Worlds Collide

Last night made another sleepless night for Dazai.

He felt Draco’s presence next to him which helped him to remain calm. Still… there was too much going on for him to be able to turn his mind off long enough to fall asleep. This sucks…

-

“Geez Dazai, did you not get any sleep last night?” Draco raised a brow. “The dark circle under your eye grew compared to yesterday.”

“Nope, but I know for a fact that you slept like a baby last night.” Dazai sighed as he laid his head on the table. Blaise was still fixing his plate, amused.

“Well sure I did. The bed was warm, it was hard not to fall asleep.”

“I envy those of you who don’t experience insomnia.” Dazai whined.

“You two shared a bed, right?” Blaise set dazai’s plate next to his head.

“Yeah. Dazai has nightmares so I figured it would help while we’re here.”

“Can you not go around telling people that please?” Dazai huffed. “Anyways, sleeping with you doesn’t change anything if I can’t even fall asleep in the first place.”

“Well then, you can just ‘not sleep’ in your own bed tonight.” Draco crossed his arms.

Dazai picked his head up and looked at Draco with a slightly pleading eye.

“I’m… look, I was just joking, Dazai. If we are stuck here for another day, then you can sleep with me again.”

“It’s not like I need you to baby me Draco.” Dazai rolled his eye. “But, it could help… probably…”

“Probably?” Blaise smiled.

“Yes, probably.” Dazai shrugged.

“Whatever, I guess.” Draco sighed. He didn’t want to admit that he slept even more soundly than usual with Dazai by his side.

He was grateful to have a friendship like theirs. Looking at Draco (HP)’s life made him feel slightly bad for him.

The boy was lost, blindly following his father. He believed he was above everyone else, and in return, couldn’t truly make friends. This Draco, reminded Draco (MaM) too much of his old self before Dazai changed him.

The thought of not having Dazai in his life filled him with dread.

He shook off the thoughts with a shake to his head and finished his breakfast. They needed to stay on their toes today, after all!

-

Classes were a little less boring than usual thanks to him being able to actually cast spells again. It was nice to not be restricted to only book work for once.

He did feel… a bit off, however…

A headache? There’s no way Dazai would have a headache after only using this amount of magic. He’s spent time building up his tolerance, after all.

Yet… he felt it: a slight headache. Nothing really painful, but it was still there, lingering for far too long.

Why was this happening?

“Dazai?” The question snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned an eye to Harry.

“Yes, Harry?”

“You were spacing out. Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dazai smiled. They were walking through the hallways to the infirmary, where hopefully, they’d be able to go home right after lunch starts.

“I’m just happy that we can accompany you this time!” Hermione cheered, happily.

“Yeah, ‘Mione was pretty bummed last night when she wasn’t able to see you all off.” Ron (HP) added.

“That explains why she looked so relieved when I arrived at the Gryffindor common room last night.” Ron (MaM) chuckled.

“I was NOT relieved!” She gasped. “Why would I be relieved about you all being trapped here?”

“You’re not fooling anyone.” Ron (HP) smirked.

She crossed her arms, looking defeated. Having two Rons gang up on her seemed like a dreadful situation. Dazai definitely didn’t envy her.

“None of that matters, what matters is that we get home.” Draco walked down the hall with haste.

“Someone is determined.” Dazai giggled as he elbowed Blaise.

“This isn’t the time to be playing around, Dazai. Getting home is important right now.” Draco glared.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dazai rolled his eye playfully.

He did feel a bit of dread at having to see Pomfrey again, but he shook off the thought and pressed on.

He needed to get back home. Get back to Snape and his friends, get back to Blaise, and get back to his orders from Mori…

-

Hermione (MaM) walked into the infirmary in her own universe with a map in her hands. It was a copy of the map that Luna and her father made.

Mr. Lovegood happened to be investigating the portal in the infirmary right as it opened a day prior. If his information was truly accurate, the rift would open up during lunch.

As soon as Luna relayed the information to her, Hermione swiftly made her way to the infirmary. There wasn’t time to consult the others first, as the portal should be opening just minutes from now.

She stepped up to the door and quickly opened it.

