold?"
James rubbed his face with his hands. "Look, we've gotten all we can from them. It's enough."
"No! It's not enough!"
"It is!"
"No, it's not-"
"It is!" James stood in front of her and shook her shoulders. "Merlin's beard, Lils, I thought you were the smartest witch of our age. Didn't you hear what that woman said?"
Lily looked at him, confused.
"She described Harry. Not the Jerome we never met. Harry. Right down to that odd scar on his forehead. How many children do you think have a scar on their foreheads?"
"Even so-"
"Lily!" James' eyes were practically gleaming now. "There are too many coincidences. The address, Harry's contacts are listed here. Jerome's description fits Harry. Harry told you about Vernon and Petunia. We find their look-alikes here! Look-alikes with names that Harry had used before... Lily..."
"James... James, I want to believe this too... You of all people know how much I want this to be true... but can you blame me for asking how? Or... or why? How did Harry know my sister and her husband's names? Why is he never consistent? Why does he confuse their names? Why does he get headaches? Headaches that she," she gestured to the unconscious Julie Barnes on the floor. "seems to have?"
James thought it over in his head and it clicked. "The serum..." he whispered.
Lily caught it. "The... serum...?"
"Yes... The serum that they found in Harry. Didn't Madame Pomfrey say that that thing was the reason why Harry gets frequent headaches? Also something about memory alteration."
Lily fell silent and thought back on the events that happened in the Hospital Wind.
Serum...
Harry...
Memory alteration...
Headaches...
side-effects...
Professor Slughorn's voice suddenly rang inside her head. "Memoria Abi... The Draught of Diluted Minds. A very strong and very dangerous potion. It causes the drinker's memories to be erased and or altered. If one wishes to change a particular memory, it can be achieved through this potion. Beware... though it works wonders... there are... side-effects. If not given the prescribed amount, it can cause complications. From minor things like headaches... to worst-case scenarios like brain-damage. So be careful with this brew, young students. You are not in my advanced class for nothing. Brew with precaution."
Potion...
Memoria Abi...
Creamy white liquid...
... in a vial...
"This is for the boy's own safety..."
Memoria Abi
Serum
... the potion in the headmaster's hands...
Lily's eyes flashed as the pieces clicked together inside her head. Her eyes glinted dangerously as she growled out,
"Dumbledore."
A/N: (sorry for the poor format, i'm using my phone. So barbaric. I swear i'll edit this once i get on my laptop) Soooo... I'm really really really really really really really sorry for not updating this sooner! I really really really am! I FEEL SO TERRIBLE! I'M ALSO VERY SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGERS! But I really did mean it when I said that I will see this through to the end. See? I'm in the middle of my midterms right now, along with tons of projects to do but the old brain started working and I typed the last half of this chapter at midnight. Yeah... time check is 12:50 AM... yeah...
So hope you guys liked it and If you guys are reading this... I just wanna say... thank you for sticking with me for this long.
Until next time!