Yo!
Sorry for the delay, I miscalculated things.
Reviews:
Romedov: Thanks for the review! Yeah he's royally screwed.
Gyanz: … I asked for it I guess…
Prrf: Thanks! And sorry for the delay…
ThuderSphinx: Yup you're right!
Myfarmersausage: Thanks! Happy you liked it, I hope you'll find what's coming even better!
This chapter, as well as the others was edited/corrected by our benefactor Webstriker, so thanks again!
Enjoy!
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Emptiness. Feeling like something is amiss, like a part of yourself just got taken from you. You could not even feel it being taken, you just woke up one day and it is not there anymore. You keep searching for it, but it will never come back again, no matter what. You just have to learn how to live without it.
Mrs. Weasley knew all this, she had lost her brothers after all, and learned that the gap they left would never be filled. When she had her children, she understood that even if she lost her dear brothers, she could not let herself go, she had something to live for, people to live and care for. They were her everything, and seeing three of them leaving the house was already heartbreaking but not insurmountable. She loved them all so much.
That was why she was in Professor Dumbledore's office at almost midnight, looking through the window in silence. She was sitting on chairs that the headmaster insisted she and Arthur sat on. Arthur had his hand on hers, almost crushing it, but she did not even flinch. It was as if she was not present with them, she could not understand whatever was said after hearing about Ron. It was as if her heart died, but her body was still able to live.
After what seemed to be an eternity for Molly, Arthur stood up and told her something she could not get. Seeing his wife state, the man took her gently by the arm and brought her closer to the fireplace. He showed her the Floo powder and used it in front of her. When he disappeared, Molly stayed still for a few more seconds before turning to Albus Dumbledore. His face was dark, filled with guilt, and none of his usual cheeriness nor twinkle in his eyes. Bags under his eyes were even more visible than usual, but Molly could not care less about his state, she had only one thing in mind.
"Who?" She whispered.
Dumbledore examined her for a few seconds, probably judging if she would be able to handle his answer.
"Lord Voldemort."
No shivers at the mention of the name, she just nodded and left using the fireplace like her husband.
When she arrived home, she wanted to make sure about what she just learned. She looked at their magical clock. And that was the moment she broke down; her universe fell apart as she ended up on the floor.
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Daphne was living the worst day of her life. She woke up trembling after a nightmare about Harry, there was still no news about him and the deadline for his safety just passed. She was more anxious than ever, and the fake Harry participating in the third task did not help with her mood. She thought it could not get worse, but when she was done with her breakfast and was getting up to leave, Professor Dumbledore stood up and asked for silence.
"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."
He paused for a moment. His eyes skimmed over the four tables and stopped at the Gryffindor one.
"As you might have all noticed, there are some missing faces at Gryffindor table." Daphne curiously looked at him, he was the one telling them to not talk about Harry in the first place. "The Weasley family was struck by a terrible tragedy that required them to go back earlier."
Dumbledore paused for a moment and sighed deeply.
"Yesterday, Ronald Weasley left us."
A shriek came from Gryffindor table, it was Hermione. She had her hands covering her mouth and her eyes were fixed on the headmaster in terror. Daphne for herself could not quite process the thought yet. They had talked yesterday, before the task started, he could not be dead. It was probably a misunderstanding. She was about to say it out loud when Dumbledore carried on.
"Ronald Weasley was the embodiment of the perfect Gryffindor; more than one time he had shown his brave heart and daring to do what he thought was right while risking being injured. He was the friend of many, and many would have liked having a friend like him. Above all, he was a loyal friend, one that would help you no matter what, with no regards about his health…"
Daphne felt suffocated, something was growing in her throat, and she felt her eyes burning. All she had to say about it being fake came to a stop when she heard his speech, but also when she looked at the other professors. Especially Professor McGonagall, she had tears on her face, and struggled at keeping a straight face. Daphne had never seen her Transfiguration teacher in that state.
"It is not truthful of me to say that he passed, because something happened. Ronald Weasley was murdered while he was outside of Hogwarts."
