Falling - A Harry Potter Story

[phantisma]

As requested by siliconshaman when I asked for requests almost two weeks ago in my main journal. Sorry it took so long, Simon. It just wouldn't let me finish it...

I'm not really sure of the voices, and its darker than I originally intended it to be...

Title: Falling
Fandom: Harry Potter
Setting: Post Half-Blood Prince
Pairing/Characters: General Harry, Ron, Hermoine with a handful of other characters
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some spoilery through Half-Blood Prince (though everyone already knows), some mild violence.

Summary: Simon wanted a Dark Mirror 'Verse type story...and so this is...the threesome set out to find Voldemort and do...in a manner of speaking...



Falling. Landing. Muffled “oomph” and “ow” and other noises that told him first that his friends were okay and second that he wasn’t alone. Harry sat up gingerly, cradling his right elbow and trying to get a look around.

The forest was gloomy, and the still pond reflected back the full moon perfectly. Only, there hadn’t been a full moon before the falling. He got to his feet, checking to make sure his legs weren’t broken and stepped hesitantly closer to the dark water. It looked like any regular pond, his face staring back at him.

“Harry, be careful.” Hermoine said, and he turned to find her pushing damp curls out of her face. “I don’t think that’s any ordinary pond at all.”

“Brilliant! What was the first clue?” Ron asked, brushing a clump of dirt off her shoulder.

She spared him a dirty glance, then pulled herself to her feet. “Could it have been the way we fell right through it?” Ron asked, his hands waving about dramatically.

“For starters, yes.” Hermoine stood beside Harry and looked at their reflection. “That and the fact that it’s the night of the new moon, not the full.” She looked around them. “Everything else seems to be the same though.”

“So, where are we?” Harry asked.

Hermoine shook her head and crossed her arms. “I don’t know.”

Ron finally picked himself off the ground and came to stand beside his friends. His hand automatically sought out Hermoine’s, and she smiled in response. “If you don’t know, we could be in trouble,” he said, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Hermoine looked thoughtful for a moment. “I read about something like this before, though it was a mirror, not a pond…and the mirror was never found…”

“Like this? In what way?”

“Alternate realities, Ron…a shadow world where things are different. If I’m right, we’ve traveled to a different world.”

The three of them turned around. Nothing seemed all that different. The night sky was a deep indigo blue. The trees were tall and kind of brown-grey in the half light of the moon. The path back to Hogwarts was worn and strewn with leaves from the early frost.

An eerie howl split the still night air and the three of them jumped as one. “I think we should go back. Immediately.” Hermoine turned for the water, and screamed, pushing Ron and Harry away and diving into the dirt as light flashed around them. Harry rolled and came up with his wand in hand, pulling Hermoine behind him. He couldn’t see their attackers clearly, but they were advancing, and as much as he knew Hermoine was right and they needed to get back into that pond, he also knew that first they had to survive the next few minutes.

“Ron, get up.” Harry said, backing up until he was beside his friend. Two more steps and they were on more solid footing than the slippery black rocks that ringed the pond. The shadows shifted and their attackers came closer, three robed wizards, wands at the ready.

“Harry.” Ron whispered, his eyes wide. Harry glanced at Ron, then followed his eyes to the nearer of the three. A familiar shock of red hair, freckles, if Harry hadn’t known better he’d think it was Ron. His eyes snapped to the other two.

“Well, if this isn’t the most interesting thing this forest has offered us since first year,” the other Harry said, stepping in front of the other two.

The other Hermoine walked toward them. Her hair was shorn short and her pants were black denim under a robe that was decidedly not Gryffendor. “How depressing,” she said, rejoining her fellows. “She dresses like a frump.”

She slid her arm up her Harry’s, then around his back to drape herself between Ron and Harry, leering at the new-comers. “They all do, really.”

“Be nice, Hermoine. They look like us. They can’t be all bad.”

Harry looked at himself, squinting in the odd lighting. He was dressed better, not in hand-me downs he tried to cover with a robe and his hair was slicked back away from his forehead, leaving the scar on prominent display. “What are you doing out in the forest?” he ventured to ask, lowering his wand.

“Us? What about you?” the other Ron asked.

“We…uh…fell.” Harry responded. “Some mirror.” It wasn’t truthful, not exactly, but Harry felt uneasy enough to justify the lie.

