Imagine: The List
Fic posted by members of Vo's Imaginings YahooGroup


Dean watched his brother hover over the guy that had saved them. It was kind of sweet in an odd way to watch Sammy being the protector. He didn’t know to feel about the guy Sam was hovering over. Pastor Jim was not easy to trick and he was protecting him so he couldn’t be evil, right? And yet what he’d done...they’d never come across a human who could do that without being involved with evil.

“Sooooo............” Caleb drawled out and they all looked at him but Caleb was staring at Harry who seemed to curl up in on himself a little. Sam laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder and Harry looked over at him with a small smile. Harry sighed and stood up shakily, moving towards the window to stare out into the parking lot lit by streetlights.

“My name is Harry James Potter and I was born on July 31st 1980 in Godric’s Hollow, England.” He whispered and Dean frowned.

“1980? But that’s make you twenty-five. No offence you don’t look it.” Dean cut in when Harry remained silent.

“That’s because here I’m only twenty.” Harry told them and then looked to Jim who nodded.

“Four years ago there was a storm, it was unnatural and lasted for a week. On the second day I heard something in the church yard. When I went out I found Harry bleeding and unconscious. I tended his injuries and he eventually woke up. Harry was confused because he remembered being in London. And yes I put him through all the tests.”

“Which confused me a lot.” Harry pointed out with a small smile and Jim laughed.

“And then Harry saw the date on the newspaper.”

“Instant panic attack, not one of my better moments.” Harry admitted and Jim nodded.

“But why would the date cause you to panic?” Sam asked and Harry smiled at him.

“Because it said August tenth 2001 and the last I checked it was May 9th 1996.” Harry told them and eyes widened in shock.
“So yeah, I panicked. Especially since I was still physically sixteen despite the change in date. I tried the email I had for a friend and it didn’t exist. Further searches showed no record of mine, my parents or friends births. I was half way round the world and being told I didn’t actually exist. It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened but I never told Jim, he took me in despite that. Got me an id made with my brithdate suitably adjusted, got me into school, pretty much gave me a life.”

“I was rather mad at the time; it’s a good thing we couldn’t find your so-called relatives Harry.” Jim pointed out and Harry shrugged.

“Why were you mad at them?”

“Because a sixteen year old should not be struggling with the test given to eleven year olds.” Jim answered gently and Harry looked away.

“And now I’m in college thanks to you. Anyway I’m off for a few weeks so as usual I headed back to Blue Earth. Walked into the church one day and...I’ve never felt such evil in a church before. Started yelling for Jim, following the ‘feel’ of whatever it was and found this girl had him trapped in a room I hadn’t seen before.”

“I was trying to keep you out of hunting Harry, for your safety.” Jim said and Harry snorted.

“I grew up in a war Jim. The look on your face when I summoned the blade that demon threw at you was kind of funny.”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting you to be able to do something like that. Watching the two of you fight...I didn’t know to be scared she’d kill you or that you’d kill her.” Jim admitted and Harry shrugged.
“Harry made the wall wrap around her and hold her until I finished the exorcism and then we called 911. She lasted the night but her injuries were too severe. Her name was Meg.”

“Meg? Blonde short hair? About this tall?” Sam held his hand up and both Harry and Jim nodded.
“We’ve um, met her before or I guess the demon possessing her. She got dragged out a seventh story window by shadow demons. She did a good job of trying to kill us.” Sam explained.

“That’d explain her injuries. She managed to tell us that demons were going after you through friends so I started calling around. When Caleb didn’t answer....”

“I apparated us to where Jim said he should be.”

“Apparated?” Sam asked hesitantly and Harry smiled mischievously. With a small pop Harry vanished and then Sam jumped as a hand touched his arm. Spinning around he found Harry standing behind him.

“Kind of like teleporting. Most of the time you need a clear mental picture of where you’re going but I can do it to coordinates.” Harry said, staring up at Sam. Sam stared down at him in shock, he hadn’t seen much the other night of what Harry had done and having him teleport behind him was....different and kind of scary but he couldn’t find it in him to be scared of Harry. Whatever it was between them it felt safe and warm and he knew Harry wasn’t a threat.

