Guess who's back with a freshly big chapter?

Sorry for the delay, it was hard writing about "normal" stuff, and my main computer just refuse to turn on, most of my stuff, including drafts for next chaps, etc., were inside so I'm a bit fkd lmao

I'm now using an old laptop and should get the content of my harddrive soon so it should be okay.

Now the reviewsss:

-Namikaze: I mean crimes against Harry are piling up for Snape, the Prophecy and then that? Not sure Harry is kind enough to let both pass. Remember when Snape killed Dumbles in canon? He tried to fight him, imagine now…

DarkRavie: Thanks for the kind words! I hope it doesn't disappoint you!

Spicyanimechick: Yeah I remember, it's been a year since I saw your review! Happy to see you're still there, thanks a lot!

As always, all the thanks go to all of you AND Webstriker who's still kindly editing my chapters!

Enjoy!

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Darkness. His senses were all over the place, his closed eyes made it even worse but for some reason, he could not open them. He wanted to scream, but his lips seemed to be sewed together. After a few seconds of quiet panic, his vision started to shift, and darkness was slowly replaced by something else.

A scene started to unfold before his somehow closed eye; he knew he had to be in a dream. This would not make any sense otherwise. He started to discern forms, from what he was about to get, he thought it would have been better to stay in darkness.

A mutilated body was in front of him, it was a really disgusting sight. Blood was everywhere around it, a hole in its chest where the heart should have been. The hole was empty, no trace of any heart. He wanted to close his eyes, he could not. He tried to turn his head away from the scene that made him want to puke, he could not. He was forced to look at it, and despite being a dream, it was very clear, and he could make out lots of details.

"Excellent." His voice came out without him knowing.

It was weird, he knew the voice came from him, but he did not recognize it. However, before he could think about it more, his hands started moving on their own. He noticed a wand, and just like his voice, he knew it was his, but at the same time he was unfamiliar with it.

All of a sudden an indescribable pain rose inside himself it was as if he remembered how it felt, and his mind put him through it again. It was worse than the Cruciatus Curse, he could not think about anything else. It did not stop for what seemed to be an eternity.

And when it finally did, there was no residual pain like with the Cruciatus curse, instead, he felt haggard and lost, it was not something he had ever felt, and at the same time it was. A feeling of something missing… as if he was just robbed of something vital. The sensation did not go away and felt awful.

Once again, his body moved on his own accord. He could finally put his eyes away from the dead body and started examining around him. He walked towards a closed door, with a wave of his hand, it opened to a bedroom. The latter was extravagant, its proportions were huge, and everything was shining.

He started walking unwillingly towards the only mirror in the room, a sense of dread rising in his stomach. He did not know why, but he felt that it was a bad idea. He tried his best to make the body move like he wanted but nothing worked. When he arrived in front of the mirror, he would have preferred to stay with the mutilated body for a whole week instead.

"I'm perfect." Once again, Lord Voldemort's voice came out from Harry's mouth.

Harry woke up screaming, cold sweat covering his still shivering body. The last image of his nightmare still in his mind, refusing to leave him. The red eyes, the snake-like face, and the razor voice of Voldemort. It all felt so real, he could still remember the hair colour of the mutilated body and the sensation of lacking was still somehow present, even though it was less than during the nightmare.

Still breathing hard, he heard hurried steps coming for him. He still was disoriented from the nightmare and could not remember where he was, he took a look around him, and everything felt unfamiliar to him. He tried to stand up, but his trembling legs gave up from his weight and he fell on the floor. Before he could try to stand up once again, the sound of a door slamming open attracted his attention.

What he saw made no sense, he was in front of himself, accompanied by a Weasley he could not place.

"Harry?" The other him called quietly, a worried expression adorning his face. "We heard a scream, are you okay?"

At first they did not approach him, maybe because they saw how disoriented he was, not willing to scare him anymore. However, his lack of answer made them even more worried, and they started to slowly walk in his direction.

Still not sure of what was happening, Harry tried to crawl back but was quickly stopped by the bed.

"Harry, it's us. James and Lily." The apparently not Weasley said, and that made Harry's mind slowly get the whole situation.

