A/N: Er.nothing to say really. Read on.
Chapter 8: Back to Remus's House
The young man lies alone
But fastened to the ground
The sound of fleeing feet and the crying eye
Will be his last sound
What did we gain from all this?
Was it worth a life?
We've thrown all our hopes away
And set our dreams aside
-3 Doors Down
Dumbledore had arranged a portkey to take them there. Apparently the place had too many protection charms on it to Apparate.
Harry pulled his cloak low over his head as he saw the familiar lights and house of his former professor. If Dumbledore noticed, he said nothing.
Harry hid in the shadows when Dumbledore knocked on the door. An anxious looking Remus appeared in the doorway. "Dumbledore!"
"I have brought help," Dumbledore said in that annoyingly calm voice he always seemed to have.
"Who?"
"Me," Harry said, coming out of the shadows. He knew that Remus could not see his face and he was keenly aware that he must look something like a Death Eater.
"Dumbledore! Who have you brought?" Remus asked, looking at Harry in distrust.
"I have brought help," Dumbledore said again. "He knows far more about this than I can hope to at the present."
"How do you know we can trust him?" Remus asked.
"I would trust him with my life," Dumbledore said coolly.
Harry felt an odd sensation in his stomach that he had not felt there in many years. He felt wanted. Frowning and angry that such a feeling should ever return, he said, just as coolly as Dumbledore had moment ago, "You only have one life to live." He swept past Remus and into the house.
"Hey!" Remus said. "I don't want him anywhere near Harry!"
"Calm down, Remus," Dumbledore said quietly. "He is truly the only one that can help."
"What can he do?" Remus asked. "I've never even seen him before! Who is he?"
"He wished to remain unknown," Dumbledore said. Harry turned down the familiar hallway and into the room he vaguely remembered being. As he pushed open the door and heard a short yell, he knew he had chosen correctly.
"How did he know where we put Harry?" Remus asked suspiciously. "I moved him this morning."
"That's enough," Dumbledore said quietly, but with power. "You must trust him, Remus, as you trust me."
"He doesn't exactly exude happy feelings," Remus muttered.
Harry ignored them both and knelt down at the bedside of his younger self, covered in sweat and muttering in his sleep.
Reaching out a hand, Harry felt the boy's pulse moving unnaturally fast. He was afraid. He put a hand to the boy's forehead. The lightning bolt scar burned painfully, even to him. Harry tuned it out. The next second, the Harry on the bed began jerking wildly and yelling.
Remus ran over to him, pushing Harry out of the way with werewolf strength he had not expected.
"Remus!" Dumbledore called sharply.
"He's hurting him!" Remus said angrily. "I don't know who this guy is, but he's certainly not helping!"
"Remus," Dumbledore said in a condescending voice that implied Remus to be an irrational child. "You don't seem to understand that if this man cannot help Harry, no one can."
"Who is he that makes him so important?"
"That is none of your concern," Harry spat, getting to his feet.
"Like hell it isn't!" Remus snarled.
"Move," Harry said simply.
"No," Remus said, glaring.
"Let me put it this way," Harry said angrily. "Move over or your Boy-Who- Lived is going to die there in his sleep."
Remus glared daggers at him, but, with a look from Dumbledore, reluctantly moved out of the way.
Harry jerked worse than ever. Harry felt his own scar start to burn. Voldemort had inched closer to winning.
An idea popped into Harry's head. He put his hand on the side of his younger self's head and muttered, "Dedans."
Harry felt himself speeding into the boy's mind. He fell to the ground, hard. Getting quickly to his feet, he looked around and found himself in a horrifyingly real place. Screams filled the air around him. They were in Hogwarts, the scene of battle.
Looking around, he saw his younger self hiding behind a fallen piece of the ceiling. He had a cut above his right eye and his right leg stuck out at an odd angle. Lines of pain etched themselves clearly on his face.
