This is going be the lighter than I thought because even I felt sorry for dear Harry, and just to cut him some slack. He's going to have lots of love and support before all the bad things happen. ^_^ Oh! And adding in small pairings, or going-to-be pairings: Ron/Hermione, and Blaise+Harry. Mwahahaha... Don't worry- it's still going to be Harry and Draco. ^_^ But just to warn you- it's a pretty sad/disturbing Draco/Harry. (And I finally decided to break this into different stories! ^^;; The plot's waaaay too big....)
Shamera
"Say something. Please say something."
Gray eyes flashed in fury at the pleading tone. Draco Malfoy rose from his armchair stiffly and stormed across the room, shoving a shocked Harry Potter against the wall, grabbing at the Gryffindor's wrists. The fire behind them flickered ominously before settling again, a representation of the emotions playing in the room. It only made the scene seem more surreal, more distant rather than serious.
"Say something?!" Draco hissed, pressing his right arm against Harry's throat, trying his best to ignore the gathering pain in the other boy's eyes. His grip on the protruding bones only tightened with his anger. "What do you want me to say? 'Good luck'? 'Godspeed'? 'Bon voyage,' perhaps?!" The Slytherin's eyes were almost glowing with emotion. "After everything I said… everything I tried to do…!"
"I…" Harry was almost gasping for air, but he refused to allow Draco to see his desperation, to see him clawing at his throat. "I k-knew… you wouldn't… approve…" He inhaled frantically. "B-but… I have to… Draco…"
As if suddenly exhausted, Draco let his grip on the Boy-Who-Lived slip, anger rapidly seeping out to be replaced by a hurt weariness that pained Harry to see. All the fury and aggression transformed into something else entirely as Draco pulled the green-eyed boy into a fierce embrace, as if trying to soothe his earlier violence.
"No, you don't." Draco whispered harshly against the nape of Harry's neck. "You don't have to do anything. We could leave. Just say it- and we'll be gone. I swear no one will ever find us, I swear that we'll live the life that we wanted to. You don't have to agree to this, Harry. Just say it. Just say you want out."
The Gryffindor's normally bright verdant eyes were dull as he grasped on to Draco just as tightly. He didn't want to detriment the situation any further.
"I can't, Drake." The words were harsh even to him. "I can't just walk out like that. I'm needed here. I don't know why, but I am."
Draco drew back, but still kept his arms around the other boy, his eyes flashing. "That's bullshit, and you know it, Potter." He drew in a deep breath. "You can't just walk in here and tell me that you're going off to get yourself killed in this war. I already told you that I need you too. I've tried to convey to you how much I love you. I thought you understood."
Harry's eyes flashed in sudden anger. "I can't leave just because you say so! What would happen if we leave? Just disappear like you suggest? The consequences could be severe! So many people could die! Ron and Hermione could die! Everyone we ever cared about could die!"
"I care about you!" Draco cupped Harry's face with his hands. "And although this sounds very selfish, I don't want you to die! I may not know what the consequences of us leaving are, but I do know that I'm not willing to give you up like that!" His voice grew choked as he pressed his forehead against the raven-haired boy, staring into the green eyes up close. "You're too important to me. I don't care what happens to the rest of the world as long as you're safe… and happy."
Harry looked extremely guilty at that.
Draco sighed, but smiled sadly. "You're such a Gryffindor, you know that?"
Harry smiled back, his anger abated for the moment. "And you're such a Slytherin. Guilt-tripping me?"
"Just…" Draco really didn't want to argue anymore. He stared deeply in those green eyes, trying to memorize the flecks of different colors that ran there. They didn't have enough time together… he could spend lifetimes staring into those eyes. "Just promise that you'll come back to me."
Harry grabbed at one of the pale hands that was cupping his cheek and leaned into it, nuzzling the hand. "As long as you're here, Draco… I'll always come back to you. God, I can't even begin to describe how much I love you… and how much your support means to me."
"The Harry Potter of this world?" Blaise asked, shocked. "I think you should explain."
Ron nodded eagerly behind him.
Harry sighed, holding the paper down. "I think you should all sit down first. And try to save the questions for last."
