When Harry woke, he couldn't remember where he was. He knew he was on
the floor but he didn't know why. He smelled breakfast cooking, and sat up
groggily. Hermione and Renata were standing over a pot of oatmeal.
"Finally up, are you?" asked Renata.
"We've got to make a plan today. We can't just stay here forever."
"We might have to if Pumblechook did vanish with the Torch."
That was a thought that Harry had been trying to ignore.
"We should go to the library to make our plans." Though the library had a large number of torches and such and many tables to work on, there was no fireplace. "Never mind, we'll just stay here."
After deliberating most of the morning they reached the only logical conclusion they could think of. They would stay at Hogwarts no more than four more days. They would use the time to research in the library and plan their next move from there. Hopefully they could get more robes and cloaks from the laundry room maybe even a some pajamas, and brooms would be in the shed. To Harry, it seemed as though they'd reached a sort of silent agreement to spend the nights, and any other time possible, in the kitchen. Gryffindor Tower seemed desolate when they went into the common room to look for signs of life, they didn't even bother looking in the dormitories, and Hagrid's house appeared to be nonexistent in this world.
They explored the library going shelf by shelf through it all; even the restricted section, as there was no Madam Pince to warn them off.
The first two days of searching through the books yielded nothing, but on the third day, their efforts paid off, sort of.
Renata smiled, and Harry had to smile at her smile. Ever since they'd come here, she had smiled less and less. "Look what I found!"
Hermione and Ron hustled over to Renata's table. "What is it?"
"A teleportation spell. I know we can't Apperate yet, even if we weren't at Hogwarts, but when we figure out where we are going this spell will make it much easier to get there. We can teleport there. Once we know where there is. I don't think it'll get us back to our Hogwarts but it's a start."
Later Hermione pointed out a useful spell she found. "This spell allows you to choose a place anywhere in the world and see it."
"But how is that useful?"
"Azkaban. We can look for it."
"What makes you think it will exist here?"
"The Green Flame Torch has been missing for so long that whoever has it most likely only knows limitedly of its powers. Possibly only linking it with this world and ours. Azkaban could have easily been moved here. Well, more likely here than anywhere else."
"So, what do we do tomorrow?"
"Pack. We have our schoolbags so I suggest we stuff them. We'll need food, water, extra clothes, we can raid Snape's cupboards for potions ingredients, take a few important books."
Harry was down in the laundry room with his companions searching for clothes that fit. Hermione wanted them to take no more than one or two spare outfits with them each, as they wouldn't have much room to spare. She also said to take pajamas too. Harry found a suitable set of robes and a good, warm cloak. Renata found a good warm set of pajamas for him ("What if we have to camp outside? You can't freeze to death") though Harry wasn't thrilled with the pattern; it was light blue with yellow ducks printed all over it.
Harry went to his dormitory to see if any of his things were still there. There were things there, but they weren't ones he recognized. Robes that obviously belonged to someone else, books that were positively ancient, they looked new but were certainly outdated. An aged photo of a boy with square glasses and light brown hair was on the nightstand. This was his room and his bed, but they weren't his things. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and left in its place as though the inhabitants had left a long time ago and not known they wouldn't be back. Harry found a compass, the Silver Arrow under the bed looked positively new as though just out of the box, there were letters, quills and ink, everything that could be thought of for school.
"Harry, this is strange," Ron said, holding a Muggle diary from the nineteen-fifties. "Come on, Harry. The girls will be done and waiting for us in the common room."
Almost before he had finished speaking the door opened and Renata and Hermione came in.
"It's strange. These aren't our things. I don't understand. Old books that look new. Layers of dust over everything."
"Same here." Of course, there was no reason to wait in the common room; it was just the four of them now.
"Are we going to break into Snape's potion stores now?"
"Yeah. We will have to bring a cauldron with us though. And some vials. I did have a nice collapsible cauldron but it's not in my room. We'll have to make do with whatever Snape has."
"Alright. Let's go."
"We should make this quick though, I don't want to spend anymore time in that dungeon than I have to."
The other three nodded. In Snape's office they grabbed an assortment of anything that looked useful and would fit within their space restrictions Harry barely noticed that the office was as different as the dormitory had been.
Harry had to check something. "I'll be back."
"Meet us in the kitchen. We'll be done in here soon."
Harry nodded. He went to the girls' bathroom on the second floor.
Myrtle wasn't there. He knew she wouldn't be, but he couldn't help checking anyway. If even a ghost had come with them it would have been helpful, even that ghost. Harry looked at the sinks, searching for the one with the snakes etched on it, the one that led to the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't there. No Chamber of Secrets. Harry tried to understand it. In this world had there been no Salazar Slytherin? Was it possible? There was no Chamber of Secrets here. So where were the students? What had caused the mass evacuation that had obviously occurred? Clearly this world had been existing before they got there and wandering a different path than their own world. Harry could not puzzle it out on his own. He'd leave the thought for another time. He had to get down to the kitchens. It was a little creepy in this bathroom, especially without Myrtle haunting it.
He found the others getting ready to do the viewing spell. "Harry, we're drawing straws to see who will see the viewing. Shortest straw does it. Take one. Okay, everybody, look."
Harry looked; his straw was shortest. "Me."
"Okay, Harry, sit down. Here's the spell for you to read. It seems simple enough."
Harry followed the instructions in the book that Hermione had marked. He brought it down and twitched it as he read the spell five times and said Azkaban after each reading.
He saw the entire globe, far below him. Then it spun until he was looking at North America. Somewhere near New Jersey he though. It narrowed down further to a little island off the coast. There was the Fortress of Azkaban. The last place they had thought Hagrid to be was there.
Harry's eyes opened with a snap.
