A Different Reality by Gmariam
Harry followed Professor McGonagall through the corridors in silence as Draco Malfoy and Professor Lupin walked behind him. When they came to the stone gargoyle that guarded the staircase leading to the headmaster’s office, Professor McGonagall seemed to hesitate; Harry saw her swallow hard before she said, “Liquorice Wand,” and the gargoyle jumped aside. They rode the revolving staircase to the door of Professor Dumbledore’s office.
Harry reluctantly stepped into the headmaster’s office. When he had been there earlier in the evening, Professor Dumbledore had been alive, and he, Harry, had yelled at him for trusting Snape. Without thinking Harry fingered the memories Snape had given him in Spinner’s End, and wondered if they would show him why Dumbledore had granted his unwavering trust to the man who had murdered him. Harry looked around for the silver Pensieve, but did not see it; he assumed that it was locked in the cabinet where the headmaster stored it.
Professor McGonagall walked to Dumbledore’s desk; behind it hung a portrait, and Harry felt his heart ache when he realized that the headmaster himself now hung on the wall among the other headmasters of Hogwarts, sleeping peacefully in a chintz chair. Professor McGonagall looked at the portrait, sighed, then turned around and addressed Harry first.
“Potter, I’d like to know exactly what happened tonight,” she said, her lips tight.
Harry frowned. “I already told you everything - ” he started to say, but McGonagall waved him off.
“Not that, Potter - before you came back to Hogwarts. Where did you go with Professor Dumbledore tonight? What were you doing?” McGonagall eyed him closely.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you,” said Harry, feeling slightly guilty.
“Potter, I need to know - I can’t help if I don’t know what Professor Dumbledore was planning.” Professor McGonagall seemed irritated with Harry’s secrecy; but he knew that he couldn’t share the secret of Voldemort’s Horcruxes yet, just like he couldn’t share the truth about Snape either. He needed to learn more about both.
“I’m sorry, Professor. Professor Dumbledore instructed me not to share our lessons with anyone.”
Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Harry and seemed ready to retort when Lupin spoke. “Minerva,” he said softly. “Trust him. We trusted Dumbledore, now we must trust Harry. There are other things for us to do now.”
McGonagall nodded. “Yes, all right then.” She turned to the pale-faced boy who watched her warily. Her face became somewhat harder. “Mr. Malfoy, I don’t think I need to explain to you how serious the situation is. You have assisted the Death Eaters in entering and attacking Hogwarts, injuring a number of people, and murdering the headmaster. By all accounts I should turn you over to the Ministry of Magic for Azkaban.”
Draco blanched and glanced nervously at Lupin. “But Professor,” Harry broke in, before Draco could speak, “the headmaster himself offered to help him, and Snape was going to - “
“I can take care of myself, Potter,” snapped Malfoy under his breath. Harry saw Lupin place his hands on Draco’s shoulders; Draco stiffened but his voice took on an anxious edge as he addressed Professor McGonagall. “The Dark Lord will kill me. Snape said he could hide us, that no one would find us.”
When Professor McGonagall was silent, Lupin took the opportunity to speak. “Draco, why was Snape going to hide you? Why does Voldemort want to kill you?”
Draco shook off Lupin’s hands and walked away from them. “Because I was supposed to kill Dumbledore.” Harry heard McGonagall gasp, and saw Lupin frown. “The Dark Lord ordered me to kill him, but I couldn’t, and he . . . another Death Eater did it instead. But it was my job, and I failed. That’s why he killed my mother, and that’s why I’m a dead man.” Like Harry, Draco did not tell them that Snape was one who had actually killed Dumbledore. And if Harry thought Draco would hang his head over his role in the night’s events, he was wrong; the Slytherin boy glared defiantly at Lupin, who exchanged a silent look with Professor McGonagall.
“Fine,” said Draco, starting toward the door with a frustrated expression on his face. “I’ll go, I don’t need your help. I can protect myself.” He opened the door but with a wave of her wand McGonagall slammed it shut.
“You’ll do no such thing, young man,” she said severely. “Regulus Black thought he could hide from You-Know-Who, and was killed within days. Remus, I think we should call Aberforth.”
Lupin nodded and drew out his wand as he walked to the window. With a cry of “Expecto Patronum!” he produced a silvery Patronus from his wand. Harry saw him talk to it quietly, as if giving instructions, and then it went off into the night toward Hogsmeade.
When Lupin turned around, Harry asked, “Who’s Aberforth? Isn’t that - ”
”Professor Dumbledore’s brother,” nodded Lupin, coming back to stand with them.
“He’s here?” asked Harry, surprised. He had only heard Dumbledore mention his brother once, and had seen him in a picture of the Order that Mad-Eye Moody had shown him at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. But even Moody seemed to know little about the reclusive member of the Order.
