Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters by J.K. Rowling.
"DUCK!" Sirius yelled to Harry once on the other side of the veil. They'd emerged in the middle of a fierce battle being fought. Death Eaters were everywhere. The 'Order' was attempting to fight them back but from the looks of it they weren't fairing so well.
In the center of all of this Harry could see Albus Dumbledore dueling with none other than himself.
Harry reflexively dropped down underneath a killing curse.
"I think we were off by a world," said Sirius sarcastically as he blocked another stray spell away.
"Looks like Dumbledore is the bad guy here too," said Harry watching himself fight against Dumbledore and then he saw something that would forever scar his memory.
He watched the other Harry fired the Killing Curse at Dumbledore. Something that Harry never believed he'd be capable of doing and yet he just watched it happen.
"Dumbledore," someone shouted in fear.
Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame and swallowed the curse bursting into flame once again.
The other Harry just sneered viciously.
Harry could see the anger in his eyes because they suddenly started glowing red much like Voldemort's.
"You'll give me the Prophecy Dumbledore," shouted the other Harry angrily.
"Harry, if you want it so badly you can try and take but you'll have to kill me and everyone else first," said Dumbledore calmly.
"I killed Voldemort, it won't take much more to finish you off," said the other Harry with a sneer.
Suddenly without think Harry rushed forward through the battles being fought around him to intercede in the fight. What compelled him to do so was beyond his comprehension yet he did all the same.
His interference didn't only confuse him. It confused Dumbledore and the other Harry to suddenly have another Harry join into the fight.
"How can you do this?" demanded Harry angrily as he drove his elbow forcefully into the other Harry's chest pushing all the air out before sending off several very nasty curses. "We are supposed to be saviors. We are supposed to protect and fight for the light. How could you become this way?"
"Who the hell are you?" demanded the other Harry as he recovered and blocked the spells with a single silver glowing shield. One of Tom Riddle's favorites, it would block almost any spell imaginable but was shit against physical attacks.
"I'm Harry James Potter," he replied forcefully, "son of James and Lily Potter. A warrior for light that just happened to have come into the wrong dimension only to find that I'm an evil git that would murder and kill and become just like Voldemort."
"Heh," laughed the other Harry, "Voldemort was a weakling. I killed him and took his place, now I'll finish what he began but I will succeed where he failed."
This only managed to enrage the visiting Harry causing his magic to explode around him and cause his eyes to glow bright green in contrast to the other Harry's bright red. "I'm going to kill you then. I'll not let my name be tainted by one such as you."
"I'm immortal fool," said the other Harry, "You cannot hope to kill me."
"Watch me," said Harry as redoubled his assaulted literally beating the crap out of his other self.
The other Harry just laughed with ever hit he took. "Avada Kedavra!" shouted the other Harry at point blank range.
The attack hit Harry center mass but something was wrong.
Harry just began to scream as magic began to erupt all around him and take on an aura visible to the naked eyes.
The other Harry's eyes just widened in fear and apparated out followed closely by the other Death Eaters.
Those that remained were forced to cover their eyes as the light continued to get bright until in one final flash of light everything went dark again.
There standing the same place, breathing very heavily, stood Harry Potter. He was alive and well . . . almost.
Padfoot hurried forward to catch Harry before he collapsed. Padfoot made it just in time to catch him.
"That sucked," said Harry tiredly. He so wanted to sleep but he knew he needed to stay awake to sort out everything.
"Yeah, but you did good kiddo," said Padfoot as he helped Harry to sit down.
It was then they both realized they had several wands trained on them.
"This is getting to be a bit too common place for us," said Sirius with a small laugh.
"Relax everyone," ordered the calming voice of Dumbledore, "I do not believe we have anything to fear from these two."
Several of the wands lowered but Harry noticed two wands stayed trained on him not daring to move. The wands belonged to his parents and when he looked in their eyes he saw an enormous amount of fear there. He asked himself what he could have possibly done to earn such fear from them but he knew that such answers would come in time.
"Hello Professor Dumbledore," said Harry looking to the aging headmaster with something akin to a grin.
"Good evening Harry," said Albus with a smile as the pair locked eyes, "I must thank you for your help this evening but I am curious as to where you and Mr. Black appeared from?"