Daphne's ears were vibrating, her head was dizzy, and she almost fell on the floor.
"A lot of people might not want to believe the truth, but Ronald Weasley was murdered by Voldemort."
A panicked whisper passed through the Great Hall, and everyone was staring at Dumbledore in disbelief and horror.
"A lot of people will want to tell you otherwise, that it was nothing but a mere accident. However, I refuse to insult his memory by telling you that, so you can all understand the gravity of what is happening, and what will happen in the future as well."
He looked at Madame Maxime, her students and the Durmstrang students.
"Dark times are coming, and it is more important than ever to strengthen our ties. Together we stand strong, and he knows it, and that is why Voldemort's primary objective will be to separate us. Do not let him win, let us be united, so no more Ronald Weasleys pass in the future."
Albus Dumbledore took a glass in his hand and brandished it.
"To Ronald Weasley."
Everyone raised their goblet and echoed in the same voice. "Ronald Weasley."
Sobs were heard across the hall, coming not only from Gryffindor table, but from the three others too. Given that in Slytherin it only came from Astoria and Tracey. Daphne looked at Hermione, she looked devastated. She already lost one of her best friends, but she now learned that the other was murdered by the Dark Lord. Daphne herself was in no better state, maybe she and Ron did not know each other for a long time, but she still considered him as a great friend. And now he is gone, forever.
Suddenly she remembered something. If Ron was murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, what happened to Harry? She forced herself to repress those thoughts, not willing to break down in the middle of the Great Hall. If the headmaster did not tell them anything about Harry, he had to be okay… Right. She was not ready to lose two of her friends the same day; she was not even ready to lose one.
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Hermione was a mess. She had run out of the Great Hall and went straight to the place where she and her friends used to hang out. She had her hands around her knees, and the only sounds that came from her were sobs. She could not stop tears from rolling down.
Hermione was always a down to earth person, even after learning that she was a witch. She always privileged rational thought. She trusted adults' words more than anything, and books were for her a source of truth. However, she learned today that both of them were not as trustworthy as she thought. One of the adults she respected the most, Albus Dumbledore, did not do anything about her best friend's kidnapping, and had now announced the death of her other best friend.
Even with all the respect she had with the headmaster, she could not believe Ron was dead. He had to be lying, how could Ron die? He was still bickering with her a few days ago. However, Hermione could not keep lying to herself when she saw that the whole Weasley family was absent in the Great Hall. Reality hit her again as she started crying even louder than before.
Books too were lying. Death was not supposed to be this hard. Hermione still had the chance of having all of her grandparents, she never heard about one of her relatives passing away. For her death was only a word used in books. When she first learned that Harry's parents were dead, it occurred to her what death actually meant, she did not really take the time to think about it. But now that death occurred, she realized that books underplayed the pain it caused. The remembering that a person you practically lived with, had just disappeared forever, was not something she wanted to experience.
All of a sudden, Hermione remembered something Ron had said to Harry months ago, and she literally broke down, not controlling anything, she just wanted the pain to go away, her body had spasms as if it was trying to get the pain out of her.
"Thank you for saving my life, mate." Harry said.
"If you want to repay me, don't let me die alone!" Ron laughed.
It was supposed to be a joke. It hurts so much; she could not handle it anymore. It became worse when she imagined herself at his place. Alone, facing Voldemort, facing death, with no one to support him. His joke became reality.
Now that she thought about it, they kept arguing every day for anything, she could not even tell him how much she cared for him, and now she no longer had that chance.
On that thought she fainted, too exhausted to think or cry anymore.
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Harry woke up to two people arguing. He did not open his eyes, first because he was still exhausted, and second because he wanted to keep the effect of surprise in case they were dangerous people.
"Shut up, you'll wake him up."
"How do you know he's even alive? For all we know it's just a decapitated head lying here for no reason at all."
"What's the use of your glasses if you can't even see? Look at his neck, not cuts nor blood. He's probably under an invisibility cloak or something."
