My Unreality

“Are you alright?” Hermione asked in alarm. Harry shook his head, trying to catch his breath from the sudden pain. He clutched a hand to his chest and stared at the trees.

“I’m fine. Let’s just keep going.” Harry said panting slightly. He frowned to himself, still rubbing his chest where his heart was steadily beating under his fingers. The connection between he and the Harry of this world had grown stronger, but the pain had been nothing like the connection Harry normally felt. It was frightening and made Harry wonder if perhaps something had happened.

Harry pushed some branches out of the way and beckoned Hermione to catch up to him so he could see ahead of him. The wand light was becoming not enough to light the way now that the trees were getting more dense. Harry judged it to be very late in the night now. He was slightly surprised at the lack of monsters in the forest, but perhaps in this world the Forbidden Forest was not as dangerous as it had been in his own. They had glimpsed a few centaurs here and there, but nothing to give them any alarm. Hermione seemed to be more afraid of the dark than any creature lurking around, though she did mention that there were werewolves in the forest, though Harry had not seen any. The only thing that had given him pause was the odd feeling that he was being watched. He didn’t have the feeling all the time, but sometimes he would get the sensation, always to find that there was nothing there. He had not mentioned it to Hermione for fear of alarming her, but he was sure that something was following them.

“Harry.” Hermione said in a hushed voice. “Look.”

Harry followed her finger that she was pointing and stared at the strange glowing light coming from within the trees. It seemed to be some sort of alcove and was nothing like he had ever seen before. Harry nodded to Hermione and led her into the alcove, only to stare in wonder at the sight before him. The strange blue light was emanating from a giant crystal, but that was not what made Harry stare. He walked forward, not really believing his eyes, as he stared at Harry Potter’s sleeping figure trapped inside the crystal. He was curled up in a foetus position, but there was no mistaking who the person was inside the crystal.

“What is this?” Hermione exclaimed. Harry could hear the disgust in her voice, and he himself couldn’t help the feeling of disgust creeping in as he stared at the strange crystal surrounding the Harry of this world. It was so strange, and he had no idea what it might be doing to him.

“How do you think we can get him out?” Harry asked turning his face to stare at Hermione. She bit her lip, frowning over the possible reasons as to how he got in the crystal in the first place. Harry watched as she shook her head and sighed.

“I’m sorry, Harry. I’m not sure what this is at all. Who ever heard of someone being stuck in a crystal?”

Harry shrugged and walked up to the crystal. He tentatively reached out his hand and touched the crystal, feeling the cool texture of the clear rock. It seemed to be some sort of magic shield, but whether it was imprisoning him, or protecting him, Harry did not know. Harry banged his fist against the crystal, pounding as hard as he could, but nothing happened. The crystal continued to glow, and Harry continued to sleep.

“Here, let me.” Hermione said, gently pushing Harry away. Harry nodded, watching as she placed her hands against the smooth rock and stared up at the sleeping form of Harry Potter. Her eyes were glowing strangely in the blue light, her skin seeming almost translucent it was so pale.

“Harry.” Hermione said softly. “It’s me, Hermione Granger. I’m not sure if you know it, but right now I am standing next to a boy who is very much like you, infact, in a way he is you. He’s Harry Potter too, but from a different world…”

Harry watched as Hermione frowned, as though pondering over what next to say. He glanced back up at the crystal and almost thought he saw Harry Potter move. Could it be working?

“He’s trying to get back home, Harry. But you see, to do that he needs your help. You’ve been in here a long time… don’t you think it is time you wake up and face the world again?”

Harry gasped as Harry Potter’s hand twitched inside the crystal. He could see the emerald eyes slowly emerging as the blindfold of sleep was lifted of Harry’s sleeping form, his head rising from the sleeping position until he was staring down at both of them, a confused expression on his face. Slowly, as if his body was stiff, Harry reached out and placed his hand against the crystal. Blue light blasted from where his hand touched, shattering the crystal into thousands of tiny pieces that evaporated into the air as soon as the flew out. Hermione and Harry stood back,. Their eyes wide as they watched Harry Potter slowly sink to the ground, his feet landing against the ground letting him stand upright.