"Well, I'm guessing most of you were too busy fighting but if anyone was paying attention you would have seen Sirius and I step out of the veil," explained Harry earning him several whispers in which one phrase was used quite often, 'Jytar Spy'.
"That is most interesting," said Albus unsure.
"You're familiar with the overlapping worlds theory yes?"
"I am," said Dumbledore.
"That veil is actually a gate between dimensions. You just have to know how to tune it just right," explained Harry.
"And you know how to tune it just right?" asked Dumbledore curiously.
"Not exactly," said Harry, "This wasn't our intended destination. But it was close. I'm guessing we ended up here because I share some kind of link with the other me. This would also explain why that Killing Curse failed, not that it would have worked from anyone but Voldemort."
"Interesting, and how is it that Voldemort is the only one that could kill you with the killing curse?" asked Dumbledore.
"Now that is a really long story," said Harry, "I don't suppose I've established enough trust that you'd allow me to rest, possibly receive a bit of medical attention?"
"Not by a long shot," said one of the 'Order' members that Harry recognized as Mad Eye Moody.
"Constant Vigilance and all that huh Moody?" asked Harry.
"You bet your ass," said Moody testily.
"Curious though, why are my mum and dad still aiming at me?" asked Harry curiously.
"Well, you did kill your brother and sister in front of them just to torture them," explained Dumbledore.
Suddenly all color drained from his face, "Why? Why would . . ." but Harry was at a loss for words.
"That is an excellent question," said Dumbledore, "and I shall be happy to explain it to you after I am sufficiently convinced that you are not a ploy by Jytar."
"Jytar?" asked Harry confused, "Who's that?"
"You are," said Dumbledore calmly.
"Jytar, why Jytar? That just sounds stupid. It's worse than Voldemort," said Harry more to himself.
"So back to the part about Voldemort being the only one that can kill you," said Moody unhappily.
"Right, so on Halloween a year after I was born Voldemort killed my parents but when he tried to kill me the spell backfired and destroyed his body but then thirteen years later he used my blood in a ritual to restore his body and thus remove the protection my mother's sacrifice gave me. As a result he is the only one that can kill me," explained Harry, "That's the short version anyway."
"I'm guessing there is a much longer version?" asked Dumbledore.
"Of course but like I said, I'm wiped," said Harry, "I didn't know that living through the killing curse again could be so draining."
"Don't trust him Dumbledore," said Moody, "I say throw him back into the veil and be done with him."
"I don't believe that will be necessary Alastor," said Dumbledore, "I don't know why but I believe him."
"Great," said Harry before he passed out.
BREAK
Harry woke up some time later to the familiar sight of the white hospital ward ceiling above him, "Great, bad in the hospital wing."
"Good, you're awake," said a gruff voice that Harry knew belonged to one Mad Eye Moody.
"Nice to see you again too Mad Eye," said Harry with a sigh.
"Don't you be talking to me like that boy, my names Moody to you. Only my friends can call me Mad Eye. As it is I have no friends," said Mad Eye, "You don't know jack shit about me and if I had my way Dumbledore would have killed right from the start. Instead I'm stuck here babysitting you until he's finished interrogating that Sirius Black look alike."
"Constant Vigilance," mumbled Harry exasperatedly.
"Don't you forget it either," said Moody gruffly.
"Can you tell me how long I've been out cold?" requested Harry politely.
"About a day," said Moody.
"Not too bad then considering I just lived through the killing curse . . . again," said Harry sarcastically, "Is there anyway you could get me something to eat?"
"You'll eat when Professor Dumbledore says you can," said Moody.
At that point Harry felt that shutting up would be the best course until he had the chance to speak with Dumbledore directly.
After what seemed like hours, especially with Harry stomach complaining loudly for sustenance, Dumbledore finally entered the Hospital wing.
"Finally," said Harry upon seeing the aging man approach, "Do mind calling off the guard dog so I can go to the bathroom?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "You can wait outside Alastor."
"I don't trust him," said Moody, "You shouldn't either."
"Feel free to watch over us from outside the room. If he does anything you are free to enter and subdue him if necessary," said Dumbledore to reassure the grizzled-man.
