Double Take
By: Rogue Waif
Summary: Things happen when Harry loses his temper so what is everyone supposed to do when he divides himself into two? One Gryffindor and one Slytherin and how will Voldemort react?
Author's foreword: I'll be honest with you: the beginning might seem a little OOC for some characters and the whole things with Snape is done kind of sloppily because in the real Harry Potter stories he'd never do anything like what he does. Just please read it anyway.
Part 1.
Tap. Tap.
Twitch.
Tap. Tap.
Swallow.
Tap. Tap.
Hermione and Ron watched their friend out of the corners of their eyes as he sat and stared, unblinking up at the teacher's table. Snape, though aware of the glare, refused to even spare a glance for the angered Potter.
"Harry, maybe you should cool it a little... some people are starting to notice." Ron said. He was right; several students were looking Harry worriedly.
Harry tapped faster for a second and then sighed and looked away from Snape. He turned to his breakfast a muttered, "You're right..." they had just come from a potions lesson and Harry had been fuming for a while.
"Mail's late today." Hermione remarked as the owls soared into the Great Hall. Hermione's copy of the Daily Prophet landed before them and when Hermione glanced at the headlines, she spit out her juice all over the paper.
"What is it?" Harry asked, exchanging a glance with Ron. Hermione tried to stuff the paper away but Harry was too quick for her. He grabbed if from her hands and swiftly read the headlines. He could feel his blood pressure begin to rise even as he read the title.
Potter secrets revealed; the James and Lily Potter's secret jobs.
written interview of Professor Severus Snape by Rita Skeeter.
Harry put the paper down with shaking hands and stood numbly to his feet. Ron and Hermione stood too, wanting to pull him back down to his seat, but he shook them off with one shove. Eyebrows drawn fiercely down over his bright green eyes with an effect so ferocious some students stared as they glanced up, Harry stalked up to the teachers' table.
He walked right up to before Snape and stared down at the professor with an expression that looked remarkably like deep hatred-- because it was deep hatred.
"Why?" Harry asked tightly when Snape finally looked up and acknowledged his presence.
Snape, knowing that he was in front of the headmaster and that many people were listening, knew that he could insult Potter. He merely snapped irritably, "The public has right to know everything." (told you it was sloppy and OOC)
Harry stumbled back from the table and everyone stared at him. Harry didn't notice the stares, for there was turmoil in his head. He was so sick of it... sick of the insults of his family... sick Snape--
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" he yelled out and then there was a blast of white light surrounding him. Air seemed to be pushed out of the way by the white fire that surrounded Harry. Harry, in the center, continued to yell an unearthly yell that echoed off the walls. Every cell of his body was bursting with energy and suddenly his body couldn't take it. It was to much for one body to handle and Harry suddenly collapsed to the floor, aware, as he slipped off into darkness, that his head was hurting greatly.
~~
Harry awoke in the infirmary, staring up at the now-familiar ceiling. He could feel the lack of weight on his nose and knew that someone had taken off his glasses. But strangely, he could still see clearly without them.
He sat up, also suddenly aware that his arms seemed bigger than usual. He glanced around and spotted a small, curled-up figure in the bed beside him. A small sniffle escaped from under the sheets and Harry snorted. Whoever was there was obviously crying. Pansy-ass boy, whoever it was.
~~
Harry awoke, his knees brought up to his chest and his vision blurry. God his head hurt... he let out a small sniff tugged at the sheets around him. From somewhere beside him he heard a derisive snort and froze. Who was there? What did they want?
Harry shoved the covers up and found himself staring to the distorted face of... himself. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth, his wide, scared eyes never leaving the other's face:
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
~~
'What the fuck?' Harry thought as the smaller, weaker looking image of himself screamed a high pitched scream. A girl's scream. he thought dryly.
He heard pounding footsteps and the door to the infirmary burst open.
~~
Hermione burst inside along with Madam Pomfrey, Ron, Dumbledore, and most of the staff. Sitting up on the two beds were two Harrys. One was wearing only pants and no shirt (Hermione's eyes lingered over the chest before reprimanding herself that she was acting as tacky as a boy) and the other was wearing a shirt and probably no pants, but he had a sheet pulled up over him like some type of security blanket.
At first glance the two looked exactly the same. And they were the same basically; same eyes and unruly black hair. Upon closer inspection, though, you'd see that one was more athletic and muscular looking while the other looked small and frailer. But which was Harry?
"What the fuck is going on here!" Shirtless-Harry bellowed. Hermione winced... okay, that wasn't Harry.
Security-Blanket-Harry yelped and pulled the covers over his head, shoulders shuddering. Hermione's brow furrowed as she frowned... that definitely wasn't Harry, either.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"Yes?" two voices, one high, one lower, replied. Shirtless-Harry cast a death-stare at the figure to the left of him and the other, feeling the glare, shrank back further.
"Professor, what happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered, so the two Harrys could not hear.
