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SIYE Time:4:47 on 29th 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: 150046; Chapter Total: 4144





Author's Notes:
Thanks for your nominations! Now can you do one more thing for me? Go to the home page and scroll down until you find the bar that says "September Dumbledore Silver Trinket Award Poll," click VOTE HERE, and then vote for The World as We Knew It.
Thanks guys!
Hope you like this next chapter.




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“Hermione!”

The girl at the door froze. There was a moment of tense silence, but then Madame Maxime huffed. “What ees the meaning of zis? We are wasting valuable time! You were out of place in coming ‘ere, Miss Granger. You may go now. Really, we don’t have time for zis…”

But her voice trailed off as Hermione pushed past her, as in a trance. “How did you know my name?”

“I knew you…once…” Harry said, staring at her. She had changed, a lot. Gone was the bookish, easy-going Hermione he remembered, replaced by a stiffer, primmer girl that reminded Harry a lot of Fleur when he’d first met her.

Her eyes narrowed. “How can that be? Are you a Seer?”

“No, I…”

But Madame Maxime had finally found her voice again. “No! You ‘ave been ‘ere too long, ‘Ermione. You must leave now. And you…” she rounded on Harry. “I ‘ave been very generous and given you protection ‘ere. But I will not tolerate you endangering the lives of my students like zis. I don’t care whether you knew ‘er or not, it is unacceptable and I will not allow it!”

“But…”

“No, I absoluteely refuse! Miss Granger, leave immediately.”

“Madame…”

“Now!”

A somewhat dazed Hermione was ushered back out of the room. Harry glared at Madame Maxime, but suddenly Leila was tugging on his arm. “Come sit down,” she instructed softly.

Harry slumped down into the chair between Lupin and Leila, crossing his arms. Lupin clicked his tongue and shook his head. “No need to pout, Harry. You’re too old for that. It was a very foolish thing to do, though.”

“Why not?” Harry said, kicking at the carpet with his trainer.

“Because who knows how she would have reacted?” Lupin replied. “Sure the spell should keep her from telling other people, but it won’t help if someone uses Legilimancy to extract the information. There’s a reason we’ve only kept told a limited number of people about the Aperio.”

Harry and Leila exchanged glances.

Lupin sighed. “I know you miss your friends, Harry, especially Hermione, but telling her isn’t a wise thing to do. And Harry, even if you do tell her, she isn’t the same Hermione you knew.”

Harry’s shoulders slumped. He knew Lupin was right–he couldn’t expect Hermione to be the old Hermione he knew. She had changed, probably even more than Ron. It was still hard, though, to see her after six months and not be allowed to even say hi.

Madame Maxime and Nicholas Flamel were exchanging looks as well. Flamel shook his head slightly and the Headmistress pursed her lips, then turned back to the visitors.

“You know why you’re ‘ere,” she began. “I’ve asked Professor Flamel to aid you in ze reversal of ze Aperio. Since we ‘ave no idea how long this process will take, I will extend my weelcome indefinitely. You ‘ave been shown your rooms and I trust zat you all slept comfortably last night. You can partake of your meals in our dining hall, or ‘ave ze maids bring you food in your rooms. Ze grounds are yours for ze exploring, but I must ask zat you keep away from ze students. Zey ‘ave been told not to bother you, and I’d prefer zat as little interaction as possible is maintained. Are you in agreement with that?”

They nodded.

“And so I will turn over ze time to Nicholas. I ‘ave other duties to attend to, so with your permission I will leave.”

She nodded to them and to Flamel, and left. The little old man stood and dragged his chair to the front.

“You’ll forgive me for sitting down,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “My bones are a little achy this morning. Now, where shall we begin?”




By noontime, Harry’s head ached. Flamel wasn’t called the oldest–and smartest–Wizard in the world for nothing. When Flamel had heard from Madame Maxime that three members of an Aperio were arriving, he’d researched the topic thoroughly. A little too thoroughly for Harry’s liking. Fifteen minutes into the lecture, his head was swimming with terms and hypothesizes. Leila, who was generally better than Harry at magical theory, was shaking her head perplexedly. Even Snape and Lupin were looking baffled.

