Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.
"How the hell do we explain this to our kids?" asked James as the thought suddenly occurred to him, "Neville and Sarah are old enough to understand about dimensions and all that but Jacqueline, Denise, and Janice are still very young."
Sirius and Lily both paused as they were walking towards the infirmary the next morning. Because it was so late the night before they ended up staying over night at Hogwarts. Lily and Sirius trusted their house elves to look after their daughters, or least to ensure they were off to school in the morning safely.
"I haven't even thought about the girls," said Lily, "They won't understand this at all. They are very smart girls too but even this is a bit much."
"Well, Harry could stay with us this summer and you could slowly introduce him to the girls," suggested Alice.
"That would be fine," said Lily. Surprising herself she was already thinking of Harry as if he was really her son. "But I do want to spend time with him. I'm supposed to be in their somewhere, I just want to see how much you know."
"I know, he looks so much like me already," said James, "I want to see how much he really is like me."
"Harry's not too big on pranks," said Padfoot sadly, "I've tried to encourage the natural trait but he just doesn't get into to it like you used to . . . er . . . do. Did that make sense?"
"Yeah," said James, "I'm used to your twisted logic so no problem."
"My logic is not twisted," said Padfoot in mock offense.
"That's right, I don't have one," said Sirius with a smile.
"Did we have to let them meet each other?" asked Alice.
"I personally don't mind the show," said Lily, "Twice as much eye candy for me."
Padfoot shivered, "That's just wrong. I know you married Sirius here but I will always remember James and Lily being together. I almost feel sick watching myself kissing you."
"Awe, is poor little Padfoot embarrassed?" asked Alice in baby talk, "I think he is."
"Not embarrassed," said Padfoot seriously, "Just . . . disturbed."
"Well, Padfoot my little clone," said Sirius, "I promise that I will tone it down around my wife when we are your presence."
"And Harry's?" asked Padfoot, "It disturbs him more than me."
"And Harry's," added Sirius, "But can I really help it if we are so irresistible to women?"
"I know the sexy beasts in us are hard to resist but we must do our best to fend off the advances of the opposite sex," said Padfoot with a duplicate smile, "But seriously, for Harry's sake."
"Of course," said Sirius seriously.
"Same goes for you and Alice," said Padfoot looking at James.
"So should I snog Lily to make Harry feel better?" asked James.
"It wouldn't hurt but I don't think either of your spouses would agree with that proposal," said Padfoot noticing the angry glares.
"It was just a suggestion," said James with a grin. Lily couldn't help but laugh either.
"So, should we prank Neville with this like we did to you guys?" asked Padfoot earning him a devious grin from James and Sirius both.
"You will do no such thing," said Alice, "Neville hasn't done anything to warrant . . ."
"Did you forget what he did the Christmas tree this year?" asked James.
Alice gave pause, "Okay, give him your worst."
Sirius cracked up laughing. It was obvious that he was reliving what Neville had done.
"What has young Neville done that would be so worthy of our attention?" asked Padfoot curiously.
"Well, this last Christmas Neville found some way of making the tree rotate. Well, he got it rotating so fast that it shot the ornaments off the tree while we were all sitting around it. Poor Alice though ended up with a bruise in the middle of her forehead from where a particularly heavy ornament hit her," explained James, "When we asked Neville what happened he said, "I didn't mean to get mum, I was aiming for Sarah and the brat brigade."
Padfoot laughed heavily, "We need to work on your son's ability to explain away his pranks."
"I know," said James, "He must get that from his mother because I've never had much trouble making up stories."
"I can attest to that," said Alice with a grin.
Finally the group arrived at the entrance to the Hospital Wing and entered while still laughing.
Padfoot calmed, "Maybe I should wake Harry first just so that he's a bit more comfortable with it." Padfoot trotted ahead to the bed they had placed Harry in the night before only to find it empty.
"Boo," whispered a voice in his ear causing him to jump and fall over the cot and onto the floor.
