James came out of his room into the living hall and saw them three sitting there. Petunia had been sent back to Hogwarts but Lily had written headmaster Riddle to give some days of leave to Harry and Hermione, on behalf of her parents.

The events of that night still haunted him. It had been two days since those shadowy creatures had attacked his family and he'd found out that his son wasn't really his son. That part still gave him a headache but Lily had convinced him that those two will explain them everything. As it had turned out they'd talked to Lily about their side of the story to some extent and she seemed to believe them. If she believed them then James saw no problem in hearing them out. Besides, he needed to know where his son actually was as when Lily told him that he was here James didn't quite get it.

The air around the living hall was filled with a sense of tension as Lily, Harry and Hermione saw James come and sit beside his wife on the couch, his eyes moving from Harry to Hermione and back to Harry. He took a sip from his cup of tea before putting it down on the table. "I'm listening" he said quietly as he fixed his stare at Harry.

Harry took a deep breath before clearing his throat. "Like we said before…we are not from this reality," he said slowly before pausing and looking at James who signaled him to continue. "In our world…the people we trusted, the people we thought of as our family…they…it turned out they were only…it was all just a lie. It is a bit complicated to make you understand…"

"Just…keep talking," James said with a little hint of anger and frustration in his tone as he said those words with his eyes closed.

"The people we trusted turned on us," Harry said. "They betrayed us as it turned out they were only really using us…more specifically me."

"Why just you?" Lily asked.

"It would be much easier if I…we just showed you," he said as he put a few small vials on the table, each of which contained a silver strand floating inside of it. Both Lily and James looked from those vials to Harry and Hermione. "I prepared them all yesterday because describing to you our…experiences would be much more difficult. Also, some events…it's been too long and I thought I would forget talking about them if I just told you about who we were. So, all of these are the memories of Hermione and mine. They will tell you who we are and how we ended up here."

James picked one of the vials up and looked at it closely before looking at Lily who nodded once. He then got up and left the hall, returning a few minutes later with a pensive floating beside him. He placed it beside the couch and non-verbally cast a spell which enlarged it more than twice its original size. He then looked at the vials. "Which one first?" he asked.

"This one," Harry said handing him one of the vials which he removed the stopper of and poured its contents in the pensive.

"Come with us," James said without looking at Harry. "I need to understand everything so you will be telling us what is happening inside these memories. I don't care if it's a sad or a cheerful memory…whether it brings you pain remembering or seeing them. I want complete explanation as to what is happening."

"I understand," Harry said at once as he stood up and came beside James. He had given this a lot of thought before coming to this conclusion. Now that their secret was out and to no one but his counterpart's parents Harry and Hermione had decided that they would tell them everything.

"Lily," James said as she stood up and came beside him. He held her hand before looking at Hermione. "You too," he said. Hermione looked at Harry who nodded so she got up as well and came beside them. Once they were all around the pensive they all immersed their faces inside it as it sucked them all in. Because of its enlarged size it wasn't weird or uncomfortable at all as silence filled the living hall.

The memory was of Harry's from when he was about four years old. It was broken as the scenario around them kept changing from time to time. Harry had tried his best to remember as much as he could from when he was this young. The memory kept changing…moving forward when Lily began to silently cry seeing Petunia, Harry's aunt in the memory. Harry knew why as he had asked her about this before, more precisely yesterday morning, the day after they'd been ambushed by dementors in the Potter Manor.

As it had turned out, this reality's Petunia and Lily were very close even after Lily had come to know that she was a witch. Petunia had supported her all the way and she and Vernon were not only Harry and Petunia's aunt and uncle they were also made their god parents by Lily and James. Petunia, Harry's sister had been named after his aunt. Unfortunately his aunt and uncle were killed in a car accident three years ago. The event left Lily broken for almost two years and even today whenever she thought about her sister she couldn't stop crying.