The howling cut through the air again, closer this time. “Werewolf?” Hermoine asked beside him.

The other Ron smiled. “Yeah. We’ll get him this time, eh Harry?”

“Get him?”

The other Harry stepped closer, his smile eerie. “Yeah, were hunting him. Time he stopped interfering in things that don’t concern him. Wanna come along?”

They looked at each other and backed off another step. “If it’s all the same to you, I think we’ll just be –run!” Harry pushed Hermoine and grabbed for Ron as the giant wolf catapulted toward them, toppling their doppelgangers. He heard muffled spells and turned from the tree line to see. “Professor Lupin.” Harry whispered, recognizing the werewolf/wizard.

He had the other Harry pinned to the ground, though Hermoine and Ron were back on their feet and already summoning another spell. The werewolf whined and flew into a tree. The other Harry was slow to get up, limping. The scar on Harry’s brow started aching, a slow burn that gradually became searing pain. He grabbed his head and fell backwards against Ron, still watching the others now on the other side of the still pond.

“Harry?”

He shook his head, his eyes flicking to where Professor Lupin lay, his wolf body broken. “Voldemort must be nearby,” he whispered to Hermoine’s concern. The trio was advancing on the injured werewolf. “They’re gonna kill him.”

“No…we wouldn’t-“ Hermoine grabbed his arm as she watched the other three stalk toward the injured wolf who was struggling to get to its feet.

“I don’t think they’re much like us.” Harry said, watching his double’s wand begin to glow. They were too far away to hear the words of the curse, but Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Almost as one, the three of them pulled out wands and a resounding chorus of “Expelliarmus,” rang through the air. Three wands went flying and three surprised and angry faces turned their way.

The wolf wasted no time in escaping, and the three doppelgangers turned on Harry, Hermoine and Ron, covering the ground quickly. The threesome dispersed, drawing off their doubles. Harry tumbled to the ground beneath a renewed assault from his scar and the fists of his twin, rolling away from the pond and into a gully filled with leaves. He picked himself up just in time to find him hurling down at him. His glasses went flying and he landed with a hard thud on his back, his own face staring down at him as his own hands tried to choke the life out of him.

“Now, now Harry…don’t kill him,” a raspy, familiar voice said from nearby. Harry’s scar was screaming intensely, and his thoughts were foggy. “He might come in handy.”

He felt the pressure lessoning, then releasing him. The weight of the other still sat on top of him. He looked up, his heart sinking when Voldemort’s face came into view over Harry’s shoulder. He squirmed, but Harry’s leg’s held him tightly. Voldemort leaned in closer, his hand turning Harry’s face to see it better. “Remarkable. I haven’t seen something like this in years. This is old, old magic. What brings you here, boy?”

Harry huffed, trying to come up with a good answer. “You,” he finally said. “We were looking for you, but we…fell, into the mirror…and ended up here.”

Voldemort stood back and squinted at him as if he were trying to discern the truth of his words. “A mirror, yes that would make sense. Get up. Harry, let him up.”

The other boy didn’t look pleased, but he got up off of him and Harry pulled himself to his feet. “Why did you protect the wolf?” Voldemort asked, circling around him. “And where are your friends?”

“The wolf…in my world, he’s a friend.” Harry replied, his thoughts scrambling ahead to keep him from giving too much away and ending up dead. “And, if he and his friends hadn’t attacked us, we’d all be standing here together.” He tried to sound indignant, but wasn’t sure he had pulled it off. In fact, he was worried for Ron and Hermoine, almost more than he was worried about himself.

Voldemort laughed, and slung an arm around his shoulders. “I see. Shall I call them off?”

Harry wouldn’t look at him, and didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure what the older wizard had in mind. “Harry, leave him with me. You gather the troops and go after Lupin. I want him dead by sunrise.”

The other Harry smiled, his eyes flashing to Harry’s before he nodded and loped off into the trees. “Tell me about your world Harry.” Voldermort said, moving away.

“It is a terrible place.” Harry answered, his eyes scanning the trees for signs of his friends. He had to stall, find away to get away. “There was a great war, and those who followed you were killed.” He swallowed with difficulty, looking anywhere but at the man he hated.

“And you? How have you faired?” The wizard turned his considerable gaze on Harry, pinning him to the ground with an expression Harry couldn’t fathom.