"Just one thing," Hermione interjected as the two boys found room either on the couch where Draco wasn't spread out, or on the rug. The brown-haired witch was looking at Harry strangely. "Who are you, really?"
Harry gave a weak smile. "Harry Potter. But I'll explain it."
Hermione gave him a scrutinizing look at his cryptic answer, but nodded to herself and sat besides Ron on the thick carpet. She made sure to compose herself for whatever the small Gryffindor boy needed to say.
Harry took a deep breath before going to sit down in the armchair near the fire. He risked a quick glance at the people he called friends for the past month, and met Draco's eyes briefly before breaking away. Luckily, Blaise didn't really seem to notice this.
"I…" He swallowed, wondering why his mouth felt so dry when he had been chattering away happily just moments ago. He didn't even really know how to start it. When in doubt, start from the beginning… right? "However confusing this sounds… please bear with me…
"A year ago, during my fifth year… Voldemort started gaining more power than anyone would have imagined possible. Nobody knows how, nobody knows why. They only knew that for some reason… the Dark Lord's magic went beyond what anyone could have predicted. Ever since he had been reborn… he was more powerful than people had remembered from his first reign."
The four who were listening shared a look, not understanding a thing that Harry was talking about.
'Reborn?' Hermione mouthed in confusion, but the boys just shook their heads.
"People didn't understand why… only that things were getting bad. Worse than it had been before, especially when it turned out that Voldemort was learning elemental spells. Powers that would allow him to control a selective element of choice. And what better choice than fire? Something that was destructive, something unstoppable and feared. People used to think that burning to death had to be the worst way to die, and Voldemort wanted nothing but to prove them right. So with the new powers that he gained, he learned how to control fire… to create flames so strong that no one could put it out. Not physically, not magically." He shook his head. "Wait. That might not make sense to you."
He took a deep breath and started over, apologizing first. "Sorry about it. It was just where it all started for me… but the actually story started long before that. How much do all of you know about the Dark Lord and his reign?"
Unsurprisingly, it was Draco who spoke up first. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started his reign a long time ago, Harry. Long before we were all born."
"Yes, but…" Harry fiddled with his hands. "I want to know where what you know and what I know begin to differentiate."
"Well…" Hermione cast a glance on the boys, who only shrugged in confusion, "There's not much to say. You-Know-Who has been ruling as Dark Lord… but lately he's almost in hiding because of someone code named 'Tiger', because this person has been killing Death Eaters in droves."
"Tiger?" Harry interest was piqued. "I've never heard of that."
The others looked at him like he was crazy.
"It's been around for almost ten years." Hermione explained. "Some people say that Tiger's insane, because he goes on killing sprees, slaughtering Death Eaters without mercy. Other people say that Tiger was deeply affected by the war, that the Death Eaters had killed everyone he held dear- so he doesn't fear death anymore."
"But no one really knows of Tiger really does exist." Draco provided with ease.
"Things are more different here than I thought," Harry murmured to himself quietly. He stopped when he realized that the others were staring at him expectantly, wanting him to explain to them how he didn't contort to their expectations. He sighed… well, they said that it started ten years ago, right? If things had changed when he was one, then anything could have happened.
Besides, that could be the reason why Voldemort wasn't as hostile as before.
The person code named Tiger seemed to have done a much better job at keep Voldemort at bay than he ever did, Harry mused cynically.
"Do you…" he hesitated, wondering if he should be so blatant about it. "Do you believe in alternate realities?"
The others boggled, obviously not expecting that.
Without giving them a change to reply, he continued, "I was born to James and Lily Potter. The first year of my life was spent at Godric Hollow, where my parents decided to live. From what I know, my parents were both part of the Order of the Phoenix, which was an organization that opposed Voldemort. Because of that, the Dark Lord attacked our house on Halloween of 1981, and managed to kill my father. He was about to kill me when my mother interfered, sacrificing her life to save mine.
"Because she died for me, Voldemort was not able to kill me. When he sent the Killing Curse at me, it somehow rebounded and hit him instead." Harry shrugged at their disbelieving faces. "And the Dark Lord disappeared for the next ten years." He spread his fingers across his lap nervously, not knowing how they would take that information. "That's what I remember. But you guys are the only ones who know this at the moment, because I haven't told anyone else."
