Some needed info...

1) Harry traveled to the alternate dimension – his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel and the Longbottoms are alive, he has a sixteen year old sister Rose

2) Tom Riddle was in Azkaban, caught when he had opened the Chamber of Secrets – he escaped and murdered Harry from this world in 1981 – since that time he is on the run, terrorizing wizarding world, but on the much lesser scale – he and a few of his followers are like terrorists, forcing their pure-blooded ideas.

3) Harry told Hermione about himself – she was in Ravenclaw, works for the Ministry – fights for the nonhuman rights and is engage to someone named Skylar.

4) And lastly at the end of the last chapter it turned out that Harry, by his mere existence in this world, overpowered Dumbledore as a Secret Keeper for the Order Headquarter. He was one in his old world.

And on to the story...

The End Or The Beginning?

The one where we should forgive the author.

The revelation left the Potters and friends shocked - to say the least - and awed at the realization of Harry's magical prowess.

Despite the late hour, they had decided to go to Hogwarts immediately.

Sirius and James took the information in strides and thought it great joke, probably the best prank played on Dumbledore. Thanks to Lily and Remus, the idea to taunt the Headmaster had been shot down before it could take any shape.

It turned out that Dumbledore had assigned half of the Order to search for the lost headquarter.

The Headmaster was up, no big surprise there, and was looking through some reports from the search.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Everybody would be if a merry band of former pranksters burst into his office through the fireplace.

From the looks people were giving him, Harry determined that they had never seen Albus Dumbledore speechless - maybe except Nicholas Flamel – when he heard the news. But the older wizard didn't look much better.

After some discussion they had decided that Harry would leave few notes with the address for Dumbledore's use. It happened that the Headmaster was quite happy with the news, he was a secret keeper for some other location.

Sirius was first to check if the house was where it supposed to be and chose to stay there, the Potters and Remus left shortly after the information had been confirmed.

Harry felt content after the meeting, Albus Dumbledore seemed to accept him, and despite any facade Harry could put, it meant a lot.

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Lucius Malfoy was a very well known wizard.

He was very powerful, but his power was based on the influence his family held in the Wizarding World. He was a pureblood, of course, and fought very hard to maintain his control of at least some parts of the heritage.

He became involved with Tom Riddle early, after said man had escaped Azkaban. How did he do that, no one knew.

The dark wizard was an old friend of Lucius' father, from their years at Hogwarts, and his old man had greeted him as such when Tom Riddle, haggard and hungry, had appeared on the steps of the Malfoys ancestry manor.

Lucius had always supported his father and never questioned him openly. However, he was surprised when his father treated the wizard with such honor. It was against everything he, a Malfoy, had been taught - he sneered - more so, when he had learned that Tom Riddle was a halfblood.

Malfoy gulped the rest of the wine from his glass and shattered the remains against the wall. A small disgusting creature appeared immediately and started cleaning the floor.

Looking with loathing at the elf he continued with his thoughts - His father had been dead for many years, and after a time, he himself began appreciating the power Tom Riddle wielded. Mentally he seemed unharmed from his long stay with the Dementors, what shocked Lucius more, he even had managed to acquire some books and study there, in Azkaban!

The fact that he was so willing to manifest his views in the Wizarding World and did so for twenty years by then, was also a big bonus.

He knew that magically he wasn't a match for Tom Riddle, he knew that the list of those that could fight him off, diminished with time, and that there were only a handful of those left, but he had managed to steer him in directions he wanted, and control him through money, rare, ancient, dark books and magical items, or other luxuries he had been providing for years.

He smirked to himself and kicked the little creature on his way to get another glass. He was the one in power.

He was controlling the situation - till recently at least – the angry thought mocked him.

Few months ago something had changed.

Years ago, he had heard from his father, about the title Lord Voldemort. Tom Riddle had started referring about himself like that recently.

Add to it, Tom's obsession to find Dumbledore's brother house, strayed Lucius from his own plans. They observed the old man. His pub in Hogsmade, but nothing was known about his place of residence. There was little known about the man himself.

And that last attack Riddle's group had performed. Lucius wasn't informed about that. He would have to have a world with Tom when the wizard shows up.

