Truths, Friendships and Families

Chapter 1: Secrets

James and Lily Potter couldn't understand why it had to happen to them. As they lay in the hospital bed in St Mungos, their stillborn child in Lily's arms, tears lining their cheeks, wondering why it was them who had to lose their child and not someone else.

Later that night, as Lily was sleeping, James snuck out of their hospital room, his cheeks sore from his tears of sorrow. He walked down the corridor of the hospital until he heard what sounded like a baby crying. He froze in his place, tears filling his eyes at the thought of his own child and how he would never get to hear them cry.

He turned to face the place the cries were coming from, and found a window peering into a room that held a single baby in a cot.

He looked from side to side and found that no one was coming for the child so he opened the door beside the window and entered the room, slowly. He walked over to the cot and took the small baby with black hair and bright twinkling green eyes into his arms, trying to soothe the baby.

He saw the name tag on the cot, it read:

Harrison Malcom Phoenix McDore

Mother: Minerva Isobel McGonagall-Dumbledore

Father: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Date of Birth: 08/06/1980 (7 weeks before his due date)

He was shocked, he didn't know that his professors were married.

An idea came to his mind. And idea that was so wrong but felt so right. An idea that he knew would get both him and Lily in trouble if anyone found out the truth. But an idea that he wanted to carry out anyway, because it would mean him and Lily being happy. It would mean him and Lily having a child to raise.

James peered out of the doorway and saw that no one was around. He silently snuck out of the room with the baby still in his arms, the baby was now sleeping again, being rocked by James had calmed it, so they weren't making any noise.

He snuck back into Lily's room and saw that she was still sleeping, her cheeks red from crying. He walked over to her and woke her up hurriedly.

"James, what's going on?" Lily asked tiredly, confused as to why he was waking her in such a hurry.

"We need to get out of here, are you okay to walk. I have a plan, and I know it's wrong, but I want our baby back. I know it isn't going to happen, but now we can have a baby, a baby that people will think is ours. We just need to cast some glamour charms on him, then he will look like us, maybe block some of his power as well so he won't be as powerful as he can be considering who his parents are." James explained.

"James, this is wrong. Put the baby back."

"Don't you want our child back, Lily?"

"Of course I do, James."

"We have the perfect opportunity to have our child back now. I know he won't really be ours, but people won't know that. We can be parents. We have everything we need, so we're prepared."

Lily looked to be debating the whole idea but eventually she sighed and nodded in agreement. James helped her out of bed, the baby still in his arms, and led her out of the room. Before the left the hospital though he put a charm on their rooms' door which would alter the memories of those who entered the room so that no one knew their child was still born, he also had Lily put their dead child who looked a lot like the child that they stole and was in their hospital room with them into the cot in the room James found Harrison in, changing his appearance so he looked exactly like the boy in James' arms and was wearing the same clothes.

Then they left. The stolen child in James' arms. Still sad over the loss of their own child, but knowing they can still be parents had lifted their spirits.

When they got home they placed a long-lasting glamour charm on their new son, making him look more like them, and they placed blocks on his powers, cutting down his power so he would be as powerful as expected with them as his parents. They filled out the birth certificate they had ready at home, changing his name to Harry James Potter, and putting a drop of his blood on it to make it nearly unchangeable and untraceable.

Then they were done, not feeling the slightest bit guilty at what they had done to their professors. Not knowing the pain their old Headmaster and Head of House would feel when they woke up the next morning to find out that their son was dead despite thinking he was perfectly healthy the night before. Not knowing how many tears would be shed.

Harrison Malcom Phoenix McDore was no more.

…

James and Lily died fifteen months after they took Harry in as their own son. Albus Dumbledore placed the boy with Lily's last remaining relatives for the Blood Wards that would protect him, not knowing that it was actually his son he was placing on that doorstep, and that the Blood Wards wouldn't work to their full power as he was not actually related to the Dursley's through blood.

…

10 years later:

Harry woke up to his cousin shaking his shoulder. Opening his eyes he found that they were in the smallest bedroom which was plain other than the two small, old mattresses on the floor with holey stained blankets and thin old pillows on them. There was also a small dim lamp in between the two mattresses which were pushed against opposite walls in the small room. His cousin was leaning over him, trying to get him to wake.

"Vernon wants us to make breakfast. Are you feeling up to it?" Dudley asked, worried.

Last night they had received a pretty bad beating from Vernon, who was Harry's uncle and Dudley's father. But Harry always gets beaten worse for infecting Dudley with his freakishness. Dudley never used to get beaten, he was treated like a prince, but then he did something the Dursleys considered freaky like the things Harry did, and then they started treated him the way they treated Harry. Although they treated him slightly better than they did Harry, but still they abused them both.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's not as if I have a choice anyway." Harry replied, sitting up which was a struggle with his sore body.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Dudley said as he carefully embraced his cousin who was more like a younger brother to him.

"Thanks." Harry whispered in reply.

The two of them walk downstairs together after getting changed and tread carefully into the kitchen to find Petunia and Vernon sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. Harry and Dudley got to work making bacon, eggs, sausages, beans and mushrooms, with orange juice for their drinks.

Whilst Petunia and Vernon were eating breakfast, the doorbell rang. Vernon yelled at Harry to go and get it, so he did.

He opened the door to find a middle aged looking woman with black hair in a tight bun and green eyes, covered by her square glasses. She was wearing what appeared to be green tartan robes of some kind.

She smiled kindly at him.

"Good morning. I am here to speak to Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley."