Disappear

The Truth

Harry inched forward along the passage. For a while now the tunnel had been getting steadily smaller, as well as sloping slightly upwards, until he was reduced to crawling on his stomach.

Harry edged forwards but his shoulders scraped the sides of the tunnel and he stopped, breathing heavily. He stretched out an arm and tentatively felt the solid bricks beyond.

"Open," he panted in a hiss.

The house seemed to creak and the wall ahead of Harry rearranged itself to form a hole, widening the tunnel around Harry in the process.

He pulled himself out of the house and lay on the surface outside for a time, drinking in the fresh air and waiting for his heart beat to slow down.

Shortly, he sat up, suddenly realising that he was sat on the roof of Grimmauld Place. He clutched the roofing tiles reflexively, his heart suddenly pounding again. He pushed himself further up, away from the edge and found that little ledges formed under his feet, preventing him from losing his grip.

Harry stared for a second and carefully moved one of his legs, watching in awe at the tiles moving around under his feet.

"It's protecting me..." he murmured in comprehension/sudden understanding, and he patted the roof, grinning.

However, before Harry could think more about this, noises from down below cut off his musings. He crept forward carefully and leaned over the edge, peering down at the street below.

Snape was lurking near the door, his wand out, suspiciously examining the area around Grimmauld Place. Harry watched for a second and then, unable to resist, gave Snape the finger and ducked back, grinning.

Finding his footing quickly, Harry climbed further up the roof of the house until he reached the top. He stopped for a second to catch his breath, one leg resting on either side of the roof and looked out over London.

It was a very nice view and he would have liked to stay there a bit longer, had it not just started raining. Harry stared up at the sky in disbelief and then, grumbling about English weather and how it was meant to be summer, he made his way down the other side of the roof, crawling on his front.

He stared over the edge to the pavement below, rapidly losing his enthusiasm for getting down. He had to be about three floors up. Tentatively he pushed his foot forward slightly and let it dangle over the empty space.

There was a tense moment where nothing happened but suddenly solid ground materialized under Harry's feet, rapidly forming into a staircase. Quickly, Harry jumped onto it and ran down to the ground.

About 10 minutes had passed before Harry finally stopped running and decided that he wasn't being followed. He slowed to a walk and looked around, trying to decide where he was.

Thankfully, he was in Muggle London, so Harry wouldn't have any crazy witches or wizards after him. This was, of course, assuming that the Muggles hadn't decided to go crazy as well.

He looked around and noticed a family staring at him rather oddly. Harry's cheeks flushed red and he ducked into the nearest call box, feeling more than a little paranoid, and tried to look busy leafing through the phone book.

After a few minutes he looked up, and was relieved to see that the family had disappeared. He stayed in the call box a little while longer, however, looking through the phone book. He was really just killing time until he had to make a decision.

Huh, someone's called Mr Love, he thought absently, scanning down the L names. And there's a Loveless here as well ... wait a minute.

Harry quickly stopped and flicked back to the page he'd just been on.

Lovegood.

He looked around suddenly, as if someone was reading over his shoulder and then turned back. Was it possible? Could it be-?

But why would Luna be in the Muggle phone book? Was her dad Muggle-born or something? As far as Harry knew, Luna was pureblood so...

Harry flexed his fingers reflexively, suddenly consumed by the urge to ring the number. It could be possible, and besides, who else could he go to? He'd just about run out of friends to go to now and maybe, since Luna was so crazy herself, maybe she'd believe him.

His mind made up he grabbed the phone and, dialling the reverse call number before, dialled the number for Lovegood. He twisted the phone cord around his finger, feeling his stomach twist itself into knots with nervousness at the same time.

"Hello?"

The voice was unmistakably female, but Harry couldn't tell if it was Luna or not. He opened his mouth to speak and found himself suddenly unable to speak.

"Hello?"

"Er-" said Harry. What had he been meaning to say?

"Who's this?" said the woman.

"Ah, well, um ... is Luna there?" Harry stammered.

There was silence on the phone, then the voice said, quite normally, "Ring a ring o' rosies?"

"What?"

The voice said again, "Ring a ring o' rosies?"

"Er - a pocket full of posies?" said Harry hesitantly, wondering why the voice was quoting Muggle nursery rhymes at him.