He looked at his pocket watch and frowned, the wizard was late. He should have shown up at least half an hour ago. Riddle was getting more arrogant every time they met – Lucius would have to put him in place.

A sudden noise from the hall confirmed that someone was coming.

Malfoy straightened his elegant robes, took his cane/wand and plastered his sneer firmly on his face. He would have to intimidate the other wizard.

The doors blasted open and an imposing figure of a tall, dark haired man walked gracefully into the Malfoys' study.

"You're late Tom…" he didn't manage to say anything else.

"Crucio," was the only thing said by the wizard. He said it in such a casual way like any other would say 'good morning', but the effects were totally different.

Lucius Malfoy was screaming and wriggling on the floor. His ancestry, dignity and famous sneer lost to the pain of one of the Unforgivables.

"I told you, that name no longer applies to me." Tom Riddle said casually, watching the other man on the floor. His dark eyes flickered with red flames in them. "I need to perform only one more ritual." He muttered to himself.

"To you, Lucius," after a few minutes he had lifted the curse and looked at the sniveling form on the floor, "I am Lord Voldemort." There was a maniacal glint in the wizard's gray eyes.

Lucius Malfoy, the proud Head of the Malfoy family, his robes soaked in sweat and urine, only managed to mumble something incoherently.

"You are going to serve me, Lucius." The dark wizard informed. He put the curse back on the wizard lying on the floor. "Do you understand?"

Voldemort knew how long he could torture someone not to destroy the victim's mind.

"Y-yes, To... my Lord." This was nothing like he had imagined it. He should be the one in power, but right now he wanted the pain to stop. He wanted it stopped more than anything.

"Give me your arm Lucius, You will be my first."

He grabbed the other wizard's wrist, pulled his sleeve high, touched his bare arm with the wand and with that maniacal gleam again, muttered.

"Morsmordre."

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Harry spent the night sleeping peacefully. He didn't know if it was due the fact that he didn't feel his connection with Voldemort anymore or that he was starting to believe that staying in this place might be good. Maybe it was the knowledge that he had one of his best friends back, or some excitement he had begun feeling, knowing that he would go to Diagon Alley to buy a new wand, hopefully his old one. Nevertheless, he woke up rested and ready to face the world.

As soon as he ate breakfast they had shooed him out. No one battered an eye when he said that he would like to go alone. They seemed happy he had asked. He was pretty sure he knew why they all stayed behind.

Not that Harry minded, after all, it was his idea. He didn't remember how Sirius and he had managed to find Hermione and was sure that he would have great difficulty to find her on his own.

He decided to floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub looked the same. Dark and glum, but the atmosphere was lighter than he was used to. Few serving people were milling around, taking orders and delivering food and drinks.

Harry made his way to the back of the pub, through the brick wall and onto his first trip to the Diagon Alley in years.

What he saw took his breath away, the Alley looked… amazing. His senses overwhelmed for a minute. Hundreds of people milling around, Gringotts shining in the distance, Harry got the impression that the wizarding shopping district looked bigger than he had remembered. There were so many people and they all seemed to fit in perfectly.

They didn't have the experience from Voldemort's rising - he was just some dark wizard with a small group of followers. On the other hand the Order existed and fought him since he had escaped from Azkaban. But their years of fighting were not the same. This Tom Riddle had spent sixty years in Azkaban with no means to develop his powers to the extend that The Tom Riddle Harry had fought.

No, this Riddle had no time to quietly build his empire.

But what of the Horuxces, did he manage to create at least one?

Harry banished those dark thoughts. He was here to enjoy the beautiful day and look at the world where fear was not the driving force in the society.

He was here to try and get his wand back. That was a cheering thought.

Harry opened the old shop, the bell rung announcing a customer.

The shop looked just like he had remembered. Many piles of old wand-boxes were lying on shelves, on the floor and in many other various places.

The shop was eerie quiet, enormous contrast to the bustling street outside.

Harry scanned the shop discreetly and smirked inwardly.

So, that's how he always does it.

The old wizard was standing, disillusioned, near the entrance to his workroom. Later, Harry would wonder if this was funny or stupid on his part, but at the moment he felt very cocky, after all he just found out that he had family and friends he thought he had lost, and even more. Life was looking good.

He locked eyes with the wizard, who was apparently waiting when his customers would turn around before appearing and scaring the daylight out of them.

