A/N: Hello there! And welcome to my story. First off, I'd like to acknowledge a few people for inspiring me with ideas, the first off being Senator of Sorcery for their story For In Dreams. Second, to Oracle2Phoenix for their story My Brother!. These two authors had these two ideas first and I acknowledge their input into my writing. Second, I would like to acknowledge the artwork for the story being the work of the amazing Jim Kay, who illustrated the first two HP books. Lastly, all rights and privileges of this amazing world belong, and rightfully so, to J.K.R, cheers to you J.K. for giving us a world to dream of. Thank you for taking the time to read, please feel free to review, all criticisms welcome, however downright malicious attacks will be ignored. Thank you once again, enjoy!
16/11/18: Howdy folks, so this is the new updated version of OAPAAP. Chapters 1-17 are all updated, the biggest updates are in chapters 1-2 though, however things have been added here and there. I did promise that I would put chapter 18 up today but I'm still not happy with the length. It's been hard to get my mojo back after all these months of inactivity and uni work, but I'm trying my best, especially since I'm without a muse or a beta reader. Anyway, enjoy folks and hopefully I'll see you soon.
The flight from Privet Drive: Chapter one
Once there lived a boy. This boy had unruly black hair and piercing deep green eyes. On his face, he wore a pair of broken old glasses which barely allowed him to see. This boy had a little sister, with blazing auburn hair and loving warm chocolate eyes. Her face perfectly sculpted with every part of her fitting just right. Their names...were Harry James Potter, and Madeline-Rose Lily Potter. Unbeknownst to these two young children, as they slept underneath a flight of stairs, that a world unknown to them would celebrate their names until the last days of Earth.
"Harry! Madeline! Time to get up!"
Unfortunately for these two young children, their family didn't quite think of them the same way as the rest of the world. Harry and Rose Potter are orphans you see, and their only living family that they knew of happened to be their 'lovely' Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley and their cousin Dudley. Petunia, ever the gossip, had a face which looked quite like a horse, but don't let her hear you say that. Her hair, a light brown, fell in curls around her face as the rest of it was pinned high on her face. Her husband, Vernon, was a rather large man, with a face like a walrus and a moustache to suite. Atop his head sat a mop of greying blonde hair. Unfortunately for everyone, Vernon had picked up more than just his build from his father, he had seemed to have picked up his sense, or rather lack of sense, in regards to alcohol. Spending most nights at the pub with his work mates, Vernon rarely got home before midnight, and sometimes wouldn't even come home till breakfast time, reeking of alcohol and only just sober. Lastly, there was Dudley, the podgy, younger, blonder image of his father, truly a Dursley if there ever was one.
Unfortunately for Harry and Rose, these three individuals had been their family for the last 10 years of their life. You see, their parents had died in a car crash when they were quite young, leaving Harry with a peculiar looking lightning bolt scar. Now the two lived in utter poverty, doing chores all day and barely eating morsels each night, if they got anything at all. Sometimes they were beaten, either by their cousin Dudley, or their ferocious beast of an uncle. But despite their hardships, through it all, the two siblings managed to love one another, using each-others presence as a means to survive the daily hell that was their lives.
The sudden banging at their cupboard had woken Harry out of his slumber. Slowly, Harry opened his eyes, rubbing the sleep from out of them before rolling over to wake his little sister up. Rose slept there, tiny compared to him. He smiled as he took in her sleeping state, glad that she was safe here with him, and that at least they got some time to be together before they embraced another day with the Dursleys.
"Rose, it's time to get up" Harry softly nudged his little sister awake as he turned on the light in their tiny, dingy cupboard under the stairs.
"Mmm, five more minutes, I swear I'll be up" Unfortunately for the both of them, Rose was not a morning person.
Harry had to suppress a snort, "Rose we have to get up, it's Dudley's birthday, and you know how they get when everything isn't perfect for their little Duddikins".
Rose slowly opened her chocolate brown eyes to meet her brothers deep emerald eyes.
"Morning Harry, has it really been a year since the fat lump had his last birthday cake?"
Harry chuckled lightly at his sister's comment. "Yeah, afraid so, come on, don't want to make Duddikins wait any longer".
