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OoOoO Chapter 10 - A Discovery in Reflections OoOoO

Familiar beams of sunlight woke him.

The stench of gingko leaves and the bitterness of mugwort and valerian filled his nose. He slowly opened his eyes and squinted through the blinding sunrays most likely from an open window, and gazed at the blurry mess of the Hogwarts Infirmary. He found his glasses sitting at the right side of his bed stand, and Harry put the circular lenses over his nose. It was early afternoon, Harry realized as he studied the sun's position in the sky.

Harry looked down at himself and noticed that the entire left side of his arm and chest was wrapped with white bandages. His shoulder was wrapped tightly as well, but was also charmed with some sort of cooling spell that felt like ice across his neck and back. Honestly, he couldn't feel most of his left side at all. He bet that beneath the white gauze, he would see freshly pink skin growing over the cursed Death Eater blast and the hole from the dragon spike. He didn't think he was even light headed. He was happy that he felt better than he looked at least.

Harry then observed the infirmary around him and surveyed the damage from the other Order members. He wasn't surprised to see every bed occupied, but he was surprised to see a completely unconscious Jonathan slumped over balancing on a stool by Harry's feet. His face was squashed into the blankets, hair in complete disarray, and it strangely seemed to reflect Harry's own face.

Harry snorted at the scene. A sharp pain shot up his chest and across his back, and his laughs died with a wince.

"I wouldn't move Mr. Potter, not many can say they've lived through what you did last night," Madam Pomfrey said, walking in from her office with red and white medical robes swinging at her feet.

"How long have I been here?" Harry asked, throat scratchy and dry.

"Fourteen hours. Half a day at the least," Madam Pomfrey answered shortly. She raised a glass of water to Harry's lips wandlessly and Harry gratefully accepted the drink. "You'll need to stay for the night to see if we can grow back the muscle damage done to your arm when the Blasting Curse took most of your skin."

The glass was lowered back to his night stand, and he swallowed. "Just for tonight?" Harry asked, amazed. He almost always needed to be here for days, if not weeks when he had previously been in the Infirmary.

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "I have other patients that need my attention, clearly."

Harry immediately felt the heat of her scolding and it rose to his cheeks. He nodded politely.

She blinked back at him, face devoid of any motherly emotion Harry had learned to expect from her, and he was suddenly reminded of how very different these worlds were. "You're lucky," she stated impassively. "Without the treatment you gave yourself to the arm, you probably would have lost too much blood and died."

Harry blinked. "Madam?" He hadn't told her he'd done it himself.

"I know a patch job when I see one," she narrowed her eyes. "Next time, I'd advise to use Sana Cutem. It heals the skin."

Harry nodded, and then frowned. A thought came to him from last night. "Madam Pomfrey, the children that were taken last night, have they been found?"

Her eyebrows rose. "The Miss Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood? No, I'm afraid not. They're still missing." Madam Pomfrey raised her wand over Harry's head and down his left side, her brows coming together at the middle in a frown.

"But they are looking?"

"Yes of course, they'll search as hard as they can until they find them." Madam Pomfrey glared down at him. "But that does not mean I'll have sick patients leave before I release them." She flicked her wand dangerously in his direction. "So if I so much as find you walking without my permission, I'll tie you to that bed and spoon feed you through every meal, do you hear me?"

Harry's eyes widened and he nodded his head silently. Yes. Fine. No, he would not be getting out of bed then. Good. He'd just stay right here. Yes.

Madam Pomfrey smiled thinly. "Good. Now get some sleep. The muscle regenerative potions I've given you for your arm and shoulder will most likely make you sleepy and thirsty. If you need more water, just give a shout and I'll come running, alright?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey," Harry nodded.

She smiled, and it almost reminded her of his Hogwarts healer. "Now sleep." And then with that she turned away, glancing at every bed, before she retired back into her office.

Harry turned back to the sleeping Jonathan. His cheeks were squished into the blankets, and eyebrows were drawn together like he was looking at something in his dream that he didn't agree with. He resembled a mad fish, and Harry grinned.

"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed from the right..

Harry's head snapped up and turned towards his name. Ron had definitely said it. It was definitely Ron's voice. Beside Harry's bed, just hanging in the air like a mirror hung on a wall, a small circular blue and whitish portal entrance stared at Harry with Ron's open mouthed face in the middle, like it was Ron who was shocked to see Harry and not the other way around.

"Ron?" Harry asked quietly.

"Harry?" Ron asked again, coming closer so that it was just Ron's face in the mirror/portal thing.

"Ron?" Harry echoed again. "What are—what are you doing here? How are you doing this? How - how did you find me?" Harry exploded in questions, whispering his excitement at the image of his best friend. He leaned forwards in bed, ignoring his muscles screaming their opinions as he settled forwards.

"Harry, where are you mate? The whole world's gone mental trying to find you!" Ron looked at Harry closely, taking in the bandages and bed. "Are you… no, you can't be at Hogwarts, can you?"

"Not really," Harry said slowly.

"Not really?" Ron asked confused, his ginger eyebrows coming together. "But it looks like—"

"I am in Hogwarts, Ron, but it's not—"

"What? Well, brilliant! Dunno why McGonagall didn't tell us you're there. Unless you just got—"

"Ron I'm not at our Hogwarts!" Harry said quickly, cutting him off desperately, whispering and looking around the room at the sleeping people.

