Chapter twenty-one—Explanations and Arguing

Harry was woken by very, very loud voices. He did not open his eyes but listened,

"What happened to him?! Why is he here again?! And why can we not see him??" It seemed to be Severus and James.

"All four of you: I doubt Mr Daniels wants me to tell you anything about this. And I do not know why you need to visit an unconscious boy!? He will not wake up in the next two hours!"

"But he has already been here for two days!!" It was Lily who cried that. Harry was shocked.

'Two days?! Oh my god†Well, at least the pain is gone now' He thought relieved.

"Yes, Ms Evans, I do know that. And he needs to stay here for some time, too. I can just tell you that he has been horribly injured. And now please GET OUT!"

"Please, let us go to him!"

"Yes, we will leave after ten minutes!"

"But†There is no†Oh just go on. But you will leave in ten miutes!" And then footsteps approached Harry and he pretended to be unconscious.

"He†He looks" Lily stammered, apparently shocked.

"Well, truth to be told†He really looks horrible. I†wonder what happenedâ€?"

"Do you†think it was" Lily whimpered. But then Pomfrey came and said,

"Don't worry, I just have to give him a potion" And she gave him a potion with a very nasty taste. He frowned a little and she laid him back. But then Severus said something,

"Madam Pomfrey†Is that a†Bloodloss potion?!" She seemed to have nodded because Severus gasped, "But they are only used by really, really heavy blood losses!!" The others gasped,

"Well, Mr Snape†Mr Daniels has lost a big amount of blood" She explained and Harry stirred. The potion hurt a bit. "What†He should not be waking yetâ€!"

"Why not? Is my conscious self so insufferable?" Harry said as he opened his eyes.

"HARRY!!?" Lily cried out.

"What on earth happened?" James asked.

"I'll tell you later, okay? And I think you want to hear the rest of it too, sir?" Harry asked as he saw Dumbledore coming nearer.

"Yes, Mr Daniels, that would be good. And now I must ask you all to leave. You will be able to visit your friend later." They all nodded and with a last look at Harry they exited the infirmary. "Well" Dumbledore began and Harry took a deep breath,

"Well, you do know most of it"

"Could you tell me about†Nightmare Manor?" Harry paled a little but then sighed and swallowed,

"W-Well†I found myself in a hall†Voldemort was sitting in a golden throne†He used the cruciatus until the Death Eaters arrived. I don't know every spell they used†But I do remember the culter and tormenta" He closed his eyes and bit his lower lip, "And potions†My bones†were smashed and then re-built again†And then they put me into a cell" He swallowed hard, "With a glass of water†I fell unconscious, and when I woke up they came to†get me again. Voldemort wanted me to†join him†but when I refused he told them to have no mercy†But they were not allowed to kill me†And after I spoke to you the second time I somehow managed to get my wand†I tried it with wandless magic and it worked†So I made a duplicate and disillusioned myself. But before I just disapparated I went to the nearby town and discovered where nightmare manor is†And then I came back here" He opened his eyes again.

"Mr Daniels, I do not know how to thank you. I still cannot believe that you managed to get out of there†I'm very proud to have you as my student."

"But†But you won't tell anyone what happened, will you?! I mean†That I†managed to escape!? I-I don't want that! Please don't. Just say you found out where it is by yourself!" Harry looked desperately at Dumbledore

"So you do not want me to tellâ€?" Harry shook his head, "I do not undestand you†In your age I would have wanted that attention"

"Yeah, because it woud have been new for you! I once got that much attention and I don't want it again." Dumbleodre raised his eyebrows. And there it was; that disturbing merry twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Then I'll have to get the fame and everything for you, okay?" Harry smirked,

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh, no problem, really. But I think I have to go now or madam Pomfrey gets angry with me†I'll see you."

"Okay, sir. Bye." And Dumbledore went out of the infirmary through a secret passageway.

Two days later Harry had managed to persuade the medi witch to let him leave. He was really getting on her nevres. He walked down to the entrance hall and onto the warm grounds. After a while he found his friends, but what he saw made him stare; James was shouting at Sirius who was pointing his wand at Severus. Severus had his wand out too. Remus and Lily were

helping James and Severus, and Peter was watching. Harry inhalted deeply and came nearer. Peter began to quiver slightly,

"What are you doing, Sirius?" Harry asked. He didn't raise his voice, it was just a simple question. Sirius stared at him without answering. Severus came over, as did Remus, Lily and James.

"Harry, are you okay again?!" Lily said, hugging him. He smiled at her.

"I'm fine again†Now tell me: What is going on here?" Harry now wore a very, very simulated smile. But it looked more as if he was very near exploding. Lily backed away a little,

"Well†Sirius"

"He suddenly began to incriminate Snape and we tried to stop him and then you came" James explained. Harry made his hands to fists at his side.

