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SIYE Time:21:18 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: 150043; Chapter Total: 4337





Author's Notes:
Here it is... Part two. Enjoy!
And the DSTA polls are still open... *hint, hint*




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Snape, Harry, and Lupin first had to undergo spells that truly completed the partial Aperio bonds between the three participants. “Put aside your differences in your minds,” Flamel said as Hermione muttered long strings of incantations under her breath. “One in mind, body, and spirit.”

As Hermione finished the last incantation, Harry felt a warm glow spread throughout his body. Opening his eyes, he saw the last thread of golden light connecting him and Lupin and Snape disappear into thin air.

Flamel sighed. “The first step completed, we must now move into the second and most complex step. The triqueta rune is important because it is the very core of the magic of the Aperio. The rune must be drawn on the floor, painted with a special potion made of eighty-seven separate ingredients. Then we can begin the last part of the reversal–the Sending Stage. You each will stand in one of the triqueta’s triangles, and touch wands over the middle ground as Hermione and I create a magical field around you with layers of complex spells. These spells will hopefully eventually become so strong that you will literally be pulled out of this world and into your own.”

Harry nodded nervously, and Leila squeezed his arm. “It will be OK, I promise,” she whispered. “Flamel and Hermione know what they’re doing.”

“No, they don’t,” Harry argued. “They don’t know what they’re doing, and that’s what worries me! They’ve never reversed an Aperio before. How do they know they’re not going to kill us in the last step?”

“You’ll just have to trust them. Think, Harry. Has Hermione ever been wrong?”

“Uh….” He could only think of one time off the top of his mind–the time in the Shrieking Shack when Hermione had guessed that Lupin was letting Sirius into the castle and Sirius wanted Harry dead. But everyone had thought that. That time didn’t really count. He shook his head shamefacedly.

“See? Trust them, Harry.”

It took three hours for Flamel, Hermione, and Snape to brew the potion. Both Flamel and Hermione were quite impressed with Snape’s potions skills, and by the way the Potions Master was scowling, Harry was sure Snape was a bit embarrassed by their praise. Finally, the solution was done, and the wooden floor had been cleared.

“Are you sure we should do it here?” Hermione said nervously. Flamel looked up.

“Why not, Miss Granger?”

Hermione bit her lip. “I think the spells would work better if the rune was drawn on a marble floor, Professor.”

Flamel frowned. “But wood has more magical properties,” he said.

“True,” Hermione admitted, looking very shy. “But…sir… I read somewhere that in complex spells, wood has more of a tendency to absorb some of the magic. In this particular set of incantations, we need all the magic to stay in the triqueta field, since the threshold is high for activating a reversal of an Aperio. Marble doesn’t absorb magic nearly as much as wood, so I was thinking it might be better.”

Flamel looked at her for a very long time. “You are correct,” he finally said, looking a little taken aback that a seventeen-year-old Muggleborn witch had just bested him. “We will move to the ball room.”

Leila disappeared for a few minutes as they were making their way down to the ball room. When she finally reappeared in the marble-floored room, she was panting slightly and clutching something in her hands. “Here, Harry,” she said, thrusting a small bundle of something at him. “Take these.”

“What is it?” Harry asked. He looked down and found himself looking at a dozen of the best pictures from the photo album Leila had shown him when they’d first arrived at Beauxbatons. There were family pictures, single shots, and even the most recent picture of everyone smiling at his seventeenth birthday party.

Harry looked up at his sister. “Leila…”

“I want you to have them,” she said, swallowing hard. “So…so you don’t forget.”

Harry pocketed the pictures. “I won’t forget, ever,” he promised softly.

Flamel and Hermione had finished drawing a perfect triqueta on the marble floor. “We are ready,” Flamel called, and Harry went to stand next to Lupin on the perimeter of the rune. “Each of you step into a triangle,” Flamel instructed. “Then hold your wands out over the center portion.”

Harry held out his wand and felt a little jolt of electricity as it touched the ends of Snape’s and Lupin’s wands. “Remember what you were wishing on the night the Aperio took place,” Flamel said softly. “It is that wish that binds you three together; it is that thought that can return you to your world.” He pulled out his wand and begun to mutter spells under his breath.

