** Dimension Wander **
By Tvillinger
Chapter One -- Life One
"Isn't he an adorable little baby?" Lily cooed, dangling her fingers in front of the baby in her arms. Little James Harry Potter blinked his green eyes, looking as exhausted as she was herself.
She looked over to the pale, completely pale, face of her husband and smiled. It was a tired smile, but better than the expression that had been on her face moment before. "He looks like you…"
"Yea…" James murmured, awestruck at the package of wonder—and his own instant attachment to it. A solid hand slapped his back.
"That all you can say, Prongs?" Sirius joked, but it was toned down from his usual voice as he was also struck with the mini version of his best friend. "I think he looks just fine, except for the fact that he looks like you. But I'm sure he'll overcome that little deficiency, given time with his godfather."
"Godfather?" Peter muttered. His smiling face dampened some at the word. "Sirius, you lucky bastard."
Sirius just laughed, throwing an arm to include the shortest of his best friends in the circle. "I got here first, it's only fair."
"You only got here first because you had that alarm," Remus chided good-naturedly. "And because Peter was helping me with getting Harry's bedroom set up. A task you were supposed to be helping with, you little sneak."
James ignored them all, reaching a hand out in a silent question. Lily smiled and handed the tightly wrapped bundle to her love, sighing with pure affection as he cuddled Harry in his arms. The other three stopped to watch with bemused smiles until a medi-witch stepped into the room, looking half-panicked, half-overjoyed. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to go. Parents only," she ordered the three friends out of the room before turning to James with a glazed expression. "Can I have you autograph?"
James chuckled but summoned a piece of parchment with his signature, one of many in his bag. When the nurse left, he handed Harry back to his wife.
"You know they only ask because you're a star Quidditch player," Remus' voice trailed into the room as the three reappeared under the invisibility cloak.
"And here I though it was because of my dashing good looks," James pouted.
Lily leaned up and pulled him against her, kissing him hard. "Sorry about the scratches, love," she murmured, fingering the deep gouges her nails had left. "And it is because of your dashing looks. They just know well enough not to test me."
"Feisty," Peter snorted.
"Never thought I'd see the day when James Potter would get beat up by Lily Evans," Sirius remarked, and the rest of the evening died down to a roaring simmer of comfortable silence.
*
"Little tyke knows how to play rough," Sirius complained one evening, laying on his back with Harry, bubbling with nonsense words, crawling across him.
Remus laughed quietly from his desk before quietly sighing and pushing away the stack of parchments in front of him. "I swear, the Ministry's trying to kill me with all this overtime work."
Peter walked in that moment, balancing baby dippers and warm baby milk. "You shouldn't be working with them, Remus," he chided. "You know what they think of…"
"Blimey, all these anti-magic fields are getting in the way," Sirius announced, quickly changing the subject as Remus' face turned sour. Personally, he agreed with Peter, but with the way his friendship with Remus was falling apart, Sirius didn't want to press the werewolf any further than necessary. "I try to summon a pop, and the alarm goes off in my ear. Lucky it only goes after the one trying to do magic, or Harry would be deaf."
"If he wasn't already, with all your talking," Remus teased, but the tension stayed thick in the air. Remus had been, for unknown reasons, avoiding all of his friends, Sirius in particular. It was only through Lily's brute strength, so to speak, that she'd been able to bully him into helping his two friends watch Harry for the evening, leaving her and James free to enjoy themselves.
Fifteen minutes passed before Peter stood from his games with Harry and reminded them that he had "work to do." Neither argued when he left because both knew what he was: an Auror.
"You know, I never figured Peter to work…his work," Sirius began, wincing.
Remus didn't seem to notice, not looking up from his game of 'Cho-Cho-Train' with Harry. "Peter's always had it in him. He just didn't want to show off his magic skills at school. Didn't want to take any of the spotlight away from James or Sirius."
"Well, I wouldn't know," Sirius replied with a wide yawn. "You were always closer to him than the rest of us."
"That's because I tried." Remus' voice came out much colder than he wanted. "I mean-"
"Don't try to explain, I know you're mad at me," Sirius cut in. "Let's stop playing, just for a second. And no rude comments." Remus' mouth snapped shut. "Tell me, Moony. Why are you mad at me?"