Harry of course could not contain his laughter as he just let it out drawing the attention of the others. Upon seeing Sirius with his robes disheveled and his face red with embarrassment they all laughed even harder.
"Amazing, the great Padfoot beaten by something as simple as me saying 'boo' in his ear," said Harry through his laughter.
"Hardee har har har," said Padfoot sarcastically, "That's real funny."
"We thought so," said James.
"Indeed," added Sirius.
"Alright, well Harry, you need to change into some clean clothes and then Headmaster Riddle has arranged for you to start your O.W.L.'s right after breakfast in the Great Hall," explained Lily.
Harry nodded but then something occurred to him, "Um, I don't really have any other clothes. They are all back in the other dimension you know."
"Right," said Lily, "I've brought you a plain school robe to use for now." She then handed him a plain black robe.
"So what is Professor Riddle going to tell the school about my appearance?" asked Harry as he pulled the robe on over his current clothes.
"Well, for now we're going to transfigure you and Padfoot's appearance," said Alice taking aim with her wand.
"Good luck with that," said Harry waiting for her to try. His hair, eyes, and nose all tingled for a second before she lowered her wand. Then they tingled again telling Harry what he already knew.
"Sirius, quit changing him back," shouted Alice at Sirius.
"I don't even have my wand out," defended Sirius.
"James," she rounded on her husband to see he was without a wand as well.
"Padfoot . . ." she only half finished the words when Harry interrupted.
"Spells that change my appearance don't work," said Harry, "Professor Dumbledore tried to change my appearance last summer before sending me home so that I would be less noticeable if there were Death Eaters waiting for me. Anyway, as soon as he tried my appearance always changed right back. At first he thought I was a Metamorphmagus that was determined not to be the case. The simple fact is that I have so much magic flowing through me that most spells don't work on me or if they do, it's not for very long."
"Well, this complicates matters," said Lily thoughtfully.
"I could always just eat here and then go to whatever classroom I'm testing in from here. I could use my invisibility cloak," Harry said before he remembered, "or I guess it would be your invisibility cloak or did you give that to Neville?"
Harry failed to notice James attempting to signal him not to mention the invisibility cloak.
"What invisibility cloak would that be?" asked Alice poignantly.
"Um well you see," started James unsure what do say here, "Way to go Harry."
"Don't you go blaming this on Harry," chided Alice, "You gave our son and invisibility cloak? Is that how he's managed to avoid so many of his punishments? What if he'd used the cloak to sneak out of the castle? He could have been caught by burners or worse he could have been expelled?"
That last one reminded Harry sharply of Hermione and his first year at Hogwarts.
"It was my fathers, and he gave it to me when I started Hogwarts and said that I should give it to my child when he or she started Hogwarts," defend James.
Alice looked torn.
"Do you think you could ask him if I could borrow it for a few days?" asked Harry to James interrupting the conversation/argument.
"I'll go get him and the cloak really quickly," said James making a hasty retreat.
"Don't go too hard on him, it is family tradition," said Harry, "I'll have you know that cloak has literally saved my life more than once."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it," said Alice before she grinned deviously, "Besides, I knew about the cloak ages ago. Now, I can use it as greater leverage over him."
"Why you sneaky little . . ." but Sirius chose not to finish the sentence due to the glare he was receiving from Alice.
It was a few minutes later that James entered with a young boy that Harry knew instantly as Neville Longbottom, but with his hair.
"Well, we know where Neville gets his looks from," muttered Harry to Sirius who just nodded.
"So dad, mum, what's this all about and why did you need the cloak?" asked Neville in the all too familiar voice.
"Well, Neville my boy," said Sirius wrapping an arm around his godson, "We've received a few visitors that will be a bit difficult to explain away, especially once you see who they are."
"Listen to the man, he knows what he's talking about," said Padfoot putting his arm around Neville's other side.
"There's two of them," said Neville before he fainted.
"Same old Neville," said Harry with a smile.
