Remember You

”Don’t touch it!” Draco shouted just as Harry reached out, but it was too late. As Harry sent Draco a perplexed look, he felt a jerk behind his navel and he was pulled forward, and then was deposited on a patch of grass by the lake, on the furthest side from Hogwarts. Harry coughed and looked up, into the snake-like face, and cold, blood-red eyes of Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort’s eyes seemed to glow in triumph as a small smirk crossed his face. “I have been waiting all night for you, Harry Potter.”

“I’m sure you have,” Harry muttered dryly, beginning to climb to his feet.

Voldemort let out a humourless chuckle and began pacing the small space around him. “That is what I enjoy most about you, Potter. You are not intimidated by me at all, are you?”

Harry raised an eyebrow and stared him in the eye. “I am intimidated by you,” he confessed. “But you have one thing wrong. Generally, witches and wizards as a whole, whether they are your followers or not, are not intimidated by you, they are scared of you. And I… am not scared of you, Voldemort, nor will I ever be.”

Voldemort had stopped pacing during Harry’s short speech, and was now looking down on the younger man appraisingly. “Indeed,” he said at last. “There has never been anybody so presumptuous as to address me by that name to my face.”

Harry sighed. “Is there something you wanted, or may I be allowed to leave to help my friends?”

The Dark Lord’s red eyes flashed angrily and he stepped closer to Harry. “Yes,” he hissed, “there is a point to my summoning you here.”

Harry felt himself shaking slightly, but attempted to quell it. He could remember the previous year when he had been next to fearless when standing next to this wizard, but now he could feel his blood pumping frantically in his chest. Harry almost wished for that fearlessness right now, but knew that if he did have it, he would most likely still be under Voldemort’s influence. Harry drew on his courage and puffed his chest up slightly. “Well? What do you want?”

“Potter,” Voldemort spat, but then stepped back as if remembering something, and then began in a calmer voice. “Harry, you know what I want.”

“You want me to join you.”

“If that is not too much to request, yes.”

“It is,” Harry answered shortly. “And don’t even think about trying to persuade me otherwise,” he said a bit irritably. Harry let his eyes wander around the area. Trees were surrounding them in every direction, and there was only a small opening which led to the lake. The grass ended a few feet from Harry, and the water was lapping tranquilly against the rocky shore. Directly behind Voldemort, Harry noticed a small revolving circle of light hovering at his head level. Harry squinted at the object as it was glowing brighter the longer he stared.

”What is that?” he finally inquired.

Voldemort looked around slowly and studied the shimmering crimson light. “Ah, I would have thought that you would recognise this for what it is, Harry. Let me demonstrate.” The Dark Lord lifted a long, skinny finger and put it into the illumination as if pressing something. “Come to me, oh faithful servants of Darkness. Come to me, oh whisperer of misery. Come to me, oh source of bane. Come to me, your Master, and show your authenticity.”

Harry waited with bated breath for something to happen as Voldemort ended his odd chant. Voldemort turned back to him, finger still in the circle of light. “I have only summoned two, just to give you a taste of what I am able to do.”

Slow, dawning comprehension fell over Harry as he continued to stare at the red light. “That’s the Orb, isn’t it?”

“Very good, Harry,” the other wizard replied as if proud of a five-year-old for finally grasping the concept of tying his shoelaces.

“What did you just call?” Harry asked apprehensively.

“Patience.”

A few moments of tense silence passed, when finally, Harry could hear a low, quiet hissing, even as he started to feel intensely cold. A Dementor, towering above them, glided through the trees and stopped in front of Voldemort. Harry stepped back a few steps, feeling his brain begin to fog. A low hissing stole his attention, and Harry whipped his head around to see a three-headed snake, that was at least five feet long emerging from the nearby bushes. The heads seemed to be fighting with each other, but they stopped once they spotted Harry. Voldemort had spotted the Runespoor as well and hissed for it to approach him. It dutifully obeyed the command, heads bickering with each other all the while. The Dark Lord turned to the Dementor.

“You will not harm Harry Potter for the time being,” he said lowly. “But show him your power.”

The Dementor glided towards Harry, who stumbled back a few feet, forgetting his wand that was still clutched tightly in his hand. The Dementor came and towered over him, reaching out a finger and smoothing it over Harry’s cheek. Screams were echoing in Harry’s head, and he hardly noticed when he fell to the ground, or when Voldemort commanded the Dementor to leave. When the fog lifted from his mind, Harry slowly lifted his head, panting and glaring at Voldemort, who was staring at him, amused.

“Impressive, no?” he asked, idly twirling his wand between his long spindly fingers. Voldemort then hissed a few words to the Runespoor, who hissed menacingly and slithered away.

“That was hardly impressive,” Harry scoffed, his head spinning with the information hissed at the snake. Voldemort had just ordered the snake to attack Sirius Black. “Everybody knows you’re a Parselmouth. Why wouldn’t you be able to command a snake?”

“I did not call the Runespoor for my entertainment. I had a mission for him, as I am sure you heard. She is just about to carry out a task that should have been done a year ago.”