He exhaled slowly. What could he say that wouldn’t be completely untrue? “I—I have been miserable. I live with my mother’s muggle relatives. They despise me. It is only at Hogwarts I am free to be myself.”

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. For a moment Harry panicked. He was going to see right through him, any minute. “What about Lupin? What has he done?” Maybe going on the offensive would give him a way out.

“Meddlesome beast.” Voldermort exclaimed. “Always tormenting my poor Harry with stories of his parents, getting in the way of how things should be. Subversive, that one. I should have killed him years ago.”

“Can I help?”

Voldemort stopped pacing and looked at him, his eyes narrowed. “How?”

“We could help you look for him…me and my friends.” He swallowed nervously. His heart was pounding in his chest. It couldn’t be that easy. Voldemort wasn’t that easy to deceive, was he?

“Why?” Voldemort came closer. “Why were you looking for me?”

Harry met his gaze and held it, trying to make himself feel the confidence and swagger his double had exhibited. “Everyone there believes you’re dead…but I know better. I can feel it.”

Voldemort looked at him for a long moment, then began to laugh, a low, disturbing sound. “So much alike.” He came close and Harry was sure he would hear the thumping of his heart. “My Harry found me too…gave me what I needed to revive.” He cupped a hand almost lovingly to Harry’s face. “But you haven’t killed yet. I can see that.”

Harry swallowed. Killed. No. Not yet. “No, sir. I haven’t had the opportunity.” But I will, he thought. You can count on that.

Voldemort smiled. “Kill the wolf before Harry does, and you and your friends will be my guests tonight.”

Harry did his best to smile. He nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”

“Go on then. Bring me Lupin’s dead body and together you and your twin will have the world at your feet.”

Harry wasted no time in running away from his enemy, tearing through the trees in the direction he had seen the two Hermoines moving. It was Ron he found first though, a bloodied nose and a blackening eye testaments to the fist fight he’d found himself in before the other Ron had run off to join the other Harry. He was waving frantically for Harry, who spared a glance over his shoulder at the pond. The area was empty for the moment. A distant howl gave him an indication of where the others had gone.

Ron pulled Harry through the dark as clouds filled the sky and rain began to spatter through the leaf cover. In a protective cluster of bushes that formed a living cave, Hermoine knelt beside the naked, bleeding body of Remus Lupin. He wasn’t conscious and judging from the injuries, wouldn’t be for some time. His skin was pale, marked with scars and several wounds in various stages of healing. This hadn’t been his first rough night.

“He’s bad, Harry.” Hermoine said, looking up at him.

Harry nodded. “So are we. We have to find a way back to the pond without being seen. If Voldemort discovers it…if he follows…can you even imagine?”

Ron shivered. “Voldemort?”

“Two of them in one place would not be good.” Hermoine said unnecessarily.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I had to convince him we were on his side, that we’d help, find Lupin.” He came to squat beside Hermoine. “And now we have.”

“We can’t just leave him here to be killed.” Hermoine said, her face stricken with horror.

“No, we can’t.” Harry agreed, examining the former professor’s bleeding head. “We also have the issue of the moon getting out from behind those clouds before we get to the pond.”

“So, what do we do? Wait for morning?” Ron asked.

Hermoine shook her head. “They’ll find us by then. He left quite a trail of blood and that other wolf won’t keep them distracted for long.” She looked at Harry. “Any idea who the other one is?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know any others…I don’t think.” He shifted and stood. “Okay, our side of the pond doesn’t have a full moon. If we can get him there, and through before the clouds break, we’re past one hurdle.” Thunder rumbled ominously, as if punctuating Harry’s words. “Madame Pomfrey is still at Hogwarts. If we can get him back to the school, she should be able to take care of him. Then we can—“

He stopped and bit back the words. Dumbledore was gone, and no amount of wishing would put him back in the head master’s office for them to go running to. They had set out on this journey with that knowledge in their minds, that this time they had to take care of themselves, to find Voldemort and put an end to this thing once and for all. He felt Hermoine’s hand on his and looked up.

“Right. Ron, help me get him up. Hermoine, check ahead.”

Hermoine scrambled out of the protective shelter of the trees and into the drizzle while Ron and Harry lifted the unconscious man between them. It was difficult, despite the frighteningly thin body.

