Ok, so this is my first one. So be nice. Constructive criticism is welcome. Key word: constructive. Flames will be used to bake cookies.
I have most of the major plot worked out. However, I don't have all the details worked out yet, so your input could cause some major plot bunnies to come bouncing my way!!
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Full Summary: James Potter has a sister, Serena. The night of his murder, Dumbledore denied her the chance to raise Harry in the Wizarding World. She left and vowed to never come back. 15 years later, she is asked to return. She does, but not because Dumbledore asked her to. She does it to see Harry, correct the mistakes she made with several people (Severus, Lupin, and Harry of course among others), and to take back the life she left behind. HBP and DH never happened.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I could buy characters, I would. But unfortunately I have to live with borrowing JKR's magical world instead.
Chapter 1 - 1981
Quite frankly, I was exhausted. Every bone in my body ached with a dullness that could only be attributed to the fine art of standing around a bloody cauldron for more than 13 hours. For all its usefulness, Blood – Replenishing Potions take a ridiculously long time to settle. About time someone invented a quicker way to make it.
Turning the flame down to a mere flicker, I ladled the top and middle thirds into beakers. Those would go to St. Mungo's, while the bottom third would remain in my care. I sighed. The war was getting worse and worse every day; with more people showing up for work under the Imperious or with obvious signs of being on the receiving end of a Cruciatus. Fortunately, I had the luxury to work in a small potions lab which did not have many employees and was protected by strong wards.
The screech of an alley cat startled me out of my musings. As safe as The Cornerstone Cauldron was, I was much safer sitting down in front of my own fireplace at home. I extinguished the flame and put all the ingredients away; the cauldron I set in a vat of water for it to soak overnight. All the dangerous things put away, I removed my lab robes and hung them upon the rack next to my other robes. The chill of the lab startled me, and I struggled to suppress a shiver. Quickly I pulled the comfort of my day robes around me, and after a second glance I tossed on my cloak as well.
The bottles of Blood-Replenishing Potion still remained on the table. The Mungo's portion I placed carefully in a box and set next to my desk. A quick glance at the clock told me it was too late to take it there, so I cast a slight warming charm on the box to keep it at room temperature. I took another glance around the lab. A twinkle in the moon's light caught my eye, and I huffed in annoyance. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix would not be happy if I left those vials here. Each vial was placed in an individual pocket inside my robes, and I cast a Cushioning Charm around all of them. I glanced once more around the impeccably spotless room, and when I could detect nothing wrong I left.
As soon as I shut the door I could feel the wards sliding back into place. Well, my wards that is. Dumbledore had insisted that I place wards around my lab even though I found the building's wards to be quite sufficient. And though I initially argued with him at first, there was no harm in extra protection.
Down the hall there was still a light on in one of the other labs. I knew Master Greenweld, the owner of the research laboratory and residing Head Potions Master, had already left. And I was the only one working tonight… who could it possibly be? A shadow briefly covered the light, and instantly I pulled out my wand. Intruders, eh? I knew how to deal with them.
Stalking towards the light, I strained to listen for any sound they might have the mistake of giving off. The gentle scratch of a broom on a stone floor caught my attention. What thief would have the idiocracy to sweep the floor? As I pondered that question, another sprang to mind. Why didn't the wards sound? I reached out and placed my palm against the wall. The tingle and slight pulsing of the stone walls spoke of un-breached wards. Who was this person, and why aren't the wards down?
Not being able to stand it any longer, I stretched to full height and burst into the lab. A clean lab, and a slightly startled young wizard sweeping the floor, stared back at me. I relaxed. I had forgotten that Thomas, Master Greenweld's son, comes by every night to sweep the lab. I gave him a light smile and bade him goodnight.
I checked the rest of the rooms before I fully left the building, but they were all spotless. As usual. Not normal though was a glance I threw over my shoulder back at the building. Cornerstone was not a large facility by any means. Sandwiched between Ollivander's and a second-hand robe shop at the end of Diagon Alley, I'm surprised anyone can find it. But in its own way, it was just as spectacular as Gringotts. Not as pristine on the exterior perhaps, but still spectacular.
A gust of wind blew my thoughts away. Damn it was cold! Without a further thought, I Apparated to a street nearby my house. Normally I would walk, but tonight it was just too cold to do so. My cloak wrapped itself around me, as if it knew how chilly I was. I almost stopped to thank it before I realized that I was in the middle of a muggle street with wizard attire. And that I was not alone.