“Sirius never did anything to deserve death!” Harry bellowed, getting to his feet. “All he did was fight the Imperius, which anybody would do!”

“That is not the point, foolish boy. I will not waste my time on explaining to you what is and is not the point.”

“Well, I think you should if you want me on your right side.”

“So, you are considering it?” the older wizard asked, raising an imperious eyebrow.

“Not really, no.”

“Then you are wasting my time, and I shall have to dispose of you.”

Harry thought frantically. He could either try to make a run for it, cast his own spell and run the chance of Voldemort casting Priori Incantatem, pull his dagger out and stab Voldemort with it, or try to distract him. Harry dismissed the first two as Voldemort would catch him before he ran two feet. And Harry was not close enough to surprise Voldemort with a dagger. He would see it and disarm Harry before he had chance to do anything. Voldemort was raising his wand to Harry as if in slow motion. He cast his mind around for something to say.

“Wait! Tell me… tell me about the Orb and why my parents were around, as well as Austin and Sierra. Then… then I’ll… I’ll think about joining you.” Harry mentally groaned, congratulating himself on a job well failed.

“Simple as that, Harry, are you sure?”

Harry hesitated but then nodded his head firmly. “Yes, simple as that.”

Voldemort considered Harry for a moment. “We will see. I will tell you about this Orb, and its extraordinary powers, but I am not so certain that you will join me. It all seems to be a bit forced, would you not agree, Harry?”

“I don’t think it’s forced at all. I’m telling the truth. If you tell me about the Orb, and my so-called family, I will seriously consider joining you, no questions asked. My loyalty would be to you.”

Voldemort seemed to like the sincerity in Harry’s voice and eyes. He nodded, turning around and once again sticking his finger in the red glow behind him. When he was turned, Harry heard a voice behind him, hissing his name angrily. Harry turned and saw Draco’s face sticking out of a nearby bush.

“Harry! What the hell are you doing?”

Harry glanced back at Voldemort, seeing that he was chanting something, and turned back. “I… I don’t know to tell you the truth, but it will all work out. Trust me, okay?”

“Harry, if you join him again…”

Draco left the rest of his sentence open, but Harry took it as the threat it was and nodded. “I know. I would never join him.”

Draco nodded reluctantly. “I’ll stay right here for you, okay?” He then motioned for Harry to turn back around. No sooner had Harry turned his head that Voldemort turned to look at him, smirking slightly.

“You might enjoy this, Harry.” Voldemort pointed to the glowing Orb with his index finger and beckoned something to him. The red light shone brighter than ever before, making Harry squint against it. And as he watched, four figures tumbled from it in a heap. The light faded to its original glow, and Harry saw the distinct forms of James, Lily, Austin, and Sierra scrambling to stand up. When Lily laid eyes on Harry, she smiled softly and began to move forward, arms outstretched in welcome.

Harry stumbled backwards a few steps, eyes wide. “Don’t come near me,” he whispered. “You’re not my mother. My mother is dead.”

Lily stopped mid-stride, looking distinctly hurt. “Harry? What are you talking about? I’m right here.”

“No,” Harry shook his head sharply. “Get away from me.”

Voldemort made a sweeping motion with his arm, and Lily was pushed back by her husband and two other children, who, along with Lily, were all looking quite confused. “You want to understand who these people are, Harry?” Voldemort asked, looking noticeably amused. “They are your parents, Lily and James Potter. These children…” Voldemort moved and placed a hand on Austin and Sierra’s shoulders, who flinched, “are in fact, your brother and sister.”

“But that isn’t possible,” Harry insisted. “I’m an only child, and an orphan… which you should know well.”

“True,” Voldemort nodded, scratching his chin. “Very logical point to make, young Potter, I admit. There is one problem with that though. Have you ever been taught of the multiple worlds that exist, Harry? No… why should I even ask. Of course, Hogwarts does not teach you of such things; for anything that could get you into contact with these worlds would be considered Dark Arts, would it not?” The Dark Lord stopped and examined Harry’s perplexed face for a moment before walking dangerously close to Draco’s hiding spot, and then walking back to Harry.

“I don’t understand,” Harry said slowly.

“Ah, but I knew you would not. That is the splendour of it all. Nobody would suspect, nor understand if it was brought to light. It is a concept that has been long forgotten, but not by me. You see, Harry, years ago, before you were even born, I began to research alternate universes as they are sometimes termed. I learned a great deal about them. I learned that there are thousands upon thousands of dimensions, each one different from the next, no matter how minute the detail. In fact, there are some dimensions that are so much alike, that you could search each one for a lifetime and never quite discern where it is different. In my research, I realized that I wanted to find a dimension that was as different as night and day.”

“Why was that?” Harry asked curiously.

“To gain more power, of course,” Voldemort said naturally. “You see, Harry, before I met you on Halloween, I was at the height of my power. I knew, and still do know more than any wizard has known for centuries. Nobody could see how I could become more powerful than by actually becoming immortal. I was well on my way before you interfered with my plans, believe me. But I knew that once I achieved that goal, I would have to prove myself again. I would have to make people believe how powerful I was by gaining more power. Do you understand where I am going, young Potter?”

