Counterparts

Harry Potter climbed out of the taxi, pulling his trunk and Hedwig's cage with him. The driver had thought him mad to be left in front of an empty lot, but had accepted the money anyway. The taxi pulled away, leaving Harry alone.

Harry knew that he was going to be in a lot of trouble when he got back to the wizarding world. He was supposed to stay at the Dursleys; it was the safest place for him--except perhaps Hogwarts. If the Dursleys were treating him badly, he was supposed to notify the Order and let them handle things. If he absolutely had to leave, he was expected to tell someone: Mrs. Figg, a member of the Order, Dumbledore, Ron, somebody. He was definitely not supposed to just pack up his things and leave.

He didn't even have a reason for leaving. The silence in his room, in his life, had just become too much. Although there was a guard on him, they were not supposed to talk with Harry; it could distract them from the job of keeping him safe. He reckoned he could ask to talk to someone, but the adults he thought he could talk to were all very busy with Order business; they had more important things to do than go all the way out to Surrey to listen to Harry whine.

There were people he could write to but what he really wanted was someone to talk to, someone he could see, someone who could answer what he had to say right then, someone who could . . . Harry didn't even really know what he wanted from this person; he just knew he couldn't get it from a letter. So, yesterday afternoon, after another exciting day of trying to interest himself in reading through his schoolbooks looking for things he could use against Voldemort, something inside of him finally broke. He had thrown all of his things, except for his invisibility cloak, into his trunk, cleaned out Hedwig's cage and left. He had sent Hedwig to Ron's earlier that day with a letter, so he didn't have to worry about her right away.

He had walked to the train station and bought a ticket to Godric's Hollow. Once he got there, he had found a taxi driver who knew where the address he had found was. And, now, here he was. Standing in front of an empty lot, where the house in which he had lived once stood, with no idea what he was going to do next.

Harry walked up to where the house, his house, had stood. He now understood he had been looking for a place where he belonged, but there was no such place. He didn't belong with the Dursleys, even if it was the only place he could call home. He didn't belong at Hogwarts, except during the school year as a student. He didn't belong at the Burrow, at Grimmauld Place, or anywhere else he could think of. Harry closed his eyes, wishing, hard, that he could open his eyes and see the home where he had belonged, could see the house bright and open and filled with family. His family, that he no longer had.

He could hear voices nearby, the voices of a family preparing for the day. He thought it must be from one of the houses next door; the voices were that close. Harry opened his eyes, intending to go back to the street and find a secluded place where he could summon the Knight Bus. He was shocked to find himself standing in front of a house he had only seen in photographs. He walked up to the door and knocked on the door. He felt a fool but he had to see for himself that he had become delusional.

The door was opened by a woman in her late thirties. She looked much like an older version of Harry's mother. Seeing who was at the door, she rolled her eyes and turned to go back into the house. "Honestly, Harry, why are you knocking on the door? And what are you doing outside; I thought you were upstairs?" She turned and gave Harry a much more careful look. "Harry? Is that . . ? Who are . . . ?"

While she was still trying to put the Harry at her front door with the one who was presumably upstairs, they both heard a voice coming from the room behind her. "Mum, what did you want?" The voice, which was Harry's, was followed by . . . Harry. It didn't look exactly like the image he would see in a mirror: the other boy was a little taller and a bit heavier, slender rather than skinny. His glasses' frames were different and he didn't have a scar on his forehead. He stopped short as he came into sight, his eyes widening. "Mum . . .?"

"Harry, has your father left for work yet?" Lily Potter had paled and was swallowing hard, but her voice was calm and steady.

"I don't think so," Harry's doppelganger's eyes were wide and he, too, was pale.

"Go get him. And get everyone else upstairs." When he didn't move immediately, Lily snapped, "Now!"

Harry stared at Lily, feeling unnerved. "Maybe I should just go. I didn't mean for any of this . . ."

He was stopped by another voice, also male. "Lily, Harry's babbling something about mirrors and doubles and . . ." A man who looked a lot like Harry, either one, came into the hall. "Merlin's beard!"

Right on the heels of the first man, a second one came into sight. Tall and handsome, with long black hair and grey eyes, Harry recognized him immediately. "Sirius?" The events of the past month, the past year, were finally too much. The world started wobbling, then went black.

Harry woke up gradually to what sounded like an argument. It took him a few minutes to realize whose voices he was hearing and why his was one of them. He couldn't identify the voices; everyone was talking over each other. He opened his eyes a little to see if he could see who was in the room. Everything was very blurry; someone must have removed his glasses. James and Lily Potter were there, as was his double and Sirius. He could also see Professors Snape, Lupin and Dumbledore. It was the last person he saw that goaded him into action. Off in a corner, looking up a staircase, was Peter Pettigrew. Without thinking it through, Harry leapt off the couch and dived for Wormtail. "You bastard!" he screamed while he wrapped his hands around Wormtail's throat and tried to strangle him. Wormtail looked panicked and tried unsuccessfully to push Harry off of him.