It was not him and an unknown Weasley girl, they were Lily and James Potter, and he was in another universe. And he was in their house. He managed to catch a breath, his brain slowly getting in motion.

"Sorry, I.. erm… Nightmare." He managed to utter quietly.

They approached him, worry still plastered on their face. Lily's hand went up to his forehead, it was cold, but not in a bad way, it was more refreshing.

"That's not just a mere nightmare, you're burning!"

He managed to get up this time the parents made him sit on the bed and he ended up tightly sitting between them. "Bad nightmare, I'm better now, sorry for bothering you…"

"Nonsense! You're not bothering us; we're just worried about you."

"Sorry." He could not look at anything else than his feet. "I feel better now." And he did, his sweating had stopped, and he could think more clearly than before. "I was just… disoriented."

They did not say anything, a hand was rubbing his back and they were still both looking at him worriedly. He felt very awkward about his situation, he was not used to that sort of attention that 0he was getting.

"You want to talk about it?" James asked him after a moment.

Harry shook his head; he did not know what to think about the nightmare he just had. Telling them that he just dreamed of being Voldemort in front of a highly mutilated body was not a good way to leave a good impression.

"Let's get you a cup of warm cocoa." Lily said while looking at her husband.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, until Lily coughed loudly.

"Oh yeah, sure." James stood up quickly and almost ran towards the door.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, her hand still gently rubbing his back. Now that he had space on his other side, he almost escaped from the touch. However, he knew she was just doing it to reassure him, and while it somehow worked, he did not feel at ease.

"Daphne and Ivy are arriving in a few hours." Harry's head made a swift turn. "It will be a little crowded. Sirius and Inès will be there since Ivy was with them."

"Illness?" Harry ticked at the name; he did not know people had such tendencies.

Lily laughed good-heartedly. "Don't say that to her, she hates when people confuse the two. It's Inès, not illness. It's a foreign name, she's Sirius's wife."

"Oh." Harry did not really know what to think, first Professor Lupin, and now Sirius. It was really weird.

"So, where was I?" Lily kept going." "Ah yeah, Remus and Cissy should come too. He guessed that Cissy was Mrs. Malfoy.

Mrs. Lupin! He admonished himself. Who knows what will happen if I make this mistake when they arrive.

"Neville and Augusta too, and maybe the Greengrass. They have not confirmed it yet."

"Actually, they just did." Interrupted James before he could answer. He was coming back, with three cups floating in front of him. One of them flew directly into his hands and smelled exquisite. "Just had them on the floo, they'll arrive with the girls."

Harry sipped his cup slowly, not really understanding what they wanted from him. The last time something similar happened, it was at the Dursley just before his second year when he was told to stay in his room quietly and pretend he did not exist. He wanted to believe that the Potters were not going to act like them, but since he was in another universe, everything could happen.

"If it's too much for you," Lily continued as if she never stopped. "We can always cancel. It won't be the first time, and it certainly won't be the last."

"No no, I'm okay." He repeated, still appreciating his hot cocoa.

They watched him silently for a few seconds before getting up in unison.

"C'mon, you must be famished, breakfast is ready." James told him merrily before leaving him alone with Lily once again.

Suddenly, Harry remembered he did not eat last night, he had fallen asleep before. He was indeed starving, and the thought of a full breakfast was so enthralling that he got up and without realizing it, he was following Lily, who was laughing softly, to the kitchen.

It was attached to the living room and was very cozy. A small table was in the middle of it, where sat three chairs and one baby chair. A window overlooked what seemed to be a huge garden, and next to it were attached some moving pictures from the Potter's family.

The table was full, pancakes, syrup, toast, peanut butter, and scrambled eggs, it almost felt too much for only three people. Almost, because Harry was famished. He went to wash his hands, and next to James.

Usually, he would not participate in anything in the morning, after all silence was sacred this early. However, it seemed that the Potter had other rules, they kept discussing everything, trying to include him in their discussion. He could not do anything else than oblige them, and frankly he was happy he did, it helped him forget the nightmare he had, and shifted his mood for the better.

