Massive HBP Spoilage
Summary: At the end of her sixth year, Briara Potter, "The Girl Who Lived," defeated Lord Voldemort. In his last moments, Voldemort used the Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum charm, banishing Bri to a far more familiar HP universe until its Voldemort is destroyed by its own chosen one.
This is an AU, starting at the end of Harry's sixth year.
I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.
(Q&A)
Is Briara related to Harry / is she the daughter James and Lily might have had?
It's not so much that Briara is related to Harry, but more of a she IS Harry, just in this particular reality the child of James and Lily was born with an X chromosome instead of a Y. There are no long lost siblings or twins involved. There are obviously going to be more differences between the realities (such as Briara's parents being alive,) but we shall delve into those at a later date.
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A lone figure stepped out from under his invisibility cloak in front of Hogwarts castle jut shortly after midnight. Life for Harry had really taken a turn for the worse after the last few days. So much death, so much destruction, and yet Voldemort was still on the loose. He should have been able to do more to save his friends. Maybe if he had been stronger and faster he could have broken free of Dumbledore's charm and saved him.
The brightly shinning sun that had been in the sky during the wake the previous afternoon had belied the solemn mood around the castle. And yet, the brightness had seemed strangely right. Dumbledore had lived his life in the light and it was fitting that it should end the same way.
Harry moved over towards the lake where Dumbledore's body had been encased. The white tomb seemed to glow ethereally under the light of the stars. He sat down with his back to the white marble and rested his head on his knees, the discarded invisibility cloak crumpled on the ground next to him.
"I'm leaving to go back to the Dursley's tomorrow, just like you wanted." Harry said. "I'll be staying there until Bill's wedding. Then, well, I'm going to find the rest of the horcruxes and end this stupid war. Ron and Hermione want to come with me. I can just see that conversation between Ron and his mother. She's likely to blow something up. It would be great having them with me, but I don't want to risk their lives. If they come, I don't know if they'd make it back, I don't even know if I'll make it back. But I have to try. Everyone is depending on me."
Harry sighed and lifted his head to look back towards the lights twinkling fm the castle. "It's not the same without you up there. Everyone is more on edge. We really took your presence for granted. I mean, we all knew that we felt safer with you around, but it was generally believed that you would always be here. And now your not, and we don't know what to do.
"There was talk of closing the school next year. They decided not to though. McGonagall is going to keep it open for whoever wants to return. The Patil's probably won't be here, but Seamus will. He got into a row with his mum right after the battle. She wanted to take him home but he refused. I'm glad some of us are coming back. Maybe it will show Voldemort that we're not all so scared of him that we can't live our lives normally. Well, as normal as possible, given the war and everything. Sometimes I wi. . ." he broke off as a sound coming from the direction of the castle broke the silence.
Harry jumped up to his feet and held his wand out in front of him at arms length. "Stupefy!" There was a startled yell and the sound of someone stumbling out of the way of the blindly aimed spell.
"My God, Harry, watch it with that thing! You almost got me."
"Ron?" Harry asked. "Lumos."
"Yeah, it's me." The red head said, shielding his eyes from the sudden bright light. "And Hermione is right be hind me, or did you want to hex her too?"
A small smile tugged at Harry's lips. "No, Hermione is too good a friend to hex. You on the other hand . . ." He left the sentence open to interpretation.
"Why thank you Harry." Hermione said, stepping out into the circle of light past an open mouthed Ron.
"Well, fine! Next time I wake up and find you missing in the middle of the night I'll go straight to McGonagall and instead of just me and Hermione coming out to find you you'll have every auror available combing over the grounds." Ron's smile made his statement hard to believe. "Seriously, mate, what are you doing out here?"
"Talking to Dumbledore, getting some things off my chest. Things have been hectic lately. I just needed to slow down and try and digest everything that has been happening." Harry said. He then turned from his friends and slid back to a sitting position against the coffin. Ron and Hermione followed suite on either side of him.
"It all has been rather surreal, hasn't it?" Hermione asked of no-one in particular. The two boys remained silent, lost in their own thoughts. "And it's nowhere near over yet."
"Nope." Harry's one word answer said it all.
The trio continued to sit in silence for a few minutes before Ron's stomach decided it had something to say. Hermione and Harry both turned to look at Ron and his gurgling stomach.
Ron grinned from ear to ear. "What do you say we move this party to the kitchens?"
"Sure thing Ron, it was getting a little cold out here anyways." Harry stood up and offered a hand to either of his friends, pulling them to their feet. "Hermione, can you hand me the invisibility cloak? I think you sat on it."
"Hmm? Oh. So that's why the ground seemed softer than usual. Here you go." Hermione picked up the cloak and handed it to Harry who slung it over his shoulders. He then pulled out an old piece of parchment from a pocket.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. If you see anyone coming, we'll all try and squeeze under the cloak." Harry said. He then handed the map to Ron and they all started the trek back up to the castle.
They walked slowly for they were in no hurry. (Except perhaps Ron, who kept apologizing each time his stomach growled.) They walked silently for most everything that had needed saying had been said earlier in the day. They walked cautiously for the attack of the Death Eaters was still fresh in their minds.
They were just about two-hundred meters from the entrance to the castle when the strangest thing happened. Energy seemed to build up in the air, like electricity, causing hairs to stand on end. Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped walking and looked around them to try and discern the cause of this sudden energy. A glance at the Marauders Map showed that they where the only ones out on the grounds. But if no-one else was out there, what was causing this phenomenon?
Suddenly, the amassing energy whooshed past them, causing a breeze. They turned in the direction the breeze was blowing and their eyes alighted on the Quiditch Pitch off in the distance where a glow seemed to be forming above the near goal posts.
Looking at each other, the trio drew their wands and headed off towards the pitch at a run. All the while they were running the glow grew in brightness. They reached the edge of the pitch just in time to witness the bright spot fold in upon itself. When it was no more than a tiny spot of intense light, brighter than the sun, it exploded with a deafening bang.
Among the specks of light floating to the ground, the body of a girl appeared in the grass. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed forward to the still figure. Covering her mouth with one hand at seeing the extensive wounds, including a large gash near the girls right shoulder which looked like it had almost severed the arm, Hermione leaned down and used two fingers on her other hand to check the girl's neck for a pulse.
Standing back up, she announced to a very pale Ron and Harry: "She's alive."
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One word: Wowsers. I've had Inspector Gadget on the brain all day, don't ask me why. The theme song is on an endless loop in my head. (Okay, so it was more like 25 words.)