“It worked.” Hermione said in amazement. Harry could not hide his own amazement at knowing that simply by her voice she had managed to wake him up.

“W-where am I?” Harry Potter asked in a croaky voice. Harry felt strange staring at this boy. It was like looking in a mirror, but there was one thing missing. This Harry did not have a scar. This Harry did not have Voldemort.

“You’re in the Forbidden Forest.” Hermione said gently. “Don’t you remember?”

Harry Potter shook his head, his emerald eyes frowning with confusion as he held a hand to his head. “The last thing I remember was playing Quidditch with Will.”

Hermione and Harry stared at each other, both confused by this strange pronouncement. If it was true what he was saying, and he did not remember anything, then he would never know how he got in here in the first place.

“So…you’re saying that you don’t remember that five days ago you went missing in the Forbidden Forest?” Harry asked with a frown.

Harry Potter shook his head, looking remarkably like Lockhart when he had lost his memory. “Even I am not that stupid to come in here by myself.” He said firmly.

Hermione sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “Well, this isn’t helping now is it? Perhaps we should just try get you back to your world, Harry?” She said, turning to face him. Harry nodded in agreement and looked back at Harry Potter.

“So, how are we going to do this?” Harry asked Hermione.

“I don’t know, I thought you said that you knew he was the one who could help you.”

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I thought maybe once we met I would just go back, but it seems I was wrong.”

“Well, perhaps we have to touch or something.” The other Harry mused out loud. “I’m not sure how you got in my world, or even how I ended up in that weird crystal in this forest, but something isn’t right, and it hasn’t been for a while by the looks of things. We might as well try what we can now.”

Harry nodded and walked forward. He reached out his hand, meeting the other Harry’s in midair and waited expectantly for something to happen. Once again he felt the rush of disappointment as nothing happened. They were just identical boys touching hands.

“It’s not working.” Hermione said matter-of-factly.

“I can see that.” Harry snapped. He sighed, feeling bad as he saw the hurt on her face. He knew what Hermione was like, but he couldn’t help feeling frustrated now. After getting his hopes up just to be disappointed again was too much right now. He didn’t want to be in this world any longer. Didn’t want to see the yearning on Hermione’s face every time she looked at him, or even stare into the unmarked face of his otherself. The one who was lucky enough to escape from Voldemort ever being in his life, but wasted the chance by being a jerk and not even seeing the beautiful woman in front of him. It infuriated him, and he just wished he could escape it all, so that he would not have to feel this sorrow for the loss of everything that he knew.

“I’m sorry, Hermione.” Harry said tiredly. Hermione nodded her head understandingly. Harry realised at this moment that if he was going to be stuck in this world then he was going to try and set things right between Harry and Hermione. It was such a waste to let her love go to nothing, when Harry knew that the boy in front of him had the potential to love her. Sighing to himself, Harry stared at his other and walked forward. He placed a hand on his shoulder and gazed hard into his face.

“I hope that you appreciate what Hermione has done for you. She went into this forest to find you, not because of me, but for you. She may have thought that at one point it was for me, but deep down I’m sure she has realised the truth. I know how you have acted towards her, and I can’t say that I feel proud knowing that we are the same. I’m asking you to think about it now before you go back to the castle.” Harry said firmly. “Are you going to let things continue how they were before, or are you going to see that this girl before you cares about you, and has for a long time. She would take care of you, and you wouldn’t believe how much that will help you.”

Harry took a deep breath and stared into his other’s face, seeing the wonderment and confusion on his face. “You may not want to understand or even accept what I am saying, but all I can ask of you is that you will give it a chance. I know she cares about you, and I know you could care about her. Don’t let her go because you’re too proud, because believe me, losing this girl will bring you so much pain.”

The other Harry shifted his gaze from Harry and stared at Hermione, his emerald eyes frowning slightly. “Is this true, Hermione? Is it true what he says? That you care about me?”