Taking another breath to steady himself, he said, "I spent the rest of my childhood living with my aunt and uncle- the Dursleys. I didn't have a private tutor… I got my acceptance letter for Hogwarts when I was eleven, and got my first taste of the Wizarding world." He got a bitter smile. "I felt like I had fallen into a fairy tale… everything seemed so perfect. But it was a façade more than anything else was.
"My first year in Hogwarts warranted the comeback of Lord Voldemort… or at least, he tried to come back using the Philosopher's Stone. He was stopped," by me Harry didn't add, "and his attempt thwarted."
He didn't really want to tell all about what happened in the other years, because his memory of it was still blurry and because he didn't want them to know all those things.
"But in my forth year, he tried again to come back and this time succeeded, resulting in the death of a Hogwarts student: Cedric Diggory." The memory wasn't so painful now with the blurs of time and cobwebs that had been in his mind for so long. "And as I said, after his rebirth, he gained more power that he had before."
"But…" Draco spoke up, unable to keep silent even though he knew that Harry didn't want to be interrupted until the story was over. "Didn't you defeat him before?"
Harry shook his head. "Not me, per say. It was only because of my mother's intervention. But everything thought I could anyway."
"Blimey, Harry," Ron spoke up as well. "You're one of the most powerful wizards in school! I think some of it was your own magic as well."
"But…" Harry looked down at his hands. "I don't know why… magic is so much easier now. Only that it wasn't before. I had to struggle to pass my classes, never had the highest grades in school, and it took me forever to learn new charms. I was just an ordinary kid, you know? Everyone thought I was special because I survived an attack by Voldemort… even though it wasn't my doing at all. But I had never been special… not really. Just… lucky, I guess.
"But after the Dark Lord's return and his decision to learn elemental powers, the professors decided it would behoove me to learn as well. Something that would allow me some protection against him. So while Voldemort gained power in fire, I was taught how to control the water element."
He laughed slightly, but didn't sound amused at all. "Let's just say that it wasn't easy. Elemental magic is tricky to learn, and even harder to control. Not enough concentration and you could die by your own spell. I spent all of my fifth year learning elemental magic, and can still only grasp the very basics of it. Unlike Voldemort, of course, who mastered the training in record time."
Ron gaped. "You know elemental magic, Harry? That still makes you really powerful, even if you only have the faintest idea of how it's done."
Draco, who seemed to be the most surprised to hear that Harry knew the water elemental magic, finally spoke up again. "So you really were manipulating water that day!" The others looked shocked, and Draco had the decency to flush deeply before explaining. "I saw you the day before Professor Dumbledore announced that you were going to start school with us. You were in the Hospital Wing, arguing with Mr. and Mrs. Potter… but before that, it looked like you were playing with something crystalline, but malleable… like a liquid."
"You saw that?" Harry asked incredulously, shocked that he hadn't sensed Draco there.
Draco looked sheepish for a moment, very unlike the calm and cool that he usually held. "Um… yeah."
Harry shook his head. He now knew why he didn't react to Draco's presence that day. He was too used to Draco always being there, and had not registered a threat in his mind. He didn't want to know how many other times that Draco had caught him at things he shouldn't have been doing.
"I still don't understand what you're saying, Harry." Hermione said, her eyes darting knowingly between the blonde Slytherin and the Gryffindor. "None of what you're saying makes sense…"
"It all leads back to my first question, 'Mione." Harry explained. "Do you believe in alternate realities?"
Hermione couldn't answer that.
"I've already said that my parents died years ago." Harry tried to explain. "After the last battle with Voldemort… I'm guessing that the elemental magics mixed or something… because I remember seeing fire everywhere I looked. Fire and water aren't supposed to mix- they're supposed to cancel each other out. I don't remember much about that battle… my mind was too muddled and incoherent.
