Parallel

Harry is halfway to the Great Hall with Granger, when a young boy comes barelling down the hallway behind them, puffing out his full name at the top of his voice. They both pull to a confused stop and watch as the boy continues trotting towards them, waving a small bit of parchment in the air above his head. 

”You alright there… little guy…?” Harry asks in bemusement as the boy finally comes to a thundering, wheezing stop in front of him. 

”Ye-s — I’m — fine—” the boy wheezes, supporting himself on his knees. 

”That for me, then?” Harry asks curiously, eyeing the bit of parchment still clutched in the boy’s hand on top of his knee. 

The boy nods wordlessly, still catching his breath. But he does hold his hand out blindly in front of him, offering the parchment to Harry, who grabs it and give the short message written on it a quick look, before pocketing it and turning back to Granger. 

”Snape wants to see me.”

Granger is still eyeing the little boy warily. But since he now seems to have got his breathing back under control, she tears her eyes away again. 

”So, you think this is it?” she asks Harry, eyes glittering with excitement. 

Harry gives her a noncommittal shrug, trying really hard not to get his own hopes up.

”I don’t know, he probably just wants to talk about our summer lessons — oh, thanks”, he calls after the little First Year, as the boy begins to trot away towards the Great Hall. ” I ’preciate it, little… wiz…”

Granger gives him an amused look. 

”What?” Harry mutters. 

”Wiz? The 80s owled, they want their vocabulary back… Also, that boy was a Slytherin.”

”So? I don’t know all of their names, he only started Hogwarts like two seconds ago… Anyway, I need to go to Snape’s office. I’ll come join you later.”

”You want me to come with you?” Granger asks earnestly and Harry gives her a grateful smile, but shakes his head. ”Okay, I’ll save you a seat then — I want to hear all about it after!”

On his way down to the dungeons, Harry reflects on what a good friend Granger has turned out to be. As annoyingly self-righteous and geeky as she can be, she’s actually pretty cool, he thinks. Actually really cool. 

He idly toys with the idea of becoming friends with her, or rather her counterpart, back in his own world as well, when he gets back. 

If I get back, he adds, his good spirits deflating somewhat again. 

Swallowing a sigh, Harry gives his head a small shake. He’s reached the Potions Master’s office door and, although Professor Snape’s attitude towards him has improved significantly, he’s still well aware that you need your wits about you in the man’s presence. He takes another deep breath to steel himself, then knocks on the door. 

”Come in…”

Professor Snape is sitting at the desk, writing on something with one of his favoured black quills. 

”You wanted to see me, Professor?” Harry says hopefully, crossing the threshold. 

”Yes. Please have a seat”, the older man murmurs, finishing whatever he’s writing with a dramatic flourish and puts the quill down. 

When Harry takes the seat opposite, he can see that it’s a essay on the Various Properties of Asphodels and that Professor Snape has marked it with a P and added a comment that includes the adjective abysmal. He gives a wry smile. Trust Professor Snape to set a homework assignment the last week of the school year and to be marking them all when everyone else is making their way to the Feast. 

”I have spoken to the Headmaster”, Snape adds matter-of-factly, and Harry’s smile immediately falls, his stomach churning nervously. ”You are to take the Hogwarts Express to London tomorrow, like everyone else. From there you are to take a muggle taxi cab—”

”Muggle?” Harry frowns. 

”To Little Whinging, where you are to remain for the first week of your holidays.”

”Little Whinging? Where’s that? Why do I have to stay there for a week?” Harry is aware that he’s more or less whining at this point, but couldn’t reign his frustration and disappointment in even if he tried. ”And after that week, then what? When are we going to resume my lessons?”

Professor Snape gives him a pointed look, his arched eyebrow giving an impatient twitch and his lips pinching together even more than normal as he waits for Harry to stop talking. Harry snaps his mouth shut after mumbling a Sir, sorry, Sir and slumps down in his seat sullenly. 

”Little Whinging is a muggle village in Surrey, where Harry Potter’s muggle relatives live… You are to stay with them for a week”, Snape adds a little louder, cutting Harry off when he opens his mouth to protest. ”And after that, you will be relocated for the remainder of your stay in this world and begin your Legilimency lessons… This is the best I could do.”

Harry blinks in surprise at the added last part, because the Potions Master makes it sound like he’d been arguing for Harry to start his lessons sooner. 

”Where am relocating to?” he asks. ”Here?”

”No…” the Potions Master murmurs. ”Unfortunately, Hogwarts is completely out of bounds for students during summer holidays.”

”So… if you’re tutoring me, but I’m not allowed to stay here, then… am I going to stay with you?” Harry says slowly. 