“I… not really, no.”

“You see, when I realised that I would have to prove myself over and over again, is when I began my research on multiple dimensions. I knew that the key to more power was I.”

Harry blinked. “What?”

Voldemort seemed to be getting annoyed by Harry’s endless stupid questions, but took a small breath and continued in tightly controlled tones. “To put it in terms you would understand, Potter… the merging of two souls. It would work essentially with any wizard I chose, but to merge with myself from a different universe… I would be able to double my power. I set out to find a universe where I had not met my downfall by a child, and a year after I began, I found it. I found a dimension where the prophecy had never been given. James and Lily Potter were still alive. You did not have a scar on your forehead, and Austin and Sierra existed. But more importantly, my counterpart was there, alive and strong. It was exactly what I had hoped for because he was even closer to his goal of immortality than I was at the time.”

“So, I’m guessing you managed to travel to the other dimension by this Orb, or something?”

“Fool child. A person cannot travel freely through the different dimensions. It is like travelling through space. It is too vast. By the time you get back to your dimension, everybody that you knew will have died, and you would not have aged a day.”

“Then how—“

“How did I expect to merge with my counterpart? The idea was simple enough, as you can assume, and I can tell you that it was this: to merge the two dimensions. My goal was, and still is, to make our dimensions become one. To do this, I needed to manipulate something, and this something of course, ended up being the Orb. There was just one thing that I had not accounted for. There is almost always a catch to all powerful magic, Light or Dark, and unfortunately, I needed to use more Light than Dark magic in the process of bringing the dimensions together.

“You can imagine that I was quite distressed when I realised that I could not activate the process. I needed somebody who had lost something in their dimension and wanted it back with their entire soul, because they… loved it so much that they would do almost anything to get it back. At the time, I did not know anybody who fit that description, but it did not matter after Dumbledore’s followers stole the Orb from me and sent it to be watched by the old fool.

“As it turned out, however, it was a blessing in disguise. Not that long after it was taken, I met you for the first time and had a set back of fourteen years. Three years after my return, I find out that the Orb was, ironically, in your care. I thought it was appropriate, and hoped that somehow, you had activated the process to merge our dimensions.”

“And I did, didn’t I?” Harry whispered.

Voldemort smirked slightly. “Yes, Harry, you did. You were the key I needed. You had lost your parents and any chance at having siblings before you even had memory. If I recall, you encountered the Mirror of Erised in your first year, and if I am not mistaken, your one desire was to have your parents. Apparently, that has not changed much at all. In fact, you may not have even noticed that your innermost desire has changed to include siblings. The Orb saw this, and associated it with the closest dimension to your desire. It was not the exact dimension I had picked, but it was close… very close, in fact.

“Anyway, I started to notice changes far before the Daily Prophet began reporting the disappearances at Hogwarts. I knew that something would happen, and that it was only a matter of time before I could gain full control of it. It was lucky that I had thought of a binding spell before the Orb was stolen. The binding spell worked so that when the process was set off, I would have minimal control over what happened, if, for whatever reason, I were not in possession of the Orb. This is how I controlled your parents. I did not have to bother with your siblings as they listened to their elders without question.”

“Wh… what did you tell them to do?”

“One major task I set your parents was to convince you to send me the Orb. It took a while, but the more times you let yourself get hit by the light, the more control I had over it, your parents, and consequently, you.”

Voldemort quit talking and once again, moved dangerously close to Draco’s hiding spot. Harry tensed, wishing that Draco would go away, but knew that his fianc was most likely as transfixed by the story Voldemort was telling as he was.

“That is why your parents and siblings now exist, young Potter. I have brought them here for you. I promised you this in exchange for your service.”

“No, I said that I would think about it after you told me about my family. But as it is, I still have some questions about this whole thing.”

“I am not here to be your teacher, Potter,” Voldemort said irritably.

“Well, the way you treat me now is very important to how I make my decision.”

The Dark Lord glowered at Harry. “You, Potter, are not that important to me to be making bargains.”

“Well, I don’t see a problem with—” Harry dropped to the ground as a large crash resounded behind them, making the entire earth quake beneath their feet. Harry turned his head and saw to his horror that an entire tower had collapsed. “No!” he cried out in horror. “I have to go help!”

“You will not be going anywhere, Potter.”

Harry spun around angrily. “Your Death Eaters probably just massacred hundreds of innocent people – children no doubt! How can you be so calm?”

“The children are fine, Potter. Besides, it is less opposition for me in the future.”

Harry felt his blood boil in his veins. “You don’t know that!”

The older wizard quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t I?”

“Why you little piece of vermin!” Harry spit out, and in a moment of sheer stupidity, launched himself bodily at Voldemort. Before he could get within a few feet from him, Voldemort had stopped him mid-movement, and then cast the Cruciatus curse on him. Harry fell to the ground in pain as it felt like jackhammers pounding away on his nerves. Throughout the nerve-cutting pain, Harry kept his thoughts on Draco. He just knew that the blond would jump out of his hiding spot to try and help Harry, and Harry did not want that. It would only cause more problems.

