Desires In Another Mirror

McGonagall stared furiously at Harry and Luna, who exchanged glances.

'You've been gone for hours!' McGonagall continued. 'No word where you were, no sign of you, nobody knew anything...'

'Well, we...' Harry began, weakly.

'And your parents have been frantic, both of you! Harry, your mother and father hurried here in the middle of the night; Lily's been beside herself!'

'Mum and Dad are here?' Harry asked.

'Well, of course they are, we had to let them know right away that you were missing! Good grief, where were you both?'

Harry sighed. Luna looked at him, and shrugged.

'It's a bit of a long story,' he said.

'Well then,' said McGonagall. 'You'd better come and tell it, hadn't you?'

She shook her head angrily at them once more and floated off down the corridor. They followed her into her office, a small, cosy room with bookshelves lining the walls, a fire in the grate, and Lily, James and Luna's father sitting anxiously around the fireplace.

When Lily saw Harry, she jumped up and flew to hug him tightly.

'How could you?' she asked in a choked voice, not letting go of him. 'How could you run off like that? We've been worried sick!'

'I'm sorry,' Harry said, his voice muffled.

'We had a very good reason,' Luna was saying to her father, as the two of them sat down.

'I'm sure you did,' he said. 'But we were still very worried. I hope that you did whatever you needed to do.'

'We didn't,' said Luna. 'But... well, Harry can explain.'

Lily let go of Harry so that James could hug him, and McGonagall conjured a chair for him to sit between his parents, followed by hot drinks and biscuits, which Harry and Luna accepted gratefully.

'Go on then, Harry,' McGonagall said, once he had put down his drink. 'What was so important that you had to run off and send us all into a panic?'

'You're not going to believe me,' Harry said.

'Try me,' said McGonagall.

So Harry explained.

'I'm not who you think I am,' he said. He stopped, shocked, as everyone in the room except Luna pulled out their wands and pointed them at him. 'Oh, no, nothing like that!' he said. 'I'm Harry Potter, I'm not a Death Eater or anything! I'm just... a different Harry, that's all.'

He explained about the mirror, while they all stared at him, still holding their wands firmly pointed towards him.

'How do we know you're telling the truth?' James asked him.

'Well... I don't know,' said Harry. 'Isn't there some way you can test? Can't you give me Veritaserum or something? I promise you it's true!'

'Let's assume for a moment that this is all true - why didn't you tell us right away?' Lily asked. 'Why keep it a secret?'

'Well, I didn't think anyone would believe me,' said Harry. 'And I didn't know what to do... I wasn't sure what was going on, I wasn't sure if it was real. And then... after a while, I... well, I didn't want to tell anyone. I was enjoying myself.'

'Enjoying yourself?' McGonagall asked, suspiciously.

'Yes,' said Harry, going a little red. 'I like it here. It's different than where I come from.'

'Different how?' asked James. 'I can't imagine anywhere dreadful enough to make this an improvement...'

'I didn't say it was dreadful,' said Harry. 'Just different.' He sighed. 'Well, if you really want to know, you're dead there.'

'Dead?'

'You both are... you both died when I was a baby.'

'Oh...' Lily reached out to squeeze Harry's hand. 'Oh, how awful, James...'

'What else?' asked James, still looking suspiciously at Harry.

'Well, Voldemort never took over. He was defeated. Everything was fine. Until a couple of years ago he came back, but the Order are still putting up a pretty good fight, and it's nowhere near over yet.'

'And?'

'And... um... well, everyone goes to school at Hogwarts... the Daily Prophet is still going strong... Dumbledore's alive, he's leading the fight against Voldemort...'

'Look at me, Harry,' said McGonagall.

Harry obeyed, and found himself locked in McGonagall's gaze, unable to look away. He knew what this was - it was Legilimency. She was reading his mind, seeing if he was really who he claimed to be. He let her, trying not to push her out as she sorted through his memories and they flickered across his mind - his first time on the Hogwarts Express, an exam in the Great Hall, hiding from Dudley in the shed, Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione, school dinners at his primary school, a rare hug from Aunt Petunia when he was very small, and finally, the mirror at Grimmauld Place, his bewilderment, his astonishment...

Abruptly, he was alone in his head again. McGonagall, looking at him curiously, leaned forward to squeeze his hand.

'It's true,' she said, sitting back. 'He's from another place, but he is Harry. Sorry about that, Harry. I didn't want to give you any warning, in case you were, you know...'

'That's fine,' said Harry.

'But I still don't understand,' said Luna's father. 'Why did you and Luna leave tonight?'

