Disclaimer: I'm afraid that my limited brain capacity would never allow me to produce such a wonderful concept as Harry Potter, nor would my finances allow me to buy him. Therefore, I regretfully state that I own neither Harry Potter, nor any other characters that you may recognize. I'm not even sure if I own the plot.
Note: I'm assuming that you already know the basic story of Harry Potter from books 1 through 5.
'Italics' stand for thoughts/letters or text
Chapter Twelve: The Way Home
Day Three, Afternoon:
Crack!
Sirius shot to his feet. "What was that!"
"Sirius? Remus? Hey, is anyone here?"
"James?" Remus ran into the front hallway, almost colliding with Sirius. "James! How did you get back? What happened?"
"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Lily joked weakly. "Can one of you cast a drying charm before James and I freeze to death?"
"Sure," Sirius muttered, suiting action to words. "Oh yeah, here are your wands; you dropped them at Godric's Hollow. Whose wand is that?"
"It's Harry's spare," James explained. "Is he back yet?"
"Harry! What did he do! Where is he!" Sirius shouted in alarm.
"He got us out of Azkaban," Lily explained. "Speaking of which, how did he do that, James?"
"I'll tell you when Dumbledore and the Order get here; that way, I don't have to repeat myself. But that can wait until we find how Harry is."
"How is he going to get out of there?" Remus wanted to know.
"If he got in, he should be able to get out," James reasoned. "Then again, it might be harder once the Death Eaters realize that he's there."
Lily fingered her wand anxiously. "I hope he's all right. Is there some way we can help him?"
"If he did get out, wouldn't he head for Godric's Hollow, first? Maybe you should go wait there for him," Remus suggested. "I'll fire-call Dumbledore and tell him you're safe. You-Know-Who didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No, not really," Lily replied absentmindedly. "Nothing permanent, anyway. I guess you're right, Remus, James and I will go home and wait for Harry."
…………
Day Three, Afternoon:
"Did you hear something!" Jumping to his feet, James drew his wand and started into the living room. When he caught sight of Harry, he immediately dashed forward, almost dropping his wand. "Harry! Lily, come here!"
Lily hurried in to see James laying their son down on the couch. The teen was pale and exhausted, and appeared to have been hit by a few curses. James began to cast healing spells, while Lily went to get Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus. By the time they arrived, Harry was resting peacefully.
"Should we wake him up?"
Remus glared at Sirius. "Padfoot, Harry just escaped from Azkaban after dueling with who knows how many Death Eaters! Don't you think he deserves some rest?"
"Remus is right," Dumbledore agreed. "We can wait until young Mr. Potter is fully rested, though I must admit I am curiously about what happened."
…………
Day Three, Late Night:
Harry did not wake up for several hours. It was late when he finally opened his eyes and stretched. To his surprise, he found himself tucked into his bed, in his pajamas. 'What happened now?' he wondered with a hint of exasperation. 'It seems like not a day goes by without me fainting. At least I'm not in the hospital wing again. Let's see…'
'I think I was in Azkaban helping Mum and Dad get out…and then Voldemort came…oh, right! I used phoenix flight to get out. But I thought Voldemort said that I couldn't use any of the magical abilities! And that's what my 'memories' say, too. Maybe I couldn't before, because I was evil. I guess that would explain it. If I'm home, then I guess Mum and Dad are okay.'
Getting up, Harry padded down the stairs. Despite the fact that it was past midnight, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore were still awake. They sat in kitchen, talking. When Harry heard them, he paused outside, giving in to the temptation to eavesdrop.
"Are you certain this will work, Albus?" Remus sounded doubtful. "What if something goes wrong? How do you know Harry won't get hurt, or even killed? If he goes, and this doesn't work right, we'll never be able to defeat You-Know-Who!"
Intrigued, Harry listened closely as Lily spoke up, sounding close to tears. "Do we have to send him back? You know he has no parents there, and I would be more than happy to have him stay with James and me…"
"You know this isn't his home, Lily," the headmaster told her solemnly. "You knew from the start that he would have to leave soon. I know that you've missed your son all these years, but Harry has his own destiny in his own world. If he stays here, who will defeat Voldemort in his reality?"
"But, Albus," James protested weakly. "Are you sure we can't wait a few more months? Lily and I want to get to know him! He's still our son, regardless of what dimension he comes from."
"No, James, if we're going to do this, it must be done tomorrow, because of the alignment of the planets and the stars. This ritual can only be done at a certain time; I explained this already. If we miss our chance, we won't be able to try again for at least another year. As it is, we're very lucky that the timing is so close."
"But still, like Remus said, how do we know that this will work?" Sirius demanded. "I'm not losing my godson again!"
Dumbledore started to respond, when his senses caught a faint flicker of magic. Smiling, he said, "You can come in now, Mr. Potter."
James looked confused, until he saw his son enter the room, grinning sheepishly.
"What were you talking about?" the teen asked.
"A way to send you home," Sirius told him reluctantly. "Albus found an old spell that will open the gateway between worlds."
"The gateway between worlds," Harry repeated skeptically. "What makes you think that you can find the right world? There could be millions! Besides, I'm not so sure I even want to go home."
"Think of your friends," Dumbledore urged. "Won't they be worried about you? If the Harry from this reality took your place, just think about what could be happening there!"
His words made Harry freeze. 'He's right. I can't stay here and let my evil counterpart run around killing people! Who knows what he's done already! Ron and Hermione will think I've gone insane and turned into the next Dark Lord or something! But…I can't give up Mum and Dad and Mari! I just met them! I wonder if it's possible to come visit. What would happen if there were two of me?'
He put the question to Dumbledore, who shook his head sadly. "That would not be possible. According to the theories of magic, two of the same people simple cannot exist. Either one of you would disappear, or the two of you would merge."
"Then how are you going to send me home?"
"The gateway is supposed to exchange you two at the same instant, so that there is only one of you per dimension."
"Supposed to? I don't like the sound of that. Anyway, what are you going to do here? If you send me back, then your Harry will still be evil."
"Hopefully, your parents and I will be able to persuade him to desert Voldemort. Now that we have seen what could have happened, we know that he is not beyond help. Originally, I thought you might be able to help us in the war, but I cannot allow your home world to suffer. If we can get the Harry from this world under our control, it will give us an edge in the war anyway."
Sighing heavily, Harry sank into a chair and rested his head in his hands as he debated mentally. 'I do have a responsibility to my own world, and if I still remember everything from this little trip, I just might have a chance, especially if Voldemort underestimates me. Plus the other me will probably have done a lot of damage.
The public worships me; if they thought I turned Dark, they would all lose hope. On the other hand, Sirius is here, and my parents. I can't just give that up! Is it possible to communicate between dimensions? Probably not. How can I choose between my parents, and Ron and Hermione?'
"Just what does this whole gateway thing involve?" Harry queried.
"It's actually fairly simple, but it must be done at exactly noon the day after tomorrow. There are some spells that I will perform, and I'll need some of your blood, to ensure that the gateway doesn't accidentally pull anyone else in. You don't have to do anything except go through, and it won't hurt at all," Dumbledore assured him.
'I suppose I should be glad that I even got this opportunity to meet Mum and Dad,' Harry thought wearily. 'I don't think I even have a choice; Professor Dumbledore will make me go back no matter what.'
"Well, Harry?" Sirius broke the silence, though he seemed unsure whether or not he wanted to hear the answer.
"Fine. I'll do it."
