To My Star

Being tugged through the mirror was an odd sensation. Harry could feel his body floating inside the glass. It was cold and it washed over his skin like water. Mirror Harry disappeared as did the rest of the room. Harry whirled around in shocking speed and then crashed to the floor, groaning. The impact that should have hurt only scratched his knee. He frowned and rolled up to his feet. The floor felt crinkly. 

It took Harry a good moment to realize where he was. He was in front of the Great Hall, but there were no people and no glass ceiling. The colors were off as if they were mixed with parchment color and everything felt cold. He kneeled next to the Gryffindor table and put his hands around the goblet. It crunched up underneath him like paper and he dropped the glass in surprise.  

The doors blasted open. Harry stumbled against the table that nearly collapsed from his weight. Floating towards him was a leather book that reminded him of Tom Riddle's diary. Etched into the side were the initials H.J.P, his own. It dropped itself unceremoniously into his hands and flipped over into the middle of the book. 

And then it started burning up, shriveling to husk in his hands. The fire scraped Harry's skin and he screamed, attempting to drop it out. But the Diary stuck like glue, wrapping his hands in a glove of flames. His screams reached new heights and then the pain stopped. The paper Great Hall collapsed into nothing. 

He was sitting in a bed that should have been too small to support even half of him but it easily did. There were three adults crowding his crib-like bed: a lady with straight as an arrow blond hair and lime green eyes that were staring down at him in concern, a man that looked exactly like a typical Potter: messy black hair and square glasses perched on his nose. Though, this man's hair was outgrown to his neck. Next to the pretty lady was an auburn-haired healer who had ST.MUNGO'S stitched onto her robes and was waving her wand and casting magic on him. 

When the blond woman saw his eyes open she cried out, "Oh, thank god!" Despite the healer's protests, the lady picked Harry up from the crib and hugged him against her chest. "Harry baby, you made mommy so scared!" The man on the other side walked near the woman and ruffled Harry's hair. 

"Mama?" Harry muttered in a daze. His voice sounded childish and young to his own ears. The lady, his mother, grinned down at him but there was relief evident on her face. She nodded encouragingly and pulled his cheek with her index finger and thumb. 

"Yes, baby?" She asked kindly. The auburn-haired healer huffed under her breath but her expression was undeniably soft. Harry burrowed himself into his mothers arm out of pure instinct, as if he had done this a hundred times before. 

"Thank you." His mother said to the healer. "I don't know what I would have done if Harry hadn't woken in a few minutes." 

The healer laughed. "Potter's are a tough nut to crack, Artemisia. He was guaranteed to be fine from the start." 

"It's the Potter luck." The man beside Artemisia, his mother, commented dryly. The women laughed and Harry did, too, though he didn't know why. The man beamed down at him. 

That was how his life went. Artemisia Greengrass was his mother who always doted on him no matter how old he got. His father Dorcus Potter always got him the best of the best things and made time for him despite being tired from getting back from work. Harry saw Lily's fiery nature in Artemisia and James's endless humor in Dorcus. He felt finally at peace, in a place where he was only Harry, Artemisia and Dorcus's sweet boy that was soft-spoken and kind to everyone. 

And then he bumped into someone and his life dropped upside down. He had been playing in the dirt, desperately trying to act like a typical wizarding child. Kids messed around stuff like that, right? Right? He pulled a flower out of the grass, a pretty green flower that was commonly found in wizarding homes. 

Someone walked towards him. Harry frowned at the other child rudely stomping into the house's gardens. He had know idea how he had gotten into the gates, but his hands flew towards his side where his wand should have been if he hadn't been Harry James Potter, the neighborhood child. 

"Hey!" Harry demanded in a voice he desperately hoped sounded like an indignant cry of a child and not the command of a teenager. But then again, could kids even differentiate between that stuff?  "What are you doing at my house?" 

The kid was around his age, maybe two years older at most. Blond hair was mushed on his head and his round cheeks would have been adorable if Harry hadn't realized who this person was. This boy stuck his hand out. "Gellert." He said in a half German accent. "My parents moved in next door." 

Harry's heart dropped out of his chest. What was it and Dark Lord's conveniently finding him and bothering him? Convincing himself that the person in front of him was yet not Grindelwald but an alternate version who was seven years old he quipped, "I didn't ask. Leave." 

