thoughts….

Chapter 6

Dumbledore surveyed the three teenagers with stern eyes.

"Honestly professor," Hermione said earnestly. "It's true. I swear we're not lying. Harry just disappeared!"

Dumbledore exhaled painfully and sat heavily in his chair. What were the chances that Harry did not perish in battle, but instead of come unknown curse or spell that happened after the Great Battle? And after all danger of Voldemort was gone?

"Do you have any idea what the spell was?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione shook her head.

"All I know is that it made Harry disappear with a golden light," Hermione answered for the third time. Dumbledore looked thoughtful. It couldn't be? Could it? He'd have to check to make sure. However, if it was the spell he thought it was then Harry would be much happier where he was at the moment than he would ever be here with his friends.

"Hmm," Dumbledore mused whilst rubbing his jaw with his hand. "Alright, I'll see what I can find out. Why don't you three go back to bed and yes, I promise that as soon as I have found anything I'll get you."

The three teenagers looked like they were about to argue, but decided against it. They trudged out of the office looking dejected and worried about their friend.

Harry's brain worked overtime as he made his way slowly towards the blonde. There was only one family in the whole of the world that had such pale skin and those silver eyes. She was a Malfoy.

Getting to the table, Harry was suddenly struck with a case of speechlessness.

"Er," he said finally, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Hi."

Isabelle could only stare. She didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do and she was pretty sure that she wasn't breathing at the moment.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself finally. Isabelle rolled her eyes without thinking.

"Well nah," she said sarcastically, her brain functioning automatically. She froze immediately after she said that. Greatshe thought sarcastically just make an enemy of the person you want to kidnap! LIKE HELLO, ISABELLE! DIDN'T YOU WANT TO KIDNAP THIS POOR BASTARD SO THAT YOUR FATHER WOULDN'T KILL YOU THE MOMENT HE SEES YOU?! GOD, I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!If Isabelle had been paying attention instead of shouting at herself she would've seen the smile that crossed Harry's feature.

Now this is the Malfoy I knowHarry thought with a smirk. He knew there was a sarcastic Slytherin under that mask Isabelle had on. Without another word, Harry plonked himself next to Isabelle and ignored her bugling eyes.

"So," Harry said finally, drawing the word out. "How come daddy let you out?"

Isabella opened her mouth, but no sound came out. No sound at all. How was she supposed to answer that? It wasn't like it was everyday that she just got out of bed and decided that she would disobey her father and just come roaming out into town. And it definitely wasn't everyday that somebody spoke of her father so casually. Harry raised an eyebrow and leaned back, waiting for her to reply.

"That is none of your business," Isabelle finally said, in an almost snapping tone. Harry was taken aback for a moment. Of coursehe thought finally with a wry grin. How could I be as stupid as to assume that Isabelle Malfoy would be exactly the same was Draco Malfoy? They're not even the same sex for God's sake!.

"I see," Harry said, not deterred at all. He had missed Draco's biting tine if truth be told and he sometimes, on very rare occasions, missed the bantering. "Well -"

"Harry?" the voice interrupted hesitantly. Harry looked up to see Neville standing over him with an uncertain look towards Isabelle.

Harry grinned and stood up before brushing his robes off.

"I'll see you later then Belle," Harry said casually before following Neville through the crowded bar. Isabelle could only stare as the young man walked away from her.

Well, Isabelle mused, that hadn't gone exactly as she planned. She was supposed to lure Harry Potter outside with her grand seduction powers and then snog him like crazy. After she'd had her fun with him, she would knock him over the head and wrap him up in a lovely green bow before setting off to see her father. Then everything will be nice and dandy. Harry Potter was not supposed to get the better of her nor was he supposed to even know who she was. And he definitely wasn't supposed to leave like that!

Resisting the urge to groan and bang her head on the table, Isabelle stood up and practically ran up to her room, feeling the eyes of one black haired teenager follow her movements.

"So, who was that?" Seamus asked with a knowing grin. Harry blinked owlishly and shook his head with a grin. Lavender, meanwhile, just fumed silently.

"It's not what you think Seamus," Harry replied in amusement. "She just reminded me of someone I knew before, in my world," Harry said finally. Seamus snorted dubiously, before brightening considerably as he saw the platter of butterbeer floating towards their table.

"Ah!" Dean said, rubbing his hands together. "Here comes the butterbeer."

Harry grinned just as enthusiastically and grabbed his mug.

The man crouched below the windowsill and fiddled with the object in his hand for a second. Cursing under his breath, the man shook the thing violently before a clicking noise sounded and a bright light went off. The man coughed and waved his hand in front of his face to disperse the blue smoke.

Peeking over the windowsill, he grinned wickedly before aiming the object towards a specific table and tapping it softly with his wand. The object was rotated and was continued to be tapped with the stick of wood.

Many flashes and bursts of smoke later, the man nodded in satisfaction and enclosed the object back into its case. The occupants of the table had just left and he wanted to make sure that he had the best position to well, not exactly ambush them, but to well, just to make sure he had the best position.

