The group was currently sitting around the table, eating the dinner Hermione and Lily had been preparing earlier, before they were interrupted. After Harry told James a few basic facts about his life—mostly just a repeat of what Hermione had already said: how he was the Boy Who Lived, how he had grown up an orphan, and he was the one who killed Voldemort—James said they shouldn't go over everything without the witches. So they came downstairs and decided to sit down for a belated dinner.
Now that they were all sitting in front of their plates, no one seemed to know how to start the conversation. They moved the pasta around with their forks for a few minutes, and the wizards even tried a few bites. Harry murmured a quick thanks to his mum and Hermione for making the meal, they each nodded, and everyone was silent again.
It was James who ultimately broke the silence. "There's something I don't understand. The reason Neville was able to survive the Killing Curse that night was because Voldemort never intended to kill Frank and Alice. They were renowned Aurors who had made a lot of enemies on his side and once he decided to kill their son, he made a deal with some of his followers to spare Frank and Alice, so they could be—properly punished—before they were killed.
"But when Voldemort went to kill Neville, Frank jumped in front of the curse, enacting the Sacrificial Magic. But —if he'd chosen us—" He cut off to take a deep breath, like even the thought of dying alongside his wife was too much to handle. "He would have had no reason to spare us. We were annoying to his followers, but not hated. He would have come to our house with the intention of killing all of us."
Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. They were silently trying to figure out who should explain. Eventually, it was Harry who said, "It was Snape."
"Severus?" Lily asked.
James looked at her harshly.
"Don't look at me like that. I haven't spoken to Severus since Fifth Year, when he called me a Mudblood. He tried —several times—but I was done after that. And he just dove further and further into the Dark Arts; I assumed he was a lost cause."
"He asked Voldemort to spare your life," Harry explained. "So when Voldemort went to kill—er—me, he had no intention of killing you. When you...died." He paused. He heard her screams, then saw the flash of green light. His mind was threatening to pull him away. Then, a hand appeared on his wrist. He focused on the warmth. Hermione.
"You enacted the Sacrificial Magic," Hermione finished for him.
"Snape?" James asked.
Harry nodded.
"Lovely of him to make a deal for just Lily. What was his plan? That once I was out of the way you'd fall into his arms? That you'd forget about the loss of your husband and son?"
Lily just shrugged.
"Snape was awful," Hermione cut in. "And he was certainly selfish but without that act Harry would have died. And in later years, Snape went on to do a lot more—at least in our world. What became of him here?"
"He died," Lily said simply. "He went to Azkaban after the first war and died there after five years."
Hermione frowned. It didn't match the Snape she'd known, who was a survivor. But in this world, he'd lost everything. He'd given up his best friend—who he was desperately in love with—to follow a madman who ended up perishing in the end. Once in Azkaban, he must have lost the will to live and wasted away as the dementors forced him to replay his worst memories. How sad. Actually, both of his fates were tragic, but at least in their world he'd managed to redeem himself a little.
Lily was opening her mouth to ask another question when Hermione said, "I think we should start at the beginning. Each of us."
Lily nodded and her eyes flashed to Harry, who was sitting completely still as he focused on the salt and pepper shakers at the center of the table. "What do you think, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. It's a good idea," he said roughly.
"We can go first," Lily said, pulling her eyes away from Harry to look at James.
"Yeah," James said. "I'll start."
Just like in the other universe, Neville was raised by his grandmother, Augusta. She tried to shield him from the world, worried how he'd turn out if he was subjected to fame and adoration his whole childhood, but when Neville was around six, and still hadn't displayed any signs of being a wizard, she reached out to Dumbledore for help.
Augusta, like the rest of the Order—which hadn't disbanded following the end of the first war—knew Voldemort wasn't gone for good. They also knew Neville would be the key to their success in the next war, though not in what capacity. Dumbledore hadn't shared the full extent of the Prophecy at the time and had simply told the Order it was important to protect Neville.
Dumbledore ran Neville through every test he knew and confirmed he was, indeed, a wizard—something he already knew from checking the Hogwarts register—and a powerful one. He encouraged Augusta to let him out of the house so he could play and interact with children his own age.
Dumbledore reached out to James and Arthur Weasley specifically, since he knew from the Hogwarts register they had sons who would be in Neville's same year at Hogwarts, and they set up several meetings between the three boys.