"Bond." said the voice, still seemingly intent on giving him a Muggle trivia quiz.

Harry paused a second this time before answering, "James Bond?"

There was ominous silence at the other end before the voice said, suddenly softening "Yes, that's right. What were you ringing for?"

Was that some sort of code? thought Harry. The Order of the Phoenix, maybe?

"Um - I just wanted to talk to Luna, that's all," said Harry, starting to wonder if this was such a good idea.

"Who's calling?"

"Er..." Harry paused a second before answering. "Ron Weasley."

"Ron?" said the woman, sounding incredulous and angry. "You shouldn't be using this line; you know it's only for emergencies."

"Well, Dad's just installed a phone and, er ... I wanted to test it out," said Harry, a bit lamely, feeling uneasy telling the lie.

"Only this once then," said the woman. "I'll just get her, wait a second."

There was a few second silence before a new voice answered the phone, unmistakably Luna.

"Yes?" she said dreamily, sounding as though she was still asleep.

Harry laughed, mostly from relief at hearing a familiar voice.

"Still the same, eh Luna?" he said, smiling.

Luna didn't seem as happy to hear from him. There was a brief pause before she said, in a sharper voice, "You're not Ron. Who are you?"

"Look, that doesn't matter," said Harry, determined not to mention his name. "I just really need to talk to you Luna. I'm - I'm a friend, alright?"

"A friend..."

"That's what I said!" said Harry, finding he was getting inexplicably angry. "I'm not here to kill anyone, or hurt anyone and I'm not - I'm not a Deatheater!"

"Ah," said Luna, her misty voice taking an air of knowingness. "I know who you are."

"No-wait-" said Harry urgently. "It's not what you think. I'm not trying to ... I just need a friend. I mean, we were friends, I-I don't understand why-"

"We were friends?"

"Yes! Don't you remember, it was only a year ago, that's all."

"Memory can play some strange tricks," said Luna in a sing-song voice.

"Luna, look - this is - why are we even talking about this? I need to see you," he said bluntly.

There was silence on the other end.

"Luna? Don't hang up, okay? I don't understand anything that's happening. Everyone's acting so strange, they all - they think I'm a Deatheater or something! And I'm not, but I need someone to talk to. And I thought you could ... help me or something."

"Everyone thinks you've lost your mind," said Luna.

"Yes I know that," said Harry testily. "But will you meet me?"

Luna paused before answering, "I might," in a tone that suggesting she was rather enjoying this.

"Okay, well - I suppose we could meet somewhere in-"

"You could come to the house."

Harry wasn't sure he'd heard her properly. "Er - what? Won't your dad be there? What if he-"

"Oh, mummy and daddy are going out tonight. I'll be staying in the house. There are wards of course, but I could disable them."

"Really?"

"Yes. They'll set off an alarm though ... you should have around five minutes to talk to me."

"I think that could be enough ... what's your address?"

Harry quickly breathed on the side of the call box and wrote the address on the glass as Luna read it out to him. He repeated it under his breath, trying to memorise it.

"I'll see you at 8 then," she said.

"Yeah - no, wait. Wait a sec," said Harry, suddenly panicky. "You won't - you won't call anyone, will you? The police or the Aurors?"

There a pause before Luna answered, "I won't if you won't."

*

Harry stood outside Luna's house, underneath a tree and trying to escape the rain. It had taken him two bus journey's to get here and most of the day. The bus journey had been relatively short, but it had taken him a long time to amass the £5.45 he'd needed for the journey.

Now he was here, his plan seemed very risky. How was he meant to know when to go into the house without a watch? When was Mr Lovegood going to leave? When would he know when Luna had disabled the wards?

Finally, the door to the house opened and two adults came out, laughing together. Harry moved further into the darkness but squinted his eyes to see better. The man must be Luna's dad but who was the woman? Did Luna's dad have a girlfriend?

The two adults stepped into a car and a moment later it moved into the road and drove away. Harry stayed under the tree for a while longer before hesitantly stepping out into the light.

Was he meant to wait for a signal? Would he know if the wards were disabled?