"Could be, but you have to admit that a decapitated head is way more interesting."
Harry was still in a fuzzy state, and the conversation happening in front of him made even less sense, so he decided to wait for more details about them.
"If that's what you wanted to see, you just had to ask. We just had to go to Grimmauld, as long as you don't mind house elves' heads though."
"Damn! You had to remind me of them. You know I had nightmares about them for about a week after seeing them the first time?"
"Didn't stop you from putting one in Moony's bed."
Both of the voices laughed, and Harry recognized the bark-like laugh. The nickname he just heard was familiar too. If he was right, he would not like what would happen next. He would have rather been caught by Dumbledore.
"So, what do we do about him?"
"Well first, we wait 'til he decides to stop faking being asleep."
Harry hiccupped in surprise, but he kept his eyes shut, not willing to accept the reality he would have to face if he opened them.
"Yeah kiddo, you're a really bad actor."
Harry shivered; it was almost the exact same thing that the impostor had said after Crucio-ing him.
"C'mon little man, we don't have all day."
Harry still did not open his eyes.
Maybe if I just ignore them, they will leave? He thought.
"Prongs, I think he wants you to give him the Princess Carry treatment."
"Meh, I guess I don't have a choice…"
Harry immediately sat up, the cloak sliding onto his body. It was a really bad idea; his whole body was either in pain or numb. And neither was something comfortable. He must have grimaced or something because the two men rushed to his side.
"You okay there buddy?" Said the voice to his right.
"Keep it up, you have now recovered half of your body." The other voice joked.
Harry finally resigned to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, so he squinted his eyes hard to see who was talking to him but could not recognize who it was. It seemed that his glasses were not on his nose anymore, he started touching the grass around him to see if they did not fall off during his sleep.
"What are you looking for little man?" The voice to his left asked.
"Look at his eyes, he does the same thing you lot, short-sighted people, do when you don't have your glasses."
Harry nodded slowly.
"Try mine then, can't be worse than nothing I guess." The man on his left apparently took his glasses off and put it on Harry's nose. It was not perfect, but it was good enough for him to get a look of the two men and confirm his fears. The two men were Sirius Black, and James Potter. Or at least a version of them, because his James Potter did not live long enough to be this old, and his Sirius Black was more… marked by life.
"I know I'm good looking, but you'll make me blush if you keep staring at me like that." Sirius said in a joking tone.
Harry immediately dropped his eyes and tried to give the glasses back to James Potter. However, the latter seemed stunned, his eyes were glued on Harry for a while before he recomposed himself.
"Erm… Yeah sorry about that, I was thinking about something else." He took his glasses back. "So, what's your deal? Why aren't you in Hogwarts? You should be celebrating; Hogwarts did win the Triwizard after all."
Harry hesitated for a second, having no idea about what to answer. He was certainly not going to tell him that he was a version of his son from another universe.
"… I forgot?" He tried meekly. He was too exhausted to come up with anything else.
The two men looked at each other for a second.
"You know what buddy, you don't look good, let us take you to the infirmary. Poppy will patch you up in a jiffy, alright?"
Harry tried to protest, he tried his best to escape from Hogwarts, and now they were going to take him back there. However, the two men simply did not care. They made him levitate and started walking towards the castle. He managed to slip his cloak in his pocket.
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James loved turning into his Animagus form but doing it on Hogwarts grounds with his best friend was something else. It just felt right. They were just wandering happily, reminiscing about the old days, and appreciating coming back to Hogwarts. Remus was not here for two reasons. The first being that it was still not his time of the month, and the second was his wife. She wanted a tour of Hogwarts, and since she had him wrapped around her fingers…
The Triwizard tournament made it possible for them to come back to the castle. Sure, Lily almost lived there because of her Potion teacher position, but for the three remaining Marauders it was an event they would not miss for anything. As they were Neville's godparents, they did not have much trouble to come, but seeing him risk his life at every task was really unnerving for James and Lily. His little walk around Hogwarts was also to get the stress out of his body now that the Tournament was finally done with.