When he was full, he quickly started to clean up the table as a habit. At Hogwarts he never did because the atmosphere was different, but now that he was in a house, in a smaller committee, he felt the urge to do it, like he did when he was at the Dursleys'. He knew he messed up somewhere when the two adults looked at him questioningly.

"Erm… I feel guilty for not doing anything."

Both of them did not look convinced at all, but they did not voice it out, so he kept going. He could see that they were still thinking about it, so he tried to change the subject, not really willing to disclose his family issues, he felt ashamed of it.

"So, I guess we aren't telling the Greengrass and the Longbottom the truth about me?" Harry asked.

That made the two adults come out of their thinking, and it was exactly what he was aiming for.

"I mean, Daphne already told, erm… Daphne, that I'm his cousin." Talking about people who have the same name is really disturbing.

"It's up to you. Dumbledore said that it was best to not tell, but at this point five more people won't change anything." James answered.

Five? Does it mean that one of their parents is gone? I don't remember Daphne telling me something like that back in my world… I guess that's one of many other differences between our universes, I shouldn't dwell too much on it.

"For now, I think it's better to trust Professor Dumbledore on that matter." Harry knew this intelligence was sensitive, he did not know in which hand it could fall, and what they would do with it or with him.

"Your call," James said while finishing his toast. "I suppose you're living with Remus in your world, aren't you?" Harry abruptly stopped in his tracks. "I mean if your Padfoot is the same as ours, he wouldn't let you come close to any chores."

"Erm… Not exactly, Professor Lupin has a… situation that prevented him from doing so." Harry was adventuring on a slippery slope, the conversation nearing dangerously the thing he did not want to talk about.

"Oh, so he's a werewolf too?"

Harry merely nodded.

"Hmm, I can't imagine any world where Sirius would raise anyone like that." James continued pensively.

Harry dreaded the direction the discussion was taking, he hated talking about his upbringing. Two years ago, when the Weasleys learned about the bars on his window, he wanted to dig a hole and hide inside. The shame that he got from knowing that he did not grow up "normally", that he did not have an actual bedroom until his eleventh birthday, the fact that whatever he did, the one who he lived with, would never even appreciate him, brought in him a feeling of shame that he abhorred.

Now that he had become proficient at lying without getting caught, he considered just doing that and being done with the questioning. The issue there was that it was hard lying about something he never really knew. He did not have a family. He had friends, teachers, acquaintances but never a family. Maybe Sirius could fit in that category if he is ever released, but for now he had no real experience, so his lies would not be convincing at all.

"He didn't." Harry finally decided to say quietly. "He also had a… situation."

"Another situation? What? Don't tell me he's a vampire." James chuckled softly, but his eyes got a little bit more serious.

"No, nothing like that. Erm… How can I explain that… He was in Azkaban." He said in a quizzical way. Both Lily and James' jaws literally dropped. "It wasn't his fault though, he got set up." He quickly added, not willing for them to think badly of his godfather. "He was thrown unjustly in jail for a crime he did not commit without even a trial."

Both of them looked too thrown out to even say a word, so they stayed in silence for a minute.

"What happened?" James finally asked in a blank voice. It seemed that even if he was in another world, he was still concerned about Sirius.

Harry thought about it for a moment, he did not really know where to begin and he was not sure if he really wanted to talk about his parents' death to his parents' counterparts.

Screw it!

"Voldemort was after m… my parents." He almost said me but caught himself at the last moment. Fortunately, it could be taken off as if he had a hard time talking about his parents. The prophecy was sensitive information, and having it meant one would not be safe. Harry's last wish was to endanger them. "They decided to hide using the Fidelius Charm, I'm not sure I understood all the specifics about it, but it consists of having a secret, kept by the Secret Keeper and as long as he doesn't tell it to someone, this someone can't know about it." Harry struggled to explain the charm, he knew his explanations were off, but they surely did not need him to explain since they probably know about it.