To his surprise, hurt passed over Grindelwald's face. "Nobody wants to play with me." He sniffed and Harry realized in horror that there were tears in the kids eyes. "Everyone looks at me weird because I have a German accent. Everybody hates me." 

Harry's eyes widened and he jumped up, grabbing Gellert's hand. "I'll be your friend!" He said desperately, hoping against hope that the baby dark lord wouldn't start wailing in the middle of the Potter House center garden. "I don't have any friends yet. Do you want to come inside?" 

Gellert brightened up immediately. "Yes!" Harry led him through the backdoor which was the farthest entrance as he reassessed his bad luck. What the heck was Grindelwald doing at Wizarding London? As far as he knew, old Gellert was expelled from Durmstrang for practicing dark magic and met Dumbledore when he was seventeen. 

"Harry?" His mother asked, getting up from the sofa. "Who is this?" 

"This is, uh, Gellert. His family just moved next door." Harry explained, fiddling with his fingers. He gave Grindelwald a look before smiling shyly at Artemisia the way he knew melted her heart. 

He and Gellert became distant friends that talked once in a while but weren't really close. Gellert went to fuck off in Hogwarts and Harry was glad. The boy gave him the creeps, but that was perhaps because he knew what he would become already. 

Gellert got sorted into Ravenclaw and two years later Harry followed him into the House. It had taken some serious fighting with the hat to not put him in Slytherin but it wouldn't listen about Gryffindor. A Potter in Slytherin especially in the late 1800's would raise some eyebrows. They weren't light exactly, that trend starter was Henry Potter who was supposed to be his second cousin or something in this weird version of the universe. But Gryffindor ran in their blood. Artemisia, a Ravenclaw herself, was delighted when he got put into her house. If only she knew the death threats the sorting hat had received. 

He saw a few weirdly familiar faces but he kept to himself mostly. Ravenclaw's were condescending little shits, no offence to anyone Ravenclaw. His only friend was sadly Grindelwald. Harry thought the baby dark lord would be easy enough to avoid but he was wrong. 

It had been the end of fifth year and Harry had been packing his stuff to go home. He would never admit it but he really missed Artemisia and Dorcus. Inside his head, they were rarely 'mum' or 'dad' but they were growing on him. He felt as if he were betraying Lily and James everytime he called them mama or dada as a child but that soon passed. He'd lived with them for fifteen years when his not-exactly biological parents had died after one year. 

The dormitory door burst open. Harry looked over his shoulder and frowned at Gellert who was running towards him. "Gelly?" He frowned. "What's wrong?" 

A nervous look passed over the baby Dark Lord's face. Harry stared back at him and his perplexion only grew. "I've already graduated and I won't be coming back." 

Harry resisted himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes, I know that, thank you." He muttered, resuming his packing. His books were jammed in one corner of the trunk while several casual outfits and two uniforms were folded carefully on the other side. His owl Meredith had already flown home so that was one thing less to worry about. 

"And we probably won't be in contact anymore." Gellert continued. Maybe sending Meredith home was a mistake because now he was going to have to chug her cage with him empty. There was one corner that would be large enough to fit the cage, though. "And I can't let that happen." 

Harry shut his trunk and adjusted the straps to make sure that nothing would fall out. Some bad things had happened to his ink back in his Ravenclaw third year which was a whole different story. 

"Will you be my boyfriend?"  

Harry would have fallen face first into his trunk if Gellert hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled him back. His eyebrows were furrowed in worry. "Is that a yes?" He said hopefully.

"Huh? Yes?" Harry squeaked and mentally punched himself in the gut. Had he just said yes to Grindelwalds love confession? 

Gellert's eyes lit up. He leaned down and Harry's brain completely stopped working from there on. Grindelwald was kissing him and the next thing he knew he was being dragged by his now boyfriend to the train. Oh Merlin. 

His miserable life started from there. Well, not miserable, because Gellert wasn't that terrible of a kisser but he felt like- actually, he didn't know how he felt about this whole situation. The only thing Harry did know was that this is not how he imagined his happily ever after to go. Was this the price Mirror Harry had been talking about? Being stuck in a relationship with Gellert Grindelwald? 

Harry was too scared to break up with the man lest he go all Dark Lord on him. Or maybe he was afraid that since he himself was the only thing between Grindelwald and his darker tendencies, when they broke up the Wizarding World would be just as miserable as he felt. He could endure Dark Lord kisses if it meant saving a life. 

