Time out of place

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Chapter Ten: You make me feel the strangest things

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Ron and Hermione sent an owl to Harry and Draco the next day. The note that the owl came with was short.

"Harry and Draco,

We will be having an early Christmas Party tonight. You are most welcome. We will start at six. Professor Dumbledore says he has news that will interest us.

Love,

Hermione and Ron"

Harry knew that if Dumbledore `had news´, it most likely had to do with the Order. He wondered if `Christmas Party´ was just a cover for a meeting with the Order.

Harry was clad in his favourite robes when they floo-ed to the Weasley castle at three minutes till six that night. The robes were black and completely open in the front. With it he had a pair of tight-fitting leather pants and boots, as well as a shirt with a semi-high collar.

"Nice outfit, Potter," Draco had said with a low whistle when he´d first seen Harry.

Harry grinned at him. "You don´t look too bad yourself."

The blonde had his long hair hanging loose down his shoulders, unlike Harry who preferred to have his in a ponytail. Draco was clad in all black and silver; his pants leather just like Harry´s. His black robes fell from his shoulders, almost reaching his knees. A pin held the robes together right by his collarbone. Underneath he wore a light grey shirt, and on his feet he had boots, just like Harry.

The Weasley´s castle living room was filled with people. Everyone was talking, which resulted in a rather high volume, and in the back, some music Harry didn´t recognize - although it sounded rather Christmas-y - played. The people stood scattered in groups and were speaking and laughing between amongst themselves. Harry recognized several, although they had changed from the last time he´d seen them - when he was at Hogwarts in his own time.

It looked like the whole Weasley family was there. Harry saw both Mrs and Mr Weasley speaking to Hermione - whose stomach had definitely grown since Harry saw her last - and Ron was talking to Bill. He also saw Percy standing with his girlfriend from Hogwarts, Penelope Clearwater. Unlike most of the others in the room, Penelope looked exactly like she had then. She had a baby on her arm and Harry remembered the comment about Mr and Mrs Weasley becoming grandparents for the third time. Percy was obviously one of the proud fathers. Harry looked around for Charlie and Ginny, but couldn´t spot them. Of course, they could be somewhere else than the living room.

Harry also saw Remus and Sirius. They were standing by one of the trays of aperitifs, eating and talking happily to each other.

Seamus Finnigan, the Irish boy with the sandy brown hair, looked much the same as he had seven years earlier. The differences were that he was a bit taller and more muscled than before, and his hair was cut off to a half an inch in length.

It seemed he was still best friends with Dean Thomas, for the two were standing talking to each other happily in one of the corners. Dean, who´d been tall back in school, was even taller now, and Harry wondered who the taller one was - Ron or Dean.

"Hey Harry! Draco!" Seamus said happily when he spotted them. Draco stared at them - even after a month in this reality, he wasn´t used to how nicely the former Gryffindors were treating him.

"Hello Seamus, Dean," Harry said and elbowed the blonde beside him to get him to stop staring.

"How are you? `aven´t seen you in a while," Seamus said.

"We´ve been... busy," Harry said, and tried to make it sound like they really had been busy.

"Ah, yes," Dean said with a secretive smile, looking between Draco and Harry. "I´m sure you have been."

"Well," Draco drawled, "After we woke up from being unconscious for five days after one of the operations, I had a vision a few days later, and then Harry was kidnapped and shot and he spent a few days in a coma, and since then we´ve been taking it quite easy."

Dean stared at him. "You have been busy," he said with an amused smile after a few moments.

Draco glared at him, and Harry took his arm. "Excuse us," he said to Dean and Seamus, and dragged the blonde away.

"What?" Draco exclaimed when they were out of earshot from the two other young men.

"Could you at least try and be civil?" Harry asked. "They´re being nice!"

Draco glared at him. "They´re Gryffindors."

"Ex-Gryffindors in this reality. The Draco of this time likes them. Because of that, you are supposed to like them."

Draco continued to glare daggers at him, but Harry stood unaffected.