"New Jersey!" he gasped. "Azkaban is off the coast of New Jersey." "Here, point out exactly where it was." She handed him a map and he pointed out the location as near as he could. "Then New Jersey it is. Tomorrow. That's where we are going. We can teleport to New Jersey's coast and make our plans and fly to Azkaban from there." Hermione sounded more decisive than she looked. "There's no Chamber of Secrets here," he said suddenly. "What are you talking about, Harry?" "I went to Myrtle's bathroom. There's no entrance to the Chamber. It's not there. Something went different in this world. Something that ended in the evacuation of Hogwarts." "Fifty-six years ago. I've got a journal here, written by one of the students. It's from that year. I haven't really read it yet but it stops in October of 1940," Ron said, drawing the journal Harry had seen earlier out of his pocket. Harry felt in his own pocket, the letters to the boy with the square glasses. "I've got letters here that were sent to one of the boys from our dormitory." He took out about a dozen letters complete with envelopes and passed them around. Renata muttered, "A letter from his parents. Letters from his pen pal at Durmstrang. A letter from his girlfriend. A letter from a cousin." "Go back to the letters from his pen pal." Goings on from another school might be a clue. She began to read, "It reads, 'Derrick, I received your last letter. Strange things have been happening here too. Muggle-borns have been getting more threats and bullying than usual and there have been more Muggles sighting wizards and witches than usual. Things are not good. The sightings almost seem intentional. I hear that a band of boys plan to tell all the Muggles about us. I do not want that to happen, life would never be the same if Muggles knew we existed, even if we tried to get along peacefully with them. I hear that the ones who want to tell the Muggles about the wizards want to rule over them. The professors speak often of keeping either sending us all home for our parents to deal with or keeping us all here until the Minister decides what to do. What if I can't go home for Christmas? Let me know if anything else strange happens. Your friend, Alexander.' This guy has really good handwriting." "Maybe that's what happened. Maybe they had to close Hogwarts because the Muggles were getting suspicious or." It was worse but it had to be said, "Or they knew." "Correction, Harry: they know. They're out there somewhere and they know about all of us. Wizard and witches must live in fear everyday of their life." "How do you know that the wizards aren't in charge?" "It's not possible. If the wizards and witches were in charge, Hogwarts wouldn't be closed down. I still don't understand why they had to leave in such a rush that they left all their things here. I thought there were fewer books in the library. And the tables looked a little different." "Let's look at the diary. The other letters seem mostly to be about Quiditch with a little politics mixed in the one I read was the last one. Give me the diary, Ron." Renata thumbed through the pages. "It seems there were only three houses. Though there were misfits that didn't seem to belong in any house. They were put into a kind of forth category. A House of Misfits. It wasn't really called that but it was a real house though wasn't named or accredited to any of the founders and was known among the students as the Misfit House. This group seems like troublemakers. The kind of troublemakers that would have normally found a home with the Slytherins, but didn't, because there were no Slytherins. The diary talks about a lot of these kids wanting to show the entire world about the power of magic and how it was beginning to scare him. It says that he wrote home to his parents about it and they didn't believe him." "So we know for sure that this was an international problem and not limited to one school." "Definitely. I suggest we read Hogwarts, A History." "But you've already read it." "Not in this world. I'm going to the library; I'll be back. Get started on dinner." "Hermione, you shouldn't go alone. I don't trust this place, even if it is or was Hogwarts." Ron stood. "I'm coming with you. I can look through books just as good as anybody else." "You can come, but don't distract me. I know you don't like work but it's imperative that we find and read Hogwarts, A History if we want to know what's going on in this world." Renata stood up. "Great, Harry and I will fix something to eat. Hermione, if you don't find the book in an hour come back anyway. If you do find it, come back anyway so you can read it down here. I don't trust this place, not as far as I could throw the giant squid!" She looked around. "That is, if the squid were here. It's not. At least, I haven't seen it." "Okay." Hermione and Ron left, heading for the library and Harry and Renata tried to figure out something for dinner. "Um.what do you want to eat?" "I don't know. What do you want?" "Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. There's peanut butter in the cupboard still." "Won't that have gone bad by now? It's been more than fifty years." "Nah. I read somewhere that peanut butter is the only food that can never go bad. I think I can make some bacon and toast with my wand. Look for the plates and knives, will ya?" Harry rummaged around the drawers for the proper utensils while Renata made the bacon and toast. "Does peanut butter and bacon actually taste good?" he asked, trying not to gag. "It's delicious." She laughed. "Where are those knives and plates I asked for?" "Here." Renata took her eight slices of toast, spread peanut butter over them, put bacon on four of them, and covered them with the other slice of bread. She put these on the plates Harry handed her. "Take these over by the fireplace. You know we're all going to eat there again. Light the fire, too. It's going to get cold here." "Right." He took his wand and lit the fireplace. "So, what are tomorrow's plans?" "We are going to make final arrangements and preparations for the trip and then we'll do the teleportation spell. We'll go to New Jersey, the coast near where Azkaban is. And plot our next move from there. We'll try to figure out much Azkaban is guarded, who guards it, and how we can get Hagrid out." "What about getting home?" "That, too, but we've more hope of rescuing Hagrid from a myriad of Dementors than of getting home." Harry sat down glumly, he wouldn't miss his aunt or uncle or cousin, but he did miss Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, and many other people. Renata looked at him from across the room. She dropped what she was doing to come and sit down with her arm around him. "Don't pout, pouts don't look good on you. Actually they do, but that's beside the point. Things are going to be okay. We'll get home." "Maybe we will," he said doubtfully, ignoring the comment about pouting. "Here," she dragged her schoolbag across in front of him. She took out her Valentines Day cards and spread them in front of him. "I know which one you sent." "I didn't send you a card." "Yes, you did. See, this card was from Dan. This one was from Tim. This one was from Joey. They send them every year as a joke. Seamus sent this one with the four leaf clovers on it. I sent these three just to watch your reaction when I got so many cards. And you sent this one." She picked up his card. "This one has you written all over it." "I don't see a name. And I don't recognize that handwriting," he said, knowing very well it was his. "It's yours and you know it." Harry looked up at the door. "Hermione, Ron, you're back soon. You've only been gone twenty minutes." "We found the book within minutes and decided to bring it back right away. Oh, good. You made sandwiches." Hermione sat down with a sandwich and begin to read. Ron followed her example, looking over her right shoulder, as he didn't have a book of his own to read. Renata whispered, "I know which card is yours, because I know you, Harry." She sat up and went to lean over Hermione's other shoulder to see the book. "We made sandwiches." "Oh. Thank you." Hermione absently picked hers up and began chewing it. Ron turned the page for her.
Renata turned it back. "I wasn't done yet." She flipped the page again.
Harry watched, anxious and bored, wishing Hermione had another shoulder to lean over so he could inspect the book. Harry laughed out loud. Hermione or any person for that matter with three shoulders was ridiculous. He drew up an image in his mind with a third arm sticking out between Hermione's left shoulder and neck. He chuckled.
Ron looked at him, worried, "Harry, have you gone mad?"
He shook his head.
"What's funny?" demanded Renata.
"Nothing," he said.
"Harry, don't make me beat any answers out of you. I will."
"I know you would."
"Not would. Will," she glared.
"I.I was thinking about how strange it is here with no people and wondering if my parents were alive. Here, I mean. Or if we even exist here. We very might well not, you know."
She stood up slowly and walked over to him. "I know that and I still see nothing funny, Harry. That's not what you were thinking." She knelt next to him and took his hand. Suddenly she jerked his arm and twisted it behind him. Harry tried not to grimace with the pain as she twisted it worse.
"Why were you laughing?" she asked calmly.
"No. It's stupid."
"Tell me."
"Ow, ow, ow! No. OW!"
"Well?"
"Aah! Ow! Okay! I'll tell you! Just let go, will ya?" He frowned and rubbed his arm as she let go. That hurt. He could see Ron across the room, obviously trying very hard not to laugh and not succeeding. He'd watched the whole thing, why hadn't he come to help? "It's stupid."
She glared at him.
"Alright, alright," he muttered. "The three of you were reading the book. You and Ron leaning over her shoulders to read and I wished she had another should so I could read it too. Then I realized how stupid she'd look like that." Now all three of them were glaring at him. What had he said wrong? He added hastily, "How stupid anyone would look with three shoulders, I meant." That seemed to help.
"You're right. That was stupid."
"That's why I wasn't going to say it."
She shook her head and whispered to him, "No, I meant saying that Hermione looked stupid in front of Ron was stupid, idiot."