He stood there waiting for five minutes and when nothing happened he cautiously moved towards the house. He pressed the door handle and let it swing open. No alarms sounded and Harry assumed he was safe.

He stepped into the dark house, looking around for Luna but too scared to call her name in the darkness.

There was a faint light coming from one of the rooms and Harry crept carefully over to it, glancing up at the dark staircase as he walked past it.

The source of the light became clear when he entered the room. It was coming from a model of two galaxies, spinning around each other, both identical. Harry gazed at it, feeling strangely at peace.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice from behind him.

Harry nodded, not taking his eyes off the model.

"What - what is it?" he asked.

"It's an alternate universe model," replied Luna. "Some wizards believe that there are an infinite number of alternate universes existing alongside our own. That one only shows two though."

Harry slowly sat down, to look at the model better.

"How do they get created?" he asked, staring at the two Milky Ways slowly rotating.

"Every time a small change happens there is an alternate possibility that occurs in another universe," said Luna, and her voice seemed to be getting closer to Harry. "Like, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald about 50 years ago here but in another universe he may have lost against Grindelwald. That's when an alternate universe is created."

"What about-" said Harry, his mouth suddenly dry. "What about a universe where some people died but in another universe they didn't. Is-is that possible?"

"Oh yes," said Luna. "And maybe there's another universe where I decided to let you go free, but that isn't this universe."

Harry sprang up, ready to race for the door but ropes suddenly appearing, wrapping themselves around him and knocking him to the floor. He twisted his head to try to see better and saw Luna slowly walking over to him, her wand pointed steadily at him.

"In five minutes," she said, "Aurors will arrive here. They were alerted as soon as you walked through the door. So what did you come here for?"

"Luna," said Harry urgently. "I know what's going on now. You were saying, about the alternate universes and that's ... Don't you understand? That's why Sirius was alive and Cedric was alive and-and my parents. That's why everyone thought I was a Deatheater. This is - this must be an alternate universe!"

Luna smiled at him. "That's very clever Harry, using what I've just been talking about to try to talk your way out."

"No - Luna! I'm not lying. I think that somehow I got here but - I come from somewhere different," Harry said quickly, seeing Luna was looking half-believing. "And-and the universe where I come from is - it's like ... my parents are dead and Cho's still alive and Voldemort was defeated 16 years ago and I'm not a Deatheater!"

"You come from an alternate universe?" asked Luna, and she sat down beside him and peered into his eyes, as if they would hold a clue.

"That's it!" said Harry, and he felt like crying with relief. All this time he hadn't known, why everything was so strange and now... "Look-look, see. I'm probably different to the Harry you knew. See, I've got a scar on my forehead ... I bet he doesn't have that."

"Everyone thought you were mad," said Luna softly, staring at Harry as though she'd discovered the meaning of life.

"Loony Loopy Luna," said Harry, smiling at her and he tried to move towards her, whether to give her a hug or something he didn't know, but his movements were suddenly cut short by the ropes.

Luna jumped and realised she still had him tied up. She quickly waved her wand, making the ropes disappear and helped Harry stand up. She didn't, however, put her wand down.

"I'll ring the Aurors," she said, and took a small butterfly slide out of her hair. Harry stared at her but she just pressed the slide lightly and held it to her ear. She motioned at Harry to be quiet.

"Hello?" she said, into the slide. There was a pause before she replied. "Yes, I'm sorry about that, it was an accident." She paused again. "I thought someone was outside ... no, it was just a Muggle ... I've dealt with him."

She paused and looked at Harry, still keeping her wand pointed at him. "No, you don't need to bother, I'm fine ... it's okay, really, don't trouble yourselves ... no-I-"

Luna stopped suddenly mid-sentence, and with a sigh she put the slide back in her hair.

"I don't think they believed me," she said to Harry.

"Should I go?" Harry asked, looking around nervously for Aurors.

"It would be best," said Luna. "Where are you going to go?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know ... maybe back to Grimmauld Place ... look, I'd better go, it must have been five minutes already."

He turned to go through the door but turned suddenly and hugged Luna tightly before she could put her wand up again.

"Thanks," he breathed, burying his face in her hair.

He let go of her and Luna stared at him, a strange expression on her face. Harry didn't dwell on it too long though, and quickly ran softly to the door. He opened it slightly and stared out. The street seemed deserted...

