Title: Bitterness and Redemption
Rating: M
Spoilers: Books 1 to 6. It will not follow canon completely as I will not base my story and plot on the horcruxes.
Summary: From your abyss you are brought to our land for salvation. Harry finds himself in a world where everything is different yet still the same. What is Harry to do? Alternate Universe!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter and all the characters associated with him is the property of JK Rowling. No money is made of this.
Chapter 4
Disbelieve
' straight from the heart.'
'Ohhhh, Give it to me straight form the heart.'
' la la give it to me, la la la, la, la la, as long as I know, it's coming straight from the heart."
Knock, knock, knock
"Ow, dammit." Knifes fell off the table and he quickly sucked his pricked finger in his mouth to stop the flow of blood.
"Just a minute!"
Maybe it's Lilly. Oh, how I miss her. When was the last time we saw each other? Yesterday morning? Oh, I don't know, I just know it's been too long.
Tying the apron securely around his middle, James Potter made his way over to the door.
The sight that met him was definitely not what he was expecting. There stood one of his best friends, with bloodshot eyes and clear tear streaks running down his face.
"What's wrong Moony? Is it Lilly? Is everything okay? Are you alright?"
Remus gave him a half-smile and just nodded his head.
It was clear that he was unable to speak at the moment and that worried James the most.
Remus was usually the one who was down to earth, honest and could keep a clear head in almost any situation.
The fact that Remus was in such a state that he could not even speak was almost enough to send James into a panic.
He could almost see Remus visibly pulling himself together.
"You're wanted at Hogwarts Prongs. Something's come up and you're needed there."
Okay, now James was really panicking.
What happened at Hogwarts? Was Lilly alright? Jasmine?
Grabbing his coat and literally pushing Remus out the door, James quickly locked and warded their home before grabbing Remus's arm and joint-apparating them to Hogwarts.
Remus couldn't even blink from the moment he had stood in James's doorway to the moment he stood in front of Hogwarts's gates.
Okay, he thought, maybe I should have calmed down and washed my face before getting James. But no, this is important. Harry's here. Or at least someone who claims to be Harry. No, better to have James here as quick as I did than to leave this until I had finally calmed down enough.
Still not really having all of his bearings in order Remus realized that he was literally being dragged onto Hogwarts grounds and that James was getting quite impatient with him.
Extracting his arm from his friend's grip he gave an apologetic smile to James before hurrying his own speed so as not to let James do all the work.
"Sorry Prongs for springing this on you like that. I really should have cleaned up a bit before coming to fetch you but I was too excited and shocked to really think. Lilly is in the hospital wing with Poppy. Dumbledore thought it best to leave her in Poppy's care while I came to fetch you. Dumbledore took the young man to his office and is 'interrogating' him at the moment."
Remus was so excited and energized that he didn't realize how he would sound to someone who had no idea of what was going on, and as such he realized belatedly that he had just basically let James understand that the crisis he had been pulled out of his house for had something to do with Lilly, and that she was in the hospital wing. Usually if something was to happen to Lilly or Jasmine, Poppy took care of it and the next day they would be up and about and James would only find out about whatever had happened the next time he saw them.
Seeing as Jasmine had once gotten into a fight with the Creevey brothers and had sported blue and purple dots over her body as well as a broken arm and sprained ankle, and James had only found out about it a week later, well, lets just say that the images playing through James's mind at the moment were quite horrific.
What could have happened to Lilly that they sent Remus to come and fetch me? Remus, with tear stains on his cheeks and bloodshot eyes?
Oh Lilly, are you alright? Hurry, hurry, I must hurry.
Almost hitting the door to the infirmary face first, James realized that his thoughts had been occupying him the whole track to the infirmary and that if Remus had said anything on the way he had not heard a word of it.
Pushing the heavy door inside James quickly scanned the room to see which bed(s) were occupied.
There was one with curtains surrounding it but no other bed was occupied.
Rushing forward, James practically ripped the curtains off their hangings and had his arms halfway around the person on the bed when he realized that no, the person was not his wife. And worse even, that he was now bent over a bed with one arm draped over and the other hanging limp next to Severus Snape.
Snape, who had an icy glare on his face which James was sure, would have melted the whole of Iceland were they there.
Quickly backing off and straightening up, James turned around only to find Lilly standing next to Poppy with barely contained laughter.
The relieve which flowed through him at seeing his wife up and about moved James to her side and he enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.
"Lilly, you're alright. I was sooooo worried. Remus told me you were in the infirmary. He didn't say anything else and with the state he was in when he came to fetch me, oh, Lilly, I expected the worst."
