Things Could be Different

I wonder how things would have turned out if my parents hadn't been killed. Everything would probably be different. It would have been nice to know them at least. Well maybe I should see what Ron and Hermione are up to. Wait a minute. Why does Hermione not look happy? "Harry. Ron said you were bitten by a Pipsquittle!" Just back away slowly…."Did you even pay attention at school? Did you happen to eat or drink anything afterwards?" What is she going on about? "Er…yea, I…" "Harry! Pipsquittle bites have side effects if you have certain foods within a few hours." Erm… "What kind of foods…and what's going to happen to me?"

Hermione is looking pretty angry…. "Okay Harry. Do you remember what you had?" "Erm a turkey sandwich…" So far so good…. "and some orange juice." Hermione pursed her lips, as if trying to decide what to say. Harry mentally thought that maybe he should have left out the part about the orange juice. "Harry. Whatever happens to you, just remember that it's not real." I really don't like the sound of this. Ron looks worried. Or maybe he just looks confused. "Pipsquittle's inject a kind of juice into your body when they bite. Regardless of how well you wash it off, it will have an effect when mixed with acidic concoctions. In this case, your orange juice." Okay it's going to have some kind of effect on me. Why does she always think I read this stuff? She is the only reason I got through my classes.

"In the wizarding world, Pipsquittle juice is used like a kind of drug. It can act like a hallucinogen or something else entirely. It really depends on the diet of the Pipsquittles. Just be careful okay, Harry?" Oh, wow. The wizarding world has separate drugs than the Muggle world. "Erm, you guys. I don't really like the sound of this." Hermione rolled her eyes. I guess that I should expect that. She always gets this way when we don't do our homework or try to get around something the easy way. "It's getting really late." Ginny walked up to her room with Hermione. Ron just shrugged his shoulders.

Harry decided to send Hedwig to the twins to make sure they were better off then him. He wrote a quick "Good luck." on the parchment, knowing the twins would understand what he was talking about. And Hedwig went soaring through the night sky. Harry just wished he knew what was going on around here. Life at the Burrow had never been so crazy. Never normal exactly, but all these events were odd even for the Burrow. He followed Ron up to his room. Thoughts still swirling through his head as they got ready for bed.

Just as he was about ready for sleep, Harry heard a tapping sound. It sounded like someone was throwing rocks at the window. That couldn't be right. "Ron, do you hear…" Ron grunted and rolled over, and began snoring. Of course he was already asleep. Harry walked over to the window to see if he could figure out what was making all the racket. Of course he couldn't see a thing because it was too dark outside. He pocketed his necklace and held his wand tightly as he crept across the room. I'll just go outside really quick to see if I can find anything.

He had to walk very slowly down the steps because the building seemed to be very old. It had many squeaks and creaks concealed within the flooring. Just have to walk through the kitchen now…barely there. Harry unlocked the various locks and dead bolts attached to the door. He didn't really know what good it would do since the glass in the windows was so thin. A sense of security he supposed. A false one at that.

Finally opening the door wide enough to slip outside. It had gotten rather chilly since they came in that night. This is probably a bad idea. The atmosphere was very enigmatic. Harry could not hear anything but the soft chirping of the crickets that has quieted down. A slight breeze flew through the air making him shiver. Just as soon as he was about to go back in, Harry tripped over something in the yard. It looked like it was some of his own belongings! He looked up just long enough to see Dobby vanish. I have no idea what he is up to, but sometimes I really wish he would stop trying to help me. Okay now I just have to get this stuff back inside without waking anyone. "I believe I would leave a note if I were you. That is if you don't want your friends to worry about you again." Harry's heart sank. It was Snape again. Who else would continually try to ruin his life? "I have nothing to write with." Snape merely pointed his wand at Harry and a writing pad and feather appeared in his hand. Harry quickly wrote down what he could.

xXx

Sorry you guys. I have to leave again. I wish I could have said goodbye in person, but I will see you again in the future if all goes well.

P.S. Thank you so much for letting me stay.

Harry Potter

xXx

Harry folded the paper and stuck it in the door where it could be found. He hated to leave them. The Weasleys were more his family than anyone could have been. "Where are we going?" Snape picked up some of Harry's stuff, leaving Harry to get the rest. "My house." Harry never really thought about it, but it made sense for the teachers to have houses. They wouldn't stay at Hogwarts the whole year. Although Harry didn't think he would mind staying there forever. Harry picked up his stuff that had been thrown together hastily. And the journey began. Snape showed no sign of wanting to apparate this time. Harry was secretly happy about that. He never really cared for it all that much.

Even in the dark Harry could tell that Snape only got maybe a few hours of sleep. It made him very uneasy. Come to think of it, Harry wasn't sure if Snape slept any at all. He always seemed to be roaming the halls at Hogwarts at odd hours of the night. Maybe he is an insomniac or something. The cool night's breeze had an effect on Snape's robes. He looked rather majestic the way his robes billowed when he walked. And the way they swept around when he took a turn. A turn to a village Harry had never been to. I never thought about how much stuff was actually outside of Hogwarts besides Hogsmead. "It's just down the road from here." Harry was glad they were almost there. It felt like they had been walking for an eternity.