Suddenly Padfoot started barking loudly and started running like crazy. James, not understanding what his friend's deal was, decided to follow him. He ran for about two minutes before Padfoot slowed down and finally stopped in what seemed to be a plain and changed back into himself.
"Come here Prongs." Sirius called him with a worried voice.
James turned back into his original state and went to see what had his carefree friend so worried.
"So, you know when I started running like crazy," Sirius kept talking. "I smelled something weird. You know when I'm transformed my nose goes crazy about smell, right?"
"You're rambling Padfoot." James said with a smile, his best friend had this habit of justifying himself to him for the smallest thing.
"Well, the smell was familiar to me, but I still can't place it. But it was definitely a human scent." He pointed his finger to something on the grass. "Here, look."
James almost kicked it by reflex. A head was floating into the air just next to his feet.
James noticed four things about the strange kid. The first was his uncanny resemblance to himself when he was younger. The second was his eyes, emerald, green eyes that were quickly scanning around. The third was the state of his clothes, even though his Gryffindor uniform was still recognizable, it was in a very bad shape. It arbored numerous cuts and was covered in mud and dust. The fourth and last thing he noticed was the young man's state, he was trembling as if he was cold, and James did not miss the wince he got when he tried to redress himself. In short the kid needed help, the rest could wait, so they decided to take him to Poppy. He showed some reticence but was apparently too exhausted to do something about it.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, James could tell that his best friend was in deep thought. He was staring at the kid's profile with a pensive look on his face.
"What did you say your name was again?" James asked, mostly to break the ice.
A silence followed the question, and James hated it. It started becoming awkward, he hated awkward situations. However, when he decided to not talk anymore, he got his answer.
"I… I didn't say." The boy's voice was hoarse, and the way he talked indicated that it hurt him to speak, his throat was probably damaged. However, James had a strange feeling about it. He could not determine the tone of his voice, it seemed full of emotions, but at the same time devoid of any. That was a really weird occurrence especially since James prided himself on being able to read people pretty easily.
Probably because I can't see his face, plus his throat seems badly hurt.
"Alright buddy, you don't need to talk anymore. It can wait until you get patched up."
The silent walk continued for a long time. They arrived in front of the gates when Sirius gasped audibly.
"I know!" He exclaimed. "The scar, I knew something was weird! You've got the same scar as Neville."
James whipped his head to his best friend and then to the kid. He waved his wand and the boy started levitating lower so he could actually see his face. He started examining every cranny of it and saw the scar. A thin but noticeable scar on the middle of the boy's forehead, it looked redder than Neville's one, as if it was a recent one, but its lightning shape was identical.
James frowned; he knew that Neville's scar was a cursed one. It came from Voldemort's killing curse when he was barely one year old. What he had in front of his eyes, was either a very bad joke, or a coincidence. He put his finger on the scar, to see if it was not just make-up, but the boy winced at the touch, so he retracted his hand.
It felt like a real one… He thought to himself.
He discreetly moved his wand once again and threw a Finite on the scar, however nothing happened.
He knew it looked paranoid and impolite, but he had to make sure it was not some sort of plan to reach his godson, his safety came first after all.
"Expecto Patronum."
A silver stag appeared in the middle of the infirmary. James noticed the awed expression of the kid and felt quite proud of it.
You should've seen Neville doing it.
He sent his Patronus to Poppy to notify her that she had a patient waiting, as the matron was not in her infirmary at the moment.
After a few minutes of waiting, it was not Poppy who entered the infirmary, but Lily. She was carrying their adorable daughter Ivy. The only issue was the expression on his wife's face. He recognized it right away, it was the 'You're-so-dead-James-Potter" expression.
"What. Did. You. Do?" She asked in an angry voice. "You come here ONE day, and you already injured a student?"
"Actually, it's two days." Sirius chimed in.
Lily shot him her death glare and he cowered in a corner of the room.