From a long way off and out of the dream world his spell had brought him into, Harry reached out a hand and placed it on top of the boy's sweaty forehead-on the cut located in the other reality. In the dream reality, the cut disappeared. Harry reached up and touched his forehead, looking at his hand, he a surprised look appeared on his face at the sight of no blood.
Harry moved his hand to the boy's broken leg. He felt very dimly aware that the boy suddenly started jerking and yelling wildly. The Harry in the dream reality shrieked and fell to the ground from his sitting position, grabbing his hurt leg.
Harry closed his eyes to both realities, trying to heal the leg from the other reality without leaving this one. The next second Harry stopped writhing and sat shakily up. Older Harry felt the pain in his scar lessen. Voldemort's loss had begun. He knew it. Voldemort knew it. Things would only get harder.
He suddenly felt that something had gone hideously wrong. He tried to put his finger on it, but nothing clicked.
The rock behind Harry suddenly exploded. Harry flung himself to the ground, covering his head with his hands. Death Eaters from around suddenly stopped what they had been doing at the sight of him. They formed a circle around him, blocking off exits. Harry got to his feet.
Older Harry moved straight through the Death Eater circle to the center where Harry stood. The Death Eaters had basis in the other reality-not this one. Only Voldemort was real; Voldemort, him, and Harry.
Harry could not see him. He had not crossed fully into this reality. The Death Eaters had no real part in the dream. Voldemort controlled the dream. Younger Harry had the dream. Older Harry intruded in upon the dream.
Harry bent down, only slightly. He had not grown much since that age and whispered into his younger self's ear, "They will wait for Voldemort."
Harry could not see him, could not hear him, but Older Harry became that little voice in his head that many think is common sense. Harry did not relax, but he became less ready for battle. He would wait.
A figure appeared in the shadows. Red eyes shone from the shadows-the first visible sign of who lay beyond. Those same red eyes.
The Death Eaters moved reverently out of the way. Voldemort took a step inside the circle.
"Harry Potter."
Harry stared at the person who had caused him so much pain. Voldemort suddenly blinked those horrible eyes and suddenly looked at Older Harry. He tried to get him into focus. Harry probably looked like less than a ghost-a flickering phantom.
Of course Voldemort could sense him. He power exceeded that of the boy before him. It did now, but it would not later.
"I see," Voldemort said softly. "Reinforcements have come."
"What are you talking about?" Younger Harry asked angrily.
"He cannot see you," Voldemort said. "Interesting." He blinked again. Harry had apparently slid out of focus.
"He cannot see me," Harry said calmly. "He cannot hear me. But I am here."
"I did not expect you to come," Voldemort said.
"I did not expect you to use this curse," Harry said calmly. "I suppose you could tell from the mark on my wrist that I beat your last one."
"I did," Voldemort said. "You showed it to me when you tried to open the portal."
"Wow," Harry said sarcastically. "You're like Sherlock Holmes.except evil."
Voldemort smirked. He opened his mouth to respond but at that moment, Younger Harry said, "I always thought you were mad, but I didn't think it went this far."
"I see your cheek sticks with you throughout life," Voldemort said angrily.
"Not for everyone," Older Harry said, smirking. "You're special."
"Who are you talking to?" Harry asked, looking over his shoulder. "Surely your Death Eaters don't have enough intelligence to hold you in conversation."
Voldemort looked livid. He fingers twitched to his wand, but at that moment Harry moved and knew that, in Voldemort's vision, he had disappeared. Quickly keeping in motion to keep Voldemort off guard, Harry managed to whisper into Harry's ear, "He's distracted. You'll know when to attack."
Harry's face suddenly got a more determined look about it. Harry suddenly stopped moving in the same spot he had started moving and Voldemort's eyes slid into focus.
"Going for a jog, are we?" He asked, smirking.
"I like to keep in shape," Harry said.
"I have no time for this. You cannot hurt me. You are nothing."
He started to turn back to Harry's younger self and Harry whispered urgently, "Now!"
"Reducto!" Harry yelled. He dropped seconds after he had said the spell and rolled behind a random chunk of debris.