Arriving at the house, Harry discovered that is was actually quite pleasant. It wasn't dark and dank like he would have imagined. Harry had always assumed that since Snape was always in the dungeons that he must have liked that kind of atmosphere. "There are some blankets in the cupboard. You will be sleeping on the couch tonight." Harry looked around for the cupboard, until finally Snape looking rather impatient blasted the door open to reveal its location. Harry grabbed a blanket and walked over to the couch wanting both sleep and the ability to not make Snape any angrier than he already was. Normally Harry would have wanted something to close himself off to the rest of the world while he slept. But tonight he decided that he was just too tired.

xXx

Drifting off to sleep Harry wondered if taking another path would have been easier. Only to be abruptly awoken by a stranger in the house. "Who are you?" It was a rather frail looking guy. He looked like he couldn't be over twenty years old. His eyes were an aged brown color. Like the people that work too hard in life and somehow age from within. His hair was a dark color that Harry couldn't make out, combed neatly. "I have many names. None of which shall help you. I came to let you see." Harry stood up. "See what? Why are you here?" The guy showed a rather deviant smile. Like he somehow took pleasure in being the bearer of bad news. "What your life would have been had you taken the other path."

He then grabbed Harry's arm with a most painful grip until they sprang back up in Harry's past. This is even weirder than Hermione's time turner thing. Harry saw himself along with all the other first years waiting to enter the great hall. Everyone looking terrified of what lay ahead. Harry spotted his least favorite blonde. "Names Draco. Draco Malfoy." Harry watched as his image reached out their arm to shake Draco's hand. Draco looked quite pleased about it. "Stick with me and I'll teach you all you need to know." Harry's image smiled, "That would be great, thank you." Crabbe and Goyle seemed to keep their distance. Harry supposed it was some sort of prearranged understanding.

McGonagall came out to announce that the sorting would soon begin. Neville scurried after his toad like before. Harry didn't like the looks of this. If he was befriending Draco, that could not be a good sign. And the sorting began. Harry walked up close so he could hear what the sorting hat was saying. "…not a bad mind either. But where to put you. Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness…yes better be SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherins all cheered "We have Potter!" The rest of the tables looked disappointed, or even confused. "Hey Potter. Come sit with me." Harry watched himself sit beside Draco. Harry could see Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table contemplating over the sorting.

Harry looked up to see if Snape would look at the Gryffindor's table this time. He didn't. He looked at Harry, at the Slytherin's table with the slightest hint of a grin. (What? He only hated me because I wasn't a Slytherin?) (No. He only hated that you were not in his group. You will understand later.) Harry had completely forgotten that he was not alone. Watching the whole thing was kind of like being able to walk right into a television show. No one could see or hear him. And he wanted to know more. Harry tried to keep up as the events changed quickly. He saw how Snape was very passive about anything he did in class. He watched himself unwrap an invisibility cloak in the Slytherin common room. No one else was around at the moment. This time the note was shorter, simply saying the cloak belonged to his father. It didn't seem to have an effect on this Harry.

Harry was surprised to see that he still found the Mirror of Erised. Expecting to see his parents again, Harry was shocked when he saw himself. What he supposed was an older image of himself anyway. There were people crawling around him on their hands and knees. He had a rather rough appearance. On his robes was a dark substance that looked suspiciously like blood. He watched as the image of himself smiled and reached out to the mirror. Almost trying to make the future come to him. Well not the future really, but most likely if that is what he truly wants to believe. (Not a pretty site is it my boy?) For a while Harry lost track of where he was.

He saw some people walking toward Hagrid's hut. They were arresting him for illegally possessing a dragon. Harry saw himself with Draco hiding behind a bush. Harry couldn't believe he would let that happen. Harry noticed that everyone in school seemed to hate him except for the house he was in. It seems he has already made a lot of enemies. He was even surprised by the openness of Draco. He talked a lot about the pressure his father put on him, and how he wasn't really sure what to do. He was thrilled about tipping the authorities about the dragon though. And judging by the way Draco spoke, his father seemed to approve.

Harry could tell that Dumbledore was not close to Harry in this erm dimension. Amazingly the philosopher's stone was destroyed by Dumbledore after it had nearly been stolen under the trap door. It seems Voldemort did not have Harry to retrieve the stone this time. Harry went to his second year in Hogwarts. Ron somehow figured out where the chamber of secrets was after discovering that Ginny had been taken. Ron somehow managed to destroy the diary when he was trying to aim a spell at the snake. Riddle disappeared. Ron was killed by the snake just before Snape had arrived. Snape managed to kill the snake and save Ginny.

Later Harry saw himself visiting Ginny at St. Mungos. It appeared that she had went crazy. It might have been from being possessed. Or maybe the fact that she was in a small way responsible for Ron's death. Hermione had dropped out of school and went back to the Muggle world. Harry was horrified by the events that were taking place. (MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! Please!) (Very well. We shall just skip over the next few years shall we.) And so they skipped over a good deal of what could have been Harry's life.

It was now Harry's sixth year. They were outside the castle. Dumbledore was on his own until he saw Draco and himself run out. To his surprise Draco was not the one pointing a wand at Dumbledore. Harry was. Draco was looking rather pleased with himself. He explained how he got everyone through the barriers to the castle. Then Harry heard his own voice. He spoke with such rage, "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to do this." "Nor do you know how long I expected this. It's not too late to change your mind Harry." "My mind is made up. AVADA KEDAVRA!" With a flash of green light - Dumbledore was dead.

Snape came running out of the castle. "Potter?" "I killed him Snape! I did what you could not!" "But you have no reason…you already said that you would not join the Dark Lord." "I do not mean to join him. I will be him. All will fear me!" Snape looked rather upset. "We have to go! NOW!" Harry listened to Draco. They both ran to the woods to disappear amongst the darkness. Harry was crying now. (No. I'd, I'd never do that. No.) (You, maybe not. Him yes. See how your choices change everything?) (I want to go back!)

xXx

"Looks like he has been bitten…Harry! Wake up." "He must have saw…" "Let's just hope this doesn't alter…our whole existence. I believe I know what it is he saw, for these bites bring naught but bad images. Images that could change everything if he lets them." Harry could hear two voices arguing about something. He just wasn't sure - who or what?