"But I remembered thinking up ways to counter fire… and I remembered my training as a water elemental. So I tried to use the water to put out all the fires… but the magic somehow got mixed together… creating something much more different. It could be because the wands used to cast the magic were similar… because the magic didn't cancel out… only combined." Harry didn't add that he didn't think he had his wand by that point in the battle.
"And the next thing I remembered… I woke up in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts." Only, Hogwarts had been destroyed where I come from… "And I saw Lily… whom I believed had died so long ago."
"Are you trying to say…" Blaise commented, catching on quickly. "That whatever magic that was combined on that day caused you to… fall into an alternate universe? Caused you to arrive here?"
"Yes."
The others had an immediate reaction to this. Ron made noises of disbelief, Hermione started asking so many questions at once that she stumbled over her own words, Draco's eyes widened and he stared searchingly at Harry, and Blaise gaped at the boy whom he had fancied for so long.
"Do you mean to say that you've created a whole new element? One that allows people to travel through multiverses?" Hermione asked, obviously seeing the idea much more fascinating that doubting anything that Harry said.
"I wouldn't say that, 'Mione…" Harry started. "I don't think it was a new element… only a freak accident. I doubt anything like that will ever happen again."
The circumstances were certainly unique enough. It hadn't taken much for Harry to figure out that the magic had mixed because of his connection to Voldemort… but he didn't want to tell about that yet. Because Voldemort had been so good at manipulating fire, Harry had a natural affinity for that element, and had an extremely hard time learning to control water… that was so different from the warmth and the brightness of flames.
"Do you believe me?" Harry asked in a small voice, obviously not wanting to hear if one of his friends distrusted him because of the truth.
It was quiet at first, and Ron was the first to nod before Hermione spoke up. "Of course we believe you, Harry. You wouldn't lie to us about something like this… and it certainly explains what was wrong with the spell… or for the matter, what was right."
Draco and Blaise seemed to agree with her, and Harry blinked. "You're taking this very… calmly."
Draco smirked. "Don't worry, Harry. It's just for your sake. We'll scream out our insanity in a nice padded room later."
Harry smiled.
"Does that mean… you'll go back?"
Harry paused, then looked guilty at Blaise's question. The auburn haired boy was looking at him carefully, scrutinizing his every move in a distinctive Slytherin manner. "Yes, it does. Professor Dumbledore is looking for a method to get me back home again."
It sounded so harsh. 'Home'. He couldn't decide where home was, anymore. For years, he had always imagined home to be with his parents, with people who loved him.
But now he had two homes.
"You're leaving?" Ron asked, shocked. Obviously, the idea of Harry coming from an alternate universe didn't add up to the fact that he would have to leave them.
Harry shook his head a confirmation. "I have to. I don't belong here-"
"Of course you do!" Blaise nearly shouted, alarming the others. He jumped up from where he sat on the couch, eyes blazing with passion. "There has to be a reason for everything. Maybe you came here because you do belong here. Maybe you were meant to arrive here… so that you could have a calmer life. When you explained things… it didn't sound very peaceful. Learning elemental magic to battle with Voldemort? You wouldn't have to do that here!"
Harry was more than surprised at the outburst, but smiled at Blaise's protectiveness. "It's not about living peacefully or not. It's about responsibilities. I can't just leave my home like that."
"You can't just leave us like this too." Blaise protested, looking more than a little forlorn.
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but then slumped, feeling more guilty than ever.
"You left someone special, didn't you?" Draco guessed, eyes dull. He didn't know whether he wanted to react like Blaise did, or continue sitting there and not moving… because he had a feeling that if he did allow himself to really think about what Harry was implying, he would yell much more than Blaise had.
"Yes, I did." Whispered Harry. The green-eyed boy wanted to risk a glance at the blonde Slytherin, but he didn't dare. The face was too familiar, and the feeling too painful. He didn't want to deal with morals at the moment.
Blaise gaped for a moment before falling back into his seat again, stunned.
The other two Gryffindors looked just as stunned, unable to take their eyes off their friend.
Harry nearly squirmed under the weight of all those eyes, but he managed to maintain his composure and murmur out a quick 'sorry' before getting up and fleeing the room.
"It's nearing Christmas soon."
