A Space Between Worlds

Chapter Four:

A Stranger to Friends

"There's another world inside of me,

That you may never see.

There's secrets in this life,

That I can't hide.

Somewhere in this darkness,

There's a light that I can't find."

--"When I'm Gone" by 3 Doors Down

The room in which they entered was rather large, with a long table right down the center. A group of forty or so wizards and witches were grouped about it, eating the generous dinner before them and talking amiably with each other. Harry immediately recognized many of them, his heart pumping quickly as he did so.

Ron Weasley sat at the end of the table with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ginny. There were Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, Sturgis, Mundungus, Hestia Jones, Elphias Doge, Emmeline Vance, and Dedalus Diggle. McGonagall was there, as well, and seated beside her were two men with bright red hair and matching smiles, and at the head of the table sat Dumbledore. There was also a good amount of people that Harry didn't know, among them a man and a woman who looked oddly familiar with a young girl about Leo's age seated between them.

As James, Lily, Sirius, and Harry entered the room, Dumbledore stood and the others followed, their conversations dying away as they gazed curiously at Harry.

Whether in my world or this one, I suppose I'll always be the center of attention, Harry thought as he managed a slight smile at those people whom he knew so well, and yet not at all.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "and here at last is Sirius."

"Sorry, I'm late," Sirius said.

"Quite all right," Dumbledore said, smiling. He turned his attention to Harry then, his eyes twinkling. "And here's Apollo Hero. Come, Apollo, let me introduce you to everyone..."

As everyone sat back down, Harry took a seat beside the headmaster, who pointed out the various Order members to him. It was hard for Harry to be introduced to so many people that he knew, and have them look on at him with no sign of recognition.

There were those that he didn't know, though, and when it came to be introduced to them, Harry often found himself amazed at what he heard.

"Jack Greene, Chloe Lechat, Kai North, Heather Meadows, Ryan Moray, Hamish Dane, Kathryn Pourinemski, Sarah Platt, Steven Shaw, Laoise Abercrombie, Pearse Manning, and Lisa Perks. And this is Marlene McKinnon," Dumbledore said, gesturing to a tall, impressive woman. Harry immediately recognized her from Moody's old photograph. "Gideon Prewett and his brother Fabian," continued Dumbledore, pointing out the two red-headed men who waved cheerily at Harry. "Alastor Moody"--Harry noticed that this Moody had two normal eyes--"And Frank and Alice Longbottom and their children Neville and Donna."

Harry's eyes widened, but he caught himself before he said anything. He had not noticed Neville there before, and he was quite taken aback to see Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom sitting there healthy and sane with their daughter sandwiched between them.

When the introductions were completed, everyone settled back into the meal and several different conversations sprung about. Harry, who was seated between Dumbledore and Sirius, was feeling suddenly very content, despite the day's revelations. His parents were sitting across from him, talking with Sirius and laughing at private jokes that the rest of the listeners were not privy to.

Leo had come in half way through the introductions and was now sitting beside his father. The Longbottoms' daughter, Donna, moved away from her parents and found a seat next to Leo. The two were obviously friends as they talked excitedly about starting Hogwarts that year.

Harry kept glancing down the table at the Weasleys, wondering where Percy was. In Harry's world, the third Weasley had made up with his parents and had joined the Order. Perhaps in this world he had not done so? However, Harry was not surprised to see that neither Aberforth Dumbledore (who was rather aloof) nor Snape were present.

Every now and then, Harry would catch Neville and Ron's eyes. It was always the same: they would smile mildly at him and then look away. But what did Harry expect? For them to notice him? He was a stranger here, Harry had to constantly remind himself, a stranger to friends, a stranger to people whom he had known for years, some since he was eleven. and yet these were not the same people. They were different, they, too, were strangers.

When dinner was finally ended, the Order began to prepare for the meeting, and that included kicking out all the underage wizards and witches. With much protesting, Leo, Neville and Donna, and Ron and Ginny were ushered from the room, Harry following behind quietly.

"We'll be done in a few hours," Lily said when the six of them had made it into the hall outside the room. "Try to stay out of trouble," she added as an after thought, her green eyes lingering on her son.

With that she smiled at them and shut the door.

