"I hate rainy Sundays," Harry said to himself, as he sat in the deserted classroom.
Hermione demanded that he try to solve the mystery of the egg for the Triwizards Tournament, and refused to have anything to do with him when he told her there was still plenty of time. Ron was too busy playing wizard chess, and winning. Harry decided to go for a walk, only to be chased away by Filch and Flitwick, who were talking in the hallway. He finally ended up hiding in an empty classroom to avoid the Weasley twins.
The twins were always searching the school on the weekends they did not go to Hogsmeade. They always hoped to uncover another secret passage or something. Harry didn't want to join them in their search. If he did and then they became bored he could easily become the test subject for their latest practical joke. Harry could live without that.
And here he was, sitting on the floor in an empty classroom, staring at the outside gloom. Finally, Harry heard the twins' voices fade beneath the patter of the rain against the windows. As he turned to leave, he casually glanced around the room, and at the cabinet he had been leaning against, and that is when he saw it. Coming from the crack between the cabinet doors was a soft red glow. If the room hadn't been as dark as it was, he would have never noticed it. He opened the cabinet to find out the source.
There it sat, a red jewel shining with its own light. As he looked at it, he realized it was not sitting on the shelf but was in fact floating an inch above it. He ran his hand underneath to verify this and, as he did so, a finger lightly brushed the bottom of the jewel. Suddenly, he couldn't move, not even to breathe. In that same instant a voice spoke inside his head, "Come, Traveler, to learn what other path might have brought you here. Cross over to another plane and learn what might have been." As he watched, the jewel faded from sight.
Harry was relieved he had not tried to grab the jewel or he might have faded with it, going who knows where. Then he thought to himself, 'I have to tell Ron and Hermione.' The thought 'perhaps I should tell Dumbledore or one of the teachers' was also in his mind. Unfortunately, it was right behind 'I hope they have treacle pie for desert tonight' and it never had a chance.
Heading back to Gryffindor, Harry ran into no one. When he arrived at the entrance, he said "Golden Snitch," but the picture didn't move. "Excuse me," he asked, "aren't you going to open up?"
The Fat Lady laughed, "You have to give the password first."
"I did, Golden Snitch," Harry repeated.
"That is not the password," said the Fat Lady in a haughty tone, "and that is a terrible disguise."
"What do you mean," asked Harry, but before he could get an answer he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"What are you doing here?"
When Harry turned around, he saw Hermione, who in turn started laughing when she looked at his face, "What's the matter, two eyes aren't good enough for you, you had to try for four?"
"I told him it was a terrible disguise," snickered the Fat Lady.
Harry stared in disbelief. "Hermione, why are you talking to me like that?"
She replied mockingly, "Hermione, why are you talking to me like that."
"That will be enough Miss Granger," said Professor McGonagall walking up to the two students, "And, Mr. Malfoy, you will explain what you are doing here, and why you are wearing those ridiculous glasses."
As his jaw dropped, Hermione piped, "close your mouth, Malfoy, you're attracting flies."
Ignoring her, Harry asked McGonagall, "Professor, what did you call me?"
McGonagall arched an eyebrow at the unusual question. "I called you Mr. Malfoy," she repeated. When she noticed his confusion, she added, "is there any reason why I shouldn't?"
"Because I'm not Draco Malfoy," Harry said, "I don't even know why you would think I was."
The Professor looked at Hermione, causing her to swallow whatever words she was about to say. Then she turned back to Harry, giving the kind of smile you give a little child so as not to frighten him, which is exactly what it did to Harry. "I do not think you are Draco Malfoy," she said carefully, "but I think it best if you tell me your name. That should end the confusion."
"I'm Harry Potter," he said, his voice shaking.
He saw Professor McGonagall step back as though she had just been hit. Even Hermione was surprised at her reaction.
