Reunited�At a Cost
�What?� Harry asked. Surely he�d heard wrong.
�Harry Potter�s dead,� Hermione said again, sitting in a chair beside the bed and looking down at the floor. �You-Know-Who killed him over sixteen years ago. Poor boy, he was only a baby when it happened, just over a year old. I suppose he would be my age now. Lily and James� closest friends say they were never the same. I don�t know about that, but they do seem to still be shaken up about it.�
�My parents are alive?� Harry asked, forgetting everything else she�d said.
�They�re not your parents,� Hermione said, �but yes, Lily and James are alive.�
�I have to see them,� Harry said, sitting up.
Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. �No, at least, not yet. I can�t let you in there if there�s a chance you might get David�s hopes up.�
�How is telling David any different from telling you?� Harry growled angrily, his eyes flashing.
�Because,� Hermione said, �Harry was David�s brother.�
Harry�s anger disappeared immediately, replaced with confusion. �What?�
�After the incident, Lily and James, along with the rest of those who opposed You-Know-Who, had to go into hiding,� Hermione explained. �They�ve been staying here, in this makeshift shelter. Less than two years after it happened, Lily had another child. David�s lived here his entire life, he�s fourteen now.�
�A brother,� Harry said, feeling a bit faint.
�Yes,� Hermione said, �which is why it�s important for you to understand that you cannot be going around here saying that you�re Harry Potter. David may think he�s ready to go out in the world, but he�s still only a child. On the one hand, he�s been forced to grow up too fast, but on the other, it seems that he wasn�t allowed to grow up at all. It�s a dangerous combination, and I�m afraid that he might have believed you.�
�Look,� Harry said, becoming annoyed again, �I don�t know what�s going on, but I�m not lying. Where I�m from, we�re friends, and we both go to Hogwarts. We�re also friends with Ginny�s brother, Ron.�
Hermione�s hand tightened painfully on Harry�s shoulder and her eyes narrowed dangerously. �I don�t know how you know his name, but whatever you do, do not mention him around Ginny.�
�Why?�
�Well, Ron and Ginny were the first really young children brought to live here. Ginny was all right with it, but Ron hated it, and they somehow knew about it. He was recruited to go to Hogwarts, to become one of them.�
�What?�
Hermione sighed. �You really don�t know, do you? Perhaps you would be better off talking to one of the Potters. Lily�s in no condition to receive a shock like this, but James should be all right. Who knows�maybe you are�� she broke off and shook her head. �Do you feel all right to stand?�
Harry nodded, and Hermione held is arm while he stood, as though frightened that he would fall. He was just about to tell her he was fine when his scar began to burn so badly that red spots broke out in front of his eyes and he collapsed. Luckily, Hermione caught him before he fell.
�Are you all right?� she asked.
�He�s angry,� Harry muttered to himself, gasping for breath. The Occlumency lessons he�d been taking since his fifth year to try to severe the connection with Voldemort hadn�t been working at all. If anything, it made things worse, but he�d never told Dumbledore about it. Dumbledore had enough to deal with without having to worry about Harry. But now that Harry was stuck in this strange place, he wished he had gone to Dumbledore back in sixth year, when this had all started up again.
�What was that?� Hermione asked, shocking Harry out of these thoughts.
�Nothing,� Harry said, shaking his head. Even if this was the Hermione he knew, he wouldn�t tell her. He�d been telling everyone that the Occlumency lessons were working to keep them from worrying. There was no reason to stop now.
�You sure your all right?� Hermione asked, her voice filled with concern. �Maybe you should lie down again��
�I�m fine,� Harry growled and moved away from Hermione, walking to the door on his own. He heard her sigh behind him and she hurried to get ahead of him again to lead the way.
They didn�t speak as they walked down the hallway, a bleak, stonewalled tunnel that seemed to go on forever. Every once in a while someone would walk past, some with dazed looks on their faces. One person looked at Harry and started muttering to himself about �too accepting for our own good.�
�In here,� Hermione said, knocking on a door on the right wall. There was a crash from inside the room and the muffled voice of somebody swearing. Then the door opened a crack and Ginny stuck her head out, looking slightly flustered.