“How do you do it? Are you psychic?” Sam asked softly, stepping closer and smiling as Harry had to tilt his head back to keep eye contact.

“No. Like I told you before I’m not from here. That’s why we couldn’t find any record of my birth. The world I’m from is a lot like this but different too. No demons or supernatural stuff but we have magic. I’m a wizard; I was born with the ability to use magic.” Harry whispered and Sam swallowed. Magic? They’d never come across any type of magic that wasn’t evil but...if Harry was from another world then maybe it was actually possible.
“I was born during a war, my parents fought for the Light and they died defending me. The leader of the other side wanted me dead because of a prophecy saying he would die by my hand. Thing is by coming after me he set the whole thing in motion. My Dad died first, trying to buy us time to escape. Mum died shielding me with her body in my nursery, I was fifteen months old. The only memory I have of her is her screaming for Tom to kill her but spare me. He then turned on me but it didn’t work and he was thought dead for the next ten years. I was placed with my mother’s sister and her family.” Harry fell silent, needing to stop and Sam reached out to him. Harry bit his lip, staring at Sam’s hand in shock before reaching out his own hand. Sam gripped his hand tightly, and then stared in shock. He pulled Harry’s hand up higher so he could see the scar more clearly.

“I must not tell lies.” Sam whispered, running his fingers across the word. Harry instinctively tried to pull away but Sam didn’t let him. He didn’t even pay attention to the others watching them as he gently stroked the scars, smiling as Harry relaxed.
“Who did this?” Sam asked gently and Harry shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter, she got what she deserved years ago. Sam...” Harry trailed off, not sure what to say. They jumped apart as someone cleared their throat and turned to see Dean staring at them with a leer on his face. Harry went bright red and Sam shifted slightly.

“So what happened next? That can’t be the end of it since you’re here.” Caleb asked to spare the boys whatever comment Dean was going to make.

“Ten years of living hell under the tender care of my family. I would have been better off on the streets.” Harry admitted bitterly.
“But then I turned eleven and everything changed. Hagrid...he scared them so badly but I was never afraid of him. He was half giant and about a foot taller than Sam and a lot larger. He gave me my acceptance letter and the first birthday present I can remember getting. He introduced me to my parent’s world and I loved it. I finally knew I wasn’t a freak for the odd things that happened around me, it was just accidental magic due to high emotions. I started school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that September and I finally had friends. Hagrid was the one who told me the truth about my parents, my Aunt always told me they died in a car crash. I found out I was famous in the Wizarding World, that I was ‘the Boy-Who-Lived’ because I survived the un-survivable. No one in history had ever survived the killing curse but I did. It was neat at first but I came to hate the fame over the years. That year I learnt that the man who killed my parents wasn’t completely dead and I faced him every year until I was fifteen.” Harry had to stop again and wondered back over to the window.

“You were just a child, where were the adults?” Jim asked gently, the others in too much shock to speak. Harry snorted.

“Ignoring what was happening most of the time. Tom was fully brought back when I was fourteen. There was a multi-school competition held at my school and I was entered illegally. It was obvious someone was once again trying to kill me; the competition had been stopped because students had died before and putting a fourteen year old in against seventeen year olds? It was suicide. It made things difficult since the school champion had already been picked when my name was called. I watched him die in the graveyard at the hand of the man that betrayed my parents and there was nothing I could do. I was tied to a gravestone and a cauldron put in front of me. This thing...it was Tom, it was put in the cauldron and then the ritual started. Bone of the father unknowingly given, blood of the enemy forceabley taken and flesh of the servant willing given. It hurt so much and then it felt like someone was driving red hot pokers into my brain. We were linked because of what had happened when he tried to kill me as a baby. The theory was that my mother’s sacrifice protected my, that’s why I was placed with her sister for the protection offered by blood. But by using my blood in the ritual it removed that protection. Tom had never been able to touch me before; it was like what happened when Jim threw the holy water on the demon. But now he could touch me and it hurt so much.” Harry had his back to them, arms wrapped around his chest. Jim moved to go to him but Sam beat him to it. He gently wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s okay; none of what happened is your fault. You were just a kid.” Sam murmured and Harry turned to bury his face in Sam’s chest. Sam tightened his grip as he felt hot tears soak into his shirt. Had Harry never told anyone what he had gone through that night? Harry finally pulled back and Sam loosened his grip. Harry wiped angrily at his eyes, trying to erase the evidence of his tears but Sam stopped him.
“It’s also okay to cry, no matter how old you are.” Harry nodded jerkily and Sam smiled at him.

