Bonded For Life ⚡️ A Harmony & Jily story

Chapter 4 | Truth Potions & Identities Confirmed

Harry watched closely as the lookalikes opened their eyes. Once again, Hermione and Ron were in the background, watching silently. Harry moved back until he was standing between them. He did not want to be close to the imposters, did not want to feel anything towards them because of the faces they wore. Still, he couldn't look away from them.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Harry shook his head, feeling drained.

"This is unreal." His voice was low and his body was shaking. It was terrifying how quickly all his anger and hate had disappeared, leaving Harry feeling cold and numb. Somewhere deep in his brain, Harry was still upset. He could still feel lingering traces of his rage swirling in his clenched stomach but those traces were so faint, they might as well not existed. Seeing his parents alive and breathing, even if they weren't his real parents, had shook him to his very core. It was like he was suddenly knocked out of his body and was stuck somewhere between dream and reality.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, probably some soothing words that would bring Harry back to reality and put everything in perspective, but before she could speak, Remus started the interrogation.

"Open your mouths," he instructed with a commanding voice Harry rarely heard. In his eyes was everything Harry had felt before. There was a combination of fiery anger and freezing indifference, pulled together with hard determination — a mixture that created a side of Remus that wasn't used very often.

"What's going on?" asked the James duplicate. He looked around, bug-eyed with clear fear and confusion written on his face. His rectangular glasses were crooked, leaving Harry with a disgusting urge to straighten them. Harry quickly decided that these Death Eaters were good actors. He could not let them trick him.

"I said, open your mouths!" This time Remus's wand was pressed directly between the James duplicate's eyes as he made his demand. The copy's eyes widened but he opened his mouth and so did the copy of Lily. Remus used the dropper to place three drops of Veritaserum down their throats and Harry found himself leaning forward in anticipation.

It was obvious when the potion took affect. Their faces went slack and their eyes clouded over, their lips slightly parted. Suddenly, they weren't Death Eaters masquerading as Harry's parents. No, they were empty shells, how his parents' corpses should look. Harry just wanted them to close their eyes and lay down in a casket that he could place back in the ground. Then everything would be right with the world and he could focus on getting the locket horcrux from Umbridge.

Remus looked over his shoulder, his eyes asking if Harry was okay. Harry shoved his hands into his pocket and nodded stiffly, reveling in the sturdy presence of Ron and the comforting hand on his arm that belonged to Hermione. No, he was not okay but he could survive this.

Remus let out a heavy sigh and then turned to face the imposters. Then he began.

"What are your names?"

They bother answered at the same, a ball of words that the three teenagers and one adults couldn't decipher. Still, Harry's muscles tensed. There were ways to get around Veritaserum and on the off chance that these Death Eaters knew how to, Harry had to be prepared for the impossible answers.

"One at a time," Remus growled. A thick coating of frustration layered his words and Harry felt a strange mix of admiration and jealousy bubble in his stomach. At that moment, with fire in his eyes and a threat in his voice, Remus looked strong. He held a sense of authority that would rival any Auror and an air of power that Harry wanted to possess. On the sidelines with his shoulders slumped and his muscles tensed, Harry could only imagine how weak and — Merlin forbid — afraid he must look right now. Harry sucked in a deep breathe and took a step forward.