Ron did a double take. "What do you mean 'not at our Hogwarts'? There's only —"

"Exactly, listen, there's only one in the world, and I'm in someone else's Hogwarts."

A confused dawning of understanding spread across his face. "You- you're… but that's not possible."

Harry gave him a dry look. "I'd love that to not be true Ron, but you're looking at me sitting in the infirmary at Hogwarts… just in a different world."

Ron stared at Harry and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then unexpectedly shut it and continued to stare. "Well, how—how did you, you know, get there?"

Harry sighed, and blew the clean hair off of his forehead to the side. "Blood magic apparently."

Ron's eyes widened and he leaned closer to the portal. "But that's illegal!"

"I don't really think they cared about that."

Ron flushed and looked around Harry's bed. "Who did it? A- and what happened to you? Did they… " Ron's eyes narrowed on the bandages. "Did they beat you?"

"What?" Harry asked shocked, and looked down at himself. "No, oh Merlin, no, no, Ron, they didn't do this to me. I ran into a lot of Death Eaters."

Ron looked specifically at Harry's shoulder and Harry sighed. "That was a dragon's spike, not them."

"A dragon's—" Ron choked. "A dragon's spike? You ran into a dragon on the way there too?"

"Physically? Yeah, actually."

Ron opened his mouth, shut it, and then nodded, like he had decided that he was just going to accept everything and move on. "This is mental."

"Ron, Voldemort's here in this world."

"W-what?" Ron's face went very pale and he looked off to the side from his side of the portal like he was looking at someone.

"Yeah, and so are a lot of other people. My—well, Lily and James Potter are alive too."

Ron's lips parted in surprise and he looked at Harry closely. "You parents? They're alive there?"

"They're not my parents, they're just…" Harry trailed off, not knowing how to word it.

"Right," Ron nodded, letting Harry escape the awkward turning conversation. "Well, who else? Sirius? Remus?"

Harry nodded. "All here, as well as Dumbledore, and even Fr—"

Ron turned from the portal like he was checking over his shoulder. Harry fell silent. "Ron?" he asked. Ron looked back at him, and a slight look of panic floated in his eyes.

"Harry," Ron said swallowing. "I've got to go."

"What? Why?"

Ron licked his lips. "It's hard to explain, but—" Ron looked over his shoulder again. "—technically, I'm not supposed to be here."

"Technically? What—Ron, where are you?"

Ron smiled hesitantly. "Er… muggle transportation?"

Harry's jaw dropped and he thought for a second that he hadn't heard right. "What? You—you're in a muggle transp—"

"I think it's called a chube?"

"A tube?"

Ron nodded with a smile. "Eh, that's it! It goes underground on tracks right?"

Harry blinked a couple of times and sighed. "What exactly are you doing there?"

Ron looked uncomfortable again. "Running?"

Harry gave him a dry look. "From?"

"Hermione?"

"You—" Harry was torn between anger, confusion, and being extremely amused. "Ron, start from the beginning."

Ron looked over his shoulder and murmured something to someone behind him. He looked back at the portal with wide eyes. "Muggles are scary Harry."

Harry turned his head sideways. "You have no idea."

"What?"

"Nothing. What happened?"

Ron leaned forwards into the portal. "After you disappeared, the whole Ministry went on alert for you. The Order, Dumbledore's army, even the muggle police started a search. Hermione got Luna and Ginny after she heard, and went to see the—"

"—place where it would have happened." Harry nodded. "Smart one, your girlfriend," Harry said.

Ron pulled a half grin. "Afterwards," he whispered, "Hermione said there was some sort of magical residue left behind on your street from magic like our own, but it was a little off."

"A little off?" Harry echoed.

"You know… elves and magic animals have their own magic, right? Goblins and Wizards have their own as well. Hermione found leftover magic she said was 'remarkably similar to ours, but also—' er…'fundamentally different'? I think that's how she said it, anyways, same magic, but - not."

"Same magic different worlds. Makes sense," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, that's what Luna said too. But you know how Hermione is. She thought it was rubbish of course, that it must have been a trick of a Death Eater. Luna was really serious when she said you had gone away by someone not from our world."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have believed her myself. Sounds a little too E.T. for my taste."

"What's an E.T.?"

"It's a—never mind, then what happened?"

"Well, it happened like you would have expected. Luna brought back some 'special' mirror that her father said could communicate with people from another world. Hermione said there was no such thing. Ginny was dragged in the middle…"

"And you took Hermione's side," Harry sighed, leaning back in his bed. And then a fight would have started.

"She was really stressed alright! You had gone missing, McGonagall was asking her to do things for next year's curriculum, journalists were breathin down her neck and … she just got overwhelmed."

"So then how do you have the mirror?" Harry asked.

"Hermione tossed it. Luna cried. Ginny went with her. I picked it up, Hermione saw me and…" Ron trailed off. "—well you know how she is when she's worked up like that."

"So you gave her some air."

"And forgot my wand on the way out."

Harry shook his head and grinned. "Floo network then?"

"We'd all met at Hermione's parents place."

Harry snorted kindly. "And you know how to take the tube?"

Ron colored. "Hermione showed me. I've not gotten off anywhere, so I'll just stay on until it goes back to the station I left at. I'd expect her to be cool headed when I come back after all this time, especially when I tell her you're alive, and the mirror actually works!"