"You know Neville?" asked Alice slightly confuse.
"I know Neville Longbottom who, save for the hair, looks exactly the same," said Harry.
"Longbottom, as in Frank Longbottom?" asked Alice in shock.
"The very same," said Harry.
"I'm married to a known burner," said Alice with a trembling lip.
"What?" asked Harry, "No, Frank is a very good man, or I should say he was."
"Was?" asked Alice.
"You and Frank were tortured by Death Eaters until you went insane," explained Padfoot, "You don't even recognize Neville anymore. Actually you don't recognize anyone anymore."
"That's horrible," said Alice, tears were brimming in her eyes.
"Things in our dimension aren't so good, especially not right now," said Padfoot solemnly.
A light smacking sound signaled that James was attempting to wake Neville, "But I don't want to go to class Draco."
Harry blanched when he heard that name, "He doesn't mean Draco Malfoy does he?"
"What the hell?" asked a stunned Neville as he looked at Harry and then his father.
"Relax Neville," said Alice soothing her son, "Let me explain before you freak out."
"Sounds good," said Neville, though he was a few shades lighter than usual.
"This is Harry, he is actually from another dimension," said Alice.
"What?" asked Neville in surprise, "Like you see on TV and what not?"
"Exactly," said Alice, "Harry came here with Sirius Black from another dimension by accident. They will probably be staying here for a few years while Lily and Professor Riddle research a way back for them."
"Wicked," said Neville studying Harry, "So, are you my brother there?"
"Not exactly, I guess we are technically half-brothers," said Harry, "I'm James' son but I'm not Alice's son."
"What? No way," said Neville, "Then whose son are you?"
"Mine," said Lily meekly.
"No way," said Neville even more emphatically than before.
"Crazy huh?" asked Padfoot.
"You're my godfather but you're like . . . not," said Neville as he pointed at Padfoot.
"You can call me Padfoot," he said, "While I'm here, he'll be Sirius and I'll be Padfoot."
"Okay," said Neville, "This is just too weird."
"I know," said Harry, "How do you think I feel? In my dimension Tom Riddle is the darkest wizard in history and Albus Dumbledore is not."
"No way," said Neville shocked once again. He'd been saying that a lot in the last few minutes.
"Anyway, since I'm stuck here I have to retake all my O.W.L.'s," said Harry, "The school can't know about me yet so I need to use the invisibility cloak to get to my tests."
"That bites," said Neville, "I just finished and I couldn't be happier to be finished."
"I just finished them yesterday and now I have to take them again because I didn't take them in this dimension," said Harry stoically, "Man that pisses me off. All of that studying for scores I won't get to use."
"I should probably laugh at your misfortune but I think you've been through enough without me adding to it," said Neville thoughtfully.
"Thanks . . . I think," said Harry with a smile causing the brothers to laugh.
"So, can I use the cloak for a few days until dad and your mum take me wherever it is I'm staying for the summer?" asked Harry with a smile. He was really enjoying the thought of having a half brother, and several half sisters.
"Sure, just don't lose it," said Neville, "We need that thing for . . ."
Alice's sharp look at Neville silenced him instantly.
"Thanks," said Harry with a devious grin, "I'll make sure it gets put to good use."
"And a Marauder is born," said Padfoot with a smile. He knew the grin on Harry's face only too well.
"Don't even think about it," warned Lily recognizing the grin.
"Yes mum," said Harry a bit shyly. He still wasn't sure about the boundaries on that kind of thing. He'd taken to calling James 'dad' instantly but with Lily he was still unsure.
"That does sound a bit weird I must admit," said Lily, "But I'm fine with it if you are."
Harry grinned broadly, "Thanks."
"Well, we've got to get you to the transfiguration classroom for your tests," interrupted Alice.
"James, be sure to alter Padfoot's appearance," said Alice as she lead the way.
Harry followed closely behind her covered in the invisibility cloak.
