Harry's Light

    Harry was confused about this new girl, Lainey. She knew a lot about the grounds to have been there for only two days, plus she seemed to know a lot about The Marauders, as well as Ron, Hermione, and him. She was confusing in herself. Cheery one minute, hiding her actions behind excuses the next.

    Maybe it was just because so many circumstances (that could be coincidences, he thought) were piling up against her. Her dad seemed to be a lot like Harry himself, but that could just be personality. And she seemed to know things that he only told Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore. The excuses she made up were feasible, he supposed, but nevertheless...

    He thought he ought to check out the robes she had been wearing that night. Maybe that would give him some answers.

    Hermione and Lainey sat in the library, giggling over Harry. "He's such a dunderhead at times," Lainey confided. "He seems to not have a clue of what he's doing."

    "You can tell that from two DAYS?" Hermione laughed. "I need to tell him to cover that better. But you're right, he can be pretty stupid. But he's always been there for me...and the truth is, I've loved him since third year, when I thought Sirius Black was after him."

    "Really? You've been doing a good job of hiding it, apparently. He doesn't seem to notice!" Lainey was feeling sympathetic toward her mum. She felt the exact same way about Seamus's son, Alex. Mum at home knew that, of course, but Mum here did not. "There's a guy named Alex who went to Ptolmey's School of Magic that I've known for forever. I love him so much, and he doesn't notice, either!"

    "Ptolmey's School of Magic? Never heard of it," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Where is it located?"

    "Well, it's a very tiny school in the south of Ireland," she lied, looking her right in the eye. "He lives in North England, too, but decided to go there instead of Hogwarts."

    "Oh," she smiled. Then, "Did you finish copying those? I want to work on Charms homework with you, if you didn't understand."

    "I got Charms," Lainey grinned decisively. "It's just that I, well, I kind of don't get Potions."

    "Did that greasy git throw you off?" Hermione asked, a distinct twinkle in her eye. Lainey gave her a shocked look. Mum? Criticize a teacher? That was totally off her nature! She never let Lainey criticize one of her teachers, back at home!

    "You don't look like the type to criticize a teacher," she countered to Hermione. Hermione shrugged.

    "Well, there are two reasons: one, if you hang around Harry and Ron long enough, you'll understand, and two, Snape IS a greasy git, there's just no getting away from it." Lainey laughed, tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. This, of course, earned a glare from Madam Pince, the librarian.

    "Maybe we should go," Lainey muttered to Hermione. "If I get one more glare from the librarian my study habits will be permanently frozen in Antarctica."

    Snorting decisively, Hermione grabbed her arm and led her out the large wooden door.

****

     Harry snuck up to the girls' stairwell without any trouble, and so began to ascend. He looked at the doors until he got to the final landing, which read 'Seventh Years,' just as the mirror image of this stairwell, the boys' dormitories, did. Quietly, he opened the door and crept inside, looking for the Lainey's trunk. He spotted it quickly-the golden initials on the side reading 'L.V.P.' Wait, he thought to himself. 'P?' Shouldn't it be an 'R'? Disregarding this thought, he went over to her bed and was about to open it when...

    He was hit with an immense surge of guilt. This wasn't something he had ever thought was right. Would he want someone to do this to him? he thought, his conscience finally catching up to him. Shaking his head, he left the dormitory, shaking his head at how low he could get just to know something.

    Finally, he decided to just ask her about what he had heard. After all...he wanted to be honest about it.

****

    Lainey sat at breakfast the next morning, wondering. What were her friends doing right now? Gabi, especially. She'd known Gabi since she was a baby, since their dads had met at Hogwarts, and her godmother, Ginny, had married Gabi's dad, making the connection permanent. Maybe right now they were at Quidditch practice, or sitting next to the lake, laughing over Professor Snape's latest exploit to undermine Gryffindors...maybe not missing her at all...

    "Lainey? Lainey?" a voice interrupted her reverie. "Lain?" she turned to see Uncle Ron looking at her. "You okay?" he asked, staring at her.