“Sss…” Harry hissed through his screams. “Ssstay!” he screamed.

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Voldemort lifted the curse, looking down at Harry in annoyance. “What did you say, Potter?”

“I said ‘stay’,” he gasped.

“Why, may I ask, would you say that? Who are you talking to?”

Voldemort began looking around their small clearing, past Harry’s family, who were now huddling together, and right over Draco’s bush. “You. I’m talking to you. I’ve decided to stay instead of going to help with the other students.” Harry looked up from his kneeling position on the ground, breathing heavily. Voldemort bore down on him, hissing in annoyance. With a flick of his wrist, Harry was flipped onto his back, limbs spread-eagled, and Harry felt as if somebody’s fingers were pressing into his throat.

“Potter, you better not be wasting my time,” the Dark Lord said harshly.

Harry tried to speak, but it came out as a gurgle. Suddenly, Harry was flying through the air to the nearest tree, and was pinned with his back against it. The pressure on his throat was released. Voldemort had hardly moved at all.

With his breath knocked out of him, Harry gasped for breath, trying to find his voice. “I’m not. I promise,” he wheezed. “I just… I just want to have some more questions answered, that’s all. I know that you’re not here to be my teacher. You have already done that once, so graciously, and I… I am grateful for what you taught me.” Harry swallowed. “But you have a lot more knowledge that I’m eager to know, and that you can tell me.”

Voldemort moved toward him, seeming to consider Harry. “You are very good at flattery, Mr. Potter. But… there is one thing that I request of you before I give you answers to your questions. Are you willing to give me what I want?”

“Perhaps, I am. What do you want?” Harry asked warily.

“Some interesting news has recently reached my ears about a former servant of mine that I was particularly fond of. I hear that he has made plans to marry.” Harry swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed and looked the man in the eyes. “If I am not mistaken, you are his fiancé, Harry.” Voldemort glanced down to Harry’s hand, where his engagement ring was softly glowing in the near-darkness of the night. He reached down and took Harry’s hand in his own, studying it. Harry winced as searing pain coursed through his scar. “Yes, this does prove the rumour true, doesn’t it? How is Mr. Malfoy?” he asked, dropping the Gryffindor’s hand and looking at him.

“Draco is fine,” Harry replied tightly. “What do you want with him?”

“It depends on my mood, I think. Maybe I shall keep him around for my own pleasure for a while, maybe not. So, Harry… is it the information that you want, or your fiancé?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

“No, I knew the answer already, but I was making sure.”

Voldemort waved his wand, and the bush that was hiding Draco blew apart, leaving Draco sitting on the ground, wide-eyed as he stared at Voldemort’s back, as Voldemort had not turned around from Harry. Harry gave a soft whimper. “Draco.”

“I thank you for the generous present, young Potter,” Voldemort smirked, whipping his wand in a small circle, as if lassoing Draco, and pulled the blond to him. Draco let out a small whimper as his front was pressed tightly to Voldemort’s side.

“What?” Harry asked incredulously.

“I thanked you for the gift.”

”But… I was never going to give you him!”

”We must have a misunderstanding, Potter. I asked if you wanted the information or your fiancé, and you said, ‘do you even have to ask.’ I assumed that you wanted the information.”

“The information isn’t that important to me!” Harry bellowed. “I don’t want to give you Draco.”

Voldemort gave Harry a creepy smile, and pulled roughly on Draco’s hair, pulling his head back. Draco grimaced, but did not make a sound, glaring as he made eye contact with the man holding him.

“What do you think of this, Draco?” Voldemort asked. “What would you rather have – Harry, me, or death?”

”If you don’t let me have Harry, I would rather have death,” Draco spat.

“That can be arranged quite easily. But before that happens, I would like to have you .”

“Over my dead body, you sick—“

“Believe me, Potter, that can be arranged as well.”

Harry struggled against the invisible force that was still binding him to the tree. “If you want to fight, at least give me a chance!”

“Who said I wanted to fight? It seems quite meaningless when I have you right where I want you. I would like to show you a few things while you are tied up.” Voldemort looked down at Draco with a predatory look, to which he received a snarl in return. “Imperio,” he whispered with a kind of sick affection. Draco went limp in his arms. “This is just a little of what I’ll enjoy doing with your boyfriend, Potter.” The Dark Lord leaned down and brutally kissed Draco, who surrendered completely as he was under the curse. Draco lifted a hand and softly caressed Voldemort’s neck, making Harry feel physically ill.

“Stop it!” Harry yelled. “Draco! Fight the curse! Don’t let him do this to you! Draco!”

Harry had pulled out the dagger as he had lunged, and now was able to stab Voldemort in the left eye. He cried out as it pierced a half inch of his eye, blinding him instantly. After Voldemort had overcome his initial surprise, he sent Harry flying through the air again, slamming him into the same tree from which Harry had just freed himself. Harry dropped to the ground after impact, also dropping the dagger. Draco picked it up, and in his fear, could not aim, but managed to slash Voldemort in the wand arm, making it harder for him to hold and cast spells.

