Chapter 3
Harry woke once again on something soft. He could hear voices speaking above his head, so he feigned sleep for a while and listened in.
"His vitals are fine, Severus, quit hovering." That would be Madam Pomfrey.
"But we still don't know what caused the collapse, or where the dark magic I felt rolling off of him came from." Was there distress in Snape's voice?
"My dear boy, you must have been mistaken." At the sound of that voice, Harry forgot he was feigning sleep and sat upright in bed. The owner of that voice was supposed to be dead. In fact, Harry had seen that man fall from the astronomy tower.
"Headmaster?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Harry what is it?" there was that grandfatherly concern written clearly on the man's face.
"You're alive." He said quietly, amazement gracing his features before he realized they were looking at him like he had lost his mind.
"You were expecting otherwise?" Dumbledore laughed, but the laughter didn't quite reach his eyes.
"No…" Harry shook his head in a dazed sort of way, very aware that everyone was staring at him. "What the hell happened?" he asked himself.
Lilly took his hand in hers and sat by his side. "Oh, Harry. You passed out sweetheart. We need you to tell us everything you can remember about last night."
"Last night?" Again thoughts revolving around alcohol and blood were all that he could come up with. And…a black book. "I don't know, I can't remember much." He muttered to himself.
Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into his father's…no Snape's…black eyes, as he sat on the bed next to him. "You need to tell us Harry, we need to make sure nothing else happens. You need to remember."
Harry thought Snape was going to try Legilimency and quickly screwed his eyes shut and yelled. "Stay out of my head! Isn't it enough I have to keep the snake-faced bastard out without having to worry about people who are supposed to be on my side?"
Silence followed that little outburst, Snape's hand never leaving his shoulder, and then Dumbledore broke it. "Who is trying to get into your head Harry?"
Harry glared from between his fingers. "Who? Who else? Voldemort!" he noticed several in the room flinched, but he didn't care.
Lilly ran a gentle hand through his hair. "Honey, he's dead. He has been for nearly sixteen years now. He died the night he tried to kill you and me." She shot a concerned look over his head.
Blinking a few times in confusion, Harry slowly dropped his hands. He then snatched Snape's left wrist in an iron grasp and practically ripped his sleeve upwards. His pale skin was unmarked and Harry continued to gape at it in shock, and then looked up into Snape's face.
"He's gone, he can't hurt you." There was comfort in his father's voice.
Harry nodded. As if knowing he was about to be led into a false sense of security, his scar gave a painful throb. His hand shot automatically to it as the pain intensified. And then, just as suddenly, it was gone.
"Headache?" the mediwitch handed him a blue vial, which he drank, even though he had downed one just a few hours ago.
Dumbledore was looking at him strangely, something hidden in those sparkling blue eyes. And Harry knew what it was. "He's not dead." He said quietly. His snapped his head up and looked Dumbledore in the eyes. "Is he Headmaster?"
Before the headmaster could answer, a beeping sound came from Pomfrey's waist. "Oh, excuse me, St. Mungo's has me on call now that the school year is over. Harry looks stable, plenty of rest, yes? And call if anything changes." The mediwitch left the room.
Dumbledore decided to pretend he hadn't heard Harry. "I must really be going as well, school hasn't…"
"I know, Headmaster. I know what he did to stay immortal. And he did it seven times."
"How…I…Seven?" Dumbledore couldn't quite get a full sentence out. Harry almost laughed hysterically at the stunned and shocked expression on the Headmaster's face. He bit his lip to keep it in, knowing full well that if he laughed at a moment like this, they would lock him up and throw away the key.
Harry nodded to himself, more than in answer to Dumbledore's question. "Yes, seven. The diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the snake, the bit that holds his conscious and the one I don't know." Harry chewed his lip. "The chamber was never opened, so the diary is still around…" Harry looked down at his arm, noting the missing scar. "No scar…no blood…no body…but why?" Harry completely ignored the adults now looking at him like he was nuts. "Wormtail…is in Azkaban." The thought hit him and it all made sense. "He never returned." He smiled, but then frowned again. "But why didn't he go through someone else? Or maybe he is, it just hasn't happened yet…"
"Harry. What is going on?" Snape finally asked, not unkindly but with an edge to his voice.
"If I knew…" Harry sighed. "You wouldn't believe me what I 'think' happened."
"Tell me." There was a gentleness that Harry almost recognized. For a moment the half of him that thought of the man as his father won out and he leaned against the supportive form beside him. His father placed a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"I…I think I have changed…lives, or something. I woke up this morning, here. With this whole set of memories…memories with you and mum. In my 'world' mum is…well, she died protecting me from Voldemort." He couldn't look at Lilly as he said that. "And you." He sighed, ignoring the anger that wanted to bubble up when he thought about what the Snape in his time had done. "We didn't exactly get along. I grew up with the Dursleys…didn't know anything about magic or being the Boy Who Lived."
"Boy Who Lived?" Lilly asked with confusion.
Harry rubbed his scar absentmindedly. "How did I get this scar?"
"After the curse that was meant to kill me backfired that night, the house partially fell down. After I gained consciousness, I found you under some rubble. You had that cut on your forehead." Lilly supplied.
Harry shook his head. "No, that's not what happened."