"Good morning. Mister Ollivander, I presume? I hope I don't interrupt in anything important." Harry almost chuckled when the aura around the older wizard shifted to great disappointment but then stirred in curiosity. Harry probably cut the man from his only joy in life.

But he was worried about the curiosity of the other wizard. He had once talked with Aberfoot about the wandmaker and the younger Dumbledore told him that Olivander was already there when Albus and he were buying their wands. And Flamel was supposed to be his good friend as well. Maybe the old alchemist wasn't the only one who had created the Philosopher Stone. If that were true and Olivander did create the Stone, could it be possible that he survived Voldemort, hiding somewhere, and would be back to provide his wands for the future generation of witches and wizards. They were nice thoughts but Harry squashed them and focused on the old wizard who just dropped the spell he was hiding under.

"Mr. Potter." He said slowly, looking intensely at Harry with his unnerving eyes. "I didn't know there was another Heir left."

Harry schooled his face to a pleasant smile, despite the slight nervousness his thoughts had stirred in him.

"I just came to the country. I broke my last wand during the bad apparating."

Legilimens, Harry discovered when the old wizard was fishing for a lie. An accomplished one. The probe was very subtle, but not enough for Harry not to recognize what it was. He decided to let the man enter his surface thoughts and hastily created some false memories of him stumbling and crashing on his wand in some sandy, hot desert.

Fortunately his skills were enough. The wandmaker's aura shifted to scolding disappointment and he asked in his usual, creepy way.

"Wand hand?" Harry let out a small breath of relief.

"I believe right is the most suited." Well, Harry was using both hands, but his right was his initial wand hand. He decided some things should stay as they were.

The magical tape started measuring him. He wondered briefly how the change in his body, as he was a grown up, would relate to the measurements he had had when he was eleven.

Another shift in the wizard's aura woke Harry from his thoughts. To Harry's surprise it brought a great deal of disappointment, but under it there was that curiosity again. He decided to tread carefully there.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Olivander?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong…" The old wizard answered looking around the shop, lost in his thoughts. He looked at Harry after a few moments and said.

"You're pretty good with spell casting."

"I've got some experience." Harry replied hesitantly. "What do you mean?"

The man sighted, "I believe it's good than. What kind of wand would you prefer?"

"Huh?" Harry asked intelligently, "I thought you are here to decide what the best choice is."

"Usually that is the case, Mister Potter." His disappointment fading from his aura. "Maybe it's for the better." He said quietly, Harry had hardly heard him. After a while the wizard continued in a normal voice.

"In the old days Mister Potter, the more prominent spell casters didn't need a wand and used it mostly in rituals and ceremonial casting. Those wands were specially made for those witches and wizards. Normal, common wands, you can see in my shop, were used by rest of the wizarding populace." He looked thoughtfully around the shop again.

"Those few witches and wizards could pick any wand they wanted and use it with equal proficiency as any other caster." He looked at Harry again.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any of those special wands. Well, they were custom made after all."

"I believe you are one of those prominent spell casters Mister Potter. In my opinion you could choose any wand in my shop and it will work for you just fine."

He looked closely at Harry again. "I wonder…"

Harry glanced around the shop, thinking about his holly, phoenix wand. Those prominent spell casters must be simply those who could do wandless magic. But what about all that 'wand chooses the wizard' nonsense. "In that case, do you have a holly wand with a phoenix feather as a core? The feather from Dumbledore's phoenix maybe?" Harry wasn't looking at the old wandmaker when he asked that, but the silence that met his question forced him to look at the man.

"Phoenix feather and a holly wood?" Muttered old wizard, now obviously starring at Harry. "Interesting combination… How do you know I was trying to get Albus to give me a feather from his magnificent, new Phoenix?" he asked in a rather sharp tone.

"New Phoenix?" Now it was Harry's curiosity that perked up.

Could it be?

"As far as I can tell, his familiar came to him five or six years ago. Didn't you heard about it? It is quite rare for the phoenixes to choose their wizards." He looked strangely at Harry.

"It was even brought up to discussion at the International Confederation of Wizards, because some of those who study the Phoenixes argued that this one was not young and to their knowledge only young ones bond to humans. And, of course, phoenixes breed very rarely."

