To Kill You With a Kiss

Chapter 28

Harry followed Alphard out to the rain-sodden Hogwarts grounds, where Tom was waiting for them.

"I just got my time-turner back from Dumbledore," whispered Alphard. "He woke me up at dawn and asked to borrow it. I have no idea what he wanted with it, but he looked as if he hadn't slept all night. I wonder what that was all about..."

Alphard laced the long golden chain of the time turner around all three of them and began to spin the delicate clockwork. "Ready to see the brave new world you have created, Harry?"

Harry nodded silently and grasped Tom's hand tightly. He closed his eyes, and the world around them became a meaningless rush of time and sounds and colors.

When they landed on the grounds of the future Hogwarts a moment after, it was still springtime. The air was fragrant with the scent of lilacs and honeysuckle, and the blue-white light of early morning shimmered over the dew-moistened grass.

"It is about a week earlier now than when you first left your own time, Harry," said Alphard softly. "The students have finished their exams, and they have a few glorious days of freedom left before taking the Hogwarts Express home."

"What about... Harry?" Tom shook the last rain drops out of his dark curls and glanced around. "The one without the scar? Is he here?"

Harry breathed in the sweet-smelling spring air. "There can't be another Harry in this time, Tom. I've been wondering about that too, but I don't think it's possible. When I traveled to the past and back before, there was still only one of me when I got back here. And Ginny traveled to the past and back, too, didn't she? And there's still only one Ginny."

Alphard nodded gravely. "All true, Harry. And yet... Look over there."

Harry followed Alphard's glance down to the lake, where a familiar dark-haired boy was sitting under a tree, gazing out over the glittering water. Another figure, half-hidden in the shade of the tree, sat by his side. Harry felt his heart lurch.

"That boy is... me?"

Alphard nodded silently.

Harry looked at the boy in wonder. How can that be me, when I'm right here? I wonder what he would think if he were to glance up right now and see the three of us here? I wonder if he remembers being me?

He tugged at Alphard's sleeve. "Alphard, that other person next to the boy... It's Sirius, isn't it?" Even at this distance, Harry could make out a mess of long dark curls, and his heart leaped in his chest.

But Alphard shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "That's not Sirius, Harry. Right now, Sirius and his wife are in Godric's Hollow, visiting your parents. The man sitting next to you - to the other you - is Regulus. Come..." He pulled a shimmering cloak out from his pocket and draped it over the three of them. "Let's get closer and hear what they are saying."

They moved invisibly through the grass, leaving only a faint trail in the morning dew, until they were close to the man and the boy under the tree. Harry's breath caught in his throat as he saw the boy's face so near: It was his own face, but softer and more innocent, unblemished by the scar that had marked him...

"It is me..." he whispered.

"No, it's not," breathed Tom in his ear. "Or... not quite you. He's got your green eyes, and your messy hair, but I can't feel his thoughts. I can't sense his soul, as I can yours. He's Harry, but he's not my Harry."

"Perhaps," whispered Alphard, "Voldemort's absence from his life has made him so different from you that the two of you are now two distinct people, Harry. He is no longer exactly you; he is the boy you could have been."