Hadrian Potter stared into the whiskey that filled his glass and wondered how he had gotten to this point.
He had moved out of his parents house as soon as it was legal and had moved into sirius' old family town house.
Sirius hated the old house and on Hadrians sixteenth birthday had signed the lease over to him.
Grimmauld Place was dirty, creepy, and dark, but it was better then living in his parents house for one more day.
He had apperated here at exactly twelve O'Clock on his seventeenth birthday.
He had not waited for anyone to wake up, he had just walked past the wards and apperated out of there and to the alleyway next to grimmauld place.
He had barely been there for an hour trying to clean the place up a bit when he had found the old stash of fire whiskey hidden in the old study upstairs.
That had led to him here brooding in the kitchen at 3 AM with a glass of fire whiskey in his hands.
He wondered what would have happened to his life had it been him who had been pronounced the savior all those years ago instead of his brother.
Would his parents have loved him like they loved his brother? would it had changed anything?
He really didn't know but it lifted something inside of him at the thought that somewhere, in a world where he had been the chosen one, his parents had loved him.
He knew of course that his parents did love him a some way, it was just hard to split the attention when you had the boy who was going to 'lead the world to a brighter future'.
Hadrian was nothing special in comparison, just an ordinary wizard with no big dreams or ambitions.
It was almost sad.
He took another sip on the golden liquid and smiled at the burning trail it left down his throat, only to choke when a light suddenly surrounded him.
there was a loud crack and a bright flash and then it was over.
When he woke up he was standing in what could only be a muggle house, the pictures were so still and empty that a shiver ran down his back. The floor was covered in a ghastly pink carpet that clashed horribly with the pale green walls.
He stood and walked over to one of the pictures. He raised an eyebrow at the unusual looking family that stared back at him.
The man and woman where completely different, the woman was so thin that he had no doubt you could see her ribs, it was paired with a long neck that in no way looked like a swans and more like a giraffe. The man on the other hand seemed to resemable a hippo, he was tall almost towering over the woman and child in the picture and he had no neck to speak of only rolls of fat.
The little boy on the other hand looked no older than eleven, he seemed to be on his way of impersonating his father, he looked at least ten pounds over weight and with his arrogant and bored expression he could have been a younger clone of the man.
the only thing that the weird family had in common was the blond straw like hair that already seemed to be disappearing on the mans head.
He shook his head and reached out to pick up the photo to get a closer look only to freeze when his hand seemed to just go through the frame.
He tried to pick it up again, but still nothing changed as his hand drifted through it like he was a...ghost.
He swallowed thickly and tried to tell himself that he wasn't dead, that it was just a magical accident and once he got to the nearest magical hospital everything would go back to normal.
With a firm nod to himself, the seventeen year old spun on his heel and tried to apparate; tried being the key word there.
He felt like he had hit a brink wall and bounced off right back into the muggles living room.
He clutched his head and groaned, it felt like he had just been run over by a herd of hippogryph.
Once he got his bearings together, he went towards where he assumed the front door would be He didn't know why someone had put wards around a muggles home but he wasn't to keen to find out while his body was imitating a ghost.
He only realized how bad the situation really was when he attempted to leave the property.
He had walked straight through the front door and started to head down the street only to get bounced back only a few feet away from the muggles house.
The next hour was spent in frustration as he attempted to get out from the wards that were keeping him in the vicinity of the muggle home; every attempted ended in failure.
Hadrian paced the living room with long strides, He had gone into every bedroom and had found nothing that could explain his situation, in fact the only thing that was even remotely magical were the various hogwarts invitation letters that seemed to be all over the house.
In fact the house was completely empty and seemed to have been for days, so he had no luck in trying to find someone in the house to help.
Finally heaving a sigh, he sat down and put his head in his hands.
No one would come to look for him because everyone knew that he had planned to leave his parents house as soon as possible and now that knowledge worked against him as it would be weeks before anyone even considered that he might be missing and not just hiding out in Grimmauld place.
With nothing else to do he curiously looked down at the one of the letters scattered across the floor and his eyebrows slowly crept up as he read who it was addressed to.
Mr H. Potter
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey.
He was sure he had no other relatives with the name potter, as a half blood he had many cousins from his fathers side (his mother had always said that the only good thing about the magical worlds obsession with inbreeding was that everyone was pretty much family) but none of them had the potter name.
He stood up and began to look at the letters and found that one seemed to be the only one addressed to The Cupboard under the Stairs. The rest seemed to be addressed to Mr. H. Potter
The Smallest Bedroom
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging,
Surrey.
One of his faults had always been his inability to ignore his curiosity so he walked towards the hallway and to the only space in the house that he had not checked over yet.