Lilly raised her head off her husbands shoulder and looked up into his face to find tears leaking down his cheeks.
"Shh, honey, it's alright. I'm fine and Jass is fine. Nothing to worry about."
There was silence for a moment where Remus stood to one side to give the couple space and Snape was lying on his bed with his mask of indifference firmly in place although behind that mask he was quite amused. James Potter had just hugged him. Hugged!
Oh, this was perfect blackmail material.
"So what's going on? Why did Dumbledore send Remus to come and get me?"
James didn't miss the fleeting look Lilly sent to Remus or the shrug of shoulders she received in return.
"I think it best if we go to Dumbledore's office James." And with that Lilly took her husband's hand and led him up to the headmaster's door.
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"Who killed Voldemort?"
Great, just great. The first thing he asks after I just told him about the hell my life had been is 'who killed Voldemort'. Oh, that's just peachy.
I could quite happily throttle the man right now. And judging from the amused expression on his face he knows this quite well.
"You don't change one bit headmaster. No matter in what world I am, you're always the same."
"Why thank you Harry."
Harry just shook his head in disbelieve. That manipulative old coot. Yes, Harry loved him to death but sometimes he wondered how he could kill Dumbledore without the suspicion falling on him.
He had had quite a few ideas while still in his own world and he was quite sure that had Dumbledore not already been in the land of the dead, he would have happily sent Dumbledore on his next great adventure himself.
For Harry had learned that while Dumbledore had been sneaky, manipulative and just plain WAY TOO cheerful while he had been alive, he was infinitely worse when dead.
Looking around him, Harry saw the case in which the sword of Gryffindor had been while in his own world but was quite disappointed to note that in this world, it was not in the same place.
"May I enquire as to what you are looking for Harry?"
Harry snapped his attention back to Dumbledore and gave him a wide smile.
"Oh, I was just looking to see if the sword of Gryffindor happened to be in the same place as I last saw it, but I guess I was hoping for too much."
Dumbledore's amused expression did not waver and Harry was sure that the twinkle in his eyes was brighter than that of the lights in the room.
"And why, Harry would you seek the sword of Gryffindor?"
"Why, to kill you of course." Harry said with such conviction that had it not been for the wide smile on his face, Albus would have had his doubts about whether he would see the end of the day.
Before he could answer though, the door to his office burst open and both Harry and Dumbledore found their selves faced with a murderous looking James Potter.
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James and Lilly had just made it to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office when they realized they didn't know the password.
Remus who had followed them quickly stepped past them and said in a clear voice 'Smarties.'
Stepping onto the revolving staircase they soon found themselves in front of Dumbledore's door.
Just as James was about to knock he heard a voice he had never heard before.
"Why, to kill you of course."
Panic settled into his already frayed nerves and James blasted the door open. When he entered he quickly swept his eyes through the office and then back to the two sitting at Dumbledore's desk.
Albus, of course, he knew. But the young man in front of him he didn't and he could only guess that he was the one who had just threatened to kill Albus.
His hand which held his wand quickly came up to point right at the young man and he was quite surprised to find that in the time it had taken him to lift his wand the young man had stood up and pointed his own wand at James.
Now that James could see his whole body, he realized that the boy didn't look much different from himself. He had the same unruly hair, the same built, if a bit smaller and even had his nose. The rest of the boy looked both familiar and unfamiliar to him. He had Lilly's eyes if a bit more intense. He had her mouth and cheekbones. The rest of him however was quite unique in it's own way.
They stood there facing each other for about three seconds before they heard a discreet coughing from Dumbledore.
Everyone snapped backed to reality and James did the only thing he could think of. He shot a curse at the boy, for even though he looked young and innocent, James had had a lot of experience in his career as an auror and knew that not everything was as it seems.
What he did not expect was that his curse would be returned to him without effort and since he had turned his attention to Dumbledore to check to see if the headmaster was all right, he felt a stinging pain in his left arm and looked at it with shocked disbelieve.
How on earth had that boy deflected his own curse onto him? Not even his own fellow aurors could deflect his curses back onto him. He was quite proud of his own strength and experience.
Before he could react however, the boy had moved over to him and a quick muttered 'helastria' later he felt that his arm was once again as good as new.
Shocked to find that the young man had actually come over to HEAL him of all things he didn't really quite know what to do next and so he found himself facing a very amused Dumbledore, a young man in hysterical laughter and snickers from either side of him.
"What the hell is going on here?" He asked as he looked from one face to another.
Nobody said anything but the boy once again raised his wand but before James could defend himself or react in any way he found that no, the boy wasn't attacking him, he was conjuring a mirror.