"My parents first wanted to choose Sirius as the Secret Keeper since he was my dad's best friend, however after reflexion, Sirius thought it would be better to let people think it would be him and instead made Pettigrew the real Secret Keeper." He spat the name with so much anger, that his voice actually sounded angry for a moment, making both of the adults startled. "He betrayed them, and the night it happened, Sirius, who knew what really happened, chased down Pettigrew. The latter set him up, killing a dozen muggles and faked his own death. He got arrested the same night, and Pettigrew flew and was celebrated like a deceased hero."

"That sums it up." Harry's voice was back to 'normal'. "Oh, and Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial, he only managed to escape last year. A lot happened after that but it's not relevant, the important things being that I learned about him not being a killer and Pettigrew being alive the same night, and with actual proof."

A long silence followed his little monologue.

I should just keep my mouth shut next time, why do I always keep bringing the mood down?

"You know, that's really a Sirius thing to be able to escape Azkaban." Lily said softly with a little smile adorning her face.

James started chuckling too. "You're right, it is." He sighed deeply. "Your world is really hard to live in, isn't it?" He put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "We're proud of you."

It surprised Harry, he expected a lot of things, but certainly not that. And involuntarily, tears began to well up in his eyes. He quickly turned towards the sink, starting the dishes so they would not notice his tears.

"So, in the end, where did you end up living?" Lily asked.

Harry was almost happy that she changed the subject, only if it had not come back to square one.

"Erm… WithyoursisterPetunia." He quickly fumbled.

Lily sharply redressed herself in her chair. "I'm not sure I heard it right, could you say that again please?"

She looked scary for some reason, her green eyes were burning, not inspiring him to repeat anything, but he did.

"Your sister Petunia." He muttered as quietly as possible.

"And from your reaction, I guess that your mother's relationship with her was as bad as mine is with my sister." Lily said, sounding more defeated than angry. "Did she at least treat you well?"

Harry could hear hope in her voice and felt horrible to be the one to break it, but he had gone this far with the truth, lying now would be useless.

"They gave me food I guess."

Once again, a silence dropped in the kitchen.

Me and my power to screw the mood up…

"Um… So, when are they supposed to arrive?"

James jumped at the opportunity to answer him. "Sirius, Remus and their wives should be there any moment now, as for the rest, it should be around eight."

"Now?!" Lily almost screamed, seemingly recovered from their last talk. "They said they would come by six, the house is a mess!" She hit her husband's arm. "Why didn't you tell me they changed their plans?"

"Ouch! I forgot! I'm sorry."

Harry smiled at the scene, and at the same time he wondered if his parents would act the same as them.

Don't make it harder, you idiot. If wishes were horses, then beggars might ride.

The couple continued their bickering, waving their wands from time to time to clean a surface or move something to another place. Harry was just happy by watching this somehow peaceful scene. He was done cleaning up the table and sat leisurely on one of the kitchen chairs.

Suddenly a crashing noise came from the living room. His eyes immediately turned to the source of the sound, the fireplace. A woman stood in front of it, arms crossed, apparently waiting for someone to come out of the fireplace. Since none of the two adults seemed to do anything else than watch her with a smile, he guessed she was Sirius' wife.

Since she still did not bother looking in their directions, he started examining her. She was around five and a half feet tall; her brown hair was styled in a sort of square cut where the ends were blond. She was wearing a black leathered trench coat with matching black leathered boots. He was not sure why, but he somehow knew that she and Sirius were a perfect match.

"I'm going to rip his eyes out." She had a sweet voice, too sweet for such harsh words in Harry's opinion. She did not pay any attention to them, and no one seemed to mind, instead they were looking eagerly at what would happen once Sirius came out of the fireplace.

However, the latter had other plans, the fireplace went out, and there was no sign of him. The woman also quickly understood that he was not coming any time soon, sighed deeply and for the first time since she arrived, turned towards them and Harry could get a better look at her. She had big and alert eyes, a finely chiselled nose, and tanned skin that made her blue eyes stand out even more. She wore an elegant white top and a pair of oversized jeans; she was really stunning.

Suddenly she took out her wand and made Harry's heart skip a beat. He was still on the edge; his body did not answer well when a stranger took his wand out. Thankfully she only waved it towards her coat, which surprisingly turned into a flashy tone of pink.