He knelt in front of the cupboard door and stuck his head in. He wished he hadn't.
He stared at the tiny cot that was squished into the back of the tiny space, it was filthy covered in dust and dirt and he swallowed harshly at what could only be small blood stains on the bed and surrounding areas.
There where crayon pictures that seemed to be hung up on the wall at the very back of the cupboard, as if trying to hide them from site.
There were broken pieces of toys and crayons that seemed to be especially treasured.
he slowly moved back out of the cupboard and tried to hold back his horror.
Someone who was most likely family was being treated like an abused house elf.
His family.
He closed his eyes as fury completely overtook any other emotion and with a loud bang he slammed his fist onto the wall next to him.
The fury drained away as fast as it came as he stared at his fist and then the wall.
With eager motions, he repeated the action only to sag in disappointment as his hand went straight through the wall with no resistance what so ever.
He went over his actions in his head, trying to figure out what had been different that time
He blinked startled as he realized how simple it was. It would be easy to assume that it was sort of like accidental magic in that the stronger the emotion the more likely it would occur.
He thought back to what his little cousin must have had to endure while living here and he grabbed the anger that welled up in him and tried to open the cupboard door. it turned slowly at first until without warning his hand slid though the doorknob and it twisted back in place as if mocking him.
He glared down at the doorknob with his best pureblood sneer but the doorknob did not appear intimidated.
Seems like he would have to do this the hard way.
The next few days were spent practicing how to touch things like he was solid. It was going frustratingly slow. It seemed every step he went forward a new complication would come and push him back two.
He had been running his fingers over the soft fabric of the couch with a triumphant smile when the front door opened for the first time.
It was the family that he had seen in the photos that seemed to be trying to take over the living room.
They were quite distressed as they came in, the younger boy was holding his hand to his bum and crying hysterically, the mother seemed to be close to joining him.
The father was puffed up indignant and ranting about 'The Freak'.
Hadrian listened to his rants with fury.
He knew that it was a high chance he was talking about his newly discovered cousin and it made him want to stand up and punch the bastard in the face. He knew he was angry enough that it had a high chance of actually hitting him and he was so very tempted but one thing stopped him.
He had no idea if they would blame his little cousin for the apparent haunting. From his rants it sounded like they blamed him for everything from having to take time off work with no pay and causing global warming.
He had no proof that they would really blame the boy but he didnt want to chance it and so he curbed his violent thoughts and watched the muggle family with disgusted eyes.
He had never had a problem with muggles before this, his mother being a muggleborn and all had made sure that any thoughts of unjustified hating muggles were completely removed from his mind before they had a chance to start. But staring at the pieces of hippogryph dung that stood in front of him tested that to its limits.
Wizards would never even think of abusing children, it just wasnt done. Children were a gift from Magic, to be cherished and loved. Even the thought of mental abuse was enough to make even the darkest wizards Grindelwald would never harm a child.
The thought that muggles could actually live with themselves after how he suspected they treated his cousin sent him into a rage.
He remembered all those reports in the muggle newspaper his mother had insisted on subscribing too. He thought of the murders and rapes of children as young as two and he knew he shouldn't put them in the same category as all muggles but he couldn't help the disgust that filled him.
It had not seemed real to him when he had read about in the papers, the thought was just too reprehensible to even contemplate.
But he had spent hours sitting in that cupboard, trying to imagine how terrified his little cousin must have been and it had effected him more than he was willing to admit.
The next few days were spent avoiding the disgusting muggles and staying in the small bedroom that he suspected was now his little cousins. He was both glad that they had moved him up here at some point and furious that they had an extra room that appeared to be unused until recently that his little cousin could have used.
After a hour and his little cousin did not turn up he began to worry, three hours and he was in the early stages of panic, when the fifth hour came and no signs of his return arrived he began to get hysterical as he thought of all the things that could be happening to him.
What if the dursleys had killed him? what if they had hidden his body and it would never be found? what if he was sold into slavery? what if he had been kidnapped by people worse than the muggles here?
The what if's began to drive him mad as he began to camp out in front of the door, waiting for his cousin anxiously.
it was nine hours later that he arrived.
He was a tiny tyke, short, skinny, with pale skin and the signature potter hair. He wore glasses that seemed to be holding on only with the help of tape.
He was completely adorable.
But there was one thing that made him pause.
He had vibrant green eyes.
Lily Potter nee Evans eyes. there was no way that was possible. The potters always had brown or hazel eyes and Hadrian had been the first in generations to have green eyes. There was no way he could have the exact shape and color of his mothers eyes unless.. unless he was her son.
He walked behind the tiny boy in a daze, following him up the stairs and to the small room upstairs.