Professor Snape simply stares back at him with guarded eyes, his mouth a thin line. After a moment’s silence, he gives Harry a terse nod. 

”Oh…” Harry breathes out, feeling a small jolt of genuine warmth. ”That’s… Thank you, Sir.”

A glimmer of surprise in the man’s eyes, tells Harry that he hadn’t expected Harry to be grateful at all.

”You… You don’t mind?” he says gruffly, confirming Harry’s suspicions. 

He tells him earnestly, ”No, I just wish I could come stay with you immediately.”

”The Headmaster is adament that you stay with the Dursley’s for at least a week”, Snape says quietly. 

The look he gives Harry is unmistakably sympathetic and Harry nods in understanding. It makes very little sense to him, but he figures Dumbledore must have his reasons. 

Besides, he thinks. It could be worse. 

Harry thanks Professor Snape again and leaves the office. When he’s back on ground level and seeing no other students anywhere around him, he picks up the pace and jogs the last of the way to the Great Hall, suspecting the End of Year Feast must have already started. 

He skids to stop at the doors and a few people turn their heads to stare at him, despite the Headmaster already standing at the podium for his speech. Harry throws Dumbledore an apologetic look before quickly ducking his head and making his way over to the Gryffindor table and Granger, who is giving him a subtle wave.

The Headmaster twinkles at him calmly until he’s in his seat, then he turns back to the Hall at large.

”But first…” he says warmly, clearly picking up his speech where he’d left off. ”Allow me to announce the winner of this year’s House Cup…”

”Oh, good”, Harry murmurs excitedly. ”I didn’t miss it.”

Several Gryffindors turn to give him weird looks. 

”What?” he frowns. 

No-one says anything, just exchange some more weird looks. 

You’re weird, Harry thinks petulantly. 

Something that is highlighted further in his mind when Gryffindor is announced the winners and they barely even seem that happy about it. There is a half-hearted smatter of applause from the people around him and barely even that from the other three Houses. 

”Gryffindor hasn’t lost the House Cup in years”, Granger intones in explanation, her tone a bit bored but even so, there is a glint of pride in her eyes as she says it. 

”Really?” Harry says in surprise. ”Oh… it’s usually a nail-biter in my world…”

***

Harry shares a Hogwarts compartment with his new Gryffindor friends on the way to London and spends most of the train journey chatting to Granger. He realises with a heavy sort of sadness that, if everything goes to plan this summer and he finds his way back to his own world, then this is probably the last time they’ll ever see each other. 

I’m actually going to miss her.

”Don’t worry, I’m sure the plan will work”, the girl says, misreading the glum look on his face. 

Harry gives her a sad smile and nods. 

When the Hogwarts Express rolls into King’s Cross, they all lug their trunks off the train and onto the platform. Granger has already drawn him a floor plan of the station and marked the taxi car park for him, so they simply hug each other goodbye and Harry promises to owl her with any updates during the summer. 

Over her shoulder, Harry sees Malfoy hovering uncertainly nearby. He shoots the other boy a smile, and he instantly springs forward and ambles closer. 

Granger glances over her shouder and spots him where he’s lingering a few paces away from them. She huffs under her breath and, favouring Harry with a final arched look that speak volumes, she grabs her trunk and leaves so that the blonde can approach.

”Hey…” Harry greets him kindly. ”Have a good summer, yeah?”

Malfoy swallows thickly and nods, ”Yeah, y-you t-too… Erm… Sorry if I was a bit…” 

He gestures aimlessly, but Harry nods in understanding. 

”You came around”, he smiles. 

”Yeah. Still. I wish we could have hung out more.”

Harry nods in agreement. 

”I kind of wish you could stay here… Sorry”, Draco mutters and ducks his head. ”I just mean… I’ll miss you…”

”I know what you meant, it’s okay”, Harry says gently. ”Look… Whenever Potter and I manage to swap back, maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt?”

Draco’s scrunches his nose up at the idea and shakes his head, ”He’s nothing like you.”

”Maybe not exactly”, Harry shrugs. ”We don’t have the same life experiences, but… I’ll bet you anything that the personality underneath all of that is pretty similar. That’s been true of you… And others here. It’s just the little things that are different. The stuff that gets shaped by the things that happen to us, you know? Not the stuff at the core of the person… I don’t know… I don’t know what I’m talking about—”

”No, I get it.”

”Anyway, you never know unless you try… Right?”

Draco doesn’t look entirely convinced, but he also doesn’t look completely disgusted by the idea. Harry takes that as a win. 

”Also”, he adds. ”Tell that loser from me, that he’ll be a lot happier if he learns to embrace his Slytherin side! Maybe you can help him with that?”

They share a smile. 

”Yeah, maybe…”

”Hey…”

Draco looks up again, a glint of something akin to hope in his eyes. 