Harry sat back as Luna explained about the mirror and Grimmauld Place.

'But I couldn't go,' he said, once she had told her part. 'I heard something important, that the Order needs to know. I had to come back and tell you.'

'Tell us what?' asked McGonagall.

'It's about Bellatrix,' said Harry. 'She knows where Voldemort's horcruxes are. She's only supposed to know where one of them is, but she knows the locations of all of them.'

The others looked at one another, wide-eyed.

'Thank you, Harry,' said McGonagall after a moment. 'This is a very important piece of intelligence. We weren't even certain that he had made more horcruxes, and we certainly had no way to find out. This is useful. It could be crucial, in fact. Thank you.'

'No problem,' shrugged Harry, suddenly feeling embarrassed as all eyes in the room turned to him.

His parents were staring at him. They looked uncomfortable, and he supposed he couldn't blame them. He turned to them.

'I'm sorry I pretended to be your Harry,' he said. 'I didn't set out to deceive you, honestly. It all just sort of happened...'

'Don't!' said Lily.

'You are our Harry,' said James. 'It doesn't matter if you came from somewhere else; you're still our son.'

'We understand why you didn't tell us right away,' Lily continued. 'Oh, you must have been so confused when you first got here...'

Harry shrugged, and Lily leaned over to hug him. James ruffled his hair. Harry couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Before long, the rest of the school was getting up ready for lessons, and Harry and Luna attacked their breakfast with enthusiasm after the night's events. Lily and James sat with Lupin and Sirius, who had apparently been drafted at short notice the previous night to watch the twins while Lily and James were at the school. The twins themselves were tucking into breakfast too when the others came down. Hermione, Ron, Dudley, Neville, Ginny, Victoria and Edward all burst in at the same time. It seemed that gossip here travelled just as quickly as it did at Hogwarts, since everyone seemed already to know what had happened.

'Is it true?' asked Hermione breathlessly, sliding across the bench to sit opposite Harry and gazing intently at him. 'You're from another reality?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, nonchalantly. 'Toast?'

Hermione rolled her eyes, but took a piece of toast anyway.

'That must be really weird... are we all different there?' asked Dudley, pouring cereal into a bowl.

'Um... not that different,' said Harry. 'Mostly the same, actually. Hermione's more relaxed here, I've noticed.'

'Gosh, really?' Hermione said.

'Oh, yeah, you're a bit uptight where I come from,' Harry smirked.

'Harry James Potter, you're actually enjoying this, aren't you?' Victoria asked, trying not to smile.

He considered.

'Maybe a bit,' he grinned.

'So... what happens next?' asked Ron. 'Will McGonagall try to send you back where you came from?'

'Nah, she was angry that I'd been to Grimmauld Place at all, said it was way too dangerous. She says we can't try and get the mirror again. All we can do is try to find out exactly what it does, and in the meantime I'm just supposed to carry on going to my lessons as normal.'

'So, what's it like in this other place?' Victoria said. 'What am I like?'

Harry looked at her, and swallowed.

'Pretty much the same,' he said, after a moment. 'Sorry to disappoint you.'

Luna caught his eye, and he shrugged. The bell rang for the first lesson, and everyone gathered their things to go to class.

'Um, Ginny?' Harry said. 'Could you wait a sec?'

'No problem,' she said, sitting back down. 'I'll catch up with you, Lu.'

Harry watched anxiously until everyone else was on their way out of the door.

'It's about... what we talked about the other day,' he said.

'Sex, you mean?'

'Yeah... I'm sorry if I seemed weird about it but... I'm not your Harry. It would have been wrong for me to...'

'Well... that's very gallant, and I appreciate it,' she said, not looking him in the eye.

'Ginny, I'm sorry if...'

'Why did you tell Luna and not me?'she blurted suddenly, thumping the table with her fist.

'I...'

'I mean, you've never been especially close to Luna... I'm your girlfriend! You should have told me!'

'I'm sorry... I didn't think anyone would believe me, and it's just that Luna is more... well, she believes in everything...'

'I would have believed you! I love you!'

'But... I didn't know that...'

Ginny frowned at him.

'We're not a couple in the other place...' he explained, shrugging.

'We're not?' Ginny's eyes widened and misted with tears.

'Oh, it's not that I don't like you!' Harry said, hurriedly. 'It's just that nothing's happened between us yet... Well, I haven't known you as long, back there...'

'You really are a different Harry, aren't you?'

'I'm afraid so.'

'So what's happened to my Harry?'

'I don't know. He might be back in my reality, there's no way to tell.'

'What, so that's it? I'll never see him again?'