"As if you had any chance I wouldn't," said Moody as he stomped of, his peg-leg clanking on the stone floor with each step.
"Feel free to use the facilities now Harry," said Dumbledore with a nod.
"That's great but could you remove the sticking charm from the bed?" asked Harry.
"Ah," said Dumbledore slightly embarrassed, "Alastor is a bit too paranoid sometimes."
"I remember," said Harry.
Dumbledore wave his wand releasing the spell allowing Harry to jump off the bed and rush to the toilet. A few minutes later Harry returned looking a bit more relaxed.
"Now how about something to eat?" asked Harry with a smile.
Dumbledore obliged Harry of all of his requests before Harry was ready to talk to the elderly man.
"Now Harry, you are fed and watered as well as relieved," began Dumbledore with a kindly smile, "I hope you are prepared for a rather lengthy discussion."
"Certainly," said Harry, "Ask me anything and I'll tell you."
"While asking may be a bit more pleasant I'm afraid that I don't know if I can trust what you say and I have the distinct feeling that veritaserum would be of little or no good," said Dumbledore.
Harry sighed, "I suppose I should let down my mental shields then and just let you sift through my mind for the information you want."
"That is one option," said Dumbledore, "Are you certain that is the path you wish to take?"
"I'd rather just dumb the memories you're interested in into a pensieve but I suppose that's not an option," said Harry.
"That would perfectly acceptable, even more so than me looking through your mind," said Dumbledore, "A pensieve would prevent you from giving false memories at the very least where as if I were to search through your mind you could do exactly that."
"Pensieve it is then," said Harry, "Perhaps you could put the memories in there and then show them to the entire 'Order' and save us both a lot of explanation and time."
Dumbledore smiled, "I shall return shortly then."
Harry nodded with a smile.
BREAK
Later that evening Dumbledore stood before the assemble leadership of the Order of the Phoenix. "Good evening everyone."
There were a few murmured greeting in return but the group was rather subdued. It seemed the aging man after a gentle prod into the minds of his confidants that they were all preoccupied with the events that took place the previous evening.
"I know you are all very interested in our . . . recent visitor and I will be happy to reveal to you everything that I have learned. But before we begin, I would like to say that I know for an absolute certainty that the young man being detained in our hospital wing at Hogwarts is in no way associated with Jytar or any of his followers," explained Dumbledore, however he was met by a minor uproar of complaints from the assembled members. Dumbledore quickly silenced them all with a minor release of his angry aura, "That's better, now I don't expect any of you to believe me so I will let you see for yourselves. Earlier today Harry agreed to copy his memories into a truth pensieve for all of us to see."
He then placed the pensive on the table, "Now, I must warn you that Harry has not had a pleasant life. James and Lily, I can understand if you don't wish to have anything to do with him but I must insist that you witness these memories. They are all the major events in his life and a few other significant ones. Shall we begin?" Not a word was uttered around the table.
Over the next several hours the twelve assembled members viewed the past but it was a past none of them had ever known or would ever know. The memories began with Harry's earliest memory, the night that Voldemort killed his parents. There were a few memories of Harry's youth, specifically the times he'd accidentally used magic and the punishment to follow. Then it showed Harry's introduction to Hagrid and everything that followed along with that through the majority of his first five years up to the point he ran after his godfather straight into the veil. It then showed some of the key moments over the last year right up to the point in which he witnessed himself trying to kill Dumbledore.
It was after that the memories ceased and the group found themselves all back in the meeting room.
"As you can all see, this young man is not Jytar. In fact, he may be our only hope of ridding ourselves of Jytar," said Dumbledore severely. His statement was met by complete silence by all except for James.
"But the Prophecies," protested James.
"I know," said Dumbledore cutting him off, "Think it through and you'll find that this Harry may be."
Most of the 'Order' was confused by the cryptic statement but Lily and James seemed to have a new light cross their faces before darkening again.
"In every encounter we've had with Jytar we've never come out on top until last night. Jytar was actually forced to flee when confronted with this new Harry. That has never happened in any engagement that Jytar has personally been a part of until now. And none of you can deny what you saw, Harry did indeed survive the killing curse. Not even Jytar can claim to have done such a thing," Dumbledore attempted to persuade the group.