“We can stop Harry. You don’t have to tell us more.” Jim added but Harry shook his head.

“Yeah, I do. Because he won’t let this go.” Harry was staring at something behind them and they all turned to see John in the connecting doorway. Dean and Sam shared a look. How long had their Dad been there and why hadn’t they heard the door open?
“Tom untied me, gave me my wand back and insisted we duel. He had to beat me in fair combat, he’d been beaten by me too many times before and needed to humiliate be to get respect back. We duelled but it was laughable, he was fifty years my senior and with a lot more spells under his belt. I...there are three spells called the Unforgivables, the killing curse is one. Another is to torture and the other to control your victim. I’m immune to the controlling one; apparently I’m too stubborn for my own good. I’d survived the killing curse once already so he used the only one left. It causes unbearable pain and if used long enough drives the person mad. I was lucky, he only used it in short bursts between gloating. I managed to get away and I took Cedric’s body with me. But no one would believe, they all thought it was the shock of seeing Cedric die. And nothing happened over the summer or during the beginning of the next school year. None of the disappearances like in the last war, no one dying, nothing. But the Ministry got scared, not of Tom but of me and the Headmaster, the Minister thought we were attacking his power so he started putting out stories that I was unstable. Even a lot of my classmates believed them. To make matters worse I started having nightmares, worse than I’d had the year before. They were vivid and left me with headaches. Didn’t help that I started lessons with a teacher who hated me for my father to ‘shield my mind’. He didn’t teach me, what he did was basically mind rape and it left my mind wide open. I saw...I saw my godfather, the one person I had left, being held prisoner and tortured by Tom and his followers. There was no one I could go to for help; the Ministry had taken control of the school. It was because of one of their flunkies I’ve got that scar on my hand. So some of my friends and I left school and headed for the Ministry but it was a trap, Sirius wasn’t there but the Death Eaters were. We fought but we were just half trained kids. They got us cornered in the Veil room and had my friends. They said they’d kill them unless I handed over the prophecy and then...the Order came. It was chaotic, everyone fighting. I ended up back-to-back with Sirius fighting his insane cousin and Malfoy. His last words to me...he called me James, my father and his best friend. Bella hit him with something and he fell. I tried to reach him but Remus held me back, saying it was too late. I was so mad! And then Bella ran, taunting me so I ran after her.”

Harry closed his eyes, unable to look at anyone for the next part.

“I wanted her to hurt, as much as I was hurting so I cast it. It only worked for a second and then she was laughing again she said I had to want to cause pain, enjoy it. I was too righteously angry for it to work. And then he arrived, Tom in all his glory. He sent Bella away and cast the killing curse, he didn’t see Dumbledore arrive, he banished some debris into the way so the curse missed me. The duelled and it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Everyone expected me to beat Tom but watching them...I had no chance. And then Tom tried a new tactic. I just remember pressure and pain and then I was on the floor, writhing in agony, Dumbledore calling my name. He was...he was using the link between us to possess me and I had no shields to speak of thanks to Snape. It hurt so much but I could still hear Dumbledore and as I focused on those he was talking about...it was Tom in pain because I loved Sirius, I loved my friends and he couldn’t understand that. It was love that had saved my life as a baby and it was love that drove him back to his own body. I felt like I hadn’t slept in a year and Dumbledore gave me a portkey back to the school so I didn’t have to deal with anyone as the Minister showed up. But he finally had to admit the truth after so many people saw Voldemort.”

