Chapter 21/26 re-do

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but MY Original Characters (Loki and Raiden for example) and the Elite. Everything else is owned by JK Rowling and the publishing companies. So the Canon stuff… isn't mine. Hogwarts… isn't mine. Everything you recognize from the books… isn't mine.

Complicated Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Oh, sorry if this is a little later than I said - I never knew how hard typing was until I broke a finger. My typing speed has been cut in half.

21

Harry ran around the lake, for the last week he'd done everything on autopilot - while he thought long and hard about what Rose had thought of his existence in this world/reality.

He didn't want to have to fight again, he was done being a soldier. But what he wanted and what was right were two very different things - especially now.

'Must I fight?' he asked himself as the rain started to pour down. He remembered something Imhotep told him before the final battle: to know what is to come is dangerous, to be the one who knows is to be of even more consequence.

Funny how he had never thought about what the Augustus Magnus had said until now.

'If I fight, I might be able to save more lives than if I do not.' he thought as the faces of Lily and James, Siri and Jamie, Rose, Ares, Leo, Lexie and even Sirius's wife Peyton went through his head.

There really weren't any options for him to choose.

'I have to fight.' he decided before he went inside, not before hitting himself with a few drying charms to make sure that he didn't get detention with Filch and went to Gryffindor Tower. He found Hermione only just starting on the essay that was due in a few days for Arithmacy.

He mentally grinned, one of the few perks of not being a prefect was more than evident right now. He actually had the time to do his homework. In fact, he only had the last paragraph of his eleven paragraphed essay to complete. Not that he would ever tell Hermione that he had TWO more paragraphs than what she had outlined for her own essay.

He went upstairs and got his book bag and sat across from Hermione and finished his essay before Hermione even noticed that he was sitting across from her.

She jumped when she saw him sitting across from her, putting away his essay in the manila folder he'd written in his precise writing : ARITHMACY MW 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM ~ 5TH YEAR.

"Harry!" she exclaimed as he got out a fresh sheet of parchment and his Defense outline for the lecture the day before. He made an outline for the lecture notes so he could easily find facts - separating them by the pages of notes he had.

"Hermione." he said grinning as he continued to write his outline for the first page of his notes.

"Are you finished with the essay?" she asked, glancing at her own ½ completed one.

"I finished it about … 15 minutes ago." he said as he looked at his watch.

Hermione shook her head.

"I did most of it while you and Weasley were doing your rounds last night." he said, hiding his own gratitude that he had not gone back far enough for him to have made enough of an impression with the teachers that he would have been a prefect.

"And you probably worked on it the night before too." she grumbled, thinking about how the 6th year Gryffindor Prefects had been in detention (Kael Bishop was in detention with Professor Sinastra and Mae Morrigan was with Professor McGonagall) and the 5th year prefects were stuck with the short end of the stick. "And his name is Ronald."

"Fine Ronald." he conceded. "I thought that you couldn't stand that… Ronald."

She sighed, "Everyone deserves a chance."

"He punched me Hermione." he said, trying to get his point across. He didn't want her to get hurt and if Ron hurt her - he didn't want her to get anywhere near Ronald.

"He will have one chance. And to be fair, you got in the way."

Harry shook his head, "You sound like Gwen."

"Who?"

"Gwen… my… well, she was my girlfriend. Over the summer we were separated, I don't even know if she is alive." he admitted. He was hoping that Gwen had lived through the final battle - and that she hadn't given up on him.

"How long were you together?"

"A few years, why?" he asked as he looked at her curiously.

"Do I need to do anything…. I really want him to like me." she said hesitantly.

Harry grinned, "Gwen… what made her beautiful … she didn't try."

Hermione frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well there was this time in the spring… we got caught in the rain. She was soaked to the bone and I looked at her and said beautiful. She called me mad." he said grinning.

"Were you?" Hermione asked/ teased.