"And WHY did Sirius do that?" He aksed, still wearing the now more cruel smile.

"Because he said it was his fault†what happened to you" James said quietly, backing away too.

"And why do you think you have to do thisâ€? I mean, I should know what happened to me myself†And I can tell you that it was not Severus who did this"

"But he is a slimy Death Eater!" Sirius shouted. The smile disappeared from Harry's face and he glared at Sirius. Everyone backed even further from Harry away,

"Oh-really? Sirius, you know what—Even if he was one, I would not care! He is still my friend! And I know that he did not do this!" Sirius stared at him,

"But—"

"NO, Sirius! I know what I am doing! If you want it that way: EVERYONE could be a Death Eater! Even you or anyone else! But still I do not care! I know who my friends are." Sirius frowned at Harry but then he went away.

"Harry, I'm sorry." James suddenly said as Harry sat down.

"What for?"

"Yesterday†we heard what you said to Dumbledore" he swallowed but Harry smiled,

"Hey, it's okay†I mean, you really shouldn't have heard it but†Now I don't have to tell you anymore"

"So†You have been in Nightmare Manor?" James nearly whispered,

"Yeah." Harry simply said, he did not know what to say.

"Oh Harry!!" Lily broke out in tears and hugged him,

"Hey Lils, it's okay. I'm back, ain't I?"

"But you†It must have been—"

"No, don't try to find a word†I don't know if there is one." James, Lily and Severus looked sadly at Harry. He did not look at Wormtail because he knew that he had been one of his torturers. He had obviously left the school that evening just to torture him.

Hogwarts, 1996, Severus Snape's lab

"I HAVE GOT ENOUGH!!!!!" Severus Snape shouted. The man was lying on the floor, a wrong-made verita serum all over him. "I thought this was oever!?! An hour ago I managed to finish that bloody wolfsbane potion and nowâ€?!?!" He cast a cleaning spell on himself, stood up and sighed hevily. "This is all†all†Everyone's fault! Shit! I am just trying to find a person who could be responsible! It's just my fault! If he knew before he died, he must have thought I would have rejected him†Well, I had if I hadn't known about those Dursleys! But I did know†So now I can think of all the things he could have thought before he died! Great. I am just not supposed to be happy. I don't want to go to that stupid funeral tomorrow! I'll just stand some feet away from the people†Where is Harry when you need him?! He'd probably even have some sort of advice for me now! But I'd kill him before he could even say a word†I mean, he's been gone for much too long!! Just leaving without even ONE message!" And then he heard someone knocking at the door, "Yes? Who is there?"

"It's me Severus." It was Lupin. Severus sighed and opened the door,

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you. You are not okay. You've already blown up six cauldrons in only two days!" Severus glared,

"I know that! What do you want to talk about?" Remus entered and sat down in a chair at the table.

"I don't really know." Severus nodded,

"It's Harry isn't it? Harry Daniels I mean"

"Not only him. Both of them!"

"Harry Potter too?" Remus raised his eyebrows.

"Naturally. The problem with Harry is just†that he didn't leave any message or anything and that James had no clue about his whereabouts either! He just said 'I am sure he is okay'! And the one about†my son is, that I don't know what he thought! Why am I telling you this anyway?!" He sat down in front of Remus.

"Because you want to talk about it! And you need to; I think you've got enough of talking to yourself all day."

"Tell me something: Haven't you got anything to do except whatching and listening to me all day?! I mean"

"Sorry, Severus" He sighed heavily, "I wanted to talk to you a few hours ago and then overheard you"

"Ah, drop it now†Now I want to talk too"

"So what do you think? Do you think Harry died�"

"No†I just can't believe that he died. He always survived†Even Nightmare Manor. No one else managed that. Ever. He got into trouble and got out of it without getting any punishment†Wait a second†That's just like"

"Just like Harry Potter, yes†That's really weird. They are much alike each other†In art and appearance"

"Yeah, they are very, very similar" And then Remus's eyes grew wide,

"And what if they are the same person�" He said silenty, frowning.

"What are you talking about�"

"I mean that Harry Potter and Harry Daniels could be the same person!"

"And how do you—"

"What if Harry Potter got transported into the past and—" But when Remus looked at Severus he saw something he hadn't seen for years—the man was smiling. And suddenly he began to giggle and then broke out into a fit of laughter,

"That's just too stupid!" And then Remus began to laugh too,

"Okay, okay. But it didn't sound too stupid for some secondsâ€!" And so they sat there, laughing their heads off about something that was all too right

A/N: Well, it's like this: You should read the whole story from the beginning again. I had to change so much†Especially about Laura and such

Love you all and keep reviewing!!

Spera'89