Harry laughed at the joke and opened the door to the Griffin. He hadn't taken two steps out of the building before a man jumped out of the shadows and clung to his arm tightly.

"Mr Potter!" the man shouted in urgency. The street fell silent and even some of the patrons inside the bar. Mr. Potter? Was this, oh my GOD! It was! This was Harry Potter.

"Mr. Potter!" the man continued to shout, not seeming to realise that Harry was standing right next to him and could hear everything perfectly fine. "How does it feel to be in a different universe!? What did the spell exactly do?! And is this your girlfriend?!"

Harry blinked in surprise.

"Er," he started, not sure what to say.

"Great!" the reporter carried on as if Harry had answered all his questions. "And how exactly did you meet this lovely young woman?! And how exactly did you two get together?!"

"We're not together!" Harry shouted in alarm, wondering what prompted the man to ask that question.

"Now don't be so modest!" the reporter replied with a hearty, and fake, chuckle.

"What is your lovely girlfriend's name?!"

Harry opened his mouth to again deny that Lavender was his girlfriend and would've if it wasn't for that moment that the reporter was knocked off his feet by an invisible force. Harry frowned and reached for his wand, realising something was wrong and would've succeeded if it wasn't at that moment that a hand reached out and grabbed his arm.

Harry's eyes widened as his body slammed against another, invisible body and a liquid like material was thrown over his head and shoulders, rendering his invisible to the naked eye.

Harry's face was squashed up against a chest and almost tripped over his own feet as the person wrapped an arm around his waist and practically dragged him along.

Harry mumbled something indistinguishable as he hurried along, his face now free from being compressed against someone's chest. Taking deep breaths, Harry tried to catch a glimpse of his rescuer, but couldn't see anything as a result of his glasses hanging off one ear. All he could see was a fuzzy blob where the head should be.

Two minutes later, the two stopped behind The Bookshelf – For All Your Booking Needs, and Harry's rescuer relinquished his hold around Harry's waist. Harry stepped away from the person and straightened his glasses.

"Thanks for that!" Harry said in relief, wiping his glasses on his sweater before putting them back on. However, there was no one in the alley. Harry looked from side to side and felt the air in front of him, but still nothing. The person had left already. If they hadn't, they Harry certainly couldn't see them considering they were under an invisibility cloak.

Really, Tom Riddle was not going to stand for this. He scowled slightly and leaned up against the wall of the Griffin. His eyes tracked the reporter as he continuously snapped pictures of what he was sure were Harry Potter. Not that he cared about the brat's privacy or anything.

Tom's scowl deepened as the door opened and the reporter ambushed Harry. His eyes flashed dangerously. Just where did this man think he was going to get off? He can't just harass people like this. They have a right to not have their private lives plastered over tomorrow's newspaper.

"And is this your girlfriend!?"

Tom Riddle was snapped out of his internal rambling as he heard this. Girlfriend? Who was it? Eyes narrowing, Tom fixated his gaze on Lavender Brown. The little tart didn't deserve Har – Potter, whatever.Tom thought. She just doesn't deserve him.

Tom's glare intensified as he realised that the reporter continued to badger Harry.

"Tom?"

Tom snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Cameron watching him with a concerned, if somewhat amused expression. Cameron had worked out who Tom was staring at and why. Knowing all about the bond, the younger teenager thought it was hilariously funny to see the usual aloft Tom so worked up. Of course, Cameron had not forgotten his run in with his brother, and was still deeply irritated that Harry could be so cold.

"Give me your invisibility cloak," Tom said suddenly, holding out his hand, waiting the precious material. Cameron blinked and stared at Tom in confusion.

"What?" he asked, not sure if he heard correctly.

"Invisibility cloak. Now," Tom said shortly, eyeing the reporter evilly. Cameron opened his mouth and looked like he was about to protest, but one look from Tom silenced him.

Grunting in annoyance, Cameron handed the silver material over and Tom swung it over his shoulders and head.

"Don't lose it or I'll kill you!" Cameron shouted. "My dad doesn't know that I have it."

Receiving no answer, Cameron bit his lip uncertainly. Maybe he should just go and find a place to hide now. If his father found out that he had taken the invisibility cloak to Hogsmeade he was a dead man for sure.

Cameron sighed and stared at the ground glumly. The next second, a startled shout drew his attention and the teenager raised his head in time to see the reporter fall to the ground and Harry yanked forward.

And suddenly, Harry Potter disappeared.

Cameron sighed again and sat dejectedly on the ground, in the shadow of a nearby building. There was nothing to do but wait for Tom to return.

Harry scratched his head and walked out into the street again. Alright, so somebody with an invisibility cloak had saved him. He wondered who it could be. Maybe it was his sister, but if it was, she would've shown herself. Besides, Harry was entirely sure that whoever had helped him was a boy. After all, he had had his face plastered against their chest for a full ten seconds.