Wiggins startled over her potion with wide eyes.

“Do you need something?” Wiggins asked. She was alone in the infirmary before Hermione entered. Was Spleen out?

“Ah, I was just looking for something.” Hermione waved her hands around, defensively.

She raised a brow but didn’t care enough to question it any more.

“I forgot an ingredient.” The woman sighed as she stood. She went into the back room and closed the door behind her.

Hermione was reminded of the petrification victims. It was an awfully dreadful situation.

When she looked back over at the estimated spot, the rift was open?

“So this is it up close. I can’t see through it or anything.” Hermione crouched down. “It’s so small, but it looks like the right size for someone smaller to crawl through it.”

‘What do I do? I can’t just crawl through, right?

I know! I’ll just stick my head in and see if I see anything.’

She stuck her head through the portal and saw an almost identical infirmary. The reason it wasn’t identical was because Poppy Pomfrey was still the matron in this universe.

The older woman gave the young girl a puzzled look. Hermione crawled more than halfway through the portal, preparing herself to ask where Dazai was.

But when she was about to say something, however, she felt something pull her in with an extreme force. She was thrown out of the portal and into the alternate universe right as the portal closed shut behind her.

“Hermione!” Ron (MaM) rushed over. They had just walked into the room when Hermione was thrown on the floor.

‘It just pulled her in... Interesting.’ Dazai put his hand to his chin in thought. ‘It seems that a portal can’t close on a person, so it repels them instead.’ Just like the earring incident, which proved yet another theory to be correct.

“Ron!” She gasped. She quickly looked around for… “Dazai! You’re ok!” She quickly got up and ran to him, her arms wrapping around his neck lightly.

Seriously? This again? What is up with these people and hugging?

Instead of protesting, he found himself pouting.

She pulled away and smiled. Were those… tears…? “I’m glad you’re ok!” She sniffled.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine.” He whined.

“Draco and Ron, I’m also glad that the both of you are alright.”

“Of course we are!” Draco (MaM) crossed his arms.

“I’m glad you’re alright as well, ‘Mione.” Ron (MaM) nodded.

“Oh wow… another Hermione!” Harry gasped.

She turned her attention to the strange boy and raised a brow.

“Ah… Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you.” He held out his hand and she shook it.

With him, she saw another Ron and another… herself?!

“This is all a bit jarring.” Hermione (MaM) gasped at the sight of herself, standing next to the boy known as Harry Potter.

“You get used to it.” Hermione (HP) chuckled.

“Yet another person has passed through to this universe, but not a single person has gone back into our universe.” Dazai caught their attention.

“Another dead end… dang it.” Draco sighed and Blaise patted his back. Seeing doubles made him feel like he needed to sit down.

“Seems like it. We will have to try the slytherin common room again tonight.”

“You can’t be serious? There’s no way Pansy will let them in again.” Draco huffed.

“I can try my best to have Draco (HP) clear out the slytherin common room tonight.” Blaise shrugged.

Dazai smiled fondly. No matter the universe, he could always count on Blaise. He wasn’t his second in command for no reason, after all…

“That’ll be helpful, thank you. In the meantime, we will just have to continue waiting.”

Some of the members of their current group looked a bit happy while others… namely Draco… looked like he was going to have a come apart.

Much to Dazai’s surprise, the boy collected himself and sighed. “We should probably get to lunch now.”

‘Is Draco giving up?’ Dazai thought with a giggle.

-

Blaise (MaM) looked everywhere for Hermione, but no one had seen her.

Luna had said that she told her of the next portal that would open, but she hadn’t heard from her since.

Was it safe to assume that Hermione went to the other side?

Blaise was relieved that Draco, Ron, and Hermione were there with Dazai… but still…

He felt frustrated. He wanted to go to Dazai and check on his well-being himself.

He wanted to go through, but everyone else was being sent instead of him… why is that?

Pansy noticed his irritation with a concerned look. She had never seen this side of her friend before.

It was yet another side to Blaise that no one knew he had until Dazai came along.

-

Lunch in the alternate universe went the same as usual. Hermione (MaM) joined Ron (MaM) at the Gryffindor table while Blaise (HP), Draco (MaM), and Dazai sat together in their usual spot at the Slytherin table.