Hermione nodded, her tears glistening on her lashes as she stared at him. “I’ve always liked you, Harry, even though I know you did not care for me back.”

The other Harry sighed and moved away from Harry, taking Hermione gently by the hand. “You’re wrong, Hermione.” Hermione looked up in surprise. “I have cared about you for some time now, but I was too afraid to admit it. My friends hated you, and I wasn’t sure what to do.” Harry sighed and looked away in shame. “Call me a coward, a jerk, anything you like… I know I deserve it.”

Harry walked away as the two continued to discuss. He could hear Hermione trying to reason with him and smiled slightly to himself. At least he had managed to do one thing right in this world. As he continued to walk, he suddenly collapsed to his knees as the same pain erupted in his heart. He gasped out in pain and looked up into the sky, only to see the tree tops blurring before his eyes. Everything was fading before him. Harry and Hermione were only two shadowy outlines, until they vanished completely before his eyes. A blinding flash of light surrounded him and Harry found himself in a familiar room, when he opened his eyes. Everything was made of white and it seemed to go on forever. There were no doors or windows. In fact, it was more like a long white corridor than anything else. Harry realised this was the room where he had first seen Hermione descending from the light.

“I was wondering when you were going to turn up.” A deep voice said from behind him. Harry spun around and stared at the old man walking towards him. He had a long white beard that trailed on the ground, and his eyes were of the clearest blue Harry had ever seen. He was wearing all white, giving him a sort of unearthly quality.

“Who are you?” Harry asked cautiously.

“Me?” The old man said chuckling slightly. “My name is Daergun, and I am the keeper of the Unrealities.”

“Keeper of the Unrealities?” Harry said frowning. “What do you mean?”

Daergun smiled benignly. “You do not understand, but you, yourself are from an unreality.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry said in increasing alarm. Why was he saying he was from an unreality, and what was an unreality?

“You do not exist, Harry.” Daergun said calmly. “You are nothing but a dream from another person’s unreality.”

“That’s not true!” Harry shouted. He knew he existed. He had lived his whole life up until this point. How could this man say that none of it happened? Harry knew he was real, there was just no possible way that he couldn’t be.

“Harry, do you know why Voldemort did not exist in the world you were just in?”

Harry shook his head. How was he supposed to know why Voldemort was not alive there?

“It is because Tom Riddle died along with his mother at childbirth. He never got a chance to grow up. I, being the keeper, created an identical world, giving the baby Tom Riddle another chance to experience life. The world you lived in was his unreality.”

Harry stared at the ground not really believing what he was hearing. He could feel his rage growing inside him as he heard Daergun talk. It could not be true. It just couldn’t be.

“That world you were just in is the real world, Harry. The boy who you saw is the only real Harry Potter that exists. You are just a copy, a sort of dream that was created to make Voldemort’s world seem like it was real.”

Harry clenched his fists slightly and stared at Daergun, at his old and ancient face. Right now he hated this man. He hated what he was saying because it made him afraid. Afraid because there was a possibility it was true what he said.

“What about the people that die in these unrealities? What happens to them?” Harry demanded, as he thought of all his lost loved ones.

“They disappear, Harry. Dreams are not real people. There is no heaven or hell for them. They simply fade back into the magic that created them to be reused again when the time comes.”

“Then what about me?” Harry exclaimed in frustration. “How come I managed to go to the real world?”

Daergun shook his head slightly. “I’m not sure. It has never happened before, but I do have one theory. You see, at the point when Voldemort died and was passing into the afterlife, you were by his side. Instead of fading away like every other dream, somehow you managed to pass into the portal between worlds. From there, you managed to find a way into the real world, perhaps you were simply searching for some meaning in your existence?”

“Enough!” Harry shouted, his face screwed up in anger. “I don’t want to hear anymore! What you’re saying doesn’t make sense at all. How can I not be real? I’ve lived my whole life, experienced everything. You can’t just turn around and say that I’m nothing but a dream, that I have no meaning. I watched my friends die. Saw my love fall right before my eyes, and you cannot tell me that I did not feel any pain, that I did not love her because I do not exist. To me my life was real. That world was my world, and I fought so hard to protect it! So don’t tell me it was meaningless.”