The silence fell between two wizards for a few minutes. They both lost in their own thoughts and pondering their own questions. Albeit of a totally different matters.

Was it possible that Dumbledore's Phoenix was actually Faweks, but what about Riddle, he had one of Faweks' feathers as a core in his wand. Just like Harry's. Where did the differences start? It might be decades.

"Well," Harry said suddenly, "I think, you could give me any wand.., for now." He looked around again. "You could give me one that hasn't been in use for many years, so that no one will miss it."

Mr. Olivander frowned at the casual way the other wizard spoke, but Harry continued before the old wandmaker could voice his disapproval.

"What would you say if I try to get Mr. Dumbledore and his Phoenix to share a feather for my wand?" He said with twinkling eyes. He was happy and hopeful that he might get a chance to meet someone from his old world, someone he knew. Even if it wasn't human.

"Do you think he would agree?" The wizard's voice was laced with hope.

"I believe it is possible." Harry said smiling.

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Harry walked out of the shop holding his, hopefully temporary, cherry wood dragon heartstring wand. Even if he didn't feel particularly connected to it, it was a wand, and he wouldn't be gawked at when performing magic wandlessly.

He was strolling aimlessly through the alley, till he spotted the Ice Cream Parlor and decided to eat something before continuing his wander.

All the evidence pointed that Fawkes had come here when his Dumbledore died. Maybe phoenixes existed only once in all the dimensions. Nevertheless, he would meet his old friend.

He had bought the chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts and moved to the outside benches. People were hurrying around, doing their business.

Harry stayed standing, basking in their careless attitude. It wasn't perfect, but compared to what he was used to… He couldn't remember when was the last time he saw a group of people without their wands drawn. His thoughts wondered freely enjoying himself tremendously.

And then he saw it.

A flash from the past. A phantom from his dreams.

Vibrant, young woman walked out from one of the shops. She was short, with an energetic spark to her walk.

Just like he remembered.

Her red hair glistering in the sun of a beautiful day.

The world stilled, his breath caught.

Harry stumbled backward and sat with a thud on something.

She's alive… Ginny…

Maybe…

Hope started spreading through him. The air suddenly seemed fresher, the sun brighter.

He starred in wonder as she walked to someone and handed him her bags to shrink.

She's older…, …but so am I.

And then the world stopped again. Harry's shoulders slumped when the reality hit him and the bubble burst, leaving Harry with the rotten smell of life. His life.

The young woman stood on the tip of her toes and the man bend slightly.

They kissed.

Not like friends.

Harry starred at the couple as the fingers of their hands intertwined and they moved slowly down the alley.

"Old girlfriend?" Asked a voice from his left.

Old girlfriend? Echoed Harry's thoughts. He couldn't tear his eyes from their hands. The kiss played through his mind over and over again.

"Past dream." He thought and said at the same time. He knew that he shouldn't hope. Hermione was different. He didn't even meet Ron. His Sirius didn't come here at all. But hoped he did. Ginny…

"I'm sorry it didn't work out." The voice said again.

It didn't work out. His mind unconsciously repeated the voice's words.

She met Harry's gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly, and that when he told her what he was going to do now, she would not say 'Be careful', or 'Don't do it', but accept his decision, because she would not have expected anything less of him.…

…'Ginny, listen...' … 'I can't be involved with you any more. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together.' …

„I let go probably the best thing that had happened in my life." He said sadly.

…Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you.'…

"And he got to her…" He sighed sadly. "I've got my chance and sent her away." He whispered in a wistful voice. "And we grew apart."

"I presume you didn't see her for a while."

"Yeah… for a while." But she's alright, she seemed happy.

Harry froze suddenly. He had just talked to someone. He had almost…

He straightened his shoulders, gripped his wand tightly and looked at the person to his left, where the voice came from.

"Who are you?" his voice sounded rather harsh, but only Harry knew it was laced with fear.

The woman sitting next to him looked vaguely familiar. Her thick, black hair with just a trace of red in them were framing her long face. She had deep, gray eyes with a hint of mischief hiding just around the corner. Though, they were definitely different from the mischievous glint he saw in Sirius' or James' eyes, they were without doubt familiar. Her not too small, crocked nose was probably the first thing to notice, but it highlighted her high cheekbones, estimably. In an exotic way she was beautiful. Definitely the face you would notice among many others, to admire or dislike. A perfect face to carve in stone.