Dazai turned around to spare a glance to his friends in red.

He was pleased to see both Hermiones chatting happily. They definitely had some of their differences, like how his Hermione didn’t like breaking rules while the other Hermione was ready to fight someone on his behalf.

Still, he really did like both of them a lot…

Dammit, when did he get to be so fond of everyone? Gross!

He was happy to have his Hermione here with him and he was ready to get back home… but something about leaving this Hermione behind made him feel a bit sad. Hopefully he will be able to see her again someday.

Both of the Rons were being teased by the twins, speaking of which, he missed his Fred and George a lot more than he’d like to admit right about now. Hogwarts just didn’t feel the same without causing chaos with them.

An idea dawned on him.

He just HAD to do a prank with them before leaving. It’s only right, after all. Going out with a bang was only fitting for him.

He chuckled menacingly to himself as he took a bite of his food. Blaise raised a brow at him, while Draco (MaM) loudly sighed and facepalmed.

‘This can’t be good.’ The blonde snake thought to himself.

-

After classes were over, the students had a break before dinner. That was the perfect time to ambush the twins.

“You all go to the library and I’ll meet you there in a bit.” Dazai smiled to his larger group of friends.

“Dazai, you can’t even navigate the school by yourself. How are you gonna-?” Draco started but was cut off.

“I’ll be fine! Now go!” Dazai whined.

The group obeyed his orders, reluctantly, and set off towards the library.

He leaned his back against a wall and crossed his arms. He knew the twins would be around here soon enough.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long.

The twins practically bounced down the hall, excitedly chattering about something before they noticed him. Dazai waved them over excitedly and they grinned.

“Dazai, right? The boy from another universe. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I was thinking about how I missed pulling pranks with my own Fred and George, so I figured why not settle for the next best thing.” Dazai clapped his hands together.

The twins exchanged a quick glance to each other before laughing.

“Second best, huh?”

“That’s what I thought I heard. Maybe our hearing is messed up?”

“Gotta ask mum to book us an ear exam soon. Maybe then, we can actually hear the little guy.”

Dazai pouted to hide his amusement.

“Ah, we were just joking, little Snakey.” Fred smiled.

Dazai didn’t realize how much he missed hearing that nickname. Are they the same as his twins back home?

The thought of the four of them communicating telepathically between universes made him realize that his headache had only worsened slightly. He shook off the thought so as to not strain his mind even more.

“Wouldn’t it be more accurate to call him Alt Snakey instead?” George pondered out loud.

“Alt Snakey is definitely more fitting.” Fred nodded.

They both noticed Dazai’s raised brow and cleared their throats.

“Anyways, you wanted to pull a prank with us… Think you can keep up?” George smirked.

“Oh please, you two are the ones who struggle to keep up with me!” Dazai grinned.

The twins beamed even brighter than before- If that were even possible…

Things were getting interesting indeed.

“So here is my plan.” Dazai started and the twins leaned in with interest.

-

“Dazai! You made it!” Hermione (MaM) huffed as she stood up from her chair.

The library was more busy than usual today, much to Dazai’s irritation.

“I told you I’d be fine, Hermione.”

“What took you so long, anyways? The spot we left you was pretty close to here, after all.” Hermione (HP) added in.

It was?

“I spent a good while walking around, trying to find this place.” He saw no use for lying in this situation. He shrugged dramatically and sighed.

“Typical.” Ron (MaM) smiled.

“You could’ve just headed to the great hall since dinner starts soon. We would’ve seen you there.” Draco (MaM) raised a brow.

“Aww, but half of the joy of going to dinner is getting to walk there with you all.” Dazai said sarcastically.

“Whatever.” Draco (MaM) rolled his eyes.

“Dazai, I talked to Draco. He’s fine with clearing out the common room before we arrive.” Blaise spoke up.

“Great! We can bring both Ron and Hermione in with us and go back home without Pansy’s obnoxious whining.”

“Right…” Blaise averted his gaze. Dazai raised a brow but was startled by the bell ringing.