The gist of the matter was that only one documented Aperio had ever occurred before in history, and the record wasn’t the best. The members weren’t able to explain exactly how they got back, only that it involved a complex spell and several rituals. One of the incantations mentioned, though, was Priori novo fatumetas.

Flamel admitted that he himself was quite confused as to how the reversal was to be accomplished, and he said the process would quite likely take weeks, if not months. A proper spell had to be formed of many incantations, altered to fit the specific situation. To form the spell, Flamel first needed to know detailed information about each member of the Aperio.

Thus the week was laid out: In the morning, Flamel would question Harry, Snape, and Lupin, occasionally calling on Leila for information about the new reality that the original three couldn’t answer. In the afternoons, however, they were free to roam about the school and gardens as Flamel retreated to his chambers to study and assess the progress made.

It wasn’t until the third day that Harry and Leila ventured to the dining hall for lunch. Unlike Hogwarts’ Great Hall, round tables were scattered around the square room. Students sat wherever they wished. A special table was set aside for visitors, and Leila and Harry quickly made their way to it.

None of the students tried to talk to them. For the most part, they were ignored, and Harry really didn’t mind. “I think they probably have quite a lot of visitors come through here,” Leila said thoughtfully as she bit into a piece of bread covered with peach marmalade. “I mean, Hogwarts doesn’t even have a visitor’s table.”

Harry conceded the point, then busied himself with several delicious-looking pastries.

“I do wish they’d talk to us, though,” Leila continued, frowning.

Harry paused. “You do?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I do. I know Madame Maxime asked them to leave us alone and everything, but I really want someone to talk to. I have so many questions about the school and the Headmistress is always busy…”

Harry swallowed the bite of pastry. “I suppose it would be interesting to talk to some of the students, but what would we say if they asked us questions? It’s less complicated this way.”

That afternoon, Leila wanted to go to the library again. She and Harry explored the shelves of books for an hour or so, and then ventured to the gardens. Outside, a cool wind was blowing, but the bright sun kept them from getting chilled.

Leila relaxed on a bench in an alcove and stretched her legs out. “I need a tan,” she complained. “Those stupid Hogwarts robes always keep my legs so white during the winter.”

Harry wasn’t sure how to respond, since he honestly couldn’t remember ever thinking about needing a tan. He wisely kept his mouth shut.

“The sun isn’t very hot, but maybe it’ll help,” Leila said, and promptly rolled her sleeves and pant legs up and stretched out on the bench. She looked as content as a cat by a fire.

Harry wandered over to some unique looking flowers and pretended to be interested in them. On the bench, Leila had relaxed and her eyes were half closed. Harry moved on to the next shrub, wishing plants interested him as much as they did Neville.

A rustling behind him caused him to turn. “I hear someone coming,” Leila said quietly, sitting up and cocking her head.

Harry stared at her. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Shhhh!”

The Beauxbatons gardens were arranged as a loosely plotted maze. The bench the siblings had stopped at was in a little open space surrounded by high shrubs and unique foliage. There was only one entrance, and Harry watched it.

“How do you do that? Hear people coming, I mean.”

“Quiet! I’m listening.”

Harry studied his sister. Head tilted, she screwed up her face in concentration. After a few seconds, she nodded. “The person is coming from that direction,” she said softly, pointing to the left. Harry knew better than to argue with her. He’d learned months ago never to try and sneak up on his sister. She had an amazing sense of hearing and was impossible to startle. Harry wondered if she could even hear silent spells coming.

Sure enough, Harry heard light footsteps from the other side of the shrub. “It’s a girl,” Leila whispered. Harry was about to ask how she could tell the gender of an individual by the noises they made, but Leila held a finger to her lips.

They waited, tentatively, watching for the girl to make herself known. The footsteps followed an invisible path, looping around the outside of the courtyard Harry and Leila were in. The noises got louder and louder, and suddenly Hermione rounded the corner and stopped in the archway, mouth open. She was wearing her blue Beauxbatons uniform and carrying a stack of books.