Quite puzzled with the young man's actions James looked from the boy to the mirror and froze.
He saw himself in the mirror yes, but not as he remembered he had looked when he left the house. Because there was no way in hell that he would EVER wear a dress. And no, not just any dress, a tight fitting, form hugging mini dress with boots that came up to his knees. The worst of all was that the dress was PINK! A soft baby PINK! And the boots was the most hideous shade of green he had ever seen.
He lifted his arms and could still feel the material of his shirt and realized that he could also feel his trousers but looking in the mirror he found something else entirely.
"An illusion that everyone can see but you still think and feel as if you are wearing your own clothing, except of course if someone points it out to you." It was the young man speaking again and he had a huge smile on his face.
James didn't know what to think or do, so he asked once again, "What the hell is going on here?"
This time Lilly once again had tears in her eyes and was looking at the boy in front of him with quite a peculiar expression on her face. Not really knowing what that looked meant, he looked to Remus to find him with a sad half-smile on his face.
Dumbledore on the other hand had a bright smile on his face and his eyes held a familiar light in them that James had not seen since before Voldemort had first disappeared 16 years ago.
"Sit down, James, Lilly and you too Remus. We have much to discuss."
They quickly complied and everyone's attention once again moved to the stranger sitting next to James.
"Er, hi"
Silence.
Some more silence.
Then Lilly decided to speak.
"Are you really who you say you are? And if so, how is it possible?"
"How it is possible is that I'm not from this universe. And yes there is more than just this universe for there could be no other explanation for my BEING. For as you know, I'm supposed to be dead here. And I don't really want to shock you or anything, but from where I am, not one of you is still alive."
Lilly stifled a horrified gasp and Remus suddenly understood the hopeful and hurt expression he had seen on Harry's face when he had first entered the infirmary.
"Lilly and James Potter died on Halloween night 1981 where I am from. Dumbledore died at the end of my sixth year and R, Re, mus, you died about a month and a half ago."
"So, yes, I really am Harry James Potter, m, mo, mother." And with that he threw his arms around a shocked and sobbing Lilly Potter.
(I am not in the mood really for touching, heartbreaking scenes. If one of you wants to write this part of the scene, please do so and send it to my email address: elsaelna (take out the spaces) and I will put it in here and give you all the credit you are due. You may if you want to, include all Harry's Hogwarts years and his experience. Anything that is 'fact' according to JK's books up to and including book six, (just no Horcruxes please) my plot does not go according to canon with regards to the horcruxes.) If at all possible, write it so that Harry still doesn't know whether Sirius is alive or not and that he forgot to ask them. Other than that, you can use your own imagination but you don't have to put in his Hogwarts experience if you don't want to I just think that Lilly and James would understand him better if they knew what he had been through)
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Well, that went better than I had thought. Harry reflected as he made his way to his new quarters. There had been the expected skepticism but all in all the reunion with his parents had gone surprisingly well.
Not looking where he was going Harry felt himself bump into something solid. Something which turned out to be a someone.
He was quite surprised to see a hand reach down to haul him up from where he had landed on his backside.
"I see that no matter which Potter it is, you are all the same. Clumsy and careless with regards to your surroundings." Although Harry could see and hear the sneer in Snape's voice he was sure that he also saw a slight smile tugging at his lips.
"Oh, sorry sir. I was distracted and not looking where I was going. I apologize."
Surprise flitted over Snape's expression so quickly that Harry was not certain if he had imagined it or not.
He then realized that although Snape had helped him up with confidence and a sure strength, the hand Snape had on his arm held a bare minimum of trembling in them. Oh, so he had not taken a potion to help with the cruciatus's side effects yet.
"Is there something I could help you with sir? I was just on my way to my new quarters where I had intended to spend the rest of the day staring at the wall and thinking about what had happened the past 2 days. Or as you would call it, wallowing." Harry couldn't really keep the grin off his face and it soon spread into a real smile as he saw that Snape had difficulty keeping his own face straight.
"And what do you think you could possibly help me with Potter?"
The question was neutrally stated and Harry had difficulty hiding his astonishment when he realized that Snape was genuinely curious and not just spiteful or sarcastic.
"As I stated earlier sir, it would be my pleasure to help you with the sutiacurs potion. And no, don't worry, I won't blow up your dungeons or melt all your cauldrons. I am not Neville Longbottom sir."
And with that he strode past Snape in the direction of the Potions classroom.
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I'll try to update again soon.
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Review please!
Just so you know, English is NOT my first language so if you find mistakes please just ignore them and don't be TOO hard on me.
Constructive criticism and ideas will be appreciated.