"Miss Granger," McGonagall said, "you are to tell no one about this. Go to the Malfoy's apartment and tell them to meet me in Dumbledore's office as soon as possible." As Hermione turned to leave, the Professor called out, "and, Miss Granger, it would be best if you came with them." At this, Hermione turned, and ran as fast as she could.
"Harry," the Professor said gently, "you know who I am. Do you know the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore?" When Harry nodded, she took him by the hand, and led him away.
*
Dumbledore smiled at the boy, handing him a cup of tea. "Let me warn you in advance, Harry, I have a good idea of what has happened, and I believe you are in for a bit of a surprise."
"I have had a few surprises already, Professor," Harry replied.
"If it makes you feel any better, I remember holding you when you were a baby. You have your mother's eyes, you know." Harry smiled at that.
At this point, there was a knock on the door. Hermione walked in, and was surprised at Harry's smile. She was more surprised by his reaction to the people behind her. It was Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa. Both were dressed in modest robes. Behind them was Draco, who smiled when he saw Harry, and gave him a thumbs-up.
Without even looking around Lucius said, "stop that Draco, and go sit with your brother." Then he asked Dumbledore, "what did he do now, Albus? I hope it isn't serious."
"Oh, Dudley," sighed Narcissa, looking at Harry like he was a lost puppy. Then she frowned, "Dudley, take off those silly glasses, right now."
Dumbledore interrupted, "Narcissa, Lucius, this isn't Dudley. That is why you have been called here."
Dumbledore signaled Harry to stand up. "I believe we should start with an introduction. May I present to you Master Harry Potter."
"That's impossible, Albus. The Potters are all dead." Lucius replied.
"Apparently, that is not the case in his world, Lucius."
Lucius Malfoy nodded thoughtfully, "He found the Traveler Stone?"
"Yes, and I think we should explain it to him, as he obviously does not know."
Harry tried to remain calm as Dumbledore, explained about the Traveler Stone and its ability to send a person into a parallel world, a world of what might have been. He answered the questions about how he found the stone and accidently touched it, confirming Dumbledore's suspicions.
"Excuse me, Professor," Harry started to ask.
"Headmaster," Narcissa said, correcting him.
"Um, Headmaster," Harry began again, "What happened to the stone? It disappeared when I touched it."
"Nothing happened to it, Harry. It is still there, in your world. In our world, we hid it in a different place. While I also have the Malfoy brothers to worry about," Dumbledore said looking pointedly at Draco, who was wearing his best 'Who? Me?' face, "it seems that my counterpart only has to deal with the Weasley twins."
"Lucky him," Lucius muttered.
"Headmaster," Hermione asked, "Why don't you lock the stone away in a safe place, instead of leaving it around?"
"An intelligent question." the Headmaster said, " and the simple answer is that the stone refuses to be locked up. It insists on being accessible. If I were to lock it in a vault, for example, the stone would merely relocate itself. Think of the havoc, if it suddenly appeared in the middle of London in the middle of a work day. The stone is quite content to sit behind a locked door, but if you put a ward or spell on the door, the stone would be gone the next time you checked. I know, Miss Granger, a very annoying artifact."
"Headmaster," Harry said, looking at Narcissa to make sure he wasn't doing anything wrong, "Why can't I just touch the stone again and go back to my own world?"
Again, Dumbledore shook his head, "It doesn't work that way, Harry. If you touch our stone, you will not return home. Instead you will be trapped in this world for the rest of your life."
Harry nodded glumly, asking, "What do I do?"
"Headmaster," Draco said, "I have a question. If Harry is supposed to be the same person as my brother, then why does he wear glasses, and Dudley doesn't?"
"I don't know," Dumbledore answered honestly.
At Dumbledore's urging, Harry began to describe his world. He told everyone how Voldemort killed his parents, and his life with the Dursleys. When he began to talk about Hogwarts, they compared notes about the teachers, most of whom he knew.
