Go Away

Harry was gone.

The month between Harry's trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid and when he left for Hogwarts went by too fast, leaving Alisha unsure of—

—everything.

The first thing to cross her mind when Harry returned from his trip was to find herself glad he'd still gotten Hedwig even though he'd gotten her a day earlier than in the original timeline, which Alisha found herself admitting made her feel less guilty about changing the timeline simply by existing in this world that wasn't her own.

Although her aunt and uncle weren't happy about the appearance of the snow-white owl becoming a part of their household, eventually, Petunia capitulated as Dudley thought having an owl was the coolest thing ever. However, she did remind him not to say anything to the neighbors.

The rule of thumb was to look normal, after all.

Harry also brought treats for them as he promised, the chocolate frogs instantly putting a look of horror on Petunia's face as they jumped around and they giggled over the cards that were inside, along with the other special treats that Harry brought back, leaving her wishing she too could go to Hogwarts.

"After all, it would be less boring than staying here doing things with Aunt Petunia, acting like a proper lady."

In the other world, she had been a pretty standard girl and eventually an ordinary young woman, with average school grades and no athletic or creative ability at any level, meaning she was just a normal girl hoping for an everyday life, which felt pretty ironic given how her Aunt Petunia expected for a relatively everyday life before Harry Potter showed up on her doorstep, yet thinking of that made her wonder how they showed up that time around.

Whatever the differences, it would be some time until she could look into and figure out what had changed, so she spent her time trying to interact with Harry and Dudley, only to feel—

There was an empty feeling, an empty feeling that couldn't be filled with things like chocolate frogs or Aunt Petunia begrudgingly admitting Hedwig was fine because Dudley found it acceptable, for no matter how much she interacted with them, there was that worry of saying or doing the wrong thing, let along hanging out with Aunt Petunia which hung over here, not to mention it didn't feel as if she could quite connect.

And it frustrated her.

It wasn't what she'd left the other world for, for this kind of frustration and empty feeling, but Harry leaving for Hogwarts only made that feeling worsen. She'd sat there between Harry and Dudley in the backseat of the car as they discussed where the platform must be while Vernon still quipped it must not exist.

It must not exist—

In her world, the world it came from, it did not, yet she knew in this world it did, let alone how to enter. And Harry, her brother, was also sure it must be there. "But it must be there because Hagrid said so, but it might be like Diagon Alley where it was behind that wall in that inn."

"Utter nonsense," Vernon muttered.

"But maybe it's like that?" Dudley said.

Alisha frowned, finally deciding to say something in response to the conversation. "But that can't be because wouldn't Muggles notice?"

She, of course, could now freely use that word, as Harry dropped that word along with the meaning of that word, although she'd been tempted to read her brother's school books to add to her information as she could. Still, she wasn't sure the curious bookworm was the image she wanted, as she wasn't really into books in that manner like Hermione was.

"True. I'll go and see."

"Me too!"

"Absolutely not!" Aunt Petunia said. "He does not need to draw more attention to herself, and while I may not know much about these kinds of things, such as knowing where that platform is, I know that he's not supposed to draw attention to himself. Why that giant buffoon..."

"Hagrid is not a buffoon!" Harry said.

"Yeah!" Dudley followed up with.

Alisha looked at the ceiling of the car, feeling instead left out, disconnected. "If only there were a diagnosis for someone whose feeling disconnected because they fell into the fandom, but there can't be a name for such a psychosis as that's thought of as being impossible and would be treated as something else. Maybe I need some help, but there's nobody to really turn to regard how I feel."

"Fine," Petunia sighed. "I am right, though, about Harry not drawing attention to himself."

"Fine," Harry sighed. "If it's possible for you to come, I'll let you know, and you can go next year to see Lily and me off."

"I'd like that," Dudley said as Petunia said, "You don't know that."

Which made Alisha feel sick, not knowing yet if she was magical or not as Uncle Vernon piled Harry's stuff so her brother could cart it off with his owl, ready to meet the Weasley family, and she couldn't say anything, but a muttered goodbye and stare as he left. And soon, Dudley was gone as well.

That left her with Aunt Petunia, and feeling even lonely. "Perhaps though I'm feeling lonelier than before, so maybe I did connect with them a little bit? But what am I to do now, now that I am here alone with her?"

She wasn't sure about connecting with Aunt Petunia the following year, the one person who wanted normality to the point of thinking all girls liked pink, thus decorating the room in pink. However, there was the chance that Lily—the Lily she replaced, in fact, liked pink. After a month of not figuring that out, the fact she'd still frustrated her, as did how fast time seemed to be progressing, with no memorable moments occurring that could help her cement herself to this reality, made her worry the disconnect would continue.