As one, Ron, Ginny, Leo, Neville, and Donna threw themselves upon the door, holding their ears up to any and all cracks so as to hear. Harry watched amused. If this Order was anything like the one in his world, they would have thought to put up a Silencing Charm. A second later, this fact was confirmed, as Ginny stepped away from the door, looking disappointed but not surprised. "They always put that damned charm up. It's not fair!"

Neville sighed. "Ah well, it's no use crying about it. We're just going to have to keep hoping that one day they'll forget to put one up."

"Let's go play chess," Ron said, moving away from the door.

Harry grinned inwardly. Some things never change.

As it was his house, Leo led the way into a comfortable living room. There was a small shelf of books in one corner, a fireplace in another, and in the center of the room were a few small couches and chairs with a good-sized table in their midst. Neville and Ron immediately grabbed the wizard's chess board, and began to play. Harry noticed that the pieces were red and green instead of black and white.

"I play the winner," Leo said, as he and the girls took seats around the table where Ron and Neville were playing.

"Which will probably be Ron," Ginny said.

"Hey! I could win!" Neville protested.

Donna shook her head. "Nope, definitely gonna be Ron."

"My own sister!" Neville said, clearly offended, and as if to add insult to injury, one of Ron's pawns began a fight with Neville's knight and won.

Harry stood back away from the others, who seemed to have forgotten about his presence. He didn't mind much though. It gave him a chance to reflect upon the people before him.

Neville was a bit of a shock. He was not anything like he was in Harry's world. In this world he was much more confident and outspoken. He carried himself taller and prouder, and did not seem as accident prone or clumsy as Harry knew him to be.

It did not take long for Ron to win, and then Leo took Neville's place and began the second match.

Neville plopped down on a couch and Ginny sat beside him, her hand entwining with his. Harry stared. Neville and Ginny? Together? In his world, Harry and Ginny were unofficially dating, seeing each other now and then, going to Hogsmeade together. They had never kissed or done anything more, afraid of disrupting their friendship, but seeing Neville and Ginny holding hands on the couch made Harry vow that the moment he got back to his own world, he was going to do so and confirm their relationship as more than just friends. That is, if he did ever get back to his world.

Donna looked over at Harry suddenly and smiled at him. She looked like her mother, just as Neville did: soft, brown hair, large, blue eyes, and a pretty, round face. "You can sit down, you know. You don't have to keep standing there."

Harry moved forward, feeling ridiculously shy. He sat down on a couch beside Donna and she continued to smile at him. "See? We don't bite."

Harry nodded and returned her smile.

"Check!" Leo cried victoriously. Harry stared. Had the boy actually succeeded in beating the unbeatable Ronald Weasley?

"Check mate," Ron retorted, ending the game in record time and ensuring his own victory. "Sorry, Leo, but you should know better than to challenge the Master."

"The Master?" Ginny laughed.

"Do not mock," Ron said, raising a hand to her, "unless you can prove your worthiness."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I think all this winning has gone to your head."

"Come now, who's my next victim--I mean, opponent." Ron looked over at Harry. "Hey Apollo, want to play?"

"I suppose so," Harry said, taking Leo's spot. "As long as you go easy on me."

* * *

"...we were irreversibly surrounded. They had us on all sides, outnumbered one to five."

The Order was watching silently as Frank Longbottom paced the room, speaking of the recent attack on Plymouth. He, Alice, Elphias, Tonks, and Kai North had been the only ones present to fight the Death Eaters, barely escaping with their lives.

"We were able to aid most of the people of that area get out, but the Death Eaters' purge took live lives of three wizards and one witch. Two of the wizards were half-bloods, one was Muggle-born."

"What of the witch?" asked Jack Greene.

Frank sighed. "She was a pure-blood."

"Then why did the Death Eaters attack her?" Lily said.

"She was married to one of the half-blooded wizards. That was good enough reason as any to kill her."

"The rest got away, you say?" Moody asked.

Frank nodded. "Yes, there were a few injuries, but everyone else was fine."

"How did you manage to escape?" Arthur Weasley said, leaning forward.

"The bay," Alice said, as Frank sat back down beside her. "The Death Eater force was weak at that point, and we were able to push forward with the refugees. It's amazing what a well-placed Bubble-head Charm and some gillyweed can do to get you out of a tight spot."

"I told you that gillyweed would come in handy," Moody said, looking over at Tonks, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes," she said, "for once your paranoia was useful."

"Anyway," James said, "were the refugees moved to the safe camps?"