Professor Quirrell turned out to be a charity case, but still managed to betray Dumbledore's trust. Remus Lupin never came to Hogwarts, but had been cured of his illness, to Harry's surprise, by Professor Snape. When no one had ever heard of Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry said they should feel lucky. When Harry asked who had been the teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts he was told Sirius Black. "He's my Godfather," Harry exclaimed. He quickly explained what had happened to Sirius, his escape from Azkaban, and how he was now living in hiding.
"An interesting story, Harry," Dumbledore said at the conclusion, "but your life here has been quite different. After your parents were killed, You were sent to live with the Dursleys. However, one of Voldemort's agents followed you there, and it was only recently we realized that the man had killed your cousin by mistake. You should know Harry, they raised you as their son, and came to love you very much."
"Uncle Vernon loved me?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Your parents will explain it to you later in more detail," Albus said, "but that is the truth."
"But what happened, Sir?" asked Harry, not sure who to direct the question to. "Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy, that explains why you called me Dudley, but how did you become my father."
Lucius smiled at Harry in a familiar way. Harry had seen him smile like that at Draco, and thought it an arrogant look, but, now, being on the receiving end of that same smile, he saw warmth and trust in those piercing eyes. He knew then how Draco could love his father. 'Draco is a fool for being jealous of me,' thought Harry, 'he has the one thing I've always wanted.'
Lucius explained the situation simply. "You were adopted. I was the only wizard your father knew, and I was made your legal guardian after he died."
Harry thought for a moment, then said, "Sir, there is something you are not telling me." Lucius looked away from Harry and began staring intensely at a bare spot on Dumbledore's desk.
"There's a lot I'm not telling you, Harry. I don't mean to be rude, but it is none of your business. Dudley has had a hard life, much harder than you, if you can imagine. Like you, he lost his parents, but then he lost a second family, and almost lost another family when I turned against Voldemort. I won't go into detail about any of that because it is HIS life. If he is willing to share his life story with anyone, I'm sure you will hear about it when you return."
Harry watched as Narcissa, with a tear in her eye, put her arm around Lucius. Draco was looking down at the floor as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. Even Hermione was uncomfortable, turning away when he looked at her.
"I'm sorry," Harry said to the empty air.
To lighten the mood, Dumbledore asked Harry to describe some events that happened in his world. Harry mentioned the Triwizard Tournament and his involvement in it. Dumbledore gave a smile at that, "it was something we had planned on doing."
"Do you think you could help figure out how I was entered . . . Headmaster," Harry said, glancing at Narcissa Malfoy, who nodded approvingly.
"I have some thoughts on the subject," Dumbledore admitted, "but it would be best if I noted them in a letter to my counterpart. I think I should leave it to his discretion."
"May I ask a question?" Hermione Granger said to Harry. "I'm curious about what type of person you are." She smiled innocently, feeling very much like herself again, and asked, "Could you tell us something embarrassing about yourself?"
Harry, wary now of this Miss Granger, thought for a minute and then suggested, "I could tell about Norbert."
Hermione went white. Harry could feel Draco behind him freezing like a statue. In that same instant, Lucius Malfoy said in a very level voice, the kind that implies it is only being nice until it finds out why it should be mad, "And who is Norbert?"
Before anyone could say anything, Dumbledore broke out in a fit of laughter. "I apologize, Lucius, but your sons are the only students in the history of the school to successfully sneak a dragon out of Hogwarts."
"Did you say OUT?" Lucius asked in disbelief, but then turned to Harry and Draco. "We will talk about this later."
At that moment, for the first time in his life, Harry felt like he was part of a real family, and he did not like the feeling at all.
At this point, Dumbledore dismissed Hermione, asking that she use her discretion as to what she told anyone. He then suggested that Harry stay with the Malfoys, at least for the night.
"Harry, before you go, I want to tell you a few things you may not like," Dumbledore said. "First, you should know that, in this world, we are at War. Lord Voldemort has behind him an army of dark wizards. The Giants have also joined him, as well as the Dementors of Azkaban. It is only through the quick actions of the Minister of Magic that they are held at bay.