The room exploded in noise and action. A minute later, Harry felt hands trying to pull him off Wormtail. Although the hands were strong, Harry had the advantage of adrenalin and years of anger; he wasn't going to let go. The hands quickly gave up; he heard someone say "Stupefy!"

This time when Harry woke up, there was a hand on his shoulder holding him in place. He opened his eyes to see James Potter looking down at him. "Peter isn't here," the man told him. "If I let you up, are you going to attack anyone else?"

"If it's just who was here before, and not he's not, I won't," Harry said.

James sat back and let Harry sit up. He was on a couch in a lounge. With the exception of Wormtail, everyone else he had seen in the room was still there. Lupin and Sirius both looked rumpled; Harry thought it likely they were the ones who had tried to pull him off Wormtail. "Let's start with the basics. Who the hell are you?"

Harry took a deep breath. "The short answer is Harry James Potter." Everyone in the room looked at him in a combination of shock and disbelief. "But I'm not your Harry Potter. I'm just not sure how I got from where I belong to here." And I'm not sure I want to go back, Harry thought, but didn't say out loud.

Dumbledore was the first to respond to Harry's answer. "Do you have any idea how you came to be here? I'm assuming James and Lily here look like your parents; you seem to know everyone in the room."

"And how do we know you're what you appear to be?" questioned Snape. "Albus, he may look like Harry, but there are several ways to create that appearance. And his first action was to attempt a murder."

Lily shook her head. "I'm not saying I believe the boy, but I don't think he came here to kill Peter. He was going to leave right before James and Sirius came into the hall and he had no way of knowing we'd call Peter in on this. In fact," she glared at Sirius, "I clearly remember saying that, other than Professor Dumbledore, we should keep the number of people in on this down."

Harry was feeling sick now, and scared. He had no way of proving who he was; even his scar . . . "What happened to Voldemort here?" Everyone in the room looked confused. "Was he killed? Is he in Azkaban? Is he in power? What happened to him?"

"I'll bite," said James. "Who's Voldemort?"

* * *

"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Harry asked, wondering if the wizard who had blighted his life even existed in this world.

"Tom Riddle died about a quarter of a century ago," Dumbledore said, his eyes curious. "What does the death of one obsessed wizard have to do with us today?"

Harry took a deep breath. "In my world, he didn't die. In fact, he's been working on becoming immortal." Harry did a quick calculation. "About 26 years ago, he started gathering power and followers. He became the most powerful dark wizard in over a century. A little over sixteen years ago, a prophecy was made that described the one who could vanquish him. Two boys were born who fit the prophecy. One was pureblood, one half blood. He went after the half blood boy first. My father tried to draw him off, to give my mum and me a chance to run for it. He killed him, but he gave my mum a chance to live. She just had to let him kill me. She refused, he killed her, and then he tried to kill me. The curse rebounded. It left me with this scar and him without a body. It took him thirteen years to bring himself back, but he has."

The room was dead quiet. Everyone was staring at Harry open-mouthed. After a few minutes of the silence, Harry found himself speaking, "I'm sorry. I never meant to come here; I just needed . . . I have to get back home, to my world. If I don't stop him, I don't know if anyone can." Harry couldn't breathe properly any more; he was gasping for breath but getting light-headed from lack of oxygen. "I have to get back."

This last seemed to unfreeze James. "Look, kiddo, that's much too much responsibility for an almost sixteen year old kid." His son nodded, wide-eyed. "We'll help you get back but you have to let the adults worry about this Voldemort character."

"What adults? Huh? My parents? They're dead, since I was a baby!" Harry could see Lily crying in the corner of his eye. "My aunt and uncle? They're Muggles and hate me anyway! My g-g-g-godfather? I got him killed! The prophecy says it's me; I have to do it. I either have to become a murderer or a victim and no adult can change that!" He didn't even know what he wanted any more. His head hurt, his stomach was churning and he felt dizzy. He sat back down and closed his eyes, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

After a minute, he felt a hand on his arm. Opening his eyes, he saw it was Lily. She smiled gently at him, and then took his hand, tugging him upright. "You look exhausted, dear. Why don't you lie down upstairs and I'll bring you something to eat. You can calm down and we can figure out where to start sorting this out. That's likely to take a while." Harry let her lead him upstairs, where she showed him to a bedroom he reckoned was his counterpart's. There were Quidditch posters on the wall and an owl cage on the desk, along with a number of books Harry recognized as schoolbooks. He lay down and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

When Harry woke up, it felt like he'd slept for several hours. "I hope you slept well," he heard. He recognized the voice as Lupin's. When he'd sat up and put on his glasses he could see Lupin and his counterpart. "You'd better go to work on that food or Lily will have both our heads." Harry saw a bowl of soup and a platter of sandwiches on the bedside table. He was able to finish the soup but could only eat one sandwich.