But of course Grindelwald had more news to share to make Harry want to die. "Hey, Harry?" Gellert said, having the same expression on his face when he had asked him out. Oh, boy. Artemisia had let him in two hours before Harry went back to Hogwarts so he could spend quality time with his boyfriend. He was mortified that his own mother would say something like that to his face. "I have to tell you something." 

Harry straightened from his position on the loveseat where his legs were thrown over the armrest and his head was upside down. "Is this the break up talk?" He said dryly. 

Gellert's eyes widened. "No, silly! I wanted you to meet someone before you go to Hogwarts. His name is Albus Dumbledore and my family friend Bathilda introduced us. He doesn't know I have a boyfriend so I was hoping you could meet him as a surprise?" 

Harry's eyes widened slightly as the words hit him like rocks. He had completely forgotten about Dumbledore! And Gellert and Albus had clicked because of their shared views on demolishing muggles. Grindelwald must have read the panic in his eyes as jealousy. "He's just an acquaintance, Harry." He said in an attempt to soothe him down. "We'll greet him and then I'll drop you to Kings Cross myself. Okay?"

"Okay." Harry stuttered out and got up. Inside, he was plotting every way to get out of meeting Dumbledore. But if he didn't, then Grindelwald would surely bond with the younger Albus about their shared muggles-are-scum-beneath-my-feet agenda.

When they were outside the gates, Gellert grabbed his arm and apparated him to Godric's Hollow. Harry's head spun and his feet swayed but Grindelwald kept a tight arm around him, dragging him off to one of the benches. Low and behold was Albus Dumbledore with his wavy red hair and sharp blue eyes. His smile faltered when he saw who Grindelwald was with. 

"Gellert?" Albus asked slowly. "Who is this?" 

Grindelwald pushed Harry by the shoulder in front of him with a smile. "Albus, this is my boyfriend Harry Potter. Harry, this is Albus, my acquaintance in plans."

Albus mouthed the word boyfriend in shock and Harry mentally kicked himself again. He had forgotten Dumbledore was down bad for Grindelwald in his other universe. "Gellert." He said coldly. "What's the meaning of this?" 

Grindelwald's smile wavered. "What do you mean? Harry is going back to Hogwarts in an hour and I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce you two. I don't want to keep secrets from my boyfriend." 

Albus looked at Grindelwald as if he was telling a spectacularly lame joke he expected him to take well. "I thought-" Dumbledore's voice broke and Harry wanted to die not for the first time. "I thought it was only us two. You didn't tell me you were dating. How could you lead me on like this?" 

Grindelwald looked as confused as Harry felt. "Albus, what the heck? Why're you so, I don't know, hurt? You didn't expect me to be single, did you?" Harry wished that he was single so that everyone could be spared unnecessary trouble but he kept that thought private. 

Well, maybe not private enough.  "He doesn't love you like I do." Albus said, pointing his finger at Harry. "You can see it on his face." 

Harry bristled. "What? You've known him for like, two months!" 

"Albus." Gellert begged. "Please, let's talk about this another time. I need to drop Harry off at Kings Cross." 

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, we will talk about this right now. Have you ever told your boyfriend about our plans? He's a filthy Potter, mudblood lover. He will never support you like I will." 

"Albus!" There was anger in Grindelwald's voice now. "If he doesn't like my plans then I won't keep them going. How dare you call him filthy! I have half a mind to curse you right now." 

Dumbledore scoffed. "I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to dating blood traitors, a muggle lover who's no more than a simpleton-" Harry wasn't sure who shot the first curse but it happened. He stumbled backward with a scream, his back hitting against the bench. 

Through the whirlwind of curses, Harry could hear someone yelling, "Albus! Put your wands down! Stop it! Stop it!" It was little Ariana with Aberforth right at her heels. Her brother's eyes slid over Harry's cowering form and his eyes widened before he ran forward at twice the speed. 

Albus pushed Grindelwald back with his hands and turned on Harry, a curse at his lips. It hit him square in the chest and pain blossomed over his body like electricity. He screamed so loud he was surprised nobody had noticed yet. 

"HARRY!" Gellert screamed, rushing forward. "You- you killed him! I'LL KILL YOU!" The only thing Harry could think of at that moment was, at least it's not Ariana this time.