Harry looked over at his sister one last time. It felt as if a piece of his heart was being ripped out and kept here in this world–he had been given a family, and now the last remaining member was being taken away from him.

Leila had seemed so calm about the whole situation, but when Harry looked at her now, she seemed to be fighting an internal battle. “Concentrate on the reversal process,” Flamel said sharply, and Harry turned back to the center of the triqueta.

But a second later, he was being crushed in a hug. Harry pulled out of the connection and turned to find Leila sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.

“Leila?”

She wasn’t stopping. If anything, her sobs were becoming louder. Harry fought to suppress the tears in his own eyes. “Leila!”

Leila finally looked up, tears streaming down her face and dripping off her chin. “Oh god, Harry. I thought I could do it. I thought I could let you leave like this, but I can’t! I just can’t do it. You’re….you’re all I’ve got left.” She buried her head in his chest once again.

“Oh Leila,” Harry whispered, holding her close and stroking her hair.

Over her shoulder, he could see the shocked and frustrated faces of Lupin, Snape, and Madame Maxime. Flamel was watching the scene with a stoic face, but Hermione looked as if she was fighting back tears.

And suddenly, Harry didn’t care any more. He didn’t care what they thought; he didn’t care that the Death Eaters were surrounding the school, or that they couldn’t stay in this world for much longer. All he cared about was finding a way to stay with Leila.

He met Hermione’s eyes over Leila’s head. “Is there a way?” he asked quietly.

Hermione bit her lip. “It’s never been done before…Oh, what am I saying? Reversing an Aperio has only been done once. Harry, I don’t know… Nothing I’ve read has come out and stated that it was completely impossible. It would be risky, though.”

“I’ll take any risks.”

“What are you talking about?” Madame Maxime interjected angrily. “We ‘ave no time for this! You must leave now.”

“Harry, she’s right…” Lupin began.

“No,” Harry said.

“No?” Lupin repeated, looking confused.

“No,” Harry said again. “No, I’m not going. Not if it means leaving Leila here alone.”

Lupin’s jaw dropped, and he began to sputter incomprehensibly. “But…but…you…the Aperio...”

“Stupid, idiotic boy,” Snape spat, shooting daggers at Harry with his eyes. “You will put your silly family ties before the fate of both worlds? How very noble of you.”

“Surely you do not mean what you ‘ave said,” Maxime said, wringing her hands. “Harry, I implore you to listen to reason!”

“No,” Harry said again. Suddenly his mind felt very clear. He glared at the three adults surrounding him. Leila had untangled herself from the embrace, but Harry still kept one protective arm around her shoulder. “No, I can’t go. Not if it means leaving Leila. Do you want to know why? Here’s why. If I have to leave the only family I’ve ever really known behind in this godforsaken world, I won’t even have the desire to reverse the Aperio, and none of your silly spells and runes and incantations will work after all.”

There was a moment of shocked silence.

“The boy’s right,” Flamel said quietly. “None of our spells will be able to pull him back into his own world if he is unwilling to go.”

After another stunned moment, Snape began to swear under his breath. Lupin’s face turned very red, and Madame Maxime began to ramble in long strings of French.

Harry didn’t care. He turned back to Hermione. “How?” he said.

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “If…if Leila were to go back with you, she would of course encounter problems because there is no ‘Leila’ in your world. If we were to send her along with you normally, she would die the instant she arrived in the other reality. But that can be remedied. There is an ancient spell that binds two people’s life forces together. If you were willing, the spell could bind you and your sister together. In your world, she would be living off of your life force.”

“Wait,” Harry said, frowning. “She’d be living off of my life force? What does that mean?”

Hermione sighed. “You would feel no side effects or magical draining because of the binding, but were you ever to die, she would instantly die too.”

“Absolutely not,” Harry said, horrified.

“Finally a rational decision,” Maxime said loudly. “Now, if we can continue…”

“I’ll do it,” Leila said suddenly.