Harry enjoyed the familiar walk through the halls of Hogwarts. He spotted a few familiar faces along the way.
Most surprisingly he saw Ron dressed in Silver and Green Slytherin colors walking down the hall escorted by Crabbe and Goyle. He was so stunned he almost didn't move out of their way.
Once Harry dodged the ogres, he hurried up to follow Alice once again. Alice entered the classroom first followed closely by Harry.
"Hello Alice, lovely to see you again," said the voice that Harry dreaded above all other. Harry looked quickly at the source of the voice only to swallow.
"Severus, always a pleasure," said Alice kissing his cheeks lightly, "I'm sorry we're taking over your classroom for the day."
"Think nothing of it," said Severus, "So where is the boy?"
Harry's mind was boggled. Severus Snape was dressed in deep maroon robes with gold trim. His hair was cut short and clean and seemed to lack all grease. The scariest part though was that he was being nice and smiling genuinely.
"It's alright to come out now Harry," said Alice with a smile.
Harry let the cloak drop to the floor.
"Oh my, he really does look just like James," said Severus with a shocked expression, "Except the eyes, he must get them from his mother. Pity I never met the woman. James always raves about her in the staff meeting."
"He definitely is a Potter with those looks," said Alice, "We were both surprised to see that Harry ended up looking more like James than his father Harry Sr."
Severus approached Harry, "So, you are James' nephew Harry?"
Harry swallowed in disbelief, "Yeah."
"Well, my name is Severus Snape, I'm the head of Gryffindor House and the transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts," said Snape jovially, "The Headmaster has said that your father has been having some problems in America and felt it would be best for you to spend some time here in England."
"Yeah," said Harry still in disbelief. If Padfoot were to see this now he would either die of a heart attack or laugh himself to death.
"Not very talkative are you?" asked Snape, "No matter, you're in a new place still trying to get you legs under you."
"Yeah," said Harry still in complete shock. Of all the things he'd experienced in this dimension, this was by far the strangest.
"Well, I suppose I should skedaddle," said Snape with a hop step towards the door, "Good luck with the exam."
"Yeah," said Harry trying not to feint.
Alice noticed Harry's look, "Is everything alright?"
"Not really," said Harry, "But I'll live, right now I have some tests to take."
"Indeed you do," said Alice, "I'll leave you here then, I have to go back home with James to prepare a room for you. I do wish that Riddle would have told me he'd be introducing you as my nephew. We could have avoided the need for the invisibility cloak altogether. Anyway, the examiner will be here in a minute so best of luck." With that Alice scurried out of the room.
Harry was left with his thoughts for a moment before the door opened and three aging witches and wizards entered.
"Good afternoon Mr. Potter," said the lead witch, "My name is Griselda Marchbanks. I'm the head of the Department for Magical Testing and Standards."
"Pleased to meet you ma'am," said Harry politely, "I'm sorry my arrival has forced you to stay an extra few days."
"Don't you worry about that," said Griselda, "I owed Tom a favor and he just happened to have called it in. Well, enough chit chat, let's get started."
"First will be your potions exam," said the older of the two wizards.
Harry swallowed nervously.
Two hours of a very intense testing and Harry was ready to gouge his eyes out. The potions exam was bad enough the first time he took it, but to take the test a second time was just too much.
"Very well done Mr. Potter," said Griselda as the potions examiner collected his results and left. "Now, on to transfiguration."
This one caused Harry to smile a bit. He always did pretty well with Transfiguration. As luck would have it, they were the exact same questions as he had in the other dimension.
"Just one more test and you can break for lunch," said Griselda after Harry finished the transfiguration test.
"What next?" asked Harry through a yawn.
"We have your written exam for Care of Magical Creatures," said the remaining tester.
"Oh fun," said Harry sarcastically which was obviously missed by the examiner.
"Now that's the spirit," said the examiner handing him the test.
One hour later an exhausted Harry Potter was following Alice Potter to the Great Hall. As normal he was greeted by a hushed silence throughout the hall but this time it was simply because of the new arrival.