The two siblings slowly got up out of their cupboard, sharing a kiss on each-others cheeks as they did every morning. Walking into the kitchen they spied Dudley's overtly large pile of presents and the scent of burning bacon in the air.
"Hurry up you two! Get breakfast going! Madeline, Go get the mail!" Shouted Aunt Petunia as she thrusted a pair of cooking tongs into Harry's hands.
Perturbed by his aunt's shouting, Harry set about trying to salvage breakfast as Rose went to get the mail, sending Harry a comforting warm smile, letting him know that everything would be okay. Meanwhile, Dudley Looked up from his plate of early morning birthday cake, mouth full to the brim. He looked up at his mother, shovelling another large piece into his mouth before asking.
"Mummy, where's daddy?" as he spoke, pieces of cake fell onto the table to keep their brethren company.
Petunia turned to him with a pale face and looked him in the eye before stating "I'm afraid daddy hasn't come home yet Duddikins, he said he'd be here though so don't worry".
Just as Petunia finished her sentence the front door slammed open and shut as Vernon Dursley walked into the kitchen reeking of alcohol, dragging Rose along with him from the front door. "Woman! That breakfast better be ready! BOY! WHERE'S MY COFFEE!".
Roughly shoving Rose off towards Harry, Vernon plumped himself next to Dudley and ruffled his son's hair. "Happy Birthday Duddikins! Enjoying that cake?".
Dudley turned to look at his father, rather sheepish as he responded to his intoxicated father,
"Yes dad, but the freak is taking too long with breakfast!", Harry glared at Dudley as Vernon got up and roughly cuffed Harry behind the head.
"Hurry up with breakfast boy! And you, Girl! Did you get the mail!?"
Rose looked up to Vernon cautiously before answering him, "Yes Uncle Vernon, the mails on the table for you", Rose quietly went over to help Harry with breakfast as Vernon started to sift through the mail.
Rose got closer to her brother before whispering into his ear, "There's a letter for you in the cupboard for afterwards, don't say anything".
Harry shot her a puzzled but thankful look as Rose started to dish up breakfast for the Dursleys.
"Dad, are we going to the Zoo today?" Dudley asked his father out of the blue. Vernon looked up from his morning paper to look at his son,
"No Dudley, 'fraid I've got a terrible headache, how about I take you tomorrow?"
"But I wanted to go today! Take me today dad!"
In a split-second Vernon cuffed his own son around the head, "I said no Dudley, now eat your cake and shut it!"
Petunia simply looked on as her son quietly ate his cake in silence. Breakfast was fairly subdued affair after Vernon's violence on Dudley, and before long Rose and Harry were back in their cupboard waiting to be ordered around for the day. This gave Harry a chance to read the letter that had come for him. Rose passed him the letter before crawling up next to him so she could look on and read along with him. Looking at the letter, Harry noted that it was very precise in its addressing,
Mr H. Potter
The Cupboard under the stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
Harry took a look at the back and noticed the emblem on the back, 'Hogwarts'.
"Well open it up Harry! Let's see whose it from!" Harry looked at the letter once again and slowly opened it up and read it to Rose slowly.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF
WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Along with the letter came a long list of supplies and books, including all sorts of odd equipment, such as cauldrons, a wand, spell books, and an assortment of 'potions' supplies. Harry gaped at the letter in disbelief, wondering if this was all a dream or just some sort of joke, or if it was actually real. Rose stared at her brother in disbelief before taking the letter from Harry, looking it over herself.
"Harry, this can't be real, can it?"
Harry stared at his sister for a bit before finally speaking. "I have no idea Rose, maybe we should ask Aunt Petunia, she might know something."
"Are you serious? That's a terrible idea! She'll tell Vernon, and then we'll...we'll get hit again", Rose started to sob against her brother's shoulder, "I don't want to get hit again Harry, it hurts so much. I don't want YOU to get hit again".
