I'm kind of struggling with one of the pitfalls of writing this kind of story, namely, falling into the habit of just rewriting the books with an added Will. I'm trying not to follow the original books too closely, and when things go exactly the same I usually leave it out. I'm also trying to not make things too needlessly dramatic, but considering what's been going on in the story I'm not sure if I've succeeded. That all being said, the first book is going to follow canon pretty closely. After that I'm pretty open to suggestions as far as plot points go, but I do have some ideas.

Will awoke suddenly. He slowly sat up and looked around. It took a moment, but he realized he must be in the infirmary when a woman wearing white robes approached him.

"Mr. Nelson, good. You're awake," She said. This must be Madam Pomfrey.

"What happened?" He asked, last thing he remembered was the-

"The troll!" He shouted, "Is everyone alright?"

"You were the only one injured," Madam Pomfrey replied as if he hadn't shouted at her, "All of the other students were unharmed."

Looking outside, Will was surprised to see daylight. "What time is it?" He asked, confused.

"You were attacked by the troll last night, and were brought to me unconscious by Professor Snape. I had to vanish the bones in your leg and regrow them due to how badly damaged they were. That's an overnight process, I'm afraid. I decided it was best to keep you unconscious for it, seeing as re-growing bones is rather painful. Let me give you a quick once over to make sure you're alright, then you're free to go." She said, and waved her wand over him. A bunch of colors and shapes appeared in front of her.

"Hmm, that's odd," She said, confused, and waved her wand again. The same thing popped up again. "Strange."

"Something wrong?"

She scrutinized him. "Well, your leg seems to be fine, so I'll let you go. You'll find that breakfast has begun already, so if you hurry you'll be able to eat with your Housemates before today's classes begin."

Will nodded, and after thanking her left the Hospital Wing. He stopped by Gryffindor tower to grab the things he'd need for the day and headed to breakfast. Upon entering the Great Hall, he saw Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville all eating together. He walked over, and when Hermione saw him he waved.

"Will!" She yelled, standing up to give him a hug, "You're alright!" Harry was smiling at him, that was a good sign, right?

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey fixed me right up," Will said, shrugging. "I'm good as new."

"That's a relief," Neville said, "We were worried it was serious when you didn't come back last night."

"She just needed to keep me overnight to regrow the bones in my leg," Will said, somewhat sarcastic, "Not a big deal."

"Regrow the bones?!" Harry yelped, "They can do that?"

"Apparently," Will shrugged again.

"Anyway, we've got a lot to tell you!" Hermione said, before sitting him down and leaning in towards the others.

Everyone else leaned in as well, and they explained what had happened last night.

Apparently, after he passed out, Ron levitated the club and dropped it on the Troll's head. Soon after, Mcgonagall, Snape, and Quirrell appeared. Snape left with Will to take him to the Hospital Wing, and while he walked away they noticed that he was limping. Mcgonagall asked them what had happened, and Hermione lied and said that she had been homesick and missed the feast while Neville and Will had been comforting her, and Ron and Harry knew that they didn't know about the troll. Mcgonagall had been almost impressed that a bunch of first years had taken down a troll, and had given them five points each, totaling in twenty-five points for Gryffindor.

And Harry was apparently considering him a friend again, seeing as they filled him in on what they thought was under the trapdoor. Harry and Ron had seen an article in Hagrid's cabin telling about the Gringotts break in, and Harry had remembered the grubby little package he and Hagrid had picked up during Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley.

"Why would Hagrid just leave an important clue like that just lying around?" Will wondered aloud.

"It was rather careless of him," Hermione said, considering.

"Maybe he'd been reading it before we arrived?" Ron asked, shrugging.

"The article would have been a week old at that point," Will reminded.

"Okay, so he was rereading it," Ron said, "That's not what's important here. Do you have any idea what was in the package?"

It was about this big," Harry mimed a shape roughly the size of an orange.

"I'd need to do some research into magical artifacts," Hermione mused.

"I know of a few things," Neville said, "But none that would be so important for Dumbledore to need to guard it personally."

"Or so dangerous," Ron added.

"Or both," Will agreed.