It wasn't until he was in the room that he realized that his possible little brother was staring at him with wide shocked eyes.
"can you see me?" Hadrian asked slowly
The eleven year old nodded his head slowly and Hadrian tried to think about what to say now.
He hadn't even thought of the possibility that harry would be able to see him, not since the muggles had arrived and had seemed completely oblivious. Did this mean that only magical people could see him or just harry?
He waved those thoughts aside and walked towards the boy.
He crouched down just before him as harry stumbled back, trying to get away.
He waited until harry saw that he wasn't doing anything before bowing his head slightly and smiling at the boy.
"I'm Hadrian Potter, Blessed Be"
The boy blinked large green eyes up at him
"P-potter?" He stuttered out before blushing
"Harry potter, nice to meet you"
Well at least he has manners, even if they were muggle.
Hadrian gracefully moved from his crouched position to sitting Indian style, waiting to see what the boy in front of him would ask first.
"You are a potter?" He asked hesitantly
Hadrian smiled warmly at him before nodding.
"To my knowledge, iv never heard of a harry potter on the family tree, do you know who your parents are?" Hadrian asked softly
Harry seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding to himself
"My moms name was lily and my dad's was James."
Hadrian didn't let anything other then warmth show on his face, he didn't want to scare the boy away with showing his shock or disbelief.
"was?" he asked when he caught onto the word.
"they died when i was a year old, a dark wizard killed them to get to me" He answered softly
Hadrian swallowed dryly
"what year was that?" he asked lowly
The boy, no doubt hearing th change in his voice, looked even more hesitant but spoke anyways.
"October 1, 1981."
The night was spent slowly getting to know harry, for the night he ignored all thoughts of alternated dimensions and time travel and just focused on the abused orphan boy.
He kept topics away from heavy stuff after that and instead regaled the boy with some of his quidditch games.
The boy appeared quite fascinated and gasped at all the appropriate parts.
"...And then right before the hufflepuff seeker figured out i hadn't actually seen the snitch i pulled up and he slammed into the ground."
Harry stared at him with awestruck eyes
"did you win the game?" he asked excitedly
"Of course i won the game! Every potter is a natural on the broom!" He told the other boy
Harry paused
"do you think.. i'd be any good?" He asked
Hadrian didn't hesitate
"Of course! How could you not be! Your a Potter if i ever saw one!" He reassured the other boy.
"Have you met other potters?" He asked quietly
It was now or never.
he took a deep breath before starting to speak.
"i think its time i told you about myself"
The next hours were spent talking about being born as the older twin of James and lily potter. Of my parents finding out about a prophecy that told of one of the twins changing the world for the better.
Hadrian had not had a lot of magic growing up, to be honest no one expected he would survive after he was born. He was sickly and tiny while his younger brother was healthy as a baby could be. Albus Dumbledore had pronounced his brother would lead them to greatness when he was old enough. He was given the name The Chosen One. Hadrian was mostly ignored as he grew up as everyone showered their attention onto his brother.
That was not to say his family didn't love him, it was just hard to ignore Jeremy Potter.
Jeremy was bright and fun, he didn't let his fame go to his head or anything. he was strong and courageous, everything a savior should be. Hadrian on the other hand had been the bookworm of the family, spending most of his time in the potter library instead of with his parents or brother.
It wasn't all bad of course, he had been very close to all his uncles and his tutors.
When he had gotten older his relationship with his parents deteriorated until they barely spoke a word to each other. Their views were just too different from his own, he had not grown up being preached to by his parents of how he should behave, he had grown up forming his own opinions on things from what he read and heard.
His relationship with his brother was distant at best, they had nothing in common and so just sort of went separate way.
It had all come together when he had had a row with his father a day before his seventeenth birthday, he didn't even remember what it was about, only that it had been over something stupid and pointless and in the end he had left at the first chance just a few hours later.
".. Thats when the light appeared. Suddenly i was standing in this house, not able to touch anything and not knowing how i got there" He finished.
The boy was staring at him with wide eyes
"your my brother?" He asked with a broken voice.
Hadrian could do nothing but reply affirmative.
He barely had time to brace himself before the elven year old threw himself at him.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around the suddenly weeping boy.
He had never had a chance to be an older brother to Jeremy but as harry relaxed in his arms he couldnt help thank whoever had given him this chance.
The next day was hectic as the muggles avoided harry and by extension hadrian. It was discovered that if Hadrian was in the same vicinity of the boy then he could leave the house. With very little convincing on his part harry agreed to sneak out to go to Diagon Alley and with some explaining from hadrian the eleven year old finally summoned the night bus. Harry had been very excited at what he saw as his very first piece of magic, Hadrian did nothing to correct him.