"Harry, sit over here," called Neville with a wave from Gryffindor table.
Harry was only too happy to oblige and sat heavily next to Neville.
"Welcome, to Gryffindor House table," said Neville, "Everybody, this is my cousin Harry. My Uncle thought a change of scenery would do him some good so here he is."
Harry waved with a heavy yawn, "My brain feels like mush."
"It's your fault for coming a week late. I know my dad told your dad when the tests were going to start," said Neville, "Besides, you'll be done tomorrow."
"And tomorrow won't come soon enough," said Harry with another yawn.
"Harry, you remember my little sister Sarah don't you," said Neville motioning to the short replica of Alice.
"I haven't seen you since you were just a baby," said Harry with a smile at the girl.
"I should be offended that you don't remember seeing me at the reunion a few years ago," said Sarah.
"You were there?" asked Harry confused, "Are you certain we met?"
"Anyway," said Neville, "This is my best mate Draco Malfoy."
Harry was shocked yet again. How he missed it on his way in he would never know, but there, sitting across from him, was Draco Malfoy dressed Gryffindor colors.
"Nice to meet you," Harry finally let out of his mouth, "I thought that Malfoy's were . . ."
"Burners," Draco cut him off, "I guess I'm the black sheep of the family kind of like my cousin Sirius Black."
"Well then," said Harry trying to push his shock aside, "I hope we can be friends."
"Over at Slytherin table is Ron and Ginny Weasley," said Neville, "They are also friends."
"So, we've been blessed with another Potter," said a voice Harry knew too well.
"Granger, what are you doing here?" asked Neville with ice in his voice.
"Just come to see the new troglodyte," said Hermione with a dark smirk that reminded Harry distinctly of the Malfoy of his dimension, "If you're intelligent then you may wish to disassociate yourself with this crowd."
"And what exactly does intelligence have to do with choosing my friends?" asked Harry.
"Intelligence is the sign of all those who should rule. The unintelligent mob is responsible for the ails of the world. Don't become one of those," warned Hermione, "I'd hate to have to ahem . . ."
"Right," said Harry sarcastically.
"Sarcasm is a tool for the weak minded," said Hermione before she turned and stalked off to the other end of the table.
"Burner want to be," seethed Draco, "All this 'intelligence rules' crap is really annoying."
"So, I realize I'm new here but I was wondering if you could explain something to me," said Harry trying to work out exactly what he heard, "What exactly is it the Burners believe?"
"He lives in America," said Neville in Harry's defense.
"Burners believe that the most intelligent should rule the world and take power away from people who are less intelligent," explained Draco, "People like my parents and Granger there."
"So the Burners don't care about muggleborn or pureblood crap?" asked Harry.
"Some Burners do but most are just concerned with how smart you are," said Neville.
"I see, then most of the burners are from Ravenclaw then?" asked Harry.
"Most are, you get some from Slytherin like my parents, the occasional one from Gryffindor like Granger there. Hufflepuff mostly stay out of it," explained Draco.
"Things are so weird here," said Harry, "The big thing where I come from is all about pureblood's being better than muggleborns."
"That sounds almost as stupid as the Burners," said Draco.
"I agree," said Sarah, "It makes no sense. Granger is muggleborn and is extremely powerful and smart. She's better than most of the purebloods in the school. Don't tell her I said as much."
"Exactly my point," said Harry, "Why should blood matter? For that matter why should intelligence matter? It sounds like fascism to me."
"It is only of a different sort," said Draco.
"I hate to interrupt Harry," said Alice, "But you have three more tests this after noon and then your astronomy test tonight."
"What's my schedule like?" asked Harry with another big yawn.
"You've got charms, divination, and history of magic this afternoon. That will leave you with Defense and Herbology then it's the farewell feast and you, Neville, and Sarah will be coming home for the summer," explained Alice.
"Do I have to do all this Aunt Alice?" asked Harry with another big yawn.