Harry wrapped his arm around his sister as she sobbed into his shirt, "Alright, we won't tell her, but we need to find out about it",
Nodding her head in consent, Rose extracted herself from her brothers' arms and wiped her tears away, "O-Okay Harry, we'll plan tonight okay?",
Deciding that asking Petunia was the wrong thing to do they agreed to plan a course of action into discovering this so called 'Hogwarts'. Before they knew it, Petunia had them out of their 'room' and set about doing tasks for the day. Harry was tasked with mowing the lawn, tending the flowers out front, painting the front fence with a fresh coat of paint, and lastly sorting out the garden shed so that Dudley could put whatever garden toys he received inside. Rose on the other hand was tasked with keeping Dudley satisfied food wise, bringing fresh pieces of cake and making him a spectacular birthday lunch and dinner, as well as cleaning Dudley's room in order to safely fit any and all new toys that Dudley received today. Working in the summer sun took a toll on Harry, and Rose made sure to keep him well hydrated throughout the day, bringing fresh lemonade and even some biscuits as he worked on through the day. Before long, it was dinner time, and Harry had come in to help Rose with the dinner preparations. They sat there in subdued silence as they went about diligently to create a fine meal for their 'loving' cousin and family. They silently dished up the meal and set it about the table, only being allowed a tiny portion of their own cooking and having to sit at the other end of the table, far away from Dudley and his father. Vernon mainly waffled on about drill bits and how the Germans and French were trying to wrestle in on the competition here in England. He made some rather derogatory comments towards the two nations, stating something along the lines of one was a coward and the other was a fascist dictatorship still. As dinner came to a close, Rose and Harry went about finishing up washing the dishes, waiting for their opportunity to escape to their cupboard so that they could plan what to do with Harry's new letter.
However, their luck ran out not long after they finished the dishes.
"BOY! GIRL! What is the meaning of this!",
Steaming into the room was a distraught and angry Aunt Petunia, waving in her hand the very letter Harry had received earlier that day.
Harry tried to cover it up, "Aunt Petunia I can expla-",
"There I was, so lovingly cleaning out your pigsty of a room when what do I find! A letter from that freakish school and that freakish man who left you two FREAKS here with us!", Petunia spat,
Rose started to her tears in her eyes, "Aunt Petunia please, we don't know anything about Hogwarts! We just got the letter this morning!",
By this stage, Vernon was fuming, his face turning a bright red as he stormed his way over to the siblings, "You dare hide from us, your caring family, letters from that freakish world! Well, I think there's only one course of action isn't there!",
Reaching across to grab a cast iron skillet, Vernon waved it threateningly around before setting his eyes on Rose. Sensing the danger that his sister was in, Harry stepped in front and took the blow to the face for her.
"HARRY!" Rose screamed as her brother fell to the floor, a gash bleeding profusely from his brow, "STOP IT! STOP IT! Leave him alone!",
Vernon smiled maliciously as he reared the skillet back for another hit. He was stopped from doing so however by the front door being blasted wide open. All eyes turned towards the hallway as an older man, wearing what appeared to be robes coloured midnight blue, accompanied by a hat with stars dotted along it, strode into the room with purpose.
"When I left the Potters here on your doorstep all those years ago, I expected from you to show the two the love and care that they deserved, and yet you have refused to do so!" The man spoke with a cool calmness to his voice,
"Obviously I was a fool to believe that any of you would be willing to change" The man said, "Thus, tonight, I will be righting wrongs. Miss Potter, please come with me, I'll help your brother up",
Rose nodded numbly as she walked over to the man, whilst he picked her brother up in his arms.
"Now just wait a moment, I expect compensation after everything we've done for these two! We've fed them, given them clothes, put a roof over their head!" Vernon sputtered out angrily,
The man turned to face Vernon, fixing him with a steely glare, "If you expect me to believe the measly food and water that you've given these two, plus the cupboard you call a room, are adequate, then you Vernon Dursley are a bigger fool then I",
And with that, the man strode from the kitchen with an unconscious Harry in his arms. The Dursleys were left stuttering as their niece and nephew walked out of their lives, seemingly forever.