Harry smiled. "It's been good to hear you."

"Only been gone a couple days."

"Been a long couple of days."

Ron grinned. "I could understand that." Ron looked over his shoulder again. "Listen Harry I've got to go. The muggles are starting to stare at me like I'm crazy. I think they think I'm just talking to a girl's mirror."

"Well how do I get in contact with you?"

Ron looked back at him, panicked. "I dunno. I guess it'll be me getting to you then."

Harry swallowed. "Good luck."

Ron grinned. "You too mate."

Harry watched Ron close the portal from him, the blue and white lights disappearing like it had never been there before. The emptiness seemed to have taken the daylights sun rays from the room with the closed portal. Ron was gone. His connection to home was gone. Harry breathed out, long and deep, ignoring the twinge at his shoulder and looked down at the foot of his bed.

Jonathan's eyes were wide open, and staring at him with raised eyebrows.

Harry froze. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Jonathan said, picking his face from the bed covers. "Ron seems nice."

"He's my best mate." Harry thought that he sounded defensive, even to himself.

"I gathered." Jonathan rotated his stool to look directly at Harry. "Did you talk to him about the kidnappings?"

"I thought you heard all of it."

"I heard most of it, but you didn't answer my question." Harry saw Jonathan's hand curl around the newspaper at his feet that Harry still hadn't looked at.

Harry turned his head to the side. "No. I didn't have the time. Why?"

Jonathan picked up the rolled up newspaper. "The whole Wizarding world seems to think that you're an Evil Wizard with dark intentions, ganging up against the Ministry to kidnap children."

What? Harry didn't see how that had to do with his conversation with Ron. "So?"

"Well do you have a plan?"

"No."

"Shouldn't you?"

"I thought the Order members were taking care of it."

"You are part of the Order, they recruited you specially, and I want Ginny back alive." He looked at Harry with a challenge. "What about you?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. He felt like he was playing a game of word chess with Jonathan, and he hated chess when it wasn't against Ron. "I'm not going to be discharged until tomorrow."

"I need to make preparations anyways," Jonathan shrugged.

"Do you have a plan?" Harry shot back.

"Not really."

"Not really?" Harry copied dryly.

"The Order won't go against their own rules of engagement," Jonathan explained seriously. "By the time they get around to finding where they both are, they'll have been long dead. I think a direct approach would throw them off, and give us an opening."

Harry's brows furrowed. Jonathan was a year younger than Harry, but his eyes looked remarkably old. It reminded Harry of himself. "We can't just … I don't know, ride into the Death Eater camps on top of Natara and burn the place to the ground while trying to saving them. We can't just go in like a pair of idiot knights from muggle fairy tales."

Jonathan's lips twisted into a cunning smile that contorted his face to look like a carbon copy of James Potter. "Why not?"

"You're not serious."

Jonathan stared at Harry who stared back at Jonathan with even eyes.

"Oh Merlin, you really are serious."

"No." Harry pushed his newly acquired wand into his back pocket and pushed open the double set doors of the Hospital Wing like the free man that he was.

"Why?" Jonathan asked, trailing Harry out of the Hospital Wing. "Natara was brilliant—"

"We're not using Natara to deep fry the Death Eaters," Harry said shortly. They had been over this conversation all of yesterday night and now this morning when Madam Pomfrey had released Harry from his bed rest.

"But why not! It's the best plan we've got! The—"

"Only plan we've got," Harry interrupted. "And it's not good enough."

"But Ginny—"

"And Luna are nearly fully trained witches," Harry stated stonily. Jonathan pulled an exasperated face that Harry ignored. "I don't think the Death Eaters want them dead, they could have done that when they had everyone rounded up so I think for now, they'll be fine."

Jonathan raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Oh? And for how long exactly?"

"I dunno. Have you talked to your parents?"

Jonathan shook his head and Harry traveled down a flight of stairs with him at his side. "Dad had to go report to the ministry and Mum has been up all night getting Hogsmead cleaned up and sending out search parties. Actually, the whole Order has been up all night trying to get everything fixed and safe. Keeping covers secure and all that." Jonathan's eyes flashed to Harry's left arm, still covered in bandages. "Speaking of, how's your arm?"

Harry squashed the urge to roll his shoulder. He'd most likely break the new skin if he did that. "Healed, mostly. Madam Pomfrey said I shouldn't do anything to upset the outer skin, as it's 'still delicate'." The rest of him though, that was a different story. The pain free moments after his awakening fell away soon after. His whole body was sore, bruised, tired to the bone, and he had a massive headache that seemed to have started in the middle of the night and gotten worse this morning.

Jonathan snorted. "She's going to love our plan then."

Harry grimaced, tinged with annoyance. "We're not bringing Natara."

Jonathan groaned, and threw his hands in the air. "But why not!"

"Because it wasn't just me and the Order that got hurt," Harry replied, heading down the marble staircase. "Natara did too. She's still recovering."

"How do you know?" Jonathan rolled his eyes. "You haven't seen her since you fell off of her. She could be fine. She could be more than fine. I heard Bill and Hagrid took care of her last night after the shields came back up, and Hagrid's always wanted a dragon."

"Because," Harry rubbed at his chest, feeling his lungs expand and deflate with a tightness that never really let Harry forget breathing hurt for him. "I can feel it."