The Reductor Curse nicked Voldemort in the arm and he cursed. Harry moved. He poked his head out from behind a stone pillar. Voldemort saw him and shouted a curse. The jet of green light went right through Harry's head. Because he did not fully lie in this dimension, he could not be affected by it. He laughed and Voldemort, enraged, snarled "Trickery!"
Harry moved again. His younger self poked his head out from be hind his chunk of something at the same time his older counterpart stopped moving long enough to be seen. Voldemort shouted a curse at younger Harry who pulled his head back in just in time. Voldemort smirked. "I've found you."
Younger Harry moved again to another pillar. Harry joined him at it and, while his younger self was still hiding, he moved. Voldemort saw him and shot a curse at him. It went though him and hit the wall.
"You suck at this," Harry said mockingly as he disappeared in Voldemort's line of sight leaving his words ringing in Voldemort's ears from apparently nowhere.
He moved back to Harry's original hiding spot and, stuck his head out. Voldemort shouted a curse and, instead of going through him, it hit him. Harry yelled and felt himself being forced from his younger self's mind.
He opened his eyes and found himself back in the bedroom. Cursing, he prepared to go back in.
"What's happening?" Remus asked, shattering through Harry's concentration.
"Damn it!" Harry said. "Shut up!"
He closed his eyes, placed his hand back on the side of Harry's head and prepared to go back in. The next second, his younger self's own hand pushed his off. Opening his eyes in surprise, Harry saw, to his horror that bright green eyes had been replaced with burning red ones.
"He is gone," Voldemort's voice said through Harry's mouth. "He is dead."
"Lie," Harry snarled.
"Very good," Voldemort said. "But I have control of his body and through him, I can kill you. You provided me a link, you see. I can get to him now."
Harry cursed and looked back at Dumbledore who seemed to have realized the same thing he just did. Voldemort had expected Harry to come and had planned accordingly.
"I thought you already tried this once," Harry said. "You failed."
"What has he left that can pull him back?" Voldemort laughed though Harry's body.
"He has me," Harry snarled.
Voldemort laughed again. "You? You are but a shadow of him! You do not have it in you to undo what I can do to him-what I've done to you. You are finished."
"He has me," Remus said, going to Harry's side and looking, unflinchingly into those horrible red eyes that glowed over the green ones.
Voldemort laughed mercilessly. Remus did not flinch. "Harry," he said calmly. "Come back now. You're letting him win."
"He's not," Harry said suddenly. The thing that had tugged at his mind earlier had abruptly clicked into place. "Hold him down. I'm going in."
"Be careful," Dumbledore said.
"Oh, you know me," Harry said sarcastically.
"Yes, I do."
"Don't kill him," Remus said simply. He grabbed Harry's two arms and held him down to the bed. Dumbledore quickly snatched up Harry and Remus's wands and held them out of reach from the struggling form of the boy.
Harry put his hand on the side of the boy's face and tuned out the shrieked insults and yelling coming from the boy on the bed. "Dedans."
He returned to Harry's mind. The pain that came with possession didn't come. Younger Harry stood alone, surrounded by Death Eaters that stared blankly at him.
Older Harry bent down and whispered into his ear, "Something's not right. Ask the Death Eaters a question."
"Where did your master get off to?" Harry asked bravely. "Any particular place that I should know about?"
"No," said one shortly. He stepped forward. His wand pointed straight at Harry's heart. Through the fold in the hood, Harry saw Lucius Malfoy's face.
"Really?" Harry asked. "Then why did he leave? Did the Order of the Phoenix destroy something important?"
"The Order is not strong enough to destroy anything of ours," Malfoy sneered.
"That doesn't look like Malfoy's other sneers," Older Harry muttered.
Younger Harry frowned to himself. "If you're so strong, how come the order is still there at all?"
"Master needs some entertainment," Malfoy said, shrugging, yet never letting his wand waver.
"Malfoy doesn't call him master unless he's talking directly to Voldemort," Older Harry muttered. "He's calls him the Dark Lord. Something is wrong here."