Harry forced himself from the ground, and ran towards the Orb, grabbing the glowing sphere into his arms. It protested from being taken, but Harry yanked on it hard enough to get it to cooperate. He held it aloft, ready to drop it. “Tom!” he called frantically when he saw the older wizard point his wand at Draco. Voldemort turned, and Draco scrambled on hands and knees to join Harry. “Answer my questions, or I break the Orb.”

“No!” Voldemort screamed. “Give me the Orb! Accio Orb”

Draco enunciated a spell that Harry did not know. The Orb flew from Harry’s hands, but before it reached Voldemort, it bounced off an invisible wall, and Draco summoned it back into his own hands.

“Just tell me where all the people who have disappeared are,” Harry commanded. “That’s all I want to know.”

Voldemort smiled nastily. “That’s all you want to know, Potter?”

“Yes.”

“My, my… I always thought you were a bit brighter than that. You should have been able to figure that out after I told you what the Orb does. The people who have disappeared, Potter… do not exist in the other dimension. Either they were never born, or have been killed, so it was only a natural process. It had to get rid of the people who were still in existence here.”

“Well, what about the people who exist in both worlds?”

“They join together, as I have told you was my goal. I wanted my counterpart. Since I was knowledgeable of my counterpart’s existence, I have been able to take advantage of his powers. It was unfortunate that some of my followers went mad after their counterparts joined them. Each had his own subconscious, along with the subconscious of his counterpart, both trying to be in charge of one body. I am fairly certain that that may have been the case with both of your dear godfathers. Some of my followers were able to overcome it; some were not, so I put them to death. They were of no use to me. They were weak, and that cannot be allowed.”

Harry processed this information as quickly as he possibly could so that he could ask his next question. “So, these people are dead now?”

“I cannot possibly tell you, Potter, because I do not know,” Voldemort sneered.

“Hmm,” Draco pondered, Orb still in his hands. “So you don’t know everything. Let’s find out the answer to that question, shall we?”

Draco looked at Voldemort, to the waist-high boulder beside him, and then smashed the Orb onto it before anybody could react. “Merlin, that felt good,” Draco sighed. “I’ve wanted to do that since you got the bloody thing, Harry.”

Red light so bright, that Harry felt like it had burned his corneas, erupted. Harry suddenly felt like something was being ripped from his body. It was almost as painful as the Cruciatus curse, and he dropped to his knees, moaning in pain. He vaguely noticed Draco doing the same next to him. When the pain and light finally receded, Harry found that he and Draco had both sought each other out, holding tightly onto each other without realising it. Harry had his face buried in Draco’s neck, whimpering softly. Draco pushed away from Harry, but held onto him as he looked to Voldemort. Voldemort was writhing on the ground. He was not screaming, but his face was twisted horribly.

“He used his counterpart’s powers,” Draco whispered. “The separation is probably worse for him.” The blond stood abruptly and walked to the older wizard.

Harry looked to where the Orb had broken and let out a soft cry. “Draco…”

Draco did not hear him. “Let’s take his wand. He’ll be able to do wandless magic, of course, but it won’t be as concentrated or powerful. It will also tire him out easier.” Draco plucked Voldemort’s wand from his hand, and whipped it into the lake.

“Draco!” Harry cried desperately. “Look!”

“What?” the Slytherin asked somewhat irritably, looking down at Voldemort’s writhing body. “If we want to kill the bastard, now is the time to do it.”

“Draco, they’re back!”

“Who?” Draco whipped around and gasped in shock. There were hundreds of bodies lying all over the ground. The closest to Harry was Neville Longbottom, deathly pale and skinny. Harry could not tell if the boy was even alive or not. Harry scurried forward on his hands and knees, feeling for a pulse. To his enormous relief, there was a pulse; though weak, it gave Harry hope. All the mysterious disappearances were now explained, and the people were back. Hopefully they were all alive.

“There must be over a hundred people!” Draco exclaimed, hurrying forward. “But… they’re all blocking the easiest path back to the school.”

Harry bit his lip. Draco was correct, of course. All around them were mountains, and in front of them were the people who had just re-appeared, laying so close together that it would be difficult to even put a toe between them. “We could always adjust them with magic.”

“There’s no where else to put them but on top of each other. That’s cruel.”

“Crucio,” whispered a croaked voice behind them, and Draco fell to the ground, screaming. Harry whirled around, and found Voldemort sitting on his knees. When he lifted the curse, he made to aim for Harry, but Draco pushed him aside, and took the curse again. Harry fell sideways onto Neville with a groan. But as Harry pushed himself up, he realised that the groan had not come from him, and that Neville had been awakened when Harry fell on him.

Neville blinked up at Harry. “Harry? What… what’s going on? Where’s Hannah? I thought I was just talking to her. I feel funny.”

“Neville… shh. You’re going to be weak. Try not to move too much, okay?”

“But what’s going on?” Neville asked.