"Neville finally thrived," James explained. "He was the sort of person who did better with a group. He would observe Harry and Ron trying to stretch the limits of their accidental magic, then, with encouragement from those two, he'd try it himself. He was always like that, collaborative. He wouldn't make a decision until he'd heard everyone's opinion. And when it came to fighting, he was okay one on one, but came alive anytime he was trying to protect his friends."
Hermione and Harry shared a smile. It sounded like in this world, Neville had found that confidence that had driven him to lead the resistance in Seventh Year and to kill Nagini much earlier in his life.
"Then, they all went to Hogwarts," James continued.
Apparently, the other Harry's first year was very similar to the same year in Harry's world. Voldemort was on the back of Quirrell's head and at the end of the year, Neville tried to get through the maze to stop Voldemort from getting the stone—with the help of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"We nearly killed him," James said with a small smile on his face. "The other Harry, I mean. Putting himself in danger like that. Why didn't he just go to a bloody Professor?!"
"Maybe because he inherited a complete disregard for authority from his father," Lily quipped.
"Maybe," James allowed.
He went on to explain Second Year, which was not as eventful as Harry's. Lucius still tried to sneak the diary in, but almost as soon as the first student was Petrified, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found the diary and turned it over to Dumbledore. Once he learned what it was, he destroyed it and the Chamber of Secrets was never opened.
"There was nothing of note in your Third Year, except that was the year Gryffindor first won the Quidditch Cup."
"We're supposed to be explaining the war," Lily said, but still turned to Harry and asked, "you played Quidditch, right?"
"Of course. Seeker."
"Same in this world," James said with a smile, "though I tried hard to get you to be a Chaser."
"Harry's a brilliant flier," Hermione added. "Even though the first time he touched a broom was at Hogwarts, he was better than all the others and even made the team in our first year."
"First Year?" James asked while Lily said, "Why hadn't you touched a broom before then?"
Hermione blushed while Harry averted his eyes. "I guess we'll get to that," Hermione said nervously. "But first, um, Fourth Year?"
This is where Neville's path really started to diverge from Harry's. There was still the same drama at the Quidditch World Cup and Mad Eye Moody—who was an imposter in this world, too—still began teaching at Hogwarts. But when Neville was named the fourth Triwizard Champion, the Order sprang into action.
It was clear to them something was wrong, as there had been signs for months that Voldemort was close to returning and they were determined to thwart whatever plans he had for Neville. Neville was briefed on every task far ahead of time, then given a tutor—sometimes two—to practice with, so they could be sure he'd make it through the tournament unharmed.
The Order members learned of Moody's deception just before the start of the Third Task and developed a plan of their own. When Neville reached the cup at the end of the maze, an Auror was waiting for him, ready to transform into Neville using Polyjuice Potion. The Auror touched the cup and was transported to the graveyard. Voldemort used their blood, instead of Neville's, to get his body back and once he realized they were not Neville an hour later, he promptly killed the Auror.
"So Cedric lived?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself from cutting in.
"Cedric?" James asked.
"Cedric Diggory. A Hufflepuff. The real Hogwarts champion."
"Oh, yes," he said, looking slightly confused. "He's alive. Just got married. His father, Amos Diggory, is one of those who drones on and on about his son."
"Pot calling the kettle black there," Lily murmured.
"I have a question." Hermione said, raising her hand.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" James said in a good impression of Professor McGonagall.
She rolled her eyes. "Who helped Voldemort? In our world, he was helped by someone." She looked at Harry, who shook his head imperceptibly. They hadn't heard of Peter yet and he thought it best to wait until the end, in case the fact that one of his best friends was a traitor was news to James.
"We don't know the details," Lily replied, "but we think he happened upon a witch, Bertha Jorkins, while she was on Holiday. He possessed her and while in her mind, learned that one of his followers, Barty Crouch Jr., was living with his father. Then he went to break Crouch out—likely still using poor Bertha's body."
There was a collective shudder around the table. "Right," James continued. "So he was back. We spent that Summer recruiting for the Order and once Fifth Year started, we began training Neville in earnest."
Anger flared in Harry. Neville was admitted to the Order as early as Fifth Year. He wasn't tossed to the side, forced to live with people he hated while everyone, even his best friends, kept him in the dark. Hermione placed a hand on his leg. He grasped it as he focused back on his dad.
James explained that Neville was having problems with his mind, which seemed to be linked to Voldemort. They set him up with Kingsley, an accomplished Occlumens, to work through the problem. After a few months of lessons, and the help of a few potions Lily worked with Slughorn to make, Neville was able to close his mind to Voldemort.
