A/N: I started this fic for one simple reason. In many of the tales where Harry's brother is the Boy Who Lived; he turns out to be an utter prat along with his parents.

I decided to go against that.

All I can warn everyone for this Prologue is not everything is as it seems. Should you continue to read this tale, expect a few surprises here and there.

And now…

Onwards.

Declaimer: Besides OC, characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Contrary to popular belief; Godric Charlus Potter was no fool.

He knew all too well what he represented to the wizarding world and his so called 'adoring' fans.

And he quite happily made it well known how he detested every moment of it.

To them, he was supposed to be the epitome of all that is light and good, their own personal savior and messiah.

He was only bloody nine years old. Not even his cat was that daft, and the stupid thing got stuck in a new tree weekly.

But what it truly came down to was simple; he was to always obey Albus Dumbledore because the man's word was law even though he was only a school headmaster. Let's not forget how he should hate anything evil; which really meant anything slytherin. Especially the colour green.

Ridiculous.

His parents were sadly no better in his ever growing opinion. He used to love his father when he was younger, the older man would always try to spoil him rotten and sneak him various treats and snacks before dinner. His father was also a marauder: part of the best group of pranksters to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts. It was impossible not to love his silly grins and bright personality, especially when he always tried his best to play with his son and show that he is loved. But the older Godric grew, the more he began to see his father never did himself. The man was more of a child then his own nine, almost ten year old son, and that thought hurt. He couldn't trust his father with anything serious; something he knew could potentially become dangerous once he was older. James was also terrible at managing the Potter's accounts, and were it not for his dear deceased grandfather; they would be living in poverty by now with all the 'donations' the man loved to make to the barmy old headmaster. Not that they would ever tell Godric why they were giving the man practically their whole fortune of course.

It was getting to the point that even the goblins knew his father was incompetent and instead sent all account information for him to handle. He couldn't do everything of course, but the goblins were adamant that they would only deal with him from now on. He knew he would be the Lord of house in less then six years, but it terrified him to know that a child was better at handling money then a fully grown adult. He'd lost count of how many times he had to formally apologize to the goblins for his father's rude behavior in the bank when once again he wasn't allowed to make a large transaction and couldn't help but count the days until he could take control as Lord Potter.

One thing was for certain; after that day arrived, Albus Dumbledore would never see another gallon of the Potter fortune. That thought never failed to bring a smile to his face.

Unfortunately his mother was no better then his dear father. The woman had… 'changed' for lack of a better word, since Hogwarts; as Remus sadly informed him. His godfather often remarked on how kind and just she used to be in school, how she was one of the strongest witches of their generation. He would love to mention how she prided her muggleborn status and sought to change the ministry's views and laws against muggleborns.

But that all changed when Godric was three, though through no fault of his own as Remus would warmly assure him of.

The mother he knew now was quite a vain thing; there simply was no better word to describe her. Sure she loved him, he knew that much was obvious, but she seemed to love what he represented more then who he really was. He could never remember her reading him a story at night or acting motherly like Mrs. Weasley. Instead she would make sure he kept up with his magic training, something he couldn't understand why he had to do in the first place. Sure his magic was nothing to laugh at but he knew for a fact that none of his other friends had aurors teaching them advanced spells before they even started Hogwarts. She would always be stern with him when it came to his training and warned him never to drop in his levels, even if he was suffering from magic exhaustion. He knew it was because she was worried for him, but still it hurt.

In public, his mother was the epitome of a perfect pureblood wife. She could seem docile while also showing off just how powerful of an opponent she was if threatened. Her dresses were of the best make and clearly showed off the family's incredible wealth. Not to mention she understood her way around pureblood lingo. All in all, it was easy to mistake her for a pureblood, and Merlin help anyone who tried to say different.

His younger friend Draco would often remark in dinner parties how she seemed more pureblood obsessed then his own mother, which was honestly saying something given that the woman was a Black.

Needless to say they both thought her a hypocrite.