There was a long moment of silence. Then Hermione promptly dropped all her books.

Parchments went flying everywhere, and Harry and Leila dove to help the flustered girl collect her belongings.

“I’m so sorry, oh, I feel horrible… I’m really, really sorry…” Hermione blubbered as she frantically gathered stacks of parchments. “I shouldn’t have tried to carry so many books…”

“Some things don’t change,” Harry muttered as he put another thick book on the quickly growing stack.

“Merlin…I’ve made such a mess…”

“Harry,” Leila said in a low voice. “Look at this.”

She handed him one of the papers, and he took it. It was covered with careful diagrams and lists. At the top was a title: Possible Reasons for an Aperio and Their Consequences in the Flow of Time.

Hermione had noticed. “Give that back!” she demanded, but Harry quickly straightened and took a step back, holding the paper out of her reach.

“You figured it out,” he said bluntly, then took a second look at the stack of books she’d dropped. Titles like Tampering with Time, Reality Reversed: A Tale of Dimensional Proportions, and Worlds and Realities as They Relate to Time and Space caught his eye.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hermione said, twisting her hands. “Give that back!”

“You actually researched it and figured out why we were here,” Harry said again, amazed. McGonagall, Moody, his mum, Sirius…none of them had ever worked it out that Harry wasn’t really from this world in the six months he’d been there. Hermione had taken the clues she’d heard and seen and solved the puzzle in three days.

“Why are you here?” he asked her. He could see that Hermione was quickly resuming her Beauxbatons posture.

“That’s none of your business,” she said coolly. “If you’ll excuse me…” She reached for her parchment, but Harry kept it out of reach.

“Not until you tell us why you came.”

“I wasn’t looking for you, if that’s what you want to know,” she said, glaring at them. “I often study here; it’s quieter than the library even. I was just surprised to see you two here. I really must be going…”

“Not yet,” Harry said firmly. “You already know about the Aperio.”

She only continued to glare at him.

“You must be curious about the other reality.”

He could tell Hermione was weakening.

“Why don’t you stay and talk?”

“I can’t… It wouldn’t be right.”

Harry sighed. “Is this because of what Madame Maxime said?”

Hermione’s shoulders drooped a little. “She said I wasn’t to talk to you at all.”

“That was because she didn’t want you finding out why we were here,” Leila interjected. “Now you know, so it really can’t hurt for you to talk to us now.”

“Besides, no one will know,” Harry said. “We can put up people-repelling charms and anti-eavesdropping wards if it makes you feel better.”

Hermione wavered on the edge of decision. Finally, her curiosity made her cave. “Only for a few moments,” she said briskly, then took a seat on one of the benches, laying her stack of books beside her.

Harry handed her back her parchment and she took it silently. Then he cast a silencing spell on the three and then made himself comfortable on the bench across from Hermione. Leila plopped down next to him.

“Right,” he said, clearing his throat. “I know I’ve got loads of questions for you, but I’ll let you go first. Anything you want to know?”

Hermione looked down at her lap, then up again, a little more shyly. “How did you know my name? I mean,” she continued quickly. “That’s one thing I can’t figure out. If you really are from an Aperio, what would have changed the realities so we would have met? The Dark Lord of Britain hates Muggleborns, and I can’t see him ever not making the laws that forced me to attend school in France. Unless…unless you came here as well. But you’re not Muggleborn…”

“How do you know?”

“I checked the family history records. The library has a magically updated version of the British genealogies,” she said simply. “I overheard Madame Maxime mentioning your names and figured out for myself who each of you were. You’re Harry Potter.”

He nodded. “Go on.”

“Your father was a pureblood, and your mother a Muggleborn…” Hermione frowned. “How did she stay in Britain, anyway?”

Harry shrugged. “Not sure. Leila?”