"Huh? But I didn't say that. I just said."
"It all amounts to the same thing," she chided.
Harry woke early that morning, earlier than on any of the previous mornings since Valentines Day though he was still the last one awake. He'd been haunted during the night by dreams. Dreams of his parents and finally meeting them. Then nightmares where they met him and hated him. Nightmares where the Harry of this world tried to kill him for trying to steal his parents. He shivered. This wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.
"Guys?" His friends turned to look at him, just waking up whereas their schoolbags were packed and the cloaks they'd slept on rolled up to travel with.
"Yes, lazybones?" asked Renata, yawning.
"I was wondering.do we have to go straight to New Jersey today?"
"Where do you want to go?"
He bit his lip and hesitated before answering. "Godric's Hollow. I want to find my parents, if I can."
"I don't know about you two," Renata looked at Hermione and Ron, "but I'm with Harry on this. My parents lived in Godric's Hollow, too. If they're there.I want to see my dad."
"What do you say?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who were getting him a bowl of oatmeal.
"I'm with you, Harry. I'll stick with you," Ron said. "I'm not going to let you go without me."
Hermione brought Harry his bowl. "I'm going, too."
"One for all and all for one I guess." Harry grinned. "Is everyone ready?"
"Everyone but you. Go brush your hair and put on fresh robes if you're done with your oatmeal. You want to look your best when you see your parents. I'll pack up your things for you." Renata told him.
Harry nodded, took robes from the pile near his schoolbag and went off to the nearest boys' room. He put on fresh robes, startled at how well they fit considering they weren't his and had been pulled out of the pile in the laundry room. They fit better than his old robes. He noticed the sleeves and neck were cut slightly different from the robes he knew but still the same basic Hogwarts robes. He combed his hair as best he could and cleaned his glasses.
Today was it. He'd meet his parents at last, he tried to keep away the dreams from the night before and the possibility that his parents were dead here too. He shook his head. Whatever was was. That was all there was to it.
Back in the kitchen he saw that the last of breakfast was tidied up, Renata was just wrapping an extra cloak around Harry's bag, and Ron and Hermione were going over the teleportation spell one more time.
Hermione saw him enter. "There shouldn't be any problem with the teleportation spell and Hogwarts anti-Apperating guard spells. It should work fine. Is there anything else we need?"
"What do we have?" he asked.
"A broom a piece, they're in the corner there; a cauldron, apparently the professor here had a nice collapsible one so I put it in my school bag; a canteen of water each; clothes; the diaries and letters; Hogwarts, a History and another book or two for reference; a little food; not much else besides. I wish your invisibility cloak were here."
"That would be helpful but this place seems to have stopped in the nineteen-forties. Before my dad brought the cloak here. I've got a compass."
"Good. I've got first aid stuff, too. We may need it. So we're set. Godric's Hollow?"
Harry nodded and looked at Renata. She nodded and turned to Ron. He said, "Then let's get on with this. Everybody put your schoolbag on your shoulder, tuck your broom under your arm, and get in a circle. Hold hands. We need to make sure no one is left behind. I'm not sure I'd even leave Malfoy here."
They assembled in a tight ring; Harry was between Renata and Ron. Hermione began the spell and after what seemed to be an eternity Harry felt himself caught in what felt like a windstorm. He hurtled through the stars in the sky until he found himself standing again. Not really standing. He was barely on his knees on the ground, hardly keeping himself from losing his breakfast. The others were no better though the four of them still kept at tight grip on each other.
"Are we here?"
"I think so. But where exactly is here?"
Harry looked around. He'd had a dream once, after a confrontation with Voldemort. His parents had spoken to him in it. He saw their house now. As he looked around he saw that the entire neighborhood was in shambles, the houses were in need of repair. The walls had graffiti on them that said uncomplimentary things about wizards and witches. Harry began to run. He had to reach his parents' house. He had to see them. He dropped everything in his hands, including Renata and Ron.
"Harry!"
"Wait!"
"Come back!"
"You don't know if it's safe!"
"Harry!"
His friends called him back but he ran straight to the door and knocked as hard as he could.
The man that answered looked like the pictures Harry had of James Potter but he was missing part of an arm, there was a scar on his face, and he looked older. He clearly wasn't the young new father Harry had pictures of, but it didn't matter because this was his dead. He had to be.
"You're dead, boy, and we sent the ghosts away years ago. Be gone!"
"Dad, it's me. I'm your son. Your son Harry."
"No. Harry died. The Muggles killed him. I don't know who you are but Harry didn't have that funny scar. Go away." He tried to shut the door.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"You honestly don't know?"
"No, sir. I.I came here hoping to find answers."
"Come in," he sighed testily. "We've taken in enough refugees over the years." He opened the door wider. He looked into the street. "Are those your friends out there? The three staring at the house and carrying all those bags?"
"Yeah. Those are them."
"Should I let them in?"
"Yeah. They're good people. The best." They were. Ron was loyal and his best friend. Hermione was always there for him. And Renata.well what could he say about her? He called to them, "Hermione! Ron! Renata! Come!"
They came trotting over and Renata dropped his bag on his foot.
"Ouch!" He started hopping up and down on his good foot, gripping his sore one. He growled, "What was that for?"
"For running off and making me carry the stupid bag." She grinned and turned to the man. "So you must be Harry's dad."
"I don't know who this boy is but he looks an awful lot like my son did before he died."
"Mr. Potter," Renata said, taking his good arm and leading him inside, "I'll explain exactly what's going on and who he is."
Hermione and Ron followed them and Harry picked up his and Renata's bags and brooms and followed too.
"Have you heard of the Green Flame Torch?"
"That's been lost for so long it's barely remembered. What about it?" He began pouring them all cups of tea.
"That's how we got here. We're from another world. In that world, Peter Pettigrew became your secret-keeper and betrayed you when Voldemort was after you. Voldemort killed you and Lilly Potter, but his curse didn't touch Harry except for that scar on his forehead. It was the killing curse and it rebounded back on Voldemort. He's tried to kill Harry several times since. Once he tried to gain his body with the Sorcerer's Stone. Another time he used a diary that preserved his sixteen-year-old self and tried to take another student's life force. In our world Harry's an orphan who lives with your sister-in-law who treats him like dirt and worse. The only time his life is decent is when he's at Hogwarts and the rare visits he gets with Sirius. Sirius was in Azkaban for twelve years. Framed by Pettigrew. We were transported here by the Green Flame Torch so Voldemort and Pettigrew and other people could kill us. We were at Hogwarts. Does any of this make sense?"
"Not really. Who are you again?"
"I'm Renata Delano. Do you remember Jennifer or Remus Lupin? Jennifer is my mom. Remus is my uncle. Jonathan Delano was my dad, before Voldemort killed him," her voice was tight as though the words hurt. "Doesn't any of this make sense?"
"Not really. Hogwarts was forced to close in the forties."
"Then could you fill us in on what happened in this world?"
"In the forties, Hogwarts was closed. It was too risky to keep it open. The Headmaster sent letters to Muggle-borns and connected them with private wizard tutors and relatives taught those from wizarding families. I do remember a Voldemort." he frowned in concentration.