“Yes! We are closer to going back home!” Draco cheered as he stood up.

They all made their way to dinner but Blaise looked a little… sad?

-

“Meet me at the common room entrance. I’ll be there shortly.” Dazai said.

“Mate, again? Where do you keep disappearing to?” Ron (MaM) gasped.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Dazai giggled.

After he parted ways with his steadily growing group, he found Fred and George and it was finally time to put their plan into action.

“Alt Snakey! I made the glitter bombs during dinner, exactly how you said to!” George held his robe open and showed the glitter bombs.

“You ready?” Fred bounced on his feet.

“Absolutely!” Dazai chuckled. Time to go out with a bang!

They set timed glitter bombs all over the school and waited. Soon enough, they all exploded and screams rang out through the hallways.

The three boys ran, laughing as loudly as they could.

Once they were safe from the glitter bomb’s blast, they stopped to catch their breath.

“Mate, that was brilliant!”

“Very brilliant! We will have to use this one again soon!”

“If we aren’t caught by Professor Snape, that is.”

“You’re right about that!”

Dazai listened to their chatting while still trying to catch his breath. He’s definitely not in the shape to be running around like a wild animal, but still, he was having fun and that’s all that mattered.

“I never knew it would be so fun to have someone join us for once!”

“Yeah! We should do a prank again soon, Dazai!”

“Oh, I’m actually leaving tonight.”

The twins startled and their smiles dropped.

“Oh… right, you’re not from here.” Fred said, thoughtful.

“Man, now I’m jealous of us from the other universe! They get to have all the fun with the little Alt Snakey!”

“Why not ask Ron to pull a prank with you?”

“He’d never do that.” Fred rolled his eyes.

“We have tried countless times, but he won’t budge. Oh well.” George shrugged.

Dazai nodded thoughtfully as he glanced around. Seems like Ron is only willing to prank when it’s under Dazai’s influence.

His eye caught a clock on the far wall and he squinted to get a better look.

“Wait, is that the time?” Dazai gasped as his eye finally focused enough to see it.

“Yeah, why?”

“I have to go! I’ll see you two later!” Dazai ran off in a random direction.

“And there he goes…” George stared, wide eyed.

“We didn’t even get to say goodbye.” Fred sighed.

-

“You’re late!” Draco huffed angrily.

“No I’m not! The portal still hasn’t opened yet.” Dazai giggled.

“You-!” Draco started but slumped his shoulders.

“Ready to go?” Blaise asked.

“Are you sure it’s clear?” Draco asked Blaise as the group stood in the hallway.

“Yes. I just checked. We are good to go.” He nodded.

“We will head back to our common room now.” Hermione (HP) wore a sad but fond smile. “I really did enjoy meeting all of you.” She looked to Hermione (MaM) and they hugged.

“I really enjoyed chatting about books with someone.” Hermione (MaM) sighed as she patted her back.

“I enjoyed it as well.” Hermione (HP) said as they broke apart.

“It was nice meeting you, Harry.” Ron (MaM) spoke up and they shook hands.

“Yeah, I'm glad I met you too Harry! It seems like you’re close to both Ron and I in this universe.” Hermione (MaM) shook his hand next.

“We are very close. I honestly couldn’t imagine not having him, like in your universe.” Hermione (HP) smiled at Harry.

Harry returned the smile but he did look a bit bothered. He had something on his mind.

“It was nice meeting all of you, but we have to go now.” Dazai reminded.

“Ah, you’re right. Take care, you guys!” Harry waved.

Blaise whispered the password and the painting opened up. With one final goodbye, the group of 4 otherworldly kids plus Blaise walked in.

“Wow, so this is the Slytherin common room? It’s not as cozy as the Gryffindor one.” Hermione hummed, thoughtful.

“You’re right about that. It’s always too cold down here.” Dazai shivered. He observed his surroundings and something seemed… off…

“It should be any second now.” Draco walked to the spot in anticipation.

Dazai felt the magic around the room. It was more stable than it normally was at this time… could that mean?

“It’s not opening.” Ron raised his brow.

“Why is it not opening?” Draco panicked.