Harry began to get nervous as Voldemort kept the curse on Draco, and cast a shield charm, not knowing if it would work if the spell was already working. It did not stop the curse, but it lessened the effects, and Draco stopped screaming, though he was still in immense pain. “We’re in the middle of a fight, Neville,” Harry hurriedly said.

“What can I do?”

“You’re too weak, Neville. Just stay there. Draco and I will take care of this.”

But as Harry stood up, it seemed as though he and Draco would not have to do anything by themselves. Dumbledore arrived in a flash, carried by Fawkes. The Headmaster assessed the situation quickly: all the bodies, Harry, Draco, and Voldemort, before pulling out his wand, and training it on Voldemort. The Dark wizard stood up immediately, though a bit unsteadily after all the pain he had endured, and glowered at Dumbledore.

“Dumbledore. It figures you could not leave Potter to fight his own fights.”

“On the contrary, Tom, everybody was effected by the phenomenon a moment ago, and so I arrived here as soon as I could to inspect. I did not know that Harry or Draco were here. I always let Harry fight his own battles.”

Without warning, Voldemort sent a curse to Dumbledore, who reflected it back and sent one of his own. “Boys, check on those people!” Dumbledore called as he reflected yet another curse.

Draco scowled, but bent over an elderly wizard who was laid next to Neville. Harry went back to Neville, who was sitting up. “Where are we?” Neville asked, rubbing his head. The boulder and some bushes were blocking the boy’s view of the lake and Hogwarts. Harry placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We’re on the opposite side of the lake at Hogwarts.”

“Oh. How did I get here?”

“It’s a long story, Neville, believe me. It has also taken you a long time to get here. It’s June now.”

“June?” Neville asked incredulously, eyes wide as he stared. “But… what year?”

“1998.”

Neville stared and promptly fainted.

Suddenly, a curse hit Harry in the back and he keeled over, a burning sensation travelling throughout his body. Draco hurried to him as the two wizards continued duelling. The elderly wizard whom Draco had been helping approached them as well, bending over Harry. Harry was choking, tears of pain filling his eyes.

“Don’t panic,” the older man said in a scratchy voice. “I’m a retired Healer, boy. Sit still.” He pulled out a wand and began working over Harry. In a few moments, Harry felt a cool sensation wash over him. It was instant relief.

“Thank you, sir,” he whispered, feeling his body tingle almost pleasantly.

“It’s no problem, Mr. Potter.”

Harry heard something fall to the ground behind them, and the three wizards turned to see that it was Dumbledore who had fallen. Voldemort was standing over him, smiling nastily.

“What say we help the Headmaster,” the old Healer said in his rough voice, getting to his feet. “Stupefy on two. One, two… Stupefy!” bellowed all three at once. The spell however, only made Voldemort stumble back a few feet. Harry used the setback to his advantage, grabbing the dagger, which had somehow fallen to the forest floor, and rushed toward the Dark wizard, slashing his throat. Voldemort let out a strangled yell, reaching out to catch Harry. Unfortunately, the wound was not very deep, so Harry had to get closer again. He lifted the dagger, ready to strike, when Voldemort summoned it into his own hand, and slashed the tip across Harry’s chest, and it dragged over to the inside of his elbow, making a deep cut. Voldemort then stuck it into Harry’s right thigh. Harry fell to the ground in agonised pain and pulled out the dagger. Voldemort had gone back to Dumbledore after stunning the Healer and Draco. Dumbledore looked pale, on the verge of death.

Harry stood shakily and limped painfully to them, finding that he no longer had the use of his left arm, where the dagger had cut so deeply into his elbow. Dumbledore nodded almost imperceptibly at him, and Harry nodded back before driving the dagger deep into Voldemort’s side. Harry fell to the ground. Voldemort magicked the dagger out of his side, made it fly into Harry’s stomach, just above his belly button.

Harry let out a loud cry of pain, and bravely pulled it back out. He clamped his hand tightly over the wound and concentrated his entire being on getting the dagger to fly straight into Voldemort’s stomach. To his relief, the dagger flew from his hand and right below the sternum, where he had imagined. Harry then imagined it cutting a path down to Voldemort’s belly button, and the dagger obeyed his thoughts. Voldemort gurgled as it cut a path, apparently now too weak to do anything. Harry twisted the dagger with his mind, and then let it fly out of the new wound, and up to Voldemort’s neck, where it slowly, but deeply cut into the older cut.

Voldemort looked to Harry with dilated eyes. “Potter… you… I hate you.”

Harry moved the dagger from his neck, and wasted no time in plunging the dagger straight into Voldemort’s heart. The Dark wizard went stiff before his eyes rolled back and he fell limp. Harry stared for a few moments, and let out a humourless laugh, feeling a bit out of his mind. “I like you this way. I’ve had enough.”

Harry let his head fall back onto the ground, and darkness claimed him.

***

Warmth washed through the mountainous grounds of Hogwarts as the sun began to show itself timidly from the other side of the mountains. It bathed the grounds with its soft pink and yellow light, promising a better day than the previous. Birds began chirping from their perches in trees, mixing with the sounds of hundreds of voices, some talking in excitement, some in hushed whispers, most strained with exhaustion.