Harry gurgled. It was Remus' own imagination, but those brilliant green eyes showed understanding for the scene unweaving around him.
Remus scooped the babe up in his arms, standing while keeping his eyes away from Sirius. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Sirius-"
"Sirius?" The name seemed to enrage him. "What ever happened to Padfoot? You never call me Sirius when we're talking serious talk."
"It was a teenage thing." Remus shrugged, keeping his eyes low. "I grew out of it."
"But you still call Peter 'Wormtail,' James 'Prongs.' You know what, forget that. Just tell my what's been eating at you, why you've suddenly decided that you need to avoid us."
But Remus shook his head. "Sirius…it's late and-"
"Hello! Anyone home?" Lily's voice called out from downstairs.
"Padfoot? Moony? Wormtail?"
"Quiet, James. Harry might be asleep-"
"Oh, so now you want to be quiet?" Giggles echoed up the stairs along with a shriek and furious pounding at the stairs. Lily burst in, dark red hair a mess, and James followed an instant later, glasses askew. Both managed to look awkward at the stares coming their way.
"Um…"
"Peter's already gone, work and all," Remus smiled tightly, depositing Harry in Lily's arms. Harry clawed at Remus, trying to stay with him, but Remus gently unplucked the chunky baby fingers from around his robes and stepped back. "And I have to go as well. Ministry's been working harder than usual."
Sirius' eyes flickered with something like suspicion and Harry gave a single cry, startling everyone. Harry had been an unusual baby, smarter than most (or so his parents and their friends liked to believe) but the strangest thing about him was that he never cried. If he needed a bottle, he'd suck on his thumb. If he needed a change, he'd scratch at his belly. But never did he keep his parents up at night. His behavior made for some unusual stories in the wizarding world.
"Harry…?" Lily brought her son up to eye level. "What's wrong, baby?" And she swore, like she did daily, that her baby boy understood her. Harry kicked a foot and reached a plump hand for Remus who looked back, bewildered. Lily immediately handed her son over to the werewolf and he quieted down.
"Well, would you look at that." James smiled and laughed. "Sure knows how to get his way!"
Sirius watched the scene, his own eyes confused like he'd had something than lost it. Lily leaned against her husband, fingering his hand (the wounds hadn't healed yet, but James seemed to like them) when Sirius walked over, decided.
"Remus, you could stay for a little while longer, perhaps?" Sirius' eyes begged. When he saw the pure resistance, he added, "Besides, I don't think Harry wants you to leave, Moony."
"Moo, moo," Harry smiled delightedly, pounding his small fists against Remus' chest. Now everyone was floored.
"Moo, moo?" Lily's eyes were wide. She looked to Remus for explanation. "Moo, moo?"
Harry frowned in concentration and looked over to each individual in the room, laboriously repeating his own version of their names. "Pah!"
"Pah! For 'Pa?'" James wondered.
"No, 'Pah' for 'Padfoot.'" Sirius was pale. "He knows my name…"
"Mama, dada," and Harry was reaching out for his parents. Lily almost fell in her rush to gather her son in her arms. But he turned and pointed again to Remus. "Moo, moo."
"For Moony." And Remus smiled the brilliant smile that had disappeared in the days since Harry's birth. He even looked to Sirius and, with a shaky voice, announced his victory: "He said my name before anyone's. That means he loved me most!"
"You've corrupted my godson!" Sirius grinned, with tears in his eyes. "Can I hold him? Please? After all, he already said my name."
But try as they might, Harry refused to repeat his stunt, falling asleep in Sirius' arms.
"I wonder what brought this on," Lily murmured aloud as the four sat around the table downstairs, Harry safely tucked in his bed.
"What do you mean? You think Harry had a reason for just magically sprouting off the names of everyone in the room?" James pulled her into his arms, touching a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright, dear? Cause I swear, you're not the genius Head Girl I married if your sprouting off ideas like that."
"There…there was a reason," Sirius' voice was low and choked. Everyone looked at him and he blushed, alerting them because Sirius Black never blushed. "Tonight, before I came, Dumbledore alerted me to some information he'd received, directly from an extremely trustworthy spy. It seems that you Potters are making your support for Dumbledore too public."