“He’ll be here shortly,” said McGonagall. “Meanwhile - ” before she could finish, there was a knock on the door, and Hagrid entered with the Heads of Houses. Professor Sprout was holding a handkerchief as she dotted her eyes; Professor Flitwick was twisting his hands and looked visibly upset. Even Professor Slughorn, now taking Snape’s place as Head of Slytherin House, appeared significantly deflated; his face was pale and sad.
“Potter, Malfoy “ please step outside,” said Professor McGonagall. “We’ll be with you in a few minutes.” Looking guardedly at Malfoy, Harry left the professors and went into the corridor to wait. Malfoy reluctantly joined him, and they stood with a tense and awkward silence hanging heavily in the air between them for several minutes.
Finally Harry said something, which he was slightly taken aback to hear himself say. “I’m sorry about your mother.”
Malfoy glanced up at him in surprise, and nodded gruffly. He did not respond; there wasn’t anything to say. Harry could only imagine how Malfoy felt. Though he had witnessed it, Harry did not remember his own mother’s death. But he knew the pain of loss, and he knew that even Draco Malfoy was hurting.
Soon Harry heard footsteps coming up the stairs; as he watched, he saw a head of white hair ascending the spiral stairway. For a single second he thought “ hoped “ that Professor Dumbledore was returning to the headmaster’s office, alive and well and ready to continue the hunt for Voldemort’s Horcruxes. But though the man looked very much like Albus Dumbledore, he also looked quite different. Whereas the headmaster’s eyes twinkled blue behind his half-moon spectacles, this man’s eyes were a squinty green behind crooked glasses. While Dumbledore’s long white beard hid a ready smile, this man’s messy grey beard barely hid the rough planes of a scowling face. And while Dumbledore had emanated wisdom and power, this man radiated a gruff shrewdness.
Harry couldn’t help it: he stared, and the man stared right back until Harry looked away, somewhat flustered. The other man grunted, a sound Harry had certainly never heard Dumbledore make. “You must be the Potter boy.” His voice was low, and sounded like a person just waking up in the morning.
Harry nodded, wide-eyed. “Close your mouth or a wrackspurt will fly in. You Malfoy then?” he asked, turning to the other boy. There was another nod. “Where’s Lupin?”
Harry found his voice. “He’s inside, meeting with “ “
But the familiar man ignored Harry and simply barged into the office without knocking. Harry and Draco followed.
Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn, as well as Hagrid and Lupin, were discussing the night’s events with McGonagall. They all turned and stopped mid-sentence when the strange man stumped in. Harry and Draco moved to the side, hoping to stay unnoticed.
“Aberforth!” exclaimed McGonagall, who didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the man’s appearance or manners. “Thank you for coming so quickly. Professors, that will be all for now. We will meet again in the morning. Thank you.” With the dismissal, Slughorn, Flitwick, and Sprout left the office; Slughorn nodded at Aberforth, who barely acknowledged him. Hagrid began to walk toward the door as well, until McGonagall stopped him. “Hagrid, this is Order business, I’d like you to stay.”
“What the hell happened up here, McGonagall?” demanded Aberforth as Lupin quietly shut the door. “Where’s Albus? What’s this about hiding someone? Why did Lupin - ” He stopped as he noticed the portrait behind the desk, where his brother slept peacefully. “I see,” he said softly, and for all his gruff mannerisms Harry could hear the sudden sadness in his voice. He slowly sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands.
McGonagall came around the desk and kneeled in front of him. “I’m so sorry, Aberforth. It just happened tonight, on the Astronomy Tower. It was a Death Eater.” Hagrid gave a great sniff from the corner and Harry walked over to him and patted him on the arm.
Aberforth Dumbledore looked at her shrewdly. “There’s more to it than that, I’ll wager. It would take more than a single Death Eater to kill my brother.” He glanced behind him at Harry. “And I’m guessing the Potter boy knows a bit more than he’s letting on.”
Harry felt his eyes widen in surprise; was Dumbledore’s brother also a Legilimens? Or had the headmaster confided in his brother at some point over the past year? Harry didn’t know what to say; fortunately McGonagall spoke instead.
“Of course he does, Aberforth, but we have other pressing concerns. We need to protect the Malfoy boy. You-Know-Who is after him.”
Aberforth snorted inelegantly. “Of course he is! Why this boy? Bad hair?”
Draco opened his mouth to retort but Lupin stopped him.
“Voldemort just killed his mother,” he said softly. “We need to hide him. Dumbledore said no one would know. We’re assuming you have something to do with that?”
Aberforth nodded slowly as he studied Draco. “Yes, yes I do. We’ll have to move quickly. Tell me what happened, so I can plan accordingly.”