"You're asking us to put all of our hope and support into the one person that we've been fighting against for the last two years, ever since he killed Voldemort and took his place," said Molly Weasley fearfully.
"I realize now that I am asking too much from all of you," said Dumbledore with a tire sigh, "So be it, I will ask him for his help and provide him anything he needs but I will keep him separate from the 'Order' and train him personally to deal with Jytar. None of you have to believe in him and I will do my best to make sure you never have to see him except in battle. You may not agree but this is my prerogative."
"I'll help," said James disgustedly, "I want to see with my own eyes. I helped trained Jytar, maybe it will help."
"James, you don't need to do that," said Dumbledore, "I don't want you to do something that will cause you so much more pain."
"No, this is something that I need to do. Jytar is my son, he's my responsibility," said James, "Even if I have to train another just like him I will."
Lily was whimpering from next to James.
"Very well James, we'll begin tomorrow morning," said Dumbledore calmly.
BREAK
"James, how could you volunteer to train him?" screamed his angry wife.
"You know the prophecy, it must be a Potter that came after him. If there is even a chance that this boy can kill Jytar than I'll do whatever it takes," shouted James in return.
"James, you can always get Alice pregnant and make another Potter that way," said Lily almost pleading.
"Lily, we've been through this. I will have no child unless it is by you and that is no longer possible thanks to Jytar," said James sadly trying to hold back the pain in his heart from showing in his eyes.
"James, he took away my ability to have children," said Lily sadly, "You can still create another Potter. How do you know that training this one won't just create another Jytar in his place? Maybe even worse?"
"Lily, we have to try something," said James tired of arguing with his wife, "I want to give him a chance. If there is even the slightest possibility that this young man is as good and noble as the boy we saw in that pensieve tonight then I want a chance to know him and help to kill Jytar."
"He's not Harry," said Lily through tears, "He's not the little boy you taught to fly on broom when he was only a year old. He's not the little boy I sang to sleep every night as a baby. He's not our son."
"I know that Lily," said James, "But . . . I can't help but want to know him."
"He can't replace Henry or Amy," said Lily through more tears.
James chose not to answer and instead left the room choosing to sleep in one of the spare bedrooms.
BREAK
"Good Morning Harry," greeted Dumbledore as he entered the hospital ward.
"Morning Professor," said Harry with a yawn.
"Please, call me Albus," said Dumbledore.
"So what can I do for you this morning?" asked Harry.
"I want to ask for your help," said Albus.
Harry just sighed. He had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen. "Let me guess. You want me to defeat the other me for you."
"Nothing would please me more," said Dumbledore, "However, I understand if this is not what you want. If you wish for you and Sirius to simply leave then so be it. I will escort the both of you to the veil room and you may leave. There is something that I would like to talk to you about first if you wouldn't mind."
Harry knew exactly where this was going, "Let me, there was some sort of prophecy about me and the other me right?"
"Not exactly but close enough," said Albus, "The gist of it is that Jytar would be defeated by kin that came after him. Brothers and Sisters were the first thing we thought of."
Harry sighed, "Not another damn prophecy. Will they forever dictate the life I live?"
"I am sorry for this Harry," said Dumbledore.
"Don't be, I half expected it. You know the old saying, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The moment I arrived to this world I was prepared for the worst," said Harry.
"Harry, James Potter has agreed to help with your training should you choose to help us," said Dumbledore slightly worried about Harry's reaction.
"Don't," said Harry simply, "Don't force him to do this. If the other me took away all of his children because of this damn prophecy, don't force him to help me."
"I didn't force him Harry, he volunteered. He helped to train Jytar so he felt that he could help you prepare best," explained Dumbledore, "Harry there is something else you should know. Jytar, he took away Lily's ability to have children after he killed his brother Henry and sister Amy in front of her. He left James and Lily both alive so that he could torment them."
Harry was simply appalled that he would do something like that, "I can't believe I could ever do something like that. What happened in this world that I became so twisted? I don't understand."