Harry's eyebrows creased. He opened his mouth to say something, but the next second, in a whirl of smoke, Voldemort materialized in front of them.
"You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds," Harry muttering into his younger self's ear.
Harry stopped muttering and straightened. He looked Voldemort in the eye. "Cheep tricks," he said flatly.
Voldemort's flickered to him, but he made no other notice of his presence.
"Sorry about that," Voldemort said. "I had something of more importance to attend to. You may go, Wormtail."
Malfoy backed up into the circle.
"That's not Wormtail," Harry whispered unnecessarily. It seemed his younger self had already figured that out.
"That's Malfoy," Harry said. "Lucius Malfoy-your right hand man. You should know that, Voldemort."
Voldemort's eyes flickered to Older Harry, standing protectively by his younger counterpart. "I have no time to learn names."
"He knew his name the day he rose again, and it had been years since he had seen him last. Something's not right. And why do I have a memory of a Death Eater in that mirror when I learned about Hogwarts being attacked?"
Harry's mouth suddenly dropped. "Wait a minute," he said. "My broken leg healed on its own, Malfoy's acting more like Wormtail, and for some reason, I have this memory of being knocked out in Professor Lupin's classroom before this all started. That's to say nothing about this weird voice in my head that seems to know more about this than I do."
Older Harry smirked at Voldemort's furious face. "I have never been a quick study," he said. "But I catch on eventually."
"This isn't real, is it?" Younger Harry asked. "None of this! None of this is happening! I'm probably unconscious somewhere! This is a spell!"
There a huge flash of light found Harry once again at the bedside. Harry had still not awoken, but as he watched, what looked like swirling gray mist arose from him, some horrible disease leaving the body.
The mist formed a skull with a snake coming out like a tongue. Voldemort had meant it to come out when Harry died-a last mockery. Instead, it seemed to be angry at its failure. A crack sounded and the entire thing exploded, going over the unconscious Harry and not touching him. Remus blew off his feet where he'd been standing awkwardly, trying to wake Harry up. Harry stood his ground, determined not to let Voldemort's curse blow him backward. Just when he thought it finished, it gave a last pop and Harry felt, to his horror, his hood blow off his head.
"What the-" Remus had gotten to his feet. He looked at Harry in what appeared to be absolute surprise.
Furious, but knowing the damage had been done, he stood up and knocking the chair backwards. He felt keenly aware that the force of the explosion had revealed his lightning bolt scar, but he decided putting his hair back down in front of it might remind Remus of the child he no longer was.
"But-but you're Harry!" Remus practically yelled. "Dumbledore! He's Harry!"
"Excellent observation," Harry growled. "Too bad for you this will be both the first and the last time you will ever see me. I'm gone, Dumbledore. You're boy will wake up soon. He's just sleeping."
Pulling his hood back over his head, he stalked past the staggering Remus. Just a few more steps and he would be out of that house. He had to get out. None of this should have happened. He had to get out. He reached the front door and reached for the doorknob.
"Harry!" Remus came running into the room.
Harry had half a mind to simply ignore him and continue walking. He did not move, his hand on the doorknob, waiting.
"Who are you?" Remus asked.
"And you're the one that was supposed to have taught me," Harry said coldly. "I thought teachers were supposed to be smart."
Remus scowled. "There's no way you could possibly be the same person. Harry would never talk to me like this."
"Harry's a little bit more grown up now," Harry said callously. "You'd do well to remember that and leave me alone."
"Oh," Remus said suddenly. "I get it. You're tragically misunderstood. No one understands you and no one cares about you. All you've got is yourself, is that it? Well, then I suppose in your future world, I'm dead and rotting am I?"
"You might be."
"Then I suppose that no matter what I say, you won't change your mind about anything, will you?"
"It's too late for me," Harry said, his voice emotionless. "Save the boy while you can. Maybe you can actually do some good." He turned the doorknob and stalked out.
A/N: Yep, that's chapter 8. I'm not feeling really talkative at the moment. Maybe some reviews will help. Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.