"'You can feel it'" Jonathan echoed with a scoff. "Right. Like you-" Jonathan stopped and turned to Harry, causing Harry to stop at the bottom of the marble staircase as well. "Wait-" Jonathan frowned, and looked at Harry closely. "What do you mean you can 'feel' her? Like actually feel Natara? You know how she's feeling?"

Harry rubbed his chest with his unhurt arm again. "Well, sort of, I guess." The ache in Harry's chest seemed to soothe when Harry thought about it. "I know she's hurt. Her wings bother her, her throat seems a little sore, and she's tired right now."

Jonathan's eyes widened to the point where it looked as if they would pop out of his head. "No way," he breathed out. "You—do you even know —oh Merlin, I'm gonna have to write to Charlie." He turned briskly from Harry and continued his way down the stairs and out to the Entrance Hall. Harry followed behind him, feeling a little lost and more than a little tired. He wished he could just go to sleep instead of following Jonathan around or waiting for Ron to call him on his magic mirror.

"Slow down will you?" Harry asked, wincing at his fast movements. "I can't exactly—"

"Jonathan!" Lily's voice rang from just outside the castle's doors.

"Mum," Jonathan said, coming to a stop at the entrance with Harry right behind him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at the Manor?"

"I was," Lily said, glancing behind Jonathan and seeing Harry. "I was just coming to meet with Dumbledore." She nodded at Harry with a warm smile. "Good morning Harry. Feeling better?"

"Much, thanks," Harry said back politely.

"Madam Pomfrey let you out already?" She asked, her eyes coming to his bandage covered shoulder.

"She says that she's got other patients who need her more," Harry said back honestly with a neutral smile.

Lily nodded. "I know, I saw the hospital wing before I'd left." She smiled again and tightened her hand around a rolled up newspaper that Harry hadn't noticed she'd been holding before.

Harry glanced at the paper and narrowed in at the sight of flames and the tail of a dragon zooming out of one of the moving pictures in the front page article. Harry turned his head. They'd managed to get a picture of him last night? "Is that—?"

Lily looked down at her hands and unfolded the newspaper with a sigh like she'd been dreading talking about it. "It's this morning's paper from The Pure Prophet." She held it out to Harry for him to take.

"The Pure Prophet?" Harry asked, closing his hand around the paper and looking it over.

Lily took her free hands and wrapped them around herself. "The Daily Prophet was canceled years ago. Too much treasonous ideals. The Pure Prophet has all of the advertisement and propaganda that the Dark Lord wants."

On the top of The Pure Prophet was a large black and white photo of a blurry Harry riding Natara over a burning Hogsmead building. Above the picture of him in big black text said "NEW DANGEROUS AND MYSTERIOUS WIZARD IN HOGSMEAD - KILLS EMPORER'S OFFICERS IN DRAGON ATTACK!" Harry grimaced and looked at the paragraphs beneath his and Natara's picture.

Lily sighed again. "It says that you stood alone in the 'Burning of Hogsmead', and that government forces weren't able to rescue the twenty children you're holding hostage here in Hogwarts."

Holding hostages? "The Burning of Hogsmead?" Harry asked, looking up at her. "Is that what they're calling it?"

Lily nodded and Jonathan glowered at the paper. "This is dragon shite! Harry saved them all! He's not a mass murderer!"

Harry folded up the paper and handed it back to Lily. "They seem to think so. It's a good thing they only got a picture of the side of my face and can't connect me back to you."

Jonathan frowned. "How could they?"

Harry looked back to Lily. "Is this what you were going to show Dumbledore?"

Lily nodded. "I doubt he hasn't already seen it, but we need to figure out what to do. You've just became public enemy number two to the rest of the Wizarding world."

Harry moved the door open wider with his good arm to let Lily inside. "Just behind Dumbledore then?"

Lily walked past him. "Only with a lot more people wanting your head on a stick."

"They don't even know his name though," Jonathan said confused.

"No, they don't, but that's a blessing and a curse," Lilly said folding the paper beneath arm. "No one knows who Harry is, so it's a mystery that looks important from the outside. Everyone knows Dumbledore, knows how powerful he is, so they know that even if they found him, they probably wouldn't be able to turn him in to the Ministry. Harry on the other hand, while riding a dragon is unheard of, it doesn't strike the same shadow of fear that Dumbledore does. People will come looking for you, Harry. For money, or for rising power inside the Dark Lords circle." Lily stared at him seriously. "You just put a target on your back and the whole of the Wizarding World knows it."

Harry let that wash over him slowly, and he settled against the wooden door. "Spectacular," he muttered. He looked up to Lily with a cold stare and a sinking realization. "The Order isn't going to want me to go out anywhere are they?"

Lily pursed her lips. "I don't know. I was going to discuss it with Dumbledore." Harry knew what that was going to mean.

"Great, I was about to go and write to Charlie. We'll come with you," Jonathan said easily, putting his hands in his pockets.

Lily frowned. "Why would you need Charlie? He's in Romania."

"Well," Jonathan said, looking over at Harry like he was asking permission. Harry shrugged at the younger boy and put his own hands into his pockets. He didn't really care if Lily knew. If the Order knew really, it was just one more thing Harry was going to have to deal with later on when his mind was a little less groggy and his body hurt a little less. "- Harry can talk to dragons."