Daergun sighed and placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “It is hard to accept that this is the truth. You want to believe that you’re real, it is only natural to do so. But you must understand, Harry. In order for an unreality to seem real, every person must live their own life just as if it were a real world. It will be real for you in a sense, but your world has no future. The world that you knew no longer exists. It vanished as soon as Voldemort died.”

Harry gasped and stared in horror at Daergun’s face. He could see that Daergun was telling the truth and felt a pain clench at his heart. It had gone, everything had gone. He really did have nothing to go back to now.

“It‘s gone?” Harry repeated softly.

“I know this is hard, but I must make it clear what will happen to you now. I am going to give you two choices, Harry. The first is that you can allow me to let you fade back into the magic that created you, where you will cease to exist. The second, I can create you your own unreality and give you another chance in life.”

Daergun stared at him piercingly, his eyes strangely both harsh and sympathetic. “I have never done this for any other dream, Harry. Consider it a special offer that will only be given once.”

“Will I…will I remember Hermione?”

Daergun shook his ancient head. “You will no longer be the person you are now. You will have no memory of your world, or the world you were just in. You will simply start again as Harry Potter.”

Harry frowned to himself. There was not much option here. He did not want to just fade into nothing, but then he did not feel like he could accept a new life. Still, if he did not remember anything, perhaps it would not be so bad? At least he would have another chance, and Voldemort would not be there to terrorize him this time. He would be able to do things differently this time.

“I’ll do it.” Harry said firmly. “I’ll go to the unreality.”

Daergun nodded and waved his hand. A giant gold door appeared on Harry’s right, looking all at once inviting and imposing. This door was going to erase everything that he was, but it was also going to give him another chance.

Harry watched as the door opened, revealing a bright light from behind the door. Daergun nodded to him, urging him to enter. Harry swallowed slightly and walked forward. He could see nothing but bright light within the door, but he knew beyond this point was his unreality. Another world to give him the chance he needed to live life how he wanted to, in a world where he belonged.

Harry smiled to himself, taking a deep breath before walking into the light, where the door shut behind him.

The large steam engine puffed energetically as children boarded happily, waving and shouting at their friends. Harry grinned at the big steam train and turned his face to his mother, Lily Potter. Her long red hair was blowing slightly in the wind, her emerald eyes smiling down at him affectionately.

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of fun, Harry.” Lily said with a kind smile. “You’ll love Hogwarts.”

Harry nodded and looked at his little sister, Adelle, who was watching him through large blue eyes, her wavy black hair escaping from the pink ribbon tying it up.

“Send me lots of letter.” Adelle demanded. Harry grinned and nodded, giving her a quick brotherly hug. He turned his gaze and saw Ron Weasley, his best friend, waving at him. He could see his other friends, Isabelle and William Black both saying goodbye to their father, who also happened to be his Godfather. Their pretty mother was leaning against Sirius and smiling down at her two children, saying something Harry could not hear.

The train whistle blew loudly, alerting them that the train would be leaving soon. Harry quickly said goodbye to his mother and boarded the train. He walked through the compartment and stumbled slightly as he banged into someone.

“Sorry.” Harry said automatically, as he looked up to see who he had banged into. He saw a girl about his own age with very bushy brown hair. She had warm, honey brown eyes and was clutching some spell books in her hands. Harry had the sudden feeling that he had met this girl before. He couldn’t explain it, but it was like there was some kind of connection between them, like they were close once.

“It’s okay.” The girl responded with a smile and started to walk past.

“Harry, hurry up!” Isabelle said bossily. Harry looked back and saw Neville, Ron and William Black, all poking their heads out of a compartment which Isabelle was holding open.

“Do you want to come into our compartment?” Harry asked.

The girl nodded in relief and smiled again. “I’m Hermione by the way. Hermione Granger.”

Harry grinned and started to walk with her back to the compartment. “I’m Harry. Harry Potter.”