�Oh Hermione, come on in,� she said quickly, throwing the door open for them. This room was about the same size as the one Harry had just come from, and all that was in it was a bed, a table, a few chairs, and some smashed glass on the floor, which Harry assumed was the source of the crash he�d heard earlier. A black-haired man with sunken eyes lay asleep on the bed, while a woman with flaming red hair sat in one of the chairs, staring off into space through very puffy, bloodshot eyes. David stood beside her, a hand on her shoulder, looking as though he didn�t know what else to do. When Harry and Hermione walked in, David opened his mouth as though to say something, but Hermione beat him to it.
�David, we need to speak to your father for a moment,� Hermione said, glancing at the woman, who Harry knew was his mother, Lily Potter.
David seemed like he was going to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he grabbed his mother�s arm and helped her up out of the chair. �Come on Mum. We can come back later.�
Lily seemed reluctant to leave, but she allowed David to pull her to her feet and followed him towards the door. When she reached the spot where Harry stood, however, she stopped. Her eyes locked with his for a moment and he could�ve sworn she recognized him, until she spoke.
�James?� she whispered so quietly that only Harry could hear her. Harry was too stunned to speak, but was saved from doing so as David tugged on her arm and they left the room.
Ginny, who had been sweeping the glass up off the floor, got to her feet and nodded. �You can wake him up, but not for too long. I patched him up as best I could, but he�s still healing, so he needs his rest.� She brushed her hair out of her eyes and left the room.
Hermione sighed and pulled a chair up right beside the bed. �James,� she murmured, touching his arm. �James, wake up, you have a visitor.� James� eyes opened and Hermione waved Harry forward. Then, she grabbed a pair of glasses off the table and gave them to James, who sat up and put them on.
�Hello,� said James Potter, looking delighted to meet Harry, �and who might you be?�
�That�s what we came here about,� Hermione said. �We had to ask your wife to leave because we thought she might not react well to this. See the thing is�well, at first I dismissed it, but there are a lot of things I once thought weren�t true�so�um�I thought��
�Spit it out,� James interrupted.
�Okay, but remember I came to you because I know you can be rational about this,� Hermione said, taking a deep breath. �This young man claims to be�your son.�
�My son�� James looked confused for a moment, but the dawning realization slowly crept into his face. �You mean�Harry?� He looked hopeful for a moment before shaking his head and looking almost angry. �No, it�s not possible. He�s dead, I�ve accepted that.�
�Now James, please just hear him out,� Hermione said. �He�s never been here before, yet somehow he knew of Ginny�s brother, Ron, without even being told what her last name was.�
�That doesn�t prove anything,� James said. �How do we know he�s not just one of them trying to trick us?�
�Because this is the man they sent me after,� Hermione said. �You remember, they sent me a couple weeks ago? Well, I found him locked up in their dungeon, seriously ill and starving. It is Ginny�s and my belief that they left him there to die. For some reason they didn�t want him getting out.�
�Where did you get that?� James asked suddenly, turning his attention to Harry.
�What?� Harry said, having no idea what he was talking about.
�That pendant,� James said, pointing at him, �where did you get it?�
�Dumbledore gave it to me,� Harry said, closing a hand over the blood-red stone.
�May I see it?� James asked. Harry hesitated for a moment before lifting the chain over his head and handing it to Hermione, who carried it over to James.
�I don�t believe it,� he said, and pulled an identical chain from his shirt pocket. �It�s the same one.� He looked up at Harry. �I gave it to Albus when Harry was born, for in case Lily and I didn�t make it. After Harry died, it was given back to me.� He glanced back down at the two stones again before turning his eyes back to him. �Harry?�
Harry nodded. �It�s me Dad,� he said, his voice breaking a little. Barely knowing what he was doing, he ran forward and threw his arms around his father and smiled as James hugged him back.
�You grew up,� James said when they finally broke apart and Harry pulled a chair up beside Hermione�s. �How old are you now?�
�Seventeen,� Harry answered.
�Of course,� James said. �It�s just that sometimes it seems like it�s been so much longer.�
Harry nodded. �Tell me about it.�
James sighed and handed Harry�s chain back to him, which he promptly put back on. �I thought the next time I saw that emblem it would be when David came of age. I still don�t understand how you came to be here.�
�Neither do I,� Harry said. �I was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts being treated for the stomach flu and next thing I knew, I was being dragged to the Headmaster�s office.�
�But Hogwarts is a school for Deatheaters,� Hermione interrupted, making Harry jump. He�d almost forgotten that she was there.