Dozens upon dozens of tiny witches, warlocks, goblins, vampires, ghouls, and other mysterious characters ran amuck about the streets and sidewalks. My first thought was that I've finally gone insane. I pinched myself. It hurt. No, I was definitely still sane. A high pitched cry dictating something or another about candy brought me back down to earth. I remember one of my friends telling me about a muggle holiday called Halloween. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that it was, indeed, Halloween. October 31, 1981 to be exact (well, it was. Now it was well past midnight). From what I remember of her description, muggles were expected to dress up as witches and other magical creatures and beg each other for candy. I snorted. What a ludicrous holiday. Although it did offer me some disguise and saved me from jumping into a bush, for there were adults that were dressed in a semi-similar fashion. I quickly brushed past a few children and bounded up the stairs into my flat.
Immediately, the wards touched my senses. Something was wrong. There was someone in my house.
I didn't even bother removing my cloak; I simply withdrew my wand and, for the second time that night, prepared to attack. And for the second time that night, my so-called intruder was a harmless person. Albus Dumbledore sat upon my couch watching the stars. In the distance one could see fireworks.
"Good evening my dear," he murmured in a low voice. Although he tried to keep it out, I could feel the loss and despair radiating off of his voice. My brow furrowed and my lip unconsciously found its way between my teeth.
"Headmaster?"
He finally turned his head toward me. Though there was not a prominent source of light in the room, I could clearly see the glistening streaks that clear crystalline fluid had left behind, though there was currently only one tear falling from his eyes. My fear multiplied exponentially. There were few events that could cause the great wizard to break down, and obviously one had just happened. His lachrymose sky blue eyes met my fearful hazel ones.
"Please Albus," I whispered. "Tell me it's not true…"
The Headmaster broke eye contact. He stared at the teacup in his hands, which I noticed were trembling slightly. His hands, however, were no match for my muscles. After his confirmation that my fears were not unfounded, I lost all control over myself. A squashy armchair somehow found its way behind me as I slumped gracelessly into its folds. I was shaking so horribly than I almost didn't catch his voice when he began to speak.
"Less than 30 minutes ago, the wards around Godric's Hollow fell. As quickly as I could, I gathered the inner ranks of the Order and we Apparated there. But we were too late." My eyes shut, and I could feel the prickle of tears. I did not attempt to stop them from falling freely down my face. His somber voice continued.
"The house was completely destroyed; the Dark Mark hovered above the remains. As we combed the territory, we found James' and Lily's bodies." I stiffened. I had seen some of the cruel torture Voldemort and his followers could execute. None of it left any piece of flesh unscathed.
"Neither of them were tortured, simply tossed aside. A quick, painless death." My rigid body relaxed a fraction. At least my brother and his wife didn't suffer. Wait a minute. The Headmaster only mentioned James and Lily…
"Albus, what about Harry, Sirius, Remus, and Peter?"
Dumbledore continued to stare at his now cold tea. "Peter is dead. Sirius is on the run. Remus is as Hogwarts but is otherwise fine. Harry… is alive."
To say that I was surprised was a definite understatement. I was completely shocked. Nearly a full minute passed before it finally hit me. Harry is alive. But then another thought hit me as well. If he was alive, where was he? I tentatively voiced this question to the Headmaster. He broke his staring contest with the teacup and turned his gaze to me. His eyes still held none of the sparkle they normally held. Instead, they were careful and watchful, noting my every move. Something was still very wrong.
"I do not wish to repeat this. Once, I'm sure you can imagine, is hard enough. Twice I will not do. I need you to trust me that my choices are for the best of everyone, most of all Harry." I nodded, still slightly unsure of where this conversation was headed off to. "While looking at the house, I was able to figure out that James had tried to forewarn Lily of Voldemort's coming and told her to take Harry and escape. His distraction gave them enough time to run upstairs into the nursery." I remembered the house well, having spent more than my fair share of time there watching Harry, talking with my brother and sister-in-law, and occasionally indulging myself in a few of Sirius' pranks. Dumbledore continued, his voice weary.
"Voldemort had entered the room alone. Lily put herself between him and Harry, and I presume he told her to step aside. She refused to, and he killed her while she was protecting him. With Lily… removed… from the situation, there was only Harry left. He attempted to kill baby Harry, but he failed. Do you know why he failed?"