"Yes, now let's go," said Alice with a smile.
"I guess I'll see you all later assuming I survive the tests," said Harry with a grimace.
"Good luck mate," said Neville.
"Thanks," said Harry following his 'aunt' back to the testing room.
"Welcome back Mr. Potter, let's get to it then shall we," said another tester.
Harry sighed but started up right away.
Hours later an even more tired Harry was dragging himself down to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry walked down the Gryffindor table mindlessly and without thinking sat down next to Hermione.
"Hey Mione, I hate tests," said Harry without giving it a second thought, "My mind feels like it's been shoved in a blender and put on frappe."
"What the hell do you think you're doing here Potter?" yelled Hermione.
"Oh stuff this 'I am smarter than thou and therefore I should rule the world with the other smart people'. I mean you can't honestly believe in that fascist shit can you? What if there was a dark lord out there that said all muggles and muggleborns should be exterminated because they pollute the gene pool."
"But look at all the harm stupid individuals have done in the past. They should not be allowed to make any decisions of any importance," protested Hermione defensively.
"Okay, let's look at the good done by geniuses then shall we. Hitler was considered a genius and he almost destroyed the world. Grindewald was a genius and he almost destroyed the world. Dumbledore is a genius and he wants to destroy the world if he can't rule it. Our own headmaster is an absolute genius and he's done almost nothing to improve the world beyond teaching every able witch and wizard to become the best that he or she can be," argued Harry, "Genghis Khan was a genius that nearly conquered the known world but not before he killed millions. Rome killed millions of slaves throughout it reign and it was run by a senate of geniuses."
"They only did what they must to ensure the survival of man," argued Hermione losing her resolve.
"So slavery is okay?" asked Harry, "The way that wizards treat house elves is okay? Look at all the damn goblin rebellions and how they are treated. They are considered to be of a rather low intelligence level yet they can manage money and finance better than any other banking institution that I know of. Ultimately, geniuses would take the money and power away from goblins and lead to more war and more than likely financial collapse. If geniuses were to rule the wizarding world do you really think they would stop there? What do you think would become of the lower classes and those of lower intelligence? That they will all live happy peaceful lives? They will simply be turned into slaves to serve the will of the geniuses that rule. I admit the system is not perfect but using evil means to accomplish a goal that will ultimately lead to more evil is simply wrong and should never be tolerated. Dumbledore is going to lose. It doesn't matter how smart the man is because one day he will make a mistake and then he will lose. You have a chance right now to choose. Don't waste your life."
Hermione was completely silence. For the first time in her life she lost an argument based on logic and reason. She suddenly noticed that the entire hall had their eyes on Harry's victory over the most intelligent witch in all of Hogwarts save Professor Riddle himself.
Harry could see in eyes that her mind was working quickly to save herself and come up short. Her reply was not what he expected.
"Stupefy," she shouted aiming her wand at him quickly.
"Protego, Expelliarmus," said Harry quickly without pulling his wand and much to his surprise it worked and was now holding her wand. "That was very foolish Hermione." Harry tossed back her wand, "Maybe next time I'll use my wand and we'll see what happens."
Harry then noticed the time and walked slowly out of the stunned Great Hall for the Astronomy Tower for his next test.
"Harry, I must say that was quite the show you put on back there," said Professor Riddle suddenly appearing at his side.
"Sorry about that Professor," said Harry, "I do hope that some of that history I mention actually happened here."
"You were very lucky that all of those figures were in fact here as well committed some horrid atrocities," said Riddle simply.
"I wasn't even thinking straight when I sat next to her," said Harry, "In the other dimension she's one of my best friends. I can't believe I was actually able to silence her."
"Impressive as it is I must caution you to be more careful in the future. Enjoy your test and be prepared for the rumor mills. Neville will find you tonight when your test is scheduled to end and bring you to Gryffindor Tower," explained Tom along the way to the tower.
"Thank you sir," said Harry.