"We never tried to hide our colors, true," Lily agreed. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"You have no idea how influential your family is," Sirius went on. "Did you know that over a hundred owls have come in to Dumbledore, telling him stories of people who've turned down offers to join Voldemort?"
They all flinched. "So?" James asked. "Not everyone's evil. Voldemort doesn't get everyone."
"Yes, but all of these owls have one thing in common: these wizards and witches have turned down the offer because they want to be like you, James, a star Quidditch player and one of the best defense wizards in the Ministry. Or they want to be like you, Lily, beautiful, young, and powerful, the person behind countless Death Eater raids and someone who's saved the lived of an entire town!"
The two were blushing hard.
Sirius sighed. "And because of this, Voldemort's finally turned his attention to you. Dumbledore tells me that He plans on attacking you, soon. Not only because you're an annoyance, but because your deaths would break more moral than any other."
And now Sirius stared straight into Remus' eyes. "Dumbledore also informs me," he whispered, "that this same spy has heard stories of another spy. In our midst. In our very circle of friendship."
The room was silent for a minute, then Lily and James erupted.
"A spy? Traitor? That's simply not possible."
"Sirius, are you mad?"
"Peter? You suspect Peter?"
"We've been best friends for years, Sirius! Peter would never, never turn on us."
"I'm surprised Dumbledore believes that," James finished, shaking his head. "It's all a bunch of-"
"You don't actually think Voldemort would try to recruit any of us, do you?" Lily asked with her famous temper looming behind green eyes. "Everyone knows how close we are. He knows he'd be wasting his time-"
Remus paled considerably, and his shoulders started shaking. "That's not exactly true," he whispered, so quietly that Sirius barely heard him.
James blinked. "What?"
Gritting his teeth, Remus explained: "For the past few months, I've been getting…owls. Promises." He started to sweat. "All about me joining Voldemort."
"Remus!" Lily breathed, astonished. "Why haven't you told us? Told Dumbledore?"
He shook his head. "I've tried, but the letters always burn before I can show anyone, and the words never come out right." His eyes darkened. "What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, hey, the Dark Lord over there thinks I'm pretty good material for his Dark Creature armies. What do you think?'"
"We would help you, just as we will now," James promised.
"This proved that we're not invincible," Sirius declared solemnly. "If Remus is being recruited, then Peter is, too. And it's very likely that he's given in." Sirius shook his head. "Looks like we've found our traitor. I'm sorry, Remus. Forgive me for ever thinking it might be you."
Remus' eyes widened but he shook Sirius' offered hand. "I would've suspected you, I guess, were I in your position." And he smiled. "Padfoot."
"I…still can't believe that Peter, of all people, is a traitor," James started but Lily hushed him.
"If Voldemort's going to attack us, what does Dumbledore have planned?" she asked. "Or do we just try our luck, see if we're the first people to defeat him?"
"Dumbledore wants to perform the Fidelius Charm, with himself as Secret Keeper," Sirius informed. "With the news of a spy, he doesn't trust any of us."
James smiled. "Well, I for one, trust my friends with my life." His eyes sought out Lily's. "Literally."
She shrugged, forcing a calm air around her. "If you want to trust Sirius Black with our lives, it's very well with you," she huffed with mock indignity. "I, for one, still remember that prank he pulled back in Hogwarts, involving me and a singing sponge in the bathroom shower."
That broke the tension. Everyone laughed, and upstairs in his room, Harry smiled.
*
"No not Harry!"
"Lily, run!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry awoke in a burst of pain, hand going over his scar. His teeth stabbed his tongue, keeping him from crying out. Damn! Why? Why did they have to die again? He'd tried so hard, and nearly succeeded, too. If only Wormtail hadn't heard of the charm, days before it was performed. Voldemort had struck the very night before Sirius had planned on becoming Secret Keeper-
"Harry? Harry, are you alright?"
Harry sighed. He'd woken Sirius up again. "Yes, Sirius, I'm fine." His voice came out slightly high, but that was to be expected. He was, after all, only six years old.
Sirius' head popped up in the fireplace, looking worried. "You had another nightmare?"
Harry smiled, going for the innocent youth look. "You're a head! You're a head!"