"Play nice with the other kids, Draco," he said and walked back into the crowd of people. He wanted to get a chance to talk to Hermione and Ron before Dumbledore was to start the meeting. He saw Dumbledore over in his favourite chair by the couch, talking to someone... Professor McGonagall? It certainly looked like the Transfigurations teacher. Her grey hair was pulled back in a tight bun, as always.

Off to the side stood Severus Snape, not talking to anyone at all. His permanent scowl was firmly etched on his face and his hair hung down the sides of his face, greasy as it had been since the first time Harry had ever seen him.

"Hello Severus," Harry said, his feet walking to the Potions Master against his will. "You look like you´re having a good time?"

"Fabulous," Snape sneered. "Where´s your boyfriend?"

"Oh, Draco is... somewhere. He didn´t feel much like socializing tonight," Harry replied. "Just like someone else here, it seems."

"I´m socializing just fine, Harry," Severus said. "Now go play with the other children. I think Ms Granger wanted to see you."

Harry grinned at him. "She´s not Ms Granger anymore," he said.

"Oh, she´ll always be little Ms Know-It-All Granger, Potter. Just like you´ll always be the Boy Who Lived." He gave Harry a small smile. "Now shoo."

Harry laughed at the sound of his Potions Professor tell him to `shoo´, but left him shortly afterwards. He made his way through the crowd of people until he found Hermione, still speaking to Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"Hi `Mione," he said.

"Harry!" she exclaimed excitedly and gave him a hug. "I didn´t see you when you came. Have you been here long?"

"Only about fifteen minutes. Sna- Severus was kind enough to inform me that you wished to speak with me."

"Yes, yes, I did," she said to Harry. She turned to Mr and Mrs Weasley. "Would you excuse us, please?"

"Of course. We´ll go try the food," Mr Weasley said. "I heard it was most excellent..."

And they walked off, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. Hermione took Harry by the hand and pulled him into the kitchen. There were a few house elves scurrying around the room, making food and filling glasses with drinks. Harry hadn´t seen any house elves when he´d stayed at the castle and was a bit surprised - Hermione had after all been very much against house elves at one point in her life.

"What did you need, `Mione?" he asked.

"I was wondering - well, actually it´s me and Ron wondering... We just wanted to know..."

"´Mione? You´re rambling," Harry said gently.

Hermione smiled at him. "We wanted to know if you´d like to be one of the babies´ godfather."

The Boy Who Lived was a bit shocked, but then a grin found its place on his face. "Absolutely, `Mione! I´d love to."

Hermione gave him a relieved smile. "Ron is going to ask Draco," she said. "We´d like him to be one, too."

Harry hugged her. "I´m sure he´ll be just as excited," he replied.

"I really hope so. I mean, you two are the only ones we´d consider," Hermione said.

"Really?"

"You know you are," she said. "Remus and Sirius are lovely and wonderful, but - Sirius is your godfather, Harry. And then there´s Seamus, Dean, or Ron´s family, but they´re just not right. And it´s not like I would ask McGonagall or Severus, even after his heart attack."

"Heart attack?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. Snape had had a heart attack?

Hermione shot him a look. "Yes, the one three years ago from which you saved him," she said. "Remember?"

"Um, yeah, of course," Harry laughed nervously. He was getting way too deep into this.

She continued to stare at him for another few seconds before she said, "Anyway. I know he´s been much nicer since then, but I still don´t want him as the godfather of my children."

"I understand that," Harry said, still very nervous and wary about what he was saying. He´d slipped up badly, and Hermione looked more suspicious now than he´d seen her the whole time he´d been in this place.

"Shall we go back to the party?" Hermione asked finally, and the raven-haired boy breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded to her, and they walked back out into the living room.

More people seemed to have arrived, for the room looked fuller than before. Harry hadn´t had time to admire the room´s decorations before, but now he saw it - the large Christmas tree in the corner, next to the fireplace, was decorated beautifully. There were hollies spread out about the room, and mistletoe was hanging in the entrance to the room. Underneath it, one of the Weasley twins was kissing a girl - was that Angelina Johnson? If it was, then the twin snogging her was probably Fred. Were they together, then?