Chapter 8: Back to Remus's House
The young man lies alone
But fastened to the ground
The sound of fleeing feet and the crying eye
Will be his last sound
What did we gain from all this?
Was it worth a life?
We've thrown all our hopes away
And set our dreams aside
-3 Doors Down
Dumbledore had arranged a portkey to take them there. Apparently the place had too many protection charms on it to Apparate.
Harry pulled his cloak low over his head as he saw the familiar lights and house of his former professor. If Dumbledore noticed, he said nothing.
Harry hid in the shadows when Dumbledore knocked on the door. An anxious looking Remus appeared in the doorway. "Dumbledore!"
"I have brought help," Dumbledore said in that annoyingly calm voice he always seemed to have.
"Who?"
"Me," Harry said, coming out of the shadows. He knew that Remus could not see his face and he was keenly aware that he must look something like a Death Eater.
"Dumbledore! Who have you brought?" Remus asked, looking at Harry in distrust.
"I have brought help," Dumbledore said again. "He knows far more about this than I can hope to at the present."
"How do you know we can trust him?" Remus asked.
"I would trust him with my life," Dumbledore said coolly.
Harry felt an odd sensation in his stomach that he had not felt there in many years. He felt wanted. Frowning and angry that such a feeling should ever return, he said, just as coolly as Dumbledore had moment ago, "You only have one life to live." He swept past Remus and into the house.
"Hey!" Remus said. "I don't want him anywhere near Harry!"
"Calm down, Remus," Dumbledore said quietly. "He is truly the only one that can help."
"What can he do?" Remus asked. "I've never even seen him before! Who is he?"
"He wished to remain unknown," Dumbledore said. Harry turned down the familiar hallway and into the room he vaguely remembered being. As he pushed open the door and heard a short yell, he knew he had chosen correctly.
"How did he know where we put Harry?" Remus asked suspiciously. "I moved him this morning."
"That's enough," Dumbledore said quietly, but with power. "You must trust him, Remus, as you trust me."
"He doesn't exactly exude happy feelings," Remus muttered.
Harry ignored them both and knelt down at the bedside of his younger self, covered in sweat and muttering in his sleep.
Reaching out a hand, Harry felt the boy's pulse moving unnaturally fast. He was afraid. He put a hand to the boy's forehead. The lightning bolt scar burned painfully, even to him. Harry tuned it out. The next second, the Harry on the bed began jerking wildly and yelling.
Remus ran over to him, pushing Harry out of the way with werewolf strength he had not expected.
"Remus!" Dumbledore called sharply.
"He's hurting him!" Remus said angrily. "I don't know who this guy is, but he's certainly not helping!"
"Remus," Dumbledore said in a condescending voice that implied Remus to be an irrational child. "You don't seem to understand that if this man cannot help Harry, no one can."
"Who is he that makes him so important?"
"That is none of your concern," Harry spat, getting to his feet.
"Like hell it isn't!" Remus snarled.
"Move," Harry said simply.
"No," Remus said, glaring.
"Let me put it this way," Harry said angrily. "Move over or your Boy-Who- Lived is going to die there in his sleep."
Remus glared daggers at him, but, with a look from Dumbledore, reluctantly moved out of the way.
Harry jerked worse than ever. Harry felt his own scar start to burn. Voldemort had inched closer to winning.
An idea popped into Harry's head. He put his hand on the side of his younger self's head and muttered, "Dedans."
Harry felt himself speeding into the boy's mind. He fell to the ground, hard. Getting quickly to his feet, he looked around and found himself in a horrifyingly real place. Screams filled the air around him. They were in Hogwarts, the scene of battle.
Looking around, he saw his younger self hiding behind a fallen piece of the ceiling. He had a cut above his right eye and his right leg stuck out at an odd angle. Lines of pain etched themselves clearly on his face.
From a long way off and out of the dream world his spell had brought him into, Harry reached out a hand and placed it on top of the boy's sweaty forehead-on the cut located in the other reality. In the dream reality, the cut disappeared. Harry reached up and touched his forehead, looking at his hand, he a surprised look appeared on his face at the sight of no blood.
