Chapter 66, “A New Day.”

07-06-04

Lady Russell Holmes

Harry woke up and yawned, staring up at the crimson hangings of his bed. It was the last day of school. Tomorrow, he would get on the Hogwarts Express and go back to London. His dad would pick him up from the train station and take him and his brother and sister home to Godric’s Hollow. He groaned, remembering that his little sister’s friend Luna Lovegood would be coming with them, to spend the first month of the summer vacation. Two fourteen year-old girls in one house spelled trouble to him. One was bad enough.

He had to wait for Ron Weasley to get out of the shower. Even though they had shared a dorm room for five years now, and known each other longer, he and the redhead had never become close friends. Harry was better friends with Ron’s older twin brothers, Fred and George, who were seventh years. They reminded him of his godfather; scheming, brilliant and completely mischievous. Harry had practically grown up with the Weasleys, who lived in the next town over. The second oldest, Charlie, had played Quidditch with his dad and the third, Michael, had babysat Harry and his siblings when they were small.

At breakfast, Harry sat with the Weasley Twins, chattering eagerly about what they were going to do this summer. The twins wouldn’t be home until next week, after the graduation ceremonies, and they were looking forward to the depleted population of the castle to test some of their newest inventions. They hoped to start a joke shop when they got out of school, and they had a few new tricks that needed trying out.

“We’re hoping that Filch’ll hole up in his office with everyone gone,” said Fred confidently.

“That way, we’ll have free run of the castle,” added George, grinning identically. “But you know, Fred, I do have to get some one on one time in with my girl.” His grin spread, his eyes dancing with innuendo. Harry rolled his eyes. “What, Wingman, jealous?”

Harry snorted, almost choking on his scrambled eggs. “Of you and Calla Lupin? Hardly. She’s practically my cousin. Believe me, if you’d known her as long as I’ve known her, you’d know that she’s as meddling and know-it-all as her father. Don’t get me wrong, Remus is a great guy, but I certainly wouldn't want to be his son-in-law. My brother Rommy has enough trouble with him as his godfather.”

George scoffed, and turned back to his own breakfast. “Just because you can’t get a girl, you have to be all doom-and-gloom.”

“Hey,” replied Harry in indignation. “For the record, I’ve got a girl.”

“Oh yeah? Who?” challenged Fred and George together in surprise. Harry blushed, and mumbled something that they barely caught.

“Basya Riddle?” they chorused hootingly. “Dumbledore’s granddaughter?” They broke up laughing, clutching each other to stay upright as Harry glared at them. Exasperated, he looked across the room to where the girl in question sat with the other Ravenclaws. The dark-haired young woman caught his gaze, and smiled fondly at him. Harry grinned in response, which only caused the twins to laugh harder. “Oh, leave off,” he said irritably, but his smile remained.

Classes got out early that day, and Harry and his friends met up at the Whomping Willow. Checking to see that no one was looking, Harry changed into his Animagus form of a crow and flew past the belligerent branches to hit the knot that his dad had shown him in his first year at Hogwarts. The tree stilled, and the small group snuck into the tunnel at its roots. The five unregistered Animagi: Harry’s crow, Neville as a puma, the two Weasleys as identical raccoons, Alpha Black’s Labrador, and Rommy’s horse, along with Calla, ran and tumbled down the long path to the Shrieking Shack, laughing and gamboling all the way.

“So, what’s this about you and Basya?” said Rommy once they had all transformed back to their proper selves. Harry’s younger brother was in Ravenclaw and only a year younger than Harry and Neville. Harry glowered at the twins, who shrugged innocently, and changed the subject.

“You know, Pacer,” he said lightly. “I think Mom might be onto us. She was looking for me when I snuck in after the last full moon.”

“Did she catch you?” asked Calla guiltily.

“Do I look maimed?” answered Harry sarcastically. “No, but only thanks to Neville tossing that Filibusters down the dungeon steps. If Dad hadn’t loaned me his old cloak this term, I’d be in hot water. But I know she’s suspicious. She offered to pack for me.” He raised his eyebrows at the improbability of Lily Potter offering to pack up for her teenaged son. “She just wants to snoop through my stuff. Can I give you a few of the less... acceptable things to hold on to for a bit?” He turned to Fred and George. “But I will need them all back,” he stressed.

The twins grinned evilly. “You mean the invisibility cloak?” asked Fred with ill-disguise eagerness.

“And the Map?” said George. Harry nodded.

“Excellent,” they said together. Calla rolled her eyes.

“You’re not going to tell on us just because you’re a prefect, are you, Calla?” asked Fred, wiggling his eyebrows in what he obviously thought was a seductive fashion. The werewolf laughed.

“How could I? I’d be in just as much trouble as you if Professor Potter found out that we were sneaking out here all the time.”