"Here," said Luna, right behind Harry, making him jump. "Here's some Muggle money," and she shoved a five pound note into his hand. "Take the back door."

Harry nodded and shoved the money into his pocket. Luna pointed down a corridor and he ran down it, reaching the door at the end. He opened it as quietly as possibly and shut it behind him.

He was standing in a very small back garden, facing onto a railway line. He looked around and crept across the garden, towards the railway line. Maybe he'd be able to escape along there.

There was a sudden whispering sound from his right and Harry turned around, barely missing a stunning spell. He swore under his breath and ran for the railway line flat out.

"DROP YOUR WAND AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" came a magically magnified voice.

Harry ignored it and scrabbled up the hill, trying to avoid the explosion of spells that were racing through the air. The punch to his face happened before he'd even noticed.

Harry was flung back and hit the ground hard. He threw up his arm to try to defend himself from any other blows but none came. Instead a hand grabbed him and pulled him onto his feet.

"Get up Harry," said a voice harshly.

Harry opened his eyes and stared incredulously at the man holding his arm. Remus Lupin.

"What do you think you're doing Harry?" hissed Remus, looking the angriest Harry had ever seen him. Harry actually felt a bit frightened and tried to free his arm from Remus' iron grip.

"Remus?" Harry said. "What are you-? Let me go!" and he tried to pull himself further up the bank towards the railway line.

Remus didn't let go and shook Harry hard. "Don't you think Luna's had enough of you? You messed with her enough before, why did you have to come back?"

"What?" said Harry and tried again to free his arm.

Remus began to pull him down the hill but a spell suddenly shot from the house and he fell to the floor, stunned. Harry didn't waste any time seeing who had cast the spell but just ran up the hill.

When he reached the railway line he looked down and saw Luna standing by the back door, her hands up, as two Aurors pointed their wands at her.

Harry didn't have time to wonder why Luna had saved him as the Aurors were still firing spells at him. He turned sharply to the left and ran along the railway line. When he heard feet behind him he jumped off the hill, landed hard on the road and carried on running.

His breath came in sharp gasps and he was starting to wonder how long he could keep this up when a London Underground sign came into view. He grinned and ran down the steps, blinking slightly at the unnatural light.

Okay, thought Harry. The London Underground. Maybe I can lose the Aurors in here. Just depends on whether there's a train in or not.

He vaulted over the ticket stiles, ignoring the shouts and ran down the first tunnel he saw. He could hear the sounds of a train and ran even faster, praying he'd be able to get there in time.

The last stragglers were already getting in the train when Harry reached the station. He put on an extra burst of speed and stretched out his hand just enough to stop the train doors closing. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped on the train, pressing the 'close door' button multiple times.

Finally he heard the woman's voice say, "Doors closing," and he let himself relax, leaning back. There was just a glimpse of an Auror running into the station before the train shot into the tunnel.

It was five minutes before the train stopped at the next station. Harry stepped out and looked around. There didn't seem to be any Aurors nearby so he decided they mustn't have been able to figure out the London Underground map or just hadn't arrived yet.

Either way, he couldn't stay here.

He walked out of the station and stepped into the dark streets. The night air was cool and crisp and he guessed it was around 10 o'clock. He needed somewhere to stay.

After walking around for half an hour, he found a deserted park. Deciding it was better than nothing he climbed over the gate and dropped down. He found a park bench shortly after and curled up on it, wrapping his jumper around himself.

*

Harry woke up about 10 hours later to someone persistently poking him in the shoulder. He opened and eyes and found two kids staring at him.

"Er-" said Harry hesitantly but he was cut off by a woman shouting.

"Liam! Dominic!" shouted the boy's mother, appearing around the corner.

"Mum!" yelled one of the kids in a whiny voice. "Why's this person sleeping in the park?"

The boy's mother gasped and turned to look at Harry. "You stay away from my children!" she yelled and batted at Harry, who put up his arms in a feeble defence.

She grabbed her children and marched away quickly, muttering to herself.

"Druggies in the park, what if he had AIDs or something? If I ever-"

Harry blanked her out at this point and sat up, rubbing his eyes at the bright light. He yawned and stretched his arms, trying to get rid of the ache in his back. He stood up and started walking out of the park.