"Why is it you here instead of someone else?" Harry asked. "Not that I mind; it's actually easier."

Lupin smiled. "We hoped it would work that way. You said your parents and godfather were dead; we thought it had to be tough talking to people who look just like them. And the way you were glaring at Severus, and even Albus, we assumed you don't get along with their, erm, counterparts in your world. Of course, we didn't even consider Peter. That left me. If you're uncomfortable with that, tell me, but we do need some questions answered." When Harry nodded, he went on, "You told us your parents had been killed by Voldemort. You also said your godfather was dead and implied that you've been raised by your aunt and uncle. Let's start with two questions. How'd your godfather die and which aunt and uncle?"

Harry took in a deep breath. "The easier question is which aunt and uncle: my mum's sister and her husband, my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.."

The other Harry whistled. "I can't imagine them letting a wizard in their house for an afternoon, let alone raise one. Gran and Gramps have us all over for Christmas and things like that, but I've never been in their house."

"Be thankful," Harry said grimly. "They hate me and don't try to pretend otherwise."

"Is that why your clothes fit so badly?" Lupin asked. When Harry nodded, he continued, "Do they feed you?"

"Yes, as little as they can get away with. This summer hasn't been bad. My Professor Lupin, Tonks, Moody and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley threatened them when I was picked up this year, so it hasn't been that bad. I haven't had much of an appetite."

Lupin looked rather stunned at this statement. "You know, you're being really good about answering questions for us. The only problem is, every answer means a dozen more questions. In your world I, my counterpart, is a teacher. Where?"

"Hogwarts. He's not any more; after Snape told everyone he's a werewolf he decided to resign to save Dumbledore the trouble of sacking him." Harry realized that this Lupin looked younger, not as ill and had much less grey in his hair. "Er, are you a werewolf?"

Lupin grinned. "Yes, that's why I was so surprised. Albus went out on quite a limb to allow me to attend school in the first place; I don't believe he'd ever consider hiring me. It's much too dangerous." He thought a minute. "You said Severus told everyone. Was this in the newspapers, or what? Oh, and what did your Lupin teach?"

"He taught Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry grinned back. "The job seems to be jinxed. I've been there five years and we've had five instructors. You were the best of the lot, and the only one who wasn't evil or incompetent or both. Snape told all of the students in his house, Slytherin, and it spread around the school. He's Potions Master," Harry added.

"Someone hired Severus to teach children," Lupin mused. "Do you know the story behind that?"

"I know he's a Death Eater who came over to our side. He started teaching right after Voldemort was defeated. Dumbledore trusts him but I don't." Harry decided to leave it there; the Snape here didn't seem too bad. He hadn't sneered at Harry once.

Lupin nodded, seeming to understand what Harry was leaving out. "I assume a Death Eater is one of Voldemort's followers?" At Harry's nod, Lupin took a deep breath. "I know this next question is hard but how did your godfather die?"

Harry closed his eyes as he explained about his connection to Voldemort, about the vision he'd had in his History of Magic OWL, about trying to contact Sirius, about going to the Ministry and getting into the Department of Mysteries. He continued on about finding the prophecy, being attacked and, finally, the battle in the room with the veil and Sirius falling through it. When he finished he opened his eyes, expecting to see contempt and condemnation. Instead, he saw tears rolling silently down Lupin's cheeks. Looking over at his own counterpart, he saw to his surprise that he was sobbing quietly.

After a minute, Lupin asked quietly, "This happened last month?" When Harry confirmed this, he shook his head. "No wonder you've been having trouble with this. How old were you when your parents died?"

"I was a baby. Erm fifteen months, I think. Can I ask you some questions?"

Lupin seemed to be relieved. "Yes, I think we could use a bit of a break. Go ahead."

The three of them continued talking through the afternoon. Harry discovered that Lily and Snape were both Unspeakables, who worked together researching the foundation of magic. Sirius was an Auror and very well respected. James and Lupin ran a company that developed new magical items, especially "joke" items. This made Harry laugh. "Do you know the Weasley twins?"

"Oh, yes," Lupin laughed. "We know Fred and George well; in fact, we just hired them on. We're just glad the company's not a building, or sedate, or we'd never recover from those two trouble-makers."

"Dad says they remind him of the Marauders," the other Harry said. "That's their company. 'Marauders Ltd., Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Creator of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers,'" he quoted. "The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is who those guys are."

"You don't know?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. At Lupin's shocked expression, he winked. "I think you and I need to have a long, private conversation before I leave. There's a map and a cloak you need to know about. Yes, Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs have been very good to me."

Lupin glared at him. "I don't think we need to go any further into that subject." Harry smirked at him and his counterpart had a calculating look on his face. "To continue, you obviously are angry with Peter and my instinct says it's with good reason, but you haven't even touched on it. Why do you hate Peter so much?"