The young Malfoy was always good company in social outings, and as soon as he could break away from his parents he made sure to head towards the younger boy, much to his parent's growing displeasure. Despite his youth, Draco was quick with his tongue, and his snarky wit never ceased to amuse him. Not to mention they both secretly agreed that the wizarding world was quite barmy with how much attention they paid to Godric's personal affairs. Dumbledore of course would become annoyed whenever he saw the two young heirs interacting and more often then not tried to 'kindly' tell Godric to enjoy the company of the more light oriented children. They both couldn't help but sneer angrily when the man would say such a thing, especially with his damning twinkling eyes. It soon became too much for Draco to handle in a polite fashion, the younger boy was highly volatile when angered after all. Sneering slightly while still exuding perfect poise the young blonde calmly asked Dumbledore why he was so interested in whose company Godric was seen in? The eight year old had then looked at the elder wizard with the most innocent expression and proceeded to wonder aloud if perhaps Dumbledore had some pedophiliac tendencies. They still shared a laugh every now and then at the expression the old man had on when he noticed everyone had paused and listened to the young heir. Seeing that annoying smile slide off his face was completely worth the punishment his parents had later given him for allowing such a degrading thing to be said.

It was at those times that he was forever thankful to his godfather's lover. Sirius had cracked up when he'd heard of Draco's comment and had congratulated them both for such a delightful experience in an otherwise dull gathering

Sirius was an oddball in his opinion. The man could be just as childish as his Father but at the same time knew when it was time to act like an adult. After the war he had even made peace with his family and accepted being the Lord of the Black family once more. Of course his father didn't understand why Sirius would want to make peace with his family and had childishly ignored the man for a week until Remus had knocked some sense into him.

Sirius was everything Godric hoped to be someday, just not in the way anyone would expect. He was the son of a marauder, so of course he loved his pranks, but he loved more having the skill needed to deceive others and get away without being caught. He rather enjoyed his sneakiness. He also admired how the man went against his family to make his own path in life, but still knew when he should honor some of his duties. There were plenty of times that Godric wished he could just say no to some of the things his parents put him through, but they were still his parents and he had to respect that. Even if he couldn't respect their sometimes more questionable decisions.

Sirius was his hope for who he wished to be in the future, a strong and just man who answered to no one, even if everyone was not aware of it. He wanted to be his own person, not a light wizard… but not a dark one either.

Just himself.

Sirius had completely understood him and in a show of good faith had told him he wasn't as light as he portrayed himself to be either, neither was Remus. The two of them helped him to understand that not everything classified as dark was evil. It was one's intention that made the difference. Likewise they then told him not everything light was good either. Sirius had secretly told him how he could never trust the headmaster, and warned Godric often enough of the same, he had taken those words to heart and with Draco's help could clearly see how the man would cleverly manipulate everyone to follow his orders.

He was rather shocked that Dumbledore hadn't been a slytherin to say the least.

For Sirius to understand such a thing, he couldn't help but wonder just what Dumbledore had done to open Sirius's eyes, since he knew the man had been loyal to the headmaster during the war.

As he watched his parents set up the decoration for his tenth birthday, he couldn't help but muse that it was all thanks to Sirius that he was starting to question many of the things he had taken for face value in the first place.

Though the man himself obviously didn't know such a fact.

He sighed softly and thought back to a night a few days ago, and the strange things he'd heard then.

Godric frowned as he walked closer to the kitchen. The training session today had been brutal. The auror apparently could give a rat's arse about his status and instead spent most of the time trying to hex him. Needless to say he was exhausted and desperately wanted a glass of water before bed. As he heard his parent's voices murmuring from behind the closed door, he decided that probably wouldn't be the case.

Groaning softly he turned to head back to his room before perking in curiosity as Sirius's own voice joined in. Biting his lip he gave into his curiosity and pressed his ear against the door to listen in, curious on what they could be discussing so late at night.