Maybe it was Cameron. Harry snorted at that idea. Yeah, right.

James Potter himself? Harry paused and pondered that for a moment. Surely not. Whoever had saved him had been tall and slim. As far as Harry knew, James was tall, but broad shouldered and slightly stocky. Nah, it couldn't have been James.

Harry shook his head and shrugged to himself. What does it matter anyway? Whoever had saved him hadn't wanted him to know their identity and Harry respected that. It wasn't like his father was the only person who owned an invisibility cloak.

"For all I know," Harry mused to himself. "He might not even have an invisibility cloak in this universe."

"Who're you talking to Harry?"

Harry jumped at the new voice and looked down to see his sister looking back up with a curious expression on her face.

"Nobody," Harry said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "nobody at all."

Rose just shrugged and hugged her parcel tighter.

"What do you have there?" Harry asked.

"Some owl food and a couple of books on Celtic wizards," Rose explained and Harry made a face behind her back. Rose really reminded him of Hermione sometimes.

"So," Rose said finally. "You excited?"

Harry paused and looked at her sister questioningly.

"About what?"

Her sister stopped and pinned the young man with a burning and incredulous gaze.

"You don't know?"

Harry shook his head. Know what?

Suddenly Harry was gripped with visions of the Triwizard tournament and shuddered slightly. He hoped not.

"Oh, well. Students are going to be coming from Archimedes' School for the Magical. It's a wizarding school in America. Didn't you have this in your universe? Exchange students every three years?"

Again Harry shook his head. Exchange students? America? What?

"Must've been boring. Anyway, five students of each year are going to come and five from each year in Hogwarts are going to go. The exchange program, of course, is to boost inter-school and international wizarding relationships. It helps the different wizarding communities stay in touch and socialise..."

Whatever Rose said after that sentence was lost on Harry. The black haired teenager was meanwhile trying to get his head around the fact that thirty five students were going to be in Hogwarts. Thirty five AMERICAN students.

CoolHarry thought. And then he wondered if Nicholas was going to be coming here. Nicholas Jaklin had been one of the very few people that the American ministry had sent to help with the Voldemort situation. Nicholas had only been seventeen when he arrived in England.

Now, why would Nicholas be here?Harry thought to himself a second later. He finished school while you were still in your sixth year. So unless he is a teacher, then say goodbye Potter, because you're probably never going to see him again.

Sighing in annoyance, Harry missed his sister's searching look. Nicholas had been a good friend and Harry was going to miss his companionship. With the thought of friends in his mind, Harry was suddenly struck with homesickness. He really missed his friends.

Happy mood disappearing, Harry sighed again and his shoulders slumped forward. He wished that this had never happened and that he was where he was supposed to be with his friends.

"Harry?"

Harry jerked and looked beside him in surprise. He had been so busy brooding that he hadn't realised that he had stopped in the middle of the street and had completely forgotten about his sister.

"Mmm?" he asked, starting to walk again.

"What were you thinking about? You looked sad," Rose stated. Reminded of what he was thinking about, Harry made a face.

"I was thinking about my home. And my friends," he answered quietly. The situation had finally caught up with him. He was never going to see his world or his friends again and he had no way to contact them to tell them that he was fine.

Blinking back tears that had suddenly appeared in his eyes, Harry tried to smile at Rose, but it turned out to be more of a grimace than anything.

"You really miss them don't you?" Rose asked quietly, sensing the melancholy mood from the older teenager. Harry bit his lip and nodded.

"They've been with me through everything little thing. They were there when I first came to Hogwarts. They were there when everything went to hell and they were there when Sirius di-"

Harry suddenly cut himself off, not able to speak anymore. The mere thoughts of Sirius made him want to curl up and cry.

Rose looked slightly put out that Harry hadn't finished what he was going to say, but didn't press it.

It was ten minutes later when Harry had accompanied Rose to Honeydukes that he was spotted by the Gryffindor boys.

"Where did you go Harry?"

"That was a cool trick!"

"Where'd you learn that?"

All the questions were shot towards the black haired teenager at once and Harry found himself cornered and head spinning. Which one was he supposed to answer first?

"Oh leave him alone!" Rose said sternly, hands on hips and looking every inch the bossy prefect that everybody knew she was going to be.

Harry smiled gratefully at her and edged away from the boys and towards the chocolate section.

He hadn't walked two steps when he suddenly came face-to-face with a white faced and obviously pissed off Tom Riddle. In the Head Boy's hand, he clutched a piece of old parchment.

Harry could only make out a few words, but it was enough to tell him why Tom Riddle was willingly seeking him out.

Scribbled across the top of the parchment and in what was obviously his writing, read the words "The Rise and Fall of Voldemort".

Harry realised that the robe he had thrown on in the morning was the robe that he must've jammed the assignment in before.

"Care to explain Potter?" Tom hissed, eyes narrowing even further.

Sorry for the long wait... hangs head in shame such a bad case of writer's block! Please... review! Thanks to all those who reviewed my last chapter!