Harry woke to these sounds, and welcomed them, along with the warm hands gripping his arm and forearm, and gentle weight resting on his hip. The Gryffindor blurrily opened his eyes to see that Draco was snoozing peacefully next to Harry’s makeshift bed. They were on the Hogwarts’ grounds near Hagrid’s hut, surrounded by the injured in their own beds, and Healers from St. Mungo’s who were bustling around, tending to the injured. Harry lazily brought his left hand up and tried to run it through Draco’s hair. But he found that for some reason, he could not move his arm up more than a few inches without experiencing excruciating pain. Tears of pain flooded his eyes and he quickly put the hand back down. Taking calming breaths, he extricated his right hand from Draco’s grip and ran that hand through Draco’s hair instead. It was sticky from yesterday’s gel, sweat, and possibly blood, but Harry did not care much. Draco began to stir from sleep and raised sleep-heavy lids to look up at Harry. His silver eyes brightened immediately and brought Harry’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

“G’morning,” Harry greeted thickly. “May I ask why my left arm doesn’t want to move much without pain?”

Draco frowned. “You should know better than me. I was stunned. At any rate, you were cut on your inner elbow. It caused a lot of nerve damage. The Healer was too concerned with the stab wounds at the time to notice it right away. They said that you should get more range of motion in it eventually, but you should take it easy for now.” Draco then laughed a bit maniacally. “You’re such an idiot.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. You and that dagger though… you have formed a great relationship with it, no matter how reluctantly you have done so.”

Harry arched an eyebrow in question.

“When the stunning charm wore off me, I looked over to you and Voldemort, and saw the dagger sticking out of his chest…. And him, dead as Weasley in room full of spiders. I knew you would do it. Then Dumbledore called to me, and he was near death.”

“He’s not…” Harry began fearfully.

“No, he’s recovering somewhere around here. Perhaps he’s in his chambers. I don’t think they were destroyed. That old man that I revived had a good part in keeping him alive… same with you, actually. I owe that man a life debt, but I don’t even know his name.”

“He saved my life,” Harry reminded him. “I’m the one who owes him a life debt.”

“Nah,” Draco brushed him off. “Healers don’t accept life debts to people they healed. It’s their job, but he saved me from living without you by helping you. Therefore, I owe him a life debt.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Harry smiled, brushing a dirty piece of blond hair away from Draco’s face. Draco smiled back as he leaned forward, and kissed Harry softly.

“Harry?” somebody coughed from beside them. Aunt Petunia was standing on the other side of Harry’s bed, shifting a bit nervously.

“Aunt Petunia… where were you during all of this?”

“I was put into the Ravenclaw Common Room to wait. I… Harry, I just wanted to thank you and… and Draco for getting Vernon back.”

“Oh, well, it was Draco who broke the Orb and let them all out. I wasn’t the one…”

“All the same,” Aunt Petunia rushed on. “Draco told me the story a few hours ago. If you hadn’t killed this… Voldemort, then who knows what could have happened to all those people who had disappeared… to Vernon.” She sat on the edge of Harry’s bed. Harry sat up slowly and painfully to better look her in the eye. “For what it’s worth, Harry, I really am sorry about not telling you the truth about myself. You deserved to know the truth, and I kept it from you, even after you found out who you are.” She swept a hand across his forehead, and stopped to stare at the scar. “You deserved better than what we gave you.” Harry watched in curious fascination as silent tears fell down her cheeks. Aunt Petunia smiled sadly, moving her hand to the side of his head, and kissing him on the forehead.

At that moment, Harry was so overcome with the likeness between his aunt’s and mother’s touch that he pulled her to him and held desperately onto her. She seemed to be too stunned to do much of anything for a few moments, but then awkwardly hugged him. “I’m sorry,” Harry muttered as he pulled away slightly. He studied his aunt’s face. It was hard to think of her as pretty as his mother, but there was a definite resemblance to Lily Potter. It made Harry’s chest ache intolerably. “You’re just… you’re a lot more like my mum than I ever thought you were.”

“Oh…. Harry, how would you know?” Aunt Petunia asked blankly.

“I met her this year…. But it’s a long story that I don’t feel like telling you right now. Maybe Draco and I will visit you sometime soon for tea, and we’ll both tell you what Voldemort told us.”

“That would be nice. Although… Vernon…”

“We’ll just have to work around his schedule,” Draco said quietly.

“Petunia!” bellowed a low voice. “Petunia!”

“Oh, dear,” Aunt Petunia murmured, standing up. “I think Vernon is awake,” she added needlessly. She began to walk away, but then turned back at the last moment and approached Harry once more. “Harry… take care of yourself, okay? You know my telephone number for when you and Draco want to come over.”

Harry nodded, feeling a bit disappointed. Even after all Petunia had been through, she was still rejecting what she really was, a witch. She made it clear that she did not want to receive any sort of owls, or have them call her through the fireplace. She wanted to be contacted the ‘normal’ way. Aunt Petunia gave a small smile and then hurried to her husband.