They reached the entrance shortly, and Hadrian not knowing if the wizards or witches would be able to see him straightened up his appearance and put what his mother called his 'Pureblood mask'.
Harry had stared at him shocked at the sudden cold look on his face but had relaxed when Hadrian had winked at him and gestured to the door.
It turned out that no one was able to see him except for harry. It was both a relief and a disappointment.
Hadrian had not wasted anytime in dragging the boy towards the alleyway entrance, wanting to get to the library as fast as possible.
It was only when the bricks moved aside that he realized how different this world actually was.
The alley was completely different then he remembered. Buildings that he remembered being there only yesterday had disappeared and stores he had never heard of appeared to have taken their place. The people where wearing old fashioned robes and pointed hats and it was all mixed in with people wearing muggle clothes.
The Fountain that should have stood in the middle of the alley was completely gone, so were the entrances to the other alleyways leaving only Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley.
Harry had ended up having to show him towards a bookstore (Of course the libray wouldn't be there Lily Potter died before she could start the project), the rest of the day was spent in the bookstore as Hadrian scanned the books and finding one he remembered helping him a lot with his potion work, handed it to harry to read while he searched for clues.
Finding out where their universes differed had actually been fairly easy, it seemed like in this world's gellert grindelwald was defeated by Albus Dumbledore five years later than in his world.
In Hadrians world Gellert Grindelwald while a well known ruthless wizard had only terrorized the wizarding world for about a year if less and the quick action to defeat him made anyone with thoughts of becoming a dark lord hesitant.
But gellert grindelwald ruled for six or seven years here and it had caused a big impact by creating a Dark Lord that the books only ever addressed as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
He had found that ridiculous until he had found the accounts of the people who had been caught and tortured for speaking his name. He wondered if maybe their was a taboo on his name or something similar, He had never seen someone use a taboo quite like that.
Harry couldn't help much as he had only just introduced to the wizarding world a few days ago and so had little knowledge of the wizarding world. But what he could tell was disturbing; If this hagrid man was true then there was a possibility that the Dark Lord was still out there.
The thought that someone so vicious was still alive and with a grudge against his new found brother made him want to hurl but he calmed himself and swore he would not let anything happen to the boy.
they used one of the galleons that harry had brought with them to buy a book on the laws that had been passed in the last century, and then ignoring any protest (not there were many) he dragged harry down into Knockturn Alley and instructing the boy to ignore the peddlers that were trying to scare him. Harry did an amazing job of impersonating Hadrians 'Pureblood Mask' and walked right through the crowd.
Hadrian had to hold back a slight smile when he saw how much harry sagged in relief once they passed the peddlers and started down the Alley way.
From what harry had told him, Harry was this worlds 'Chosen One', And wasn't it ironic that both of his younger brothers would be the 'Chosen Ones'. He remembered how the public had jumped on Jeremy like vultures on dead meat. and he did not want that for harry but he also did not want him to go back to the muggle house.
That left one other option for the moment until he could figure out if he still had access to grimmauld place.
They both stared at the Building in front of them hesitantly
the sign was old, rotting and covered in dirt but you could still make out the words on it,
Nightmares Lodging.
It's outside looked like everything you would expect from an Knockturn Alley motel, but surprisingly the inside was very warm and homey. They had only just walked in when a older woman bustled into the room and beamed at them
"Hello, dear! Come in, come in!" she practically dragged harry in and Hadrian raised an eyebrow at the womans excitement.
"We don't get a lot of guest you see" she explained while fixing harry a cup of tea "we didn't have the money to get a building in Diagon Alley and it was always my dream to open a small hotel. I found this place and while no the best of locations was cheap enough to buy"
She hummed to herself absently while waving her wand around the bewildered boy who was soon wrapped in a deep red blanket and holding a cup of steaming mint tea.
Harry looked over at him pleadingly and Hadrian chuckled before walking behind the boy.
"Blessed Be, my name is Harry Evans" Hadrian told him.
Harry stared at him for a second, confused, before he smiled in relief and with new found confidence repeted the introduction word for word. Hadrian made sure to push harry's head forward in a bow.
The woman froze for a second, before smiling at him again softer this time
"Blessed Be" She replied almost reverently.
Hadrian stared at the womans unusual reaction, 'Blessed Be' is a fairly common and traditional way to greet people in magical England and most of America.
He could understand if he had chosen one of the more rare greetings but Blessed Be...
He tuned back into the conversation as harry finally stood up.
"it's late i should head to bed" Harry told her apologetic.
"Oh, of course. Let me just get you your room key and then off to bed with you"
Hadrian watched her thoughtfully before following harry up the stairs.
He would begin his research tomorrow, for tonight he had a little brother to read to sleep.