    "Oh, sorry," she said, blushing a little. "I'm fine, really. Just thinking about...home." She glanced down the table and saw Harry looking at her. He wanted to talk to her, she could tell from his eyes. Nodding, she got up.

    "Well, I've got to go. I have a ton of homework to do," she said to Hermione. Hermione nodded, but Ron just groaned.

    "What is it with girls and homework?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

    She reached the foot of the stairs in the Grand Entryway and waited. No more than a minute later, Harry strolled out the doors and over to her. He opened his mouth. "How did you-"

    "Instinct," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Want to take a walk?"

    He nodded, and they slipped out the front doors, being careful not to trip on the stairs. As they reached the lake, she looked at him. "So...what did you want to talk about?" she asked, sitting on the grass near the water's edge.

    "Well...I wanted to talk to you about, well, you," he said. Her mind went wild.

    'Oh, shoot, he's found out,' she thought nervously, biting her lip. 'What am I to do?'

    "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned at the upset look she had on her face.

    "I-I'm fine," she stuttered. "What do you-do you want to know?" She had resigned to the worst, and now she was ready to face it.

    "How do you know so much about the Marauders? And who they are, in the first place?" he asked her. 'Wait a second-he doesn't know?' she suddenly realized. 'How could he not know now?' Doing a mental victory dance, she looked up at him.

    "Well, my mum is a Mediwitch, and she had to interview a bunch of Hogwarts alumni after the incident with Sirius Black in 1981, and so, from some of his classmates-"

    "Learned about the code name, and their exploits," he finished. "Hmmm...I had no idea. I'd've thought Remus would have told me, but I guess it didn't occur to him. All right-your dad seems a whole lot like me, you know that? Maybe it's just a coincidence, but-"

    "Why do you say that?" she asked, looking at him curiously. He squirmed uncomfortably. "You heard me that morning out by the lake, didn't you," she said, more of a statement than a question. He gulped and nodded.

    She laughed aloud. "Harry, it's okay. Honestly-do you think I'd really get mad at you over that?!"

    "So-who needs you around here, do you think?" he asked. He suddenly realized how rude that sounded, and muttered, "Sorry, I didn't-

    "Mean it like that?" she asked, smiling. "I figured as such. But honestly, I think YOU need me, more than you realize." She looked at her watch all of a sudden. "Oh, shoot, I've got to get my books! See you in class, Harry!" With that, she ran across the lawn and back up to the school.

    Harry stood as well, shaking his head. 'Great,' he thought to himself. 'Now I have more questions than answers. I'll go to Hermione.'

    Hermione, meanwhile, was sitting with Ron at the table in the Great Hall, looking at him. "Ron?" she asked.

    "Yeah, 'Mione?" he asked, looking up at her quizzically.

    "Erm...do-do'you reckon Harry would say yes if I-erm-asked him on a date?" she finally managed to squeak, looking away from her red-headed counterpart. Instead of looking completely stunned, he burst into hysterical laughter.

    "You're kidding, aren't you, Hermione?" he laughed. "Hermione?" He stopped, suddenly realizing. "You're not kidding, are you?" She shook her head. "Well-judging by Harry's behavior at the Burrow last summer, and his lack of ability to concentrate on Quidditch...I'd say you're probably the reason. So yes, Hermie, I think he would."

    Her smile grew huge, and she gave Ron an impulsive hug. "Thanks, Ron!" she squealed, running out the door. "See you in Herbology!"

    Shaking his head, Ron turned back to his toast and marmalade in total confusion over the state of events at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

     ****

    Harry Potter sat on the lawn outside the greenhouse, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive for Herbology. Suddenly, Hermione came running over, beaming at him. "Hi Harry!" she called as she came closer. He waved back at her, unsure of her odd behavior.

    "Hello, Hermione," he said pleasantly, but blushing all the same. She looked kind of cute, with her brown hair blown out behind her and chocolate eyes twinkling with laughter. "Ready for another grueling day of Herbology?" She laughed, a merry, twinkling laugh that made him smile in spite of himself.