Harry stared after her for a few moments, before turning to smile weakly at Draco.

“At least she’s attempting to stay in contact with you,” Draco said reasonably. “It’s her loss if she wants to reject the wizarding world.”

“Yeah… Where is everybody else, Draco?”

Draco scanned the area briefly. “Granger and Weasley are around here somewhere. They were both injured, but nothing too serious, so they were asked to help with transferring people to beds. Professor Black is also around, though I think he’s in a bed. He was out of it pretty good.”

“Why don’t they bring these people to St. Mungo’s?” Harry asked.

“They’re already overflowing. They’ve had to call in Healers from different countries to help with demand. It would not have been so bad if all those people had not shown up and needed medical attention. They’re the ones who are at St. Mungo’s, except your uncle of course. Muggles aren’t allowed treatment there. It was something though, Harry… that Orb got rid of just as many Muggles as Wizards. We had to Obliviate all of the ones who saw us doing magic, and transport them to a Muggle hospital somewhere. It’s probably all over their news how all the missing people have turned up so mysteriously.”

Harry shook his head while gingerly lying back down. “This is so surreal. Voldemort was trying to merge two different dimensions…. And he’s dead. It’s such a relief. You have no idea.”

“Harry, you prat, I think I have some idea what a relief it is,” Draco said dryly.

Harry offered a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I suppose you do.” He opened his blankets and patted the bed. “Join me,” he demanded softly. “My bed is getting a bit cold.”

When the boys were snuggled together, Harry shifted his eyesight to the castle, and was quite surprised by what he saw. There were at least three towers missing, though he could only remember one falling during the night, and there was the large hole leading into the Great Hall, along with some smaller ones. Parts of the stone were falling from high above. It looked as though the castle was banned from anybody going in, so he did not know how Dumbledore could possibly be in there.

“Can anybody even get into the castle anymore? It looks a bit unstable.”

“Yes, there’s a hole blasted into the south side, and for now, that is being presumed safe enough to use as the only entrance. It’s a pity, really. We’re going to have to take our N.E.W.T’s elsewhere. I just hope that they give them to us soon because I want to be able to get into the Auror program this September.”

“Harry, you’re awake!” exclaimed Hermione, bounding up to the pair. Ron was limping behind her, and sat down on Draco’s leg with a sigh. Draco glared at him and yanked his limb free from the red-head.

“Yes, I am. Are you two all right?” “Yes, I’m fine,” Hermione said briskly. “I only had a few simple injuries that Ginny healed for me. Ron had a curse hit his leg, though, and the Healers don’t know if it will ever be the same. I wish I would have been there to hear what curse it was though. That was the thing that was stumping the Healers. They can’t figure out what kind of spell it was. It was either an ancient spell that has been long forgotten or one that is new.”

“All right, you human manual on what’s what,” Draco scoffed, effectively getting Hermione to quieten.

Harry smiled slightly, and turned to Ron. “It doesn’t hurt much, does it?”

“Not really, only when I walk.”

“Oh, honestly, Ron,” Hermione huffed.

“I might as well make the best of it, shouldn’t I?” he said with a shrug. “And anyway, there’s something else that we need to tell you, Harry.”

Hermione and Ron’s face had gone sullen, and Harry immediately feared the worse. “What?” he whispered.

“It’s Hagrid,” Hermione said quietly. “They figure somebody held the Cruciatus curse on him for far too long. He’s at St. Mungo’s in the permanent spell damage ward. We saw him before he left. Somebody had to shave off his beard… if he wasn’t so distinguishable, I wouldn’t have been able to recognise him. He looked like a completely different person.”

“Oh, god,” Harry moaned in despair, and buried his face in Draco’s chest. A thought hit Harry that should not have been relevant after finding out that one of your most loved friends was permanently brain damaged, but it seemed important for a strange reason. He lifted his head. “What about Fang?”

“Oh!” Hermione seemed surprised. “I don’t know. I didn’t even think of that, to tell you the truth.”

Harry immediately looked at Draco, who went wide-eyed. “No way, Harry! I am not taking in that monster of a dog. There’s no bloody way.”

“Draco, we have to! He was Hagrid’s dog, and he loved Fang. Fang can’t just wander around the Hogwarts grounds lost, looking for his owner.”

“He’ll always be looking for Hagrid, no matter where he is.”

“That’s why we’ll take him to St. Mungo’s to see Hagrid.”

“They don’t allow pets in the hospital, Harry. It’s unsanitary.”

“We’ll figure out a way. Please, Draco. Please.”

Draco looked desperately into Harry’s green eyes. “I don’t want a dog,” he protested weakly.

“Please, Draco.”

“Oh,” Draco moaned desperately. “I… keep him at Black Manor for this summer, and then we’ll see when we get married, okay? I just… I hate dogs, Harry. I’d rather have a black cat, named Davis.”

Harry’s face brightened immediately and he kissed Draco. “We’ll get a black cat and name him that,” Harry informed Draco breathlessly when they pulled away. “Just as long as I get to keep Fang.”

Draco sulked.