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SIYE Time:18:33 on 28th March 2024
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The World As We Knew It
By ginnyp0tter

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny, James Potter, Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Sirius Black
Genres: Action/Adventure
Warnings: Death
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 309
Summary: Destroy the Horcruxes—that’s Harry’s goal, until an Aperio throws him and two other unknown people into a world where the prophecy never existed, his parents and Sirius are alive, and Ginny went to Azkaban for opening the Chamber. Canon pairings, pre DH.
Hitcount: Story Total: 150042; Chapter Total: 4493





Author's Notes:
Here it is!
Hope you guys like the fluff. I wanted the Harry/GInny scene really badly.
So tell me what you think, and REVIEW!




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“You’d better sit down.”

Ginny moved toward the bed and slid onto the mattress. Harry moved his legs aside to make room for her, relishing the feeling of blood flowing to his lower extremities once again. His pulse quickened as his mind shouted out reasons why he shouldn’t tell her.

“Ginny…” She’ll never believe you. She’ll think you’re crazy. “Ginny, I…” You’ll endanger her. What if the Death Eaters find her and torture the information out of her? “I…uh…”

“Harry.”

Harry jerked his head up and met her eyes.

“Just start at the beginning,” she said softly.

And so he did. He started at the very beginning: The prophecy. In reality, everything came down to that, anyway. Ginny said nothing as he told her of the prophecy that Sybill Trelawney had made, Voldemort’s plans to attack his parents’ house, and the rebounding curse triggered by his mother’s sacrifice.

“But I don’t understand,” she said when he took a breath, confusion etched across her face. “Your parents died a month ago. How…”

“I grew up with the Dursleys,” Harry said, interrupting her. She had to understand the history first, and then he could tell her about the Aperio. “My mum’s sister and her husband. They hated me. They’re Muggles.

“When I was eleven, Hagrid brought me my Hogwarts letter and told me what had really happened to my parents. I found out that I was really a Wizard, and a famous one at that. I finally found out why I had the lightning-shaped scar on my forehead.”

“But I don’t see a scar…”

“I met Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley and we became good friends. We’ve been best mates ever since our first year.”

Ron? My brother?”

“Yes. During my years at Hogwarts, Voldemort tried to attack me multiple times. In my fourth year, he used my blood to resurrect himself. The reason he didn’t die when the killing curse rebounded was the Horcruxes he’d made, but we didn’t know that then.

“In my fifth year, he tried repeatedly to get the prophecy which was kept in the Ministry of Magic. He lured me to the Ministry by using the connection we had to make me believe he had Sirius and was torturing him. I fell for the deception. Ron and Hermione along with three other friends went with me. We duelled the Death Eaters, and the Order showed up just in time to save our lives. But Bellatrix Lestrange murdered Sirius.”

Ginny gave a tiny gasp, but this time she didn’t try to interrupt.

“Sixth year: Dumbledore figured out why Voldemort was seemingly immortal. He told me about the Horcruxes, and I in turn, told Hermione and Ron. They were my closest friends, even more so after Sirius’s death. Dumbledore destroyed several Horcruxes. Near the end of the school year, he took me along to destroy another one he’d found. It was the locket in the cave, but it was fake, with the note inside signed with Regulus’s initials. Dumbledore was weakened. When we returned to the school, there was a Dark Mark over the Astronomy Tower. We flew there, but it was a trap. I was under the Invisibility Cloak, and he Petrificus Totalised me. All I could do was watch as Death Eaters appeared at the top of the tower, led by Draco Malfoy.”

Malfoy?”

“He was a Death Eater,” Harry said flatly. “He had the mark, and he was supposed to kill Dumbledore. But he couldn’t, and then Snape appeared. He killed Dumbledore and ran.”

“No.” Ginny looked stricken. “Severus wouldn’t do that…he wouldn’t…”

“He did. But I found out later that Dumbledore would have died anyway and he planned his death. You see, Snape was the Order’s spy for the Death Eaters. It’s too hard to explain everything now… But by killing Dumbledore, he proved his loyalty to the Dark Lord and could thus help us even more.”

“I still don’t understand…”

“It all started on the night after Dumbledore’s funeral,” Harry said, pressing on. “I was back at the Dursleys one more time, but as soon as we could, Ron, Hermione, and I were going to sneak away and go hunt for the Horcruxes.”