"What in the-Sirius, you bloody idiot! What are you doing?" Remus' head was in the fireplace as well, looking distinctly disgruntled. "Figures that the night I decide to check on you two, Sirius is playing bloody head games at midnight."
"Moony!"
"Hi Harry," Remus smiled, stepping all the way through the fireplace (and taking pleasure by stepping on Sirius' face). "How are you?"
Harry beamed. "Six!"
Sirius' head left the fireplace and he came in through the door moments later. "So, how was the date?" he asked Remus slyly, raising an eyebrow.
The future-professor blushed and stuttered, "Sirius! Not in front of Harry!"
"Don't worry about it. Look: Harry, how are you?"
Harry took a good amount of pleasure, raising a hand and repeating, "Six!"
While Sirius laughed and Remus rolled his eyes, Harry laughed behind his six-year old eyes. What would his legal guardians do if he'd reacted any other way? "He's too young to understand what we're saying, isn't that right Harry?"
A door was knocked. "Coming!" Sirius called, strolling down the hall. The house was only a single-floor, with Harry's room on the far end and Sirius' next to it. In between the two ends of the house were the usual rooms: bathroom, guestroom (more often than not, Remus' room), kitchen, dining room, front room, enchanted closets, the house-elves' rooms. Just the usual, of course.
The door opened and down the hall that connected everything, Harry could hear Sirius' voice. "Headmaster! What a-a surprise!"
"And I'm sure you're very pleased to see me?" Harry could almost hear the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes. "No lying now." He chuckled. "I'm very sorry to bother you, Mister Black-"
"Sirius," Sirius cut in instinctively.
"Sirius, but I'm afraid that's exactly what I've come here to do." The was a brief moment of silence. "I don't suppose Harry's around now, is he?"
"Come on, Harry." Remus lifted Harry from his bed and lead him down the hall. Harry was surprised to notice how late in the evening it was. Surely his, um, nap hadn't been too long, had it? It seemed that while his mind was still his own, his body had been reduced to that of the age he was "supposed" to be.
"Ah, there he is." Dumbledore smiled. "Just who I've come to see. Not too much of a trouble maker, now is he?"
"Well, he's only six so we can't blame him too much," Sirius joked. "After all, I think James and I were what, ten, when we pulled our first stunt. I remember how badly it scared us. We didn't do anymore until Hogwarts, when we had to act like professionals in front of Remus."
Sirius was very different from the one Harry knew. For one, he was happy. For another, he wasn't scared to mention James or his death. He still refused to mention Peter in all his memories.
Remus was rolling his eyes. "Let's just hope he doesn't get sorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."
"You're joking. Harry's as Gryffindor as it gets," Sirius boasted.
"I heard no mention of Slytherin," Dumbledore commented.
The two friends turned on him like he was crazy. "Harry? In Slytherin? That's like…like…"
"Impossible," Remus recovered smoothly. "Harry just can't be a Slytherin. Besides, we don't even know if he's magical, yet. I certainly haven't seen him do those wandless magic tricks all magical children can perform."
"Actually, that's the reason I'm here." Dumbledore reached into his pockets and withdrew an elegant-looking letter. "It seems that young Harry has been keeping secrets from the rest of us…"
Sirius tore at the letter, eyes skimming over it. "Harry Potter…misuse of magic? What?"
Remus snatched the letter. "But he hasn't done anything! And I thought that kind of magic, the pre-school magic was allowed."
"It is," Dumbledore nodded. "Because magical children instinctively respond with magic before they can train their gifts, and the Ministry has to admit it. However," and his eyes traveled to lock onto Harry's, "the amount of magic Harry has been displaying is off the scale. It's almost as though he's been using real spells."
Harry nearly groaned. It had only been that one summoning spell, when Sirius forgot his blanket in the closet. And he'd only used "Lumos" a few times when the nightmare were really bad. He only conjured up that one bottle when he was really hungry. And surely the Ministry couldn't detect the silencing charm Harry had cast over the room to let Sirius sleep when Harry started whimpering…
He had messed up. Badly.
"You wouldn't mind allowing me to talk with Harry, would you?" Dumbledore was asking Sirius, who shrugged and walked down the hall. Remus followed somewhat unwillingly, probably because of the sly glances Sirius was shooting him.