"Secondly, almost every student is here because Hogwarts is the safest place to be. Also, everyone here knows someone who has been killed or is missing. As a result, it is an unspoken rule that you do not talk about what is going on outside of this school. You must follow this rule. Do not even talk about outside events in your own world. Also, you will know students in your own world who are not here. Again, the rule is if they are not here, do not ask about them. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded. He was stunned by what he had heard. "May I ask, Headmaster, how did it happen? On my world we know trouble is coming but it is still years away."
"It happened because of you, Harry," Dumbledore replied, "Lucius broke from Voldemort rather than give you up. The result was a preemptive strike against your father and his few supporters. Your family came here because they had nothing left, and nowhere else to go." Dumbledore turned to Lucius to apologize but Lucius waved him off.
"It's all right, Albus, he had to know."
Harry stared at the headmaster. This was not the Dumbledore he knew. He shuddered inwardly thinking of the ease with which this man talked about war and armies, and how casually he had uttered the phrase 'preemptive strike'.
As they left, everyone walked silently, until Lucius told Draco to go to Slytherin House to get the things the two boys would need for the night.
"Mrs. Malfoy, what do I need from Slytherin?" Harry asked.
"Nothing, Harry," Narcissa said, putting her arm around his shoulders, "we have everything you need for when you stay in our rooms. It's only that Hermione Granger, being in Gryffindor House, will make it a point not to tell the Slytherins anything. Lucius wants to make sure that the students in your house know what has happened, as well."
"My house?"
Narcissa laughed. "Yes, dear, while you are here you are in Slytherin House." As Harry looked at her in surprise, she added, "There is one more thing, you are not to call me Mrs. Malfoy. I don't expect you to call me Mother, but you can at least call me Narcissa, because while you are here, I consider you to be my son, and I will treat you as such."
Harry was led to the apartment where the Malfoys lived. He walked in, and heard a young voice say, in mock surprise, "They didn't kill you? You must not have tried hard enough. What did you do?"
Harry looked at the blond-haired girl. She looked to be a couple of years younger than him, but she also looked familiar. "She's my sister," he said in surprise.
The girl rolled her eyes. "You're as brilliant as ever. How did you finally figure that one out? It must be those stupid glasses you're wearing."
"Cassandra," Narcissa admonished, "Harry needs those glasses to see."
"Harry?"
"You love stories, Cassie," Lucius drawled, "Dudley found an ancient artifact that sent him to another world. Harry is his exact double in that world and has come here."
"Father," Cassie said pointedly, "the exact double is wearing glasses."
"We haven't figured that one out yet," Lucius answered with a condescending smile.
*
Dinner at the Malfoys was a strained affair. Harry tried to fit in, but he couldn't find it in himself to treat these people like family. Narcissa pushed herself trying to make Harry more comfortable. She pumped him with questions about his schoolwork.
"How are you doing in Transfiguration?"
"Fine."
"Do you have any hobbies outside of Quidditch?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess," Harry answered.
"How are your grades, Harry?"
"Fine, I guess."
"How are you really doing in Transfiguration?"
"Fine, really."
After asking a dozen questions Narcissa dramatically threw up her hands, "How is it you are no better than Dudley in any of your classes? You are just like him."
"I am?" asked Harry.
"Except for the glasses, four eyes," laughed Draco.
"Ferret face," Harry replied.
"Muggle Lover."
"Pompous jerk."
"Boys," yelled Lucius, prompting them into silence, "I regret to say, dear, they are exactly alike." At that everyone laughed.
The ice was finally broken, and Harry began to relax. Harry realized that, regardless of how the Malfoys in his world felt about him, these people considered him to be part of their family. Not even the fact that his opinions differed strongly from theirs would change that.