"Yes," North said. "Those with relatives have decided to stay with them, but the rest are going to live at the camps until they can find a more permanent residence."

Dumbledore nodded from where he sat and looked out at his Order. "You did what you could and you did it well. While the loss of life and homes is sad and regrettable, I see this as a victory rather than a defeat. How many were saved, did you say?"

"Fifty-eight," Frank said.

"I wish I were there," Sirius said suddenly. "I would have given those Death Eaters a great--"

"Well then it's lucky you weren't there," Moody said gruffly. "The last thing we need is young people causing more trouble than necessary."

Sirius scowled at him. "I am a fully qualified Auror, thank you, Alastor. And I do not cause trouble..."

Sirius realized too late the irony of his words as the entire Order burst out laughing. McGonagall fixed Sirius with a stern gaze that nonetheless was penetrated by her smirking laughter. "As your former teacher, I, for one, can vouch that you do indeed cause trouble, Mr. Black, much more trouble than should be allotted to one individual."

Sirius looked around at the others ruefully. "That's not--what I meant was--oh, shut it, Prongs!" he exclaimed as James threw back his head in laughter.

"I'm quite responsible while on duty," Sirius began again, imploring the others to believe him. "And I have mellowed out a bit from my school days," he added with a look at McGonagall.

"A bit," Lily muttered, and James snickered.

"You were just as bad, James," Sirius said.

"Indeed I was," James said, "and proud of it."

"We're only teasing you, Sirius," Alice said. "We all know that you are an exceptional Auror."

"And don't you forget it," Sirius said.

"All right," Kingsley said, "shall we move onto the next order of business?"

"And what would that be?" Dumbledore said politely, though the look in his eye said quite plainly that he knew what was coming.

"Apollo Hero," several Order members said at once.

"Yes," Sarah Platt said, "how is it that you know him again, Dumbledore?"

"And how can you be sure his is trust worthy?" asked Ryan Moray.

"I have already explained to you," Dumbledore began calmly, "that his family was killed by Death Eaters this summer, and that he has come up north to attend Hogwarts. I knew his parents. They fought hard against Voldemort, as do we, and Apollo has been brought up with the Dark Lord's threat, just as our own children have. I assure you that he is very trustworthy, and will not let slip the Order of the Phoenix to anyone." Dumbledore turned to Sirius. "I have asked Sirius to take the boy in for the remainder of the summer, and Sirius has found nothing at all to indicate that the boy is untrustworthy. Isn't that so, Sirius?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes. When I found him, he had nothing on him but a few quills, and a blank piece of parchment. Here--" Sirius rummaged in his pockets and pulled out the parchment, passing it along to the others. "Search it yourselves, I already have. I do not believe that it has been written on with Invisible Ink or charmed so that its contents can't be read. It's simply a blank piece of paper. Perhaps he was planning on writing a letter.

"I admit at first that I was skeptical about taking this young man into my home, but Dumbledore insisted, and I agreed to it. He's been there a week, and we've gotten along famously. He's a very personable boy and Leo is quite attached it him. No, I agree with Dumbledore. Apollo Hero means us no harm."

The rest of the Order looked about at one another and nodded their own agreement. If Dumbledore said that Apollo could be trusted, then his word was good enough for them.

* * *

Done in a few hours indeed! Harry thought as he looked up the clock that hung crookedly on the wall. It was nearing one o'clock in the morning, and one by one, his companions had fallen asleep around him. Ginny and Neville were snuggled on one of the couches together, and every time Harry looked at them he felt a strange emotion rise up within him. Was it jealousy? He wasn't sure. Ron was laying sprawled on the floor, his long legs spread-eagle and his arms under his head. Donna was curled up on a couch by herself, looking rather cat-like. Leo was dozing in a chair, his head falling upon his chest.

And Harry was in a corner, feeling detached and estranged from the people around him.

He walked over to the bookcase, and began to search for a history book to see how many differences there were between his world and this world. The only problem was that he didn't know much about his own world's history for him to pick out a difference. So he just sat in the corner, rifling through the pages aimlessly. Every now and then, he saw small comments in the margins written by his father. It appeared that this had once been a school book, for the notes written on the pages said things like: Binns is killing me, slowly and painfully; Padfoot, did you see Snivellus during Potions? Haha!; I love L.E.; Moony, can I borrow your notes?; and Somebody PLEASE make Wormtail quit snoring!