”You’re alright, Draco… You’re… More than alright, and Potter will see that too — from like a mile away, because that’s how obvious it is — But only if you let it show.”

”Thanks”, Draco says quietly. ”Oh, and… I’m not sure if the rumours are true, about Potter’s muggle relatives, probably not, but… If they are, and those muggles give you any grief… Send me an owl and, I don’t know, you can come and stay with me or something… If you want…”

Harry grins gratefully, ”Thanks. I’ll be fine, but thanks for the offer.”

They come together for a hug with jerky, hesitant movements, but by the time they have their arms locked around each other they relax into the embrace and hold it for beat too long. Harry feels a twinge of longing for his own Draco, but also the same heaviness he’d felt saying good bye to Granger. 

Finally, they step away from each other again. Harry gives the blonde a small, awkward wave and starts dragging his trunk towards the exit had Granger instructed him to go find a muggle taxi cab. 

”Right you are m’lad”, the driver says when Harry tells him the address and pulls out onto the main road. 

The high, shiny buildings are gradually replaced by smaller houses kept at a distance from each other by trees and fields. Harry lets his mind wander, staring out the window. He doesn’t mind the countryside. He’d been really excited to move from Islington to Hogsmeade in Third Year. 

But… Harry frowns as the taxi swerves into a neighbourhood with rows and rows of identical little houses, completely devoid of any personality or colour. There are no trees in sight here, just perfect squares of grass and one or two rose bushes. It’s all so… flat and bland… 

Harry thanks driver and hands over the muggle money he’d been given by Professor Snape and climbs out of the car. It doesn’t even feel like he’s in the countryside, but rather entirely outside of civilisation, he thinks. 

”Well, okay then…” he mumbles to himself and takes a deep breath to steel himself. Let’s do this.

He drags the trunk up to number twelve and bustles inside the door, just as the taxi disappears in the distance behind him. 

Inside the house, a pecular looking family is waiting for him. Harry can’t decide if it’s the contrast in their sizes or the weird muggle clothes they’re wearing that are making them odd, but it’s likely a combination of both. 

The man, who reminds Harry of a walrus, partly because of the width of his midsection and partly because his face is almost entirely made up of moustasch, takes a step towards him. 

But he’s not about to offer to help with the trunk, Harry realises almost immediately, because the man’s hands are dangling tensely at his sides, pulled into tight, trembling fists. Harry swallows a sigh. 

”Yeah”, he says curtly, dropping the trunk with a loud thunk that makes all three of the muggles flinch. ”Okay, so — this is how this is going to work —”

”I — I — I beg your pardon —” the middle-aged man begins to splutter furiously, his face darkening steadily until it resembles a misshapen tomato. 

”— I am going to stay out of your way and keep to myself”, Harry continues coolly. ”I’m only here for a week, and then you’ll never see me again. While I am here… I’ll stay out of your hair, as long as you stay out of mine. Deal?”

”You — You dare —!”

Harry fishes his wand out of his pocket casually and twirls it around his fingers. At the sight of it, the three muggles let out shrieks of terror and begin to scramble backwards through the doorway to the living room and away from him. The youngest one trips backwards over the coffee table and lands in a wobbly pile on the sofa. 

Harry feigns surprise and looks between his wand and the three of them with a questioning look. 

”You — You’re not allowed — Outside school —” Vernon Dursley gasp, pointing a trembling finger at Harry. 

”Hm?” Harry says in feigned confusion. ”I’m not allowed out of school? I think you’re confused, it’s the summer hols now…”

”Magic!” Dursley hisses. 

”Vernon!” Petunia gasp, clutching her pearls. ”Don’t!”

”Magic?” Harry repeats calmly. ”What about it?”

”You’re not allowed…” Dursley hisses, his face now closer to purple than red and Harry wonders if he might be having an anuerism. ”You can’t threathen us… You’re not allowed to use that… that… thing outside of school! They’ll lock you up, if you try!”

”What this?” Harry says, holding his wand up and suppressing a smile when all the muggles cringe back further to another chorus of shrieks and squeals. ”Of course I won’t be using this outside of school, unless I absolutely need to… Say, in self-defence… But if everything goes smoothly while I’m here, which I’m sure it will, then I shall have no need to defend myself, shall I? Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long day…” 

Harry pockets his wand again and grabs his trunk again, hauling it up the stairs. He peaks inside all the bedrooms, until he finds the one with the least amount of stuff in it, assuming that must be Potter’s, and shuts himself inside. 

The triumphant feeling leaves him almost as soon as his head hits the threadbare pillow. Suddenly, he’s so overwhelmed with sadness that he feels almost numb from it. What if I’m stuck here for the rest of my life?