"If you didn't go to Hogwarts, how did you meet my mum then? According to you I did exist here."
"Lilly was a Muggle-born. She was sent to my mother and father for instruction in magic. She was so pretty." He leaned forward and peered closer at Harry. "Oh my. You do have her eyes, don't you? She was beautiful. And smart. Lilly." He smiled.
Harry blinked. "Was? What do you mean 'was'?"
"She's gone, Harry. Things went differently here than you say they went in your world. Things went well for a few years after they closed Hogwarts. One year they almost opened the school again. I heard they sent out letters and everything. A young man named Tom Vorolam Riddle was the reason the school closed. His father was a Muggle named Tom Riddle and his mother was from an old wizarding family. They'd been in that fourth Hogwarts house for generations. Not Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or Gryffindor but the other one. What was it called again? It doesn't matter. He and some others led a demonstration. They planned it around the world. It was an international affair. By the end, too many Muggles knew to turn back. They couldn't do much to stop us but if someone was recognized by Muggles to be a wizard they were shot. Almost every Muggle carries a loaded gun now. Normally a wizard could avoid being killed if they did what the Muggle asked. Things got that bad. Two years ago, Harry decided he couldn't take this anymore and he and a group of his friends tried to take a stand against this maltreatment. They were killed. All of them. They were a random group. They'd connected through a Quill Acquaintance program to help keep young wizards and witches together during these hard times when there was no Hogwarts to let them meet. What were their names? There was a boy by the name of Longbottom. There was a Ronald Weasly, and Hermione Granger. Hermione had been sent to the Weaslys for tutoring."
"Do you remember anything about the Delanos or Lupins?"
"Lupin sounds familiar.that was that werewolf who went crazy and killed his sister."
"No," breathed Renata.
"Yes. Now all the wizards and witches live in fear. Worldwide. There's nowhere safe. It's blackmail or death if you're found out to be able to do magic."
"Why can't everyone just fight back?"
"The Muggle armies sit on their nuclear weapons. If we make a move against them they'd fire and we'd be dead before we could do anything about it. Even magic doesn't heal death. If it did, Harry would be here. Lilly too."
"What happened to my mum?"
"Shot by a Muggle." There was anger in his voice. "The Muggles like some wizards. Though they all but keep them as pets when that's the case. If a Muggle is willing to put up with one of our sort it means one of two things: they either want to use us or they are one of the few good-hearted Muggles left that's will to help us. A few still even want to pretend we don't exist. Some rotten Muggle wanted her to kill his brother for him but he shot her when she refused to. Harry got so angry that he went looking for the Muggle. It turned out Voldemort was working for him, tracking down other wizards and killing them for the Muggles. Harry, Ronald, Hermione, and the Longbottom boy went to go hunt him down. Longbottom fell first. Hermione likely would have had Ronald not been there. He died next, protecting her. Then Voldemort got Hermione. Last, Harry died. He managed to kill Voldemort but he died anyway. It was the last battle and our side lost. Hermione and Ronald were such a cute couple. Engaged, you know. They wanted to be married as soon as they graduated." He studied the three of them. "They'd be about your age by now. And they looked a lot like you too. But Hermione had larger teeth."
It made sense. Hermione had had larger teeth and would still have had them if she had not shrunken them with magic a few years before. "What do you know about Azkaban?'
"Well, I know-wait, what was your name?"
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"I'm Ron, Ronald Weasly."
"Oh. I see. Azkaban closed a long time ago. It's off the coast of Spain, or maybe Portugal. It's been made into a Muggle amusement park. Why?"
"Before we were transported here Azkaban was. It went missing from our world and it got transported here. Off the coast of New Jeresey. We did a locating spell of sorts and we got here by teleporting. We don't have our Apperating licenses yet. We're going to Azkaban to rescue our friend then we have to find the Green Flame Torch so we can get home. We can't stay here forever."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean why not?"
"Why can't you stay here forever? Live with me. Harry, your parents are dead. You could stay here with me. The three of you are welcome to stay too. If you don't mind living with a cantankerous old man."
"Old? You can't even be in your forties yet. You're my mom's age, she and Lilly were best friends." said Renata.
"Harry, will you take these cups into a kitchen with me?" asked Mr. Potter.
He nodded. The man stood up and Harry followed him into the kitchen. Mr. Potter put on more water to boil. "Harry, is that your young lady? She's a good pick. Reminds me of your mother. Of the Lilly I knew anyway."
Harry started blushing. "I don't know what she is. 'Young lady' hardly describes her. She picks fights, gambles a bit, plays Quiditch."
He smiled almost fondly at him. "You're crazy about her, aren't you?"
"I.I don't know. She's one of my best friends. She's on my Quiditch team. She led the team in a rebellion against me. Made all of them quit." Harry peaked through the crack in the door out at his friends, looking at one in particular. "She is pretty, isn't she? I don't know. I just don't know anything. No one I could talk to about this."
"What about your friend Ron? I take it you're closer to him than anyone. Doesn't he have any advice? He has Hermione after all. Doesn't he?"
"He doesn't know. I'd never hear the end of it if he even thought I liked Renata after all the crap I put up with from her. What advice could he have? Hermione and Ron? That would never happen in a hundred years." Harry had always told himself that but lately he'd doubted it.
"I meant what I said before, Harry. I realize we don't know each other but you could stay here. With me. Your friends too."
"I can't. Hermione and Ron have families to get back to. Ron's got six brothers and a little sister. Renata's mum would miss her."
"What about you?'
"I have no one to go back to. You and mum are both dead there. Remember? I have the Dursleys and Sirius Black. Sirius is great though."
"You could stay with me," he repeated.
"Or you could come with me. We will get back home. Come with us. You could live with Sirius and I. We've got plenty of room in the house."
"No, Harry. In your world Sirius Black and James Potter were best friends. Here, we never met. I may be James Potter but I'm not the James Potter he knew. We don't have the same memories. Or the same lives. If your dad was anything like me then it would have torn him apart to have to live without Lilly. Do you know anything about how they died?"
Harry nodded. "I was only a year old but I see it every time I meet a Dementor. My dad told my mum to take me and run. He was killed. Then Voldemort came after us. She died saving me. Then I couldn't be killed. I was the one he wanted dead. The two of them dead because of me." Harry took some breaths to steady himself, the story was hard on him. "But I had a dream, last year. And I don't think I'll ever forget it. I found myself standing in front of my mum and dad and I warned them about Peter. I told them to leave but they said they knew what was going to happen and that they had to do it."
"I think there's something I have to do too. Let's bring the tea back out to your friends." They left the kitchen. "How are you getting along?"
"We're fine. Just fine," she smiled, tossing her hair. "So? Did you boys have a nice chat?" Renata smiled again.
"Oh. Yes. I've come to a decision. The three of you can spend the night here and in the morning I'm going with you."
"I thought you said-"
"Harry, I told you I wouldn't go back to your world with you, that's not my home. But I do know that my place tomorrow is to help you. Everything that happens happens for a reason. Maybe the reason I'm not dead is so that I could be here to meet you today and help you tomorrow. It's my place."