"I'm sorry about that," She turned to them and spoke with an exotic accent that he could not quite place. "That mutt still thinks he's fifteen, when I catch him, I'll kill him."

"Hello to you too, Inès." Lily said, laughing softly.

"Yeah hello."

I don't know what accent it is, but I really like the sound of it…

She turned her head towards him as if she heard his thoughts. "And you must be Harry?" Her eyes were not exactly blue, it was a mix of brown, blue and green, just like Tracey.

Harry nodded, not sure if she knew where he came from or not.

"So, how was I in your universe?"

Well, I guess that answers my question.

"Em… I wouldn't be able to tell," He answered awkwardly. "Since, it's my first time seeing you, you know…"

"Mmh, did that mutt end up with a stuck-up b…" Lily sent her a warning glance that interrupted the curse she was about to utter. "I mean, why is that?" She asked again with a dangerously sweet voice.

"Erm… I'm almost sure he isn't married, but he had a sort of… issue?" He was not sure about telling her about it, she looked like she could find a way to cross universe and slap the hell out of his Sirius for ending up in Azkaban and not marrying her counterpart.

"Hmph! What could have been so important that he didn't marry me?" She pouted, managing to sound haughty while doing so.

"Twelve years in Azkaban?"

She looked at him angrily for a moment before raising her nose high. "I guess it is somewhat important." She did not look convinced though.

"Ahem." James intervened. "So where is Ivy?"

Inès took her boots off, before answering. They were huge and she did not use her wand, so it took some time.

"With Siri. He's probably gone to get her some ice cream; he promised her one yesterday."

"How was she?"

"A real angel as always, don't worry about it Lils." She answered with a bright smile. "She loves me, but honestly, who doesn't?"

She has quite the personality, doesn't she.

Suddenly someone knocked at the door. The first knock was followed by a lot of others, weaker this time.

"This must be them," Inès said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "He'll try and use Ivy as a shield, Lils taker her quickly so I can do my job."

"Of course, anything for you." A large smile spread on Lily's face.

The redhead walked happily towards the door.

"Hey, baby how was it?" She instantly took Ivy in her hands, the baby had an ice cream cone in her little hands, and a lot of chocolate on her face. When she noticed her mom, she threw her hands in the air, almost dropping her cone, but fortunately James was ready and caught it with a wave of his wand.

Sirius for his part looked resigned to his fate. His head was facing the ground, and he slowly walked towards them, whispering hello to everyone. He stopped in front of Inès, and did something Harry would have never thought of, he turned into his dog form.

"Pa'foo!" The little redhead screamed happily at the sight of the black dog, clapping her hand.

Padfoot started rubbing his head against Inès's legs. He did not know if it was normal behaviour for a dog, but for him it was more like the cats he had seen at Mrs. Figg place. The only experience he had with dogs was with Aunt Marge and Hagrid, and neither seemed like normal dogs.

"What a cute dog, I wonder if he's been neutered?" Inès said with an overly sweet voice, her index on her full lips, while her other hand was playing with her wand. "If not, I'm sure I can do it myself, I have a friend who's done it dozens of times, it shouldn't be that hard."

Before she could finish her sentence, Sirius was already standing next to her, his wand in his hands that were extended towards his wife.

"I don't need your stick," She said disdainfully. "What I need is…"She looked at him for a second, and waved her own wand so swiftly that he almost did not notice, if not for Sirius's clothes turning all pink and his boot turning into high heels. "Perfect, darling."

"How long?" Sirius let out a weak whimper.

"Until it wears off." Her sweet smile was really terrifying, and hearing Sirius's desperate moan, he was not the only one who thought so.

Harry did not know what to think about what just happened before his eyes and quite honestly he did not want to. For some reason, this situation was familiar, so much that it made his hair stand.

"So, Harry Potter, how amazing am I in your world?" Sirius asked as if nothing happened.

Harry was tired of telling the story for a third time in a span of an hour. Before he could say anything though, he got beaten by Inès.

"You're a prisoner, and a single one at that." She gave him a pointed look.

"Neat." The smile that had flowered on his face faded quickly as he looked at his wife's expression. "I mean, that's awful… How did that happen?"