“By yourself?”

“Dumbledore had warned us not to tell anyone else. I was thinking about him before I went to sleep, but then my thoughts turned to Sirius and my parents. Mostly my parents. I wished they were alive.

“When I woke up the next morning, everything had changed. My parents were alive, Sirius was alive, I had a sister, Dumbledore died years ago, Tonks and Charlie and Hagrid were dead, the Longbottoms were alive, Snape had never come over to our side, the Order had disbanded, Ron hated me, you were in Azkaban…” He really hadn’t meant to say that. He was trying to keep that topic out of the conversation for now. Harry knew that Ginny had picked up on it, though. He could almost see her mind working, processing the information, wondering why she hadn’t been sent to Azkaban in the other world.

“Go on.”

“I thought I was going crazy,” Harry continued. “But then a few days later, Lupin showed up and I found out that I wasn’t the only one who remembered the old reality. Lupin had done his homework. He told me of an unusual piece of Old Magic called an Aperio.”

“An Aperio,” Ginny echoed softly.

“When three people want something really badly, and they wish for it at the exact same time, the magic creates a parallel reality in which their wish comes true and then pulls the three individuals into it,” Harry explained.

Comprehension flooded her eyes. “Severus was the third.”

Harry nodded. “But we didn’t know that. Anyway, I told Lupin about the Horcruxes, and we re-formed the Order.”

Ginny let out a long breath. “That’s why Lupin seemed to know so much. Lupin kept claiming he was getting his information from a Death Eater, but Regulus was suspicious.”

Harry was surprised she knew so much about the inner circle secrets of the Order. But then again, Sirius and Regulus probably didn’t see any problems in telling Ginny. It wasn’t as if she could leave the house, and she didn’t have anyone to betray them to.

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand,” Ginny continued, pursing her lips. Harry braced himself for the Azkaban question, but instead, she said, “How did Lupin know that Pettigrew was the traitor?”

After a short explanation about the Potters’ Secret-keeper in the other reality and the reason for Sirius’s twelve year incarceration in Azkaban, Harry launched into the story of his third year at Hogwarts.

“That slimy little rodent,” Ginny raged once he was done. “He deserves to die… No, he deserves a fate worse than death!”

Harry shrugged. “I hate him too, but he did save Lupin and I by telling Snape where we were.”

She scowled. “Probably only because Severus was waving a wand in his face and threatening the slimy coward with a few of his own personal hexes and jinxes.”

They fell silent. Then Ginny spoke again, her voice tentative. “Harry… You’ve told me what happened to Ron, Lupin, Severus, Sirius, and the Order…but what happened to the rest of my family in your world?”

Harry took a breath. “You family was happy,” he said softly. “Your mum and dad were the best people on earth. They were like second parents to me. Bill and Fleur were to get married the summer after my sixth year. Charlie, of course, was working in Romania, and Percy…well, he kinda disowned the family after Voldemort’s return, but he’ll come around, I’m sure. Fred and George used my Triwizard Tournament winnings to start their own joke shop in Diagon Alley. It was really successful.”

“Oh.” Ginny swallowed, then looked Harry straight in the eye. “And what about me?” she whispered.

Harry gulped. Tell her the truth…just spit it out… “You…you didn’t go to Azkaban.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why not? Did the diary just not exist or something?”

“No, it existed, unfortunately. Lucius put Riddle’s diary in your cauldron at Flourish and Blott’s and you wrote in it all year long.”

“Who died?” Ginny said, sighing and closing her eyes.

Harry blinked. “What?”

“I said, who died? In your world, I mean.”

“No one died, Ginny.”

Her eyes flew open. “Why? What happened? Did someone catch me before the Basilisk was released?”

“No.”

“Then what happened? Tell me what happened!” she cried wildly.

“The students were Petrified, not killed, because no one actually looked directly into the snake’s eyes.”

“And why didn’t I end up at Azkaban?”

“It was Hermione…she figured it out,” Harry said quickly. “Hermione figured out the mystery. She was on her way to tell us–me and Ron, that is–when she met the Basilisk and was Petrified. Then…uh, then you were taken into the Chamber and Ron and I went to go rescue you.”

Ginny’s face was pale again. “Oh, Merlin. You didn’t.”