"Because he's a traitor and a murderer! I let him live once, because I was stupid, but if I ever get my hands on that . . ."

Lupin held his hand up. "That you hate his counterpart enough to kill him is obvious. My question is why." His eyes were trouble. "I find it very difficult to believe that Peter would ever hurt anyone deliberately."

"I don't know," Harry's counterpart said. His eyes were far away. "Uncle Peter's more than a bit timid. If he thought getting together with these Death Eaters would keep him safe . . ."

"That's exactly what that rat did," Harry interrupted. "When my parents found out Voldemort was coming after them, after me, Dumbledore convinced them that their best choice was the Fidelius Charm. They decided Sirius would be their Secret-Keeper."

"What's the Fidelius Charm?" Harry's counterpart asked.

"It is a charm that hides a secret, in this case the location of Harry and his family, within a single living soul. If done properly, this Voldemort could look right in the window and wouldn't be able to see them." Lupin turned to Harry. "Sirius would be the right choice; he'd die before he'd let anything happen to James, Lily or any of their children."

"Sirius convinced them to switch to Pettigrew. He thought no one would believe that they'd choose him, leaving Sirius to play the decoy. They let everybody else believe that Sirius was the Secret-Keeper. Pettigrew had been leaking things for about a year; when they switched, he told them.

"The next day, after Voldemort was defeated, Sirius caught up with Pettigrew, intending to kill him. Instead Pettigrew cut off his finger, cast a curse that killed twelve Muggles, and escaped. Sirius was thrown into Azkaban for the next twelve years."

"Azkaban?" Lupin asked hoarsely. "For twelve years. He couldn't possibly have stayed sane. The Dementors . . ."

Harry glanced over at his counterpart. The other boy was staring at Harry wide-eyed and in shock. "Well, the fact that he was an animagus gave him a rather surprising protection," Harry said dryly. "Apparently they had trouble affecting him as Padfoot."

The other boy seemed to have gone beyond shock. "Sirius is an animagus? Hey," as it occurred to him, "Padfoot was one of the names! That's Sirius? And Mooney, that'd be Uncle Remus, right? So, the other two are Dad and . . .?"

Lupin was shaking his head, seeming to be torn between horror and amusement that this world's Harry now knew the Marauders' secret. "James is Prongs; his animagus form is that of a stag. And Peter is a rat, Wormtail. For now, I think I'm going to call a dinner break. Let me go down and bring up something for the three of us and we'll keep talking over our food."

Harry looked at him wistfully. "Am I going to be stuck in this room for the whole time I'm here?"

Lupin gave him a guilty look. "We'll see what we can do." While he was gone, the two Harrys talked about Quidditch. Lupin returned shortly, levitating a large tray that included all of Harry's favorite foods. Their taste buds were apparently the same. Before Harry could start eating, Lupin handed him a potion vial with a small amount of a clear fluid. "Take this first. It will settle your stomach and help you eat better."

The three of them ate dinner together, discussing some of the same topics they'd been discussing through the afternoon. After a while, Lupin started telling stories about things they'd done when they were in school. Both boys were laughing hard when there was a knock on the door.

Snape walked in without waiting for an answer. "Harry, I have a potion for you. You two," he indicated Lupin and the other Harry, "can run along." The other two left.

Harry eyed the goblet filled with a smoking brownish fluid with trepidation. "What is it?"

"A mixture of a nutritive supplement, an immune system booster and a sleep potion," he answered. "I should think you'd agree you could use all three components. I'll have two questions for you once you finish it."

"Dreamless sleep potion?" Harry asked first. It wouldn't bother him at all to be able to sleep a night with no nightmares.

Snape looked shocked. "That stuff is dangerous! What irresponsible prat's been feeding you Dreamless Sleep Potion?"

"Dumbledore gave me some after the Third Task. Of the Triwizard Tournament," Harry continued when Snape looked confused. "I was just thinking I wouldn't mind not having nightmares."

"No, although it is designed to give a peaceful night's sleep, so you're unlikely to have nightmares. How often have you been given the other?" Snape had pulled out his wand and was running it over Harry. He seemed satisfied with the answer he got, because he put away his wand and handed Harry the goblet. Harry took it and drank it as fast as he could. "How does it taste?"

"Not bad," Harry answered, rather surprised. "And it was only the one time." He could hear his voice slurring as his body sagged into the mattress. "What's the other . . .?" He didn't finish the question, as he was pulled into the mattress and a deep sleep.

* * *

A strip of bright sunlight shining through the curtains woke Harry up the next morning. It took him several minutes to remember where he was, but once he did, he was angry. It was bad enough the adults in his own world made decisions for him without discussing them with him but the adults here didn't even know him! After picking his glasses off the bedside table, putting them on and looking around the room, he saw his counterpart sitting on the other bed reading what looked like a school book. According to the clock, it was just before ten.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. How do you feel this morning?" Harry's counterpart asked.