Once he could do that, he started private lessons with Dumbledore. They worked together for two years, learning as much as they could about Voldemort and looking for Horcruxes. Though at the time, Lily and James had no idea what they were doing. They explained that they leaned on Harry for information, since he was one of Neville's closest friends, but all Harry said was that Neville missed class about half the time and would never give details about where he was.
"What did the rest of the students think?" Hermione asked.
"That he was ill," Lily said. "Harry and his friends knew he was with Dumbledore, just not what he was doing, but I don't think they told anyone else. They were good at keeping secrets."
"Yeah," Hermione said, giving Harry a sidelong look. "So are we."
"I don't think many people noticed, honestly," James added. "Neville was always good at blending into the background and he knew how important it was for his safety, and our success, that he lay low."
Harry had to resist snorting. He wished he could have laid low. And that Dumbledore had trained him up as early as Fifth Year. He was with Neville half the time?! How much time had he spent with Harry? Just a handful of sessions in Sixth Year. Why hadn't he trusted Harry like he seemed to have trusted Neville? What would that have felt like? To be doing something, rather than sitting back while the adults moved the pieces around the board.
Hermione squeezed his hand again. This time, Harry picked it up and pressed his lips to her knuckles. He knew it would be unwelcome, and that it violated their 'kissing kibosh,' but he was feeling reckless. Also, he wanted to feel closer to her—the only person in this room who knew how he was feeling.
When he dropped her hand back in his lap, she didn't pull away, like he expected, but rather, turned her palm and linked their fingers together as she laid her head on his shoulder. Harry could feel her hair tickling his cheek and felt a little less alone.
James explained how Neville and Dumbledore methodically found and destroyed Horcruxes. The diary was destroyed in Neville's Second Year. Then there was a locket—found in Sirius's house, of all places—and a diadem that used to belong to Rowena Ravenclaw, was found in Hogwarts—in the room of lost things, which Sirius and James were intimately familiar with.
"We knew it was important to find and destroy the objects, but Dumbledore wouldn't tell us why," James was explaining. "We didn't figure that out until after he died."
"How did you destroy them?" Hermione asked. Harry guessed she was thinking of the sword, and how they'd only discovered it after opening the Chamber of Secrets. And how it was only effective in destroying the Horcruxes because it was imbued with Basilisk venom.
"FiendFyre," Lily replied. "It was incredibly dangerous, but we managed to craft a focused spell. Rather, Dumbledore did and he taught a few of us how to do it."
James nudged her side. "She's being modest. He taught a few of us and only Lily ever caught on. After Dumbledore was gone, she was the one who destroyed Horcruxes for us."
"Which brings us to Dumbledore's death," Lily said quietly, looking at the table.
James explained that when the fifth Horcrux was found—a ring—it was protected with a Dark curse that poisoned Dumbledore. They combined their efforts to contain it, but he only had three months to live.
Harry looked at Hermione, who gave him a sad smile. Snape had been able to give Dumbledore a year. But in this world, Snape was dead and even if he had been alive, he'd have been working for the other side.
"We made plans for after his death, knowing it would be the symbol to kick off the war. We also couldn't let Voldemort find out how it had happened, since he didn't know we were hunting Horcruxes."
"We didn't know we were hunting Horcruxes," Lily added, a little bitterly.
"Yeah. Well, he let himself be killed on a mission to get information about the last Horcrux, Hufflepuff's cup. It was Rookwood who fired the curse. And the mission was a bust."
"Not really," Lily said softly. "The primary point of the mission was for Dumbledore to be killed. That part was successful."
James wrapped an arm around Lily and everyone was quiet for a few moments, remembering different versions of the same man.
James explained how the war kicked off in full force. The Death Eaters took over the Ministry and Hogwarts as soon as Dumbledore died and Muggleborns were no longer safe. He and Lily went to live at Headquarters, as did Neville and Hermione, while Ron and Harry returned to their Seventh Year at Hogwarts, where Lucius Malfoy had taken over as Headmaster.
"How did Hermione protect her parents?" Hermione asked.
"She placed wards around their house with McGonagall's help," Lily replied. "And she told them she was going back to Hogwarts and would probably be away for breaks since she had her N.E.W.T. exams to prepare for. She never told them about the war."
Hermione nodded sadly and now it was Harry's turn to give her hand a comforting squeeze. She hadn't needed to take the drastic action of wiping their memories in this world, because she hadn't been as much of a target. Harry had put that target on her. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
Hermione just shook her head and focused back on James, who was watching them curiously. "You can continue," she said, her voice flat.