“The magic in this room… it’s too stable to even almost open.” Dazai spoke firmly.

What could this mean? Surely this was just a fluke, right?

He closed his eye and let his senses spread out as far as they could.

The magic in the school was slowly stabling out.

“So we’re stuck here?!” Draco shrieked.

“I don’t know.” Dazai put his hand to his chin.

If they ended up being stuck here… that would be VERY bad… Wouldn’t it?

“Maybe we should stick around another day and try to go back tomorrow?” Hermione suggested.

“We’ve done that several times already!” Draco whined.

“Oh… right.” Hermione smiled sheepishly.

“No, Hermione is right.” Dazai spoke up. “The magic has become more stable, but that doesn’t mean it can’t become unstable again. We have been in a waiting game for days, so we will just keep playing for now. That’s all we can do, after all.”

“Sounds fine to me. I guess ‘Mione and I should get back to the gryffindor common room for the night.” Ron nodded.

“Yeah, I’m not sure how long the other Slytherins will stay away.” Blaise hummed. He seemed happier than he had all day.

Ron waved fondly to his friends, said a quick goodnight, and started towards the door. Hermione followed him, a little giddy at having to stay. She was excited to get to chat with Hermione (HP) some more.

“What the-.” Ron called from the doorway. “Mate, you have visitors.” He turned to Dazai.

“Visitors?” Dazai stepped out of the room and was greeted by a grinning Fred and George. His other friends followed him out, leaving the Slytherin common room completely empty.

“Alt Snakey!” George smiled.

“You just ran away from us!” Fred added, gleefully.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine! We came to tell you that we want to hang out with you for a bit.”

Hmm, it’s not like there was anything else he could do right now, so why not?

“Alright. Where should we ‘hang out’ at?”

“We have the perfect spot!”

“Then lead the way.” Dazai smirked. Blaise and Draco (MaM) looked at each other but reluctantly followed.

“Yeah, you better leave! I better not catch you loitering outside of my common room again, filthy mud-bloods!” Pansy called out behind them after turning the corner.

Dazai didn’t spare her a glance, he just waved his hand next to his head and kept walking.

Blaise sighed and realized he would’ve liked it if his ‘friends’ actually got along. He really felt for the other Blaise.

-

“Here we are!” Fred used jazz hands to emphasize how good the spot was.

It was a random corridor of the school with a door leading to a balcony.

Waiting for them were Harry, Ron (HP) and Hermione (HP).

“You’re still here!” Hermione (HP) cheered. Draco gave her an annoyed glare but she ignored it.

“Yep, somehow.” Dazai chuckled as he sat down on the stone floor next to Ron (HP). Everyone sat in a circle and chatted for a while.

This was nice. They laughed and joked and bantered. Slytherins and Gryffindors from two different universes. At this moment, it seemed like they were all just old friends.

Dazai found himself laughing harder than he had in a long time. So hard, in fact, that he had to stop to catch his breath.

He glanced around fondly at his friends. From his universe, Draco, Hermione and Ron were his familiar allies. From the other universe, Blaise, the twins, Hermione, Ron, and…

“Wait, where did Harry go?” Dazai asked.

“Ah, he said he needed some fresh air. Did you not notice?” Ron (HP) tilted his head.

“He left while you were laughing your butt off.” George joked.

“Ha-ha, very funny.” Dazai rolled his eye with a smile. “I’m going to go join him.” He stood up and made his way to the balcony door.

He closed the door behind him and the sound startled Harry out of his thoughts. “Ah, Dazai! Did you need some fresh air, too?”

“Something like that.” Dazai sighed. He stopped next to Harry who was leaning over the railing, looking down. Dazai mimicked his position. “What are you thinking so hard about, anyways?”

“Oh, well…” Harry put his hand to the scar on his forehead. Normally his bangs covered it, but Dazai noticed it for the first time just now. “My parents died when I was an infant. I was almost killed as well, but I’m somehow still here. I wonder what life would’ve been like if they were still here with me.”

“You have a scar on your face.” Dazai said, seriously.

“Oh this? I got it when I survived the forbidden spell Voldemort casted at me.”