James, who was watching the exchange in silence for a while now, decided to save Harry and answer in his place. Sirius listened as if he was a little kid in front of a dragon story.

"That Fidelius Charm looks pretty useful." His face looked more serious now, and a little pensive too. He turned to his wife inquisitively. "Ever heard about it?"

She also looked deep into her thoughts, and Harry found it really weird to see her like that. Her expression seemed so out of place on her face.

"Nu-uh." She looked at Harry intensely. "Would you mind giving more details about it?"

"Huh? Isn't this charm supposed to be well known? I mean from where I come from, everyone knows it because of my parents, so Neville's."

He knew he said something he should not have when he noticed everyone's face darkening. They did not say anything, but he knew it was still a sensible subject.

"Ahem, anyways. I don't know too much about it too, I'm still only a fourth year Hogwarts student, it's way out of my league."

"Every detail matters, as long as you can remember it, tell me." She was back at her, hungry for information, expression.

It's like having another Hermione or Daphne.

He sighed deeply and resigned to his fate. He was not going to escape it, so he started recounting everything he knew about the Fidelius Charm, and it was meager. However, Inès was not bothered by it, she showered him with questions until her curiosity was satisfied, even when most of the time his answer was "I don't know".

After that the conversation kept going, about everything, and Harry had finally succeeded at erasing his presence so no one would ask him anything. His mouth was dry after talking that much, plus he felt a little awkward with so many strangers around him, they knew each other for so long and he felt like an intruder among them.

Without him noticing it, someone grabbed his knees. Dropping his eyes to the culprit, he found little Ivy staring at him with her adorable and wide-open emerald eyes. She raised her arms and looked at him expectantly.

"Up." Was all she said.

Harry chuckled softly and obeyed because who was he to deny her. He wanted to make her sit on his lap, however the little redhead had other plans in mind. She simply refused to not stay standing, he tried a few times, but nothing did the trick, she merely took it as a game and started giggling. After a few more tries, he resigned himself, she would stay standing, facing him.

Maybe she enjoys the fact that she's taller than me in this position.
He began playing absentmindedly with her hands while examining her face more closely. She was really the spitting image of her mother; her chubby cheeks were so cute that he had to make an effort to not pinch them.

He was so focused on her that he did not notice that everyone had gone silent and was watching them with a smile. That was until he heard a sharp clicking sound, he turned his head sharply towards the source, bad memories passing through his mind. Lily had a camera in her hand and a guilty expression on her face.

"Sorry," she said. "I couldn't help myself, you two looked too cute."

Harry was actually relieved that it was Lily. For a moment he had a crazy idea and thought someone like Rita Skeeter or Colin Creevey had managed to follow him into another universe. He sighed, and kept entertaining the little princess, because she started to pout when he looked away.

That was how Harry afternoon quietly passed, chatting, eating snacks, and playing with Ivy. Mostly the latter though.

After a few hours, the batch of guests started arriving by floo one after the other. It started with Augusta Longbottom, a tall and thin looking witch, she wore extravagant clothes, but in a different way than Inès, she wore a hat with a vulture stuffed on it, and a bright red handbag.

When she noticed him, she did not look at his eyes first, instead her eyes landed on his hair. That was when he remembered what James told him yesterday about her nagging about his hair. Fortunately, she stopped at the staring, not saying anything, even if Harry could see the dissatisfaction in her expression, she merely introduced herself shortly, and he reciprocated.

"Neville will be there soon, I left earlier since he took ages to get dressed." She told everyone.

And he did, he appeared a minute later and started greeting everyone. Ivy even jumped out of his grasp to run towards him. When it was his turn to greet him, Harry noticed a few things. First, he was not as chubby as his Neville, his face looked more defined, and he looked fitter. The other thing was how he held himself, his head held high, his confident approach clashed with the memory he had of the Neville in his universe who was shy and lacked self-confidence. His smile too was more assured, and when they shook hands, he could feel the strength in his grip.

This Neville was everything he and his Neville lacked, while being in both of their situations. He felt a pang of jealousy surge from within his heart for a moment but quickly repressed it.