He heard his mother sigh angrily. "Why are you mentioning this now Padfoot?"

He heard a loud scrape as one of the kitchen chairs was moved. "It's his birthday Lills… he would be eight today... a sweet eight year old that you-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" His father practically growled, making Godric curious on whom they were discussing. "You know why we had to do it!"

Sirius laughed morosely then. "Yes James, a son for a son." He could practically feel the anger radiating off of the taller man. "After all, everyone knows that's what families do; even purebloods give away their own-"

"What would you have had us do then?!" His mother had practically screamed. "We were told it was for the best, we can't even see him Sirius! I don't even know what he looks like or if he's even being taken care of, but I had to do it!"

Sirius scoffed. "Why? Because he told you to?"

A loud sound was heard from inside the kitchen, making Godric jump in surprise.

"I would never have done it." Godric leaned closer to the door to better hear what Sirius was saying, the words now becoming soft. "I would never have given away Harry."

"Well he wasn't your child now was he?" His mother had muttered spitefully.

He frowned when he heard the cold laugh sounding from the animangus. "He's not yours anymore either." There was a pregnant pause as the words seem to sink in before he heard soft footsteps approach his hiding place. "If I ever find him, I'll make sure to keep him the hell away from you two."

"Padfo-" His father began tiredly.

"No." Godric moved silently away as he noticed the doorknob being turned. "You made your choice seven years ago James, and now I've made mine."

Seeing that the conversation was coming to an end, Godric hurried to his room, all thoughts on getting a drink forgotten.

That overheard conversation had been bothering Godric lately, especially whenever he noticed the pain that seemed to fill Sirius's eyes. He knew if things continued in such a direction his parent's would soon lose the man's friendship.

Running a hand through his messy hair he turned his attention back to the plans he had prepared for the day. His official birthday party would start in only a few hours, but as always the Weasley's had made sure to come by early.

He usually didn't mind the company, though their two youngest weirded him out. Ginny was just another overzealous fangirl. Honestly the seven year old loved to follow him around like a lost puppy whenever they visited. He couldn't even be rude to her thanks to his family's friendship with the Weasley's, not to mention his mother and Mrs. Weasley's seemed to have got it in their heads that he would someday marry the silly thing; much to his ever growing horror. There was no way at all that he would ever even think about marrying her, and he definitely didn't appreciate the false hope they loved to give her. Besides the fact that she couldn't even talk in his presence without blushing and stammering, she also looked like his mother a bit too much for his comfort, and as much as he loved his mother, he didn't want to marry her mirror image thank you very much.

Then there was Ron. If he never heard another word about the Chudley Cannons and how the kid was so going to play for them when he was older, it would be too soon. The eight year old was a far cry from Draco, and more then once he'd itched to hex the darn prat. The kid seemed to have it in his mind that they would be 'great' friends in Hogwarts even with the two year age difference and would always try to seem more grown up when around him, which had made more then a few people cringe at the pathetic attempt.

It was clear to him that the younger boy just wanted to share in his fame, and to say Ron made him angry was an understatement.

Thankfully Fred and George were the polar opposite of their siblings, or he would have cursed the family ages ago for the younger ones alone.

The two of them were the ultimate pranksters, and aimed to beat the maunders in that endeavour, something they both were already well on their way to accomplishing. What no one else seemed to notice was just how intelligent the two had to be to perform all the things they did. They couldn't use magic yet like him, but instead made potions and used some old runes in order to play some simple but effective pranks on their family.

Godric loved them.

The three of them had become friends quite quickly, and had been inseparable ever since. They were some of the few that knew Godric was questioning the values of the so called light side and also were the only ones that knew what he had planned for today.

Speaking of which…

Looking at the time he grinned when he noticed it was only an hour now before the party began; they had plenty of time for their mission today.

Narrowing his eyes he signaled to Fred that it was time. The red head nodded at him discreetly before alerting his brother. Giving him their trademark Cheshire grins they split up.

