In Another Life: Year 1
An A/U fic by Faber Wolffe
PG-13 simply to be on the extremely safe side (this fic will get darker through the years)
Summery: A/U Harry makes one tiny decision that changes the course of fate for all. This retells the events of Year 1 because of that choice. (will be continued through the other books if people like it and sorry for the bad summery this is too weird to be explained)
Disclaimer: I don't own HP and I'm not after money… well I am in search of an actual job but I'm not trying to make money off this fic and ::is smacked by other personality:: ouch! Okay back on topic! Please don't sue me as I am simply a rabid fan with a twisted mind and too much caffeine, too little money, and way too much free time.
A/N: As I warned you in the summery this is extremely A/U, slash may or may not be mentioned later (this fic is still sketchy even in my own mind), there are several original characters (who I will try very hard not to make mary sue!) and I will quote the actual book at points but it is to be read as part of the story. This will happen mostly in the beginning and will be marked with italic writing. However most of this will come from the dark inner recesses of my disturbed mind. If any of this bothers you then hit the back button and no hard feelings.
Chapter 1 "One Decision"
"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Harry went back to the kitchen but not before pocketing the letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and tried to finish his breakfast not really paying attention to what was going on around him.
Someone had written him. Him! On top of that they knew he lived in the cupboard. Harry didn't know whether to be excited or frightened. Perhaps it was just a joke Dudley and Piers were playing on him after the boa constrictor incident, trying to get his hopes up and then make him look like a fool. Then again…
"May I be excused?" Harry asked.
Receiving a grunt that Harry took to be approval he left the table, and forced himself not to run to his cupboard lest he attract unwanted attention. Closing the door softly behind him he flicked on the bare yellow light bulb inches above him. Then giving into his excitement tore open the parchment envelope.
The contents spilled onto his lap.
He didn't know why his hands trembled as he picked up the letter, causing the parchment to quiver in his unsteady hands making it difficult to read the words.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards
Harry paused. This was ridiculous, but at the same time something about it was so bizarre it had to be true. The Dursley's would not pull something like this, even if they did have a sense of humor. This was too detailed, too complex for Dudley or even Piers.
He read on.
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Of all the questions that raced into Harry's mind, looking back he was rather amused at the first one that he voiced.
"We await your owl?" he muttered to himself, confused.
This was really, really, weird.
Harry brooded over his letter most of the day, even during his chores. Finally Petunia noticed how slow Harry was being about the dusting, rubbing the same spot on the tabletop for nearly five minutes.
"What's wrong with you, boy? Are you trying to put a hole through my table?"
Harry didn't know what prompted him to say it, except maybe his surprise at being addressed by Petunia but it just rolled off his tongue. "Aunt Petunia, do you know anything about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"
Petunia paled, so white Harry was concerned she might pass out.
"W-what did you say, boy?"
Harry swallowed hard. "I asked if you knew about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Pink was now flushing into his aunt's face. "Where did you hear about that?"
"I-I got a letter…"
Petunia sat in a chair shakily. "A letter?" she repeated faintly.
"Yes, ma'am," Harry said, deciding it would be best to try and keep on his aunt's good side. Silence reigned for several minutes and Harry (against his better judgment) foraged ahead. "It said I was accepted."
"Oh of course you were!" Petunia shrieked, jumping up, and pacing, making Harry recoil somewhat afraid she might strike him. "How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that school – and came home ever vacation with her pockets full of frogspawn, tuning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"
For the impact that all these words had Harry might as well have been slapped. "My mother was a witch?" he asked shakily.
"Her and your bloody father both! She met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – abnormal – then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"
Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"
"For your own good! We tried to stamp all this unnaturalness out of you!"
"What happened to my parents?!" Harry demanded, this suddenly became more important than anything. "How did they die?!"
Petunia was beyond hearing, beyond reason. She was still ranting. "It doesn't matter! You aren't going! You are not going to become part of that underworld of freaks!"
"THEY WERE NOT FREAKS!" Harry bellowed and without thinking raised his hands and slammed them onto the oak table.
His hands made contact and the table began to splinter, but this was nothing compared to the effect the motion had on Petunia. Thrown across the room, she hit the wall and slid down.
Harry's breathing was labored and his thoughts were becoming more panicked and more deranged. He did that. He was a wizard. His parents… what happened to his parents?
Petunia looked up meeting Harry's eyes, which were blazing but whether from power or fury she couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was for the first time truly frightened of the figure before her.
"Come with me, boy," she hissed walking upstairs.
Harry followed, the blood still pounding in his ears.
He followed her into her immaculate bedroom. She shifted through a drawer reaching into the very back she found an envelope similar to the one Harry had received this morning. Even the handwriting looked the same.
"There," she hissed. "There. That will tell you all about them."
She stalked out, slamming the door behind her. Harry heard her pick up the phone, demanding to speak to Vernon. He smiled to himself as she yelled that she didn't care if he was in a meeting that this was important.
Harry pulled out the worn parchment. The envelope was already opened and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who had opened it.
But these thoughts were put aside in the wake of what he read in the letter.
The letter was long and would have taken quite a while to read, even if Harry hadn't been reading sections over and over and finally rereading the whole thing, finishing just as he heard the door slam, signaling Vernon's arrival home, but Harry didn't move, except to trace the lightening fork on his forehead, unbelievingly.
"I'm a wizard," he breathed, lying on the bed. "I'm a bloody wizard."