If I start being jealous of someone in this universe, I won't ever stop, it's basically the shiny version of mine.

"Neville Longbottom," his voice too was steady, it really went well with him. "I heard about you from Daph, you're her cousin Harry Potter, right?"

"I am." He smiled too, it was a weird experience, but fun altogether.

"You look exactly like Uncle James," his smile was blinding Harry, it somehow reminded him of Lockhart. "And your eyes…" He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shrugged. "You could pass for Daph's twin to be honest."

"Yeah, well the Potters like their emerald-eyed girls."

The two looked at each other in all seriousness as if they were talking about some serious business before nodding at the same time. From this moment on, Harry knew wherever Neville Longbottom came from, he would always be a good friend. He might be different from his Neville but deep down it was the same person. Harry knew he would get along with him.

"I heard you might come to Hogwarts next year?"

"Depends honestly, I might just go back." That was true, maybe during the holiday, he will miraculously find a way to break into Hogwarts, find the stupid rock and come back to his world. That would be the ideal scenario for him, no time for him to feel too attached to the people from here, it meant less trouble when going back. "Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to let me enrol for my fifth year."

"That means you'll be in our year, that's great!" Neville did not ask any questions about his situation and Harry was glad.

Before Harry could say anything, they were interrupted by another person coming out of the fireplace. It was a blond man, Harry had never seen him, but he seemed familiar. He was quickly followed by a raven-haired woman who also seemed familiar. He guessed that they must be Daphne's parents.

Soon enough he was proven right when they introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass. They greeted him cheerfully, and immediately started a conversation with the other adults excitedly.

Not exactly how I pictured them, but then again they're surely different from my world.

Another sound came from the fireplace and the two Daphnes came out of it.

The Daphnes? The Daffs? Double Daffy? D.D.? Eww, forget it, that's what Dudley started calling himself.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he almost missed the moment they came to greet him. The Potter one looked way more cheerful than the first time she met him, unlike Greengrass Daphne looked like an annoyed cat. Harry knew what he was talking about, he had seen a ton of cats, be it willingly or not.

And while the two Daphne went to say hello to the adults, the last guests appeared from the floo, Remus Lupin and Narcissa Malfoy.

Narcissa Lupin, damn it!

Just like everyone else they greeted everyone, but this time not lingering on him, and honestly Harry was quite happy with it.

The evening kept going in a cheerful mood, everyone chatting and enjoying themselves. Even Harry who was not at ease first, was included, even if he might have been forced by Neville. He found it fun, they talked about a lot of things, including Quidditch, school, Quidditch and even more Quidditch. Harry, who was not the most knowledgeable about Quidditch competition outside Hogwarts, did not even try to say something, fearing that even his thin knowledge would be different from this world. He still enjoyed Daphne Potter and Neville excitedly talking about it. They had also attended the World Cup, and listening to them, he could say that it was not less than the one he had seen.

Harry noticed that the other Daphne looked bored and even a little bit angry.

Now that I think about it, the only moments I heard her talk today was when we talked about school. And it was only to correct something Daphne said. I guess Quidditch isn't her cup of tea.

"Could you tell me which professor I have to be careful with? I mean if I attend Hogwarts next year. I've always been curious about this school." He lied through his teeth, but that was only because he did feel bad for her not being included in the Quidditch talk.

She looked at him for a moment, as if she could not believe he dared to interrupt her thoughts. She stayed in silence for a few seconds, fortunately no one seemed to have noticed their situation. Neville and the Potter Daphne were still too engrossed with their Quidditch talk to pay them any mind.

"Professor McGonagall is the one you shouldn't be cross with." She finally said in a sigh, as if she resigned herself.

Harry smiled lightly, happy that she did not just flat out ignore him. From this point on, he started asking questions about Hogwarts in general and she answered them all without fault, but not expanding, she was curt, but her answers were always complete, so he just kept asking. And that was how the evening went.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Amelia Bones prided herself on her calmness under any situation. However, seeing this man, alive in front of her after all those years made her want to just drop on her knees and sob like a little kid. If she was alone, she most likely would have done it, but now she could not allow herself to be feeble. She knew Dumbledore had not brought him back just for the sake of it.