Harry moved his hand to the boy's broken leg. He felt very dimly aware that the boy suddenly started jerking and yelling wildly. The Harry in the dream reality shrieked and fell to the ground from his sitting position, grabbing his hurt leg.
Harry closed his eyes to both realities, trying to heal the leg from the other reality without leaving this one. The next second Harry stopped writhing and sat shakily up. Older Harry felt the pain in his scar lessen. Voldemort's loss had begun. He knew it. Voldemort knew it. Things would only get harder.
He suddenly felt that something had gone hideously wrong. He tried to put his finger on it, but nothing clicked.
The rock behind Harry suddenly exploded. Harry flung himself to the ground, covering his head with his hands. Death Eaters from around suddenly stopped what they had been doing at the sight of him. They formed a circle around him, blocking off exits. Harry got to his feet.
Older Harry moved straight through the Death Eater circle to the center where Harry stood. The Death Eaters had basis in the other reality-not this one. Only Voldemort was real; Voldemort, him, and Harry.
Harry could not see him. He had not crossed fully into this reality. The Death Eaters had no real part in the dream. Voldemort controlled the dream. Younger Harry had the dream. Older Harry intruded in upon the dream.
Harry bent down, only slightly. He had not grown much since that age and whispered into his younger self's ear, "They will wait for Voldemort."
Harry could not see him, could not hear him, but Older Harry became that little voice in his head that many think is common sense. Harry did not relax, but he became less ready for battle. He would wait.
A figure appeared in the shadows. Red eyes shone from the shadows-the first visible sign of who lay beyond. Those same red eyes.
The Death Eaters moved reverently out of the way. Voldemort took a step inside the circle.
"Harry Potter."
Harry stared at the person who had caused him so much pain. Voldemort suddenly blinked those horrible eyes and suddenly looked at Older Harry. He tried to get him into focus. Harry probably looked like less than a ghost-a flickering phantom.
Of course Voldemort could sense him. He power exceeded that of the boy before him. It did now, but it would not later.
"I see," Voldemort said softly. "Reinforcements have come."
"What are you talking about?" Younger Harry asked angrily.
"He cannot see you," Voldemort said. "Interesting." He blinked again. Harry had apparently slid out of focus.
"He cannot see me," Harry said calmly. "He cannot hear me. But I am here."
"I did not expect you to come," Voldemort said.
"I did not expect you to use this curse," Harry said calmly. "I suppose you could tell from the mark on my wrist that I beat your last one."
"I did," Voldemort said. "You showed it to me when you tried to open the portal."
"Wow," Harry said sarcastically. "You're like Sherlock Holmes.except evil."
Voldemort smirked. He opened his mouth to respond but at that moment, Younger Harry said, "I always thought you were mad, but I didn't think it went this far."
"I see your cheek sticks with you throughout life," Voldemort said angrily.
"Not for everyone," Older Harry said, smirking. "You're special."
"Who are you talking to?" Harry asked, looking over his shoulder. "Surely your Death Eaters don't have enough intelligence to hold you in conversation."
Voldemort looked livid. He fingers twitched to his wand, but at that moment Harry moved and knew that, in Voldemort's vision, he had disappeared. Quickly keeping in motion to keep Voldemort off guard, Harry managed to whisper into Harry's ear, "He's distracted. You'll know when to attack."
Harry's face suddenly got a more determined look about it. Harry suddenly stopped moving in the same spot he had started moving and Voldemort's eyes slid into focus.
"Going for a jog, are we?" He asked, smirking.
"I like to keep in shape," Harry said.
"I have no time for this. You cannot hurt me. You are nothing."
He started to turn back to Harry's younger self and Harry whispered urgently, "Now!"
"Reducto!" Harry yelled. He dropped seconds after he had said the spell and rolled behind a random chunk of debris.