“Leila!”

“Harry,” she said, her voice dangerously low. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want to live without you. I’ll do anything–even if that means being dependant on your life force.” She sighed dramatically. “Of course, that would make for some excellent bribery on your side of things…”

Harry managed a small smile. “Leila, you don’t understand. I’ve got to go up against Voldemort. I can’t even promise you I’ll live to be eighteen!”

Her eyes flashed dangerously. “How many times must I say it? Harry, I DON’T CARE. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy without you and Mum and Dad. A month in your world is better than the rest of my life here.”

“Leila…”

“How many times must I say it, Harry?” she said, exasperated. “I have nothing left here. Nothing.”

Harry met her eyes. “You’re sure?” he said softly.

Leila nodded. “I’m sure.”

He turned back to Hermione. “What do we do?”

“Harry,” Lupin began, but one look silenced the werewolf.

“First I should warn you that cross-reality travel is extremely hard, even for people who have lived in both realities at one point of time. Leila, I don’t know what will happen to you when the Aperio is reversed, only that it will most likely be unpleasant. When you arrive, you will most likely need a few weeks to regain your strength. Is that clear?”

Leila nodded.

Hermione pulled a large dusty book from the stack of books she’d brought from Flamel’s office. “The ancient spell in here,” she said. “Conjure up two small knives and a small silver bowl.”

Harry quickly conjured up the required items while Hermione flipped through the book. The others watched, but no one tried to interfere.

Hermione read the instructions to herself. “OK,” she said, biting her lip. “You’ve got to put a little of your blood in the basin.”

Harry quickly sliced his forearm and let the blood drain into the bowl. Leila took a little more time, obviously uncomfortable with the whole cutting part. “Just don’t think about it,” Harry encouraged her, and finally she was able to make a small slice in her right forearm.

“Now press your forearms together,” Hermione instructed, and they did. Harry tried not to think about the excess blood running down his arm and soaking into his sleeve.

Hermione closed her eyes and began chanting a spell. The silver bowl began to smoke, and the red smoke surrounded the brother and sister. It was the strangest sensation Harry had ever experienced. It was almost as if a part of him had floated up to the ceiling and was observing the ritual from above. Then another part of him was still standing there, ignoring the searing pain in his arm, and trying not to cough from the red smoke. As Hermione finished her incantation, a red light shot out of the end of her wand and wound its way around the siblings. Harry suddenly felt as if something was pulling in his chest. He gasped and held his stomach with his free hand. Leila was gasping as well, looking as if she’d just been socked in the stomach.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pain was gone. He could breath again, and his forearm didn’t hurt any more. Harry examined it, and to his surprise, the cut was healed, with only a thin white line showing where the dagger had cut his skin.

“Are you alright?”

Leila looked up from examining her own arm. “I’m fine,” she said. “What just happened?”

“You are now dependent on Harry’s life force,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, so don’t ever try to murder me. It might not be good for your health,” Harry joked, and Leila smiled.

The three teenagers turned back to the adults.

“If you’re finished, we have an Aperio to reverse,” Lupin said tightly.




Harry was in his position again, except that this time, Leila was standing in his triangle as well. “Hold on tight,” he muttered, and she wrapped her arms securely around his waist.

Harry touched wands with Lupin and Snape again, and then turned to look at Hermione one last time. “Thank you,” he said. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

She smiled sadly. “It was nice meeting you, Harry. I hope all goes well for you in your world.”

Flamel lightly touched her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

Hermione took one last long look at Harry and Leila, then nodded.

“Then let’s not put this off any longer,” Flamel said.

He and Hermione began to erect the layers of magic again. As each set of incantations was completed, a new color of light would surround the four in the triqueta. The magic swirled around them, giving him a lightheaded feeling. The light pulsed and moved, forming a sphere nearly twelve feet high. Finally, when Harry was sure that no more magical walls would fit around them, Hermione and Flamel raised their wands and said at the same time, “Priori novo fatumetas!”