He was going to have to find his way to Grimmauld Place again, that much was clear. Maybe if he found Dumbledore he could somehow explain everything to him; what he'd found out at Luna's.

Harry put his arms up against the harsh glare of the sun. It was certainly a change from yesterday. The store owners were just opening up and some cafes had even put some chairs outside for people to sit down. Personally, Harry thought this was a bit optimistic, it was bound to start to start raining some time today.

He fumbled in his pockets to try and find the Muggle money Luna had given him. He should be able to catch the train or something to get to Grimmauld Place...

Suddenly, something grabbed Harry's collar and he was jerked backwards and pulled into a nearby alley. The attacker seized the lapels of his jacket and shoved him up against the wall, banging his head in the process.

Harry gave a yelp when he saw who his attacker was.

"M-Malfoy," he said weakly.

"Harry," responded Malfoy, looking grimly determined. "I've been looking for you."

"Er-hmm," was all Harry could say. He couldn't help thinking that as this was an alternate universe, this Malfoy was likely to be a hardened Deatheater.

"Yeah," said Malfoy, backing off from Harry but still keeping his wand trained on him. "You've been turning up in all sorts of places. St. Mungo's, Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore's Headquarters. If you'd just stayed with the Dark Lord instead of running off you would have been fine. So I've come to take you back. Come on. Or do I have to drag you there?"

"Uh-well, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," said Harry, as tactfully as he could manage. "You know, this Deatheater business. I've - uh, been thinking that maybe it just isn't for me." He gave a weak smile. "Uh ... sorry?"

"Nice try Harry," said Malfoy. "But somehow I don't think the Dark Lord's going to accept that one. But why don't you try talking to Him about it?"

Harry tried to move away but Malfoy slammed his arm down against the wall, blocking his escape route. He started to feel annoyed now. He had been so close to getting to Grimmauld Place and sorting this mess out.

"Look - this is - this isn't fair!" he protested, even though he felt a bit like a spoilt kid saying it. "I haven't even got a wand to fight you!"

"Well that's what you get for letting yourself be captured by the Ministry," said Malfoy, his expression hard. Then quite suddenly he seemed to cave in and he rubbed his face with his hand, looking tired. "I don't want to fight you," he said. "We're friends, right? We're on the same side."

"Well ... will you let me go then, Malfoy?" said Harry hesitantly. It was worth a try at least.

"It's Draco," said Malfoy.

"Huh?"

"My name," Malfoy repeated. "It's Draco. Not Malfoy. Call me by my name, okay?"

"Er..."

"What's the matter with you?" Malfoy asked suddenly, looking annoyed. "Why are acting so weird? You keep calling me Malfoy and you're acting like you hate me. I mean, did I do something to upset you or what?"

Harry was stumped. "Uh, look - uh..."

"It's Draco."

"Um..."

"Draco."

"Er, yes. Draco. Right, look, er ... Draco ... um, maybe we should talk about this some other time 'cos I've got somewhere I need to be right now ... so I'd appreciate it if-"

His words were suddenly cut off when Malfoy grabbed hold of him and pulled him further into the alley, smothering Harry's mouth with his hand so he couldn't shout.

"Mnh!" said Harry, indignantly.

Malfoy just shushed him quietly and continued to stare at the busy street. Harry, catching his drift, quickly looked over as well, at first seeing nothing but a normal London street full of busy people. Then a familiar bald head came into view, gold glinting from the ear. Kingsley!

Harry tried to shout and he struggled to free himself from Malfoy. If he could just reach an Order member he'd be able to get to Dumbledore.

"Are you insane?" Malfoy hissed and pulled Harry further into the alley. "You're dead if you get taken by one of Dumbledore's lot."

Harry fought back even harder but try as he might, he couldn't even move Malfoy's arm that was holding him back. Finally, sick of struggling and getting nowhere, he just stuck his leg out behind him, tripping both him and Malfoy over in the process.

Harry landed hard on top of Malfoy's chest, for a few seconds, he was temporarily winded. But, most annoyingly, Malfoy's arm was still holding onto him.