I did. "He failed because, in Lily dying to protect her son, she activated an ancient blood magic that protects the deceased's blood relative from being harmed by the same person that killed them. So when You-Know-Who tried to kill Harry, the curse simply rebounded off of him and back onto himself," I stated. I've always sounded a bit like a textbook; it's in my nature. But I hated it right about now, for sounding like a dusty old tome means reading them and absorbing the knowledge. And more dangerously, thinking. Being the thought-filled scholar I was, dozens of questions exploded, each clamoring to be answered. But two questions fled to the forefront. Before I could compose myself in any way, I had already blurted them out. "Is You-Know-Who dead? Who's going to take care of Harry?"
"No, I do not believe Voldemort is dead. I am not certain, but instincts tell me that he is alive in some way, shape, or form," he answered. Well, that satisfied my first question. I arched my eyebrows slightly, silently repeating the second question.
"As you know, the blood protection will continue if he is in a residence of someone from his savior's family. As Lily had no magical relatives, her only living relation was, and is, Petunia Dursley," he continued. I had only met the woman once, but nothing about her, or her husband for the matter, had led me to believe that kind and generous Lily Potter was related to that disgusting, revolting, magic-hating bunch of individuals. Magic-hating. Oh shit.
"Albus Dumbledore, you do not mean to tell me that you left a magical child in the care of the most obstinate and rotten muggles you could find!" My voice, which started out coolly with a trace of anger, had completely switched to furious with a trace of frost. He sighed, and tried to speak. I cut him off. "I don't give a damn about the blood ward; Harry is 2000 off with me as his caretaker. Hell Dumbledore, you should have just left him in a goddamn shelter!! At least he would stand a chance!!!" I was only slightly appalled at my vulgar language. I never swear or disrespect the Headmaster, and I had just done both in the same sentence. But this time he had overstepped his boundaries. James and Lily had jointly agreed that if anything ever happened to either one of them that Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I were to fill their place. It was in writing, locked and bound in their files at the Ministry. Well, now Peter was out of the question. I won't lie – I never liked Peter. His presence always filled me with unease. But I tolerated him for James' sake. His loss was not incredibly heartfelt though. And Dumbledore had said Sirius was on the run… I would have asked about him, but at this point I was too angry. However, it did seem that he wasn't able to care for Harry. Remus… I adored the wolf. I still do. But unfortunately the Ministry, much less the rest of the Wizarding world, would never let him raise a child. So that left me. By the Potter's will I was supposed to have custody of Harry. But by Dumbledore's will Harry was in the care of muggles that would destroy him. And he knew full well of the Potter's will; he was their eyewitness! The fact that he was completely disrespecting James and Lily's wishes completely drove me over the edge. That was the last straw.
"Albus, I am giving you one chance and one chance only. Go retrieve Harry Potter from the Dursley's house now, and I will raise him as James would have wanted me to. If you refuse, I will leave the Wizarding world and never return."
The Headmaster's cerulean blue eyes found my hazel ones once again. I wondered how the man was a master Occlumens when his emotions were so clearly plastered upon his face. Sorrow, regret, and determination assaulted my vision. He had made his choice. Harry was to remain at the Dursley's.
Without a word I disappeared upstairs into my bedroom. I shrunk everything I owned and put it inside one of the deeper pockets of my robes. Robes that James had given to me for my birthday almost a month ago. That man certainly knew how much I adored pockets. Every room was raided, every item shrunken. Once finished with the upper level, I went back downstairs and into the basement, which I had turned into a private lab. All the ingredients, cauldrons, and other utensils that were not affected by magic were placed in a trunk and then shrunken. All the ones that were… well they would have to remain behind.
Completely finished with the lab, I went back upstairs and shut the door for one last time. Everything I owned, except the chair Albus was sitting on, was shrunken and placed in my pocket with the rest of my household accessories. I strode over to the door, robes billowing behind me.
"Do not attempt to find me. I will never return. Tonight you have betrayed my trust, something which you will never find yourself in the possession of again. I am leaving."
I was almost halfway out the door when another thought came to mind. "Albus, never tell Harry that I even exist. James is now an only child."
Oh God. It hurt to say that. I had sometimes joked around with him about being an only child, but now… I was. He was. Before I could collapse, I rammed the front door shut, ran to the edge of the Apparation wards, and with a resonating crack, disappeared.