"Maybe, but I always thought that she could rival a Veela with her beauty."

"Maybe you are mad." she mused. "What was she like?"

"She had beautiful wide hazel eyes and brown hair - like chocolate."

"Was she tall?"

"When we first met she was a bit taller than me but eventually I got a growth spurt." he said, recalling the woman he wanted to marry. The two had met in their fourth year when Gwen visited from Beauxbatons as a guest. She ended up asking him to the Yule Ball. He could still remember stepping on her toes as she taught him to dance.

Since then, they'd met up in London every summer and sent letters back and forth continuously. That is, until Gwen managed to locate two enchanted mirrors - similar to his Dad's and Sirius's mirrors.

His Hermione had found out about their secret romance after she caught him talking in French to someone through a mirror. Considering who she was and the small fact that he had enough guilt about keeping his Elite Status secret.

"Did you love her?"

"I still do." he said honestly.

Hermione smiled as Fred and George came up behind them and clamped a hand down on either of his shoulders.

"Hello."

"Hermione."

"Mind if-"

"We borrow-"

"Him?"

Hermione looked at Harry critically, "Well… alright."

They smiled.

"Our thanks."

"O, fair prefect."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Harry asked as he looked between the two of them.

"Or course you don't." they said grinning in such a way that made him nervous.

Harry sighed, I suppose I'll see you later." he said as he stood and followed the Weasley Twins out of Gryffindor Tower.

The twins led the way to as passageway that Harry hadn't thought of using as the passage had collapsed during his 2nd year.

"What's going on you two?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall of the passage.

"Who said that-"

"Something was going on?"

Harry glared at the two of them.

They stared in return.

"Well?"

Harry waited another minute or so of the forced silence. "What do you want?"

"Who said-"

"We wanted anything?"

"Because the two of you drug me in here."

Fred nodded, "He has a point brother-mine."

George nodded, "We got this letter to give to you."

Harry opened the letter's address.

To: Harry JG

c/o F&G

He opened it.

Gryff,

We need to talk

Sirius

Harry sighed, "Great."

"Good news?"

"Or the other kind?"

"Definitely the other kind, I need to leave."

"Is that a request for trouble?"

Harry shrugged, "You tell me. What other reason would an Unspeakable want to talk to me?"

"Good point."

"A very good point."

***

The next day he told Hermione that Sirius had all but ordered that they talk. She said she'd cover for him - but he owed her one.

*

The Unspeakable in question was in his study reading about an alternate to Dementor guards that the Singapore Council of Magic had come up with. It was an interesting report about how they used wards and anti-magic cuffs to keep dangerous wizards under control. It also prevented convicts from becoming even more dangerous when they did loose their sanity (and many of them did).

He was reading the transcript when the wards warned him of an unknown incoming Apparator - he fired of a curse even before the figure fully developed in front of him before realizing that it was… "Gryff! Damn, are you alright?"

"W-what w-was the l-l-letter about-t-t?" he asked through violent shivers while Sirius led him over to the blazing fire. Harry knew the curse Sirius used on him, of it anyway. If left untreated he would freeze to death. He knew that only a specialized potion could cure him completely and neutralize the curse but he also knew how to treat it.

"Huh?" Sirius asked as he conjured a thick wool blanket and threw it over Harry's shoulders. "Oh, we need to talk Gryff."

Harry nodded his agreement and drew the blanket around himself, the curse put a Scottish Winter to shame. "C-C-Cold."

"Yeah, er, sorry."

"W-W-What… t-t-talk." Harry demanded.

Sirius sighed, "Fine but tell me if I'm wrong. You were born Harry James Potter."

Harry stopped trying to warm his arms.

"You are, aren't you?" Sirius asked as he conjured a chair across from Harry, an impressive show of transfiguration as it was soft and even went with his décor - although that might have been his wife's influence.

Harry didn't speak, and instead warmed his hands in the heat of the flames.