"Honey," The eldest Potter nervously said. "It's a misunderstanding, we did not hurt anyone. Rather, we helped someone who was hurt."
At the same moment, the matron came in, cutting their discussion short.
"What happened?" She asked while walking towards the kid.
"We don't know. We were walking around Hogwarts when we stumbled into him. He was sleeping on the ground." Sirius explained.
"His throat looked hurt, and his whole body was trembling." James added. "He might have caught a bad cold."
Poppy was listening to them while performing different diagnosis charms on the boy. After a few seconds, her eyebrows frowned. She started muttering something quietly to herself. And then all of a sudden she performed the Patronus charm, a silver grouse appeared and flew out the window.
She did not lose a second as she started browsing through her shelves and took out three different potions from them. She put them on the table next to the kid and told him to drink them all. The latter grimaced, but complied, nonetheless.
"What's happening Poppy?" Lily could not contain herself anymore, the curiosity took the best of her. "Who was that for?"
"Dumbledore." The matron answered curtly. "And medical privacy."
The three of them looked at each other, it was not common for Poppy to talk like that. And it was even rarer for her to call the headmaster for a patient. For all he knew, it only ever happened for Remus, and Neville, and both of them had serious reasons for Dumbledore to be called.
"You might want to check the scar on his forehead too." Sirius said.
The matron and Lily shot him a doubtful look.
"Just saying." He raised his hand. "It's worth checking."
"Indeed." The voice of Albus Dumbledore interrupted whatever Poppy was going to say.
"Albus!" James, Sirius, and Lily said at the same time.
The headmaster just entered the infirmary and walked to the bed of the kid.
"I was wandering into the castle when I received your message." He gave the matron a meaningful look who looked a little bit abashed for some reason. "Fortunately, I was alone."
Poppy sighed in relief. "Given the situation, I was a little flustered. I didn't think it through."
The headmaster nodded and started examining the patient. After a moment he frowned deeply. That was a pretty rare occurrence for him, at least in public. All of a sudden, the temperature dropped in the room and the air seemed to have stopped still. James had already felt something like that, in the war. It was a rare occurrence of Dumbledore being angry.
"You said you found him asleep on the ground?" Dumbledore turned to him. His voice was ice cold.
James nodded, slightly put out by his elder's reaction.
"This person," Dumbledore pointed to the boy. "Isn't a student of Hogwarts, despite his uniform, and his uncanny resemblance to you, James."
Everyone looked shocked by his statement, but not for the same reason. While Sirius, James and Poppy were shocked because the boy was not a student of Hogwarts. Lily for her part seemed to have noticed the resemblance with her husband just when Dumbledore raised it. She dropped off Ivy to Sirius and got closer to the bed. She started staring at him intently while the boy was just doing his best to avoid her eyes.
"His throat should be okay." Madam Pomfrey said after a moment of silence. "We should ask him."
"Let us start with something simple, alright?" Albus kindly asked the boy, contrasting with the ice-cold voice he used before. "Your name."
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Harry knew his luck was bad. It was a fact that was firmly anchored in his mind. But he did not think it would be that bad. Not to the point of being discovered by the alternative version of his father and godfather and brought back to the only place he wanted to avoid with the only person he did not want to see.
He was stuck in the infirmary of Hogwarts and Albus freaking Dumbledore was waiting for him to tell him his name. He had tried his best to not say anything about his identity, not sure of the implication that it would incur. He still remembered the danger of time travels and thought it could be the same thing or even worse. That was the reason he avoided Lily Potter's eyes; he was scared of her making the connection. After all they already noticed his resemblance with James Potter, his eyes would have been the last piece of the puzzle. But it was all for naught since he now had to say his name out loud in front of all of them.
Actually, he had no idea if it was a bad idea to tell them who he actually was. Chaos had not said anything about it; however, Harry still could not bring himself to let them know. Deep inside him, he was afraid of their reactions, whichever it was. If they accepted him, how would he ever want to go back to his world when he was in a world where he finally could have what he wanted, a family. Just like the one he saw in the Mirror of Erised years ago.