"Harry, a long time ago there was a prophecy made about Voldemort and a child born at the end of the seventh month. Now that could have been Jytar or Neville Longbottom. As Neville was killed by Voldemort we knew it was Jytar in the prophecy. When Jytar was thirteen years old his Godfather Sirius Black was captured by Voldemort in an attempt to find out where the Potter's were hidden. He was their secret keeper. When he was capture Jytar was very disturbed and then he overheard a discussion between his parents. You see, I refused to use 'Order' resources to even attempt to recover him. He was already a casualty of war as far as the 'Order' was concerned. Lily and James were having an argument about who should be the new secret keeper. Jytar felt betrayed by his parents and by the 'Order' that they would just let him die and not even try to save him. Something changed in him after that summer. When he returned to school he was a completely different person. Unknown to me or any of his minders he began to delve into the dark arts quite heavily and then he found a ritual that completely changed him. After that he killed Voldemort and swore revenge on the Wizarding community for their betrayal of Sirius. Since then he has become more and more twisted as he began to cause damage worse than Voldemort could ever imagine. Finally there was a ray of hope, a second prophecy foretold of one that could kill him and bring peace to the light. Since then, Jytar has taken great pleasure in tormenting the Potter family, especially since James was so involved in training him."
"I see," said Harry solemnly, "I'll do what I can to help but if he is more powerful than Voldemort then I don't see what chance I have."
"Harry, you are the first and only person to have faced him and driven him from battle," said Dumbledore, "Your power rivals his own."
"Professor Dumbledore," called a voice from the door that Harry recognized as his father's.
"We are here James," called Dumbledore not breaking eye contact from Harry.
Harry could here James breathe deeply a few times as if to prepare him for the coming communication.
Finally, James entered the area.
"Morning James," said Dumbledore with a grateful smile.
"Morning Professor," replied James not daring to look towards Harry.
"Well," said Harry breaking the silence, "As fun as this tense situation is, I'd like to get started. Oh and before I forget, is Padfoot going to join us?"
"Sirius will be meeting us in the training room," said Dumbledore ushering them both out of the room.
Harry noticed as they walked that James kept sneaking glances at him. Finally Harry had had enough. "I'm not him you know. I may look like him and share a similar genetic structure but the similarities stop there."
"I know," mumbled James, "Dumbledore showed me the pensieve."
"Good, if we can get past that then this should go well," said Harry in an all business tone. He wanted to make this as painless as possible for his father even though it would probably be horrible for him.
James simply nodded. Inside he was thankful that this Harry wasn't trying to get close to him but at the same time he felt a pang of regret.
"Finally let you out of that ruddy hospital eh?" asked Sirius as the trio entered the training room, "Here I was thinking I was going to have to wait all day on you three."
"Shut up Padfoot," said Harry with a cheeky grin.
"Brat," said Sirius in reply, "Hello Jamesie, Albus."
James wasn't sure how to react to his 'dead' friend asking him such a question.
"Hello Sirius," said Dumbledore politely, "Shall we begin?"
"Let's get this over with," said Harry, "Three on one drill."
James was surprised by how serious Harry suddenly became as he prepared himself for the coming attacks.
They dueled that morning for hours and James was simply shocked by how much power this Harry had. He was simply an amazing duelist. What they had seen in the Department of Mysteries was nothing compared to what they were seeing that day. Even at the pinnacle of Jytar's training, he never came close to Harry's ability.
During a break Dumbledore decided to question him a bit more about the training he'd receive previously, "Harry, I am curious, have you ever used any empowering rituals?"
"No sir," said Harry. The other three were resting, Harry though was using his time to continue training with push-ups. "I never saw the benefit in them. No matter what you gain from them you always lose something. If Jytar gained so much power from whatever ritual he did I can't imagine what he gave up."
"Happiness and love," said James in a near whisper, "Jytar was hurting so much that he wanted to stop feeling happy and love. He gave up those feelings for more power and now he's become a monster."
"I may not have known much of love in my life but the little I have experienced I wouldn't exchange for anything, even though love can hurt sometimes," said Harry thoughtfully as he paused in his exercising.
"It is for that reason that you are infinitely more powerful than Jytar can ever be," said Dumbledore with a smile, "I think that's enough for today. Why don't you go clean up?"