Despite the fact that Harry was flooded with difficult emotions about Ginny, astound and a little frightened that only few peaceful days would lower his defenses to the point that he could be tricked into giving out some information, a part of his mind, a male part, couldn't help but appreciate this woman.

She observed him curiously, with her head crocked to the side. Her eyes sparkled behind long lashes.

"Ah… but you have some good memories at least." She said a bit wistfully, smiling at him sadly she continued, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

She extended her slim hand to him expectantly.

"I'm Amabel."

"Harry Potter." Harry said shaking her hand. He didn't thought it important but he'd noticed that she didn't say her last name.

"Potter?" She asked looking at him curiously.

"I just came here. And yes, related to James and Lily Potter" He smiled. It was good to introduce himself and don't have to experience the gawking his name usually promised, just the normal interest.

Harry looked around his thoughts turning to Ginny again, but unfortunately or fortunately he didn't see her again among the crowds around the Alley. He sighted loudly but didn't know if it was in relief or disappointment.

After a moment he remembered that he was still holding the woman's hand.

Harry tried to remember what he had said and how to change the subject.

"Er, I think it wasn't my friend," he started awkwardly, "just someone who resemble her."

"Oh, Okay." She didn't seem convinced but thankfully dropped the subject.

"You've lost your ice cream." She pointed to a puddle of melted food.

"Oh, damn." Harry took his new wand, holding it between his hands. He examined the flow of magic leaving from one hand through the wand to the other. His first wand since he lost his own. He would have to remember to limit himself to using the wand in public – he didn't need to add more rumors to those his appearance would probably stir.

"Mr. Potter, are you okay?"

He got startled again – that was not good.

"It's Harry," he smiled at the woman, Amabel, "and I'm alright, just a new wand." He waved said wand vanishing his ruined snack. Looking around the street, in unconscious hopes to glimpse his lost love again, Harry hesitated, what to do next. It certainly was easier to command rather than to entertain.

"Well..." The problem was he didn't know if he wanted to go or stay and talk to the woman. Sure he had planned to find Hermione's flat again – somewhere on the first floor, and in the Diagon Alley district – but she would be at job and would visit the Potters latter anyway. The Weasleys were out of the question, at least for a time being. Remus was working at the Ministry – good for him. He couldn't just pop at Neville's – if he lived at the same place, and seeing Tonks again would be great – but in reality he didn't know these people, he didn't know this Ginny – he remembered sadly – and back in his old world his love diminished even before the girl he had hoped to love died.

...neither can live while the other survived... Oh, how he hoped that he had fulfilled this blasted prophecy. I am not marked by this Tom Riddle - Harry pleaded silently - and he is not Voldemort. Nobody is chasing to kill you Harry, you can live.

"I'm going to eat some lunch, would you like to join me?" Her voice startled Harry for the third time that day.

"I was just thinking how to ask you to lunch." Harry smiled at her.

"O really?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Is that your line, Harry?" She was obviously testing the sound of his name.

"When you know me better, you'll probably realize that this was my best picking line ever." Harry laughed.

"I shouldn't be worry then." She said with a strait face. But broke down laughing at Harry's mock scowl. "Let's go then, I'm starving."

You can live Harry.

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AN – Don't shoot. Please. I'm innocent. It was him, he did it.

I'm sorry for the looong wait, I am also sorry for ignoring your lovely REVIEWS.

Great THANK YOU for the REVIEWS.

I will respond eventually, there is this new feature to create forum, so maybe if you would really like I can create one and respond there. My old responses were on my disk and since the last update I had to format my comp trice. Not much left there unfortunately.

About the story – I think that we touched something with this chapter. Tell me how believable Harry was – compared to earlier chapters, if you remember.

If you find anything that annoys you to the point that I should change it immediately, don't be shy and tell me – I'll trust your knowledge and correct the mistakes.

I'm going to send the thing to beta eventually. Big thank you to all of you who had offered. But right now my life is still somehow destined to meet few points after which it will be possible for me to write more. For now my updates will be erratic.

I will only ask once this time – maybe twice – REVIEW PLEASE.