Harry survived being hit by the forbidden spell… They were alike in that way, except Dazai wasn’t left with a nasty scar on his face.

“I see… Why don’t you cover it or something?”

“I beg your pardon?

“Scars are unsightly and gross.” Dazai breathed out. “Especially having one that big on your face. I don’t pity Harry at all. If I had one like that, I’d try to cover it the best I could.”

Harry realized that all of the bandages wrapped around Dazai’s body weren’t just a strange fashion statement. They covered a story that Harry couldn’t ever begin to imagine.

“You have scars too?” Harry asked with a raised brow.

“…” Dazai stayed silent. He didn’t want to answer and Harry got the hint.

“You have the wrong idea about scars.” Harry looked back to the view in front of him with a fond smile.

Dazai perked up. What did he mean by that? He anxiously waited for the answer.

“Scars aren’t gross or unsightly. And sure, they’re not typically something a person would want on their face… but still.” He brought his hand to his forehead and brushed his fingers over his scar. “Scars aren’t a bad thing, they’re proof that you survived.”

Proof that you survived?

Dazai subconsciously traced his right fingers along the bandages covering his left wrist. His recently healing wounds no longer stung to the touch.

He let the words sink in.

Scars were supposed to be gross! They’re something people should be ashamed of! They’re something that should stay covered and away from the eyes of others… Yet, Harry embraced his scar because he feels it’s proof that he survived what he went through.

‘Am I a survivor too?’

“We should get back inside now before the others start to worry about us.” Harry placed a firm hand on Dazai’s shoulder and snapped him out of his thoughts. “Just keep in mind what I’ve said, alright?”

He gave Dazai’s shoulder one last gentle squeeze before walking back into the building.

Dazai stood there, dumbfounded with so many questions circulating in his mind.

Did he even survive? And if he did, what exactly did he survive? The dogs? His father? Mori?… Himself?…

“Dazai, are you coming?” One of his friends called out and he forced a fake smile back onto his face.

“Yes.”

-

As Dazai laid next to a peacefully sleeping Draco, he allowed himself to overthink the scars-thing.

What Harry had said must be a lie… right?

How could he give something as disgusting as scars a meaning? Was that an attempt to make himself feel better about his situation, or was it an attempt to justify such a marking on his face?

Or maybe, Harry actually believed it to be true. Maybe it gave him strength or maybe it even kept him going when he felt powerless… What a strange guy… Should Dazai just ask him outright?

Against his wishes, he had actually grown pretty fond of Harry.

Where was the Harry in his universe?

He pondered all of this while watching Draco’s peacefully sleeping face. His soft snores sounded quietly around the room.

He noticed that his Draco and Harry had bonded during their hang out session before curfew. Yet, the Draco in this universe didn’t seem to like Harry at all. It was safe to say that they actually had beef with one another here.

He wondered why that was. It’s not one of those ‘in another life’ type of situations, right? Because that would just be gross and cringy.

People are so weird like that…

Unfortunately for Dazai, his racing mind, the many questions and the many scenarios kept him awake all night, yet again.

This really sucks…

-

Blaise (MaM) sat on the couch in the Slytherin common room after dinner, waiting. He wanted to get through this portal or pull Dazai through it. Either would be fine, as long as he got his friend back.

He waited and waited, but nothing happened.

Nothing even TRIED to happen. It was time for it to open… Why wasn’t it opening?!

“Blaise, you’re acting weird.” Pansy sat beside him. “Are you ok?”

“Dazai is gone, Pansy.” Blaise ground out behind clenched teeth.

Another new side to him, which surprised even himself since he’s usually pretty calm.

“You don't have to speak to me like that, you know.” She scoffed.

“Right, I’m sorry Pansy.” He sighed. His tense shoulders deflated as he breathed out.

“Look, I know you’re worried, but they will be back before we know it.” She rubbed his back.

He closed his eyes and hung his head low.

Pansy was anxious at Draco disappearing and yeah, MAYBE she felt some type of way about Dazai disappearing too… But she knew that in this moment, she needed to stay strong for her friend.

‘Please be safe.’ She pleaded quietly in her head with her eyes squeezed firmly shut.