Harry nodded and left the adults behind.
"He really is different from Jytar isn't he?" asked James once the door was securely closed.
"In all my years as a teacher I have seen students come and go. Some powerful, some weak, some good, some evil, but in all my time as a teacher I have never encountered such a powerful, good spirited person in all my life," said Dumbledore seriously.
"He's right James," said Sirius putting a friendly had on his shoulder, "You and Lily should try and get to know him while you have the chance to know such a good young man."
"I don't know if I can Siri," said James, "I have so many bad memories of the things that Jytar did and so many good memories of the son I once had."
"I never thought . . ." said Sirius sadly. "I think I'll go get cleaned up too. I don't think Harry knows where we're staying."
"I know this is hard for you James, but try to imagine how this is for him. He's only met a version of you in another reality that was, from what I've seen, was extremely different from here. I believe that you are the closest to his real father he will ever have the chance of knowing. The same can be said for Lily. And I truly believe that this Harry is how Jytar would have turned out had Sirius lived. I'll not meddle in this James but you should consider it," said Dumbledore before he left.
James was left to himself with a lot to consider. He walked to the window and looked out over the Quidditch pitch. He could hardly see a lithe form darting all over the place on a broom. The movement was so fast and fluid. This was the Harry he'd seen playing Quidditch as a small boy, it was the same form and style and speed. This was his son. Suddenly James was longing for a broom to go out and join him. And that was exactly what he did.
Harry was shouting with joy as he flew and enjoyed the freedom that only flying brought to him. He was diving and rolling constantly pushing the barriers as far as he could with a broom.
Suddenly he noticed someone come out onto the pitch carrying and old school broom. Then he noticed that it was James. Harry decided to fly down and meet him.
"Hello," said Harry with a grin that he couldn't repress whenever he was flying.
"Can I . . . ?"
"Want to race to the end of the pitch? I promise I'll slow up a bit for you," said Harry with a cheeky grin.
James nodded with a faint smile.
Harry jetted off towards the goal posts. James was amazed at how fluid Harry was on a broom. Suddenly he discovered something that he'd forgotten so long ago and as a result he just let himself go and enjoy the moment.
BREAK
"Lily," James called through the house. He could repress the smile that found its way on to his face, "Lily love, where are you?"
"James," called back Lily as she rushed into the room, "What's wrong? Why are you yelling?"
"Oh Lily," he said passionately before wrapping his wife in a hug and kissing her with everything he had in him. Something he hadn't done since the death of his son and daughter.
"James," breathed Lily in surprise when the kiss broke, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I found something today Lily that I thought I'd lost," said James, "It's really amazing, but I get the feeling that it may upset you."
"What? What is it?" asked Lily perplexed. It didn't even cross her mind that he'd spent the day with the other Harry.
"I remember our children," said James, "I know this sounds weird but I think I've come to term with the fact that our children are really gone, all three of them. I know, that sound really sad but it's not, not really. You see, today, I went flying for the first time in I don't know how long and I was just watching him fly and I remembered our children. How happy I was teaching Harry to fly the first time! How much Henry loved to sneak our wands and turn Amy's hair different colors! Amy's love of helping you bake cookies! I found my peace with the loss of our children by remembering all the good times, the happiness that we all shared together."
Lily was simply stunned. It was as if her husband finally came out of a trance he'd been in for the last year. She was happy to see that he finally accepted the loss but she was sad for the simple fact that she had yet to accept it herself.
"How?" she finally asked, "What happened today to cause all of this? You said you went flying but then you said 'him', 'him' who?"
"Harry," said James, "I know he's not our Harry but he is who our son would have become, should have become. Seeing him happy and flying the same way that our Harry used just reminded me. We still have so much left to live for Lily, even if you and I can never again have a child, we still have each other and that's more than enough."
Lily didn't know if she should be upset by this or not. This other Harry had given her back the man she loved so much. But he wasn't her son and never could be and the fact that he was here doing these things was simple wrong to her. Unable to decide what to do she just left him sitting there on the couch.
Before she could completely leave the room, "Lily, when you're ready, I'll still be here for you. I always will be no matter what happens." With that Lily was gone.