Once the odd group left the house, the man turned to Rose, "You must have many questions Miss Potter, but they shall have to wait for now. I suppose introductions are required however?",
"That would be rather useful, sir", Rose nodded,
"My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore", Albus introduced himself, "And for many years now, I have watched and waited to see if your relatives would shape up. It appears that my waiting was all for naught",
Rose was livid, "You mean to say that you've been watching Harry and I whilst we were abused, starved and treated with utter contempt!",
"It is my deepest regret that I must confirm your beliefs, however I did so with a reason which shall be explained once we find ourselves somewhere safe", Albus explained, "Now, if you could please just trust me for one moment, and take hold of my arm, we shall go somewhere safe from your Aunt and Uncle",
Nodding her head slightly, Rose took Albus' arm with her dainty hand and held on for dear life as she suddenly found herself being what felt like being squeezed into a tube. Stumbling to a halt, Rose had to hold back the bile that was rising in her throat after taking such a journey. After regaining her composure, Rose looked up to see that instead of being outside of number 4 Privet Drive, she found herself looking upon a large country house.
"Professor, where are we?", Rose asked,
Taking a few great strides up to the front door, Albus turned to the youngest Potter and smiled, "This, Miss Potter, is the home of your Grandparents",
And with that, Albus knocked on the door of the home in front of them, the bangs of the knocker echoing throughout the twilight hour. It only took a moment before a woman with bright auburn hair, speckled with grey, came and answered the door.
"Professor Dumbledore, it's been many years, what do I owe the pleasure?" the woman asked,
"My dear Juniper, could I perhaps come inside? There is much to discuss", Albus gave her a tight smile,
Nodding her head, the woman called Juniper moved to the side, until she noticed the two children accompanying Albus,
"Professor, is that…are these my daughters' babies?" Juniper asked, her voice breaking with emotion,
Giving Juniper a slow nod, Albus pushed his way past her, and into the sitting room where he placed Harry onto a burgundy coloured couch. Albus' intrusion did not go unnoticed, as an older man with light chocolate brown hair came striding into the room,
"What's all the commotion about?", spying Albus and the Potters, the man promptly stopped and let his mouth fall to the floor, "Dumbledore, what's going on here?",
"Alexander, there are two people I think you'd like to meet", Albus said pointing to the Potter siblings,
The man named Alexander, Rose could only assume he was her grandfather, looked livid as he stared at Albus with a deathly glare, "10 years too late I might add! Look at these two, you know what they look like? They look like the kids we took out of Belsen! Filthy, beaten, malnourished kids. You knew what my daughter and that bastard of a husband of hers would do to them, but no, you had to place them there!".
"Alexander please, my intentions were to save the two children from what was left of Voldemort's followers, you know this!", Albus tried to reason,
"I don't care for your petty excuses Albus, you denied my grandchildren a childhood, you should have left them here, with us!",
By this stage, Juniper had regained her composure and came to stand by her husband, "Alex, we need to hear what Albus has to say before we jump to conclusions", Juniper said, taking a look at her grandchildren, Rose lying next to her brother as he laid their unmoving. "Not just for ourselves, but also for these two",
Alex nodded his head, "Alright, you've got one chance Albus, explain".
Dumbledore nodded his head as he turned to Harry, "I think that this is a conversation for all of us, so please, let me wake Harry up before we continue",
The older couple gave nods of consent as Dumbledore turned to the two Potters, "Miss Potter, I need to wake your brother, is that alright by you?"
Rose nodded her head slightly as she sat up and hopped off the couch to let the headmaster do his thing. Taking out his wand, Dumbledore casted an intricate spell, making Harry's body light up in different places all over, causing the old man to frown deeply. Shaking his head, Dumbledore used his wand once more to cast 'revenerate' onto Harry.
Sitting up with a start, Harry took in his surroundings quickly before his eyes came to Rose. Harry quickly grabbed hold of his sister and took her face in his hands, "Are you alright? He didn't hit you, did he?",
Rose shook her head as fresh tears came to her eyes, "I'm alright, you took the blow for me", Rose said the last part with her eyes downturned to the floor,
"And I would gladly do so again", Harry said as he laid a gentle kiss to his sister's brow,
A voice clearing their throat brought Harry's attention back to where he was, "Ah, right, where are we?"