The Reductor Curse nicked Voldemort in the arm and he cursed. Harry moved. He poked his head out from behind a stone pillar. Voldemort saw him and shouted a curse. The jet of green light went right through Harry's head. Because he did not fully lie in this dimension, he could not be affected by it. He laughed and Voldemort, enraged, snarled "Trickery!"
Harry moved again. His younger self poked his head out from be hind his chunk of something at the same time his older counterpart stopped moving long enough to be seen. Voldemort shouted a curse at younger Harry who pulled his head back in just in time. Voldemort smirked. "I've found you."
Younger Harry moved again to another pillar. Harry joined him at it and, while his younger self was still hiding, he moved. Voldemort saw him and shot a curse at him. It went though him and hit the wall.
"You suck at this," Harry said mockingly as he disappeared in Voldemort's line of sight leaving his words ringing in Voldemort's ears from apparently nowhere.
He moved back to Harry's original hiding spot and, stuck his head out. Voldemort shouted a curse and, instead of going through him, it hit him. Harry yelled and felt himself being forced from his younger self's mind.
He opened his eyes and found himself back in the bedroom. Cursing, he prepared to go back in.
"What's happening?" Remus asked, shattering through Harry's concentration.
"Damn it!" Harry said. "Shut up!"
He closed his eyes, placed his hand back on the side of Harry's head and prepared to go back in. The next second, his younger self's own hand pushed his off. Opening his eyes in surprise, Harry saw, to his horror that bright green eyes had been replaced with burning red ones.
"He is gone," Voldemort's voice said through Harry's mouth. "He is dead."
"Lie," Harry snarled.
"Very good," Voldemort said. "But I have control of his body and through him, I can kill you. You provided me a link, you see. I can get to him now."
Harry cursed and looked back at Dumbledore who seemed to have realized the same thing he just did. Voldemort had expected Harry to come and had planned accordingly.
"I thought you already tried this once," Harry said. "You failed."
"What has he left that can pull him back?" Voldemort laughed though Harry's body.
"He has me," Harry snarled.
Voldemort laughed again. "You? You are but a shadow of him! You do not have it in you to undo what I can do to him-what I've done to you. You are finished."
"He has me," Remus said, going to Harry's side and looking, unflinchingly into those horrible red eyes that glowed over the green ones.
Voldemort laughed mercilessly. Remus did not flinch. "Harry," he said calmly. "Come back now. You're letting him win."
"He's not," Harry said suddenly. The thing that had tugged at his mind earlier had abruptly clicked into place. "Hold him down. I'm going in."
"Be careful," Dumbledore said.
"Oh, you know me," Harry said sarcastically.
"Yes, I do."
"Don't kill him," Remus said simply. He grabbed Harry's two arms and held him down to the bed. Dumbledore quickly snatched up Harry and Remus's wands and held them out of reach from the struggling form of the boy.
Harry put his hand on the side of the boy's face and tuned out the shrieked insults and yelling coming from the boy on the bed. "Dedans."
He returned to Harry's mind. The pain that came with possession didn't come. Younger Harry stood alone, surrounded by Death Eaters that stared blankly at him.
Older Harry bent down and whispered into his ear, "Something's not right. Ask the Death Eaters a question."
"Where did your master get off to?" Harry asked bravely. "Any particular place that I should know about?"
"No," said one shortly. He stepped forward. His wand pointed straight at Harry's heart. Through the fold in the hood, Harry saw Lucius Malfoy's face.
"Really?" Harry asked. "Then why did he leave? Did the Order of the Phoenix destroy something important?"
"The Order is not strong enough to destroy anything of ours," Malfoy sneered.
"That doesn't look like Malfoy's other sneers," Older Harry muttered.
Younger Harry frowned to himself. "If you're so strong, how come the order is still there at all?"
"Master needs some entertainment," Malfoy said, shrugging, yet never letting his wand waver.
"Malfoy doesn't call him master unless he's talking directly to Voldemort," Older Harry muttered. "He's calls him the Dark Lord. Something is wrong here."