Harry leaned against the wall, letting the stone take his weight and smiling a little a Jonathan. Well that was certainly one way to put it. He could technically talk to her. He'd say communicate would have been better, but they did have a sort of unspoken language between them, making it seem as simple as Jonathan put it.

Lily didn't seem to understand. "He can ... what?"

"Speak to dragons," Jonathan shrugged easily. "Just found out. Apparently, Harry and Natara can understand each other, and that's why he could ride a bloody dragon yesterday against the Death Eaters. She let him ride her."

Lily looked to Harry and settled herself at him like she was gearing up to start a long conversation. "Really?" she asked, intrigued. "Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that you can speak to snakes?"

Harry frowned, he hadn't thought about that. Snakes and Dragons had to be related in some way right? Same species, or family of species, or something like that? Something that could possibly let him communicate with dragons? "I... I don't know honestly. I guess that doesn't happen very often in the Wizarding World then? People understanding dragons."

Lily shook her head and Jonathan scratched at his forehead. "Well Dragon trainers can get points across, you know in training and all that, but they're not actually able to tell what they are saying, or thinking. The last time they had someone really trained in understanding dragons happened... what, two hundred years ago? Three? Charlie could tell you all about that. Wizards don't really care. They're just ... magical creatures to them. No real intelligence."

"So it might have something to do with me being a parseltongue?"

Jonathan shrugged again. "Well that would explain it right? At least, a bit."

Lily nodded her head. "I'll send that letter to Charlie while I talk to Dumbledore. He'll want to know too."

"Then we're coming with you," Jonathan said resolutely. Harry glanced at him.

Lily frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "No you're not, Jonathan Potter. You and Harry will go eat breakfast and wait. The adults will figure out a plan to keep him safe." She turned to Harry and gave him a warm smile that seemed to warm Harry to his toes. "Don't worry Harry. We won't let anything happen to you." She reached out and placed a soft hand on Harry's injured arm. "At least nothing more."

Harry gave her a smile that he hoped looked completely genuine.

Jonathan didn't take the hint of Harry's silence. "But-"

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but Harry spoke before her, cutting her off. "It's okay Jonathan. I don't mind."

Jonathan turned to him with wide eyes full of surprise. "But —"

"—and besides," Harry said, letting himself sag against the wooden door. "I'm tired Jonathan. Breakfast and some time to think over a plan to help Ginny and Luna would help me more than arguing over whether or not I want to go back up all those steps to the Headmasters office."

Jonathan's eyes immediately went to Harry's shoulder. "Oh, oh right. Sorry, I forgot for a moment that you—alright sorry, I'll help you to get some breakfast then." He took up Harry's good arm around his shoulders and nodded at Lily silently. "Mum," He said.

Lily smiled and straightened up. "I'll see you two after." She smiled at the both of them. "Be safe."

Harry smiled back, and Jonathan rolled his eyes. "We're inside Hogwarts mum, I doubt we'll do anything life threatening unless the eggs try to choke us on the way down."

"If anyone could do it, it would be you," she said, turning from them to go up the staircase.

Jonathan dropped Harry's arm when Lily was out of sight. "Alright then, come on, the Great Hall is—"

"Come on, we need to get out of the apparition shields around Hogwarts," Harry said, turning right around and heading outside.

"To the—to the what? I thought you said you were hungry!"

Harry really was hungry, to be honest, he hadn't even finished his noodles with Remus the night before, but he needed to move, and to move quickly if he wanted to know where Luna and Ginny were. "I said that to your mum."

Jonathan was silent, but Harry heard his running footsteps coming up from behind him. "I knew it!" Jonathan said victoriously. "I knew you weren't just going to sit back and let them take over."

Harry didn't feel like he could say anything against that. "Adults will want to take over, and keep you 'safe' even when what the world needs is you to get up and do something." Harry sighed out. "Even in a different world, the adults here are the same."

"They would want you to do nothing?" Jonathan asked.

"Worse," Harry said, glancing back. "They would want to use you to finish their own illusions of moral practicality." Big words, Hermione'd have been proud.

Jonathan frowned, opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but then closed and nodded.

When Harry and Jonathan were past Hogsmead, around the battlefield of the night before, and the deep into the forbidden forest, Harry took out his wand. "Come on, I have a plan."

Jonathan put his hands on his knees and heaved through the air. "You haven't even -" he gasped, "said what we're gonna do."

"Publicity," Harry answered evenly.

"What?"

"Hold on." Harry took Jonathan's arm, closed his eyes, and then with a pop, they left Hogwarts and the Order behind them.

"You okay?" Harry asked, watching Jonathan spin forwards at their landing.

"Fine," Jonathan grimaced, still breathing heavily. "I like flooing better to be honest." He frowned as he took in his surroundings. "Diagon Alley? What are we doing here?"

Harry took in the rows and rows of shops, crowded alleyways, and varying colors of cloaks with narrowed eyes. There weren't as many people as he would have originally thought in Diagon Alley, but then again, cutting out muggle-borns would have cut off a good chunk of the population. Harry watched packs of wizards and witches move around him, looking over everyone else with suspicious eyes and clenched hands. It looked to Harry as if they were all moving about each other because they had to, and had no enjoyment in being outside other than the fact that they needed something from the shops. It made Harry's teeth clench at the similarities from this world and his when the Dark Lord's presence had been known again in his Wizarding world.