"Okay. Tomorrow."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, yeah, sorry the title was kinda cliché-ish but I thought it kinda fit.
"Finally up, are you?" asked Renata.
"We've got to make a plan today. We can't just stay here forever."
"We might have to if Pumblechook did vanish with the Torch."
That was a thought that Harry had been trying to ignore.
"We should go to the library to make our plans." Though the library had a large number of torches and such and many tables to work on, there was no fireplace. "Never mind, we'll just stay here."
After deliberating most of the morning they reached the only logical conclusion they could think of. They would stay at Hogwarts no more than four more days. They would use the time to research in the library and plan their next move from there. Hopefully they could get more robes and cloaks from the laundry room maybe even a some pajamas, and brooms would be in the shed. To Harry, it seemed as though they'd reached a sort of silent agreement to spend the nights, and any other time possible, in the kitchen. Gryffindor Tower seemed desolate when they went into the common room to look for signs of life, they didn't even bother looking in the dormitories, and Hagrid's house appeared to be nonexistent in this world.
They explored the library going shelf by shelf through it all; even the restricted section, as there was no Madam Pince to warn them off.
The first two days of searching through the books yielded nothing, but on the third day, their efforts paid off, sort of.
Renata smiled, and Harry had to smile at her smile. Ever since they'd come here, she had smiled less and less. "Look what I found!"
Hermione and Ron hustled over to Renata's table. "What is it?"
"A teleportation spell. I know we can't Apperate yet, even if we weren't at Hogwarts, but when we figure out where we are going this spell will make it much easier to get there. We can teleport there. Once we know where there is. I don't think it'll get us back to our Hogwarts but it's a start."
Later Hermione pointed out a useful spell she found. "This spell allows you to choose a place anywhere in the world and see it."
"But how is that useful?"
"Azkaban. We can look for it."
"What makes you think it will exist here?"
"The Green Flame Torch has been missing for so long that whoever has it most likely only knows limitedly of its powers. Possibly only linking it with this world and ours. Azkaban could have easily been moved here. Well, more likely here than anywhere else."
"So, what do we do tomorrow?"
"Pack. We have our schoolbags so I suggest we stuff them. We'll need food, water, extra clothes, we can raid Snape's cupboards for potions ingredients, take a few important books."
Harry was down in the laundry room with his companions searching for clothes that fit. Hermione wanted them to take no more than one or two spare outfits with them each, as they wouldn't have much room to spare. She also said to take pajamas too. Harry found a suitable set of robes and a good, warm cloak. Renata found a good warm set of pajamas for him ("What if we have to camp outside? You can't freeze to death") though Harry wasn't thrilled with the pattern; it was light blue with yellow ducks printed all over it.
Harry went to his dormitory to see if any of his things were still there. There were things there, but they weren't ones he recognized. Robes that obviously belonged to someone else, books that were positively ancient, they looked new but were certainly outdated. An aged photo of a boy with square glasses and light brown hair was on the nightstand. This was his room and his bed, but they weren't his things. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and left in its place as though the inhabitants had left a long time ago and not known they wouldn't be back. Harry found a compass, the Silver Arrow under the bed looked positively new as though just out of the box, there were letters, quills and ink, everything that could be thought of for school.
"Harry, this is strange," Ron said, holding a Muggle diary from the nineteen-fifties. "Come on, Harry. The girls will be done and waiting for us in the common room."
Almost before he had finished speaking the door opened and Renata and Hermione came in.
"It's strange. These aren't our things. I don't understand. Old books that look new. Layers of dust over everything."
"Same here." Of course, there was no reason to wait in the common room; it was just the four of them now.
"Are we going to break into Snape's potion stores now?"
"Yeah. We will have to bring a cauldron with us though. And some vials. I did have a nice collapsible cauldron but it's not in my room. We'll have to make do with whatever Snape has."
"Alright. Let's go."
"We should make this quick though, I don't want to spend anymore time in that dungeon than I have to."
The other three nodded. In Snape's office they grabbed an assortment of anything that looked useful and would fit within their space restrictions Harry barely noticed that the office was as different as the dormitory had been.
Harry had to check something. "I'll be back."
"Meet us in the kitchen. We'll be done in here soon."
Harry nodded. He went to the girls' bathroom on the second floor.
Myrtle wasn't there. He knew she wouldn't be, but he couldn't help checking anyway. If even a ghost had come with them it would have been helpful, even that ghost. Harry looked at the sinks, searching for the one with the snakes etched on it, the one that led to the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't there. No Chamber of Secrets. Harry tried to understand it. In this world had there been no Salazar Slytherin? Was it possible? There was no Chamber of Secrets here. So where were the students? What had caused the mass evacuation that had obviously occurred? Clearly this world had been existing before they got there and wandering a different path than their own world. Harry could not puzzle it out on his own. He'd leave the thought for another time. He had to get down to the kitchens. It was a little creepy in this bathroom, especially without Myrtle haunting it.
He found the others getting ready to do the viewing spell. "Harry, we're drawing straws to see who will see the viewing. Shortest straw does it. Take one. Okay, everybody, look."
Harry looked; his straw was shortest. "Me."
"Okay, Harry, sit down. Here's the spell for you to read. It seems simple enough."
Harry followed the instructions in the book that Hermione had marked. He brought it down and twitched it as he read the spell five times and said Azkaban after each reading.
He saw the entire globe, far below him. Then it spun until he was looking at North America. Somewhere near New Jersey he though. It narrowed down further to a little island off the coast. There was the Fortress of Azkaban. The last place they had thought Hagrid to be was there.
Harry's eyes opened with a snap.