"Merlin and Morgana! I thought that-" Sirius said as he looked at him in amazement.

"Sirius. I'm not your godson. I know what you're thinking and I'm not him." he said, not wanting to hurt the man but knew that if he didn't then the man would think something that wasn't true.

"What?" Sirius asked, frowning. "I don't get it. How can you be Harry James Potter and not be my godson?"

Harry sighed, "Padfoot, old boy. I've got a story even you might not believe."

Sirius grinned, "You know about the Marauders?"

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Sirius grinned, he was still confused but he had a feeling that Gryff was going to explain so he wasn't worrying - much. "So?"

"My name is Harry James Potter. I was born to Lily and James Potter on July 31st at 11:59 PM and on October 31st 1981 they were murdered by Lord Voldemort upon the betrayal of their secret keeper Peter Pettigrew." he said as he closed his eyes.

Sirius paled, he couldn't imagine a world where Lily and James had died. He knew of the existence of alternate worlds but until now he thought they were merely myth or legend. "How can I know that you're telling the truth?"

Harry shrugged, "If we had another person I could swear it."

"Or you could tell me something that only my godson would know."

Harry paused, he was slowly getting feeling back into his numb limbs. "You never married Peyton Sawyer in my world. You never even knew that she was pregnant because you sent her back to her home in New Orleans shortly after I was born. You did it for both of your protection, never realizing that you would never get to see your daughter born. You never knew that she existed until I was twelve and she was eleven."

Sirius frowned, he remembered the birth of his daughter - his ears were still ringing from Peyton's screams promising castration. But he wouldn't have missed it for the world. "How?"

"After Peter's betrayal, you went after the rat to avenge Dad and Mum."

"Avenge?" Sirius asked, thinking that he might know where this was going. He was pretty fool hardy in those days. If James hadn't needed his best friend - he knew that he would have gone after Peter with a wooden spoon, and a smile

"Peter framed you for his murder and the murder of sixteen muggles. You spent ten years in Azkaban before the ICW pardoned you."

"Tell me something useful." Sirius said, not wanting to think what would have happened to him - especially innocent - during ten years in Azkaban.

Harry frowned, thinking hard even as he drew the blanket closer around himself - darn curse. "Did something embarrassing happen to you when you were fifteen?"

Sirius's eyes narrowed, oh yeah he knew what Gryff was talking about. "If the Other ME told you about that -"

"That you got so drunk you French-ed Francesca Brown nee Black, the temporary Muggle Studies TA?" he said/asked grinning. "Afterwards, she got out her wand and told you that if you told ANYONE she would-"

"OK! Okay! You know! You're honest!"

Harry smirked, "But I didn't finish! She said she would - mmph!" he said, trying to speak even though Sirius clapped a hand over his mouth.

"If YOU finish, I'll do to you what she said she would do to me." Sirius threatened.

Harry glared, but nodded and Sirius withdrew his hand.

He (Sirius) helped Harry to warm up over the next few minutes and gave him a big mug of coffee, it was all they had in the house until Sirius went shopping after work later in the week.

"So, er, who all knows?" Sirius asked Harry, who looked like he was actually enjoying the coffee.

"Besides a Seer and an Elite?"

"Alright."

"Rose."

"Right… wait, Rose!"

Harry nodded sheepishly.

"How?"

"She heard me say the name Loki and figured enough about it that she confronted me I had to tell her to avoid her from spilling my beans to Lily and James."

"And Loki?"

"Loki just knew."

"What?"

"He walked right up to me, as calm as you please and said: 'You're a long way from home aren't you?' I don't know who was more surprised, me or him." he scoffed as he took a sip of the coffee - it was good, not too bitter.

"I bet, so what happened to your godfather?" he asked gently. He could see the anxiousness and apprehension that Harry attempted to hide - unsuccessfully from someone who'd been trained in interrogation techniques.