Harry looked back at Jonathan. "Getting people's attention."

Jonathan leaned towards Harry. "Why?"

"Well a criminal needs to be captured," Harry stared straight at Jonathan. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Realization came crashing down like a brick wall over Jonathan's face and he breathed out lightly. "Merlin. You- you can't!"

Harry turned towards the town with climbing dread in his stomach. "I'll need your help for this," Harry said to him, keeping his voice down.

Jonathan was close at his back when Harry heard him say, "How?"

Harry swallowed back his fear. "Play along."

Jonathan didn't have time to agree. Before he could open his mouth, or Harry could rethink what he was about to do, Harry had twirled around and had his wand tip pointed directly at Jonathan's nose. "Stand back! You'll never take me!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs. People around him jumped, before realizing he had his wand, and backed up into the shadows of the shops. Others saw Harry's wand and grabbed at their own, pointing them at the ground, but visible to everyone else around them.

Someone with bright green robes and dark skin with flashing hazel eyes shoved people out of the way towards Harry and Jonathan. "What's going on here?" he shouted with a voice of authority.

Jonathan looked at Harry, and Harry stared at him back, raising his wand a little higher, looking like a bigger threat. Jonathan's face fell into a look of terror. "It's him! The man who burned Hogsmead!" Jonathan yelled louder than Harry had, catching everyone's attention. "He's come to destroy Diagon Alley! I heard him say so! He'll kill us all!"

People around Harry withdrew their wands and shoved at each other, either trying to get in closer to where Harry was, or trying to get out of the way. Harry turned to the crowd. "Stay back!" he yelled, waving his wand furiously in the air. Someone from the side flashed a camera at him and Harry drew in his eyebrows, hoping he looked fearsome and menacing. "Or I'll burn you like I burned Hogsmead! Stay back! I warn you! Not even Voldemort himself could stop me if I wanted! MOVE!"

People gasped at Voldemort's name, and things crashed to the floor as people suddenly desperately moved away like the plague was about to catch up to them. The man in shiny green robes pushed others out of the way and reached out to Harry. "Now you've done it!" he said, as he shoved someone away. "Drop your wand, or I'll remove your hands!"

Harry turned to the man and pointed his wand into the air. "Come and get me," he said quietly. Incendio, Harry thought, and watched as a blast of fire reached from the top of his wand and caught the tips of the shops around him. "Run!" Harry shouted at the fleeing crowds around him. "Run for your lives. Let Voldemort's sniveling Death Eaters see who really can cause the most damage," he boomed.

People ran in all directions, ducking and screaming as the fire started to spread over the roofs of the shops around them. Harry watched them run, and thought that this would do. Voldemort, or at least a good number of his followers would show up since he'd said his name twice in the middle of Diagon Alley.

The man in the green robes shot a spell at Harry, and Harry ducked backwards, letting the spell go over his chest.

Harry didn't see Jonathan until the younger boy's hand wrapped around his bad shoulder and had pulled him back, tearing the new flesh on his shoulder. Harry yelled out at the pain and Jonathan immediately let go. They were crouched together against an overturned stand at the corner of an alley. "We have to run! Death Eaters have started showing up near Olivanders!"

Harry grabbed his shoulder and turned to Jonathan. "That's the point."

Jonathan stared at him in disbelief. "They'll kill you!"

Harry shook his head. "Or they'll take me straight to Voldemort."

"You don't know that."

"They'll hold me with other prisoners."

"Or they'll take you straight to You-know-who's chambers and he'll kill you straight off!"

"Well, that's what I'm here for right?" Harry asked, eyes narrowed. Bitterness filled his voice. "And besides, I have a chance to find both Ginny and Luna like this."

Jonathan had paled. "Don't say that. You're not just some meat-sack the Order can throw at him and prays it works."

Harry gazed at Jonathan tightlipped as people ran around them, and Jonathan searched Harry's face with growing realization. Harry didn't look away and Jonathan held his gaze. "I'm not even going with you, am I?"

Harry shook his head minutely. "You're right. I might die. I might not even make it to Voldemort's feet. They might kill me right out and I can't bring you in on that. You could die because of me." Harry glimpsed up at the people running around them. "I need you to go back to the Order."

"But I want to go with you," Jonathan shook his head furiously.

"You can't." Harry snapped back, peering at him and narrowing his eyes. "And don't try to be a hero by coming back for me. This is my decision to make. Go back with your family."

"YOU are my family," Jonathan insisted. Harry clenched his teeth together and Jonathan kept his eyes fixed on Harry. "You're a Potter. I won't leave you."

"You have to." Harry caught a piece of debris flying past them and pointed his wand at it. Portus, he thought in his head, imagining the edge of the forbidden forest as its destination, and watched as the piece of trash glowed blue. Harry looked back up to Jonathan. "Sorry," he whispered. The blue of the portkey reflected back in Jonathan's eyes and the younger boy scrambled back like it would burn him.

"No! Harry, don't –"

Harry threw the trash forwards, and it caught Jonathan's upper leg. Jonathan looked up at Harry with wide eyes for a split second. The portkey glowed bright blue and Harry watched the betrayal and disbelief in Jonathan's eyes swirl before he disappeared with the portkey, hundreds of miles away.