"I'm fine but I don't know why I had to be sent to sleep so fast, so early for so long," Harry said grumpily. "One minute I'm up having a conversation, the next I'm asleep. And no one asked me!"

The other boy shrugged. "Uncle Severus was surprised at how fast and how deeply you fell asleep. He spent quite a while raving about sleep deprivation and idiots who give children Dreamless Sleep Potion. I didn't even know there was such a thing." He put his book down and stood up. "You probably want a shower, then Mum gave me strict instructions about the minimum amount you're allowed to eat for breakfast. While you're eating, I'll catch you up on what they've figured out and what we're going to be doing."

Harry was agreeable and sat down to an enormous breakfast about half an hour later. While he ate, his counterpart explained what he had planned for the day. "The adults decided we should keep your existence here quiet. They are trying to get you back quickly. Not only are you needed back home," Harry winced at this, "but your being here makes both worlds unstable. The longer you're here, the more unstable it gets. They think they should be able to get you home in a day or two.

After listening to everything you said yesterday, I don't think you should be sent home without having some fun. I've contacted everybody you mentioned being friends with, and a couple of people you haven't mentioned, and we're having a party today. With a little luck, we can even get everybody back home and things cleaned up before Mum and Dad get back home and we get into trouble. And if we get caught, we can tell them we hadn't told you about keeping things quiet so you won't get into trouble. What do you think?"

Harry could feel himself grinning. It had been a while since he'd been at a party and the thought of one where he didn't have to worry about Voldemort, Death Eaters or Umbridge was heady. "Sounds great. Is there anything I can do to help?" A thought crossed his mind. "But what if we get caught and you get into trouble? I don't want to cause you any problems."

The other boy brushed the concern aside. "I haven't been in any trouble for over a week, and it's in a good cause. I can handle it. As far as help, why don't you clean up breakfast while I get everything else set up?"

It was a good thing they started when they did. They'd just finished straightening up when people started coming through the floo.

Harry wasn't sure which was more confusing: people he knew from home who looked and acted differently here, or people he knew who didn't. Most people looked and acted pretty much the same, but the exceptions were shocking.

Neville Longbottom was the most changed in appearance. Although he was no taller in this world, he was slimmer, more muscular and much more confident. He played Chaser on the house team and was one of the top students of their year. Although talking to him made Harry feel uncomfortable, looking and listening to him made Harry angry. This was how Neville should have been, would have been, if the Lestranges hadn't tortured his parents.

Ron Weasley looked exactly the same and mostly acted the same. This world's Ron seemed a little more reckless and a little angrier. In some ways, he reminded Harry of himself the past year, when he had been pushing everyone away with his anger.

The change that hurt Harry the most to see, though, was Hermione Granger. She looked the same and was every bit as intelligent and studious in this world as in his. But, where in his world, Hermione was respected, had friends and was able to put aside her studies occasionally, in this world, her brains, her focus on her studies and her being something of a know-it-all, had alienated her from everyone. Although she had come to the party, she was sitting by herself in a corner, watching the others with sad eyes. Harry felt the bubble of anger he had fought so often rising up. To prevent it from boiling over, he walked over to her.

"Why are you here by yourself?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "No one really wants to spend time with me," she said. "I'm not even sure why Harry invited me."

Harry's counterpart had walked over. "My doppelganger here said you were one of his two best friends. I thought, as long as I was ignoring my parents and having a party for him, I should invite his two best friends."

"Would you like to hear why Hermione's one of my best friends?" Everyone nodded and the room got quiet. Harry could tell that, although they'd come hoping to have a good time, they had also come to hear about this strange version of their friend. "First, I have it on very good authority that Hermione is the smartest witch of her age. It was Hermione who saved Ron and I from the Devil's Snare in first year. It was also Hermione who solved the logic riddle with the potion bottles and enabled me to save the Sorcerer's Stone without either of us being poisoned. It was Hermione who knew about the Polyjuice Potion and who stole the ingredients we needed. She figured out that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk and how it was traveling around the school.

"It was Hermione who figured out that our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was a werewolf. She taught me how to do a proper Summoning Charm. She believed me when I was chosen as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament. It was her idea to form Dumbledore's Army, so we would actually learn Defense instead of just what Umbridge and Fudge wanted us to hear. It was her quick thinking that kept Umbridge from casting the Cruciatus Curse on me. And it was Hermione who figured that Voldemort was tricking me to get me into the Department of Mysteries. Doesn't that sound like someone you'd all like to be friends with?" Harry looked around the room, to see everyone looking at him with open eyes and mouths.

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't look terribly shocked. "It sounds like your Hermione is a sensible girl. She knows when to break the rules." She looked worried. "She does follow the rules most of the time, doesn't she? I mean, the examples you're using are the exceptions, right?"