Harry read marginal comments with mixed feelings. Did the James Potter in his world write the same notes in the same book?

Ron suddenly gave a tremendous snore that tore Harry away from his thoughts.

"Shut it, Ron," Harry heard Leo mumble sleepily from his chair.

Harry suddenly realized how tired he was. The day's events had worn him out greatly. So, he set the book aside, and leaned against the wall, allowing his exhaustion to turn into sleep.

* * *

Lily, James, Frank, Alice, Molly, and Arthur entered the living room to collect their children. The meeting had gone on longer than any of them had planned, and as it was now nearing two thirty in the morning, they decided that they'd better end it.

Molly and Alice went to the couch to get Neville and Ginny, while Arthur shook Ron awake from his position on the floor. Frank gathered the sleeping Donna into his arms, and James did likewise with Leo, taking the utmost care not to wake them. It was Lily who spotted Apollo asleep in the corner, and she went over to wake him.

"Apollo," she whispered, "the meetings over, wake up..."

Apollo opened two green eyes that Lily thought reminded her of her own, and he stared at her strangely, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he was really seeing her there. But then he smiled and stretched, rubbing his neck.

"What time is it?"

"Close to two thirty," Lily answered, as Apollo picked himself up. "You're staying here for the night," Lily added.

Apollo frowned. "Are you sure that's all right?"

Lily nodded. "Of course. Sirius is staying, too, and I think you'll be far less trouble than he."

"I don't have any pajamas or anything..."

"You're about James's size, I'm sure I'll find you something."

Apollo, seeming to have no more objections, yawned widely and said: "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Lily watched Apollo as they exited. He was looking on at the other adults wistfully as they ushered their children from the room. Lily regarded at him sympathetically. She was his age when she had lost her own parents. She knew how terribly it hurt to lose them so young.

She put an arm around him and steered him towards a small, yet comfortable room. "I hope this will be all right?"

Apollo yawned again and nodded. "Mmhmm..."

"I'll go get you some pajamas, then," she said as she walked back out into the hallway.

On the way to her room, she passed James putting Leo to sleep. He laid the boy gently down on the bed and kissed his forehead lightly before tucking him in. Lily smiled, knowing full well that had Leo been awake, he would have been both angry and embarrassed to have his father kiss him.

But James worried about Leo, this Lily knew. He worried about him when he was away, even when he was just at Sirius's. Lily worried about him, too. She worried about them both. It seemed to Lily that anything could happen to her family at anytime these days, even when they were safe at home...Lily shook herself. I will not think about that. Not now. I will not think about that night.

James walked out from Leo's room and joined her in the hall, slipping his arm about her waist. As they entered their own room, they were unsurprised to hear a voice greet them.

"Is Apollo all set?" Sirius asked, rummaging through James's drawers.

"Nearly," Lily answered, moving away from her husband towards the draw where Sirius stood, and pulled out two dressing gowns, one for Apollo and one for Sirius. "Here," she said, handing one to him. "Now get out, I don't want to see you until morning."

"But it is morning, love," Sirius said, turning his face so that she could kiss his cheek goodnight.

"Then not until the sun rises, and even then it will be too soon," she retorted, giving his proffered cheek a playful slap, but then kissing it anyway.

Sirius walked over to James and offered his cheek to him as well. James punched him in the arm. "Get out, you git."

Sirius sniffed with an air of feigned hurt. "Fine, I'll just go into my own room...alone..." He sighed heavily.

"Get a wife," Lily and James said together.

"I don't need a wife when I have Lily here," Sirius said, winking playfully at her.

James kicked him in the rear. "Out, Padfoot."

Sirius bowed and swept grandly from the room.

Lily shook her head, laughing. "He's a piece of work, that one."

"I don't know why I put up with him," James said, pulling off his outer robes and readying himself for bed.

"I don't know either," Lily responded, heading out of the room to deliver Apollo his pajamas. "Ponder it and tell me your conclusions when I get back."

When she entered the guest room where Apollo was staying, she found him lying dead asleep on the covers, one arm lying across his chest. She smiled and pulled the covers out from beneath him and laid them over him. She swept his fringe back off his forehead in a motherly fashion and saw a lightening bolt-shaped scar there. Contemplating where and how he could have received such a mark, she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

Perhaps she'd ask him in the morning.