The other scenario was them rejecting him, and it was only slightly better because he could at least leave when he would be able to. But he did not know if he would be able to handle rejection, not from them. He knew they were not his parents, his gave their life for him fourteen years ago. However, they were still James and Lily Potter and being shunned off by them would hurt badly, he knew it.
After a few moments of reflection, all the eyes still fixed on him, Harry painfully redressed himself in his bed and the matron looked at him reprovingly. He met Lily Potter's eyes for a second, and then Dumbledore's.
"Harry." He heard a gasp. "My name is Harry Potter."
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"He moved to mine." An ancient voice resounded in an old and almost abandoned castle.
"It does not matter. The plan remains the same." Another voice, oddly similar to the first answered.
"It was something we were already made aware of. It is still within our calculations." A third voice, also sounding similar to the two first added.
"Their words are not to be trusted. Those three are not innocents." Again, another voice similar to the others interjected.
"Yet, their words came out as the truth." Another voice, sounding like the others.
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." A sixth one.
"We are drifting away from our main objective." A seventh voice like the others. "We need to deal with him, the rest can wait."
The six other people agreed.
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Lord Voldemort was angered beyond reason. His plan should have been perfect, no one had any suspicions about anything, the potion was ready, and all was that for nothing. Somehow the old man managed to blindly guess who his spy was. That forced him to use the potion with the blood of some random auror Wormtail managed to catch. He had resurrected, but the boy still had his mother's protection. Lord Voldemort, one of the greatest dark mages in history was now unable to touch a mere child. He tried to calm himself, saying to himself that he had no need to touch Longbottom to kill him, but it was still angering enough for him to Crucio Wormtail a few times.
He had called his Death Eater, some had come, some had not. He still had a good group of servants that would be useful for the next part of his plan. He had now the effect of surprise since no one knew of his return, the only drawback was that his plan to discredit the boy and the old man was now harder to achieve. But he was Lord Voldemort, and Voldemort always gets what he wants.
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Albus Dumbledore was angry with himself. He had done it again, he failed at the only thing he really wanted to do; being an educator. He let one of his students die, and even had to lie to his family about his death. He disgusted himself to the point he did not dare to look at himself in a glass. The worst was that he managed to find a rational reason for the lie he came with, Snape was a useful spy. If Lord Voldemort had not come back, he would have sent the man to Azkaban himself, but he knew he could not do it now. A storm was coming to the Wizarding British community, and for now he was the only one who could do something about it. Moreover, if he did tell the Weasley what really happened, the Order would want Snape out, and that was not an option, he was a crucial element for what would happen in the future.
Dumbledore was a man who learned to set aside his feelings to do what was right. He learned the hard way with Gellert. He understood the necessity of some sacrifices, however as much as he knows it does not mean he condemned it. Or at least not anymore. Young Ronald Weasley was not a sacrifice he accepted, and Albus swore himself that he would see that it does not stay unpunished, but only after the war. Now the deeds were done, and the present needed Severus Snape.
Albus hated the feeling of getting old. His body became weaker while his responsibility kept stacking up on his shoulder. He did not want them, but he knew he was the only one who could shoulder them. Call it hubris or ego, but he doubted anyone could do better in his place.
He now had to think about the future, and how he would be able to make people believe in Lord Voldemort's return. He knew his speech had not convinced everyone, and that by now, everyone in Britain would know about what he said. He was sure people would try to discredit him, especially Fudge.
Dumbledore sighed and he decided on what he would do. He did not like it at first, but knew it was necessary. If not for the death and the disappearance of respectively Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter, he might not have come to this decision, but he did not see what choice he had now.
"Alas, I fear I have to prepare myself…" He said tiredly.
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That's it for the chapter, a lot of things happening, things are starting to get in motion almost everywhere. And some new faces/voices are doing their entrance…
Thank you again for your support and see you soon! (I'll try to get the newt chap done by next week, but I don't promise anything)
Don't forget to
R-E-V-I-E-W!