"New Jersey!" he gasped. "Azkaban is off the coast of New Jersey." "Here, point out exactly where it was." She handed him a map and he pointed out the location as near as he could. "Then New Jersey it is. Tomorrow. That's where we are going. We can teleport to New Jersey's coast and make our plans and fly to Azkaban from there." Hermione sounded more decisive than she looked. "There's no Chamber of Secrets here," he said suddenly. "What are you talking about, Harry?" "I went to Myrtle's bathroom. There's no entrance to the Chamber. It's not there. Something went different in this world. Something that ended in the evacuation of Hogwarts." "Fifty-six years ago. I've got a journal here, written by one of the students. It's from that year. I haven't really read it yet but it stops in October of 1940," Ron said, drawing the journal Harry had seen earlier out of his pocket. Harry felt in his own pocket, the letters to the boy with the square glasses. "I've got letters here that were sent to one of the boys from our dormitory." He took out about a dozen letters complete with envelopes and passed them around. Renata muttered, "A letter from his parents. Letters from his pen pal at Durmstrang. A letter from his girlfriend. A letter from a cousin." "Go back to the letters from his pen pal." Goings on from another school might be a clue. She began to read, "It reads, 'Derrick, I received your last letter. Strange things have been happening here too. Muggle-borns have been getting more threats and bullying than usual and there have been more Muggles sighting wizards and witches than usual. Things are not good. The sightings almost seem intentional. I hear that a band of boys plan to tell all the Muggles about us. I do not want that to happen, life would never be the same if Muggles knew we existed, even if we tried to get along peacefully with them. I hear that the ones who want to tell the Muggles about the wizards want to rule over them. The professors speak often of keeping either sending us all home for our parents to deal with or keeping us all here until the Minister decides what to do. What if I can't go home for Christmas? Let me know if anything else strange happens. Your friend, Alexander.' This guy has really good handwriting." "Maybe that's what happened. Maybe they had to close Hogwarts because the Muggles were getting suspicious or." It was worse but it had to be said, "Or they knew." "Correction, Harry: they know. They're out there somewhere and they know about all of us. Wizard and witches must live in fear everyday of their life." "How do you know that the wizards aren't in charge?" "It's not possible. If the wizards and witches were in charge, Hogwarts wouldn't be closed down. I still don't understand why they had to leave in such a rush that they left all their things here. I thought there were fewer books in the library. And the tables looked a little different." "Let's look at the diary. The other letters seem mostly to be about Quiditch with a little politics mixed in the one I read was the last one. Give me the diary, Ron." Renata thumbed through the pages. "It seems there were only three houses. Though there were misfits that didn't seem to belong in any house. They were put into a kind of forth category. A House of Misfits. It wasn't really called that but it was a real house though wasn't named or accredited to any of the founders and was known among the students as the Misfit House. This group seems like troublemakers. The kind of troublemakers that would have normally found a home with the Slytherins, but didn't, because there were no Slytherins. The diary talks about a lot of these kids wanting to show the entire world about the power of magic and how it was beginning to scare him. It says that he wrote home to his parents about it and they didn't believe him." "So we know for sure that this was an international problem and not limited to one school." "Definitely. I suggest we read Hogwarts, A History." "But you've already read it." "Not in this world. I'm going to the library; I'll be back. Get started on dinner." "Hermione, you shouldn't go alone. I don't trust this place, even if it is or was Hogwarts." Ron stood. "I'm coming with you. I can look through books just as good as anybody else." "You can come, but don't distract me. I know you don't like work but it's imperative that we find and read Hogwarts, A History if we want to know what's going on in this world." Renata stood up. "Great, Harry and I will fix something to eat. Hermione, if you don't find the book in an hour come back anyway. If you do find it, come back anyway so you can read it down here. I don't trust this place, not as far as I could throw the giant squid!" She looked around. "That is, if the squid were here. It's not. At least, I haven't seen it." "Okay." Hermione and Ron left, heading for the library and Harry and Renata tried to figure out something for dinner. "Um.what do you want to eat?" "I don't know. What do you want?" "Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. There's peanut butter in the cupboard still." "Won't that have gone bad by now? It's been more than fifty years." "Nah. I read somewhere that peanut butter is the only food that can never go bad. I think I can make some bacon and toast with my wand. Look for the plates and knives, will ya?" Harry rummaged around the drawers for the proper utensils while Renata made the bacon and toast. "Does peanut butter and bacon actually taste good?" he asked, trying not to gag. "It's delicious." She laughed. "Where are those knives and plates I asked for?" "Here." Renata took her eight slices of toast, spread peanut butter over them, put bacon on four of them, and covered them with the other slice of bread. She put these on the plates Harry handed her. "Take these over by the fireplace. You know we're all going to eat there again. Light the fire, too. It's going to get cold here." "Right." He took his wand and lit the fireplace. "So, what are tomorrow's plans?" "We are going to make final arrangements and preparations for the trip and then we'll do the teleportation spell. We'll go to New Jersey, the coast near where Azkaban is. And plot our next move from there. We'll try to figure out much Azkaban is guarded, who guards it, and how we can get Hagrid out." "What about getting home?" "That, too, but we've more hope of rescuing Hagrid from a myriad of Dementors than of getting home." Harry sat down glumly, he wouldn't miss his aunt or uncle or cousin, but he did miss Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, and many other people. Renata looked at him from across the room. She dropped what she was doing to come and sit down with her arm around him. "Don't pout, pouts don't look good on you. Actually they do, but that's beside the point. Things are going to be okay. We'll get home." "Maybe we will," he said doubtfully, ignoring the comment about pouting. "Here," she dragged her schoolbag across in front of him. She took out her Valentines Day cards and spread them in front of him. "I know which one you sent." "I didn't send you a card." "Yes, you did. See, this card was from Dan. This one was from Tim. This one was from Joey. They send them every year as a joke. Seamus sent this one with the four leaf clovers on it. I sent these three just to watch your reaction when I got so many cards. And you sent this one." She picked up his card. "This one has you written all over it." "I don't see a name. And I don't recognize that handwriting," he said, knowing very well it was his. "It's yours and you know it." Harry looked up at the door. "Hermione, Ron, you're back soon. You've only been gone twenty minutes." "We found the book within minutes and decided to bring it back right away. Oh, good. You made sandwiches." Hermione sat down with a sandwich and begin to read. Ron followed her example, looking over her right shoulder, as he didn't have a book of his own to read. Renata whispered, "I know which card is yours, because I know you, Harry." She sat up and went to lean over Hermione's other shoulder to see the book. "We made sandwiches." "Oh. Thank you." Hermione absently picked hers up and began chewing it. Ron turned the page for her.
Renata turned it back. "I wasn't done yet." She flipped the page again.
Harry watched, anxious and bored, wishing Hermione had another shoulder to lean over so he could inspect the book. Harry laughed out loud. Hermione or any person for that matter with three shoulders was ridiculous. He drew up an image in his mind with a third arm sticking out between Hermione's left shoulder and neck. He chuckled.
Ron looked at him, worried, "Harry, have you gone mad?"
He shook his head.
"What's funny?" demanded Renata.
"Nothing," he said.
"Harry, don't make me beat any answers out of you. I will."
"I know you would."
"Not would. Will," she glared.
"I.I was thinking about how strange it is here with no people and wondering if my parents were alive. Here, I mean. Or if we even exist here. We very might well not, you know."
She stood up slowly and walked over to him. "I know that and I still see nothing funny, Harry. That's not what you were thinking." She knelt next to him and took his hand. Suddenly she jerked his arm and twisted it behind him. Harry tried not to grimace with the pain as she twisted it worse.
"Why were you laughing?" she asked calmly.
"No. It's stupid."
"Tell me."
"Ow, ow, ow! No. OW!"
"Well?"
"Aah! Ow! Okay! I'll tell you! Just let go, will ya?" He frowned and rubbed his arm as she let go. That hurt. He could see Ron across the room, obviously trying very hard not to laugh and not succeeding. He'd watched the whole thing, why hadn't he come to help? "It's stupid."
She glared at him.
"Alright, alright," he muttered. "The three of you were reading the book. You and Ron leaning over her shoulders to read and I wished she had another should so I could read it too. Then I realized how stupid she'd look like that." Now all three of them were glaring at him. What had he said wrong? He added hastily, "How stupid anyone would look with three shoulders, I meant." That seemed to help.
"You're right. That was stupid."
"That's why I wasn't going to say it."
She shook her head and whispered to him, "No, I meant saying that Hermione looked stupid in front of Ron was stupid, idiot."
"Huh? But I didn't say that. I just said."
"It all amounts to the same thing," she chided.