“Magical records aren’t hard to alter,” Leila said. “When the animosity between Death Eaters and Muggleborns began to grow, Mum and Dad paid big money for all the records in Britain to be altered. Mum was added to the Prewett family, actually, as a second cousin or something like that. They figured they’d be safe by altering the genealogy records in Britain, so didn’t bother with records in other countries, which is probably why you were able to discover the truth so easily.”

Hermione nodded, but Harry was surprised. “Mum really did that?”

“It was either that or flee the country,” Leila said matter-of-factly. “If you pull any of her records, it’ll say her maiden name was Prewett. You can do anything if you have enough money in the Wizarding world.”

“But how did you know me?” Hermione said, obviously not distracted from her original question. “How?”

Harry and Leila exchanged glances. “Um, it’s rather complicated,” Harry hedged.

“I’ve got time.”

So he told her about the prophecy that Trelawney made on one dark night at the Hog’s Head. Hermione’s eyes were bulging by the time he finished.

“A prophecy,” she breathed. “I hadn’t thought of that. So Voldemort was destroyable in your world. But…but when did he return?”

“In my fourth year at Hogwarts,” Harry told her.

She pondered this. “Fourth year. I suppose that would have meant I was there as well.”

Harry grinned at her. “I met you in the Hogwarts Express on my very first day of school.”

Hermione’s face softened. “And?”

“We were best friends for six years,” Harry said softly. “You, me, and Ron.”

“Ron?”

“Ron Weasley. The sixth of seven siblings, red haired, has a temper, plays chess, so loyal that I’m sure the Sorting Hat offered to put him in Hufflepuff.”

Hermione laughed. “Sounds like an odd friendship.”

“Odd isn’t the right word. A Muggle-raised boy-who-lived, a pureblood overshadowed Weasley, and a brilliant Muggleborn girl with bushy hair.”

Hermione smiled. “It was bushy, wasn’t it? The first thing I did when I got here was look up all the hair care spells I could find. I didn’t fit in here at all.” She sobered. “Did I fit in there?”

Harry considered this. “Not at first. I mean,” he added apologetically. “You always were too smart for your own good.”

She shrugged and her cheeks got pink. “I’m not that smart.”

“Hermione, if you’re at all like the Hermione I knew, you’re brilliant. Not just above average, you’re a genius. Merlin, you figured out the Aperio!”

She stared at the ground for a few moments. “How did we become friends?”

So Harry told her about the troll. That story led to the story of Quirrel and the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione kept asking questions, and Harry eventually found himself outlining his six years at Hogwarts. She listened intently, and several times had him elaborate in parts that especially related to the timeline differences, like the night of Voldemort’s rebirth. Harry tried to emphasize hers and Ron’s parts in his confrontations with Voldemort. After all, he wouldn’t have survived the first year if it hadn’t been for them.

When Harry finished, Hermione rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Um, Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Were Ron and I… you know, ever…”

Leila giggled as Harry reddened. “Do I have to answer that?”

“Yes,” Hermione said, fixing him with one of her looks.

He shrugged. “I dunno. At times I thought you two liked each other, and I think that maybe eventually you would have ended up together. But other people wouldn’t have guessed–you bickered and fought all the time. Darn it, why do girls always ask these kinds of questions?”

Leila’s giggles turned into laughter. “For that very reason, my dear brother. Because we’re girls.”

Harry threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m never going to understand females.”

Both girls joined in the laughter this time. Then Hermione said, “It’s weird, isn’t it? I was a part of your life, but I don’t even remember it. It’s like knowing that a part of my life was lost and I’ll never get it back.”

Harry sighed. “I know what you mean.”

Leila jabbed him with her elbow. “Oh, but it’s so much more fun when you don’t remember our childhood.”

“Thanks!”

They were quiet for a few more minutes. Suddenly the chimes from the clock tower rang over the grounds, and the three looked up. Harry suddenly noticed that the shadows were longer. Hermione jumped slightly.

“I should go… they’ll expect me at dinner.” She stood and looked awkwardly from Leila to Harry.

Harry stood quickly. “Listen, Hermione…” he started.

“What?” she said, almost breathlessly.

“I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“Will you help us solve the Aperio?”
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