Instantly, Harry’s world was plunged into darkness as he felt a burning, squeezing, spinning sensation. He felt as if he was trying to Apparate, take a Portkey, and Floo at the same time. Leila’s arms tightened around him, and she uttered a soft scream.

“Hang on tight,” Lupin shouted from the other side of the circle. “The wands are keeping us together! The connection must not break!”

Harry gritted his teeth and pushed. He could feel the magic trying to tear him away from Lupin and Snape, but he resisted, and forced the connection to stay strong.

The spinning sensation was replaced with a jolting, bumpy feeling. Harry tried to imagine that he was just on the Knight Bus, and that the feeling would go away soon, but it didn’t help.

Then there was a huge pressure, kind of like being run over by the Knight Bus. He could hardly breathe–and what was worse, Leila’s arms were relaxing–she was loosing her grip…

Harry tightened his hold on her and pulled with all his might. Please help this to end quickly!

The darkness disappeared, and now they were spinning through a world with bright flashes. It was almost like being in a cloud during a lightning storm.

“One more jolt,” Lupin yelled. “Hang on…”

Harry held on with all his might. There was a mighty bump, and then he was falling…falling…falling…

“Umph.” He hit the ground with a mighty impact that knocked the breath out of him. Harry was vaguely aware of the fact that there was something soft and cold falling on his face as he gasped for air. The world was spinning, but soon the rotations got slower and slower.

He sat up and looked around. Everything was dark, and Harry fumbled around for his wand, and he finally found it next to him buried in a large pile of cold fluffy stuff. “Lumos,” Harry whispered, and instantly the scene around him was lit by the eerie yellow glow of his wand.

He seemed to have landed in a small snow drift. A few feet away, Snape was slowly getting to his feet, brushing snow off his robes. Lupin seemed to be having a harder time of it. Harry quickly turned back to Leila. She was lying still in the snow.

“Oh Merlin,” Harry muttered. He quickly bent over her, but she seemed to be breathing. “Leila? Leila, can you hear me?”

There was no response. “She’s unconscious,” Snape said from behind him.

“I can see that,” Harry snapped. “How do I do a Feather-Light charm?”

“I can see you’re even duller than I gave you credit for,” Snape muttered, but he cast the spell on Leila, and Harry quickly picked her up.

Lupin was finally standing. He shivered in the cold night air. “Where are we?”

“No idea,” Harry said, looking around. From the wand-light and the sliver of moon, he could see a wide field that ended at a dark line of trees. “Oh, look,” Harry said, pointing to the right of the field. “I see lights in the distance. Do you think it’s a village?”

“It’s worth a try,” Lupin said doubtfully. “But how do we know we’re really back? What if we were just transported to Britain? Or even worse, if we’ve ended up in another reality?”

They all looked at each other. “There’s the predicament,” Snape muttered. “How to find out whether we’re in our own world or not.”

Suddenly Harry had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from crying out. A sharp, burning pain had just shot through his forehead–a pain he hadn’t felt in months.

“Harry?” Lupin’s pale face was illuminated in the darkness. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

“We’re back,” Harry said, gritting his teeth against the pain in his scar. “We’re back–and Voldemort knows.”

Author's Note: There you have it--the reversal of the Aperio. On fanfiction.net, I had a few comments that the reversal wasn't as hard as it should have been. Reversing the Aperio was hard not because of the complex spells mentioned in this chapter, but because of the hours of research and work that Flamel and Hermione had to put into the spells.

Hermione's super smart because I like her that way. And I imagine that she'd be even smarter than Normal-Hermione if she'd gone to Beauxbatons.

I always planned on having Leila go back with them. As for Ginny, she'll be happier with her family when they flee to America. I planned on killing Sirius off in the Battle of Hogwarts (to eliminate another reason for Harry to stay--that's really why I killed his parents) but in the end it was too hard on top of Lily and James's deaths. At the end I'll post an epilogue of what happened in this world.

I made the time they spent at Beauxbatons rather short for two reasons--the chapters were getting boring, and I wanted them back by Christmas. Which is what happened. (Remember, it's Christmas eve in the story right now.)



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