Harry grinned at her, then rolled his eyes. "Yes, she believes in the rules; she's a prefect, after all. And she believes in studying. Any time we're faced with a problem, Ron and I can count on Hermione's first reaction to be to go to the library. For Christmas, she gave us both homework diaries!"

"That just shows she's a good friend," Hermione maintained. "After all, last year was OWL year." That comment got laughter, but it seemed warmer than it had before.

From there on, the party was a lot of fun. Harry found himself in much demand as a dance partner. When the girls discovered he didn't know how to dance, they decided to teach him. He didn't think he learned too much, but it was fun to have half a dozen girls clustered around him and arguing about what he should be doing. Especially when they would put their arms around him and pull him in the "right" direction. Harry found he especially enjoyed it when it was Ginny trying to teach him.

At one point, Harry noticed his counterpart snogging with Parvati. He was talking to Susan Bones at the time. When she noticed where his attention was, she asked him, "Are you dating anybody?"

"No. I went on one date, with Cho Chang, but it was a fiasco. She thought I was interested in Hermione," Harry explained.

Susan grinned up at him. "After the way you defended her, I can see why," she laughed. "You're pretty passionate about those you care for."

"I guess. But I don't fancy her." Harry stood there for a minute, thinking, when his gaze moved over to Hermione. She was in an intense discussion with Ron and both of them looked like they were about to start shouting. "And it looks like Ron fancies her as much here as at home."

Susan looked over at them. "Do they fight all the time in your world, too?" When Harry nodded, she rolled her eyes. "Idiots"

Around lunchtime, picnic baskets came out and everyone passed around food. The afternoon was filled with more music and dancing, Quidditch and simple fooling around. Harry thought that the party might have gone on well into the night when James came home. "Harry James Potter!" Harry's counterpart went up to his father, unrepentant. "You were told to keep things quiet!"

"No neighbors have complained," his counterpart answered. He then pulled his father aside and had a quiet conversation. James looked over at Harry, then shook his head, sighed and addressed the group. "On behalf of my idiot son, I thank you for coming, but I have to call a halt to things. When Harry's no longer confined to his bedroom, I'm sure he'll be contacting you with some new scheme to get everybody into trouble." Everyone packed up and left, wishing Harry good luck when he got home.

After everyone was gone, James turned to Harry. He was shaking his head in exasperation, but he was also smiling at his son's antics. Then he sobered. "We've figured out how to get you home. Unless you object, we'll send you back tomorrow."

* * *

James grinned at Harry. "We've been keeping you up in your, er Harry's, room because we didn't want to put too much of a strain on you. Your life back home seems to have more than enough strain as it is; we didn't want to add more. Since it looks like you had a good time today, I'm going to guess the strain was manageable. How would you feel about eating dinner with the family tonight?"

Harry smirked. "After the initial shock, and getting Wormtail out of my face, it's really not been that much of a strain. After all, I'm used to fighting for my life; this is nothing!"

James laughed at that. "You think. I'm talking about all of Harry's little brothers and sisters; who will all want to grill you about your entire life. Fighting for your life might be easier."

"It can't be worse than Rita Skeeter and her ilk," Harry said, smiling.

"Mmm. I wouldn't be too sure of that, kiddo," James laughed. "Daphne especially could give that woman a run for her money. So, what do you know about cooking?"

Although Harry knew himself to be competent in the kitchen, he was surprised at how adept both James and his counterpart were. When he asked, his counterpart told him, "Fastest way to make a woman happy with you: cook her a good meal. Dad and I have lots of reasons to want to make Mum happy with us, so . . ." Harry grinned back and pitched in.

Supper reminded Harry strongly of the Burrow. When he mentioned this, Lily pointed to the table. There were only five kids in the Potter family, but it was the same type of large, happy, loving family. Daphne was two years younger than Harry, Ian another two years younger than her, Thomas three years younger than him, and Rose, at four years old, was the baby. When Harry asked, Lily laughed and told him that Rose was the last. "I'm not Molly Weasley and, frankly, I would've stopped after the twins. From what she says, those two were trouble in the womb!"

Harry laughed. "No, I guess they'd be a very strong discouragement for more kids."

"That's right," James said. "You know their counterparts in your universe. What are they like there?"

Harry decided that the best way to answer that question was to tell them stories about the twins. When he got to the Marauder's Map, James' eyes lit up. "You've seen the Marauder's Map?" he asked wistfully.

"I have the Marauder's Map," Harry corrected him. "It's upstairs in my trunk and, even if it hadn't been my father's, it would be one of my prize possessions. It's come in very useful," he informed the group.

"Do you know where they got it?" Harry's counterpart asked. "For informational purposes only," he added hastily when Lily glared at him.

"I'll see if I can't remember," Harry told him, slipping him a wink when Lily wasn't looking. He continued telling them about how he'd given Fred and George his Triwizard winnings so they could start their store, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He also told them about how they'd provided a diversion so Harry could talk to Sirius about what he'd seen in Snape's pensieve.