So when she saw her sister in Harry's memory she couldn't hold herself as James held her close. The memory kept playing until they all saw how Petunia and Vernon behaved with Harry. It left the Potter couple in shock seeing a now five year old Harry all weak and skinny, doing the house chores wearing oversized clothes of his cousin and living in a cupboard. The scenario then changed to when the Durseleys told Harry about his parents for the first time and Lily couldn't believe when she heard that she and James had died in a car accident leaving Harry orphaned when he was just about a year old. It was at this moment Harry paused the memory as one could do so if they were watching their own memory inside a pensive.

"From what you both saw as of now you would be able to tell that living with my relatives…it wasn't a happy or normal life for me," Harry said.

"We…our counterparts…your parents left you so young…" Lily couldn't speak out of the shock.

"Unfortunately they did," Harry said, "but it wasn't a car accident. They were murdered in cold blood by a dark wizard named Lord Voldemort." Both James and Lily looked at him. There was a look of slight confusion on their faces as Harry knew they had no Voldemort in this reality. "The reason why he killed them is something you will come to know soon but for now…" he resumed his memory which now changed to him being bullied by his cousin who was chasing him along with his friends when Harry accidently apparated himself over to the roof of one of the houses. James was shocked seeing it. "You were able to apparate at such a young age?" he couldn't hide his shock.

"It was accidental magic," Harry said. "There were other events, like this one time my hair grew back overnight after my uncle had shaved my head just because he'd found a hair in his soup one day which I had made."

Both Lily and James couldn't believe how this boy had been brought up by the Durseleys. It was impossible to believe what they saw but this is how it was with their son…from another reality.

The scenario then changed to when the Durseleys resident was flooded with Hogwarts letters and then to when Hagrid personally came to deliver Harry his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday and told him that he was a wizard. In the memory they also saw when Hagrid had told Harry about how his parents had been murdered and not died in a car accident.

The scenario then changed to Harry going to the magical world for the first time and by now it was obvious to the Potter couple that he was quite famous in the magical world for surviving a killing curse by this Voldemort who had then died himself when he tried to kill Harry as a child. They both also wondered how it happened.

The memories then changed at a fast pace as they saw how Harry dealt with this Quirrel guy who was hosting Voldemort's soul inside him while trying to use the philosopher's stone to revive him. It was also weird to see how Harry had defeated him simply by his physical touch as the memory came to an end.

The four came out of the pensive as Lily and James' face had a look of shock and surprise.

"How can one deal with so much…I can't imagine it!" Lily said close to tears.

"If you want to process it we can take a break," Harry said.

"We want to see more!" Lily said and then looked at her husband as if silently telling him to continue. James nodded after looking at his wife for about a minute so Harry grabbed the second vial and poured its contents in the pensive. And once again all four of them went inside.

By noon they had finished all of the memories which comprised of Harry's life up until he'd defeated Voldemort, which to the Potters' surprise had turned out was Tom Riddle, the Hogwarts headmaster from this reality. "This is how we felt when we first came to know it," was what Harry had replied when they four saw his memory from second year inside the chamber. It was more shocking to the Potters than seeing a twelve year old battle and kill an almost hundred foot long basilisk.

Everything from this Voldemort guy to dementors to the basilisk to fighting death eaters to engaging in an all-out war…it was too much for the Potters to take in so they decided to take a break from watching the memories. It was also advised by Harry and Hermione as the next set of memories that they were to watch would contain everything up until they'd ended up in this reality.

Lunch went in silence as nothing but the sound of chewing and cutleries filled the dining hall. Once they were done they all gathered in the living hall for round two of watching Harry and Hermione's memories. But before that could happen James and Lily had some questions they needed answering.

While doing so Harry and Hermione came to know that there was no Black family in this reality, just as they'd guessed and because of its school policies the Hogwarts of this reality didn't take in magical creatures like werewolves, vampires, veela or metamorphmagus. That raised a possibility that there could be a Remus in this reality. There could also be a Sirius but with a different name or maybe living as a muggle. Nothing was certain.

It was close to four in the evening when they all decided it was enough break time so they gathered around the pensive with Harry holding a vial of memory in his hand which removed the stopper of and poured into the pensive before they all went inside.

