Harry thudded to the ground, his breath forced out of him. He felt the plush carpet around him as he raised his head slowly, taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be tied with invisible ropes. They trapped him on the ground, leaving him capable of little movement. He was in Dumbledore's office, but there were clear differences in it.

The room looked cold and barren. Most of Dumbledore's metal instruments were gone, and the old pictures of headmasters were all empty. The room still hummed with magic, but it no longer seemed to be the friendly hum of Dumbledore's spells. Rather, it was the ominous hum of wards Harry had long grown accustomed to while searching for the Horcruxes.

Harry was trapped, wandless, in the sealed room with someone that looked like Sirius's long dead brother. Regulus had thought he was James – had said James was dead.

He hated Sirius enough to try and kill him.

Regulus was standing above his older brother. Sirius was unconscious, head lolling back onto the ground, a bit of blood on his forehead. The travel must have caused him to bounce around a bit.

Regulus sneered down at the form, wand still held out and ready.

It was funny – Harry had put a lot of thought into Regulus. He had, after all, stolen one of the Horcruxes in a kamikaze mission. Harry had wondered what made him do it, what made him rebel. It was clear that Voldemort's treatment of Kreacher played a huge role, but perhaps Sirius had also played one.

Harry hadn't known – he still didn't know. However, Harry had always imagined Regulus as weak, unable to stop from becoming a Death Eater, cowering in the shadows before his one final, cowardly last stand. The final stand where he slipped away with no thought to those that knew him. He had died when he could have lived.

Harry saw nothing of the man he had imagined in the Regulus he now saw. This Regulus stood tall and proud. He was clearly very skilled with spells and magic. His voice was deep and sure – if not sad and broken as well.

But what war-torn man wasn't broken?

Regulus was a fighter – that was clear.

Harry just didn't know what he was fighting against or what side he belonged to.

Harry jumped as the first pop of an Apparation was heard. It was quickly followed by several other pops.

"Regulus?" a deep voice said, shaking as he observed the scene before him. "Is that really…?"

"I believe so," Regulus said, harsh and cold as he pointed his wand at Sirius.

"Who is that with him?" another voice – a higher voice but just as shaky – said.

"I don't know," Regulus admitted. "I thought James Potter at first, but look at his eyes…"

"That's not James," a woman's voice breathed. It was close to Harry, and he shivered slightly before looking at the woman.

The woman had red hair, long and pulled back by a hair band. She also had green eyes.

Harry's mouth formed the word 'mum' but he didn't say it, knowing that this figure wasn't really his mother, that his mother knew who he was, knew he wasn't his father.

"Who are you?" she asked Harry, crouching down beside where he was forced on the floor. Lily met his eyes, and she froze. Harry stared into the identical pair of eyes looking back at him.

"What was he playing at?" she breathed. "What is the trick here – what deception?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said to her. Lily rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Of course not. What's your name?" she asked.

"Harry," he said, not seeing any reason to increase her suspicion by not answering.

Lily – if this was truly Lily, if she was the same person that had been dead merely an hour ago, narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I don't know where I am, really. The place I left was not supposed to bring me here."

"What does that even mean?" Lily snarled. "You knew you were coming to Hogwarts – you can't break through years of warding by accident."

"Look, I don't know how I got here. The place I left was Hogwarts. This is Hogwarts, too." Lily scoffed again, the sound seeming hoarse and ugly coming from his mother's doppelganger. It sounded like she had seen too much – had felt too much and had been touched by it.

Harry knew the feeling.

"You aren't making any sense, but how is that surprising? None of this makes sense."

The other two people began making their way over to Regulus. Harry recognized Bill Weasley, but he didn't know the other man.

"I understand why you called us, Reg, but what's going on?" the mystery man asked.

"Leon, I – I admit that Sirius has always been able to surprise us, but this… I don't understand this. I was wondering if you had brewed any Veritaserum?" Regulus asked.

"I haven't," Leon said. "What is so strange about this? I mean – other than the fact that you finally beat your brother."