"I'm not sure... but I think that Harry somehow divided himself into two when he lost control earlier." Dumbledore whispered back and then suddenly looked thoughtful. He looked from the scowling Harry to the sniffling one and then turned around and marched from the room. The others, sensing a meeting, followed. As the door to the infirmary shut, they could hear Shirtless-Harry insult the other and then laugh.
Dumbledore paced back and forth in front of the group and tapped his chin, his long silver hair swung behind him like a tail.
"When Harry first tried the sorting hat on, it didn't know whether to put him in Slytherin or Gryffindor. Indeed he has strong qualities for both, and these qualities, together, were what made Harry, Harry. So when Harry lost control these two personalities burst forth and created two different people. One purely Slytherin-bound, the other Gryffindor."
"So you're saying Harry is some strange form of a schizophrenic?" Hermione asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes."
"Well, what do we do?" burst forth Ron.
"I'm not sure... but I do believe that we must somehow calm the two Harrys. They must not lose temper again because I'm afraid they'd multiply even further. We must make life as normal as possible until I think of a solution."
"How do we make it 'normal'?" one of the teachers asked.
Dumbledore let out a grimace, "Have the two Harrys sorted and placed into school like regular students."
'Oh god...' Hermione (and many of the teachers) thought.
~~
"You're kidding." Shirtless Harry sneered and then pointed at the shaking counterpart, "You're not telling me that he is me. Look at him! I've seen more backbone on a monkey!"
Hermione paused and then said, "Monkey's do have backbones, though."
"I knew that!" he snapped back, going slightly red in the face.
"What are we supposed to call them?" someone asked.
"Don't say 'them'." Security-Blanket-Harry said fervently, "I don't want to be paired with him. Say Harry and Harry when you're speaking."
"He will be Potter." Dumbledore said, pointing at Shirtless-Harry. "And he will be called Harry." he pointed to Security-Blanket-Harry.
"Great." Potter said sarcastically and then cast an idle scowl in Harry's direction. "Whichever house I'm in better not be with him."
"A- and I-I don't want t-to be with h-him." Harry stuttered, sitting up right and trying to look dignified. The protective sheet around him kind of spoiled the effect.
"Which wears the glasses?" Ron inquired, looking at the two Harrys with no enthusiasm.
"I have no need for those ugly bastards." Potter spat, gesturing to the glasses. Harry hurriedly put them on and smiled gratefully, "I can finally see clearly."
"This so sucks." Ron muttered to Hermione as Potter made a less than friendly gesture to Harry.
~~
That night, in the Great Hall, the students were buzzing with rumors of the two Harrys. Girls whispered about what they looked like and boys snickered about what Harry would be able to do or not do because he was split into two.
Harry was first to be sorted, and slid shyly into the room, slump-shouldered and sweating. He was clad in full uniform, with no creases evident and impeccable appearance. He stumbled slightly as he sat on the chair and dropped the hat onto his head.
Not a second had passed when a confused-sounding voice yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Several people groaned from the Gryffindor table; girls watched with no enthusiasm as the seventeen year old boy stumbled into a seat and boys of the quidditch team actually banged their head against the table top.
"Nice food, isn't it?" Harry asked brightly, taking a small sip from his juice and shuddering, "Who-ee, that juice is strong-- what is it's alcohol content?"
Hermione glanced at the goblet in his hand and raised an eyebrow, "I never really noticed any alcohol in it before."
"Oh but there is some in there!" Harry nodded, "I can taste it. I'm liable to be drunk by the end of the evening."
Ron sat, slumped against the back of his chair, looking across at his best friend, who took another small sip from his juice, and desperately wanted to punch him in the face.
~~
Potter's arrival was more conspicuous. He banged open the doors and strutted cockily in. He was clad in the uniform with a few differences; the cloak was made of leather and his boots would not have been out of place at a rock concert. The tie of his under clothing was loosened causally and the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up, showing some of his muscles to anyone who looked.
Girls whispered excitedly as he sat on the chair and boys wondered whose quidditch team he would be able to help.
Like Harry, the hat screamed out the house name immediately, thought it appeared confused:
"SLYTHERIN!"
Potter slid gracefully off the stool and sat down next to... Malfoy, either not noticing or not caring that everyone was staring at him. Gradually chatter broke out again and people looked away.
"What are you doing in Slytherin?" Malfoy spat, sneering at Potter and was then surprised when an equal sneer was met with his.
"Well, obviously, the damn hat thing put me in here." Potter glanced over at the Gryffindor table and nodded, "I'd probably refuse if the hat had put me in Gryffindor... damn mudbloods."
Malfoy stared at him for a second and then held out his hand, "I'm Draco Malfoy."
Potter shook it: "Potter's the name."
And, across the Great Hall, at the Gryffindor table, Ron Weasley was still looking at his best friend like he wanted to punch him.
~~
Author's Note: Well, It was a fun story to write, anyway. Please review and tell me what you think! Should I continue???