The plan in this sense was rather simple.

Fred was to go into the kitchen and start sobbing hysterically to capture the attention of all the adults. He would continue to cry and not answer any of the adult's questions until he was signaled to stop. Effectively trapping the adults with an irritable child for as long as the distraction was needed.

George on the other hand would start pranking his siblings mercilessly, along with anyone that tried to head upstairs.

From there though, is where things became difficult.

Godric had already sneaked into his father's study to borrow the man's invisibility cloak, which he would need for this plan to work.

After running the overheard conversation through his head, he decided that whatever happened to hurt Sirius had to do with his family, and anything that his family wished to forget about…

Was conveniently hidden in the attic.

Since he could walk his mother had warned him time and time again to never enter the attic, usually with the horrible excuse that it could be dangerous or harmful.

He couldn't help but snort. What could be more dangerous then letting a child learn dangerous spells and dueling from fully trained and wand happy Aurors?

He now knew the excuse was simply to cover up that they were hiding something up there.

In a way, it made a lot of sense. He very rarely saw them enter the attic, but they always seemed different when they did. There were no jokes from his father or soft smiles from his mother; it was one of the few rare times that he ever saw the two serious.

And that sparked his curiosity all the more.

Taking a deep breath he paused just outside the attic door. His heart was pounding loudly in his chest as he felt himself fill with foreboding. Somehow he instinctively knew things would be different once he entered, that his life from this point onward would never be the same.

He snorted loudly and opened the door.

That had never stopped him before; his family was from Gryffindor, a silly inexplicable feeling wouldn't stop him. Not when he could be so close to maybe uncovering a dark family secret.

Looking around curiously he couldn't help but feel mildly disappointed that most of the things in his view point were just a few old trunks and cardboard boxes. Maybe he had been wrong; maybe there really was nothing to see up here. Walking around he smiled when he eyed some of his old baby toys, before frowning in confusion.

There was a small stuffed black dog on the top of one of the boxes. It was charmed to bark silently and wag its tail. Picking it up he was surprised at its good condition; he knew most of his old toys had been wore ragged from his rather energetic care as a toddler.

He paused and studied the toy intently before frowning in confusion and dread.

This toy wasn't his.

Swallowing thickly he placed it back in the box before walking away from it. Most of the boxes held old family albums or clothes, nothing all that interesting really. Besides the odd toy he couldn't see anything incriminating.

He spoke too soon.

In a small corner of the attic was a small light blue trunk. It was slightly frayed from age but still in working order.

That however wasn't what made him pause, but rather the name engraved on it.

"Harry…" He whispered in slight shock before slowly heading over to the small innocent looking trunk. He didn't know what he was planning on when he first started on this mission of his. Honestly, he hadn't even thought he would find anything. It's just he couldn't stop thinking about that night and decided if there was any way to take away the pain clouding Sirius's eyes, he would find it.

Even if he didn't know the full reason on why Sirius was sad to begin with.

He turned the small silver key and tried not to jump when he heard the lock click softly and open. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he looked inside.

The first thing that greeted him was a picture. It showed and small and beautiful baby, with pale white skin and dark ebony locks. The baby's lips were rose red and he couldn't help but smile at how utterly adorable the little thing was.

Then the baby opened his eyes.

Godric stilled and took a deep breath as things seemed to spin around him.

Green.

The baby in the picture had emerald green eyes.

Just like his mother.

Throwing all caution to the wind he began to dig through the box frantically, his breathing becoming more and more erratic at everything he found.

He saw the birth certificate. July 31, 1980.

He would be eight now, just like Sirius had mentioned.

He felt himself grow more panicked as he uncovered this dark secret his family had been hiding from him and desperately began to hope that it wasn't real, that it was all just an elaborate dream he was having.

How could he have a baby brother and never know about it?

He paused when his hands landed on a letter and greedily he began to read the words.

Never had he known that such an innocent piece of parchment could be so condemning.