Harry woke early that morning, earlier than on any of the previous mornings since Valentines Day though he was still the last one awake. He'd been haunted during the night by dreams. Dreams of his parents and finally meeting them. Then nightmares where they met him and hated him. Nightmares where the Harry of this world tried to kill him for trying to steal his parents. He shivered. This wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.
"Guys?" His friends turned to look at him, just waking up whereas their schoolbags were packed and the cloaks they'd slept on rolled up to travel with.
"Yes, lazybones?" asked Renata, yawning.
"I was wondering.do we have to go straight to New Jersey today?"
"Where do you want to go?"
He bit his lip and hesitated before answering. "Godric's Hollow. I want to find my parents, if I can."
"I don't know about you two," Renata looked at Hermione and Ron, "but I'm with Harry on this. My parents lived in Godric's Hollow, too. If they're there.I want to see my dad."
"What do you say?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who were getting him a bowl of oatmeal.
"I'm with you, Harry. I'll stick with you," Ron said. "I'm not going to let you go without me."
Hermione brought Harry his bowl. "I'm going, too."
"One for all and all for one I guess." Harry grinned. "Is everyone ready?"
"Everyone but you. Go brush your hair and put on fresh robes if you're done with your oatmeal. You want to look your best when you see your parents. I'll pack up your things for you." Renata told him.
Harry nodded, took robes from the pile near his schoolbag and went off to the nearest boys' room. He put on fresh robes, startled at how well they fit considering they weren't his and had been pulled out of the pile in the laundry room. They fit better than his old robes. He noticed the sleeves and neck were cut slightly different from the robes he knew but still the same basic Hogwarts robes. He combed his hair as best he could and cleaned his glasses.
Today was it. He'd meet his parents at last, he tried to keep away the dreams from the night before and the possibility that his parents were dead here too. He shook his head. Whatever was was. That was all there was to it.
Back in the kitchen he saw that the last of breakfast was tidied up, Renata was just wrapping an extra cloak around Harry's bag, and Ron and Hermione were going over the teleportation spell one more time.
Hermione saw him enter. "There shouldn't be any problem with the teleportation spell and Hogwarts anti-Apperating guard spells. It should work fine. Is there anything else we need?"
"What do we have?" he asked.
"A broom a piece, they're in the corner there; a cauldron, apparently the professor here had a nice collapsible one so I put it in my school bag; a canteen of water each; clothes; the diaries and letters; Hogwarts, a History and another book or two for reference; a little food; not much else besides. I wish your invisibility cloak were here."
"That would be helpful but this place seems to have stopped in the nineteen-forties. Before my dad brought the cloak here. I've got a compass."
"Good. I've got first aid stuff, too. We may need it. So we're set. Godric's Hollow?"
Harry nodded and looked at Renata. She nodded and turned to Ron. He said, "Then let's get on with this. Everybody put your schoolbag on your shoulder, tuck your broom under your arm, and get in a circle. Hold hands. We need to make sure no one is left behind. I'm not sure I'd even leave Malfoy here."
They assembled in a tight ring; Harry was between Renata and Ron. Hermione began the spell and after what seemed to be an eternity Harry felt himself caught in what felt like a windstorm. He hurtled through the stars in the sky until he found himself standing again. Not really standing. He was barely on his knees on the ground, hardly keeping himself from losing his breakfast. The others were no better though the four of them still kept at tight grip on each other.
"Are we here?"
"I think so. But where exactly is here?"
Harry looked around. He'd had a dream once, after a confrontation with Voldemort. His parents had spoken to him in it. He saw their house now. As he looked around he saw that the entire neighborhood was in shambles, the houses were in need of repair. The walls had graffiti on them that said uncomplimentary things about wizards and witches. Harry began to run. He had to reach his parents' house. He had to see them. He dropped everything in his hands, including Renata and Ron.
"Harry!"
"Wait!"
"Come back!"
"You don't know if it's safe!"
"Harry!"
His friends called him back but he ran straight to the door and knocked as hard as he could.
The man that answered looked like the pictures Harry had of James Potter but he was missing part of an arm, there was a scar on his face, and he looked older. He clearly wasn't the young new father Harry had pictures of, but it didn't matter because this was his dead. He had to be.
"You're dead, boy, and we sent the ghosts away years ago. Be gone!"
"Dad, it's me. I'm your son. Your son Harry."
"No. Harry died. The Muggles killed him. I don't know who you are but Harry didn't have that funny scar. Go away." He tried to shut the door.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"You honestly don't know?"
"No, sir. I.I came here hoping to find answers."
"Come in," he sighed testily. "We've taken in enough refugees over the years." He opened the door wider. He looked into the street. "Are those your friends out there? The three staring at the house and carrying all those bags?"
"Yeah. Those are them."
"Should I let them in?"
"Yeah. They're good people. The best." They were. Ron was loyal and his best friend. Hermione was always there for him. And Renata.well what could he say about her? He called to them, "Hermione! Ron! Renata! Come!"
They came trotting over and Renata dropped his bag on his foot.
"Ouch!" He started hopping up and down on his good foot, gripping his sore one. He growled, "What was that for?"
"For running off and making me carry the stupid bag." She grinned and turned to the man. "So you must be Harry's dad."
"I don't know who this boy is but he looks an awful lot like my son did before he died."
"Mr. Potter," Renata said, taking his good arm and leading him inside, "I'll explain exactly what's going on and who he is."
Hermione and Ron followed them and Harry picked up his and Renata's bags and brooms and followed too.
"Have you heard of the Green Flame Torch?"
"That's been lost for so long it's barely remembered. What about it?" He began pouring them all cups of tea.
"That's how we got here. We're from another world. In that world, Peter Pettigrew became your secret-keeper and betrayed you when Voldemort was after you. Voldemort killed you and Lilly Potter, but his curse didn't touch Harry except for that scar on his forehead. It was the killing curse and it rebounded back on Voldemort. He's tried to kill Harry several times since. Once he tried to gain his body with the Sorcerer's Stone. Another time he used a diary that preserved his sixteen-year-old self and tried to take another student's life force. In our world Harry's an orphan who lives with your sister-in-law who treats him like dirt and worse. The only time his life is decent is when he's at Hogwarts and the rare visits he gets with Sirius. Sirius was in Azkaban for twelve years. Framed by Pettigrew. We were transported here by the Green Flame Torch so Voldemort and Pettigrew and other people could kill us. We were at Hogwarts. Does any of this make sense?"
"Not really. Who are you again?"
"I'm Renata Delano. Do you remember Jennifer or Remus Lupin? Jennifer is my mom. Remus is my uncle. Jonathan Delano was my dad, before Voldemort killed him," her voice was tight as though the words hurt. "Doesn't any of this make sense?"
"Not really. Hogwarts was forced to close in the forties."
"Then could you fill us in on what happened in this world?"
"In the forties, Hogwarts was closed. It was too risky to keep it open. The Headmaster sent letters to Muggle-borns and connected them with private wizard tutors and relatives taught those from wizarding families. I do remember a Voldemort." he frowned in concentration.
"If you didn't go to Hogwarts, how did you meet my mum then? According to you I did exist here."