This was the memory of Harry's after Voldemort's defeat and after them graduating Hogwarts finishing their seventh year. The memory started with a grand wedding. Being best friends for so long Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had decided to get married on the same day. There were lots of invited guests and the after-party was also very grand. Once everything was over the Potters and Weaselys left for their respective honeymoons.

Harry and Ginny went on a world tour, enjoying their honeymoon for over four months after which they came back and bought a house in a quiet muggle neighborhood of Highgate, North London. Deciding to leave the magical life behind Harry asked Kingsley, the then minister of magic for help who then got him a college degree from muggle authorities using which Harry got a normal desk job in a small company. He wasn't in need of money. He was quite rich and after keeping some for himself and his family's future Harry had donated the rest for the rebuilding of Magical Britain after Voldemort's defeat.

However, Ginny did not take this well when he told her about it. The memory then moved forward in time showing the couple fighting almost all the time when James and Lily began to notice something strange. "I wish I could've seen it even this early like you two," Harry said realizing they both had caught it.

"I was wondering why it was all so sudden and came out of nowhere," James said as Harry resumed the memory.

Because of their constant fighting Ginny had left to see her mother leaving Harry alone when one late night Hermione came to meet him all wet in the rain and gasping for breath. She was bleeding, tired and barely conscious. When Harry opened the door she fell into his arms and lost consciousness. She woke up the next day and then Harry asked her what happened.

"It was all a lie!" she managed to say with a dry throat before coughing. Harry gave her some water which she gulped down.

"What happened?" he asked. "Where's Ron?" Hearing that, she broke down completely as Harry immediately came to her side, comforting her. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked.

"He…It was all a lie, Harry," she managed to say between her crying. "It was all a lie."

"Hermione…what lie?" he asked.

"Everything!" she said looking up at him before standing up. "We need to get out of here."

"What? Where? Hermione, what's going on?" he asked, still confused as to what was happening. "Did something happen to Ron?"

"Nothing happened to him," she said. "Ron happened to me just like Ginny has happened to you. We were lied to, Harry. This life that we both are living…it's a lie. We were made to live this life so that they could get benefit from it."

"Hermione, you're not making sense at all," Harry said standing up.

"Love potion!" she said in a louder voice out of frustration as Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Hermione looked at him before breaking down in tears. "They gave us love potions…slipped it into our food and drinks over the years to make us both fall for Ron and Ginny. The Weaselys lied to us…used us as tools for their benefit."

Harry couldn't believe what he'd heard. Seeing Hermione's condition on the night she'd came to his house he found no reason to believe that she was lying. He was holding her and could feel her body shaking when she said those words. She was extremely emotional…angry talking about it. "Calm down," he said as he cast a patronus charm causing the stag to form and come beside her. Its presence calmed her down immediately. This was one thing Harry had learnt from one of the healers who was working on patients who'd suffered mental health issues when facing dementors during the Battle of Hogwarts. The healer would use his patronus charm to calm down his patients since normal potions didn't work on them.

Hermione sat down and the stag came and sat down beside her. It nudged her shoulder with its nose causing her to smile a little as she felt immediate relief and her thoughts and emotions calmed down. "Now," Harry said looking at her, "what exactly happened?"

"I found out about it last week," she said in a calm tone. "I saw Ron mixing something in my morning tea. It was a white powder. Getting suspicious I looked for it once he was gone to work. After doing some tests I found out that it was actually ammortentia in powder form. I couldn't believe it. I wonder why he would give me love potion when we were married and then it hit me so I did a self-check on myself and the result came back positive. There was ammortentia in my system so I went to get myself checked by a healer where I found out that I was taking ammortentia for over five years which, if you go back to was when we were in our third year. When I tried to remember it I realize I had stared to develop feelings for Ron in our third year. Because the dosage of ammortentia was so small I didn't feel its immediate effect. Rather, I was given such small amounts so that my own magic would find is effect as something natural. The healer advised me to inform the aurors so I lied to him that I would. He then gave me the antidote, which on special request was a powerful one. It was meant to remove any and all traces of ammortentia from my system with some minor side effects.