"You!" Harry recognized the voice of the man before with the green robes and he looked up in time to see the man running at him with his wand extended, pushing through the crowd with flashing white teeth.

Harry moved backwards, scrambling into the alleyway and sprinting through the shadows, letting them cover his escape deeper into the town. A dark purple spell flew past his shoulder and Harry threw himself out of the alleyway as fast he could, running full sprint to Olivanders. He passed dissaparating people, and families calling for their children.

A Death Eater apparated a few feet in front of Harry wearing long black robes and a shiny white mask. "Oi! I'm over here," Harry yelled at it.

The Death Eater turned to him and had its wand out faster than Harry could keep his eyes on. Harry brought up his own wand. Another Death Eater apparated beside the first and Harry watched them walk together in front of him. Harry put his hands up in surrender.

"All right. You got me."

Both of the masked wizards stopped. "You're surrendering?" asked the first.

"Just like that?" questioned the second.

Harry felt a little giddy. This was probably the stupidest thing he'd ever done, and the most dangerous. He didn't know what he was thinking when he'd thought of this, and he definitely didn't think he knew what he was doing now. He'd just let his mouth run on sass until he could think of his next step. Harry looked straight up at them. "Take me to your leader."

The muggle reference was probably lost on them, but Harry felt a little ridiculous anyways.

"You—you wish to see the Dark Lord?" the second asked, his voice colored in surprise.

"Fine, makes it easier on us then," The first said dismissing him and raising his wand at Harry.

"He wants to?" the second asked again.

The first shrugged. "Must be mental. Not our problem, we just get the bounty on his head don't we?"

"But he—"

The first took off his mask and looked at Harry with a grin. Harry knew him. A year ahead of him. A Ravenclaw. He didn't know the boy's name, but he knew his face. He'd died in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort in his world. The boy twisted his face in a cruel smile and winked at Harry. "Nighty night," he said in delight.

Harry knew what was coming, and felt the flash of a stupefy spell against his chest before he saw it coming from the first boy's wand. A spreading numbness faster than he could blink, and then his eyes were closing and he lost consciousness in the middle of the running wizards and witches.

Harry woke up in a cold sweat, and in a cage.

Not chained to a chair or a potion shoved down his throat, that much was certain and he was grateful for, but he was still behind thick bars. He checked his pockets, and sure enough, without a wand. Well, at least they hadn't killed me, he thought to himself. He was lying on a cement ground with a blanket. He sat up, rotating his shoulders around and looking around.

A large room, was what he gathered. There wasn't much light, but he wasn't the only jail cell in the room. The cell was big enough for him to lay down on the ground both ways comfortably, but he doubted if Ron was here, he would feel the same. It was cold, a certain unnatural chill in the air that Harry recognized as Dementor aroma, and looking both to the left and to the right, he was certain he wasn't the only one sitting in a cage around him.

There were no windows and very little light from magical orbs hanging in the air, but he could see the shape of a body on the other side of his bars to his left. Harry looked closer and leaned forwards. As a matter of fact, Harry thought it could be a girl in this next cage over. She had slim shoulders, very short cropped brown hair, he could see from her back, and she was very, very thin. Dangerously thin that would have had Mrs. Weasley in a fit.

"Excuse me," Harry said through the bars. "Er… miss? Do you know where we are?"

"Leave me alone," her voice was cracked and thin like a reed pipe played too long.

"I'm sorry to… bother you, I just wondered if you knew where we might be? And, have you seen any new people come in here. Two girls, they'd be about my age, one with long red hair and the other with long, sort of almost white blonde hair." Harry waited, but the other girl didn't seem like she was going to answer. "Er… hullo?"

The girl sat up, her back to Harry, and the thick blanket that was wrapped around her fell to the ground. She breathed out in a long sigh. "You one of them?"

Harry wondered if she was still talking to him, and if she was, what was a 'them'? "Uh, a what?"

"A wizard. One of those things that use magic."

"A thing?" Harry answered automatically. "I'm.. yes, I am a wizard. Not from around here though," Harry said, leaning against the back of his bars.

"You have the accent," she remarked shortly.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean.—" Harry trailed off and thought about her words. The way she had said them. They were entitled almost. Knowing. Realistic and bold on the verge of rude. It was very familiar actually, if Harry thought about it a bit more. "Do… do I know you?"

"No," she said coldly, and Harry for a second almost believed her, her voice was so sure. "I don't affiliate myself with murderers."

Harry was taken back. "I'm not a murderer!"

"You use magic. That's good enough." Once again, her voice was so sure, so upright. It rang a bell in the back of his head, but Harry couldn't place where he had heard her before.

"You act like you don't—hang on, are you… are you a muggle?" Harry's eyes widened and he sat back against the bars with a new sense of breathlessness. No wonder she wouldn't like Wizarding people then. Locked up by one, probably treated horribly. Worse than horribly, if this world was as bad as the others had said.

"I'm a hunter." Her back straightened and Harry was too shocked to speak for a moment. A hunter. So that was a real thing here.

"A witch hunter?"

"All magical beasts," she answered.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What if they haven't done anything to you?"

"They're magical. It would only ever be a matter of time." To Harry, that sounded like vengeance. Something out of a muggle book in the supernatural section.

"So they've hurt you then, hmm? Is that why you hunt … er, us?"

