Chapter 6
Harry had been asleep for about 20 minutes when James finally worked up the courage to speak what was on both his and Lily’s minds. “Well, I think this has confirmed our suspicions. Merlin, it seems almost like he’s never been hugged….” James tucked his head into Harry’s wild bushy hair so much like his own and wept quietly
Sighing, Lily said, “I’m afraid so, but that’s never going to happen again. He has us now.”
James reached out his free arm and waved Lily over, and she climbed into the bead on the other side of Harry.
Four hours later, Lily awoke uncertain of what caused her to wake. That is until she heard a soft gasp. Slowly opening her eyes, she locked gazes with an identical pair of green eyes that held a very shocked expression.
“So, I really am dead them….” Harry gasped, “Oh Hermione, Ron, Remus, I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Merlin, no!” Lily chuckled, “Harry, you are not dead. You are very much alive! Oh, how to explain this?” she sighed, “You know what. James! James! Wake up!”
James startled awake to a sight he thought he would never see again. His wonderful wife was sitting up in the bed with their eldest son lying beside her, Lily’s fingers slowly carding through Harry’s hair; this had to be one of his favorite moments ever.
“James, we need to explain to him what is going on, or he is never going to trust us,” Lily explained.
“Sounds like a plan you want me to start?” at Lily’s nod, he began, “Harry, there is no other way to ask this. What do you know about alternant universes?”
Harry had thought he was done with surprises; after all, he had seen his godfather die, went through a portal that he thought killed him, and apparently, he was not dead, and neither were his parents; oh, how wrong he was.
“Alternant Universes? I read a book about them once, I think, but it said that they were extremely rare to find if not nonexistent.” Harry stated
James and Lily shared a significant look, and Lily cautiously continued, “ They are most definitely real, and it appears as though you stumbled across one of the few remaining passages between them. And I’m afraid there is no way possible for you to travel back because of the way that the magic in the passages flows. I’m so sorry, Harry.”
Harry felt as though the world had gone silent. He would never get to see his friends again, nor would he see those that he considered his family. Then he realized that Sirius had fallen through the veil too and had a desperate thought that he had ended up here too.
“Did another person come through? Is Sirius here?” Harry frantically asked, bolting upright.
Right then, a door opened, and a familiar but slightly off voice said, “I’m right here, but no I did not come through the veil if that’s what you are asking.”
Harry looked up and saw that a very different Sirius than the one that he had known before had just walked through the door. Wearing a studded leather jacket and very large combat boots, not to mention the biggest smile Harry had ever seen on the man. This Sirius looked healthy and did not have the same haunted look in his eyes that Harry had grown accustomed to. This was obviously not the same Sirius he knew.