"So what do we do?" Hermione asked, and everyone looked at Harry.

"What, me?" Harry said, surprised, "Why should I decide?"

"You've kind of been taking the lead on this already," Will said, shrugging.

"You're the one who noticed it in the first place, and brought it to our attention." Hermione added, "You must have some ideas already."

They decided to do some research in the library, and to ask Hagrid if the chance ever came up.

"Subtly!" Will reminded.

Neville was still a bit shaken up, and Will did his best to comfort him through double potions, which was the only class they had that day. They got through without melting any cauldrons, thank Merlin. He was looking a bit better by the time class ended.

"Hoo, that could have gone worse," Neville breathed.

"Could have gone better, too," Will joked, smiling at Neville.

Neville chuckled, "Yeah, that's true." He paused for a moment, then looked at Will, "I'm glad you're okay, Will. I don't know what I would have done if a friend of mine had died like that. Or worse, ended up like-" He cut himself off.

"I'm okay though," Will said, smiling, "Not a scratch on me anymore, see." He spun around.

"I'm still a little dizzy from the potion fumes, stop spinning around, you'll make me sick," Neville laughed.

They had the afternoon off, so Will took the chance to also talk to Hermione, to see how she was doing. Better, apparently. Ron had actually apologized to her about what he'd said, and Hermione accepted. She'd also impressed Harry and Ron with her willingness to lie to a professor, so she'd decided to loosen her stance on breaking school rules 'just a little bit.'

"I guess I've realized that not all rules are perfect, and sometimes there are things that are more important than following the rules to the letter." Hermione said, considering.

"That's a rather mature outlook," Will commented, "The ones who made the rules are people too, and so can make mistakes as well. Not all rules apply perfectly to all situations, after all." He turned to smile at her.

After that, Ron took the time to apologize to Will as well. He'd apparently been under the impression that Will was a bad person, one who had taken advantage of Harry by lying to him. After the troll, Ron had confronted Harry about why he even wanted to save someone who had been taking advantage of him, and Harry set him straight. Will was a bit shocked by that, and asked if Ron knew what Harry and he had fought about. He didn't, he just knew that Will had been lying to Harry for a long time. Will had accepted Ron's apology as well, saying it was 'water under the bridge'.

"Water under... what? What does that mean?"

"It's a muggle saying I guess. It means that something in the past is in the past. Like a river flowing under a bridge, the water that ran by a while ago doesn't have any bearing on the bridge in the present. It's best to leave the past in the past, and to not let it drag you down, that sort of thing."

"I see," Ron nodded. "You're a pretty wise person, Will."

"It's not exactly wise to just parrot back phrases when the situation fits," Will laughed, "But thank you for the compliment, Ron."

It was only after everyone had gone to bed, that Harry approached Will. He did so in astral form, funnily enough. Will hadn't felt like astral projecting since he and Harry had had their fight, so this was the first time he'd done it in a while. About two months, right?

Will followed Harry up onto the roof of Gryffindor tower. They lay back and looked at the stars for a little while.

{I'm glad you're okay,} Harry said finally, turning to look at Will. {When I realized you guys didn't know about the troll, my heart felt like it had fallen into my stomach.}

{You should have seen us when the troll appeared.} Will said, smiling a little, {I about threw up my heart, myself.}

Harry paused again, looking out over the lake, {I realized yesterday that I never really gave you a chance to explain anything. I was so upset that I just took off, and that wasn't fair to you.}

{It's okay,} Will started to say, {I did lie to you after-}

{No, it's not.} Harry softly interjected, {We've known each other for about two years now.}

{Nineteen months but who's counting,} Will chuckled, and Harry joined him for a moment.

{I still should have given you a chance to explain.} Harry said, {I've known you for nineteen months, and in all that time, all you've done is try to help me. So I'm sorry. If you'd like, I'd like to hear your explanation, and hopefully we can be friends again.}

{I'd like that,} Will said, and explained as best he could.