"I´m bored."

Harry jumped as he heard Draco´s voice in his ear. He turned around to see the blonde look at him.

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Harry wondered.

"Entertain me?" Draco said hopefully.

"In your dreams."

"Always," the blonde grinned at him. "Whoa, is that Fred Weasley snogging Angelina Johnson?"

Harry arched an eyebrow at Draco. He was surprised that he´d actually recognized the pair beneath the mistletoe.

"I think so," Harry replied.

"Well, it looks like they´re having fun. Maybe we should try it?"

Harry stared at him.

Just then, before Harry could reply to what Draco had just said, Dumbledore called the room´s attention.

"Good evening everyone," he said pleasantly, his voice magnified to be heard. "I hope you´re all enjoying yourselves."

Harry thought it sounded a lot like the speeches the Headmaster held every year during their big feasts and he listened attentively.

"I have some information for all of you. Some bad news, some good.

"First, we will start with the bad news. As most of you know, Mr Malfoy had a vision two weeks ago, and an operation followed, like always. Unfortunately, the operation went wrong this time and a member of the Order died. I want you all to remember Rhonda Gailey for the strong, proud young woman she was and the work she did."

The room was silent as he spoke. Harry saw Linda standing on the other side of the room. Her face was very pale as she heard Dumbledore´s speech. He continued on about Rhonda, about her achievements and dreams.

"We should never forget the ones we lose," he said. "And it is for their sake, as well as our own, that we continue to fight."

He continued on for a bit longer, before returning to the Hanawalt family´s kidnapping.

"In this failed operation, the Hanawalt family as well as Mr Potter were kidnapped. We were able to locate them, thanks to Mr Malfoy, though Mr Potter and the family all had to stay at the hospital for a few days afterwards.

"We don´t know the exact reason behind Voldemort´s sudden interest in Muggles, but our spies have told us that his interest lies in the guns. He is looking into ways to make the guns harmful to witches and wizards, as well as the danger they already pose to Muggles.

"We will continue to do our own experiments within the field in order to find a way to stop him."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "On a happier note, I have an announcement to make on the behalf of Mr Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson, whom are now engaged. We all wish you all the happiness in the world." The crowd applauded and a few men slapped Fred on the back, while Angelina talked excitedly to her girlfriends.

"Now that we have covered all that, I wish you all a happy Yule holiday," Dumbledore finished, and the crowd applauded him.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts made his way over to Harry. "Could I take a second of your time, Harry?" he asked.

"Sure," Harry replied, and followed Professor Dumbledore outside.

The night air felt chilly and cold; the temperature had reached below zero for the first time a few days ago. The skies were covered in dark, foreboding clouds and Harry suspected that there would be a storm in the coming days. The wind had already picked up, and he wondered why Dumbledore would choose to go outside to talk. All the people inside seemed to belong to the Order - otherwise the Headmaster wouldn´t have said the things he did earlier - so what was the secret they were going to share now?

"Did you need something from me, Headmaster?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

Dumbledore, who´d been looking out over the grounds, seemingly lost in thought, turned to Harry.

"Danger is rising, Harry, my boy," the old wizard said looking away, out over the grounds surrounding the Weasley Castle.

Harry nodded but didn´t say anything. Danger had been rising all his life, and most certainly in the seven years he had no memory of. So what was special now?

"I let Remus and Sirius, along with a few others, get on the case of the guns. They have been training with Mr Hanawalt, as well as tried magic on the weapons."

"You said they hadn´t made any progress," Harry said, confused.

"They have, my boy, they have," Dumbledore sighed. He suddenly looked tired and very old. The Boy Who Lived could see the pain of the war in the blue eyes; the twinkle in them subdued. "I do not want to cause a panic among the Order until we are certain that the results weren´t just a one-time deal."

"What - what happened?" Harry asked quietly. He wondered if he wanted to know.

"Remus tried combining several hexes on the bullets, and they found that with the right combination, the bullets can pass through wards and protection spells. If this is what Voldemort has found out, then the Wizarding community is no longer as protected against guns as we were before."