They made the pond without incident and Hermoine waded in knee deep. Harry’s scar begin to tingle. “Hermoine, go on. We’ll send him behind you.”

She nodded and hesitated only slightly before falling backwards in to the still, dark water. She disappeared beneath it without a single ripple to betray her passage. “One, two, three.” Harry breathed and then he and Ron dropped Lupin. Harry’s scar started to pound and he pushed Ron into the pond, looking around swiftly for Voldemort. It was himself he found though.

They regarded each other for a long moment, eyes locked. Then the other looked behind him, over his shoulder. Harry could hear Voldemort’s voice. He took advantage of the distraction, letting himself slip into the water.

It was icy and more like moving through layers of mud and cloth than water. Then he was falling. Falling and landing with an explosion of breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding.

His elbow banged into the ground again. His head rang with after affects. Hermoine and Ron held each other, Lupin on the ground in a heap beside them. The sky above was blessedly free of clouds or moon and streaked with the approach of dawn. The school was more than a half hour’s brisk walk away. His eyes fell on his broom, still leaning against the tree where he’d left it. “Maybe I should go get help.” He said, moving toward the broom.

Hermoine looked up from checking Lupin’s pulse. “He doesn’t have long.”

Her eyes followed his hand to his broom. “I have an idea. Harry, bring me your broomstick. You too Ronald.”

She grabbed for her own and laid it out on the ground beside Ron’s. “Ron, your robe.”

Ron looked confused, but gave Hermoine his robe and she fished out a few things from her pack which had also been left behind when they’d fallen into the pond. In just a few minutes she had lashed the brooms together and tied Ron’s robe across them to make a magical stretcher.

Once they had Lupin on the makeshift stretcher, they gathered up their belongings and headed back toward Hogwarts. There would be a lot of explaining to do, not the least of which was Lupin and his condition. As far as anyone at the school was concerned, they had gone home the day before. Harry stifled a yawn, even as he spotted the lights of Hagrid’s window. He relaxed a little though as Hagrid appeared.

“Harry, Hermoine…Ron…what are ya’—who’s that—oh, my.”

“Long story Hagrid. Let’s just get him to Madame Pomfry first, okay. Then we can tell it to everyone at once.”

Several hours later they sat in the hospital wing with Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and a handful of others, having told their story, been checked over for injuries and been assured that the Lupin they had rescued would make a long, but mostly complete, recovery.

“We will need to find a way to close that portal, Minerva,” someone said.

Professor McGonagall nodded. “I’ll see to it myself. Mr. Potter, I’ll need your assistance.” She looked at him and he could see the worry, fear and anguish in them. He nodded. “Rest first. You must all get some rest.”

“I think it’s best we go now, Professor.” Harry found himself saying. “We have no way of knowing if they figured it out. If two of me there would be a dangerous thing, imagine what two of him here could do.”

There were murmurs around the room, some in agreement, some in shock. McGonagall nodded and inhaled deeply. “Fine. You two are staying here.” She pointed to Ron and Hermoine. “Poppy, see to it they get some sleep.”

She stood and beckoned Harry and together they left the hospital wing, pausing only to gather a cloak and broomsticks. “How will you close it, Professor?”

She shook her head. “I won’t know until I see it, I’m afraid.”

“Voldemort said it was old magic.”

She nodded as they mounted their brooms. It was the quicker way to get where they were going. “It has not been seen in many, many years.”

“How did it get there then?”

She looked at him for direction and he pointed. They set off together, rising above Hagrid’s hut and over the trees. “It is difficult to say, Potter. Difficult to say.” They rode in silence until Harry pointed downward. They circled over the still pond and descended beside it.

McGonagall walked around the small body of water three times, her wand held out over its surface. She paused then, near where Harry had been when Ron’s bumbling had sent the three of them into the pond. There was the tiniest flick of her wand and a layer of ice covered the surface of the water. “That should keep anyone from using it until we can figure out a way to close it,” she said.

Harry nodded, suddenly very tired. His head hurt, his scar tingled and burned…hadn’t stopped really since he had been on the other side. He rubbed at it as they mounted their brooms yet again and made for Hogwarts.

In the trees below, three figures emerged from the trees, marking the retreating spots of Harry and the professor. From behind them another emerged, his arms stretched out to encompass all of them in a gesture of unity. “This will be fun.”