Harry's eyebrows creased. He opened his mouth to say something, but the next second, in a whirl of smoke, Voldemort materialized in front of them.
"You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds," Harry muttering into his younger self's ear.
Harry stopped muttering and straightened. He looked Voldemort in the eye. "Cheep tricks," he said flatly.
Voldemort's flickered to him, but he made no other notice of his presence.
"Sorry about that," Voldemort said. "I had something of more importance to attend to. You may go, Wormtail."
Malfoy backed up into the circle.
"That's not Wormtail," Harry whispered unnecessarily. It seemed his younger self had already figured that out.
"That's Malfoy," Harry said. "Lucius Malfoy-your right hand man. You should know that, Voldemort."
Voldemort's eyes flickered to Older Harry, standing protectively by his younger counterpart. "I have no time to learn names."
"He knew his name the day he rose again, and it had been years since he had seen him last. Something's not right. And why do I have a memory of a Death Eater in that mirror when I learned about Hogwarts being attacked?"
Harry's mouth suddenly dropped. "Wait a minute," he said. "My broken leg healed on its own, Malfoy's acting more like Wormtail, and for some reason, I have this memory of being knocked out in Professor Lupin's classroom before this all started. That's to say nothing about this weird voice in my head that seems to know more about this than I do."
Older Harry smirked at Voldemort's furious face. "I have never been a quick study," he said. "But I catch on eventually."
"This isn't real, is it?" Younger Harry asked. "None of this! None of this is happening! I'm probably unconscious somewhere! This is a spell!"
There a huge flash of light found Harry once again at the bedside. Harry had still not awoken, but as he watched, what looked like swirling gray mist arose from him, some horrible disease leaving the body.
The mist formed a skull with a snake coming out like a tongue. Voldemort had meant it to come out when Harry died-a last mockery. Instead, it seemed to be angry at its failure. A crack sounded and the entire thing exploded, going over the unconscious Harry and not touching him. Remus blew off his feet where he'd been standing awkwardly, trying to wake Harry up. Harry stood his ground, determined not to let Voldemort's curse blow him backward. Just when he thought it finished, it gave a last pop and Harry felt, to his horror, his hood blow off his head.
"What the-" Remus had gotten to his feet. He looked at Harry in what appeared to be absolute surprise.
Furious, but knowing the damage had been done, he stood up and knocking the chair backwards. He felt keenly aware that the force of the explosion had revealed his lightning bolt scar, but he decided putting his hair back down in front of it might remind Remus of the child he no longer was.
"But-but you're Harry!" Remus practically yelled. "Dumbledore! He's Harry!"
"Excellent observation," Harry growled. "Too bad for you this will be both the first and the last time you will ever see me. I'm gone, Dumbledore. You're boy will wake up soon. He's just sleeping."
Pulling his hood back over his head, he stalked past the staggering Remus. Just a few more steps and he would be out of that house. He had to get out. None of this should have happened. He had to get out. He reached the front door and reached for the doorknob.
"Harry!" Remus came running into the room.
Harry had half a mind to simply ignore him and continue walking. He did not move, his hand on the doorknob, waiting.
"Who are you?" Remus asked.
"And you're the one that was supposed to have taught me," Harry said coldly. "I thought teachers were supposed to be smart."
Remus scowled. "There's no way you could possibly be the same person. Harry would never talk to me like this."
"Harry's a little bit more grown up now," Harry said callously. "You'd do well to remember that and leave me alone."
"Oh," Remus said suddenly. "I get it. You're tragically misunderstood. No one understands you and no one cares about you. All you've got is yourself, is that it? Well, then I suppose in your future world, I'm dead and rotting am I?"
"You might be."
"Then I suppose that no matter what I say, you won't change your mind about anything, will you?"
"It's too late for me," Harry said, his voice emotionless. "Save the boy while you can. Maybe you can actually do some good." He turned the doorknob and stalked out.
A/N: Yep, that's chapter 8. I'm not feeling really talkative at the moment. Maybe some reviews will help. Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.