Harry stopped again and Jim handed him a glass of water which he gulped down. Seeing how shaky he was Dean shoved a chair over and Harry gratefully collapsed onto it.

“When Dumbledore joined my he explained what had been going on, how he suspected Tom could use the link so he’d kept his distance to protect himself and me from than and that he was the one the prophecy was given too. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.. And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies… I was so mad after that, all these years he knew and yet every time I asked him if he knew why Tom had targeted me he said I was too young. If I’d known I could of been preparing, been more on guard. I kind of....trashed his office in my anger. School was finished so I got shipped back of to my relatives. And then we were attacked. We should have been expecting it, Tom now had my blood so no blood wards. I managed to save my Aunt and cousin but my Uncle...he didn’t make it. The Order had a guard on me for extra security so help arrived fairly quickly. Then the Ministry was attacked and I went along, it was a small attack without Tom present so it was good training. I had two guards with me the whole time. But then Tom arrived and everything went to hell. We ended up back in the Veil room and after that everything gets kind of...confused. It all happened so fast. I think I hit him in the neck with a severing charm, but I’m not entirely sure. Then Greyback was there, he was a werewolf who could shift without the moon. He lunged at me and I leapt back to avoid being torn open but I didn’t realise how close to the veil I was. I just remember a shock of freezing cold and then blackness. Next thing I remember is Jim bending down over me.”

“So a severing charm?” Caleb asked and Harry shrugged.

“Tom ended up about a head shorter. It’s meant for trimming plants, cutting fabric. Throw enough power behind it though and it’ll cut through about anything. That’s the thing about magic, yeah there’s stuff that’s classified as ‘Black’ but the rest? It’s pretty much all intent. Even a tickling charm can become lethal under the right circumstances.” Harry admitted bleakly.

“So the veil is some sort of window to other realities?” Sam asked, already mentally going over the possibilities.

“It used to be used to execute criminals. Shove someone through and they come up as dead on the records. I don’t know why it didn’t kill me. Then again it wouldn’t be the first time something went odd around me. Hermione joked that Death and I have a restraining order out on each other.”

“Have you tried to find a way back?” Sam asked and Harry shrugged.

“What’s the point? Here I’m a nobody; I finished my part in the war. If I went back...I have a life here, people who like me for me and not the stories told about me.” Harry admitted softly and Sam nodded.

“Don’t suppose you could make a pie appear?”

“Dean!” Sam chastised but Harry laughed and flicked his wrist at the table. Sitting in front of Dean was a what smelt like a cherry pie.

“It’s real and perfectly safe.” Harry told him and Dean dug in much to everyone else’s amusement.

“Yum.” Dean licked his lips as he finished.

John watched his sons from the doorway as they listened to the boy Jim had brought with him. How could they buy that story? He tensed whenever Sam touched the other young man, worried for Sam’s safety and not liking what he was seeing between them. And yet as he listened to the story, he could see the raw emotion in those green eyes, could hear the pain in his voice and he began to doubt his initial response. Was it possible the boy was actually telling the truth? He froze as Dean ate the pie but his son should no ill effects so he relaxed a bit. He slipped further into the room and Dean smiled at him. Jim looked over at him and John shrugged slightly. Jim smiled and nodded.

“So what do we do now? The demon knows we have the colt and obviously isn’t giving up if last night’s any indication.” Dean asked.

“We should pull back, find a safe place to plan from.” Caleb answered and Jim scowled, this was a family problem.

“Thinking like that gets people killed.” He started and stared into haunted green eyes.

“How?”

“Could see it on your face.” Harry answered with a shrug.

“Bobby’s?” Sam suggested and John frowned.

“We didn’t exactly part the best.”

“In other words you did something to piss him off again.” Caleb laughed.
“He’s probably the best bet, man’s more paranoid than the rest of us put together.”

“Bobby’s it is.” Jim made it final.

TBC...
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