Harry closed his eyes as he pictured Bellatrix knocking him into the veil, how he almost followed his godfather. Had Remus not been there to hold him back… he didn't want to think about it.

"He died."

"How?"

"I was fifteen and Bellatrix Lestrange and a few other DE's - ICL trapped myself and a small group in the Department of Mysteries.

"The False Lord Voldemort found a way to manipulate my mind. Sending visions of false truths - torturing me. Until I went." he said softly before his voice rose. "I disobeyed a direct ORDER."

Sirius remained silent, sometimes people just needed to talk - he seemed to be Harry's confidant.

"I went out to an unknown and in and unknown situation! Bellatrix Lestrange might have killed him but I led him there!" he snarled, his voice filled with self-hatred that he thought he'd gotten over years ago. Maybe it was being around his godfather's counterpart that brought about the guilt he had in himself.

They sat in silence, Sirius broke it.

"What did you mean, 'I was fifteen'?" he asked frowning.

"Not what I mean. How old were you?"

"I was a month away from 18 when Voldemort fell."

"You've already lived through this war." Sirius realized.

"Yes sir, and I'll fight this one too."

"Fight?! You think you'll be here long?" Sirius asked.

"I was brought not only to another dimension but taken to the point that the war was still smoldering. Maybe -"

"What?"

"Maybe I'm here to help."

"What?"

"It'd make sense, wouldn't it?"

"I'm getting lost."

"Alright, look at it from my side, I showed up here and I was unconscious-"

"Exhausted." Sirius corrected.

Harry sighed, saying Unconscious was a lot better than admitting to himself that he was exhausted when he'd shown up here but … "Fine. I was exhausted. When I woke up, I kept waiting to wake up again."

"Meaning?"

"Until I finally got the theory that I'll go back the same date that I'm from…"

"You've spent the last six months waiting to go back, not participating in a war you've already fought, only to realize that you won't go back to your own world for another… two years?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Sirius let out a breath, "Merlin."

Harry nodded his agreement as he drank the rest of his coffee.

"What about the Elite?"

"Everything I told you about them is true. We officially did not get involved until my 7th year."

"And you're going through Hogwarts again? I bet you barely have to study!"

"I was Head Boy for a reason."

"Head Boy! I can't wait for you to tell Lily!"

"What? No!" he exclaimed paling as he thought about telling his "parents".

Sirius saw the look on his face, "Fine, but Rose… she set a deadline, didn't she?"

"Easter."

"Good luck with that."

Harry nodded, "Is it wrong of me to say that I'm a… bit apprehensive about telling them?"

"No, but I would be worried more if you weren't."

"Yeah." he said as he ran a hand through his short hair - for now. "So, from your side, who else knows?"

"Remus would, if he had more contact with you. Fortunately for you, he owns that Muggle bookstore in Devonshire."

He couldn't help but scoff when Remus was mentioned.

"What?"

"Does he still undergo Moon-induced transformations?"

"Yeah."

"He hasn't embraced his inner wolf yet then."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, it happened in my world. There was a battle about six months before the Battle of Riddle Manor."

"And?"

"Rodolfus thought he should kill his niece."

"Then what?"

"All Moony had to know was that someone was trying to kill his mate. Remy became one with his inner wolf almost instantaneous."

"And?"

"Now it's like he's an Animagus."

"Really?"

"It can't be forced." he warned Sirius, seeing the conspiring look on the Animagus's face.

"But Remy is already married to Nymphie."

"Sirius-"

"Oh Fine! Spoilsport."

Harry shook his head, "Whatever. I need to get back to Hogsmede. Hermione can only cover for me for so long."

"Hogsmede? Not Hogwarts?"

"I need to see a man about a goat."

AN

And we're caught up on this end. I'm going to focus on the flashbacks for a bit. I want to get the first chapter out - at least.

Guess what I mean about the last line of this chapter and I'll see what I can do about my speed.