"How? You should be dead; how can you be here?" That was the only question she could ask in her state of mind.

"I faked it." Peter looked as if he was struggling. "I hid as a rat for years, and this man," he looked at Albus fearfully. "kidnapped me."

Being who she was, Amelia knew how Veritaserum worked, his answer was not complete because her question too was not.

"May I suggest a question?" She nodded at the old headmaster, he seemed to have something he wanted her to know. "What exactly happened on the 31st of October 1981."

Peter had now tears flowing freely out of his eyes and seeing him like that made her heart shatter even more. She almost averted her gaze but the question Albus had raised, piqued her curiosity.

"At first I was hiding in my hideout, waiting for the signal. When I finally got it, I went out to meet the Dark Lord and tell him where the Potters were living, then I fled."

Amelia gasped; her hand clasped on her mouth. The heart that he had shattered a few seconds before was now turning ice cold and turning into dust. She could not believe what she was listening to, it felt like a nightmare.

"I went to a place where I knew Sirius was going to look for me, and I set him up. I screamed that he betrayed the Potter, I blew up the street, cut my finger and transformed into a rat."

He was apparently done, but Amelia was still in a daze, she had heard everything but could not make a sense out of it. Then a question left her mouth without her noticing.

"What do you mean by rat?"

"My Animagus form." He answered curtly.

"I trusted you… I loved…" She interrupted herself and took a deep breath. "What was I for you?" She asked, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"A cover with a link to the Ministry." The answer came instantly.

She sighed deeply, she had expected this answer and it somehow allowed her to finally regain her composure. "I see," she turned to Albus. "I believe that there is something else. You talked about a war."

He looked at her sadly, it must have been the first time he learned about their relationship. It was not a secret, but they never screamed it everywhere.

"Indeed." He looked at Pettigrew. "What happened to Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, this year? Chronologically."

This took Amelia by surprise, she never expected that question. She had heard about the Weasley son, but nothing about Harry Potter. This made her shiver, if Dumbledore asked, maybe their fates were the same.

"We made Harry Potter take part in the Triwizard Tournament so he would be taken to us in the last task. The plan was disturbed by the kid, he managed to discover who the spy was, so Barty kidnapped him. He stayed in a vegetative state for almost two weeks. And no matter how much Crucio we threw at him; he never woke up. Until one day, he woke up by himself, and it was the day of the ritual."

Amelia's stomach flipped at what she was hearing. Her ex-boyfriend was talking about kidnapping and torturing a fourteen-year-old boy, for some sort of ritual. She wanted to throw up. But the ritual piqued her attention, it announced nothing good.

"We managed to resurrect the Dark Lord with my sacrifice." Pettigrew looked at his hand. She had not noticed it before, but it was a silver hand, not a real one. "And the kid's blood. Everything was perfect! Until the kid pushed me back without a wand." His voice dripped with hate. "I didn't see what happened after, but the Dark Lord was enraged and said that the kid managed to escape."

The breath she did not know she was holding was released at once. At least the boy was alive and safe. She looked at Dumbledore and only saw a grim expression.

"As for the redhead, he followed SEVERUS SNAPE to our Lord." He screamed the name of the potion teacher. "Master hates uninvited guests, so now he's dead."

Before she could say anything, Dumbledore went ahead of her.

"Did you hear anything about Harry Potter's possible whereabouts?"

"No."

"How come you were the Potter's Secret Keeper?"

"Sirius thought it would be better if he served as a bait and I was the real one. Since no one would have thought it was me."

A heavy silence dropped between them, and with a flick wand movement, Dumbledore made Peter sleep. She had a lot to think about, but something Dumbledore asked was bothering her. Why did he ask about Harry Potter's whereabouts?

"Where is Harry Potter?"

"Missing." He answered grimly. "Since the day he was captured."

"I… I think I need water."

She went into her kitchen, and fell on a chair, her mind in a turmoil.

"War is coming." She whispered to herself, as if she was trying to convince herself.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Tadaa

Who'd have thought? The rat and the strong Amelia :0

I want to thank once again all of you for still following this story despite my heavily delayed update…

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