"Malfoy, you idiot!" Harry hissed and tried to push Malfoy's arm off him. "Get off me!"

He rolled over and grabbed at Malfoy's hand, trying to prise his wand off him. Malfoy fought back and kicked him, as well as trying to push him away. There were a few minutes of frenzied fighting before somehow, Harry didn't quite know how, Malfoy's wand ended up in his hand.

Harry stared at it for a second before quickly jumping backwards and aiming the wand at Malfoy, who was still lying on the floor, breathing heavily. Malfoy stared back at him with something like betrayal in his eyes and stopped for a second to wipe away the blood on his lips.

Harry caught his breath for a second and opened his mouth to stay something before stopping and realising what he held in his hand.

"Er-your wand..." said Harry, not really sure what he was saying. Malfoy looked slightly confused. "Er-yes," said Harry, gathering his thoughts. "Your wand, how did you get it back? I lost it after I took it off you."

Malfoy looked annoyed and embarrassed now. "I had to buy a new one," he said.

Despite himself, Harry found himself smiling and even laughing a bit. He put it down to temporary insanity. What was even more surprising, however, was the fact that Malfoy was smiling back at him, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"We're okay, aren't we Harry?" said Malfoy. "We're still friends, right?"

Harry hesitated slightly before nodding. He supposed he was just feeling sorry for Malfoy. The Malfoy he'd used to know had never acted like this.

Remembering what he was meant to be doing, Harry fidgeted a little and looked over his shoulder. Kingsley had better still be there, he thought.

"You can go if you want," said Malfoy, seeing what Harry was looking at. "I mean, you beat me, without even a wand, so ... I'll let it slide just this once."

Harry nodded and, still keeping his wand at Malfoy in case he did anything, edged out of the alley and into the street. As soon as he was taken over by the bustle of the crowd he started running, glancing everywhere to see if Kingsley was still there.

After having run up and down the street twice it was clear that Kingsley Shacklebolt was gone. Harry slowed down to a stop and swore. What had Kingsley been doing there? Was he looking for Harry, or was it just some routine patrol thing?

He gritted his teeth slightly for a second before deciding it didn't matter too much. He'd probably see Kingsley at Grimmauld Place anyway.

*

Harry stood outside Grimmauld Place a few hours later. As far as he could tell it was deserted. If someone was on guard they would have seen him and captured him already. Well, it looked like he'd have to do it himself.

"Hello!" he shouted at the house. "Hey, anyone in! Out here you stupid Order people! HEY!"

"Will you keep the bliddin' noise down!" someone yelled. Harry looked over to the next house to see a woman hanging out of the window, looking annoyed, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

"Oh shut up!" Harry yelled back and then continued to shout at Grimmauld Place, as well as jumping up and down and waving his hands.

"HELLO!" he yelled. "Look! It's me, Harry Potter, come and arrest me!" The woman in the window gasped at that point and quickly retreated into her house. "If you don't come and get me I can just as easily get in myself!" he shouted. "Yeah, watch out I'll use my parseltongue ability!"

He attempted to make a scary 'Oooh' sound at that point but found he just couldn't keep a straight face and the rest of his yells were reduced to a laughing fit.

The door slammed open suddenly and Harry looked over to see a furious Snape and a very puzzled Dumbledore. The rest of the Order were peering out of the house, their mouths open with shock.

"Well, it's about time," was all Harry had time to say before he hit the ground from a stunning spell.

*

Inside Grimmauld Place James was sitting on the floor of his and Lily's room leafing through a transcript of one of Harry's sessions when he'd been at St. Mungo's. Lily was sitting on a chair in the opposite side of the room looking through newspaper clippings they'd saved from when Harry had been found.

"Lily-" James started to say before being cut off from yells from outside. He looked up but stopped and went back to his work when he heard a woman's voice yelling from outside.

"That bloody woman," said Lily quietly.

"Who's she arguing with this time?" said James testily. "The milkman?"

Lily smiled and carried on reading. James put his piece of paper to the side and listened to the argument, figuring it had to be more exciting that what he and Lily were doing now.

"HELLO!" the person was yelling, just faintly audible from where James was. "Look! It's me, Harry Potter-"

"What the-" James exclaimed and ran to the window, Lily following him. "It's-it's Harry..." he said disbelievingly.