He told Harry about how he'd died, and went to where-ever that foggy place was. How he'd met his grandmother, and she'd given him an opportunity to travel to a different dimension, but only if he promised to fulfill a mysterious entity's mission. How he'd woken up in the body of a brain-dead child, and how bad he felt about how he'd basically taken over this kid's entire life. How he'd lied to everyone because of how scared he was that they'd reject him. And how he'd decided to be Harry's friend, because he knew how badly Harry needed one.

{I would have left you alone if you'd decided you didn't like me or something,} Will explained, {I'd have tried to complete my mission from the shadows or something, I don't know.} He looked away, over the lake, {It's probably good we're in astral form, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be crying right now.}

{Well, we can't have that,} Harry chuckled, {You're an ugly crier.}

{Hey! Nobody looks pretty when they cry!} Will said, shoving Harry by the shoulder. He laughed and shoved Will back. They sat back and another moment of silence occurred.

Harry broke the quiet, {So, you're from another dimension.}

{Yep.} Will nodded.

{You're possessing the brain-dead body of Will Nelson, and you were sent here on some crazy mission by someone you didn't even get to meet, just because you wanted to see real magic.} Harry said.

{Yep.} Will nodded again.

{Man, you are a Gryffindor, you just jump in headfirst, don't you.} Harry chuckled.

{What, no comment on how I've stolen the body of an innocent child?} Will asked, somewhat surprised.

{I never got to meet that Will, did I?} Harry asked, {I only ever have known you. You're the one who decided to put aside some important mission just to make me feel better.} He stopped, considering, {Besides, it's not like anyone was using the body anyway.} He added.

{Harry!} Will burst out, laughing, {You can't just say things like that. This is really serious.}

{I know,} Harry said, {I'm just trying to make you feel better.}

They fell quiet again for a moment.

{So… you're okay with all of this?} Will asked hesitantly.

{I'm not going to lie, it is a lot.} Harry said, {But yeah, I think I am.}

{Good,} Will said, hesitating, {Because there's one more thing.}

{Really.} Harry deadpanned, {There's more?}

Will nodded, {In my dimension, there's a book series called 'Harry Potter.' It's a record of your life, all of the major points in it, anyway. If sometimes it seemed like I knew something before it happened, that's because I did.}

Harry blinked, {I'm in a book? There's a book series about me?}

{It's a really popular children's book series,} Will added, {There's been movies and everything.}

Harry laughed, {I don't really think I'm that interesting, but if you say so.} He nodded, {So you know everything that's going to happen?}

{Sort of,} Will said, {There's no character named Will Nelson in the books. Just by being here, I'm changing things. I don't know if my future knowledge will be all that useful in the long run.}

{Any knowledge would be useful,} Harry said, {I feel like I'm constantly playing catch up, here.}

{That's because you pretty much are,} Will laughed, before sobering, {But I'm not sure if I should tell you everything right now, or wait until the right moments to give the information out. If we change too much right away, my future knowledge could become useless.}

Harry seemed to consider for a moment. {So, things are going to get pretty dangerous, huh.} Will nodded solemnly. Harry scrutinized Will's face for a moment, then turned away. {Wait for the right moments, I think. I know you'll watch my back, so I'm not scared if you're there to help. Well, not too scared, anyway.}

Will sighed. He wasn't sure if it was in relief or not. {Okay, we'll do it that way then. Do you know what we should tell the others? I was planning on telling everyone that I can see the future, and give hints that way, but I don't really want to lie anymore. I also don't want to burden them with the truth though, either. I'll leave the choice to you, okay?}

Harry nodded. {We don't have to decide right away, do we? I kind of just want to keep it between us for now.}

Will shrugged, {That's okay with me, but I think Hermione is close to figuring something out. What that something is though, I have no idea. She keeps giving me these weird looks.}

Harry looked back at Will, {Is there any future hints you can give me right now?}

Will considered, before deciding, {Be really careful at your first Quidditch game, okay? Try to stay low to the ground when you can.}

Harry nodded. He got up and floated in front of Will. {We should probably actually go to sleep now. It's getting pretty late.} He offered Will his hand, and Will took it. They floated down through the roof, heading back to their sleeping bodies.

This one's shorter than the last couple chapters have been, but it felt like a natural stopping point.