When the two were out of reach, Dumbledore stared at Harry seriously. "Harry, would you like to take a seat?"
A child-sized chair was conjured up, and Harry sat.
"Now," Dumbledore sat on his own chair, "I suppose you don't understand much of what's been going on…"
"Actually, Headmaster, I understand more than you can possibly believe," Harry's childish voice argued.
Dumbledore sat up sharply. "Harry?"
Harry let out a sad smile that looked extremely ironic on his six-year old face. "It's me, Headmaster."
"Is there anything you'd like to explain? I truly doubt that there is another child your age who acts like you do."
Harry sighed. "It's a rather long story, with some unbelievable twists. Like I said before, I don't think you'd believe half of the things I'd tell you, and if you did, the other half would boggle your brain."
"Try me."
"Alright. First, I'd like to ask you if you knew that Voldemort is still alive…"
*
"They've been in there an awfully long time," Sirius fretted, pacing across the kitchen. A house-elf scurried out of his way, leaving behind a fantastic feast that Sirius sat down at and began chowing down.
"You think it's been long for you," Remus groaned. "I had to repeat my date, scene by scene, at least a dozen times to you, and you still wonder why I'm not going out with her again."
Sirius shrugged. "I had to do something to occupy my time."
"What! Is that all I am? A-a time waster?" Remus looked outraged. "Well, we'll just see about that."
"Now Remus, don't do anything rash!"
Remus paused with his hand lifted in the air, looking to the kitchen's door. Sirius was frozen, facing the receiving end of Remus' wand. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"That noise-oh, right. Sorry." Remus smiled sheepishly, putting down his wand. "Sometimes I just forget about how advanced my sense are. It sounds like Dumbledore's coming down the hall-"
And his words were confirmed when Dumbledore, lead by a house-elf, walked into the kitchen, a snoozing Harry in his arms. Sirius immediately leaped up and grabbed Harry, rocking the slight child carefully.
"He's an extraordinary child," Dumbledore announced with a bright, if shaky, smile. "And I can't say I'll look as forward to teaching any other student as I will teaching Harry."
"So, what's the verdict?" Sirius asked with a tight smile. "Will Harry lose his learning opportunity before he even gets to school? I don't think you can expel him this early-"
"No, in fact. I plan to teach him." Dumbledore smiled again at the two's expressions. "As I was saying, I'm looking forward to teaching Harry. Our conversation's proven that he has very exceptional and amazing skills that I think he needs to learn to control as soon as he can. The school term starts in a few months—oh, please forgive me! I forgot to ask if you would consider sending Harry to Hogwarts."
Sirius gaped.
"Of course, I can understand your hesitancy. There are many schools to chose from, if you want another choice for him-"
"The only choice for Harry is Hogwarts," Remus stated firmly. Then his resolve wavered and his voice was mildly shaky when he asked, "Headmaster, what did Harry say to have you making this choice? It's very unusual for anyone to start schooling earlier or later than the rest. It very rarely happens."
"I know that, Remus, and you know that. Harry, on the other hand, seems to be one of those exceptions to the rule. Sirius, are you prepared to give me an answer soon?"
Sirius shut his mouth, looking back and forth between Harry, sleeping in his arms, and Dumbledore, smiling brightly. He gulped. "Well, what choice do I have? I shouldn't be too surprised, I guess. Harry has to be special, with parents like his." Then he smiled and reached out a hand. "Of course Harry can go to school If he's ready and willing."
Dumbledore shook his hand warmly. "There are many places where you can live in Hogsmeade," he advised with that familiar eye twinkle, "if you think that Harry might enjoy a visit once or twice a week."
"Visits? But I thought only third years could go to Hogsmeade?"
Dumbledore waved the issue off. "Of course. But then again, Harry is an exception. Hogwarts will be very lucky to have him." Then he seemed to think about something and added, "And Harry will be going in as a fifth year, so there will be no problem. I wish you a very good day but I really must be going. People to discuss. Schools to prepare."
He apparated without seeing the blank, slightly-terrified looks on the two Marauders' faces.
*
This may be--in fact is--confusing. But I hope it makes enough sense for some people to like it! Next chapter: following Harry along as he tries to become a six-year old fifth year.