    "Not quite," she said with a chuckle. "There's something I have to ask you first." He looked up at her, confused. 'What in the blazes was she about to ask him?' "Harry...will you go as my date on next Hogsmeade weekend?" she asked nervously, looking for his response. She panicked suddenly. "Of course, if you don't want to, I'll understand per-"

    "'Mione," he said, smiling. "Of course I will." Her mouth widened, and she hugged him. He held her back, smiling to himself, eagerly awaiting the next Hogsmeade weekend.

****

    Later that night, after an exhausting Quidditch practice, Ron and Harry plopped down on two of the sofas, looking dead. A thought came into Ron's brain.

    "Hey Harry," he said suddenly. "Are you still wondering about that Lainey girl?" he asked, curious.

    "Yeah," Harry replied, sitting up. "Do you know something?" Ron nodded. "Well, what is it?"

    "Harry, she looks an awful lot like you."

    "No Ron," Harry said sarcastically, "she looks a lot like the Queen of England. Don't you think I've realized by now that she looks a lot like me?"

    "Bloody, Harry, no need to sound like Malfoy," Ron commented, holding his hand up. "But seriously, she even has your eyes. Honestly, how many people do you know who have eyes the EXACT same color as yours?" Harry looked thoughtful. "Exactly, Harry-no one. Plus she has Hermione's-Hermione," he said, realizing.

    "What, Ron?" He was talking to the air, though. Ron had disappeared up the stairs. Seconds later, he was back, dragging a disgruntled, pajama-clad Hermione to the couch.

    "Why in all graces did you drag me down to the common room at eleven thirty at night?" she groaned, flopping down on her back on the couch. "Couldn't this wait till morning?"

    "No, Hermione," Ron persisted. "Did you happen to notice that Lainey has your hair color exactly? And its texture?"     "Of course I did, but Ron-"

    "And how she acts EXACTLY like you, right down to your penetrating glares and perfect grades?"

    "Yes, but-"

    "Harry-there's something about this girl, something about her...that just tells me she's not from this time." Hermione and Harry stared at Ron as though he'd gone mad.

    "Ron," Harry said slowly. "Have you gone off your rocker this evening?"

    "No, Harry! I'm serious, mate. Let's start at her arrival. She was sorted into Gryffindor, after not only arriving late but also not being on the train. She looks right at us, as if she knew who we were. Right off, she stares at Hermione as though she's an outer space alien, and then slips and starts to call me Uncle. You notice but just kind of file it away like the git you can be-" Harry's mouth dropped in indignation, but Ron held up a hand. "Then she seems to know already that Hermione makes better grades than I, oddly enough. She proceeds to go to McGonagall's office afterwards, which wouldn't seem suspicious, but instead of telling us where she was going, she slips off without a word. Then she doesn't even have to follow Hermione to the common room, but seems to know her way already, plus she seems to recognize the Fat Lady as if she's met her before, which she wouldn't have, having just arrived. The next morning, she wakes up early, really early, and I meet her in the common room. She forgets that it is Thursday, not Tuesday, as she seems to think, and wipes an expression she has on her face as soon as I tell her she looks exactly like Hermione. Plus she knows the expression I get when I'm about to play a trick, which she has never before seen in her life. With me so far?" Both Harry and Hermione were looking at him, stunned.

    "And you know all this, how?" asked Hermione faintly.

    "I'll get to that later. To proceed-she completely knows how to get to the lake without getting lost, and says a lot of things, that according to Harry, would be advice he'd give to his own daughter. Then she knows, in Transfiguration, not only who the Marauders are, but that they were also Animagi. That was not told to anyone but the Marauders, Snape, Harry, Hermione, and myself-suspicious in itself. Then, she screws up the name of the school she went to just last year, something most people would tend to remember. Finally, according to Harry, she seems to know not only his body language and eye expression after only TWO days, she can finish almost every sentence he says. Weird, anyone?"

    Hermione gawked at him. "Wait...if she knows so much about us...without us telling her-"

    Ron smiled at her. "But what if we told her? When we were-"

    Harry caught on. "Grown up? Wait, then. What if her last name...her last name! Rettop!"

    Hermione realized it at the same moment. "Reverse it, and it's-"

    "Potter."

    At that very moment, Lainey came down the stairs.