James went on to describe how Neville confided in the Order about the Horcruxes. He had never been as into keeping secrets as Dumbledore. But there was one secret he didn't know. Dumbledore had pulled Kingsley and James aside just before his death and told them about the piece of Voldemort's soul that lived in Neville and how it must be destroyed before Voldemort could be killed. It was the reason Neville's mind was so connected to Voldemort's.
"Could Neville talk to snakes?" Harry asked.
"Snakes?" James said, shaking his head. "I don't think so. Why? Can you talk to snakes?" He looked alarmed.
Harry nodded. "I bet he can. It just probably never came up. And his wand—did he share cores with Voldemort's wand?"
"Yes," Lily said. "That was a convenient circumstance that got Neville out of a few tight binds with Voldemort. And we think it led Voldemort to break into Dumbledore's grave and steal his wand, though we never found out why."
Harry looked at Hermione. "We know why," Hermione said. "We'll explain in our story."
James continued. He explained how they began looking everywhere for the cup and how around Halloween, they got a hint. They had captured Rodolpho Lestrange, almost by accident, and Kingsley was able to break into his mind and see a conversation between him and Bellatrix where she bragged about storing important items for her Master in the family vault.
After that, the Order worked on planning out their most complicated mission to date: Breaking into Gringotts.
"Was Hermione on that one?" Hermione asked.
"No," James replied. "She helped plan, but we weren't allowing her to go on missions at that point. Just Neville."
James cut off and took a deep breath. "We got the cup," Lily continued for him. "But we lost Remus in that one. Bellatrix killed him."
"Oh," Harry said, his chest tightening. James was pinching the bridge of his nose.
"That led to Sirius's death," Lily continued, her voice sad. "Sirius couldn't let it go. He was mad with grief. So he joined a mission he never should have been on."
"Don't say that," James cut in.
"It's true. He was in no state of mind to be on missions. You weren't going on them. And I'm not blaming anyone, he made his own decision, it's just—tragic, since he never should have been there."
Lily turned back to Harry and Hermione. "We were going to Lestrange's estate to get information that would help us smuggle people over the borders—which we were doing as much as we could. Sirius found Bellatrix. They dueled and he killed her, but was killed almost immediately afterward by her husband."
"What about in your world?" James asked suddenly. "Are they alive?"
Harry shook his head. His chest tightened at the stricken expression on his dad's face. He looked almost as if he was losing his friends all over again.
There was another moment of silence. Lily waved her wand to clear their plates, since it was obvious no one was going to eat any more. Eventually, James took up the story again.
"This was when we told Hermione about Neville. We were reaching the end with just the snake left to destroy and we couldn't decide if we should tell Neville or not. How do you do that? Tell someone who has been preparing almost his life for this war that in the end, if we were to come out victorious, he had to die?"
Harry tensed and Hermione took up his hand again. "You said the other Hermione told you not to tell him," she said softly.
James nodded. "I agreed with her, but I was surprised. I thought for sure she'd have chosen to inform him, since she never liked all the secrets that were being kept in the Order. I know now why she didn't want him to know."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
It was Lily who answered. "She refused to accept his death as inevitable. She was determined to find another way." Lily paused to give Hermione a wry smile. "And she did."
"What?" Harry asked. "What did she do?"
Lily looked confused. "I assume you all figured it out too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting here."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then shrugged. "What was it?" Hermione asked. "What did the other Hermione do?"
"We were planning the final mission, to get the snake, but Hermione pulled back—which was odd. She loved planning missions. For a solid month, she disappeared into the library at Headquarters, which was very well stocked, since we were constantly adding tomes collected from the various Death Eater houses we raided. She discovered an artifact that could do sort of the opposite of soul-binding—an ancient Pureblood Marriage practice.
"She thought it would work, or at least was worth a try, to remove the piece of Voldemort's soul from Neville's. It would give us a chance to destroy it without destroying him. By then, we'd killed the snake and Voldemort finally figured out what we were doing. That last mission—to break into Malfoy Manor, where the artifact was—was very dangerous."
"Neville didn't want to do it," Lily said, picking up the story. "He wanted to go to Voldemort and let him kill him. He didn't want to risk any more lives being lost. But Hermione convinced him to let her try. Then, if it didn't work, she said we could go with his 'martyr plan.'"