Harry sat down heavily on the bench behind him. This news was certainly bad. If Voldemort began using guns, then every human on earth was in danger - no one would be safe, and no one would be able to protect themselves. The Muggles were already afraid of the weapons as it was, but it would probably take several casualties before the witches and wizards of the world understood that the danger now applied to them as well. He didn´t want that to happen; no lives should have to be spent just because others were too arrogant to see their own weaknesses.

"I want you and Draco both to go to Mr Hanawalt to take lessons," Dumbledore said. "I will keep you both updated on everything my team finds out, but I would like to know that you can handle a gun."

Harry swallowed and nodded. He had already planned on taking lessons; however, he hadn´t counted on it being this serious. Now it was not a choice anymore - he suspected that before long, taking classes in how to handle a Muggle gun would be a means of surviving, just like having your wand close at hand already was.

Dumbledore continued, "I also want you to take Draco home fairly soon. See to it that he gets plenty of rest in the coming days."

The raven-haired boy looked at the older wizard, frowning. "But why?"

"I suspect that if Voldemort is making as much progress as we are, then it won´t be long before he will try it out by capturing Muggles or wizards or both."

"And if that happens, Draco will have a vision," Harry finished for him. He added, in a hopefully sad voice, hoping that Dumbledore would explain one of the mysteries Harry had encountered since coming to this future, "Why does he have to have those visions?"

"His father had it, and Draco inherited when you killed Lucius," Dumbledore said, answering the question Harry had wanted answered. Again, the Boy Who Lived wondered if the Headmaster knew more than he let on.

"Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn´t have killed Lucius," Harry said, trying to sound like the twenty-three-year old he supposedly was.

"No reason to look back and question your actions, my boy," Dumbledore replied. "What is done is done, now look to the future."

Harry looked up at him, and saw a twinkle of understanding in the Headmaster´s eyes. He didn´t know exactly what it meant, yet he understood the underlying meaning of it - `I know that you´re not who you say you are, but I still trust you.´ Harry smiled at Dumbledore.

"Yes, Headmaster," he said, turning back to the door. "Now I´ll go inside and enjoy myself for a little longer before taking Draco home to rest."

Dumbledore smiled at him and followed Harry inside, leaving the chilly blackness of the outdoors behind.

Inside, the party was still in full swing. People were eating, drinking, laughing and talking, all as old friends. As Harry watched, he realized that the crowd mostly consisted of Gryffindors. He also recognized a few Hufflepuffs, and even fewer Ravenclaws, but the most under-represented Hogwarts house was Slytherin. In fact, the only one Harry knew to belong to that particular house was Draco. He knew he shouldn´t be surprised - after all, most of the dark wizards tended to come from Slytherin.

Speaking of Slytherins - where was Draco?

Harry spied around the room for the blonde, but couldn´t see him. Among the redheaded Weasleys, several black former students, and the brunettes and blondes of the room, Draco would surely stand out with his platinum hair. Yet Harry didn´t see him anywhere.

"Have you seen Draco?" Harry asked Ron after looking for five minutes without result.

Ron shook his head `no´. "Haven´t seen him in a while. Check your room, or the guestrooms. He has been known to crash there when he gets too bored, after all."

Harry nodded and walked through the crowd towards the guestrooms. He would try those first, since they were on the ground level of the castle, while the bedroom Harry and Draco had shared during their stay was on the second floor. He passed through the beautifully decorated corridor, stopping for a second to look at the pictures on the walls.

Just like on the walls in their apartment, Harry and Draco were in several of the pictures. There wasn´t one where they weren´t smiling and waving at the camera, although there were those where Draco looked a little unwilling. They looked like a perfectly happy couple, just like Ron and Hermione, and Harry felt a sting of jealousy of the love the Harry and Draco of this time and place shared. He couldn´t imagine himself and Draco like that though... there was no way...

He shook his head to clear it and continued down the hall towards the guestrooms.