“We did,” Harry sighed. “We…OK, I…got into the Chamber and killed Riddle and the Basilisk and managed to destroy the diary. With the help of the Sorting Hat and Fawkes, of course, but that’s going too much into detail…”

Ginny was silent for a moment. “So you saved my life.”

“I guess so.”

“And then you saved it again.”

Harry swallowed. “Yeah.”

“You felt guilty.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement. For a moment, Harry considered denying it, but he knew Ginny would see through his lies. “Yes,” he finally said, hanging his head.

Ginny sighed. “I knew there had to be a reason why you rescued me. So you got me out of Azkaban because you felt guilty. You felt like it was your fault I was there because of the Aperio thing.”

Harry said nothing.

Suddenly a strange glint came into Ginny’s eyes. “And what happened to me after the Chamber of Secrets?” she inquired.

“You recovered, and lived a good life. You were happy,” Harry said, deciding not to tell her about her crush on him… He had to remind himself that he was talking about a person that was still alive. Somewhere, in the other world, Ginny was still living, probably in her seventh year at Hogwarts, probably wondering where he’d gone.

“And what about us?” Ginny pressed. “Was there ever anything between us?”

Harry froze. The very question he’d wanted to avoid. But there was no turning back now…

“Yes,” he admitted, not meeting her eyes.

There was a long moment of silence. Then Ginny reached over and pulled his chin up. When Harry met her eyes, he was surprised to see a look of satisfaction there.

“Good,” Ginny said, smirking at him. “I was starting to wonder whether you were avoiding me because you just didn’t like being around me, or if it was because you liked me. Now I know.”

Harry gulped. She’d noticed? Ever since their conversation back in October, Harry had been avoiding her. He’d had multiple opportunities to talk to her at the Order meetings that were now held primarily at Grimmauld Place, but when Sirius or Regulus had reminded him that he could see Ginny, he’d made excuses. He liked Ginny–a lot–but he hadn’t wanted to rush things. And he’d been afraid…afraid that she’d discover the truth, afraid of her reaction if she discovered his feelings for her, afraid she’d reject him…

“Ginny…”

“It’s OK,” she said brightly. “I feel the same way about you.”

Harry gaped at her. Then she did something unexpected. She leaned over and kissed him.

Harry was so shocked he could hardly move. Ginny’s lips were so soft, so gentle, so sweet… And suddenly Harry was kissing her back, pulling her closer, running his fingers through her hair, tilting his head to give him better access. She opened her mouth to him, and Harry felt lightheaded… He was drowning in her. It was a good thing he was sitting, because he was positive his knees wouldn’t support his weight right now.

Stop! Stop it right now! You’re making a mistake! a voice in his head screamed.

Harry knew he should end it, knew he should pull away, but he wasn’t thinking rationally. Ginny’s hands were buried in his hair, pulling him still closer as she deepened the kiss.

This isn’t right.

With all the self-control he possessed, Harry gently pushed Ginny away. She was panting slightly.

“Ginny… I can’t…”

“Why not?” she said in a low voice.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, than looked her straight in the eyes. “I won’t be here for long. It’s not fair to you. I’ll be gone soon…gone back to the other reality… I can’t take advantage of you like this…”

Ginny smiled sadly at him. “I don’t really care,” she whispered.

“But I do,” Harry said. “You know we can’t be together… When I leave here, I’ll probably never see you again.”

Ginny said nothing for a long moment. Then she reached over and took his hand. “Then let’s just call that a thank you kiss,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Thank you for saving me…once in the Chamber of Secrets, and then in Azkaban.”

“No problem,” Harry said, feeling his face redden.

“You’ll forgive me for throwing myself at you like that?” Ginny asked. “I really should have asked first… Teenage hormones, and all,” she explained, looking embarrassed.

“You’re forgiven,” Harry said.

“We should probably go,” Ginny told him, glancing up at the clock on the wall. “Lupin’s awake, after all, and I bet he wants to see you.”

Harry found that getting his legs to work was harder than it seemed. He had to constantly concentrate to avoid falling… Even so, he slipped several times on the stairs, and would have fallen if Ginny hadn’t been there to support him. She was surprisingly strong for her small frame. Of course, it helped that Harry had lost quite a lot of weight while imprisoned by the Death Eaters.