"You're a murderer. No one else will do it, so we do."

We do, her words echoed in Harry's brain. "You're a full organization?"

"Stop talking to me, murderer."

Harry frowned. "I'm not a murderer," he stated. "Well, not really. I am fighting in a war though, so technically, it depends on how you look at it. But I've never hurt a muggle before. I was raised by muggles."

"You're lying."

"Well, to be honest, if anyone's a murderer here to me, it would have to be either you, or the Death Eater who locked us in here. You can take your pick as I'm fairly sure you've killed before, and I know the Death Eaters have."

Her head turned slightly to him, and Harry only saw the shadow of her face, still too dark to recognize who she was. He had caught her attention. "Is that what you call them? Death Eaters?"

"It's what they named themselves actually," Harry answered honestly. "It's what Voldemort, their leader, decided to name them." Harry crossed his arms over himself to keep the chill out, and briskly rubbed his hands over his arms.

Apparently, she could see him and she wrapped the blanket at her back around her again. "It's always cold here. You'll be needing the blanket."

"Doesn't surprise me," Harry said, getting to his feet and fetching his own small blanket. "It's the effect of having a dementor in close proximity."

"A dementor?" she asked, her voice just barely colored with curiosity.

"A magical being that kind of sucks the happiness from you," Harry wrapped the blanket around himself. "While this place seems depressing, the kind of hopelessness hanging in the air is caused by them. They live off of it."

"Of course it's magical," she scoffed like Harry had just proven that the whole of magical society was dark and dangerous.

"Well they're dark creatures. Not all magical creatures are dark though. Unicorns are pure light magic, and Dementors usually are only supposed to be guarding the Wizarding prison, to keep dark wizards inside."

"I'm not a wizard," she stated stonily.

"No," Harry agreed, looking at her closely. "You're not, are you?"

"Why are they here?"

Harry leaned back against the bars and sighed. "Well, when one of the darkest Dark Lords of our generation enlisted dark creatures of the Wizarding world to his aid, they abandoned their job and now act on his orders." Harry shrugged. "Or, we could just be in Azkaban. Not sure yet."

"Azkaban," she echoed.

Harry nodded. "The Wizarding prison."

"Why are you here?" she asked.

Harry looked up at the ceiling. "I called the Dark Lord some unsavory names in public and challenged him in a large Wizarding community."

There was a moment of silence from her. Then- "Are you an idiot?"

"Sometimes," he shrugged again. "But I wanted them to find me, so it all worked out."

"You're in a cage."

"Yes, but they didn't kill me, so," Harry said offhandedly. "But why are you here?"

Harry almost kicked himself at his question. She didn't trust witches or wizards. It wasn't like she was going to answer him. Harry let the silence deepen for a couple more moments before he opened his mouth to talk about something else. Surprisingly, he heard her voice answer softly.

"They caught me," she said quietly.

Harry frowned, and some twisted version of guilt crept up his spine. "I'm sorry," Harry said to her after a moment of dark silence. "Not all of us are like this, I want you to know. There are good wizards and witches out there."

She scoffed sarcastically, with an edge of icy coldness. "You'd know then?"

Harry sighed. "I'd hope so. I've been fighting this war since I was a kid."

"Against us?" her question was more of a statement. "The 'muggles' of your world?"

"No, against Voldemort," Harry said.

She was quiet for a moment, like she was processing his words. "The Dark Lord that everyone keeps talking about? Your parents let you fight against him as a child?"

"My parents were killed because of him. I lived with muggles for a time remember?"

"Adopted?"

"Family."

The girl was quiet. "Were you… what they call a 'muggleborn'?"

Harry looked back at her and shook his head. So she knew some of the wizarding terms. "No. My mum was though. She married my dad, a wizard, and had me, a 'half-blood'."

"Hm. If you're not a 'pure blood' or whatever that nonsense is," she said, "how do you even have a wand?"

"Not from around here, remember?" Harry grinned once. He leaned forwards and looked straight at her from behind the bars. "The real question is what are you? Half-blood, or muggleborn? A squib from an important family perhaps?" Harry looked at her back and saw her tense. "No one I've met has a reason so young to do something so drastic as kill unless its self-protection, or revenge. I'm guessing yours is revenge. So magical background." He waited for an answer.

Moments passed and Harry wondered if she was truly going to keep silent. "Muggleborn," she finally stated like it was a death penalty to an innocent man. "Nearly eight years ago, when I was eleven, a wizard—those Death Eaters came to my house and killed my parents for being what I was."

Harry stared at her harder. Eight years. She'd have been in his year then. Maybe she didn't go to Hogwarts, but she'd have been in his year just the same. "What's your name?" he asked quietly.

The girl breathed out and turned to face Harry. She kept her face downwards, but Harry could see familiar cheekbones, pointed chin, and once upon a time, too large teeth. The curly hair had been cut to a boys short haircut, but when she looked up at Harry, he couldn't mistake her eyes for anyone else.

"Granger," she said, staring at him through the metal bars. "Hermione Granger."

Harry's stomach fell and his exhale seemed to blow away any brains he possessed in his skull. He stared at this worlds Hermione with widening eyes and overpowering dread. "Hermione," Harry echoed. "Merlin, Hermione."

Yeah. Thats right, Hermione is back in the picture.

~Missmusicluver