He opened the door to the room where Draco had first woken up a month ago. The room looked much the same as it had then - the same decorations and furniture, and the same bed, neatly made with green and silver covers.

And right in the middle of the bed sat Draco, cradling a little baby. The baby was, by the looks of it, asleep, contentedly sucking her thumb.

"Draco?" Harry asked, stopping dead in his tracks, his eyes wide.

"Shh," Draco hushed him. "You´ll wake her up."

Harry continued to stare at him.

"What?" Draco asked, in a voice that was quiet, yet managed to sound very annoyed.

"You - how - who...?" Harry said dumbly.

"You really like doing that impression of a goldfish, don´t you?" the blonde asked him.

"Shut up," Harry muttered, moving closer to the bed. He sat down on the side of it and looked down at the little baby. She was beautiful; small nose, a pale complexion, tiny fingers - and red hair that made Harry assume she was a Weasley.

"This is Pearle," Draco said, not taking his eyes off the precious bundle in his arms. "She´s Percy and Penelope´s daughter."

"Percy, Penelope and Pearle?" Harry asked, letting out a quiet laugh. "What a family."

"Well, they´re Weasleys, so what can you expect," Draco said.

"Draco, you´re cuddling one of the aforementioned Weasleys in your arms. I doubt I could take your comments seriously right now."

The blonde tore his gaze from the baby to give Harry a glare. "I´m ignoring you," he said, returning his attention to the little girl.

Harry chuckled. "I can see that."

They sat in silence, Harry on the side of the bed, and Draco with Pearle on his lap right in the middle. The blonde rested his back against a pillow that was leaning on the wall, and a few minutes later, Harry moved up on the bed and sat down next to Draco. The baby slept on peacefully.

"Was there something you wanted?" Draco asked after several minutes of silence. He didn´t look up at Harry as he spoke, but kept his eyes on Pearle.

Harry looked up from the baby to the blonde. "Dumbledore told me to take you home to rest. He believes you are going to get another vision soon."

Harry was watching Draco closely as he said it and he noticed the slight widening of the grey eyes. He could also feel the sudden fear radiate from the blonde; the sensation increased by their Heart Bind. He knew that the other boy was remembering the old vision and the pain that had come with it.

Then Draco seemed to get himself under control again, for the fear radiating from him lessened to next to nothing.

"It´s okay to be scared, Draco," Harry said, noticing that the blonde´s hands were still trembling slightly.

"How would you know," Draco muttered. "You´re never scared."

Harry stared at him. "I´m never scared?" he asked incredulously. "Draco, just in the past month while I´ve been here in this future, I´ve been scared more times than I can count."

The Slytherin still refused to look at him.

"I woke up here and I was scared, because I didn´t know where I was. I was scared when I first saw you, lying unconscious on this very bed. I was scared when you had the first vision, and I was scared out of my wits when I was kidnapped... Why do you think I´m never scared?"

"You´re Harry bloody Potter," Draco muttered. "You´re the proud, brave Gryffindor who fears nothing and is the hero of the Wizarding world."

"Not by choice," Harry grumbled back. "If I had a choice, I would never have chosen to be `the saviour´."

Draco was silent for a few moments. Then he said in a small voice, "I don´t want another vision. It hurts."

Harry offered him a small and hopefully comforting smile. "I know they do," was all he could find in him to say. He knew that nothing he could say would make Draco less scared of the vision, and time and experience were the only two things that would make them easier. Harry assumed, from the conversation Hermione had had with Ron that the Draco of this time had become used to them, since Hermione had said that the visions hadn´t hurt like that in a long time.

Without warning, Draco sighed and leaned over on Harry, resting his head on the raven-haired boy´s shoulder. Pearle was still held securely in his arms. He was overwhelmed by the sense of security radiating off the blonde in waves, and sat uncomfortably on the bed for several minutes. Then finally, he gave a small sigh, placed his arm around Draco´s shoulders, and relaxed into the bed.

He didn´t see the small smile on Draco´s lips as they both fell asleep a few minutes later.

~~~

To be continued

Cosmic 2003