The conversation became more lively as Harry and Draco compared notes on what events they had in common.
"What?" Draco said in surprise, "You had the Weasel help you with the troll? No wonder it was a close call."
"Wait a minute," Harry said, "Why did you, I mean we, help Hermione if she's a, uh, muggle born."
"Because she hates us for it," Draco laughed.
Harry could only shake his head. Draco was still Draco.
"She paid us back though," Draco admitted. She and the Weasel insisted on helping us search for the Philosopher's Stone.
"You joined us?" Harry asked in surprise.
"They joined us." Draco corrected. "We didn't succeed, of course, but we did stop Quirrell." He paused and added, "and we did prove that Voldemort was behind it all."
"If we don't get along, here." Harry asked, "why did Hermione and Ron help us."
"Some things are more important," Draco answered.
At one point, Lucius interrupted. "About Norbert," he asked the suddenly nervous boys.
"I don't believe you told them about Norbert," Cassie hissed.
"I honestly do not want to know how, or why, you got the dragon out of Hogwarts," Lucius continued. "I only want to know how it got in."
It was unintended, but both boys said in unison, "It hatched."
Lucius stared for a moment, then asked, "Hagrid?" When the boys nodded, Lucius just rolled his eyes.
"Why are you in Gryffindor House?" Cassie asked Harry. "Dudley was put in Slytherin House."
Harry paused, remember his first day. "I told the Sorting Hat I didn't want to be in Slytherin."
"That was stupid. Why wouldn't you want to be in Slytherin House?"
Harry saw Draco smile at his nervousness, and decided that truth was the best medicine. "Because in my world, Cassie, only the worst sorts were but in Slytherin. People like Draco."
Cassie laughed with Harry while Draco objected, then asked, "Which house am I in?"
Harry hesitated as the twelve year old girl looked at him expectantly. "Your not in my world, Cassie. As far as I know, Draco is an only child."
The girl shrunk slightly at the thought, then came back with a comment, "If I'm not there, it explains why he's one of the worst sort. There's no one to keep him in line."
"It could be Cassie," Draco drawled, " that our parents realized what an embarrassment you were and kept you out of sight."
Lucius laughed as the children snapped insults back and forth. "I wonder if there is a world where we are actually a happy family."
Narcissa quickly asked, "Do you mean a world were we don't have any children?"
Harry was the only one to laugh with them.
It was then that Narcissa sent the boys and Cassandra off to bed, using the argument that they had school the next day. When Draco complained that it was still early, she laughed at him. "I know, Draco, I just want to make sure that the two of you are in bed when you get too tired to talk anymore,"
When they were alone in the bedroom they shared, Harry asked, "Do we always sleep here?"
"Only for holidays," Draco told him, "and special occasions, like today."
As they changed into their pajamas, Harry asked another question.
"How did we get Ron to help us? About Norbert, I mean."
"You managed to get on the Quidditch Team in your first year," said Draco.
"That happened on my world too," Harry told him.
"So we bribed him. You gave him your Nimbus 2000, and I talked Dumbledore into letting all first years try out for the house teams. But then Granger made us include flying lessons, to improve his chances of making the team."
"Do she and Ron get along?"
"Granger doesn't really get along with anybody, but she has a sense of honor which can be annoying at times. She felt it wasn't enough to let the Weasel try out. We had to help him make the team."
"And Ron became Gryffindor's seeker?" asked Harry, and Draco nodded. "So I became Slytherin's seeker?"
At this, Draco laughed, "No, when Dumbledore let the first years try out, I beat you out for that position. You became a chaser and after Marcus left you became keeper." Draco howled with laughter at Harry's reaction.
Harry came to realize that Draco and Dudley were very close. This made him feel comfortable, and when the time came, he readily fell asleep. Thus he missed the final question, when Draco called out from his own bed, "Harry?" When Harry replied with a gentle snore, Draco just shrugged his shoulders and settled himself down to sleep.