"It worked?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. That was her first and last mission," James replied. "We had to bring her because... she was the only one who knew the spell inside and out. We found the object, she did the spell, and we killed the part of Voldemort's soul that came out of him. Neville collapsed and I thought he was lost, so I grabbed him and used the emergency Portkey to get back to Headquarters, leaving Hermione, Robards, and Dawlish behind."
James sighed and shook his head. "I shouldn't have left them."
"You had to get Neville out of there," Lily countered. She turned to Hermione and said, "That's when she got her injury. Dolohov hit her with a nasty curse. Robards and Dawlish ended up getting her back to Headquarters but she—she was screaming in pain." Lily cut off and wiped away a few tears. "We all thought she was going to die. Neville—who'd woken up by then—was beside himself with worry."
"He kept insisting we go to St. Mungo's, capture a Healer, and bring them back," James added. "But Kingsley convinced him otherwise. All the Horcruxes were destroyed and Voldemort knew it. We were worried if we waited too long, he'd go into hiding. We had to strike while we knew where he was."
"So, we spent the next day getting the message out to as many people as possible. We'd be attacking Voldemort's stronghold at Hogwarts and if all went well, it would be the Final Battle," James said, his voice solemn.
"Wait," Harry cut in. "You left Hermione behind? She was in agony and you both went to fight in the battle?"
Lily gave James a dark smile. "Even this Harry's cross with us for that." She turned back to Harry and Hermione. "We didn't leave her alone. Of course not. But we couldn't stay with her. We needed all the fighters we could round up. We put her in a magical coma, to halt the spread of the curse, and left her with Ron and Molly Weasley."
"Ron was there?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yeah. He didn't live at Headquarters, but when Hogwarts became too dangerous, he returned home and popped by often to see you and Neville."
Hermione nodded. That solved the mystery of who she'd been sleeping with at Headquarters.
"Why did you send Harry away?" Harry asked. "He could have stayed with Ron, at the Burrow, or at Headquarters with all of you."
James and Lily exchanged knowing looks. "Our Harry said the same thing," James said. "But you have to understand, Lily and I were so well known by then, and very hated. He would have been in too much danger at the Burrow. Molly and Arthur were Order members, but they didn't fight, so weren't as despised by the Death Eaters. And Headquarters...that was out of the question."
"Why?" Harry challenged.
James gave Lily a wry smile. "Harry is a trouble-maker," Lily began to explain. "We were worried about what sort of influence he'd have on Neville. He...how to explain…? Neville and Hermione were cautious, by nature, and we could trust them to listen to the Order and work with us. Harry...he had a tendency to defy authority and also thought he was invincible—which is a dangerous combination. And he had this ability to convince his friends to do ridiculous things."
"It was his idea to go after the Sorcerer's Stone in his First Year," James continued, "instead of going for a professor. He also wanted to try out the diary in Second Year, and had nearly convinced his friends to try it with him, when Neville gave in at the last minute and involved Dumbledore. We were worried if he were at Headquarters, he'd convince Neville and Hermione to go off alone, or that he'd try to sneak his way into missions, and that was just too dangerous. Plus, we didn't need the distraction of having to keep an eye on him."
Harry slumped in his seat slightly. They were making it sound like he sought trouble out. But he'd never sought it out, not in his world. It found him. James nudged his arm and gave him an almost proud smile.
Then, James explained the Final Battle. He said it was brutal, since someone had tipped Voldemort's side off, but short. As soon as Neville found Voldemort, it was over. But it took him a while to find him. He'd hidden deep in the forest and Neville had to break the wall he'd erected between their minds to find him. Even then, he only managed to see flashes of the scene around Voldemort. Luckily, they had Hagrid, who knew the forest better than anyone.
"We didn't see Neville kill him. He said there wasn't much fanfare. He had Harry's cloak and simply walked up to him, invisible, and showed himself when he was standing just a few feet in front of him. Voldemort cast a Killing Curse and Neville cast a Stunning Spell. Both spells met in the air and shot back at Voldemort, killing him instantly. Hagrid carried his body out of the forest and that was the end."
Everyone was quiet again. "Who died?" Harry asked after a few moments.
James sighed before answering. "A few Aurors: Williamson and Newton. Andromeda Tonks and her husband, Ted. Flitwick, several students—mostly underage ones who'd snuck into the battle." He sighed and looked at Lily. "Am I missing anyone else?"
"Moody," she added in a soft voice.
James nodded sadly. "But I killed Dolohov," he said, looking at Hermione. "I never did find Lestrange, though. He's still missing."
"And your rift with Harry. What was that about?" Harry asked.
James sighed again and dropped his eyes to the table. "What wasn't it about? He was angry with us for a hundred things."