'Well, it depends if McGonagall can...'

'Oh, never mind!'

Ginny got up and stomped out. Harry followed, shaking his head.

* * *

Lessons were a chore that day. McGonagall had suggested that Harry and Luna should go and catch up on some sleep, but at the time he hadn't wanted to. Struggling to concentrate in Charms, it seemed suddenly like a good idea.

Ron and Hermione and Neville were very kind to him, and Hermione was tactful enough to suggest that they stop asking him questions about the other place when she saw he was getting tired of it. But it wasn't quite right.

He had almost gone home last night. At the time, he hadn't been sure he wanted to go, but now he had lost his chance, the longing for home was like an ache. Nothing was quite right here. Hermione's accent and mannerisms were just a little different. Ron wasn't so sensitive. Neville, shockingly, was top of the class in Potions. Luna wasn't even as odd as she was back home.

It was ridiculous, he knew, but he missed Ron's tantrums, the silly arguments between him and Hermione. He missed quiet, meek Neville and lonely, odd Luna. He missed Dean and Seamus, who didn't seem even to be here. He even missed Lavender and Parvati a bit. He missed Hogwarts, the moving staircases, the Great Hall, running down to Hagrid's of an evening or getting shouted at in the library. He missed Dumbledore.

Harry felt tears building behind his eyes, and grimaced. If Hermione saw him she'd be all sympathetic and make him worse, and that was the last thing he wanted in front of everyone.

He waited until Flitwick was busy explaining something to Susan, and Hermione was showing Ron where he had gone wrong, and slipped out of the room.

He found his parents in the Hall, reading with the twins. Lily saw the expression on his face and got up right away, leading him out into an empty corridor.

'Oh, sweetheart,' she sighed, gazing at him, her face filled with compassion.

He gulped, then threw his arms around her, sobbing helplessly. She patted him on the back and made soothing noises.

'You're such a brave boy,' she told him, stroking his hair. He shuddered with every sob, and she helf him closer.

After a few minutes he stopped and looked up, red-faced and sniffling.

'I feel a bit silly now...' he said.

'But do you feel better?'

'Much, thank you.'

'Well, good. And it's not silly to want a hug from your mother. You're still just a child you know, even if you've had to shoulder some very adult responsibilities.' She paused, biting her lip. 'I've been talking to Minerva. She told me some of the things she saw in your head - I hope that was alright?'

'Of course,' said Harry.

'She was worried about you; she says you've had a hard time of it.'

'That's an understatement,' Harry grinned weakly.

'I'm sorry you had such a miserable childhood, Harry... I would have hoped that Petunia would have looked after you like you were her own.'

'Well... it isn't your fault,' Harry said. 'Don't get upset over it, you didn't even know I existed.'

'Well, you're here now, and I want you to know that you're very welcome. I don't want you to feel like an outsider. You're still our son.'

'Aren't you worried about your Harry?'

'I'm worried about the other Harry, yes... but he'll be alright. There are people there to take care of him, just like we'll take care of you. And you're just as much our Harry as he is.'

'I knew I'd like you,' Harry said.

'Well, good. Now let's go and sit with your dad and your sisters for a bit.'

'I'm not in trouble for sneaking out of Charms?'

'Not this once, but don't make a habit of it,' she grinned.

James smiled at them both when they went back in, and patted Harry on the shoulder.

'Whatever your mum said, I agree,' he said.

'I said I was running off with Remus,' Lily said, airily.

'He wouldn't have you!' James retorted. 'Stop being silly, woman, and teach these girls some letters.'

'He bosses me about something awful,' Lily told Harry. 'Marigold, have you finished copying out those sentences yet?'

The twins were learning joined-up writing, and Harry watched contentedly for a while. His parents were good teachers, and they worked well together.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Tonks rushed in.

'Where's Minerva?' she asked, breathlessly.

'Teaching a class,' said Lily. 'Why? What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong, exactly... I need to talk to the whole Order, right now...'

'Go to Minerva's office, we'll round everyone up,' said James. 'Harry, keep an eye on the twins, and keep everyone in here while the grown-ups talk.'

'Ha ha,' said Harry. 'Alright, will do.'

Tonks, James and Lily hurried away, and soon Harry and the twins were joined by everyone else, sent to the Hall while their teachers met in the office.

'What's going on?' Dudley asked.

'Something important, I think,' said Harry, and told them what Tonks had said.

'The whole Order?' asked Hermione.

Harry nodded.

'Must be something really important,' said Ron.

'They said to wait in here until they're finished,' Harry said.

They watched the door, anxiously.