Lily refrained from commenting as she closed her eyes to allow the cold wind to blow strands of her hair from her face. Her hands clutched at the windowsill tightly, ignoring the snow that had settled on her numb fingers or the dangerously blue tint to them. She only concentrated on the beautiful scenery before her, at the frozen lake and grounds, at the trees in the Forbidden Forest that was covered with snow to make them look less foreboding.
A pair of arms wrapped around her and warmth breath tickled her neck as James sighed. Warm, glove-covered hands covered her own, forcing them off the freezing windowsill to cup the warmth back into the bluish fingers.
"You'll get frostbite if you continue to linger out here." James commented lightly.
Lily's green eyes stayed onto the outside wonderland, not moving an inch to her husband's caring antics. Luckily, James was used to this behavior, for he just stood still to hold her.
"I don't want him to leave." Lily commented all of a sudden, her eyes still not moving.
James only closed his eyes against Lily's red hair, knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"I know that Albus says that he has to leave… but why now? He's only just got here…"
"He's not our son, Lily." James said painfully, eyes still closed against the softness of his wife's hair. He had started out strongly with the idea, but now it was painful to think of. During the beginning of Harry's arrival, James was sure that he would stand strong against this person who looked so much like his lost son. He wasn't about to be that hurt again, didn't want to loose his child again.
But as the time went on, James couldn't help but notice the small similarities between Harry and himself. He had spent time talking to Harry about Quidditch, helping him with homework, and working out extra lessons with him. Despite the many beliefs about teenagers, Harry was extremely sweet and trusting, something that made James sigh in relief. Even without his parents there early in his life, he must had grown up… well, for the lack of a better word, right.
And despite how Sirius had tried to avoid the boy, he had noticed it as well.
Remus was, of course, more than willing to indulge Lily and get to know Harry, being immensely delighted by how quick to learn the young boy was. But then, Moony had always been a bookworm and erudite.
"But I still want him to stay." Lily said. "I know he isn't our son. Harry's too sad… he likes different colors, and has different pastimes than our son. But I still want him to stay, even though I know he isn't our son."
James opened his eyes again, a little sad at his wife's insight. "But think about this, Lily-love… he has people who care and love him in his own world. If he had suddenly disappeared one day, wouldn't you be worried as well? Wouldn't you want him back safe and sound as well?"
There was silence for a few minutes, uninterrupted and deceptively serene. Then Lily twisted in his embrace, and buried her face into his cloak, grateful for the arms that tightened around her. James didn't say anything as he felt wet tears soak through the thick material of his cloak, allowing Lily her moment of catharsis.
"I hate this." She finally whispered hoarsely, voice thick with emotion.
"But would you rather this have never happened?" James asked.
Lily closed her bleary eyes, gathering her strength. Would she have preferred it that she had never met this teenaged Harry? It would save all this pain… all these tears that she had given up on years ago. She wouldn't be feeling as torn over this situation as she was feeling right now.
But it also meant that she would never have known the endearing grin that Harry gave when he was getting into trouble with his friends, or sparkle in eyes so much like hers when he was up to something mischievous. He took after James more than anyone had thought after all.
Besides, hadn't she wished for so long to have her son back? Even if only for a little while, she wanted to know how the child she loved so much would have turned out. She had wanted to get lost in her delusions, wanted to believe in a perfect world that was shattered the moment of her son's death. But she now knew that it had never been perfect in the first place, and she had learned to love Harry as the boy that he was. As the teenaged boy with a streak for pranks, and an incredible way of making friends- even if a lot of them were Slytherin.
"No. I'm glad we got this chance to know Harry."
James only held her tighter.
Thanks to: Otaku freak, Myk, usagihinorei, boe, amythest, Phoenix353, Silver Wolf, Silver Angel, rayvern, and Fanny chan! And also to Jaylee for the most embellished review I've ever recieved *blush*, and to TeeDee for noticing about the seperate stories *wink*, and to AlexaDonaghy- his world is still there. ^_^ And I'd be more than honored to be on your recommenadations list! And venenatus.venustas, thank you! *beams* I'm not sure if some people will take it as a happy ending, though...
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