From their vantage point, Lily and James could see their son, Harry, standing outside Grimmauld Place, jumping up and down and yelling at the top of his voice.

"Come and arrest me!" he shouted.

"Why has he come back?" whispered Lily. James shook his head, struck dumb.

"If you don't come and get me I can just as easily get in myself!" Harry was shouting. "Yeah, watch out I'll use my parseltongue ability!" James sucked in his breath with shock at this point.

Harry opened his mouth as if to speak again but seemed to be taken by some sort of laughing fit. There was a loud banging noise from downstairs as the front door opened and a second later a stunning spell shot out from the house and knocked him unconscious.

Lily turned and fled down the stairs, James following her close behind.

"Is he alright? Is he alright?" Lily was saying rapidly as she ran down the stairs and saw Harry's body being levitated into the house.

"What was he thinking?" exclaimed James as he jumped down the last couple of steps and stared at his son.

Dumbledore looked at them. "We're taking Harry to a secure location to question him," he said. "It's dangerous to have him here. Severus and James will accompany me."

"But-" Lily protested.

"It's okay," said James, reassuring her. "I'll take good care of him and you can come see him a little later, right Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded and held out what looked like a baked beans can. He grabbed Harry's arm and placed his finger on it.

"James, Severus," he said and the two touched the portkey before the entire group disappeared.

*

Harry came to later in a non-descript grey room. He was sitting down in a chair and, thankfully, was not tied up. Dumbledore was sitting across from him wearing a very grave expression. Harry pushed himself further up in the chair and rubbed restlessly at his scar, which was starting to twinge slightly.

"So," said Dumbledore, giving Harry a piercing look. "You came back."

"Yeah," said Harry, slightly nervously. "I went to Luna's first and-"

"Yes," interrupted Dumbledore. "We already know about that. Why did you go to see her, Harry?"

"Look, that doesn't really matter," said Harry quickly, trying to explain. "I just need to-"

"On the contrary," said Dumbledore. "I believe it is very important. How do you think Luna felt, seeing you after all this time?"

"Wha-?"

"Was that your intention, Harry? To upset her even more?"

"Er-no ... I mean ... Luna used to know me?" Harry said in confusion. "Were we friends?"

Dumbledore's eyes hardened and he fixed Harry with a very calculation look. "I wouldn't say you are, now," he replied.

Harry bit his lip in nervousness and tried to start again. "Can we just go back to what we were talking about before? I-I found out something when I was at Luna's ... and-" he broke off and pressed his hand to his forehead, breathing hard. He was starting to feel angry with this whole situation.

"Is something the matter?" he heard Dumbledore ask.

"No, I just-" said Harry, feeling irritation starting to rise. For God's sake, he just needed to explain this and Dumbledore wouldn't even let him finish a sentence.

The meddling old man, he'd pay for everything, he'd pay for taking him.

The pain in his forehead was almost blinding him and Harry was dimly aware that he had staggered to his feet, still clutching his scar. Seeing Dumbledore sitting there, looking mildly confused, seemed to enrage Harry even more.

The last thing he was aware of was suddenly screaming and throwing his chair at the wall...

*

Slowly, Harry came to realise that he was lying on the floor. The side of his head hurt. He coughed and raised his hand to touch his head. His fingers came away bloody.

"What-?" he said in a voice that seemed very weak, as though he had been shouting.

He looked up and saw Dumbledore, James and Snape all standing around him, their wand pointed at him.

"What happened?" he asked blankly, trying to sit but stopped when James and Snape raised their wand threateningly.

"What do you mean?" asked James, and Harry noticed his voice was shaking. "You attacked Albus, we had to come in and subdue you."

Harry stared at them for a second before he began to grasp the situation. That anger he had felt hadn't been his. "No..." he gasped in horror. "No - I didn't - I didn't ... it wasn't me!"

"Take Potter to a secure room," said Dumbledore, not looking at Harry.

"I didn't do it!" Harry protested but James and Snape both grabbed his arms and firmly led him out. The last thing he saw was Dumbledore looking at him with a deeply disappointed and betrayed look. Harry suddenly felt, with despair, that he would never get Dumbledore to trust him again.

*