"Once I took it and the love potion's effects were removed I realized how much I didn't love Ron. I had never seen him even as a friend ever since he'd first called me a know-it-all in our first year. Instead, I wanted to be your friend since you'd saved me from that mountain troll but seeing that you were his best friend I said nothing about how I felt with him near me. I swallowed my anger and hatred for him and accepted him as my friend just so I wouldn't lose your friendship.

"Because the potions' effects were no longer working thanks to the antidote I had to act like I loved him. Every night whenever he…" she paused and her breath hitched as Harry realized what she meant to say. He looked at the stag that came even closer to her, calming down her nerves. "I had to endure it all somehow," she said. "He was rough with me, living his brutal fantasies with me. I took it all as I realize being the one who gave me ammortentia he also had the power to make me forget all of those brutal acts he did with me in bed. One word and I would forget everything we did together and the next morning would again be a 'normal' one for me. However, because I was taking the antidote those words of his had no effect on him but I knew that in order to find out why he was slipping me ammortentia for all this time I had to act like it.

"One night Molly came to visit us. I was horrified to know that she was in on this when she mentioned how 'good' I was for him. I couldn't believe my ears but I had to keep up with my act. She came up to me, ripped open my clothes, making me stand there completely naked as she slapped my face and…and breasts as hard as she could. I muffled my scream, forcing myself to smile as I was 'under the influence' of ammortentia. 'I still don't know why you decided to keep her for your pleasure. She is just a mudblood' is what she said to Ron as I stood there listening, keeping a hazy look on my face and using every bit of self-control I had.

"But then came the real thing when Molly told Ron how Ginny was also slipping you ammortentia. However, unlike with me they had started slipping you love potions starting your first year."

This came as an even greater shock to him as Harry couldn't believe what she'd just said. "What…What do you mean?" he could already feel angry at Hermione for accusing Ginny for something like that.

"You're already feeling it, aren't you?" Hermione said looking at him before she reached for her purse and took out a small vial. "Do you trust me?" she said. Harry said nothing. "Use your legilimency and calm yourself, Harry. I need you to trust me on this." He took a moment to calm himself down before taking the vial from Hermione's hand and gulping down its contents. "Wait a minute for it to kick in," she said when he gagged and was about to throw up. "Hold it in," Hermione said.

He did his best to hold back and by a minute later the antidote had already started to have its effect as Harry's look of shock make Hermione aware of that. "So, what is it that you feel…towards Ginny?" she asked him.

The surrounding and everything else then disappeared as the four came out of the pensive. "You can guess what happened next," Harry said looking at James and Lily. "It was at that moment that I realized I never loved Ginny more than like a sister. To me she'd always been my best friend's sister whom I'd come to love out of nowhere only because of the love potion." He then paused and looked at Hermione. "We can show you Hermione's memories on this but I don't want her to re-live all of that once more."

"Harry…"

"No, Hermione. I can't let you go through something like that again," Harry said interrupting her. She looked at him but said nothing.

"Why would you two be made to take ammortentia?" Lily asked.

"It was all really because of me," Harry said. "Because of being branded as everyone's savior from ever since I was a toddler and the vast amount of wealth which my parents had left for me I had become this…this means of…of tool in the eyes of Dumbledore. To everyone, even to me he was like a sage, a wise old wizard whom everyone respected and looked up to. He'd 'earned' everyone's respect by defeating Gellart Grindelwald, a friend of his from the old days who'd later turned evil trying to impose blood discrimination in the magical world with plans to overtake the entire world and show muggles their place. In order to do so he'd sided with Adolf Hitler and his army of Nazis. When Dumbledore defeated him in a one-on-one duel he became a hero and the savior of the magical world. Even the muggle authorities who knew of the magical world came to know about him. In the years to come he was made the headmaster of Hogwarts from previously being just a defense professor."