Professor McGonagall began to fill him in on everything that had happened, both at Hogwarts and at Spinner’s End. Harry did not listen, but found himself watching the headmaster’s portrait, wishing he would wake up and speak to them. He wanted desperately to speak to Dumbledore one last time, to ask him the dozens of questions that were crowding his mind. As he gazed at the portrait, he found his eyelids growing heavier and heavier, and he began to doze off until he heard Aberforth ask, “What happened to Snape then?”
Shaking himself awake, Harry answered, even though the question hadn’t been put to him. “He attacked Voldemort and was hurt, badly I think. He drank some sort of potion. He threw us out and told us to Apparate back here.” Harry looked at the ground, feeling slightly ashamed at leaving Snape behind to face Voldemort’s wrath. Then he remembered what Snape had done on the tower, and he felt angry; but his outrage turned quickly to the grief and confusion he had been feeling since the headmaster’s death. “I doubt he’s still alive, Voldemort must have been furious at him for helping us escape,” he finished quietly, frustrated at his lack of understanding.
Aberforth snorted again. “You don’t know Severus Snape very well then. Six years of lessons with him and you didn’t learn much, did you?”
Harry bristled, because Aberforth was right: after what had happened that night, Harry wasn’t sure he understood anything about Snape at all. Before he could reply, however, Professor McGonagall spoke.
“Aberforth, I think we should send someone, just in case.”
Aberforth stood up. “I’m heading there myself, I’ll take care of it. But mark my word: Snape won’t be there.” McGonagall nodded as if she understood something that Harry did not. “Come on, boy, we have work to do.” Aberforth pointed at Malfoy and began to walk toward the door.
Draco seemed startled at the abrupt departure. “Where are we going?” he asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. “What you going to do to me?”
“Draco, just do as he says,” said Lupin. Draco still looked wary and Lupin continued. “You can trust him, he knows what he’s doing. He’s going to help you. He “ “
“How?” interrupted Draco.
“That’s between you and me, boy,” growled Aberforth. “If they knew, they’d be a threat. Lupin, you know what to do here. Let’s go.” He stumped out the door without another word. Malfoy looked wide-eyed at the others in the room.
“Good-luck, Draco,” said Lupin softly. Professor McGonagall nodded silently, and Hagrid grunted. Harry thought he should say something, but couldn’t think of what to say. He had a feeling he would never see the Slytherin boy again, and the thought of his enemy simply walking out of Hogwarts to begin a new life after all that had happened was something he couldn’t quite wrap his head around. Draco gave Harry a long look, as if he wanted to say something as well. But there was too much bad blood between them to be made up in one shared experience. Draco simply dipped his head, and Harry nodded back.
And with that last look, Draco Malfoy left Hogwarts forever.
“All right, Remus, let’s get this over with,” said Professor McGonagall with a sigh. She looked extremely reluctant about something. Glancing up at Hagrid, Harry saw a similar expression on the gamekeeper’s face as well. Lupin himself did not appear eager for whatever was coming next. He walked over to Harry, his wand out.
“Harry,” he said, as if he sensed Harry’s sudden wariness. “This won’t hurt at all, but it is necessary if Draco is going to be safe.”
Harry felt his insides tense in alarm. Was Lupin going to use some kind of spell on him? “What are you going to do?” he asked, though he was beginning to understand.
“Just a simple memory charm,” replied Lupin; he sounded desperately tired. “None of us can know that Draco is protected by the Order.”
Harry’s eyes widened in apprehension. “You mean, you’re going to erase my memory?”
“Only when it comes to Draco Malfoy,” replied Lupin. “I don’t like memory charms much, but no one can know that Draco left here safely with Aberforth.”
After his experiences with Voldemort during his fifth year, Harry hated the idea of anyone tampering with his mind, even someone he trusted. “So what will I think instead?”
“Draco left on his own. That’s all I can tell you, Harry, I’m sorry. It won’t hurt, and you won’t even know it’s happened.”
“What about everyone else who saw him? The entire castle watched us walk up to the hospital wing. What about ““
“Potter,” interrupted Professor McGonagall. “They don’t know he’s under Order protection. That’s all we need to forget. Everyone who was in the hospital wing will be charmed, including myself. Remus will be the only one who knows, until Aberforth returns.”
“But “ “ Harry started to say, knowing it was useless to protest.
“I’m sorry, Harry,” she said, surprising him with the use of his first name. “But it must be done. Go ahead, Remus.”
Harry swallowed and turned toward Professor Lupin. Even though he trusted his former professor completely, he still couldn’t bear the sight of Lupin’s wand pointed directly at him, and he closed his eyes. He heard Lupin take a deep breath, cry “Obliviate!” - and then he remembered no more.
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A/N: I must take the opportunity here to thank the many wonderful authors in the beta forums who have helped me out with excerpts from the last several chapters. Their input has been immensely helpful and very much appreciated. What a wonderful, supportive group of writers!
And thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed the story so far “ it is so gratifying to know that people are enjoying this spin on an already great book. Thank you