"Hard to believe anyone could hold a grudge that long, especially after everything . . ." James trailed off, looking horrified. "So much has happened since then. We all grew up and started helping each other out when we needed it."

"And, when he wasn't being an idiot, I always rather liked Severus. Even when we were children," Lily added. "But I can see, with what happened in your universe, and the choices everyone appears to have made, how he could still hold a grudge. Especially since you look so much like James." Lily shook her head. "That's so terribly sad; the poor man sounds as if he's never had a break."

James nodded. "I'm going to add a note to the man. No telling how much good it'll do; our Severus is stubborn as hell, I have to believe that one is too. But, maybe we can do something." James turned to Harry. "We've decided, the adults that is, that we're going to do whatever we can safely do to help you. Unfortunately, people going back and forth between the two universes is dangerous; it destabilizes both universe, so we're not going to be doing that. What we can do is to send some letters to the adults in your universe. Remus, Severus and Albus are writing letters to their counterparts. Lily and I decided to write to Molly and Arthur Weasley, since we thought your aunt and uncle wouldn't appreciate hearing from us. And I have no idea about Sirius; he says he has something a little different in mind." James and Lily exchanged a look Harry couldn't read. "We all hope it's not too outlandish. I do know he wants to talk to you tonight."

Lily picked up the plans from there. "You've had a decent supper and we're going to make sure you get a good night's sleep. Then, after a proper breakfast, James, Harry and I are going to say good bye and Remus is going to take you for the spell itself. Now, do you have any questions or do you see anything wrong with that as the plan?"

Harry shook his head. "I have a couple of questions but nothing that's going to put a stop on things. It's hard at home but I belong there. And I'm needed." He took a deep breath and put the worries that had started swirling through his head aside. "First, is there a reason you're stuffing me with so much food? I'm not starving; it's been a pretty good summer that way."

Lily raised her eyebrows and gave a look. "A pretty good summer, hm? There's a very good reason I'm stuffing you; you're way too thin and I'm going to do my best to change that. From the bits and pieces I've heard about your world, Molly does the same thing when she gets her hands on you."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but I've never really understood it from her either. The other question is why you two aren't going to be the ones to see me off. I like Professor Lupin and all, but I thought you two would want to do that."

Lily's lips got very thin and James scowled. "We wanted to but everyone else decided we were all too likely to refuse to let you go," he admitted. "Harry, you have to understand. You may not be our son but you're enough like him that we want to help you and protect you. And both of us hate the idea of sending you back into what is essentially a war zone with you as the prime target. We agree that it has to be done but . . ." He trailed off, seemingly unable to finish.

"The thought that you've been raised by people who hate you, that you've been denied a real home, a real family, infuriates us all, but especially James and I. And Sirius. Albus and Severus have decided that they will both be sitting on him to make sure he neither keeps you here or follows you." Lily smiled. "Sirius has never been one to think with his brain. In this case, it's likely he'll do what he thinks is right with no consideration for the consequences. At any rate, he'll be kept far from you tomorrow to prevent anything going wrong."

"We hope," James sighed. "That's the reason, though. Any other questions?" When Harry shook his head, James gestured up the stairs. "Why don't you head up and make sure everything's packed? Lily will be up later to make sure you do get that good night of sleep."

Since he had never really unpacked, it didn't take any time to repack his things. His counterpart gave him a stack of clothes to take with him. "You're a little shorter than me, so these should fit fine. It's no big deal to Mum and Dad if they have to buy Ian a few more clothes." Harry took them gratefully. Hand-me-downs as such didn't bother him; it was just how horribly oversized Dudley's were that made him hate them.

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Harry's doppelganger opened the door to reveal Sirius. He came in, closed the door, and then cast locking and silencing charms on the door and room. Harry looked at him, unable to decide if he was amused or upset at how much like his godfather this man was.

"I know everyone else is sending you home with letters," Sirius started. "I'm not. I don't know what I'd write and I don't know who I'd write to, so I'm not. Have they told you that I'm going to be guarded tomorrow until you're "safe" at home?" When Harry nodded, he continued, "Probably a good thing. I did consider coming along. But after due consideration, I think I've come up with something better. What I'm going to do comes in three parts. First, there's this."

Sirius handed Harry a book. When he opened it, he discovered it was a journal, Sirius' journal, from his school days. "That little book has every prank, every spell, everything we came up with when we were in school. Use it however you want. If you give it to your Fred and George, they ought to make you partners. It's filled with very original, valuable stuff. I made a copy of it which I'm giving to my godson, which will get me into loads of trouble with Lily and which I'm hoping will distract everyone from the next thing."

Sirius now pulled out a mirror. At this sight of it, Harry felt himself grow cold with guilt and grief. If he'd only thought of it . . .