James and Lily kept looking at him as he stopped and took a long breath to calm down his nerves. He was really on edge talking about all of that and everyone in the room could feel it, not because of the shakiness of Harry's tone but because of how dense the air inside the hall had gotten because of his magic. "I'm sorry," Harry said bringing his magic back in control. Lily and James still couldn't believe how powerful he was but Lily knew something more about it as she could see the look of slight tiredness on Harry's face.

"Maybe we should all continue this tomorrow," she said as James looked at her. "James and I have so much to process after everything we saw and I know it's been hard on you two as well," she said looking at Harry and Hermione. She then walked up to Harry and slowly hugged him. Harry didn't respond. He didn't move but he was shocked when she hugged him. "I'm sorry you had to endure all that. I now think I know why you broke down that day when you first saw me."

"You are his mother," Hermione said and by that time Harry had begun to silently cry in Lily's arms. "That is one of the few things that haven't change when we came to this reality."

"It's the same for you as well, isn't it?" Lily asked looking at Hermione. "You wiped your parents' memories of you in order to protect them. It takes courage I don't think anyone could ever muster up. It must be hard for you too, to meet them when you came to this reality, unless…"

"No," Hermione said with a slight smile. "They are the same as back in our reality. The only difference is that I have an older brother."

"And I have a sister," Harry said amidst his silent cries as he broke the hug and looked at Lily as James came over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Harry looked at him.

"Lily told me that you know of a way to get us talk to our son," James said with an expressionless face. "Can you do that?"

"James!" Lily couldn't believe her husband was still behaving this cold towards Harry and Hermione. She did understand it but after seeing their memories…what they'd been through she had come to trust them."

"I understand that you had to go through a lot of bad things in your life," James said, "but for two things I cannot forgive you…ever. I guess you know what those two things are."

"I do," Harry said slowly as he stepped away from Lily, "and I understand why you feel that way."

"Then we are clear," James said. "Now, about being able to talk to my son, how will that work?"

"I have come up with a way and I think it might work," Hermione said as everyone looked at her. "Because we are technically in our counterparts' bodies with just our own consciousness being active instead of theirs it could be possible to share our consciousness with our counterparts so there will be two different identities…of sort in one body."

"You mean to say that there will be two people living inside a single body?" James asked. Hermione nodded. "Will it allow me to talk to my son?"

"If it works then yes," she said.

"And if it doesn't?" James asked. "You could've tried it since the very beginning once you arrived in this reality but you haven't. That begs the question, is it too risky? What will happen if things go wrong?"

Everyone looked at Hermione now. Even Harry didn't know what would happen if they fail to share their consciousness with their counterparts. "If things don't work properly…then there's a huge risk of our counterparts suffering a permanent brain damage."

James closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he tried to keep his temper in check while Lily fell on her knees realizing what it meant. Even Harry was shocked for he, too, didn't know something like this could happen as he looked at Hermione who had her eyes closed, trying not to cry. He came beside her and held her close as she put her head on his shoulder trying her best to not let her tears out of her eyes.

"What happens if you simply leave these bodies?" James asked having everyone's attention once more.

"James, what are you talking about?" Lily asked.

"You surely wouldn't have planned to stay in this…reality for forever," he said, "so you must go back you yours someday. What happens to my son and the Hermione of this reality then?"

"They will be back to normal," Hermione said. "For them it would be like waking up from a long sleep."

"They wouldn't know what you two did with your consciousness in their bodies?" James asked.

"No," Hermione said shaking her head, "not if we don't share our consciousness with them."

"So we keep it that way," James said as everyone looked at him shocked.

"You…don't want to talk to your son?" Harry asked.

"You said you could help with this situation that we are in…these murders?" James said. "If that's true and if it allows you to have a chance of taking down your enemies then we will first deal with those two problems." He then paused and walked over to Harry, looking into his eyes with nothing but a look of a man who was on a mission. There wasn't an ounce of emotion or anything but a dead, serious look in his eyes. "You help me catch the murderer and you'll have the entire auror force helping you take down your enemies."

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