"Shut up, Wilkes," Regulus shot back, his voice holding no real ire at the other man though it wasn't truly amused either. "He surrendered. Asked me what was going on – seemed out of it. I don't know – he certainly wasn't like he usually is."

"I can't help but wonder if this isn't another trick," Bill said, looking between Harry and Sirius's forms.

"I have Minerva and the twins checking out the rest of the castle, just in case," Regulus said. "Leon, are you sure you don't have any of the serum?"

"I checked before I came here– you were too open on that connection, Regulus," Leon said. He seemed hesitant to point out Regulus's mistake, and Regulus flinched back as he said it.

Harry saw a change in Regulus's eyes, a sudden sadness and fear that was even stronger than before. Regulus had had clear pain in his eyes – he had the eyes of someone that lost too much. Merlin, Harry knew the feeling, but his eyes had changed to someone that had lost everything.

"I guess we'll just have to question him," Regulus said. "He's been answering."

"How will we know if it's the truth?" Lily protested.

"We'll have to wait for Minerva – look at this kid – he's young. Minerva might be able to tell if he's lying or not with all her experience."

"I'm not going to lie to you," Harry jumped in, trying to plead with his captors. "I want to know what's going on as well."

"Please, tell me – what don't you understand about this situation?" the man – Wilkes – asked, bitter and scoffing.

"This isn't the place I left. Please – This morning I was at Hogwarts preparing for a final stand against Voldemort. A spell went wrong and caused Sirius and I to land here."

The four strangers looked at each other, unsure, doubting.

"I don't know what his endgame is with this plot," Bill admitted.

"There is no endgame," Harry tried. "Please – you have to believe me that we aren't enemies. I just want to get back to the battle – my friends are dying back there!"

As Harry said it, he knew it to be true. Voldemort was going to rage and hate and destroy because Harry had escaped. Hagrid would be killed – every student and loyal teacher would be destroyed. Every Order member – everyone. Merlin, Harry couldn't let that happen.

He didn't know where he was or who the people he was with were.

But he knew he had to get back to his friends.

"You said there was a battle against Voldemort?" Lily asked. "Voldemort's dead. He has been for years."

"He – he can't be," Harry said. "His snake – the Horcrux! – I was fighting him! He was about to kill me!"

"He was about to kill you?" Bill asked, something flashing in his eyes. "What spell did you cast?"

"I didn't cast anything… It was Hagrid – he tried to cast Protego – but he can't use magic. It shouldn't have done anything. You can't block the Killing Curse!"

Harry found that thinking about what had happened – what should have happened – hurt horribly. He had abandoned everyone he cared about. Not intentionally – no, he hadn't wanted this to happen, but he had still abandoned them.

What was he supposed to do?

"It was a spell gone wrong?" Bill asked. His brow creased as if he was thinking.

"Bill?" Regulus asked. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," Bill said. "In theory – perhaps I know, but I've never heard of a true account –"

"What's your theory then?" Wilkes growled.

"There are… old stories that I ran into while studying. Stories of desperate people and spells cast without wands, sometimes without even words. The spells aren't really controlled. Rather, they try and follow the caster's intent – they try to solve whatever is making them desperate."

"You think that could have happened?" Lily said, skeptical. "I think Sirius is just trying to take us off our game."

"That's more likely," Bill said. "But if this… kid's telling the truth, then that's what I'd say happened."

"And how exactly would the spell bring him here?" Regulus asked.

"This is a safe place for him," Bill said. "It saved him."

"This?" Regulus exclaimed. "How can this be a safe place for him!"

"There's no Voldemort here for one. Plus, if… Harry's telling the truth, then Sirius never – well, then Sirius has been there for him."

"So you're saying there's a place where Voldemort is still alive, and Sirius is still fighting against him?" Lily said. "Multiple dimensions? They've never been proven."

"I doubt they'll ever be proven or could be proven. But it's a theory, and if the spell truly happened, then it's the best theory we've got."

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoy the update! It took a lot of thought – at first, I wrote this where RAB uses Veritaserum but I thought that that solved too much too quickly.

Thanks to all reviewers!

Please review!

Dislcaimer: I don't own Harry Potter