“School’s out, Calla,” groaned Harry, leaning back on the dusty grand piano. “You don’t have to call her ‘Professor Potter’ anymore. I mean, you’re named after her.”

“I’ll call her ‘Aunt Lily’ at home,” chided Calla. “But while we’re at Hogwarts, she’s Professor Potter.”

That night at dinner, Harry ran in late, sliding into his seat next to his brother and his sister, Rose, just before Dumbledore stood up to speak. “Where were you?” Rommy started to ask, but then he saw Basya making her seat as well, straightening her robes with a sappy grin on her face. “Ah.”

“This is the end of yet another year,” said Dumbledore proudly at the front of the Hall, spreading his hands expansively to include the entire hall. “And here we are again, about to be parted. But for now, allow me to make a few happy announcements before you all pay this fine dinner the attention that it so richly deserves. First, I would like to announce something that some of may know already, but indulge a proud father. My son, Thomas Riddle-Dumbledore, has been elected Minister of Magic.” He beamed as the hall applauded. “Thank you, thank you.”

As he clapped, Harry felt a small twinge in his forehead, in the lightning-bolt-shaped scar, legacy of a Quidditch game in his first year. He thought that somebody must have tossed something small at him, but the Weasley Twins were paying attention to Dumbledore as he continued speaking. He sat back in his seat, perfectly content.

That night, however, he dreamed. In his dream, his scar blazed with light, consuming him and taking him to a place both familiar and strange. He wandered the empty halls of Hogwarts, passing empty portraits until he came to a room lined with pictures of... him. One, hung in the center of the room, between a Harry with gleaming, reflective silver eyes and another with pale brown hair on a background of a full moon, attracted him like a magnet. He gasped in shock to see this image of him. Someone had obviously not liked him, for this Harry was beaten and crippled, blinded and confined to a wheelchair. But behind him stood a shadow of a tall, vital Harry, with vast wings that cupped both boys like a protective shield and eyes that looked as though they could see through time itself.

The blind one stared straight at Harry, smiling slightly. “Who are you?” Harry asked tentatively.

“I am Fighter,” answered the other in a calm voice that was somehow filled with sadness and power.

“Well, you don’t have to fight anymore,” said Harry with the unquestionable certainty that comes so often in dreams. “I’m me now. We’ve won.”

(In case parts of this didn’t make sense, allow me to explain. (And if it did make sense, congratulations and you don’t need to read this slightly long AN)

In the chapter before this, Harry took Voldemort back in time to Tom Riddle’s birth and delivered him to Dumbledore’s doorstep, who then raised Tom as his own son. Therefore, a new reality was created, replacing the old. Tom never became Lord Voldemort, and none of the catastrophes that he caused ever came to occur. Harry’s parents were never killed, which is why he now has a sister (Rose Nymphadora Potter) one year younger and a brother (Romulus ’Rommy’ Sirius Potter) two years younger than he is. Harry never became the Boy-Who-Lived, so Ron didn’t make friends with him that first day on the train. Harry, raised by his father (who, as we know, is rather a prankster), has more in common with the Weasley twins than Ron. Lily, who never became an auror because, w/o Voldemort, there was no need, is now teaching Charms at Hogwarts, much to the chagrin of Harry and his siblings. James plays Quidditch for England as Chaser and Captain, and led them to victory in the Quidditch Cup in Harry’s fourth year.

Neville’s parents were never tortured by the Lestranges, so he was raised by them rather than his grandmother. As a result, he is much more confident and in better control of his magic, as his parents are both powerful wizards.

Michael Weasley, who is referred to here, is the theorized ‘missing Weasley’ between Charlie and Percy.

Tom Riddle-Dumbledore married as a young man and had a daughter and two sons. Only the daughter Basya was featured in this vignette. (As an interesting side note that does not feature in this story, when Basya and Harry met on the Hogwarts Express before their first year, they had identical haircuts and were mistaken for twins.) He followed in his adopted father’s footsteps as a good, powerful man who is widely trusted and has just been elected Minister of Magic.

Sirius Black never went to prison. He eventually married and his son, Alphard ‘Alpha’ Black (named after Sirius’s uncle) is one of Harry’s best friends, even though he is closer to Rommy’s age.

Remus Lupin also married a werewolf that he met on a research project in Germany. Their daughter, Calla (So named because Remus never forgot his schoolboy crush on Lily Evans, even though he loves his wife, Misha, more than he ever thought possible), is a werewolf as well. Harry’s group is slightly centered around her, and they became animagi for the same reason that the Marauders did back in their schooldays, to accompany her at the full moon.)

Harry’s dream is a reference to both Harry’s dreams in the original reality and Harry’s meeting with Seer, his alternate from another failed reality. It merely means that the original Harry still exists in a small form in the new Harry, just as Seer existed in Harry. I hope that all of this makes sense. Thank you very much for having read this. I appreciate your support over the last year and a half.)