At the bottom of the stairs was a long hallway. Harry could hear voices coming from an open doorway near the end, and as they approached, the voices got louder.

Harry stopped in the doorway and leaned heavily against the frame. Regulus and Snape were hovering over a bed. Lupin was lying there, looking pale and drawn. All three were engaged in a heated discussion. They didn’t notice Harry and Ginny.

“You can’t just leave!” Regulus said angrily. “It’s not safe out there… You’re safer here!”

“But you don’t understand, Regulus,” Lupin said weakly. “You and Ginny aren’t safe as long as Harry is here…the Death Eaters could come any hour…”

“I still say you’re in no condition to travel, Remus!” Regulus argued. “A Portkey trip could do much harm…”

“I agree.” Snape’s cold voice filled the room. “You are in no condition to travel. But unfortunately, it is the only solution we have. We aren’t safe here, but neither are we safe at Hogwarts. The wards have been breeched once, they can fail again. We could find a place and put it under the Fidelius Charm, but the Secret-keeper would be in much danger. The Death Eaters are looking for us night and day, and the Dark Lord does not give up easily.”

“And an illegal Portkey is even safer?” Regulus scoffed. “The Ministry could track you in a second. And we all know that the Ministry is completely under Voldemort’s control.”

Snape glared at Regulus. “Who said this Portkey was illegal?”

There was a moment of incredulous silence. “Severus…where in nine galaxies did you get a legal Portkey?” Lupin said weakly.

“From an authorized Portkey creator,” Snape said dryly. “Minerva McGonagall.”

Another long silence. Then Regulus exploded. “You went to McGonagall? Are you mad?”

“It was my only option!” Snape spat. “Did you want me to leave Potter and Lupin there to die? I couldn’t create a Portkey myself, and that was the only way I knew how to get them out alive! I remembered that Potter telling me that the only other people who knew besides his sister were Minerva and Alastor. I couldn’t exactly approach Alastor, though; he’d send me to Azkaban as soon as look at me. Minerva, though, was a different story. I caught her alone one afternoon and told her I was the third in the Aperio. She believed me, and gave me the Portkey once she heard my plan to rescue Potter and Lupin. We both forgot that the Fidelius Charm would deteriorate with Potter underneath this roof, though.”

“So your Portkey will take us to Hogwarts?” Lupin asked.

“Yes. Minerva has an International Portkey waiting. The only place we’ll be safe from the Dark Lord’s followers is in another country, a country where his power is diminished.”

“Then we must leave immediately,” Lupin sighed. “Help me up.”

“No! You’re not well, Remus!” Regulus argued.

“I am more concerned for your safety than my health,” Lupin said firmly. “We need to leave now.”

“Where is Potter, anyway?” Snape growled.

“I’m here,” Harry called, stepping forward. Ginny was still hovering at his elbow.

“About time,” Snape said, scowling. “Took you long enough.”

“It’s good to see you, too,” Harry muttered, quickly closing the distance between the door and the bed. His legs seemed to be working better now, but just in case, he steadied himself against the bedpost.

“Help me up,” Lupin said again. This time, Regulus obeyed, though he didn’t look happy about it. With the combined effort of Regulus and Snape, Lupin was finally standing next to the bed.

“Thank you for all that you’ve done,” Lupin said softly, looking at Regulus.

“You would have done the same for me,” Regulus said gruffly.

“Goodbye, Harry,” Ginny said, and Harry turned. She was at his side again, looking sadly up at him.

“Goodbye, Ginny,” Harry said, looking back at her. Impulsively, he reached forward and hugged her. She returned the embrace.

“Have a good life,” Ginny whispered in his ear. “And tell the other me that she’s one fortunate girl to have you.”

“Will do. And Ginny, you’ll find someone. I promise. When you do, tell him he’s the luckiest bloke on the planet.”

Ginny pulled away and smiled at him, but her eyes were wet with tears. Suddenly she pulled his head down and kissed his cheek, then turned and fled the room.

Harry turned back to the three men, who had watched their exchange. Harry cleared his throat pointedly.

“Um, right,” said Lupin. “You have the Portkey, Severus?”

“Here.” Snape held out an old book. Lupin and Harry grasped it. “Activate,” Snape commanded, and the Portkey glowed blue. Castaway Cabin disappeared in a whirl of swirling colors and the three were speeding away to Hogwarts.




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