Something of this must have shown on his face. Sirius came over and put his arm around Harry's shoulders, which had the effect of making him break down into tears. While calming him down, the two others got the whole story out of him about the night Sirius died. That seemed to solidify Sirius' resolve about what he was going to do. "You obviously know what this is. I've put some more spells on it; it should work between the universes. You just got yourself an adviser. I'm not sending you back into that universe to battle a powerful dark wizard without every trick I can manage. Since I don't have time to give you the training, this will have to do. Use it.

"And, finally, I'm going to give you some advice about what you should do when you get home. First, the name thing. My understanding is that this dark wizard calls himself Lord Voldemort and almost everyone else calls him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Right?"

Harry nodded.

"You're probably wondering why I'm asking; why I care. Words, names, have power. By calling him names of respect you give him respect. So don't. What name was he born with?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"So, you call him any variation of that you want, up to and including Tommy Boy. For those you still can't get to call him by a real name, you need something completely disrespectful."

Harry's doppelganger spoke up. "I'd go with Fuckhead."

Sirius and Harry laughed. "I wouldn't advise that, but only because they'd never be able to put it in the history books." Sirius shook his head. "And all the mothers would never forgive you. Otherwise, it's not bad. My suggestion is What's-His-Name. Supremely disrespectful, implying you don't think highly enough of him to remember his name.

"My next advice is about you," Sirius leaned forward. "You have an important role to play. From what you've told us, there's no doubt about it. You've decided to fulfill this destiny, which I have no problems with. But, you can't make this your whole life. You need to have some fun, play some pranks, get into trouble, snog some girls, live. I can't argue with your trying to stay safe or with trying to keep your friends safe, but you have to find ways of having fun."

The other Harry leaned forward. "What's this Marauder's Map you keep talking about?"

Harry had left it on top of his trunk when he packed. "I don't think it'll work here, but here it is."

Sirius leaned forward. "If it's like ours, it'll work but it'll only show Hogwarts."

Harry grinned, touched his wand to the parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The map showed Hogwarts, with Professor Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin and Pettigrew in the headmaster's office. Harry's counterpart looked very impressed. "Where did the Weasley twins find this?"

"In Filch's office. You'll need a distraction, but check the filing cabinet." Harry grinned. "After you ask Fred and George if they have it. They probably don't realize who Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are. You heard how to activate it; to clear say, 'Mischief managed.'" After he did so, the map cleared again. Harry folded it up and put it back into his trunk. His counterpart looked at the trunk longingly but didn't say any more about it.

Sirius stayed, talking and laughing with both boys until Lily came up and told him to leave. "Yes, ma'am, I'll be good and do what I'm told," he teased her, laughing as he left the room.

"That'll be the day," she teased back. "Good night, boys."

The next morning, James, Lily and their Harry had breakfast with Harry. The younger kids had been sent elsewhere so they could concentrate on him. James and Lily were both quiet but tried to keep things light. They had a feast for him and Lily made sure Harry ate a lot, much more than he normally would have.

After breakfast, James handed Harry a box, a stack of three books and a stack of sealed envelopes. "As we told you, we've written letters to people back in your universe. I recommend you post them as soon as you can. The box contains potions samples." He rolled his eyes. "Severus was disappointed at how little you know about potions research in your universe, so he's sending samples of those potions he feels are most important. He says the most important one is the sleep potion; he is truly appalled that Dreamless Sleep is being given to teenagers in your world."

"It's better than Veritaserum," Harry said.

Both James and Lily looked horrified. "I'm not going to ask. I'm not going to ask" Lily chanted.

"Probably best," James returned. "The books are on Occlumency. You'd explained why you need to learn it; we can't argue with that. Since you're having trouble, we hope the books will help. They're mostly from Severus," James said. "You should put them all in your trunk, along with the box."

When Lupin knocked on the door, James and Lily took turns hugging Harry goodbye. Lily kissed his cheek, something which touched Harry deeply. The two boys shook hands. "Mate, this may be one of the wildest things I've ever been involved in. It's shown me just how much I have to be grateful for."

Harry shook his head. "Remember that and enjoy it." He turned to the other two. "I know I'll hold the memories of these days close to me; it's the only time I've heard my parents' voices or seen their faces since I was a baby. Thank you both, for everything." He turned and went with Lupin.

The two of them walked to the porch. Lupin gave Harry a hug and handed him a note. "This is for you to send with Hedwig when you get back home. It's to my counterpart telling him you're back and you need to be retrieved. And it tells him that, if you're sent back to the Dursleys, you'll vanish permanently. I don't think they'll believe it, but they're not likely to send you back this summer." Lupin sighed. "I wish we could just keep you here but there are too many reasons we can't. Be well, Harry and good luck."

"Thank you, sir. Thank everyone here for me please." Harry turned to face away from the house. He heard Lupin incanting a soft spell and closed his eyes. When he opened them, behind him was the empty lot. Harry sighed, picked up his trunk, and started walking.