"Lilly was a Muggle-born. She was sent to my mother and father for instruction in magic. She was so pretty." He leaned forward and peered closer at Harry. "Oh my. You do have her eyes, don't you? She was beautiful. And smart. Lilly." He smiled.
Harry blinked. "Was? What do you mean 'was'?"
"She's gone, Harry. Things went differently here than you say they went in your world. Things went well for a few years after they closed Hogwarts. One year they almost opened the school again. I heard they sent out letters and everything. A young man named Tom Vorolam Riddle was the reason the school closed. His father was a Muggle named Tom Riddle and his mother was from an old wizarding family. They'd been in that fourth Hogwarts house for generations. Not Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or Gryffindor but the other one. What was it called again? It doesn't matter. He and some others led a demonstration. They planned it around the world. It was an international affair. By the end, too many Muggles knew to turn back. They couldn't do much to stop us but if someone was recognized by Muggles to be a wizard they were shot. Almost every Muggle carries a loaded gun now. Normally a wizard could avoid being killed if they did what the Muggle asked. Things got that bad. Two years ago, Harry decided he couldn't take this anymore and he and a group of his friends tried to take a stand against this maltreatment. They were killed. All of them. They were a random group. They'd connected through a Quill Acquaintance program to help keep young wizards and witches together during these hard times when there was no Hogwarts to let them meet. What were their names? There was a boy by the name of Longbottom. There was a Ronald Weasly, and Hermione Granger. Hermione had been sent to the Weaslys for tutoring."
"Do you remember anything about the Delanos or Lupins?"
"Lupin sounds familiar.that was that werewolf who went crazy and killed his sister."
"No," breathed Renata.
"Yes. Now all the wizards and witches live in fear. Worldwide. There's nowhere safe. It's blackmail or death if you're found out to be able to do magic."
"Why can't everyone just fight back?"
"The Muggle armies sit on their nuclear weapons. If we make a move against them they'd fire and we'd be dead before we could do anything about it. Even magic doesn't heal death. If it did, Harry would be here. Lilly too."
"What happened to my mum?"
"Shot by a Muggle." There was anger in his voice. "The Muggles like some wizards. Though they all but keep them as pets when that's the case. If a Muggle is willing to put up with one of our sort it means one of two things: they either want to use us or they are one of the few good-hearted Muggles left that's will to help us. A few still even want to pretend we don't exist. Some rotten Muggle wanted her to kill his brother for him but he shot her when she refused to. Harry got so angry that he went looking for the Muggle. It turned out Voldemort was working for him, tracking down other wizards and killing them for the Muggles. Harry, Ronald, Hermione, and the Longbottom boy went to go hunt him down. Longbottom fell first. Hermione likely would have had Ronald not been there. He died next, protecting her. Then Voldemort got Hermione. Last, Harry died. He managed to kill Voldemort but he died anyway. It was the last battle and our side lost. Hermione and Ronald were such a cute couple. Engaged, you know. They wanted to be married as soon as they graduated." He studied the three of them. "They'd be about your age by now. And they looked a lot like you too. But Hermione had larger teeth."
It made sense. Hermione had had larger teeth and would still have had them if she had not shrunken them with magic a few years before. "What do you know about Azkaban?'
"Well, I know-wait, what was your name?"
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"I'm Ron, Ronald Weasly."
"Oh. I see. Azkaban closed a long time ago. It's off the coast of Spain, or maybe Portugal. It's been made into a Muggle amusement park. Why?"
"Before we were transported here Azkaban was. It went missing from our world and it got transported here. Off the coast of New Jeresey. We did a locating spell of sorts and we got here by teleporting. We don't have our Apperating licenses yet. We're going to Azkaban to rescue our friend then we have to find the Green Flame Torch so we can get home. We can't stay here forever."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean why not?"
"Why can't you stay here forever? Live with me. Harry, your parents are dead. You could stay here with me. The three of you are welcome to stay too. If you don't mind living with a cantankerous old man."
"Old? You can't even be in your forties yet. You're my mom's age, she and Lilly were best friends." said Renata.
"Harry, will you take these cups into a kitchen with me?" asked Mr. Potter.
He nodded. The man stood up and Harry followed him into the kitchen. Mr. Potter put on more water to boil. "Harry, is that your young lady? She's a good pick. Reminds me of your mother. Of the Lilly I knew anyway."
Harry started blushing. "I don't know what she is. 'Young lady' hardly describes her. She picks fights, gambles a bit, plays Quiditch."
He smiled almost fondly at him. "You're crazy about her, aren't you?"
"I.I don't know. She's one of my best friends. She's on my Quiditch team. She led the team in a rebellion against me. Made all of them quit." Harry peaked through the crack in the door out at his friends, looking at one in particular. "She is pretty, isn't she? I don't know. I just don't know anything. No one I could talk to about this."
"What about your friend Ron? I take it you're closer to him than anyone. Doesn't he have any advice? He has Hermione after all. Doesn't he?"
"He doesn't know. I'd never hear the end of it if he even thought I liked Renata after all the crap I put up with from her. What advice could he have? Hermione and Ron? That would never happen in a hundred years." Harry had always told himself that but lately he'd doubted it.
"I meant what I said before, Harry. I realize we don't know each other but you could stay here. With me. Your friends too."
"I can't. Hermione and Ron have families to get back to. Ron's got six brothers and a little sister. Renata's mum would miss her."
"What about you?'
"I have no one to go back to. You and mum are both dead there. Remember? I have the Dursleys and Sirius Black. Sirius is great though."
"You could stay with me," he repeated.
"Or you could come with me. We will get back home. Come with us. You could live with Sirius and I. We've got plenty of room in the house."
"No, Harry. In your world Sirius Black and James Potter were best friends. Here, we never met. I may be James Potter but I'm not the James Potter he knew. We don't have the same memories. Or the same lives. If your dad was anything like me then it would have torn him apart to have to live without Lilly. Do you know anything about how they died?"
Harry nodded. "I was only a year old but I see it every time I meet a Dementor. My dad told my mum to take me and run. He was killed. Then Voldemort came after us. She died saving me. Then I couldn't be killed. I was the one he wanted dead. The two of them dead because of me." Harry took some breaths to steady himself, the story was hard on him. "But I had a dream, last year. And I don't think I'll ever forget it. I found myself standing in front of my mum and dad and I warned them about Peter. I told them to leave but they said they knew what was going to happen and that they had to do it."
"I think there's something I have to do too. Let's bring the tea back out to your friends." They left the kitchen. "How are you getting along?"
"We're fine. Just fine," she smiled, tossing her hair. "So? Did you boys have a nice chat?" Renata smiled again.
"Oh. Yes. I've come to a decision. The three of you can spend the night here and in the morning I'm going with you."
"I thought you said-"
"Harry, I told you I wouldn't go back to your world with you, that's not my home. But I do know that my place tomorrow is to help you. Everything that happens happens for a reason. Maybe the reason I'm not dead is so that I could be here to meet you today and help you tomorrow. It's my place."
"Okay. Tomorrow."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, yeah, sorry the title was kinda cliché-ish but I thought it kinda fit.