�Not where I�m from,� Harry said, shaking his head. �Where I�m from, Hogwarts accepts all students, and Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster.�
�But things haven�t been that way since�it happened,� James said. �Everyone at the school who didn�t meet You-Know-Who�s standards or wouldn�t join him was either killed or driven out. Albus was part of our movement until a couple years ago, when he was caught after sneaking into Hogwarts to install those detectors that allowed Hermione here to save you. Poor man is worse than dead now, sent to the dementors, I heard.�
Harry shivered at the thought, but Hermione looked thoughtful. She muttered something that sounded an awful lot like �alternate realities� before standing up. �I�m going to look something up,� she said. �I�ll send Lily and David back in.�
�Okay,� James said, looking slightly thrown by this outburst. Then, when she was gone, he whispered to Harry. �She�s always running off to look up something or another.�
Harry smiled. �I know.�
�I�m kind of glad they sent her after you,� James continued. �Before then she was my nurse, and she would bore me with hours of talking about things she�d read in books.�
�So what happened anyway?� Harry asked. �I mean, why are you in here?�
�Ah, now that�s an interesting story,� James said, looking delighted at having someone to tell it to. �I was out on assignment with a couple of people, including a good friend of mine. I suppose you�ve probably heard of him, Remus Lupin? Yes, well anyway, we were sent to try to convince a local pack of werewolves to work with us. Needless to say, it did not go well. Oh, but don�t worry,� he said quickly when he say the concerned look on Harry�s face, �I didn�t get bitten. I seemed to have been under the delusion that I could climb trees. So I ended up falling and broke my leg. Luckily Mad-Eye Moody is quick on his feet and was able to get us both out of there before any serious damage was done.�
Harry was about to speak when the door opened and he immediately stopped himself. David had walked back into the room, leading Lily, who had a dazed look on her face, along with him. After the door shut though, she immediately snapped back to reality and hurried to stand beside James� bed, not even looking at Harry.
�You�re supposed to be resting,� she said, pulling James� blankets up and trying to get him to lie down.
�I�m fine,� James said, seizing her wrists to get her attention. �I�m more worried about you. Now please, sit down. I�ll feel much better if you do.�
This seemed to work as Lily sat down in the chair beside Harry immediately. James gave Harry a look that silently said that this wasn�t the time to tell her. David had just opened his mouth to speak, but a glare from James kept him quiet. Lily, however, didn�t seem to notice any of this, as she was now staring unblinkingly at Harry, her eyes narrowed as though trying to remember something just beyond her grasp.
Then, her eyes suddenly widened. �Harry,� she said.
James looked between his wife and Harry for a moment, clearly shocked by this. �How did you recognize him dear?� he asked.
�I�d know my son anywhere,� she said and pulled Harry into a hug, squeezing all of the air out of his lungs, but he didn�t mind. When she finally released him, her eyes were shining with tears. �I always knew you�d come back to us.�
Someone behind Harry gave a sigh of disgust and he turned just in time to see David running from the room. �David, wait!� Lily called after him, standing up, but the door slammed shut with such a force that the walls shook. Lily followed him and Harry was about to get up too when James placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
�No,� he said. �I think it would be best if she speaks to him alone. You have to understand that something like this isn�t going to be easy for him to accept.�
Harry nodded, but looked longingly at the door. He hadn�t even spoken a word to David and now he may have ruined his chances of ever being able to talk to him.
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Author's note: Were you expecting it? A brother...gosh, I'm evil, aren't I? Well, anyway, if you're wandering what's wrong with David and can't figure it out on your own, I'll try to work it into the next chapter. If I don't manage to do that well enough, you are welcome to ask and I'll try to explain. Just be prepared for a lot of rambling. Oh, and when Hermione said that Ron and Ginny were the first really young children to be brought to the shelter, "really young" means about age two and younger. Obviously Fred and George would've still been pretty young around that time, and none of the Weasley children would've been grown up yet.
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