"Sending him away, not letting him join the Order, not telling him about Hermione being at Headquarters," Lily began to list. "Though, to be fair, she kept that from him too. They were exchanging letters during that last year and she kept telling him she was in hiding with her parents." Lily took a long breath and turned back to James. "What else?"
"For letting her go on the mission. For leaving her behind when I took Neville back. For leaving her behind, again, and going to fight in the battle..." James paused and exchanged a look with Lily. Before Harry could decipher it, James ended with, "I think that was it."
Harry turned to look at Hermione, but she was focused on Lily and James. "And where was Harry?" she asked.
"Germany," Lily replied. "We sent him away with our friend Peter."
"Peter Pettigrew?!" Harry cried, recoiling at the sound of that name.
"What?" Lily asked, eyes wide with alarm. "You'll know him, of course. But—what's the problem?"
"Where is he now?!" Harry nearly shouted.
"He was killed by a group of Death Eaters shortly after he returned. It was a bit of a mystery, but you know something. Tell me what it is," James demanded.
Harry shook his head and looked at Hermione, who looked like she was going to be sick.
"What do you know?" James pressed.
Harry got up and left the table. Hermione heard his footsteps on the stairs. She exhaled heavily as she turned back to James and Lily. "I think we can give you some insight on what happened there but—uh—give us a few minutes?"
James looked at Lily, who just shrugged. James turned back to Hermione and though he looked frustrated at being ignored, nodded.
Hermione got up from the table and slowly made her way upstairs. She found Harry in their bedroom, pacing quickly around the small space.
"They don't know," he said when he saw her. "They don't know he was a traitor and I—I have to be the one to tell them. I bet he volunteered to take me out of the country—eager to get away. That coward. And my dad's going to hate hearing about Sirius in Azkaban and Lupin—leaving his son behind with no parents. This—I don't want to do this."
"I know."
"This trip was supposed to be about me learning about them. Not the other way around. How am I supposed to explain it all? It's so...fucking different! Neville had help! How the fuck is that fair?!" His voice broke and he stopped pacing. He braced his hands on the wall and dropped his head.
Hermione crossed the room and placed a hand on his back. "Harry, there's something you need to understand. There is a different universe out there for every decision point in existence. From choosing to eat a different thing for dinner to bigger decisions, like Voldemort choosing to kill Neville instead of you. Which means there are other worlds where Dumbledore did include you in his plans. And there are probably others where Neville was more alone.
"And in this world, in particular, all the circumstances were different. Neville had his Gran, he wasn't as isolated as you throughout his childhood, which made him more prone to go to others for help, whereas you preferred to keep things to yourself."
"What about that whole blending in the background thing?" Harry asked bitterly. "How the fuck did he get away with that?"
"That's easily explained," Hermione said with a smile. "You're you and he's him."
Harry looked at her, bewildered.
"Neville's great, but he doesn't have your presence, Harry. You have this... quiet power... that draws people to you. Even without being the Boy Who Lived, they said you were the leader. And we know from the photos you were fairly popular. You're the type of person who is going to get noticed, scar or no scar."
Harry was quiet. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"Harry, I know you don't want to tell your parents what happened, but we sort of owe them," Hermione said, moving her hand to his arm. "And I think it will be cathartic for you to get it all out. Sort of like therapy."
Harry felt sick just thinking about it. But she was right. They'd ruined his parents' trip and stolen the other Harry and Hermione's bodies. They owed them the truth, at least. When he looked up at Hermione, she was watching him, her brown eyes warm. "I'm probably going to need your help," he whispered.
Her face fell. "Oh, shoot." "What?" he asked, standing up from the wall. "I've reached my limit on how much I can help you. You're on your own for the rest of your life." Harry rolled his eyes. "Since when are you sarcastic?" "I think you're rubbing off on me." Harry wrapped his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. As soon as he realized what he'd done, he stepped away from her. "Sorry." She smiled at him, then grabbed his chin and kissed his cheek. "Extenuating circumstances," she murmured. "Ron and Ginny will understand." Not if they knew about the heat pooling in Harry's lower abdomen, or about the way he'd started inhaling deeply the few times she let him hug her, so he could enjoy her scent, or how he thought of their kiss from Venezuela every night, before he fell asleep. "Ready?" she asked, already standing in the doorway. Harry tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts away. It wasn't time for that. He could worry about his unexpected feelings for Hermione later. "No, but let's do this," he said as he followed her out of the room.