At first when the words finally made sense he had been filled with disbelief, then guilt, then an overwhelming amount of anger and hatred.

His hands began to shake as he read the aged and tear stained letter.

A brother.

He had lost a brother.

Albus, in his ever infallible wisdom had written to his parents a few nights after the legendary Halloween attack. He had expressed his apologies for asking so much from them and then began to beg them to take Harry to live with Lilly's relatives. They would tell the relatives that Lilly and James had died and to take in the boy. He then went on to say that maybe Harry was even a squib, and would be better off in the muggle world, away from all the dangers wizarding society presented him. The rotten old man warned them that the babe would only be a hindrance to Godric as he grew older, and that the Boy Who Lived didn't need such a distraction when it came time for him to face off against Voldemort.

He almost puked when the man had even warned them that they may be best for them to never tell Godric of his younger brother, that both would be better off pretending the child didn't exist.

He felt himself hit the floor painfully as he just stared at the letter.

It didn't make any sense.

His mother hated her relatives; she would often remark on how they hated all things magic and were oddly obsessed with being 'normal'.

And yet she had sent her youngest son there, by the orders of one man alone.

Godric had never felt such hate for the headmaster then he did now.

Because of his 'celebrity' status his brother was sent to magic hating muggles.

And his parents had allowed it.

He gasp in surprise when one of his tears hit the parchment, making the ink words dull and fade. His chest started to hurt and he couldn't breath. A wretched sob escaped from his lips as he just kept staring at the paper in disbelief.

He wished it wasn't true, he wished that his brother was here. That is was all a lie.

Yet the attic stayed silent besides his soft sobs and distantly he could hear the uproar the twins were causing to cover up his sneaking in here. He couldn't deny it no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't pretend it was all a lie when the evidence was practically shoved in front of his face. He knew his family wasn't perfect, but he never would have thought they would go so far, that they would actually condone such a thing. It felt wrong and it made him feel dirty to think of them as his parents.

What kind of person would willingly give up their own child? Who would willingly send a magical child to a magic hating family, knowing full well that there was a large chance the child may be abused.

He couldn't take it. Crumbling up the letter in his hand he quickly swiped one of the smaller baby pictures before heading downstairs.

He'd had enough.

Grimacing he entered his room instead of heading back to the party. He couldn't face his parents after what he just learned, he didn't think he would ever be able to see them the same way again.

He knew he would have to go and face them, that he would have to plaster on a smile and pretend everything was ok while they celebrated his birthday. Yet he knew he couldn't just yet. He would be filled with so much anger and confusion, they would easily find out that he knew something.

What he needed was to calm down, to think of a plan on how he would find his brother, and who would help him for that matter.

"You made your choice seven years ago James, and now I've made mine."

He paused as his hazel eyes filled with determination.

Rereading the letter in his hand he smiled darkly.

Albus, the fool, had included an address.

It was a start; from there they could possibly find his baby brother.

His eyes darkened in anger as he planned out how he would approach Sirius.

No matter what, he vowed to himself; before it was time for Hogwarts, he would have his baby brother. Merlin help whoever even thought to separate them then.

He snarled angrily at the thought of Dumbledore making such a thing come to pass.

He would make the man regret giving away his younger brother, and he would enjoy every moment of it.

Shaking his head he calmly walked out of the room, a smile already firmly plastered on.

Signaling to the twins that their mission was complete he chuckled to himself.

They had no idea the monster they'd just unleashed.

After all…

Godric Charlus Potter was no fool.

He would enjoy teaching them this the hard way.

A/N: I hope everyone had enjoyed the first installment of this tale and will continue to read on. If you did, please do leave a review, it makes me so happy to see people enjoying these simple tales I write.

Also if you're wondering why Godric seems so mature for his age, keep in mind he was robbed of his childhood once they began 'training' him. After that he had to learn and act like an adult or be harmed. More of this will be explained in later chapters for the ever curious.

Thank you.

Till next time.